Chapter 31

Tuesday morning, I got stuck after English class, answering questions about my outline. It wasn’t a bad thing but I would have much preferred spending it at lunch with Kim. When I finally made it to the cafeteria, Kim was sitting directly across from Spot. It took me about two seconds to figure that out. For some reason, they rarely sat across from each other. Kim was giving Spot the perfect opportunity to notice if she had a just-fucked look on her face. I didn’t know how long that look lasted or even if it were real or not but if it was, Kim should have had one.

I sat down next to Kim and greeted everyone. I noticed that Melanie was particularly animated at the other end of the table. She turned to smile at me and I smiled back and I realized why she’d been so animated. Her braces were gone. She was Giggles no more. They’d have to come up with a new nickname for Melanie Middleton. I gave her a bigger smile and a thumbs up and mouthed the words, ‘you’re beautiful’ to her and she smiled even more. I’d never worn braces but could imagine what the first day without them would be like. The bell sounded as I was taking my last bite.

Everyone started to get up but I put my hand on Kim’s arm and she settled back down.

“How did that go?”

“How did what go?”

“When’s the last time you sat across from Spot?”

“A while. She didn’t say anything. What do you think? Does my face give anything away?”

I looked at her closely. She was so serious so I stared at her, inspecting her and I did it seriously until she finally realized I was messing with her. “Stop,” she said and shoved my shoulder.

“One of your freckles is out of place. Look, even if your face somehow gave it away, I’d like it. I’m not the one to ask.”

“I want to know.”

“Why? Are we going to stick to Fridays and Saturdays or do I have to stop short?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Let’s go. We’ve been late enough already. You’re funny, Baby. Sitting across from Spot, daring her to notice.”

“Well...”

“Do you know who, among the squad, is earning the look? Have you noticed? Claire and Giggles maybe? I don’t want to know. But has anyone given it away with their face?”

“No. But maybe their boyfriends don’t know how to do it as well as you do.”

“I think that goes without saying.”

“You’re a mess,” she said and kissed me before we went our different directions.

That afternoon, Mom let me know that Dane wanted a tour of my gym and he’d be home before dinner. I didn’t need to show him that day, but he was interested. When we finished a particularly aggressive pull day, I kissed Kim goodbye in the driveway, promising to call her after dinner.

I knocked out some homework and Dane rapped on my door just after five.

“Hey, Jack.

“Hey, Dane.”

“I’ve heard Christie call you all kinds of things. What do you prefer?”

“It doesn’t really matter but I’ll tell you what she calls me and why and when.”

“There’s a code.”

“There’s her code but I understand it. When we’re doing something together, she’ll call me Buddy. That’s her being friendly. If it’s athletic, she might call me Sport. If there are other people around and she’s trying to brag on me, she’ll call me Aquaman. She’s hoping someone will ask and then she can brag. Let’s see ... If she’s serious, she’ll call me Jack. That’s if she wants to make sure I’m paying attention or she wants me to take it seriously. If she’s mad at me, she’ll call me Jackson.”

“You two decide this together or did you just figure it out?”

“I figured it out. Oh, and Hector, our gardener calls me Mr. Butthead, but that’s another story. It’s funny.”

“Preference?”

“Nah. I guess I’ve got her code figured out so any of them work and it kind of lets me know where I stand. If she called me Sport all the time it would probably get old. I thought Aquaman was pretty funny at first.”

“And now?”

“And now I think there’s a good enough reason for it. The swim team captain this year is the fastest breaststroker in the state and he’s graduating. Captain’s duties are probably going to fall on Claire for next season but when I’m a junior, it will probably be me. If you were on the swim team, wouldn’t you like the team captain to go by Aquaman?”

“I can see the value in that. And that’s the only nickname you have that you earned. And that’s pretty cool. Unless, of course, you earned the nickname Mr. Butthead.”

“Nah. Hector and I were messing around one day. It was funny. Ask Mom about Hector. It’s a pretty good story. Him and Dad had a story together and when she tells it, you can tell she was proud of Ronnie. It’s crazy. He made millions but his deal with Hector is probably what she’s most proud of.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind telling it again. Do you miss him?”

