mary. [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xliii. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

~Suzie, Do You Copy?~
warning: mature language

     Mary watched as her mothers car rolled up the driveway, a wide smile falling on her face. She glanced to the kids that were hiding in her room, all of them giving her a thumbs up. She nodded at them, then ran out of the house to her brother. Dustin stepped out of the car, turning his head to see Mary running out of the door. 

     "Mary!" Dustin called. 

     "Brother!" she responded. He wrapped his arms around her, Mary returning the hug with a smile. "God, you've got to stop growing. You're going to be taller than me someday." 

     "I can't help it," Dustin shrugged. 

     "It's good to have you back, little bro. Hasn't been the same without you," Mary said with a frown. "But I regret to inform you that I do have to be somewhere at the moment." 

     "No, no, I get it, Mary. You're an adult woman. But if you see anyone, Mike, Lucas, anyone, tell them I'm back," Dustin said, very forcefully. 

     "Will do, kiddo. I'll see you later. Bye, mom," Mary waved. Mrs. Henderson waved to her daughter, Mary pulling her car keys out of her pocket. She climbed into her Impala, then began to drive towards the pool. She reached there, and began to walk inside. She showed her membership card to the people quickly, then walked in farther to see Heather coming down from her station. "Shit." Her head turned to see Billy walking out of the back, smoke flowing from his mouth. As he began to walk toward his post, Mary couldn't help but notice the girls staring at him as he did. He glanced to his left, then paused as he saw a kid running. He blew his whistle, everyone stopping in their tracks. 

     "Hey, lard-ass!" Billy screamed at the kid. Mary let her head fall into her hands at his words. "No running on my watch! I gotta warn you again, and you're banned for life. You wanna be banned for life, lard-ass?" The kid shook his head at Billy with fear in his eyes. "Didn't think so." He blew the whistle again, everyone returning to what they were doing. Billy began walking, then glanced behind him to see Mary standing there. He smirked a bit, then turned to the women waiting for him. "Afternoon, ladies." 

     "Afternoon, Billy," they all said in unison. 

     "Dig the new suit, Mrs. Wheeler," Billy spoke. He knew it was just loud enough for Mary to hear, and waited to see the angry look on her face. He didn't even listen to Mrs. Wheeler's response, and walked to the lifeguard chair. He walked up the latter, then turned to see Mary with a smug look on her face. He lowered the sunglasses and winked at her before Mary grabbed one of the towels from the rack next to her and walked to one of the chairs. Before she could get to her chair, Billy jumped down off the lifeguard stand and stopped her. "What are you doing here, doll?" 

     "If I'm going to be completely honest, I got bored," Mary said with a sigh. "I don't work until tomorrow morning, so I figured why not. Plus, I don't know what you did last night but my legs are sore." 

     "Keep it down, Mary," Billy said, smiling at her. "Any other environment I'd be happy to hear about how sore I made you, but I'm pretty sure that little girl over there just heard everything we said." Mary glanced to see a little girl staring at them with wide eyes. 

     "You just called a kid 'lard-ass', do you really care?" Mary asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

     "No. I'm actually glad you're here. Adult swim starts in ten minutes. You can get a good lap in, practice enough to beat me," Billy said as he turned to the lifeguard stand again. 

     "And I will. I will win," Mary said, pointing up at him. 

     "Whatever you say, doll," Billy said. He leaned back in the chair again, Mary smiling as she turned to one of the pool chairs. She waited until all the kids were out of the pool for adult swim time, happy that she didn't have to share the pool with so many of them. Her swimsuit was a black one piece that hugged her body tightly, showing off her figure well. She pulled her hair down, looking to Billy who was watching her.