“The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 03: Interesting Introductions
The next day at school I was more relaxed. I’d gotten over
much of my anger at Cate’s friends, though I had no intention of rejoining
their table. I figured there wasn’t much sense in getting upset just because
someone was disturbed in the changes they saw in me. After all, no one in the
school really knew me at all after all those years. I was just the kid in the
background that, years later, someone would say “He was always a quiet kid. I
never knew he’d take a gun and...” I smiled at my own mental image of myself in
the role of the misunderstood loner. I wasn’t alone anymore, so I wouldn’t have
to worry about that, at least!
Allison and Natalie had wanted to drop me off again that
morning, arguing, “What’s the fun in driving? We want to show off what a sexy
guy you are. We want all those little cuties talking about you and how you
managed to talk several mature women into following you home after your
vacation.” I was tempted, especially when they both smiled at me, but I
resisted. I was already gaining enough of a reputation, and I still wanted to
keep largely under the radar for the rest of my time there. So Cate and I drove
on our own to school.
Once again I found myself the center of attention, even
though I was sure it would pass quickly, as things in school usually do. Pretty
soon someone else would do something and everyone would completely forget who I
was again. I could hardly wait for that to occur.
Cate and I sat with Betty during lunch again, and detailed
more of what we were looking for in people similar to her. I asked her to try
to evaluate people for possible emotional responsiveness, especially close
family members, since these abilities seemed to run in families. We also warned
her she probably wouldn’t want to spread this information too widely, as it
would likely be met with disbelief, and I wasn’t looking to attract a lot of
attention. But I assured her it was OK to discuss it with her parents. I was
sure her parents would just tell her I was crazy, but I wasn’t worried. Poor
little Betty was hooked, but I planned to help her as much as I could.
It was between 5th and 6th period when, standing by my
locker, I saw someone standing over me. Looking up I saw one of the football
players. Not being a fan and not being a part of any crowd who attended the
games, I wasn’t sure who the hell he was, but he was glaring at me. He wasn’t
overly tall, clearly taller than me, though he was still huge. He had a wide
chest and thick arms. His face was actually nice except it was so twisted in
his scowl it was hard to find it attractive. He had a much darker complexion
than Shaniqua, with his hair done up in braids that were tied together behind
his head. Always one to confront trouble first and ask questions later, I
jumped in with both feet.
“Yeah?” I asked him, sure I’d stricken fear in his heart
with my intelligent response, causing a slight grin to appear on my lips.
“Stay away from Kitty,” he warned ominously. He was clearly
hoping to intimidate me but, being a big people watcher, always watching
instead of actually interacting with them, I knew the unwritten rules of
interpersonal conduct that others might not. I knew he wouldn’t actually be
able to do anything to me unless I reacted to him first. There are a lot of
unstated rules of conduct, one of which is that you don’t punch someone without
a perceived provocation without looking like a nerveless ass. All I’d have to
do to avoid a fight was to keep my attitude light and not threaten him, while
making it clear I wouldn’t be taking any of his shit.
“Who’s Kitty?”
“Don’t act stupid with me. Kitty Washerstein,” he stated,
reacting like I had to be a complete idiot to not recognize who he was
referring to.
“Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell. I take it she expressed an interest
and you think I’m invading on your territory?” He looked at me strangely. This
didn’t seem to be playing out like he had originally planned it.
“Yeah,” he replied a bit hesitantly. “Leave her alone or
you’ll be sorry.”
“Well, thanks for letting me know she’s interested. I didn’t
realize it before. That was really nice of you,” I replied to his threat in a
pleasant voice and a nice smile. He just looked at me for a second before
figuring out what to say next.
“I’m not telling you she’s interested. I’m warning you not
to get involved,” he blustered.
“Yeah, I got that. The whole ‘I’m a big jock and you’re
supposed to be afraid of me’ vibe kind of gave that away.” We’d already begun
to attract quite a bit of attention. If I was intelligent I’d just let it blow
on past, but I just wasn’t in a mood to put up with much anymore. He obviously
wanted me to react in a particular manner so he’d know what to do. I wasn’t
doing what he expected of me. Instead I was confounding him, which was
something he wasn’t used to.
“Look creep, stay away from her or else!”
“Or else what? You’ll impress her with your witticism and
obvious intelligence, as well as your gentle manners? I take it that approach
hasn’t worked yet, has it?” This clearly got to him. Although I was sure he
wouldn’t throw a punch, apparently this was a bit much for him and he reacted
by shoving me, pushing me back with his large, beefy hands, sending me
backwards onto my ass. Being limber and spry, I simply tucked in and rolled,
something I’d learned in gymnastics when I competed earlier, and did a complete
roll, ending up immediately back on my feet, facing him with a cocky little
smile on my face.
