Chapter 9: Building A Group

August 13, 1980

“Why are we doing this again? When we have to ride all the way to school, too?” Angie asked as she tied her pink sneakers. It was six in the morning. Dad had just left, and we’d gotten up and gone outside.

“Because we’ll never do it after school — it’s way too hot. And because I need it and you want to keep your figure. That’s what you told me, anyway.”

“Then I’m an idiot. Six in the freaking morning!”

“C’mon, you know it’s a good idea.”

“Fine, I know it’s a good idea. But it’s a good idea that sucks to actually do.”

“No pain, no gain, little sister. Let’s go.”

“Fine. But I am not chatting with you while we run. Run now, chat later. Or earlier. I don’t have the lungs for both at the same time.”

I stifled a joke about her lungs. I didn’t want her hitting me. Even running with Angie, I was considering the idea of getting a Walkman. If we weren’t going to chat while running, music would motivate us.

August 15, 1980

The rest of the week was rather quiet. A couple of teachers got right to the quizzes, we had both volleyball and square dancing in PE, and we diagrammed too many sentences in English. Mom and Dad seemed pleased with things, Angie and I hadn’t locked horns over the bathroom, and I’d met my goal of getting out and exercising outside of school nearly every day (also not counting biking to school).

I didn’t feel like I was getting back many more memories, but it didn’t matter as much with a few days of school behind me. I’d made two very different new friends. Andy Smith was an athlete. He was on the JV football team as a receiver and was planning to try out for baseball. Tall and in great shape, he was a handsome guy as well. He shared my misery in English and was struggling through Geometry. Jimmy Barnes was not an athlete. He was on the nerdy end of the spectrum, but then so was I, or at least, so I’d been. He reminded me of me. A bit chubby and in danger of getting more than a bit so, awkward around girls, whip-smart. He was cruising in Spanish (and I hoped he could help me), almost at my level in Geometry, and OK in Biology. In return, I was going to see if I could work on Jimmy a bit, nudge him towards some different food choices and maybe get him moving. It’s not that easy, but then, I’d managed so far.

I hoped both of them would join our nascent study group. So far it was just an idea. Angie and I were going to float a meeting next week and see if Mom and Dad were in. If so, we’d meet at the public library, about a third of the way home. It’d mean getting home late and likely missing family dinner. The question was whether studies would beat family time. We were both betting that they would.

Angie was very serious about our double-date plan. The problem was, she hadn’t cleared it with the parents. She and I had argued about that, twice — not that heated, but real disagreements. She felt that I knew them better and therefore should bring it up first, and besides, I was a known quantity that they trusted. I felt that she was the ‘spoiled new daughter’ and they’d go for it more easily.

Angie won. I won’t say that the sniffling clinched it, but it was a factor. I knew she was manipulating me, and she knew it, too. Didn’t matter; I’m a sucker for a sniffling girl.

However, after thinking it through, I decided the plan needed to change.

“Angie?”

“Yeah?”

“It won’t work.”

“Huh?”

“The double-dating plan. They won’t go for it. Not now. We need to get permission to go out with a few friends first. They don’t need to know it’s a date. It’ll just be a few guys and a few girls. They can’t complain about mixed sexes if we’re both going.”

She thought about it. “That might just work. Then we can aim for double-dating in the spring.”

I shook my head. “We’ll get a few chances along the way. There’s Homecoming and the Halloween dance, then the Valentine’s dance. All heavily chaperoned. If we get past Valentine’s and haven’t pushed at all, they’ll be wondering when we’ll push. Spring is possible, but they’ll expect that. I think Summer. It’s a long way off, but think about it. We’ll both be through a year with, I hope, solid grades. There’ll be no homework, nothing they can say we’ll neglect for dating. We’ll both be fifteen and will have been going out on weekends for months. By that point, saying we want to double-date will be a fait accompli. What are they going to say?”

She grinned. “Know what, big brother?”

“Mmmm?”

“You are a sneaky bastard when you want to be.”

“Heyyyy. My parents are married!”

She giggled. “Smart, too.” A quick hug. “I love you, big brother.” That was a first.

I hugged her. “I love you, too, sis.”

August 17, 1980

Family game night. I was kicking butt at Monopoly. Again. And without cheating.

“Mom, Dad? I have a question, or I guess, we have a question.”

Angie gave me a look, I gave her a tiny shake of my head. I wouldn’t hit the big one head-on but, reading their mood, it felt like bringing up a different topic would work now.

Dad looked at me. “Yes, son? What’s up?”

“Well. You know that I’ve always done fine on my own with my classes. Well, fine enough except for those conduct grades in elementary school.” They both laughed. They’d worried, but once they figured out just how bored I was it all got a lot better. “Well, some of these classes aren’t so easy. I can manage them, but it’ll be better if I study more. And I’ve been watching other people, and it seems like getting a group of us together would be best. Angie and I have talked about it. She’ll be part of the group, of course.”

Mom smiled. I wasn’t sure what was in that smile. “And who would be in this group?”

Gotta hit this head on. “Right now, it looks like Mike Winterford, Dan Miller, Mark, Morty, and Mel Riley, Candice Matthews, Emily Parker, Andy Smith, and Jimmy Barnes. Also maybe Debbie Banks and Connie Ng. They’re even less sure about their parents than the rest. You don’t know the last four, and I know you’ve barely met the Rileys, but you know the rest. They’re all good kids and strong students.”

Mom nodded. “So, both boys and girls.”