“Ronnie? I should. But, no, not really. He was a good guy and all but for me, when he died, not much changed.”

“That’s not good.”

“Mom said he was a good provider and that’s how he showed us he loved us. That’s her story and she’s sticking to it.”

“I trust she’s open to other approaches.”

“Definitely. I think mainly she didn’t want Franklin and me to resent all the time he didn’t spend with us. At the rate you’re going, you’ll beat his annual numbers in another week.”

“Considering Christie is worth about fifty times what I am, making a lot of money probably won’t impress her very much.”

“You got that right.”

“Dinner!” Mom hollered from the kitchen.

“Let’s not keep her waiting,” Dane said. “She made your favorite, liver and onions.”

“You better be joking.”

We had Brunswick Stew and cornbread which turned out to be pretty high on both Dane and my list. Mom made it without lima beans, making it much better than the traditional recipe. Does anyone actually like lima beans? Dane asked a lot of questions about my school year and friends. After dinner we went out to the gym while Mom cleaned up. I gave him the tour but he seemed pretty familiar with most of the equipment. When we finished, he asked if he could tack up a note page for himself.

I took a look at it, considered it, then asked him about it. He had different exercises with different weights and I didn’t see the connection.

“I came out here the other day, and if it’s alright with you, I’m going to make use of this.”

“Fine with me. What are the numbers?”

“I weigh a buck eighty. I want to hit certain standards for key lifts. Haven’t lifted in a while so I started with a moderate goal. Two seventy-five for bench press, one sixty-five for military press, three fifty for squat, and four twenty-five for deadlift. The military press goal seems a little light but that’s okay. The deadlift goal will probably be the biggest challenge. Even with bum knees, I think I can manage that squat.”

“Where did you get the numbers?”

“We refer patients to physical therapists after surgery. I’ve become friends with one of them who specializes in helping athletes’ rehab. These are his numbers. He develops numbers that would provide balance. If one of your lifts is much higher or lower than his little chart, you’d know what to work on.”

“Pretty cool. Do you think you could get numbers for me? I weigh one sixty.”

“I thought you might be interested. Christie thought you weighed about one-sixty-five but it’s pretty close.”

He pulled a sheet out of his pocket with standards for each of the lifts. They ranged from beginner to elite.

“This says I should be able to bench three twenty.”

“Ha. Straight to the elite level, huh. What can you bench?”

“For one rep? Two twenty-five. That’s not even advanced.”

“How long have you been doing this, Sport?”

“I caught that. Not long enough to be elite, I guess.”

“Something to shoot for,” he said and I pinned the sheet up next to his. “I’ll be home early enough to lift with you Friday. I wouldn’t mind a spotter when I try to figure out where I stand.”

“Deal,” I said and it looked like we were done.

I hopped on my bike and raced around the corner to my tutoring appointment. This one was easy and I got him on track in no time, then watched him work and made corrections. I gave him a couple of real-world examples to help make the concepts stick. I enjoyed doing it and realized I had something of a knack for teaching. He finished his work before my time was up and I went home.

I called Kim and told her about my conversations with Dane. I liked him a lot and told her so. She agreed. Both of us had a hard time understanding how he could make it this long without getting married. It didn’t make sense to us.

We switched subjects back to the just fucked look. She had decided that no matter how good our time together was, she wouldn’t have any kind of a special look the next day. Perhaps Spot had a hunch. She thought her mom might suspect but probably not. She said her dad definitely could not. The main thing, she said was making sure we didn’t take the smell of sex with us anywhere. She was going to pick up a different air freshener and get a different kind of mouthwash for me. She said she’d pick up a bottle of pussy neutralizer mouthwash at CVS. That way, I could go down on her all I wanted and with a couple of swishes, no one would know. Pussy neutralizer. Yup. That’s what I needed alright. We talked about a few odds and ends and hung up.

I hit the sack before the screaming started for the second night in a row.

