In his never-ending and entirely selfless pursuit toward improvements to life at the Refuge, Reno had once again created a gang. The first gang, the IBMs might have gotten a bit away from him, what with two women now members, but hey, what could go wrong with a couple of nights a week spent at pick-up basketball?

The first night, the 'inaugural' night, as he liked to think of it, he'd had a pretty good turn out. Of course those on duty couldn't attend, but maybe the next night, Thursday, some of them might be free to show up.

First things first he thought, separating out the boys and the girls, and, oh the giant. Kalket was grinning, from the stratosphere of his 9 foot tallness. Of course he didn't have a clue how to play basketball, but hey, they could just plant him at the foul line and get the ball to him.

Anyway, the ladies who'd shown were Melly, Irisa, Natha, Murgie and Minnie both, since the dinner was being served and they could let someone else worry about that, Tobie, looking cute enough to eat, and the new gal, Daisy. Reno ran his eyes across them. Natha was the tallest, and no doubt the most athletic, well, if you thought basketball was about knocking your opponents silly, anyway.

The guys were a bit more worrisome, even more so than Kalket. Cassidy was there, no doubt far more interested in guarding Irisa than in where the hell the ball might be, Tommy, who might be okay if he could get his eyes up off the ground, Jordon, who was busily eying Natha in her short shorts and tank top, Paul, who was eyeing Cassidy for some strange reason, Laz who looked like he was here just to get a few laughs, and surprisingly Trevor. Well, maybe not so surprisingly given his drinking night out a few evenings ago.

8 guys, six gals. Hmmm. He handed out tickets and then told everyone with even numbers fall off to one side, and the odds to the other.

"Okay, Kalket's on my team!" Reno chortled. "No he didn't fix it. Sort of."

There was a series of groans.

"Okay, okay. The usual rules apply. Blocking, no knocking. 15 minute periods, and our referee is.." he paused for dramatic effect, "Chance, who agreed to make the ultimate sacrifice and ref rather than play tonight. The time-keeper and  arbiter for all disputes -  Liam!"

Reno passed out shirts they'd ginned up white for one team and blue for the other. A shame to hide Natha under it, but well, you had to know who was on your team.

Chance stepped up then, and blew a whistle. "Okay, assign your people to a position, and let's play ball!"

A couple of minutes later they took the floor, Reno and Natha facing each other for the tip off.  Chance blew the whistle, tossed the ball in the air and Natha leaped and sent it beyond Reno to Melly who caught it and started dribbling in the direction of the wrong basket.  Reno saw her coming.  "Here," he yelled, "pass it here."

"Stop cheating!" Murgie yelled. "Here, Melly, to me!"

Melly, enjoying the exhilaration, finally passed it to Paul, who flew past them all and made a mad run toward the right goal. He pulled up when he ran into Trevor, who almost stole the ball off of him, so he did an underhanded pass to Daisy. Ooops.

Paul hid behind Kalket and Daisy ran the ball back the other way.  Tommy, who'd been more entranced with her jiggling rather than dribbling, belatedly started towards her, waving his arms madly and trying to block her shot.  She jumped and lofted the ball towards the basket only to have it batted off course by Laz executing a flying jump across her field of play.  The ball flew back down the court and was picked up by Jordon.  Daisy grinned at Tommy, "Like it?"  He flushed and fled.

Jordon passed to Minnie who began working her way up the court systematically. Paul, attempting to make up for his earlier messed up pass, made a dive to knock the ball out of Minnie's control. Trevor was there to get it back, but Laz came up behind him stealing it away, and lofting it to Cassidy.  Irisa,  seeing this, ran over to block him and the two of them ended up on the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, with everyone booing, and yelling "foul!" and Chance blowing on his whistle.

Cassidy stole a kiss and then, Irisa glaring at him trotted to the foul line and sank his free shot.  "Thanks," he told her as they moved to the side for Daisy to bring the ball back in.  Minnie caught it and passed it to Trevor who began moving it down court towards Kalket.  He passed it to Kal.  Kal caught it an sank one from the three point line.  As they headed back to center court Reno heard Laz hiss, "Next game we get him."  The score was one to three.  Reno smirked.

Tommy got the ball to throw in after the score. He stood outside the line and regarded Daisy who was blocking him. She was dancing around and jiggling again.

"Mind on the ball!" Natha yelled.

"Spoil sport," Jordon yelled back.

That upset Tommy so much he dropped the ball which landed inside the playing field and Daisy went for it. Tommy, out of sheer self defense, got between her and the ball, letting Melly get her hands on it this time paying attention to Paul's directions and heading toward the right goal.

