Peaks and Valleys

This is my entry into the Legends' day post. I want to thank Blackrandl1958 for asking me along on this venture and for her fine job of editing this piece. Oh and Congrats Randi. I also need to thank Naoko Smith for her help on some of the content of this story. To someone special I need to say, S'agapo Moro Mou.

*

In addition to being a round heeled slut, my mother was a self-centered moron. She was 15 when she had me in 1983, so I guess I should be thankful that I didn't end up named "psyche" or "gag me with a spoon" or even "totally." It's bad enough that the stupid whore named me Rad, Rad Taylor.

My grandparents raised me from the time my mother decided she couldn't be bothered to fit me into her social calendar. Carly, my mother, would spread for any swinging dick that came along, so how I ended up an only child, I'll never know. She rarely stayed with any guy longer than three weeks, but luckily for me one of those flavors of the moment was a guy named Craig.

Craig and my mother hooked up when I was ten. He managed to settle her down to the point that my grandparents started allowing me to spend weekends with her, and were almost ready to give her custody again.

Just as it looked as if Craig might form a family out of the three of us, Mother's inner whore cropped up, he caught her in a gang-bang at Sulley's Bar and kicked her to the curb. At least she kept her whore side hidden long enough for Craig to introduce me to the love of my life.

The one summer they were together, Craig took my mother and I to Colorado. While doing the tourist bit, I fell in love with the mountains. Being from Texas, I had never seen mountains. We went hiking and Craig pointed out the different kinds of trees. He told me what the various scat piles came from, most were from deer, and he showed me how to climb the trails.

As we hiked up the trail, I lost count of how many times my mother asked how much further we were going. Finally Craig pointed to an outcropping of rocks above us and said: "We are going up there."

"Up there?" she groused.

I was enjoying the hike immensely. When we got up to the outcropping, I was dismayed to see that the trail had ended but there was more mountain that we wouldn't be climbing. I started to protest, but was immediately threatened into silence by my mother.

She and Craig spread a blanket out and began laying out a picnic lunch. As usual, once the task was complete they began making out. Traditionally, I was either sent outside to play or to my room whenever they got amorous. Craig usually suggested it as a game or adventure, "Hey sport, how about you go outside and see if you can find me twenty different types of leaves?"

Mother just usually said, "Get your ass outside and don't come back 'til I call your ass."

I learned the hard way to not come back in until I was called. One Saturday they were "playing" and I was exiled outdoors. It had started to rain so I went inside to get my rain slicker. "GET THE FUCK OUTSIDE!" punctuated by a flying ash tray to the face taught me my lesson quickly.

I sat outside in the rain while I listened to raised voices from inside. Craig came out and invited me back inside while applying a cold wash cloth to my forehead. He didn't say much to mother, but he talked at length with me about cartoons he knew I liked.

A bit later while he was in the bathroom, mother told me that if I told grandma about the incident, she probably wouldn't allow me to see Craig anymore. I didn't understand why my grandma would keep me from Craig, but I knew that adults knew things that I didn't, so I ended up telling grandma that I fell down.

So, as my mother and Craig started kissing on the picnic blanket I figured I better disappear until I was called. I could see that there wasn't much room to explore on the small outcropping; so I started climbing the rocks. As I climbed, I began to see a path upwards. As I followed it, I began to lose sight of our picnic spot, but I had not heard anyone call me back so I kept climbing.

I came out of the rocks and saw a trail similar to the one that had brought us up the hill. After walking up the path for a while I found myself at a small craggy cliff. Once again I saw a way and climbed up the rocks. When I reached the top, I realized there was no more mountain to climb.

I was in awe of the view. I could see cities off in the distance, and I could see clouds below me. I sat on the rocks and just drank it all in. I realized at that point that I wanted to climb every mountain in the world. I also realized that it was getting late and I was getting cold, so I began to make my way down the way I had come.

It was almost dark when I reached the bottom of the path that had taken me to the top. As I looked down the rocks, I could see flashlights below me. I could hear people calling my name, but I don't think they heard me when I called out that I was coming down.

