Chapter 50

I watched Kristen drive away, and I wondered if I’d ever see her again. That beautiful, talented girl was leaving, why didn’t I stop her? There was still time! I could jump in my car and catch her, but what then?

I felt a touch on my arm. I looked over and Amy was standing beside me. She looked up at me with that understanding look of hers that I’ve come to know, and said, “You’re going to miss her, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am, but she wants more then I can give her. She’s a rising star! I’m just a high school kid with no direction in mind.”

“That’s enough sometimes.”

“Would it be enough for you?”

She didn’t answer. She looked down at the travel case and said, “What’s that?” instead.

I said, “Personal stuff.” I walked over and put it in the trunk of my car, then I said, “Let’s go in the house. It’s getting cold out here.”

“Okay, Dad wants to talk to you.”

Our house is on a pretty big lot. The detached garage is huge. It opens onto an alley behind us, but sits far enough forward that you can park two cars behind it. On the front side, facing the house is what the builder called a ‘bonus room’. It ran the whole width of the garage and was about ten feet deep. They would even include a bathroom with a stall shower for extra money. Ours had it installed, and I had pestered Dad to let me use it as my bedroom from the beginning. I had pictured myself sneaking girls in and out of there, but Dad knew exactly what I was up to and always laughed and said that he would put motion-detector lights with thousand-watt bulbs up if I ever moved in. We had only used the room for storage, and it was full of bicycles and boxes of things we had never unpacked.

Dad asked me to sit down when we got back in the house, and said, “You’re going to get your wish about using the bonus room. I don’t want Mom climbing steps for a while when she comes home from the hospital, so we’re going to move her into your room. I’ll start working on the bonus room in the morning, and I’d like your help after school for the next few days.”

Thursday

Dad was already working in the garage and Amy was busy in her room when I got up. Mom was working in the kitchen, and she looked as fit and healthy as I had ever seen her. It was hard to imagine there was anything wrong with her. I parked behind one of the Devon sisters’ cars when I got to school.

Rose and Lily Devon are identical twins, and they both have bright yellow Volkswagen convertibles. They usually ride together, and you can’t tell which car or which girl has driven that day. They are actresses and have been in TV since they were babies. They even had their own series at one point. It ended several years ago, and they now do a lot of commercials. The current one is for a famous chewing-gum company. The girls are tiny, barely five feet tall, and look very young. They’re seventeen, but they usually play thirteen- or fourteen-year-olds on TV. They are bubbly and outgoing, but they don’t hang with the kids at school. They rarely attend any functions and are never seen at games.

I had met them before, but I was still surprised when they met me as I stepped out of my car. They wanted to know all about Kristen and Tomaso, and where they were performing, and they asked the mandatory ‘Are you really married to Kristen?’ question. They looked at each other and knowingly nodded when I told them that it was just a way to keep guys away from her while her career was starting. One of them (I can’t tell them apart) then asked a strange question. She said, “Do you think that you could lift both of us at the same time?”

I doubt if they weighed much more then ninety pounds apiece, but their combined weight might be a problem, and as I was trying to figure out what they meant, one of them said, “Stand up straight and spread your legs a little.” I did, and they got on each side of me, facing the same direction as I was. They put the hand that was nearest to me around my neck, and one of them said, “Now look! We’re gonna jump up against you. You grab us around the waist and hold us as soon as we do, then we’re gonna pose. Do you think that you can hold us?”

“I guess so, but why are we doing this?”

“We’ll tell you in a minute. Are you ready?” I nodded and they both sort of jumped and pulled themselves against me. I grabbed them around the waist, and they then stuck their free arms in the air and we stood there. There was no problem holding them because their hips were against my thighs, and they were holding a lot of their weight by the hand that was around my neck. We formed a triangle, and it must have looked good, because some passing kids stopped and started to applaud and make comments.

One of them said, “How long can you hold us?”

“I can hold you as long as you can hang on.”

The other one said, “See? I told you that he could do it,” and they both let go and jumped down.

They straightened their clothes, and one of them said, “I’m Rose. How would you like to make some money?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Can you be available for a school thing Saturday afternoon?”

I thought about Dad working on the room and I said, “Gee, I don’t know, I have a project I’m working on.”

Rose looked at her sister, then back at me, and said, “How about for fifty dollars?”

“Okay. What’s the deal? What are you working on?”

“It’s a photo shoot for school. Have you ever done anything like that?”

I thought about the time with Molly and Alice, and I almost laughed. I said, “Yes, I have,” instead.

“Okay, give us your phone number and we’ll call you tonight.”

