Golden Lake

Their car rambled along as John and his daughter Mary made their way to the Golden Lake trailhead one Saturday in spring. Mary had wanted to do something special for turning eighteen and even though it was technically a couple days after her birthday this was going to be the real celebration. She had already celebrated with her family, but now she and her boyfriend were going camping, mostly alone, for a night. Mary had wanted it to be just her and Tommy but her dad had convinced her that the area was big enough that he could camp far from them but still be around in case of an emergency. Mary had always heard her Mom and Dad talk about this campsite. John often reminisce about Golden Lake and when his wife and he used to spend the occasional weekend exploring the remote area, swimming in the freezing lake, and spending the nights fucking under the stars. He had asked his wife to come with them but she had tons of excuses and John was actually relieved that she wouldn’t be there. John knew that his wife was probably cheating again, and they’d already talked about splitting but were staying together to make sure Mary had an easier time getting through school.

John saw a familiar sign on the side of the road. “Hey, honey. We’re coming up on the last store till we get to the trailhead. You should use the restroom and make sure you have everything you need for the weekend.”

Mary nodded, “Yeah, yeah” and she went back to fidgeting with her phone, Tommy hadn’t texted her in the last day and Mary wasn’t sure what that meant. She’d seen him earlier that Friday and he seemed distant but he’d said he’d see her later. As the car came out of the foothills onto a slight plateau her phone finally buzzed. She was surprised though cause it wasn’t Tommy who had texted her but her best friend Emily. “OMG! I thought Tommy was going camping with you this weekend but he just invited Stacy to his cousin’s place for a party tonight :(“ Mary started to tremble. Her father hadn’t noticed and pulled into the little general store’s parking lot. Mary got out and practically ran to the store’s bathroom. John figured she just really needed to pee and he went about filling up the gas tank and picking up a couple last minute supplies. He didn’t need much but as he walked the aisle he saw a display for a “Local” vodka that he and his wife used to buy every time they came up here. It was god awful stuff but it did add to some fun nights. He figured since he hadn’t brought any alcohol he might as well get this little memento. He brought his items to the counter and checked out. He headed back to the car and sat for a couple minutes before he realized that something must be wrong with Mary.

John headed back into the store, he turned to the cashier, “Has the young woman with the dark brown hair come out of the bathroom yet?” The cashier didn’t pry his eyes from his phone and just shook his head no. John headed back to the bathrooms and knocked on the women’s door. He didn’t get a response but thought he heard muffled crying. “Hey hom, you in there?” No response. “Hey, I’m coming in, ok?” Still no response, so he pushed open the door. He was surprised that the women’s room was as dirty as the men’s room, the only difference between the two was that this one had two stalls instead of a stall and a urinal. It was obvious which stall Mary was in, and now that he was in the little room her crying was pretty obvious. Great, he thought, I’ve made it eighteen years without having to deal with this sort of stuff, where is her mother when I need her? He then remembered, oh yeah, probably sleeping around again, that bitch. John knocked on the occupied stall, “Hey honey, what wrong? Do you want to talk about it?”

Mary responded but all John could decipher through her tears was “Tha, tha, that bitch Stacy, can’t believe it” John didn’t really know what to say to that. He was vaguely aware of who the Stacy in her class was. She was on the volleyball team with Mary, and easily had the biggest tits out of Mary’s classmates. With that as context he guessed Tommy wasn’t coming. John was actually a little relieved. He was pretty sure his daughter was a virgin and had figured that she was planning on losing it to Tommy this weekend. It wasn’t a bad idea, just a terrible choice in guys. John couldn’t think of a more annoying little douche than that fuck. “Hey honey, can you open up and come out here?” She sobbed a bit more but eventually she opened the door and came out. John looked her up and down. She may have turned eighteen a couple days ago but she still had some developing to do before guys would really consider her womanly. She stood at 5’9” but was built like a beanstalk. It was cute in middle school when she was all knees and elbows, but John knew that it must have started to get harder for her as the other girls developed tits and Mary still seemed almost completely flat. He wasn’t much of a hugger but figured now was as good a time as any to show his daughter affection. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to his chest and embraced her. Mary slowly stopped crying and he held her in his arms. Eventually she stuttered out, “Tommy’s not coming. He’s fucking that bitch Stacy.” John moved one of his hands to her head and began scratching her scalp a little. It was one of his default comforting moves and he knew Mary always loved it. After a minute Mary stepped back and looked at her dad. Her makeup was smeared behind her big round glasses, turning her plane face into a bit of a mess. “Dad, I don’t want to go camping, I just want to go home” John knew that they were three and a half hours into a four hour drive and the thought of driving home sounded pretty shitty. He also really needed a night away from his wife and what better place to spend it. “Mary, what you need is to be away from your phone and all that bullshit for a bit. You don’t need to spend it with me, but you should still spend it in nature.” Mary nodded okay, much to John’s surprise. He was expecting a fight but maybe Mary was really that crushed. Soon enough they were back in the car headed to the trail head.

John unloaded the two backpacks. He had two tents and knew that his daughter probably didn’t want the extra weight in her pack. The weather was supposed to be nice so he turned to Mary who was putting on her boots. “Hey hun, the weather should be good. Do you want to plan on sleeping under the stars and just bringing the tent if we need it?” She nodded yes and John left the second tent in the car. In a couple minutes they were on the trail.

It was a four mile hike to the campsite and John knew the trail by heart. He was fine in walking in silence but eventually Mary broke the peace, “Hey dad, did you and mom ever have problems like this?” Good god that was an open ended question with no great answer.