Kim caught me in the hallway between classes and told me to bring a notepad to lunch. When I got there, both varsity and JV cheerleading squads had put two tables together. Cheerleaders and boyfriends all had notepads or were sharing. This was the annual teacher dump. Seniors and juniors would pass on inside information on which teachers to take and which to avoid during scheduling for the next year. They also gave tips about what kind of homework or tests they gave and how they graded. They always did it each year for the benefit of freshmen and sophomores. By the time you were a junior, you just knew. And since the school wasn’t that big, you didn’t always have a choice anyway. If I wanted to take physics, I’d have Mrs. Sprang and that’s all there was to it. No one else taught it.

I knew what classes I’d have to take to get done in three. My main concern was science as I’d have to double up. Since most of the kids were ahead of me, I didn’t have much to offer until they got to Latin. I hated the class but at least the teacher worked to make it interesting. I took notes, prioritizing multiple teachers for the same subject. By the time the bell rang, we were down to electives. Walking to our next class, I told Kim I didn’t have room in my schedule for electives. She told me Franklin was taking care of my electives on Saturday morning. She was right. What could Porter teach me about putting a roof on a house or driving a Bobcat?

The swimming block was coming to an end and the PE teacher had them compete in a mock swim meet. It was pretty hilarious. The relays were the best, with kids leaving the block early or waiting way too long. The teacher could either be upset or laugh. He laughed. It was the right choice.

“Thanks for doing this, Jack. Next week is Spring Break and we’ll start a new block after that. Traditionally, we’ll have some folks leave early. The next two days, if you want to come here and put in miles, that’s fine. If you want to scoot out early, I probably won’t notice.”

“Thanks coach. I’ll probably put in some miles. My girlfriend won’t be getting out early so...”

“Gotcha. You identified and motivated two kids to work hard and maybe go out for the team the following year. There are probably two more thinking about it. That’s more than I could have done.”

“And no one drowned,” I said and we both laughed.

Kim had something on her mind as we drove back to the house. I knew enough to not ask. She’d tell me if she wanted to.

It was leg day and Mom was really hitting it hard. After a few minutes, the thought occurred to me that she wanted better legs for better sex. Once that thought was in my head, it wouldn’t leave. When she got to hip adductions, to hit the inner thigh, she had gone up in weight, had her tongue out, and was working it hard. I lost it. She looked up at me laughing, realized why, and told me to shut up. Kim missed it.

On the ride to Kim’s house, I told her why I’d been laughing. I thought she would think it was funny too, but she didn’t. She told me so.

“I see why you’re laughing, but I don’t think it’s funny.”

“No?”

“No. If you’re right, and you probably are or she wouldn’t have told you to shut up, then think about it. Your mom is working out to make sex better. When getting sexy lats was the big motivator, it was fun. Now, she has a reason. If she thinks working her inner thighs will lead to better sex, don’t laugh.”

“Okay. You’re right. But she’ll never catch up to you on those. You’re out in front of us both, by a mile.”

“Years of horseback riding.”

“Oh, yeah. And now, Jack Pierce riding.”

“I’m going to write a book. Horseback riding for better sex.”

We went inside and kissed and hugged for a while, then she checked the messages. Home early with a bucket of chicken. Please make a salad. She invited me for dinner but I told her I was trying to be available to help Dane figure things out and get settled in and she thought that was smart.

“Before you leave, come check this out,” she said and dragged me to a room in the back of the house I hadn’t seen before. There was a treadmill and exercise bike and a large gray exercise ball. “It’s for stability exercises and sit-ups,” she said.

I watched her sit on it and then bend back as though she was going to do a sit up but she kept leaning back until her hands were on the floor. She spread her feet and rolled her butt around on it.

“What do you think?”

“I think I’ve got a boner just imagining you doing that naked. But is it comfortable? It doesn’t seem like it.”

She sat up. “It might be difficult to do it for long. You would like it, though, wouldn’t you?”

“Baby, I’m fired up just imagining it. But I don’t think you would have much fun.”

“I think you would get really deep into me and that would very definitely be fun.” She paused a minute. “It would be a workout, though. We could try it. I’m willing.”

“Those are my two favorite words. Do you remember the first time we kissed?”

“Seems like a long time ago,” she said.

“Not to me. You took my breath away.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” she answered.

“I think that was part of it. The very first time our tongues touched, remember that?”

“Pretty electric.”

