Chapter 32: Contingency Planning

Saturday, August 27, 1983

I slept just a bit late. Why not? I didn’t have a lot to do this week. Ms. Epstein had given us a paper due next Friday, and I’d probably get started on that today, but that was it.

I finally called Mike’s house early in the afternoon, getting Rita.

“Hello! Anderson residence.”

“Hi, Rita. It’s Steve!”

“Steve! It’s good to hear your voice!” she said, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ve missed you. Mike’s making a mess of things.”

“Do tell.”

“It’s that Trish. I don’t like her. Maybe she reminds me too much of me, or of my friends. I don’t know. I just know I don’t like her. She’s here now, and she’s got a gaggle of girls following her, along with their boyfriends. It’s ... yeah, honestly, it reminds me way too much of some of the stuff I pulled. Girls can lead guys around by their you-know-whats, and Trish is good at it. I liked Sarah, because she mostly didn’t do that, even though she could have.”

“I’m sorry, Rita.”

“Yeah. Well ... let me get him. I’m going to guess he’s going to say Study Group is on, but I’m not sure it really is.”

I sighed. “Thanks.”

“I have to put up with it, and so does Anderson. You know how receptive teenagers are to parents forbidding them from seeing someone.”

“‘Romeo and Juliet’ comes to mind.”

She chuckled. “Well, no one’s going that far, but ... yeah. I got around everything my parents tried. I’m just glad I figured it out before I met Anderson. Mike will figure it out, but not until she burns him, which she will.”

“Most likely so.”

“No ‘most likely’ about it! That girl is going to dump him when she gets someone better in her sights. She figured out that Mike has money, which ... well, you know we do ... but she didn’t realize he doesn’t have money the way she wanted, despite the car we got him and all. Once she gets her hooks in someone better he’ll be tossed aside. That’s how it always goes with girls like her.”

I hadn’t even heard about the car. It must be something special. Sounded like a case of unintended consequences to me.

“Anyway, I’m going to go get him,” she said. “Hang on!”

“Thanks!”

I waited a few minutes. The phone picked up and Mike said, “Steve? Hey!”

“Hi, Mike.”

“Sorry for all the weirdness. I’m sure you know I met someone new.”

“I’ve heard that.”

“Trish is really cool. You’ll like her, I’m sure. Everyone will.”

“I’m looking forward to really meeting her. I’ve only seen her a couple of times, so far.”

“Study Group is back on, and we’re having the usual Labor Day party, too. The timing sucks, because they moved exam week, but they’re not going to be hard exams. Plus, we’re seniors. It’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure it will.”

“Anyway ... I guess ... see you tomorrow?”

“See you then.”

“Hey! I should’ve asked. How’d you come out of the hurricane? And everyone?”

“Everyone’s fine, thank goodness.”

“Good! We got a little water in the pool house, but it’s fine. Nothing’s wrecked.”

“Good to hear.”

“Gotta run! See you tomorrow!”

He hung up.

I headed into Angie’s room.

“Busy?” I said.

“Nah. What’s up?”

“I talked to Mike, and also to Rita.”

“And?”

I repeated most of it, both Rita’s comments and Mike’s. She nodded her way through it.

When I finished, she said, “Sucks.”

“Insightful,” I said.

She shrugged. “It’s accurate. The whole thing sucks. Mike thinks he can just add Trish. He can’t. Even if we’d put up with it — and I think you, Jas, Gene, Sue, Jimmy, and Connie probably would, for a while anyway, if it was just you — it’d be a really bad idea for Mel, Cammie, Andy, and Cal. Never give Trish information. She’ll use it.”

I nodded. “I was pretty much already there.”

“You might’ve not allowed it, since you could get hurt by some information, too.”

“Mmm?”

“Getting Carl Brandt on the school board, for instance. It’s a bit weird having someone on the school board indebted to a senior. It’s fine if they know that, but not ... everyone. There are a bunch of things, but that’s an example. Paige and me won’t be hurt the way Mel or Cammie would be, but it’d still be a mess. And ... none of that actually matters.”

“It sounded like it mattered.”