Melly headed in the right direction this time, evading Irisa and Trevor before running afoul of Reno.  She was weaving back and forth trying to fake him out and pass the ball to Murgie waiting just behind him when Reno leaned in peering closely at her chest.  She looked down, "What...?" and Reno tipped the ball out of her hands to Minnie who grinned and ran it down the court.

She shot and the basket was blocked by Paul.  They collided as they came down and Paul found himself on the floor, Minnie on top of him.  "Hi, sweetheart," he said with a wink.  Wanna compare the firing action on our Uzi's later?"

Chance was blowing the whistle so Paul wasn't sure what she said in return but he was hopeful. At least she hadn't slugged him.

Jump ball as set up in center court. Kalket against Cassidy.  Kal smiled down at Cassidy. Cassidy growled back. Chance threw the ball up and Cassidy leaped upward for all he was worth. Kalket just stood there and tapped the ball over Cassidy's head straight to Irisa. She and Daisy began passing the ball back and forth as they worked their way systematically down the court, with Jordon, Trevor and Reno, blocking the others effectively from getting to them.

Natha ran upcourt and hooked around them, suddenly blocking the lane under the basket.  As Irisa passed to Diasy Natha stole the ball and Passed all the way down court to Laz who lobed it in for two points.

The Jump ball went smoothly and Jordon got the ball, moving swiftly around Paul and weaving past Murgie and Melly.  Natha blocked his path and he started a little two step with her, weaving back and forth.  "Hey, you're a good dancer.  We should go out sometime."

Natha smiled lovingly at him and whispered for him alone.  "I thought you'd never ask, handsome."

Jordon forgot the ball and grinned.  "Tomorrow?"

Natha stole the ball and yelled as she headed the other way.  "Not a chance. But thanks for asking."

Jordon woke up when Daisy smacked him on the butt. "Sucker," she called to him as she ran off in hot pursuit of Natha and the ball.

Trevor and Reno blocked Natha and she was forced to try a long shot. It hit the rim and rolled around on it, everyone groaning.  Kalket walked over and lifted the ball off and away, tossing it way down the court to a waiting Trevor.  Laz was on lookout at that end of the court and hurried over to interfere with Trev's dribbling. He then stole the ball and passed it to Tommy.

Tommy was determined to redeem himself and concentrated solely on the ball, the tip of his tongue between his lips, dribbling carefully and moving steadily in the direction of the basket.  He dodged and weaved, veered and veed and was finally at his goal.  Concentrating exclusively on his shot he bent his knees and lifted himself up, poetry in motion, ready to let go of the ball at the perfect moment.

"Would you go out with me?" a very feminine voice said in his ear. She also smelled very feminine. The ball, suddenly no longer the centre of Tommy's world went wide of the basket. While everyone else groaned he turned around to see Daisy smiling at him.  "I'll pick you up at 6 tomorrow night."  And she was off after the ball.

Tommy moaned, flushing brick red, and stared after her.  How was he gonna get outta this one?  Oh, wait....did he wanna get outta this one?  He was still puzzling over it when Reno backed up to shoot and tripped over him, sending them both to the ground and his shot wide.  "Sorry, Reno" Tommy mumbled and offered him a hand up.  "She asked me out," he said by way of explanation.

Reno grinned. "Great tactic!"

"No, I think she really meant it," Tommy replied. "How can I.. Uhm... Do I haveta go?"

"Hell yeah," Reno said as he leaped to his feet and took off after the scrum under the other goal.

Melly, running past took pity on him.  "Ask Reno to coach you."

Tommy nodded.  He had a plan.  He took off after her, stole the ball and feeling light as air, jumped, shot and scored.

Reno was twiddling his thumbs and ruing his misspent youth, not to mention his choice of jobs. Marc was off playing with dragons and he was here, at the Refuge, with not much to do since he'd been forbidden to go to Home to snoop around after the attacks at the reception. I mean, it was nice, and all that, that Marc didn't want him dead, but still... And yeah, there was Melly, the thought of whom made him smile. Still...

Reno sighed, got up and decided to go bug Cal. Maybe he'd let him work on a team, although Reno suspected that was barred to him too. Still, you didn't know until you tried.

When passing Tommy's office Reno stuck his nose in to say hey, and found Tommy with his head in his hands. Reno's antennae twitched. He executed a 90 degree turn and walked in, flopping down onto the chair opposite Tommy's desk.

