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Subject: {ASSM} Wynter and Brinkly Pt 2 of 3 {Hoisington}
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WYNTER & BRINKLY
Part 2/3
************************************************************
This is an erotic fantasy. It is the sequel to "Wynter and Hailey." The
characters and the situation are purely imaginary, and this story
is *NOT* intended to be a guide for actual behavior. Any
similarities between this story and actual people or actual
events you should be ashamed of are purely coincidental. If it
is illegal in your part of the world to access and read erotic
fiction, or if you are underage, or if you don't like underage
sex stories, then you should stop now.
This story is copyright 2009 by Russell Hoisington. Please do
not remove the author information or make any changes to this
story. You may post freely to non-commercial (free) sites, or in
the "free" area of commercial sites. That does *not* mean that
these stories are in the public domain, nor does it mean that I
give permission for you to use them in spam advertising. I
reserve the right to determine what is "spam advertising" by *my*
definition, not yours or anyone else's.
Thank you for your consideration.
My sincerest thanks to Denny Wheeler for editing this story and
for his contributions and also to Uncle Sky, Wizard, the Night Hawk, and
Old Man Ted for their input and for keeping the characters in
character.
************************************************************
Chapter 12
Wynter sat on the family room couch between Sisters Cinnamon and
Suzie, watching Mother insert the DVD into the player. She was telling
Suzie about PE class when Sister Hailey suddenly sniffed, rose with sad
eyes but without any other sound, and sat in Daddy's lap in the
recliner, sitting sideways so that she could drape one arm across his
chest and over his shoulder. He understood and snuggled his arms around
her. Both the Brees and the Kennedy adults had left that morning, but
while Cinnamon's parents would be back in two weeks, Hailey's were gone
until next summer. Hailey wasn't making any moves on Daddy. She was
suffering from parental withdrawal disorder and needed comforting from
a father substitute, a service normally provided by her uncle. Only,
Doctor Brees wasn't available. But Daddy was.
Mother closed the tray of the DVD player, turned, and saw Hailey
sitting in Daddy's lap. Mother smiled at her. "You've made room for me
to sit beside my newest daughter," she said, not mentioning Hailey's
loneliness. "That's sweet of you. Thanks." She kissed the top of
Hailey's head and sat beside Suzie, snugging one arm around Suzie's
shoulders in a squeeze.
Suzie's face suddenly reminded Wynter of the time her friend...her
newest sister...had set her first swimming record, causing Wynter's
heart to feel too big for her chest at her sister's happiness.
"Last chance for a potty break," Mother announced.
As if he had been waiting for permission, Dragon rose, shook,
trotted to his doggie door, and let himself out. Ghost seemed to think
about it before he dropped his rawhide bone and followed Dragon out into
the snowy back yard.
Cinnamon sighed. "If only human males could respond that well to
suggestions."
"Hey!" Hailey said, frowning at Sis One from Daddy's lap. Her
voice had a slight hesitation. "Like, I so don't have any complaints
about the one in this room."
Wynter couldn't see Sis One's face because it turned toward Daddy
and Sis Two, but she saw the movement of her cheeks and knew that her
shorter redheaded sister was wearing one of her biggest smiles.
"Neither do I, Cuz. I meant shitheads, dolts, and..." she turned a
frown to Wynter. "You really do need to give my Future Brother in Law a
nickname."
Suzie snorted and gave Cinnamon an exasperated look. "She can't
even name her own band, and you want her to give Jimmy a nickname or
something, too?"
Wynter giggled while Mother pushed the play button on the remote
control, and they all relaxed to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban. The relaxation didn't last long as a series of mishaps,
miscalculations, and misadventures beset the young heroes, starting with
Harry's own version of Aunt Dumb. The sisters clutched and squeezed
each other's hands. In a way, Wynter wished Jimmy was there to watch it
with her, but it was sisters only night, and that was fine with her.
The guys were having a "bachelor's night in" at Kenny's, as Huntly
called it.
When Hermione finally punched yucky Draco Malfoy and chased him
off, Cinnamon muttered, "It's about time!"
Mother stopped the DVD at the end of the movie and asked, "Well?
What did you think?"
"I'm very disappointed in Hermione," Cinnamon said without hesitation.
"Why?" asked Suzie, sounding surprised. "She finally did something
to that stupid dolt Malfoy."
Cinnamon flipped a hand toward the television. "Finally, yeah.
But it took her two-and-a-half movies, and he's still a student there.
As smart as she's supposed to be, you'd think he'd be a former student
by now, even if his dad is a big cheese in the school's rat trap."
Suzie snorted. "Well, that stupid Brinkly's still a student or
something at Griffin, Sis! She came back from suspension today, you know."
"There's a difference, Suzie." Cinnamon waved her hand toward the
television again. "Malfoy's truly evil. Brinkly's just a joke, one who
takes out her anger at herself on the rest of the world. As long as she
isn't hurting anyone, I'm having fun with her by thwarting her schemes.
The Hogwarts Heroes aren't having fun because they let that evil Malfoy
upset them and get to them. If Brinkly truly was like Malfoy, she'd be
out of there so fast it would make your head swim, even if the rest of
you can't get in the pool right now."
"Yeah. I guess."
"Hey! Cuz is, like, so the right, Sis!" Hailey seemed to be
feeling better now because she was smiling again. "Hey! Little Miss
Guitar Pick gave me the evil glare all through home room, and I went
like she wasn't even in the room, and it was, like, so the irritation!
Ms. Beard noticed. She so had to keep looking away to hide the laugh!"
Daddy whispered something in Hailey's ear. She giggled and kissed
him. Not a Hailey type kiss, but a daughter type kiss that made him
smile with delight. Wynter sure wished Hailey would exercise greater
control over her emotions and libido so that Daddy could have more
moments like that with her. It was good medicine not just for Hailey,
but for Daddy, too.
She knew that deep down inside, where he thought he'd hidden it,
Daddy really and truly felt sad because he wasn't able to have any other
descendents besides herself. That thought didn't make her feel upset or
jealous because she knew that he loved her with all his heart, and that
he could have loved her sibling as much without taking any love away
from her. Her heart always felt heavy in her chest at that thought, but
seeing Hailey and Daddy both receiving familial love and comfort from
each other lightened her heart and cheered her tremendously.
Sis One turned her to her and whispered, "They're just what each
other needs."
Wynter smiled and nodded. She wondered whether Sis had learned how
to read her mind the way Jimmy always seemed to, or Sis had merely
arrived at that conclusion through independent examination of the data.
Or maybe she'd given away her own thoughts to Sis with non verbal
communication. She decided that with Sis Two and Daddy both content,
the answer didn't really matter.
"What about Professor Snape?" Mother asked.
Cinnamon's thumb pressed inward, giving Wynter's hand a gentle
squeeze. Both knew the real question behind Mother's words. Mother
still didn't know the details of why Aunt Dumb and Uncle Bozo had left
in such a hurry. She also didn't know why Uncle Bozo had a contusion
on his right cheek bone and a rapidly enlarging dark hematoma under his
left eye to go with his sudden limp. Aunt Dumb's explanation had been
less coherent than usual.
All three of Wynter's sisters had the same story: "He was being
less than a gentleman, but his wife stopped him before things went too
far." Mother had protested that Aunt Dumb seemed to be saying that
things already had gone too far.
All Wynter knew that Mother didn't know was that Sis One had
executed some plan, but she realized that perhaps Mother didn't want or
need to know the details. She'd stopped Mother's questions down that
line with, "Mother, you know how Aunt Diane misinterprets everything.
She's probably already saying it was Jimmy and not Uncle Bob in the
room, or that I was there instead of Suzie."
That had worked for the time being, but Wynter had been sure that
Mother would eventually return to the subject, the way Dragon would gnaw
on one particular rawhide chew toy for a while, then abandon it for a
few days in favor of the others before returning to that special one.
Mother had just returned to gnaw on the Aunt Dumb and Uncle Bozo question.
"Snape's a special case," Cinnamon said disdainfully. "He's an
authority figure at the school. Hermione couldn't treat him like he was
one of the students."
"I see." Mother dropped the issue, but Wynter was sure she'd keep
returning to it until she realized she'd get nothing out of her smallest
daughter. Wynter had learned a long time ago that if Sis wanted you to
know something, she'd tell you. If she didn't, you were wasting time
trying to get an answer out of her. Which was why Wynter was still
ignorant of what actually happened.
The telephone rang. Mother took the extension from the end table
and answered it. "Oh, my God! Is she okay?"
That halted the conversation as all eyes turned to Mother. She
listened for a moment, then looked at Suzie and said, "Carolyn, weren't
you listening to Father Vogler? She's my daughter, too, now. Or did
you miss that part because of Diane? Suzie's welcome to stay here as
long as she wants any time she wants, just like she always was. She has
her own house key now, just like all my other daughters, because she's
family. If you need to spend more time at the hospital, Suzie's
perfectly at home here. You take as long as you need. Yes. Here she
is." She handed the phone to a worried looking Suzie.
"Hello?" The worried look vanished in five seconds. "I'm fine.
No, I'll be fine. Look, I'm with family, okay?" She rolled her eyes
upward in exasperation. "Look, I was gone two months this summer or
something and didn't know most of the people when I got there. You're
talking about me spending a couple of extra nights with family or
something." She put on her most exasperated look, which, since it was
Suzie, was probably the most exasperated look possible by any member of
homo sapiens. "No, you don't need to call Jennifer and ask if I can
stay with her! This is where you dumped me when she got arrested, you
know."
That told everyone else that the problem was with Caroline and not
Mrs. Middleton's mother or whomever.
"Look, if my new mother said it was okay, then it's okay. If she'd
had a stupid problem or something she'd have told you! She wouldn't lie
to you, like you... Yeeeessss, Mom. Okay! What?" She rolled her eyes
upward again. "Just tell the stupid cow I said she should be more
careful or something. Have a safe trip. Look, I'll be fine! I'm with
my sisters. Real sisters who love me ever so much, not some stupid cow
who... Okay, fine. Yeah. Okay. Bye."
She handed the phone back to Mother. "She wants to talk to you again."
While Mother explained that Suzie understood the situation and that
Mrs. Middleton should listen to her daughter, Suzie said, "Caroline
slipped on some ice and fell down some steps or something. She's got a
mild cussin' but..."
"Concussion?" Wynter asked in an almost autonomic reflex.
"Yeah. That. She's okay, but Mom's overreacting or something as
usual. Dad's taking her down to Buena Vista tomorrow to see her in the
hospital, and they'll spend the night rather than drive back late
because it's supposed to snow again."
"Good Lord!" Cinnamon exclaimed. "But she's not seriously hurt?"
Suzie shrugged. "Who cares? She landed on her stupid head. It's
like a boulder or something, so she can't be hurt too bad."
Wynter knew that head trauma could be serious and that the
situation could worsen over time, but she couldn't help feeling excited
because she was going to have all of her sisters with her for at least
one more night. She sure hoped that feeling a bit of selfish joy over
bad news didn't mean that she was going to be a bad doctor.
~ ~ ~
Jimmy shook his head at the dropped cards on Kenny's card table.
It was the sixth failure in six attempts at copying Huntly's magic trick
that had amazed Hailey's mother at the reception. "You putz. If you're
going to be a surgeon, you need better hands than that."
"Listen to him," said Huntly, gathering the dropped cards and
reforming the deck before conjuring four aces out of thin air. Kenny
had repeatedly flubbed conjuring just one card despite Huntly's
instructions. "He's an authority on medicine because he's a Future
MD's," his voice dropped an octave, "luuuuv slaaaave." He flicked his
fingers and produced the queen of hearts, his usual symbol for Wynter.
"I'm going to be a gynecologist," Kenny said, his Patented
Shit Eating Grin firmly in place. "All my hands need to know is how to
slide a finger in and leave them squealing with pleasure."
"You know, Jimbo, I think Boy Blunder here has confused
'gynecologist' with 'gigolo.'"
Jimmy nodded his agreement. "They both start with 'g.' I'm sure
that's what confused him."
"Yeah, but one's a hard 'g' and the other's a soft one."
Jimmy waggled an upright index finger, the way Mister Shelby did
when he caught a student making an error, and imitated his voice. "Now,
Mister Sheridan! You're assuming Mister Putz here knows the difference
and pronounces them correctly. He quite likely pronounces it 'giggle-oh.'"
Kenny glared at them through his crooked glasses and sniffed
twice. "I smell assholes," he said.
"We're not surprised, are we Jimbo?" Huntly said with a smirk as he
squared the deck of cards. "No doubt it's after effects from school
today because he didn't wash his face."
Jimmy nodded vigorously at Kenny and indicated Huntly with a
thumb. "He's right, you know."
"Every time Suzie wasn't looking at lunch, you had your nose up
Tiffany Marucci's butt."
Jimmy stopped grinning like an idiot and looked at Huntly. "You
mean Tiffany Taylor's."
Huntly shook his head and began shuffling the cards. "No. I
mean... Wait! You mean he had it up Tiffany Taylor's, too?"
"Yeah, in home room and in history class. I guess you didn't
notice because you had yours up Cinnamon's."
"That must be why he smells assholes--plural."
Jimmy gave Kenny his best smirk. "Kenny'll be smelling his own
when Suzie catches him and shoves his head up his own ass. That was
'when' and not 'if,' putz."
Huntly cut the cards. "She'd have to pull it out of his ass first."
"Maybe Kenny should be a proctologist instead because of his
intimate familiarity with asses."
Kenny's face scrunched toward his nose, his eyes blazing behind his
crooked glasses. "You assholes!"
Jimmy nodded with a satisfied grin, then looked at Huntly while
pointing at Kenny. "See? He's already qualified. He recognizes
assholes when he sees them."
"Speak for yourself." Huntly stopped shuffling and drew the top
card. "Once there was a guy," he turned over the king of clubs. "No,
not that great a guy. Just a regular knave." He put the king on the
bottom of the deck and drew the new top card, the jack of clubs. He put
the jack on the table. "He fancies himself Studman around the ladies,"
he said, drawing and placing the queens of diamonds and hearts on the
table. "He was always trying to stick his nose in their asses." He
drew and placed the aces of diamonds and hearts atop their respective
queens. "But mostly," he said, drawing the top card and holding it over
the jack, "he had his head up his own ass." He turned over the ace of
clubs and dropped it on the jack.
Jimmy made a sour face. "It's not that great of a trick, you know."
Huntly looked indignant. "So? I just thought of it. Give me time
to work on it."
~ ~ ~
Because of the leg injury, Wynter had Suzie take the right side of
the bed. She lay to Suzie's left, with Hailey beside her and Cinnamon
on the left edge, their three positions selected by playing
rock paper scissors.
Daddy shook his head. "If you adopt anyone else, I'll have to get
you a larger bed."
"You'll have to soon, anyway," Mother said, "unless they all stop
growing. Maybe we should get a larger one and let them adopt more
sisters. Getting the last three sure was much easer than getting
Wynter. No swollen ankles and constant backache. No waddling like a
duck. No bowling ball in my stomach that made me wet my pants whenever
I sneezed."
Wynter looked to either side. "I don't mind it being crowded.
It's warm and cozy."
"You might change your mind this summer." She kissed her daughters
good night, then waited while Daddy did the same, to include getting his
special nose and lips kiss from Wynter. "Lights out," she said. "You
have school tomorrow."
"Yes, Ma'am," the sisters said together, then giggled.
Her parents each gave Dragon and Ghost a goodnight pat and then
turned out the lights and left.
"It is kinda cozy or something," Suzie said with a happy sigh.
"It's wonderful to have sisters to share the bed with," said Cinnamon.
"I hear that!" agreed Wynter. "It's even better than ever now that
Suzie's one of us."
"Hey! I think it's, like, so the best idea you've ever had!"
Wynter turned her head to Sis Two. "Even better than adopting you?"
"Totally! It's awesome! Now we have, like, a complete set!"
Cinnamon sounded hesitant. "Cuz, I know I'm going to be sorry I
asked, but..."
"Hey, wait at minute," Suzie said. "Hailey's your sister, too
now. Shouldn't you call her 'Sis' instead of 'Cuz' or something?"
"She's my sister, true, but she's also my cousin. Good Lord! I
sound like we're from Arkansas or West Virginia!"
Hailey's frowning face twisted to Cinnamon. "Huh?"
Cinnamon sighed. "Later. Think of my calling her 'Cuz' as having
a pet name for her, just like Huntly is 'shithead.'"
"Oh. Okay."
Wynter decided this was a good time for her to mention her newest
anxiety. "While we're talking about names, I have a problem. I've been
calling Cinnamon 'Sis One' and Hailey 'Sis Two,' which means Suzie would
be 'Sis Three.' But she's been like a sister to me since before I met
Cinnamon. So am I being unfair by putting her in third place? But
wouldn't it also be confusing to everyone if I make her 'Sis One' and
change Cinnamon to 'Sis Two' and..."
"Time out!" Cinnamon said, making a "T" sign with her upraised
hands. "If it's that important to you, then make her 'Sis Zero.'"
Wynter thought about that for a second. "Yeah! That would be
proper in binary, wouldn't it?"
Hailey's head abruptly changed direction. "Huh?"
"Wait," interrupted Suzie. "Can I say something?"
"Of course you can," Wynter replied. Then in a smarty pants voice
she added, "And you may, too, because you're our sister."
"The numbers are just names. They're not a stupid finishing order
or ranking or something. Wynter, you're not saying Cinnamon's the gold
and Hailey's the silver and I'm the stupid bronze! I know you love all
of us the same, just like I love all three of you the same. If it will
make you feel better, think of it as the order in which we got our
names. Maybe like we got them in random order rather than sequentional
order."
Wynter's autonomic reflexes were faster than her brain. "You mean
sequential," she said before she could stop herself.
"That, too. Or maybe in alphabet order of spelling in Chinese or
something. But, Sis, you're worrying about stupid names instead of
something ever so much more important that we need to worry about."
Wynter's brow drew together in concern. I overlooked something?
"What's that?"
"Hello? Earth to Wynter! DUH!" Suzie replied in her imitation of
Kenny's weird voice. "You should be worrying about what kind of set
Sister Hailey thinks we make, of course!"
"Duh!" Wynter and Cinnamon said in agreement.
"Hey! Like, with Sis Cuz we have, like, so the most awesome
musician. With Sis Suz we have so the most awesome athlete. With Sis
Wyn we have so the most awesome brain. And with me," she said,
stretching that last word, "you have, like, the ultimate love goddess."
"Good Lord, Cuz. You are so full of shit. Wynter's an excellent
musician, and Suzie's dyslexic, not brainless, and..."
"Hey! Cram it, Cuz! I'm, like, so talking about major strengths
here! Okay?"
"If we're talking about major strengths, then we need to drop the
ultimate love goddess as your description."
Hailey's voice became what Wynter called her family's Kennedy
Imperious Voice. "Like, you think you are so the better?"
"No. After the way you took care of Brinkly for me, I'd say you
have an even better talent."
"What?" Wynter looked at Suzie, and they giggled at the way they'd
asked simultaneously.
Well, Hailey obviously understood Cinnamon's meaning. She smiled
and her voice softened into tenderness and undeniable love as she said,
"Hey! The way you took care of the Uncle Bozo prob was, like, so the
better, Sis Cuz!"
"I'm glad you brought that up," Wynter said, seizing the
opportunity for her own last futile attempt. What the heck did she have
to lose? "Just what did you three do with him, Sisters?" She guessed
it wouldn't hurt to emphasize their relationship, not that she really
expected to get an answer.
Cinnamon and Hailey both rose up from the bed and looked at Suzie.
They looked at each other and then lay down again. "Hey!" said Hailey.
"Did you know that Guy Malone has, like, a seven inch dick?"
~ ~ ~
"No," said Kenny. "Like I told Cinnamon, I'm not going to take
voice lessons, and that's final."
Huntly and Jimmy both threw up their arms. "Okay!" said Huntly.
"But Suzie thinks it's a good idea, too."
"Suzie can't sing, and I'm not joining the band without her." He
guessed they understood because they started unfastening straps without
another word.
"I hope it's not too cold in here tonight," Kenny said as the three
spread sleeping bags atop their air mattresses in the sun room.
"It's not as cold in here as it was in the mine," Jimmy said, "and
we didn't have sleeping bags in the mine."
"That may be, Jimbo," said Huntly, "but here you don't have Doctor
Cutie to keep you warm."
"Well," Jimmy said as he removed his shoes, "don't think you're
going to volunteer to replace her, because you're not."
"I'm not the one you have to worry about. Do we know for a fact
that Studman doesn't walk and hump in his sleep?"
Kenny flipped Huntly the bird. "If we get too cold, we could
always go over to Wynter's and join the girls in her bed." His voice
turned dreamy at the thought. "Imagine all four of them in one bed."
"That's a lot of body heat," Jimmy agreed as he removed his jeans.
Huntly's head shot around. He peered at Jimmy. "Don't you have
any romantic bones in your body?"
Kenny sniggered. "Just the one he puts in Wynter."
"Look!" Jimmy snapped. "We don't consider sex to be a group
activity or spectator sport."
Kenny noted the hint of irritation in his voice. He tried to push
another of Jimmy's buttons with, "You two could close your eyes while
Huntly and I took care of the other three."
Jimmy snorted. "You try anything with Cinnamon or Hailey and
Suzie'll see to it that you take your dick and balls home in a
mayonnaise jar."
Huntly laughed. "That's a lot of wasted container space. A
thimble would be more than enough after Suzie finished with them."
"A thimble would be more than enough before she started on them,"
Jimmy said as he slid into his sleeping bag. Both assholes broke up
laughing.
"I feel like I'm back at the Grand Canyon," Kenny said, "listening
to the braying of the jackasses." Although disappointed that his plan
had backfired, he certainly wasn't about to let them know it. Both guys
switched to making "Hee Haw" noises. Kenny realized he wasn't going to
win, so he crawled into his sleeping bag and tugged up the zipper.
Huntly crawled into his. Kenny had just gotten comfortable when
realization suddenly struck. He grumbled, crawled back out of his bag,
and switched off the light.
"Boy Blunder is right, though," Huntly observed as Kenny pissed and
moaned his way back into his sleeping bag.
Jimmy hummed in thought. "Okay," he said, "assuming the
hypothetical probability of that happening as miraculously being higher
than zero point zero, exactly how is he right?"
"The sight of The Four Seasons in one bed would be something to see."
"Four Seasons?" Jimmy asked.
"You mean Spring, Summer, Fall, and Wynter?" Kenny added.
"Actually, I meant The Four Seasonings," Huntly amended.
Kenny rose up on one elbow and peered at Huntly in the dim light
coming through all the sun room's windows. "Hypothesizing for a moment
that you actually know what you're talking about, what the fuck are you
talking about?"
"Like parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme?" Jimmy asked.
"More like Nutmeg, Cayenne, Allspice, and Thyme."
Kenny flopped onto his back. "I'm sorry I asked."
"I'm not," Jimmy said. "This gives us scientific insight into the
functioning of what he uses for a mind. Explain."
"Simple," Huntly said. "Nutmeg is bitch, because nutmeg enhances
basic cinnamon and improves it. Cayenne is our fiery wahine. Very
hot. A spicy yet pleasantly refreshing experience and later capable of
burning your ass, too. Allspice is Suzie, livening up every dish and
absolutely indispensable. And Thyme is our Future MD--the qualified
one, of course--who always provides lifesaving care in the nick thereof."
Kenny blinked at the ceiling, unable to put anything into words.
"Damn!" Jimmy said in mock amazement. "Put a lot of thought into
that, did you?"
"Oh, three, maybe four seconds. I'm not Kenny, you know. I don't
have to stop to jack off every time my thoughts drift to the girls'
naughty bits."
Kenny turned his back to the other two. "Tomorrow's a school day,
assholes. Get some sleep." Maybe if they'd shut up he could think of
some way to get even.
Five minutes later all were asleep and remained that way until the
pain awakened Kenny a little after three. "Jimmy!" he gasped as another
wave of fire rippled through his guts. "Go get Dad!"
~ ~ ~
Suzie couldn't believe her ears. "You mean you did it with Guy?"
"Hey, like, don't I wish!" Hailey sounded ever so disappointed or
something. "He is so the hunk! But, Christy told me when we were,
like, talking about men."
"Oh." Guy had started going out with Christy Carroll shortly after
the band began practicing for the wedding reception. She'd accompanied
him to some of the rehearsals just before the wedding. Suzie had seen
Christy and Hailey whispering to each other at one rehearsal. She
guessed that now she knew what some of the giggling was about.
"Why would Christy tell you the size of Guy's penis?" Wynter asked,
sounding ever so confused.
"I asked!" Hailey said, sounding like Wynter had asked if swimming
pool water was wet or something. "Haven't you, like, wondered?"
"No."
"I have," said Cinnamon. "Just as a matter of scientific
curiosity, of course."
"Hey! Like, scientific curiosity, Sis Cuz?"
"Sure. It got hard when I kissed him at my birthday party, and I
estimated the size at six and a half. I wondered how close I was."
Suzie and Hailey laughed, but Wynter seemed to be in deep thought
or something. Sure enough, she said, "But we can stretch to fit almost
any diameter and length. Well, any reasonable diameter and length.
There can't be that much difference. Surely nobody would notice it
during intercourse. Isn't technique more important than size?"
Suzie suddenly had a thought. "Yeah," she said. "The difference
with Kenny since the first time we did it isn't how much his thingy has
grown or something, it's how much better he's been 'cause he's been
trying ever so hard to do it the way I like."
Cinnamon giggled. "I guess you should have done more with Huntly
than just jack him off, Sis, even if Jimmy does have a bigger erection."
Suzie just knew she'd misunderheard or something. "HUH?"
"Oh!" Cinnamon sounded really shocked. "Oh, shit. I forgot you
didn't know. Oh, Wynter, Can you forgive me? I'm really so very sorry
I acted like Hailey."
"HEY! CUZ!"
Wynter sounded embarrassed or something when she said, "It's okay,
Sis. Suzie's my sister, too, so it's okay to tell her. I'm not mad at
you."
Cinnamon raised up, leaned over Hailey, and kissed Wynter.
"Thanks, Sis," she said in a way that sounded like it was an apology,
too. Then she giggled again. "Well, it was the New Year's Eve party
here. We were kissing under the mistletoe at midnight after the strip
Monopoly game, the hot tub, and some bedroom gymnastics, and while I was
kissing Jimmy and she was kissing Huntly, everybody sort of went
somewhere else and forgot whose tongue we were chewing on."
Suzie just knew that if her eyes got any bigger they'd pop out of
her head. "And you hand jobbed each other's guys off?" she asked in
disbelief or something.
"Well, I got Jimmy off, but Wynter left Huntly hanging, so I
deep-throated him." Her voice got really far away and dreamy then, like
she'd gone back in time or something. "I think it was the best blow job
I ever gave."
"But," Wynter said, not giving up, "the difference in size isn't
that much. So how can..."
"I've got it!" Cinnamon said, sitting up. "Saturday night at our
house with the guys. We'll have a party, and you can try both of them
and see if there's any difference for yourself."
"Jimmy and I are quite happy with each other."
Hailey snorted. "Hey! Like, variety is so the spice of sex, Sis!"
"Yes. That's why Jimmy and I change positions, Sis."
Suzie tried ever so hard not to laugh at the way Wynter said that.
Something about her voice sounded exactly like her stupid Aunt Dumb.
"Well, Kenny doesn't need any more variety except from me, and we change
positions or something like Wynter said."
Hailey raised up on an elbow and looked over Wynter at her. "Hey!
I'll, like, make you a deal. You can, like, let me have Kenny for a
while, until he so can't walk, and then I'll, like, do you until you
can't, either!"
Suzie started to laugh, but there was something in the way Hailey
sounded that stopped the laugh in her throat.
"Sis? You're not... You're kidding, aren't you?"
"Hey! I'm, like, serious as a fifty foot peahi at high tide on a
windy day!"
She guessed that had something to do with surfing, but Suzanne
Middleton now had more important things to worry about now than whatever
some stupid surf word meant. She'd just learned that Hailey was ever so
serious about what she'd always thought was a joke or something.
"But... we're sisters. Wouldn't that be insex or something?"
"Hey! No big! So not the first time for this family!"
"WHITNEY GWYNETH!" Cinnamon snarled. "YOU'RE OUT OF LINE!"
"No," Wynter said, "she's not. I think it's a good idea to warn
Suzie that she might wake up in the middle of the night and find the bed
rocking."
Suzie just knew she'd never be more surprised in her life. "You
and Hailey...!"
"Unh uh. Our other sisters."
"Hey! Cuz is, like, even better than I am. She can so leave you
smiling at both ends for the rest of the night!"
Suzie was still trying to wrap her mind around that or something
when Mom King suddenly appeared in the door. "I know it's the first
time the four of you have spent the night together like this, but,
school tomorrow?"
"Yes, ma'am," they all said, then kissed each other good night and
got comfortable.
Suzie wondered if Cinnamon and Hailey would wake her doing each
other or something, but they didn't. Instead she was awakened by a very
bad feeling that something was terribly wrong with her dolt.
Chapter 13
As Jimmy paced in the waiting room, he was struck by an odd
thought: would he pace like this while Wynter was having their first
child? He reached the end of his path and turned back toward Huntly,
who was calmly sitting in a chair, reading a tattered People magazine.
They had insisted on coming to the emergency room, and Doctor Taylor
hadn't argued with them.
As they had turned onto Cheyenne Road, Kenny's symptoms had
suddenly cut off like someone flipped a switch. Doctor Taylor had
decided to bring Kenny to the ER and check him out anyway.
Huntly gave a soft grunt of interest and frowned in concentration.
His brown eyes peered up from under somewhat heavy light brown brows as
Jimmy reached him, and his expression changed to wide eyed amazement.
"Holy guano, Batman! You look like an expectant father!"
"How can you just sit there and read a magazine? One that has to
be at least a year old. This place has the oldest magazines in the county!"
Huntly used a finger to mark his place and glanced at the
magazine's cover. "Year and a half. The symptoms quit, Jimbo. Doc's
just checking for anything that might give him a clue of how to treat
Kenny's condition is all. Boy Blunder's in no danger. Well, no more
danger than he was when we went to bed, since it's not likely
whatever it is has gone away. But his symptoms aren't active now. So,
I found something to occupy my time while we wait instead of giving
myself an ulcer."
Jimmy doubted Huntly understood his mumbled reply because even he
didn't understand it.
Huntly turned the magazine page toward him and pointed at someone
in a picture of some people and a cabin on fire. "See this girl? She
plays high school football with this guy, and not like Katie Hnida as
the kicker, either! She's on both the offense and the def..."
Huntly dropped the magazine and jumped to his feet as the door to
the treatment room opened and Kenny walked out with his dad. Kenny did
not look happy, but Jimmy guessed that he wouldn't look very happy,
either, if he were in Kenny's half tied shoes.
"Nothing," Doctor Taylor said. "Not a single symptom or reading
out of the ordinary. Come on. You guys can still get another hour or
so of sleep."
Maybe Doctor Taylor hasn't found clues, Jimmy thought, but maybe
Future Doctor McCauley will find something this time.
~ ~ ~
Wynter fidgeted in the Griffin entrance hallway while Kenny assured
Suzie that he was okay and Sis Three straightened his crooked glasses.
Thanks to Jimmy's telephone call that morning, her Kenny's Illness
notebook was with her school books in Mister Shelby's room. She was in
a hurry to begin debriefing Kenny.
"Here," Jimmy said, handing her some folded papers while Suzie
asked Kenny again if he was sure he was all right.
She opened them. Jimmy had copied Kenny's symptoms and Doctor
Taylor's readings in a patient chronology. She wished she could kiss
him right there in the hall, but there were teachers around. "Thanks.
I love you."
"Yes, I know. That's why I try to help, so that I don't lose you
to some other lab assistant."
"Smarty pants! Kenny, can we get to home room quickly? Our
stuff's already there."
"Sure," Kenny said. He'd been through the procedure many times and
knew what Wynter wanted. While he seemed to resent other doctors
constantly probing his symptoms, even though they were trying to help,
he was cooperative with Wynter. Wynter took that as a sign that his
confidence in her was greater than his confidence in already-licensed
MDs, making her heart feel too big for her chest. "Why don't you take
Suzie with you, since she's still moving a little slowly, and I'll be
along in a sec after I go change books and ditch my coat."
"Hurry, you dolt," Suzie said to Kenny's retreating back. Her
pleading voice indicated she was still suffering from anxiety disorder.
Wynter couldn't blame her. She'd be scared, too, if it were Jimmy.
Actually, she was a little bit scared anyway because Kenny was her friend.
"Where's bitch?" asked Huntly, speaking for the first time.
"Oh, she went to the girls' room with Possum and Snoopy," Suzie
said, her voice still shaky. "She wanted to ask them something."
"I'll need to talk to you, too, since you were there," Wynter
said. "I don't know if Mister Shelby has anything planned for today,
but since it's Kenny's illness, I'm sure he'll let us work on that."
"Okay, Doc. I'll..." He hesitated as he looked down the hall.
"Jimmy and I'll be along in a minute with the patient. We gotta go. Now!"
Jimmy followed as Huntly rushed toward their lockers. Suzie took
Wynter's arm, sniffed, and slowly walked with her toward Mister Shelby's
home room.
~ ~ ~
"What's the hurry?" Jimmy asked. Huntly was moving too fast, even
under the circumstances.
"Trouble. Look."
Jimmy looked down the hall. Cori Sikes was leaning against Kenny's
locker, talking to Brinkly. Kenny was almost to them. "You think
they'll try something?"
Huntly grunted noncommittally. "I think it's a bad day to test Boy
Blunder's patience."
"I think you're right." They picked up the pace. "Excuse us!
Coming through!"
Kenny had stopped in front of Cori. She didn't move. "Excuse me,"
Kenny said, loud enough for the approaching Huntly and Jimmy to hear him.
She gave him a cold stare. "I don't think there is an excuse for
you, Taylor."
"You're standing in front of my locker."
She sneered at him. "I was here first. Haven't you heard of
ladies first?"
As Jimmy and Huntly stopped, Brinkly moved a few inches to block
Huntly's locker.
Kenny's Patented Shit Eating Grin suddenly appeared. His voice
stayed calm and level. "I guess that should put you last, then,
shouldn't it? Or do you normally chase cars from the front?"
Jimmy said, "Kenny!" in what he intended as a warning, but that was
all because Huntly suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
Cori's eyes shifted to Jimmy. "What's the matter, McCauley?
Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! You afraid Jerry Lee will throw
his piano at an unarmed girl?"
Huntly stiffened at the words, obviously understanding more than
Jimmy did.
"A girl?" Kenny asked, feigning surprise. He sniffed three
times. "Well, so you are! Hey, let me give you some free advice. If
you want people to keep thinking that you're an honest to God male
instead of just a dyke, you should douche occasionally."
Cori growled and swung her right hand in a vicious roundhouse
slap. Kenny's free arm rose to block it, but he was too slow.
Brinkly's arm had already stopped Cori's.
Kenny looked as surprised as Jimmy felt.
"Cori!" Brinkly hissed. "I told you not to start anything."
Jimmy translated that as, "I told you to let him start it." They
wanted Kenny to lose his temper and do something to get himself
expelled, like when he'd punched out Matthew Wylie for making unwanted
advances on Suzie. Obviously Brinkly had heard about that, probably
from Cori.
Kenny's face lost its humor, all of its emotion. He faced Brinkly
and spoke in a low, soft voice. "It's almost time for the first bell.
Maybe you'd better take Cori outside so that she can pee on a fire hydrant."
"YOU...!" Cori struggled to free her arm from Brinkly's grip, but
the crippled girl was stronger.
"When she's done," Kenny softly added, as if nothing had happened,
"maybe she will hold you over it so you can pee, too."
Brinkly's face purpled, and Jimmy thought she would swing at Kenny
herself. Instead she grabbed the steering control and backed away.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Unfortunately for Brinkly, Mister Ames and Ms. Beard happened to be
approaching from her blind side at that moment. "Miss Ward," Mister
Ames said as his frown rearranged the wrinkles of his high forehead,
"I'd like to speak with you for a moment in the office."
Jimmy glanced at Huntly when Kenny's Patented Shit Eating Grin
appeared. Huntly's own grin was spreading.
"Tough luck," Kenny said just loud enough for Cori to hear but not
the teachers. "I guess you'll have to hold it until after home room."
Cori choked on the words she couldn't say and turned to storm off.
"Just a minute, Ms. Sikes," Ms. Beard said. "What's your hurry?"
As the teachers escorted the girls to the office, the guys quickly
shoved their coats in their lockers and swapped books. "Okay, I don't
understand," Huntly said. "They weren't here to see Cori do anything,
so why did they take her, too?"
Jimmy frowned at his history book, then stuck it back in the
locker. "Ms. Beard knows Brinkly and her Pack are trouble. I think
she's just making a point by including Cori. What I don't understand is
why she called Kenny 'Jerry Lee.' What was that all about? And where
did she get the idea that he plays the piano?"
"Yeah," Kenny said. "That's what I'd like to know, too."
Huntly paused, inhaled, and then resumed exchanging books. "She
was referring to Fishhook Cove and the cliff. She was hoping Kenny
would understand and start something. If not, and I suspect she was
hoping even more that he wouldn't understand, she would carefully
explain how stupid he was before explaining what she meant, thereby
causing him to start something." He inhaled again and stared at the
back wall of his locker. It was obvious to Jimmy that he was hoping
Kenny would accept that and drop the subject, though Huntly knew Kenny
as well as Jimmy did. Huntly seemed to be bracing himself.
Sure enough, Kenny the Curious said, "You didn't answer the
question. You dodged around it like a crooked politician."
Huntly closed his locker and stared down the hall. He looked like
he was wishing he were anywhere else. "Kenny," he said, "remember that
I'm just the messenger, not the originator, okay? You don't want to
shoot the messenger."
Kenny exchanged glances with Jimmy. Both shrugged. "Okay," Kenny
said. "I promise I won't shoot the messenger. So, what was the message?"
Huntly took a deep breath, then looked down at Kenny. "Jerry Lee
Lewis is the greatest piano playing rock and roll singer ever. His
nickname is 'Killer.'"
If looks could kill, Huntly would have died on the spot. Kenny's
face went redder than Suzie's at her angriest, and he squeezed the edge
of his math book so hard that Jimmy was afraid that either the book's
covers or Kenny's fingers would break. He began breathing like a steam
locomotive.
Huntly flashed Jimmy a look that said he was worried that Kenny
would forget his promise.
Kenny straightened. Calm swept over him, his face returned to its
normal shade, and his breathing became inaudible. He looked like
someone who had just reached an important decision. "Let's go," he
said. "I don't want to keep Wynter waiting."
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon blinked at Suzie. The question proved how shaken her
newest sister was. Under normal circumstances Suzie would have known
the obvious answer and not asked.
"Sis? Why Kenny?" she repeated.
"Because he's my friend, Sis. If anything happened to him, I'd be
terribly upset. And he's Hailey's friend, too. The Pack haven't
forgotten their suspensions. They'll try something with all of you
before they're done."
"Especially me," said Huntly, his voice as serious as a heart attack.
"Especially you," Cinnamon agreed, giving him a brief loving glance
before returning her attention to Suzie, "but especially my sisters,
too. Kenny did what I did. He didn't get upset about it. He turned it
into a joke against them, and they burned themselves. Whatever they try
to do to you, don't let them get to you. If they piss you off, they win."
Suzie nodded understanding. "Like when Jimmy and my dolt try to
get each other's goat," she said, giving Jimmy a sly look that made him
grin.
"Exactly! Instead of getting mad, think to yourself, 'Good Lord!
Is that the best she can do?' Then make it a contest and do better
yourself. See if you can do better than Kenny's having Cori hold
Brinkly over the fire hydrant. Oh, I wish I'd been there to see their
faces when he said that!"
Suzie laughed at the thought, then turned in her seat to glance at
Kenny. Her worried look quickly returned.
Jimmy gave Suzie's shoulder a squeeze. "He's back to whatever
pretends to be normal for him," he said. "Did you ever notice how
patient he is with Wynter's questions? He seems to think that she can
do more for him than Doctor Marcus or anyone at our hospital."
"He does," she said. "But sometimes he gets a little upset with
her or something."
Cinnamon shook her head. "Not with Sis," she said. "With his
condition, with the pain, with being sick without warning, but never
with Sis. Imagine what it would be like if your leg healed, but
occasionally the pain returned without warning or pattern. It's like
that for Kenny. He may be a shithead on any other occasion you can
think of, but he feels that Wynter has a better chance of determining
what's wrong and how to fix it than anybody else."
