(Author Note: This is the thirteenth story in a series. The characters and situations were introduced in the episode:
Camp Torowa Falls 1964 - 01: A Fair To Remember
Read that episode first!) Then read episodes 2 thru 12 before reading this one.
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The family had cereal for breakfast in their motel room on Sunday morning. After breakfast Uncle Jim rented bicycles for himself and the three boys. It was legal to ride bicycles on the Wildwood boardwalk from 6 AM until 10 AM during the summer - after 10 AM only foot traffic was allowed.

Walt was anxious to get to the beach, but his father reminded him that Jerry had never been to Wildwood before. It would be nice to show Jerry around town - particularly since Uncle Jim was considering allowing the boys an opportunity to roam the boardwalk themselves at some point. If that was gonna happen, all three of them would need to know how to find their way back to the motel if they got separated from the group. Corey often wondered about this safety mania among parents. His own parents made a huge deal about safety when the Lane family started coming down to Wildwood back in 1957.

The foursome biked the entire two-mile length of the Wildwood boardwalk, south to north. Jerry was amazed by the large amusement piers that jutted hundreds of feet out into the ocean. He had seen the lights of a couple of them in the distance the night before, but he thought they looked even bigger in the daylight. Walt and Corey agreed that Hunt's Pier was their favorite.

Uncle Jim knew that the Lanes stayed in North Wildwood when they came down to the Jersey shore. He asked Corey to show them the place where his family stayed.

Corey led the group down off the boardwalk onto 19th Avenue and they slowly rode past the Malibu Motel, an older, three-story motel that lacked the huge roof sign, Jetsons ramp and colored lights of the Caribbean. But the Malibu did sport bowed balcony railings and a very nice pool - that was not horseshoe-shaped. Corey said, "This is where my family stayed for a week every summer from 1957 until 1962."

"Where did you guys stay last year?" said Jerry.

"Last year we tried going up to Cape Cod, Massachusetts the week before Becky and I got dropped off at camp."

"That's right!" said Jerry. "I remember you saying something about that when we arrived at camp last year."

"Did you like Cape Cod?" said Walt.

"I liked Cape Cod just fine," said Corey, "but Becky didn't, so we'll probably never go there again."

"Becky usually gets what she wants, does she?" said Uncle Jim.

"Oh, yeah!" said Corey. "She's a typical woman." The four guys all laughed at that one.

After the cyclists returned to the motel, it was finally time to suit up and hit the beach. The five members of their group ended up walking down to the beach with another family of four. The Schott family was from Reading, Pennsylvania, and they had been staying at the Caribbean the same week as the Eckert family for the past four years. The two families had gotten to know each other reasonably well in that time.

Corey and Jerry were introduced to Brian and Gwen Schott, their daughter Patricia - a curvaceous 15-year-old, and their son Andy - a lanky 14-year-old. The two families set up their blankets and umbrellas next to each other on the beach.

It turned out that Walt had hung around with Andy Schott during their last three summer vacations. It quickly became apparent that Andy was used to being in charge. Trouble was, Corey and Jerry quickly determined that Andy was not a person they were willing to take orders from.

Corey's initial impression of Andy was that he was similar in disposition to Arnold Hess, although he didn't seem to be nearly as stupid as Arnold. Andy was quite tall for his age, which made him look significantly older than the other boys despite being just a few months older than Walt, who was himself about a month older than Jerry. Tall or not, Corey and Jerry were soon giving Andy the cold shoulder. What should have been a relaxing morning at the beach eventually turned into a contest of wills, with Walt stuck in the middle.

Although Corey and Jerry had no use for Andy Schott, they both found themselves attracted to his older sister. But Patricia Schott made it quite clear she wasn't interested in either of them. It was hard to tell if she was reacting to their attitude towards her younger brother, or to Corey and Jerry themselves. By the end of the morning Corey felt like he was trapped in some kind of third rate soap opera.

Lunch time couldn't come fast enough for anyone involved in this farce. When at last they headed back to the motel for lunch, Uncle Jim had a little chat with the boys in their room while Aunt Claire began to prepare for lunch. The result of the conversation was that Jerry and Corey promised to try and get along with the Schotts, including Andy.

Their group ate lunch with the Schotts and three other families at the Caribbean Motel's poolside picnic area. The motel provided a large grill for making meals - the guests simply had to provide their own burgers and hot dogs. At least Andy had other kids to pester during lunch, so it wasn't all that bad.

Corey and Jerry got through the long, scorching hot afternoon on the beach without attempting to strangle Andy, but it was a near thing. The kid was relentless in his arrogance. Plus after lunch Andy unveiled his most annoying habit - constantly using phases like "I'll give it a Schott" or "It's a Schott in the dark" - all puns on his last name. After a few hours of that Jerry looked ready to vomit in disgust, and Corey didn't feel much better. But somehow they survived the afternoon.