“So, did that make you feel any better? Did pushing someone
a hundred pounds less than you make you feel like a big man?” I prompted. The
kids around us started crowding around. They were sure there was going to be a
fight. I hated to disappoint them, but that certainly wasn’t my intent. But I
wasn’t about to be cowed when I didn’t even understand the initial accusations.
I wasn’t quite that easily intimidated.
He was clearly upset by my flippant attitude and didn’t know
how to respond to my light banter. He was having trouble putting together a
coherent response to my comments, but he knew if he lost it and punched me it’d
be all over the school that he was just a mindless brute who couldn’t hold a
simple conversation. He was hoping I’d either try to avoid a confrontation or
else try to resist him. The approach I was taking just didn’t fit into his pre-established
playbook.
“Ha, just go home to your old lady girlfriend,” he sneered,
finally coming up with a comeback.
“Really, that’s the best you can come up with? It’s hardly
the kind of comment that’ll offend me or require me to defend my honor. I
happen to like beautiful women. I’m not overly concerned with prestige,
nationality, language or age.
“Look, I’ll talk to this, what was it, Kitty?” I continued,
offering him a lopsided olive branch. He didn’t respond to my question, simply
looking at me with a frustrated expression. “Anyway, I’ll talk to this Kitty
and try to work things out. OK? Anyway, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got
to get to class.”
Despite my bravado I didn’t turn away. I wasn’t about to
turn my back on this creep. That’d just be too easy. Just then the bell rang.
People hesitated momentarily then began shuffling away a bit at a time, still
trying to see if this was going to escalate or something. Eventually my
opponent, even though I wasn’t aware who he was, reluctantly backed down,
turned and headed off to class. As he retreated he mumbled back at me, “It’s
not like there aren’t plenty of girls talking about you. Shit, even my sister’s
ranting about you.”
Smiling, I grabbed my books from my locker and turned as
well. Grabbing a random kid I asked, “Just who the heck was that?” He just
stared at me like he couldn’t believe me.
“That’s Bulldozer,” he replied. “His name is Darrell Jones. He’s the...” He lost me when he started describing his role on the high school
football team. I really didn’t care about that.
“Thanks,” I told him. “That’s all I needed to know.”
Asking around, I finally found out who this Kitty Washerstein
was. I didn’t manage to talk to her that day, but I’d try to talk to her soon. When
I met up with Cate after the final bell, she looked like she was anxious to ask
me something.
“What the hell did you get into today?” Cate asked me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb, as I climbed into
the driver’s seat.
“I heard you almost got into a fight with Bulldozer Jones. I
heard he knocked you down but you just brushed it off and got back in his face
and told him you were going to date whoever you wanted.”
“That wasn’t quite how it played out,” I told her, not
exactly denying any of it.
“Alex,” Cate sounded exasperated, “Bulldozer is one of the
biggest guys in school.”
“Yeah, I noticed. He is fairly large. Not overly bright but
fairly bulky.”
“Alex, I hate to tell you this, but you aren’t exactly large
enough to go getting into fights with whoever you feel like.”
“I wasn’t going to get into a fight with him,” I patiently
explained. “We just had a little talk, that’s all.”
She stared at me like I was crazy. “That’s your idea of a
calm talk? What was to keep him from pummeling your face?”
“Well, there are certain rules involved in public fights
that...”
“And what do you know about fighting, Alex? Your only fight
so far ended up with you flat on your back in a backwoods community in New Orleans.”
“That only happened because I was distracted. Besides, it
all came out in the end, didn’t it? In this case, it was hardly a fight,” I
protested. “At the worst, he simply shoved me and I rolled and stood up again.
No harm done. If anything, he looked silly for trying to push his weight around
against somebody a hundred pounds lighter than he is.”
“Alex,” I could literally hear Cate’s voice travel an
octave or two in her recital of my name. “He could have creamed you! What were
you thinking?”
“He didn’t do anything. All in all he’s just a sweet guy.
While I’m not too impressed with his approach, I kind of like him. Of course
he’s gonna have to refine his interpersonal skill some.”
“Alex, don’t antagonize him.” Cate seemed to like to repeat
my name when she was worried about me.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything. I didn’t even realize who
the girl was when he first started talking about her. As a result I didn’t have
a chance to talk to her yet.”
“Alex!” Cate yelled.
“What? When someone tells you that someone is interested in
you, it’s only polite to ask about it, isn’t it?” That seemed to flummox her.
“Besides,” I continued just as innocently, “he also
mentioned that his sister was interested in me.”
“Alex, you’ve got to be kidding me! Do you want to get the
crap beat out of you? Did you decide you didn’t get beat up enough down in New Orleans?” Cate reiterated. Given Cate’s reaction, I was wondering what I would be
facing once I got home.
