Chapter 30: A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Sunday May 8

I drifted awake in a sea of warmth, feeling both languid and content. I was thinking of the exquisite feelings from last night when I started as I remembered who I’d spent the night with. That is if I hadn’t been dreaming.

I sat up abruptly and looked around me. ‘Thank God,’ I sighed with relief. It had been a dream. The body keeping me warm was Duke.

I picked up my phone and called Adrienne.

“I had the best dream last night. It involved you and Kate.”

“I wonder about you sometimes. I still can’t believe you passed up the opportunity to spend some quality time with the two of us. We might need to get you checked.”

“I made a promise to my mom after we found out I have a half brother who’s younger than me. I had a front-row seat to the kind of devastation something like that can cause. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have probably broken one of my cardinal rules of not sleeping with someone who’s in a relationship,” I explained.

“No, I totally get it, but it sounds like your dream was telling you something different,” she teased.

“If it were only half as good as the dream,” I said, and then sighed.

“I take it we all had a good time.”

“You’re talking to a teenage boy. We have fertile imaginations. Maybe the next time we’re in New York, we can get Tyler to play the Kate part and I can show you what we missed last night.”

“Don’t you dare tell Tyler,” Adrienne said, and then laughed. “You know what, do tell her. I think she has a bigger thing for Kate than you do.”

“Please, she has you,” I said, not believing a word of it.

“She has me all the time. Kate is one straight girl we dream of turning,” Adrienne shared.

“As long as you only turn her part-way; I’d hate to think she’d never want a man in her life. My plan is to wait a few years and then pounce when her divorce is announced.”

“That’s my boy! I’m glad you have a backup plan.”

I hung up with Adrienne and thought about what I’d passed up. Uncle John was right. Sometimes it sucked to be a man of your word.

I got dressed quickly, let my buddy Duke out, and we went for a run while my thoughts sorted themselves out.

When I got back, I went to make breakfast and then Mom came down. I was lucky; she didn’t suspect I’d sinned in my mind. She reminded me of our meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Mass and the other families after church. Her comments finally succeeded in popping me out of my mental bubble and in bringing me back to the here and now.

Mom and I came home from church and found that Jack and Bev Mass had already arrived. Dad and Jack were out back, starting the grill. I decided to join the guys.

“What are we having?” I asked.

“Goat. Your grandmother had one that was causing trouble,” Dad said.

“So she just offed him?” I asked.

“Never piss your grandmother off,” Dad advised.

“What does goat taste like?” I asked.

“Bald eagle,” Jack offered.

“I find that a little more gamey than goat,” Dad said.

I just rolled my eyes and decided the two comedians had this. I heard the gate open. Mom must have let someone in. I went out and found Wolf and his parents, Jared and Tiana.

“Hey, how was last night?” I asked.

“Sarah was a lot of fun. She said that she planned to spend some time at Harper’s over the summer.”

Tim and Tami pulled up with their parents. I went to the gate and used the keypad on this side to open it for them. Tim’s parents were Conner and Wendy. I had to think for a moment for Tami’s mom’s name. I’d always called her Mrs. Glade. It was Melissa.

“Mom and Bev are inside. Dad and Jack are out back acting like they’re grilling. I think they’re more interested in the cooler of beer,” I announced.

The women went inside. The guys and Tami followed me to the patio. Mom opened the kitchen window.

“Put the meat on,” Mom told Dad.

Dad had two gallon-size ziplock bags filled with different marinades and slices of goat meat. One looked like a jerk that I’d come to love on our vacation to the Caribbean. The other had a lemon and garlic smell.

“Where’s Duke?” Wolf asked.

Duke was his official helper when he did yard work.

“Peggy and the boys are at her parents’ house. I think she heard what we’re having and bailed. They took Duke with them.”

“What are we having?” Tami asked suspiciously.

“Dad said Grandma Dawson killed one of the goats.”

“Excuse me?” Tim asked.

“I guess it looked at her funny,” I said with a straight face.

Tami smacked me on the back of the head.

The jerked goat was really good. It tasted a little like lamb. Mom had made coconut rice with red beans and fried plantains to go with the jerk. She also made mac and cheese, cornbread, and green beans for the goat with lemon and garlic.