"Andy wasn't always that bad!" protested Walt as they discussed the day's events. The boys had already showered and were lying on their bed watching television while the adults got cleaned up for dinner.

"Really?" said Jerry in a disbelieving tone of voice.

"Yeah, really!" said Walt. He was clearly uncomfortable about having to defend Andy to his friends. "Sure, he was always a little bossy - I could live with that. But all those terrible 'we call the Schotts' puns are new. Yuck!"

"Well now you have us," said Jerry. "So you don't have to hang around with Andy anymore."

"I have you guys for two more days," said Walt. "What I am supposed to do the rest of the week?"

"Hang out with Andy after we leave," said Corey.

"Oh, yeah!" said Walt. "Andy'll love that - sorry buddy, you're only good enough to hang around with after my friends from home leave for camp."

"Well, so what?" said Corey. "You said yourself that Andy has changed for the worse. Are you gonna die of loneliness in three days?"

"Besides, Walt," said Jerry, "maybe after we leave you'll have a Schott at Patricia - she seems alright."

"Maybe," said Walt, grinning at the pun. Corey was glad to see him cheering up a bit at that prospect.

After everybody was cleaned up and dressed they drove to dinner at Schumann's Restaurant. After dinner Aunt Claire wasn't feeling well, so Uncle Jim dropped the boys off near Hunt's Pier just after 8 PM. The three friends had strict instructions to be back at the motel by 11 PM. Walt and Corey introduced Jerry to some of the great rides on Hunt's Pier, like the Flyer roller coaster, the Golden Nugget mine ride, the Jungleland boat ride, the Whacky Shack, and the Pirate Ship.

They even squeezed in a round of miniature golf at Skyline Golf, an 18-hole course on the roof of the Ocean Center, a group of shops across the boardwalk from Hunt's Pier. Inevitably the boys lost track of time and despite running back to the motel, they arrived around 11:15. Aunt Claire was asleep already, so Uncle Jim refrained from yelling at them for being late. He simply ordered them to quietly get undressed and go to bed.

All in all Sunday had been exhausting, so everybody slept in on Monday morning. The boys received good news over breakfast. Instead of having to cope with the Schott family on the beach all day, an alternate activity had been planned, at least for the morning. Aunt Claire was feeling better, so all five members of the group would be taking the morning cruise down to Cape May on the Big Blue Sightseer.

They drove over to Otten's harbor around 10 AM. Corey had ridden the Big Blue Sightseer with his family several times during previous trips to Wildwood. But once again Jerry was experiencing something completely new. The Big Blue Sightseer was a World War II vintage PT Boat. The 80-foot-long vessel had been converted into an excursion boat with deck level seating for about seventy people, with a full canopy shading the seating area from the pilot house back to the fantail. If you wanted to sit out in the sun you sat up near the bow.

Needless to say, the Big Blue Sightseer was painted blue. A generally good looking boat, it had two very weird features: a giant orange seahorse figurehead at the bow, and a collection of plastic statues on top of the canopy. These statues depicted Neptune, the Roman god of the sea leading his minions: dolphins, mermaids, and other sea creatures. A lot of people liked these decorations, to be sure - in fact Corey used to like them back when he was a little kid. But now that Corey was all grown up he thought they made the boat look more than a little silly. The other major excursion boat sailing out of Wildwood, the Big Flamingo, was simply painted pink, which Corey thought was plenty silly enough.

They were taking the 10:30 AM cruise, which lasted 2 1/2 hours and went down the coast to Cape May. Corey liked Captain Stocker, the owner and operator of the Big Blue Sightseer. An experienced sailor, Captain Stocker looked to be nearly 40 years old, and always seemed like he was having a lot of fun on the cruises. Corey sometimes thought that if he ever got tired of being a jet pilot and astronaut, he might just set himself up in a resort town like Wildwood with his own excursion boat.

They all had a good time on the cruise, except for Walt, who was feeling a little seasick. The boat was rolling more than usual that day in unusually large Atlantic Ocean swells. Typically, they got to see some bottlenose dolphins, which swam and leapt just off of the bow of the Big Blue Sightseer as she cruised south about a half mile off the coast of New Jersey. Corey was amazed at how cool the breezes always were while sailing on the ocean just offshore, no matter how hot it was back on land.

It was astonishing how different Cape May looked from the water compared to Wildwood. The Cape May shoreline was dotted with large victorian mansions, many of which were operated as small hotels or bed and breakfasts. This was quite a change from the motels, boardwalk, and giant amusement piers that crowded the Wildwood shoreline.