"What's wrong?" Reno asked.

Tommy moaned. At least Reno thought it was a moan. It was kinda muffled.

"What!" Reno asked, exasperated.

Tommy finally looked up. "I've got a date."

"Yeah," Reno was grinning. "I heard. Daisy is so cute. You sly dog you."

Tommy groaned again.  "I don't...I mean I never really...and now she...and it's a date."  Tommy looked at him helplessly.  "How do I get outta it?"

"You don't like her?" Reno asked puzzled, wondering why any single man in his right might wouldn't want to date Daisy.

'Of course I like her!" Tommy said, indignant.  "Who wouldn't like her?" he demanded as if he thought Reno might actually know.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up hoss. So, uhm, if you like her, why do you wanna get outta it?"

Tommy blushed from his scalp to his neck, ears included.  "I, uhm, never been on a date.  I dunno know what to do on a date.  And she'll expect me to...and how do I even...and I'll be hopeless and then she'll hate me!"  he wailed.

"Wait.. wait... you've never, ever, cross your heart and hope to die, been out on a date?"

"NO!  Would I lie about something like that?"  Tommy groaned and laid his head on the desk.

"Holy shit," Reno replied reverently. "Uhm so like you need a quick primer on dating, huh?  Because you do like her, and want to go out with her, but it's just that you're nervous about this?"  Reno was obviously also guessing about the whole virgin thing. Maybe he should have a talk with Daisy?

Tommy looked at him hopefully.  "Melly said you'd coach me!  Can you?  Are there like rules and timetables and things?"

"Oh, yeah. Pretty complicated too. But I think I can distill them down to something you can put to use. Grab your notebook."

Tommy turned to a fresh page and grabbed a pen.  "Ready."

"Okay, let's see.  She invited you out so that removes a mountain of rules right there. Man, those are the worst ones, let me tell yah.  Okay, so... uhm.. She gonna pick you up or you her?"

"She's picking me up."  Then a thought occurred to him.  Tommy groaned.  "I dunno where we're going so whadda I wear?  A tie?"

"Me, I'd leave the tie off. But if you like it wear it. Just be ready to ditch it if needed. Wear like chinos or something, that can go everywhere."

"OK." Tommy made a note.  "What else?"

"Ok, next, uhm, don't douse yourself in cologne. Big mistake new dater guys make. Just, you know, the usual.'

"Got it.  Should I buy her flowers do you think?"

"No, don't think so. She asked you out, so no flowers from you.  Let's see... Be ready when she said she'll show up. She'll probably be late, but even so be ready. Oh, and last thing when you get ready, brush your teeth and don't forget to brush your tongue."

Tommy wrote it down and then made put a star next to the tongue tip.  "What else?  Who pays?"

"Wait slow down.  We gotta get you outta your house first. Even if you're ready and she is ask her if she wants to come in. Offer her a glass of wine. Have something nice on ice. Like a reisling or even just a chablis. She'll say no, more than likely but, hey, never hurts to be prepared."

Tommy looked horrified.  "Ask her in?" he squeaked.

"Well, uhm, yeah. You don't want her thinking you live in a pigsty and you're ashamed of what it looks like with dirty underwear and dirty socks all over the place."

"I don't live like that!  Why would she think that?" Tommy demanded.  "'Sides, well...Okay."  he made another note.  "I'm trusting you, here, you know that right?"

"Well, yeah, and I've giving you the hard earned wisdom I've acquired over a lifetime!" Reno replied, a bit indignant.

"Yeah!  Us IBM's we gotta stick together."  Tommy declared, hardly knowing what he'd just said.

"Uhm, right. So where was I... oh yeah.  More than likely she'll say thanks but no, although she'll probably peek around you just to see if the place is neat. It's a girl thing, okay? Don't take it personally. They've all got this idea that if they see what the place you live in looks like that it's a window on your soul or some such thing.  'K?"

"Got it.  Thanks.  So what next?"  Tommy asked, jotting another note note to get offended.

"Okay, if she's driving let her drive. Cuz, despite Cassidy's weird ways, the girl's in charge.  Cuz, trust me, you offend 'em and you're toast. So anyway.. she's gonna tell you where you're going. Cuz its her date, see?  So even if it's something you might not like all that much, like a chick flick date or something, just go along with her, cuz the important thing is, she wants to spend time with you. So what you're doing isn't all that important.

"And if she whips out her wallet to pay, let her. If she's hesitating, then pay. It's a fairly fine art, that, I know. But I like to count to five. If she's not reaching for something by then, I just say, 'Here, let me get that.'"

