Chapter 21

I once had thought that there was nothing better than getting a two-girl hug, but I was wrong. Getting a three-girl hug was even better. Well, better for me, at least.

“Eww ... Sweaty!” laughed Jen

“He is!” agreed Monique.

“Kinda stinky, too,” said Janie, as she scrunched her nose.

“I’ll tell you that is the sweat and sweet smell of success,” I grinned.

“Something tells me you wouldn’t smell any worse if you lost,” said Janie and my other girls laughed.

I just beamed at my girls. “So, I take it that you all get along?”

Jennifer smiled back and then kissed Monique on the cheek. “We do, Tommy. She’s one of us now.”

“Run, Monique while you still have a chance!” I cried in mock horror, before I got elbowed in the ribs by Janie.

“Hey!” I complained.

“Aw ... does Tommy got a boo-boo?” mocked Monique.

Jennifer got a sly look on her face. “Want us to kiss it better?”

“Hey, girls, give the kid a break, huh?” laughed Nick, as he walked over with Natalie. My parents, grandparents and Uncle Steve and Eva’s mom followed them.

“Up for Little Italy’s?” asked Natalie.

“Can Billy and his folks come, too?” I asked.

“Sure,” said my dad.

Little Italy’s was hopping as a number of my teammates and their families had gone to the restaurant. There were even some kids from the other team there. I was sitting at a table with Janie, Monique, Jennifer, Billy, and Laura when one of the kids that I didn’t know from the Eagles came over. The kid was both taller and wider than me. He must have lived in Walnut Grove and gone to the Regional High School.

“How is it that you’ve got double the number of girls than guys at this table?” he asked, sitting down next to Laura without being asked.

“Just lucky I guess,” I grinned. “Can I help you with something?”

“I just figured that I was lonely and needed a little female attention. Since you have an extra I thought I’d help you out.”

“Thanks for the offer but all of us are taken,” said Jennifer.

“How can that be? I count three girls.”

“I guess they don’t teach you to count at your school,” said Billy.

“I count fine. You got three girls at this table and only two guys ... oh yeah, and the colored girl too, but she don’t count.”

“She counts just fine for us,” I said, giving the kid a glare.

“How about you just leave? You weren’t invited, yet you rudely sit at our table,” glared Laura.

The kid got an angry look. “What a bitch.”

“Is there a problem here?” asked Nick.

“No, problem. I was trying to be friendly and the stuck up bitches, pussy boys, and the nigger were bothering me.”

I saw a look from Nick at that moment I swore I never wanted to see directed at me. The worst part was that he was smiling.

“Kid?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to count to ten and if you aren’t out of this restaurant by the time I get to ten, I’m going to throw your punk ass through that window.”

Nick wasn’t a tall guy. Not even five-ten, but he was pretty heavily muscled.

“Yeah, fuck you, old man.”

“One.”

A man walked over who by his appearance was clearly related to the boy. Billy and I instinctively stood up to back up Nick.

“Two.”

The kid wasn’t moving. This had the chance of getting really ugly.

“What’s going on here?” asked the arriving man.

“Three.”

“This kid came over here and started bothering our girls and insulting our friend and treated her like dirt!” I said.

“Four.”

“Why is he counting?”

I grinned. “He told the kid to leave and the kid wouldn’t so when he gets to ten he’s going to throw him through the front window.”

“Five.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“He would and I’ll pick up the damages,” I said innocently.

“Now see here!” he complained.

“Six.”

“No, you see here! Get your kid out of this restaurant right now! I don’t associate with bigot scum and if Nick Bridges doesn’t throw your son through that window, I will!” I barked.

“Nick Bridges? Fuck! Lenny, get out of here, right now!”

“Seven.”

“What?” asked the bigot kid.

The man whispered something in Lenny’s ear and the kid’s eyes grew wide.

“He wouldn’t.”

“Eight.”

The older man nodded and the kid got a panicked look in his eye.

“Nine,” counted Nick, and the kid was running for the door.

“Now see here, Bridges, we don’t need any violence.”

“Ten!” said Nick as he started after the kid.

By the time Nick got to the door, the kid was well into the parking lot and still running.

He then walked back to us and faced the older man. “You tell that kid that he is banned from this restaurant. If I ever see him in here again, I’ll make good on my threat. I won’t even count. If he ever comes back, then you’re banned too.

“What did he do?”

Nick whispered in the man’s ear.