As the Big Blue Sightseer rounded the tip of Cape May, she passed from the Atlantic Ocean into Delaware Bay. She also passed the Cape May Lighthouse and Sunset Beach, the last resting place of the Atlantus, a cargo ship with a concrete hull built near the end of World War I - when steel was in short supply.

"I can't believe that anyone was desperate enough to actually build a ship out of concrete," said Jerry as the fractured hulk of the Atlantus faded from view behind them. "Did they build that thing in Northampton?" he asked innocently.

This jest was rewarded with a laugh from the rest of the group, including Walt, who was looking a little less green around the gills now that the boat had passed into the more sheltered waters of Delaware Bay and had stopped rolling so much.

As they passed the Cape May terminal of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, Captain Stocker pointed out one of the ferry boats, approaching from out in the bay. Corey's family had made that crossing three years before. They didn't even do anything in Lewes, Delaware, at the far end of the ferry run. Corey's father simply turned the car around and got in line for the return trip.

Despite his father's weird behavior, Corey enjoyed that ferry round trip immensely. Around the middle of the 17 mile run across the mouth of Delaware Bay, the coastlines were hard to see in either direction. Corey had been able to easily imagine that they were far out at sea on a transoceanic voyage. Corey had heard plenty of sea stories from his father and Uncle Mitch, and he couldn't wait to go to sea for the first time himself.

After the cruise they ate lunch at a diner before heading back to the motel. On the trip back they heard a weather report on the car radio - afternoon thunderstorms were predicted, and confirmed by the bursts of static that punctuated the AM broadcast. Sure enough, by the time they arrived back at the Caribbean the sky was darkening and thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance.

An afternoon on the beach was no longer a possibility, although this didn't dampen the spirits of the boys as much as it might have under other circumstances. Corey was looking forward to an Andy-free day for a change.

Since it would be raining outside, going to see a movie might be a good way to kill part of the afternoon. On the way home from their Sunday morning cycling trip, the boys had noticed that Robin and the 7 Hoods was playing at Hunt's Shore Theatre up in Wildwood. Walt was not a big fan of the Rat Pack, but he grudgingly agreed to go along to see their new flick.

The boys stopped by the motel office to have a look at the local newspaper and check the movie showtimes. They ran into Patricia and Andy Schott, who were there for the same reason. Andy said that they were planning to see A Shot In The Dark, which caused Corey and Jerry to groan in disgust. But it turned out Andy wasn't trying to make a pun this time, he and Patricia really liked Peter Sellers.

Corey and Jerry liked Peter Sellers just fine, too - in Dr. Strangelove. Neither had cared much for The Pink Panther, so they had no interest in seeing a sequel to that film.

Unfortunately Walt had liked The Pink Panther, so he wanted to go along with Patricia and Andy and see A Shot In The Dark, which was playing at the Hunt's Blaker Theatre. Conveniently enough, the Blaker and Shore theatres were located in the same block, so they could easily meet again after the movies ended.

Corey had hoped that Uncle Jim and Aunt Claire would insist that he, Walt and Jerry stick together. Unfortunately they didn't mind, provided that Corey and Jerry promised to stick together, and Walt promised to stay with Patricia and Andy. Corey wasn't happy about the situation, but couldn't think of a reasonable objection.

The five teens set off together for the walk to the theatres, which were a bit more than half a mile north of the Caribbean Motel. The sky was dark and the thunder rumbled - with lightning flashing in the sky to the north, but fortunately the rain hadn't started falling by the time they reached the theatres. They set meeting places for afterwards and then Corey and Jerry bought their tickets at the Shore Theatre box office and entered the air conditioned comfort of the theatre.

"Where the hell are they?" asked Corey plaintively.

"Search me," said Jerry, as they continued to comb the arcade for any sign of Walt and the others.

The two groups had agreed to meet at Tomi John's restaurant, which was adjacent to the Shore Theatre entrance, if it was raining when the movies ended. When Jerry and Corey emerged from the Shore, the sky was still dark and there was still thunder rumbling in the distance, but it wasn't raining. In fact Jerry pointed out that the street wasn't even wet. It looked like it hadn't rained in the two-plus hours since they had entered the theatre. They checked Tomi John's anyway, but there was no sign of Walt and his friends in the small restaurant.

Next they proceeded to the fair weather meeting place - an arcade on the boardwalk by the Marine Pier. The two friends searched the arcade, which wasn't all that big, twice - but found no trace of the other three teens.

They walked back out of the arcade and looked up and down the boardwalk. There was no sign of Walt, Andy or Patricia anywhere. Corey knew it was a bad idea to split up. Trust the Schotts to make trouble for them, again.

"Is it possible that their show hasn't ended yet?" said Jerry.

"I dunno," said Corey, glancing at his watch. "Robin and the 7 Hoods ran a little over two hours, at least according to my watch. How long can A Shot In The Dark run?"

