CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Reggie’s dad stayed in the hospital for over a week. He was confined to a special room and watched so he wouldn’t try and hurt himself. The doctors put him on new drugs and he met with a psychiatrist daily. It might take weeks for them to take effect, the doctors told his mom. Carole visited him every day. The disability pay started coming in and she quit her job at Wal-Mart. The doctors reminded her that his condition was still volatile. That he would likely continue to swing between good and bad periods, even after he was released.
Reggie didn’t understand what was going to happen to his dad. He only visited him in the hospital a couple of times and he seemed to be totally out of it. Hardly talked to him. Was he feeling ashamed, Reggie wondered? Mostly drugged, Reggie concluded.
His mom seemed somewhat relieved for the time being because he was kept safe in the hospital. On the other hand, she still carried a heavy load of worry. Reggie could see it in the way she spoke. Her eyes predicted the worse was still coming.
It was good that she had talked to Joe and told him what was going on and still wanted him to be a part of Reggie’s life. Reggie would hold off on the Saturday hikes for a while, with his dad in the hospital and with school starting, but yes, she told him, Reggie could attend that wildlife corridor meeting next month.
Reggie still missed Jennifer. Even though he knew she had found herself with Terri, the thought that he probably would never see her again left a hollow feeling inside. Maybe if I let her move out of my life completely, he thought, I can move on myself.
****
Fall semester, day one, Reggie felt alone all over again like when he first came to the school. No Jennifer. No Isaac. But thanks to someone, no Kevin. He wondered a bit if Kevin was not allowed to come back and was at another school, but all that seemed in the past now.
After the welcome convocation and receiving his class schedule in his home room, Reggie perked up anticipating his
Environmental Sciences class, taught by his favorite teacher, Mrs. Horton. When he got to class, he saw the new course book and was excited, there were two chapters on wildlife conservation.
Sitting in the same classroom he had in Biology, he couldn’t help but look over to the corner seat where Jennifer used to sit. Two seats behind hers’ was a new girl. She had long dark brown hair and dark eyes. She smiled a lot during class and her eyes seemed to sparkle like Jennifer’s. Before the class ended, Mrs. Horton announced the first hiking club meeting and several kids in the class raised their hands when their names were called, including the new girl, Stephanie. Good, Reggie felt. The two smiled at each other when Reggie raised his hand. She’s not as cute or as exciting looking as Jennifer, he kept thinking, kinda plain-looking, but there was something about her.
The new Hiking Club met during study period and Mrs. Horton laid out the framework for the Club and asked the students if they had any suggestions for the first hike. Reggie described a bunch of trails that he had been on and when Mrs. Horton asked him his favorite, he threw out the Parke Mesa Overlook Trail. Reggie told the group about the great views from Malibu to Palos Verdes.
Everyone seemed to think that sounded good. There were no other suggestions until Stephanie raised her hand. She agreed that the Overlook Trail was fine, but everyone should know that it has a 1200 foot elevation gain and some might find it hard for a first climb.
“Good point, Stephanie.” Mrs. Horton said. “Do you have another trail in mind?”
“How about the Santa Ynez Canyon Trail? It’s a more moderate climb and it’s got a cool waterfall at the end.” “Reggie, what do you think?” Mrs. Horton asked.
“That’s a good trail too.”
“Everyone?” Mrs. Horton asked, and the entire group raised their hands.
After the Club worked on meeting plans, getting their parent permission slips, hiking gear, supplies and transportation, Mrs. Horton asked if anyone wanted to be an officer of the Club. Stephanie raised her hand and suggested that Reggie be President.
Reggie’s face turned red and he said, “I don’t know.”
“Members?” Mrs. Horton asked. A boy in the back said, “Yeah he seems to know a lot about hiking.”
“Reggie?”
“Oh come on Reggie, we want you,” Stephanie said.
“Okay,” Reggie said and they all clapped.
“How about Vice President?” Reggie asked, I nominate Stephanie.”
“No way!” she said.
Then Reggie started yelling a campaign chant while smiling broadly, “We want Stephanie! We want Stephanie!” Everybody kicked in.
Stephanie won her ‘election’ too and that started their political and personal Hiking Club alliance.
****
By the time his mom dropped Reggie off on Saturday morning in the school parking lot, most of the Hiking Club members were already on the bus. Mrs. Horton checked Reggie in and before he sat down in the front, Stephanie gave him a big wave from the back. He noticed she wore a bright flower print shirt and had a big camera hanging around her neck.
When they arrived at Topanga State Park, Mrs. Horton announced that Stephanie agreed to be the club photographer and they all lined up around the Santa Ynez trailhead sign. Stephanie put her camera on a post, clicked the shutter release on delay and ran to get in the photo with everyone laughing.
Reggie immediately wanted to team up with his Vice President and Stephanie was more than happy to hike together. Reggie asked her right away, “I didn’t see you in school last year.”
“No wonder,” she smiled, “I was in San Diego. My Dad took a new job up here and here I am.”
“What do you think of it so far?” Reggie asked.
“We lived and hiked here when I was younger and I think I’m going to like this club.”
“Me too, Mrs. Horton is great.”
The pair then began sharing their knowledge of nature. Along the creek bed, Reggie pointed out some animal tracks to the group—opossum tracks. Stephanie asked him how he knew they were possum’s and he told her to kneel down for a closer look.
