Chapter 65: Oh, Brother!

Sunday, December 18, 1983

We got up late enough that we skipped morning dessert and just had breakfast. Angie and Paige were late again, and I was highly suspicious that they hadn’t skipped. Seemed fine to me.

This time we checked out and drove to a diner that the desk clerk had recommended. It was even better than she’d made it out to be, and we agreed that, if we lived in the area, we would eat here way too often and have to exercise way too much to make up for it.

We hit the road after that, making it to Gene’s just after two for the Study Group party. It wasn’t much of a party, though Mark and Morty had gotten hold of a twelve-pack of beer. It was in celebration of their (and Mel’s) upcoming 18th birthday, which would be on the 29th.

A twelve-pack isn’t a lot when split between all of us, so I wasn’t very worried. That, and we drank it at the start of the meeting so that we’d have lots of time to sober up, if anyone was actually inebriated on one beer.

Connie got just a tiny bit giggly, so that’s one, perhaps. She wasn’t driving, though.

I was somewhat surprised that we’d made it all of the way to December 1983 before beer turned up at Study Group. Things were going to shift considerably as people crossed the magic threshold of eighteen and could just go buy it legally. That date was less than two weeks away for the Riley triplets, so that right there said it would be an issue.

Mel herself didn’t appear. I was fairly certain the team would have a big celebration with girlfriends welcome. Probably cheerleaders, too. They completely deserved a big celebration! After all, State Championships were few and far between.

We called off Study Group for the rest of the year. Gene was getting ready to go to New Orleans, the Rileys would be leaving on Tuesday, and others had their own plans. We’d pick back up in January.

Angie, Paige, Jas, and I told Gene we’d be in New Orleans for sure during the week after Christmas. He gave us the number to their house there and told us to call. With any luck, we’d be able to spend at least part of a day together.

Monday, December 19, 1983

I’d taken to calling this week of school ‘Schroedinger’s School,’ since it wasn’t really clear whether we were truly ‘at school’ or not. There was almost no structure and nothing required except for checking in. In theory, you needed to stay at school, but no one was checking to make sure that you did.

The biggest thing at school might have been the Spirit crew taking orders for State Championship merchandise. We wouldn’t have it in hand until January, but that was okay. Most people would wear it throughout the spring.

Today, we came in, got our names checked off, went to lunch, and then headed to the mall. More kids that I knew were at the mall by two than were still at Memorial, I’m certain. The girls either needed to shop for Christmas presents or were pretending to. I pretended to, too, just to keep them guessing.

I spotted Jess in a little throng (Gaggle? Celebration?) of cheerleaders, but she gave me just the slightest shake of her head. Tomorrow, then.

We all wound up at Jasmine’s house, but not for the usual reason. Or, at least, not only for the usual reason. We ate dinner with Camille and Francis, who wanted to know all about the football trip, our upcoming New Orleans trip, our tentative summer plans, and so forth.

The same dynamic that I’d seen before was present this time. Angie treated them like they were likely to be part of her life on an ongoing basis, and so did Paige. I really didn’t know the Seilers well, but the same would apply in reverse, of course, so I should probably get to know them better at some point.

That said, they likely still had more of a wait-and-see attitude than Camille and Francis. Not that they were opposed, so much as that Camille had championed my being in Jasmine’s life for well over a year. The Seilers weren’t there yet.

I was pretty sure they’d get there. The signs were very good. It was just a matter of time.

We took off around eight, with Angie and me dropping Paige off at her house, then heading home.

Tuesday, December 20, 1983

Something was clearly bothering Paige when we picked her up.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Angie said, reaching for Paige when she got in.

“Wait!” Paige said. “Drive! Just drive!”

I drove. As soon as I got around the corner, Angie scooted over and hugged Paige.

“You are so lucky!” Paige said.

“Um ... I know that!” Angie said. “Very well aware. You’re a catch!”

Paige giggled (which was, I’m sure, Angie’s intent). “Not me! Okay, fine, me! I meant Steve, though.”

“Steve’s lucky?” Angie said.

“I am! Really lucky!”

“Flattered,” Jas said, but grinned.

“No! I mean, you, Angie, are lucky to have you, Steve!”

“This is about Te-” Angie said.