"Probably not this long," said Jerry. "It's been nearly two and half hours since we split up."

"Should we go back to the Blaker Theatre box office and ask?"

"Screw that!" said Jerry. "Look, it's not raining, and we're at the non-raining rally point. Why don't we stop worrying and just enjoy the arcade? They're bound to turn up eventually."

"Good idea!" said Corey. The two friends walked back into the arcade and started playing pinball.

Some time later Corey was deeply involved in a game of 1962 World Series, a baseball batting game by Williams that used pinball technology. Baseball simulation pinball games weren't very common, but Corey actually liked them better than standard pinball games.

Corey was trying to score a "Super Home Run", which required the player to roll the ball up a ramp and into a small hole on the back wall of the playing field. If he scored a Super Home Run, Corey would get extra innings of play on the game. He had come close on his last two attempts, but was down to his last out. Corey was about to take what could be his last swing of the game when...

"Guess who?" said Andy Schott, as he put his hands over Corey's eyes - blinding him at the crucial moment when the ball was being pitched.

Corey howled in frustration as he twisted away from the taller boy. "Damn it, Andy!" Sure enough, Andy had thrown Corey off enough that he scored the final out - Game Over. "Couldn't you see I was playing a game, you moron!"

Corey was close to popping Andy a good one when Walt stepped in between them. "Calm down, Corey," said Walt. Then he turned to Andy, "He's right, Andy. You shouldn't have done that."

"Awww, those baseball games are stupid," said Andy.

"So!" said Walt and Corey in unison. Walt continued, "Just because you don't like them doesn't mean that other people don't."

"Okay," said Andy. "I'm sorry."

"You owe me a nickel!" said Corey, still glaring at Andy.

"A whole nickel, huh?" said Andy sarcastically. "I can do better than that."

"What do you mean, Andy?" said Jerry, who had joined them after finishing his final Skee-Ball game.

Andy glanced at the arcade attendant, who had been drawn over by the raised voices and was eyeing the four boys suspiciously, and said, "Let's get out of this dump and I'll tell you."

Jerry and Corey followed Walt and Andy out of the arcade and they started walking south on the boardwalk. Corey was still grumbling to himself about Andy's stupidity. If he thought Corey would forget about Andy owing him a nickel...

"Hey, Andy!" said Jerry. "Where is your sister?"

That's a good question, Corey suddenly realized. Where was Patricia?

"She met some older friends and they went off together," said Andy.

"Weren't we supposed to stick together?" said Jerry.

"Maybe you little boys need to stay close to you mommies so they can change your diapers," said Andy. "But Patricia and I are young adults."

"My mother is dead, asshole!" said Jerry, clenching and unclenching his fists. Normally Corey would have been moving to keep Jerry from attacking, but in this case he was hoping his friend would take the big idiot's head off.

"Really?" said Andy. "Sorry!" For once it seemed that Andy was sincere. He kept apologizing and Jerry quickly calmed down.

They continued walking south, back towards the motel. Finally Corey got tired of this nonsense. He stopped walking and said, "Andy, where are we going?"

"Can't wait, huh?" said Andy.

"Can't wait for what?" said Corey, with exaggerated patience. "I just want to know where we're going."

"Which could be why he asked, 'where are we going?'," said Jerry.

Andy rolled his eyes. "What's the problem?"

"I asked you for a nickel," said Corey. "You said you had something better than that."

"So what is it?" said Jerry.

"More to the point," said Corey, "where is it?"

"Right here," said Andy. He pulled a small brown paper bag out of his back pocket.

"Okay," said Corey. "So now we're back to Jerry's question - what is it?"

"Something really good," said Walt.

"So show it to us," said Jerry.

"Not here!" said Andy, glancing around guiltily. "Follow us." Andy put the bag back into his pocket. He and Walt started walking again - they took the next ramp from the boardwalk down to a side street. Jerry and Corey followed along, moving away from the beach and the boardwalk, shooting each other 'now what?' glances and shrugging as they walked.

Corey was about to stop and complain again about Andy stalling when the big oaf turned left down an alley, followed by Walt. Corey and Jerry stopped at the end of the alley. They looked at each other, shrugged, and then followed the other boys into the alley. Corey was starting to get a bad feeling about the situation. He wondered if it was just due to his attitude towards Andy. There was nobody else in the alley, which didn't look particularly dangerous or seedy.

Finally Andy and Walt stopped, about half way to the next street, and Corey and Jerry joined them. "Okay, guys," said Jerry. "What is this big mystery item that needs to be unveiled in an alley?"

"This!" said Andy, as he whisked the bag out of his back pocket. He reached in the bag and slowly drew out... a small glass bottle about two-thirds full of amber liquid.