“Don’t worry about it, he’s not going to do anything.
Besides, I’m not looking to cause him any trouble. He just let me know that a
couple of potentially cute girls are interested in me.”
Cate groaned, but quickly figured out that pushing me about
it was just likely to make me act out even more. That’s the best thing about
intelligent women, when they finally realize the futility of trying to change a
guy’s basic personality. Stubbornness and spite are two of my strongest traits.
When we got home, Cate immediately stormed into the house. I
rushed to catch up with her and got in the house just in time to hear, “...and
then he said he was not only going to chase the girl, but that he’s going to go
after his sister as well!”
Apparently Cate had encountered my normal welcoming
committee, as both Allison and Shani were standing there, staring at me. I knew
Natalie was out checking a few places in Carbondale today, and wouldn’t be
arriving until later. It didn’t take long until Anh came out as well, and my
mother wasn’t far behind.
“Just what are you doing getting into fights at school?”
asked Anh. I guess once you’re a mother, the mothering instinct never leaves
you. Still, it was strange to be getting this response from her, when my own
mother was standing quietly beside her.
“Honestly, it sounds worse than it was. Basically he just
wanted to warn me off of getting involved in someone he’s interested in.
Personally, I don’t think he’s had much luck with her himself.”
“Mom, Bulldozer hit him and knocked him over!”
Mom simply cocked her head at me, waiting for my response.
“He never hit me. He got frustrated since I never gave him
an opening. He simply shoved me. I rolled it out and stood up. Actually, I
think he lost points for showing how little control he had and how inefficient
his threats were.”
“All the more reason for him to pummel you!” Cate insisted.
“Nonsense, there are rules to these sorts of things,” I
reminded her.
“And what would you know of...” Cate begin getting excited
again.
“Cate, you’ve had your say,” our mother interrupted. “It
sounds like Alex knows what he’s getting into. After all, it’s his neck on the
line if he misjudges this. Alex, do you have this under control?”
“Yes, Mom, I believe I do.”
“And may I ask what you hope to get out of antagonizing
him?”
“He mentioned not one, but two different girls that are
interested in me. Since I’m looking for girlfriends, I figured it’d make sense
to start with girls that are already interested. I’m trying to avoid those that
are only interested because of any rumors about me.”
“That sounds reasonable, girls, if you’ll handle anything
else,” she said, wiping her hands of the whole thing and returning to the other
room.
Cate simply stared at her retreating form. “Wha... What just
happened? Alex, maybe you really do have some kind of unnatural influence over
her.”
“Nonsense,” Shani replied. “Alex has clearly thought this
out. True, it may have been an off the cuff decision, but he’s had time to
think about it. Anh and I both agree that he needs to learn to trust his
natural instincts, and this is clearly the case here.”
Cate then turned to Allison, who simply shrugged her
shoulders, showing she agreed with everyone else.
“Don’t you all understand what could happen to him?” she
called out to everyone.
“Yes, we’re all aware of it. However, we have faith that he
can handle himself. You may want to consider where you’re priorities lie, Cate.
Are they in protecting Alex from everything in his life, or in helping him grow
and learn how to influence and assist others?” Shani asked her. Cate simply
growled and stomped off to the stairs, leading upstairs to our bedrooms.
“I just don’t want to see my favorite brother get hurt, OK?”
she called as she stormed up the stairs.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Alex?” Anh asked me.
“As sure as I can be, but I feel pretty secure in what I’m
doing. Yes,” I answered.
“Fine, that’s enough for us. Call us if you get into trouble
though,” she insisted as they all welcomed me home.
A little later I got a call from Becky.
“Hey, Alex, just wanted to tell you I’ve been working
overtime trying to arrange some basic tests for you. I think I can arrange some
simple ones this weekend, just to rule out a couple of things that I don’t
think are responsible for what’s happening. Anything else will probably require
access to some expensive hospital tests, and those would require a medical diagnosis.”
“Hey, I understand. Thanks for arranging what you can. Do
you have a timeframe in mind yet?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking about 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. I’ll
call with the details, though. Oh, by the way, you remember when Melinda asked if she could help? Well, I thought of something that would be right up her alley.
I figured if there’s anyone else like you around, they’d likely be some news of
it on the web. I think I’ll have her try to do an extensive internet search for
anyone talking about the kinds of things you described. I know this doesn’t
really need your approval or anything, but I just thought I’d let you know
before I talk to her about it.”
“That’s fine, Becky. I’m sure Melinda would appreciate the
chance to get her hands dirty in, uh, internet dirt, as it were. I’ve been
wondering about that myself. I find it hard to believe that I’m the first
person in the whole history of mankind ever to have this particular ability!”