I didn't get very far down before I realized that I could no longer see the way down. Before I could panic, a man in an army uniform appeared just below me. "I found him,' he said into a walkie-talkie. "Hold on kid, I'll get you down to your mom safely," he said.

In no time, he had me in a harness and we were moving steadily downward with me on his back piggy back style. His name was Lance and he talked to me all the way down about not wandering away from my parents, and how my dad was scared to death. I was enjoying the ride too much to correct him.

When we got to the trail I was amazed at the number of people there. Craig ran up and hugged me hard. He was telling me how scared they had been when I caught a glimpse of the fire in my mother's eyes. She did come over and give a perfunctory hug, I assume to put on a show for the rescue team.

We all walked down the trail for a short span to where the rescue teams had parked. I was given a sandwich, an apple, and a juice box, and a once over by an army medic. When he said I was fine we all got in the vehicles and they drove us back to Craig's truck.

That night in our motel room Craig never left me alone with my mother. The next morning we left for Austin. I don't remember my mother saying a word to me or about me until we got home and she told Craig to take me to my grandparents' house. I thanked Craig for the trip and said I was sorry for causing problems. He just smiled and reassured me that everything was fine.

The next time I saw Craig was the last. He was teary eyed and told me how much he was going to miss me. When I asked why he wasn't going to be with my mother anymore, he just told me that someday I'd understand. Later that evening, I overheard my grandpa telling my grandma that he heard about Craig walking in on my mother in a gang-bang. Grandma called him crude.

My mother never came to get me for another weekend, and I was fine with that. My grandparents never acted like I was an intrusion. They never threw things at me. I was loved, I was happy.

* * * * *

In the years that followed, the mountains were never far from my thoughts. I often day dreamed of climbing. At both the school and public libraries, I must have checked out and read every book about the mountains and mountain climbing a dozen times. When I got into middle school I knew I wanted to move to Colorado.

My grandpa didn't care much for that idea. "Colorado?" he asked. "Ah hell, all there is in Colorado is hippies, faggots, and granolas." That answer, even though I didn't fully comprehend all of his words, ended any possibility of living in Colorado before college.

I knew better than to ask my grandma about all of the words he had used. I once asked her what an "asshole" was, only to have my mouth washed out with soap. I would have to ask my friend Timmy North about "faggots". I had heard the word "hippy" on TV, and I knew that granola was something you could see in the store, so I was safe to approach grandma with those.

"Gramma, what are hippies?"

She gave me a funny look, "Have you heard this word from your grandpa?"

"Yes ma'am."

She sighed and muttered something under her breath about "impossible man" and said, "Son, your grandpa thinks any man who lets his hair grow for more than a week between haircuts is a hippy."

"Then what are granolas?"

"According to your grandpa, granolas are anyone who doesn't have their belly hanging lower than their belt."

The following week at school I asked my group of friends about faggots.

"Faggots are guys that like to look at butts," was the answer Timmy came up with. No one disagreed, so I considered myself educated.

As I entered high school I got some bad news. I had decided that I wanted to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder. While talking to my guidance counselor I learned just how much it would cost to attend CU. As I looked at the figure, I heard my grandpa's voice in my head, "Jesus jumpin' catfish, boy!! Do you think I can shit money?" I'd heard that phrase many times when asking for five or ten bucks.

The counselor told me about scholarships thus sealing the casket on my high school social life. I wasn't big enough to play sports, so I would have to earn an academic scholarship.

Some people can get straight A's without opening a book. Some can study their ass off and never get better than a C. As for myself, I had to study my ass off to get A's.

Even during the summer I would study the subjects I knew I would have during the coming school year. I had many girls try to coax me out on dates, but I knew I had to study constantly, without distractions. The only time I wasn't studying was when I would participate with the drama club as my extracurricular activity.

After four years of nose in the book solitude, I graduated as salutatorian of my senior class; the valedictorian was a girl who didn't have to open a book to ace everything. I was accepted to the University of Colorado and had earned a full ride scholarship. My grandparents tried to talk me into going to school in Texas, but I felt that after thirty-three years of raising my mother and I, they deserved to have their home to themselves. My mother didn't bother to show up at my graduation, but she did send a card that said "Good Job, kid."

