Every Summer Has A Story

Ch. 40 - A Peanut Free Zone

Eve pulled down the rolling garage door and groaned with the effort. With a final tug, the door thundered to the ground and Eve snapped the locking padlock closed, yanking on it a few times to ensure security.

"This is the saddest of days," Maverick lamented from his perch on the low fence, "RIP peanut butter and all delicious nut-related products."

Eve brushed the rust from her hands the lock had left behind.

"I am not going to listen to you complain all week about not having peanuts."

His bottom lip jutted out.

"Yes you are."

Eve turned on her heel in annoyance and began walking back toward the lodge. In a few moments she heard the crunch of gravel as Maverick rushed up to join her.

"Fine, I will keep the complaining to a minimum. But James Todd is the bane of my existence this week."

His tone suggested this was some sort of massive favor to Eve.

"Somehow I don't believe you... and it's not the poor kid's fault that he was born with the worst peanut allergy known to man."

The sweltering summer sun was beginning to hit its peak height in the cloudless sky and Eve rolled up her sleeves as they walked toward the lodge. The air itself moved before her eyes as the beams baked the dusty gravel and she had to stifle a groan. Another 20 degrees cooler and it would be a perfect day to enjoy a Tiger's Sunday afternoon baseball game; this garbage wasn't fit for man nor beast.

"I'm so hot," Maverick lamented, pulling hard on the straps of his backpack to let some heat escape out from underneath, "milk was a bad choice!"

"When did you have milk?" Eve questioned, her stomach rolling at the idea of consuming hot curdled milk in the 90 degree heat.

Maverick gave her a blank look,

"What?"

"When did you have milk?" She repeated impatiently.

"I didn't..." he said slowly, "it's an Anchorman quote."

Eve furrowed her brow,

"Oh, okay."

His large hand shot out and stopped her by the elbow.

"Okay? Anchorman is hands down one of the best and most quotable movies of all time."

Eve hesitated a moment before yanking her arm back,

"I will take your word for it."

Maverick was floored.

"You've never seen Anchorman, Goose?"

"Is that a crime?" 

"Goose!" Maverick howled and spun a circle, "it's so wrong it's basically un-American!"

Eve bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from smiling.

"I'm going to need you to calm down."

Maverick regarded her strangely one more time before spinning on his heel and stalking toward the lodge in a perfect impression of Eve's own huffy walk. He swung his hips outrageously and shouted back over his shoulder,

"Guess what we're doing this weekend!"

"Watching Anchorman?" Eve suggested, watched his sassy retreating form with a sigh.

"You're damn skippy!" he hollered back sternly.

~

That night, following lights out, Eve had to call for a staff meeting. After speaking with Memaw and Pepaw Todd, as they had insisted Eve call them, she was concerned about the staff's readiness to deal with a medical issue as severe as his. She sat on the porch swing with her knees pulled to her chest, attempting to rub some soreness from her calf muscles while she waited for the senior staff to come up. Although she had been living at camp for over a month, the daily wear and tear still frequently caught up to her in the form of quarter sized mosquito bites, blisters, and aching muscles. The bounce of a flashlight indicated someone's approach and Eve swung her legs back down, making room. After a few paces Thea's trademark platinum bob came into view and Eve had to swallow her disappointment. She would've much rather waited with someone else.