Sami's dad came to pick Sami and her stuff up from the dorm, including her motor scooter; with all of her stuff taking up the bed of the pickup, they had to rent a small trailer for the scoot.
It was a fun drive home with her dad, talking about stuff they didn't usually get to talk about. He informed her that he finally made the decision to sell off the 300 acre parcel, the one with all the Southern Pines, to one of the biggest wood processors in the country.
He told her of taking some of the money for use to 'fix' up the house a bit. As usual with her dad, he understated the situation.
Pulling into the long driveway of their farm, Sami was blown away by all the improvements they had done since she had been home last, at Christmas.
"Damn, pops, the place looks great," Sami exclaimed as her eyes swept the yard and 100 year old family homestead, freshly painted and with a new side-porch.
"Watch your language, Samantha June," her dad cautioned, but with a soft smile on his face. He was never able to be stern with Samantha, never; for him, Samantha June would always be his 'baby'.
The following weekend after she had arrived home, Bonnie drove from Gulfport to pick Sami up for the trip to Memphis. Bonnie spent Friday night with Sami and her family and on Saturday, the girls headed north for Memphis and their summer adventures, whatever they might be.
__________________________
The apartment, their apartment for the summer, was in a gated community, had two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom; there was a half-bath as well, in the hallway. The girls each chose a bedroom to unload their stuff into, though in truth they would be sharing a bed.
But to outsiders, guests and the like, it appeared that they each had their own space, and that was the point, after all.
Bonnie knew some of the staff at the station, of course, having made trips with her dad on occasion; Sami was accepted as 'family' by Bonnie's uncle and he made her transition into the station's art department, an easy one. Sami's eye for detail and finesse on projects soon earned her the respect of her co-workers.
All in all, it was a very smooth transition from student-athlete to worker-bee.
At the end of their first work week, the girls debated where to go to celebrate that fact.
"I so don't want pizza or anything like that," Bonnie proclaimed as she drove them home.
"No, me either," Sami agreed, deep in thought about some options for food and fun for them tonight.
"Feel like some BBQ?" offered Bonnie.
"Yeah, I could do BBQ, that's sounds good."
"Then, maybe hit Beale Street to check out some Blues Clubs?" Bonnie further suggested.
"It's Friday night in Memphis, Tennessee; seems like it'd be against the law not to do BBQ and Blues, don't you think?" Sami said in agreement.
"Seems like," agreed Bonnie as she turned into the drive of their complex.
Sami and Bonnie were getting dangerously close to becoming a couple, something both said that they didn't want, but neither doing anything to ensure that they didn't.
For her part, Sami wasn't at all sure about what was going on with her feelings about Bonnie; but she was honest enough to admit that she felt something for Bonnie that she didn't see coming, whatever it was.
As far as Bonnie was concerned, she was stone-cold nuts about Sami-girl, plain and simple, no mystery to her at all. Did she love Sami? Definitely; was she
in love
with Sami? Probably; was she concerned that she felt that way about another female? Not in the slightest.
And while the sex was a huge factor in Bonnie's feelings for Sami, it wasn't the most important part of her relationship with Sami. No, that would be the genuine concern and caring that she knew Sami had for her; not even Roy ever cared about
her
in that way, about
her
as a person, with thoughts, ideas, desires. No, no one ever really bothered to find the real Bonnie Sue, no one but Sami.
For Bonnie Sue, it was enough.
They were just finishing off the plate of ribs that they had split, fingers and lips smeared with BBQ sauce, when Bonnie said, "There's a couple of clubs we can get into without ID. The owners are friends of my uncle," wiping her mouth with her seventh napkin of the night.
"Cool," replied Sami, wiping her mouth and hands afterwards with one of those 'wet naps' that are supplied with the Rib dinners.
Paying their server, and leaving a generous tip, the girls strolled out of the rib joint, heading for the clubs.
They took their time, casually strolling in the cooler night air, stopping periodically to stand outside of a club to listen to the music. They people-watched the Beale Street scene during their walk, always a fun thing to do in Memphis, especially on the weekends.
As they passed a smaller club, Sami glanced at the playbill on the outside board that advertised the acts, as well as food and drink offerings.
"You've got to be shitting me," Sami suddenly exclaimed to no one in particular.
"What? What are you blabbering about?" Bonnie asked when she stopped and turned to look at Sami.
"Look at this playbill, second group from the top, on the left," Sami simply said.
Looking at the advertising poster, Bonnie asked, "this one, 'Billie and the Blues Crew'?" her eyes back on Sami afterwards.
"Remember the girl I told you about? The one who worked at the Grille with me and was an art major that lived in our dorm, above us?" Sami was saying, "You know, the one I said didn't come back to school and I couldn't contact her?"
"Yeah?" Bonnie answered, her eyebrows scrunched together, trying to connect the dots.
"That's her, the chick on the left, in the picture, that's Billie, from upstairs," Sami proclaimed.
