Eighty and Out (7 page)

Jim was a grade higher than me, so I hadn’t seen him at school yet but hoped I’d bump into him today so I could tell him the good news.

I craned my neck to see if the guy in the center of a group of girls was him when Frankie came into my field of vision, his freckled face ugly as ever.

“Hey, Lou. How’s your sister?” He was smiling but his tone was accusatory, not conversational.

I wasn’t in the mood for his crap so I chose to ignore him.

“Tell her I’m getting a car soon, and that’s she’s welcome to go for a ride.”

That comment stopped me.

Recognition hit – and he knew that I knew.

I wanted to charge him, to go ballistic and slap him repeatedly until he begged for forgiveness. Instead I smiled back, gave him the middle finger, and then walked away.

The rest of the day I struggled to focus on school. And I didn’t even bother looking for Jim I was so angry. All I wanted to do was race home right when the bell rang so I could wring Jeannie’s neck. I couldn’t believe she had been so careless.

When I walked in, Jeannie was smiling, but once she saw me, her expression changed to concern.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Mom was nearby so I motioned for her to follow me to my room. I shut the door and sat her down.

“How much do you trust this Chuck fellow?” I asked.

“I trust him completely. Why?”

The comment proved her naivety. “Because I think he’s been telling someone about you and him. That’s why.”

She shook her head. “He wouldn’t do that. He knows we have to wait until I’m older to be seen in public together. Right now, we’re just getting to know each other. Nothing’s happened. I swear.”

“I thought you only saw him outside of work that one time?”

Jeannie scrunched her face. “Well…”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Don’t freak out, okay?” she said. “I’m in love with him. I just can’t pretend he doesn’t exist and have another girl get him because of bad timing.”

I sighed. I could understand how she felt, but was still upset. “And nothing has happened?”

Jeannie looked me in the eye. “We’ve kissed, but that’s it.”

This was going from bad to worse, but since she had leveled with me, I didn’t want to lose my cool. “Well, someone has either seen you in the car with him or he’s talked, because that idiot Frankie was spreading rumors about you today.”

Jeannie gasped. Then her forehead crinkled, the way it did right before she was going to start bawling. “He promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone,” she sniffled.

Seeing her hurting broke my heart. “Don’t cry,” I said in a soft voice. “It might not have been him. Like I said, someone might have seen you together.” I reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll fix this,” I promised.

“How?”

That was the problem. I had no idea.

“You don’t want to stop seeing him, right?” I asked.

She shook her head no.

I started biting my fingernail, trying to think. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do,” I said, locking eyes with her. “We’ll say it’s a lie. Everyone knows Frankie hates me and would do anything to cause me grief. We have to get people believing he’s just spreading gossip.” I gave her a serious stare. “But that means, going forward, you can’t go for rides in his car. If you’re going to spend time together, you’ll have to do it some other way.”

Jeannie pouted. She clearly didn’t like that part of the bargain. “But where can we go?”

“Mom and Dad won’t let you date him yet, that’s for sure. And with the car off-limits that doesn’t leave you many options. Could you go to his house?” I couldn’t believe I had just suggested that, but she looked hopeless, and it was all I could think of at the moment.

Jeannie still looked worried.

“If it’s meant to be it will be,” I said.

*****

I saw Jim at school the next day.

“Hey,” he smiled. “Did you talk to your dad?”

“I did. And he said yes. I was looking for you yesterday but got sidetracked.”

“Decided to leave me hanging again, huh?” he teased. “I’m jealous of whatever was more important than getting back to me.”

“Nothing to be jealous of,” I assured him. “Just dealing with a problem.”

He looked concerned. “Anything serious?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Hmm…well, I don’t want my girl having problems. Is there anything I can do to help?”

I hesitated. Then, as if he sensed my apprehension, he leaned closer and said, “You can trust me, Lou. If it’s a secret, I promise I won’t tell a soul.”

I wavered, then decided I would tell him since he said I was his girl. “It’s kind of a delicate matter,” I whispered, then motioned for him to follow me to the hallway corner, away from potential eavesdroppers.

“You know that moron, Frankie?” Jim nodded. “Well he’s been spreading rumors about my younger sister, Jeannie, saying she’s been riding in the car with an older boy.”

Jim smiled. “I think I can handle this for you,” he said.

“I don’t want you to beat him up. That’ll just make it worse. People will think Jeannie’s guilty, and her reputation is already in question—”

“Don’t worry. I won’t lay a finger on him. I’m going to handle it another way.”