Over lunch, we talked about my friends living with Bev and Jack for the summer.

“We live in Lincoln Park about six blocks from the Fullerton L stop, or two blocks from Lincoln Avenue where you can catch the bus. Tami would take the bus to Michigan Avenue to do her internship at Northwestern Hospital,” Bev said.

“How safe is it?” Mrs. Glade asked.

“Where we are in Lincoln Park is mostly young professionals and college kids. Northwestern Hospital is in the Gold Coast, a more affluent area. Oprah lives close to where Tami’ll be working. I would never say anywhere in Chicago is completely safe, but if she pays attention to her surroundings, she should be okay. I wouldn’t have a problem letting Harper take the bus there,” Bev said.

“What about these two?” Jared, Wolf’s dad, asked.

“They’ll be working with my team. We have several projects going, mainly close together in Lincoln Park, but we do have a couple further west, and they can be dicey. I wouldn’t plan on them going there without other employees who understand the risks,” Jack said.

“David says you live in a mansion,” Wolf said.

“I don’t know about that,” Jack said, getting embarrassed.

“Hang on. I have pictures,” I said as I brought it up on my phone.

Jared and Wendy, Tim’s mom, got the first look as my phone was passed around.

“I think I want to take Tim’s place,” Wendy said, obviously impressed with where my friends would be staying.

“If you want to come visit, we have plenty of room,” Bev said.

“I’d like to come up for a weekend,” Mrs. Glade said.

“Of shopping,” I added under my breath.

Mrs. Glade blushed.

“Why don’t you all come up and I can take you ... shopping,” Bev said, giving me the stink eye.

“You don’t have a problem with our kids invading your home for the summer?” Conner, Tim’s dad, asked.

“David told us they had worked at setting life goals and they’re highly motivated. He wasn’t always my favorite person, but the more I got to know him, the better I liked him. I’ve been impressed with him, and during the recent political campaign, he showed me he was sharp. If he says your kids are special and just need a little help, Bev and I are more than happy to have them,” Jack said.

I kept my smart comments to myself. All the parents sat a little straighter in their chairs at the praise for their children.

“Why didn’t you like him?” Tiana, Wolf’s mom, asked.

“He dated my daughter,” Jack confessed.

“You have our sympathies,” Jared said with a smirk.

“Looking back, he was a blessing,” Bev said in my defense.

“She’s dating Mike Herndon now,” Tami explained.

Everyone nodded. Jack looked like he was about to have a migraine. I wished him the best of luck.

Jared wasn’t quite done, though. He had a pensive look on his face and started to speak a couple of times, but finally seemed to find the words he needed.

“Wolf may not appreciate this, but I have to speak as a dad. We’re not wealthy by any means, but we do an honest day’s work, and we’ve tried to raise our kids right. I’m glad to hear about the neighborhood and to learn he’ll be in a safe environment, but what concerns me more is keeping the bad influences away.”

Wolf gave his dad a horrified, ‘how could you embarrass me like that?!’ look, and his dad caught it. He turned to his son.

“Son, I know I just embarrassed you, and I’m sorry about that. But I’d be even sorrier if I didn’t say anything and you got messed up with drugs or the wrong kind of friends,” he said gently, and then looked at me. “Bad friends can ruin a man’s life. Good friends are like gold.”

I really hoped he was putting me in the ‘good friends’ category because I didn’t think I’d like to find out what he’d do if he decided I was in the other one.

Tami leaned in, taking his attention.

“Don’t worry, sir. Tim and I will be there too. We’ll have each other’s backs, and between that and Mr. and Mrs. Mass, we should be fine. I promise I’ll let you know if either of these two big oafs gets out of line,” she said, trying to glare at Tim and Wolf at the same time.

“Can you do the same with Harper?” Mrs. Mass quipped.

The general laughter around the table got us out of the tension of the moment.

Tami took me out to her car before she left.

“I have something for you,” she said as she opened her trunk.

She handed me a first aid kit.

“I did some reading on Cuba and put this together for you. Everything has to remain sealed to get through customs,” she advised.

She had everything from aspirin to jock-itch cream. She explained that with the hot humid weather, I needed to be prepared.

I gave her a hug and thanked her. She would be home next weekend after her finals were done, so I would see her before I left.

