Chapter 26: Adeline's rules

Sunday, March 21, 1993

Victor met me at the airport. He smiled, grabbed my bag, and asked if I wanted him to drive. I told him to give me the keys.

"How was your vacation?" he asked as soon as we were in the car.

"Great, we had a good time," I responded.

Victor was just being polite. If he noticed the remains of my black eye and bulging chin, he used good judgment in not asking how I'd gotten them. He didn't care if I'd had a good time. He'd probably had a better time staying in the apartment with Gladys than I'd had in Florida. What's more, he'd obviously forgotten that yesterday was my twenty-second birthday.

I'd had a good time. That's all Victor needed to know. I changed the subject, talked about starting our last quarter of classes, the spring weather, anything but my vacation.

He was a smart kid. Victor carried my bag into the apartment, and left as soon as I approved the cleaning job he and Gladys had done. I was dialing Marcie's number when I heard the back door close.

"Happy birthday, how does it feel to be twenty-two?" she asked.

"Good, thanks, I wanted you to be the first to know. I broke up with Kelley."

"Ah, are you serious? When did this happen?"

"You seem surprised."

"I know I should have seen this coming. Was it a clean break?"

"Not at all. I have some messages on my machine. I suspect most of them are from Kelley."

"Are you going to be okay, Honey?"

"I think so."

"Did you have any fun at all?"

"We had a good time. That's the first time I've been on vacation with Mr. Oldham and Suzanne. For a couple of homebodies, they surprised me by always wanting to be on the go. We bought a house, they played golf, and I read and relaxed."

Marcie didn't comment about the house. Her mind was elsewhere. "Do you think she'll call me?"

"She may want to tell you her side of it. That's why I didn't tell you everything. Don't let her cry on your shoulder."

"I don't think she'll call me. She knows my allegiance is with you."

"Good, I just wanted to give you a heads up."

"I'm glad you took my advice. Does this mean you'll invite Megan to move in with you?"

I laughed at Marcie's bluntness. "I don't think Megan would be willing to take up with me for a few weeks. Anyway, I've got to concentrate on getting my head on straight."

We promised to talk next week and said goodbye.

There were six messages from Kelley. I listened to three of them and discovered they were all the same. She said she was concerned about my wounds, and begged me to call her, saying she had something very important to tell me. I deleted the other three messages.

I called home and learned that Kelley had left messages there also. I told Suzanne that I was sorry she was being put in the middle.

"Don't worry about that, Sammy. I'm more concerned about your attraction to the realtor. She's old enough to be your mother."

"You have nothing to worry about, Suz. Adeline is fun to be with. That's all it is."

"In that case, go for it. You deserve some fun in you life right now."

"Thanks, Suz," I said, and she told me to have a good night.

On Monday, I told Victor about my blunder regarding the Omaha building. "Another company bought it, and Neill may go to work for them. We'll try to find something else for you to do, but right now I can't promise anything."

He took the news hard, saying he would be sorry to see Neill leave the company.

We talked about the new assignment for the quarter. Professor Adler had dropped a bombshell in our laps that morning. So far, the architectural class Victor and I were enrolled in had been confined to the study of building load factors, which was the reason I'd taken the course. I'd realized the importance of correctly computing steel and concrete specifications since my summer working for Neill in San Francisco. The summer with Patti and Neill in Atlanta had increased my interest in the elements of building structure.

We were to design a building, specify the materials, and assign costs associated with the construction of our building. Victor relished the assignment. I knew he would do something spectacular. I also knew I couldn't compete with him.

I left him, saying that I needed to catch up with Megan. I found her in the cafeteria serving line. She was accepting the meatloaf special from the server.

"Hi," she said, showing concern when she saw the dark places on my face. It probably looked worse than it was because I hadn't been able to shave either area in days. She set the plate on her tray.

I spotted a change since I'd seen her last. Her hair was cut short. For a second it reminded me of the way Adeline wore her hair, only it was not the same at all. Megan was a real blond; Adeline was bleached. "Hi, I have some news. Kelley is history."

Megan kept her head down, contemplatively inspecting the plate she'd placed on her tray, turning it one hundred and eighty degrees, and then moving it back to its original position. She rotated the plate twice before speaking.

"I don't want this," she said, handing the plate to the stunned server.