“I still feel like that, every time we kiss. Multiply that by a million when we make love.”

“If anyone else said that, I would probably say bullshit. But you mean it,” she said and we kissed some more. I held her tit in my hand, gently squeezing as we kissed. “I know you’re not trying to get me worked up but, I don’t know. Maybe if you hadn’t said that.”

“You feel good to me, Baby. Really good.” I reached around and squeezed her butt and she pushed into me.

“If we have the chance this weekend, I want to try some of the stuff Cheryl and Mickey talked about,” she said.

“Okay. I’m leaving now. I have to ride my bike home and it’s going to be painful. I can’t wait to get my license.”

“I can drive you,” she offered.

“No, thanks. Make a salad.” I was about to leave and stopped. “I want to be sure we’re not blowing it.”

“How?”

“Nothing with you and me. Our folks. I don’t want Mom to be upset with you or me because of us. Same for your folks and now, Dane. Mom hasn’t said anything to make me think she is. I just think we need to be careful. I’ve got more than two years that I have to spend at home. Living at my house is not exactly a hardship. I just don’t want to mess up.”

“And you think we’re spending too much time together?”

“No. I don’t think we’re spending enough time together. I think it’s like a perception issue. I think Mom is okay, especially with you at our house five or six days a week, lifting. I think she feels like she has her, what do you call it, finger on the pulse. How are yours?”

“I should make a salad. And I haven’t exactly been doing chores the way I used to. Mom hasn’t complained but I get it. Scoot and I’ll make a salad and do some cleaning.”

“Tomorrow, I could help with chores, you know, a little teamwork.”

“I’ll get you a maid outfit. Actually, that’s a pretty good idea. I think she kind of expected a drop off once I got my truck.”

“When I turn eighteen and we can get married, I want both of our folks to be happy for us. Not worried about us. I don’t think it would be hard to do that, but I think it’s kind of on us. And I don’t know anything about how Dane will see it,” I said. She agreed, I kissed her again and left.

I rode home hoping we were having something good for dinner. I’d worked up an appetite. As soon as I opened the door, I knew what we were having for dinner. I’d learned to identify some of her Indian dishes by smell. This was chicken Makhani, unless she’d used holy beef, or was it holy cow. That made me laugh and I wondered if that’s where the saying came from. There was garlic in almost all of her Indian dishes but this one had garam masala and cumin in it and that gave it away. I walked into the kitchen and Dane was there, inspecting a meal he’d never had before.

“Kiss her now, if you’re going to,” I said. “Unless you love that garlic lip gloss.”

He took my advice.

“You’ve had this before,” he said.

“Yeah. Mom goes through phases. She did Brazilian dishes last summer and it was French before that. Has she made her curried yak tongue for you?”

“Stop,” Mom said. Dane was looking at her as though curried yak tongue was a possibility. “I don’t make that. That’s not even a thing. And he’s never complained,” she said, pointing at me with a spoon.

“He’s fifteen. He probably eats anything. I’d kind of like to try the yak tongue,” he said and winked at me.

“Both of you? Really? Make yourself useful and set the table.”

I started to do it and Dane put his hand out to stop me. “I think I need the bonus points more than you do.” I yielded.

I was right about the chicken Makhani. It was the best yet and I told her so. Apparently, Dane agreed because we put a serious dent in what Mom thought would be enough for three meals. I finished and was about to leave for my tutoring appointment but stopped and asked Mom if she thought I was doing okay with chores. She gave me one of those, what’s-really-on-your-mind looks and said I was doing fine.

“I just figured it out,” Dane said.

“What, honey? What did you figure out?”

“Can you imagine being in a busy restaurant and realizing something wasn’t quite normal but you couldn’t figure it out? You ask your waiter and he tells you every one of the diners is left-handed. I’ve had that feeling here since the first evening. I just couldn’t figure it out.”

“And now you have.”

“I have. I haven’t heard the TV on once. I don’t even know if it works.”

“I watched a couple of movies over the summer,” I said. “How much do I have to watch to be normal?”

“I like it. No evening news or late-night TV, no sitcoms.”

“I like Magnum.”

“You like bikini babes,” Mom said.