After everyone left, Dad and I went to meet with Caryn and Megan. When we tried to pull into the parking lot, it was blocked off.

“Looks like they had it resurfaced and new lines painted,” I observed.

We parked on the street. As we walked up, I could see they had power-washed the sidewalks. It looked like twenty years of dirt and grime had been removed. With the new paint, the building looked almost new. Caryn had done a good job.

We went upstairs and found Megan spinning in her chair. When she saw us, she jerked to a stop. I just ignored her. I sometimes did that too, so I wasn’t about to give her a hard time. I also needed her to watch Coby and Little David for another week during finals.

We went to the conference room and found new phones in boxes.

“What are these for?” I asked.

“Google phones and Project Fi,” Caryn said.

“Project what?” Dad asked.

“It’s the service provider for the Google phones. It’s a pretty good deal for someone who doesn’t use much data. It allows for unlimited domestic calls and text, unlimited international texting, and data is pay-as-you-go. The reason you’re getting one is because of international calling,” Caryn said.

“This new phone works in both Cuba and Japan?” I asked.

“Yes, and it’s cheaper than setting up an international calling plan with your current carrier. As it turns out, your current carrier doesn’t even offer service in Cuba. This isn’t cheap, though, so don’t overdo it. It’s twenty cents per minute. Another carrier charged a monthly fee for their plan, and it was still fifty cents per minute,” Megan explained.

Megan took my phone and hooked it to my new Google phone. It transferred all my contacts and apps.

“What do you plan to do with this phone once I get back from Japan?” I asked.

“You can keep it for whenever you travel, or we could use it as a corporate phone for someone who only uses it as a phone,” Caryn said.

“You mean like my dad or grandma. Better yet, the recruiting phone,” I said.

Dad had been listening. I could tell he liked the idea of saving money on his monthly phone bill. A Google phone would never work for my mom or me since we used way too much data.

Now that we had my phone for Cuba set up, we could talk about other stuff.

“You couldn’t miss the front parking lot,” Caryn said, and we nodded. “We had them do it this weekend. We also did the Quickie Mart. We’ll walk down there before you leave. The owner was willing to shut down for the weekend while we did it.”

“How’s the food going?” I asked.

We’d started to hand out food to people that needed it.

“We gave out three bags this week. They were also given information about the food programs available. One of the employees at the Quickie Mart had a good idea: she suggested that we add bags of dried beans and rice,” Caryn said.

“It’s inexpensive and filling. I remember when you were a kid, we ate a lot of that type of thing,” Dad said.

I just smiled. Cornbread and beans was one of my favorite meals. Mom always complained that Greg and I could eat for an army, and she needed to be able to fill us up.

“Don’t ask me about what to give them. I think you can figure it out,” I said.

“Okay. Field trip time,” Caryn announced.

She took us down to the restaurant. Mary Dole was there, talking to a bunch of people sitting in the new chairs, which were aligned in a couple of rows facing her. She smiled and waved at us as we came through the doors.

These guys were obviously the people Mary had hired to form the waitstaff, cooks, etc. It was surprising to see Jan’s serious, interested face among them.

We walked back towards the kitchen and setup areas, not wanting to disturb Mary. I turned to Caryn.

“Jan Duke?”

“Yuri’s grandma came in with her when we were taking applications, and your grandmother happened to be there. Mrs. Antakov asked if Jan could apply for a waitress/hostess job and took your grandma aside and explained that she wanted Jan to learn about work, but she wanted her to work under the supervision of women she looked up to. Your mom, Mrs. Dole and your grandma all fit that category.”

I was bemused.

“My grandma? How does Jan even know her?” I asked.

“Oh, your grandma and Yuri’s have become thick as thieves since they met each other. I think it’s a ‘kindred spirits finding each other’ kind of thing. You just weren’t around enough to notice.

“Anyway, Mrs. Dole was concerned that this was all Yuri’s grandma’s doing, and that Jan would be resentful. It turns out it was Jan who suggested it in the first place, when their family was talking about plans for the summer and beyond. Yuri’s grandma just ... facilitated.

“And Jan’s qualified. They were looking for a smart, pretty girl from the high school, who was motivated, to work as a waitress and fill-in hostess, and Jan fits the bill to a T,” Caryn said.

