Chapter 11: And the Drama Begins

Maria had a protein shake and a banana waiting for me when I got home from school. I still hadn't seen Sammie, yet; and I couldn't shake the idea that she might be avoiding me.

"I think she's avoiding everybody, right now," Maria said. "Every time she goes and visits her father, she comes home with a bad attitude. You remember last summer, it was two weeks before she was civil to anybody."

I did remember last summer. Sammie came home and was a total bitch to her mom for about three weeks. When she finally came clean, she said that her father had no respect for her mother's occupation, and had spent a good deal of time disparaging Maria. Sammie said her mother was smart, and there was no reason she couldn't get a real job doing something worthwhile instead of picking up rich people's garbage.

We weren't really uber-rich, but we were certainly comfortable. When my father died, he left a decent life insurance policy, and a trust fund for me, to make sure my college tuition wouldn't be an issue for mom. However, the bulk of our 'estate' came from the settlement from Draper Enterprises, where dad had worked. They had known Jack Harrington was unstable. They had known he had made multiple threats within earshot of several witnesses. They had known when they fired him that he would not go quietly. THEY HAD KNOWN! Yet they had done nothing, which went a long way in contributing to my father's death. The final amount was not publicly disclosed, but we had enough to cover just about any contingency, and then some. Mom worked because she loved what she did. If she never worked another day in her life, we still wouldn't have to worry.

Last year, I told Sammie that we considered Maria to be family. As an extension of this, we considered Sammie to be part of the family as well. Sammie simply scoffed at me, and asked where her fucking Coach purse was. I'm guessing she and Maria had a talk because a couple of days later, Sammie came and apologized to me and my mother. After that, she was fine and we had a fun year.

I had expected some fallout from Sammie's visit to her dad's over the summer, but at least, last year, she was talking to me.

"Just tell her I miss her, and I would like to talk with her if she gets the chance."

Maria reached across the table and took my hands in hers. "I will, Phil. I will. But give her some time to come around. She's growing into a young woman, and many of the things she thought she ... loved, before, are being swept aside."

I nodded my head, understanding. A couple of years ago, I would have believed that Sammie and I loved each other, as much as thirteen-year-olds could. But she had changed a lot in the last couple of years. For that matter, so had I.

Sparks gave me a rough drawing of his vision for the tree house. It was just a simple 10'x10' shed, built off the ground by about ten feet or so. He had the entry way breaking through the middle of the tree house, which cut into the amount of usable space inside. I modified it slightly, moving the entry to the side of the tree house facing away from the house and toward the west to catch some breezes. A window on the eastern side could be opened allowing for a decent amount of airflow. Part of what I needed from Carlos was some advice about electrical wiring. If I could figure out how to get some electricity up there, maybe I could install a small refrigerator, and a space heater, to keep the treehouse open for most of the year.

I gave Maria the rough drawings of the treehouse, and asked her if she could pass them along to Carlos.

"I talked to him this morning. He said he could come by for a little while on Sunday, and do a site survey. He said that he may have enough left over material from the last couple of jobs to cover something as small as a treehouse."

"Maria, make sure you tell him we appreciate it. Maybe your family could come over for lunch, Sunday and we'll just make an afternoon of it. We aren't shutting the pool down just yet and with Labor Day coming up, how about a pool party?"

"Who's going to cook all of this wonderful food, Mr. Phil? You going to do it by yourself like you did the appetizers last week?" Maria had a mischievous look about her.

"No, no. This is your day off. No cooking for you!"

Maria laughed.

"Besides, I can get some of those awesome frozen pizza rolls and maybe some little egg rolls and just toss them in the oven."

Maria's smile turned to a frown.

"I'm not eating that mierda!" Maria got up from her chair, eager to exit the scene. I'd had my fun.

"I'm just kidding! We'll think of something good, I promise. All you need to bring is your family, your swimsuit, and your appetite. We'll take care of the rest."

"Okay, I'll check with Carlos and Samantha. Maybe we'll eat something before we come."

I sent a group text to Mike, Sparks and Christy letting them know about the pool party, Sunday, and asked Mike and Sparks to include their significant others if they wanted to bring them along. Christy suggested it be a pot luck party, which I thought was an excellent idea. This should be fun!

Christy called me a short time after and told me she had some good news and bad news.

"I knew this wouldn't last. You've found someone else to date, haven't you?" I started.

I was joking, of course, but I still had a tinge of doubt where Christy was concerned. It wasn't that I was on pins and needles waiting for her to dump me, but I couldn't shake the fact that she was a beautiful girl who was quickly becoming part of the popular crowd, had her driver's license already and was a year ahead of me in school.

"You're funny, but no, you aren't getting off that easy. Which do you want first the good news or the bad news?"

I really hated this game. Mom used to do this to me until I just stopped responding. Christy was still new, so she had no idea.

"Give me the bad news first. I'll need the good news to soften the blow."

"It's not that bad, really. It's just that I may be busier after school than I am now."

"Why?"

"Well, that's the good news! I joined the drama club, today. We're going to put on one play and one musical this year."

The good news definitely did not cover the weight of the bad news and I had a hard time not showing it.

"How much busier after school are you going to be?"

"Well, I can't do a lot this semester, since I'm cheerleading, but Ms. Davis said that I could use my study hall at the end of the day to participate until the semester is over. There's a group of seven people who are in the same boat I'm in, so we will all practice together. There are also going to be some meetings on Saturdays as well, particularly as we get closer to production."

"Oh."

That's all I could really say. Although I knew that this would be good for her long-term, I couldn't help be a little selfish and think that any thoughts I had about having a steady girlfriend to go out with on the weekends were quickly disappearing. This is why I couldn't join the drama club. I just couldn't act differently than the way I felt.

"Phil, I'm sorry. I was hoping you would be happy for me."

"I am Christy, really. But I know this means less time for me to get to know you better."

"Think about it this way, Phil. When the semester is over, I won't have cheerleading commitments the rest of the year, which means my weekend nights will be clear. You are going to have plenty of time to get to know me."

I sighed my relief into the phone. "I really do want to get to know you, Christy. I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot, too. If we aren't together as much as we would like, we'll just have to make sure the time we are together is really good. I have to keep you interested, you know."

"Okay, I feel better."

"Really?"

"Somewhat."

Christy giggled into the phone. "I have something to give you tomorrow when I see you."

"What is it?"

"Phil Marlow! Like I would tell you that now, and ruin the surprise?"

After I got off the phone with Christy, I touched base with Sparks and went over the changes I made to the design.

"To be honest, Phil, I didn't spend a lot of time on it. After all, it's just a treehouse, but I understand the changes. Do you really think we could get a fridge in there? How are we going to get a futon up there?"

"I don't know. Maybe we need to install some sort of a winch to help get some of the bigger things up there. We can talk to Carlos about it Sunday."

"Do I need to bring anything to this shindig you thought up for Sunday?"

"Bring yourself and bring Heather. We'll take care of the rest."

"I'll check with the parents, but I don't see an issue. I'll call Heather and let you know."

That reminded me that I hadn't checked with Mom yet. When I got off the phone with Sparks, I sent a text to my mom, letting her know my plans for Sunday. Typically, she doesn't have issues with plans around the house, including guests, but it was disrespectful not to check.