I mentioned what had happened to Amy when I got home from school.

She thought for a minute, and said, “Let me talk to them when they call.”

I went out back to help Dad. He had done an amazing amount of work. The room was cleared out, he had painted all the walls with acrylic paint and they were already dry. He was laying down a self-stick vinyl floor and I pitched in and helped him. We finished just before dinner, and we stood back to admire things. It was over twice as big as my room in the house, and I had my own private bath so that I wouldn’t have to be waiting on the girls all the time. I was stoked!

We went to Home Depot after dinner, and picked up some shelves and a clothes pole to put in the space next to the bathroom, and we also got a ceiling light fixture, a small table, a couple of chairs, and a table lamp. We were back home installing the shelves when Amy came to the door and said that Rose Devon was on the phone. I told her to say that I was busy, and to leave her number. I’d call her later. We finished up a little later, and Amy and Mom were sitting in the living room, laughing about something when we went into the house.

I asked what was going on and Amy said, “I asked Rose what the deal was, and she gave me some bull about the photo thing. It turns out, that the little bitch was trying to pull something.”

“But she said it was a school thing!”

“It is, but they’re doing a photo shoot for their studio after that part is finished. I told them that you were a SAG member and that you would only work for scale. It’s $125 an hour, two hour minimum.”

“But I’m not a SAG member.”

“She doesn’t know that, and she must want you for the shoot, because she said that we should show up at one o’clock on Saturday.

“We?”

“Yup. I’m your agent.”

“Why do I need an agent, and where are we going?”

“You need an agent because these girls are pros. The school thing is legit, but they are getting a lot of money for the rest of the stuff. It has to do with a pilot they’re shooting, and a real actor would cost them a lot of money. I’m going to be there to make sure that they don’t take advantage of you. It’s being held at a still photo studio in Burbank.”

“But why do they want me?”

Amy looked at Mom, then back at me and said, “They wanted someone with a special look, and Quasimodo was busy.” I reached for her to give her nuggies just as the phone in my room rang.

It was Alice calling from New York. She had seen the picture of Kristen and me in a magazine, and we talked about Kristen for a while after I explained about it. She said that she remembered her, and I laughed when she said that she wasn’t done with me yet, and that she was glad that Kristen was gone. She said that she had just signed a contract to be a permanent member of the soap opera, and that Molly was in Florida on a photo shoot. I asked if either of them were seeing anybody, and she said that she had been out a few times, but neither of them had much time for dating. We spent almost an hour talking. I told her that I missed her, and she said that she missed me too, and was going to try and come to California sometime in the spring.

I called Karen later, and told her about the photo shoot. I said that I didn’t know how late the shoot would take on Saturday, so we decided to go to the new Spielberg movie the next night. I called Tammy, but there was no answer, so I left a message.

Friday

Amy and Tess were sitting together at lunch, so I joined them. Bill came over a minute later, and so did Karen. We got to talking about the Spielberg movie, and we all decided to go. Bill complained about going alone, so Tess suggested that he ride with Amy and her. I walked with Bill on the way back to class, and said, “You won’t have any Ludes with you, right, Bill?”

He stopped and put his hand on my arm. He said, “I promised you that the drug thing is over for good, Pete. You have my word. As a matter of fact, a lot of things are over with me. Meet me at my car after school. I have something to show you.”

I met him after school and he reached in his car and took out an envelope. In it were some photos and a roll off film. He spread the photos, and I caught a brief glimpse of Clair Gilroy naked. It looked like they were taken in the motel. He quickly closed them, then he flicked a lighter and held it to the corner of the pack. He dropped them to the ground as soon as they were ablaze, then he pulled the film out of the roll and dropped it on top of the fire.

He said, “I wanted to show you that I’m done with crap. No more drugs, no more anything. I saw how you behaved with Mrs. Garmin, and I watched how you dealt with Mrs. Gilroy. You’re a good guy, and I want to be that way too. I’ve cleaned up my act and it’s going to stay that way.”

I really didn’t know what to say. I like Bill; I guess that he’s actually my best friend. I had talked to him after that night with Clair Gilroy, and he had assured me then that any form of drugs were a thing of the past, but I couldn’t figure out why he was telling me this, then I noticed that he was having trouble looking me in the eye. I said, “Okay Bill, what’s going on?”

He looked at the ground for a while, then he looked up and said, “Would it be okay with you if I asked Amy out?”

It kind of startled me, and I had to think for a minute. He looked sincere, but I wanted to test him, and I said, “I want to talk to Amy first, and I’m going to tell her about the drug thing if you want my blessing, Bill.”

