Chapter 5

The walls of the room were bare except for a handful of posters showing Ansel Adams photographs. The accordion doors of the closet were open allowing the contents to be viewed. There were a handful of shirts hanging from clothes hangers. The shelf along the top of the closet contained camping equipment such as, tents, sleeping bags, canteens, knives, axes, and similar gear; souvenirs of a youth spent camping. Everything in the closet, including the equipment, was too small for him or too worn to be used.

In the corner of the room was the backpack he had been using on his last hike. It was open and contained one shirt and two pairs of pants. His other shirt had been cut apart when he had been taken to the hospital. There were the spare socks and underwear. Every other day, he had to wash his clothes to have clean clothes available. He knew he would have to buy more clothes soon. Next to the backpack was the walking stick.

There were only three pieces of furniture in the room, a bed, a chest of drawers, and a bookcase. The first shelf of the bookcase held books about hiking and survival, including a complete set of Foxfire books. The rest of the shelves contained science books covering mathematics, electronics, biology, chemistry, and physics.

Everything was just as he had left it, years ago when he had gone off to college. It was a Spartan room. As he often told visitors, he liked to live simply and be able to take off on a moments notice for the great outdoors. All of his college possessions fit in three boxes. One box of clothes, one box of books, and one box of hiking gear. He had mailed them to himself in care of the university’s department of physics. His roommates had laughed when they had seen him move. They had rented U-Haul trucks to carry their stuff away.

Lying upon the bed with his hands clasped behind his head, John Carter stared up at the ceiling. He was restless and felt like something was pulling him from the house. He had been at his parent’s house for ten days. He felt fully healed although he had been shot two weeks ago. He’d rather be hiking, but his shoulder was still sore and couldn’t carry much weight. He wouldn’t have a chance for an extended hike until next summer. Between now and then, all he would be able to do is take short weekend hikes.

Giving into the pull, he grabbed his walking stick and left the house. He ambled randomly down various streets, but headed in a direction that was generally towards the center of town. He took his normal hiking pace, stopping occasionally to observe his surroundings. He passed by trees that he had climbed as a child, houses where his classmates had lived, and other places that were special. Everything looked a little older, a lot smaller, and more worn down than he remembered.

As he passed one house, he remembered Jenny. She had lived here when he was in high school. He smiled with his recollection of her. He had lost his virginity to her one afternoon in the woods behind the high school. She was a popular girl in school and he was the lone wolf - a wanderer even at that time. He never understood why she had decided to take him into the woods that day.

His experience, in hindsight, was not particularly great, but at the time he was ecstatic and couldn’t have imagined better. Yes, he had fumbled through getting out of his clothes with fingers that no longer seemed his own. Yes, he had climbed on her in the missionary position without much foreplay at all. It had taken him longer to get his cock into her than he spent actually fucking. However, her expectations didn’t seem to be much beyond what she had experienced. That afternoon, and for years afterwards, she was the most beautiful woman that he knew. They had never repeated the experience, but she had always acted kindly towards him.

Losing his virginity had opened some sort of door within him. He spent hours reading everything about sex that he could find. For a time, it seemed like his hand was always wrapped around his cock. Then one day, he realized that he had been a rather lousy lover. It was an amazing revelation to him and one that he knew he had to correct as quickly as possible. His reading changed from getting off to learning how to be better in bed.

It was a couple of years later before he had sex with his second lover. That time he had been much better. There had been lots of foreplay and it had been good for her. She had come before he even entered her. However, his personal performance still was bad. Again, it had taken him longer to get his cock inside her than he had spent in her. This was his second great sexual revelation. Not only did he need to learn what actions to perform, but he also had to learn how to control himself.

His masturbation took a different direction. Now instead of trying to get off as quickly as possible, he tried to see how long he could make it last. It was a difficult habit to break. He had years of furtive masturbation where his goal had been to get off before someone might discover what he was doing. Now he had to plan his activities where he could expect to be alone for a significant amount of time. His efforts paid off. It took a while, but the time came when he was able to last for more than fifteen minutes with his girlfriend. She seemed to enjoy the experience much more.

She broke up with him a couple of months later. Her reason for leaving him crushed his self-esteem. During a fight involving some minor difference of opinion about the color of a rug, she had launched the salvo that killed the relationship. She had stated that his lovemaking was mechanical and he did the same thing every time. In effect, she had told him he was a lousy lover.

