The Earring

Book1 Part 3

The sound of a motor interrupted him. I ran to the front of the car and began to wave frantically.

The car pulled over. A girl rolled down the driver's window.

"What's the problem?" she asked.

David picked up the tire iron.

"This thing doesn't fit our trailer lug bolts," he said. "Could I see if yours is the right size?"

It was. Shortly, we were on our way again. David's shirt looked like he'd been caught in a summer downpour. The exertion of changing the tire in the August heat was giving his deodorant a run for its money.

"You could use the shower we'd have if we rented a room for the night," I said. "Are you sure you don't want to change your mind about camping tonight?"

"Naw. I'm sure the campground will have facilities."

When we arrived at the turnoff to the campground, there was a restaurant with a porch overlooking Bayou Teche. The highway sign said campground 5 miles. It was 6:30pm, and the sun was low in the sky. We only had a little more than an hour before blackness would descend, but I was hungry and knew the state of our larder. The cupboard was as bare as Old Mother Hubbard's. We had planned to grocery shop after our restful night in a motel.

David's stomach growled. The little we had eaten at our reception had long ago worn off.

"I suppose you want to at least have a decent meal under your belt before we set up camp," he said.

"You suppose right."

We stopped. When we entered, the hostess greeted us and asked, "Will your parents be joining you?"

"No," David said. "It's just us."

"I'm sorry." The girl's mouth drew down and she shook her head. "Minors can't dine alone here. We serve alcoholic beverages."

"We're not minors," David said. "We're both over 18. We just got married, and we're on our honeymoon."

"Can I see some ID, please?" she asked.

As we took out our licenses, I wondered if they'd recently been cited for some kind of violation or if she was just having a bad day and taking it out on us. Most places that served food let minors in as long as they weren't seated at the bar.

She studied our licenses.

"These look authentic," she said. Finally she smiled. "You two sure don't look old enough to be out of high school, much less married." She handed back our IDs. "Sorry to give you so much hassle, but they've been making periodic checks around here. When you're my age, you'll be glad you look young."

As she seated us at a table, she called to the server, "Give these newlyweds a dessert on the house. I carded them. That's no way to start your honeymoon."

When we parked the camper, David said, "How does this thing work, Syd?"

"You haven't ever set up a pop-up tent before?" I asked. "Now's a great time to tell me."

"Well, the tent belongs to your parents. I figured you'd know how to do it."

"I do, but I've never done it alone."

As we struggled to get the sides of the camper unfolded, David slapped his neck.

"Ow."