Suzie looked up, tears puddling in her eyes and threatening to
spill down her cheeks. "What do you think?"
Cinnamon gave her a natural smile. "Eight to one he's right, any
amount you want to bet."
Huntly cleared his throat, drawing Suzie's attention to himself.
"If you want some useful friendly advice," he said, "never bet against
bitch."
~ ~ ~
Huntly watched as Wynter added his observations to her notebook.
"You'll never make it as a Doc," he said. He regretted his flippant
phrasing when she glanced up, giving him a look of panic. "Your
handwriting is too neat. You need to take scribbling lessons from my
dad. When people have to ask if you wrote 'penicillin' or 'muffler
bracket,' then you'll be qualified."
She smiled at him, then resumed writing. "Smarty pants," she said
after a moment.
Mister Shelby plopped heavily into the empty seat next to Huntly.
"How's it going?" he asked.
Huntly spoke first. "It's like taking one of your tests."
He didn't know what Mister Shelby called his version of the
Patented Shit-Eating Grin, but it slid into place. "Because being
interviewed by Wynter is an exciting and enjoyable experience?"
Huntly noted the use of her first name. One thing about Mister
Shelby was that he used first names only for people he admired and
respected. Everyone else was "Mister" or "Miss" and their last names.
"It's also that," Huntly admitted, "but I meant it's like one of your
tests because she asks questions I never thought of."
Mister Shelby gave Wynter a look bordering on parental pride. The
Shelbys had no kids of their own, but he viewed his students as
surrogate offspring. "Then I guess I've been a good influence."
Wynter looked up from writing and gave Mister Shelby a smile that
made Huntly's own heart do flip flops. "I try to learn how to be better
from everyone," she said. "I've learned a lot of things from you. Just
from watching you interact with us students, I've learned more about
bedside manners than I've learned from all the times I've made rounds at
the hospital."
"I see!" he said with a smile of pride. "And what have you learned
from Mister Sheridan?"
"That you shouldn't leave some people alone with your sister."
Huntly gave her an indignant look. "I thought you learned that
from Kenny."
"Until you came along," she replied, "I thought he was an anomaly."
He threw up his arms. "Aw, man!"
Mister Shelby laughed, but then his face suddenly flowed into
serious features. He threw a nodding glance at the corner where Jimbo
and Boy Blunder were helping Timmy Gagnon with some math difficulty.
"Any progress on Kenny's condition?" he asked quietly.
Huntly was pleased with the way Mister Shelby took Wynter's efforts
seriously, like he, too, felt that Wynter had the best chance of finding
the source of Kenny's problem. Mister Shelby, like Suzie, was often
underestimated, even though nobody thought he was dumb. He had no equal
in the school for his ability to recognize unique abilities in others,
though Principal Peters wasn't too far behind.
Huntly tried to follow as Wynter quickly and deftly outlined her
observations, hypotheses, and conclusions, but he quickly became lost.
He thought that she might have lost Mister Shelby a couple of times,
too, but if so, the man was really good at hiding it. Instead of trying
to catch up, Huntly concentrated instead on the musical lilt of her
voice. He liked the way it sounded when she was in "professional mode,"
as Jimbo called it. His eyes roamed the lines and curves of her
beautiful face, with brief stops to admire her coral lips, her
dazzlingly perfect teeth, her sparkling blue green eyes, the delicate
shells of her ears.
But her attraction was far more than physical. He deeply admired
the prodigious intellect behind that angelic face even more than the
lovely slender body he'd observed in the hot tub on numerous occasions
since that New Year's Eve Strip Monopoly game. Yes, sir, Jimbo
certainly was one lucky sonofabitch.
Okay, truth be told, he preferred girls to have bigger tits than
Wynter had. And he liked it when they had a butt instead of what wasn't
much more than a ripple in the line between the lower back and the backs
of the thighs. And hips that were there because of padding instead of
being there because the waist was so narrow that the hipbones formed a
ledge.
Almost against his will he found his eyes pulled away from Doctor
Cutie, the only name he used in public for Doctor Delicious, Doctor
Wonderful, Doctor Edible, and the other dozen variations he had for
her. His eyes reached the corners of their sockets and then pulled his
head around until he was looking at the Monopoly game underway on one of
the lab tables.
She sat there in a profile view, laughing and waiting her turn in
the game with Suzie, Possum, Snoopy, Ted Muller, and Brin Kwan, unaware
that he was now staring at her the same way he'd been staring at
Wynter. She certainly had bigger tits than Wynter. And "real" hips.
And the nicest round butt, even though it spent a lot of time hidden
behind her long red hair. And behind those cute round cheeks and narrow
green eyes was a brain that was equal to Doctor Sweetheart's, just tuned
differently.
He sighed with contentment. Jimbo wasn't the only lucky sonofabitch.
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon gathered her books from her desk and turned toward the
door. She hadn't noticed Kenny's approach, a fact that caused her mild
anxiety over her diminished faculties. She should have known he was
going to speak to her before he was halfway there.
He looked at her with a grave face. "After this morning's fun and
games at the lockers, I've changed my mind."
"And...?"
"I'll take the voice lessons. I'm going to throw that comment back
in their faces, but," he aimed a forefinger at her in emphasis, "without
piano lessons. One condition, though, and I mean it."
It wasn't difficult to know what that was, but she nodded for him
to put words to it.
"I'll perform only when Suzie is there. No Suzie, no Kenny. Deal?"
She held out her right hand. "Deal."
~ ~ ~
"That's ever so wonderful," Suzie whispered as Kenny escorted her
down the hall to their first class. "But you can sing even if I'm not
there."
"No, I can't. Please don't ask me to explain it, but that's the
way I want it."
She guessed it was because he felt guilty over Judy and Tiffany or
something, but she didn't argue. She knew that whatever her dolt's
reason was, she was at the center of it and it was because he loved her,
and that made her feel ever so wonderful. "Okay. But, Kenny, if you
ever change your mind, that's okay with me."
He nodded. "I won't. But thanks."
~ ~ ~
She rose halfway out of bed, certain that she hadn't screamed
because the sound was frozen in her throat and because her three sisters
hadn't sprung up with her. She wanted so desperately to have Cuz hold
her, but she was on the other side of Wynter. Should she crawl over
Sister Wynter and slide between them? Should she crawl over Suzie, or
perhaps down to the end of the bed and then go around to Hailey's side
and climb in there?
"Sis?"
The soft whisper in the darkness was almost as ghost-like as the
memory of the dream, but pleasing instead of terrifying. Suzie's hand
curled around her forearm. "What's wrong?"
She lay back and turned toward her newest sister. "Nightmare," she
said, afraid to attempt more than one word. Even that one was shaky.
Suzie's head lifted slightly as she frowned at Cinnamon's face.
"Worse than the others?" she whispered.
She blinked in surprise. "Others?"
"Uh huh," Suzie said in a voiceless grunt. "You seemed to have had
one or something right after I woke up last night feeling something was
wrong with Kenny. Then you had another stupid one earlier tonight. You
hit me in your sleep. I almost woke you up, but you seemed to get over
it and relax again, so I let you sleep."
Anguish that she'd harmed someone innocent tore through her. "I'm
so very sorry! I didn't mean to..."
"Well, of course you didn't! You were asleep and having bad
dreams. It wasn't on purpose."
The need to talk about it almost canceled her common sense and
caution, but she forced herself to whisper, "Maybe we should try to get
back to sleep before we bother our sisters."
The entire world couldn't have more than a handful of girls with
more bullheaded determination than Cinnamon Anne Brees. This was one of
them, and she knew it. Sure enough, Suzie's voice turned stubborn.
"Your sisters, me included, will be a lot more bothered if you have a
stupid problem or something and don't let us help you. Talking about
stupid nightmares helps me get over them. Maybe that'll help you, too.
If you don't want to talk to one of us, Huntly won't mind if you call
him. He loves you, too."
"No!" she said, almost too loudly, then forced herself to relax.
"Not Huntly. Not now, anyway. I can't..." What she couldn't was think
of any words to add to that unfinished statement.
"Well, if you don't want to talk to me about it, wake up Wynter or
Hailey. They won't mind."
"I know. I used to be able to talk to Hailey, but lately
she's..." Again the words wouldn't form on her tongue.
"Yeah, I think I understand. Well, how about Wynter? She's
someone I can talk to, and she's always helped me."
"Sis, she's the same for me, but not this time. I can't tell her."
Suzie's look of concern shifted into one of worry. "Well, I know
I'm just me and I'm not as smart as they are, but maybe just talk..."
"Don't you ever say that again!" She regretted the hostile tone
she'd used and switched back to a soft whisper. "I'm sorry. I'm
still... on edge. But don't ever put yourself down like that again.
You aren't "just" you. You're my sister, and by choice, not by accident
of birth! That makes you pretty darned special, because only two other
people in the entire world can say that. Besides, you've helped people
with problems before. You're good at it. You're really good at it.
You helped Jimmy even though we couldn't tell you what the underlying
problem was."
In the dim light, Suzie's eyes searched her face for hints and
clues before she replied, "Well, I want to help my sister just like I
wanted to help my Future Brother in Law."
She blinked at Suzie for a few moments while her mind raced.
Finally she reached a decision of indecision. "Maybe, but not right
now. Okay? I'll think about it, but if I decide to, it will have to be
just between us. For now, anyway."
Suzie didn't hesitate. "Of course. Sisters are supposed to help
each other or something, aren't they? Well, you're my sister, and
whatever I have to do to help is okay. You can tell our other sisters
whatever it is when you're ready. They'll understand. They love you, too."
She knew Suzie meant it. She knew it like she knew the sun would
rise in the east tomorrow. She glanced at the clock. Later today, she
amended. "There is one thing you could do for me."
"I'll do it."
"I haven't told you what it is yet."
"Look! I'm lying here with a stupid hole in my leg because I did
something for Kenny without knowing what the consequentials would be. I
did it because I love him and didn't need to know whether it would hurt
me doing it. Don't you think I'm willing to do anything one of my
sisters needs, too, if it would help her?"
She blinked back tears. "If my tombstone is to list my greatest
accomplishment in life, I want it to read, "Suzanne Middleton's Sister."
Suzie smiled at her. "Well, we have a long time before then.
Maybe we'll find someone better than all four of us together to adopt or
something and we can both put her name on ours. Now, what can I do?"
"Well, Hailey sometimes holds me when..."
"Sure. Heck, that sounds a lot better than a hole in the other leg."
That made Cinnamon giggle despite the fear and anxiety, and both
lessened.
Suzie made a partial turn toward Cinnamon and gathered her in her arms.
They shifted around until both were comfortable. Cinnamon found
her arms wrapped around Suzie, her head on her sister's shoulder, her
left leg hooked over Suzie's, her front pressed to Suzie's left side.
Suzie squeezed Cinnamon closer. "Now the stupid nightmares can't
come back without going through me first," she said. "And they'll be
sorry if they try." She kissed the top of Cinnamon's head. "Go back to
sleep."
And for the first time since the nightmares began, Cinnamon truly
relaxed. She felt safer than she'd felt in her father's arms. It was
all thanks to Suzie. How anyone with two ounces of brains could have
ever thought Sister Suzie was dumb was beyond comprehension.
She had almost dozed off again when the thought struck: sooner or
later, Brinkly and her Pack would target Suzie. The thought engendered
an emotion at odds with her plans, one that she never expected to feel
toward Brinkly.
Pity.
Chapter 14
"Isn't this the maid's job?" Huntly asked as he helped settle the
bedspread on the king sized bed in the Brees's Master Suite.
"We, like, so lost the maid," Hailey said in a disgusted voice as
she tugged on her corner to straighten the spread. "She ran off to get
married to some quack."
Cinnamon gave him a bright smile that almost pushed her eyes
closed. "I don't have a maid any more. I have a mother now."
Donnie Smith frowned at him from the opposite corner of the bed.
"I don't get you, Sheridan. You wait until we're finished with the last
item on the last bed--yours for the night, no less--to complain?"
"He can't help it," Cinnamon said while smoothing her quarter of
the spread. "He's a shithead."
Huntly ignored her. "Oh, come on, Smith! It's not necessarily
just bitch and me who'll be using it, you know. You might be invited, too."
Smith snorted. "With you?" He shook his head. "I'll stick to
Hailey."
"Hey! You'd, like, better stick in me rather than to me." The
wahine grinned wickedly. "And to do that, you'd so have to be in here
part of the time."
Smith drew back in puzzlement. "And what would you be doing in here?"
Hailey's hands pointed to the corners of the opposite side of the
bed. "Them."
Huntly had never seen a one inch wide snake attempt to swallow
a three inch wide toad, but he was sure that he now knew what it looked
like. "HUH?" the snake managed to gasp.
"Come on, Donnie Boy," Huntly said. "That's our cue for a
coach to player talk." He sidled up to Smith, threw an arm around the
quarterback's shoulders, and steered him toward the double doors and the
upper hallway beyond. He closed the doors behind them and swept a
finger toward the gallery. Smith took the hint. Huntly stopped him at
the railing and rested his forearms on it, gazing down into the family
room at Cinnamon's drum kit.
Smith managed to finally swallow the toad. "She's serious? She
sounded serious. Yeah, she's Hailey, but... but she didn't sound like..."
"She's serious," Huntly said, nodding. "But if you want to be
involved, you need to understand some ground rules. Now I'm serious.
Ordinarily you could whip my ass from here to Grand Junction and back,
but if you fuck up tonight, I'll be mad enough that you'll be on the
receiving end. And after I'm through warming you up, bitch will make
you wish I'd mercifully killed you at the end. Comprende?"
Smith wasn't a typical dumb jock. Huntly was sure Smith wasn't of
equal caliber to himself, but the guy did have that touch of common
sense and ability to follow orders that marked a good quarterback from,
say, an offensive tackle whose job was to be a roadblock and didn't
require much more sense than a concrete barricade. Smith nodded. "So far."
"Good. First off: we'll be spending some time in the hot tub
tonight. Wynter for sure, possibly Suzie, too, will join us. They know
you'll look the first time, and they'll probably check you out, too,
though with Doctor Cutie it will be more of a clinical exam. She'll be
more interested in whether you have three testicles or the needle
patterns of any scars on your ass from stitches rather than in the size
of your dick. After that, you act like everyone's clothed."
"Like everyone's... What the hell are you talking about?" he
asked, sounding as puzzled as he looked, though comprehension seemed to
be knocking on his door.
"Didn't I mention it? Nothing is worn in the hot tub here. Some
crap in the water isn't good for bathing suits, or some such excuse, not
that it matters what the excuse is. But you don't ogle the girls and
don't make the beast with two backs in the tub with your wahine date.
And later not in front of Wynter and Jimmy or Suzie and Kenny. The
girls are... Well, they're..."
"Yeah, old fashioned. I gotcha." His face said he understood what
Huntly meant. It also said he understood what it meant for himself, too.
"Say, Smith, you got any problem with two girls going down on each
other?"
Smith snorted. "Yeah. They never do it when I'm around to watch."
Huntly gave him a sly grin of understanding. "Exactly. But
tonight they will. And you'll be there to watch and participate if you
play by the rules. The hardest rule comes afterward."
Toad swallowing time again. Smith managed to get out, "Which is?"
"You keep your mouth shut. You have no idea who's been here
before. That's because everyone so far has played by the rules. That
also means they get invited back. By the way, since you're not a
regular, you use rubbers for now."
He paused to let the message sink in. He knew it had when Smith
asked, "You mean this isn't a first touchdown-ends the game scenario?"
"And that intuitive ability to grasp the obvious, ladies and
gentlemen, is why Smith is the starting quarterback instead of
Jenkins!" He turned serious. "But there's no guarantee of a rematch.
It's strictly up to them who gets invited and who gets invited back.
You're here for two reasons: one, Hailey wanted you and B, I agreed and
two, Cinnamon agreed. It takes both to get you in the game, stud.
Bitch disagreed at first because she doesn't trust jocks. Too many of
us want to shoot off our mouths." He noticed that Smith didn't object
to him including himself, even though his days as a jock, other than at
tiddlywinks and pocket pool, had ended with his knee injury.
Sure enough, Smith replied, "You're a jock. She trusts you."
Huntly clapped Smith's shoulder. "And I reminded her of that. So
don't forget who got you into this game."
Smith shuffled his weight from foot to foot for a moment, then
said, "Question. If you're going to be doing Hailey, then..."
"That's entirely up to Cinnamon. If she invites you, I don't mind
in the least, so don't worry about my reaction. But if she doesn't
invite you, most likely it will be because you pissed her off somehow,
so there's another reason to mind your manners, especially since you're
on probation."
The snake swallowed the toad in a mighty gulp. "Holy shit."
"Just remember that with any of the girls, 'no' always means 'Don't
ever do that,' even if it's 'No more jokes like that one,' or 'No
scratching your ass with a lemonade straw.' Forget that rule and you
will become the town's third dickless wonder, in the grand tradition of
Ray Simons and Matthew Wylie. And don't forget who created that last one."
"Got it. Yeah. Hey, thanks, Sheridan. I know we didn't get along
all that well because you were on defense and I was on offense, but..."
"Aaah!" Huntly waved away the thanks. "It was what the wahine
wanted, and I can never refuse her. Especially when she threatens to
cut me off if I don't give in. And besides, I felt that I owed it to you."
Smith cooled and eyed him suspiciously. "Owed it to me?"
"Well... You, uh, remember that football game against Aspen, when
somebody put itching powder in your jockstrap?"
Smith straightened and rounded on him, fists clenched. "THAT WAS
YOU?" he roared.
Huntly shrugged, ignoring the threatening gesture. "Well, if I
hadn't, you wouldn't be here tonight. You might want to keep that in mind."
Smith relaxed in steps rather than in a smooth transition. "Yeah.
Right. Okay, this buys you forgiveness."
Huntly shrugged. He'd already figured that out for himself.
~ ~ ~
Sir Wynston, the Redguard warrior, paused in his frenzied attack
just long enough to check his loathsome opponent's deteriorating
condition. One more should do it! He adjusted his two handed grip on
his specially-enchanted sword, the Wynterblade, and lunged forward as he
heroically swung another mighty blow. The dastardly Dagoth Vemyn fell
to the floor of the chamber, dead.
Sir Wynston searched the vanquished foe's corpse and found the
quest artifact he sought, the magical hammer Sunder, along with the
Amulet of Heartheal, an item he would add to his collection of Ash
Vampire artifacts in his Great House Redoran stronghold at Bal Isra.
His last action before using a Recall spell to take him back to Caldera
to barter his other collected items to the Scamp named Creeper was
disposal of the foul corpse of Dagoth Vemyn. Sir Wynston was deeply in
love with a fair maiden, a Healer, and she would be sorely displeased if
he left the vile corpse lying about to spread disease.
Sir Wynston selected his Recall amulet and prepared to cast its
spell...
...and was interrupted by the ringing of a telephone. Jimmy
right clicked again to pause the game and reached for his extension.
His heart leaped when he saw the fair maiden's name on the caller ID.
"I was just thinking about you," he said.
"Really? Well..." Her voice turned slyly suspicious. "What were
you doing?"
"Playing Morrowind on my computer. I just killed the last Ash
Vampire and recovered Sunder. Now I'm ready for the final quest to kill
Dagoth Ur."
Wynter sighed. "Gee, I don't know how I got to be so lucky. Most
girls have boyfriends who think about them when they see flowers or
kittens or colorful sunsets or other romantic stuff. Suzie has one who
thinks of her when he masturbates. I have one who thinks of me while
he's killing vampires."
"Ash Vampires. They're not undead like regular vampires."
"Oh, well, that explains it."
Jimmy ignored the sarcasm. "When I kill Dagoth Ur, then that will
end the blight storms that bring sickness and incurable diseases to the
inhabitants of Vvardenfell. It's like discovering the cure for polio or
smallpox. Or the cure for Kenny's condition."
"Oh! Well, okay, then. I'll forgive you. I'm sorry I jumped to
the wrong conclusion. Maybe I can make it up to you at Sis's tonight."
"You may have to try several times."
Her reply was a throaty... well, Jimmy wasn't quite sure if it was
a purr or a growl, but whatever it was, it made his pants twitch.
"Is Bobby still there?"
"Yeah," she said. "I fed him and now he's taking a nap. Mrs.
Pierce should pick him up in about half an hour. I can't believe how
much he's grown in just the two months since I cut his umbilical cord."
Jimmy remembered how excited Wynter had been after performing her
'first surgery' and smiled.
"Jimmy, do you think ours will grow up that fast?"
"From what Dad says, yeah. Last week he said they'll be born on
Monday, start school on Tuesday, be seventh graders on Wednesday,
graduate college on Thursday, get married on Friday, and make us
grandparents on Saturday."
"Well," she said in a thoughtful voice, "as long as they don't
reverse Friday and Saturday. Wait! You're there by yourself? I
thought Kenny was coming over."
"So did I. The diarrhea bouts have started again." One aspect of
Kenny's illness was sudden diarrhea attacks that gave him little
warning. More than once Kenny had dashed from a classroom without
waiting for the teacher's permission. Once or twice he'd not been fast
enough. But they weren't completely bad. An attack at the Hargus City
Ghost Town had kept him from being captured with the others, allowing
him to launch his rescue in the mine.
"Oh, no! Will he be able to come tonight?"
"Well, there's the hot tub with you, Cinnamon, and Hailey in it as
well as Suzie. He gets to spend the night with Suzie. You tell me if
Studman will be there. I just hope he makes it through the night,
though. He's feeling some simultaneous abdominal pain, too."
"Huh!" Wynter paused in thought for a moment. "I don't remember
pain accompanying the diarrhea before. They've always been separate,
though once or twice one followed the other fairly close afterward."
"Maybe it's mutating?"
She hummed in thought. Finally she said, "I almost hope it is."
"Because if it does, that might create a clue about what's causing
it," he said.
"That's why I love you," she said. "Brains and good looks."
"It's not my idea, actually. I copied it from a Future MD I know.
And not the short one."
Wynter laughed, but then her voice suddenly turned serious.
"Jimmy, if nobody finds the cure for Taylor Mosier Syndrome by the time
I get my MD, I'm going to find it."
"As one of my Future Sisters in Law always says, remind me to look
surprised next Tuesday. But you're only half right: we are going to
find it, remember? You'll need help from someone who isn't an MD to do
the biochemistry while you do the medical stuff. Naturally that will be
me."
"Naturally," she said. "After all... Uh oh. Bobby's fussing.
I'd better check on him."
"Okay. I'll finish this game soon. Then maybe I'll start a new
one with a mage character I have in mind. I think I'll have time before
we go to Cinnamon's."
"A mage?"
"Probably a Breton battlemage. I'm going to name him Wynstorm
because..." He stopped because he'd heard the baby crying. "Time for
you to go. I love you."
After she said she loved him, too, and they hung up, he reached for
the mouse. His mind wasn't on Morrowind, though. It kept darting off
sideways to picture what it would be like working beside Mrs. Wynter
McCauley, MD, in an effort to cure Kevin Kenneth Taylor, Junior, MD, and
others afflicted with his mysterious Taylor Mosier Syndrome.
~ ~ ~
Kenny flushed and washed his hands. He should be changing
clothes. No, he should be leaving for Cinnamon's. Why me? Why
tonight? I finally get a chance for a little overnight action with
Suzie and this happens! I'm getting sick and tired of this shit! He
snorted at his unintended pun, then winced as a pain attacked his guts
again. It seemed different from the usual pain and more to one side
than centered, but since nobody knew what the problem was, nobody was
sure what really was normal. In fact, nobody was sure there was a "normal."
He sure as hell wasn't going to tell Dad about it. He wanted to
spend his night with Suzie, getting some action, not sitting in an
examination room while everyone wasted his night running the same tests
over and over again and finally deciding they didn't know what his
fucking problem was.
He stormed out of the bathroom, not realizing he was still drying
his hands until Charlie saw him in the hall and said something about it.
He looked down, wadded the towel, and threw it at his little
brother. "You hang it up, then!" he snarled. He clutched his right
side and charged into his room, slamming the door behind him.
~ ~ ~
Suzie sat on the edge of the hot tub, her lower legs in the water,
and watched Wynter massage Huntly's injured knee. Wynter said it was
okay for Suzie to get into the tub, but the hot water made her stupid
injury uncomfortable or something. Her dolt had offered to sit beside
her, but she told him to sit in the water. He did, one arm wrapped
around her legs and hugging them while she stroked his wet hair. She
thought it was weird or something how that seemed more special than
sitting beside him in the tub.
She worried when he sometimes wrenched or winched--or whatever that
stupid word was--in pain. She wished somebody could cure his stupid
abdominal problem so that he'd stop hurting. Every time he hurt, she
did, too. Not in her stomach but in her heart. But the stupid doctors
didn't seem to be making any stupid headway. It seemed to her like they
just jumped in the stupid pool and then began treading stupid water like
a bunch of stupid dolts instead of swimming to the other end of the
stupid lane. She was ever so mad about that. She wished she could
stamp her right foot, but she didn't want Kenny to stop hugging her legs.
Oh, sure, Sister Wynter wasn't making any progress, either, but at
least her sister was trying ever so hard. The stupid doctors sure as
heck didn't seem to be trying.
Kenny suddenly stood up. "Not AGAIN!" He climbed out of the tub
and rushed out for the stupid bathroom. The kiss he tried to give her
landed on the corner of her mouth. He didn't have time to aim better
and try again.
Huntly stood up. "Sorry, Doc. That's my cue," he said.
"You're going to go wipe his butt for him?" Jimmy asked.
Huntly stared down at him like he was dismental or something. "No,
I'm going to go comfort his beautiful woman."
Sister Cinnamon gave him a funny look but stayed in the water.
"She has us sisters to give her emotional support, shithead."
"Yes, bitch, but I'm also going to talk to her about..." He
wiggled his heavy eyebrows.
"Oh! Okay. Sis, if he gets obnoxious, just warn us before you
yell at him so we can cover our ears." She relaxed and asked Donnie to
continue his story about Trish at this week's away football game against
the Pumas.
Huntly smiled at Suzie ever so nicely. She guessed that if she had
to describe him in just two words, they would be "wonderful smile."
Instead of sitting beside her, he asked, "May I have a few words with
you, alone?"
"Sure." As he helped her to stand out of the tub, she wondered if
maybe it was bad news about Kenny. But Sister Cinnamon had smiled at
him, so it couldn't be bad news. Maybe he needed help with a magic
trick? She knew he'd had Sister Hailey help him with one while she was
coaching at Swim Camp.
He grabbed two towels and handed her one. "Let's go where you can
sit down and be comfortable." All he would tell her while they dried
off was, "It's a surprise for Kenny."
She stopped worrying then, glad that it was something good for her
dolt for a change. She let Huntly take her past the bathroom to the
room next to it. Her leg barely hurt at all when she stood on it now,
but it did feel better to sit down. Huntly spread a towel on the couch
and waited while she sat down first.
She thought it should feel weird to be sitting here on a couch with
him, with her wearing just a towel around her shoulders and him not
wearing anything, but Huntly always acted like she was wearing clothes
or her bathing suit or something. Neither one seemed to be conscience
of the fact that they were naked, so she felt perfectly comfortable.
"First," he said, "is Smith bothering you? I warned him about
staring, but since you're out of the water, he seems to be staring at
your... uh..." he pointed, "happy parts."
"No," she said with a short smile. "Besides, he's trying not to
look. But I don't really think he's looking at my cunny or boobies. I
think he's looking at my birthmark." She pointed at the quarter sized
spot on the inside of her right boobie.
"If that's bothering you..."
"Hunh uh. The girls on the swim team sometimes do it in the
shower, even after all this time. I'm used to it and it doesn't bother
me. So, that's not important. Besides, Kenny says it's special
decorations just for him. What about my dolt's surprise?"
"Hailey's dad gave me a cool idea. I've been doing some research,
and now your devious sister and I think we are onto something for
Studman. I've talked to Finnegan, and he says it's so easy it's almost
boring for him, so he's on board. But before we go any farther with it,
I want to get your permission because it kinda involves you."
She listened to Huntly's idea, giggling or laughing in several
places. When he was finished he said, "I don't want to do it, though,
if it bothers you."
Suzie was uncredulous or something. "Why the heck would that
bother me? You should be asking the dolt and Wynter if it bothers THEM!"
"Well, two things: one, it's a surprise for Kenny; B, Wynter loves
it; and two, we don't want you to think we're making fun of you."
Suzie stared at him. "Making fun of ME? Are you dismental or
something, you dolt? You make it sound like I'm the only one with any
sense! Well, not me, exactly, but... you know."
Huntly's eyes searched her face, and he smiled again. "Yeah, I
know. But you're my woman's sister, and more importantly, you're my
friend. I want to be absolutely sure that I don't accidentally hurt
your feelings."
She shook her head. Men could be such dolts sometimes, even if
they were trying to be nice or something. "Huntly, I know you love me
like you do Sister Wynter and Sister Hailey. I know you wouldn't do
anything to hurt my feelings. Besides, what can you do that Brinkly and
her stupid Pack can't do whenever they finally try?"
One corner of his mouth curled up. "Card tricks."
She laughed and let him help her up as the commode in the bathroom
flushed.
Kenny came out of the bathroom as they reached the door. He looked
at Huntly's arm holding hers. "What the hell are you doing with my
girlfriend?" he asked with an angry frown.
"Failing miserably at convincing her to trade up to a better
model. She wants to keep you."
Her dolt stuck out a hand. "I'll take her back to the hot tub."
He sounded mad or something.
Huntly shook his head. "No, you're going to get in the shower and
wash your ass before you get back in the tub. Meanwhile, I'll get a
cheap thrill holding the arm of the prettiest redhead in the house while
I escort her."
Kenny went first into the hot tub room and then said, "Hey,
Cymbals! Your boyfriend says Suzie's the prettiest redhead in the house."
Sister Cinnamon blinked at him. "Well, the law of averages says
even shithead's bound to get something right once in a while. I guess
it was finally his time."
Huntly threw up his free arm. "Thanks for the support, bitch."
Suzie giggled as her dolt cussed his way into the shower. Sis
hadn't taken Kenny's bait and attacked Huntly. She decided she'd
surprise Kenny and wash his back or something. Maybe wash his front,
too. As she dropped her towel from her shoulders and snuck into the
shower, she wondered if she should ask him to explain some of those new
words he'd used.
Probably not.
~ ~ ~
In the glow from Cinnamon's bedside lamp, Wynter kept rocking until
Jimmy's body suddenly went limp, like he'd had a massive dose of curare,
and then she slowed to a stop. She felt her vaginal canal contracting
as he shrank inside her. She smiled down at him and wiped his sweaty
forehead with the fingers of her right hand. "I think you liked that one."
His unintelligible reply was in no language she knew. Well, that's
not true, is it? He agreed with me in the language of Love!
Jimmy found enough air to ask, "Did you cum that time?"
"No," she said, "but that's okay. I'm ahead seven to three." When
he frowned up at her, she added, "But who's counting." Then she grabbed
his head and kissed him until she was on edge. By that time he'd
slipped out of her. She glued her mouth solidly to his, humped against
the hair over his pubic bone, and shuddered. Then she straightened,
gazed lovingly down at him, and said, "Eight to three."
He gave her his special grin and nod. "I love you."
"Good," she said. "I might need number nine before morning."
His finger traced around the edge of her left breast. "What if I
need number four before morning?"
"Fortunately for you, you have a choice of four to help you. Or
seven if you count Huntly and Kenny and Donnie."
The look he gave her was almost enough to make her orgasm again.
"I only want one."
"You can have me." She gave him a smarty pants grin. "You can
even wake me up while you do me if you want to. I promise." She
crossed her heart with her right index finger.
"You know, it's a good thing for you that I love you."
"I know," she said with a warm smile. "Believe me, I know, and I
really and truly do appreciate it."
She knew he had another retort ready, but she hadn't given him the
response he'd expected. He gave up and pulled her down to him. They
kissed and cuddled, then turned out the light and kissed and cuddled
more until exhaustion induced sleep quickly overtook them.
~ ~ ~
Donnie jumped when Hailey licked his balls, but he didn't break his
rhythm as his goalpost sawed in and out of Cinnamon. He looked across
her back at Sheridan, who was pounding Hailey beneath Cinnamon. He
couldn't see Sheridan's dick, not that he was trying to, of course,
because of all the red hair as Cinnamon tried to work her tongue into
the gap to lick her cousin's shaved cunt.
Sheridan grinned. "At least you didn't yell like I did the first
time she did that to me. Scared the pants off of me."
"That wasn't why your pants were off, shithead," Cinnamon said
without lifting her face away from the connection.
"Any second now she'll pull it out of bitch and suck on it."
Donnie pulled back until just the head was in the redhead and
looked past the junction at the brunette grinning up at him. Hailey
yanked his goalpost out of its socket and deep throated him. Back in
their room she had worn him out so thoroughly that he thought he'd never
get it up again for a week. Then she'd dragged him into the master
bedroom and went to work on her cousin. Thirty seconds of watching the
two girls going at each other and his goalpost was at full attention
again. Now it was all he could do not to shoot off into Hailey's mouth.
Obviously she knew that because she suddenly pulled it out.
"That's enough of that," she said. She aimed it at the little redhead's
snatch, which was, as incredible as it was for Donnie to believe, even
better than her own, even when felt through a rubber. She held him back
for a moment, obviously waiting for him to calm down a little before
spreading her cousin's cunt open, licking the bush bean, and placing him
at the glistening wet entrance. "Like, push," she growled.
He pushed forward until his hips met that beautiful round firm
butt. She squeezed his goalpost three times in rapid succession. He
knew that he'd spend the rest of his life wondering how he'd managed to
keep from cumming in her at that instant.
He reached under her to play with those beautiful perfect round
tits and found Sheridan's hands already there. "You can have this one,"
Sheridan said, and moved his hand away from the right tit. "I warmed it
up for you."
Donnie cupped it and used his left hand to play with Hailey's. He
thought it was neat how they could be so incredibly different and yet
both feel so wonderful to the touch. He looked up and saw Sheridan
grinning at him.
"I'll tell you what's even better," Sheridan said. "Comparing
cootchies while both are sitting on your face. Or having one lie on top
of the other and then comparing them by switching back and forth with
your dick."
He started short stroking so hard that he was afraid he'd bruise
Cinnamon's cunt, but he couldn't control himself. The quarterback
within had taken the handoff and was driving for the goal line. He felt
himself trying to squirt long after his tubes and balls were dry,
probably because Hailey's tongue was at work again. Touchdown! he told
himself. You can stop now. His hips didn't listen. It was like he was
now running full speed for the other goal line.
When he finally stopped slamming, more from exhaustion than
anything else, Hailey yanked his goalpost out of her cousin, stripped
off the rubber, and sucked him clean. From somewhere she produced
another rubber and handed it up to him while not letting up on her
duties. He knew a miracle was about to happen and he'd be hard again in
less than two minutes.
Donnie had no idea how often the cousins indulged in foursomes like
this, but whatever the schedule and whatever the requirements were to
get invited back, he was willing to do it. He would do it even if it
meant scoring a touchdown against the Coyotes next Thursday night
without the other ten players on offense.
~ ~ ~
Wynter McCauley, MD, pressed her face into her husband's neck as he
gasped his love for her into her ear. She was about to answer when the
world shook and a distant voice said, "WYNTER!" She opened her eyes.
She was lying on her side, not her back, in a different but
familiar bed, her forehead pressed against Jimmy's. Sometimes being
awakened from a pleasant dream was better than the dream itself.
"WYNTER!"
The fear and anguish registered. "Suzie?" she gasped, rolling over.
Her sister stood beside Cinnamon's bed, tears gushing down her
cheeks, neck, and naked chest. "It's Kenny! This time it's ever so BAD!"
She punched Jimmy's arm, then said "Emergency!" as she scrambled
out of bed, grabbing her scrunchie from the night stand. She followed
Suzie through the connecting bathroom to Hailey's room, fixing her
ponytail as she dashed after Suzie. She heard Jimmy's feet behind her.
The lamp light disoriented her for a moment, but her eyes quickly
adjusted as she felt Kenny's forehead, then pressed her fingers to his
carotid artery. "This isn't the same thing," she diagnosed, thinking
she probably sounded as puzzled as she felt. "It seems more like an
infec..." A thought struck her. "Oh, no! Kenny, move your arms away
from your abdomen."
Suzie and Jimmy had to help her move them. Seconds later she
looked up at Jimmy. "Use Cinnamon's phone. Call nine-one-one," she
said. "Then wake the others and have them get dressed for visitors,
then call his dad and tell him. I'll alert the OR to stand by. Sis,
hand me that phone, please?"
Jimmy raced back to Cinnamon's room while Wynter punched in the ER
telephone number and Suzie told Kenny it would be better soon. To her
surprise, Chuck Jackson answered. His shift should have ended at
midnight, almost three hours ago. As Sis One suddenly led the other
three into the room and, head at an angle, took in the scene in a rapid
scan with unblinking eyes, she said, "Jax, this is Wynter. It's
Kenny. Prep for an emergency appendectomy. It hasn't ruptured, but it
could before he arrives. We're at Cinnamon's. Vitals to follow after
she gets Doctor Brees's bag."
~ ~ ~
Jimmy watched Huntly paw through the magazines. "What the... heck
are you doing?" he asked, changing the third word when he remembered
Kenny's mom was in the waiting room, too.
"Looking for that People magazine. I thought if you were going to
pace the floor like an expectant father again, I could finish that story
with the girl who plays football."
"Aren't..." He glanced over his shoulder at Mrs. Taylor, who had
Donnie Smith and three girls crowded around her, speaking in low
voices. He lowered his own voice. "Aren't you the least bit concerned
about Kenny? An appendix is serious business."
Huntly actually snorted in derision! "Hell, no!" he said while
continuing to dig. "Two things. One, this hospital has the finest
emergency room west of Denver, including Grand Junction and Salt Lake
City. B, although Doctor Holt is on duty instead of Doctor Larue, she
does know how to remove an appendix, which is why they haven't called
Doctor Larue or Doctor Malenkov or even Doctor Delvy. C, she has... are
you listening to me?"
Jimmy had been looking over his shoulder to see if Huntly's
too loud words were upsetting Mrs. Taylor. She still looked nervous,
but she was smiling at Huntly, as was everyone else. "Uh, yeah."
"C, she has Doctor Taylor in there with her. Neither Mom nor Dad
had any problems when he removed theirs, and that was back in the dark
ages before anesthetics and steel needles, if you believe my dad's
story. And two, and most important by far, Doctor Cutie is in there
making sure everybody does it right, and they will because none of them
want to be corrected by her."
"You know, he's right about that last part, Jimmy," said Mrs.
Taylor with a laugh that seemed to relax her. "Kevin is scared to death
that Wynter is going to correct him before she gets to high school."
She shrugged. "Though I think he accepts the fact that it will happen
before she's a senior."
Donnie nodded, then smirked. "Maybe Sheridan couldn't safety blitz
a gummi bear behind a row of marshmallows, but occasionally he knows
what he's talking about. This is one of those rare occasions."
Huntly jabbed a finger at him. "And last, and certainly least
after number two, pacing the floor and worrying is not going to do a
damned thing to change the outcome, so isn't it logical, Mister Spock,
for us to just sit back and enjoy the ride?"
"Jimmy?" Suzie said before Jimmy could think of a response. She
patted the seat of the chair beside her. "Would you like to sit with me
or something? I was ever so worried until I knew what it was. I was
still worried until they got him here in time, but even somebody as dumb
as I am knows that any bad news would have happened before now. It
hasn't, so everything is okay."
That made him relax. While Huntly went to the desk to see if Jax
had the magazine lost in the incredible amount of clutter piled on it,
Jimmy sat beside Suzie and smiled at her while she took his hands.
"Suzie, there are a lot of dumb people in Griffin Middle School, but you
definitely are not one of them."
She suddenly went wide eyed, turned toward Cinnamon, and said in a
soft voice, "Sorry."
Cinnamon smiled and nodded, leaving Jimmy to wonder what that was
all about.
Mrs. Taylor leaned sideways and kissed the top of Suzie's head.
"Listen to him, sweetheart. He's a Future Nobel Prize Winner. He's
going to win for The Most Blatant Statement of the Obvious in 2004."
The way Suzie laughed made him swallow his retort to Mrs. Taylor.
They held hands and talked about Kenny and Wynter. They were quietly
discussing Kenny's change in attitude since the wreck, with Suzie
telling Jimmy several worrisome things he hadn't known, when Huntly
returned.
"I give up," Huntly said, throwing up his hands in surrender. "I
have a cousin in Washington. I'll ask him if he knows anything about her."
