Chapter 13

In the morning I unwrapped my arms from around Beth, and chased her out of my room, her excited squealing and thudding bare feet acting like an alarm clock for the rest of the family. By the time I got to the kitchen, Mom already had coffee on and some melon sliced, and was warming up some frozen breakfast pastries in the oven. Some kind of cream cheese blintzes or something. I had a cup of coffee, and some melon while I waited for the hot pastry.

"Hey, Mom, I am old enough to get a learner's permit, is it all right if I go buy a piece of junk, park it in the driveway and have Holly help me turn it into a car?" From the way Holly was bouncing and grinning, almost bursting with all the things she wanted to say, she at least thought it was a good idea.

"I don't know, Paolo, it is true we don't live in a home owner's association, but this is an old neighborhood, and we can't have tacky wrecks sitting in the drive way."

"I'll tell you what, Mom, I will make a stylish cover for it, and it will be covered in a cute cozy when it isn't being worked on. We will park it on cardboard so no unsightly stains mar the pristine driveway." The last was a little dig, her car had been leaking transmission fluid, and she wouldn't let Holly fix it, and hadn't gotten it into the shop yet.

She laughed, swatted at me, and started to say "Well, I guess if..." when she was drowned out by Holly's excited screams of joy and rapid babbling which was unintelligible. My dad chimed in, saying it couldn't be anything so impractical that it was uninsurable. It had to seat five, so the whole family could ride in it at the same time, and it couldn't be a 'ticket magnet'. In fact, one ticket and the car would be grounded, the battery removed, and the cozy cover put on for a year.

I told him that seemed reasonable to me, and wondered aloud if I could find a car like chitty-chitty bang-bang. Everyone laughed at that, and Dad asked me if I knew that the author of that book was also the creator of James Bond, 007? I actually had not known that. Huh, Ian Fleming, what a guy.

I did know another factoid about authors, and asked him if he was aware that Mary Norton, author of 'The Borrowers' and 'Bedknobs and broomsticks' was the same as Andre Norton, author of many many science fiction works such as Time Traders and the Janus series? He had not known that.

I enjoyed riding my bike to school, and the main reason to rebuild a car with Holly was to have something in common with her, a mutual activity we could share. It would encourage her hobby, and give her a chance to do work that Mom and Dad wouldn't let her do on the family cars.

I would have to figure out something to share with Beth as well, but it wasn't as crucial since she was more secure and content thus far. Perhaps I would have to build a sound studio, and learn to be a sound man, and help her create a CD. I could do that. After the car was rebuilt.

I asked Dad if he could drive us around looking for the right pile of junk tomorrow, on Saturday, and he seemed a little excited by the project as well. Perhaps he would be drawn in to the project also, and become closer with Holly too. I made my goodbyes, and since it was raining, decided to take the bus.

The bus was how a school bus should be. There was no fear, and friends sat with each other in groups, talking softly or studying for their early classes. A lot of students did that, studied on the bus for the morning classes, and at lunch for their afternoon classes. I guessed they had home lives which were too hectic, or a gaming addiction, or an after school job.

I wouldn't want to try to study on the bus, although I often did think about my classes mentally or stratagise my day. I let the sounds of the other students on the bus gradually draw me into the mindset of school, gearing me up to face the pace and tempo of group learning.

I talked with Keith, the bus driver, and he told me that he had contacted Miss Berrigan, and had a date set up for tomorrow night up the Cape at a club he was playing. Since he would be onstage, it wasn't much of a date, but he could get her comped on the food and drinks. Actually, he would just assign his own comp over to her, and do without. It was a good first date, showing off without having to chat. I wished him the very best of luck, leaving unsaid that I really didn't want her back in the boy's locker room until after she had consummated a successful sexual relationship with an adult male who was not underage.

I had a good feeling though, that Keith could handle the situation. In Gym, Mr. Barlow was again our attendance taker, and after role call, he turned the class over to me once again. I had the class line up across the gym floor, and challenged them to a slow race. First one across the gym loses, and one foot must be off the floor at all times. It sounded easy, but standing on one foot was tiring, and then a step to the other foot was needed. The smartest guy in the class took tiny steps, and stepped more often, and still won.

Then, in the ten minutes left, I had everyone keep their hands above shoulder level. After five minutes, they were all appreciating that it isn't as easy as it sounds, and only two boys made it the full ten minutes. Interestingly enough, but as I expected, it was the two scrawniest kids in the class. I congratulated them both, and led the class in a short cheer for them. The positive energy and comradery was the highest I had ever seen it in Gym class.