“Nah,” she said, then giggled. “Trish wouldn’t put up with Jimmy and Connie. I don’t think she’d put up with Gene and Sue. You, she’d put up with, because you could be useful. The problem is, we’re all better off the longer things go before she realizes that. She’d love me until she figured out I wasn’t on her team. We were decent partners in crime before, after all. I considered playing double agent, but ... seriously ... I just can’t stomach that high school socialite bullshit again!”

“Nor should you have to.”

“If Jess needs me to, or ... whatever ... then, yeah. Otherwise ... hell, no!”

I hesitated, then said, “Sis?”

“Yeah?”

I nudged her door closed. “Again?”

She blushed. “Fuck! I get so worked up!”

“It’s okay, I’m sure. You could claim Max was the first time.”

“He was, but ... yeah. That works.”

I nodded, then said, “Before I caught that, I was going to say ... is any of this worrying about yourself?”

“You mean ... getting hooked on it all?”

I nodded again.

“So...” she said, “Not the socialite bullshit. I couldn’t care less who’s got more of daddy or mommy’s money than someone else, whose car is better, or whose house, or ... whatever the hell. Or who can throw the best party.”

“But...?”

“But,” she said, nodding, then sighing. “I’m always on guard over the alcohol and the drugs. I don’t get cravings. Not at all. Not even a little. Alcohol’s fine, anyway. I wasn’t hooked. Drugs ... drugs are harder. I could socially drink ... hell, I do socially drink, very occasionally. I couldn’t do that with anything beyond pot, and I’m putting that off for a while, because ... well ... Mom and Dad. Getting caught would be bad. Getting caught at seventeen would be really bad. Besides ... it might go wrong.”

I nodded. “And around Trish?”

“I couldn’t be a plausible undercover agent without getting back into that culture. It’s actually easier to avoid the booze than the pot, and the pot leads to some harder stuff. So ... yeah. It is about me. Trish is a user and a terrible influence. Dollars to donuts, if they drug-tested Mike he’d be positive. We could use that...”

“But it would probably go sideways.”

“Yeah.”

“Sucks.”

“Definitely.”

I shook my head. “Okay ... back to the grind. I’m going to work on my new paper for Ms. Epstein.”

“Sounds like a plan. Save me some time on the computer later. It’s a heck of a lot easier than hand-writing things.”

“Will do!”

I called Cammie after talking with Angie. She agreed that going to Study Group would be a bad idea, at least until we saw what was going on. Not that Andy and Cal went all that often in the fall, with football practices in the way, but she’d make sure they didn’t go either.

I looked into planning something for Labor Day. I started checking San Antonio and Dallas but didn’t find anything too amazing.

Apparently, I should have started in Houston. The musical ‘Zorba’ was playing at Jones Hall. That would probably grab Jasmine’s interest. Angie’s and Paige’s, too, unless they wanted that trip to the beach.

Taking note of our plan to treat it as our date, but welcome others for part of it, I made a reservation at the Hyatt downtown on my own. It was a bit over-the-top for a city where we both lived, but ... why not? We would see the Sunday matinee, stay over that night, and then head home Monday. Angie and Paige could do what they wanted (including staying at the Hyatt, perhaps).

Hopefully, Jasmine would approve.

We stayed home for dinner and hung out with Mom and Dad until they decided it was their bedtime. We wouldn’t be in a position to do that on many Saturdays throughout the school year. It made sense to do it now while we could.

After they went to bed, Angie and I talked a bit more about Trish. There wasn’t much we could do but see how things went tomorrow.

I wasn’t expecting them to go all that well, and neither was Angie.

We talked about the ‘Zorba’ plan, too. Angie thought it sounded great, and also liked the separate weekends but one show plan. She was pretty sure Paige would take a musical over the beach, too, especially since Galveston was still a mess and Corpus Christi was a longer drive. We planned to spring it on both Jas and Paige tomorrow.

Sunday, August 28, 1983

Church was pretty much normal, as was lunch. The big event was, of course, Study Group.

I proposed the musical once we’d picked up Jas. As expected, she loved it. Once we picked up Paige, she decided it was a terrific idea, too.

They would probably stay somewhere, but not the Hyatt. They liked the ‘couples weekend’ plan as much as we did.