Jerry reached over and touched the bottle. He read the label, "Early Times... Kentucky Whisky?"

"That's what this is all about?" said Corey. "A stupid bottle of whiskey?"

"Try it!" said Andy, removing the cap and offering the bottle to Jerry.

"It really is good stuff," said Walt. "Best whiskey I ever had."

As he watched Jerry take the pint bottle from Andy and take a swig, Corey was certain that Walt had never had any whiskey, at least as far as Corey knew. Corey certainly had never had any whiskey before.

Apart from an occasional sip of beer, Corey had tried alcohol only one time before. He and his cousin Joey Hoffman had been given some rum by an older cousin at a New Year's Eve party back in 1962, when Corey and Joey had been 11-years-old. The experience left Corey coughing and spluttering. About the only good thing about the experience was that they hadn't been caught at it.

The only alcohol Corey's parents had in their house was a couple of bottles of wine they kept for special occasions. His father would have a beer or two at family picnics or occasionally when they ate out. But Corey's mother never drank, except for a glass of wine on New Year's Eve or if they had special guests over to the house.

Before he knew it Corey was standing there in a Wildwood alley holding a half-full pint bottle of Early Times Kentucky Whisky. He lifted it up to his nose and sniffed the aroma... it smelled kind of like a sweet version of his Mom's furniture wax.

"Don't snort it!" said Walt.

"I'm not!" said Corey. He started to put the lip of the bottle to his mouth, but hesitated.

"What's the matter, Lane?" said Andy. "Chicken?"

"No!" said Corey. Finally he put the bottle to his lips and took a good swig. He nearly dropped the bottle - the taste was so overwhelming that he thought he might choke. He passed the bottle to Walt and coughed a bit.

"Are you okay?" said Jerry.

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Corey, hoarsely. If he didn't know better, Corey could have sworn he had just drank some kind of cleaning fluid - his throat was burning something awful. It tasted... like sweet smoke, is the best way he could think to describe it.

As the bottle was passed around the other boys, Corey wondered why the hell anybody would willingly drink this crap - it tasted horrible. And then the bottle had come around again and Jerry handed it back to Corey. The last thing he wanted to do was drink more of this crap, but pride left him little choice. Andy would just call him a chicken again if he didn't do it. He took another swig, a bigger one this time, and amazingly it tasted a bit better.

Corey suddenly remembered the phrase "an acquired taste" and wondered if whiskey fell into that category. In any event he was suddenly feeling warmer throughout his body - not exactly a welcome feeling on a warm summer afternoon. At least with the cloudy sky it wasn't as hot as the previous day.

"Where did you get this stuff from?" said Jerry as the bottle was passed around for the third time.

"From one of Patty's friends," said Andy. He referred to his sister that way even though everyone else called her Patricia.

Corey had just handed the bottle to Walt after having taken his third big swig of whiskey. It was probably his last swig, too - the pint bottle was nearly empty.

"Alright you boys! Freeze!" said a very loud adult voice from behind Corey. He turned and saw a uniformed police officer advancing down the alley towards them.

"Cops!" said Andy. He immediately turned and sprinted down the alley in the other direction... directly into the arms of a second uniformed officer who appeared at that end of the alley. Andy tried to break away from the officer's grasp and even took a swing at him. But the man, who was more than six feet tall, quickly overpowered the boy.

Walt, Jerry and Corey stayed standing where they were when the first officer yelled 'freeze!'. Walt had been too stunned to even throw away the nearly empty whiskey bottle. He handed it to the officer, Officer Norton of the Wildwood Police Department, when asked. None of them tried to deny that they had been drinking - it would have been pointless.

The second officer, Officer Keeler, handcuffed Andy, who refused to cooperate. Soon the four boys were seated on the curb of the side street where Andy had been captured. They were guarded by Officer Norton while Officer Keeler went to get some transportation. Officer Keeler looked to be a college-aged guy. Corey thought he might be one of those temporary summer cops his father had told him the major shore resorts hired every year. Officer Norton looked like was close to forty years old. He was probably a regular year around Wildwood police officer.

Corey sat on the curb in stunned disbelief. What was the penalty for underaged drinking in Wildwood? Would they go to a juvenile detention center? If Corey ended up with a police record his chances of going to the Naval Academy were just about finished. It was the same for Jerry. Their career plans may be totally fucked already, and they were only 13-years-old. This was just great! And all for a few stupid swigs of booze that didn't even taste very good.

Soon a Wildwood police cruiser showed up to transport the four boys to headquarters. Walt, Jerry and Corey all provided their names, home addresses, local motel name, and room number to Officer Norton on request. All Andy would say was, "My name...Jose Jimenez."