Tommy sketched rapidly, creating a flow chart.  Then he raised his eyes back to Reno's face.  "Okay."

"Okay, so, uhm, while on this date, try not to always talk about yourself. I know, hard not to do. But girls like it if you ask them about them. And girls talk like, 'I feel' or 'sensed' stuff. Not like us guys who'd rather talk about thinking stuff or doing stuff. So just nod and let her talk about weird girl stuff. Trust me, it's better in the end."

Tommy wrote, "be okay with weird girl stuff."  then he asked, "So I should uhm just nod and like go okay a lot?"

"Yup. And if she asks you your opinion answer, 'I don't know, what do you think?'  Man they love that!"

"Now, uhm, after the date is over, and you're on your way home, guaranteed she'll ask you if you enjoyed it. Always, always say enthusiastically, 'oh, yeah, that was great!'  'Cuz if you say otherwise, she'll think it's her and not the stuff you didn't like, see?"

Okay. But then what?  I mean, do I you know, I mean should I uhm...like kiss her something?"

"Hmmm...." Reno scratched his cheek, thinking. "It is Daisy. I'd say no, unless she leans toward you. In that case, kiss her on the forehead or the cheek. Not on the lips unless she turns her head toward you when you do go to kiss her."

Tommy was silent for minute writing furiously, needing to be sure he had the if-then-else flow right.  "Do I ask her out, after?  Will she wanna come in?"

"I always default to ask her in. If she hesitates then just say, 'maybe another time'.  As for asking her out, I usually wait until the next day and call her or see her and then maybe ask."

"'K.  How 'bout I check with you tomorrow and then decide?"  Tommy looked at Reno with open and complete trust.

"Okay, that'll work.  Listen, you're gonna have a blast. Just remember to enjoy it, okay?"

Tommy looked scared again.  "Enjoy it?  I'm supposed to enjoy it? How do I do that, with all this stuff I gotta remember?"

"Not much for the actual date," Reno said, suddenly feeling guilty.

The moment Reno left Tommy, he headed out to find Daisy. He was unhappy to learn she was on Home with Irisa at the moment.  He went and got a latte and walked back to her office to wait for her.

Sure enough Daisy popped in about 10 minutes later.

"Hey, Reno. What makes me think you're gonna tell me something I don't like?" Daisy set down a handful of newspapers and sat behind her desk. She noted down appointment changes for Irisa then looked up at Reno, who hadn't moved.

"Why don't you go stare at Melly. She likes it," Daisy suggested.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you," Reno tried.

"You are.  Haven't tossed you out the door yet."

"Uhm, it's about Tommy."

"Ah."  Daisy sat back in her chair and regarded Reno ever so evenly. It made him squirm.  "Come on, spill."

"Tommy doesn't date much."  Reno's plan was a sort of sidewise approach to the problem.

Daisy grinned. "Dunno why. He's cute. And sweet, which is more than I can say for you."

"Hey! I'm sweet, just ask Melly!"

"Hah!  She's nuts about you, so hardly a rational judge of character."

"She is?" Reno asked.  "Hey, stop distracting me."

"Okay," she agreed. "What about Tommy. You gonna tell me he has a wife and kiddies hidden away in the mountains of West Virginia?"

Reno reeled at the picture that put in his mind.

"He's a virgin," he bleated out and then slapped his hand over his mouth. Too late.

Daisy blinked.  She blinked again. "Hot damn," she breathed.

"'Xactly," Reno agreed.

"How many dates has this guy been on?"

"Uhm ..."

Daisy watched Reno squirming.  "So the answer is what, none?"

"Well, yeah, sort of."

"Like he's sort of a virgin, or like he's sorta pregnant?"

"Okay, not a single date. Ever."

Daisy suddenly giggled.

"Dammit, it isn't funny. You're gonna have to ..."

"Take his cherry," Daisy said with a grin.

"NO!"  Reno huffed.

"No?  I have to be pure and chaste?"

"Well... Dammit, Daisy, help me out here. He's a fellow IBMer!"

"Which means, darlin', you should give me just a little credit for some sense."

"Well, I just wanted you to know so if he does something weird, you won't think he's..."

"Weird?" Daisy suggested.

"You do like him, right? You aren't asking him out because.. because you'll get fun out of it?"

Daisy growled. "I do want fun out of it you lunatic. But no, I like him. He needs to get a life. I was planning on helping him get one. That's all."