As all the kids gathered around. Reggie said, “See the hind leg tracks?” as he pointed and traced one out. “Here’s the large thumb that helps them to climb.”
Stephanie and her classmates were impressed by Reggie’s tracking skills and Mrs. Horton noted, “You’ve got a keen eye,
Reggie, do you know what you call that thumb?”
“An opposable thumb,” Reggie answered, almost bragging, as he held up and wiggled his thumbs. “Possums are the only nonprimate that has them.”
Stephanie then poked and twisted her thumb into Reggie’s shoulder and kidded him, “You’re such a smart primate, Reggie,” and everybody laughed. I like this girl, Reggie thought.
Then it was Stephanie’s turn to show her woodland chops when she pointed at a round-green-leafed plant, “Look, there’s a marshmallow!”
Everybody gave Stephanie a puzzled look, thinking it looked nothing like the things they roasted over a campfire.
“Well, it’s actually called mallow and it is very edible.” To the amazement of the group, she plucked a leaf and took a bite.
“Yum!” Yum!” she said as she chewed and made an exaggerated swallow with glee. Knowing that most people don’t like the fuzzy feel in their mouth and the taste of grass, she offered, “Who wants to try it?”
Reggie, wanting to take up any challenge Stephanie made, asked, “Why do you call it marshmallow?”
“Well, my dad, who’s a botanist, told me they used to boil it to make the first original marsh mallows.”
“Here, try it.”
Figuring they named it and used it because it tasted sweet and fluffy, Reggie took the whole leaf, crumbled it up in his hands and popped it into his mouth. At first there was no look on his face as he chewed expectantly. Then he got a strange look; first in his eyes, then in his nose.
“Keep chewing Reggie,” Stephanie said.
“Yeah, Reggie, Chew! Chew,” the group chanted.
Getting red in the face out of embarrassment or pre-vomit, he spat the green glob out. “Disgusting! What kind of marshmallow was that? It tastes like a ‘friggin’ weed.” The green juice dribbled down Reggie’s chin as the hikers kept laughing their way up the trail.
“Are you mad at me, Reggie?” Stephanie said as she handed him her water bottle.
“Nah!” he said.
As they moved up the trail, Stephanie kept pointing out the names of various plants and flowers and snapping pictures, much to Reggie’s amazement. At one point, lagging behind the group, Stephanie pointed to a shrub with delicate purple flowers drooping down in clusters.
She bent down to smell them, “Oh! My favorite sage. Smell it Reggie.”
Inches from her face, Reggie smelled the flowers and her. She took his hand with her long delicate fingers and together up righted the hanging blossoms. They were soft. The flowers. Her hands.
“Can you guess the name of this sage?” she asked.
“No,” he said not looking at or thinking about the plant only feeling what it felt like in her hand. It was crazy, he felt, how the touch of a girl can pull you like a magnet.
“What does the shape remind you of?” she asked.
“It kind of looks like a frilly vase my Mom keeps with her good dishes,” he answered.
“Yeah! A vase...a pitcher—it’s a pitcher sage,” she said as she started pulling her hand away. She felt his tug to hold on a moment more. Looking at each other, they smiled and their hands parted.
****
Catching up to the group, everybody was in single file as they approached huge granite rocks, which both Reggie and Stephanie knew meant they were close to the waterfall. When they got there, most of the kids groaned in disappointment as the falls looked more like a leaking faucet.
The gorge below it though, was kind of cool “like a mini- Grand Canyon,” Stephanie offered as she snapped some photos. Sitting on rocks around the muddy pool below, the club had lunch.
Stephanie shared her kale and cranberry salad with Reggie. He liked the cranberries. Reggie shared his string cheese and pepperoni slices with Stephanie. She liked the cheese.
Then she whispered in his ear, “I know this great hiding place along the trail, wanna go?”
“Sure,” Reggie replied, “we’re supposed to stay together... but hold on.”
“Mrs. Horton!” Reggie called across the grotto, “Stephanie and
I are done with lunch, and there’s some wild blackberries Stephanie spotted on the trail. Is it alright if we go ahead and find them? We’ll wait for you there okay?”
“Alright, stay there we’ll be down in a few minutes,” Mrs. Horton agreed as some of the members giggled.
The pair walked slowly at first and when they rounded a bend, Stephanie grabbed Reggie’s hand and started running, “Up here, come on!”
Climbing up some huge boulders, she pointed to a narrow crevice in the rocks. “It’s a secret lookout,” she said. “They can’t spot us from the trail.”
They crawled in and sat next to each other. Soon, the pair could see the first kids coming down the trail.
“YOO HOO!” Stephanie called down and watched as they looked all around for the caller, but not up. The pair held back their laughs with their hands.
Then Reggie puckered up and blew a sharp whistle. The kids stopped in their tracks. Stephanie zoomed in for some good closeups of the perplexed hikers. Reggie couldn’t hold back his laugh any longer and one hiker, then another, pointed up at the two jokers in the cave.
“Guess we better head down. That was fun, Reg,” she said.
“Yeah, it was. Can I call you Steph?”
They both had such a laugh he wanted to hug her, but then Mrs. Horton appeared looking up at them and yelled, “Where are the blackberries?”