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myself. Ten seconds into a good piss, I finally saw what had onlookers in hysterics and kicked the shoe off before putting the fire out with what remained in my bladder. Honestly, that’s the last thing I remember of that night.
    *****
    The group began to surface early the next morning, cooked out of their nylon ovens by the heat of the day. John and Caroline emerged first, toweling the sweat from their brows. They had been a couple since the ninth grade, and were straight shooters: they rarely drank, never mind smoked up. Next were Gil and Seth: these two were inseparable on weekends. All they did was fish. Between them they’d bought a canoe a couple years back for the express purpose of fishing. Gay or straight, who knew - who cared, just a couple guys who enjoyed each other’s company more than they did a woman’s.
    Freddy had been up earlier than anyone, riding his mountain bike through the endless trails and old logging roads. Binge and purge: that was his motto. He could be living in hell and still use a sauna now and then.
    Connor crawled out of his personal hothouse with Julia behind him. “Set me up,” he said, pointing a shaky finger at the frosty pints in our hands. “That tent’s a hotbox in the morning.”
    Before we could continue our conversation, we heard Earl’s truck roaring toward us. We knew it was Earl: his truck was as distinctive as he was. Sounded like he was still in third gear, not exactly a recommended gear at this point in the drive but Earl was a bit of a speed freak.
    He stopped just short of the campsite, spilling dirt over everything and everyone. The girls were furious and with good reason, as they were just in transit with what might have been breakfast. As Earl jumped down from the lifted truck, we applauded his successful negotiation of the ancient roads, and he took a well deserved bow.
    I guess that the noise of Earl’s arrival woke Jake. Either that or the blistering sun. He dragged himself out of Kevin’s car, where he had spent the night passed out across the back seat, and joined the circular feeding frenzy. Sara set him up with a burger and orange juice.
    “ Screw the o.j.” I snagged him a beer. “Take this, Jake.”
    He perked up a little and accepted the gift. Others eyeballed me, silently reminding me that Jake was an addict and feeding him alcohol might create problems later in the day.
    “ Thanks, Joel.” He cracked it open. “I owe you one. I’ve got lots of pot and shrooms on me- you guys can dig into my stash.” He took a shaky sip of the beer and focused on the ground, declining to look at or talk to anyone but me. Jake knew he was unwelcome here. God, I felt bad for him. I hated that he had become this person.
    After lunch, I grabbed the inflatable from the back of Earl’s truck. He insisted on being the co-pilot. We took all of five minutes to pump it up and load a few beers into his backpack.
    “ I want to make it to the little island, set up there for awhile, and smoke a big fat joint,” I said.
    “ Hell of an idea, Joel,” Earl replied. “It’s good to go.”
    We carried our gear to the lake. After waving to the remaining group at the fire, Earl and I tossed the dingy into the water, put our bag in, and pushed out into deep water before hopping in. We each picked up a paddle and headed for an island that we had visited the last time.
    The weather was perfect for the first twenty minutes of our voyage. However, northern storms tend to blow in rather quickly and violently, and the one we were about to face did just that.
    Earl enjoyed the odd cigarette when under the influence, and pulled out a pack he’d bought especially for the weekend. I told him to wait until we’d made it to the island. He became somewhat ornery and threatened to stop paddling until I handed him a light.
    “ Earl, shut up and paddle the damn boat to shore!” Now I was getting pissed. Rain was starting to fall and we were a good distance away from any land. Earl was