Map

I am 18 a senior in HS
Asleep on the upper porch
Hammock on a warm May
Night when I awake to five
Men my age standing around
Me and in my inside bedroom
Staring at a large map of Europe
I painted on plywood 8’x6’.
One is the boyfriend of a girl
I have studied with all are Hispanic.
My family is a thousand miles away,
I am alone in the house and they
Tell me I am to go riding with them.
They ask who painted the map and
I explain I did for a game on WW2.
We cruise around stealing gasoline
With a tube from a parked car and
I get gas in my mouth but learn then
Stop at Almos dam at 3 am and go
Down the stairs in a tower to walk
Behind the dam to an isolated spot
In the trees, I have never met any of
Them before but am relaxed or they
Would judge me guilty of something
With the boyfriend’s girl, he looks at
My face then we trudge back to the
Car and they let me off by my dark
House telling me they like my artwork
On the map’s details of mountains,
Rivers, cities, marshes and railnet
Then they drive off into the night.
I go back upstairs to my hammock
Musing that the girl kept her secrets
For which I am thankful and look
Forward to studying with her
As much as possible as
She is a keen student
And apparently an
Accomplished
Liar though
I risk an
Angry
Boyfriend
If she slips up
In her story
Which is
Not
Likely.
I never see
My nightrider
Guests again but
Cannot resist
Tempting
Fate as
She is
18.