I gave him a puzzled look. “How?”

His smile widened. “I happen to have a little secret of my own. You know Betty?”

I nodded. Who didn’t know Betty? She was the prettiest girl in school but not very nice.

“Well, Frankie has a massive crush on her. Since she’s a friend of mine, I told him I’d help him out.” I was about to speak when he said, “I know what you’re thinking. Frankie doesn’t have a chance with her. I know that. And you know that. But he doesn’t. Frankie will do anything I say to get a date with her. I can pull his strings like a puppet. Trust me.”

I’d never thought of Frankie having a human heart, much less being in love with someone. “If you say so,” I said.

“Consider it handled,” he concluded. Then he turned and went to class.

The day seemed to drag on indefinitely, and I was thankful when it was over. I was tired and couldn’t wait to get home and take a nap. On the way out, a book slipped from my stack, and as I reached down to get it, someone had already scooped it up and was handing it to me. I straightened when I saw it was Frankie.

“Hey, Lou. I just wanted to come by and apologize for what I said about your sister. Someone was spreading rumors about her, and I shouldn’t have gotten caught up in believing them.”

I couldn’t believe my ears and eyes. Frankie, right in front of me, being the very picture of contrite.

I played along. “Mistakes happen,” I said.

He was still standing there. He looked like he wasn’t sure if he’d done a good enough job of apologizing. I made eye contact.

“We’re cool,” I assured him.

That seemed to work, because his shoulders relaxed and he said, “Cool. See you around, Lou.”

Betty passed by not long after. She was giggling about something one of her friends had said, completely oblivious to the impact she’d just made in my and Jeannie’s lives. For all her crummy faults, I wanted to run up and give her a big hug. But I didn’t. Instead I went home and told Jeannie.

“Gosh. That’s great, Lou. I knew you’d fix everything.”

“It was Jim who did it,” I told her, trying to play down my involvement.

“But it happened because of you,” she said. “I owe you.”

I waved her off. “You don’t owe me anything. You’d do the same for me.”

“True.” She smiled, and I smiled too, feeling better knowing she was off the hook.

“So have you talked to him?” I asked.

“I stopped by his work on my way home and told him what was going on. He said he had never told anyone, and that maybe it was like you said. Someone had seen. Anyway, he gave me his address and asked if I could come over one day this weekend. He said his dad said it was okay. Will you cover for me? Say I’m with you?”

I knew it wasn’t a particularly good idea, but Jeannie was hard to say no to. “Sure,” I said. “No problem.”

Jim held my hand as we stood by the punchbowl, watching everyone on the dance floor. I was having a blast, but wished Bernice had agreed to come along. True to form, she didn’t change her mind even though I did my best to convince her. I scanned the room and saw Frankie dancing. Not with Betty, but with another, less attractive girl. He looked happy and had been surprisingly pleasant ever since Jim had that little discussion with him.

The song ended and Elvis Presley’s
It’s Now or Never
came on. Jim had been sipping his drink but set it down and pulled me on the dance floor. We slowly swayed back and forth as the claves clicked their hypnotic rhythm, his arms wrapped around my waist and mine around his neck. Jim fixed me with an intense gaze as the King crooned, ‘It’s now or never.’ And as the song ended, I found myself agreeing with Elvis, thinking that tomorrow would indeed be too late.

I whispered in Jim’s ear, then slipped out the gymnasium side door when the teacher wasn’t looking. I hid by the bushes, my heart hammering in my chest, both from the fear of getting caught and anticipation. A few minutes later Jim showed up, and without a moment’s hesitation pulled me close to him and began kissing me, softly at first, then more passionately, exploring my mouth with his tongue.

I was lost in the moment when I heard a branch snap. Jim and I looked up and found a boy sneaking a cigarette. When he realized we were there, he whispered, “Sorry.”

Jim turned back to me and smiled. “Where were we?”

“You were making my knees weak.”

“Oh yeah,” he said as he leaned in for another kiss.

We continued necking, and I was lost in a feeling I’d never had before, like I was flying. He started putting his hand up my blouse when the gymnasium door swung open.

“I know there are several of you out here, and I suggest you return immediately,” an elderly male voice ordered.

I groaned as the three of us hung our heads and walked inside. The boy returned to his friends, and Jim and I hit the dance floor, where we danced to a bunch of fast songs in a row. It was like I had limitless energy. I hoped the evening would never end.

