Blind Squirrels (7 page)

There were few other noteworthy
characters on the bus.  Keith Burrows was worth mentioning only because he was
Max’s friend.  Keith – a senior – had bushy brown hair.  He was tall and gangly
and not very attractive; his nose was too long and pointy, and his eyes were
too close together.  He did have one thing going in his favor: he wasn’t rude
and ill-mannered like Max’s other friends.  Once, while I was sitting in the
front seat on the bus, Keith sat down beside me.  From the back of the bus came
these facetious remarks from Mason, “Keith, you’d better watch out.  You’re
messing with Max’s woman now.”

Keith only smiled at me.  It
seemed to be a smile of pity.  I hated him for it.  After the bus stopped and Keith
got off, Max came up and sat beside me.  I expected Mason to let loose again,
but no.  Max didn’t look at me or say anything.  He just sat staring straight
ahead with his arm extended out so he could hold on to the metal bar in front
of our seat.  At our stop, he let me off first and then he told me goodbye.  At
last, it seemed, I was making progress.  Slowly but surely.

Chapter 5

I took a deep breath and looked
over at Brad.  He was smiling and still very much awake.

“Do you ever go out with this
guy?”  He shook his head in wonder.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”  I
couldn’t spoil the ending.  “Are you sure you want me to go on?  This story
can’t be that interesting.”

“Well, maybe you could speed up a
little.  I liked the story about Donna.  And the short one about Keith was
okay, too.  Heck, you’re doing fine.  Let me refill our glasses and you can
continue.”

I watched Brad walk across the
room.  He paused by the front door and slipped his shoes off and then went into
the kitchen.  I hoped he wasn’t getting too comfortable.  Brad was my friend –
we could never be more than that.

“I’ll just have some ice water.” 
I decided that one of us had to keep a clear head.

“Tell me something.”  Brad’s
voice boomed out from the other room.  “How did you and that Bellanova guy ever
get together?   I mean, Max has been impeding you from relationships since high
school.  Where was he when you met Ben?”

I didn’t want to discuss Ben
Bellanova.  I’d met him during a time in my life when I thought Max was finally
out of my system.  After three years of marriage, I discovered that Max was
still flourishing in my dreams and fantasies.  Or maybe it was Ben that found
out.

“I thought you were here to learn
about my obsession with Max.  How did Ben get in here?”  Brad emerged from the
kitchen with two glasses of ice water. 

The question mark in my head must
have shown on my face.  “What?” Brad was squawking.  “Can’t I have any of your
precious water?”

“Of course.  I just thought you
wanted more wine.  And I use the term wine very loosely.”

“The bottle was empty.  Now,
about Ben...”  Boy, was Brad ever persistent.

“About Ben nothing!  We’re
talking about Max.  I’ll tell you about Ben another time.  Or I could send you
home...”  Now I’d know if my stories really interested Brad.

“No – no.  You’re right.  We’ll
save Ben for another time.  So what happened next?  I’m not sure how far – in
months or whatever – the story has reached.  Did all of this happen in the
first weeks of school?”

“No.  I’m getting somewhat close
to Christmas.  Max’s birthday was in November, and – coincidentally – so was
Johnny’s.  Right around that time, I learned what a jerk Johnny really was.”

“Hold that thought.  I just
noticed the time.”

“Is it late?”  I had almost
forgotten work the next day.

“It’s almost eleven.  I guess
this will have to wait.”  Brad seemed genuinely disappointed.

“Yeah, you should get home.”

“Nancy will have my ass if I’m
late tomorrow,” Brad said as he slipped his shoes back on.

We said goodbye at the door, and,
for a moment, I feared Brad would try to kiss me.  He didn’t.  I watched him
get into his red Bronco and drive away.  I shut the door feeling lonelier than
I had in a long time.

