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26. The Trolley
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>26. The Trolley The University of Texas faculty held its year-end picnic at Deep Eddy Recreation Area on the Colorado River. Camille was reluctant to take four-month-old Alexander out in the mid-May sun, but Brooks insisted they make an appearance and promised they would only stay for an hour or two. Camille nursed Alexander before they left and tried on her bathing suit. It lay uncomfortably snug across her bust and still swollen belly, and with one glance in the mirror, she moaned and searched through the wardrobe for a soft cotton sundress. They arrived in the middle of the afternoon,after the festivities were well underway. Dean Merriweather greeted them and directed them to the buffet,where they made plates of barbeque brisket, pinto beans, and banana pudding. Brooks found Thomas and Eveline and lay a blanket on the ground next to theirs beneath a canopy of oaks. They ate as they watched bathers take turns splashing into the water from a giant slide. Most of the faculty members and their spouses stood lined up on the stairs waiting to take their turn on a platform built at least thirty feet high.“Look!” Brooks pointed as two women in black swim skirts soared out over the river screaming. He laughed as they both let go of the overhead cable at the same time and smacked the surface of the river, splashing water high into the air. 222 Andrew jumped up and down, clapping his hands as the men on the platform pulled on the trolley wires to bring the cable handles back. “That’s too deep for you,” Camille told him as she turned to Brooks. “Could you take him on the slide?” Brooks watched the bathers sliding into the water on the other side of the trolley platform. “It looks pretty deep; I don’t think I could keep him from going under. I’ll take him for a splash over here where it’s shallower as soon as I finish my beer.”Thomas and Eveline left to try the trolley line as Brooks finished his Pabst and walked Andrew down the grassy slope to play in the water. One by one, all the professors came over to admire the new baby as he slept in his carriage . Camille spent the next half hour smiling as acquaintances peeked under the carriage hood, cooing and gurgling how adorable he was. She taxed herself thinking up various small talk topics and watching Andrew out of the corner of her eye.When Andrew grew hot and tired, Brooks brought him back. “I’m going to get another Blue Ribbon,” he announced.“Do you want anything?” “Maybe some more lemonade for Andrew,” she replied as she toweled her son down and settled him next to her in the shade. Eveline and Thomas finally reached the front of the line for the trolley run.Camille smiled as Eveline turned back toward the ladder.Thomas put an arm around her and led her back to the edge of the platform. Camille pointed them out to Andrew, who grunted a belly laugh.They each took hold of a handle and swung out on the line over the shimmering turquoise river. Eveline curled herself up underThomas’free arm until he yelled,“Let go!”They dropped twenty feet into the middle of the river. Andrew watched closely until their heads popped 223 The Trolley [34.228.188.171] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 15:07 GMT) up between the waves they had made, and he started chuckling again. Camille stroked his dark hair as Thomas and Eveline hurried up the slope for their towels. “What are you giggling about?”Thomas tickled Andrew. “He watched your maiden flight,” Camille replied. “He can’t stop laughing.Was it fun?” “It was terrifying!” Eveline moaned as she unfolded her towel and dried herself off. “I’ll never let him talk me into anything like that again.” Brooks returned with the drinks, and Thomas hurried him off for a turn on the trolley line. Eveline wrapped her towel around herself, sat down, and winced as she caught sight of Alicia Merriweather trouncing over.“I’ve heard how precious your son is,” Alicia giggled. “I had to see for myself.” She peered into the carriage at the sleeping baby and plopped herself down on the blanket. “I can’t wait to have a baby,” she exclaimed,“but Oscar wants to wait another year or so.” Eveline turned her...