"Oh," Reno said meekly. "So this wasn't a date, date."

"Well, it wasn't until like now.  Now it's gonna haveta be a date date."

Reno got up and began backing toward the door. "Uhm, text me if you need anything."

"Yeah, right. You gonna hold his hand? Get outta here, Reno, you damn perve!"

Daisy was sitting there with her head in her hands when Irisa came in whistling a happy tune.  "You okay, Daise?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm just peachy."

Tommy reviewed his notes one more time before folding them neatly and sliding them into his pants pocket. He’d gone with Reno’s advice and worn chinos and a shirt. To tie or not to tie had been a difficult decision but in the end he’d decided if he needed one he could conjure it if nothing else.

He was making sure the apartment was spotless when the bell rang. He stifled the impulse to run out the back door with effort, wiped his sweaty palms on the dish towel and then, finally, taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

Daisy was dressed in cut off jeans shorts, and a halter top. Sandals adorned her feet. She grinned up at him.  "Hi, you ready?"

Tommy nodded and tried to remember the flow chart he'd made using his notes form the advice Reno'd given him.  "Uhm, yeah.  Hi.  Uhm, sure, do you wanna come in a glass of wine or something first?"

"Nah, thanks. We gotta get signed in and stuff.  We can grab a beer there."  She let him close the door then zapped them both to the middle of a crowded field where there were a few tables set up in the grass. A rough dirt trail led off to a muddy wooded area with lots of tire makes in the mud and between the trees. Massive trucks were parked every which way nearby, some with tires that were nearly as tall as him, the trucks looking tiny comparatively speaking.

Daisy grabbed Tommy's hand and towed him forward toward one of the tables. "This is more fun than snipe hunting."

Tommy looked around, feeling like he was overdressed and on his first visit to an alien planet.  "What is?"  He looked around.  They were probably still on Earth, he concluded.  That just left overdressed.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Daisy said, just as she stepped up to the table. She slapped hands with the guy sitting there and signed in a book. She got a number and handed it to Tommy. The number was nine and it was a huge plastic thing. No there were two of them.

"Sorry," she said, returning her attention to him. "I like trucks. Mostly I like workin' on 'em but I like racin' 'em too."

"So this is, ah, truck racing we're watching?"  Tommy was still lost.

She pointed at the numbers. "We're racing. I'm driving."

Tommy gulped.  Reno hadn't covered this in his briefing, he was sure.  "Racing?" he squeaked.  "In one of those?" he asked gesturing to the trucks, horrified.  How did you even get into one without making a fool of yourself?  He didn't know how to climb tires.  It hadn't been allowed back at Wingate Elementary.

"Yeah, mine's over this way," she began walking toward a big black truck, that gleamed with chrome roll bars and runners. The tires were nearly as big as the one he'd looked at. "You're navigator. You keep an eye out for me, cuz it's easy to miss the trail once we're deep in the woods. Marks on the trees guide you, but I'll be too busy driving to see 'em well."

"Uhm, sure." Tommy promised her.  "I'll, uhm, be glad to.  I guess this means I, uhm, am gonna be in the truck?"

"Uh, yeah, no duh," Daisy replied. She lead him over to the truck and he was relieved to see her expertly produce a ladder that lead up to the driver's seat. "Get in. The passenger side door is welded shut."

Tommy nodded and swallowed, settling himself in the corner of the truck, searching frantically for the seat belt.  "This is, ah...you know...uhm, safe?"

Daisy's face took on a demonic caste as she laughed. "Of course it isn't!'  Tommy thought he'd go deaf when Daisy fired up the engine, and raced it.

Other trucks were doing the same thing and the clearing now sounded like, no worse, than any NASCAR day at the track.  Daisy took one of the big numbers he held and slapped it on the drivers side door. She motioned Tommy to do the same on his side.

She was already putting the truck in gear as he leaned out the window -oh, wait, there wasn't a window. just the opening with no glass- to slap the number on his side of the truck.

When she put it in gear he almost went flying grabbling for purchase on the truck door.

"Put your seatbelt on!" she screamed over the sound of the engine.

"It is on," he yelled back indignantly, frantically trying to tighten it.  Then he grabbed onto the seat and started praying.

The truck leapt forward, the huge tires magnifying each rock or rut they crossed, throwing Tommy around in his seat. He risked a glance over at Daisy who was sitting a bit forward over the wheel, a look of joy mixed with determination in her face. She was grinning demonically.