“I like it for the social commentary and Higgens’ stories rich with historical significance.”

“Who doesn’t like a nice bikini babe every now and then?” Dane asked.

“If you think winning points with Jack that way is a good idea...”

“She called you Jack. I think I’d better wash the dishes.”

“I’ll be back,” I said and walked to my appointment.

Tony Addis needed help with quadratic equations. I told him there were other ways to solve that type of problem but he’d be using this method for a long time. I challenged him to memorize the equation and showed steps to prove that it worked. That was the deal for Tony. If he could see why it worked, he was fine. If he couldn’t, it didn’t matter how magical the formula was, he wouldn’t get it. He’d do great when he got to trig.

When I got home it was quiet and lights were out, with the exception of the entrance and a hall light I knew Mom had left on for me. Mom was a night owl but I guess Dane was going to cure her of that. I read for a while, then hit the sack.

With my list of preferred teachers in hand, I made an appointment with Mrs. Augustine to see what I should do to create a solid schedule for the next year. Her only open slot that afternoon was History, which was a class that I liked. I’d have to go to Latin and PE after that. Talk at lunch was about who was going to take what the following year. I kept my mouth shut. Until I had a schedule that worked, I couldn’t say for sure.

That afternoon, I showed up in the guidance office for my appointment. Mrs. Augustine already had a schedule for me. She said that most kids that try to graduate in three years don’t decide to do that until halfway through their sophomore year or later and by then, it’s difficult. By starting early and doubling up on science, I probably wouldn’t need to take any summer classes. I asked for a couple of changes and when I did, she immediately knew why. I wanted the best teachers, not the easiest.

During PE a couple of eighth-graders realized they didn’t have a lot of opportunities to learn the butterfly so I gave a little clinic. Only three or four kids were able to swim a complete length of the pool using butterfly and they were pretty pumped about it. Most of them came up gasping for air before they made it halfway. For the coach, it was cheap entertainment.

Kim and I drove to my house and talked about what we would do after lifting. She had a plan and it seemed like we could get a lot done in a short amount of time, especially in an otherwise empty house.

We worked on chest, shoulders, and triceps and for the first time, Mom asked what we were doing at her house all that time. Talk about timing.

“Kim knocked out a bunch of homework yesterday,” which was true, “So today, we’re going to knock out a bunch of chores. I’ve got my list,” I said.

“Really?” Mom asked, surprised at my answer.

“I was hoping that if I got ahead, you might teach me a few recipes. I want to learn how to cook the things Jack likes best,” Kim added.

Mom put her hands on her hips and looked at us like we were space aliens. “Really?” She asked again. “I honestly don’t know what to think of you two sometimes. Why this sudden industriousness?”

“Spring break starts Friday afternoon,” I said. “And Kim promised to take me skydiving Saturday.” Kim nodded.

“I don’t think so. Why don’t you do something safe instead, like get yourselves some fake IDs and go down to Palm Beach to try some of the amazing weed everyone will be smoking.”

“Can we?” I asked, enthusiastically.

“No, you bonehead but it would still be safer. What are you really going to do?”

“Some of the older kids are going down to Fort Lauderdale but Kim and I already decided we didn’t want to do that.”

“Well, that’s a good thing. The answer would be ‘no’ anyway, so...?”

“I don’t even know, Mrs. P. Jack and I talked about what we don’t want to do but we didn’t really decide what we are going to do. Maybe do some fishing or horseback riding. And I want to learn how to play cards better. Does Dane play?”

“He does. He is used to playing using Takeout Doubles, and I just use Stayman.”

“I don’t know what that means,” I said.

“He uses a different bidding convention. Not a big deal. He plays and isn’t bad.”

“Does he like yak tongue?”

“Go, do your chores,” she said.

Kim and I climbed into her truck and before we were out of the driveway she looked at me with a huge grin and said, “We’re such suck-ups.”

“I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

“That’s the scary part.”

When we got back to her house, we gave each other a quick kiss and hug and got to work. I started high, dusting four rooms while she cleaned up the kitchen. Then I went low with vacuuming while she dusted two more rooms and by the time she was done, I was ready to vacuum them. We returned to the kitchen and I made a salad while she started cooking a meatloaf and a couple of sides. I was done first so I cleaned the guest bath. By then, it was time for me to leave.