In the two months after graduating, I did finally hook up with three of the girls who had chased me during high school and lost my virginity to Abigail La'Fey. I didn't party like I was making up for all the time I had spent studying, but damn close. By the end of the summer I was glad that I hadn't been able to afford to head for Boulder early.

Shortly after arriving in Boulder and getting my class schedule, I began looking into climbing clubs. After talking to members of one such club, I knew I needed to get a job so that I could buy the equipment. My roommate Gerald "Gray" Ray helped me get a job with him at a large sporting goods store that mainly catered to outdoor enthusiasts. Not only did I make some money, but I was able to buy climbing gear at a discount.

Gray also introduced me to skiing. He was on the school's ski team. I told him I was going to need lessons. He told me, "Sure bra. But I'll teach you; those instructors at the ski areas are too slow and only want to rack up lesson fees."

On the weekends that Gray didn't have a ski meet, we were on the slope. My first few runs seemed to take forever, but I guess that's to be expected when you fall down every five feet and three or four times, get so tangled up that you lose a ski.

By midafternoon, I was skiing the bunny slope without falling, and wanted to try the chairlift. By Christmas break, I was able to ski the more difficult runs with Gray. I was nowhere near as fast as he was, and I fell a lot more, but I didn't get killed. In between ski trips, I did manage to pass my freshman courses.

The climbing club only had meetings during the winter, but the following spring we started climbing. I was hooked from the first climb. The best part, for me was rappelling down a cliff face on Mt. Crestone. Gray didn't get into climbing, but he got me into river rafting. That summer we got jobs with a river raft guide. We mainly drove vans around with supplies and gear. Life moved along between climbing and rafting in the summer, to skiing in the winter.

In high school, I never dated because I needed every spare minute to study, so I spent the summer after graduation grabbing all the tail I could. When I got to college, I found a happy medium. I never had a steady girlfriend. I had several friends with benefits.

Miriam Natias was probably the closest I came to going steady. From my freshman year on, she and I got together every time she was between boyfriends. She had an apartment so finding time to be intimate wasn't hard. During the times that Mir had a steady, I would be with Allison Smith or Erica McCoy.

During the summer, I was usually too busy to be with anyone. Between climbs and work I did manage to squeeze in a date or two, but not many more. When school started in the fall, Erica was gone and Allison had found a steady. Mir was also in a relationship so I was pretty much solo until Christmas.

From Christmas my sophomore year until spring break of my junior year, I fell back into the pattern with Mir, and Naomi Delucca. That summer I saw Naomi on and off, and then up until spring break I alternated between Naomi and Andi Strauss. Then came "Bikini Ski Day."

My sophomore year for spring break we went to Galveston, and Gray got to experience the beach. It was the first time I had been home since I had left for school. During the week, I half expected my mother to make an appearance, but I guess she had better things to do.

My junior year for spring break we went to Breckenridge. We got there late Friday afternoon and hit the slopes early on Saturday. We skied all day and partied most of the night all week long. Wednesday was "Bikini Ski Day." Everyone wore swim-suits to ski in.

Gray had to spend the morning with the ski team, so I was skiing solo. The slopes were covered with bikini-clad coeds. According to my old school chum Timmy's logic, I guess I was a faggot, because at one point I was so busy leering at the barely clad asses on the girls in front of me in line for the chairlift I almost failed to notice the goddess who was in position to share a chair with me.

She was an auburn haired goddess in an electric blue bikini. She looked a lot like Deborah Messing with bigger boobs. I was so busy looking at her I almost stumbled when the chair got to me. She laughed and the lift attendant gave me a look that said "smooth move, Exlax."

As soon as I was safely on the chair, I looked over at her and said, "Well thanks for almost getting me killed."

"Me?" she asked seriously. "What did I do? You were the clumsy one."

"Well if you wouldn't have been so damn hot, I would have kept staring at the lesser beauties in front of me and been just fine."

"Lesser beauties?" She smiled brightly as she realized that she'd been called a beauty. "Well at least you're a smoother talker than you are a skier. I'm Tracy," she said extending her dainty hand.

"Rad." I said taking the offered hand.

"What's so rad about Tracy?" she asked puzzled.