The other trucks were all lining up near what Tommy figured must be the start of the track - what track?  all he saw were muddy paths - They were lined up one after another.  A big guy with a stopwatch stood there, with a flag. He'd study the watch, say something to the driver then drop the flag and the truck in front would tear off, kicking up dirt, stone and grass from the back tires and engine roaring raced through the mud and the dirt down a path and then disappear into the trees.

"So, uhm, how long's the course?" he asked.  Maybe it was like just a mile or two.

"Something like 5 miles. Hard to say with so many twisty bits," she screamed back at him.  "Oh!  Here we go!"  Daisy pulled the truck up to the timekeeper and he looked in and smiled at her.

"Darlin'!  Bout time you got back here and socked it to these fellas. He good in a fight?" he asked pointing at Tommy.

"Oh yeah. Kung Fu killer. Watch out, Stan!"

Tommy started to preen then stopped, dead.  Was he going to have to fight? "Uh, hi Stan" Tommy said weakly.

"Howdy dude. You take care of that little filly. She's a keeper!"  Then he looked down at  his stopwatch. "Kay, you ready, Daisy?"

"Yup," she replied.

"Go!" he shouted dropping the flag and Daisy hit pedal to metal.

The momentum shoved Tommy back against his seat then jerked him forward, leaving him, he was sure, bruised from both.  He was about to just hold on for life when he recalled he'd been name navigator.  He looked out the window, watching the mud and gravel fly. He started scanning the trees carefully, not wanting to let her down.  He leaned out a bit and then jerked back quickly, wiping a mud clod from his forehead.   "Uhm, Daisy," he shouted above the engine.  "What did they use to mark the course?"

"Those," she shouted too busy with her hands on the wheel to point. But he saw where she whipped the truck toward, throwing him into the door painfully. There were Xs in yellow on the trees. "I gotta go with them on the driver's side!" she explained.

They bounced hard when the truck fell into a deep rut filled with water. The mud splashed up and covered the windshield so she was yanking for the wipers as she fought to get the truck up the incline and onto the first narrow trail that was barely wide enough to let the truck through.

Trees went past the window in a blur and Tommy almost screamed when another truck suddenly which racing past their front end going in another direction entirely.

"Lost!" she chortled.

"We are?" he shouted back, baffled.  Why was she glad about it?  "There's an X up ahead," he added, bracing himself for the next turn.

"No! HE is!" she explained, swerving to hit the opening, and almost scraping the passenger side door as she did so. "You go Tommy!" she shouted as they successfully navigated the turn. Then they were hurtling down an incline bouncing over tree roots and headed nose first into what looked like a mighty deep and mighty muddy river.

Go?  Go where? he wondered wildly, stifling a scream.  Was he leaving?  He wondered if she'd slow down, first, to let him out, if he asked her to.  He saw another X at the bottom of the incline.  "There, Daisy," he screeched.  "Next turn!  Coming up on your left."

"Got it!" she yelled back just as muddy water came in through the windows soaking them both. Daisy was laughing hysterically as she man-handled the truck toward the marker.  "Wooooo Hooooo!" she howled, glancing over at him, her face and hair muddy, and grinning like a maniac.

"Wooooo Hoooooo," Tommy responded gamely before pointing out the next marker.

They jounced and bounced through the forest, and through the river, it seemed to Tommy like six times, and through mud puddles and over fallen trees, and almost went over sideways on one of those, not to mention the second time they almost collided with another truck, whose driver was cursing at them using words Tommy wasn't sure he understood. He was even more surprised to hear Daisy yell right back at him, similarly.

Then as Tommy directed her to the next marker they were suddenly racing out of the trees to the clearing where other trucks were pulled up and the drivers and trucks just as muddy as they were.

"We did it!" Daisy yelled as she pulled the truck to a stop. She unhooked her seatbelt and threw herself into Tommy's arms, laughing.

Tommy caught her automatically, then froze, not knowing what to do with his hands.  He settled for patting her back, grinning madly as he realized it was over and he was still alive.  "So did we win?" he wanted to know.

"We've gotta wait to see everyone else's times but hey, I call it a win that we finished."

"So, you, like, do you do this all the time?" he asked.  Then he blushed, realizing his arms were still around her.

She pulled away, suddenly aware of it too. "Come on, let's go get a beer, we earned it!"  She opened the truck door and dropped out.

He followed her, more carefully.  He accepted the beer gratefully though, suddenly realizing he was parched.  Then he did a mental check of the flowchart.  "So uhm, what other things do you like to do?"

They took their beers and walked over to take seats on the bleachers. Other racers were coming in now, and the judges were conferring.