"Hey!" grunted Hailey, lifting her head from Donnie's shoulder.
"Like, you so have a girl here who could use some attention,
pickledick." She jerked a thumb at Cinnamon.
"Cuz!" Cinnamon said in a miffed tone. "What makes you think I'm..."
All eyes turned to the noise from the opening doors of the
treatment room. Jimmy's heart turned flip flops at the glorious look of
elation and excitement on Wynter's face. She made the wildly grinning
Doctors Taylor and Holt look positively glum. He barely had enough time
to help Suzie to her feet before Wynter threw herself on him, grabbed
his head, and gave him a kiss that left him breathless.
"Obviously things went well," said Mrs. Taylor. She sounded like
she might be laughing, but it was difficult to be certain because
Wynter's hands were covering Jimmy's ears.
Doctor Taylor definitely was laughing. "Honey, why don't you run
up to your office and see if we have any forms to submit Wynter for
associate or honorary or candidate or whatever membership as a Fellow of
the American College of Surgeons."
Voices jumbled together, fighting their way under Wynter's hands.
"Doctor Cutie operated?" "Sis removed it?" "Hey! Like, she did it?"
"She operated on my dolt like she did me?"
Jimmy never thought he'd see the day when he wanted to stop
Wynter's kissing him, but he was beginning to suffer hypoxia. Just in
time she pulled back and let him gasp in a breath. "YEAH!" she said,
her beautiful blue green eyes sparking with excitement and delight.
She'd obviously given up on trying to maintain her professional demeanor.
"Denise opened him up laparoscopically, clamped it off, and, as I
asked her to do, waited until Wynter had finished scrubbing. Then she
let my best Future MD make the snip."
Wynter beamed at the compliment that rated her higher than Kenny in
his father's eyes.
"And," added Doctor Holt, "I also let her make the final stitches.
I knew Kenny'd never forgive me if I let Suzie be the only one who'd
been a canvas for her needlework."
Wynter kissed Jimmy again, then whispered in his ear, "When we get
back to Sis's house and her bed, don't plan on getting any sleep."
Chapter 15
Frustrated to the point of wanting to hit somebody, Brinkly slammed
her fist onto the arm of her wheelchair. "Why not?"
Miranda Ochoa gave her a cool look. "Because Possum is my
friend." With a slight lift of her nose, the girl turned and walked
away. Brinkly wanted to drive over her and grind her into the linoleum
tile of the classroom floor. How dare that Mexican bitch act superior
to Brinkly Ward, daughter of the Entertainment Director of International
Ski and Trail's Wizard Ski Basin and, even more importantly, leader of
the Brink of Disaster!
"You probably can't sing anything except burrito music anyway!"
Brinkly snarled at her back. When Miranda ignored her, she added, "Or
shitkicker!"
"Ms. Ward," said an authoritative female voice from the door of her
home room, "may I speak with you a moment? At my desk?"
Oh, great! "Yeeees, Ms. Beard." Shit! She didn't know the woman
had come in. She'd managed to talk Billy McKeown, only a seventh
grader, into being her second rhythm guitar and a vocalist, but that was
it. She still needed a keyboardist/vocalist and... she sighed as she
maneuvered her way to the front of the room... and a damned drummer!
NOBODY else wanted to play with her band, and Billy had required some
strong arm twisting. Of course, she was also missing the first rhythm
guitarist if she couldn't convince Mark Williams to come back.
"Hey! Make a hole for me!" she barked at Brees's idiot cousin, who
was blocking the aisle with Jeffrey Delorme.
Brees's idiot cousin smiled down at her. She spoke in a soft voice
that only Brinkly and Jeffrey could hear. "Awww. Wike, what's so the
matter, Bwinky? 'Oo need us to, wike, make 'oo a hole? Can't, wike,
gwow 'oor own to pway wif by 'oorse'f?" The idiot gave her a
condescending look and added, "Since none of the boys would, wike, want
to pway wif it for 'oo." She stepped back.
Jeffrey snickered.
She started to yell at the bitch, but caught herself in time. She
was about to be given another three page writing assignment. If she
lost her temper again, which was, of course, what the idiot was trying
to get her to do, she'd probably have to write half a book. She slammed
the control forward and tried to drive over the bimbo's foot.
Naturally the idiot expected it and dodged in time. "Hey!" she
said quietly as Brinkly rolled past. "By the way, Homecoming is, like,
the fourteenth. That's, like, two weeks from tomorrow if you can't
count. Do you, like, have a date for the dance yet?"
~ ~ ~
"Epoxy," Cinnamon repeated in a flat voice of non comprehension.
She looked up at a frowning Huntly, who was examining his lock in one
hand while holding the key in the other. The word made no sense. Her
face screwed itself into a puzzled mask. "You need me to get you some
epoxy for your lock?"
"No," he said. "I have plenty, thank you. The key hole is full of
it. Been there long enough to harden, too, which means either it was
squirted in there after we left Friday afternoon, or it's quick setting
epoxy squirted in this morning." He glanced up and down the hallway.
"Cori."
"Cori? You want me to get you Cori?"
"No." He looked down at her. "She's standing down there by the
library door, flashing that grin. She knows. She probably did it."
Cinnamon grunted. She couldn't see over the heads of the students
in the hall. "So you're going to be late for home room while Mister
Tillman cuts the lock off?"
"Nope." Huntly pushed sideways against the latch with his left
hand. He brought his right hand above it, fingers vertical, thumb
toward his body. He measured the length of that hand above the one
pushing on the latch, then sharply rapped against the edge of the locker
door. On the second attempt the door popped open.
"Not bad for an amateur," said Kenny as he and Suzie halted beside
them, "but a pro can do it in one blow."
Huntly shrugged and began swapping books. "Well, unlike you, I'm
not a pro with a lot of experience at blowing."
Cinnamon stopped blinking, tilted her head to the side, and watched
with narrowed eyes as the flash of rage washed over Kenny's face.
Suzie's hand jumped to Kenny's arm. Kenny turned a glare to Suzie, then
visibly cooled and relaxed. "Yeah," was all he said.
Cinnamon's head straightened. "Kenny, you take shithead to Mister
Shelby's room and don't let him get lost on the way. I want to talk to
Sis. Girl talk," she added to indicate she didn't want them around.
"Bitch," Huntly muttered. He closed his locker. "But we need to
stop by the office and..."
"Fine! Just go on. Both of you." She fluttered her hands in a
shooing motion.
Sister Suzie's face told Cinnamon that her newest sister had a good
idea what she wanted. But before she could speak, Sis's eyes sparkled
and she asked, "So how are your parents?"
Cinnamon's smile pushed up her round cheeks. "Exhausted. But they
want to get married again next month and go back to Rio. Daddy says
it's the best time he's ever had. Mom says he just wants to spend more
time on the beach with the topless girls."
Suzie giggled. "They had time to go to the beach?"
Cinnamon shrugged. "They're married now, but they've been living
together. Sex isn't the same priority as for virgin newlyweds, so they
can do other things."
Suzie looked like she was about to say something else but instead
sobered and said, "I guess you've made a decision."
"Yeah. Do you want to come over to my house or have me come to yours?"
Sis looked at her like she'd suddenly lost possession of her common
sense. "Sister Hailey?"
"Your house. We're going out for a family dinner tonight. Is
tomorrow night okay?"
She found herself staring at one of Suzie's best exasperated
looks. "My sister needs my help. What the heck do you think?"
"I think I'm lucky that you're my sister."
"Our other sisters would help, too," she said in reminder.
"Hurry! Get your books out of your locker and let's go. My breakfast
orange juice wants out."
"Yeah, you're right," she said as she started pulling books from
her locker. "They would help. But I'm still lucky that you're my sister."
~ ~ ~
Suzie waited ever so impatiently while her stupid parents
monopolied Sister Cinnamon's time. She knew better than tell them why
Sis was there, so she just had to wait until they ran out of stupid
breath or something asking why Hailey hadn't come with her and how her
parents had enjoyed their honeymoon. Finally they were able to take
glasses of lemonade back to Suzie's room and close the door. Suzie
turned the chair at her desk to face the bed and sat down. "I guess if
we'd known that Sister Hailey was going to the movies with Jeffrey, we
could have met at your house and avoided that stupid mess."
Sis grunted and walked around for a moment and then sat on the side
of the bed, holding the glass with both hands and not looking at Suzie.
"This isn't easy," she said.
"Well, you can just talk about whatever you want whenever you're
ready, and I'll listen. Remember that I'm your sister now, and I love
you ever so much, and that whatever you say is just between us and is okay."
Sis's mouth made a tight smile, but her eyes didn't look up. "I
know." She started to say something two or three times but stopped with
the words on the tip of her tongue or something. Finally she sighed and
looked Suzie in the eyes. "It's about De Ramirez."
Suzie nodded.
"You don't seem surprised."
"Remind me to look surprised next Tuesday. Tonight I have a sister
to help."
Sis smiled for a moment, but then it faded away. "Maybe the rest
of it will surprise you."
Suzie shrugged. "Maybe."
Sis stopped blinking and turned her head toward one shoulder as she
squinted. And then she smiled just a little. Obviously she was
beginning to realize that Suzie had already worked out some of the
problem by herself or something.
Suzie had a drink of lemonade but didn't take her eyes from the
other redhead's. She was supposed to listen, not talk. Sister Cinnamon
would have to say something. Finally, Sis did.
"You think it's because you got hurt."
Suzie waited and thought about the best way to answer Sis. She
knew how Sisters Wynter and Cinnamon would respond if she was in
Cinnamon's place, so she said, "That's part of it."
"You think I'm mad at myself because I forgot about the cell phones
and Ron's signal device that Finnegan made."
She nodded. "I know you are. That's part of it, too."
"Do you also know the rest?"
Suzie shrugged. "Maybe. You tell me."
Sis blinked. "Do you know what I was doing then?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I think so."
"What?"
Suzie shook her head. "Hunh uh. You have to tell me, or it won't
work."
Cinnamon's eyes told Suzie that she'd just surprised her sister.
"Damn. I keep telling you not to underestimate yourself, and the first
thing I do is underestimate you. Again." Sis sighed and looked at the
floor like she was too embarrassed to look Suzie in the eye or
something. Then she sniffed and wiped away a tear.
Suzie said nothing and waited. If she was right, it was something
Sis sure as heck didn't want to admit, but she needed to. Sis needed
time to work up the courage or something to admit it. She understood.
She'd also had to admit things she didn't want to before, like when she
was mad and stupidly let Kenny take the blame and punishment for
attacking that stupid Matthew Wylie when her dolt was just trying to
protect her. She knew how ever so difficult it was.
"Sis I... I tried to kill him."
"I know." She wondered if Sis could hear her because her voice was
so soft.
"I wanted to kill him. I wanted to chew him to fish chum with the
propellers. I was mad because I couldn't kill him." Sis sniffed loudly
as her tears flowed like water from the skimmer back into the pool.
"And that was before Ron was hit. After that, I wanted to ram into
him--not his boat, De Ramirez himself--and beat him to a screaming
bloody pulp with the hull before finally chewing him up with the props."
Suzie nodded but said nothing. She hadn't realized until right
after school today, on her way home, how Sis had changed after Ron had
been shot. But now she understood and wasn't surprised.
Sis took a shaky sip of her lemonade and then looked at Suzie with
overflowing red eyes. "And then he shot you with that spear, and still
I wanted to carve him up into chum, but not with the props because that
would be too fast. I wanted to carve him up with the edge of that
spear. I wanted to make him suffer for hours! I wanted to hear him
scream for me to kill him and then laugh and just keep carving away a
little more at a time!"
She blindly tried to set her glass on the end table. Suzie took it
from her, and she buried her face in both hands as Suzie again sat on
her chair. "I was sorry the boat sank because that meant I didn't have
any salt to rub into the cuts. Sis, I went into those rocks because I
wanted to kill him before anyone could take him alive. I wanted..." she
sniffed again "...to make him pay! And... And... If I hadn't done
that, you wouldn't have been shot!"
Sis began crying in earnest. Suzie put the glasses on her desk and
moved to sit beside her sister. She wrapped an arm around Sis and held
her ever so gently while she cried. Suzie didn't try to say any
comforting words or something. She knew Sis had to get it all out in
the open, and she didn't want to risk making Sis stop if there was more
to let out.
Cinnamon twisted suddenly, buried her face in Suzie's shoulder, and
cried even harder. "How..." She choked and then tried again, gasping
out the words, "How can you... how can you love someone... someone
horrible like... like me?"
Suzie rubbed a cheek against the back of Cinnamon's head as she
tightened her arms around the sobbing girl. "Because you're my sister
and you love me, too."
"It's... it's not... just... De Ramirez," she said, her words
broken up by her crying.
"Matthew," Suzie said, even though she knew she should let Sis tell
her. But Sis was barely able to talk.
Sis kinda grunted, "Uh huh," then began crying too hard to talk.
Suzie held Sis close and let her cough up the pool of poison that was
drowning her. Her own eyes were teary or something, but she didn't
release her sister to wipe at them. Sis needed her love and support
right now. All of it.
Cinnamon cried for a few minutes, then choked out more words.
"It's not... just them... Sis. My... own m... mother. I caused... I
put... my own... jail... I..."
Suzie squeezed Cinnamon tighter. "You listen to me for a change,
Sis." She waited for Sis to understand and listen. "You were right.
That stupid woman was not your mother, so don't dignitize her by calling
her that! You said it yourself! She just carried you around for nine
stupid months or something and then kicked you out. All the stupid
woman ever did after that was kick you out, over and over and over.
Whatever happened to her wasn't your fault, it was hers. She brought it
all on her stupid self by not being your mother!"
Sis started crying even harder, and it took several minutes for her
to get the whole story out.
Suzie, far from being angry or upset, was impressed by her sister's
enginudity. Or whatever that stupid word was. She cuddled her sister
and gently said in her ear, "Sis, you let her off easier than I would
have. I'd have done some kind of Matthew Wylie on that stupid woman, too."
"But..."
"But nothing! She gave birth to you. Fine. That's the one good
thing the stupid woman did! But it doesn't make up for all the stupid
things she did after that! If you hadn't done something, the stupid
witch might have caused Doctor Brees to kill himself after all! So, you
saved your father's life, Sis! Be happy for him, not sorry for that
stupid witch! She sowed the seeds herself, so it was her stupid harvest
when she reeked it. She deserved it for not sowing different
seeds--apple trees, maybe, or even flowers like my dad's stupid tea roses."
Sis cried for another minute or two, then sniffed, pulled back, and
looked Suzie in the eye. The last time she'd seen a face like that had
been on Kenny while he tried to beg her forgiveness and she stupidly
wouldn't listen to him. "You... you don't think I'm... despicable?"
Suzie shook her head. "I think you're the bravest girl I know.
You'll do anything to protect people you love."
She sniffed, long and wet. Suzie grabbed some kleenexes from her
night stand and handed them to Sis. After she blew her nose, Sis shook
her head. "I almost got you killed when I went into..."
"Sis! That stupid drug dealer, who I won't dignitize by calling by
his name, was the one who almost got me killed, not you! And don't you
ever forget it again, or next time I'll scream at you!"
Cinnamon laughed despite her misery.
There was a knock at her door. She told Cinnamon to stay put, then
glared at the ceiling as she went to answer it.
"Is everything okay?" her stupid mother asked. "I was in the
bathroom and heard someone crying."
"My sister has a problem and we're fixing it. Okay?"
Her stupid mother blinked like a stupid cow. "Well, can I help?
She's my daughter, too, now, and..."
Suzie rolled her eyes. "So you think you can help her like you
helped Caroline? That really turned out ever so well, didn't it? If
Sis had wanted your stupid help, she woulda asked you and not me,
wouldn't she? But maybe Cinnamon's smarter than that stupid cow who was
my stupid first sister. Now, can I get back to helping her, or do you
want to stand there and let her cry all alone by herself?"
Her stupid mother blinked and looked at Cinnamon. "No. Go ahead.
If she needs..." She turned, then, and walked away without finishing
whatever stupid thing she was going to say.
Suzie slammed the door and went back to her sister, who was wiping
her eyes with another tissue. Then she blew her nose and looked up at
Suzie. "Thanks, Sis. You were right. I feel a lot better now that
it's out."
They talked for a few minutes as Cinnamon got herself back to
normal. When Suzie was sure she was okay, she said, "Sis? Do you
think, maybe, well, Kenny's also having a bunch of stupid bad dreams
because he wanted to kill that stupid drug dealer?"
When Sis gave her a look of surprise, she said, "Well, Jimmy and I
have been talking about him, especially at the hospital, and... Well, I
don't think he killed the stupid dolt, but I know he wanted to ever so
much. Maybe it's something like your problem?"
"Maybe. I guess I never thought it through that far. I kept
getting sidetracked by my own problems."
"Maybe if you talked to him since you have that in common or
something?"
Sis thought for a few minutes. "I don't know. I'm not sure that
I'd be a better choice than you. He loves you and would be more likely
to listen to you. Either way, we have to wait until the time is right,
like this was for me."
"But... But we have to do something!"
"I know. But if we do the wrong thing, it could be worse than
doing nothing. Let's both think about it for a day or two. Maybe our
subconscious minds will see something while we're thinking about other
things. At least, that's what works best for me."
Suzie took a deep breath and let it out slow like. "Yeah. Okay.
I just want him to be the old Kenny again."
Cinnamon took her hands and gave her a sisterly kiss. "I know.
And I want it double, because he's my friend and because it's upsetting
my sister."
Suzie sniffed and nodded, telling herself that she wasn't going to cry.
Then Sis said, "I need two favors from you."
"Sure."
"One, we're going to study for the history test at Jimmy's
tomorrow. Snoopy and Possum will be there, too."
Suzie's grin was as slight as a fox. Whatever that meant. "And
Ted's going to be there, too?"
"No," Sis said. "I thought about it, but I don't think Snoopy's
ready for it yet. If not, she'll go home to study instead, and Possum
will go with her. That's the real problem. I think you've fixed me in
one counselling session, but I'm still a long way from the end with
Possum, much more so than with Snoopy. We're going to rehearse after
dinner. Jimmy's mom is going to invite them to stay for dinner, so that
they'll be there for the rehearsal. I'm still trying to get Possum to
sing, if not for us then for somebody, because that's too wonderful a
voice to let go to waste."
Suzie nodded. She'd heard Possum sing two or three times and
agreed completely.
"The more people that are there, the greater the chance that she'll
crawl back inside herself and not listen. So, when Jimmy's mom asks if
you and Kenny would like to stay for dinner..."
"Sure," said Suzie with a wicked grin. "I'll bet we can think of
something else to do in Kenny's room."
"It's nothing personal," Sis said in a rush, sounding like she was
apologizing.
"Duh!" In Kenny's weird voice she said, "Hello? Earth to
Cinnamon. Our friend needs help!"
Sis nodded. "I guess that was a pretty dumb thing to say, wasn't it?"
Suzie shrugged. "You hang out with Huntly. Maybe he's
contagionous or something," she said, making Sis laugh. "What's the
other favor?"
"I want you to go tell Mom you're sorry about the way you just
treated her. She was right. I'm her daughter, now, too, and she was
worried about me just like you were. She cares about both of us because
she's not like the bitch. She may not always do it right, but she cares
and she tries."
Suzie stared at Sis for a minute, and then her shoulders drooped.
"Yeah. You're right."
~ ~ ~
"So," Jimmy said as he passed the mashed potatoes to LaMarcus
again, "since Suzie's not here, we're going to rehearse Suzie's Victory
instead."
Snoopy looked at him with her big, beautiful blue eyes and shyly
said, "Oh. Well, that's okay, of course, but we were sort of hoping to
hear what you were going to do for the talent show. It sounded really
interesting when Cinnamon told us the secret."
Possum nodded and quickly added, "But we'd like to hear how Suzie's
song is going, too."
Dad cleared his throat. "Well," he said, "I don't see any reason
you can't have both. While they play The Waiting for you, I can take a
well-deserved break and observe as a spectator with the other two best
looking people in the room."
"You'll need to," LaMarcus said as he reached for the gravy. "Old
codgers your age need plenty of rest, otherwise you're likely to doze
off in the middle of Suzie's Victory." He pointed his fork at Snoopy.
"Last time he did that he fell over on Cymbals' cymbals. Made one heck
of a racket. I think it scared Mrs. Mac so bad she grew another gray
hair and had to pluck it out before she could go out in public."
Cinnamon rolled her eyes. "Comments like that might not get you
invited back to her dinner table."
"Jimmy will invite him back," Wynter said, giving Jimmy a smile
that made his heart flip flop. "Whenever LaMarcus eats here, Jimmy
doesn't have to worry about getting leftovers the next day."
LaMarcus paused in spearing his third helping of roast beef. "Hey,
Doc! C'mon! Huntly gets more respect than I do!"
"Yeah," Jimmy said before Huntly could swallow and speak. "But
what little respect you get, you earn. Huntly gets all of his out of pity."
"Aw, man!" Huntly threw up his arms in disgust. A piece of
broccoli flew off the end of the fork in his hand and bounced off the
china cabinet, leaving a cheesy smear on the glass.
Jimmy snickered. "I think that proves my point."
~ ~ ~
Wynter switched on the Clavinova and changed the settings while Sis
One explained the room's additions since the Watkins cousins' last
visit. If he had been there, Finnegan could have explained the MIDI
setup with the computer better than Sis did, but when he finished, the
girls would probably know less than before he'd started. At least Sis's
explanation helped them understand it a little.
The cousins were especially impressed with the way Cinnamon had
mounted her electronic drum frame on long legs bent like capital "L"s so
that they were vertical and above the drums and cymbals to her left
side, though slightly to the rear so that she could see Huntly,
LaMarcus, and Jimmy's dad.
"It looks dangerous," said a nervous Possum. "All the weight's on
this side."
"Yes," added Snoopy, nodding her head. "Aren't you afraid it will
tip over on you?"
The drums and cymbals and stick launcher on the floor made it
impossible to point the L-shaped legs toward Cinnamon, so Sis had
mounted the frame on the side toward her but had the base of the
legs--the feet, she guessed, was what you would call them--pointing away
from her. Wynter understood the cousins' anxiety because she, too, had
thought the setup was unbalanced and unsafe.
"No," Sis said. "The legs are hollow tubes. They have steel
weights inside the bottom extension. You just pop off those end caps
and slide the weights in. Another one of Finnegan's brilliant ideas."
"Hey!" said Huntly in a disdainful tone as he lovingly lifted his
beautiful guitar from its matching case and kissed it. "Whose idea?" he
asked as he slipped the strap over his head. "Finnegan made it for you
after I thought of it, remember?"
Sis gave him a sweet smile as phony as snake oil and patent
medicine. "Of course."
Huntly gave LaMarcus a sullen look. "What were you saying about me
getting more respect?"
Wynter giggled and asked, "Which are we going to do first?"
LaMarcus ignored Huntly and said, "Why don't we do Suzie's Victory
until the old geezer gets pooped, and then we'll do The Waiting for
Snoopy and Possum while he catches his second wind."
"Good idea," said Jimmy, looking at his dad. "That should get us
through the opening fanfare if we're lucky."
Mister McCauley's head sagged forward, and he stared at his son
with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Well," he said, "I guess neither Huntly
or LaMarcus can worry about who gets the least respect in this group!"
"I still love you," Wynter said.
He smiled at her. "Tomorrow I'll have to try again to convince
Richard to trade you for Jimmy."
Snoopy and Possum giggled as they took seats in front of the band
and Cinnamon plopped onto her throne and drew sticks. Sis checked to
see if everyone was ready. Her left arm shot up, holding its stick
horizontal and in line with her shoulders. Her right hand lifted to
beat the tempo with its stick...
...and Jimmy groaned and slapped his forehead. "Hello!" he said,
imitating Kenny's weird voice. "Earth to Jimmy! DUH!"
Sis dropped her arms and joined everyone else in staring at Jimmy,
who looked like the lights had just come on for him.
Wynter was surprised that she didn't have a clue as to what was
suddenly obvious to her Future Husband. "What?"
He gave her an incredulous look. "I can't believe I didn't think
of it when you came up with your idea for The Waiting!"
She suddenly felt very stupid. Beyond Jimmy she saw more lights
coming on. "Of course!" she said. "Somebody should have videotapes of
the state meet!"
"And the local meets," Huntly added. "Megan's dad had his video
camera at all of those. So did Johnny's and Karlie's. They should have
shots of Suzie you can use, too."
"The Middletons have a lot of still pictures," Wynter added. "I'm
sure Mom Middleton can get copies for us while we're at school."
"Or," Jimmy said, grinning at her, "Suzie's sisters can keep her
busy elsewhere and I'll go shoot copies with my camera. And I'll take a
disk to make copies of any electronic photos."
Sis picked up her clipboard and made notes, speaking as she wrote.
"I'll have Mister Arnold and Mister Sillerman see about getting us video
from television stations." She paused and tapped the top of the pen
against her pointed chin. "Do you think Alamosa's coach might have some
video of Amber we could use, or would I be wasting my time to ask?"
"Sis!" Wynter said. "Mrs. Dale and Suzie were good friends as swim
camp coaches. From the stories Suzie has told us, I can't imagine her
not wanting to do something for Sis Three's birthday."
"Yeah." Sis looked at Jimmy. "You'll edit it together?"
He shrugged. "Sure. I'm getting enough practice with The Waiting,
which should be done this weekend, by the way. But that means as soon
as we get our hands on everything, the music has to be final. No more
moving parts around or changing our minds about that passage in the
swimming laps yet again. I think whatever we decide tonight has to be
it, so that I can hear it in my head as I edit. As it is, when we play
it live for her birthday party we'll have to force the music to fit the
video, just like we'll have to do at the talent show with The Waiting."
Everyone agreed. "But," Wynter said, "that means one of us will
have to host the party because the Middletons don't own the playback
equipment and if Suzie sees it at her house..."
"That's no problem," said Mister McCauley. "Marti and Jimmy and I
would be more than happy to have her party here."
"No," said Cinnamon in a tone that said her decision was
unanimous. "Ordinarily I'd not mind, but not this time. I... well, I
owe Sister Suzie big time for something really special she recently did
for me, something I can't tell you about, and I want to host it out of
gratitude as well as out of love for my sister. Please don't argue."
Mister McCauley looked like he was going to object, but as he heard
Sis's reason he nodded. "I understand. But would it be okay if Marti
helped you and Hailey and Rosita?"
Although Wynter was looking at the back of her head, she knew Sis
was smiling because she saw the round cheeks move. "You can never have
too many of your Moms helping with your sister's party."
Wynter took advantage of the distraction to lean over and whisper
in Jimmy's ear. "Sis isn't the only one who owes somebody big time.
I'm going to find Mother and Daddy something to do to get them out of
the house for a few hours."
Jimmy's sparkling green eyes turned to her, and he gave her his
grin and nod. "You talked me into it."
The rehearsal finally started, and Sis paused at the end of the
opening fanfare, which represented the swimmers entering, and again at
the end of the section where they took their marks and then launched
into the water. Both times she asked Snoopy and Possum for their
comments. Wynter stifled a grin at how well her devious sister's plan
was working.
At the end of the second pause Sis said, "We haven't started
rehearsing with Shamisa and Monique yet. That will begin Friday night
if Shamisa can make it, or next Monday if not. For now, Jimmy will fake
the chorus with sampled voices--well, except for me--but we want to use
live voices for the recording. If you'd like to follow along, I have a
copy of the sheet music over there on that stack." She pointed to the
end of the refreshment table.
"I'll get it," said Snoopy. She flashed a grin at Cinnamon, one
Possum couldn't see. She obviously understood what Sis was doing.
Wynter guessed Snoopy and Sis had held a private conversation earlier.
When Snoopy sat down again and handed the music to Possum, Sis
said, "We haven't picked the fourth voice yet. Like I said before,
Possum, you're our first choice, but if you don't want to, we'll get
Miranda."
Wynter saw a brief flicker of fear in those large blue eyes, but
Sis quickly turned to Jimmy. "Any more bright ideas before we start
playing again?"
Jimmy shook his head. "No. I'll have to wait until you start the
count again to think of something."
Sis said something unladylike in a phony voice of displeasure.
Wynter knew that she was relieving Possum's anxiety disorder by
distracting her from the idea of performing. She was letting Possum's
subconscious acclimatize itself to the idea. Then Sis counted the beat,
and they began the minor key part where the horns and strings and the
throbbing bass built tension as the swimmers raced down their lanes.
The voices faded in, with Jimmy adding Shamisa's and Monique's
parts using Finnegan's salvaged foot pedals because both hands were busy
with the strings and horns. Sis sang the third vocal part. She guessed
"singing" was the right word since it was human voices, even if they
were only making notes like musical instruments.
Wynter tried to watch Possum without being obvious about it. She
knew Sis was trying, too, and suspected the others were as well. But
Possum wasn't looking at the players. She had her head down, following
with the score, her head and body moving slightly in time with the
beat. Wynter's heart felt too big for her chest and her face became in
danger of a smile induced rupture when she realized Sis's plan was working.
~ ~ ~
LaMarcus watched Wynter's hand find its home on Jimmy's back after
they had helped Cinnamon, Possum, and Snoopy into their coats. Man, if
he could find himself a woman just one tenth as devoted to him as Wynter
was to Jimmy, he'd consider that to be success. Maybe Lashonda? They'd
just started dating, but she seemed to have a genuine interest in him.
Wouldn't that be cool if it turned out to be Lashonda!
Possum was still holding the sheet music. "Would it be all right
if I kept this for a little bit?"
"Sure," Jimmy said. "It's an extra. We have several others. We
don't need as many now that someone has finally learned his part that he
helped write."
Huntly threw up his arms. "Aw, man!"
Both Snoopy and Possum giggled. Then Snoopy, head down, turned her
big blue eyes up to Jimmy. "Um... I think this is the best idea anyone
has had since Huntly had Cinnamon Sticks. And... well... Suzie's a
special friend, just like Cinnamon. And... just like you. And... well,
thank you for something special for her." She hesitated a moment, then
threw her arms around Jimmy in a quick hug before stepping back and
giving an embarrassed look to Wynter. "I hope you didn't mind," she
said in her soft voice.
"Nah," Wynter said. "I think of you and Possum as my special
friends. Jimmy's really nice to hug, and I don't mind my special
friends getting a chance to enjoy how huggable he is. You can hug him
any time you want to. He won't mind, either." She looked at Jimmy.
"Will you."
LaMarcus tried to keep from laughing. The last two words were an
order, not a question.
"Of course not," Jimmy said, sounding like Wynter had just
bitch slapped him.
"You know, it's even nicer if you let him hug you back a little.
It makes you feel special, like when Sis hugs you."
Snoopy looked at Jimmy hesitantly, then glanced at Cinnamon and
Wynter, both of whom nodded. She turned her big eyes up to Jimmy
again. He spread his arms and smiled. LaMarcus noticed that he didn't
spread them wide enough to seem threatening, just wide enough to enclose
Snoopy, who suddenly looked at her feet, then slowly lifted her eyes to
Jimmy's again.
When Jimmy didn't move, she stepped forward and wrapped him with
her arms again. Jimmy gave her a light squeeze, just enough for her to
feel it but not so tight that she'd have any trouble breaking free if
she suddenly bolted backward. For being only a seventh grader, Jimmy
was a pretty cool dude.
"Thanks again," Snoopy said before releasing Jimmy and stepping back.
"Thank you," Jimmy said. "That was very nice." LaMarcus couldn't
help but note the sincerity in his voice.
Possum balked for several heartbeats before handing the sheet music
to her cousin and hesitantly opening her arms. Jimmy again spread his
arms just enough, and Possum crept forward. The hug was tentative at
first, but then her arms tightened around him in a spasm, and time
seemed to freeze. Jimmy's fingers flexed, delivering gentle pats that
LaMarcus wasn't sure could be felt through the girl's worn heavy coat.
Possum sighed lightly, mumbled, "Thanks, Jimmy," and eased back.
Then Cinnamon announced, "Daddy's here," and left with the Watkins
cousins and Huntly. As Mrs. Mac closed the door, LaMarcus turned to her
husband. Mister Mac reached out and, with his thumb, gently wiped away
the streak trickling down LaMarcus's cheek.
LaMarcus returned the gesture. "Looks like next spring's allergy
season arrived early," he said.
Mister Mac sniffed and nodded. "Looks like. You know, I think
I'll keep my son."
LaMarcus barely had time to put on his new leather coat and yank on
his knit cap before Reggie drove up. He wished everyone a good night,
hugged Mrs. Mac and Wynter, and carried his gloves out to Reggie's car.
He grunted an unintelligible greeting and slumped in the front seat, his
mind churning with thoughts that kept him from paying attention to what
Reggie was saying. He couldn't believe that Snoopy and Possum had been
almost scared to death of the idea of hugging Jimmy, of all people.
Whatever loud assed rap song his brother had on the radio was
forcing its way into his head, keeping him from thinking clearly. His
hand fired out and punched the power switch.
"All right, little bro," Reggie said in the sudden silence, his
eyes not leaving the road. "Wanna gimme the fo' one one?"
LaMarcus growled to himself a couple of times before looking at his
older brother. "We fucked up, bro. When we helped Ron take care of
Wylie? We fucked up. We didn't put him away for good. He's gonna walk
when he turns eighteen, despite what he did to those girls. The judge
didn't put him away for good, and we fucked up because we didn't put him
away for good, either. I didn't realize until a few minutes ago just
what a totally miserable low-life skank piece of dogshit asshole that
broke dick muthafucka is. I thought I knew. I thought I knew. Damn,
was I ever wrong, bro. He's a thousand times worse."
Reggie's eyes shifted a few times between the LaMarcus's and the
road ahead. "Well," he finally said, "if he comes back to this town
again, we can fix that."
LaMarcus wiped his mouth and rubbed his chin. "We may have to. He
don't deserve to walk the streets with decent people. Not after what I
saw tonight."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No."
Reggie shrugged. "That's cool."
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon caressed Hailey's cheek and kissed her again. "Night,
Cuz." She lay down on her side and scooted back against Hailey.
"Night, Sis Cuz." Hailey spooned herself around Cinnamon. "I'm,
like, so glad things are working with Possum." Her fingers pulled the
long red hair back from Cinnamon's cheek. "It's, like, one less worry
to keep you awake."
Cinnamon purred happily. She wished that she could tell Cuz that
the main worry that had been keeping her awake had gone, thanks to
Sister Suzie. Not even a bad dream, much less another terror filled
nightmare. She wondered if she should write the Pope and tell him that
she knew a miracle worker who should be sainted immediately.
Chapter 16
Brinkly screamed and yelled along with the rest of the Thursday
morning assembly. If the Knights beat the Coyotes on the road that
night, they would be virtually guaranteed a shot at the title. She
planned to see to it that The Brink of Disaster--as much of it as she
could assemble--would provide entertainment at the weekend victory party
if the Knights won.
The principal, holding several envelopes, led the football team
onto the stage. He thanked the cheerleaders and waited as they ran off
into the wings and exited through the stage right door, heading for
their seats. While he waited and the students began murmuring to each
other, Brees suddenly stood up from her row's end seat over in the
seventh grade section and headed for the door to the stage left wings.
Now what's that bitch up to?
"Thank you, girls!" said Principal Peters. He turned to look at
the players. "If that doesn't convince you members of the team that
this school is behind you all the way... Well, I don't know! Maybe
we'll just have to hold you back another year until you get smart enough
to realize it!"
"Maybe you should send them back to first grade and let them start
over," shouted a voice from somewhere over in the seventh grade area.
Principal Peters shook his head. "Now there's an excellent idea.
You could go along and supervise them, Mister Sheridan."
"Aw, man!"
"And you're delaying the announcement of the Homecoming Queen. But
maybe that's what the assembly wants. I'm flexible. I'll ask
everyone. Who wants to hear more of Mister Sheridan's not so subtle humor?"
Who wants to see Sheridan get shot? is the question Brinkly would
have asked had she been in charge, like she should have been. She
grabbed the control and moved her chair back a few inches to make it
easier for Trish, the soon-to-be Homecoming Queen for the second
consecutive year, to sit down between herself and Cori, then moved back
to her original spot.
"Okay, I count exactly zero votes. Now: who wants to hear the
announcement of the Homecoming Court?"
Everyone screamed and yelled and applauded. Brinkly guessed it was
too much to hope that they'd get to vote on the announcement followed by
Sheridan's summary execution. She would just have to settle for having
members of her Pack as the Homecoming Queen and First Crown Princess to
make her day.
The principal held up his hands to quiet the mob. "I have in my
hand the results of the voting by the football team for the homecoming
court. I have not seen these results," he said. "Only Coach Wallace
and the co-captains of the team, who counted the votes, know the names
in these envelopes, so I'm as excited to learn who has been chosen as
you are. In accordance with Griffin Middle School tradition, which
Dunne High School stole from us before we became a separate middle
school..."
Brinkly rolled her eyes and huffed while people who caught the
pathetic joke laughed. The principal was as big an idiot as Brees's pet
jackass, who probably wrote that idiotic line for the principal.
"In accordance with our tradition, the team selects a Princess of
the Royal Court from each grade. Then it nominates contenders for
Homecoming Queen and votes on them. The first and second runners up
become the Crown Princesses and, as I'm sure you all learned in your
history classes, are in the line of succession if the Queen cannot
perform her duties."
Like that's going to happen!
"First we'll announce each grade's Princess of the Royal Court and
then the Crown Princesses and then the Homecoming Queen. The sixth
grade's Princess of the Royal Court is..." He tore open the envelope.
"Miss Natalie Garcia!"
A cute Mexican with short hair screamed and jumped out of her
seat. She practically floated through the door into the wings, where
she was met by one of the players and escorted to a spot on the stage
behind the principal. She barely heard his congratulations because she
was too busy squealing.
Too flighty, Brinkly observed. She'll spend the rest of her life
being the team punch for one group or another. She'll never take charge
of anything.
"And now the seventh grade's Princess of the Royal Court is..." He
tore open another envelope. "Miss Megan McNeal!"
One of Middleton's swim team pals jumped from her seat and dashed
to the doors. She was escorted to a spot beside the first bimbo. At
least she didn't scream like a tortured cat with the DTs. And she had
the good grace to thank the principal for his congratulations. The Mex
bimbo still hadn't calmed down enough to think of that.
"And now the eighth grade's Princess of the Royal Court is..." He
tore open another envelope. "Miss Leigh Ann Weyr!"
Son of a BITCH! Brinkly couldn't believe it! Not only would she
have the Homecoming Queen and the First Runner Up in her Pack, she also
had one of the Court Representatives! Sure it would have been better if
Leigh Ann had been the other Crown Princess, but she hadn't expected
Leigh Ann to place at all, as usual. This unexpected bonus simply added
to Brinkly's growing prestige.
Leigh Ann rose from her seat on the other side of Trish and Cori
and walked to the stage with stately grace, making the other two bimbos
look like wanton savages. Craig Wilson, the left guard, escorted her to
her spot on the stage. When the principal congratulated her, she
lowered her head in sincere, humble thanks. Sure it is. When you can
fake sincerity, sister, you've got it made.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Princesses of the Homecoming Royal
Court." The principal led the applause. "And now the Crown Princesses
of the Court." He waited for the room to quiet, then announced the
second runner up and tore open the envelope. "Miss Lashonda Wells!"
Brinkly sighed. Well, they have a Mex. I guess they have to have
one of those, too. When she saw the look the girl exchanged with
LaMarcus Reed as he escorted her to her spot on the stage, Brinkly
straightened in her wheelchair. There's something going on between
those two, she realized. Maybe there was a way to get information on
Brees's bunch out of Reed by using Wells. Maybe she might even use
Lashonda to get Reed away from Brees. Wouldn't that be a coup? After
all, she didn't fully trust Scott Avanti anyway, and Scott wasn't about
to debut on a CD in a month.
She came out of her reverie when she realized that the principal
was about to announce the first runner up. She grinned at Cori as
Peters tore open the envelope.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Principal Peters said, "for the second year
in a row the First Crown Princess is a seventh grader."
"What?" Brinkly wasn't aware that she shouted aloud until several
people turned to look at her. She glanced at Cori, who looked ready to cry.
Principal Peters stepped closer to the microphone. "I said, Miss
Ward, that the first runner up and first Crown Princess was a seventh
grader."
Brinkly couldn't believe it! Brees had managed to oust Cori!
That's why she was waiting in the wings! She knew I would see her trip
to the stage and is rubbing my nose in it. She's telling me she knew in
advance! Instead of the Queen and the first Crown Princess, I now have
just the Queen and a mere Princess of the Court! Oh, she would get
even. She would get even with that redheaded bitch no matter how long
it took. She would make her pay for this insult. She would...
