Chapter 2: The Acronym

Back at school a week later, Bailey joined Molly at their regular table in the cafeteria. They positioned themselves with their backs to the wall, avoiding any unwanted attention. Despite Wade Marshall’s suspension and transfer to another school, his low-life friends continued to worry the girls.

“What do you have today?” asked Bailey.

“It has peanut butter and jelly, but as usual, my mother made the bread, and there are oatmeal raisin cookies. “She baked both yesterday.” The one thing—the ONLY thing—that Bailey envied about Molly’s life was how her mother made her lunches.

Peggy Phelan had transformed herself into a “tradwife,” modeled after 1950s images of traditional stay-at-home wives and mothers. This happened after Molly’s parents had joined an unaffiliated fundamentalist Christian church.

Suddenly, Molly and her younger sister, Jordan, experienced a complete restructuring of their family. Their father, Michael, transformed from an easygoing family man into a glowering patriarch. He demanded strict obedience and never again relaxed in front of his daughters.

Peggy quit working and remade herself in the image of housewives in black-and-white TV shows from 70 years ago. She put her hair in curlers, wore makeup morning to night, and dressed in antique styles from magazines of that era.

The Phelan household was under strain ever since, particularly because of the loss of income and the new obligation of 10% (pretax) tithing to Pastor McHenry’s church. Michael’s sour moods were exacerbated by the strain on the family’s finances.

Jordan, bewildered, seemed to retreat into herself. Molly oscillated between grief and exasperation. Peggy’s submissive behavior towards her father, her antique beliefs, and her rigid discipline infuriated Molly.

Any mother can expect to have conflicts with their teenage daughters. But Peggy and Molly Phelan were on a tight continuum, ranging from quarrels to screaming, with much slamming of doors.

Bailey was ready to hear another rendition of “The Crimes of Peggy Phelan” in the cafeteria when something interrupted them.

“Is it alright if we sit here?” Leila Kain asked.

“Of course,” replied Molly.

“Great; this is my cousin Abbie. She and I want to thank you. You know why.”

“Aw, no problem. He just got on my last nerve. What a dick! I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Still, you went to the hospital. I can’t forget that. When it happened, Molly, you were crying. Have you and Bailey been friends for long?”

“A few years now. We were pushed together, being fair-skinned and red-headed.”

“Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”

They were all laughing now, as Leila and her cousin were both African-American.

“Wait a minute!” Abbie made a “T” with her hands for “time out.”

“You’re saying you were discriminated against?”

“Yes! We’re victims of prejudice. In this school, Bailey and I are an oppressed minority: white girls with red hair.”

Molly tried, but failed, to deliver this with a straight face. In turn, Leila made a proposal.

“We’ll start a charity: Sisters Teaching Understanding and Preventing Interracial Discrimination.”

Bailey was counting capital letters with her fingers.

“S – T – U – P – I – D ... STUPID! Leila, that’s perfect! Alright, tomorrow after school I’m inviting you and Molly to come to my house so we can have our first official STUPID meeting, OK?

“Really? Is that OK?”

“It will be a blast. If you can stay for dinner, my dad will spring for pizza. It’s only four blocks from here. And if you bring your swimsuits, you can enjoy our backyard spa.”

“Spa?” asked Abbie.

Some people refer to them as ‘hot tubs.’” The spa provides hot, bubbly water that reaches your shoulders and is equipped with jets. It’s wonderful.”

The following afternoon, Bailey unlocked her front door and ushered her two new friends and Molly inside.

“This is it; the kitchen is over there; the bathroom is down that hall. My dad’s bedroom is on the left, mine on the right. It’s just the two of us; my mother died when I was only three.”

“No step-monster?” inquired Abbie.

“Nope, my dad is a workaholic. If he comes home late, it’s because he was chained to his desk. That’s what he says, anyway, but I believe him. I saw him slaving away in his office for ridiculous hours during COVID.

“I’m going to turn on the spa so the water will be toasty warm for us in a few minutes. Molly, come help me get the cover off.”

While they were away, Leila had a question.

“What do you think of the house?”

“It’s OK, kind of plain. There’s not much in the way of furniture or decorations. Oh, there’s a picture; that must be baby Bailey and her parents.”

Molly and Bailey returned.

“I’m anxious to get in the water, Bailey. Can we get changed?”

“Molly and I just go in my bedroom and throw our clothes on the bed. Do you want us to wait while you go in there and change?”

“Naw, we can all stay together; that will be faster.”

In the between time after the clothes came off and before the suits were pulled on, none of them could resist checking each other out. Two crotches with tight black curls and two with reddish-brown muffs; all fascinating in their novelty.