Society of Sunseeking Individuals with Devil May Care Attitudes – Augie Cal

June 24, 2021

Gregory was sitting by the pool at the resort on one of those sunbathing chairs listening to the Beach Boys in his headphones feeling very proud of himself. Proud of himself for taking this trip, for branching out, for being a man, for taking charge. Gregory was old, at least older than I am, let’s say he was 50. Gregory was 50 years of age, recently divorced, had three snotty children, had a decent, but honest job, and had a decent, but honest house. He wore aviator sunglasses, a Tommy Bahama shirt, a Panama hat, and cargo shorts, looking like a typical tourist or one of those stick figures on the shirts that say life is good. His face was visibly white with sunscreen, and his white skin was visibly burnt in spite of the lotion. He drank a margarita a nice young brown man in a white button up shirt with the resort’s logo on it and pressed khakis had brought him a minute ago.

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I was sitting on the opposite side of the pool in a regular chair by a table with an umbrella reading a Tom Robbins book but really studying Gregory as if he were on the wrong side of terrarium glass. I was holding the book up, but under my sunglasses my eyes were not fixed on Robbins’ prose, rather, they were fixed on the middle aged (old to me) Virginian man out of his natural habitat. I had ordered a Mai Tai from the young man currently tending to Gregory and was sucking on it compulsively as I stared, transfixed, at the moist pale blob of a man that called himself Gregory. Gregory wasn’t doing much, and hadn’t been for some time, but I lay waiting for the moment he did. I was wearing a trench coat, a bucket hat, Doc Martens and one of those shirts that says life is good, so as not to look suspicious.

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The young man couldn’t tell that Gregory was sleeping under his aviators and had accidentally woken him up when he said “your drink sir” in a soft-but-loud-enough-to-stir Gregory voice. To my surprise, and to Gregory’s surprise, he was not grumpy or angry at being woken up. Nothing could spoil his mood because he was on vacation, by himself, for the first time in 30 years, with a chunk of money, and no way for his ex wife to contact him. This was a heavenly situation for the middle aged, but old in my book, man of modest means. He liked his kids well enough but needed some time away from the brats to regroup as the divorce had really gotten in his head and he had started to think he was maybe a bad man. Instead of launching into some sort of introverted self exploration to assess his morals and intentions he decided he needed an extroverted getaway and when he returned, after having a good bit of fun, he would be the hero of the story of his own life once again. The man the children looked up to, the neighbor envied, the neighbor’s wife lusted after, and his wife respected, even if they weren’t going to be together anymore.
He scanned the poolside enjoying the sights of the resorters under umbrellas or in the pool or laying on identical sun bathing chairs to his drinking identical cocktails. They made him feel like part of a team or an organization or a club, maybe the Society of Sunseeking Individuals with Devil May Care Attitudes. The Mexican Sun was so high and bright and beamed so fiercely down on the pool area that Gregory could hardly comprehend that it was the same sun he saw from his back porch where he smoked his pipe in Virginia. In fact he rejected that idea entirely and instead had decided that this was the Mexican Sun, with much greater power than his tired old sun from back home. He thought this Mexican Sun, when mixed with his Virginian blood, reacted in a way that gave him power, confidence, intelligence, strength and good looks. But right now the Mexican Sun was doing it’s primary job efficiently and Gregory was slowly melting into a pool of middle aged sweat.
He eased himself out of the sunbathing chair with a grunt and picked up his cocktail from the side table. He stuck his arms up in the air and reached them as high as possible as if he were trying to grab the Mexican Sun to stick in his carry-on on the way home. He made a sound like a stuck pig as he stretched himself out to loosen his stiff ligaments and tendons. The dry heat being produced was somewhat of a relief from the swampy moist and soupy thick Virginia air that his lungs were used to sucking and expelling under regular circumstances. He heaved his way out of the pool area and into the resort lobby where he was greeted by friendly unfamiliar faces who shared the clothing of the man who had produced his margarita that now had a layer of translucence floating on top due in equal parts to Gregory’s negligence towards the drink and the Mexican Sun’s powerful melting powers.

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I decided to follow Gregory into the hotel as he had become the subject of my story and I needed to continue watching him in order for this to progress. A round little boy in a swimming shirt and green swimming trunks with pink flamingos on them cannonballed into the pool as I walked by, splashing warm pool water onto my Doc Martens. I cursed him in my head while I pushed open the metal gate that led me out of the pool area and back towards the lobby. From there I saw Gregory strut by the resort employees, like someone who was important, and continue towards the hotel bar so I walked around to the side door that led directly in and sat at a table in the back of the bar waiting, like a lion stalking an overweight Virginian gazelle.