"Miss Suzanne Middleton!"
Brinkly's mind stopped working. She tried to get it around the
fact that the Middleton idiot had supplanted Cori instead of Brees. In
spite of her anger, she snickered. Brees had lost to her new "adopted
sister" and...
Or has Brees pulled TWO fast ones? Surely she hadn't supplanted
Trish as the Queen. She knew that was what Brees had wanted, but
Brinkly was sure that there was no way that...
But then, there was Middleton, hands over her big mouth, instead of
Cori, being escorted onto the stage by Timmy Gagnon. Had the bitch
actually found a way to pull off the big upset? Was she backstage
getting her crown fitted over all that goddamned red hair?
She expressed her condolences to Cori and then braced herself for
the announcement of the Queen. If Brees had pulled that upset, too...
Wait! He's opening the envelope. She grasped Trish's wrist in her hand.
Principal Peters silently read the name on the paper. "Well,
there's no big surprise here. In keeping with tradition, except for
last year's only exception, the Homecoming Queen is an eighth grader and
has become something of an institution here at Griffin Middle School.
Please, Mister Sheridan, no comments about the faculty here belonging in
an institution."
Brinkly breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the laughter to fade.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2004 Homecoming Queen is..."
Brinkly tugged on Trish's wrist, and the girl rose to her feet.
"Miss Hailey Kennedy!"
"WHAT?"
Principal Peters looked at her. "Miss Hailey Kennedy. Miss Ward,
if you are having trouble hearing, you are permitted move closer to one
of the speakers, you know."
Brinkly wasn't sure how many were laughing at her and how many at
Trish, who had plunged red faced and cringing into her seat. In the row
in front of her, Brees's idiot cousin rose gracefully, as regal and
commanding as a Queen should be. The idiot ignored her--in fact, the
bimbo ignored everyone--as she moved to the door of the stage wings with
an uncommon poise and grandeur that even made Leigh Ann suddenly look
like a wanton savage. She was escorted from the wings by the
Co-Captains, Donnie Smith and Todd McKeown.
The auditorium went wild as she was led to the center of the stage,
where she was greeted by the principal. The bitch acted like she owned
the crown, that it was her birthright.
The rest of the ceremony was lost to Brinkly as she sulked and
plotted her revenge. She returned to earth as the Homecoming Court
departed and Principal Peters asked if there were any student
announcements. Brinkly wanted to move back to Vermont. How could
things possibly be ANY worse?
"We have just one student announcement," the principal said as
Brees strutted out onto the stage. He removed the microphone from the
stand and handed it to her.
"Thank you!" the redheaded bitch said, a grin on her idiotic face
that Brinkly just knew was meant for her. "I have just one
announcement. Junior and the Twins has an opening for one part time
rhythm guitarist. Auditions..."
Before she could finish, four boys jumped to their feet and
volunteered.
"SHIT!"
"Ms. Ward," said that too familiar voice behind her, "could I have
a word with you in the office, please?"
~ ~ ~
Kenny looked up at Huntly as they joined the crowd stutter-stepping
its way to the exit of the auditorium. "What do you mean, 'It makes
perfect sense'?"
Huntly squeezed Cinnamon's shoulders, stopped, and threw a smartass
look at Jimmy. "You know, his biggest problem is that on those rare
occasions where he tries to think, he does so like a doctor, not like a
jock. No offense intended, Doctor Cutie."
She shrugged and gave him a smile that was all white teeth and
coral lips as her hand moved to its spot on Jimmy's lower back. "Why
should I be offended? Different problems require different ways of
thinking if you want to solve them properly."
"Not only are you cuter than Boy Blunder, Doc, you're also
smarter. But then, so was my pet turtle who was also named Kenny."
"Will you answer his question?" Jimmy demanded. "We want to go
watch Brinkly's face when Ms. Beard lets her out of the office."
"Yeah," said Suzie, who still looked like she couldn't believe it.
"I wanna know why me, too."
"Oh! Right. Well, Doctor Quackenbush, there's two reasons the
team picked Suzie. One, she's gorgeous, which is why they didn't pick
you. B, she's a jock, and that means a lot to a bunch of jocks because
we tend to think our own are better than anyone else, which is no doubt
why they picked Megan for the seventh grade Princess of the Court. And
two, she's not just a jock, she's a champion, proving they are right
about us jocks being better than you mortal humans. She's our swim
team's answer to John Elway in his prime, only she's also much cuter
than Elway. Though he's cuter than you, of course."
"Except for his horse's teeth," Suzie said.
"Kenny's not a horse's teeth. You're looking at the wrong end of
the horse."
"Har har!" Kenny snarled while the others laughed. "She meant
Elway's horse's teeth. What about choosing Hailey instead of Trish?"
"Elway doesn't sell horses, he sells cars, just like my dad, though
Dad isn't good at throwing a football like Elway, which is why he was a
defensive end. Hello? Cars? Horseless carriages, you know?"
"Will you get on with it?" Kenny's was joined by several other
voices speaking in unison while Cinnamon backhanded his left arm.
Huntly yelped and clutched at the now painful spot on his arm.
"Anyway, there's two reasons for picking the wahine. One, she's
gorgeous, which is why they didn't pick you. B, she's not Trish, and a
lot of people are still pissed off at the Pack and its feckless leader
about the clap incident, though that's certainly not the only reason.
It's just the primary one out of maybe a dozen, all having to do with
Brinkly. And two, the queen is essentially the date of the
Co-Captains. I think that after Saturday night, Smith called in a lot
of favors, but without explaining why."
Kenny suddenly had a flash of realization. "So, you're saying
Hailey invited Donnie because she was angling to get herself elected
Homecoming Queen? That doesn't sound like her." Hailey had been a
participant in Operation Uncle Bozo, of course, but that devious idea
hadn't been hers.
"Hell, no," said Huntly. "Hailey invited Donnie because I
suggested it."
Kenny froze in his tracks and gaped at Huntly, trying to believe
the implication, because he could see that Huntly was telling the
truth. "Cinnamon's been a bad influence on you."
Huntly stopped, turned, looked down at Cinnamon, and shrugged.
"Well, she has rubbed off on me." He smirked. "Several times."
"Quite a few," she agreed with a lascivious grin, then moved his
right hand off the painful spot on his left arm and kissed where she'd
struck him..
"We're going to miss it," Jimmy reminded them.
They all took off again, in silence this time. That gave Kenny
time to think. The Homecoming Court are the dates of the team members.
That means Suzie will be going to the Homecoming Dance with Timmy, I
guess. Which means I need a date! I wonder who's "available." Most of
the girls won't be because that's the week their tomato boats dock in
Tuna Town.
~ ~ ~
Kevin Taylor wanted to put his fist through the nearest wall, but
it was concrete block, and he'd lose the fight. The friggin state kept
mandating new programs but cutting his funding. As he sulked past the
dinging elevator he thought, Should I call Wynter and tell her she can
run the hospital if she'll allow me to stay on and practice medicine
strictly as a GP?
The elevator doors opened behind him. As if the universe were
answering his question, he heard her voice say, "There he is!"
He glanced at a wall clock. School is out already? I thought it
only seemed like I'd been in that meeting all afternoon.
He turned in time to see Jimmy propelled out of the elevator by her
hand, but they hadn't seen him. Instead they were headed to their left,
away from him.
"Doctor Young!" she called. "Do you have a minute?"
Danny Young, MD, looked up from a sheaf of lab results. He removed
his reading glasses and put them in his shirt pocket, then laid the
reports on the nurse's station counter. "Internal Medicine always has
time for the Future Doctors McCauley," he said, offering them a
handshake the way he always did with other staff members. "What can I
do for you?"
"Jimmy and I have a disagreement on the biochemistry involved in
the muscarinic effects of anticholinergic compounds. I need you to
explain to him why he's wrong."
Kevin shook his head and wiped his mouth with a hand, mostly to
hold back the laugh and to keep the staff from seeing him in a good mood
after a meeting, thereby ruining his image. He thought for a moment and
then decided to keep his job a while longer. The hospital isn't ready
for her yet.
His mood lightened, he almost sauntered to his office, where he
found his inner door open. His face asked his secretary the question.
"You have a visitor," Pam said, and went back to her typing.
"O o o okay." It would be easier to just go see who it was than to
get the answer out of Pam. That woman is spending entirely too much
time with Candis. She's beginning to act like her.
He barely had time to register that Ron Lopez was sitting in his
chair before he realized something was flying toward his face. His hand
shot up and snatched the peppermint candy inches from his nose.
"Gotta tell you the bad news, Doc, you're getting older. Couple of
years ago, you'd have caught that thing at arm's length. When's the
last time you had your eyes checked?"
He looked at the wrapper. "This is one of mine. Have you been in
my drawers?"
"Doc! Please! My image! Not only are you not my type, you're
nowhere near as cute as Maria. As for that thing, I got it out of your
desk drawer. I know where you keep them, front of the right middle
drawer. I don't have to search through your dirty magazines and sexual
appliances."
Kevin grunted and unwrapped it. "So what the hell are you doing in
my chair? And don't tell me you had to park your ass somewhere since
the weather's too bad for us to play basketball. There's visitors'
chairs right here."
"I'm keeping it warm until Wynter comes to claim it."
Kevin laughed and told him about the scene back at the elevator and
his decision.
Ron grinned and scratched his head. "Then I guess it's still yours
for a while." He sprang to his feet. "Sit down."
The cold change in Ron's voice for the last two words sent a chill
racing along Kevin's spine. "Are you ever going to bring me good news?"
he asked as they switched sides of the desk and he sat. Ron remained
standing. Uh oh. This definitely isn't good.
"I just learned something this afternoon."
"Does Candis need to hear this?"
"Probably, but it's only one sentence. De Ramirez had a favorite
brother who will be released from his own prison term not later than
this spring. That's everything I know right now, but I have inquiries
out. I thought I'd tell you before I tell Kenny."
~ ~ ~
Huntly masked his surprise at Mrs. Brees's ragged appearance. She
shut the door behind him. "No, ma'am. Mom finally decided she didn't
need me to go with her to Uncle Mather's after all, so I thought I'd
surprise your daughters."
"They're in the hot tub," she wheezed, "with Snoopy and Possum.
But you aren't invited. Sorry. I know that sounds like a dream come
true to you..."
"Actually," he said, gently interrupting her, "it really is, though
not the way you so snidely meant it. I'll just use the intercom to tell
her that I brought her something, but there's no hurry because I'll
spend my waiting time entertaining the most beautiful member of the family."
Watering puffy red eyes peered at him from beneath her snarl of
black hair. She shoved a hand into a pocket of her crumpled robe. She
pulled out a fresh tissue to wipe a nose that was competing with her
upper lip in a contest to see which could be the brightest red without
actually bursting into flame. Either could set the tissue on fire.
"Don't you know better than to use sarcasm with a sick woman?" she asked
before blowing her nose.
Huntly was amazed that the tissue didn't ignite on skin contact.
"What sarcasm? You ARE the most beautiful woman in the family. So you
look like a toad with pinkeye. You're just having an off day.
Fortunately for you, Doctor Huntly has the prescription to make you feel
better."
"A hot toddy with extra bourbon?" she wheezed.
"Even better," he said, reaching into a pocket of his jacket and
withdrawing a deck. "Card tricks."
"Come on." She led him into the kitchen. "That will earn you a
cup of hot chocolate."
"You sit down and I'll make it for both of us. I know where
everything is." He ordered her into a chair at the breakfast bar, then
punched an intercom button on the kitchen speaker phone. "All right
down there, listen up! I'm sure you're dying to rush up here and throw
yourself at my feet and worship me, but you just go on entertaining your
more important guests. I brought you the final script, but that can
wait because I'm about to fix hot cocoa for myself and the gorgeous babe
who temporarily looks like a baboon's butt with a bad case of acne.
Then I'm going to entertain her with some card tricks, and when she's
totally swept off her feet, I'm going to convince her to leave the doc
for me so that you'll have to call me Daddy and I'll control your
allowance."
"I'd tell you what YOU look like, but my new mom doesn't like me to
use that kind of language, shithead."
"Like, yeah, pickledick," the wahine added.
"Snoopy, Possum, if you'd like to spend the rest of your afternoon
with a higher class act, you can go home with me after you're dry. I
gotta go make cocoa now. Somebody needs to treat Mrs. B like a lady
instead of like a mother." He released the button and turned to the
mixture of coughing and laughing.
"It hurts!" Mrs. B said, pressing one palm against her chest. "But
this is the best I've felt all day!"
Huntly eyed her up and down once, then fetched a pot from the
overhead suspended rack to heat the milk. "I'm surprised you survived
to this point."
She blew her nose again. "You think you can get away with anything
since you're making the hot chocolate and providing the entertainment,
don't you?"
He opened a cabinet and reached for the cocoa. "Of course.
Unfortunately for you, though, I have to leave for the auditions with
your daughter and Her Majesty tonight. But Doc should be back to
entertain you and grovel at your feet by then. Hey, this is the last of
the cocoa."
"There's more in the pantry," she said, trying to struggle to her
slippered feet.
"Sit down. I'll get it."
When he returned, she said, "Isn't it wonderful about Hailey? I
know she wishes Gerry and Viv could be here to celebrate with her, but
maybe a few things like this will help her to cope without them."
"Maybe," he said, noncommittally.
She gave him a sick woman's impression of a sly look. "I
understand you had a hand in her selection as queen."
He'd had more than a hand in more of Hailey's places just than her
selection, before and after she was crowned, but he didn't think it
would be wise to point that out. "Where'd you get an idea like that?"
he asked as he spooned out more cocoa.
"Where else?"
"I thought so. Despite her public image, she's actually been wrong
before, you know. More than once, in fact. And some mistakes have been
whoppers. Double whoppers. With cheese."
"I know. But, I don't think she was wrong this time. It's the
kind of thing you'd do for Hailey because she's separated from her
parents, not counting the three sets she has here."
Huntly threw up his hands. "Good grief, woman! Stop that! You're
ruining the reputation I've carefully trashed over the past thirteen years!"
She blew her nose again and smiled at him. "I won't tell anyone
else. Will you, in turn, promise to keep a secret about her if I tell you?"
He made a quick "x" across his chest with the spoon, somehow
avoiding contact with the cloth. "Cross my heart and hope to die, I'll
keep it mum and that's no lie."
She laughed again. Even with a raspy throat and wheezing in the
middle of the laugh, she had the most beautiful, natural laugh Huntly
could think of. And that included Doctor Delicious. "We had a long
talk with Gerry and Viv on the way to the airport."
Huntly looked up from stirring. "You mean a long listen while they
talked?"
"That's the usual way it works, but this was unusual
circumstances. Gerry has to be in Oregon for two years to finish his
doctorate, starting next fall."
Huntly shrugged. "Well, it won't be as cold there for the wahine,
though it will be a wetter cold than here."
"Hailey might not be going."
Huntly couldn't suppress his cold shiver of dread. "What?" They
had seemed like the perfect couple, like he hoped he and bitch would be
some day.
"Well, she's been uprooted from where she's lived all her life.
One year in school here where she knows just Cinnamon to begin with, and
then she gets uprooted again to spend two years in an Oregon school
where she doesn't know anybody, and then back to Hawaii for her final
two years, where some of her friends will have moved on to other people.
"They're worried that all those changes might affect her education,
not to mention her social life, so we're thinking about her staying here
for school, but spending her summers and some weekends and holidays with
Gerry and Viv in Oregon. Sort of a 'best of both worlds' approach. But
we're old fogies and need an opinion of someone younger and unbiased
before we bring it up with her. Even more important, someone we trust."
Huntly breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the conclusion he'd
jumped to was the wrong one. "Wouldn't that be your first daughter?"
"If it were anyone else, I'd ask Cinnamon, but she's too
emotionally involved where Hailey's concerned to be unbiased. You know
that as well as I do. But I do plan to ask another daughter because I
trust her opinion as much as I trust yours. And I might ask Wynter's,
too, depending on what you and Suzie have to say and whether I think she
could be unbiased. Don't answer me just now. Think about it for a few
days."
"Aw, man! First you accuse me of doing good deeds out of
sentimentality, and now you accuse me of having trustworthy judgment!
What did I ever do to you to deserve this?"
She blew her nose again and looked up at him with watery bloodshot
eyes. "If you promise to show me that card trick again that Viv loved
so much, I'll let you forgive me."
"Wait a minute. If I do the Madison Avenue trick, you'll let me
forgive you? What makes you think that idea will work?"
"Colson's Law."
"You lost me."
"Chuck Colson, one of President Nixon's men. He said that when you
have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."
Huntly tapped the spoon against the rim of the pot to remove the
liquid and then pointed it at her in accusation. "You've been her
mother for... what? Twenty days, of which you were gone for two weeks?
And already you're getting to be too much like her."
Mrs. B smiled. "Huntly, I've been her mother since the day I was
hired as the maid."
He lowered the spoon and smiled his best genuine smile at her.
"And for that, I'm grateful. I should kiss you."
She blew her nose again. "You might catch this mess."
He shrugged. "So what? The best things in life always have risk
attached. Look at who I date."
~ ~ ~
The rhythm guitar auditions were delayed a half hour because dinner
was early. Jimmy's dad was late getting out of a highway department
meeting in Vail, and he hadn't had lunch. Wynter sat with Sisters Suzie
and Hailey and the Watkins Cousins and watched while Junior and the
Twins worked with the four boys. Kenny wasn't there yet because his
parents had suddenly decided to have a surprise family dinner at the
Bighorn. Finnegan was running late because he'd had another detention
after school for fighting and had to wait for his father to get home
before he could leave.
At the moment, the four boys were practicing the opening gliss of
Pipeline and then transitioning to the rhythm pattern, with Huntly and
LaMarcus correcting each and making suggestions. Ted Muller and Mark
Williams were having almost no problems. Jason Malone, Guy's
eighth grade brother, was having some difficulty, while Neil Gray, a
seventh grader, was having a lot.
Possum leaned toward Wynter and whispered, "I don't think Neil is
going to make it."
"He hasn't developed the coordination," Wynter replied. "He's
trying, though."
"He's trying ever so hard," Suzie said in a quiet voice. "But he
needs practice. His sister Alicia was one of the high school students
at swim camp. She said he's been playing for about a year."
Sis Two leaned toward them. "Hey! I'm, like, so the surprised
that Jason is having probs since Guy is, like, so the professional."
"Just because one brother has a talent doesn't mean another has it,
Sis," Wynter said. "Besides, they involve different motor skills."
"Hey! Like, last week's news! Like, Spud Kahlani was so the
coolest surfer in Kailua, but his older brother Dingo rode a board like
he had, like, dumped a load in his pants on the way out."
Possum turned red and hid her giggle behind a hand. Snoopy,
however, apparently didn't hear a word because she said in her soft
voice, "Ted seems to be doing okay."
Wynter's heart felt too big for her chest as she glanced at her
sisters. Sis Two raised her eyebrows and a shoulder. Sis Three grinned
and nodded at her.
Possum leaned toward Wynter and whispered, "You know, these days
she talks about Ted a lot."
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon led Sis and the Twins to the couch at the end of the hall
outside the practice room. She motioned for the others to have a seat.
"Sis, you're here because our choice may find himself playing with your
group, and while you occasionally perform with Junior and the Twins, you
aren't a member. So, we will consider your input, but you don't get a
vote. Finnegan, you are here and you do get a vote because you are part
of the group. Without you, Junior and the Twins is just another middle
school band."
She peripherally watched Wynter while she was speaking. Sis acted
in a totally predictable manner: she had no objection to her status and
was elated that Finnegan was given a vote. Cinnamon was ninety percent
sure that Jimmy would react the same way, and he did.
"First up is Neil Gray." As always, she let the others speak
first. Everyone agreed that while he deserved encouragement because he
showed promise, he would not be ready for the encore performance at the
talent show this fall, and probably not next spring, either.
"Okay, Neil's out. Next is Jason Malone." More comments of future
promise but not ready yet.
"I hope Guy won't be disappointed in us," Wynter said after he was
officially rejected.
"Unh uh," LaMarcus grunted. "Guy? He'd be disappointed in us if
we picked Jason because he was his brother, not if we turned him down
because he needed more practice. Would you be disappointed if a patient
wanted a doctor who'd done a hundred appendectomies instead of you who's
done just one?"
"He's right," Huntly said. "And from the looks of it, I think
Jason expects us to turn him down because he also recognized that Ted
and Mark were better."
Cinnamon looked around. "More comments, anyone? Okay, Jason's
out. That leaves Ted Muller and Mark Williams. We might as well
discuss them together since it's going to be one or the other." She was
surprised when Wynter favored Ted while Jimmy didn't. But Mister
McCauley favored Ted, while Huntly didn't. And LaMarcus favored Ted
while Cinnamon favored Mark.
Finnegan was the deciding factor. "Mark," he said, avoiding a
draw. He glared like he was daring anyone to challenge his final
decision and hoping his new black eye and bruised cheek would intimidate
them. "His sound's better."
Huntly threw up his hands. "And our hot shot sound man can't fix
that?"
Finnegan jumped to his feet and balled his fists. "OF COURSE I CAN
FIX IT, SHERIDAN! YOU SAYING I CAN'T?"
Time for the woman in charge to take charge. "Sit down, Finnegan.
Shithead's simple little brain didn't understand what you meant. It was
too complicated for him. I'll explain it in simple little terms his
simple little mind can grasp."
That put out the fire in Finnegan's fuse.
Huntly gave her a sour look. "So, explain, bitch."
"Okay, shithead. Finnegan can fix most of it, yes, but it would be
a non-stop process, leaving him no time to worry about the sound for the
rest of us because Ted's randomly inconsistent. He has great promise,
yes. And we may need him if Mark suddenly decides to form his own
group, as he threatened Brinkly that he would do. But for now, Ted's
the lesser of the two choices. Not by much, but by enough."
"But..."
"AND," she said, refusing to be interrupted, "he's an eighth
grader, meaning he won't be eligible next year, giving Ted a year to
practice for the job next year."
When everyone had agreed to the vote, Sis said, "I still prefer
Ted. I think if I need a fill in rhythm guitarist, he's my choice."
"We have different styles, Sis. He's probably better suited to
yours than to mine. Anyway, even if IT DOESN'T HAVE A NAME, it's your
band and you can use whomever you want."
Sis giggled at the editorial comment. "Yeah. And even if he's not
playing for you, he can still come to your rehearsals and keep Snoopy
company if Possum sings."
Cinnamon grinned. She'd suspected that had something to do with
Sis's choice. "Or even if Possum doesn't."
~ ~ ~
Suzie cornered Jimmy when Kenny went to the bathroom. Kenny had
told everyone the reason for the family dinner was for his dad to tell
him the stupid bad news that Ron had found out. "Jimmy, what are you
planning to do tomorrow while Kenny and Wynter spend the day making
rounds and working with the doctors?"
"I thought I'd go to the Aspenleaf Center. There's this movie..."
"Would you mind if I went with you or something?" Well, that
caught him by surprise.
He shrugged. "I didn't say yet which movie I was going to see."
"I know." She twisted the toe of a shoe into the carpet of the
practice room. Her eyes decided to watch her foot. "I'm kinda worried
after what Ron told Kenny's parents about that stupid drug dealer's
stupid brother being so close to that stupid dolt. And I'm kinda
worried about Kenny, too. Sister Cinnamon and I had a talk about him
that night we... well, when I helped her, and... well, we think...
well, I need to know what you think about what we think. But if you
don't want to go to the movie with me, then maybe after it's over we
could get together and..."
"Suzie, I didn't say I didn't want to go to the movie with you.
Honest."
She felt like she was about to sniff or something. She started
twisting the hem of her blouse around a finger while her toe continued
to twist on the carpet. "I know. But the last time we went to the
movies together by ourselves was... well, I was..."
Jimmy took her hands and unwrapped the blouse from her finger.
Then he held her hands ever so nicely, smiled at her, and said, "That
was a long time ago and with a different Suzie, not with you. Look,
Kenny's my best friend and needs help. You helped me and you helped
Cinnamon. If you can help Kenny, then whatever I can do to help you do
that is fine. Besides, you're my Future Sister In Law as well as my
friend, so it's a family outing. The tickets are on me."
She smiled at him. "I'll buy the popcorn and Cokes." Thanks to
the money left over after Operation Uncle Bozo, she'd been able to pay
back the money she'd owed Jennifer since swim camp.
"Deal."
She bounced up on her toes and kissed him like she would one of the
boys on the swim team who'd just won or something.
Sister Wynter joined them. "Okay, what are you doing making moves
on my sister?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Well, since you're running off to the hospital to
have babies with Uncle Bozo Junior tomorrow, I got myself a movie date
with a good looking redhead."
Wynter puckered her lips and pushed them to one side while she
crossed her arms, frowned at the two of them, and tapped her foot.
"Okay," she said after a minute. "As long as it's not with Brinkly or
one of the Pack."
Jimmy stared at her, then said, "You know, I suddenly feel like
kissing the sweetest, most wonderful girl in the room. Suzie, would you
mind puckering up, please?"
Suzie thought it was neat the way Sister Wynter laughed like she
was happy or something the whole time Jimmy kissed her. She thought the
kiss was ever so neat, too.
Chapter 17
When Suzie's hand touched the end of the pool she grabbed the edge,
flipped her body upright, and bobbed in the water, wiping her eyes with
her other hand so that she could see.
Tires? She looked up at the face leaning forward and snarling down
at her. The Pack, all wearing revealing bikinis, one with a stuffed
top, stood around the hand pushed wheelchair.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the loudmouthed idiot who cheated
Cori out of her rightful place as a Crown Princess. Do you think you
own the pool, too, coming in here early to play by yourself while
everyone else has to wait until opening time?"
"Swim team members get to come in thirty minutes early so that we
don't disturb everyone else when we're trying to stay in shape. I was
the only one to show up today." She frowned, pretending like she was
thinking or something, then looked behind Brinkly to the snarling
brunette. "Cori? Hmmm. Huntly says the reason they picked me was I
was in sports. Cori is marching band, and I guess that's sort of like
sports or something, but if anyone should have been chosen for anything
because she's a jock, that would be Trish, not Cori or me."
"Me?" Trish asked, suddenly looking ever so puzzled while Brinkly
tried to hatch a thought or something. Leigh Ann looked ever so
puzzled, too.
Suzie grinned to herself on the inside. Well, that worked! She
held herself in place with one elbow on the edge and looked up at blonde
girl. "Sure. I just swim. But you're a cheerleader. You have to do
all kinds of different, difficult stuff. You're always running and
jumping and doing flips and tumbles and being on top of those pyramids
or something. It's a lot harder than what I do. And what those stupid
players do, too.
"The football team doesn't realize it because they're a just bunch
of stupid dolts, but being a good cheerleader is ever so difficult. You
work twice as hard and sweat twice as much as they do because you don't
have an offense squad and a defense squad. You're always working, even
when they're taking their turn resting. You have to have strength and
balance and timing, just like they do, but because you don't score any
stupid points, they don't pay any attention to all that. It's not fair,
but that's how the stupid dolts think, when they bother to think at all."
Trish's angry look had started to come back, but it quickly faded
like a suntan over winter. Brinkly, however was almost showing fangs or
something. "You're saying Trish should be runner up to that Hawaiian
idiot? Trish should be the Queen, not her! Brees somehow got her
cousin into the... Or did Kennedy fuck her way into the Queen's
position like she fucked her way into the eighth grade presidency?"
Suzie looked at Leigh Ann and shook her head, acting like it was
pity or something. "She never listens to what anyone else is saying.
Does she do the same thing to you, too? Sometimes I wonder why you
three hang around with someone who can't think any better than that."
She looked at Brinkly and shook her head the way Jennifer did with
girls who weren't trying to swim their best. "People tell me you're
smart enough to figure this out for yourself, but maybe you're just too
busy being ever so mad to even try to think. Hailey didn't fuck herself
into being the Homecoming Queen, Brinkly. You fucked Trish out of the job."
Trish frowned at Suzie like she was confused, then frowned at
Brinkly like maybe she suddenly wasn't happy or something.
Suzie looked at Cori and sighed ever so sadly. "Cori could have
been the first Crown Princess, and she surely would have made at least
the second place Crown Princess if it was just her, but you fucked her
out of that, too."
She looked at Leigh Ann again. "Congratulations on making Princess
of the Court, despite being part of the Pack. Majorettes have to be
jocks, too, but not as much as the cheerleaders do. At least the dolts
on the team didn't let Brinkly keep you from being chosen, though if I
was thinking like a jock, I'd have picked you as first Crown Princess
instead of Cori last year. Not that I think either of you is better,
but that's the way those stupid football dolts usually think, when they
bother to do it or something. Most times they don't. I guess they're
sorta like Brinkly that way."
Brinkly looked like she could chew the tile off the bottom of the
pool. "What the hell do you mean, I fucked them out of it?" she
snarled. She reminded Suzie of Dragon when he was protecting Wynter.
Suzie half expected Brinkly to start slobbering or something.
Suzie shrugged, making the water ripple around her. "Well, ask
them," she said, nodding at the Pack. "Before you came here, they were
the most popular girls in the school. Then they started hanging out
with you. You made the whole town mad at you, and because they're your
friends, people stopped liking them as much. Then you made them
Caroline and Annie's replacements as the town sluts, and..."
Brinkly slammed a hand down on her armrest. "ME? It was Brees's
slut of a cousin who started all that...!"
Suzie laughed so hard she lost her arm's place on the edge of the
pool and slid underwater. She popped back up, trying to cough out water
and laugh at the same time. "Please!" she spluttered. "Don't do that
again!"
Brinkly looked like she was ready to have a cow or something, and
she was too mad to get her words out. Trish looked back and forth
between Brinkly and Suzie like she was confused. Leigh Ann looked like
she had cramps, and Cori looked like she had cramps plus acid
indigestion or something.
Suzie anchored herself in place with her elbow again. "Brinkly,
you're as bad as Amber Vallarta. You know, if you hadn't ticked Hailey
off you'd probably have been the class president. If you'd been nice
instead of trying to be a witch or something, Hailey wouldn't have run
and you'd surely have won. Instead, you made Hailey mad at you. Then
you listened to what you wanted to hear and believed it instead of
seeing if it was really true first. Then you got mad and made these
three pay the price because you were so lazy or dumb or something.
"Hailey doesn't want to be class president, yet she is because you
made her be it! And because of you, these three got suspended for the
first time ever, I think. I don't know if it was your first time or
not, but I sure as heck doubt it. And if it hadn't been for you, then
Todd McKeown wouldn't just be escorting Hailey instead of Trish to the
ball, he'd probably still be going steady with her."
Trish suddenly stopped looking back and forth between them,
frowned, and gave Brinkly a look like the girl had farted in her
wheelchair in church or something. Brinkly was still ever so mad, so
she didn't notice. Leigh Ann was also giving Brinkly a funny look, like
her lights were coming on, as Sister Wynter says, while Cori just looked
her usual style of mad at everything.
"You know, Brinkly, you're just like Amber. You're both your own
worst enemy or something. I know because I used to be the same way
until my friends helped me see that I was wrong. She was the better
swimmer at state last year. The only reason I won instead of her was
that I had a better reason to win. Because Amber can't think of anybody
but herself, she's hurting her whole team, just like you're doing these
girls. She wants ever so much to be a student coach at next year's swim
camp, but as long as she keeps acting like you, Coach Dale will never
recommend her."
Leigh Ann suddenly straightened and said to Brinkly, "I have to
go." She sure as heck didn't sound happy.
Suzie looked up at her. "Leigh Ann, wait. Why don't you jump in
and swim some laps with me or something? Have you ever thought of
joining the swim team like your cousin Misti? You're already pretty
good. If you started practicing now, I'm sure you could win some medals
next spring. Bronze for sure and maybe a couple of silvers."
Leigh Ann stopped but didn't turn around. Suzie couldn't see her
face, but she knew Leigh Ann was thinking ever so hard about her offer.
Brinkly slammed a fist onto her chair's arm. "Now YOU are trying
to TAKE MY PACK AWAY FROM ME?"
Suzie shook her head and sighed while Trish looked back and forth
between Leigh Ann and Brinkly, her face all twisted up in a confused
frown. "Are you dismental or something? You don't need my help to
break up the Pack. You're doing that just fine by yourself. Anyway, I
don't care about your Pack. I care about my swim team. I'm just trying
to make it better. I'm a student coach. That's what coaches do,
because we think of our team first. But like Amber--and like I used to
be, unfortunately--you think of yourself first. But just to show you
that I'm not like you and Amber, I'll even think of you first and help
you to be better like my friends did for me. Where's your swim suit?"
"WHAT!?"
Suzie thought she saw spit flying out of Brinkly's mouth while
Trish looked at Suzie like she'd just suddenly appeared out of thin
air. She guessed that saying should be changed to "out of thin water"
this time.
"I'M IN A WHEELCHAIR, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU WANT ME TO JOIN THE
SWIM TEAM, TOO?"
She sounds just like Aunt Dumb! Suzie shook her head as Leigh Ann
suddenly dove into the water and began swimming free style for the other
end. "No. But swimming can help you, can't it? Wynter thinks it can
because the water supports you while you exercise, and if so, I'll help
you. You can get along with crutches and leg braces on land, so you
should be able to do fine without them in the water. You have good arm
strength from using those hand job chairs, so you shouldn't have any
problems, but if you do, I'll be here with you. I won't let..."
"FUCK YOU!" Brinkly screamed. "You just want to... to DROWN ME!
Is that Brees's idea of how to get rid of me and hog all the glory for
herself? I thought she'd use the murderer she already has!" She looked
at Cori and Trish. "Let's get out of here."
"No," said Trish, sounding real quiet or something while looking at
Suzie with eyes that said she understood everything now.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'NO,' BITCH?"
Trish looked at Suzie, then Leigh Ann, then Brinkly, Cori, and
Brinkly again. She opened her mouth, then looked at Suzie and Leigh Ann
again before looking up at the ceiling.
"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!"
Trish looked down at Leigh Ann, then shook her head at Brinkly.
"I think I'll stay here and swim with Leigh Ann. And... Suzie."
Cori started to bark something to Trish, but instead of listening,
the blonde girl dove into the water. Cori gave Suzie a look like she
wanted to kill her or something and then pushed Brinkly back toward the
dressing rooms.
"If you change your mind about swimming," Suzie said at Brinkly's
back, "I'll be glad to help you. Just ask whenever you want. I'm
serious. Honest. And good luck playing at the party tonight."
Brinkly had Cori push faster while Suzie turned around and began
studying the weaknesses in Leigh Ann's technique, devising a training
plan for her.
~ ~ ~
Jimmy felt the adrenaline surge when he recognized the two girls on
either side of Suzie as they came down the court of the Aspenleaf
Center. But... Something was wrong.
No. It was different, but it was right, not wrong. Suzie said
something to the other two and pointed at him. Both looked. Trish
suddenly looked embarrassed, while Leigh Ann's face twisted to one of...
well, he guessed the best way to describe it was mild anger. She said
something to the other two and then turned and went back down the mall.
Trish stayed with Suzie.
"Hi! Am I late or something?" Suzie asked when they reached him.
"No, you're on time." He gave Trish puzzled look, even though he
tried to keep his face noncommittal. "Hi, Trish. Are... are you, uh,
joining us?"
Trish looked even more embarrassed. "Uh, hi, Jimmy. No. I'm...
I'm not. I'm just going to Slopes and Fields. I need a new snow suit
for skiing this year. I, uh, kinda outgrew my old one... you know.
Height, I mean. You know." She held out a hand to indicate her
previous height and the lifted it to represent growth. "You know."
"I tried to talk her into joining us or something," Suzie said,
"but she said she doesn't have time."
Jimmy wasn't sure whether he was supposed to feel relieved or
disappointed. He guessed he'd know which when Suzie explained what the
heck was going on.
"Well," Trish said, looking at her feet and then at Suzie, "I guess
I'd better get going."
"Okay," said Suzie. "Hey, try and get one like your old one. That
color really went good with your eyes. Didn't it, Jimmy?"
Jimmy didn't have a clue, but he knew what he was supposed to say.
"Yeah. It did. That's a good idea."
"Really?" Trish asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes. "Well...
thanks. That's... that's awfully nice of you after the way... After
my... How I..." She sniffed and her eyes filled with tears before she
looked at her feet. "Jimmy, I'm sorry about... I shouldn't have... I
was such..."
Jimmy looked at Suzie, who frowned at him and gave a slight jerk of
her head toward Trish. Maybe he didn't understand non verbal
communication as well as Wynter and his Future Sisters in Law, but he
had no trouble understanding that message.
"Don't worry about it, Trish. It's okay."
"Really?" She looked at him like a starving puppy being offered food.
He smiled at her. "Of course."
"Thank you. I've been such a bitch that I didn't... Thanks again,
Suzie. See you Monday."
"See you. Let me know when you want to go swimming again."
"Sure." She turned to Jimmy. "Are you sure it's okay with us?"
He still didn't know what the heck was going on, but this time he
didn't need Suzie to tell him the right answer. "Of course it's okay.
I hope you have a nice weekend."
Tears filled her eyes again, but this time the look was entirely
different. "Thanks. You are just... I can't believe... Wynter is so
lucky to..." She suddenly stopped trying to find the words and grabbed
him in her arms. Before he could think, her lips were on his, and by
the time he realized where her tongue was, she'd already removed it and
backed up.
Jimmy blinked in confusion.
"You're the greatest!" she said and then disappeared down the court.
He looked at Suzie, waiting to learn just what the heck was going on.
"Well," she said, looping her hand around his forearm and smiling
at him, "I guess you'd better hope that Sis doesn't hear about that
until I've had time to explain it to her or something."
~ ~ ~
Wynter's tongue tip crept out the right corner of her mouth as she
frowned at the lines on the EKG's graph paper. It's... maybe... maybe
not... huh! She kept her eyes on the interval while her left hand
groped for the dividers. She put one point at the beginning of the PR
interval and another point at the end, then moved them to the beginning
of a large block and counted the number of small blocks. Multiply that
by forty milliseconds...
Uh oh. She frowned harder, thought a minute, and then remeasured
the interval, taking extra care to measure what she thought were the
precise beginning and end points. It was the same. She moved farther
down the graph and put the set dividers on another interval. The match
was almost perfect.
She sighed and looked up at Doctor V, who was watching her from the
other side of the small conference room's table. He must have taken
inscrutability lessons from Sis One because his face didn't give her a
clue. "I give up," she said. "I'm not sure. It's so close. Maybe I'm
not measuring the right spots."
He shook his head. "No, Future Doctor King, you are measuring
precisely the right spots. I'm not sure, either, because there's
nothing else there to indicate that it's good or bad. That's why I'm
going to do another EKG, a twelve lead this time. Or rather, you are.
Do you remember where the leads go? V1?"
She grinned. "Fourth interscos... Inters..." Drat! Of all the
times to stumble over a word! "Int er cos tal space on the right side
of the sternum."
"V2?"
"Fourth inter cos tal space on the left side of the sternum."
He ran her through the rest of the leads, then said, "Very good,
Future Doctor. It's uncomfortable to rip off and replace the
electrodes, kind of a cold waxing effect that you may some day learn to
hate the way my wife does, so you indicate the placement with a
fingertip. If you're right, and I'm sure you will be, I'll give you the
sign and you put the electrode there." He looked at the clock. "Now:
what if we get the same results this time?"
She thought for a moment. "An echocardiogram to look for atrial
enlargement and possible cardiac blockages."
He gave her the kind of look she was used to seeing from Daddy,
Jimmy, and Doctor Brees. Well, and Doctor Taylor, too. "Then it's time
to see Mister..."
Speaking of intervals, the time between the knock and the door
opening was so brief that Wynter was sure that Kenny had knocked while
opening the door. His face was crimson, his nostrils flared, and he
looked like steam should be shooting from his ears. Then he growled and
threw his stethoscope against the far wall before throwing himself into
a chair next to the wall.
Wynter's shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry, Doctor V. Looks like a
priority one patient just arrived."
Doctor V shrugged and shook his head. "No need to apologize to me,
Future Doctor King. I've been in this business way too long and know
how the world conspires against persons medical. It's Mister Riha who's
going to be disappointed. He was looking forward to seeing you instead
of me. He thinks you're actually cuter than me! Can you believe that?
I'll explain it to him." He glanced at Kenny for a moment, then said,
"Good luck," to her in a quiet voice. "Excuse me, Future Doctor Taylor,
but I have a patient waiting."
