Chapter 8: More Bubbles of Anger

It was about nine when I finished my studying for the night. I was preparing a list of food items that could be hidden in the tree house when my father came home. He was shouting about untrustworthy politicians and corrupt bureaucrats. It was clear that the conference call had not provided the results he and his friends had hoped for. I went to sleep listening to him rant at Mother.

The next morning Father was sitting at the breakfast table when I came down after my shower. He glared at me as I walked to the counter and started preparing a bowl of cereal.

"Your mother tells me you weren't happy with your score," he said as I brought my bowl to the table and sat down.

"There is no guideline on the test," I complained. "How am I to know why I was given the score I got. It's unfair that I have to accept a score blindly. It's not like a civil service exam where you can study for it."

Father nodded. "You'd do well on most civil service exams. I could even get you signed up to take an exam for the Forest Service this summer."

"I'm fourteen Dad. I can't work for them," I pointed out calmly.

Father laughed. "Not true. I can get you signed up as a part time assistant, helping police protests that occur on government property." My father looked thoughtful. "Yes, that might be a good thing to set up. You would be able to make sure that the wrong people don't see or hear too much."

I shrugged. "Do you plan lots of protests for this summer?"

"No," Father said with a frown. "Not unless the protests today and Monday have an effect. We tried to contact several congressmen who have helped us in the past, and they refused to say much."

"What did they say?" I asked.

"That they have no ability to make things change at the moment. The president is supporting the aliens. And the military is the group driving the process."

"What's wrong with that?" Mike asked as he came down the stairs.

My father glared at my older brother. "You need to stop and think boy," he said scornfully. "We don't have much influence over the military. They don't need union funding for campaigns or our ability to organize protests. If they are the ones in charge of this new CAP system, then it might be impossible to force changes quickly."

"So we just get the president voted out of office," Mike said. "We did that before."

"He was just elected a year ago," Father snapped. "If this program is in place for three years we'll never be able to stop it. Everyone will be used to it and accept it."

Mike frowned. "I guess I better work a bit harder on Mindy."

I said nothing. My father started giving my brother some rather profane and outlandish suggestions on how he might gain the favor of Mindy. Most of these plans seemed to play on the fact that Mike knew people in the union who might, for the right price, help Mindy gain tenure quickly.

Matti came down from her room and the conversation ebbed. I hurriedly finished my bowl of cereal and stood up. Father looked over at me. "You getting a ride to school?"

"I thought you'd both be busy this morning," I said. "If I hurry, I might be able to catch a ride with Jason."

"He lives a few blocks away doesn't he?" Father asked.

"Yes, but I don't mind a morning jog. Be good exercise," I said.

"Oh, when you get to the school, let Tony know that he needs to get us some good information soon?" Father called out as I started to walk to the front door.

"Tony?" I asked.

"Your history teacher, Anthony Franken," Father called back. "He promised us something we could use as leverage on one of the senators from New Mexico. We'll need that soon."

I nodded as I opened the door and left the house. As I closed the door I wondered what information Mr. Franken could have that would worry any sitting senator. It sounded like the man had been bragging in the hope of raising his value to the union.

I left the house about an hour before school started, so I figured I had thirty minutes to walk before Mrs. Roberts would be taking Jason and Ashley to school. The thought of getting even a few moments with Ashley brought a smile to my face, and I skipped forward as I headed down the sidewalk. My mind was on meeting her, so I was not paying attention to passing cars and people. I was about to turn onto the side street where she lived when a poisonous voice called out.

"Well, if it isn't the eighth grade class' resident geek. What brings you out so early?"

I slowed down and looked to my left. I found Roger sitting on a bicycle in the street. He easily kept up with me as I continued to walk on the sidewalk.

"My parents are busy this morning, so I thought I'd catch a ride to school with Jason," I said carefully.

"You can't bike to school?" the bully asked scornfully. He guided his bicycle up a driveway and started charging toward me.