He had walked away and never saw her again. It wasn’t until several months later, when circumstances had forced him to take the same hiking trail four weekends in a row that he understood. The first time along the trail was exciting; every corner lead to a new view. The second time was just as good as the first. That time he noticed things that he hadn’t seen the first time through. The third time, the trail seemed comfortable. No surprises, nothing new, and somewhat boring. Still, the simple act of hiking had relaxed him and put him in a nice state of mind. The fourth time had been horrible. There was nothing new and his hike had seemed mechanical. He walked, but his step carried an air of impatience. He hardly looked around at the sights around him. When he had reached the end of the trail, he didn’t really remember how he had gotten there.

Variety was just as important as performance. One time it could be slow and sensual. The next time it could be wild abandon. Another time, maybe fast, furious and powerful was appropriate. Since sex didn’t involve him alone, it was something that had to be right for both of them. From that time to the present, no woman had ever complained about his lovemaking.

As he stood outside of Jenny’s house, he wondered what it would be like to sleep with her now. In a way, it saddened him that his first time had been so poor. It was true that he had been ignorant, but it was a lost opportunity for a much greater shared mutual pleasure. He shook his head and returned to the reality of his surroundings.

His stomach rumbled and he glanced at his watch. He had been wandering for an hour now and was just a block from downtown. He decided to walk into town and get a bite to eat. When he reached downtown, he was shocked at how much it had changed and then realized that six years had passed since he had been there. He looked around at the stores and noted that there were three places to eat. The old hamburger joint that had served root beer in frosty mugs was gone. He felt drawn to the little café that announced its presence with a dainty little sign proclaiming it to be the ‘Soup Shoppe.’

As he entered the café, he stopped and looked around. It was a cozy little place with small tables covered with red and white plaid tablecloths. There were little vases with a single flower on each table. A white board covered with feminine handwriting presented the dishes served. The soup de jour was Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup, which happened to be his favorite. He noticed they had sandwiches listed and decided upon a roast beef sandwich. His stomach announced its concurrence with his decision by emitting a long low rumble.

He selected a table next to the wall and leaned his walking stick against the wall where it would be out of the way. He had just seated himself when he heard a choking sound from one of the other people in the dinner. He looked around and noticed a portly old man gesturing frantically. His companion and other diners in the café started to panic. No one moved. John stood and walked calmly to the man. Lifting him out of the chair, he performed the Heimlich Maneuver. On the second attempt, the guy ejected a piece of breadstick and his breathing returned to normal.

Satisfied that the guy was okay; he patted him on the back and said, “Better watch out for those breadsticks, they can be killers.”

The guy turned around to see his savior. “Thanks so much.”

At the sound of the man talking, the other diners broke out into a momentary applause and then returned to their meals. A common topic was the choking incident. The applause brought the waitress from back where she was informed by one of the other patrons of the events that had just occurred.

It took a moment for John to recognize the man he had just saved. Surprised, he said, “Mr. Means! How are you doing?”

“Much better now.” He reached down and took a sip of water. The coolness eased a little of the irritation in his throat.

“I’m John Carter. You were the principal at the high school when I was a student. It’s so nice to see you again.”

Mr. Means was still in the process of recovering from his experience. He vaguely recalled the young man. Then he remembered the incident that had brought this student some notoriety. John had been somewhat of a loner and troublemaker. Then one night, his brother, the Wilkins boy, and him had been drinking and probably doing drugs. The boys had a fight and his brother had driven away leaving the other two several miles outside of town. The brother had wrapped the car around a tree and died. Afterwards, John remained a loner, but he was no longer a troublemaker. His grades improved and he disappeared into the background. “Your timing is impeccable. So what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m recovering from a minor injury. I’ll be going to the University of Texas in a couple of weeks to work on my doctorate in Physics.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Are you still the principal?”

“Yes, but this is my last year. I’m retiring.”

“Wow, that’s great. Tell me, what are you planning on doing?”

“Oh, I’ll play some golf, work in my wood shop, and putter about the house. I’m looking forward to it.” Mr. Means was not too concerned with his retirement. Years teaching school had taught him how to fill his summers with activity and live with his wife. He had known many people that had retired and died from boredom shortly afterwards.

John nodded to Mr. Means and his dining companion. She was probably his wife by the way she was acting. He smiled and said, “Well that sounds great. Now, I’ll leave you to finish your meal with your companion, here. Just watch out for those breadsticks.”

Taken off guard, Mr. Means replied, “Thanks. Take care of yourself.”

The waitress came over to John’s table and said, “Thanks for saving him. Your lunch is on the house.”

John shook his head and said, “No need. I was just the first one there. I’m sure someone else would have stepped in if I hadn’t been here.”

He stopped a moment and looked at the waitress. His mouth slowly opened as he recognized her. Time had not been exactly kind to her. She was still an attractive woman, but when she was younger, she had been amazingly beautiful. He exclaimed, “Jenny, is that you?”

She started and looked again at the customer. She realized who he was. “Well, I’ll be. John Carter?”