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He strutted by the employees with a sense of entitlement and swagger typically reserved for individuals of actual importance or esteem. He thought about going back to his room but remembered he was on vacation and when he took a sip of his margarita and was met with only melted ice, he decided he could use a freshening. He walked through the lobby and into the hotel bar which was adorned with vaguely beachy and tropical looking paraphernalia and slight nautical elements as if to remind the patrons that they were not in Kansas anymore. At the bar sat an old married couple, a single man, a group of women, a family with children, a single woman and me, slunked in a chair at a table with my hat pulled down and my collar up so as not to look suspicious. The bar looked like a microcosm of the guest population staying at the resort with all demographics represented.
Gregory walked up to the bar and sidled up next to the single woman drinking a Mai Tai by herself and told the waiter he would have what she was having. He turned his attention towards her even though it was obvious she wasn’t looking to make any new friends. She was somewhere in her twenties, exactly where I can’t quite say exactly, but the relative youth radiating off her attracted Gregory like a moth to fire and like a moth flying blindly into a flame, Gregory was sure to end up crashing and burning. When he told her she was “looking fine” she reluctantly turned towards him, flashing a look of disgust that went over Gregory’s head. Gregory was too busy feeling proud of himself to notice the obvious disinterest of his fellow Sunseeking Individual with a Devil May Care Attitude. She said “thanks” in a tone that was deliberately cold and left little room for the conversation to flourish. “Cancun is so nice this time of year, so glad I decided to come out, on my own,” said Gregory in a way that oozed self satisfaction. “I think it’s nice everytime of year,” she said in a ‘shut the fuck up grandpa’ tone of voice. He laughed an uproarious and nasty laugh as she examined his face trying to see exactly what kind of nasty old (old to me and to her at least) man he was. “So what are you doing here little lady?” Gregory spouted. She snorted and said “I’m on vacation” in the same cold uninviting tone. “Me? Just divorced. Had to take some time to myself, you know? Spread my wings as it were. Get my juices flowing again, my blood pumping. You know? Sometimes you need a little vacay time to regroup,” Gregory said, more to himself than the woman.

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I watched this interaction from the back of the bar that reminded me I wasn’t in Kansas anymore and studied my subject with great care. The interaction he was having with this young woman made me squirm visibly in my chair as I sucked my Mai Tai in discomfort. I looked down at my boot where the careless child had splashed me and cursed him a second time. While the toe of the boot was still wet a slight powdery white residue was forming against the faux leather undoubtedly from the overchlorination of the pool so I threw in a cursing of the resort’s pool man for good measure.

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Gregory felt aces and thought his interaction was going great. He was so proud of himself for flexing his new found freedom, not understanding that this freedom came at the cost of this woman’s comfort. The thought ‘I still got it!’ entered his head and he let it dance around there for a while leaving a thick layer of self satisfaction on the inside of his cranium. “So tell me honey, do you have plans for tonight? Imagine you won’t be hiding that pretty face in your room.” She sighed and pointed to a poster on the other side of the bar that said: Fiesta! Tonight! East Ballroom! Gregory said, “Gracias” and pointed at her and said “Muy bonita,” as if she didn’t understand that he was hitting on her and she laughed out loud at him not with him. She got up from the bar with her drink in hand and walked out towards the lobby and Gregory shouted “See you at La Fiesta!” at her as she disappeared around the corner towards the elevators.

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I was down on one knee with a bar napkin trying to scrub away the residue the chunky kid had gifted my left boot when I heard Gregory shout. My head sprang up colliding with the gum-stuck bottom of the already wobbly bar table and the thing almost tipped full over and, were it not for my lightning-fast cat-like reflexes, would have. I lifted my hand to the back of my head recoiling it when it collided with a tacky sticky substance trying to hitch a ride in my gorgeous dark brown locks. I cursed the gum chewing portion of the Society of Sunseeking Individuals with Devil May Care Attitudes for sticking their habit where it didn’t belong. I got up, pulling at the icky pink gunk in my hair, and walked to the far side of the bar to investigate the poster the woman had pointed to on the wall. I jotted down the pertinent information in my moleskine and turned my head towards the bar where I saw Gregory pay his tab, leave an unimpressive tip, and head towards the elevator.
I rode up the elevator with Gregory but he didn’t pay much attention to me, which I attribute to my incredibly inconspicuous attire. My heart thumped and little beads of sweat raced each other down my forehead. The thrill of the chase I thought. I let him exit before me on his floor, waited a substantial amount of time, holding the elevator door open button, and exited after him. I had booked the room directly next to his and after he entered his room I hurriedly entered mine.

