Chapter 20: Necessity Is The Step-Mother Of Deception

September 28, 1980

I was very glad that my religion (or my parents’ religion — I wasn’t a true believer the first time around and was even more skeptical the second time through) does not have confession. Confession would have been awkward a while back and quite difficult these days.

Aside from that, church was church. I liked it. I was certainly giving thanks to God (or someone, or multiple someones, or some other power) for this chance to change my life. I hoped I was doing the right things with it.

Family lunch on Sunday had become the major meal. We were studying all afternoon, sometimes snacking, and dinner had become an afterthought. I felt guilty about that — it felt like we were slowly destroying family time — but I gave family my full attention when we had time together.

Towards the end of lunch, Mom smiled and said, “So ... I hear there’s a Halloween dance. I was wondering...” her fingers tapped the table a little, “ ... when you two might ask about it.” I’d thought that topic might wait a week or two.

No point in hiding it. “There is, and, soon. Now is good.” Mom smirked a bit. “We’d both like to go, but neither of us have made dates for it.”

Mom smirked a bit more. “Oh, I think you both have dates for it. I don’t think there’s any doubt there.” She hesitated. “From everything I hear, last night went very well. I’d have heard from any outraged parents or teachers. Your grades are good — I believe — and you’re more grown up than I’d thought.” She sighed, smiling just a bit. “That comes as a mixed blessing, you understand. But, a blessing.” Tap, tap. “Sam and I discussed it and we think it’s just fine.” Angie and I grinned. “Provided that your report card for the first six weeks — which should be out tomorrow, right? — confirms your grades, and nothing changes between now and the dance.”

“Yes, Mom. Thank you!” We said, nearly in unison.

Dad jumped in. “While we’re on that subject ... as long as you stay as mature and responsible and studious as you’ve been, the Valentine’s Dance and the Sadie Hawkins Dance are also fine.”

“Thank you!” Perfect unison this time.

“One more thing. I’ve found some things you can do for customers, Steve. And, Angie, Steve asked about sample books, but he’s better with the customer stuff than you’d be — because he’s already done the math — so I figured you could update sample books.”

Angie smiled. “You know I get a little allowance from my inheritance trust, but I can always use more spending money. Thanks!”

Mom smiled. “Saving money, I hope. But, of course, some spending, too. But, a little bird tells me you’ll want cars, and cars come with expenses. It’d be handy to have some savings before then.”

Did Mom just promise us cars? Both of us? Wow!

“And, since you’ll have responsibilities outside the house, we can try to get a hardship.” Hardship meant fifteen. Well, fifteen and a bit, anyway, since you can’t start lessons until fifteen. A goodly number of the students at Memorial somehow had a ‘hardship’. First go-round I hadn’t had one. This time? Yes, please!

Angie managed to stay quiet until we got to the library. “Holy cow! Three dances, part-time jobs, and hints of cars. In one lunch! I’ll shove a pillow over my head every time they decide to disturb me from now on!” she giggled.

“Don’t remind me of that!” I growled. “The rest, yes. They’re ... I guess they’re going to go with us growing up and not fight it. Or not fight it that hard, anyway.”

“Hardship license! Fifteen! Only a year!”

I nodded. “It’ll be very nice. They have to know that giving us the ability to drive is going to mean even looser reins on where we are and what we do.”

“We’d better stay trustworthy.”

“We will.”

Candice biked up then, which diverted my attention. She’d dressed in a t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and sneakers. She was the most beautiful thing in the world for me right then. I swear, Jessica Lively could’ve walked by stark naked and I might’ve glanced over, then gone back to my love.

She got her bike locked up, flew over from the bike rack, and tackled me into a hug and kiss. I’m glad I was ready because we nearly went over. “Oooooo, I love you, Steve Marshall! It feels so good to say it!”

I squeezed her. “I love you, too, Candice Matthews.”

She glanced at Angie. “I already told her.”

“I already told her, too,” I grinned.

Candice giggled. “You are a strange boy, Steve Marshall. What other boy shares secrets with their sister?”

I shrugged. “Sometimes it’s nice to share some things with someone, and she’s the only one I’d share a lot of things with.”