While he let himself out, she picked up Kenny's stethoscope and
carefully folded it. Holding it in one hand, she sat down in the chair
beside Kenny's. "Want to tell me about it?"
He slammed a fist onto his right thigh. "FUCKING BITCH!"
She waited a few seconds for him to wrestle himself back into
control, then asked, "Me?"
His head jerked around to give her a puzzled look through his
crooked glasses. "Huh?"
"Are you talking about me?"
He shook his head. "Of course not! That fucking Mrs. Hilliard!
She was happy to have a Future Doctor observing for training until she
learned it was me instead of you! 'Oh! But he's a boy!'" he said in
his weird voice. "Brain dead fucking CUNT! What? Did she think I was
going to buttfuck her while the kid was squirting out? Is she so
goddamned stupid that she doesn't realize that Doctor Brees has a
dick and balls combo, too?"
Wynter said nothing and waited while Kenny let it all out, trying
not to laugh a few times when he did more disdainful weird voice
imitations of Mrs. Hilliard's comments. When he stood up and started
wandering around the small conference room while ranting, she watched
for signs that he might break something, but otherwise didn't interfere,
letting him run down on his own internal chronometer.
After Kenny threw himself into the chair and said nothing for ten
seconds, she asked, "My turn?"
He glared at her in an odd combination of fury and respect. "Why not?"
"Okay, two things. One, she's perfectly within her right to accept
or refuse any physician for her own reasons. You know that as well as I
do."
"Yeah, but the only reason she didn't want me was my sex!"
"Congratulations. Now you know what life is like for my half of
the population."
He blinked at her in confusion, or maybe surprise, for a few
seconds. Then he shook his head like Dragon trying to get water out of
his ears. "But..."
"But nothing. Think! You're as smart as I am when you want to
be. I'm a girl. I'm not going to see anything I don't see in the
mirror every morning. You're a boy, not even a teenager yet. She's
worried about you seeing something she doesn't know you see on the
internet every day. Or worse, she's afraid that you do see it on the
internet every day and maybe she really and truly is afraid that you
might try having anal intercourse with her."
"WYNTER!"
She grabbed his forearm with her free hand to stop him from jumping
out of his chair. "Look, I'm just exaggerating to make my point. She
doesn't see you as a Future MD in this situation. She sees you as a
twelve year old boy. You know her as well as I do, maybe better. You
know that's all she's capable of understanding. Are you mad at Snoopy
and Possum for being afraid of boys because of what Matthew did to them?"
He looked at her like she'd prescribed antibiotics for a viral
infection. "Well, of course not."
"There you go. It's the same thing. Look at it as an algebraic or
logic equation, not at the specifics of the situation. When you look at
specifics, you can get blinded by how they relate to you. That's what
Brinkly does, and you're a better person than her. Smarter, too."
He looked at her for a moment. The Patented Shit Eating Grin
appeared. "And better looking?"
She studied the lines of his face. "Yeah. You really and truly
are, actually, though maybe if she stopped acting like a hydrophobic
tyrannosaurus rex with PMS, she might become better looking."
Kenny chuckled, then sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry," he said contritely.
"Don't apologize to me. Go apologize to Doctor V and Mister Riha.
Both were expecting me, counting on me, to do that EKG. If you'd not
pulled this stunt, you could have been there to learn something, too."
His look again questioned her sanity. "But I'm planning to be a
gynecologist, not a cardiologist."
"Oh. A a a and... you plan on seeing only women without heart
conditions? Skipping the cardiology block in medical school, are we?"
His shoulders sagged. "Okay, Mother." He held out his hand.
"I'll take my stethoscope back."
She shook her head. "I said two things. That was one. Two: you
didn't answer my question."
He sighed. "No, you're not the fucking bitch. And neither is Mrs.
Hilliard. Okay?"
She shook her head again. "Not that question. I asked if you
wanted to tell me about it."
"Wynter! We just now..."
"No. We talked about today's outburst that it precipitated.
Kenny, are you going to keep it bottled up inside until one of these
days you hurt a person instead of a stethoscope or," she pointed, "that
piece of now scratched wall? What if your temper gets out of control
and you accidentally hurt me? What if you hurt Suzie?"
"Suzie?" He suddenly looked like he was about to cry. He thought
for a moment, then pulled his left foot over his right thigh and gripped
the ankle. Wynter's heart swelled in her chest when she saw that
happen. He was finally going to tell someone what was bothering him!
He sat there for a long time, then sighed and released his ankle.
Wynter's heart sank.
"That's okay," she said in her most reassuring voice, covering her
disappointment. "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to.
But talk to someone. Cinnamon is great at helping people with
problems. Your girlfriend is even better than Cinnamon. If you don't
want to talk to them, then find someone you trust. Ron, or Jimmy, or
Huntly, or your Dad, or even Hailey if you think she's the right one.
Kenny, I don't care if it's Charlie or even Brinkly. Just somebody.
You can't keep it inside! You just proved that. It finds ways of
getting out. Okay? Here's your stethoscope."
"Thanks," he mumbled and took it.
"Come on. Let's go see what's happening in the ER. Do you want to
ride the elevator or carry me down the stairs?"
He looked at her in surprise, then stood up and offered her a
gentlemanly helping hand out of her chair. "You've been hanging around
Huntly too much."
"Probably. Wait a minute. This is for my newest sister since
she's not here to do it herself."
She straightened his crooked glasses.
~ ~ ~
Sunday night was a dress rehearsal of The Waiting. Jimmy held the
final note as Huntly plucked the individual strings of the final chord
on his acoustic guitar. On the projection screen, the picture of Suzie
and Kenny holding hands had faded away until only the falling leaves in
the forest remained. Suzie, tears streaming down her cheeks, had slowly
collapsed until she was sitting on the floor--well, it was supposed to
be the ground--staring at the phone in her hand, waiting for it to ring.
When the final note died, Finnegan, using his remote, killed the
projector and waited before flipping off the practice room's lights.
Jimmy heard more than a few sniffs before the lights came on again
and everyone applauded. As Kenny gave Suzie a hand up and then a kiss,
Jimmy looked around and decided that Dad needed to enlarge the practice
room if anyone else was to show up.
Wynter's mom was the first to wipe her eyes, get to her feet, and
hug Suzie. His own mom wasn't that far behind. Cinnamon's mom didn't
hug her because she had a bad cold and was afraid she'd pass it on, but
Doctor Brees was next, followed by Wynter's dad. Kenny's and Suzie's
parents had other things to do, and Cinnamon had had a difficult time
getting Suzie sprung for the rehearsal. Mrs. Reed wasn't able to attend
because of a church function. Finnegan's parents weren't there for
unspecified reasons. Jennifer was still sitting in her chair, wiping
her eyes with a tissue while Donnie, Mark, Possum, Snoopy, and Ted took
their turns congratulating Suzie's performance.
Hailey finally stopped crying and hugged Suzie. Then, while
Jennifer was congratulating Suzie, she bent down to Kenny's ear and said
just loud enough for Jimmy to hear, too, "Since it, like, caused her to
give so the performance tonight, I'll, like, forgive you this time, but
if you ever hurt my sister again that way, I will so rip off your nuts
and feed them to you."
Wynter scooted onto Jimmy's bench and wiped her eyes before her
hand found its resting place on his back. She didn't say anything, yet
she communicated a thousand words with that gesture.
It was only their first full dress rehearsal. Jimmy couldn't
imagine what the actual performance would be like, and he thought he had
what Wynter's grandfather called "a pretty good imaginer."
Huntly finally stopped all the congratulations. "Okay, all the old
fogies, and that's everyone older than Jennifer, get out! Go upstairs
and raid the McCauley liquor closet. Watch television. Dance. Play
strip poker. Practice filling out income tax forms. Play CDs.
Whatever. Just go!"
Mrs. Brees did a pretty good imitation of Cinnamon putting her
fists on her hips. "How come Jennifer gets to stay and we don't?"
"She doesn't. We're just going to use her for a minute and then
throw her out, too. If you looked as good as her, I'd let you stay, but
you're still looking like a home for wayward germs. Don't worry, I'm
not going to show her any card tricks, so you won't be missing anything."
She held up her hands. "I surrender." She laughed while Doctor
Brees dragged her out the door.
When Dad shut the door behind him, Huntly turned to Cinnamon.
"Your turn, bitch."
"Thanks, shithead. Before I forget: if any of you heard that
silly rumor that started circulating today, it's false. I talked to
Guy, and Maroon Bells will be performing at our Homecoming dance. I
don't know how this crap gets started.
"Okay, you all know by now that the Pack had a run in with my
newest sister and didn't survive except for Cori and Evil Brinknievel.
I had a phone call of apology last night and learned something that
stays in this room: I know what the Brink of Disaster has planned for
its act and, if asked, its two encores."
"Excuse me," said LaMarcus. "Encores? Do I smell a plan
hatching? No, no! Sorry. My mistake. I meant to ask, do I smell two
plans hatching?"
Hailey laughed. "Hey! Like, you have to ask?"
Jimmy looked at Wynter. "Not when your first sister is wearing
that evil grin," he whispered.
Wynter giggled and made warm circles on his back with her hand.
"First," Cinnamon said, "she plans to demand that The Brink of
Disaster goes last because it's still in the rebuilding stage. I guess
she thinks she'll need that extra couple of hours to form and rehearse a
band. After what I heard about their weak performance at the victory
party last night, that's probably a good idea. Anyway, she wants to get
her father to back her on that, but it's fifty fifty at best that he'll
agree. But that means that everyone else," she held a hand overhead,
pointed the index finger down, and drew a circle with it to encompass
the band, "will be limited to just one song, while she'll get to do
three. If she isn't booed off the stage before the end of the first one."
"You have a way around that, of course," LaMarcus said.
"No."
"You don't?"
"No. I intend to play by the rules. Wynter's unnamed band," she
couldn't resist editorializing, "will play only one song, The Waiting."
Jimmy thought everyone's lights came on simultaneously.
"Jennifer," Cinnamon said, "I'm sorry, but now you aren't a part of
the rules I intend to play by. However, we'll be performing at the
first home basketball game, and I want to do Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
I don't think they'd let us get away with She Bop. Practice, because we
intend to do it right. Questions on that, anyone?" When nobody said
anything, Cinnamon said, "Thanks. You don't want to be here for the
rest of this meeting."
Jennifer grinned. "I understand." Her look said she wanted to
stay and listen anyhow out of curiosity.
"What if I want to keep her?" Huntly asked as Jennifer rose to her
feet.
"She has standards, shithead."
"Bitch."
Jimmy turned to Wynter. "You have any idea what that look Jennifer
and Suzie gave each other when Cinnamon said 'standards' was about?"
"Unh uh," Wynter whispered. "But if I did, I probably couldn't
tell you. It looked like a girl talk secret."
He thought so, too. That's why he'd asked.
"Okay," Cinnamon said after Jennifer closed the door behind her,
"after the unnamed group performs, Junior and the Twins will perform,
featuring its special guest singer, Kenny Taylor."
"What?" Kenny asked, almost jumping out of his chair. "Why me?"
"Because I know what Brinkly's primary song will be, and she plans
to dedicate it to you."
Kenny's frown quickly turned into the Patented Shit Eating Grin as
Suzie grabbed his arm and giggled something into his ear. He kissed her
and said to Cinnamon, "Yeah?"
"Yeah. And I know what her first encore number will be, too.
After Junior and the Twins performs, there will be another new
additional act: Kevin Kenneth Taylor, Junior, backed up by his own
personal back up group which just happens to be on the stage before his
act starts."
"And just what am I supposed to sing?"
Cinnamon shook her head. "Two questions first. Were you serious
about throwing Cori's comment back in their faces, and do you promise
not to hurt anyone when I tell you?"
Kenny frowned, sighed, then nodded.
"Then the lyrics and music for everyone are over there on the
table, marked with your names. There's also a mini CD in case you
aren't familiar with the songs. Mark, that includes you. Ted, I made a
copy for you, too, in case you were interested. It might not hurt for
you to start practicing them now because Mark won't be in Griffin next
year."
Jimmy saw the reason for Cinnamon's pause and sudden mischievous
grin. Snoopy had squeezed Ted's arm and whispered congratulations to him.
"Now get one thing perfectly clear, people! This won't work if any
word of it gets to Brinkly. Hear me? She doesn't know that an ex-Pack
member knows the songs, or else she'd change them. No discussing this
anywhere except in this room or in my house. Period. No attempting to
talk about it in some 'secret code' that any retarded shithead like
Huntly could break."
Huntly shook his head. "Bitch."
"No carrying the sheet music around where someone can see the
titles sticking out of the top of your math book where you'd thought
you'd hidden it. Music in your house and hidden, period. Don't even
bring it back here. I'll have copies here you can use at the
rehearsals. That CD doesn't leave this room. You listen to it here, on
that player over there, only!
"No letting your parents, accidentally or otherwise, blab about
what you're doing to their friends, even in a 'I know she won't tell
anyone else' scenario. The only way you can guarantee that is to keep
them totally ignorant. That means even if they ask you, it's a surprise
and you can't tell them.
"If they hear what you're practicing and recognize it, and they
probably will know both songs, then I'm going to turn you over to Kenny
after I piss him off. When he's done, I'll get nasty with what's left
before I have Sister Suzie scream at you. I'm serious about this,
people: Brinkly doesn't have to be as good as I am to find out what
we're doing, and she will be trying her damnedest to find out.
Questions, anyone?"
In the quiet room, Jimmy heard Snoopy whisper, "You won't tell
anyone, will you, Ted?"
The words made Wynter sigh with contentment. That made Jimmy love
her all the more.
Chapter 18
"Okay," Huntly said after Cinnamon had finished and he had handed
out the four scripts, "before we get to the additional talent show
numbers, we have a little something we put together for your enjoyment.
Jimbo, Doctor Cutie, if you'll have a seat with the vict... I mean, if
you'll join the audience? Great. This is a little radio program skit
that was inspired by something Hailey's dad said about Chickenman.
Before we get to it, some special thanks are in order. First thanks to
LaMarcus for learning how to talk like Mister Smooth Radio Announcer."
LaMarcus jacked his voice up two octaves. "Sheeit! Dat be summin'
whut come natcheral to us bruthas an' you white boys cain't nevah do
noway, nohow."
Huntly threw up his hands. "Aw, man! He's forgot already! Now I
gotta retrain him! Anyway, next is special thanks to bitch for learning
how to imitate girls' voices..."
"Hey!" interrupted the wahine. "Like, she is a girl, pickledick!"
Huntly slapped his forehead and snapped his fingers at her. "THAT
explains why her boner is as small as Kenny's!"
Everyone except Boy Blunder laughed, with the Watkins cousins
hiding their giggles behind cupped hands and red faces. "As I was
trying to say before I was so crudely interrupted, for learning to
imitate certain girls' voices, specifically the World's Cutest Future
Quack and the Swim Team's Bleeder of The Pack."
Everyone congratulated Suzie again. Go figure.
"Next, special thanks to the Captain of the Griffin Knights Swim
Team for lending us her real voice for the introduction."
Startled, Boy Blunder turned to her. "You didn't tell me about that."
"What? And ruin her surprise, guano brain? Besides, this shows
you have a prize there. You got any idea how hard it is to find a woman
who can keep her mouth shut?"
"Pickledick!"
Huntly jerked a thumb at Hailey. "See what I mean? Next, multiple
thanks to the Future MD who does know something about medicine, her lab
monkey, the swimming champ, two ugly rhythm guitarists, two gorgeous
blue eyed cousins, the sound genius, a wahine, a bitch, and especially
me for providing a chorus of one word without knowing what they were
doing or why."
Kenny snorted. "I'll believe you didn't know what you were doing."
"Aw, man!" He shook his head. I should have seen that one
coming. "Next, thanks to Finnegan for sitting through hours of the
Superman tv series to steal..."
"Recycle, shithead."
"Bitch. To recycle part of its opening, hours of Wipe Out records
to recycle part of its opening, hours of Chickenman episodes to recycle
the just right sound of the door opening and closing, hours of submarine
movies to find just the right diving klaxon for the intercom buzzer,
hours of typing at a keyboard to capture that sound effect for
background ambience, hours at his mixer programming all those effects
into the keyboards, hours..."
"Huntly?"
He smiled at the adorable blonde interrupter. "Yes, Your Doctorness?"
"Are you admitting that Finnegan worked harder than you at whatever
this is?"
Finnegan led the uproar. When the heathen mob settled down, he
continued. "And last but certainly not least, thanks to sports legend
Huntly Sheridan, boy genius and beloved hero to millions, for thinking
of this idea, for doing all one of the male character voices, especially
that difficult one of a certain pompous Boy Blunder, and for writing the
entire script by dying candlelight in the dark after midnight in the
snow by myself while walking entirely uphill in a raging..."
Cinnamon threw a drumstick at him. "By yourself, shithead?"
He smiled broadly. "With a little help from my bitch."
While the unappreciative audience hooted and hollered, the three
performers plus Finnegan re-donned their headsets.
"Sound check," Finnegan said and they all spoke their names,
Cinnamon twice. "Hold it. This damned intercom filter's acting up
again. I guess tomorrow I gotta replace this variable... Yeah, it's
shot. Damn it. Let me try rerouting... No, not that way! What the
hell am I thinking? Okay. Cinnamon?"
She said her name again as she moved from her throne to Jimmy's
bench, and this time it sounded tinny, like it was coming from a cheap
intercom speaker.
Finnegan pushed a button and spoke into his microphone. "Sound
effects are now mapped to Jimmy's keyboard. Microphones are hot. We're
ready, people."
All four lifted scripts. Huntly aimed a finger pistol at Finnegan
and fired. Finnegan pressed a key for the prerecorded beginning, and
the speakers came to life.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
<From the opening of the Superman tv series>
"Look! Up in the sky!"
"It's a bird!"
"It's a plane!"
<Suzie (Exasperated)> "No, it's just that stupid dolt..."
<Opening cymbal crash and laugh from Wipe Out>
<Chorus> "Studmaaaan!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cinnamon pressed and held a key on the synth.
<Sounds of keyboard clicking>
<Mister Smooth Radio Announcer Voice-Over> The office of the Health
Commissioner of Middleton City.
Cinnamon, while still holding down the typing key, tapped another
two in sequence.
<Door opens. Door closes>
Miss S. Schwimmer, attractive secretary to Health Commissioner
McHailey Wyntergreen, is interrupted by a strange hooded person wearing
a crotchless red leotard, a red cape, and a boner. She immediately
reaches for the intercom.
Cinnamon released the typing key and tapped another one twice.
<Clicking stops.>
<Aaaooogah! Aaaooogah!>
<Cinnamon in Suzie voice.> "Commissioner?"
<Cinnamon in Wynter voice with intercom filter.> "Yes, I am. Who are you?"
"Miss Schwimmer."
"Who?"
"Your secretary for the past five years. Did you order another
dolt from Strip o Grams R Us?"
"No, I ordered a pizza."
"Excuse me, sir, but are you from Pepperoni Pete's?"
The strange person sprouts a Patented Shit Eating Grin.
<Huntly in pompous Kenny voice.> "No, Miss. My name is Taylor Maide,
but I will henceforth be known to the pubic--sorry, I mean public--as
'Studman,' the rescuer of fair and beautiful maidens such as yourself
from the evil clutches of virginity. But I can see how you'd be
confused by my... 'sausage.'"
"Are you dismental or something? They don't put Vienna sausages on
a stupid pizza, you dolt."
"Is that my pizza?"
"No, Commissioner. Just a stupid escaped mental patient with a
short pecker."
"Well, scream at it and make it go away before it scares off the
pizza delivery boy. I can't watch Spongebob Squarepants without a
pizza. That would be silly, like watching Bob the Builder without ice
cream in a waffle cone, you know."
"Yes, Commissioner. Mister..."
"How do you do? As I said, I am Taylor Maide. And you are?"
"I'm Miss Schwimmer, Mister Maide."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Maide."
"No, I'm Miss Schwimmer, and YOU'RE Mister Maide, you dolt. What
do you want?"
"Oh. Yes. Well, I am here to offer my unique services to the
community for the good of all humankind. You see, Miss... uh... no,
don't tell me!... uh... Schwimmer, Middleton City is caught in the
clutches of a vast and unhealthy epidemic of virginity. Leading
scientific studies have shown that virginity is the leading cause of
frigidity, and frigidity is leading the driving down of temperatures,
leading to an increase in the depletion of our oil and gas and coal
reserves as we consume them for heat."
"You really are dismental or something. Haven't you heard about
global warming?"
"Miss Maide..."
"SCHWIMMER!"
"Miss Schwimmer. I don't mean to offend, but are you
scientifically trained like me? Are you a qualified pre-med drop out
like me?"
"Drop out?"
<More pompous> "As soon as my scientific study revealed the catastrophic
crisis facing our courageous community, if not waging war on the
world wide world, I immediately dropped out, deciding instead to devote
my life to curing the curse of virginity as Studman!"
"Uh huh. Fine. And how does that counteract global warming?"
<Patient voice> "Miss Schwimmer. There's no such thing as a free lunch,
you know. Well, maybe for you, since you are exceptionally attractive.
Especially given your current shade of red. Your face matches my
costume now, and you do have a nicely rounded set of... Say, are you,
by chance, a virgin?"
"WHAT ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING, YOU STUPID DOLT?"
"Miss Schwimmer. Miss Schwimmer. Miss Schwimmer. Tisk. Tisk.
Tisk. It's elementary thermodynamics and the law of conservation of
energy. You don't get something for nothing. Well, maybe you could
since you're quite attractive and have a great pair of..."
"GET ON WITH IT!"
"Miss Schwimmer, all that extra heat has to come from somewhere.
It comes from all those frigid women."
"You mean..."
"Exactly. I mean that the solution to global warming is to
eliminate virginity. Fewer virgins means fewer frigid women. Fewer
frigid women means they keep their own heat. The more heat they keep,
the less that is available to contribute to global warming. It's really
quite simple."
"NOT AS SIMPLE AS YOU ARE, YOU STUPID DOLT! IN FACT, THE ONLY
STUPID PERSON I KNOW WHO'S AS SIMPLE AS YOU IS... is... she's... Hmmm.
Excuse me a moment."
"Of course. I'll just stand here and admire your gorgeous round..."
<Aaaooogah! Aaaooogah!> "Commissioner?"
"Yes, I am. Who are you?"
"Miss Schwimmer, your secretary. You have a visitor."
<Mister Smooth Radio Announcer> Wellllll. Who WAS that masked man?
Does he leave a silver vibrator as a calling card? Will Miss Maide...
"MISS SCHWIMMER, YOU DOLT!"
Uh, yes. Miss Schwimmer. Will Miss Schwimmer be called upon to do
her part to halt global warming? And another thing: will Pepperoni
Pete's remember to hold the anchovies? You know what happened the last
time they forgot.
Hmmm. Ann Chovie... Where have we heard that name before?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Finnegan pressed the key for the prerecorded ending.
<Cymbal crash from Wipe Out> Be listening again tomorrow for another
exciting adventure in the life of the most valiantly victorious
virginity vanquisher the world has ever known...
<Laugh from Wipe Out, followed by> "Studmaaaan!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Thank you," Huntly said as all applauded but Kenny, who glared at
him. "And how about some applause for my hapless menial assistants,
too?" He indicated Cinnamon and Finnegan.
When the even louder applause died, Jimmy said, "Man, I'm glad you
sent the grown ups out of here before you did that."
"Yeah," Huntly said. "I thought it might bother you to have them,
especially your parents, in the room when we did that, Jimbo, so I made
other plans."
"Well, thanks a lot for planning for them to miss it."
Doctor Cutie wasn't misled for an instant. "Jimmy, I don't think
that's what Huntly meant," she said, giving Huntly a grin that made his
heart do cartwheels.
Huntly shrugged and smiled with apologetic smugness. "Her
Doctorness is right. I burned our last rehearsal to a CD. When I got
here, I left the CD upstairs with your mom. I'm sure they've listened
to it by now."
~ ~ ~
Suzie thought the shocked look on Jimmy's face when Huntly told him
about the CD was ever so funny. She laughed so hard she bent over in
her chair, so she saw just her dolt's feet when he jumped up and rushed
at Huntly.
"YOU MADE FUN OF SUZIE, YOU SONOFABITCH!" he yelled. She gasped
and looked up just in time to see Kenny give Huntly a flying kick in the
stomach before the rest of the boys jumped on her dolt.
"KENNY!" she yelled and jumped up while Huntly, arms crossed over
his stomach, collapsed to the floor.
Kenny was jerking and kicking and trying to throw the other boys
off as she got to him, yelling at him to stop. He got Ted off his right
arm and brought it around in a blur. His hand caught her just under her
left ribs and hurt ever so much, though not as bad as the spear in her
leg had hurt. Still, it made her drop to her knees.
"SUZIE!" It was her dolt's voice, and the pain in it said that
he'd realized what he'd done. "SUZIE! NO! I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT YOU!"
It was hard to see because everything was red and kinda dark, and
she was having trouble getting air or something, but her dolt had
stopped trying to get to Huntly and was now reaching for her and crying
her name. He was struggling against the boys holding him back. Sister
Wynter was kneeling with Sister Cinnamon beside Huntly, but she was
looking at her. Because she couldn't talk, Suzie tried to move her hand
to tell Wynter that she was okay, but she wasn't sure if her hand worked
right. She gasped in some air as Finnegan suddenly jumped in front of
her, one fist pulled back. He let it fly into Kenny's jaw, staggering
her dolt back into the people holding him.
"YOU TOUCH HER AGAIN," Finnegan yelled, "AND I'LL BEAT YOUR SORRY
ASS TO A PULP, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!"
Kenny, ignoring the hit, was still trying to get away from the
others and get to her, all the time crying and saying that he hadn't
meant to hit her. She reached up and grabbed Finnegan's belt with one
hand while her other one kept her from falling over on her face. When
he looked down at her, she managed to say, "Let him go," though she
thought it might have sounded like just a loud whisper.
Finnegan told the others, and they let him go. Kenny dropped to
his knees beside her, tears gushing behind his crooked glasses.
She made the words come out. "They didn't make fun of me, you
stupid dolt! Besides, I told Huntly it was okay. He told me about it
when you were in the stupid bathroom that night you had your stupid
appendixitis. They were teasing anyway. If they made bad fun of
anyone, it was Wynter, and she laughed harder than anyone else!"
He reached for her and tried to say something but was suddenly
jerked up and away, squeaking in surprise.
"HEY!" screamed Hailey as she pulled away from Donnie and drove
Kenny back against the wall. "I warned you! You had so better keep
your fucking hands off my sister!"
Sister Wynter dropped to her knees beside Suzie and gently lifted
the bottom of Suzie's blouse. "Let him go, Sis," she said, sounding a
little bit too calm. "He's back under control again, and I need him here."
Suzie winched or wrenched--or whatever that stupid word was--while
Wynter gently touched her side. Sister Hailey gave Kenny another angry
look and then tried to throw him to the floor beside Wynter before
backing up against Donnie's front, her eyes never leaving Kenny.
"How... how bad?" Kenny asked before he kissed Suzie and again said
he was sorry.
"Well," Wynter said. After a few seconds or something she said,
"It's a bad contusion. If you'd caught the rib, you'd probably have
broken it. You missed the kidney and maybe the liver. Looks like soft
tissue damage and a nasty bruise, but I think she'll be able to mostly
enjoy the Homecoming Dance despite your almost ruining it for her."
Kenny hugged her and kissed her and kept moaning apologies until
Wynter interrupted. The calm was gone, like it had never been. She was
madder than Suzie had ever seen her before. "This is what I was telling
you about at the hospital!" Her words sounded like a snake hissing.
Her face made Cori's at the pool look like an angel's. "Now, we are
going to go down the hall to that other room and you will tell me what's
the matter with you, or else!"
"No! I'm staying here with Suzie."
Sister Cinnamon suddenly appeared over him, fists on her hips and
looking mad enough to yank an Olympic pool right out of the ground,
water and all. "All right, buster, listen up! You've got a choice.
You either talk to Sis or you talk to me. You don't have any third
choice except getting the hell out of this house for good. Right, Jimmy?"
Before Jimmy could answer, a soft voice suddenly spoke up behind
them. "Would it be okay if I talked with him?"
"SNOOP! NO!" Suzie had never heard anyone sound as scared as
Possum did.
Everyone but Kenny turned to look at Snoopy. "It's okay, Poss.
Kenny won't hurt me. He didn't mean to hurt Suzie. He was just mad
about something, but he's not mad now. He can talk to me about it
because I understand better than anyone else. Okay, Cinnamon? I know
he's at the point where it's the easiest to talk about something that's
still difficult to mention, but it's best if you talk about it to
someone who understands. Did that make sense?"
Sister Cinnamon, panting with fury, looked at Sister Wynter, who
said, "Yes." Then she looked at Suzie, who nodded because it was still
easier than talking. Then she looked at Kenny and growled, "You will go
with her and you will not hurt her or you'll wish you were dead.
Understand?"
Kenny glared at her or something, so Suzie grabbed his chin and
pulled his face to look at hers. She found enough breath to gasp, "You
go with Snoopy and you talk to her, or I'll never talk to you again. If
you hurt her, even if it's nothing like the way you hurt me or
something, that will be the end of us. I mean it! You don't even mess
up her hair, or you can find another girlfriend, if anyone will have you
now. You want to talk to me? Then you talk to Snoopy first. You owe
me that."
She knew that the last words would do it. Her dolt nodded,
sniffed, and got to his feet, his head hanging down.
Jimmy got between Kenny and Snoopy and led them out of the room and
down the hall. Jimmy obviously thought it was a bad idea, but he
trusted Cinnamon and Wynter and herself.
While Sisters Wynter and Hailey helped Suzie up and into a chair,
Cinnamon squatted down beside Huntly, who was now sitting up, and talked
with him.
"WHAT?" Huntly suddenly wheezed. "Doctor Cutie gave me
mouth to mouth and I wasn't awake to enjoy it? Aw, man!"
~ ~ ~
Kenny watched in silence as Jimmy put a chair by the door for
Snoopy. Then Jimmy put a table in front of her and another chair across
the table for him. He wondered if it was supposed to be reassurance for
Snoopy or a warning for himself. Both, I guess.
Jimmy grabbed his arm and dragged him across the room, pushing him
against the wall and lowering his own face until they were
nose to nose. Kenny didn't complain about the treatment because he knew
he was in the wrong. Besides, nothing anyone else could do was as
painful or as humiliating as the realization that he had hurt Suzie. It
all revolved around the fact that someone had hurt Suzie bad, and now
he'd hurt her himself. Just like Wynter had warned him.
"Listen, putz," Jimmy snarled in a quiet, angry growl. "That's the
second time you've attacked Huntly. If you're trying to make him my
best friend instead of you, you've damned near succeeded. After what
you did to Suzie, too, I should call it quits between us. She seems
willing to hang on to you, so I'll do the same because I want to be as
good as her. But she's right about one thing: you hurt Snoopy in any
way and you'll think the town welcomed Brinkly with open arms after she
messed with Possum. Do you understand, putz?"
Kenny took a deep breath, sighed, and nodded. He was on the edge
of a precipice and understood how shaky his footing was. He knew he had
no way to climb out if he fell. He meekly stumbled along as Jimmy
dragged him to the chair and shoved him into it.
Jimmy went around the table and stopped at the door. "Snoopy, I'll
be right outside if you need me. The table should slow him down long
enough for you to get away."
Snoopy reached for Jimmy's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you,
but we'll be okay. We have something in common. It's okay, honest.
Thank you again."
Jimmy smiled at her, glared a warning at him, and closed the door.
The latch clicked into place and the room was flooded with silence.
Snoopy turned her big beautiful blue eyes to him. Kenny thought
that maybe the twin Watkins cousins had the prettiest eyes in the whole
school. He liked the way their light blonde hair framed their pale,
beautiful faces. He thought maybe he and Ted Muller were the only boys
in school who really appreciated the features of the two cousins.
Everyone else saw two poor girls. They saw two rare beauties, like
delicate mountain flowers that had to be appreciated in their own
environment because you couldn't pluck them and keep the beauty alive,
and you couldn't easily turn them into house plants.
He found himself wondering if Ted would be able to turn this one
into a house plant some day. He wondered if Ted would get to see what
only Matthew Wylie, out of all the boys in Griffin, had seen. What
Kenny himself would like to see. The cousins appeared to be sprouting
nicely rounded tits, and they had the appearance of nice butts under
their long, loose second and third hand dresses. Their shoulder length
hair was lighter than Wynter's. So were their brows. He wondered if
their pubes were also thatched in a lighter shade than...
"Kenny?"
"HUH?" He jumped as she pulled him out of his daydream. Where was
I looking? His eyes went to her face.
Now she was looking at her hands in her lap. She hadn't noticed.
"I know this isn't easy for you. It wasn't easy for me when Cinnamon
started talking to Possum and me after... After Matthew, we..." She
swallowed and shrugged one shoulder. "He... Kenny, how much do you
know? About Matthew and... Poss and me?"
Kenny shrugged. "More than most, I guess. Details, no. But I
think more of the general nature than most."
"Yeah. I kinda thought so. Well, when he... When Matthew took us
in that janitor's closet and... You know."
"You don't have to tell me the specifics."
She smiled in relief. "Well, that made me really mad. I know I
got scared of everyone. I still am, sorta, because I'm afraid it will
happen again with someone else. But mostly I got mad. But not at
Matthew. At myself because I let it happen. I didn't stop him.
Cinnamon did, when he attacked her. But I didn't. I got real mad at
myself because of that."
"Snoopy, you can't blame yourself. It was his fault, not yours."
She swallowed again. "But that's just it. I was mad at myself
when it wasn't my fault." She raised her eyes to his. "It just seems
to me that you... well, you're..." Her eyes dropped to her lap again.
"Kenny, I think you are mad at yourself because that guy hurt Suzie and
you didn't stop it. It wasn't your fault that you couldn't stop it, but
you blame yourself and are mad at yourself, too, just like me with
Matthew. Did that make sense?"
He sighed. "Yeah, that made sense. And that's part of what's wrong."
"Well, it took me a long time to understand that I shouldn't blame
me. And you shouldn't blame yourself, either. But, I guess you
understand that, don't you?"
"Yeah." He sighed again. "I do. But that's..."
"That's not the real problem. I know."
Surprised, he tilted his head sideways and peered at her in
unconscious imitation of Cinnamon's analytical pose. "So, do you know
what the real problem is?"
"Yes. I mean, I think I do. I'm pretty sure I do. When
Matthew... In the closet... When he..."
"I said you don't have to tell me."
She sniffed, then looked up at him. "It would help you understand,
but I can't say the words. Maybe if... Well, you're a doctor like
Wynter, aren't you? I... I could show you what he did. I could close
my eyes and pretend it's her and..." She slowly rose to her feet, her
pale face now so red it seemed darker than LaMarcus's. "I showed it to
Cinnamon. Saying the words is harder to do. I can... show you...
where... what he did. If you... Well, if you see it, maybe you'd
understand. You need to understand." She pressed her left hand to the
junction of her body and thigh.
Kenny couldn't believe his luck. He was going to get to see some
of the shapely body under those old clothes. Maybe even get to see if
the carpet matched the drapes if his luck was good enough. He tried to
control his excitement and maintain a professional demeanor as he opened
his mouth and said...
"No."
He couldn't believe he'd just turned that down! What the hell was
wrong with him? But as he saw the relief in her big blue eyes, he knew
that the question wasn't what was wrong but what was right. He'd just
hurt his girlfriend, and he wasn't about to hurt another girl tonight.
It had nothing to do with anybody else's threats, it had to do entirely
with what he'd think of himself if he took advantage of Snoopy while she
was trying to help. He wasn't about to sink to the level of that
bastard Wylie.
She spoke hesitantly. "But you would understand better if... if
you saw... what he did."
In a voice as soft as hers, Kenny said, "I'll make you a deal. You
let me deliver your first baby after I'm an obstetrician, and I'll see
it then. For now, I'll just understand that it's something worse than
anything I think it might be. Okay?"
She slowly nodded. "Okay." She sat again, looking more relieved
than ever, her face fading back to its normal color. "Well, after he...
hurt me, I wanted to hurt him back. I really did. I thought maybe some
day I could, even though... even though I knew it would be unchristian
and very wrong. I still wanted to hurt him.
"Then Cinnamon... she... his..." Her eyes found something on the
wall to the side, and she shrugged. "You know. And then I knew I could
never hurt him the way I wanted to after that, even after they let him
out. And that made me madder than ever. I hadn't done anything when I
could, and there's no way I can hurt him enough now. Not enough. Did
that make sense?"
Kenny swallowed hard, but the lump in his throat didn't leave. "Yeah."
Her eyes again dropped to her hands in her lap. "Yeah, I can still
hurt him if I want to. I can hurt him bad, but never enough now. I
can't make him pay for... what he did to Poss and all that he did to
me. Just hurting him isn't enough, he has to pay."
She sniffed and wiped away a tear. "And I think that's what's
really wrong with you. You know you'll never be able to make him pay
for what he did to Suzie because you were exactly right about what
happened, weren't you? He fell. He fell before you could make him
pay. And you're mad at him and you're mad at yourself, just like I was
about Matthew. Did that make sense?"
Kenny sniffed as his eyes filled and tried to drain through the
overloaded tear ducts. "Yes. How... how did you know? I mean, what
was it that told you that was the right answer. You weren't guessing,
were you? You knew."
"No, I wasn't guessing." She looked at him through her own tears.
"I recognized the pain in your eyes. It was the pain I always see in
the mirror and sometimes in Possum's eyes. And it's sort of like the
pain I sometimes see in Cinnamon's. I'm surprised she didn't recognize it."
It all came out then. He crossed his arms on the table and put his
forehead on them, then confessed how much he wanted to kill that
sonofabitch and how he was trying to get to him to kill him, how the
bastard paid, but he didn't really pay because it wasn't Kenny's doing.
Kenny felt cheated about being denied the chance to use his own hands to
make the bastard pay because the universe was so damned unfair.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, Snoopy moved her chair around the
table and sat beside him.
When the door finally opened from the outside, Possum, Suzie,
Cinnamon, Wynter, Ted, Jimmy, and Huntly found them holding each other
and crying their final tears.
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon turned out the light and spooned herself around Cuz.
Neither was in the mood for fun, even though Cinnamon knew that within a
few hours her goodie box would be closed for a few days.
"Hey. Sis Cuz?"
"Um hmm?"
"Do you, like, really think Kenny's got it out of his system?"
"As much as Snoopy has. I think both have some anger left, but it
was a good cathartic for both of them."
"Huh? What kind of cat? An arctic one?"
She sighed. "Both got to open pressure release valves, but I don't
think they left them open. However, I do think that the safety valves
will operate at a lower pressure for both now, and things won't build up
to danger levels for either of them."
"Yeah. Hey! What does that have to do with arctic cats?"
"I'll tell you in the morning."
"Okay. Hey! What was it that you told Kenny afterward that, like,
made him so mad? I thought he was going to hit someone again."
She thought about it for a minute. "Okay, I'll tell you, but it's
not your secret to tell anyone else. I mean it. You'll notice it
eventually, in fact, I'm surprised you've missed it so far." Or maybe
she wasn't.
"Kenny knew Matthew had done something to Snoopy, but he didn't
know what. You know how they look like twin sisters? Matthew decided
to mark Snoopy so that he could tell the two apart. He used a
fingernail, and it left a scar. You didn't notice it in the hot tub,
but it was there, a letter 'C' for 'cunt' because he couldn't make her
say the word. Nobody will see it in any bathing suit she will ever
wear, and in another year or so, she'll have to shave for you to see it
in the gym or hot tub."
"And you, like, told Kenny this?"
Cinnamon pulled Hailey's hair away from her neck and buried her
face at the junction of neck and shoulder, planting a small kiss as she
did so. "Um hmmm. He told me what was wrong with him, and in return, I
told him about what was wrong with Snoopy. And in doing so, I gained
another protector for the two cousins. Well, he was already protecting
them. I gained a more ferocious protector."
Hailey was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, it was in a
quiet, reflective tone so at odds with her usual mood. "Life's, like,
weird, isn't it? Aunt Bitch fucks with Uncle Mitch's job in Denver, and
you end up here with a real mom and sisters. That pickledick Wylie
fucks with Snoopy and Possum, and then Snoopy solves Kenny's prob
because of it. Who'd think that fucking with someone would, like, so
make things right later?"
She kissed Cuz's neck again. "It's not unprecedented. Uncle Gerry
fucked with Aunt Viv, and nine months later I got the greatest cousin in
the world. And I wasn't even born yet."
