Chapter 16

I looked at my sister and made one of my brilliant comebacks.

"Huh?"

"I said Jeff's as queer as a three dollar bill."

"But..." I was amazing myself with my verbal dexterity.

Mom spoke for the first time since I started talking to Mary.

"Where did you get that idea, Mary?"

"Everybody knows it."

"And just who is everybody?"

"I don't know. All the girls in my class. Mary Beth said she saw him practically drooling when he was staring at Jack's butt one day. He's always hanging around with guys. Judy and Cathy both pretended to be interested in him and he couldn't talk to them. Judy did it at a dance and he made up some excuse about a sore foot and then went back to his group of losers. Cathy caught him on the way back from the restroom and she said he was actually shaking when she grabbed him by the arm."

"Those things don't prove anything." I couldn't believe it.

"Whatever. But if I were you, Jack, I wouldn't bend over when he's around. Especially in the locker room."

"Well, I'm going to talk to him when I see him."

"Fine. Don't believe me. Mom, I got a lot of sleep today so I thought I could stay up and watch The Tonight Show."

"Let me see. Jack invites his girlfriend over, she's a guest in our house, you blow up at her, yell at your brother and stay home from school for no reason. And you want to be allowed to stay up late watching TV? I don't think so, Young Lady. In fact, I think you can just go back to your room for the rest of the night since you seem to like it so much."

"Maa uhhm. That's sooo unfair!"

"You want to talk to me about fair? You're lucky I don't put you over my knee and make you stay in your room for a year."

Mary took off, leaving Mom and I in the kitchen.

"Jackie, I'm proud of you. You handled that well."

"Thanks, Mom."

"I swear to God, I had a hard time keeping a straight face. When she was saying she didn't want to have anything to do with HER and you pretended you didn't know what she was talking about. And when she was trying not to laugh and you made that comment about having palsy. Oh, Jackie. You don't know how hard it was to sit there and not laugh."

"I know. I had a hard time, too."

"So, Jackie. Do you really want to plow into your sister?"

"MOM! I just said that to make a point."

"I'm sure you did. Did you see the look on her face when you said it?"

"No."

" It was almost like she thought there might still be some hope. You did a good job, but don't forget to watch your back."

"Mom, even if I did want to do something with my sister, which I don't, I've got Jill now. Nothing will happen."

"Boy, are those famous last words. 'Honey, I know I'll be all alone in a tent with three teenage girls. Nothing will happen.' Just be careful for a while, OK? For me? And for Jill?"

"Sure, Mom."

"Honey?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you really do that? Can you really hear your father and me running around the living room, laughing?"

"Oh, yeah Mom. Just like the two of you are out there. I miss that. You deserve better than the life you've got. You deserve someone for you. I want to hear you laugh like you did back then."

"Oh, Jackie. I miss him so much."

Somehow we weren't sat at the table any more. I was standing in the middle of the kitchen floor and she was pushing her face into my chest, her arms tight around me, crying. I took over the role she'd played so many times and held on to her, stroking her hair, telling her it was going to be all right. Oh, God, I want it to be all right for her.

Mary came into the kitchen while we were there. I don't know if Mom was aware of her or not. Mary looked like she was going to say something and I held up my hand. She had the good sense to get a can of juice out of the refrigerator and go back to her room. She blew me a kiss on the way out of the kitchen.

Mom eventually stood up. She pulled out an old Kleenex she had stashed away somewhere and used it to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. I still had my hands on her waist. She hugged me, her head over my shoulder.

"Oh, Jackie. You must think I'm terrible."

"I think you're a woman who was in love with a wonderful man and misses him. There's nothing terrible about that."

She sniffed and stood back a little, examining me. I still had my hands on her waist.

"God, you remind me of him. Those eyes, the way you move. Jill's been so good for you. Now that you aren't so serious I can see him in you more and more. I can see you chasing her and laughing like your father did."

She sniffed again, put her hands on my shoulders, pulled me to her and gave me a light kiss on the lips. Not the dry kisses I was used to, a little more intimate. She looked up at me and pushed me away.

"That's enough of that. Much more and I'm going to want you to plow me."

I felt uncomfortable. Something was going on. I wasn't quite sure what it was but I knew I didn't like it. I let my hands drop from my mother's waist.

I think we both jumped when we heard what sounded like sandbags being thrown on the roof and a couple of cats screaming at each other. The pitch rose as did the clatter. I swear, it sounded like a couple of guys were wrestling, a body hitting the roof every second of so. It could only been five or six seconds and then we heard a cat scream out and a tumbling sound. The location of the noise changed. If not for the tumbling, I would have thought the stupid thing fell off the roof.

Mom and I had made our way into the living room when Mary ran in.

"What the hell was that?"

"It sounded like a couple of cats on the roof. One of them..."

I was interrupted by the sound of a cat howling. It sounded like it was coming from the fireplace.

All three of us walked over there. We must have looked funny. We were all bent over, ready to hightail it out of there if necessary. Every second or two the cat would let out another howl.