The next day, Olivia called me at
work and asked me to meet her for lunch.  We decided to meet at Salvatore’s, a
small Italian eatery that we both enjoyed.  When I arrived, Olivia was sitting
in our favorite booth.  She looked different somehow.  Her dark brown hair was
still in the same short style.  Like me, she was no thinner, but she wasn’t
heavier either.  Her brown skirt and starched white blouse depicted the usual
strictly business attire that her office manager job required.  Still, she was
different.

Seeing me for the first time, she
stood up and embraced me.  Even though we saw each other frequently, we still
liked to remind each other how much we cared.

“I ordered you the lasagna.  You
should be tired of it, but I know it’s the only thing on the menu that you will
eat.”  Olivia knew me.  She knew me very well.

“I guess you’re having something
full of vegetables?  Did you get me some sweet tea?” 

“No.  I mean, yes – I ordered
tea, and no, I’m having the lasagna, too.”  Her expression was mysterious.  She
was hiding something.

“So why did you call this
powwow?  You only eat out when something is up.  Did you meet someone?  Come
on, tell me.”   My curiosity had peaked.

“I’m going back to college.  I’ve
decided to get my Law Degree.  What do you think?” 

“I think you are thirty-eight
years old, and you have a great job already.  You should be looking for a
husband, not a new career.”  I gave her a stern look.

“Okay.  Now tell me what you
really think.”

I jumped up and went over and
hugged her neck.  “I’m so happy for you, Olivia.  I know you’ve wanted this for
a long time.  Are you leaving Carson & Carson?”  Carson & Carson was
the accounting firm she worked for.

“Not yet.  I still need an
income.  They are working with me.  I’m going to do some of my work at night. 
I won’t be the office manager anymore, but they aren’t cutting my pay.” 

Now I knew what was different
about Olivia.  This new direction in her life excited her.  She was moving on
to a new plane.  Olivia couldn’t afford to finish college back when I did. 
Since then, she’d often dreamed of going back for a degree.  Her dream could
finally come true.

When my tea arrived, I held the
glass up and said, “To Olivia, my friend the lawyer.”  Then I added, “Your
services will be free to your best friend, right?”

We laughed and enjoyed our meal. 
Too soon it was over.  I told Olivia to call me, and we parted ways.  I had
thoroughly enjoyed my time with my friend, and I still made it back to work on
time.

Brad was in my office.

“Nance checked out for the rest
of the day.  She’s getting a head start on the weekend.  What do you have on
tap?”  

“For the weekend or for today?”

“Both.”  

“Today I have to make those
changes to the customer file.  Everything else is open.”

“Good.  I’ll cook dinner tonight,
and we’ll continue our little talk.”  Brad’s interest was truly amazing.  What
had come over him?

“You can cook?  In the fourteen
years we’ve known each other, you’ve never mentioned cooking as one of your
strong points.”  I’d always pictured Brad as a helpless man.

“There are a few things that I
can throw together.  I was thinking of beef stroganoff.”

“Do you put sour cream in it?”

“Of course.  Without sour cream,
it’s just beef and noodles.  Might as well have Hamburger Helper.”

“Do you add the sour cream last?”

“Why all these sour cream
questions?  Yes.”  Brad was getting agitated.

“Okay.  Fix me a plate before you
add the sour cream and you’ve got a deal.  I’ll be there at seven.”

“Picky, picky.  You’d probably
like it if you tried it.”  Here we go again.  Everyone is always worrying about
my diet.

“Are you gonna force me to eat
sour cream?  If you are, I’m not coming.”  A grown woman knows what she likes.

“Whatever.  I’ll see you at
seven.  If you don’t want to bring wine, Budweiser will do.  If you think you
want to get drunk, bring your PJ’s.”  Not a chance.

That night, after the beef
stroganoff, I continued my story as Brad put away a six pack...

Chapter 6

I had a plan.  It was perfect.  I
would give Max a Christmas gift.  He’d have to say something then.  The next
step was to choose the perfect gift.  I was open for suggestions, so I decided
to tell some of my friends and get their reactions.

I told Karen about my scheme when
I reached French class.  She thought it was a terrible idea.  Karen always
tried to distract me from Max anyway.  I think she was jealous.  She didn’t
want me to have other friends, much less a boyfriend.  I disregarded her
opinion as envious prattle.