Cuz hugged the arm that was wrapped over her. "I love you, Sis Cuz."
"I love you, too, Sister Cousin." She was almost asleep when
Hailey giggled.
"Hey! Do you think Huntly loves Kenny?"
She brushed the cobwebs off her thinking parts. "Oddly enough,
yes. I think that's mostly why he's forgiven Kenny. He said Kenny
could knock his wind out a third time if it helped cure him again."
Hailey giggled again. "Oh, that's, like, thanks to me."
That made no sense. Her face lifted from Hailey's neck. "Huh?"
"Hey! He was, like, so the pissed that he missed Wynter's
giving him mouth to mouth. He wouldn't stop bitching about it,
non stop. I told him that if it, like, happened again, he so wouldn't
miss my giving him mouth to dick."
Chapter 19
When Cinnamon pulled open her locker door, the first thing she saw
was the small twice folded square note which was folded again at one
corner. The crimping of that particular corner told her who had pushed
it through the ventilation slits in her locker door. She would
recognize the writing, of course, but the folded corner was an
additional verification that it was written by one of her
spy/informants, Agent Silver, and had been left put there by Agent
Green, the only two who knew each other's identities. She casually
began removing, inspecting, and replacing books, using that as a cover
to open the note inside the locker and scan it. It was the same thing
Trish had told her about Brinkly's act.
When Huntly spoke the second time, she palmed the note and turned
to him. "I'm sorry?"
"I said, are you ready for another fun week of school? What's the
matter? Hailey keep you up all night while you were still edible?"
"No. I have to go to the office."
Huntly's smartass look suddenly vanished, replaced by one of
intense concern. "Is something wrong?"
Her eyes narrowed as her reassuring smile pushed up her round
cheeks. "No. The talent show, remember?"
"Oh. Yeah. I guess I was distracted by your sweater. Rather,
what it's displaying so nicely."
She pulled back her shoulders to tease him. "Here. Take my
stuff. My school stuff, I meant, not those. You can have those later
if you don't mess up with my school stuff. This shouldn't take long,
but if it does, tell Mister Shelby I'll be along as soon as possible.
If you get bored waiting for me, you can ask Kenny to kick you again.
This time maybe he'll give you mouth to mouth."
Huntly rolled his eyes. "Bitch."
"Shithead," she replied with a grin as she handed him her books.
She had him scan for teachers. When he found none, she gave him a kiss
and left.
She found Principal Peters standing in the office door, observing
the traffic in the hall. By the time she'd reached him, he had already
realized she was looking for him.
"And what can I do for you this fine Monday morning, my smiling
Miss Brees?"
So. He was expecting her. His face was naturally pleasant, but he
nevertheless knew why she was there. He was waiting for her to return
the serve in a tennis match of wits. He hadn't called her "Cinnamon",
so he wasn't worried about her return. He seemed truly amused. He
enjoyed these matches as much as she did.
She swept a hand toward his office. "You can give me a couple of
minutes of your time."
"I always have time for my students," he said, escorting her
through the outer office and asking her about her weekend. After he
closed the door he folded his arms across his chest. "Well. I expected
you to find out sometime today, but not as soon as you walked in the
door. How in blazes do you do that?"
She flashed her sweetest smile. "If I told, then anyone could do
it and I'd lose my advantage. And also, everybody would be here,
crowding you out of your office, wouldn't they?"
He sighed. "Have a seat. I didn't really expect you to tell me,
you know, but it was worth trying just to hear your response." He took
his own chair. "So how much do you know?"
"That Brinkly is insisting she go last in the Talent Show because
she's having to put together a new band and needs the extra time." That
was as much as he could possibly know, so she skipped the rest of her
knowledge.
"Yes, that's it in its entirety. Dumb question, wasn't it?"
"Maybe not, sir. I might have missed something."
He gave her a "Sure, and pigs are flying in formation today" look
that was as subtle as an avalanche. Then he asked in a voice so
innocent that she filed the sound for her own use, "And you are here to
object?"
Her smile didn't waver. "Oh, no. I'm here to agree
wholeheartedly. I think it's a wonderful idea. That way she can do any
encores the audience requests. That gives us a break."
"I see. But what about the stage cleanup after Wynter's group?"
"I'm sure Sis won't object to our being next to last. In fact, I
can personally guarantee that she won't."
He changed to a quizzical look. "I see. But the audience might
not wait around for the stage cleanup, and..."
She raised a hand to stop him. "We can have the stage clean in the
time it takes Sis's group to remove its equipment. As she explained to
you, the mess won't be that big."
"Yes, she did, now that I think about it." He knew she wasn't
finished. He smiled pleasantly and waited for her to spring the rest of it.
I love it when a plan works. "While I'm here, I have a question,
sir. Is it necessary for you to announce days in advance all the acts
that will be performing? For instance, well, let's say
that--hypothetically speaking, of course--a couple of new acts want to
join the show at the last minute. Perhaps a male singer, plus, say,
maybe a female chorus. Hypothetically. You wouldn't need to advertise
their participation in advance, would you? The night of the performance
would be okay?"
"A couple of new acts." He turned the idea over in his head. "No,
I suppose I wouldn't have to announce them if I didn't know about them.
I can't see any objections to their addition at the last minute. If
they are all from Griffin Middle School. Would I have to stick them in
at the end, so that one of them would suddenly become the final act?"
She used her own innocent voice. It wasn't quite the equal of
his. "Oh, no, sir! That would be going back on your word to the Brink
of Disaster, and I wouldn't want you to do that."
She liked the way he hid behind his blank face. Only the corners
of his eyes gave away his thoughts. "I could just stick them in anywhere?"
"You might unless, hypothetically speaking, of course, they used
mostly the same instruments and performers as one of the other acts. In
that case, it would be sensible to schedule them immediately following
that act so that the audience doesn't have to wait for any avoidable
stage changes. If the talent show is to be successful, it must, of
course, cater to the needs of the audience."
His face faked a nice case of topical ignorance. "Of course."
"And, of course, if the people who didn't come, and therefore
missed the hypothetical additional acts, learn that they missed
something special--something new, for instance--well, wouldn't they be
more likely to show up for the big spring show and the basketball
half times, just in case?"
She had done it. She had successfully hooked her fish through
misdirection. She saw in his eyes that he was thinking she meant Junior
and the Twins, followed by Tyrone singing something from his new album.
That was almost too easy.
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon scanned through the letter to Great Aunt Vickie, nodded
approval to her father, and wrote below his signature, "I'm truly sorry
that you couldn't join us for the wedding. I'm still looking forward to
meeting you. I hope you're feeling better. Love, Cinnamon." Then she
handed it to Cuz, perched on the other side of her father on the couch,
who added her own note.
She watched him at work on the coffee table for a moment. "You're
not doing a very good job of separating the class pictures," she said.
"The edges aren't parallel, and the borders are inconsistent. What kind
of hands are those for someone who does surgery? No wonder Sis has to
cut umbilical cords for you."
Rosita--Mom--looked around from feeding the fish and laughed.
"Honey, I warned you to let me do it."
Daddy gave Cuz a helpless look. "I'm losing because I'm
outnumbered here. You want to help your favorite uncle out of a tight
spot?"
"Sure," Cuz replied as she stuffed the letter into the envelope
with all the wedding and school pictures. "So, like, how much are you
offering?"
"You want me to PAY you to stick up for me? Your favorite uncle?"
"Like," Cuz licked the tip of her index finger and traced the neck
of her low cut blouse with it, "sure," she said in a voice as sultry as
a Georgia summer.
Daddy looked around her to the floor. "Ghost, whose side are you on?"
Ghost thumped the floor with his tail.
"Thanks. Us guys have to stick together against all these females."
Mom looked at the clock. "It's going to be just you guys if we
have to pick up Snoopy and Possum for the rehearsal."
"No," Cinnamon said. "I should have told you. They can't come.
Today is Peewee's birthday. The families are having a surprise party
for him."
Daddy looked around her. "Birthday?" He turned his head to Mom.
"Did we send anything?"
"MEN!" Cuz barked. "Can't even remember who their own daughters are!"
Mom laughed. She sounded better now that her cold was almost
gone. "Honey, he can't remember how to cut a straight line. You want
him to remember you and Cinnamon, too? You're asking a lot of someone
who's only a man."
Daddy put the scissors down. "Ghost, let's go outside and mark
some personal territory. Just us. No females allowed."
"Hey!" Cuz rapped her knuckles on top of his head. "Hello in
there! Didn't Sis Cuz or Mom, like, warn you not to pee on the trees?"
Cinnamon and Mom both laughed at his startled expression. "Cuz,
that was shithead, not Daddy. Can't you tell them apart?"
Hailey snorted. "Hey! What's the diff?"
"Daddy's older. Chronologically, anyway."
"What's logic got to do with it?"
Everyone sighed except Hailey and Ghost. At least, Cinnamon didn't
think Ghost sighed.
"Where's Suzie tonight?" Daddy asked.
"She's studying at Jennifer's, and then they're going to work on
her dyslexia exercises a bit, and then go over Suzie's training plan for
Leigh Ann."
"Will Kenny be at rehearsal?"
"Yeah," Cuz said. "Sis Cuz got him, like, paroled from restriction."
Daddy turned to her. "I'm glad you did." He gave her a father's
kiss that made her toes curl in delight. "I'm so proud of that boy."
She felt the confusion crawling over her face like ants swarming
over an ignored picnic lunch. "For knocking out shithead with a kick to
the solar plexus?"
"Of course not, Pookie. For finally recognizing he had a problem
and opening up to someone. For admitting he was wrong. But mostly for
helping someone else with her problem while she was helping him with his."
"Daddy, the helping was Snoopy's idea, not Kenny's. She helped him."
He wrapped an arm around her in a warm hug. "The original idea was
Snoopy's. But while he was talking to her, he saw an opportunity to
help her with her issues, too."
She decided not to discuss the difference between serendipity and
design with her father. She had picked on him enough that afternoon.
"And," he continued, "he was man enough to tell all of us what
happened. Not only that, he promised he would give Snoopy and Possum
the same protection he gave you and Suzie."
She gave him a kiss and didn't mention that Kenny had been giving
the cousins that special protection for some time. Kenny was just
openly stating it for the first time.
Or perhaps Kenny had just consciously realized it for the first time.
~ ~ ~
Jimmy's fingers stopped moving when the warning buzzer sounded.
Everyone else stopped playing, too. The sheet music for Suzie's Victory
disappeared under the music for Kenny's numbers. The wireless buzzer
had been Finnegan's idea, just in case, back when they first started
rehearsing Victory. The button was hidden behind the frame around
Wynter's painting of Jimmy that hung in the McCauley entrance hall.
Shamisa and Monique gave Wynter their music and took seats, looking as
innocent as little black lambs.
When Suzie and Jennifer walked into the room, Huntly immediately
launched into a twangy version of Darth Vader's march, with Dad and
LaMarcus immediately picking up on it. Jimmy glanced at Wynter and saw
by her grin that she knew what Huntly was doing, too. He's tripping up
Suzie by stirring something new into the musical pot. I guess that's
not a very good mixed metaphor.
Suzie smiled at everyone, winked at Kenny, and then looked at
Huntly, who stopped playing and crossed his arms on top of his guitar.
"I'm Darth Vader now?" she asked with a puzzled smile. "Why? Because
of the Pack?"
Huntly shrugged with a toothy smile. "What makes you think I was
playing that for you? Maybe I meant it for Jennifer."
Suzie threw up her arms and let them drop. It was an uncanny
resemblance to the way Huntly did it, even though her arms were shorter,
meaning it was a deliberate imitation because her natural timing would
have been faster. "Why, gee, I don't know, Huntly! Maybe because you
were looking directly at me or something?"
Huntly shrugged. "Maybe I'm too afraid of Her Sith Lordness to
look directly at her. You're a surprise. I thought you two would be
working on Leigh Ann's training plan now."
Jennifer gave Huntly and Cinnamon a slightly embarrassed look of
apology. It had been her mission to see that Suzie didn't interrupt.
"There wasn't any 'working on' to do. Suzie's plan was what I would
have suggested. It was perfect. There was nothing else I could do. I
was taking Suzie home when she suddenly asked if we could swing by and
see if everyone was still here."
As she said the last, she gave Cinnamon another look. Jimmy
suddenly realized that he'd seen non verbal communication girl talk that
meant, "I stalled all I could. Anything else I did would have made her
suspicious."
Sure enough, Cinnamon gave Jennifer an almost imperceptible nod.
Jimmy was elated. I'm finally beginning to learn how to
understand non verbal communication and how to think like a girl!
"Hey!" Hailey said, shoving a cup of punch each at Jennifer and Suzie.
"Thank you," said Jennifer, with Suzie's thanks just an instant
behind. "So, how's rehearsal going?"
"Yeah!" said Suzie. She turned her attention to Shamisa and
Monique. "And what are you two doing here? You're not both LaMarcus's
date tonight, are you?"
LaMarcus sighed. "I should be so lucky," he said, sounding wistful
and shaking his head in disappointment.
Monique smiled at Suzie. "He wishes, but he has Lashonda now, and
we ain't goin' there. No, we're rehearsing the back-up number."
That was Jimmy's cue. "So far, Kenny's driven all the rats and
mice out of the house and all but two of the cockroaches. As for those
two ladies, well, in case your putz comes down with a cold and can't
sing, or he gets himself grounded again..."
Huntly jumped in with, "Or gets himself arrested on a morals charge."
"...we decided we should have a backup plan. One thing I learned
in the mine is always have a Plan B. Even if it means Brinkly gets to
play all three of her songs as she originally planned, we can still have
a backup that gets us some additional spotlight time because Cinnamon
never named the additional acts to Principal Peters."
Suzie, sipping some punch while he spoke, nodded at him. "And?"
"And our PlanÿB is Shamisa and Monique..."
"The Sistah Sisters," corrected Monique, brandishing an admonitory
finger as they moved to the front center of the band.
"...the Sistah Sisters and Riders."
Suzie lit up like Las Vegas. "You're going to sing the words?"
She dropped into the seat next to Kenny while Jennifer responded to
Finnegan's beckoning finger to join him for a conference. Suzie gave
Kenny a quick kiss, took his hand, and said, "That would be ever so neat!"
"Maybe not," said Shamisa. "We'll probably just do the chorus,
unless we find an arrangement suited to our vocal skills." Meaning, of
course, Monique's soprano that was weaker than her own strong contralto.
"I'm sure Jimmy and Huntly could write one or something. Couldn't
you, guys?"
"Sure," said Huntly before Jimmy could speak. He suppressed a
groan, but then he realized Huntly wasn't finished. "We're already
working on it. But we might not find the right combination until after
it's too late for the talent show. If not, then maybe we'll do it at a
school event performance."
Wynter leaned toward him and whispered, "That was a good save."
Jimmy gave her his special grin and nod. "Damned good. I saw
myself getting no sleep for a few weeks. I owe him one."
Wynter giggled at the regretful way he said the last sentence.
Suzie looked at Dad. "So, why are you playing instead of Mark if
this is for the talent show?"
Dad shrugged. "His father had other plans for him." Which was
true. "Ted isn't available because Snoopy invited him to join her at
peewee's birthday party, and he made the right choice. Since the Twins
can't perform without a singularly superb rhythm guitarist, I replaced
Mark as my replacement for this rehearsal."
Cinnamon jumped into the conversation while Huntly made a
smart assed remark to Dad. "We have a surprise, Sis. Since we have the
projector set up for The Waiting anyway, Finnegan came up with an idea
for Riders. When he's through making moves on Jennifer, we'll show you."
"Hey!" Jennifer complained with just the right amount of
irritation. "We were discussing sound and lighting for Girls Just Wanna
Have Fun. Whenever you decide to let me sing it, that is."
Cinnamon grabbed sticks in one hand and pointed them at the empty
chair on the other side of Suzie. "You keep holding up this rehearsal
and the answer will be never. Finnegan?"
The shortest redhead snorted in derision. "I've been ready to go
for the past several minutes," he said in his snidest tone. Jimmy
mentally translated that as, Since two seconds after the buzzer sounded.
Cinnamon shifted one stick to her other hand as Jennifer sat beside
Suzie and, with a smile, nudged sideways in a sister like hug.
Cinnamon's left hand shot up, holding its stick overhead and parallel
with her shoulders. She glanced around. When everyone nodded ready,
her right hand came up and crisply snapped its stick to point at Jimmy.
As Finnegan faded the room lights down to fifty percent, Jimmy
faded in wind sounds so achingly mournful they made him think of
eternity without Wynter. That was the very thought that had helped him
shape the sounds.
With a flourish, Cinnamon's right stick next snapped to Finnegan.
The projector sprang to life.
Suzie and Jennifer both 'oooh'ed softly as ghostly black horned
cattle with red eyes thundered across the wall above the band's heads.
Finnegan had used almost subsonic bass tones to create a rumble
suggesting the sound of their steel hooves pounding onto hard baked earth.
Cinnamon's right hand and stick struck the beat against the
overhead stick, then shot downward as Huntly twanged out the opening
verse and she worked the percussion blocks over the wind's dismal
requiem. At the end of the verse there was a prolonged pause while the
wind and the Sistah Sisters 'ooh'ed a lament that sent a shiver down
Jimmy's spine. They repeated it at a pause after the second verse and
in the middle of the fourth. After the fourth verse the whole band
joined in, with the Sisters singing only the moans and the "Yippie yi
ohhhh, Yippie yi yaaaay," and "Ghost Riders in the sky" of the chorus.
Jennifer's stunned look didn't fade when it ended. "That was
amazing!" she said.
Suzie agreed. "Who did the cows?" she asked Jimmy. "You?"
Jimmy shook his head.
Wynter spoke up. "Jimmy's good at editing, Sis, but that kind of
work required the real genius behind Junior and the Twins."
"I'll have the fiery brands done in a couple of more days. If the
teachers cooperate with the homework assignments, that is," Finnegan
grumbled. "They're harder to do than the black horns and steel hooves
and red eyes." Then he switched into a more boastful tone. "I'm also
working on the Ghost Riders themselves. You saw the film footage I'll
use. They're supposed to ride fire breathing horses. That's even
harder than the burning brands, unless you want it to look cheapshit."
Jimmy suppressed a chuckle. When it came to his own work, Finnegan
could be as bad as Wynter. "Cheapshit" was totally unacceptable, while
"perfect" was barely tolerable. Both wanted to do better than perfect.
Jennifer looked even more stunned as she turned to Finnegan. "I
was wondering where you got the hooves and horns and eyes. You did that
yourself?"
Finnegan shrugged like it was nothing, but he also sat up
straighter, and his chest swelled. "Yeah. Those were the easiest parts
because they're stationary. Even with the cow moving, the hoof stays in
the same place on the cow and in the same shape. Fire has to move
around and change shapes to look like fire. But while moving, its base
has to stay in place on the sides of the cows and in the noses of the
horses. Actually, the large snorts of fire from the horses is easier
than the small brands burning on the cows. I sorta work on the cows
until I'm ready to scream and then do some with the horses."
"You do all that by hand with each cow and horse?"
"The computer keeps it anchored in place. But that makes the fire
look like this." He held a pen vertical and moved it from side to
side. "That would look phony. Fire doesn't move in a straight column
when you move the base to one side. It flows like a snake when the base
moves. That requires some tricky work."
"Can't you get the computer to do all of that, too?" Suzie asked as
Cinnamon suddenly grabbed her clipboard and scribbled a note.
"Sure," Finnegan said. "Who can afford to buy me a couple of hours
time of a Cray supercomputer and the software I need?"
The silence was deafening until Jennifer said, "Well, I have twenty
bucks. That should buy you about half a second." As everyone else
laughed, her smile faded. "You might have one problem doing the words,
though. If you sing the words at a school function, someone might
complain that the school is somehow promoting religion..."
"FUCK 'EM!" Cinnamon's barked reply was so vicious that it made
Jimmy's skin crawl. She pointed at Jennifer with her pen, her grip so
tight that her knuckles were white. "Junior and the Twins is about
music, period! We don't promote any religion, or even religion itself.
Nor do we promote absence of religion. We take NO sides on that issue!
We play music that we like because of the way it sounds. Period. Any
music. If some asshole shithead wants to make an issue about the topic
of a song or its words, then we're going to play it anyway without the
school's foreknowledge and the bastard can deal with ME!"
It sounded somewhat like an oft repeated speech. Or at least, one
that had been delivered before. Jimmy turned to Wynter and whispered,
"What lit her fuse?"
"I don't know," Wynter replied, looking as surprised as he felt.
"But it's obviously an old and sore topic."
~ ~ ~
Brinkly, sitting in her shower chair, let the hot water spray over
her hideous body. As always, she kept her eyes fixed on the shower
controls so that she wouldn't have to look at herself. Unfortunately,
her wash cloth mitt did not prevent her from feeling the grotesquely
large arms and shoulders caused by using her manually powered chairs.
She tried to avoid using them as much as possible, but her father
wouldn't let her get away with that for long.
Nor did the mitt keep her from noticing how her chest wasn't much
more contoured than it had been when she was six. She knew it was using
the manual chairs that kept her boobs from growing. She just knew it!
But her mother refused to listen to her when she said that. How else
could you explain her having a nice bush but no boobs? Brees was a year
younger and had boobs every boy in school drooled over. Brees's
Hawaiian slut cousin, though almost as flat as she was, did have bigger
boobs than hers. Even a couple of fifth graders had bigger boobs. It
wasn't fair.
She wished she had her bath sponge so that she wouldn't have to
feel her deformities, but she'd dropped it two years ago and had fallen
out of the shower chair trying to recover it. Now her idiot parents
wouldn't let her have another one, not even one with a tether to her
neck or her wrist. She'd tried to get Craig and Logan, her older
brothers, to convince their parents to relent and let her have a sponge,
but they'd been as unsuccessful as she had been.
Her hands lingered on her belly before she finally steeled herself
to wash her ugly matchstick legs. Daddy always told her that wearing
her braces and trying to walk on them would help with muscle tone, but
there was never enough. Her thighs looked like most adult women's
forearms. She had to lean forward to wash her calves and feet. She
closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to gaze at her grotesqueness,
then straightened when she was finished.
She was done except for one thing. The best part of the whole
shower, which was why she saved it for last. The only good part of the
whole shower except washing her face. She placed the shower mitt on its
holder, squirted liquid soap in her palm, and closed her eyes. She
worked the soap into her bush, making a nice lather. Then, slowly, she
began moving her circling hand downward, down between those repulsive
twigs pretending to be legs. She "ooh"ed with pleasure until her hand
was all the way down and washing her butt. She eased one fingertip into
the tight opening while the base of her thumb rubbed circles on her
sweet spot.
She called up one of her favorite fantasies, one of her with a
perfect body as she danced naked with a perfect naked boy, an Adonis who
she had christened Jason. His erection pressed into her bush. Her
large, firm boobs smashed between them as he squeezed their bodies
together, still dancing in circles. She arched her hips slightly, and
the shaft of Jason's tool pressed against her spot, the way her hand was
now doing. She continued to circle her hand, moving it the way she knew
his thing would move against her, dancing faster and faster, rubbing
harder and harder...
...and then it happened. She gasped as the feeling exploded deep
inside her and made her whole body, even her useless stick like legs,
quiver and jerk. She grasped the hand hold on the shower chair and rode
out the sweet ecstasy. When it was over she pulled out her fingertip,
scrubbed it clean in her soapy bush, and slid it downward again, through
her already slick folds and into the juicy virgin opening where they
terminated. She stared at the shower controls and pushed the finger all
the way in until her hand pressed against her body and her sweet spot.
She pulled it almost all the way out, paused, and slid it in again.
Out. Pause. In. Out. Pause. In. Out. Pause. This time a second
finger entered with the first one. Out. Pause. She closed her eyes.
They were still dancing, laughing, carrying on as if they were the
only two people in the world. Without a pause in their dance, Jason's
lower body moved back slightly. She felt the tip of him press against
her opening, gently push its way in the way her paired fingers were
doing, until the rounded end was inside her, and then they stopped dancing.
Jason kissed her with great passion, yet with even greater
gentleness as he sank fully within her waiting, willing depths. When he
was fully inserted, he whispered his love into her ear. With their
bodies thus locked together, they resumed their dance. Their heights
were perfectly matched, so that her sweet spot rested against the
junction of his erection and his abdomen, rubbing against it as the
movements of the dance moved the junction side to side. The dance also
caused him to slide partially out of her and then back in, a carnal
dance in time with their steps.
Jason kissed her while they danced and freed one hand to caress one
firm round boob. His passion grew with her own and, in a fury of lust,
he began thrusting in and out and in and out as his tongue fought hers.
His moans and grunts harmonized with hers, until suddenly the white heat
of his release mixed with her own and together they convulsed into the
sweet, temporary oblivion.
When her senses returned she realized that her fingers were no
longer hidden away. That sometimes happened when her release was
especially powerful. She hastily shoved them back in so that she could
feel him sliding out of her as he gently kissed her and, in a
shaky but happy voice, told her how she had pleased him as no other
woman ever had.
When Jason had slid from her body, she kissed him passionately one
last time, then let the fantasy go and again scrubbed her fingers in her
soapy bush.
She enjoyed the lingering pleasure for a few moments, then removed
the shower head and its hose from the holder and rinsed herself.
She used the overhead grab bar to pull herself up, pushed open the
shower door, and avoided looking at the mirror while reaching for the
towels.
When she was dry and in her manual chair, she removed her shower
cap and spread towels to hide her legs. She draped another around her
neck, using it to hide her lack of a chest. Then she grabbed the wheels
and turned the chair around to face the mirror on the back of the door.
Holding her ridiculous legs apart, she pushed herself as close as she
could get to the mirror and looked at her bush and the secrets it
contained. One part of her was normal below her shoulders, at least,
but because the rest of her was abnormal, no boys would ever know of the
normalcy. Not until she was able to walk again.
Her fingers explored her secrets, exposing them and her sweet spot
to her critical eye. Again she found nothing wrong with them. A
fingertip caressed her sweet spot, the way she was sure Jason's tongue
would lovingly tease it. She let Jason feast on her treasures for a few
seconds, then told him that he'd have to wait until they were in bed to
finish.
She avoided looking at her face while she opened the door and
propelled herself into her bedroom. She didn't want to see the tears
gathered there. Should she take a chance on the operation now, so that
she could have a real Jason? She asked that question every night.
Common sense still prevailed. No, she decided. Not until I know it
will be a success. If I have it done too soon and it fails, I'll never
have a Jason in my life. Just a few more years of doing without and
then I will be desirable and can make up for what I've missed.
She dressed in pajamas that hid her hideous legs and thought about
switching to her motorized chair to keep her arms and shoulders from
bulking up even more. But that wouldn't please her father, and she
wanted him in a good mood in case she needed something from him later.
She pushed herself out to the living room and wished them all good night.
Craig wheeled her back to her room and tucked her in, since he was
on his way to bed himself. She deeply liked Craig. He was more loving
toward her, like their father. Their oldest brother, Logan, was more
calculating, like herself, but he also was more distant, like their
mother. Craig also tended to spoil her. That was perfectly fine with
her. She deserved spoiling. He made sure she had everything she
needed, then kissed her again, switched off her lamp, and closed the
door on his way out.
She lay in the dark for a while, her mind sorting itself until she
was again ready. Among the day's trash to be mentally tossed was her
bitterness about her physical condition. She tried to remember what the
rest of the family told her: sure, it's not good now, but it could be
far worse and it could be permanent instead of curable in the near future.
A small bit of elation in her thoughts was the completion of
rebuilding The Brink of Disaster in just one day! She'd had to bribe
Garrett Truman, but he was almost as good a first rhythm guitarist as
that turncoat Mark had been. "Kitty" Katz would do as a drummer, even
she did worship Brees and the ground the bitch pranced across. Unlike
Fuzzy, Kitty could do vocals, though she wasn't as good a drummer as Fuzzy.
&&& end L3: ?, even IF she?
Then Garrett convinced his girlfriend, Samantha Davis, to be their
keyboardist. Samantha could sing, too, though her range was somewhat
limited. Brinkly would have to limit Samantha to only certain songs for
now. She needed to limit Samantha's exposure, too. While certainly not
an overweight pig like Brees's sycophant Alyssa Erland, Samantha didn't
exactly fit the mold of her other band members. She'd definitely have
to teach the girl how to dress and wear makeup. This jerkwater town
didn't have any finishing schools. Probably the whole state didn't, either.
Best of all, the newbies were all eighth graders. The whole band
would move to the high school with her next year except for Billy
McKeown, which was okay because she'd get Lisa Dunleavy back as a
junior, and Scott Avanti. That was also okay because Reed would move up
and would no longer be eligible to play bass with Brees. She'd get Reed
and Brees could have Scott, who, unfortunately, seemed to have hit his
peak. That would put the Disaster on top of the Twins.
Even better than best of all, Brees didn't know she'd finished
rebuilding! With luck and a little careful planning, Brees wouldn't
know until November at the earliest!
Somehow that thought didn't help tonight. Probably because of that
idiot Chad Sparks. Chad had asked her to the homecoming dance! She
didn't know if the bastard was acting on orders from Brees or if he was
acting out some twisted joke of his own. Or maybe that Hawaiian bitch
was behind it. She'd made that homecoming dance comment in home room
that day.
Or perhaps it was one of those two traitors who'd deserted the Pack
when she needed them and were now friends with big-mouth Middleton. It
seemed more like something Cori would do than either Leigh Ann or Trish,
but neither had seemed like the type who would desert her, either.
It was Sparks's fault that she was so pissed off! It was Sparks's
fault that when her father asked her if she had plans for Homecoming,
she'd yelled at him that it wasn't funny! Then she had to apologize to
him and explain that she was upset because of Chad. That asshole! And,
of course, her father just had to ask if maybe the asshole had been serious.
Like any boy in school would actually want to go to a dance with an
ugly cripple like Brinkly Lynne Ward if he wasn't put up to it or wasn't
up to some ulterior motive himself!
It was half an hour before she was calm enough to go to sleep. But
she was still tense. Before sleep could arrive, she had to slip her
hand into her pajama bottoms and let Jason's tongue both tell her how
much he loved her and show her. Her last conscious act was a giggle as
Jason's tongue gave her one final lick and congratulated her on putting
one over on Brees.
~ ~ ~
Agent Silver removed a small square of paper from the desk, took an
ink pen, and carefully wrote: Brink complete. D: Kitty. 1RG: Garrett.
Synth: Sam D.
Silver carefully folded the note in half, tightened the crease,
folded it in half again, tightened that crease, and then crimped a
certain corner in the right direction for identification. Then the spy
reached for the phone to let Agent Green know that a message was ready
for delivery.
Chapter 20
Fuck!
As the game clock went to zero, the ball hit the stupid goal post
just above the bar and bounced away, back on the football field. The
extra point that would have tied the game had failed. All the hollering
and shouting died like a television with the stupid switch flipped off.
Cheering suddenly erupted over in the stupid visitor's section. She
turned to her dolt. "My first formal ever and it starts with a stupid
lost ball game!"
Behind her in the bleachers, Mrs. Henderson heard the comment. She
leaned forward and said, "Don't feel too bad, Suzie. I never went to a
single homecoming ball or party in middle school, high school, or
college where my team had won the game. I still managed to have a good
time. You, of all people, know that you can't win them all."
"Yes, ma'am," she said with a sigh. "I know." And she did know,
ever so much, from personal experience on the swim team. But that sure
as heck didn't mean that she didn't want to win them all!
Mrs. Henderson smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "The
important game is against Parkman on Thanksgiving day. THAT is the one
we have to win!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right, ma'am," she said. Griffin's defeating
Parkman Middle School was like Suzie's defeating that stupid Amber
Vallarta. It wasn't as important whether Suzie won any swim events that
Amber wasn't competing in as long as she won all those in which she was
swimming against Amber. But for Suzanne Middleton, that old saying of
"not as important" sure as heck didn't mean "unimportant!"
She was just glad she didn't have to go back down on the field
again the way she had when they presented the Homecoming Court at
half time. She had thought she was going to freeze her boobies off in
the short time the princesses and queen had to remove their coats. She
was very pleased with her new dress and was proud to show it off to
everyone, but still, she would have been even more very pleased to wait
until they were inside the heated auditorium to let everyone see it!
Kenny, who had been saying something to his parents, rose and
extended a hand, assisting his date and Suzie to their feet. His
parents were escorting them all to the dance at the auditorium, since
her parents had stayed home because they were getting some stupid
report, whatever it was about, on that stupid cow Caroline tonight.
Naturally, they didn't tell Suzie anything other than that, and,
naturally, Suzie didn't care anyway.
The Taylors had also volunteered to be two of the chaperons for the
dance, much to her dolt's consideration?or whatever that stupid word
was. But, given Kenny's choice for his date, she knew her dolt wouldn't
try anything anyway. She guessed his complaining was just the principle
of the thing, or "having your parents babysitting you at a school
event," as he had said it.
Inside the auditorium, they all left their warm outer wear in the
coat room before going in to the main part. Doctor and Mrs. Taylor
again said how beautiful they thought she and Kenny's date looked and
then left them to check in with Mrs. Logan, the guidance counsellor, who
was in charge of the dance committee and the volunteers.
Suzie turned to the other two and smiled at Kenny's date. "I have
to go back to the waiting area. Before I go, I want to show you how to
keep this stupid dolt in line. Watch carefully. You take this thumb
and finger and put them here, then this thumb and finger here, and then
you twist like this in a sort of push flip. See? With practice you can
do it in half a second or something." She twisted his glasses back to
the crooked way they had been sitting on his face. "Now you try it."
Kenny made faces but stood quietly while the two girls messed with
him. She was ever so glad that he was going along with it. She guessed
he understood why she'd suddenly come up with the idea.
"Good!" she said after a few practices. "He may be my boyfriend,
but tonight he's your date and his appearance reflects on you, not me.
You look very beautiful tonight, so don't let this dolt distract
everyone from that!" As she turned to leave, she saw Cori staring at
them from near the refreshment table. "And don't take any crap from
that stupid witch," she added, indicating the troublemaker with a tiny
tilt of her head. And then she left to join the rest of the royalty in
the Princesses' Chamber and wait for the team to arrive.
~ ~ ~
As Kenny watched Suzie walk away, admiring the way her hips moved
and made her butt wiggle, he noticed Cori moving in their direction.
She was wandering about, but there was no question that she was headed
toward them. His date's hand was resting on his forearm. He gave it a
gentle squeeze. "Here she comes. Are you ready for her? Don't worry,
I'll protect you."
Large, beautiful blue eyes blinked at him above a gentle smile, and
she spoke in her usual shy, quiet voice. "Kenny, this is the most
exciting night of my life so far. I'm not going to let someone who is
too consumed with hatred ruin it for me. Cinnamon was right: pity her
and ignore her and have a good time despite her."
He continued to watch the older girl's progress, though without
looking directly at her. "She doesn't look like she wants to be ignored
tonight."
Possum sighed. "Then that's too bad. I'm here to have a nice
time, and I intend do. Maybe that's selfish and unchristian, but I
think letting her start something would make a lot of people unhappy,
and that would be more unchristian. Did that make sense?"
&&& L1: ?and I intend TO.
He turned his head to look at her beautiful eyes and gave her a
warm smile. "Absolutely. Sometimes I think you and Snoopy make more
sense than anyone else I know."
"Mama and Aunt Stitch always say that if you aren't going to make
sense, keep your mouth shut so people won't think you're dumb."
"I can think of a lot of people who should follow that advice," he
said. He left unsaid that he was in that group. "Would you like some
punch or other refreshments before everything starts?"
"Yes! Something warm, please."
"Something warm. That would be down at the end of the table where
everyone else is gathered," he said, squeezing her hand to his forearm
and escorting her toward the crowded area. He tried not to gawk at the
way she was looking everywhere, drinking in all the bright decorations
and the nicely dressed students and teachers and chaperons. He tried to
grasp how what seemed so routine to him seemed so mysteriously elegant
to Possum. They truly lived in different worlds in the same town.
He felt her wide eyed astonishment strike a chord deep inside the
real Kevin Kenneth Taylor, Junior, and he was pleased with himself for
asking Possum to be his date so that she wouldn't sit at home while her
twin cousin was out enjoying herself at the formal. If Snoopy would
come while Possum wasn't invited, that is. Now, there was an
interesting conundrum: who would Snoopy choose between Ted and Possum?
Fortunately, that question had to go unanswered when Kenny suddenly
blurted out an invitation to Possum.
He'd had to work at explaining to her that it wasn't a mercy
invitation. He actually wanted to take her. Something had changed
inside him after his mutual confession session with Snoopy. He didn't
understand the change, yet, but maybe having Possum as his date might
help him with that understanding because the two cousins were so much alike.
What the hell was wrong with him? Asking a girl he knew wouldn't
provide him any action, whether or not she was having a nosebleed in
Australia with most of the rest of the girls in his class? His eyes
flicked to Possum's awe stricken face again and he knew what was wrong
with him. Wynter was right. He was a Future MD with responsibilities.
He had to shoulder his burden of responsibility when the time came.
He could always try to score with one of the other girls afterward,
though at the moment he didn't see how that could happen, especially
since his parents were both chaperons and his transportation.
Cori appeared in front of them like Ron doing one of his sudden
appearance moves. She gave Possum a haughty once over, her sneer
becoming deeper and more savage. "Nice corsage, Watkins. Too bad your
family will never be able to afford something like that except as mercy
presents from people like Taylor. It must have cost more than that
rusty rat trap your father drives. Where'd you get the dress, Watkins?
Two coupons salvaged from someone else's trash and a second mortgage on
the family hovel?"
"Look, Cori," Kenny began, struggling to keep from making fists.
But that was all that he was able to say. Trish and Leigh Ann also
appeared from thin air, as smoothly as Cori had done. Looking like
death searching for a victim, they moved around Cori and stood
shoulder to shoulder, separating her from Kenny and Possum.
"Don't start it, Cori," Leigh Ann warned.
Cori gave Leigh Ann the same once over she'd given Possum. "Why,
Weyr? Afraid I'll make you eat that tiara if you get involved?"
"You touch it and I'll remove your fingers. You touch either one
of these two and I'll remove them anyway after I rip your tits off, if I
can find them under all that padding."
"And I'll take care of anything she misses," Trish hissed.
Cori stood her ground and sneered. "What's it like being Brees's
lap dog, bitches?"
"You know something? It's a lot easier being hers than being
Brinkly's. For one, even though it's been less than a week, she
respects our opinions and lets us decide things for ourselves. She
helps us instead of always demanding that we help her."
"You should give it a try," Leigh Ann added. "You might even learn
how to think for yourself. Now go find someplace else to infest while
you wait for the team to show up and you pull the train. You're
beginning to attract attention."
Cori looked around at the adult faces turned toward her, snarled a
quiet threat, and slunk away.
Leigh Ann gave Kenny an apologetic look. "I know you could have
handled it, but I didn't want Possum's evening spoiled. That's a lovely
dress, Possum. Did your Aunt Stitch make it?"
"Yes," Possum said, looking a little embarrassed. "We couldn't
afford..."
"Then you are probably the only girl here tonight wearing a
designer original dress," Trish said wistfully. "Some day all my party
dresses and gowns will be designer originals." She pointed to the fancy
stitching around the neck. "That's a pretty design. Sort of
Scandinavian, I think, by the way it..."
Kenny tuned out the babble about women's topics and instead admired
the contents of Leigh Ann's neckline, which, though slightly smaller,
was better displayed than Trish's. He came back to Earth when Leigh Ann
departed for the Princesses' Chamber and Trish was abducted by her
date. He smiled at Possum, and they continued their journey to the hot
punch bowl.
~ ~ ~
Candis Taylor pulled her eyes away from the introductions of the
Royal Court and their escorts. "I'm sorry," she said, looking up at her
husband. "What did you say?"
Kevin slowly shook his head, his eyes still on the stage. "I said
I thought Suzie looked spectacular at the wedding, but look at her now!
I just can't get over how great she looks."
She hummed agreement, as she had done when he'd made the same
comment at half time. It had been her idea to have each of Suzie's
in town mothers and herself, as Suzie's apparent Future Mother in Law,
contribute one fourth of the cost of a new dress that fit her properly.
Carolyn had balked until Angie spoke to her one on one. Candis didn't
know what Angie had said. Maybe she'd used threats, but as usual, she'd
convinced Carolyn.
Then her eyes drifted to her son. She still didn't understand why
Kenny had asked Possum. There was a story behind that act, but she
didn't know what it was and nobody who knew would explain it. It seemed
to be connected to Kenny's attack on Huntly, but she couldn't make sense
of that, either.