"What's wrong with it?" the server asked as Megan ran out of the cafeteria. I looked after her, and then at the server.

"I'll take it," I said.

I'm sure Casey, Kalian, and Chase had seen Megan flee the cafeteria, but they wisely refrained from asking me what was wrong. I gave them brief answers to their questions about my spring break, and listened to the highlights of their time away from school.

"What happened to your eye? Did you get too much sun?" Chase asked. Casey and Kalian were watching me closely, too.

"I had an altercation with a door," I said.

They seemed to know that I wasn't in the mood to talk about what really happened.

I ate quickly, and excused myself, saying that I had an assignment to prepare for. This was true.

Wanting to make a good showing with the architectural project, I used the next two hours recalling the buildings I'd been impressed by. After wasting two hours, I drove to the school to meet Megan. Why had she run away from me at lunchtime?

With a half an hour to kill, I picked up my mail, and stopped by the tennis courts where Kent and the gang usually hung out.

Zelda took a seat next to me. "Are you going to be my mixed doubles partner this year, Sammy?"

"I want to play as often as possible, but my time is limited. You may want to find someone more dependable. You need a partner who can be counted on to show up," I said.

She watched me open a birthday card from Alice. "I'll see you on Friday night, Sammy," Zelda, said, as she moved to the far end of the bench.

"Okay, Zelda, sounds good," I said as I read Alice's card.

There were cards from my mom, Marcie, Hilda, and Jeannie. And then, seeing the familiar slant of Shirley's printing sent a thrill through my chest. It had been nearly two years since I'd heard from her. Why would she remember my birthday after all this time? I went to my car to open the envelope. It was postmarked March 19, 1993.

Dearest Sammy,

Do you hate me?

I want you to know why I said those things about Darien. It was malicious of me. I wanted you to think that we were back together so you would know it was over between you and me. It wasn't true.

I've finished my Masters, and I'm taking a few months off from school to earn some spending money for when I return to work on my Doctorate. Happy twenty-second birthday! I think of you often.

S.

Shirley Pennington had lied to me. I'd thought of her often too. She was right; it had been malicious of her to make me think she'd gone back to Darien. What a slime-ball he had been. I remembered making the trip to his home to recover audio tapes he'd made of Shirley having sex with him. I recalled that Mr. Daugherty was an owner of nursing homes and the conversation we'd had. He had given me his business card, saying that if my dad wanted to enter that business he would like to invest in it.

Mr. Daugherty was a decent guy. Too bad Darien hadn't picked up his father's traits. Oh well, at least Shirley hadn't gotten re-involved with him. I was re-reading Shirley's note when I spotted Megan coming my way.

She refused my offer of a ride, saying she would walk home. I had to beg her to get in the car.

"I ate your meatloaf. It wasn't bad," I said, hoping she would smile. She didn't.

"I wasn't hungry." She hadn't closed the car door. I wondered if she would jump out and run from me.

"Why did you bolt from the cafeteria?"

"Why did you tell me you're splitting up with Kelley? Do you think I care?"

"I thought you should know."

"Did she do that to your face?" Megan asked.

I laughed. "No, she didn't ... well, indirectly, but no, she didn't do it."

If Megan was curious she didn't show it. She closed the car door when I started the car, and I drove her home. She thanked me for the ride, got out, and ran to the house. I tried to shake it off as I drove home, but couldn't stop wondering why she'd acted the way she did.

There were two messages on my machine. I returned Wanda's call, and for the first ten minutes I got the impression she hadn't heard about Kelley and me. She gave me the bad news. Most employees were blaming me for nixing the Omaha building, Neill would probably be leaving soon to join our competitor, Lynch and Lynch, and Sharon was pregnant.

"Don't blame me for that," I quipped.

Wanda was not amused. "I hear you had a lousy vacation. It serves you right for treating Kelley like shit."

I was both outraged and upset. I was outraged at Kelley for talking to Wanda and upset that Wanda would believe her. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Wanda. Right now, I've got to return Kelley's call."

Angie, Kelley's assistant said that Kelley had left early, and that I could reach her at home.

After listening to Mrs. Harvey rant about the despicable way I was treating her daughter, she reluctantly called Kelley to the phone.

"Sammy, I've been worried sick about you. Are you in danger of losing your sight in your ... which eye was it?"