"Other than the fact that she's the sexiest girl on the slopes today?" I replied with a smile, "Actually my name is Rad."

"Really? Is that your real name or a nick name?"

"It's my given name. Rad Taylor. My mom wasn't the brightest."

She giggled, "I like it. I know too many Daves and Toms. What school are you from Rad?"

"CU, baby! Home of the Buffs. And you?"

"Wyoming Cowboys, darling."

We ended up skiing together the rest of the day, and just before she and her friends left, she asked me to meet her at a bar in town at eight. I readily agreed and was rewarded with a kiss. I skied a few more times, then met up with Gray at the condo we'd rented for the week.

He told me about a party we'd been invited to, and I told him I'd try to steer the girl I'd met towards it. "I know there will be a bunch of choice females there, but if you want to BYOP, feel free," he said.

At ten 'til eight I arrived at the bar that Tracy had asked me to. I had just made it inside when I saw her and some big guy hugging like there was no tomorrow. There was definitely love there so I turned around and headed for the party that Gray had told me about.

Gray was right. There were many hot and horny girls at the party. I got hit on by a scorching brunette as soon as I was in the door. The more I talked to them, the more I realized I wanted Tracy, but it was obvious though that Tracy had other plans. As hard as I tried, I couldn't get Tracy out of my head and I couldn't get into the party, so I left and decided to hit the slopes early.

The next day I was skiing solo again because Gray and the ski team had to leave for a meet at Squaw Valley. He would be back late Saturday night and we could ski all day Sunday before heading back to Boulder. We planned on skiing out of bounds that day, since it wouldn't matter if the ski patrol took our lift passes.

The crowd that morning was sparse; I guessed many were hung over or still sleeping it off. I was waiting in the chair line and contemplating doing a little out of bounds skiing when a voice next to me said, "What happened to you last night? You never showed up?"

"I was there; I just didn't feel like being a third wheel." I said to a smirking Tracy.

"Third wheel? Why would you be a third wheel?"

"You looked pretty cozy with that big guy. I just figured I'd missed out and went to another party I knew about."

"Not that I owe you an explanation," she started.

"I never said you did," I interrupted. "We aren't going steady so you're free to do what you want, as am I."

"As I was saying," she continued in an exasperated manner, "the guy I was hugging was my cousin, Brady. He just found out that his fiancé went to Palm Springs and was trying out the football team. I was only consoling him."

"Wow that sucks,and I thought I had shit luck. Sorry I was an asshole."

"You're not that much of an asshole. I get where you are coming from. I waited for an hour for you ya know?"

"Sorry. Can I make it up to you?"

"You can ski with me today. I hate skiing alone and all of my friends are passed out."

"Hmm. Ski all day with the girl of my dreams. Seems like a no brainer."

"Girl of your dreams? Yesterday I was the hottest girl on the mountain, what changed?"

"Sparse crowd, so calling you the hottest girl on this emptyish mountain might be insulting."

"Smooth talker," she laughed.

We skied together the rest of the day. I learned that she was a business major, with a minor in accounting. She'd lived in Laramie her entire life and hadn't dated anyone since high school. I, in turn, told her about my grandparents and Texas, but I never mentioned my mother.

After the last run, we went into the lodge for a cup of hot cocoa. "Would you like to go to a party tonight, Rad?" she asked me out of the blue. We'd been talking about something mundane just minutes before.

"Sure I'd love to. Same bar?"

"No," she said. "My cousin's condo, well actually my uncle's condo, but they're in Florida. Should be a good crowd."

"Well, if you're going to be there, that's all the crowd I need." She blushed and gave me the address.

I arrived at the condo to find forty or fifty people having a grand old time. It didn't take me long to find Tracy, since she was waiting for me at the front gate. She took me around and introduced me to several of her friends, and her cousin Brady. He was already shit faced, and I expected him to be the first to pass out. I was off by one, because I hadn't seen the petite brunette binge drinking the "jungle juice" in the kitchen sink.

Tracy and I drank some beer and smoked a joint with a couple of other guys, then she asked if I wanted to go get in the hot tub. I told her that I didn't bring my swim trunks.