September 19th & 20th, 1971

    The hotel-provided continental breakfast wasn’t spectacular, but I’d eaten worse things for breakfast. This morning’s cold buffet was made better by the company in which it was enjoyed; the seven of us were seated at a large table in the middle of the dining room, casually eating and chatting.
    A lull in the various ongoing conversations gave me an opportunity to speak.
    “Lee, was it you walking around the hall last night?” I asked. “I could have sworn it was a herd of bison but I only heard you,” I added.
    Lee sighed and put his pastry down. “I can’t confirm. I woke up in the bathroom.”
    “What?” Cameron asked in confusion. “The bathroom?”
    “The employee bathroom,” he explained. “No idea how I got there.”
    I chuckled, but Dale spoke before I could ask anything else. “The real question here is how did you feel this morning? Waking up in a bathroom could go either way, honestly.”
    “You’d know,” Willie sneered, though his comment was laced with humour. “Where did you wake up, Dale?”
    “A woman’s bedroom,” he retorted proudly.
    Colin let out an amused huff. “Had a good time, did you?”
    “Not a fucking clue, Colin. Though, I must’ve,” he amended. “Woke up with my wrists tied to the bedpost.”
    I let out a sound that bordered on a cackle, and Colin nearly choked on his coffee.
    “Oh fuck off, both of you,” Dale told us through his own laughter.
    Once Colin stopped coughing, he spoke indignantly. “Not that anyone asked,” he began dramatically, “but I didn’t sleep very well.”
    Cameron, ever the saint, inquired. “Why not?”
    With a scathing glance towards Willie, Colin explained. “The guy in the next room was talking loudly all night.”
    The glare hadn’t gone unnoticed. “Who said we were talking all night?”
    Autumn pursed her lips in surprise and smacked Willie’s arm.
    Willie looked at her innocently. “What? I certainly didn’t sleep,” he announced.
    “Maybe you didn’t,” she retorted. “But I slept like a bog body.”
    “The classic bog body slumber!” I cheered. “I love a good bog nap.”


    It was around twelve when I started to pack my suitcase. We would only be leaving tomorrow on the bus to San Jose, but we’d been here nearly a full week and I’d put a few things in the dresser. Luckily, I’d nearly finished by the time someone knocked on our room door.
    “Wonder who that is,” Cameron pondered aloud. He was in the bathroom, hard at work returning to his clean-shaven self.
    “Let’s find out.” I walked over and opened the door, finding Colin standing in the hallway.
    “Are you busy?” he asked hesitantly.
    I shook my head. “No. Just light packing,” I added. “Want to come in?”
    Colin thanked me, and accepted my offer as Cameron came out of the bathroom, smooth-faced and shirtless. “Colin,” he greeted with a smile.
    “I don’t mean to be a nuisance,” he told me hastily. “I just… I thought you might be willing to lend an ear.”
    “Well, the ear has to stay attached to my head,” I joked, “but I can certainly lend it to you.”
    Colin uttered thanks as he strode across the room and sat in one of the two chairs. I chose the bed, and sat with my back against the headboard.
    “Is it about Autumn?” I asked, though I suspected the answer.
    He frowned, but nodded. “I don’t quite know how to put it, but I suppose it's… concern." His slow speech seemed almost like a question.
    “What concerns you, exactly?” I asked softly.
    Colin shook his head and let out a short sigh. “Me and Autumn have been friends for fifteen years. We met on our first day of school,” he explained. “Turned out we lived across the street from each other.”
    I watched his face closely, and could see he was struggling with something.
    “She’s a wonderful girl. I love her as if she was my family. She nearly is,” he added with a light chuckle. “But I’ve seen her get her heart broken too many times.”
    Cameron took a seat beside Colin and offered his thoughts. “Have you spoken to her about it?”
    “No,” Colin answered. “I’m not in charge of her or anything. I just don’t want whatever they’re doing to end badly.”
    Cameron bit his lip but didn’t speak, so I decided to break the silence. “I’ve never really seen Willie act like he does with her. Cameron would know better, though.”
    “Hasn’t happened often,” he confirmed.
    “I’ve lost count of how many times she’s come crying to me because of some asshole. I haven’t always been able to actually be there,” Colin added quietly, “but if Willie does the same thing as they did… I’ll be maddened and insulted.”
    “Willie’s never been keen on holding back,” Cameron muttered. “He doesn’t seem to be acting that way, though.”
    “If it makes you feel better,” I said to Colin, “they haven’t slept together.”
    They both turned to me with surprised faces, and I chuckled.
    “Really?”
    “Really,” I assured him. “This morning she came to borrow a shirt and she told me they hadn’t. And she didn’t have those next-morning glossy eyes,” I added with a laugh.
    “Did not expect that,” Cameron muttered under his breath.
    “Neither did I.” Colin shook his head and chuckled. “But it does make me feel a little better.”


