Georgie's Moon (12 page)

Craig stood up, too. The stupid peace sign he always wore around his neck swung as he looked Georgie straight in the eye and said, “I'll send him a thank-you note before we get word that he's been killed, too.”

Georgie grabbed the peace sign and yanked. The leather string held for a second and then snapped. Craig lost his balance when it broke. She tossed the necklace and wrapped her hands around his throat. Georgie heard people yelling. Some tried to pull her off. Craig's eyes bulged and he clawed at her hands. She hung on until Mr. Hennessy finally pulled her away.

“That's enough,” he said. “This has gone too far.”

He shoved Georgie into the nearest desk and pushed through Craig's friends. “Someone get a wet paper towel!” he called out. “Are you okay, son?”

“Yeah.” Craig rubbed his neck. A girl ran in with dripping paper towels, but Craig pushed them away. He looked embarrassed by the attention.

Mr. Hennessy turned to Georgie. “What about you? Are you all right?”

Georgie rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder. No pain.

“Sure,” she said. She thought of her survival strategy.
Second standing order completed.

She reached for her cap on the floor and dusted it off.

“Everyone sit down,” Mr. Hennessy said. “Show's over.”

The sounds of feet scuffing and desks opening brought a sense of normalcy to the room. Mr. Hennessy walked up to Georgie and caught her by the shoulders. “You could have really hurt Craig,” he said.

Georgie shrugged.

“You realize you can be expelled for starting a fight.” Mr. Hennessy stared at Georgie.

She looked away, knowing he was right.

“And you, Craig, as wrong as Georgie was, you provoked that attack. I want you to apologize.”

Craig's face was white. He kept his eyes on his desk. “I shouldn't have said that about your dad but I disagree with you both.” He looked at Georgie. “Maybe you're right. Maybe it's not a simple thing to undo. But you won't see me there if I'm drafted. I'd defect to Canada before I'd fight.”

“You'd lose your citizenship,” the boy next to Georgie said. “You couldn't come back and live here later. That's heavy, man. You'd better be sure you know what you're giving up.”

“I've already thought about it. I don't want to live in a country that's involved in a war as wrong as this one. I'll burn my draft card just like Alan Loutzenhiser and escape to Canada.”

Alan Loutzenhiser?

Georgie turned her puzzled eyes to Lisa's pale face. Lisa grabbed her books and ran from the room as the bell rang.

Georgie felt herself filling up with that bad feeling again as she thought of all the time she'd spent with Lisa. She's lied and said Alan was in Chicago. Georgie thought she would burst with anger and betrayal.

She threw open the door to the girls' restroom, where she had seen Lisa go. Lisa was standing inside, but after one look at Georgie she went straight into a stall. Georgie's chest heaved. She needed to calm down because right now she was mad enough to tear the stall door off its hinges.

Georgie splashed cold water on her face and wiped it on her sleeve. She tried to make her voice sound normal. “So your brother defected.”

Lisa slowly came out of the stall. “Yeah, I guess that's what they call it.” She raised her eyes to look at Georgie. She seemed scared.

Good,
thought Georgie.
She
should
be scared.

The blood pounded in Georgie's ears. “And you didn't see any reason to tell me that, huh?”

“Well, sure. I mean, I thought about it. I guess I was afraid you would hate me. I really like us being friends and I didn't want anything to ruin that.”

“Really? Friends?” Georgie leaned back against a sink and crossed her arms. “They sure do have a funny definition of friendship in this school. I never thought
friends
told each other lies! You said he was in
Chicago!
”

“Well, gee, Georgie.”

“‘Well, gee, Georgie,'”
Georgie said mockingly.

“Look at how you're acting now that you know,” Lisa said. “This is what I was afraid would happen.” She walked to another sink, away from Georgie, to wash her hands.

Georgie looked Lisa up and down, from her tie-dyed blue-and-yellow shirt to her blue miniskirt. Her boots hugged her calves and came up to her knees—the same kind of boots that everyone was wearing. Her clothes, so painstakingly put together and so … boring. Now everything,
everything
about Lisa made her sick.