Angie, Jas, Paige, and I got to Study Group just a few minutes late. Rita met us at the door.

“Howdy!” she said, hugging each of us.

“Howdy, Rita!” we said.

“It’s so good to see you!” she said.

“You, too!” we all said.

“I’m guessing Steve told you about Mike and Trish.”

The girls nodded.

“News travels fast, and bad news travels faster,” Rita said.

“It’s bad news?” Jas said.

“Hon ... Mike’s not going to listen, not to me, not to y’all, but ... girls like Trish are trouble. Trust me on this. Anderson’s not happy, either, but ... why do teenagers think they know everything?” she said, sighing.

“‘Cuz we do,” Ang said, winking.

Rita chuckled softly. “Fair enough. I sure did! Fortunately, nothing I knew bit me too hard in the ass when I was wrong. Mike will live, but ... well. It’s going to be a mess.”

“I can see that,” I said.

“Go on down,” she said. “I feel bad about saying all that, because maybe she’ll surprise me, but I don’t see it.”

We headed down. Trish was sitting in Mike’s lap, as I’d both feared and expected. That meant trouble right off the bat. We had rules, and the rules didn’t include non-members hanging out. No one could take naps today, for instance, unless Mike had told her (which would be a problem) and she claimed to be fine with it (something we couldn’t trust).

Not that many of us needed the guest house as much now, but ... it was a big red flag.

Besides Mike and Trish, Gene and Sue were here, as were Jimmy and Connie. That was it. Mark and Morty had joined the others in skipping today’s meeting.

“Hey!” Mike said. “Look what the cat dragged in!”

“Hi!” I said, putting on a happy face.

Angie and Jas did much the same.

“I want to introduce you all to Trish. Trish Harrison: Steve Marshall, Angie Marshall, Paige Seiler, and Jasmine Nguyen. Steve, Angie, Paige, and Jasmine: Trish.”

“The pleasure’s all mine!” Trish said, smiling. I gave her points for a big smile, anyway. It didn’t completely seem to touch her eyes, which were primarily focused on Angie. That didn’t surprise me. Angie would be Trish’s first target in this group, first as a possible ally, then as someone she needed to dominate.

We shook hands with her, and then Angie took one for the team.

“How’s Sarah doing?” she said.

Mike stammered something, then recovered. “She and I ... it ... just didn’t work out. We stepped back a bit this summer, and then I met Trish...”

Angie nodded. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”

If I caught the tightening in Trish’s face, Angie certainly did. Jas and Paige, probably, too. I doubted Mike did. I’m certain Trish at least recognized that Angie could have been saying it sucked that he’d met Trish. That was probably because she meant it that way.

Catfight incoming! Angie had a reason, at least, even if Trish didn’t know what it was. The thing is, Trish hadn’t actually looked like she wanted any friends from our little group, anyway.

“Mike told me about you,” Trish said, looking at me. “You two are a couple, right?” she said, nodding to Jas and me.

“We are,” Jas said, grinning.

“Congrats! How about you?” she said, shifting her gaze to Angie. “Boyfriend?”

Angie smiled. “Nope, I’m between boyfriends.”

Sue and Gene were out of sight of Trish, and I saw both of them smirk a little at that. It looked like Trish was out of the loop, at least for now. It hadn’t felt like a slight, anyway.

“Sorry to hear that. Hopefully, you’ll meet someone great soon,” Trish said, in an overly sympathetic tone that I was pretty sure was meant to emphasize how pathetic poor boyfriendless Angie was. At the same time, her hand gave Mike a squeeze, and her look said, ‘Keep away!’ Given that (in my biased opinion, at least) Angie was much hotter than Trish, it wasn’t an unfounded worry, especially if Angie had wanted a boyfriend.

This was looking like the train wreck I’d expected.

We made our excuses and went over to say hi to Gene and Sue, then Jimmy and Connie. All of them were fine. It seemed fairly clear that neither Sue nor Connie liked Trish.

After a bit, I said, “How’s your dad, Gene?”

Gene frowned a bit. “Still overworked. He’s having to answer lots of requests for this, that, and the other thing. It’s a huge opportunity, but ... so much paperwork.”