. At least, that's what I thought whenwe hugged for the first time..." He looked away from her ever-sopenetrating gaze. A lump was forming in his thro...t.Jeri could practically smell the love he felt for her, but somehow, shewasn't revolted by it, and at the same time she wasn't intrigued by iteither. She put a hand on his leg and patted. "I've really been anenemy to you, haven't I?" she asked gently."What?" Cal asked, shocked that she said that.She stroked his leg a bit further and then folded. Caught up in the scenery, I failed to notice, like many females do, that I had failed to fill my gas tank before setting out. It was the sputter and slowing of my car to a halt along the country road that brought the fact starkly to my attention. Disgusted with my own stupidity, I climbed from the car, staring frustratedly at it for a moment, hands on hips, a frown wrinkling my brow, silently willing the machine to life once more. Needless to say, that didn’t work, so with a resigned sigh I. I pulled the brush through her hair with my first tentative stroke. Mom’s hair was damp and I had to pull harder to force the bristles through her thick mane but not so hard that it would hurt. I worked diligently and actually lost myself in the task, pulling the hair away from her back with one hand to avoid snagging the robe, while tugging the brush through, slowly parting and straightening smaller and smaller bundles of hair. Eventually, I was stroking the full length of her hair without. The gravel pits on the west side of town were one of our favorite places tohangout. We could drink some beers and smoke some Marlboro's beforeplunging into the water from the rope we tied to an old walnut tree. Atnight it was a popular hangout for the local high school k**s who like tosmoke a little ganja, and do some heavy necking. Jill and I liked to siton a big rock down by the water and listen to the cicadas and bull frogs,while we sipped our beer and talked about all our big plans. .