    Cameron and I had spent the day walking around the neighborhood, visiting numerous stores but not buying much. We arrived at the hotel as the afternoon came to an end, only to meet Willie and Autumn in the lobby. She pulled me to the side and handed me a shopping bag.
    “Here,” she told me. “I didn’t want you to leave without the clothes you lent me. They’re washed.”
    I chuckled and met her gaze. “You got them dry cleaned?”
    “No,” she told me with a laugh. “I dropped them off at my aunt and uncle’s house this morning. I changed and took clothes for tomorrow, and asked her to wash yours,” she explained. “We swung by about an hour ago and my aunt had them ready.”
    “That’s really sweet of you, and your aunt,” I said bashfully. “Thanks.”
    “I should thank you, Emily,” Autumn insisted. “You lent me the clothes in the first place.”
    “Nothing more fun than wearing yesterday’s underwear,” I joked. “Did you guys have a nice time?”
    “It was so nice!” Autumn told me cheerfully. “We had a lot of fun. I think he’s going to show me a few chords later.” She glanced back towards the two men, just as Willie turned towards us.
    “Are you ready, Autumn?” he asked her.
    She nodded, but frowned slightly. “As long as we don’t take the stairs. My feet are tired,” she said quietly. Not quite a complaint, but Willie took note.
    “Here,” he said as he approached us. “Hop on.”
    I stared blankly as Willie crouched and Autumn jumped onto his back. Without another word, he carried her off down the hallway, likely towards the elevator.
    “What the hell was that?” I muttered in confusion.

    Cameron responded in much the same tone. “I wish I had a fucking clue.”

    At breakfast the next morning, it was abundantly clear how everyone felt. Dale had grown used to the relative stability of a full week in one city, and Cameron was anxious for the last dozen dates on the US leg to conclude successfully. Lee and myself had growing anticipation at the thought of seeing Liliane in a little over one month from now, but it was Willie, Colin, and Autumn who I was most interested in.

    Colin was obviously wrestling with a heavy heart at the prospect of not seeing Autumn for many more months. She, however, seemed to be evenly discouraged by having to part with her best friend and her new fling—if it was only that. The fling in question was acting quite warm and amiable towards her and everyone else, which was a nice but unexpected change.
    After the extended breakfast we all headed up to our rooms to gather our suitcases, and brought them down to the bus in the hotel’s parking lot. The atmosphere was solemn as the hired driver boarded the bus and sat behind the wheel; we were set to leave within the next few minutes.
    Autumn hugged us one by one, starting with Dale, then Lee. I was next, and held her for a long moment. Her time with us had been like a cool breeze on a warm day, if one could liken being surrounded solely by men for six weeks to a warm day.
    “Keep yourself safe,” I told her with a wink. “Stay out of trouble.”
    “You too,” she smiled. She said goodbye to Cameron and gave a brief hug to him as well, before he and I boarded the bus.
    As much as I wanted to watch the trio’s goodbye, I decided on giving them privacy and looked through my bag for the book I’d brought. I hadn’t gotten past the short introduction by the time Colin and Willie boarded, the latter telling the driver he could set off.
    Willie took a seat in an empty row, staring out the window with a look on his face that bordered on wistful. Colin sat beside Lee and began to chat, likely to take his mind off of leaving his best friend once more.
    As the bus started to move, I took one last glance out the window and saw Autumn waving to us. I waved back, and smiled at her, hoping I would see her again soon.