Larry drove the car carefully over the rough road. He was giving unusual attention to his driving. Words formed in his mind but he was reluctant to speak. He glanced at Kelly, who slouched in the seat beside him.

"Why doesn't he say something?" Larry wondered. "God knows I've waited long enough for this and he acts as if he doesn't give a damn!" Momentarily distracted, Larry allowed the car to hit a series of holes in the narrow road. "Damn it," he muttered.

Kelly looked at Larry and smiled. "Where does this road go?" he asked. "To a lake just over this hill," Larry answered. He was having difficulty avoiding the branches of trees which almost blocked the road.

Kelly relaxed. He was not anxious about the possibilities of the next few minutes, or hours, whichever the case might be. Remembering the first time he had seen Larry, Kelly chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Larry asked. His voice was touched by a bitterness new to Kelly.

"Just thinking about the first time I saw you," Kelly replied. He turned so that he faced Larry more directly. "Remember?"

"Yes, I remember. But I don't see anything funny about it." Larry said. "Boy, that was some night! You were so drunk you could hardly stand up." Kelly laughed again. It had been a few weeks earlier at a party given in celebration of Larry's twenty-first birthday. Excited and overestimating his capacity, Larry had consumed too much of the liquor supplied by his friends.

Tired of jokes relating to the party, Larry was hurt when Kelly laughed. He pushed down the accelerator, sending the car over the hill in a sudden burst of speed. "He laughed at me then and he's still laughing." Larry thought twisting the steering wheel sharply. The car bumped over the ruts and across a grassy field. In a sandy clearing Larry hit the brake hard with his foot. Kelly was thrown forward by the sudden stop but caught himself in time to prevent hitting the windshield.

"Hey!" he yelled. "What the hell are you trying to prove?"

"I'm not trying to prove anything. Just parking." Larry answered. He sat still for a moment, gripping the wheel tightly, fighting the angry words that had almost come pouring out.

At last he said softly, "I'm sorry, Kelly. Guess I'm not up to par tonight.' "That's OK," Kelly said. He was looking at the lake. Little waves kicked up by the breeze broke the moonlight into little chunks of light. A few yards offshore the dark mass of a raft bobbed on the water.

"There it is," Larry said. "Want to go for a swim?"

"What about swim suits?" Kelly asked.

"I brought a couple of suits and towels," Larry told him. He reached into the back seat and pitched a pair of trunks to Kelly. "Come on. I doubt that anyone else will be coming down here at night.'

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Kelly got out of the car and undressed. Before he could get the suit pulled on, Larry had finished and was running across the sand and into the water. Kelly watched as he swam toward the raft.

"Little bastard," Kelly said. "Mad as hell and doesn't know why." He dropped his shoes inside the car and walked toward the water. At the edge he hesitated, dreading the cold water. Impulsively he waded out, gasping as the cold water closed around his legs. Kicking forward he swam toward Larry who was sitting on the raft watching.

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