So now the idiot isn't proud of his name! Corey was thinking of squealing on Andy - since the big oaf was the one who gave them the whiskey and got them into this mess in the first place. As it happened that wasn't necessary. When Officer Norton got Uncle Jim on the phone he described Andy to him. Uncle Jim was able to give Officer Norton Andy's name and his family's room number back at the Caribbean.

Great, Uncle Jim was on his way to police headquarters! How were they gonna explain this to him? Corey exchanged looks with Jerry and Walt. Neither of them seemed to be looking forward to that prospect either.

As the boys waited, Wildwood police headquarters buzzed with activity. Corey overheard some phone conversations that seemed to indicate big trouble up in neighboring Stone Harbor. Apparently the thunder and lightning lurking in the distance all afternoon was from vicious storms that were lashing the next island to the north of Wildwood. There was localized flooding in Stone Harbor and quite a bit of damage. Corey sat there and wondered about how trivial his own problems seemed sometimes compared to the bad things that happened to others. On the other hand Corey thought that a little flooding might be preferable to the immediate future he was looking at.

Within half an hour Walt, Jerry and Corey found themselves sitting in a small, windowless police station meeting room with Uncle Jim and Officer Norton. All three boys admitted drinking whiskey. Corey and Jerry couldn't tell the adults much, other than that Andy already had the whiskey on him by the time they met in the arcade after the movies were over.

Walt told them about Andy buying the whiskey from one of the older teens that Patricia Schott went off with. He didn't know the boy's name and had never seen him before. All Walt could say was that the boy was maybe 17 or 18 years old. He provided Officer Norton with the best physical description that he could.

Eventually Uncle Jim and Officer Norton stepped outside the meeting room. They were gone for several minutes, during which time the three friends didn't find anything to say to each other. Corey thought that his best friend and his cousin looked about as depressed as he felt.

At last the two men returned to the room. Officer Norton told the boys that since this was their first offense, they were being released into the custody of Uncle Jim. For his part, Uncle Jim assured Officer Norton that all three boys would be "dealt with" back at the motel.

At Uncle Jim's suggestion the boys took turns thanking Officer Norton for not pressing charges against them. They also assured Officer Norton and Uncle Jim that they would not drink whiskey again - or any other alcohol - until they turned 21 and it was legal to do so.

As they walked to the car Walt asked where his mother was. Uncle Jim told him that she was back at the motel - probably having a nervous breakdown. He also told the boys that he had neglected to bring along a paddle. For some reason he and Aunt Claire thought the boys were old enough to behave themselves for a one week vacation. It was too bad that they were wrong.

On the way back to the motel they stopped at a large gift shop and the boys were ordered to go in and buy a souvenir paddle. Corey was familiar with some of the paddles that Uncle Jim had collected through the years. In fact Corey had personally felt "The Board of Education", "Heat For the Seat", and "For the Cute Little Deer with the Bear Behind" on his own behind through the years. Now he was being forced to help pay for the next addition to Uncle Jim's collection.

The boys had been ordered to find a paddle that Uncle Jim didn't already own - Walt would be able to confirm this for them. But Uncle Jim didn't want just any old souvenir paddle. He wanted a specific souvenir from New Jersey - or Wildwood in particular.

They searched the gift shop, one of the largest in Wildwood. Corey had never really thought very much about all those souvenir paddles he had seen in gift shops all his life. As Corey examined a paddle, a standard "Heat For the Seat" model with "Wildwood, NJ." printed at the bottom, he wondered how many other kids vacationing in Wildwood had been forced to shop for a paddle that was going to be used on their own backsides as soon as they got back to the motel - and pay for it out of their own pockets?

Corey scanned the dozens of paddles on display in the store and wondered how many of them would actually be put to use, and how many would just be hung up on a wall as a joke or thrown in a drawer somewhere? How many sore bottoms would these silly painted boards cause in their lifetimes? One of them was gonna warm up at least three boy backsides that very night.

It was Jerry who found the paddle they finally chose to buy. It pictured the evilly grinning faces of two kids - a boy and a girl - who had short, devilish horns sprouting from their heads. The text on the paddle read "The Cure For Your Little Jersey Devils" at the top and "Beat the evil out of them!" beneath the picture. Down near the handle was a "Wildwood, NJ." imprint. The paddle cost $1.49, which meant that each boy had to pony up fifty cents.

The lady who rang up the sale didn't say anything, but she grinned smuggly at the three somber boys who bought nothing but a spanking paddle. As they got in the car to head back to the motel Corey wondered what happened to Andy. The cops had been talking about charging him with resisting arrest and he had been separated from the others soon after they reached the police station. Corey hoped that Andy would get the electric chair - a big Schott of electricity, so to speak.

Aunt Claire wasn't exactly having a nervous breakdown when they arrived back at the motel room just after 7 PM, but she was very upset. She already knew that the boys had been released - Uncle Jim called her from a payphone while they were buying the new paddle. So no time was wasted with explanations when they got back to the room.