"Other than trucks you mean?  I like fishing, too. Give me a nice quiet trout stream in the mountains.There are some nice ones above the Refuge. Take a picnic lunch and just find a flat rock and hang out. I even take a book in case the trout aren't biting.  What about you?" she asked, her eyes the only thing not muddy, her eyes big and wide as she asked him.

"I, uhm read a lot.  I've never been fishing.  I didn't know you could at the Refuge.  Stephen won't allow hunting."  Tommy said.

"I don't much like hunting. Done it, but it's not me. Mostly I let the fish go."

"Hey y'all gather round!" the timekeeper shouted. "Results are in!"

Daisy got up and pulled Tommy up with her, dragging him by the hand until they were up near the front.

They started announcing the times and Tommy found himself gripping her hand tightly, almost as excited as she was.  "What do we get if we win?" he whispered to her.

She looked at him amused. "Does it matter?"

"Daisy Thompson and Tommy Aneas - Second!"

Daisy screeched and threw her arms around Tommy and kissed him soundly on the lips.

Tommy felt his knees buckle and his head spin.  Second?  Kissed him?  He needed to sit down.  He put his arms around Daisy instead and gave her a hug.  "That's great.  Second!"

"Next time, I swear, we'll win. I just need to take the turns faster.  Come on, let's take the truck down to the car wash and then put it up. Then I'll buy you dinner."

"Sure, but uhm, shouldn't we change first or something?" Tommy asked looking down at his clothes.

"Nah, we'll just go naked," she replied with a laugh and then slapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, oops. Sorry. Just joking.  Tell you what. We'll get pizza to go."

"Sounds good to me," Tommy said, recalling Reno's advice.  He helped her clean the truck and then put it away, trying to think of something to say.

She didn't need to hear much from him, as she was happy playing with the hose and spraying him and then when they put the truck away he had to think of something to say. Or thought he did.  They'd already picked up the pizza.

"Your place or mine?" she asked.

Tommy panicked.  Then he realized she meant for eating the pizza.  "Which ever you prefer.  I cleaned mine today." He added confidingly.

"Then it better be mine. No sense getting dried mud all over everywhere."  She popped them straight into her rooms. She plopped the pizza down and pushed Tommy down onto a chair.  "Beer?" she asked, heading toward the small refrigerator.

"Sure,"  Tommy said, putting pizza on plates.  He took it from her and then sat where she pointed, making a conscious effort to sit up straight and keep his elbows off the table.

Daisy leaned elbows on the table and and grinned at him. "I had a great time tonight. I sure hope you did too. I guess I should have warned you, huh?"

Tommy swallowed in a hurry.  "Uhm yeah, it was fun, I really enjoyed it.  Never done anything like that before," he explained.  "I'm really glad you invited me."

Daisy nodded happily as she munched on pizza and washed it down with beer.

After they'd eaten she said, "Well,  we probably should call it a night. Work in the morning. I've gotta be on Home for the morning shows. Irisa is a slave driver.  Can I walk you home? It's a gorgeous night."

"Sure," he agreed, trying to picture his flow chart again.  This was where things got complicated.  He was gonna have to be careful.  He let her proceed him out of the front door and then fell in along side her as they strolled towards his apartment.  "You know," he said suddenly, "This wasn't anything near as hard as I thought it would be."

"What wasn't hard?" she asked.

"A date." he said.  "Sounded real complicated when Reno explained it."

Daisy laughed, her dimples showing. "You know, for a smart guy, he's kinda dumb about some things.  He always makes things way more complicated than they are."

"Really?" Tommy asked hopefully, pulling out his flowchart.  "I don't have ta worry about all this stuff at the end?"

"What's that?" she asked taking it and giving it a close scrutiny. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Why?" Tommy asked, baffled.  "He was really a big help."

"Yeah, I bet he was," she huffed. Then they were at his door. "What does your flowchart say to do now?" she asked.

Tommy nodded.  "All depends on what you do." he explained to her.  "This is the complicated bit.  Do you wanna come in?"

Her eyes narrowed. "No, thanks."

Tommy suddenly felt like he was standing on a banana peel. "What wrong?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, I'm waiting to see what Reno advises."

Tommy looked at her for a moment.  "Nothing," he said, holding out his hand.  "I had a nice time.  Thanks again for asking me to go."

She took his hand and shook it. "Me too. Thanks." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and turned and walked away.

Tommy watched her go, a strange look on his face.  Then he sighed and went inside.  He had an early day tomorrow, too.

