Chapter 28

Haley’s turn:

Sitting here in the corner of the Tech room/lab at the new office. I have an hour before I have to go get Deena off campus unless she grabs a ride from Sandy. That’s a likely scenario. Between me, Sandy, Brindy and Carlita, there are enough drivers, and usually SOMEBODY will pick up Deena just for the conversation.

Deena’s good for that, too.

I’m undecided as to what I want to do. Over there in the corner of the bench is a computer and monitor. It’s connected to the controller for the arm that holds one of our ‘hand’ experiments. I could work on that.

In front of me are three books and a stack of worksheets. I could work on those. Completion of the worksheets, followed by a verbal jousting match with one of the engineering professors or one of the English professors would get me the clearance to take the exams to put those courses behind me.

That English course would complete my required language requirements for my degree. Doesn’t mean it would be the last time I visited the subject. Like history, I have a certain amount of joy in writing.

I leaned back in my chair, squeezed my eyes closed.

A thought. Loudly, I said, “Maddieeeee! I need direction!”

I heard laughter. “Oh, come on, Haley!”

Footsteps. Her head came around the corner. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m ... lost...”

“I’m putting the tea to steeping,” she said. “Come sit in the lunchroom. I have just the thing...”

While the water was coming to a boil for the tea, a real teakettle with a whistle, a couple of frozen pastries appeared from the freezer.

“Herbal teas,” Maddie said. “That’s a ‘Grandma Desai by way of Beck’ thing. Beck juggled her proportions, more of this, less of that. I can duplicate.”

“I enjoy it every time you roll it out,” I said. The aroma as it steeped lent an air of relaxation.

“Now, what’s on your mind?”

“I suppose I have too many irons in the fire, is all.”

“I recognize the symptoms, darlin’,” Maddie said. “You’re charging hard because you have all these capabilities that other people are just now seeing and you want to see how far you can go. I’ve seen it.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“Oh yeah ... I watched Nikki and Cindy and Tina and Susan ... Every one of ‘em. Jason used to practically grab Susan by the belt and haul her off. Nikki and Cindy, those are two hard-heads, but their husbands stepped in when they started showing symptoms. You’re like that story of the mule between two hay bales. You can’t make up your mind, so you’re gonna starve...”

“Sounds right,” I said. “School. Robotics. Family. Flying...”

“That’s a lot. And you ‘n Deena are hitting school HARD. All of y’all are. And then y’all’re banging hard on that arm for robotics.”

“Maybe I should back off.”

“Yeah, think about it. I know that Dan tucked Nikki under his arm a time or two and hauled ‘er off for whatever it is that those two needed to recharge or realign or whatever. What about Deena? You two run neck and neck now...”

“She hasn’t said. She’s got a different way of doing things, though...”

“Yeah, but she’s family, right? Sister.”

“Yeah, that. Friend. Even if I didn’t marry her dad, she’d be there.”

“That’s one thing you’ve got going for you – friends and family.” She kind of snorted. “And that brain. So relax a little. Grab Bill, run off for a weekend...”

I’m thinking, “and get my head caved in by the OTHER corner of the triangle,” but Maddie doesn’t know about the triangle. She continued.

“Do it on a weekend when Deena’s at her mom’s. Go somewhere, have a good meal or two, see some sights, have some frantic cuddles, come back on Monday ready to go again...”

I sighed. “Yeah...”

Inside my head, though, I’m thinking that it wouldn’t be fair to Deena if Bill and I traipsed off to some special destination without ‘er. After all, I love HER too, but Maddie doesn’t know that.

Toaster strudel actually goes nicely with herbal tea and conversation with a friend. We were still sitting there when the front door opened to the sound of Brindy and Deena.

“There goes the neighborhood,” I said.

“We’re in the lunchroom,” Maddie said with elevated voice.

Brindy came in ahead of Deena. “I could be a blood-crazed terrorist,” she smirked.

“She’s got that look, you know,” Deena added.

“I’m the innocent one here,” Brindy tittered. “Haley, how do you put up with ‘er?”

“We only let ‘er act out in public,” I said. “At home she’s the scullery maid.”

“And I don’t even get to wear the cute outfit,” Deena said, feigning sadness.

Maddie got a look. “That whole ‘French maid’ thing. Just weird, it seems to me...”

“Bill says it’s that whole ‘I can’t control myself. I find you irresistible’ thing, one direction or another...” I said. “Bill and I have had some conversations about some of that stuff.”

Deena jumped. “We don’t want to know...”

“No,” I said. “Look at me. I mean, I’m happy with myself, but I’m little and kinda mousey, as far as looks go. I wanted to understand what makes him think I’m attractive...”

Brindy giggled. “Probably your mind ... That engineering text on the table in there...”