“There is that,” she laughed. “Anyway, I’m talking on the
company’s time so I’d better ring off. I’ll talk to you later,” and she
proceeded to finish the conversation.
The next morning I drove to school early. Cate had had time
to rethink her response the day before. While she wasn’t happy with the thought
that I may have been putting myself in trouble, she understood everyone else’s
point. She simply gave me a quick hug at the car and wished me luck in whatever
I tried. She also asked if there was anything she could do to assist. I told
her if anyone asked, to please just play the whole event down. I didn’t need
anyone making a fuss and embarrassing Darrell.
I had to admit, I’d been so assertive with Darrell yesterday mainly because I was simply fed up, but I was feeling pretty good now. It was
a combination of things: the tremendous boost to my ego from having multiple
women telling me how wonderful I was, knowing I had a mission in life and
mostly, simply not caring what anyone in the school thought anymore. All together,
I didn’t feel like I’d be the easy pushover I always was before. Besides, I
liked speaking up for myself.
Once I entered the school building, I asked around until I
found Kitty’s locker. By the time I found where it was, it was already too late
to talk. I considered speaking to her during lunch, but most people eat with
their friends, and I knew better than to ask a girl out in front of a crowd of
her friends. So instead I waited until everyone was leaving at the end of the
day. I managed to catch her as she was headed for the door.
“Hey, Kitty,” I smiled at her as she glanced nervously at
me. She was pretty, but not what I’d describe as gorgeous, so she might have
been overlooked by a lot of the typical high school guys. She was thin with
short hair, I mean really short hair, almost shorter than mine, and I keep mine
pretty close to my head. She had large expressive eyes with thin eyebrows and a
big grin that made you think she was always teasing, with surprisingly full
lips. She was almost as pale as my sister was, clearly not being an outdoor
type. She wore a simple tank top that revealed a fair amount of a moderate
sized chest, with these really cute blue stone earrings. I could definitely
envision escorting her out someplace romantic.
“Hey, Alex isn’t it?” she asked with a shy smile to her
face. She seemed a bit ill at ease speaking with me though.
“Yeah,” I replied, gently steering her outside to a location
where we could talk in private. “I managed to run into our common friend, Darrell Jones, and he mentioned that you might be interested in me.” She just looked at me.
“He told you that?” she asked, not quite believing such a
thing would ever occur. I take it she was familiar with his personal style of
interpersonal communications.
“Well, not in so many words, but yeah. So, is there any
chance you might want to go out sometime?”
“Aren’t you afraid Darrell might get upset?” she pressed,
trying to figure out my thinking.
“Darrell? Nah, he’s a pussycat,” I assuaged her. “Although,
I have to tell you, I think he’s interested in you as well. Honestly, I got the
impression you might not be too impressed with him, but I think you should give
him another chance. He kind of tries to project this tough guy image, but I
think there’s a bit more to him than that.”
“Are you serious?” she asked, clearly not believing I could
be.
“Sure, I’m always serious. Except when I’m not,” I teased.
“So, are you asking me out or asking me to ask him out?” She
was confused by this whole discussion.
“Both. I think you should go out with both of us and
honestly determine who is a better match for you.”
“You must be pretty sure of yourself,” she exclaimed.
“No, I just want what’s best for everyone involved. He seems
interested but isn’t very good in the social skills department. He tends to
come on a little strong. I just figured maybe I could talk you into giving us
both the benefit of the doubt.” She looked me in my eyes, something I missed
from dealing with my girls.
“What will your other girls think about
you going out with me?” she asked me archly, stressing the fact she already
knew I had other interests.
“Oh, you might be surprised. My sisters are bound to like
you,” I assured her.
“No,” she replied, rolling her eyes at my denseness. “I
meant all those women that followed you back from New Orleans.”
“Oh, them,” I replied, as if I simply hadn’t thought of them
having any impact on the discussion. “Again, you’d be surprised. They’re
honestly interested in what’s best for me. True, they’re interested in me as
well, but they kind of want me to spread my wings a little first.”
“Spread your wings?” she asked, needing a little more
information to figure out what I was implying.
“Well, I hate to talk about what someone else told me in
confidence, but I think they’d understand it in this case. They’ve told me that
they firmly believe in first love, and that they didn’t want to take that away
from me. So they sent me out to find out about it on my own. Now, I don’t
really know you from Eve, but you seem interesting and I’d like to find out more
about you. It may be that we hit it off. Then again it may be that you hit it
off with Darrell instead. There’s really only one way to find out, isn’t
there?”
“So wait, your multiple current girlfriends want you to lose
your virginity to someone else?” she gasped in disbelief, making several
assumptions and skipping to the specific question we both knew I was talking
about.