Paige put her hand over Angie’s mouth. “No! Speak not his name lest you summon him!”

Angie giggled a bit, and apparently licked Paige’s hand, because she said, “Wrong place, but under the circumstances...”

That got all of the girls giggling.

Mood lightened, at least a bit, Angie said, “Okay. You have to tell us!”

“He says that you’re a ‘phase’ and that both of us will find ‘real men.’ And, of course, that all we need is a real man and that’ll be that. He mocked Gene, saying that’s why you wound up ‘like this,’ and mocked the ‘sissy boys’ in Drama. Admittedly, more of them do like boys than like girls, or like boys more than girls, or whatever, but still!”

“Fucker!” Angie said.

“Tell us what you really feel,” Jas said.

“Seriously!” Angie said. “I’m sorry, but — except that I would never do it! — fuck him! Bastard! What a complete jerk! He’s officially not invited to the wedding.”

Paige blinked, then giggled. “Did you just...?”

“Not exactly,” Angie said, grinning. “But, if and when, he’s out. Oh, I have this bad feeling we’ll have to put up with it, but if he’s there, I get to say ‘This is just the first day of a very long phase.’”

Paige snorted, laughing harder. “That’s good! Tell him that!”

Angie said, “This sucks, you know? I guess it’s that stupid law of averages. The rest of our families are all terrific, so we needed one jerk.”

Jas hesitated. “Okay, so, I haven’t been saying it, but Andrew has me pissed off. He keeps making excuses to not come home, and I’m pretty sure I know why.”

“I’ll take the risk of asking,” I said, taking her hand.

“Look ... you all know about Andrew and me,” she said.

Everyone nodded, and I squeezed her hand.

“I’m pretty sure ... I mean, he’s said it before...”

She stopped, cleared her throat, and then said, “Okay, so, he thinks no white guy is good enough for me, and he knows Mama and Papa would be most displeased if he said that.”

“He’s out of the wedding, too!” Paige said.

“Nah. That’ll be the point where he has to give in,” Jas said. “When that happens, he’s obviously wrong, or at least it’s too late to change my mind. I think he’s gone from thinking we’d last a few months, to thinking we’d last maybe a year, to being baffled that we’re still together. He doesn’t know you at all, and he doesn’t know me anymore. I’m not even close to the girl that he remembers.”

“You’re totally different,” Paige said. “In really good ways!”

“You are, too!” Jas said.

“Thanks to these two,” Paige said.

“Hey!” Angie said. “You’re both terrific, and we’re both much better, too!”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” I said. “Mom and Dad, Camille and Francis, Tony and Jean. All of them are better together than they’d be if they weren’t. Grandmother and Professor Berman, too. It goes on and on.”

“Yeah,” Paige said. “Exactly! That is how it’s supposed to be!”

“So, fuck you-know-who,” Paige said.

“Or, better off, don’t!” Angie said, then giggled.

“That!” Jas said.

That brought us to school in high spirits.

Jess again gave me a tiny shake of her head when I saw her. I guess we were waiting a bit longer. That was the high point of the entire day in terms of school.

I took off around eleven-thirty for Kyle’s office. I got there a bit early, as expected, but that’s much better than being late. Martin was already there, chatting with Kyle, so the three of us headed into Kyle’s office.

“I’ve gotten everything put together for your taxes for tax years 1981 and 1982. 1983 is mostly done, but I’ll need the final interest statements from your savings account. The dollar value there is trivial, but it’ll still matter. Not to mention, something else could happen in 1983. It’s always important to be complete,” Martin said.

“That makes sense,” I said.

“Taxes and penalties are painful, but I’ve done everything I can to keep the damage down,” Martin said. “You did say that you don’t want to be aggressive? I just want to double-check that.”

“Definitely. I’d much rather spend a bit more than risk an audit. I know an audit is always a possibility anyway, but the more straightforward things are, the less they could reasonably have to audit.”

He nodded. “Right now I would put you at a low risk for an audit. Just having a tax preparer at all lowers the risk. Coming forward voluntarily with a significant tax burden they might never have discovered lowers it even more. Most audits rely on reviewing records, but there are no records here. They can hardly ask you to prove that you haven’t gambled more than you have. You haven’t, have you? I suppose I should ask,” he said, smiling.