“See? Strange! You know we talk about you behind your back all the time, right?”

I nodded. “Angie told me. It doesn’t bother me. I’m familiar with the concept of girl talk, if blissfully unaware of the reality.”

“Blissfully?! Like there’s something bad about it?!” She was cute pretending outrage. OK, she was always cute.

“Nah. It’s just better than trying hard to overhear it and being upset when I couldn’t.”

“OK, you have a point there. No trying to eavesdrop, mister!” She plastered me with another kiss that made me forget about anything but her lips for a while. Well, and her tits. And her back. And her ass. And the reaction I was having. Which she was rubbing against.

“Um ... Candice?”

“Yes, my love?”

“If you don’t stop, I’m going to have a hard-to-explain spot. And even if you do stop, I’m going to get thrown out of the library if I go in soon.”

She giggled. Quite a bit, too. Then leaned in and whispered, “I wish I could take care of that for you.”

I whispered, “Not helping.” She giggled even more. My life is so hard. Pun intended.

Candice backed off a bit and turned to Angie. “So he told you?”

Angie nodded. “He had to. I told him what Dan and I said to each other.”

Candice grinned. “Bitten by the love bug, too?”

“Uh huh.”

“And Connie and Jimmy.”

“Well, duh.”

“And Mark, Morty, and Emily.”

“That I wasn’t sure of.”

“It was the dancing. They loved Emily going toe to toe with Mrs. Higgins and she loved their not backing down and sticking with it.”

“Soooooooo. Mel and Andy? Mike and Sarah? Debbie and Marcus?”

Candice shook her head a little. “I don’t think Mel and Andy are getting there. They’re casual. I mean, making out, fooling around some, casual, but I didn’t see any real romance there. They’ll be friends. Mike and Sarah? Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re bitten. Hard. And, Debbie and Marcus? Something is bugging me about Marcus. I think she’s nearly smitten, he’s not, and, well. I’m watching.”

She turned to me. “You are no longer blissfully unaware. That’s a good example.”

Both of them giggled.

“For what it’s worth, I think she’s right. Mike and Sarah are together. Mel and Andy will be apart as soon as one of them gets a better offer. And I’m maybe hoping Marcus gets a better offer before Debbie gets hurt,” Angie said.

I had to ask, because of how I saw it. “Connie and Jimmy?”

Angie smirked. “Wedding bells.” I nodded my agreement.

The others arrived, and we got to work. Ms. Meadows gave us the room and we got going. By the time 4:45 rolled around and we had to clean up, it was clear we wouldn’t cover as much as we’d hoped.

“We’ll have to catch up on the rest Tuesday,” I said.

Andy frowned. “Can’t wait for spring; it’s hard missing half the sessions.”

“We need another hour to an hour and a half, I figure,” Candice added.

“The library closes at 5. Nothing much else is open on Sunday that’ll let us study. I mean, there’re some restaurants, if we ordered, but that’s expensive and maybe loud. And we don’t want to just invade someone’s house,” I said.

“We’ll figure something out,” Mike said. “Necessity is the mother of invention. I know my grades are better. I’m going to ride this all the way to graduation, if I can.”

“Yeah,” said Connie. “My parents are impressed. Good grades are everything with them. I would’ve been studying anyway, but that I’ve got people to study with? And they like me? That’s a big deal. My parents still feel like everyone hates us.”

Jimmy hugged her right away. Didn’t say anything, just hugged her.

Angie smiled. “Who in the world would hate you, Connie? Or your parents? They’re nice and you’re sweet and whip-smart. Only idiots would hate you.”

Trust Mark to answer that. “God must love idiots. He made so damn many of them!”

Even Connie laughed. “I will have to tell my parents that!”

We got packed up. I walked Candice to our bench and sat; she hopped into my lap. And kissed me. Making sure I still had tonsils. Then she looked into my eyes and growled. “I. Want. You. Boyfriend.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

She switched to a whine. “I’m serious! I can’t take it! My fingers are just not enough!”

I groaned, blushed, and also smirked. “Not the first girl to say that to me in the last 24 hours.”