The last song of the night was a slow one. Jim wrapped his arms around me, gazed into my eyes and asked, “Will you go steady with me?”

“Of course,” I answered.

I was already his, and he knew it. I was so excited, I wanted to shout his name from the rooftops. Outside, while waiting for my dad to pick me up, he turned to me. “I’ve got something for you.” He slipped a chain with his school ring hanging on it over my head and smiled.

I beamed. “I’ll never take it off.”

He looked like he was going to kiss me again, which would have been a bad idea due to the teachers standing nearby. He glanced from side to side, like he was considering it, but then my dad pulled up.

I leaned toward the open window. “Hey, Dad. I want to introduce you to my boyfriend, Jim.”

Dad parked and got out. Jim went around to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir,” Jim said.

“Likewise. My daughter speaks very highly of you.”

“I can’t think of a better compliment,” Jim said.

Jim nodded at my dad, then came over by me. “I had a great time,” he said in a tone far more formal than velvet. Then he winked.

“Me, too,” I said, giddy beyond belief and not trying to hide it.

As my dad and I drove away, I reached for Jim’s ring. This was the best night of my life, and I had never been so happy.

“What have you got there?” Dad asked.

He stopped at a red light, and I lifted the chain and showed him the ring.

“So it’s official, huh?”

A wide smile spread across my face. “Yep.”

“Why do you keep doing that?” my dad asked.

“Doing what?”

“Growing up.”

I laughed, then we pulled in front of the house. “Thanks for letting me go the dance. You’re the best dad ever.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. Jim seems like a nice guy. You should invite him to dinner soon.”

“I will,” I said, then ran to Jeannie’s room.

She was sitting on her bed doing math homework but dropped her pencil when she saw me.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“He asked me to go steady.” I showed her the ring.

“Ooh,” she cooed as she sat up and reached for it. “That’s swell.” She gave me a sidelong glance. “Anything else happen?”

I told her about the Elvis song and the kissing. She jumped up and down and shrieked with delight. I joined her, and we broke into a fit of giggles.

Mom poked her head in. “Sounds like I’m missing all the fun,” she said.

It was nice to see her smiling again.

I showed her the ring, and her smile widened as she examined it, nodding approval. “Well, I guess there is cause for celebration. This is a very big deal,” she proclaimed.

“Dad said we should have him over for dinner soon.”

“Invite him next weekend,” she suggested, then rubbed the top of my head like she did when I was a kid and left.

My mom would always see me as her child, but for the first time, I finally felt like an adult. I’d always wanted to grow up as quickly as possible so I could have control of my own life, and now I was a bit closer to my goal. The ring around my neck was proof.

I eyed Jeannie, still a little miffed she’d kissed a boy before I did. “You still need me to cover for you tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yeah. You don’t mind, do you?”

I kind of did but had gotten in over my head. And a deal was a deal. “Of course not. Just do me a favor.”

“What?”

“Don’t make me regret this.”

Jeannie looked hurt. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Don’t go any further than kissing. I don’t want to be the one that helped you out and you end up in a bad way.”

Jeannie took my hand. “I promise I won’t let you down,” she said.

The next day, we planned to meet at Bernice’s house, then walk home together so it would look like we had been out playing all day. Bernice’s mom had just made cookies, and we were looking at a magazine when I heard the doorbell ring.

“Hi. Is Lou here?” It was Jeannie’s voice.

I checked my watch, wondering why she was so early, then went to the door to meet her. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Everything,” she said, her lower lip quivering.

“Hang on. Let me just go and say goodbye to Bernice, and then we’ll head home.”

Jeannie nodded, and when I returned, I handed her a warm cookie.

“What happened?” I asked when we left.

Jeannie burst into tears. “My life is ruined,” she said.

My stomach dropped. If she were to get pregnant, my parents would kill me for playing along with her lie.

We stopped walking. Then I put my hand on her shoulder. “Tell me what happened.”

Jeannie was crying so hard it was scaring me. “He’s going to Vietnam,” she said, then began crying some more.

I put my arms around her. “I’m so sorry.”

“What if I never see him again?” she sobbed.

I didn’t want to lie to her. “That’s a possibility,” I said. “But if it’s meant to be, he’ll come back in one piece.”

Jeannie wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. “He asked me to wait for him. He said when he came back I’d be old enough to date, and then we wouldn’t have to hide.”

“And what did you say?” I asked.

“I told him I’d wait forever for him,” she said.

I took her hands in mine. “Then let’s pray he comes home.”