I stood my ground until he was less than ten feet away and then dodged across the berm separating the sidewalk from the street. Roger cursed and sped down the sidewalk before using the next driveway to return to the street. He circled back towards me as I continued to walk toward the Roberts residence.

"I have some things going on after school that prevent me from biking home," I said.

Roger snorted. "Really. The prissy little class brain is busy? What are you doing this time? Cleaning all of the erasers used by Mr. Hicks? Or is it that you agreed to repaint the lines on the playground again? I heard you made several hundred dollars doing that before seventh grade."

"It would have been illegal to pay me then," I said. "Besides, how long would I have been grounded by my father if I took that job and replaced his union maintenance guys?"

"My father was supposed to get that job," Roger shouted as he continued to follow me on his bike. He was staying in the street as we continued to travel down the road.

"I had nothing to do with the bidding," I said. "I'm sorry your father lost the opportunity."

"He had to let two of his men go!" Roger screamed. "He had promised me that we'd go to a football camp last summer, and then we couldn't afford it! I might not get the car for my sixteenth birthday he promised because of the jobs he can't bid on anymore."

"It's not my fault!" I snapped back.

"No, but I'll make you pay!" Roger said as he rolled up another driveway and began to charge at me again.

I braced myself and prepared to jump to the side. Roger was about twenty feet from me when there was a chirp from behind me and in the street. The bike decelerated quickly and came to a stop only a couple of feet from me.

"I don't know why you are fighting, but break it up and head to school," a male voice said over a loudspeaker. I glanced over my shoulder and found a county sheriff's patrol car stopped in the street.

Roger muttered a curse, but turned the bike around and sped away, using the first driveway to return to the street. The patrol car followed him to the next corner and then turned left. I took advantage of the space it gave me to run the rest of the way to the Roberts' home.

I could hear people moving in the Roberts' house as I strode up the steps to the porch and approached the door. The doorbell gave a satisfying ring as I pressed the button. Inside I could hear a chair scrape on the floor followed by footsteps.

The door was flung open. I prepared for a hug, but instead felt a fist strike my face. It staggered me slightly. I looked up in shock to see Jason glaring at me.

"My sister! You have completely corrupted my sister!" he shouted.

"Jason?" I gasped out. "What's wrong?"

"You jerk! How could you do that to my sister?" Jason screamed from the doorway. "She's too good for you. I'm going to kill you for what you have done to her?"

I held up my empty hands. "Jason, calm down, let's talk about this. You were fine with this yesterday."

"Never!" Jason screamed as he stepped through the doorway and started slowly advancing towards me. I backed away down the porch, trying to think of a way to calm him down. My back ran into the porch railing. I was sliding my right leg forward and getting ready to fight when Ashley ran up behind Jason and smacked the back of his head.

My friend turned to see what had happened. Ashley sprinted past him and moved in front of me. She put her right hand against my chest and held her left hand out towards Jason. "Stop it!" she screamed.

I quickly glanced at Ashley. She had her blonde hair up in a ponytail. The blue t-shirt was the one with the quote about algebra I had purchased the day before. She was wearing the long navy blue gypsy skirt. It was an incredibly attractive ensemble. "Love the look, Ashley," I said absently.

Ashley turned her head and gave me a loving smile. Jason stepped forward and grabbed her arm. "Out of the way! This idiot has to pay for what he's done."

Ashley pulled her arm from his hands. "Even Mom has told you repeatedly that I wanted this. Why are you so angry at your best friend?"

"You're wearing a skirt! It's completely uncool to wear a skirt," Jason started.

"Oh, unless it's a cheerleader skirt?" I asked.

"You're not helping," Ashley said. "Jason, I don't care about being cool. I never did. I love sports, so I enjoy being a cheerleader. I don't cheer because it's cool or popular."

"You're going to be turned on by the popular crowd!" Jason complained.

"And?' Ashley asked back.

