Come Fly With Me (48 page)

Alex
laughed,
"I
think
you
might
be
stuck
with
me,
I
don't
think
your
friend
can
hear
you
since
Carrie
is
whispering
in
his
ear.
Let's
be
generous
and
let
them
have
their
time."
He
gestured
toward
the
back
of
the
bar,
"How
about
some
darts?"
he
suggested.

"Oh,
it's
really
late,
and
I
have
that
early
meeting
tomorrow."

"It's
only
nine.
And
tomorrow's
a
holiday."

"I
think
Kenyon
has
an
early
meeting
also.
Right
Ken?"

She
turned
to
look
at
him
and
realized
he
was
going
to
be
no
help
getting
her
out
of
this
predicament.
She
frowned,
"I
guess
darts
it
is."

"So,
this
is
the
second
time
I've
seen
you
with
Kenyon.
Are
you
together?"

Allison
paused
and
looked
at
him,
"Yeah,
I
guess
you
could
say
that."

He
snorted
in
response.

"What's
that
supposed
to
mean?"

"It
means
you're
a
terrible
liar.
If
you
were
together
with
him,
you'd
be
clawing
Carrie's
eyes
out
by
now."

"And
you?
You
don't
mind
that
your
date
is
hanging
on
another
guy?"

"She's
not
my
date."

"She's
not?"

"No,"
he
said
as
he
handed
her
five
darts
with
green
wings.
"Ladies
first."

Allison
took
the
first
dart
in
her
hand
and
narrowly
missed
the
bull's
eye
on
her
first
try.

"Whoa,
what's
that
about?"

She
threw
the
next
four
in
rapid
succession
and
they
clustered
in
dead
center.

He
looked
at
her
incredulously,
"Do
you
do
this
often?"

She
shrugged,
"When
I
was
a
kid,
I
would
sometimes
get
very
frustrated
with
my
teachers
and
some
of
the
kids
in
my
class.
My
grandmother
bought
me
a
dart
board
for
Hanukkah
one
year,
and
I
found
it
really
helped
with
my
stress
if
I
visualized
someone's
face
as
the
bull's
eye."

"Which
teacher
especially
annoyed
you?"

She
thought
for
a
second.
"I
guess
I'd
have
to
say
Mrs.
Donovan,
my
fourth
grade
teacher."

"Why?"

She
waved
her
hand
at
him,
"It's
all
in
the
past,
there's
no
point
in
talking
about
it."

"It's
important
to
talk
about
the
past."

She
sighed
as
she
thought
to
herself
that
they
approached
everything
from
different
angles.
"Fine.
I
don't
remember
the
exact
reason,
but
one
time
I
decided
that
the
best
way
to
express
myself
was
to
remain
mute
and
mime
my
way
through
a
day
of
school.
I
had
even
learned
some
very
basic
sign
language
gestures,
and
with
a
note
from
my
parents
asking
permission
for
my
small
indulgence,
I
set
off
to
school."
She
smiled
as
she
remembered
the
firestorm
her
simple
act
had
set
off.
"Of
course,
the
kids
in
the
class
did
everything
in
their
power
to
goad
me
into
speaking,
but
Mrs.
Donovan
was
furious.
She
thought
it
was
disrespectful
and
had
me
hauled
into
the
principal's
office."

"Anyway,
Mrs.
Donovan
demanded
I
speak
at
once,
or
I
would
be
suspended
for
a
week.
So
naturally,
I
spoke."

"What
did
you
say?"
Alex
wondered.

"I
said
'I
hate
you
Mrs.
Donovan.'"

Alex
laughed
long
and
loud,
and
Allison
found
herself
joining
him.

"And
then
I
was
suspended
from
school."

"I
can
imagine
that
didn't
go
over
well."

"My
father
was
livid.
But
not
with
me,
oh
no.
He
was
annoyed
with
Mrs.
Donovan
and
the
small-minded
principal.
He
marched
into
the
school
the
next
day
and
told
them
that
a
real
teacher
would
know
how
to
encourage
individuality,
and
when
presented
with
a
child
who
was
experimenting
with
different
forms
of
expression,
would
be
confident
enough
to
embrace
the
action
and
not
quash
it."
She
shook
her
head
as
she
continued,
"And
then
he
rescinded
his
twenty-five
thousand
donation
toward
the
school
library."

She
remembered
how
happy
she
felt
that
her
father
had
taken
time
off
from
his
busy
schedule
to
stand
up
for
her.
Later
that
night,
she
overheard
him
as
he
smoked
his
cigar
on
the
porch
and
told
the
tale
to
his
accountant.
He
patted
himself
on
the
back
for
finding
the
twenty-five
thousand
dollar
loophole.
The
smoke
tickled
her
nose,
and
she
had
to
tiptoe
quickly
back
into
the
kitchen
before
the
sneezes
would
reveal
her
hiding
place.