“Sweet, Baby. We got a lot knocked out,” she said.

“Many hands make light work or something like that. That was easy. Are you really going to learn some recipes from Mom?”

“Sure. Why not?” she asked.

“Cool. What are we going to do for Spring break?”

“It doesn’t matter to me as long as we spend a lot of time together ... naked.”

“That sounds pretty good to me. You look good naked.”

“I feel better. Scoot or we’ll have wasted all that suck-up we did.”

I kissed her and left, walking in just in time for dinner.

“Get a lot done?” Mom asked. I told her and she seemed impressed. “Dane’s not home yet.”

“Did he call?”

“No. He’s not used to that. He hasn’t had to answer to anyone, probably since he moved out from home.”

“Sounds like a new habit about to be formed.”

“A little at a time, Buddy. You and Kim can make changes at the drop of a hat but us old folks need a little time to make those adjustments.”

“Did you have to break any habits when Ronnie died?”

She thought about it for a solid minute and then looked at me and asked, “Did you?”

It was sad that so little of our day-to-day lives had changed. How was that even possible? I was on my way to the garage to get my bike when Dane drove up.

“Hey, Aquaman. Off to tutor?”

“Yup. Make some points by apologizing to Mom for not calling, then promise you will in the future,” I said.

“Ouch. Thanks, Jack. Good advice.”

“Anytime. That would have been a good time to call me Buddy.” He laughed and took the steps at a sprint. I was making all kinds of suck-up points. Leading into Spring break, they might come in handy.

I biked over to Susan’s house, which took all of three minutes. They had a study and we met there. The lighting wasn’t that great but there was a desk for us to use and I turned on all the lights I could find. She showed me the test she had taken that week and her graded homework, assuring me it was all much better than before. She showed me the upcoming unit and asked what she should be doing over spring break to get ready for it.

I explained the concepts and tried to show her how to overcome her difficulties and she seemed good with that. We finished in forty minutes or so, but her mom was paying me for an hour and I didn’t want to stop before that. Susan didn’t mind talking. We talked about school and friends and all that for a while and then the conversation turned to Kim and me.

“I’ve known Kim since second grade. We’re friends but I guess we don’t do much together anymore. I know her pretty well, though.”

“Wow. That’s a long time.”

“Yeah. I used to ride but I quit a couple of years ago. She’s a great rider. She should compete but I guess it takes a lot of time.”

“I think it would be cool if she did. Tell me something about her I don’t know,” I challenged.

“You two spend a lot of time together so you probably know it already. Let me think. Of course, you already know how she feels about you.”

“How did she say it?”

“You’re air.”

“I’m air? What does that mean?”

“Like the air we breathe. She can’t live without air. You’re air.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. That’s how she explained it. Must be pretty nice to have someone love you like that.”

“I’m pretty much speechless after that. Wow.”

She’d heard it before. “Here’s something I bet you don’t know. Did you watch Winter Olympics this year?” I nodded. “Kim really got into ice hockey and when they won the gold medal, she just about went crazy. She’d never even seen ice hockey before but she liked it. And she really liked one of the players. She pretended she didn’t but she did.”

“Mike Eruzione?”

“No. She liked him and all but she sort of crushed on Mark Pavelich. He’s the guy that passed it to Eruzione for the score that won the game.”

“She’s never said anything about hockey.”

“You know she likes rodeo but her favorite is bull riding. She loves it. Then, there’s obvious stuff that you already know.” She went on to tell me all kinds of things about Kim that I didn’t know. It was great.

I biked home sorting through all the new information and trying to figure out what I could do with it. Finding out what kind of rifle she wanted was a pretty nice thing for her birthday. Bull riding, ice hockey, the color teal, plums, Roquefort dressing, The Searchers, Emmy Lou Harris, but I knew that. There was plenty more and it was all good. I turned around and biked back to Susan’s house and knocked. Her dad answered and got Susan.

“Hey, Jack. Forget something?”

“Yes. I forgot to ask you not to mention this to Kim.”