Tommy got a cup of tea and found a small table in the back of the dining room, partly hidden behind a service island and a bunch of hanging plants. He needed to think and he didn’t want to be interrupted.

Reno, he’s just discovered, had a black eye, and after some hemming and hawing had told him that Daisy had dropped by last night and given it to him. He could think of only one reason why she’d do that and he didn’t like it all. Reno’d only been trying to be a friend.

Daisy, he thought, sorting through his meager knowledge of the ways of women and girls, could talk to her girl friends about anything at all and get all the advice she wanted, but he couldn’t do the same. That just didn’t make much sense to him, any more than it made sense or was fair that it was ok to call guys boys, but not to call girls girls. Especially, now that he thought about it, when they called them boys there always seemed to be a faint touch of…well superiority, but when he called a girl a girl it just was what it was.

He stirred some milk into his tea and took a sip. The more he thought about it the less he liked the way things were as demonstrated by the do’s and don’ts of male-female interactions and the totally unfair lopsidedness of it all. He couldn’t do much about it, he knew, but still.

Still, what was he going to say to Daisy? He supposed he needed to let her know he didn’t think it was fair to hit Reno but what if she got at him then and maybe gave him a black eye. What if she didn’t want to go out with him again? That brought him to a screeching halt.

He wanted to go out with her again. He had enjoyed last night, largely because of her. It was a puzzle, and one he was still trying to solve when her voice called him from his ruminations.

She was standing there with a tray in her hands, smiling at him, saying "Morning!  Can I join you or are you hiding here so I won't?"

He blushed a rosy red and stammered a welcome.  "Uh, sure, yeah. I'm not hiding from you."

"Great!" she said slipping into the seat across from him. "I hope you enjoyed last night, cuz you were sitting here with a pretty sad little frown and I wondered if you were, uhm, mad at me."

He blushed a deeper red.  "I, uhm, had a great time Daisy.  I was just thinking, that's all."  He fiddled with his spoon for minute.  "Uhm why'd you give Reno a black eye?"

"Oh," she replied, toying with her yogurt. "I was sorry about that the minute I did it. But... I hate it that he ... It's hard to explain. I think it's mostly about my brothers who always tried to protect me, and I didn't think it was fair of him to treat you as if you needed protecting too.  I mean, I know he meant well. But still... "

Tommy nodded slowly, trying to understand what she was telling him.  "I ah, asked him for advice.  Never been on a date before.  I uh, wanted to be sure I got it right for you," he explained, drawing on the tablecloth with the spoon while sneaking looks at her.

"Oh!" she said, blushing like mad. "Then I do owe him an apology. I thought... I thought he was interfering and, uhm.."  She looked very unhappy.

"Uhm, so does this mean you don't want to go out with me again?" Tommy asked quickly, wanting to get the blow over and done with.  "I mean, I know I'm...well...I'm...not all that..." and ground to a halt.

She looked up at him her eyes wide. "Why would you think that? I really enjoyed it and I like you, so I don't think that has anything to do with it unless you're mad because I gave Reno the black eye."

Tommy beamed at her.  "Really?" he said, awed by the thought that she liked him.  "Really?"

"Do you kinda like me?  I know I'm not much like Irisa who always looks elegant and gorgeous and is a real, you know, lady. And I'm kinda a tomboy, okay, I'm a tomboy period, and all that and I don't much like wearing a dress and especially hate heels but uhm... I'm sorta fun I think."

"Of course I like you," he said indignantly.  "Why wouldn't I?  'Sides, Irisa makes me nervous."

"She does?" Daisy asked. "She's really nice. Cassidy makes her nervous."

Tommy blushed again.  Most people made him nervous unless it was a business thing for Stephen.  "Sure.  I mean I know she's nice.  It's just that she...she's ...well what you said!"

Daisy grinned.  "Do I make you nervous?  Still?"

He had to think about it for minute.  "Not so much" he finally allowed.  "I like being with you," he ventured next.

"Okay, that's good. So if I do something that makes you nervous you should tell me and I'll try not to do it again, okay?"

It was an affliction that had nothing to do with what she did, he thought.  At least not at the moment.  "Sure," he promised, before he had time to picture the conversation.

"Okay," she replied happily. "Oh, I gotta run. Irisa's got a meeting on Home, and I gotta take notes. Later!" she said and leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, before she took off in a hurry.

Tommy stared at his cold tea for several minutes, a goofy smile on his face.  Then he cleared the table and headed off to work.