I smiled. I know that working with me on school stuff was a way that I could justify being over at Bill’s all the time and he could justify in his mind that tutoring was what was going on. I also know that we were both fooling ourselves and it was something we soon admitted.

“We talked about everything,” I said. “That fetish stuff, you know...”

“So what’s YOUR husband say?” Maddie asked.

“That he and I have too many adventures yet to explore ... and me dressing like a cheap French hooker isn’t on HIS list...”

“Haley!” Deena squeaked.

“Well,” I said, “it’s true. I’ve heard of people like that, that can’t get what they need out of a normal relationship between two people who appreciate and love each other.” I gave her a stern look. “And I am not comfortable discussing my physical relationship with you...”

Brindy caught my eye. She knows. Maddie doesn’t. “Big girl talk, Deena. You’re still a tender teen.”

“And y’all need to get over yourselves. I’ve heard more stuff and in greater detail sitting in the courtyard at middle school,” Deena retorted, playing the game. “Prob’ly half of it was lies and the other half was wrong, but I heard it. Y’all know what I’m talking about.”

“But me ‘n your dad,” I started.

“Oh, yeah, a loving relationship, as opposed to some random Noelle and Daquan, where she’s a stupid tramp an’ he’s getting what he wants...”

“Darn, Deena,” Maddie said. “You lit off pretty quick...”

“I’m sorry,” Deena said, hanging her head a little. “I get tired of that whole ‘she’s too young to hear’ and ‘she won’t understand’ thing. But I understand y’all trying to protect my innocence and tender sensibilities...”

“Have a pastry,” I said. “And some tea.”

She soon had a mug from Maddie’s teapot, stirring it as her pastry heated in the microwave oven.

“I kinda went off, huh?” she said, almost sheepishly.

“Well, yeah,” I said. “And we don’t have a chill pill so a frozen pastry’ll have to do.”

“Don’t tell me YOU’RE stressing too, Deena,” Maddie said.

“I AM. Need a break!”

“Uh, Cindy tells me that next week’s a BIG week at the home office.”

“What’s big?”

“Your boss, the pTerridactyl, turns fourteen, and I’m told to squeeze my eyes closed and imagine magic.” Maddie smiled. “Something about a wedding.”

“Terri’s,” Brindy said.

“Who’s a year younger than me,” Deena said. “Lots of young girls marrying there.”

“Yeah, if we’d known, I could’ve probably talked Bill into it. Nikki was fifteen when she got married HERE. One of the local judges wrote up a document, they signed, got married right there in his office,” Deena said.

“She told you that?” I asked.

“Yeah ... She’s not the least bit ashamed...”

“Especially since her Dan ... and the new baby...” Maddie said. “She’s twenty-one now, but she was fifteen when they got married, after that big hurricane.”

I’m thinking. Then, “Well, we all know plenty of examples of teens getting into bad relationships...”

“I was one of ‘em,” Brindy said with a little bit of sadness. “Dave’s sister was my rescuer. But Terri...”

Terri was often a sidebar conversation among us, especially when we were in ‘robotics’ mode. It’s hard to say something ISN’T possible when there’s an example who’s doing it. The fact is, WE can do a lot. We ARE doing a lot that I never imagined a bunch of teenaged girls – Terri’s ‘middle-school math club’ is an appropriate title – might be doing.

Sometimes it’s giggle-worthy. There’s a coating we use on some of our electronic assemblies that comes to us in what is obviously the same bottle that in other venues would hold nail polish.

“You can actually use nail polish,” Dan 3.0 said when he came in to see why we were laughing... “Just keep in mind that it’s a lacquer with a powerful solvent carrier.”

So that’s kind of the thing: How many teen girls KNOW about the contents of nail polish? How many care? And maybe that’s my problem – too many things I know and care about.

“So when’s the wedding supposed to be?”

“Saturday,” Brindy said. “At the pavilion.”

“I hate to miss it,” Maddie said. “But we’ve committed to going visit some of Scott’s family in Austin.”

“Moscow on the Colorado,” Brindy snickered.

“Funny. That’s what they say, too. But we’re leaving at noon on Friday. Won’t be back until next Wednesday.”

“What about your bunch, Brindy?” I said. “You brought the subject up.”

“Love to,” she said. “But that’s a long day’s drive. Two days, would be a better itinerary.”

“But you wanna go.”

“Of course.”

“Okay,” I said. “Deena?”

“Of course...”

“Does your dad have any objections?”

“Not if YOU say we’re going.”

“Okay. That’s six. Can we call Nina or Sandy?”

“I’ll do that,” Brindy said.

Maddie shook her head. “I know where y’all’re going with this. Next call’s gonna be Cindy, right?”

I nodded, smiling. “That’s kinda what we’re about, isn’t it?”