Chapter 15

Meredith’s dad was standing at the door when Brock stepped onto the porch Saturday night.

“Good evening, Mr. Van Landingham,” Brock said. “My name is Brock Miller. I’m here to pick up Meredith.”

Sam Van Landingham looked at the young man in front of him. He’d read all the stories and seen any news program he could find about the Brock Miller saga.

He put his arm around Brock and ushered him inside.

Sam was glad the boy was willing to stand up for others and for himself. Of course Meredith threatened to castrate him if he said anything unkind to Brock. And Sam was pretty sure she wasn’t joking this time.

“Well, I guess I don’t need to ask you to tell me a little bit about yourself,” Sam said with a deep laugh. “I guess I could ask you to tell me something about yourself that the rest of the world might not know.”

Brock looked up at the huge man and Brock didn’t look up to many people. Sam Van Landingham had to be 6-foot-7 and he probably weighed close to 300 pounds.

“Um, I like long walks on the beach and sunsets,” Brock said tentatively.

Sam’s laugh boomed throughout the house and he clasped a meaty paw on Brock’s shoulder.

“I’ll be damned,” he said. “You might just be able to hold your own with Meredith. She got her smart mouth from her mother, but don’t tell her I told you so.”

It wasn’t the welcome Brock expected. It was much better.

“I know Merie told you about the lottery and all that,” he said. “As you’re finding out, there are a lot of people who place a pretty big emphasis on money. I saw what you said at the courthouse--actually I saw it about three hundred times because Meredith would stop at every channel showing your picture but that’s another story. Meredith also told me what you said to the hangers on at school.

“If you need some financial advice, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Brock smiled at the huge man.

“Actually, it’s already set up,” he told Sam. “I can’t touch the majority of anything I actually wind up with until after I graduate college. Well, if I reach 25 and still haven’t graduated I can get it but if I’m uneducated and working a minimum wage job at 25--and believe me, I have minimum wage skills--I’ll need every penny. My attorney is handling the trust. But I’ll give her your number and maybe you can suggest some things.”

“Hell, don’t give her my number,” Sam said. “Left to my own devices I’d have spent every last penny on cheap booze and strippers in the first couple of months. Just like that guy in West Virginia a few years back. I’ll give you the number of the guy my wife hired to manage the dough. And for God sakes don’t tell Meredith about the trust. I like you and she thinks you’re rich and she won’t have to live on the paltry allowance we give her.

“By the way, I have next Tuesday in the pool at her school. Let me know if you need me to work late.”

Meredith’s entrance saved Brock from being more embarrassed.

“Well, just so you know, I picked a date in the pool, too,” she said. “So I think there’s a pretty good shot I’m the frontrunner.”

Brock stared at her.

“Hey, if I can’t convince you, I’m sure I can convince somebody,” she said with a laugh.

“Wow!” Brock said. “Would anyone be terribly offended if mentioned that you people are nuts?”

Sam’s laughter filled the room again.

“Nope,” he said. “I would say that you’re an astute judge of character.”

“Daddy,” Meredith interrupted. “I warned you about using big words around him. C’mon, Brock. I’ll explain what he meant in the car. Don’t wait up, Daddy.”

Meredith clutched Brock’s hand on the way to the car and gave him a blazing smile when he held open her door for her.

She turned to him as he got in the driver’s seat.

“OK,” she said. “Serious for a minute. I’ve had exactly one first date in my life. I was 13 years old and two days later, we hit the lottery. My life turned upside down and no one looked at me the same way again. It was only this year that I told some of the people at school about it and I regretted it as soon as I did.

“The upshot is that I have no real idea what normal first-date etiquette entails.”

Brock saw an opportunity and went for it.

“That is good to know,” he said. “I guess we can just skip dinner and head straight to my house. I hope you didn’t bother wearing underwear. You won’t be needing them.”

Meredith let out a deep sigh and the nervousness she’d been feeling left with it.

“You dick,” she said. “Let me guess, you have tonight in the pool.”

“Is there really a pool about this?” he asked although he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. “I mean, who the hell would do that? That seems pretty messed up.”

Merie sighed again.

“Actually, I started it,” she said grinning. “I decided to pretty much avoid boys when we moved here. The rumor started that I was a lez. Which is OK, I suppose, but I soon found out that even girls wouldn’t talk to me because they were afraid I’d hit on them.”

“Merie the Fairy,” Brock said. “I heard that one, too.”

“Let me guess,” Merie replied. “Jen.”

Brock simply nodded his head.

“So, anyway, I had one of my friends start another rumor,” she continued unabated. “I wasn’t a clam licker but I was very choosy. I didn’t plan to have sex until marriage so unless I saw someone I was interested in marrying I didn’t plan to date.

“Pretty soon the nicknamed changed from The Fairy to The Cherry. Kids can be so clever. I played along and, jokingly, suggested to a couple of my friends that they should start taking bets about when I’d finally give into hormones. So, one of my friends did. There was a hundred dollars bet the first day.

“The girl who was running the betting--I guess she was my bookie--moved away last summer. So a guy in my neighborhood took over the bets and I’m holding the money. Meanwhile, I pretended I didn’t have a clue about what was going on. But I laugh my ass off when a guy starts to sniff around when his day comes close.

“I’ve turned down the Prom King, the Student Council President and even a teacher, for God’s sake. All of them were convinced that they could be the one to woo their way into my little thong panties. That’s a preview, by the way. I’ll be wearing little black thong panties the night I finally do the deed.”

Brock didn’t take the bait.

“Don’t you want to know?” Merie asked. “I bet you want to know, don’t you? If you ask me, I’ll tell you.”

Brock was silent.

“If you ask me, I’ll show you,” she tried but he wouldn’t budge.

Of course inside he was picturing Merie in a thong and it was about to drive him crazy but he knew he was winning some sort of battle with her by sitting silently.

“So, I thought we’d have dinner at either this Thai place I found in Bascomb Bay or a Japanese Steak House down by the stadium,” he said. “Which would you prefer?”

Meredith put her hand on Brock’s leg.

“Ask me about my panties and I’ll tell you,” she said.

“OK, Thai it is,” he said as if she’d chosen. “I think you’ll like it. It has a little bit of kick to it but the flavor is out of this world. It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted.”

“You’re a bastard,” Merie said.

“Uh, how did you know?” Brock said sullenly. “I have no idea who my father is.”

Merie’s head turned so fast she almost broke her necklace.

“Oh, Brock,” she said but then she saw his smile. “Fuck you.”

“Nope, not until my day in the pool comes up,” he shot back. “But, I really am a bastard, for wont of a better term. But I take no offense.”

“So you are completely uninterested in my choice of undergarments,” she asked. “That seems so un-boyish of you.”

“Merie, the pictures of you in your undergarments are so prevalent in my head that it’s all I can do to drive,” he told her. “In fact, if this wasn’t some sort of battle of wills, I’d probably be begging you to tell me about them. And when you offered to show me, I would probably offer to sever my arm if you would.