“Well, of course. I mean, if it’s Angie and me, how could it be anything else?” She looked surprised. I think somehow she’d missed that. “We’re thinking to meet at the library, which means we’ll be quiet and well-behaved. You know Ms. Meadows won’t put up with any nonsense.” Sue Meadows was head librarian and had been since they were in the old building. I’d known her more than a decade. She was nice, but she wouldn’t put up with any mischief, and Mom knew it.

“Angie, what do you think? Are these all boys you’re comfortable around?”

Angie laughed, just the right amount. “Mommmmm. I’m around them every day, in class and at lunch. They’re all perfect gentlemen and, besides, we’ll be in a library. We’ll go right there, then right home.”

Dad jumped in. “When would you get home?” This was going to be the real issue. I was going to be messing with family dinners and in addition, if we went on to dating, we might be home as little as three nights a week. I was doubtful that would fly, but I’d lose for sure if I backed off early.

“Not until six or seven. I know that’s too late for a family dinner...”

Mom nodded, looking unhappy. “It is, with your father’s work schedule.”

Dad shook his head. “I can manage one late night a week, anyway.”

“Sam?”

“I can, honey. It’ll be fine. Especially if it’s Tuesday. They don’t need me at 6:30am on Wednesday.”

I was quietly shaken. Dad had gotten to work by 6:30 in the morning practically every day of his life that I was aware of. Was he different? Was my nudging making him change?

“We were thinking Tuesday and Thursday.”

Mom still looked a bit unhappy. “So, Tuesday and Thursday, and you’re both already doing things on the weekends half the time.”

Angie jumped in. “We’re both changing that a bit. Oh, we’ll still do things, but ... well...”

I followed on. “I’ll be aiming to do it more with school friends, and if I can, with friends that we share.”

“You’re dropping D&D?” Mom questioned. This wasn’t anything she’d imagined.

“Yeah. I love the guys, but I need to settle in at my new school. Angie’s helped me see that.”

“And I do, too,” Angie said. “I had a whole gang of friends before. It’s no one’s fault that I don’t now, but I like the kids here. A lot. But I won’t be friends the same way if we only see each other at school.”

Dad looked like he was thinking. “I’m not sure I like Thursday”. Mom nodded. Bummer, but not unexpected. Four nights a week, compared to just one or two weekend nights, was a stretch.

He paused for a second. “Sunday afternoon.”

“Sam?” Mom sounded startled.

“Yes. Sunday afternoon. Library’s open. They can study Sunday afternoon. It’ll mean we have to do family games at night, sometimes, but we watch too much TV, anyway.”

Mom was shaking her head, but it looked like resignation crossed with amusement. “Are you sure, Sam?” She glanced between us. I could just hear her thinking at Dad: ‘They’re only fourteen, and it’ll be boys and girls. Together.’

Dad got it. And smiled. “They’re both fourteen and they’ve proven to be pretty mature, Steve’s knock on the head notwithstanding.” I had the good grace to blush. “And we’ve met some of the other kids, and we’ve met their parents. I can’t imagine the Parkers or the Matthews letting their little girls out with anyone we’d worry about, and I can say the same about the Winterfords and Rileys.” He gave us both ‘The Look’. “Now, no dating. Friends is one thing, dating is another. Not yet. But going out with friends? You’re already doing that, and we trust you. And studying is important. You’ve got Friday and Saturday and Tuesday, and you can plan Sunday afternoon. Hopefully the other parents agree.”

Mom shook her head again, resigned. Maybe impressed. “Don’t push it, kids. Let’s see how this goes for a while before you two come up with any more schemes.” She chuckled. “I know you’re both growing up. Try to not do it too fast, OK?”

We both nodded. “Yes, Mom!” I had to consider that. There was no other answer, but I’d grown up far faster than she could ever imagine already, even if I was also feeling like I was much more fourteen than fifty-five.

I picked up the dice and shook them. “Your turn, Angie.”

She laughed. “Wait, we were playing a game?”

That night there was a knock on my door around 8:30. I was already in my PJ’s but was just reading a book. “Come in!”

Angie came in, closing the door. She looked at me, then bowed. “I’m not worthy!” She was snickering and grinning. “Damn, I had no idea what a sneaky bastard you are. That was amazing.”

I grinned, too. “Hey, it nearly went down in flames.”

She shook her head. “You called it, right off. You knew Dad would let things go given a chance. Mom overplayed her hand a trifle, and he jumped on it.” She came over, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“They both mean well, Ang.” I pronounced that like ‘Anj’, with a soft G. I hoped she liked it. “Mom’s just nervous. She was before, and now? Before, she only had the one kid, and she had to keep me safe. Now she gets two chances, but since you’re a girl, she sees even more threats than before.”

“Yeah, well, she’s right on that. Hate to say it. Daddy ... Frank ... was petrified of that. He knew girls who turned up pregnant that were younger than me.”

I blushed a bit, but just looked the question to her.

“No ... noooooooo ... nuh uh. Not about to, either. I ... um,” she blushed too “OK, so, I can’t say I haven’t, um ... thought about it. Of course I have, I’m not an idiot. But I can’t even date one-on-one.”

I nodded. “Me, too. Of course I’ve thought about it...”

She jumped in. “You’re a guy. If you hadn’t, I’d be telling them you needed another brain exam.”

“Well, duh. But same as you. I can’t date one-on-one. Outings with sisters...” — and there was another blush for Angie — “notwithstanding.”