Chapter 21

The next week went fast. Mom found a job at a local dance studio where she teaches every Wednesday afternoon, Thursday evening, and sometimes on Tuesday evening if there’s a full class. I’ve been driving Erin and Amy to school every morning, but I have to be there early because of football practice. We practice after school as well, so they either have to wait for me, use the bus, or walk. The girls started to complain about it, so Dad and Ben worked out something with Amy’s trust, and they went looking for a car for her.

Amy seemed to be settling in to a routine. She visited her mom a couple times during the week, but she was usually sad when she came home. She said that her Mom doesn’t even recognize her most of the time when I asked her why. She seemed to spend a lot of time in her room and I began to think of her as a very quiet person -- until Thursday. I was in class when a lady from the office called me to come with her. She said that Amy was sick and had asked for me. I went to the nurse’s office with her and Amy and Erin were both there. Amy was pale and shaking and Erin was trying to comfort her. I asked, “What’s wrong with her, Erin?”

Erin looked rather uncomfortable and said, “She, uhh, has some female problems. I called Mom but she wasn’t home, so I left a message. She just called back and is on her way over, so you can go back to class if you want.”

I tried to talk to Amy, but Erin shook her head and said, “Not now.” Mom came in a few minutes later. She talked to the nurse for a minute then she took Amy and the two of them left. I could see that Erin was shaken on the way back to class, but she just said “Ask Mom,” when I tried to ask her what was going on. I left right after school and took Erin home with me. Mom was in the kitchen when we got there, and she said, “I’m glad that you’re both here, I want to talk to you,” as we walked in.

She said, “Amy is sleeping. We just got back from the doctor and she’s going to be fine. But this could have been much more complicated. Both of you are getting to an age when sex is becoming a significant part of your lives and this should serve as a lesson to you both that things can go wrong if you’re not careful.

“Amy was pregnant, Pete. She just had a miscarriage.” It was like someone had hit me in the stomach! I couldn’t even think for a minute. I finally said, “But she told me that she got her period, Mom!”

“She lied so that you wouldn’t have to worry. She was going to go through this whole thing by herself.”

“Is that why you invited her to stay with us?”

“No, she refused when we first asked her to live with us. We had to pry it out of her.”

“Oh my gosh, Mom! How could I have done this to her.” “You were both at fault. You dodged the bullet this time. Just make sure that there is no ‘next time’.”

“Is she gonna be OK?”

“She’s going to be fine. The doctor said there is nothing wrong with her, and that this just happens sometimes.”

“What should I say to her?”

“Nothing. She knows that we’re having this conversation and she asked that you not bring it up to her right now. She’ll let you know if she wants to talk about it sometime. I don’t think I’ve ever met a kinder, braver girl, Pete. We’re glad that she decided to be part of our family. Now, while we’re on the subject. Is there anything either of you want to talk about?”

Erin said, “Uhh ... can I get a diaphragm, Mom?”

“Are you having sex?”

“No, but what if I decide to?”

“I would hope that you would talk to me about it first, especially after what you’ve seen today. Is this a decision you want to make in the near future?”

“No, but what if some boy talks me into it?”

“Wrong question, Dear. You’re one of the strongest persons I know. No boy is going to talk you into anything that you don’t want to do, and I hope that no amount of pressure from your friends is going to force you into anything. If you want protection, there are better things than diaphragms nowadays. We’ll talk about them if you feel you’re ready, but I would hope that you would talk to me before you made a decision to have sex.”

I saw a look I knew when I looked at Erin. Her mind generally stays made when she makes it up about something, but I was confident that she had listened to Mom and would do what Mom asked. I thought about Amy and what I had done to her for the rest of the evening and long after I was in bed. I knew that Mom said it was both our fault, but I still felt responsible and I made myself a promise that I would be a lot more careful in the future.

Amy didn’t go to school on Friday, so she didn’t go to the game. The weather was cloudy and cool, so a lot of people stayed away. I didn’t get to play a lot during the first half because we were so much better then the other team that the coach was working on some plays with Lyle. I caught a pass in the second half and ran for a touchdown, but another attempt at a flea-flicker didn’t work because Vince got sacked. I saw Donna in the stands towards the end of the game, and waved at her. She looked away.

Amy was up watching TV when I got home. I wanted to say or do something, so I sat down next to her and said, “Can I tell you how wonderful and brave that I think you are?” She looked at me with a relieved expression on her face and said, “Then you’re not mad at me?” I was floored, but I finally managed to squeak out, “How can you think that I would be mad at you? You were going through this whole thing by yourself and I was going along as though nothing was wrong.” I suddenly couldn’t stand it anymore and I hugged her. She hugged me back and we stayed that way for a while. She said, “I want to put this behind us. Can we get on with our lives without this hanging over our heads?” when we finally pulled back. I nodded yes and went to my room feeling better then I had any right to.