I nodded, still a bit puzzled, as we continued the tour. You just never knew...

The place looked great. They’d gotten ninety percent of the downstairs done. It looked like an updated version of Granny’s. I was impressed with how nice it looked.

“How soon until they open?” Dad asked.

“They want to do a test run next week and only open a couple of hours in the mornings to work the bugs out. The grand opening will be either next Friday or Saturday. They’re going to do an invitation-only event to get the word out and it’ll be free. Then they’ll open the following Monday,” Caryn said.

I was glad Caryn, my dad, and Megan were taking care of all this. I had no time for it right now. I was proud of what they’d done with Mary and Granny. I was sure it would be a success.

It was a gorgeous day outside, and I really wanted to go see Zoe, as had become my Sunday routine, but I needed to study. I’d never really wanted to sign up for AP classes. Uncle John was right about many things, one of which was that you didn’t need to grow up too fast. Taking AP, or Advanced Placement, classes gave you college equivalency. This meant that you would have college credit towards your graduation.

Something I figured out by reading the college websites was that I was taking way too many AP classes. Students only received credit for two AP classes per subject. That meant that only two of my three AP math classes counted for college credit.

I hadn’t bitched too much, though, because the classes were more of a challenge. My inner nerd got bored if he wasn’t pushed.

Additionally, and more importantly to me, AP classes boosted your class standing. Our grade point average (GPA) was calculated on a 4.0 scale, with each AP course receiving a .22225 bonus added to the grade earned. I was currently in third place in our class behind Gina and Alan. I had faith that Alan would do something stupid and knock himself out of the running. I just had to hope that Gina faltered.

That was why I stayed in instead of going horseback riding with Zoe.

Thursday May 12

Finals had been hard, but I’d been up to the task. With Alan banned from the school computers, Lily had to do more work. She’d sent all the coaches reports on how their charges had done, and once again, the athletes involved in the study program had done better than the previous average. I was heartened to see that over half the school had joined us this semester.

Coach Hope and Moose had identified a couple of junior football and baseball players who were not on track to meet NCAA academic guidelines. With the new system in place, they were able to nip any problems in the bud, before it was too late. The sophomores also had six boys who were borderline. Cassidy told me that her dad planned to have all the guys who were having academic issues meet with Ms. Jaroslav, our guidance counselor, and they had to bring a parent to the meeting. That didn’t sound like much fun.

I looked up our class ranking, which was on the school’s website. It showed the Top 5, but individual students could log in and see where they ranked. Alan was nowhere in the top five. He must have decided to tank his finals because he was grounded. That was so like him, to think he would punish us all by hurting himself. Gina and I were first and second. The difference was she’d taken more AP classes than I had. Unfortunately, my art classes didn’t have that designation. Zoe and Brook were fourth and fifth on the list, with a girl I didn’t know in the third slot.

Today was an abbreviated day where we only spent twenty minutes in each class. We turned our books in and said our goodbyes for the summer. We were let out before lunch. I guess they didn’t want to feed us one more time. Cassidy and I were asked to visit Moose before we left.

“Hey, Moose. You wanted to see us?” I asked as we walked in.

He pointed to two large duffle bags with ‘Lincoln High Baseball’ on the side and ‘Range Sports’ on the end.

“Devin Range sent this for you. I told him what you’d need for both Cuba and your trip to baseball camp. However, you need to bring it back to the school in the fall. Devin didn’t want to mess up your eligibility by giving you a gift,” Moose clarified.

I wasn’t sure if it was a problem or not, but damn well preferred being cautious rather than give the NCAA an excuse to give me a hard time. I opened the first one up and it had catcher’s gear.

“I think this is yours,” I said as I slid it over to Cassidy.

She pulled out a cup and gave me a dirty look.

“You get hit with a wild pitch and you’ll be glad you have one,” I said with a straight face.

She just shrugged and put it back in. Mine had everything I would need from cleats to baseball caps. I even had a first baseman’s glove.

“What’s this for?” I asked Moose.

“Who knows? Better to have it and not need it.”

Of course, Cassidy made me carry everything to the car.