She giggled. “Yeah, I know, I stole it from Angie. She’s as bad as me. We need a place! That my parents won’t question! Now!”

“I’m trying, my love. Believe me. I haven’t gotten it yet. We’ll find something.”

She sighed. “I am so jealous of Connie. Jimmy is a latchkey kid. Another bit of girl talk. His parents don’t get home from work until like 6.”

“Study session at Jimmy’s?”

“Nah,” she groaned. “Jimmy already has to sneak her in to avoid nosy neighbors. No way he could get more people there. And his parents would not approve. They’re playing with fire. I’m going to be, too, and soon!”

“I get it. Believe me, I get it.”

She wiggled against my very pointy lap. “You are so going to get it when we get alone!”

September 29, 1980

Mrs. Higgins fixed Mark with a glare when we got to class. I got a slightly more restrained glare. So did Angie.

Partway through the lecture, she felt compelled to say something, if obliquely. “In grammar, as in society, it’s important that one follow the rules. All the rules. Even if you don’t like them, or they ‘cramp your style’, rules are there for a reason.”

Her eyes hit Mark, then me, then Angie, then Mark again.

Becky Palmer’s hand went up. “Yes, Becky?”

“I agree. People need to follow the rules. If everyone did what they should, life would be so much better!” I sighed. Becky was a reminder that we were at a conservative school. She was outspoken about her Southern Baptist faith, looked down on anyone more liberal — most everyone — and fought tooth and nail against liberalizing the rules. And, since she was on Student Council, and more of them agreed with her than not, it hampered people like Mel.

October 2, 1980

Mike came up to me after lunch. He’d been quiet during lunch, thinking about something. Maybe it was Sarah? They were sitting very close. Of course, Candice was in my lap, so I wasn’t judging. Angie was in Dan’s lap; Connie was in Jimmy’s.

They don’t build cafeteria tables for lap-sitting. Nor is it allowed. We managed anyway.

“Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“I ... had an idea. I think I’ve got the answer.”

“To?”

“The whole ... studying ... um ... and, well, studying alone problem.”

“Why didn’t you tell everyone?”

“I wanted to run it by you first and see if you liked it. You know, since you started the whole thing. And you’re the best with parents. I mean, like, everyone’s.”

Well, OK then.

“Tell.”

“Well ... you know my house, right? It’s big. Hell, we could handle twice the group. We’ve got the rumpus room with the giant sectional that’d hold everyone. It’s got a couple tables for when we need books, there’s the extra bathroom, a fridge, I mean, anything we’d want. And no one uses it during the week or on Sunday. Like, ever. Well. Except the Super Bowl. That’s the only time Dad throws a party that big. I mean, he will a few other times, but they’re not when we’d need it. Aside from that, it just sits there.”

I nodded. “OK, so, that sounds like a plan. But we won’t get approval unless there’s parental supervision. My parents won’t go for it. Candice’s and Connie’s and Jimmy’s definitely won’t.”

“Taken care of. Dad’s distracted on Sundays. He’s in the den upstairs watching games and drinking scotch with a work buddy or two or three. Or he’s at their place. Either way, he’s just not a factor. But my step-mom is around, and I’m certain she’d say that she’s supervising us.”

“But she won’t be?”

“Nah, she will. The thing is, she doesn’t care, exactly. She’ll come down, glance in the room, see us studying, then go upstairs. If a few people are missing, she wouldn’t count. Or care. And it’s easy to explain if we are. The pool table’s in a different room. She’d have to come all the way downstairs, go through the rumpus room into the billiards room, and then look around to see if the missing people are there. She’s not about to do that.”

I nodded. “OK. So far, so good. But billiard tables aren’t much use. At least, I hope they’re not. Maybe there’s a sofa?”

He grinned. “Nah. I just thought of studying first, you know? And it’s great for that, and we need that. But there’s more. See, you know we’ve got a big pool from when Dad thought I was going to be the swimmer David Rivers turned out to be. Well, it’s heated, which is stupid in the summer, but great in the winter. So, we can take a break from studies and swim.”