Chapter 6

The Fourth Week of October

I think we were both in recovery mode a bit. Fortunately, classes were pretty easy that day. I dropped a Coast catalogue off at Guidance for a check on what USC would accept. At lunch, I had several kids talk to me about Karate and I gave them cards. The cards gave them a free lesson and had my name on the back. If they signed up for classes I got credit for it. The whole day seemed to fly by and it was like I was just an observer.

On the way home I asked Tina about her day and she said it must have been a lot like mine, one of those what-just-happened sort of days you get through on autopilot. At her house we settled in for a homework session and she quizzed me on Civics. I was ready for the final exam. Tara was coming over to talk and I left in time for dinner at home.

That night, I talked with Mom in the den, which seemed weird for some reason. It seemed like the only time we talked in there was when Dad was around. He hadn’t gotten home from work yet. The judge on his current case threw them a curveball and he had to regroup. Mom and I were talking about a wide variety of things and my eyes drifted to the records. I didn’t see the Etta James album Mom had told me not to get too interested in. Of course, that made me more interested. I asked her about it.

“If you’re still interested, you can ask me about it next Monday,” she answered.

What was next Monday? Ah. The first of November.

Tuesday, I took my Civics final, two months ahead of everyone else. I missed a question about appellate courts because I didn’t read it right but I could live with an A for the class. I brought Tina back to my house for dinner. The afternoon was a study session. Tina and I worked on putting together crib sheets for the next Trig exam. The sheer number of formulas was getting to me a little. I thought perhaps if I could kick some of all the Civics I’d memorized out of my brain; I’d have more room for Trig.

When Tina and I were leaving for her house we discovered it was actually cold outside. I had to wear a sweatshirt and Tina borrowed a coat from Lisa for the ride home. The truck’s heater kicked in and by the time we got to her house we were toasty. Sonny’s work truck was there and I didn’t feel like going in. We agreed that the change in seasons was having a negative effect on our general happiness. We also agreed that we weren’t going to let that happen and vowed to take charge of it the next day. I pronounced victory by declaring I would wear socks. Tina said she would start wearing panties and we both laughed.

On the drive to school Wednesday, Tina said Fallon could use some help and asked if I’d mind going to the band room at lunch. Her Purple belt test was Wednesday morning and Sascha had strep throat. I readily agreed so when we got to school, we made a detour to Fallon’s first class to let her know. She was grateful.

At lunch, Tina and I ate while we walked, passing the dome and gym to get to the band room. The place was empty and Fallon was in a large empty recital room.

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous about this,” Fallon said.

“You’re supposed to be. It’s important to you. Give Tina your checklist and let her read off the techniques. I’ll attack you and you defend. We should be able to run through them quickly and if you have a problem with anything, we’ll go over it.” She nodded and we started.

I was used to doing the techniques. I wasn’t used to doing the attacks so Fallon did a lot better at it than I did. As soon as I threw a punch or kick, she countered it. We got into grabs and choke hold and she did fine with those too. One of the last techniques was against a bear hug. I applied the hold and Fallon failed to do the technique. The flow of practice was interrupted and Tina looked up from the checklist. I had Fallon in a bear hug but she wasn’t doing anything.

“What’s wrong, Fallon? Do you need the notes?” Tina asked.

“Nothing’s wrong.” She answered quietly. “I just don’t want to get out of it,” she answered and I laughed and squeezed her.

“You better get out of it or I’ll show you a technique or two,” Tina answered and Fallon beat me up for having the audacity to hug her.

It was pretty funny and Tina wasn’t remotely upset with her best friend or me. We finished by running through her two forms together. We finished and Fallon said she felt a lot better and thanked us both. Tina put Fallon in a bear hug and she didn’t get out of that one either. We walked back together. Strangely, I felt more relaxed than I had since Tina and I had gone sailing.

That night, Tina ate at our house and went to Karate with me. I was learning what I needed for blue belt. When we got there, Mr. Femuri, greeted us. He thanked me for Saturday and said they had enrolled twelve new students and I already had credit for an additional three months. I must have shown my confusion because he answered my unspoken question. Fallon had credit for nine months. She’d been busy. I laughed and Tina smiled.