When we got home, I invited Cassidy and Fritz in for lunch. Everyone was gone. I was surprised Duke had been left free. He normally was in his crate when we weren’t home. I made us sandwiches and a salad.

Cassidy looked at it and then at me.

“Don’t you have any chips?” she asked.

“Salad is better for you,” I urged.

“I could go for some chips,” Fritz agreed.

Mom kept them for everyone else, but I tried not to eat them very often. I’d been addicted when I was younger. I went to the pantry and came back with a bag. They gave me their salads.

“How are you going to manage both LA and our trip to Cuba?” I asked.

“We’ve been able to expand with adding you as a client. You know Jane and Flo. They will work as primaries for Rita and Halle. We’ve added some additional people I’ll introduce you to next time we are in LA. I’ve added a longtime friend, Andy Lewis, to manage the LA group.

“For the Cuba trip, I’ll bring Paul and Cassidy,” Fritz shared.

I’d wondered if Rita had been shortchanged in this deal. It sounded like Fritz had things covered.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Fritz asked.

“Let’s see. No school or athletics ... teenager ... hmm,” I contemplated.

“Brook has paintball guns. Let’s go there,” Cassidy suggested.

“We could practice protection drills,” Fritz added.

“Paintball guns sound like fun, but I’m not sure I want to do protection drills,” I said.

“Cassidy needs the work for Cuba,” Fritz said to convince me.

She eagerly nodded her head. It seemed I was outnumbered.

“As long as we get to do some other stuff,” I complained.

It was interesting to see Fritz work with Cassidy. He showed her how he handled me getting in and out of cars, walking through crowds and various scenarios. Brook disappeared after about half an hour. I guess she was as bored as I was.

Fritz invited Paul to act as the bad guy. Cassidy shot Paul in the nuts, three times in a row. “Why did you shoot him there?” Fritz asked.

“If he’s wearing a vest, it wouldn’t do him any good,” Cassidy reasoned.

Everyone knew that Cassidy wouldn’t be carrying a gun, but we were just having some fun. I’d been trained to shoot center mass. If you ever pulled the trigger, it wasn’t a game. I think Fritz realized that his young charge had done enough serious stuff for one day.

That was when the ambush happened. Paintballs went whizzing all around us. Fritz pushed me into the SUV while Paul ran for the driver’s door. I watched him get hit several times. Cassidy’s eyes got big as Paul went down. She came up firing, and Brook and Jim both took paintballs in the chest. That attracted the fire of everyone, and Cassidy was mowed down.

Fritz was next. He peeked around the car, and Tim had snuck up behind him. Fritz must have sensed something because he twirled around and they shot each other at the same time. Then everything got quiet. Wolf came to my door and used his paintball gun to tap on the glass.

“It’s over. You can come out now,” Wolf said.

I just shook my head ‘no.’ Fritz stood up and smiled.

“Good job, everyone. David, you did the right thing by not opening the door,” Fritz said.

I figured out where Brook had gone: she’d gathered my friends for the ambush. I spotted Jane and Flo, Fritz’s other security people. They were in town to do some training before Fritz left for our trip. Fritz admitted he’d set it all up to see what I would do. He’d lost a bet with Cassidy. He said I would try to help and get myself shot.

Even if it had been real, I would have gone into the car. In the center console, there was an extra handgun. I couldn’t do much other than get in the way if I were unarmed in a gunfight.

Once the object lesson was over, it was time for fun. Fritz had a paintball game we could play as teams.

“It’s a variation of Capture the Flag. We used to do something similar on weekends for fun. Each team has a flag that they must defend. To win, you must not only capture the other team’s flag but return it to your flag’s location. As an added twist, if you’re killed, you’re out of the game until either one side is all dead or you capture the other team’s flag.”

Paul and Fritz got to pick teams. They were both dicks. I was picked last. Fritz had picked Flo, Jane, Brook, and Cassidy. Paul picked Wolf, Jim, Tim and me.

Paul pulled us together.

“Fritz is a sneaky bastard who can appear out of nowhere,” Paul warned. “He used to be an expert at infiltration, back in the day.”

“I agree. I’ve always wanted to learn how he moves so quietly. More than once he’s scared the shit out of me,” I added.