"Possum looks nice, too," she said.
"She does," Kevin agreed. "I think Stitch and Pebble did a
wonderful job on her dress. It's not what you'd find in any formal
store, yet it's not out of place here."
"No, it's not." The sisters had done an excellent job on both
Possum's and Snoopy's dresses. She wondered how they had afforded the
fabric they had used. She thought about that a minute and then decided
she needed a new... something. Something homemade, with some fancy
embroidery work. Something nice so that she could tip the seamstresses
heavily.
"Now, there's what I really can't believe," said Kevin. Hailey had
been introduced as the Queen and was acting as regal and civilized as
royalty was supposed to behave. "I wonder if Mitch tranquilized her
before she left the house."
She chuckled as the band started and the Royal Court led the first
dance. Time for Kevin and her to get back to work, watching for couples
who overheated and needed prying apart. She wondered if her son would
be among those. Surely not with Possum.
~ ~ ~
"Personally, your Doctorness, I think they make a very cute
couple," Huntly observed during the slow dance that he'd requested of
Guy Malone and the Maroon Bells before asking Wynter for a dance.
Wynter lifted her head, which had been resting on Huntly's
shoulder, causing Huntly to curse himself for not keeping his mouth
shut. She looked at Jimmy and Possum. "They do. If I didn't have him,
I think I'd want Possum to have him. They have a matched temperament.
Not the same, but matched, kinda like you and Sis One."
"What if Boy Blunder becomes available?"
She thought about that for a moment as she glanced at Kenny, who
was dancing with Nicole Brooks and looking disappointed at not being
able to hold her closely the way Huntly was holding Wynter. "No. She's
too fragile. Kenny's girlfriend needs to be tough, like Suzie, or he'll
eventually break her heart."
He wasn't surprised that Doctor Delicious recognized that trait in
Doctor Quackenbush, but he was surprised that she would mention it.
Okay, no he wasn't. Not when she was speaking clinically, especially
with another member of the Hargus Four Plus Two.
She glanced toward the wahine and returned her head to Huntly's
shoulder. "Steve Hampton seems to be taking the loss of his date well."
The center had been Cori's date until she deliberately tried to
splash punch on Possum's dress. Kenny had jumped in the way, saturating
his jacket and shirt. At that point, Mister Ames and Principal Peters
suggested that Cori might have more fun watching television at home.
Steve had refused to escort her home, saying, "I warned you not to try
anything." He was actually pretty smart for an offensive lineman.
Since he hadn't been an active scumbag in Cori's scheme, he was allowed
to stay.
Huntly observed them over Wynter's head for a few moments. "That's
because Hailey's letting him dry hump her. It's subtle. If you weren't
looking for it, you'd never realize it was happening. It's all in
knowing the technique."
"Is that an observation or a suggestion?" she said with a giggle.
"You know, your Doctorness, as much as I want to say it's a
suggestion, just in case I might get lucky, I must truthfully answer
that it's merely an observation."
Wynter gave his body a squeeze with hers. "That, Mister Sheridan,
is why I love you," she murmured from his shoulder.
Huntly sighed in reply, a mixture of contentment and frustration.
Yes, but not the same way I love you.
~ ~ ~
Candis finished her impromptu lecture about proper behavior at the
dance to an overheated eighth grade couple and raised an inquiring
eyebrow at her approaching husband. "Well?" He'd taken his time
getting back. The next dance was over and the one after that was half over.
"I think the cleaners can save the suit, though he's about to
outgrow it anyhow. The punch would likely have ruined Possum's dress if
not for Kenny's quick action, though. As for Cori, she's on her way
home now. I hung around while Scott and Willis sent her packing."
Candis shook her head. "That little bitch."
Kevin folded his arms across his chest and gave her a stern glare.
"Mrs. Taylor, we will not tolerate that kind of language at a school
function."
"You're right," she said with a laugh. "Besides, I should have
been singing praises for my son's actions, not condemning those of
that two faced little..."
"Yes. You should have." He joined her in watching Kenny slow
dance with Nicole, body at enough distance to avoid getting her dress wet.
She hooked her hand around his elbow. "He's going to be a perfect
gentleman, like his father," she said.
He rewarded her with a triumphant look. "So you admit I'm perfect?"
She wrapped her arms around his waist and stared up into his eyes.
"Only at being a gentleman toward the ladies."
"Let's break that up, you two," said Huntly as he and Wynter slowly
danced past. "Otherwise those old fogy chaperons will throw you out of
here."
Wynter giggled and they were gone.
"A perfect gentleman toward the ladies," she repeated. "The rest
of your behavior is more like that."
~ ~ ~
Richard snuggled the yawning Wynter tighter in his arms and looked
over her head at Angie. He gave his wife a wink. She returned a happy
smile. Richard thought she was remembering her first formal dance as
she listened to her daughter describe the events of her own in a gush of
words punctuated by yawns.
Wynter yawned again and begged another excuse. She was so tired
that she could barely keep her eyes open, but she wanted to tell her
parents about the wonderful time she'd had. Naturally Richard and Angie
accommodated her wishes. Besides, they were curious, too.
"And nothing happened after Cori couldn't start a fight and was
told to leave by Scott?" Angie asked.
Wynter's head massaged Richard's shoulder as she tried to shake a
negative reply. "Lots of stuff happened, but it was all good. Well,
except for when Kenny had another round of abdominal cramps, but they
ended in thirty seconds. It's never done that before." She yawned
again. "Excuse me. I sure hope it's a new symptom that will give
somebody a clue. Maybe it will mean something to Doctor Marcus when
Kenny sees him Saturday."
Richard rubbed gentle circles on her back with his hand. "I hope
so, too, honey. So, did Kenny behave himself?"
Another yawn. "Excuse me. Uh huh. Since Possum was his date and
his parents were chaperons, he had to be on his best behavior."
Richard hugged her and kissed the top of her head, causing her to
purr like a contented cat. "I still can't picture Kenny asking Possum.
Well, I can picture him asking almost any of the beautiful girls in the
school, but... Possum."
"Daddy!" Richard was surprised by the angry heat in Wynter's
voice. "What's wrong with Possum?"
Angie tried to bail him out. "If you weren't so tired, sweetheart,
you'd realize that he wasn't saying anything was wrong with Possum. He
was talking about Kenny."
Wynter thought about that, then lifted her head from his shoulder
to give him a nose and lips kiss. "I'm sorry. I think Kenny really
wanted to take Snoopy, but she was going with Ted, so he asked Possum so
that she wouldn't be home alone while Snoopy went to the Homecoming
Dance. He didn't want Possum to feel left out."
"Why Snoopy?" Richard asked.
He got the distinct impression that she was choosing her words
before she said, "Snoopy helped him with a problem. You know how moody
he was? Well, Snoopy diagnosed the problem and cured it after he kicked
Huntly. He was grateful for that. They somehow bonded while they were
talking. And being close to Snoopy means he automatically got close to
Possum since they're like twin sisters."
Richard thought that was a flawed decision but wisely said nothing
as Wynter yawned again.
"So Kenny was being a gentleman," Angie said. Richard noted a hint
of wonder in her tone.
"He can be one when he wants," Richard reminded her. "It's just
that most times he doesn't want to be. Kevin was like that when he was
young. I'd say he has a good chance of growing up to be like his father."
Wynter sighed in a way he couldn't translate, then said, "I hope
so. He can be a good doctor when he's not being like a smarty pants
jerk. Whenever..." Another prolonged yawn. "Excuse me. Whenever
there's an emergency, he's all Future MD and no... no... no bozo."
Richard and Angie both laughed at the decided upon word. "So
you've told us before. So did Stitch have enough time to sew something
nice for Snoopy and Possum both?" Richard asked.
Another yawn and apology. "Uh huh. Possum's mother helped, too,
though she's not as good a seamstress as Snoopy's. Cori started to say
something smarty pants about her dress, but before Kenny could do
anything, Leigh Ann and Trish appeared. They had a bunch of words, and
Cori finally left. Temporarily." The last word was stretched out by
another yawn. "But Possum said she had a wonderful time at her first
formal. Snoopy did, too. Maybe because of the dance, Possum can find
someone the way Snoopy did Ted." She sounded sleepily wistful as she
said that last part.
Angie hummed agreement, then asked, "Snoopy went, but Duck didn't?"
"Unh uh." After another yawn and apology she said, "He said he
wasn't feeling well. He didn't have a date anyway. I don't think
anyone wanted to go with him except Alyssa, and her mother wouldn't let
her go."
"No surprise there," Richard said. "Edie's as uptight as..."
"And Hailey did well as the Homecoming Queen?" Angie asked,
deliberately cutting him off. Her incredulous tone made Richard laugh,
shaking Wynter who was lying atop him in his recliner.
He apologized to Wynter before she replied, "It was amazing! She
switched from Kennedy Imperious Look to Party Look faster than you can
snap your fingers, but during the formal activities, she was on her best
behavior again." She yawned and seemed to pause to look for words. "I
guess. At least, she was like that when people were around."
She purred again when Richard rubbed more circles on her back and
hugged her. "So, who was the prettiest girl there, Hailey or Cinnamon
or you?"
"Unh uh," she grunted around a yawn. "Sister Suzie. You saw how
beautiful she looked at Doctor Brees's wedding. I think she looked even
better. Wait till you see the pictures."
Angie started to ask about the handsomest boy, but Richard stopped
her with a shake of his head. "She's out of it," he whispered. Wynter
had gone from barely awake to sound asleep in the length of a soft sigh.
Angie nodded as she noted the slow, rhythmic breathing of her
sleeping daughter. "Are you going to wake her up, or are you going to
try to carry her up the stairs without dropping her?"
He gave his head a quick jerk. "I think I'll just sit here and
hold her. I can be her mattress, since there's no school tomorrow.
Last time I held her and let her sleep like this was when she was... five?"
"Like that with her clothed, you mean?" Angie rose to her feet.
"No hanky panky tonight?" she asked. Her tone was accusatory, as was
the look in her eyes.
"No." He hoped his reply didn't sound as harsh to her as it did to
him.
She removed the comforter from the sofa back and draped it over
them. In a softer voice she said, "Since it's a special night for her,
she can have you instead. I should wake her and have her change into
her pajamas, but... Okay. Try not to ruin her dress while she sleeps
in it. She might be able to wear it again one more time, maybe twice,
before she outgrows it. Can I bring you anything before I head up for bed?"
~ ~ ~
"You know what Wynter says about running on the steps," Rosita
called as the sister cousins came squealing and scrambling down the
north staircase and rushed into the den. They ignored her comment,
though Hailey made a face that said she remembered and didn't want to
sit through another lecture.
Rosita supposed she'd be squealing, too, if she was dressed in a
sheer babydoll like the ones each girl wore. The thermostat had already
switched to the lower overnight setting and the ground floor was cold,
which is why she and Mitch were cuddled under a large blanket on the
reclining love seat. Well, it was one of the reasons.
The girls scrambled under the blanket and onto their laps. She had
Cinnamon, while Mitch held Hailey. It was Mitch's turn to be father
substitute again, something Cinnamon obviously understood and was
comfortable with. The girl also seemed perfectly at ease in her lap,
treating her like a mother instead of a step mother.
She listened while Hailey told them about the Homecoming formal,
with Cinnamon occasionally jumping in to clarify a point, add
information that Hailey was unaware of, or, twice, to contradict
Hailey's version of events.
Cinnamon was the first to doze off. Rosita moved her to a more
comfortable position for both, tightened her arms around her daughter,
and kissed the top of her head. Mitch noticed that Cinnamon was asleep
and lifted an eyebrow in query. Rosita shook her head. She was
officially a mother now. She'd hold her daughter a while longer. It
wouldn't be long before she wouldn't be able to hold her like this, and
she didn't want to miss any opportunities. She'd already missed far too
many.
Hailey soon ran down and left Mitch holding his own sleeping
bundle. He leaned sideways to kiss his wife. "Do you want me to carry
them upstairs?"
"Do that and you will earn your own safety lecture from your blonde
daughter," she said. Why don't we just sleep here? The recliner is
comfortable enough, we're warm, and we can have some quality family
time. Besides, I don't normally join you when you sleep with them. It
would be a treat for me."
He smiled. "I love you."
"I know. That's why I love you, too."
"Yeah? I thought you loved me because of my daughters."
She grinned. "No, that's why I love you so much."
~ ~ ~
Pebble Watkins had once heard Wynter say that her heart felt too
big for her chest. She knew now what the girl meant as she watched the
sparkle in Possum's eyes while the girl sat on her father's lap and told
them about the ball. She'd been a little worried about the Taylor boy
taking her daughter to the dance, but Spider had reminded her that while
the boy had a little bit of a reputation, it had never been proven that
he was a risk. Besides, Possum knew him better than they did, and given
her fear of boys after... after what had happened, her willingness to go
to the dance with him was a ringing endorsement for Kenny.
She was also aware that something had happened between Kenny and
Snoopy. Like Cinnamon, Kenny had done something to help Snoopy--and,
consequently, her own daughter--get over the attack by that Wylie...
character. She had to remind herself not to give in to hatred in her
thoughts about the degenerate... about the person who had raped her
daughter and niece. That wouldn't be very Christian to do that.
Possum knew what had happened between Snoopy and Kenny, but she
wasn't telling anyone else in the family the details. Well, it was the
results that mattered, wasn't it? Pebble was thankful for the results.
She pushed those thoughts out of her mind. Possum had just
attended her first formal dance, and unlike Mouse, Possum had had a
wonderful experience at her first formal. She concentrated on listening
to her daughter's stories of the night and on sharing her daughter's joy
and jubilation. When Possum paused to yawn at the late hour, Pebble
gave a short prayer of thanks for her daughter's being allowed to have
something so good to offset the memories of her ordeal. She also asked
for special blessings for Cinnamon and for Kenny for making it possible.
When Possum finally paused for breath, Spider asked the question
Pebble had been trying to phrase. "So, didn't nobody start no trouble
or nothin'? Ever'thing was peaceable tonight?"
Pebble realized that was the way to put it: a general question
rather than one directly aimed at Possum. Nothing directly mentioning
the Ward girl.
"No, Daddy. Everything was so very nice. Well, Cori tried to
shoot off her mouth, but Trish and Leigh Ann made her mind her manners
for a while. Later she threw some punch, but Kenny jumped in the way so
that it didn't hit anyone else. His dad said Kenny's suit was ruined,
but nobody else's was damaged."
That, Pebble decided, affirms that we were right in trusting him
with Possum.
"Oh, I wish you had been there to see Hailey's crown! It sparkled
like real diamonds and it was so beautiful! Kenny ordered pictures of
all the court as well as ones of us, but I'm sure the pictures won't do
justice to the crown and the princesses' tiaras."
She listened while Possum excitedly described the crown and tiaras,
the decorations in the gym, and the ceremony for the Homecoming Queen
and her court. She listened quietly while her daughter described the
beautiful store bought dresses the other girls wore, and she again
prayed that some day her own children could afford such luxuries. Yes.
Luxuries.
She glanced at Possum's orchid corsage lying on the coffee table.
The Taylor boy had spent more on that than she and Stitch had spent on
making the dresses for both Possum and Snoopy and would have spent on a
suit for Duck. She would press it so that Possum would have it as a
keepsake from her first formal.
At the thought of Stitch, she glanced out the window. The living
room light was still on over at her sister's house. Beak and Stitch
were also up, listening to their daughter's excited tales of a wonderful
experience. Maybe Duck was with them, listening to what he'd missed
when the Erland girl's mother wouldn't let her go to the dance. She
supposed that Snoopy, like Possum, was also wrapped up in a heavy robe
over her night dress, sitting in her father's lap and holding her
mother's hand while excitedly trying to tell six different things at
once about a magical, mystical experience so far removed from her daily
life.
Once again Pebble's heart felt like it was outgrowing her chest.
Some things were far more important than money. She and Spider had five
of them, and nothing was better than sharing the jubilation experienced
by one of them.
~ ~ ~
Suzie wasn't sure what she'd do if Timmy Gagnon wanted more than a
polite good night kiss at the door. She guessed that wasn't being fair
to him. Timmy had been ever so gentlemanly all night, not at all like
her dolt with his roving hands. And his dad was waiting in the car in
the driveway, so she was sure he would remain gentlemanly, even if he
wanted to be different.
Sure enough, it was just a gentlemanly kiss or something, more than
a kiss for members of the swim team who did good but less than a lovers'
kiss with her dolt. Then he adjusted her crown. "Can't have the First
Crown Princess looking sloppy like her boyfriend when she greets her
parents," he said, causing her to laugh.
He held the door open for her and waved a quick "Hello!" to her
parents before hurriedly closing the door to keep out the cold air.
Both her parents were dressed for bed but were still up, waiting
for her. Mom's eyes were red, with some mascara smeared down her cheek,
and she was holding some papers that looked official or something. Dad
was sitting beside her on the couch, holding her arm and looking like he
was about to cry, too. She slid out of her coat, so that they could see
her in her formal with her crown. Before she could open her mouth, her
father said, "You're fifteen minutes late."
Suzie frowned, and her happy feeling started to melt or something.
"Mister Gagnon drove by his house first. He wanted Mrs. Gagnon to see
how I looked, since she has a cold and couldn't leave the house to pick
us up."
She took a deep breath and started to tell them about the ball.
Her stupid mother wiped at her eyes and interrupted her. When Mom
spoke, she sounded like she was trying not to cry some more or
something. "You have to give that tiara back for next year's princess,
so you go put it somewhere safe in your room. You should probably put
it in a box so that it doesn't get damaged."
"MOM! I'm trying to tell you about the ball!"
Her stupid father looked at the stupid clock. "Look, it's well
past your bedtime, even if tomorrow is a day off from school." He
sounded like he'd been crying or something. "You get off to bed now and
you can tell us all about it in the morning."
In the morning? She'd forget half the stuff she wanted to tell
them if she waited that long!
"Your father's right," her mother said, sniffing. "But you still
have to pack that tiara away first. Do you want me to help you?"
"NO!"
Her father suddenly turned angry. "Young lady, don't you take that
kind of attitude toward your mother just because she asked you to pack
away your tiara." He sounded just the way he did when he was lecturing
that stupid cow sister of hers. "It's not hers, so it's not her
responsibility. Besides, she offered to help you. She's had a bad
evening. You apologize to her right now!"
Suzie told her stupid mother she was sorry. She stopped short of
telling her exactly what she was sorry about. She didn't want to be
grounded on a day off from school.
She waited until her parents were in bed, then snuck the phone
under the blankets and called Jennifer. She had to tell somebody about
her night, even if it was someone who was there as a chaperone.
Chapter 21
When the light for Mother's office phone line extinguished,
Wynter triple checked to insure that it was safe to leave lunch alone on
the stove for a few minutes and then frowned her way through the dining
room and to her mother's office. Her eighty pound black shadow padded
along quietly in her wake. Mother was wearing the sour look that said
she'd been talking with her boss and things hadn't gone well. The look
changed to a smile when she realized Wynter was standing in the door.
"What's up, sweetheart? Is lunch ready?"
Wynter sighed and perched on the edge of a chair. "No, ma'am. I
spoke with Suzie a few minutes ago. She's depressed, and I think could
use your help."
Mother put down her pen and leaned back in her chair, the ghosts of
a headache vanishing from her eyes as her job was temporarily
forgotten. "What's wrong, and what can I do?"
Wynter sighed again and interlaced her fingers. "Her parents sent
her to bed as soon as she returned home last night. Apparently they had
anxiety disorder because of some report about Caroline. They said
they'd listen to her stories about the Homecoming Ball this morning.
But her dad left for work early because of the new snow and ice, and now
her mom is too busy preparing for a family get together dinner on
Sunday. Suzie called Jennifer last night, but she's dying to tell
someone about it who wasn't there. I think she really needs another
mother's attention."
Mother shook her head. "I have two other daughters who I should
ask, too. But first, I think it's time I had another talk with Carolyn
since the last one didn't stick. No wonder Caroline turned out the way
she did if she was treated the same way. How's the weather now? Do you
think we can still go shopping this afternoon?"
It wasn't like Mother to change the subject on something as
important as this. Therefore, the question must be an important one.
She pointed to the window behind Mother. "The freezing rain has changed
to snow and it's slowing down. See? It's almost stopped."
Mother didn't look. "Good! I'll ask another daughter if she wants
to go to the Aspenleaf Center with us."
With her heart pushing outward hard against her ribs, Wynter kissed
Mother and skipped back to the kitchen.
~ ~ ~
"That's okay," Jimmy said. "Taking care of my Future Sister in Law
is more important. The weather should be better tomorrow anyway. Maybe
we'll go for our walk in Otter Park then."
After he and Wynter exchanged their love, he hung up and stared at
his computer. He needed a break from editing the visual part of
Victory. His mind wandered back to Wynter's telephone call. After a
moment he left his room and found his mother in the kitchen. "Mom,
Wynter and Mrs. King are taking Suzie shopping this afternoon. Before
they go, if you have time, it might be really nice if you called Suzie
and asked her how the ball was last night."
He saw the lights come on for Mom. "Of course I will, honey. I
should have called her before now, as well as Cinnamon and Queen
Hailey. You won't mind if lunch is a little late, will you?"
Dad was attending a winter emergency planning meeting at the county
court house as the state's representative and wouldn't be home for
lunch, so timing wasn't critical. "To help Suzie? If you have to skip
lunch, that's okay with me. I'll be in my room. If her phone is busy,
it's probably Mrs. King talking to her."
Feeling good about having done something to help Suzie, Jimmy
returned to his room, stopped in the doorway, thought for a minute, and
then sat in his computer chair. He'd spent most of his morning helping
Suzie by editing the video footage for Suzie's Victory. Near the end
he'd begun making more dumb mistakes, in part because ideas for
rearranging Riders for the Sistah Sisters kept popping into his head.
He needed a break to refresh his mind and recharge his batteries. He
needed some mindless diversion. He replaced the CD in the drive with
his Morrowind disk.
Soon the Breton battlemage Wynstorm had completed a main quest
mission by retrieving a puzzle box from the dwarven ruins of Arkngthand
and used it as payment for information that his boss, the Emperor's
spymaster in Balmora, Caius Cosades, wanted. After he delivered the
information, he headed to the Balmora Mages Guild branch for Mage
transporter service to the guild chapter on the isle of Sadrith Mora.
He would run a couple of Mages Guild errands for Skink-in-Tree's-Shade,
head of the Sadrith Mora guildhall, and then, since he was a mage, go
ask to join Great House Telvanni, which was headed by a group of
thousand year old mages.
Wynstorm was shaping up nicely. He would become a master of what
he dubbed "Wyntermagic," spells based on cold, with a back-up of
lightning mastery for cold resistant adversaries. He had just completed
the escort of a person from Big Helende's tavern to a ship, a task that
didn't seem to him to be very worthy of a powerful mage in training,
when Jimmy's telephone extension rang. Meaning Mom was off the phone
with Suzie.
He saved, paused, and reached for the phone, glancing at the caller
ID and hoping it was Wynter calling again. It wasn't. He picked up the
handset. "Did my favorite Future Sister in Law survive to fight another
day?"
He discovered he was on the speaker phone when the caller replied,
"Me? I thought Suzie was your favorite."
"Only when she's on the phone instead of you."
A loud sigh was followed by, "You know, you've been spending
entirely too much time around shithead."
He thought he heard a soft, muffled, "Bitch," in the background.
But maybe his imagination had automatically provided it.
He discovered why he was on speaker phone when another voice piped
up, "Yeah, pickledick. You should, like, spend more time around me
instead! Or with me around you. Or parts of you."
"Un uh. Not getting into that argument," he said. "What's up?"
"Ron called. Brinkly's been snooping around, trying to determine
what we're doing for the talent show that the public doesn't know about."
"Meaning she's suspicious."
Hailey snorted. "Hey! I think she was, like, born suspicious of
everything." Jimmy noted an odd gasping quality, a very faint one, in
Hailey's voice.
"My Sister Cousin is right. Maybe it's time we activate a
diversionary plan."
"We have one?"
"Hey! You, like, have to ask Sis-Cuz that, pickledick?"
"Sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking."
"Hey! So not the big! You were obviously, like, distracted by me
lying here naked with my ankles behind my head."
Jimmy sighed. "This isn't a video phone, so how would I know how
you were lying? Or sitting? Or whatever?"
A third voice popped up. "Sacred guano, Jimbo! How else would she
be positioned so I can have sushi for lunch?"
"HUNTLY!"
"Shut up, shithead, or I'll send you home without the rest of your
lunch."
"Yes, bitch. I'm sorry." Huntly's voice was contrite but
insincere. Faint slurping sounds drifted through the earpiece,
accompanied by Hailey's faint purrs and moans.
"Cinnamon, can't you keep your cousin and boyfriend under
control?" He wondered if the irritation in his voice was received on
the other end. Well, Cinnamon would receive and understand it, of
course. He wasn't so sure about the other two.
Cinnamon's voice sounded pensive. "I could tie them up, but they'd
just think it was kinky and get worse." Then her voice turned
conspiratorial. "Listen. We're going to let Brinkly think we're
pulling a fast one and stealing one of her songs."
Jimmy was confused. "Uhhh... Aren't we stealing two of them? And
isn't that supposed to be a secret?"
"Not one of those. Back east the Brink was famous for an
instrumental song that the rhythm guitarist wrote called Destruction's
Pinnacle. It was sort of a signature theme for The Brink of
Destruction. We're going to make her think the Twins have decided to
use it for our act. Ted has agreed to let Garrett Truman find it hidden
in his books and papers so he can report that to Brinkly. We're working
on the details, but it will probably happen Tuesday. Plus..."
Cinnamon did very little without a specific reason. "Why Garrett?"
He heard her snicker. "Garrett's her new first rhythm guitarist.
Another secret she doesn't know I've uncovered."
Jimmy didn't bother asking how she knew that. She'd have already
told him if she'd wanted him to know.
"Plus a few days later, I've arranged for Donnie Smith to let her
hear him humming just a measure or two of it from the distinctive
chorus. Enough that she'll recognize it, then Donnie will switch to
something else, but act like he doesn't know Brinkly is there."
Hailey suddenly orgasmed rather vocally. Jimmy sighed and began
dissecting Cinnamon's latest plan.
Hailey and Donnie weren't exactly an item, but they were more than
just classmate acquaintances, and he frequently accompanied her to
rehearsals, something Brinkly was surely aware of. "Smith, huh? I
suppose that's his payment I hear moaning in the background."
He heard the grin in Cinnamon's voice. "Half of it. The other
half is getting wet in the foreground."
"CINNAMON!"
"Hey. You asked first, remember? Relax. I didn't ask you to join
us. Though you're invited if you want to come."
Huntly coughed and piped up, "Hey! Wait a minute! I'll do the
lousy puns, bitch."
"Go play with your food and let the adults talk, shithead."
Hailey shrieked, then shouted, "HEY! DO THAT AGAIN!"
Jimmy shook his head. Why couldn't she have gone to another room?
Or at least used the handset? He suddenly realized that maybe he really
didn't want to know the answer to that. "What do you need from me?"
"A couple of days after Brinkly overhears Donnie, he'll hum it
again in a public place, and you're going to chew him out for not
watching what he's humming. You'll do it with subtlety, but you'll be
witnessed. You do it right and word will get back to Brinkly. She
probably won't know what Donnie was humming, but she can put two and two
together. She's self deluded, but she's not dumb."
"Me chew him out? Donnie could kick my butt into next week."
"Exactly. And Brinkly knows that. Look at it from her
perspective. For you to do that, you must have a damned good reason.
And for Donnie not to kick your butt, he must know that he was in the
wrong."
Jimmy thought for a moment. "Devious and sneaky. I sure am glad
you're on my side."
"You're my friend. You can never have too many friends."
"Yeah? What about Brinkly?"
Cinnamon's voice turned both sincere and wistful. "She could use
more friends. Maybe some day soon, she and I will be friends."
"Yeah? Soon? Like when pigs fly?"
He recognized the faint rustle of Cinnamon's shrug. "They're
already practicing take off formations. I'm the only one who realizes
that, though."
What the heck does THAT mean? "Okay." He couldn't think of
anything else to say that wouldn't be a waste of breath.
"I'll e-mail you the details of what I want you to do later. They
will be general guidelines, so be ready to improvise as the situation
changes. You're good at thinking on your feet. That's why I haven't
insisted that Sis exchange you."
"Speaking of sisters, have you talked to your newest one this
morning? She could use some support if Mrs. Brees isn't busy."
"Mom will make time for any of us. Even you and shithead."
"Bitch."
She ignored him. "What's up with New Sis and what kind of support
does she need?"
Jimmy thanked his lucky stars that the former Mrs. Brees had been
replaced by the former Mrs. Vasquez. "Wynter's mom and my mom have
already talked to her, so now your mom needs to give her a call. It's
like this...."
~ ~ ~
Wynter kept glancing down. Any second now her heart was going to
explode from her chest and make a heck of a mess over half the Aspenleaf
Center. The shopping trip had become an expedition that included her
Sister Suzie, her Mother Middleton, her Future Mother in Law, her Mother
Brees, and Kenny's mother, who had taken the afternoon off for other
things, but had realized that this expedition was more important.
Huntly's mother had wanted to come, but she had an appointment that she
couldn't reschedule, so she sent Suzie fifty dollars and a note that
said, "Blow it all on yourself." Wynter's other sisters had declined to
join, saying that Sister Suzie should be the center of attention. All
the adults were taking turns giving Suzie their undivided attention,
even Mother Middleton, who seemed to have understood some not so subtle
hints. Wynter guessed that Mother had "persuaded her with a club" as
Grandpa Wolfe would say.
Except for some birthday presents for Jimmy and Kenny, nobody was
buying much of anything, but the expedition was a fantastic success
anyhow. While they were looking through some thermal underwear for
Wynter, Mother winked at her. "Your father and I always thought that
the best way to teach you was by setting a good example. I think that
kind of training works for Carolyn, too."
Wynter sure couldn't argue with that.
~ ~ ~
Brinkly shook her head and shook a cookie at Cori across the
table. "What did I tell you about frontal attacks in broad daylight?"
she snapped.
"It was nighttime," Cori said with a smirk.
"It might as well have been broad daylight, you idiot! And you got
tossed out for it! Which means you didn't get a chance to do anything
else that night, especially to that Hawaiian bitch that stole Trish's
crown!"
Cori waved a dismissive hand. "Fuck Trish. She turned on you."
The cookie snapped in two when Brinkly slammed her fist on the
table. "Trish isn't the issue, Kennedy is! My God, haven't you learned
anything working with me? The two I lost were smarter than you were
last night!"
Cori looked away and grumbled something around a mouthful of cookie.
"So, who did Chad Sparks show up with since I didn't go along with
his gag? Or maybe he lost a bet and had to ask me out. What loser did
he get stuck with instead?"
Cori shrugged. "Chad wasn't there."
"Well, if he'd lost a bet, then they'd have found some other...
someone else he'd had to ask out. So, it's probably one of Brees's
plots. Or Kennedy's."
"Whatever. Pass the cookies again, will you?"
~ ~ ~
Wynter looked up at the sparkling Saturday morning sky. A few
cirrus clouds that weren't even close to the sun highlighted the bright,
clear blue. She sure was glad that she and Jimmy had agreed to put off
their walk in Otter Park for one day, especially since the day before
had been such a great day for Sister Suzie. Dragon and Jimmy also
looked up. Jimmy gave her his grin and nod while Dragon looked at her
and wagged his tail.
"I wish Kenny could have come with us," Jimmy said.
Suzie looked up from adjusting her new snowshoes. Hailey had
bought them for her after school on Tuesday, saying she'd buy new
snowshoes for both of them if Suzie would teach her how to walk in
them. Suzie would also teach Hailey how to snow ski when Wizard Basin
opened. Wynter had also bought new snowshoes, but she had found them
adjusted just perfectly for her.
Suzie had been adjusting her shoes since then and still didn't have
them right. "Yeah. But maybe this time Doctor Marcus can find out
what's causing his stupid disease or something." She sounded to Wynter
like she was wishing rather than expecting that to happen.
"I hope so, Suzie," Wynter said, scratching Dragon's ears with one
hand while the other found its home on Jimmy's back.
"Well," Jimmy said, "since he can't be here, I'll have to enjoy a
morning with two gorgeous ladies all to myself, just for him. It's the
least I can do."
Before she could pronounce him a smarty pants, a distant voice
shouted, "Hey, Doctor Cutie! Champ! Jimbo!"
Wynter giggled at the look on Jimmy's face and turned her head
toward the shout from the west, toward the concert shell. Huntly was
approaching them on cross country skis. They all turned toward him.
The girls waved. Jimmy groaned again and mumbled something about
"unnecessary encouragement." When they met, she and Suzie greeted
Huntly with quick kisses.
"That was the best part of this whole expedition," Huntly said.
"Hi, Dragon!" He scratched Dragon's ears and asked Jimmy, "You and
Dragon taking your harem out for some exercise? You can have a lot more
fun exercising indoors, like I did at The House of Cymbals yesterday.
Especially since the Red Sea stopped crashing on the shore just in time
for bitch to enjoy it, too."
Jimmy gave him a disgusted look. "God, you're getting as crude as
Kenny!"
Wynter shook her head. Jimmy was playing right into Huntly's hand
without thinking, the same as he often did with Kenny. She guessed she
should save him from himself.
Huntly grinned. "Whoa! Major negative attitude! What's the
matter, Jimbo? You still cut off?"
Before Jimmy could answer, Wynter said, "Not since I got up this
morning. Looks like he's doing better than you are, since Sis One and
Two aren't here." They had gone to Denver with Mrs. Taylor, Kenny, and
Mrs. Brees. Cinnamon was going to coordinate with the recording studio
while Kenny saw Doctor Marcus.
Huntly gave her a look of betrayal. She smiled sweetly in reply
while Jimmy realized what she'd just done for him. Suzie, apparently
feeling mischievous after her special treatment the day before, hooked
an arm around Jimmy's. "After our walk, we're going to warm him up in
Wynter's hot tub or something. Just the two of us and Jimmy."
Cutting off Huntly's response, Wynter pointed to his cross country
skis, "You aren't on those thinking you're going to switch to downhill
skis when Wizard Basin opens, are you?"
Huntly shook his head. "Nope. I learned my lesson, Doc. The hard
way. Cross country should be good exercise for the knee. Though a
massage wouldn't hurt. Know where I can find a low-cost masseuse nearby?"
Jimmy decided to change the subject again before Huntly invited
himself into the hot tub, even though Huntly would behave himself
without Cinnamon or Hailey there. He didn't need supervising like
Kenny. "How'd you get over here? You didn't cut through town, did you?"
"Nope." He swung an arm in an arc. "I went the long way for the
exercise. Came around the north side. I went down as far as Evergreen
Boulevard and was headed back when I saw you. You girls have new snow
shoes. Loot from yesterday's Pillage the Center Expedition, I'd bet.
And that," he pointed at Suzie, "is a new snowsuit. That's good because
your old one was getting too small. But even better, it's very nice on
you. If you want my advice, ditch Kenny and keep the snowsuit."
Suzie glowed at the compliment. "Thanks, but I think I'll keep
both. You really like the suit?"
Huntly wiped his nose with the back of his glove. "Honestly?
Well, please don't shoot the messenger, but your old one made you look a
little fat. Those new ones don't need as much insulation for the same
warmth, so you almost look like a girl with a nice figure. In fact, you
look even better than Trish does in her new one."
Wynter had seen Trish in her new snow suit. She looked at Suzie
and did a mental comparison. Huntly, she realized, was right. She
mentioned that and asked Jimmy for his opinion.
"I agree," he said. "But since Suzie is my Future Sister in Law, I
might be biased."
"Not me," Huntly said. "I always tell the truth, no matter how
pleasant it might be."
Wynter saw in Jimmy's face that he was about to explain the
difference between telling the truth and being biased. He'd taken
Huntly seriously instead of realizing that their friend was making a
joke. "Huntly," she said, "we were going to look at the concert shell.
We wanted to see it up close while we work on some staging ideas for
next summer's concert competition. Since you're in the band, would you
like to go along and help us?"
Huntly's face lit up with glee. "It would be my pleasure, Your
Doctorness. I shall escort you while Jimbo escorts Suzie."
Suzie wiped invisible sweat from her forehead. "Wow! I sure as
heck got the best of that deal!"
Huntly threw up his arms, still holding his ski poles. "Aw, MAN!"
Wynter glanced at Jimmy, who gave her his grin and nod. "I must
humbly agree with your sister," he said.
Wynter gave a phony sigh. "I guess I'll sacrifice myself for the
good of my beloved sister."
Huntly slowly turned his head and gave her a wide eyes look of
disbelief. "Et tu, Brutette?"
Wynter giggled and said, "Come on. Let's go look at the shell, and
then we'll all go home to the hot tub. I was going to massage your
knee, but since I'm now off your approved list..."
"You're on! You're back on! I mean, you're still on! I never
took you off! Honest!"
Wynter giggled again and led the way, choosing her path so that
Huntly could ski beside her. She glanced back at Jimmy and Suzie a
couple of times. The prudectomy was definitely a success. Jimmy no
longer panicked at the idea of accompanying Suzie. He had even danced
with four other girls at the Homecoming Ball. Sure, he was more
reserved than Huntly or Kenny, but at least he didn't surround himself
in a shell and try to ignore the rest of the world, panicking at the
thought of being with some girl besides Wynter. She guessed things were
just about perfect. Now if only she could find a cure for Kenny's
illness the way she'd "cured" Jimmy's fears with the prudectomy.
~ ~ ~
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck, FUCK!
"This stupid right binding still isn't right," Suzie said, stamping
her right foot.
"You stand there and I'll adjust it," Jimmy said, telling the
others to go on ahead and that he and Suzie would catch up.
Suzie watched Huntly and Sister Wynter while Jimmy adjusted the
stupid binding. "He's in love with her, you know."
Jimmy stopped and looked up at her. "Huh?" He obviously thought
she was talking about her dolt and another girl.
"Huntly. I've been watching him around Wynter. He's in love with
her."
Jimmy shrugged and finished making his adjustment. "Well, I guess
I can't understand how any guy would not be in love with her. She's so
special."
Suzie smiled at him when he rose. "Yeah. I guess you would think
that. So, you aren't ever so jealous or something?"
Jimmy looked at her like he thought she'd just gone dismental or
something. "Why would I be jealous? I know I'm going to have to share
her with the world after we're married. Sharing her now is good
practice for when that happens. Besides, I know she loves me. I know I
won't lose her."
They started after the other two. Suzie was quiet for several
steps while she paid attention to her snowshoes. "Yeah! That's finally
fixed it. Thanks."
"Just taking care of my Future Sister in Law. And my best friend's
girlfriend. And my friend."
She smiled at Jimmy. "I think I like that last reason best."
Jimmy looked at her as they walked faster to catch up. "I think I
do, too."
She kissed his cheek, the way she did the guys on the swim team
when they turned in a good performance. It wasn't easy to do while
hurrying along on snowshoes, but Suzanne Middleton wasn't a girl who
would avoid a challenge just because it wasn't easy. "I wish my dolt
was more like you."
"Well, he was a perfect gentleman while he was Possum's date to
Homecoming. Maybe he's improving. My dad and Wynter's dad have both
said that Doctor Taylor was a lot like that when he was young. Maybe
Kenny will also grow up when he grows up. I mean...well, you know what
I mean."
"Yeah," she said. "But I think that would take a stupid miracle or
something."
Jimmy glanced sideways at her. "I don't mean to open any old
wounds or be critical, I'm just making a point, okay? But look at how
you changed from the Suzie right after Chip... Chipper..." He couldn't
finish the words. Chipper had been Jimmy's best friend before the
accident that killed all of Chipper's family. Suzie saw him brush at
one eye.
"Yeah," she said in a sad voice. She'd had a thing for Chipper and
had decided that the two of them would be an item. And then after the
accident, she'd replaced Chipper with Jimmy in her plans. "I know. I
was worse than Amber then."
That made Jimmy smile. "I don't think anyone was worse than Amber."
"Not even me back then, when I was ever so witchy while trying to
take you away from Wynter to be my replacement for Chipper or something?"
Jimmy thought for a moment, then said with a laugh, "Okay, you
always were an overachiever. But there's what I was saying earlier.
You couldn't take me away from Wynter, and Huntly can't take Wynter away
from me."
As they caught up to Wynter and Huntly, Suzie decided Jimmy was
right. Now if only nobody could take her dolt away from her.