The nurse in Aunt Claire took over immediately and she questioned the boys closely about how much alcohol they had consumed. She smelled their breath and looked in their eyes, and determined that they weren't too intoxicated. For Corey's part, he still felt a bit warm all over. But he wasn't even close to staggering, or any of the behavior he had seen associated with drunkeness in movies or on TV.

After the examination was over Aunt Claire and Uncle Jim took turns reading the boys the riot act. They were going on about how dangerous alcohol was. Corey blocked them out with memories of Bing Crosby and the Rat Pack singing about the evils of "Mr. Booze" at the fake temperance meeting in Robin and the 7 Hoods - it was a lot more entertaining.

Soon the lecture was over and it was time to pay the piper. The boys were ordered to drop their shorts and lie face down over the foot of their bed. Corey found himself laying across the middle of the foot of the bed, his feet still touching the floor. Walt was in a similar position on his left, and Jerry was on his right. Uncle Jim didn't waste any time...

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Walt got the first three swats from the brand new paddle on the seat of his white briefs.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Whew! Corey was always surprised at how much one of those novelty paddles could hurt.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Jerry received his first set of swats.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Walt got his second set of swats and was gasping audibly by the time the sixth swat landed.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Jesus! Corey managed to keep quiet through his second round of swats, but it was really starting to sting a lot.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Jerry also managed to stay quiet for his second set of swats.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Walt was sobbing slightly by the end of his third set of swats.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Damn it! Corey felt tears in his eyes, but he managed to avoid making noise so far. His thin Jockey briefs provided little to no protection against the burning sting of the paddle.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Jerry gasped slightly after his eighth swat hit home. But it didn't sound like he was sobbing yet.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Walt grunted after each of his next three swats. He was sobbing audibly by the end of his fourth (and Corey hoped, final) set of swats.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Corey was grunting after each swat by the end of that set. But at least he wasn't sobbing audibly. Tears were leaking from his eyes, though.

Craacckk! Craacckk! Craacckk!  Jerry grunted after his eleventh and twelfth swats too, but he wasn't sobbing yet, either.

"Alright you little brats," said Uncle Jim. "Are any of you gonna drink again before you're 21?"

All three boys gasped out apologies, and promises not to drink alcohol again before they reached their 21st birthdays.

"I ought to give you 21 whacks each to remind you of that," said Uncle Jim.

The boys made desperate, tearful pleas for mercy - even Jerry was crying at the very thought of nine more swats like those - and Uncle Jim and Aunt Claire finally decided that the boys had suffered enough.

Much to the surprise of the three freshly paddled boys, they all went out to Urie's Fish Fry for dinner that night. Aunt Claire said that there was no reason why the two adults should miss out on a good dinner just because the boys had broken the law.

As Corey had expected, Urie's Fish Fry was crowded when they arrived just after 8 PM for a relatively late dinner. Urie's was always crowded during the summer. Corey's father had seen an article somewhere that said that Urie's was one of the biggest-selling restaurants in all of the United States. This was even more surprising when you realized that it had to do the bulk of its business during the three month summer tourist season.

They had a long wait ahead of them, but standing around suited Walt, Jerry and Corey just fine. The boys were very quiet, a fact smuggly noted by Aunt Claire. None of the boys had the nerve to answer her on the topic. Corey just hoped that none of the other patrons in the restaurant could tell that he and his friends had been crying.

Shortly after 9 PM they were seated, and the seats were worth waiting for. They had a table with a great view of the Wildwood Yacht Basin. One of the actual advantages that Corey had found from being a young teenager was that waitresses didn't offer him a children's menu anymore when he ate at a restaurant. He ordered a shrimp cocktail and one of the signature dishes of Urie's Fish Fry - fried sea scallops.

Corey was glad to see that after three days and one paddling Jerry had finally settled in as an extended member of the Eckert family and was willing to order what he wanted, not simply the cheapest thing he could find on the menu. Jerry ended up splitting a stuffed mushroom appetizer with Walt and ordering the Shrimp Scampi for his entree.

Walt couldn't help chuckling after the drinks were served. "What is it, Walt?" said Aunt Claire, as she sipped her glass of white wine.

Walt chuckled again and said, "I think it's funny that you and Dad are doing what we just got paddled for doing."

Uncle Jim chuckled at that, and put down his bottle of beer. "We're adults, son."

"It's legal for us to drink, but not for you," said Aunt Claire. "Do you boys understand?" she asked seriously, looking at each boy.

"Yes, ma'am," answered each boy as Aunt Claire fixed him with a stern gaze.

"You'd better understand," said Aunt Claire, "or you'll be eating your meals standing up for a week!"

