The Catoosa Blue Whale

Entered May 15, 2011

Whales are everywhere.

From my novel BACK AND FORTH a 1974 cross-country homage to Jack Kerouac.

Vickie sped east out of Tulsa on the ghost of Route 66. The land was flat farmland with long lines of trees acting as windbreaks. The houses dated back to the Dustbowl. The wind tugged at their hair.

The Le Mans was the fastest car on the road.

After twenty minutes at 80 mph Vickie pulled into a dirt parking lot bordering a pond on which floated a large concrete whale painted blue.

“The Blue Whale?”

“One and the same.” Vickie left the car.

Teenagers were diving from the whale’s head. Young girls were basking in the sun. It wasn’t Encinitas, but this spring-fed pond was America at its best. Families were gathered around the pool. The benches and tables were crowded with hungry kids. Hot dogs sizzled at the refreshment stand. They drank sodas on the grass.

“Nice place.” Sean toed off his sneakers. The grass was lush under his feet.

“Everyone in Tulsa loves it.” Vickie unbuttoned her shirt.

Everyone there was white.

“And no one seems to mind our longhair.” AK tugged off his shirt.

“Maybe in 1969 they would, but also this isn’t Muskogee.” Her one-piece bathing suit complimented her long slender body. “

“A place where even squares can have a ball.” Merle Haggard had immortalized the small town in his 1969 country bit OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE.

“There’s no college there, but there are some hippies.”

“Wearing sandals and beads.”

“More cowboy boots and hats.” Vickie slathered on suntan lotion. AK was dying to do her back.

“I’ve performed in school plays in Muskogee. Romeo and Juliet.” Sharlene was cute enough to be on the silver screen. “Daddy doesn’t like my acting. Thinks it’s unholy, but he loves me and puts up with it.”

“She played Juliette last spring.”

“And you probably had a hundred Romeos.”

“Not even one. I’m saving myself for my wedding night.” The teenager regarded her older sister. Vickie had slept with Nick. The med student from Staten Island had been her first beau.

“Nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t wait until you’re a hundred,” joked AK and the Spear girls laughed at the prospect of Sharlene ending up a spinster.

“I’m sure we can marry her off before then.”

“Enough talk about marriage. Let’s go swimming.” AK ran into the pond. Vickie, Sharlene, and Sean followed closely behind. They dove under the cool water and surfaced in the middle.

“This is great.” Sean hadn’t been in fresh water all summer.

"The water rises from natural springs,” explained Vickie.

“Just like the quarries near my house south of Boston.”

“Are you a good swimmer?” Marilyn asked AK.

“Okay enough.” He had spent three hours a day in the ocean.

“What about a race?”

“Sure.”

Vickie counted out the start.

Sharlene and AK swam the crawl. She won the race by several body lengths.

Vickie and Sean returned to the sandy beach and blew up rafts. They floated in the sun. Her blonde hair hung in the water like a mermaid stranded far from sea