Tina was closer to my class than on her previous visit and watched me learn two new techniques and the next section of a form. On the way home she said she was beginning to understand the mechanics and physiology of it much better. Having seen the demonstration Saturday, then watching Fallon and I work on techniques together, it started to make a lot more sense. We talked about it on the way to her house. She asked if I knew anyone at the Karate school that wore a prosthesis or had a physical handicap. I hadn’t seen one but that wasn’t a real answer. I promised to ask. I knew she’d want to watch their lesson if she was allowed.

I walked her to the door and we kissed.

“I feel a little better about Autumn and Winter,” I said.

“Cold is not my friend.”

“No. Can you imagine living in Maine or Alaska?”

“Definitely not. And the days are shorter so far north. Yuck.”

“Agreed. Let’s make a pact,” I said. “We will never move to Maine or Alaska.”

“That is a wicked good idea,” she answered. We kissed to seal the deal and I left, much happier than I had been since Sunday.

Thursday was a day of preparation. As soon as school was over, I took Tina to LuAnn’s house. The other Musketeers were already there, working on costumes for Halloween. I thought I would be in the way and all four of them shushed me to the door and I left. I knew of no technique to defeat four laughing women.

Friday was homecoming day. I thought the whole thing was sort of funny. Our football team was pretty bad but so were our two biggest rivals. The general attitude was that football players were pussies who couldn’t swim well enough to make the water polo team. The homecoming dance was more important than the game and had been for my first two years there as well. There was a pep rally in the gym and all the hoopla that went with it.

That night, I took Tina out to dinner at El Guapo’s and we went to the dance. We didn’t even bother to go to the game. The Costa Mesa Mustangs lost to the Estancia Eagles by an embarrassing score and the only people who seemed to care were the football players and their cheerleader girlfriends. When we got to the dance, I left Tina with the Musketeers who had just arrived. I went to the DJ, a friend of mine. He’d pick the records and play music all night. I gave him a record, told him which tracks to play and when and gave him twenty bucks which made him readily agree. Twenty bucks was a lot of money.

None of the Musketeers had dates although they did get asked to dance and Tina encouraged me to dance with each of them as well. I made sure Tina and I were on the dance floor together when ten o’clock came around. She had no idea what I’d prepared.

When Glen Miller’s String of Pearls came on, no one knew what to do, except for Tina and me. We went to town with it. The lights came up a little and everyone moved back to give us room. We went straight into Take the A Train and had fun with that. When Moonlight Serenade came on our DJ took the microphone and said gentlemen, make your move. It was a slow dance and everyone did their best with it and had fun. The change after that song was dramatic. Everyone seemed to know how to dance to Brown Sugar by the Stones.

Tina and I went back to the Musketeers. We split up and Tina danced with Fallon, and LuAnn and Lisa danced. I was the odd man out and enjoyed watching. They stayed on the dance floor, having a good time, for three songs and then took pity on me.

When they all came back to me, Lisa challenged, “Who needs boys?”

“I do,” said LuAnn and I joined her on the dance floor. I danced one more dance with each of them and we left. Fallon had a test in the morning and we knew the dance would be over soon anyway. Dad was waiting in the parking lot and gave the other three Musketeers a ride.

“That was fun,” Tina said on the drive back to her house. “You gave Robert the record, didn’t you?” I nodded. Sweet. “I like when you do stuff like that. Girls like it when their boyfriends like to show them off, just so you know.”

“Boys like to have girlfriends they want to show off, just so you know.”

“Thanks for dancing with the rest of the Musketeers, too. I think that was important for you to do.” I agreed. “We’re doing Halloween at your house Sunday, in case no one told you.” They hadn’t but it didn’t matter much to me, either way.

I told her I had a lot of pools to do the next day. I’d skipped some the previous weekend so we could spend time together but the weather was going to be cold and some people would be covering their pools for winter and I needed to prep them. I told her I wanted to be at the Karate school for Fallon’s promotion at around ten, if she passed. Tina said she would get a ride with Fallon and wait for her.

We kissed long and hungrily on the porch. I couldn’t get enough of her and my hands did their best to ensure I’d left no place unexplored. We finally broke the kiss.