I was up early Saturday morning. I had promised Ms. Garmin that I would work on her fence today, so I gathered up some hand tools and drove to the address she had given me. It was just a little past nine in the morning when I pulled up to a small house about a mile from school and knocked on the door. A man answered, dressed in a wrinkled undershirt and sweat pants. He had at least a three-day growth of beard and he was holding a can of beer. He pointed me to a side yard where a length of fence had fallen after I introduced myself and explained why I was there. I went over and checked it out. It was an old wood fence full of dry rot. There was really no way to fix it. It would be cheaper to replace it. I went back to the door and knocked again and Ms. Garmin answered this time. She was obviously fresh from the shower, dressed in a bathrobe, her hair still damp. I told her about the fence and she said, “I kind of thought that it was beyond repair. Let me show you a few other things that need fixing and maybe you can give me an idea what it would cost to repair everything.”

We were in the bathroom looking at a leaking faucet when the guy came in. The bathroom wasn’t that big and he had to shoulder Ms. Garmin out of the way to get past her. He just unzipped and started taking a leak. Ms. Garmin looked at him with a horrified expression, and pulled me out of the room. She started to apologize, and I was telling her that it was OK when I looked closely at her. I never saw anyone look so sad, so quickly. Her whole body sort of slumped and she looked ten years older. I don’t know what made me do it, but I put my arm around her and pulled her to me. She stopped talking in mid-sentence and just stood there letting me hold her.

I was still holding her when the guy came out of the bathroom. He passed within two feet of us and never even looked. Ms. Garmin pulled away from me and kind of shook herself a minute later. We then went back in the bathroom and we looked at the faucet again. We resumed talking about the repairs as though nothing happened. We agreed on a labor price for everything after we decided what she wanted, and she gave me some cash for materials. She caught my arm as I turned to head out to my car, and said, “Thank you.”

I was at the counter in the lumberyard buying supplies when a girl from school named Molly approached me and asked if I could give her a hand. I went to her car where another girl named Alice was struggling while trying to get a large box on top of a station wagon. It wasn’t heavy, it was just bulky and hard to handle. We were able to get it onto the roof rack and tied down between the three of us. They thanked me and Molly said, “You seem to be doing very well at football. You scored touchdowns in all the games so far. Are you having a good time?” I assured her that I was and we had a few more words and I went back to the counter.

I was surprised and very glad that Molly remembered who I was. She was a senior and one of the prettiest girls at school. She had transferred to the school just this semester, but she was already very popular and was expected to be a contender to be this year’s Prom Queen. This was unusual because she wasn’t the typical blonde with big boobs who usually wins the honors. She was tall, almost five-eight, and appeared to have a nice body; but one couldn’t tell because she didn’t dress to accentuate it. Her face, especially her eyes, and how she carries herself are what impressed people. She didn’t walk, she sort of flowed when she strolled around school. Nothing jiggled and she didn’t do anything to call attention to herself, but people would stop and watch her whenever she passed by. She had long brown hair and brown eyes, but ‘brown’ really didn’t describe either one. Her hair was wavy with lots of highlights, and so thick that it almost looked like a mane. Her eyes were golden brown, and she stood very close, looking directly at you without moving her head or blinking, when she talked to you. One felt hypnotized by the time the conversation was over.

I picked up the supplies and went back to Ms. Garmin’s. I started taking down the old fence when I got there. It was noon before I knew it, and she came out with a tray of sandwiches and Cokes. She joined me for lunch. I had a chance to look her over as we sat eating and talking. She appeared to be in her late forties, maybe fifty. Her face was very plain and slightly lumpy. Her body was almost straight up and down, without a discernable waist. I had seen her in the pool where she looked very strong and athletic, but not very attractive. She caught me studying her as I searched her face for something that was at least pleasant, and said, “Do you think Julia Roberts has anything to worry about?” I was momentarily flustered. A voice from inside the house yelled, “Hey, gimme another sandwich,” as I searched for a response. She dropped her eyes for a minute, then got up and went inside.