“Tsk, tsk. Perfect little Lisa, with her color-coordinated world, telling lies.”

“Georgie, please stop.”

“‘Georgie, please stop.'”

“That's
enough
!” Lisa said.

“What are you going to do about it? Tell your Communist-loving brother? Oh, wait! How could I forget? He can't help you because he
ran away to another country!
”

“Georgie, please, I never meant for this to happen. I shouldn't have lied and I should have told you about Alan. But I've never intentionally hurt you. At least I never tried to get you into trouble like you did to me.”

“When did I get you into trouble?”

“You know, with Mr. Gordon.”

“You call that trouble? Geez, you are such a baby, Lisa. That was nothing. If you want to see trouble, you'd better watch your back.”

Lisa quickly turned away. She fumbled with the paper towel she had used to dry her hands, covered her right hand with it, and reached for the door handle. That was the last straw for Georgie. Lisa was such a loser she couldn't even make a grand exit. Georgie reached past her, grabbed the handle with her bare hand, and blasted out of the restroom.

With the strong disinfectants the janitors used, Lisa was stupid to worry about germs. At least Georgie
thought
they used strong ones. What else could be causing her eyes to well with tears?

14

That night Georgie sat on the porch as the moonlight poured over her like a soft blanket. It was the first time she'd let her guard down today. She'd been so mad at Lisa that she'd felt like a small tornado ripping through the school. With that attitude, no one had talked to her and that's exactly how she wanted it. The one time she saw Lisa, she thought Lisa would keel over from fright. It almost made Georgie laugh to think about it.

“Sugar?” Mom said through the door. “Lisa's on the phone.”

“Tell her I don't want to talk to her.”

“Georgie!” Mom said. “What happened?”

“Nothing
happened.
She's just not who I thought she was,” Georgie said. “She's not my friend.”

“Georgia, I am not going to be rude to her and neither are you. If you've got a bone to pick with Lisa, come do it yourself.”

Georgie stretched out in a relaxed position and tried to ignore her mother, but she knew Mom would outwait her. Mom could be a big old bully. Georgie finally got up and stomped inside. She grabbed the receiver and slammed it down on the cradle.

“Georgia Francine!”

“That's my name, don't—” Georgie was about to say, “Don't wear it out.” But she knew she was treading on thin ice with Mom, so she finished with, “Don't tell me if she calls again. I really won't talk to her.”

*   *   *

The next morning, Georgie found a letter that had been shoved into the vent on her locker. She pulled it out and saw “To Georgie” in Lisa's swirly handwriting. She'd drawn a little heart over the
i.
The heart was such a cutesy
Lisa
thing, it almost made Georgie gag. She didn't want to read an apology or an explanation. Georgie ripped the letter into minuscule pieces without opening it. She waited until Lisa was away from her locker and shoved all the pieces into the vent. Lisa would have a nice surprise when she opened it later.

At lunch, Georgie slid her food tray next to Angel. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Yes, I do mind,” Angel said. “I will not eat with Lisa Loutzenhiser.”

“Cool!” Georgie said. “Neither will I.”

Angel reared back and looked at Georgie. “I thought you two were best friends.”

“I'm new here. I didn't know about her brother.”

Angel sniffed and picked up her sandwich. Georgie didn't really like Angel. She acted so stuck-up, as if her sweaty gym socks smelled like rose petals. Still, she was Kathy's best friend. Georgie felt herself thinking about Kathy a lot lately. She told herself it was because they both hated Lisa, not because they'd both had someone in the war.

Georgie asked, “So how is Kathy doing?”

“As well as can be expected.” Angel let out a huge sigh and put her sandwich down as if she couldn't eat another bite, when she'd been wolfing it seconds before.

Geez. Georgie wondered if befriending Kathy was worth the effort. “Well, when is she coming back to school?”

“She'll probably be here tomorrow. She needs the support of her friends right now. Besides, it will take one or two weeks for Brian's body to be flown home for the funeral.” Angel wiped at her eyes, but Georgie didn't see any tears.

“I'm glad to hear she's coming back,” Georgie said. “Well, gotta go!” She hopped up, anxious to get away from Angel.