He looked me right in the eye and said, “If that’s what it takes, fine. I really would like your approval.”

“Okay, let’s go to the movie tonight, and we’ll see how things go. I’ll talk with her the first chance I get.”

Dad had hooked my phone up in the new room, and even hooked up the little refrigerator/hotplate unit that used to be in our garage in Phoenix, when I got home. Mom had obviously been helping. The room has two windows in it, both had mini-blinds and curtains installed, and there were several pictures on the walls. They were ones that I hadn’t seen since we left the old house, I thanked her, then tried to figure out where I was going to hide them later on. My bed in the house was an old double bed, and my long legs and big feet were always sticking out. Dad said that he had talked to a local water bed store, and they had extra long beds in stock. He said we could pick one up in the morning.

We had an early dinner, and Amy and I were talking about the movie. Erin heard us and wanted to come too, so Amy said that she would take her along. I left after dinner to pick Karen up, and told Amy that I’d see them at the movie.

Karen met me at the door when I drove up to her house. She was dressed in black high-heeled boots, and was wearing black leather pants that looked like they were painted on. She had a matching leather jacket over a white blouse, and her hair was pulled back. She looked sexier than I’d ever seen her.

I said, “Wow, you look fantastic, Karen!”

She smiled and said, “Yes I do, and I did it for you. Now let’s get to the movies. I want to get home early.”

Other people thought that she looked good too. Practically every guy waiting line at the movies had his tongue hanging out when we walked up to get in line. Amy, Erin, Tess, and Bill were already standing in line and they let us cut in. Bill was concentrating on Amy, but even he would sneak a peek at Karen every once in a while.

It was a great movie with a feel-good ending, and we gathered in the lobby when it was over. Bill said, “That was great! Let’s go get something too eat!” Karen had been holding my hand. She squeezed it hard and said, “Pete and I have to go somewhere. We’ll see you later,” and she started to pull me away. I glanced at Amy, and she was staring at Karen. Her face was expressionless, but I noticed that one eyebrow was raised.

I asked Karen what was going on when we got in the car. She just smiled and said, “Take me home.” The trip to her house was strange. She didn’t talk the whole way, so I kept quiet. I pulled into her long driveway, and she pointed to the garage in the back, so I pulled up next to it. She said, “C’mon,” and got out of the car and started up the steps. I followed her and said, “I thought that you were staying in your old room again?” as she unlocked the door.

She said, “I am,” and she stepped in and hit the light switch. The room looked pretty much like I last saw it, except that it was neat and clean. The two small table lamps on the nightstands next to the bed were throwing a warm glow over things and there was music coming from someplace. Karen said, “Sit down. I’ll be right back.”

She was in there for a little while, then I heard water running. She came out carrying a pan. She was barefoot and wearing a robe, and her hair was down around her shoulders. She set the pan down and stood in front of me.

“I really like you, Pete. I know you like me, but you’re too busy getting on with your life to tie yourself down, especially after just coming off a relationship with someone else. I’ve liked you for a long time, and I hope that we can continue seeing each other, but I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I can’t have all of you, at least for the time being. I’ve been fantasizing about being with you for a while, and I’ve decided I want something from you.”

“I told you before that our lovemaking was not great when Vince and I were together. You showed me things and took me to heights where I’d never been to before. I’ve been with a couple guys since then, but it was nothing like being with you. and I’d like to experience making love with you again tonight. I want to know some things this time, and the only way that I’ll learn anything is if I’m the one who asks the questions. Do you think that you’re ready for this?”

“Well, yes. I’d love to make love with you, but I also have some questions. Why did we go to the movies instead of coming directly here, and why are we here instead of your room in the house? Do you want to learn these things so that you can use them with someone else, and finally, what’s the pan of water for.”

She seemed a little nervous now, but she answered, “We went to the movies because the housekeeper is with us again, and she leaves the house at eight o’clock. We came to this room because we had such great sex here the last time, and it’s part of my fantasy. Am I going to use what I learn if we make love tonight like I hope we will on someone else? Not as long as I’m with you. As to the pan of water, I’ll show you later, but let’s get on with things, please. I’m about to lose my nerve.”

I stood up and reached for her. She came into arms in a rush, and we had a long luxurious kiss. She was visibly shaking now, and, she said, “Oh, wow,” when I let her go, then she added, “Okay, the first thing I wa...”

I stopped her in mid-sentence and said, “Wait! I’ll be right back!” I ran down to the car and got the travel case from the trunk.