“Dancing is just foreplay, you know?” she said. “You know what the last song should have been at the dance? I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”

“That’s mean.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you at the Karate school tomorrow. Call me when you get done with pools.”

I agreed, kissed her one more time and drove home. On the way, I realized how hungry I was. I stopped for Jack in the Box tacos and ate alone. Somehow, the tacos just weren’t as tasty when you ate them alone.

Saturday morning, I was up early and managed to get the six easiest pools done before going to the Karate school. I could have watched Fallon’s test but I decided if it was me, I wouldn’t want the extra pressure. I waited outside with Tina until we were invited in. We went in and watched the short ceremony together. Afterward, Fallon and Tina hugged and I gave Fallon a Karate salute and congratulated her. We were both Purple belts. She told me the race was on for blue and laughed. I had a big head start. I left to finish pools.

By late afternoon, I had two pools left. I went to Mrs. Bader’s house and did her pool. When I finished, she invited me in for hot chocolate and I took her up on it.

“I’ve been thinking about your dilemma, Michael. I don’t know if I can be of much help but I’ll try.” I nodded and she asked questions about what I liked in each girl and all that but I’d been over that already in my own mind.

Then she hit me with a good one. “What if you got married to one of these girls and things didn’t go so well. What if you’d been married for a couple of years and you had to work two jobs and she had to work also. If you’d worked two jobs and came home and she was just leaving for work, who would you want it to be?”

“That is a really good question, Monica. My dad said I should consider not who I have the best time with but who I’d want to tackle the bad times with. I really have to think about that because we’ve had a bunch of good times and not much in the way of bad.”

We talked for a few more minutes and I drove south to tackle my last pool. It was an end of the season job so I adjusted the chemicals for that and helped the owner put the cover on. He gave me a nice tip for good work that summer and said he’d see me in March unless it warmed up sooner.

I got back on the road and went south to Bailey’s on the Beach. It was quiet. Cold weather didn’t do much for ice cream sales apparently. Scott knew why I was there.

“Got any advice for me, Scott?”

“Yeah. Not advice really. I’ve got one question for you. That’s it. Ready?” I nodded. “Close your eyes and picture this. You’ve been married for ten years. You have an eight-year-old daughter. She’s been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. The doctor just told you. Look at your wife. Whose face do you see?”

“Damn, Scott. That’s tough.”

“Do it. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the hospital. The whole thing. Imagine it all. Try it with each of them. Imagine it with each of them.”

I did. I saw myself at Hoag Memorial. I imagined the doctor coming out to tell us and I imagined turning to my wife. I saw her face and she was just as devastated as I was. I tried it again but I couldn’t get the second face to appear. It was the same girl again. I tried it again and again but I couldn’t get another face. Just the one.

“You know, don’t you?” he asked and I nodded.

I had tears streaming down my face but I knew. Three months of very happy torture but I knew. I thanked him and bought a chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream to take the sting away from the pain his mental image brought.

“I hope nothing like that ever happens to you, man.” I nodded. “Only good stuff.”

“Thanks, Scott. It’s crystal clear now. Painfully clear,” I said and we both laughed a little. The image had been too real.

When I got home, Mom told me the girls were all at LuAnn’s house sewing. I knew they’d be busy and having fun so I waited before I called. LuAnn’s mom answered and told me to just come over, so I did.

I followed LuAnn’s mom to the seamstress workshop and tried on my costume. I was Fred Flintstone, and Tina was a very sexy Wilma. Lisa was Barney Rubble, complete with mustache. LuAnn was a ridiculously sexy Betty Rubble and Fallon was Bam Bam, complete with a big papier-mache club.

The costumes had been easy to make and they weren’t scary. Little kids don’t like to be scared. They still had work to do, so I kissed Tina and left.

On Sunday, I worked on homework. It was a total pain in the ass. I couldn’t concentrate at all. When I couldn’t stand the frustration any more, I went for a run. When I got home, I was hot from the run, cold from the weather and still messed up, emotionally. I showered up and had lunch. I tried again and again to picture either of the other two girls in the middle of Scott’s nightmare scenario but couldn’t do it. I asked myself over and over how to tell the girls. I was going to ask Mom’s advice but decided against it. This was all on me.