"Ashley!" Jason called out. "You're beautiful and athletic. I've seen some of the stars on the football team approach you after games and try to get dates with you. You could have anyone and you've chosen my geek friend whose only claim to fame is he's got the best grades in my junior high! He's not even your age!"

The pressure left my chest as Ashley spun. Her right hand slapped Jason hard enough to send him reeling into the porch railing. "I don't want some jock! I never wanted a jock boyfriend! Did you not try to sneak down the stairs to listen during my one cheerleader slumber party last year? The seniors on the football team got dates with six freshman cheerleaders. Every single one of them wound up waking up naked in a bed after a party. Three lost their virginity on those dates. And none got a date after that. The jocks treat the younger cheerleaders like dirt. Mark has never done that. He's always been polite and kind. I trust him!"

"Trust him?" Jason shouted. "He had you wearing a belt as a skirt with no panties on. You walked around a mall like that."

"Did someone call him this morning?" I asked.

"No," Ashley said as Jason stood back up. "The only call anyone received was Mom getting a call from her boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" I asked.

Ashley smiled. "Remember how that contractor - Morgan Cunningham - is going to get our items from the store and then fix up one of the tree houses. Well, it turns out that he and Mom have been dating for about six months now. He called Mom to tell her that he'd be starting early."

I looked as Jason who shrugged at the news. "It's nice to know that Mom has someone," he admitted. "But you still have ruined my sister."

"He hasn't ruined me!" Ashley said again. "And I'm still trying to figure out why you are suddenly so bent out of shape. You were fine last night at dinner."

Jason looked down. "Julio sent me a text. His older sister saw you at the mall. I guess she made a lot of very negative comments at dinner last night."

Ashley looked puzzled. I took a chance and moved behind her. I wrapped my arms around her, cupping her breasts as I hugged her from behind. She leaned back into my embrace. "Julio's sister is Leticia right?"

"I think so, ' I said. "She's a junior at the high school. I believe Julio said she only has a five three."

Ashley laughed grimly. "I can't believe we are already talking about people and mentioning their CAP scores. Anyways, if we are talking about the same Leticia, she's considered one of the bigger losers in her class."

"What?' Jason said.

"She's overly prim and proper," Ashley said. Her tone made it clear that the majority of the students looked down on Leticia. "This is a girl who last year during PE classes tried to get some girls in trouble because they were not wearing panties with their gym uniforms. She couldn't get a teacher interested, so she actually tried to circulate a petition that she was going to present to the school board."

"I never heard about that, so I guess it didn't work too well," I said.

Jason laughed. "What guy would sign it? They'd be laughed at for supporting a petition to make girls put panties on."

I looked at Jason. He appeared to be relaxing finally. I pinched Ashley's right breast, then released her and stepped around her to approach my friend. "Are we good now?" I asked.

Jason looked down at the porch. "Yes," he said slowly. "Sorry, I just overreacted when you arrived. I just don't like the idea that my sister is being turned into some kind of slut."

I nodded. "You have my promise that I'll always respect her. Also I'm not interested in sharing her with other men. She'll never be a slut." I reached out my right hand toward my friend.

He looked me directly in the eye for a moment and then reached out to take my hand. "Just, take care of her," he pleaded.

"I think that's my line," Mrs. Roberts' voice called out. I looked around Jason and found her standing in the doorway. She glared at both of her children for a moment. "You have both been far too loud for an early morning. Hopefully no one heard you too clearly, and we won't have any problems. Now, go and get your packs so we can get you to school."

Jason and Ashley ran inside the house. Mrs. Robert stepped aside to allow them to enter and then walked over to face me. "And what do I do about you?" she asked rhetorically.

"Take me to school with your children and trust me to cherish your daughter?" I offered hopefully.

Mrs. Roberts smiled. "Well she adores you. You are allowing her to spread her wings without having to fear that she'll end up drugged and raped. I just wish Jason did not receive that text this morning."