None of the three boys had anything to say to that - they all just nervously sipped their soft drinks.

Corey still wondered what all the fuss was about with alcohol. It didn't taste very good, and all it did was make you feel warm all over. Corey could put on a sweater and achieve the same effect - for a lot less money. And a lot less pain, Corey thought as he shifted his sore bottom on the hard wooden chair.

Corey was the first to wake up on Tuesday morning. The curtains were closed and little of the early morning light made it into the motel room. It was Corey's turn in the sleeping bag, so he was down on the floor. He could hear Uncle Jim and Jerry snoring. Corey's backside wasn't really sore anymore, but it felt kind of numb like it often did after a paddling.

This was going to be Jerry and Corey's final day vacationing with the Eckerts. Corey's parents would be picking them up the next morning for the trip up to Camp Torowa Falls.

Corey thought about the "discussion" that Uncle Jim had with Mr. Schott after they got back from dinner on Monday night. Apparently Andy had blamed the whole incident on Walt, whom he claimed purchased the whiskey. Uncle Jim didn't believe that any more than the police had. The conversation got a bit heated, but it stopped short of violence.

Andy had been charged with underaged consumption of alcohol, which apparenty carried a $50 fine for a first offense, and was payable by mail like a parking ticket. The police chose not to charge Andy with resisting arrest, or assaulting a police officer. But in return for the police not pressing those charges the Schotts agreed to keep Andy out of Wildwood for the rest of their vacation. Since the boardwalk and all the amusement piers were up in Wildwood, this was a serious punishment for 14-year-old Andy. At least Corey and Jerry wouldn't have to deal with Andy if they went up on the boardwalk during their final day in Wildwood.

Eventually the rest of the family got up and they had breakfast. It was a quiet group that walked down Buttercup Road to the beach that morning. But the boys cheered up as the morning passed. The day turned into another scorcher. The Schott family did not appear on the beach Tuesday morning. There were plenty of other kids on the beach, but Walt, Jerry and Corey kept mostly to themselves.

The family ate lunch at the Caribbean's poolside picnic area again. The absence of the Schott family - who apparently had checked out of the Caribbean and left town - was a popular topic of discussion. Some people had heard the argument between Mr. Schott and Uncle Jim the previous night, which took place on the second floor balcony. Uncle Jim refused to provide any additional details - Aunt Claire and the boys followed his lead.

That afternoon was spent back on the beach. Jerry and Corey had made great progress on their tans, and would be unlikely to sunburn at all up in the mountains during their month at camp. The boys discussed going up on the boardwalk again that evening, but all three of them were running low on cash. This was a particular problem for Walt, since he had three more whole days in Wildwood ahead of him.

Late on Tuesday afternoon Corey was laying on a blanket sunning himself when he heard a strangely familiar voice say, "Hey, kid! Smile!"

Corey looked up to see a man standing behind him, and he could hear a camera operating. The sun was behind the man and it was hard to see who it was, although the shape looked somehow familiar. Corey put up his hand to shade his eyes from the sun and saw... "Dad?"

Sure enough, Corey's father was standing there, taking his son's picture with the new Topcon 35mm single-lens reflex camera Corey's mother gave him for his birthday. "Good to see you, son!" said Dad. "Have you been behaving?"

"Well, sort of," said Corey. His father would find out about the arrest soon enough - no sense in putting off the inevitable.

It turned out that Uncle Jim and Aunt Claire had known all along that Corey's parents would arrive in Wildwood on Tuesday afternoon. Of course Jerry and Corey got another good talking to by Corey's parents over the whiskey incident. But that was all the additional punishment they received. Corey's parents had a look at Uncle Jim's new "Jersey Devils" paddle and thought it was pretty funny. The boys kept their opinions to themselves.

The party of seven went to dinner on Tuesday night at Ed Zaberer's Restaurant in North Wildwood, a fancy place that was a favorite of both Corey's and Walt's parents.

After they returned from dinner, Jerry and Corey packed up all their stuff. They were moving to the motel where Corey's parents had a room so they could leave for camp early the next morning.

Eventually it was time for Corey and Jerry to say goodbye to the Eckerts, and they thanked their hosts for their excellent hospitality - all without too much prodding from Corey's parents.

They spent Tuesday night at the Oceanview Motel, on the beach in Wildwood Crest about 16 blocks south of the Caribbean. It was a brand new motel, and Jerry agreed with Corey that it was much nicer than the Caribbean. For one thing, it was right on the beach. Unfortunately they would be there less than 12 hours.

In fact Corey's Dad set his travel alarm for 5:30 AM on Wednesday. The family quickly packed, ate breakfast at a local diner, and got on the road. By 7 AM they were on the Garden State Parkway driving north towards New York, the Adirondack Mountains and Camp Torowa Falls.