In spite of the obvious lack of concern of most young people they encountered, Dale, Chris, and their ladies remained cautious in making new contacts. When they went to Virginia’s on the Bay that night, they ate in the less crowded area upstairs, at an outside table, and they decided not to go to Shorty’s afterward due to the crowded conditions they saw when they walked over.
Chris knew none of that might matter if it was super-contagious, through the air or by incidental contact, but no one seemed to know what to do, so he used common sense and scientific training to try to reduce the chances.
Tuesday was more of the same: warm day, beach time, sunbathing, eating, drinking, and resting in the shade, but that afternoon they went shopping. Emboldened by Diane and other girls they had seen and talked to, the three nineteen year-olds bought new bikinis, shorts, and halter tops that were quite eye catching. Dale and Chris rolled their eyes at each other, considering how much more beach traffic they would have to deal with when they wore those!
Wayne, his buddies, and 3 young women showed up at the camp on Wednesday around eleven. It seemed that everyone except Bar The Great had snagged a girl since they last saw them on Sunday, and he was sporting a black eye. He was even more surly than normal and was again drinking a mixed drink in a 32-ouce cup.
As usual, they had a dozen collegians at the party tent the larger group had set up a few score steps away, and they were coming and going between the striped cabana and the party tent, which they kept rocking with big speakers and a mix of country and southern rock music.
They were mostly Aggies, but not stereotypical… except they were flying three maroon and white ATM flags. Dale had a gold and black Vanderbilt flag along, and Kate had brought a TCU purple and white flag, so they proudly tied them high on the cabana posts with twine. Chris didn’t have an orange and white UT flag along, which he figured might be misidentified by the Aggies anyway, so he parked his orange Jeep Wrangler Sahara so the several University of Tennessee stickers were obvious.
The combined groups were discussing going dancing somewhere that night, but Chris was against it. They were all exposed to one another already, but he didn’t want to chance a few hundred more exposures to new people. He slipped back to the condo complex and spoke with the manager, and then returned.
When he got back he saw that Jo and her roomies were in the other tent with several other girls, and a host of boys; they were dancing to Kate’s Beach Boys album. They were all having fun but nothing appeared questionable, which was consistent with how it had been since they had begun intermingling and interacting Monday afternoon. They were just college kids having a good time, in a way that showed their respect for one another. He walked over to join them.
When the music died for a moment, he projected his construction manager voice and made an offer. “I know a lot of us are interested in going dancing tonight, but you all know how concerned I am about this new virus, so I looked for an alternative. The manager is letting us use the complex’s social hall tonight for a dance, as long as we end it by midnight and we leave it as clean and orderly as we find it.
“I just came from there, and it’s a nice place with good acoustics and some high-end Bluetooth speakers. Maybe we can get a few people to share their dance playlist and we can try different kinds of music.
“What do you think? Better than a smoky bar that might be filled with the virus, right?”
About 10 minutes of excited conversations ensued, mostly among the girls, before one stepped forward as spokesperson. “We like the idea, BUT… we want to dress up a little! Nothing formal, but not board shorts and flip-flops either. We’ll be wearing sundresses or rompers: are you guys willing to wear something nice, and dancing shoes?”
They were, but that caused a buzz of conversation among the men as they compared ideas about what would meet the standard she had set.
Once they settled on the proper dress options, Chris gave parking instructions; the social hall has its own parking outside the gates, but the entrance was not obvious. The women were interested in decorating the hall, but Chris squelched that by reminding them the hall had to be clean before they left at midnight
They were breaking camp to go change when one of the boys loudly announced, “Damn! Maybe this Corona IS dangerous — they just cancelled the Houston Rodeo!” That set off another buzz — the ‘Worlds’ Biggest Rodeo’ brought tens of millions in revenue to the city each year, so cancelling it was not done lightly.
Another added, “I didn’t say anything earlier because who cares what WHO does, but they labelled Coronavirus a ‘worldwide pandemic’ earlier today.”
They all left in a more thoughtful frame of mind.
When they got back to the condo, Chris got an announcement that all CU classes would be online for the rest of the semester. Soon thereafter Jo, Donna, and Diane read their emails and learned that TCU had extended spring break through March 20, after which their classes would be online only. Diane and Dale looked through their email, but neither had received notice.
The crowd at the dance was about two-thirds of those invited, but those present enjoyed each other, the music, and the dancing — with one exception. Barry the Magnificent had gotten drunker and more aggressive since leaving the beach, and Jo seemed to be his primary target.
As the quasi-host, Chris was kept busy from 8-9 getting things underway. When he went looking for Jo, one of the boys said that she had gone outside with Barry. That was a concern; not because he feared Jo had fallen for the obnoxious bastard’s bullshit, but because he knew Barry was capable of anything. He slipped out the door to the parking lot to find them.
He didn’t see them in Wayne’s car or any of the others, but he heard voices from the south side of the building. He peeped around the corner and saw them sitting in chairs facing each other; they were leaning forward, and Jo had both his hands in hers. It looked suspicious, but overhearing their conversation resolved that.
Jo was speaking quietly, telling Barry he needed to call his wife first thing tomorrow morning, when he was sober, apologize for all he had done, and ask for an opportunity to talk in person. Big, Bad Barry was quietly sobbing and shaking his head. “She’s not going to give me another chance! She was too badly hurt by my actions, and by all the lies I threw at her when I got caught.
“I knew she would leave me, so I told her I didn’t care, that I was tired of her old-ass anyway, and I could have as many twenty-year olds as I wanted. She was crushed — there’s no way she’s getting over that, and her divorce petition proves it! She wants our two kids, the house, and half of everything, plus child support. I’ll be broke, living in a crappy apartment!”
“Barry, the courts will give her those things anyway — she’s not asking for anything extra! I’m sure she’s totally pissed at you, but the divorce petition doesn’t prove it — if anything, that’s a very kind petition.