“Flo and Jane are good shots. I’d bet he puts them as guards on their flags. How good are Cassidy and Brook?” Paul asked.

“They’re both good shots. Cassidy is much better, but Brook can hit what she points at,” I offered.

“What about you guys?” Paul asked.

Wolf likened his skills to the Rock, Jim thought he was Vin Diesel, Tim went with Wolverine, and I of course was—cue the music—Bond ... Ian Bond, the character I would play in the James Bond movie. Paul explained how dead we all were.

It was decided that we would play defense because Paul predicted that Fritz would try to win quickly. Our flag was placed in a small meadow where they would have to cover twenty yards of open ground to capture our flag. Paul was a crafty one. He helped us find hiding places where we could support each other. Paul had Jim, Tim and Wolf fan out close to the meadow. He climbed a big oak tree so he could get up high. He wanted me to roam through the woods to see if I could spot them as they approached. At the designated start time for the game, we heard the girls make their war cry and you could hear them running in the woods. It was a little unnerving. I found a spot in a bush to hunker down in. I could hear paintballs being shot near our flag. When you were shot, you were supposed to call out your name.

“Paul!”

“Wolf!”

“Brook!”

“Flo!”

Names were all shouted out in short order. It reminded me of the Hunger Games, when they would announce the players killed at the end of the day. I was surprised that Paul would be found so quickly. Then over the next fifteen minutes, Jim and Tim were taken out.

“David! Come out and play!” Cassidy called.

I figured they had our flag, so I needed to find theirs. I quietly moved to where I’d heard their war cry to start the game. Their flag had to be in the clearing where Cassidy and Brook had ambushed me when we rode the four wheelers.

I circled around and glimpsed movement. It was Jane. She was facing the clearing. I didn’t have a clear shot. I heard running and saw Cassidy had our flag. The little shit had a huge grin on her face. Her running through the trees made it difficult to shoot her. I decided to wait until she cleared the trees. She burst into the open with victory in sight.

I lined up my shot and smiled when Cassidy realized that she’d been hit. Jane heard the shot and rolled just as I fired off a quick one aimed at where she had just been. She got off a lucky shot that hit the tree next to me.

I needed to move. I knew she would never expect me to charge her, so I did. She had rolled into a bush and had nowhere to go. I shot her and sprinted to grab their and our flags. Cassidy gave me an evil look.

“Cassidy!”

“Jane!”

Now all I had to do was either shoot Fritz or get the flags back to our base. My heart was racing, knowing that Fritz was out there looking for me. I decided I should take my time because I knew Fritz was close. I scanned the trees, thinking about how Paul tried to get some elevation. I crept back towards our flag, freaking out at every little sound.

Then my phone rang. FUCK! It was unbelievably loud. I felt a paintball hit my ass, followed by a chuckle. Fritz had his phone out. The bastard had called my number to find out where I was.

“That was totally cheating,” I complained.

It was all in good fun.

We spent the rest of the afternoon running around the woods, shooting each other. I think the most fun was when we did a free-for-all where everyone was against ... well, everyone. Cassidy won that one. Even Fritz was impressed with her shooting. She had a knack for shooting guys in the nuts.

After dinner, I took the little ones to Pam’s to go swimming. Duke wanted to go, but Pam said their condo association had banned him from the pool area. They made a big deal about Labs shedding and what it did to pool filters. Labrador retrievers are water dogs. They actually have webbed skin between their toes.

Peggy said that the last time he’d been over, he’d been good until Coby began to fuss. Duke dove into the pool to make sure he was okay. Once Duke figured out what the pool was all about, they’d had a hard time getting him out. One of the women on the COA (Condo Owners Association) board wasn’t happy when he got out and shook water everywhere.

Peggy thought that we might need to put a pool in so Duke could play. I bought into that just as much as I’d bought into Pam’s claim that Coby needed a $200 purse. Sometimes they made it easy for me to say ‘no.’

The doorman had announced us, so Lacy and Pam had the door open when I got off the elevator.

“There they are,” Lacy cooed.

Both boys perked up when they heard her. She took Coby from me and Pam reached for Little David. They were already in their swimsuits, so they sent me to change. When I came back, I was put in charge of all the stuff that needed to be carried. They’d gotten the boys ready for the pool.