“Well, you’re assuming I’m a virgin, but you’re
correct in that. I know it’s a bit odd, but they’re really interested in my
best interests. They think first love is a big deal, and I think I agree with
them. I’d like to experience it firsthand. Again, I’m not promising anything,
but I’d like to go out with you.”
“And after we finally agree to ‘do it’, then what? You run
back to them?” she pressed, her doubt about the entire enterprise clear in her
tone of voice.
“No,” I gasped, clearly shocked at the suggestion, “I’m not
that kind of guy. If we hit it off, and if you decide you want to make some
sort of commitment to me, then we’ll sit down and discuss various things. One
of which is our backgrounds. Mine happens to include a few women who care for
me deeply. So I’d express my desires. You scream and shout and issue demands
and we try to compromise. Depending on how convinced I am that you feel for me,
we work our issues out. That’s how relationships work.”
“Says the relationship expert who’s still in possession of
his virginity,” she smirked.
“Yeah, so he says,” I laughed. “Anyway, they won’t try to
interfere. As I said, they’re interested in my having my own experiences and
exploring life on my own. They won’t bother either of us or attempt to belittle
me by undermining me.”
“And you wouldn’t have any trouble with me dating Darrell at the same time?”
“Hey, I know it’s strange, but I’m really not the jealous
type. I figure if a girl’s interested in me, she’ll treat me right. If she
wants a commitment from me, but strays anyway, then I figure she just wasn’t
that committed to the relationship and I give her what she really wants. Sure, it’ll
hurt like a son of a gun, but I’d rather deal on an honest basis like that than
pretending that I own another person, just because they think I’m somewhat
cute.” This last statement seemed to confuse her even more than the others had.
“You’d just up and walk away if someone cheated on you? You
wouldn’t try to win her back or anything?”
“Hey, if she really wanted me she wouldn’t feel the need to
shop around. And if she was serious about us, she wouldn’t commit to me if she
wasn’t sure about us. I’d just figure I’d be doing us both a big favor just
letting her have what she really wanted all along. I guess I’d be willing to
let her tell me about it. If maybe she was tied up and forced at gunpoint to
have an affair I might listen, but she’d have some convincing to do. I’m sorry,
but if you want jealously and a big front, then you’d better just pick Darrell right now and save us both a lot of trouble.”
“No, no, I’m not ready to dump you over it just yet.
Especially before our first date,” she giggled. “I’m just interested in how you
think. So, if you’re willing to walk out on somebody who cheats, what kind of
latitude do I get in dating Darrell?” I thought she was just teasing but I
decided to play along.
“Well, I’d expect you to be sure before you commit to
anything. I’d also expect if you were interested in a car that you’d check
under the hood. See how it runs and all. Then, if it tests well, you could then
make an informed choice.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I slept with both
you and Darrell at the same time?” she asked, again with an unbelieving
expression.
“Well, I might have a problem if it was at the exact same
time, as I have this thing about crossing swords with someone, if you will, but
I wouldn’t mind as long as we don’t expect more at the moment. Of course I’m
not an idiot. I’d expect you to protect yourself and both of us. That includes
things like birth control and being careful. Dating two competitive guys can be
tricky, as at least one is likely to get his feelings hurt. You’d have to treat
it carefully of course. Letting the guy down easily, whichever one it was. I’m
also not big into theatrics. I’d rather not get into a fistfight over someone
who really doesn’t give a shit.”
“And by being careful, I’m assuming you also mean I should
protect all of us from any stray diseases?” she asked.
“Of course, that only makes sense. Personally, I’ve got no
objections to wearing a glove. Since I’ve never had sex, I won’t think I’m
missing anything.”
“Hmm,” she replied, “you certainly make an interesting argument.
And you really think these women you have at home wouldn’t object?”
“Yes, I’m sure they won’t. In fact, if you’re not sure, ask
my sister Cate about it. She can tell you quite a bit about them and their
motivations.”
“But clearly not as much as you know,” she commented, her
emphasis stating more than the simple comment. I looked askance at her.
“If you’re asking if either of us would reveal private
details, then no. Nobody likes someone who brags about what he did to someone
else. But if you’re interested in their reactions, I’d suggest that instead of
me picking you up, maybe you should come to the house yourself and meet them.
See what you think.”
“You’re serious about all this, aren’t you?” Kitty asked,
just to make sure I wasn’t just playing with her.
“It’d hardly be an auspicious beginning to a potential
relationship if the first thing I did was to lie to you, now would it?”
“I don’t know about that, seems that’s the typical approach
of most guys,” she commented, possibly reflecting on past experiences.
“Well, I’m afraid that I’m not most guys. If you choose to
go out with me you’ll be stuck with just me, not someone else.”