Laura listened when I told her of
my intentions.  She tried to act supportive, but her heart wasn’t in it. 
Lately, Laura had become friends with Felicia Houston – a short brunette with
big blue eyes – who was in her Algebra class.  Laura wanted the three of us to
be friends, but I didn’t know Felicia well enough to like her.  Felicia gave me
the impression that she didn’t like me, and I thought she wanted Laura all to
herself.  So far, Felicia was winning.  I didn’t really mind because I was
working on my friendships with Olivia and Aurelia.  I could accept Laura’s
lessening importance in my life.  Besides, I still had her during English. 

Laura finally told me that I
shouldn’t give Max a gift.  I disregarded her opinion as disinterest in the
subject matter.

During Biology, Alice became
excited when I told her about my idea.  She even volunteered to deliver the
gift for me.  I told her that I would think about it.  For the time being, I
was planning to deliver the gift myself.

Olivia and I talked about the
gift while we dressed out for PE.  I excitedly laid out my game plan, and Olivia
listened intently.  After I finished, she was quiet.  If she shot my plan down,
I’d know it was because she didn’t like Max.  There was no way that this was a
bad idea.

“What if he doesn’t take it? 
What will you do?”  She didn’t like Max.  She was trying to poke holes in my
strategy.  But she did have a valid point.

“I don’t know.  He has to take
it.  He wouldn’t embarrass me like that.”   Max was too kind.

“He wouldn’t?  Okay, if you’re
sure.  I don’t know him as well as you do.  It actually sounds like a great
idea to me.  Good luck.  What are you getting him?”  She liked the plan. 
Great.

We talked a little more, and I
told her I hadn’t decided what to get him.  She told me she would try to think
of something, too.

I presented my idea to Aurelia
and Dominique right before we boarded the bus, and they liked it.  I was
finally gaining the support I needed.  Still, no one had any thoughts about what
the gift should be.  Perhaps the perfect gift would present itself in time.  I
still had two weeks before Christmas vacation.

Aurelia sat with me on the bus
that afternoon.  We were near the back, and Dominique was sitting up front with
Lydia Burns.  Johnny and Max were in the backseat, and Terrance and Mason were
right behind Aurelia and me. 

Things had been quiet lately so I
wasn’t expecting any trouble that day.  The bus was just about to leave WMHS
when Johnny pushed the door open with his foot and climbed inside.  After
tripping over Larry Burton’s feet and then falling down in Erma’s lap, Johnny
made his way towards the back of the bus.  I knew something was about to
happen.

As he passed by, I could smell
the alcohol fragrance that emanated from Johnny’s body.  He sat down in the
back across from Max, and I heard the clanking sound of glass.  I glanced back
and saw that Johnny was holding a bottle of Southern Comfort.  He took a large
gulp of the honey-colored liquid and offered the bottle to Max, but Max waved
it away.  Johnny proceeded to empty the bottle as we made our way home. 

Aurelia and Dominique exited the
bus when we reached the first stop.  As I waved goodbye, I noticed that the
back of the bus had grown strangely quiet.   I was anticipating an outburst
from Mason since that seemed to be an everyday occurrence, but the subject
matter wasn’t exactly what I had expected.

“Aren’t you gonna wave goodbye to
your girlfriend, Johnny?”  Mason asked slyly.

“What?  Who?”  Johnny was
blathering like the drunken idiot he was.

“Dominique.  She just got off the
bus.  I think she’s waving at you.”

I was curious to hear Johnny’s
response.  For all I knew, Johnny might like Dominique.  She was very pretty.  I
should have realized that it was all but taboo for whites to date blacks.  It
was the South, and some things hadn’t changed in over a hundred years.  Still,
I hoped that Johnny would just tell Mason to shut up, the way Max did when Mason
had inferred that I was Max’s girlfriend.  In the end, I wished I had gotten
off the bus with my two friends.