Primal - By D.A. Serra Page 0,15

if he is out in the backyard, there is a speaker. When there is no music playing he is constantly looking around the room as though he’s lost something, and much to the misfortune of those around him if the music is turned off, he sings.

Business is good, but not too good as Newt says happily. Newt sees work as something one does in-between parties, something that pays for one’s life, but not something that is necessarily interesting. He could have been in the business of making dog treats and it would be exactly the same. As long as he is working with his buddies, he is okay with working. He prefers a nice easy pace and doesn’t like it when they get too busy. Scottie is a tech junky and loves the equipment, the more complicated the better. He shows up wide-eyed and excited at every tech convention within 500 miles. He races back to the store after each event like a teenager with a list of sound equipment they have to have. Newt keeps him in line economically. Hank just wants the music in every hour of his day. They have a comfortable partnership.

“Hank, you’re singing again,” Scottie complains.

“Am I?’

“A dismal rendition of Wild Thing,” Newt adds as he lifts a soundboard onto the countertop.

“I rock and you know it.”

“There’s a reason why Mrs. Kravitz in the seventh grade put you basically under the bleachers for the Spring Show.”

“Hey, don’t talk trash about my glory days!”

It was Alison who suggested the name for the business. It is an inside joke. Hank liked Pump Up The Volume for the obvious reasons. Scottie, Newt and Alison liked it because whenever you’re around Hank you need to pump up the volume to drown out his singing.

Lake Superior suddenly rears up like a spooked horse. The speedboat pitches left and slaps back down on the water.

Hank keeps singing, “Big wheel keep on turning. Proud Mary keep on burning.”

“Dad, so uncool.”

“Uncool?”

“Completely.”

“Oh, yeah?” He stands and starts to rap T.Pain, “I’m on a boat. Hey ma, if you could see me now…” Jimmy laughs as Hank continues and adds ghetto gestures, “Arms spread wide on the starboard bow. Gonna fly this boat to the moon somehow.”

The boat shoots off a crest and out of the water, suspended, and then, smack down hard. Hank hits the deck and grins sheepishly flat on his ass. The captain rolls his eyes and tries to keep his grin small. Alison bites her tongue hard. She scrunches her face, as she tastes a drop of blood. In only a few seconds, the water conditions on the lake have worsened dramatically. The boat begins to feel even smaller to her. She looks out at the expanse of water; the lake has no end whatsoever. It is so vast that it looks no different from the ocean, except the ocean hasn’t ever looked this angry to her. The water is not a comforting azure with foaming whipped cream dollops, but an icky truculent green. She knows there will be no soft sand between her toes, no pedicures, or pleasing rum drinks in her immediate future. She notices Hank’s expression. He is so engaged, so happy.

Up and down. Side to side. The boat rocks, and tosses, and shimmies. In her seat, Alison sways back and forth. Her stomach churns and the skin on her hands turn bluish. She sinks down in the seat. There is no relief from the pounding of the boat on the waves as the wind picks up. Pregnant clouds, bulbous and ash colored, press down on them. The captain eyes the sky, and then jams down the throttle, jacking up the power and racing to get to the camp before the deluge. Alison can’t imagine why it matters to hurry, as she is already wet to the bone. She does not know about the unforgiving fury of this lake during a storm. The captain knows it well and this is why he is pushing the boat’s engine to its limit. She glances at her husband and son. They are in the same boat, at the same moment, experiencing the exact same thing and they look energized. I’m such a fuddy duddy, she thinks, dismayed.

Jimmy enjoys the tossing from crest to trough and watching him reminds Hank of when he used to toss his son up in the air and catch him. Was it so long ago when he was that small? They all grab the rail as they