“No, actually I’d be stuck between you and Darrell,” she laughed, teasing me. “OK, sure, how about I come by your place on Friday? Is that
too soon?”
“No, that’d be fine. Although, in the spirit of full
disclosure, Darrell also told me his sister was interested in me. You wouldn’t
happen to know her name would you? I’d like to also ask her out. It seems those
who show initiative should have first shot, no?” She just stared at me for
several seconds. I was beginning to think I’d blown it with my cavalier
attitude.
“Her initiative or Darrell’s?” she asked me. “He really
didn’t suggest you date his own sister, did he? What kind of relationship do
you have with Bulldozer?”
“Please,” I replied, feeling uncomfortable calling someone
that, “let’s not prejudice our opinion of someone by characterizing them as
inanimate objects. But to answer your question, an initial one, that’s about
all I can say. Oh, and don’t mention any of this to Darrell or anyone else
would you? I wouldn’t want to embarrass the guy. In fact, don’t even bring my
name up when you talk to him. No guy likes it when you talk about someone else
when you’re talking to them.”
“Yet you do it with me,” she laughed.
“Hey, you brought it up, what am I supposed to do?” I asked
innocently.
“I didn’t suggest you ask yet another girl out,” she commented,
still in a teasing mood.
“No, but you brought up the other women in my life. After my
little speech I thought it would be hypocritical of me to not mention someone
else I might have a potential interest in.” She simply nodded, acknowledging
her acceptance of my argument.
“So, would it be OK if I had a couple of ongoing
relationships as well?” she asked, still in a teasing mood, or at least so I
thought.
“Of course, I’d expect that to be one of those things we can
talk about on Friday,” I replied with a wink.
“OK. You’re on,” she told me. “Friday night I’ll stop by at
8:00. You pick out where you’d like to take me. I’ll let you drive so you can
surprise me. Somehow I have a feeling you’re going to be surprising me a lot.
Oh, and Darrell’s sister is Chalise. Let me know what she says.”
I was honestly surprised that that approach, which had just
struck me as I was speaking, had actually worked so well. I guess having your
confidence bolstered by a couple of women willing to do anything for you does
something for your presentation skills.
“Chalise, that’s a pretty name. Not that Kitty isn’t an
equally attractive name,” I laughed. “So it’s a date. And call Darrell too, would you? I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll do that Alex. I’ll do that,” she replied sincerely,
seemingly quite pleased with the odd arrangement we’d just struck.
As we split I looked around and saw Cate anxiously watching
us from beside the car. Walking over, she immediately started in on me.
“What do you think you’re doing, Alex? I mean, I trust your
judgment and all, but don’t you think Darrell is going to be a bit pissed at
you?” she asked, unable to comprehend how her normally quiet, shy brother would
suddenly be pulling everyone’s chain, exposing himself to their potential
wrath.
“Probably not as much as he will after I call his sister when
I get home,” I replied with a confident smile. I just loved the response I got
whenever I surprised people with an unexpected response.
“You’re actually going to call his sister?” she gasped in
surprise. “I thought you were just teasing.”
“Well, when we talked yesterday he mentioned that she was
interested in me.”
“I can’t believe he’d actually do something like that.
Why would he do that?” Why was it that no one could believe me when I lied
about that? Besides, I deluded myself, I wasn’t really lying. He really
did mention it to me.
“Well, I think it was kind of compensation for leaving Kitty
alone,” I explained.
“Which you’re not doing?” she asked, not comprehending how I
could be doing what I continually insisted I was.
“No. I’m not going to let some meat locker dictate what I do
or don’t do,” I replied, enjoying a little unanticipated word play, hoping to
further distract my sister with an unexpected response. I was beginning to
enjoy this. I thought I’d found a new hobby.
“So you just expect him to react calmly when you ask out
both his girlfriend and his sister?” she continued to press me, expected me to
change my stance just because she asked me the same sort of question in a
slightly different way.
“I don’t believe she’s his girlfriend,” I reasoned. “She
kinda has a little say in the matter. Anyway, I talked her into giving him a
chance. I think she wasn’t very interested before I talked to her.”
“You what? You asked out a girl, then told her to date the
guy that threatened you to not go out with her?”
“Yeah,” I replied, “that’s about the gist of it.” I smiled,
because I was glad she was finally catching on to what was happening.
“Man, this is going to be so interesting. I’ll be telling it
to all the nurses at your hospital.”
“You do that,” I told her while we both shared a laugh. “You
do that.”
“Hello?”
“Hello, is Chalise there?”
“May I ask who is calling?” The voice responding was nice
and polite. An older woman’s, probably her mother or maybe an aunt or
something.
“Tell her it’s Alex Jennings. If she doesn’t remember the
name, tell her to ask Darrell. I’m sure he’ll remind her of who I am.” The
woman at the other end of the call seemed to consider that a moment.