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Gregory was in his room when the Mexican Sun waved goodbye on its way to be tucked into bed by the Mexican Moon, and he waved back. He rummaged through his suitcase on the luggage rack burrowing into the clothes like a manic mole as he searched for his evening wear. He produced a nice pair of slacks and a fun, but formal button-up shirt. He dressed slowly and carefully, in front of the full length mirror on the back of the hotel door. He slid his penny loafers over his calloused feet and pulled the wrists of his fun but formal shirt through the arms of a blue blazer. He heard a crashing sound and turned towards the sliding door that led to his balcony, decided it was nothing, then looked himself up and down once more, making sure every hair was in place before he headed towards the hotel door, exiting the room.

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I briskly walked through my room ignoring the mess that needed attending, walked to the sliding door, and slid myself out onto my balcony. I gulped when I looked down at the 23 story drop and pushed it to the back of my mind, where I keep all my unseemly thoughts, to hangout with my sexual inadequacies and murderous tendencies. I looked to my left at the gap between my balcony and Gregory’s. I cursed the architect of the building for making the gap slightly too far to step and pulled myself over the railing standing with my back against the banister for a second. I gulped again thinking about the plunge to my death and did a step-hop to Gregory’s balcony. It took a second to find my footing and in the moment where I thought I would die a thought of my ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend flashed into my head. When I was secure, I cursed my brain for going to such an unfortunate thought on my way out and thanked the Orb for another day on earth. I could see Gregory rummaging through his luggage from my position on the outer edge of the balcony. I watched him for a little before pulling myself over the banister and onto his balcony proper.
I got nervous as I swung my body over the railing and my foot collided with a potted agave plant which shook angrily and fell, splitting into two pieces. I noticed this aroused Gregory’s attention and expertly pressed my cloaked back against the wall next to the glass, concealing myself from him and facing the horizon in that somber moment where the sun has gone to bed and the moon hasn’t quite taken the night shift yet. When I peered back into his room Gregory was studying himself in the mirror. I watched him smooth out his blazer and then exit the room. I sighed a big sigh of relief as I slid open his door and walked into his room. I respected the immaculate cleanliness while the thought of my own mess nagged at the back of my brain and walked out his door into the hallway.

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Gregory walked into La Fiesta with confidence, never minding the sea of twenty somethings, thirty somethings, and forty somethings swimming in and out of each other’s personal space and drinking like fish do. The salsa music was trying to bust into Gregory’s head through his ear drums and he felt lucky that the amount of deafness he had accumulated over the years did not grant it access. He scanned La Fiesta for the girl from the bar and didn’t see her, but thought she might be camouflaged in one of the many schools of party fish. He swayed with the tide as he passed through the dance floor towards the bar where he ordered another margarita.
He put his back against the bar and took a tepid sip from the ‘exotic’ cocktail as he surveyed the rising and falling tide of the dance floor and the participating parties. As he did, a young couple came up locked in a tight embrace and ordered water from the bartender. They turned to Gregory with wide eyes and asked him who he loved. He thought about this odd question, mouth agape for a minute before he answered. “Well tonight, my new friends, I love myself.” This seemed to be the correct answer because the couple roared with excitement and their big eyes grew bigger. “We love you too!” they told him and added him to their embrace. It felt wonderful, he hadn’t touched another human being in longer than he cared to admit and he felt like their youth radiated out of them and into him. It’s magnificent that this gorgeous young couple would just accept me like this, he thought. The young couple moaned with pleasure as they embraced Gregory. The beautiful young woman shifted her massive eyes towards Gregory’s regular sized eyes and asked him if he wanted to feel as good as she did. Without hesitation he said yes, thrilled at the idea of feeling like a beautiful young loving woman. She reached into her bag as her boyfriend kissed her lips and neck and pulled out a little baggie with a purplish reddish pill in it. She handed it to Gregory and he looked down at the imprint of the character Rick from the show Rick and Morty, something he had never seen, heard of, and definitely would not like. “Molly….” she said ecstatically. “I’m Gregory” he said, not understanding. She laughed in a nonjudgmental and loving way and said “Hi Gregory…..no that is Molly, I’m Sequoia.” He blushed and tried to laugh it off, pretending he knew whatever Molly was. She handed him her water cup and said “You won’t regret it” with a big smile. He thought about his wife, well ex-wife, and thought about how she would hate this. She never liked to try anything new or do anything fun or out of the plain and ordinary. He thought about how he came here to expand his horizons. Under normal circumstances, he would never take part in drug culture or this hippie dippie trash, in fact he considered himself someone on the good side of the war on drugs, but, after feeling the teeniest of a percentage of what they were feeling just through their embrace, he knew he had no choice, and he was on vacation after all. He swallowed the pill and it plummeted down his throat like a rock in a waterfall.