~ ~ ~
Richard listened as Huntly related his telephone conversation with
Possum earlier that morning. "So," he said as Huntly finished, "do you
think she'll sing at the talent show?"
Huntly moved his leg so that the knee was no longer in front of the
water jet but in front of Wynter, where she could massage it. "No," he
said after thinking about the question throughout the movement, "I
don't. I think Brinkly still has her too frightened after that stunt
she pulled."
"But Wynter said she stood up to Cori at the dance. She also said
Possum danced with several boys."
"Just Jimbo, Ted, and myself as well as her questionable date."
"But," Wynter said without looking up from massaging Huntly's knee,
"several other guys asked her, though she turned them down. Maybe
she'll find someone the way Snoopy found Ted. I would prescribe that
for her. If that happens, I think she'll come the rest of the way out
of her shell."
"That sounds reasonable," said Angie as she adjusted her position
on the headrest, then sighed.
Richard glanced around the hot tub. "If Cinnamon and Hailey and
Kenny were here, we wouldn't have any room in the tub for water."
Wynter turned her head toward him while continuing to massage
Huntly's injured knee. "Smarty pants," she said with a smile directed
at him.
Huntly chuckled. "You gotta be careful telling the truth around
this bunch, Mister K. They're just children. Non teenagers. Usually
they don't want to hear it."
"Well, we have one almost teenager with us. Just a week and a half
to go."
Suzie, lounging in the water up to her neck, slowly opened sleepy
eyes. "And we have another at the doctor's office in Denver."
Jimmy shook his head. "I don't think Kenny should count. He's
eight hours younger than me."
"Kevin and Candis are hosting the party this year," Angie said.
"One of life's rules is that you don't legally get to be a teenager
unless you have a party, but the party's at his house."
"That's cool. They can throw the party for me and Kenny can watch."
Suzie shook her head. "I think you've been spending too much time
around Huntly or something."
"Aw, man!" Huntly moaned, throwing up his arms and splashing
Angie. "Uh oh. Sorry about that, Mrs. K."
While Angie accepted the apology, Jimmy gave Suzie a frown. "I
seem to have heard those words from one of your sisters yesterday."
"Well," Wynter said without looking up from Huntly's knee," now
you've heard it from one who is a teenager and one who isn't.
Therefore, it must be the truth."
"Well, I'm not the one who invited him to the hot tub," he said in
reminder.
"I know. I invited him. It's not unprecedented." She nodded to
Dragon, who was curled up in the doorway of the hot tub room. "I've
taken in pathetic strays before. I had pretty good luck civilizing that
one."
Suzie lifted a languid hand and pointed to Wynter's patient. "And
you think you can civilize Huntly that good or something?"
"Nope. That's Sister Cinnamon's job. But I thought I'd give her a
hand."
Huntly looked at Richard. "You see? This is what I have to put up
with to get my damaged knee massaged."
"Wellll," Richard drawled after a thought, "There's no free medical
care. It always comes with a price. In this case it's a high price."
"High prices are one thing, usury is ano... WOW! Doc, did you feel
that move? That feels great now!"
Wynter had stopped massaging and was frowning at the knee. "I
did. But I don't know what that was, either. I can't think of anything
that should have done that. Maybe I should go check my anatomy books
for the structure of the knee and see if I can determine what happened.
It's given you relief, but maybe it's creating a problem, too. Maybe
one that won't manifest itself until later."
Wynter rose to her feet. "Keep it in the water jet while I'm
gone. Maybe I'll call Doctor Henderson, too." She climbed out of the
tub, wrapped a towel around her slender frame, slid into her slippers,
and was gone, her eighty pound shadow vanishing with her.
Huntly shook his head at Richard and Angie. "Okay, now I really
have to know." He jerked a thumb at where Wynter had scurried out of
the room. "Whose gene pool did we just witness?"
Richard shook his head in reply. "I don't know. It's a little like
Angie's and mine, but..."
"Oh, all right!" Angie cried theatrically, tilting back her head
and throwing a forearm across her brow. "I can't stand the pressure! I
shall confess!" She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level and
said to Huntly, "Back in March of 1991, there was this traveling
salesman up in the mountains..."
"Selling vacuum cleaners door to door?" Richard asked in his best
snide voice.
Angie gave him a playful sneer. "Snow blowers."
"Well, obviously somebody blew snow up your ass."
"Aw, man!" Huntly said, shaking his head in disapproval. "If you
think that's how babies are made, Mister K, then there's no doubt that
Wynter isn't yours."
"Which is perfectly obvious," Angie added, "because she isn't
Senorita Klutzette."
As Richard groaned at the comment, Jimmy turned his head to the
other side. "Suzie?"
"Yeah?"
"If this is what being a teenager and an adult is like, maybe I
don't want to have any more birthdays."
"Yeah. Me, neither. Hey, Charlie didn't go to Denver with my
dolt. You wanna go over to his house and play catch with someone who's
more mature or something?"
Richard looked from them to Huntly, who said, "Tough audience. I
have that problem occasionally when I do card tricks. You just can't
please some people."
"We're sorry," Jimmy said, "but Suzie and I were born with a sense
of taste."
"Yeah? Then why's she going out with Boy Blunder?"
"He makes her look good by comparison."
"Yeah," Suzie said. "Besides, just because I was born with a sense
of taste doesn't mean I have to use it all the time. Right, Mom?"
"Of course," Angie said, smiling sweetly at Richard. "After all, I
married Richard."
"Speaking of a sense of humor and a complete lack of taste,"
Richard mused, raising an eyebrow in question at Huntly, "are we going
to be treated to any more adventures of Studman?"
"Working on another one even as we speak," Huntly replied. "We
might even introduce the Health Commissioner's husband." As he said
that, he gave Jimmy an evil grin that went ignored.
"I can't believe he gave you guys a CD of that first one," Jimmy
grumbled, causing Angie to laugh.
"Keith explained how bands work," Richard said, trying to soothe
his Future Son. "Though we do put up with language from some of you
anyhow that we wouldn't if we lived elsewhere and you were less mature
for your ages."
"Not just language," Angie added. "We play dumb like parents are
supposed to, but we know what's going on physically with some of you.
We know we can trust you, even though raging hormones and younger people
is normally a lit stick of dynamite. But we draw lines based on
maturity and responsibility, not age. I know people my age who
shouldn't be allowed to have sex."
"As do Mitch and Rosita. That's why the four of us don't mind
occasionally leaving you an empty house for... well, for your personal
use. And," he added, looking at Jimmy, "Keith and Marti both feel the
same way, though they tend to be more in denial of it where Jimmy's
concerned."
"Keith loved the skit," Angie said, "and Marti almost peed herself
laughing. Everyone else thought it was great, too, so don't worry about
what the adults thought, Jimmy. And Huntly, we can't wait to see what
the Health Commissioner's husband is like. Though we hope he's not
like my brother in law, Bob."
"Well, perhaps he's like this," Huntly said, waited until he had
everyone's attention, and then started a routine of Bob's stunts in a
reasonable facsimile of Jimmy's voice.
Everyone was laughing like drunken hyenas and slapping each other
on the back when Wynter returned. She slammed to a stop in the doorway
of the tub room, put her fists on her bony hips, and said, "Okay, what
did I miss?"
Chapter 22
Monday was a miserable day for Cori. She arrived at school to find
the dial on her locker's combination lock had somehow been removed,
making it impossible to open the lock. She had Mister Tillman cut it
off and called her mother to bring her a new one, making her late for
home room.
She was one of the students called up front to work at the
chalkboard during math class. Naturally, she left her books at her desk
while she was standing at the board with her back to the room. Mister
Roderick had his back to the room most of the time, too, watching the
students working the problems. Her next class was history, where she
discovered that while she was at the chalkboard, somebody had glued many
of the pages of her history book together. And, of course, nobody she
asked had seen anything.
Some good did come of that incident, though. The glued-together
pages helped eventually convince Mister Ames in English class that she
had done her book report and that it had been stolen from her book bag.
She had marching band practice next. When she unlocked and opened her
locker to put away her books and retrieve her coat, she triggered a
booby trap that someone had somehow placed inside, sending a cascade of
putrid liquid over her clothing. Her mother brought her a change of
clothes, which, along with a sponge bath in the girls' room, failed to
completely eliminate the smell.
In the cafeteria she collided with some fifth-grader who had
tripped over something, possibly a suddenly extended foot, and fell onto
her, knocking her tray with its spaghetti, sauce, mixed vegetables, and
salad with French dressing back onto her blouse and sweater. Her mother
brought her a second change of clothes.
She had civics class after lunch. As usual, she rushed to the
girls' room after class. She found one stall empty, went inside, and
dropped her jeans and panties. She quickly sat down, and released the
flood that needed out. That was when she discovered the reason that
particular stall was unoccupied: the bowl had been covered with an
invisible layer of plastic wrap.
This time her mother took her home, riding on a layer of towels
because she was still wearing her jeans that had been soaked by the
urine splash, and demanded to know why she was suddenly being treated
the way Brinkly had been last summer.
~ ~ ~
Cinnamon found Cuz at her locker, her coat already on, loading
books into her backpack. "I hear you and Sister Suzie are going to the
movies tonight."
Cuz removed one last book and closed the locker door. "Yeah," she
said as she closed her lock. "First Daughter. Both Sis Suz and I think
Michael Keaton is, like, so the hottie!"
"Okay. Since the Aspenleaf Center is close to her house, we
shouldn't have to worry about her stopping by and interrupting the
rehearsal, not in this weather. It's the most important one yet since
we'll be recording Saturday."
"Hey! Last week's news!"
"Well, don't forget that you're supposed to do homework before the
movie. And for God's sake, let Sister Suzie help you with your Colorado
history. I don't care if you are eighth grade and she's seventh, Sis
knows enough about the subject to write her own textbook."
Hailey's stubborn look began to fade in. "Hey! Like, I know, Sis
Cuz! She even beats Sis Wynter in history, you know. Sis Suz is, like,
the family genius after you!"
Cinnamon glanced around to see who was nearby in the after school
crowd and lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "Exactly. And
it's getting harder and harder to keep her from guessing what's really
going on. So, here's a chance to improve your grade, or at least not
drop below that 'C minus' while also helping surprise Sis. Okay?"
"Sheesh, Cuz! Okay, already! Hey! Like, here she comes."
"By the way. Before she gets here, I assume you have alibis for
all the times Cori had... well... difficulties today?"
The stubborn look warped into disbelief. "Hey! It's me!"
"Just checking. How much did the Saran Wrap cost you?"
Hailey grinned. "She, like, did it for ten."
Cinnamon didn't ask who "she" was. She didn't want to know. She
stayed long enough to inform Suzie that Hailey's Colorado history grade
was in jeopardy, despite Cuz's eye rolling and fussing, then went
looking for Huntly. She found him with Kenny, Jimmy, and Sis Wynter at
Kenny's locker. "Bitch!" he cooed, looking at her as if he hadn't seen
her for five months instead of five minutes. In some ways, Huntly
reminded her of Ghost. Not that she was complaining, mind you. It was
always nice to know somebody missed you during your absence, whether it
was months or minutes.
Grinning, she slipped an arm around his waist and squeezed.
"Shithead. Okay, I just talked to Sis Cuz. I've reminded Sister Suzie
that Hailey needs help with her Colorado history. Then they're going to
the Aspenleaf complex to see a movie, and Hailey's spending the night
with her, so we shouldn't be interrupted during rehearsal."
"Are they going to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?"
Sister Wynter asked, her hand moving in small circles on its home on
Jimmy's back with just enough force for him to feel it through his
winter coat. "Jimmy and I saw it last night. It's amazing!"
"They're going to see President's Daughter. No, that's not right.
First Daughter. They both have the hots for Michael Keaton."
Sister Wynter raised a hand beside her mouth, as if to keep her
words away from Jimmy and Huntly. "Wrong movie. Sky Captain has Jude
Law. He's the best looking guy they'll see all month. He makes Michael
Keaton look like Darth Sidious."
"Yeah?" Cinnamon asked, straightening and looking around the
crowded hallway as if checking for the actor's presence. "Maybe I'll
have to go check it out myself!"
Huntly shook his head dismissively while rolling his eyes, then
grinned at the other boys. "Say, guys, is it my imagination, or are
Brin Kwan's tits growing again? She was awfully cute when they were
just golf balls, but I think they're getting bigger. If so, she's going
to be a knockout!"
Kenny rubbed his chin in thought. "I think you're right. She's
turning into a knockout with knockers."
"She does look much prettier," Jimmy agreed with a nod, causing
Cinnamon to stop blinking and tilt her head slightly to one side. She'd
placed the odds of Jimmy's taking part in that conversation at 40:60 at
the very best. Once again he'd beaten her odds. That was happening too
frequently. Maybe it was time for a major update to her assessment of
her Future Brother in Law. Her current assessment seemed woefully out
of date lately.
~ ~ ~
Suzie washed down her mouthful of popcorn with a sip of Diet Coke
and leaned over toward Hailey. "I better warn you that popcorn makes me
fart," she whispered.
"Yeah, me, too," Hailey whispered back. Like Suzie, she was
clutching a large tub, but with ever so much extra butter in Hailey's.
"Sis Cuz always calls mine 'fartcorn.' We so won't have to worry about
any boys sneaking into your bedroom and, like, molesting us tonight."
She paused a moment, then added, "Damn it."
Suzie chuckled and glanced at the clock over the emergency exit.
Less than five more minutes until the previews started. She couldn't
contain herself any longer, and it was just Sister Hailey and herself
for several seats in all directions. The really big crowd was over
watching that Sky Captain movie in another room. "I sure as heck hope
it's good, as much work as they've done on it," she said, no longer
whispering but not really talking out loud, either.
Hailey turned in her seat to frown at her.
She's suspicions that I'm not talking about the movie or something.
"Huh?"
Suzie used her best non-shallot voice. Or whatever that stupid
word was. "You know. The song they've written for my birthday.
They've put in ever so much time on it. I hope it's not because they're
having problems making it good or something."
"What song?" Hailey asked. Suzie definitely had raised Sis's
suspicions, and Sis thought it was a trick or something to make her
admit that was what they were doing.
Suzie gave her an exasperated look and shook her head just a
little. "Look, even if I were as dumb as you all tell me I'm not, it
wouldn't be that hard to figure out. Kenny says he'll sing only if I'm
there, yet lately you guys keep finding more ways to be sure I'll not be
there for rehearsals or something while he's supposed to be singing.
Sister Wynter isn't painting a picture of me because she's already done
that. She did it after she did the paintings for Jimmy and for Sister
Cinnamon. Okay?
"Jimmy wrote Wynter's Song for her and they all wrote Cinnamon
Sticks for Sister Cinnamon. I know I don't have much money, but I'd bet
you all of it that they wrote a song for me next because that's the way
they do things."
She saw the confusion in Hailey's eyes. "I'm not asking you to
tell me or something, Sis. I'm telling you because I already know.
They're following a pattern."
"Um..."
Suzie grinned real big. It wasn't often that anybody could leave
Sister Hailey speechless, not even Sister Cinnamon, and now she'd just
done it herself! "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone else I
know. I haven't even told Kenny I know. I wouldn't tell you, but
you're my sister now, and I know you won't tell them I know if I ask you
not to or something. Besides, I haven't heard it, so when I do it will
be a big surprise anyway because I don't have any idea what it sounds like."
Sister Hailey blinked at her a few times and then looked at the
popcorn, like she thought maybe the words she was supposed to say were
written inside the tub. Finally she sighed. "No, they aren't, like,
having trouble with it. Hey, it's, like... Well, you know how Sister
Wynter is so the perfectionist anyway? Sis Cuz and Jimmy are just as
bad because it's, like, special for you and they, like, want it to be as
perfect as you are."
Suzie almost blew a mouthful of Diet Coke out her nose. "Perfect?
Me? That's..."
"...the truth," Sister Hailey finished for her. "You're, like, the
perfect sister for us, and they want the song to be as perfect for you
as you are for us. Hey, I think it is, but, like, Sis Wyn and Sis Cuz
keep finding little things that I can't tell make any difference. I
think it's been perfect since way before they went final with it."
Suzie blinked a few times herself, in part because now she didn't
know what to say, and in part because her eyes suddenly decided to see
if they could fill a swimming pool by themselves. "Sis, I'm ever so
sorry I said I knew about it. Please don't spoil it for them by telling
them I know."
"Hey! You're my sister, and I'll, like, do whatever you ask.
Besides, what they don't know won't hurt you."
Suzie knew that wasn't exactly how the old saying went, or at least
she was pretty sure she knew how it went, but she decided not to correct
her sister. Instead, she pressed her shoulder against Sister Hailey's
and together they munched fartcorn and watched the previews that had
just begun.
~ ~ ~
Wynter didn't even have time to begin rolling her eyes before Sis
One stood up, screamed, "GODDAMNIT," and threw a drumstick at Kenny. As
everyone stopped playing, it hit him hard enough to make him yelp. It
ricocheted, spinning, just missing Shamisa and flying toward the
spectators. Fortunately, Ted grabbed it out of the air before it could
hit anyone else. Sis didn't seem to notice because she'd angrily thrust
an index finger at Kenny, her face a red that clashed with her hair.
"The next time you sing 'Got up for a douche, another bummer in the
night,' you're out of here and we'll go with Riders after all!"
Kenny glared at her while his right hand rubbed the injury over his
left scapula. "Hey!" he retorted. "It was just a joke! What got your
tits in a twist?"
"Kenny," Mister McCauley said in a quiet manner from his seat
between Possum and Mrs. McCauley, "if you rehearse it that way, sooner
or later you'll perform it that way. I was in a talent show my senior
year in high school. Harvey Tillotson's band was playing Maybelline.
Remember that, Marti?"
While Mrs. McCauley laughed and nodded, he continued. "Ole Harvey
liked changing the words during rehearsal, too. Sure enough, right in
the middle of the performance, in front of half the town, the principal,
the superintendent, and all the teachers, he sang, 'You done started
back blowing the things you used to screw.' He had no idea why
Principal Judkins stopped the performance and suspended him for two
weeks on the spot. Rocky Williams had to tell him."
"Rocky Mikkelson," corrected Mrs. McCauley.
"One of the five Rockies in the class had to tell him."
As Wynter giggled at the lyrics, she noticed Snoopy and Possum
doing the same thing, though with bright red faces half hidden behind
cupped hands. Shamisa murmured something to Monique and both broke up
in laughter as big as all the others combined.
"Now, I don't think you'd want to make that mistake during the
performance, too," Mister McCauley continued. "Not in front of Suzie."
Wynter's peripheral vision saw one of Jimmy's hands move above his
keyboard. She focused on the hand. Jimmy was giving his dad a
surreptitious thumbs up for saying the words that would get through to
Kenny far better than Sis's drumstick did.
Sure enough, Kenny's fire died. "Okay," he said, sounding very
contrite. "I'll do it right from now on. I'm sorry, Cymbals."
"Apology accepted as long as you don't do it again," Sis said.
Then to Ted, who had started to rise to return the drumstick, "Just
throw it."
Wynter was pleased to see Ted roll it off his fingers when he
tossed it so that it flew flat side toward Sis instead of pointed end
first, where it might cause another injury, this time an unintentional
one. Sis snatched it from the air, spun it like a baton in her fingers,
and plunged it into the stick holder in a move that was as graceful as a
ballet routine.
Sis looked at the clock. "Let's take ten. I need to drain the
swamp anyway." She grabbed her clipboard and started making notes first.
Jimmy turned to Wynter. "Want me to bring you some punch?"
"I'll go make room for it while Sis is transcribing notes and then
join you at the table," she said, rising from her bench.
When she returned, she found Kenny quietly talking to Jimmy at the
refreshment table. As she dipped the ladle into the punch, Kenny
whispered, "Have you noticed Possum?"
"Yeah," she whispered back. "She's been reading the lyrics and
moving her lips as you sang. But did you notice she stops when you
start ad-libbing? I think that was what pissed Sis off the most."
"Oh!" Obviously Kenny hadn't noticed. Sure enough, he switched to
his weird voice and quietly said, "Hello! Earth to Kenny! DUH! Boy
genius misses the obvious! AMA flabbergasted! President declares
emergency! World leaders in mourning! Film at Eleven!"
"I wonder how the movie's going," Jimmy asked aloud, signalling the
need to change the subject. Possum, Ted, Snoopy, and Mrs. McCauley were
approaching.
"It's not the movie I'm worried about," Wynter said. "If both of
them had the popcorn, I'm more worried about asphyxiation of everyone in
the Middleton house tonight."
Kenny wrinkled his nose and fanned the air in front of it. "Good
point," he said as Wynter moved aside so that Ted could dip punch for
the Watkins cousins.
Snoopy gave her a mischievous grin and said in her shy voice, "Are
you saying popcorn does Hailey and Suzie the way it does Possum?"
"SNOOP!" Possum cried, her face the color of arterial blood.
Wynter made a mental note to tell Cinnamon about that. It was
another symptom that the girls were recovering. She nodded. "I almost
feel sorry for Mister and Mrs. Middleton," she said. That one word made
her pause. Almost? That wasn't a very nice thought, was it? It was
putting Sister Suzie's parents on the same level as Aunt Dumb and Uncle
Bozo, if not on the same level as Sis One's birth mother.
She was worrying about that when Sis returned from the bathroom and
paused in the doorway to scoop back her long red hair with both hands
and let it fall straight down to below her butt.
Wynter dragged Jimmy over to Sis and told them about her latest
anxiety.
"For heaven's sake, Sis, you just quoted an old expression. Don't
read literal meaning into the words of old expressions like that."
Jimmy nodded agreement. "Context. Everything must be taken in
context. We weren't discussing their actions toward Suzie, so the
context is that it's just an old expression that anyone might say, and
you said it the way anyone else would to convey a meaning separate from
the literal meaning of the words. Everyone took it that way, not the
way you're worried about."
They convinced her that she was having anxiety disorder over
nothing. "It's your self doubt problem again, that's all it is," Jimmy
said. "You need to believe in yourself the way the rest of us do."
"That's right," said Kenny, who'd inserted himself into the
conversation at some point. "Doctor's orders."
A loud burst of laughter erupted from the area of Finnegan's
control bench, where Jimmy's dad, Huntly, and LaMarcus had clustered to
tell crude jokes again. Wynter watched them for a moment, then glanced
at everyone else. She was the only one having anxieties at the moment.
They were right. She told herself to relax as Sis announced that in two
minutes they would do a run through of Suzie's Victory before doing
Kenny's second song.
~ ~ ~
Kenny was helping Wynter and Jimmy explain a math homework problem
to Tyrone at his locker when Cinnamon and Hailey arrived at school.
Thirty seconds later, Huntly appeared and said, "Happy Hump Day!"
Hailey glowered at him. "Not for me for a few days."
Kenny looked up. "No problem. He can dry hump you," he said with
a shrug. "He practiced with his pillow last night."
Huntly looked shocked. "How did you know?"
Kenny temporarily switched to his weird voice. "Hello! Earth to
Huntly! DUH! Because I still have your blow up doll of Cinnamon."
Tyrone looked up from his homework paper. "If you two are planning
on a career as a comedy act, you better learn to like starvation. You
gonna be po'rer than I was."
"Your attention, please!" suddenly erupted from the hall speakers.
"Miss Wynter King, Miss Brinkly Ward, Miss Amy Katzmarek, Miss Cinnamon
Brees, and Mister David Corman, please come to the principal's office!"
Kenny could make no sense of the choice of names. "Now what?" he
said as Cinnamon handed her books to Huntly and gave him instructions on
what to take to home room.
Cinnamon looked at him and shook her head. Her look resembled one
of pity. "Well, we do all have one thing in common, so that's probably
it." She gave Huntly a quick kiss and said, "See you later, shithead,"
then left without further explanation.
Huntly gave Kenny a bewildered glance, then followed the retreating
Cinnamon with his eyes. "I hate it when bitch does that."
"Yeah," Kenny agreed. He frowned at Wynter. "You got any idea
what your sister meant?"
She gave Jimmy a quick glance as she handed him the last of her
books and closed her locker, noted his grin and nod, then said, "Of
course I do." She gave Kenny a quick kiss, checked the hallway for
teachers with a glance before giving Huntly a quick kiss, and shoved
Jimmy toward Mister Shelby's classroom with a hand on his back before
following after Cinnamon. Tyrone grinned at them and disappeared in the
opposite direction, tucking his homework paper inside his math book and
shaking his head.
Hailey was grinning like she couldn't wait to be asked. Obviously
she wants to show off how smart she is, Kenny decided. "Okay," Kenny
said to her. "Do you know what your sister cousin meant?"
"Like, DUH!" She shook her head. "Men!" She scanned the hallway
for teachers, gave both Huntly and Kenny a quick kiss with a dash of
tongue, and then strode away in what Wynter called the Kennedy Imperious
Manner.
Kenny looked up at Huntly. "If they've got Suzie acting that way,
I'm gonna..."
Huntly nodded. "I'll help you," he said. "Though the consolation
kissing was pretty good."
~ ~ ~
Wynter slid into the lab table seat to the left of Jimmy. The
Monopoly game was just getting started. "Well?" asked Jimmy as he
picked up the dice.
"Huntly really and truly looks like he knows the situation," she
diagnosed, based on the look on his face.
"Yeah. Mister Shelby covered the Friday assemblies in the
announcements. We've," he drew a circle encompassing everyone at the
table, "decided that he didn't ask for Tyrone because he's waiting until
after the record company will let Tyrone do stuff from his album. Who
am I playing with first?"
He rolled, moved to Vermont Avenue, and handed the price to Brin
Kwan, who usually volunteered to be the banker, while Wynter said,
"Junior and the Twins. Brinkly demanded to go last, apparently not
realizing the performances were one group every Friday instead of all at
once like a talent show. Or maybe they really do need all that practice
because most of her people are new to the group. Anyhow, David's group
will play this Friday. He says they're ready to perform at any time.
Amy Katzmarek will sing the following Friday, and then the next is
Junior and the Twins. Our group is the following Friday--Mister Peters
said we had that long to come up with a name for the band--and then the
next will be The Brink of Disaster."
She watched Jimmy's brain counting down the calendar behind his
eyes as he handed her the dice. "That's the day before the talent
show. There's no school that day."
"Actually," she said as she rolled, "that assembly will be on
Thursday." She counted down eight spaces and found her thimble sitting
next to Jimmy's top hat.
He held out his hand, palm up. "Cough it up."
She handed him a five and a one. "Are you going to help me come up
with a name for the group?"
"As I've already explained to you," Jimmy said as she handed the
dice to Brin, "you can handle naming the band and I'll name our kids."
"Okay." She tried not to sound too smug as she said, "As long as
the first boy is named James Evan Junior and the first girl is named
Summer."
He frowned at her. "What if the first girl isn't born in the summer?"
Derek Clark shook his head sympathetically at Jimmy and held out
his open palm to Brin, who had landed on his Reading Railroad. "Jimmy,
she will be if you know what's good for you."
~ ~ ~
Judi Beard slowly shook her head. "No, Ms. Ward," she said in a
low voice so that the rest of the class couldn't hear her. "That's not
what he did. I was close enough to overhear his every word. All Mister
Sparks said was, 'I'm sorry I didn't get to go to homecoming with you
and would still like to go out with you sometime.' Health and Human
Sexuality Class is also about relationships. Some relationships we are
interested in exploring. We encourage those. Some we are not, and we
discourage those, but we don't discourage them by shouting, 'Piss off,
you rotten asshole!'
"There is a difference between discouraging someone and vulgarly
insulting someone. Please don't sit there and glare at your lap. Look
at me while I'm talking, please. Thank you. If you want to emulate
some spoiled rock star's behavior, do it on stage. Don't do it in my
classroom or anywhere else in this school. If you want to tell a boy
you aren't interested in him, just..."
"But, Ms. Beard! He did make fun of me."
"Okay," Judi said, leaning back in her chair. "I've had boys make
fun of me in the past because of my freckles. I know how it is to be
teased, so I can understand your getting upset by someone making fun of
you. Unfortunately, at no time did anyone ever make fun of me by being
nice to me, so you'll have to excuse me for being ignorant of the
subject because it's neither something I've studied nor something I've
run into before. Would you please explain to me how someone politely
asking you out can be considered making fun of you?"
From the girl's expression, Judi was sure she was wondering how
somebody so ignorant could be a teacher. "Look, can you just give me my
punishment and let me go?"
Judi slowly shook her head. "No. School is for learning. For
both of us. It's my turn to be the student and yours to be the teacher."
"Now you're making fun of me!" she said in a loud, angry voice.
"No, I'm completely serious. Excuse me." She swept the classroom
with her eyes and spoke loud enough to be heard in the back. "Class,
this doesn't concern you. Either find some way to occupy your home room
time or I'll give you something to do until Ms. Ward and I are finished,
and then we'll have our own one on one discussions. Understood?"
She waited, scanning the room, until she was satisfied and then
turned her attention to the girl. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I don't
think this is any of their business. I assume you feel the same way?"
Brinkly blinked at her, startled by the comment. "Uh, no. It's not."
"Good. Now, any teacher who claims she doesn't learn from her
students is either a liar or incompetent. I am neither. Please explain
to me how someone asking you out is making fun of you. As long as you
keep your voice down so that it's just the two of us, you can explain it
any way you like that you think will help me understand. Or, we can go
out in the hall if you prefer."
The startled look hadn't left. Clearly this was a new experience
for Brinkly. "Uh, no, this is okay, Ms. Beard," she said in a
near whisper. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm in a godda..." She
swallowed. "I'm in a wheelchair?"
Judi smiled pleasantly, bringing back the startled look. "Ms.
Ward, I'm asking you to help me because I'm ignorant of the subject, not
blind."
"Uh... yeah. Well, why would he want to go out with me? He's
asking because Brees put him up to it as a joke."
"Well, that doesn't sound like Ms. Brees, but you've been here and
known her longer than I have. Plus I understand you knew her back east,
too."
"Knew of her there, not knew her personally. I didn't meet her
until right after we moved here."
"Okay. Well, how do you know she put him up to asking you out?"
"Well, maybe it wasn't Brees herself but her id... her cousin over
there."
"Do you have any proof that either Ms. Brees or Ms. Kennedy had him
ask you out?"
"Well... No. But it sounds like something they would do. Chad's
always talking to Hailey."
"How..." She understood. "You think this is what the boys in my
school called 'slopping the sows,' don't you? That was when one of them
lost a bet or a dare and had to ask out a girl on the list of
undesirables they called 'the pig pen.' Girls who were overweight or
physically unattractive. You think it's that kind of situation?"
"WHY..." Brinkly swallowed and lowered her voice back to the
near whisper. "Why else would someone ask me out if I'm in a wheelchair?"
"Well, I can think of a range of reasons besides being in the pig
pen. At the low end of the scale, you're famous. You have a band and
appear to be on your way to fame and fortune. He could be attracted to
you because he's a celebrity junkie. But that doesn't sound like the
Mister Sparks I know. At the high extreme of the scale, he could be in
love with you, or at least think he's in love."
"Oh, sure! Like you think anyone would love someone in a wheelchair?"
"What I think is that I need to revise my lesson plans. Ms. Ward,
there's an old saying, 'Love is not only blind, it's deaf, dumb, and
stupid.' There are plenty of happy couples out there with one party
disabled. Not all of those became disabled after the relationship
developed. Those couples are happy because they look beyond the
disabilities and concentrate on the person. Is Brinkly Ward the
wheelchair, or is Brinkly Ward the lady who uses the wheelchair for
transportation?"
"What?"
Judi smiled and nodded. "See? You need to look at yourself, not
at what you ride around in. There are plenty of young women out there
who are infatuated with a young man because of the car he drives. Those
who drive flashy new sports cars are winners, those who drive used
Chevys are losers. End of analysis. That isn't smart, that's stupid
and completely ridiculous. Well, what you imply is just as ridiculous
as that, and it's just as unlikely in Mister Sparks' case because he
doesn't impress me as being at all stupid."
"Then maybe he's just, uh, what did you call it with the pigs?"
"Slopping the sows. Feeding the female pigs. There was a girl at
my school who learned she was in the pig pen. One day, a boy asked her
out. She accepted. And she stuck it to him because she knew he was
doing so because he'd lost a bet or whatever and had to ask her. She
had him take her to dinner at the most expensive place in Cincinnati he
could afford. She had him take her to a play in the most expensive
theater in Cincinnati afterward, and then wanted to go dancing at some
exclusive place before he took her home. She made sure he made that the
best night she'd ever had."
"Yeah?" Brinkly was riveted to her every word. "What happened to
him after that?"
Judi shrugged. "Five years ago he started diddling his secretary
and I divorced him."
"What?"
"It turned out he was serious about me, not settling a lost bet or
a dare. I had made a false assumption. We laughed about that for
ages. We had a happy relationship until he strayed." She held up an
index finger to emphasize her message. "None of the other students know
I'm divorced. I'm trusting in your discretion to keep it that way. I'm
saving that until December, when I bring it up in class."
"What? Won't next year's students know and not be surprised when
you get to it in class?"
"Yes, but it involves an experiment that's part of the research for
my doctorate. Next year it won't matter. Back to the subject, you may
also be making a mistake by pre judging Mister Sparks' motives. Now, if
you're not interested in him, or you're not interested in any other
young man, or all young men for... whatever your reason, that's fine.
But you aren't going to make any friends by reacting angrily.
"I've noticed that anger seems to be your response to everything,
and it's the reason you don't have many friends. What's worse, lately
your anger seems to be getting worse. I want you to think about that.
I don't know what's driving your anger, whether it's having to use your
wheelchair for transportation or some other factor in your life. I
don't need to know. But you do. And you need to ask yourself if that's
the proper response.
"If you want to discuss it with me, I can be available for you. So
can Ms. Logan, the school counsellor. Or you may want to discuss it
with someone else. It's your decision, but you need to do something
before you ruin your life. Okay?" She stopped because she saw that she
was losing the girl. She was being tuned out.
In the silence, Brinkly suddenly focused on her. "Okay. What do
you want me to do?"
"I just told you. Look, if you want to do a writing assignment,
give me your thoughts on what I just said. Sometimes it's easier to
discuss a problem in writing rather than face to face. The decision is
yours. Unless you have questions, you can go back to what you were
doing. You might, though, want to apologize to Mister Sparks."
Judi registered the look of surprise and explained, "The purpose of
punishment is to correct improper behavior. The writing assignments
aren't working. Clearly some other approach is necessary. I now
believe that we must get to the root of your problem and correct that in
order to improve your behavior toward others. If that doesn't work,
I'll try something else. Okay?"
"Uhhh... Yeah. I mean, yes, Ma'am. Thank you." Brinkly pushed
the control and moved her wheelchair away from the desk. She didn't
approach Chad Sparks until the bell rang and the students began filing
out the door.
~ ~ ~
"Good night." Brinkly snuggled her head into her pillow and kissed
her parents when they leaned over her. Next she kissed her brother,
then said, "Craig, could you stay a minute, please?"
"Sure." He gave their parents a quick glance. Both of them
smiled. It almost seemed to Brinkly like a smile of triumph as they
turned and left, closing her bedroom door. Parents were weird beyond
belief.
Craig sat on the edge of her bed, facing her, with his right leg
bent at the knee and resting atop her covers. "What's up, Binky?"
Craig was the only person she allowed to use her pronunciation of her
name from when she was a toddler.
Brinkly smoothed the covers across her flat chest with one hand and
grasped Craig's hands with the other. Where to start? She sighed.
"I'm not sure about something. I guess... I guess I need your advice."
Craig smiled down at her and shrugged. "You've been preoccupied
since you came home from school," he said. "Mom and Dad and I were
wondering if you'd tell us the problem."
"I don't want you to tell them."
Craig turned an imaginary key in his pursed lips and tucked it in
his shirt pocket. She couldn't remember a time when he hadn't done that
whenever she asked him to keep a secret. She also couldn't remember a
time when he had refused to keep a secret for her.
Even though he wasn't finished with a project for one of his high
school classes, he waited patiently while she searched for words, then
said, "Just start anywhere. We'll work it out. You know that I always
have your best interests at heart."
That she did know. She could trust the younger of her two brothers
with almost anything. She probably could trust him with everything, but
she had a few secrets she kept even from him. But she was avoiding the
current problem while thinking about that. She closed that line of
thought and brought out what Ms. Beard had said. She turned several
approaches over in her head before focusing on Craig. His soft green
eyes were riveted on hers while he waited patiently. She had no doubt
that he'd sit there all night if it took her that long to say it.
"I yelled at Chad Sparks in home room today. Ms. Beard overheard
me. Well, I guess the whole hallway heard me."
"And Mom and Dad don't know you're being punished for that?"
She screwed her face up in confusion and said, "That's just it.
I'm not being punished." She tried a couple of different ways to
explain it before Craig suggested she just tell him all the events in
order, not trying to interpret them for him. She took a deep breath,
let it out, and began.
"Well," he said when she had finished, "have you considered that
she might be right?"
"What?" She wondered if Craig was becoming as weird as their parents.
"Come on. Look at what she said about the girls Logan attracts
with his new BMW and the ones that go out with me in my used Taurus."
She thought about that. "I guess Logan does attract a lot of
stupid money grabbing bitches."
"I might be a little kinder describing them, but, yeah, they're
mostly arm candy interested in his money. Technically, Binky, it's
'money grubbing,' but your term works, too. They don't realize that by
spending like crazy on every new or updated gizmo that comes along, he's
on the edge of poverty. I make do with what works best, not what's
flashiest, and thus am able to loan him money when he needs it to take
out one of his intellectually challenged lady friends. Plus, I still
have money left over to take out one of my intellectually interesting
lady friends."
She hadn't thought about that. But spending wasn't a problem for
her. She was a star with an image to maintain, after all, and their
mother would spend whatever was necessary for her to keep that image.
"How did Chad react when you apologized to him?"
She frowned at him. "How do you know I apologized?"
He smiled. "It's what I would do, and you do tend to follow my
examples more often than not, Binky."
"Yeah, I guess so. Sometimes. Well, he said it was okay and not
to worry about it. Which means he's probably taking orders from Brees
or that Hawaiian..." She bit off the word "bitch" when Craig raised an
eyebrow. "He was doing what he was told, so he didn't care because he
was told to expect it. Or else he expected it on his own."
"You're reading too much into what's going on. Guys aren't that
complicated, little sister. That's why girls are such a mystery to us.
We say what we mean and move on. What else did he say?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. I turned around and drove off as
soon as he said that."
Craig nodded. "I was afraid of that. If you'd stayed a moment
longer, he'd probably have asked you out again."
"Why?
"Why not? Maybe Chad sees the someone special inside you, not the
chair outside you."
"But he's always hanging out around Brees' cousin!"
"Do you give him an opportunity to hang out with you?"
She frowned at him again. Was her brother losing his mind? Who
could she trust if Craig got put in the retard center? "Why would I do
that?"
"I guess you wouldn't if you don't like him. But do you let any
boys hang out with you?"
"Craig! Why would they want to?"
He combed the hair on her forehead with his fingertips. "Maybe
because they see the sweet person I see inside you," he said gently. "I
gotta admit that you try your damnedest to keep her hidden, but I still
see her. No reason some of them couldn't see her, too."
"What if he's... What if it's because I'm on that pig pen list?"
"Then he won't ask you out a second time. But if he does, then I'd
think it's because he's really serious about you. Look, maybe you won't
have a good time. That happens. If not, there's no rule that you have
to go out with him again. If he doesn't ask again, maybe it's because
the date wasn't what he expected. See, that reason works both ways.
But, Binky, if he doesn't ask for a second date, it doesn't
automatically mean you're in the pig pen. Or as we called it back in
Vermont, "being first prize in the loser lottery." Why don't you think
about that overnight and we can talk about it some more tomorrow, if you
want. Okay?"
Brinkly sighed. "Okay, I guess. But it doesn't make sense."
"That's because you're tired and this is something new. Let it
sort out while you sleep. You're pretty smart even if you are a girl,"
he teased, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Your mind will work on it
while you sleep and you aren't distracted." He squeezed her hand and
kissed her again. "Good night, little sister."
"Good night, big brother." She watched him close the door and then
sighed. It didn't make any damned sense. But Craig had never steered
her wrong before.
~ ~ ~
On Friday morning, while she stowed her coat and books in the
locker before heading to the auditorium for the first weekly assembly,
Cinnamon noted Agent Silver's folded corner and opened the square of
paper to read the expected handwriting. Hailey had been right. Chad
had asked Brinkly out. What's more, she had accepted.
She loved it when a plan came together.
(Continued in Part 3)
Copyright Russell Hoisington 2009
************************************************************
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Russell Hoisington
State of Confusion
--
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