I worked until almost dark, digging postholes, setting posts, and cutting and painting boards for the fence before I left for home. Nobody was there when I arrived, but there was a message from Mom on my dresser saying that she and Dad were at the movies, Erin was at Kelly’s, and that Tess had picked Amy up. I was tired, so it was nice to be home in a quiet house. I took a long shower, put some old gym shorts on, and grabbed some cold chicken from the fridge. I was lying on the couch watching TV and dozing when Amy came in with Tess. They just waved as they passed me and Amy took Tess into her room, and was excitedly showing it to her. They came back out a few minutes later, and I noticed that Amy eyes were shining. Amy said to Tess, “Have you ever been introduced to my brother, Pete?” as they came over and stood in front of me.

I was a little embarrassed, partly because I was only dressed in shorts and partly because I’d talked to Tess about Amy’s situation without Amy knowing about it. I was anxious about her reaction, but I stood up and faced her as though meeting her for the first time. Tess put her hand out for me to shake, and said, “It’s nice to meet Amy’s brother.” She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek when I reached to shake her hand. I was surprised, and Amy was broadly smiling when I glanced at her. Tess then hugged me and whispered, “Thank you, I’ve never seen her so happy.” We watched TV together for the rest of the evening. I kept dozing off until Amy finally insisted that I go to bed around ten o’clock,.

I headed back to Mrs. Garmin’s house the next morning, arriving about nine. I could hear an argument going on when I knocked on the door. I was going to knock again when I heard a loud ‘smack’. Then the door flew open and the guy came lumbering through, almost knocking me down. I stepped back to let him by, but he glared at me and made an effort to ram into me instead of walking around me. It caught me by surprise, but I was quick enough that I moved out of his way. I stuck my foot out as he passed in a flash of irritation, sending him sprawling onto the front lawn head first. He started cursing me and telling me what he was going to do me, as he tried to get up. I knew this was trouble, but it was too late to avoid it. I went to him and stood over him with my fists clenched. We weighed about the same, but I was a good four inches taller and a lot younger and stronger than him, so he glared at me and just said, “Fuck you, Punk!” and limped away when he finally got up.

Ms. Garmin was standing there when I turned back to the door,. Her hair was askew and the side of her face was red. I went to her to apologize for what had just happened, but she threw herself into my arms and started crying when I got close. I held her until she calmed down, then I walked her into the house and headed her toward the bathroom. She went in and closed the door while I went outside and started working on the fence. She came out a while later and walked over to me without saying anything. She finally said, “Fred’s not a bad guy.”

“How often does he hit you?”

“Almost never.”

“Was it because I was holding you yesterday?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Why do you put up with it?”

She put her hand on my arm and said, “He’s actually a good man. He worked as an inspector at an aircraft plant for twenty seven years. They came in one day, said that they were downsizing, and laid him off. They hired two guys to take his place two days later, and he was devastated. That was two years ago and he hasn’t worked since.”

“Has he tried to find work?”

“Yes, but things are slow in the aircraft business and that’s all he knows.” I didn’t know what else to say so I continued to work on the fence. She said, “Uhh, Pete?” a moment later.

“Yes?”

“That business with Lenny Maxfield in my office...”

“It’s OK, Ms. Garmin. It’s none of my business.”

“I know, and you’ve been wonderful about not mentioning it to anyone. You deserve to know why it happened. My husband and I haven’t had sex since he got laid off, so I’ve been masturbating to relieve my sexual tension. Lenny caught me touching myself when I thought no one else was around at school one day. He forced himself on me, but I let him instead of screaming and pushing him off. Now he wants it all the time and says that he’ll tell the School Board and I’ll get fired if I don’t. This job is all Fred and I have and I can’t afford to lose it.”

“But he’ll lose his job too if he tells!”

“He says that he doesn’t care. He’s ready to leave anyway.”

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

“No, it wouldn’t do any good and he might get mad and tell on me out of spite.”

Her embarrassment overcame her at that point, and she fled back into the house. Her husband returned a little later and went into the house without a glance in my direction. I completed the work just after dark. I was headed toward my car to leave when her husband came back out and approached me with his hand stuck out in a gesture of peace. He said, “My wife says that I behaved like an ass and I should apologize to you.”

I shook his hand and said, “Apology accepted, but please don’t hit her any more.”

“I won’t. It’s just that I get frustrated sometimes.”

“Have you tried to get other kinds of work?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ll take anything. But it’s difficult for a fifty-five year old guy to find work that pays anything at all.”

I drove home feeling very sorry for him.

Everybody was out front gathered around a Honda Civic when I got home. Amy was sitting inside it, beaming. Dad and Ben had found it for her and arranged for the trust to buy it. She insisted that Erin and I get in and go for a ride. We sped off down the street with Amy talking a mile a minute about how happy she was. Erin was saying what a great day it was and how good news came in bunches. I asked her what else happened today, and she said, “Why, the news about the wedding, the baby, and all!”