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I stumbled into La Fiesta half drunk after falling asleep in my room when I attempted to go clean it up. I quickly scanned the room and noticed Gregory, like a fish out of water, flopping through the sea of happy go luckies. I broke the perimeter of the dance floor to follow Gregory and the moment I did a beautiful woman grabbed my hand and we started dancing. I slid my trench coat off, revealing my life is good t-shirt and shorts that only made it halfway to my knee. My doc martens were a little clunky for dancing but I pulled it off swaying and stepping and gliding around the floor. I cursed the attractive young woman for pulling me in but also was grateful to have a little me time. While we flung each other through the ocean of the dancing portion of the Society of Sunseeking Individuals with Devil May Care Attitudes I kept my eyes locked on Gregory when they weren’t being pulled magnetically to the hips and breasts of the young woman I was dancing with. But when I saw Gregory take a pill which I identified as Molly by the way people who gave it to him were acting, I continued gyrating but decided I ought to buy one off this couple so Gregory and I could stay on the same level.
When Gregory went to the restroom, while the throuple waited for his Molly to kick in, I approached the young couple and asked them if they could spare a pill. I offered to Venmo them but they insisted I take it for free and that my good night was a gift from them. I thanked them and went to sit by the perimeter of the room to wait for it to kick in.

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Gregory felt at one with the tide of the dance floor. The young couple who he now knew were named Snow and Sequoia had coaxed him out on the dance floor after a half hour of waiting for his special little treat to kick in. He was sandwiched between the young couple swaying to the music and he felt magnificent. He loved this young couple. He was in love with this young couple. He wished he and his ex-wife had done this together, and figured if they had he would be able to take the prefix off of ‘ex-wife.’ His eyes lazily perused the room with no particular focus but entirely new perspective. If he had felt like a member of the Society of Sunseeking Individuals with Devil May Care Attitudes before, he was fully indoctrinated now. He let the music kiss his ears with open arms now, he welcomed the sweat of the young couple and invited it to mingle with his, he didn’t even mind that he could feel Snow’s cock pressed against the small of his back and Sequoia didn’t seem to mind his hands exploring the front of her body. She turned her head towards him and whispered in his ear. The sensation of her breath against his earlobe was orgasmic. Everything was orgasmic. Cosmic. Perfect. She asked if he was feeling it and his huge eyes answered for him. She leaned back and kissed him lovingly and sensually on his chapped Virginian lips. Snow leaned forward and kissed him directly after, which he didn’t even mind as long as no one at home ever found out. They swayed to the music as one unit, rising and falling with the tide of the dance floor and allowing the waves of vacationers to crash into them with repetition.

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It started with a warmness in my head that descended the length of my body slowly and thoroughly. Next I noticed the colors. Not hallucinations, just exaggerations of the colors already in front of me. Suddenly the music was beautiful and irresistible and I stood up and walked towards the dancefloor looking for my previous partner. She was there dancing with a different young man and I tapped her on the shoulder. When she saw my eyes she smiled big, and turned around pressing her ass and hips into my pelvis. We swayed for a while and her ass felt amazing against me, like it belonged there. Her skin was the softest I had ever felt and the way she moved was equal parts aggressive, elegant, and graceful.
The rising and falling of the tides eventually landed us shoulder to shoulder with Gregory, Snow, and Sequoia. His head was resting on Sequoia’s shoulders and his back was being stroked by Snow. I made eye contact with Gregory, and our widened and pupiled eyes greeted each other warmly and intensely. I leaned into his ear and said “You are the subject of my story.” He smiled wide at me and answered “What?” in a way that signified he was interested rather than angry. “You are the subject of a story I am writing, I have been following you!” I said to him excitedly. He smiled, then laughed, and said “Well how does it end?” I laughed with him and our intense eyes locked again. I pulled his head in close and said “You never go back to Virginia! You stay here forever and you are this happy until the day you die!” He looked at me, incredibly pleased and said, “I like that! I like that ending!”