“Very well, hold on a moment while I get her.”
“Thank you very much,” I replied, “I appreciate it.” She
didn’t respond so I just sat there holding the phone while I waited, all the
women scattered around me, anxiously waiting to see how the call went.
“Hello?” a new voice responded. I’d spoken to her briefly
the other day but I doubted she’d be likely to remember the sound of my voice.
“Hello, Chalise? This is Alex. Alex Jennings. I was just
talking to Darrell yesterday and he mentioned that I should give you a call.”
“Uh, is this really Alex?” We hadn’t said much before but I
found now that I really liked the sound of her voice. It had a nice timbre to
it, light with little rays of sunshine in it. I knew I was reading things that
weren’t there into it, but I didn’t care. I was in a good mood.
“Yeah, last time I checked my license that’s what it said.”
“And my brother told you to call me?”
“Well, not in so many words, but he did mention he thought
you might be responsive to a call from me,” I hedged a bit. Why could no one
believe Darrell would tell me something like that just because he was
threatening me at the time?
“Oh, he did, did he? It seems to me I heard about a little
altercation you two got into at school yesterday.”
“Oh, I’d hardly call it an altercation. It was really just
more of a friendly chat between two potential friends.”
“He didn’t sound very friendly towards you,” she cautioned.
“Hence the ‘potential’ part,” I explained patiently.
“So, what’d you want to talk about?” she asked, finally
changing the topic. I was getting tired of continually pretending that Darrell and I were best friends. No one believed it anyway, but I still thought it was worth
the effort.
“Well, since your brother mentioned you might be receptive,
I’d like to ask you out on Saturday.”
“Me? Saturday? Really? Uh...” She seemed to be at a loss for
words so I thought I’d better step in.
“Look, you don’t have to decide right away. Think about it
before you commit. It’s always good to consider your options first.”
“But... but what about...?” Her ability to form a coherent
sentence wasn’t improving.
“What about what, Chalise?” I prompted, hoping to get her
speaking again. Maybe I could distract her with a little flattery. “Did I
mention how pretty I think your name is?”
“Yeah, yeah,” she answered, waving me off, “what about those
girls you supposedly live with?”
“Oh, they keep coming up in conversations lately. Look, I
already had this conversation with a friend of your brother’s. Rather than
repeat it all, you should just call Kitty and let her tell you about them for
me.”
“You called Kitty? After my brother threatened you?” As much
fun as constantly surprising people was, I was beginning to get tired of the
same responses in exchange.
“Oh good, you already know who she is. And I wouldn’t call
it ‘threatened’. It was more of a friendly suggestion.”
“No, I’ve never met her before, and whatever you want to
call it, he’s gonna be pissed.”
“Why would he be upset that you’ve never met?” I asked her,
playing stupid for a bit before continuing. “And I don’t know why he’d be angry
at me, I got him a date with her. Just don’t tell him that though, I don’t want
him to feel obligated to me.”
“You called Kitty up and asked her to go on a date with him,
then called me up to ask me on a date?” she asked, still
confused by this discussion. I should hand out cue cards during these
discussions.
“Well, actually I asked her to go on a date with both of us,
and to consider us both honestly and treat us honorably, whichever she finally
decides on.”
“Man, this is too much. Are you serious?” Despite them all
asking me if I was serious all the time, this was still a lot of fun. I was
enjoying my new hobby.
“Look, I don’t call girls up and invite them out just to
pull a practical joke on them and break their hearts. That’s just not who I am,
OK?” I asked, as if she’d know who I was and how I’d act.
“Ok, Ok, sorry. So what did Kitty say?”
“She said yes. She’ll be by on Friday to pick me up and to
meet a few of the people staying here. I don’t know when she wants to meet Darrell, though. You’ll have to ask him yourself. Privacy issues you understand.”
“Wow! Uh... these people... they’re the ones who...?”
“Yes, they’re the women that moved here from New Orleans after we met them last week. Kitty mentioned she’d like to meet them so I
invited her over to talk to them.”
“She’s going to your house, to go out on a date, and she’s
going to talk to your current girlfriends about it?”
“I don’t see what’s so odd about that. She was curious about
their motivations, so I suggested they get together and talk. That’s why I
suggested you talk to her as well. We had kind of a long talk about them, and I
thought it’d be good for both of you to talk about it together. She’d probably
like that, since I told her not to talk to anyone else about it. The reasons
why they’re OK with all this is fairly complicated, so I’m not real anxious to
repeat all the arguments, but Kitty would probably like to recap it just so she
can bounce ideas off of you.”
“Uh... OK,” she responded hesitantly, her surprise and
confusion newly refreshed.