I said, “What baby! Who’s getting married?”

She said, “Aunt Kate and Ben are getting married and they’re going to have a baby!”

I was stunned. The thought of Kate being married just didn’t seem possible and my mind was suddenly filled with pictures of her. Her incredible face, her beautiful naked body, pictures of her at Sylvia’s, on her bed at home, and on the hill behind her house all filled my head till I thought that it would burst. Didn’t she tell me that she loved me just last weekend? How could she do this to me? I knew that there was no chance of us being together permanently Knowing that she was a lot older then I was, and I know I that shouldn’t feel this way, but I felt betrayed somehow. I hadn’t thought about Kate a lot lately because of school. Now I couldn’t think of anything else and I was in a terrible mood for the rest of the evening.

Amy said that she would be taking Erin to school from now on, so I got to practice early on Monday. We didn’t do a lot of physical things in the morning. We would study plays and the assistant coaches worked with the different groups of players. Tim had returned to football, but I hadn’t talked with him much. He seemed like a nice guy the few times that I had. We were seated next to each other that morning as the coach was berating him for missing a tackle at last week’s game. Thinking back about the play I suddenly realized what had gone wrong. I put up my hand up and said, “It wasn’t Tim’s fault, Coach. I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. He had to dodge me in order to get to the guy.” The discussion went on for a few minutes and ended up with the coach getting on my case. Tim gave me a ‘thumbs up’ and said, “Thanks,” on the way back to class.

The bad mood about Kate carried over into my morning classes, so I wound up sitting by myself in the lunchroom when someone took me by the arm and shook me. Startled, I looked up into Molly’s beautiful eyes. She said, “I’ve been talking to you and you don’t answer me. Is there a problem?”

“Uhh ... gee, Molly, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something at home. Is there something I can do for you?” She sat down and got a serious look on her face. “You remember my friend, Alice, don’t you?” I thought about the mousy girl who was usually with her. She was a short, slightly overweight girl who seemed to always be there when Molly was around. I said, “Sure. Why?” Molly got a furtive look on her face and said, “Can you promise to keep a secret?” I was suddenly amazed and proud that this great-looking, popular girl would take me into her confidence and I said, “Of course! Why?”

“Alice’s boyfriend and I have been seeing each other and I think that she may have found out. What do you think I should do?” I was confused. I hardly knew her. Why was she asking about this personal matter? I thought for a minute and said, “You’re so beautiful, Molly, you have your choice of anyone at school, why pick on your friend’s boyfriend?” She smiled and said, “Thank you for the compliment, but there’s something about him I like, and I usually get what I like.”

Her words shocked me and turned me off, so I said, “Well, it’s something that you’ll have to work out, I guess,” and I turned away. She got up and walked away without saying anything else. Alice walked up and sat down next to me as I sat wondering what had just happened. She said, “Hi, I’m Alice. Can I talk to you for a minute?” I said, “Sure.” and began to introduce myself. She said, “I know who you are, I watch you play football. I have something personal to talk to you about. I just saw you talking to that bitch, Molly. Did she say anything about me?”

“No,” I lied, “Your name didn’t come up. Why?”

“I think she’s been seeing my boyfriend. Have you heard anything?” Molly’s arrogant attitude bothered me, but I had given my word to not say anything, so I just shook my head. She said, “There’s something else that I’d like to talk to you about. Would you meet me after school?” I said OK and we agreed to meet at my car after practice.

Both Alice and Molly came up when it was over and I was waiting there. Molly said, “Well it looks like you can be trusted to keep a secret. Exactly how trustworthy are you?”

I said, “OK girls, what’s going on?” They both came closer and Molly said, “I’m serious. Will you promise not to tell anyone and can you keep that promise if I tell you something very delicate?” I was getting a little peeved, but curious, so I said, “Yes, Molly, you have my word.” She pulled a photo from her pocket, handed it to me, and said, “Look familiar?” The picture was of a boy a little older than me. He had dark hair and he was standing against a wall, facing the camera with his arms at his sides. And he was naked! I looked at Molly and she said, “Look closer,” before I had a chance to say anything. I studied the photo. He was built about the same as me, and I was trying to figure out what was going on, when I think I understood; except for the dark hair, he looked a lot like me! Molly said, “Are you bothered by naked people?” I shook my head no. She said, “Would you like to make $300?”

I said, “Sure, when?”

“Right now. Can you call home and tell them that you’re going to be late?”

“How late?”

“About three hours ... and there’ll be food there.”

“No problem.”