*   *   *

Kathy returned on Thursday. Angel and a herd of girls surrounded her everywhere she went. President Nixon didn't have that much security. Georgie finally wrote her a note.

Hi, Kathy,

I'm really sorry about your brother. I didn't know that Lisa's brother was a spineless draft dodger until the other day. She's not my friend anymore. Maybe we could talk sometime? My dad is in Vietnam.

Georgie

She passed the note to Kathy in social studies while Mr. Hennessy had his back turned. Kathy read it and gave Georgie a slight smile.

*   *   *

Saturday morning came, and Georgie made it to the Sunset Home an hour before the usual time. She was sitting across from Sophia in the recreation room, studying the white backgammon pieces, when she heard Lisa's voice in the hall.

“Hi, Emmaline.”

“Hi, buttercup.”

“Do you know where Sophia is?”

“Last I saw of her, she was headed for the rec room.”

“Thanks,” Lisa said.

Georgie moved her pieces, capturing Sophia's black one.

Camille said in her drawl, “Mmm, mmm, it does look like you've met your match, Sophia.”

“Yes, it does.” Sophia chuckled.

Camille looked up. “Well, looky here. Lisa came, after all.”

Georgie stared at the pieces.

Lisa said, “Of course I came. I always come.”

“Georgie didn't think you'd make it today,” said Camille.

Georgie sat up straight and looked at Lisa. She wanted to get Lisa's reaction to her shirt. It was her dad's green military shirt with the name “COLLINS” sewn onto it.

Lisa glanced at it and looked away.

Sophia turned from Lisa to Georgie and seemed to sense the tension. Well, how could she not? It was as thick as fog.

“Lisa, come sit beside me,” Sophia said.

Lisa slid close to Sophia and held her hand. Georgie wanted to puke. Sophia and Lisa were both such prissy bores.

“I didn't know you liked backgammon, Sophia,” Lisa said.

“Oh, I love it! And what a treat to have Georgie offer to play with me. I must confess, I was beginning to think she only came to see Aggy.” Sophia winked.

“Aggy's neat. But I want to visit you, too.” Georgie gave her fake smile.

“So, what have you two girls been up to this week?” Sophia asked.

Georgie waited to see what Lisa would say. When she didn't answer, Georgie said, “I got a letter from my dad. I thought you might like to hear it.”

“I would love to, Georgie! What a nice thing to share it with us, isn't it, Lisa?”

Lisa nodded but looked sick.

Georgie took a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it. “‘Dear Captain,'” she began.

“Wait, who's this captain?” Sophia asked.

“It's me,” Georgie said. “Ever since I was little, my dad has always given me a rank, just one below his. When he was captain, I was first lieutenant; now that he's a major, I'm captain. He says that means I'm in charge when he's away.”

“How delightful!” Sophia said. “Please read on.”

Georgie read aloud:

“Dear Captain,

“Mom told me you're not too excited about this move. I wish you'd told me when I was there. Guess you were being a good soldier and not complaining. I don't blame you, kiddo. I'm not too excited about the places they keep moving me, either. Just remember my promise. The last time we re-upped was the last time. Soon I'll be home and you'll be so tired of me and bored with living in the same spot, you'll be ready to ship me back over here.

“Don't forget your promise, Captain. You keep things running smoothly on that end, and I'll do my job here. Soon we'll be together. I'll send my love to you tonight. Don't forget to look for it.

Dad”

“Oh, dear.” Sophia sniffed into her handkerchief. “That was lovely, Georgie. Wasn't it, Lisa?”

Lisa plucked at the frayed hem of her bell bottoms and murmured, “Yes, it was.”

“What did he mean by sending you his love tonight?” Sophia said.

“It's just a little thing. Something between the two of us.” Georgie hoped her tone let them know she wouldn't answer any more questions. Some things were meant to be private.

“Well, it's a double blessing because a letter means he's safe as well as letting you hear from him,” Sophia said.

“Yeah,” Georgie said. “You can almost forget that he's in a jungle, going on missions, getting shot at every day. You can almost forget he's there to protect us, can't you, Lisa?”