"It was my left eye, and I'm not having any trouble seeing so far. I stopped taking the pain pills on Wednesday. The Florida sun did me a lot of good. Thank you for asking."

"Your parents are angry at me. Do you think they will ever forgive me?"

"I don't know, Kelley. You left an urgent message for me to call you. What's so important?"

She sighed, like she didn't understand why I was being impatient with her. "Linda Gander wants to meet us in Seattle. I told her it would have to be on Saturday. If you leave right after class on Friday, and don't have lunch with Megan or pizza with your friends, we can be there in time to take them to dinner on Friday night."

"I don't think so. I've made a commitment to myself to finish the year strong. I'm not going to have time for travel."

"But Sammy, you promised to go to Seattle with me. Linda specifically asked if you'll come, and I told her you will be there."

"Sorry, Kelley, but that was before you slept with Roger. That alone negates any promise I made to you."

"Please, Sammy," were her last words before I hung up.

It wasn't ten minutes before the phone rang. I picked up the receiver without speaking, knowing it would be Kelley.

"Please, Sammy, don't make me tell her that we're not together any longer."

"I won't make you tell her. I'll call her myself," I offered, insinuating that I had Linda's telephone number. I didn't. I'd followed her instructions and destroyed the dossiers.

"NO! You mustn't tell her."

"What did you tell your mother and Wanda? They both think I'm to blame. If you set them straight I'll forget about telling Linda the truth."

After a silence, "You're being unreasonable, Sammy."

"Kelley, I saw your smile of satisfaction just before those beach bums tried to tear me apart. Up until then I was trying my best to put what happened between you and Roger out of my mind."

"You can, Sammy, I know you can put it out of your mind. It meant nothing to me. Think of it that way."

"Perhaps I could, but I'll never forget the expression on your lips when you thought I was going to get the shit beaten out of me. I know that look, Kelley. It's the same look of satisfaction you have when you're experiencing the moment of truth. You know it's going to happen, and you want it. You could have stopped it with a word, but you chose to remain silent that day on the beach. Are you going to tell Wanda and your mother that it was your fault, or do you want me to call Linda?"

"Do I have to tell them everything?"

"No, all you have to say is that it was your fault. Listen to me, Kelley; if I have to call Linda she'll know the whole story, right down to the moment of truth you had while Roger was putting the condom on."

"Please don't call Linda. I'll tell her, Wanda, and my mother that it was my fault," Kelley said in a faint voice.

"Okay, I don't care what you say to Linda. All I'll need from your mother is a short note saying that you told her. However, I want to make damn sure you level with Wanda. She bought your lies. It's up to you to set the record straight."

"I will, Sammy."

"Goodbye, Kelley," I said, hanging up before she could say more.

I went to the kitchen and opened a Coke, hoping to wash the bad taste from my mouth.

We'd had some good times during the year we were together. I'd laughed at her, made her laugh and I'd worshipped her. Did she understand that when I said, "Goodbye, Kelley," that I was saying it was over? Did she understand that I would not return any more of her calls? I hoped so.

On Tuesday, Megan gave me the cold shoulder in our Business Management class, and she didn't show up to have lunch with us. She did, however, accept my offer for a ride home.

"I shouldn't have been so blunt with you yesterday. Your sudden announcement that you had broken up with Kelley took me by surprise." She laughed before continuing, "Just when I'd decided to stop pretending we were lovers, you sprung the news about you and Kelley on me. I thought I may have been the cause. I know now that I took it wrong."

She smiled at me, and I wanted to tell her how cute she looked with the short hair. But I knew better; this was not the time.

"It won't be long before the leeches discover that we're not together, and they'll hit on you."

"They already have," she admitted.

"Megan, I wish there was something I could do."

"There's nothing you can do though, is there?" she asked as she opened the car door.

I went to the apartment and found a message from Wanda. She first informed me that Sharon was going to work through the month of June, but she didn't plan to return to work after the birth of her baby. I listened, wondering why she hadn't put that bit of information in an email message.

"I'm so sorry, Sammy. I should never have doubted you. Kelley told me everything was her fault."

"Did she admit that she'd lied to you about me?"

"Not in so many words, but I got the impression that she'd done something incredibly wrong. Am I right?"

"Yeah, she pissed in the soup," I said, and heard Wanda laugh.