“Seriously, give her a call and talk about it with her. You
can also ask Cate, my sister, what she thinks about them, but you may suspect
that she’d be a bit partial to my side of the argument.”
“There’s an argument?” she asked, sounding like she was smiling
as she did so.
“No, we’re all in agreement about this. It’s just that I
don’t expect you and Kitty to understand it quite that easily.”
“You got that right,” she readily agreed. “By the way, just
how many women are we talking about? I’ve heard a couple of different stories.”
“Well, that’s a tricky one,” I told her. “Right now there
are four of them here with us, but there’s a few more still in New Orleans. Plus there’s a couple I haven’t been... uh, intimate with, of both sexes, but
who may occasionally show up. Just so you aren’t surprised or anything.”
“Double Wow! That’s quite a collection. You tell me you met
and slept with a whole string of women and men, and they’re all likely to
follow you here, and then you expect me to go on a date with you?”
“Oh, well, it’s a little more complicated than that. First
of all, I haven’t slept with them all. Secondly, I’m straight, so I haven’t
fooled around with any guys. Finally, I’m still a virgin, so get your mind out
of the gutter, young lady. Yes, I’ve fooled around a little, but I’m still
trainable.”
She was silent for a while after that, trying to process
everything I’d just told her.
“You’re a virgin, yet all these women want to leave their
homes and follow you home to this god forsaken place? What the hell are you, Alex Jennings?”
“I think there are several people asking that question right
now, Chalise, including myself. Look, I’m not trying to brag or anything. I
just want to be honest with you, and I want you to know that I’m not a slut or
anything.”
She was silent again so I just let her think about it all.
“So why would they all follow you so readily?” she asked in
a small, quiet voice.
“I’m hoping that’s something we can discuss on Saturday, if
you’ll agree to go out with me. Although I’m sure you and Kitty can discuss it
with them yourselves.”
“Wow, this is really a lot to take in all at once,” she
stated, sounding overwhelmed.
“Well, to sum up, I really liked meeting you at your lunch
table the other day, and I’d really like it if you’d go out with me. It’d
probably be better if you didn’t mention it to your brother, though, at least
until we get more serious, as I know he’d be concerned about you. It’s kind of
a brother-sister thing. And again, don’t worry about the women here. They’re OK
with this, and are perfectly willing to step aside in this case for me. You can
decide for yourself whether you want to be involved with someone with quite so
much luggage, but at least you’ll have an interesting time discussing it all
with Kitty afterwards.
"If you want to talk to them as well, you can do like
Kitty and meet them before our date on Saturday, or better yet, since I asked
Kitty out on Friday, you could just call her and ask how it went. I’m sure
she’d be willing to dish the dirt on me and mine, so if I really blow it,
you’ll be able to cancel before I can embarrass myself any further. A real
win-win.”
“Uh huh, you actually expect Kitty to tell me the truth
about how her date with you went? You really are trusting, aren’t you?” I guess
that’s the thing when you continually surprise someone, they never seem to
believe you when you suggest something to them.
“I don’t know about that, but I’d expect her to tell you the
truth. Especially since you’re both walking a relatively rocky road together, I
just expect you to help each other over the rougher patches. Besides,” I
paused, grinning slightly, “if you suddenly cancel I’ll know she’s been telling
you stories. Something I’d want to know about her anyway.”
“So it’s actually a test?”
“Well, a very simple test. She either believes in the power
of an honest commitment with someone she likes, or she doesn’t. But either way,
I think I deserve to know how much she values such commitments,” I explained my
thinking to her.
“Uh... I guess so.”
“OK, so call Kitty and call me back whenever you make up
your mind. And don’t worry about hurting my feelings. I’m a big boy and I’ll
manage through it, I’m sure. Anyway, have a nice night and thanks for talking
to me.”
“Uh... thank you, and you’re welcome, I guess.”
“Bye, Chalise.”
“Bye, Alex,” and with that I hung up. The girls sat up and
asked me how it went. I kissed them and said I thought it went well with both
girls, but only time would tell. It was a difficult situation for everyone
involved, and each one would have to weigh the costs and benefits on their own.
“Not us,” they protested. Shani finished the thought. “We
feel very secure in this. We want you to enjoy your life, and live it as
normally as you can, despite having all these strange women calling you an Angel and a mighty Spirit that is.”
“Thanks,” I said, kissing each of them, “I appreciate it.
Now we just have to convince Kitty and Chalise.”
Feedback on my stories is always welcome. Please send it to crumblywriter@gmail.com. Also visit the Story Blog. You should be warned that the blog includes a lot of information regarding the story, like what I'm trying to achieve, various reader's responses to the material, subtleties in it's tellings, so it makes sense to visit it and get a feel for what's going on.