“So? They treated my kid like dirt while standing up for a nigger girl.”

Nick’s look came back.

“One.”

“What?” asked the man,

“Looks like you’re going to take your son’s place,” I grinned.

“Two,” counted Nick.

“I haven’t even gotten dessert yet?” the man complained.

“Your meal is on the house, but you’re banned too,” I said and Nick nodded.

“Three.”

And the man scurried off for the door.

Natalie, Dad, and Mom, who had been watching walked over and bracketed Nick. He sighed. “I thought we’d come really far and then this piece of trash and his kid walk into one of my restaurants.”

I saw Monique and she was staring down. I went over and comforted her, as both Janie and Jen were.

“I’m a colored girl,” she said in a monotone voice.

“You are so much more than that Neek,” said Jen, as she nuzzled and hugged her.

“Honey, you are one of the smartest and most talented people I know,” I added.

Monique lifted her eyes. “Do you mean that, Tommy?”

“More than you could ever know,” I smiled. “You have this great idea for automating the business.”

She frowned. “The programs were mostly already written.”

“Yeah, by you. You plan on customizing them. You coded your original program in Basic, right?”

Monique nodded. “I guess. It’s a simple program. I can add some custom fields and labels and expand the database.”

“And you have plans to synchronize it to other PASCO companies.”

Again, she nodded and a smile appeared on her face. “Not so bad for a little colored girl, now.”

She giggled, as a tear rolled down her face. It was rather strange to see, but after everything she had been through, it was understandable for her emotions to kick in now that this recent episode had ended.

“We love you, Neek,” smiled Janie.

“That we do, my brilliant girlfriend,” I added.

“OUR brilliant girlfriend,” Jennifer corrected.

“Yes! Our girlfriend. I stand corrected.”

I was interrupted from our group cuddle by my teammates, Jeremy and Terry. They were our only two high school kids on our team. “Tommy, Mr. Thomas, you know, the Vice-Principal from the Junior High, is asking a lot of questions about you. He’s talking to both us kids and our parents,” said Terry, pointing to some tables in front of the restaurant.

I saw him talking to a man and woman I recognized as Davy Pederson’s dad and mom.

“Yeah, he’s asking about drugs, gangs and other trouble-making,” added Jeremy.

I frowned. “Drugs and gangs?”

“He said something about you ‘hanging out with minorities’ or something like that,” said Jeremy.

The only black people I really knew in school were David on my bus, who was a farm kid like me, and Lionel Carter, my new seventh-grade friend, who I had said ‘hello’ to in the halls a few times. Now according to Mr. Thomas, I’m with Monique, so I must be taking drugs and forming my own gang. These people were stretching credulity here. It seemed they were desperate to get me. I went and talked to my dad and told him what was happening. He had been warned by Mr. Seiling about what Mr. Martin and Mr. Thomas were up to, but was waiting for them to do something in public. So we walked over to see if we could hear anything that my dad could use against Mr. Thomas. Mom and Nick wanted to join in, but I sensed that my dad was looking at more of a legal threat versus a physical one. I figured I’d let him do most of my talking. He was my lawyer, after all.

On our way over, we heard my name mentioned a few times. When we got to Mr. and Mrs. Pederson’s table, it was obvious that Mr. Thomas had not seen us (as his back was to us). I wanted to yell at him to stop talking about me, but my dad put his finger to his lips while Mr. Thomas talked.

“You know, the kid has been hanging out with minority kids?”

“I’m not sure what that has to do with anything,” said Mrs. Pederson.

“Studies show that minority kids are more likely to participate in a gang and in drug-related activities than white children of this age group. If you want proof, just go to the back room. Tommy Matthews is sitting with a colored girl right now.”

Mr. Pederson laughed. “No, he isn’t. If I’m not mistaken he’s standing right behind you.”

The vice-principal craned his neck around and frowned when he saw me.

“We’re having a private conversation here and don’t want to be interrupted by a child.”

I wanted to come up with a witty retort, but again, my dad has been making witty retorts since before I was born, so I bowed to his experience.

“Well, since you were talking about my son, we figured that you must want to talk with him so here we are,” said dad with one of his famous shark-like grins that I one day hoped to master.

“I’ll address the same comments to you, buddy. I ask you to mind your own business,” stated Mr. Thomas.

Mr. Pederson frowned. “I think since you have been talking so badly about his kid, he should have a right to his say.”