Chapter 27 : Sunday Evening

Mum parked the car on the street outside the Davidson house and we all climbed out. Dan had started telling a story during the drive about an assistant coach on his football team who had lost his car keys during a training session. He discovered a big hole in his pocket and had no idea when they’d fallen out. The whole team had scoured the grounds and stands and rooms. As we stood around sharing out the load of things to carry into the house, Dan explained that the head coach had gone back to the assistant coach’s bag and found the keys in the side of his bag. The keys had never been in his pocket in the first place. We all laughed as we walked up the path together as a group. Even Angie laughed, though I’m not sure she understood why we were laughing.

“He must have been so embarrassed,” said Tara when she’d finished laughing.

Dan shrugged. “At the time he was. Now he laughs as hard as the rest of us when somebody tells the story.”

Liz and Melissa were waiting at the open door with big smiles on their faces. We got half-hugs in welcome – our arms were full so anything more would have been difficult.

“Your timing was perfect,” said Liz. “The game just finished and the DiMartinos arrived about two minutes before you did.”

Liz was talking to all of us, but as she talked, she couldn’t take her eyes off Tara. I couldn’t blame her. Tara was wearing a shortish black skirt, black stockings, black pumps, white button-up shirt, blood-red waistcoat and matching blood-red bow tie. She looked like a waitress at a fancy restaurant.

I looked at Liz. “Tara will be our caterer for this evening.” I said. “She will be helping with all aspects of preparing and serving the food. If anybody has complaints about the quality of her service, please refer said complaints to her boss.”

“Who is her boss?” asked Melissa.

“That would be Bec,” said Tara. “I’m being punished. It was a choice between this, or write out the lyrics of Jimi Hendrix’s version of Star-Spangled Banner five hundred times. I chose this.”

Liz frowned. “Um, isn’t that an instrumental track? It’s just Jimi Hendrix playing guitar. Nobody sings anything. There are no lyrics.”

Tara had a surprised look on her face. “Blast! I’ve been swindled.” She spun around and looked at Mum. “Is it too late to change my choice?”

Mum just looked at her and shook her head. “To quote my mother – You lay in the bed. You have to make it.”

Tara sniffed. “Downright swindled,” she grumbled.

She walked past Liz and Melissa and into the house, muttering about the unfairness of life. The rest of us broke out into grins.

Liz looked at me and shook her head. “She just pulled my leg. Did she just pull my leg? She made up that stuff about Jimi Hendrix lyrics, didn’t she?”

I shrugged. “Yeah!” I glanced over at Mum. “But it’s a good idea. Maybe I should ask for that as a punishment next time I mess up.”

Mum snorted at me. “You have no chance of that, my darling.”

Mum leaned in to kiss Liz and Melissa on their cheeks.

“Hi, girls,” said Mum. “It’s lovely to see you again. I’ll talk to you later. I better go in and say hello to your dads.”

Liz looked at me and shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Tara make that sort of joke before,” she said. “Putting herself down like that.”

I shrugged. “She only does it when she’s in a good mood. She’s been in a good mood all day.”

“Is she really being punished?” asked Melissa. “Are your parents really making her wear that outfit and be the waitress?”

“Yes, she’s being punished,” I said. “Yes, she has to do all the serving but the outfit is all her own idea. Like I said, she’s been in a good mood all day. I guess she took the idea of being the caterer and ran with it.”

Liz shook her head and ushered us inside.

The front door opened straight into the living room, so as soon as we stepped through the door we were surrounded by Liz’s dad and my dad and Melissa’s parents. The noise level rose dramatically as everyone tried to greet everyone else all at once.

I wasn’t talking. My eyes were ducking back and forth between my dad and Melissa’s dad. I was a bit miffed because I’d missed their initial greeting. Now they were busy being polite to everyone else and not taking much notice of each other.

Both Dad and Mr Davidson came up to me at the same time.

“Hi Daddy. Hi Daddy George,” I said cheerfully. “How was the game?”

I held my face up for kisses and received two in quick succession.

“The game was terrific,” said Mr Davidson. “The lead kept changing throughout the game. Then it was tied-up for most of the last quarter.”

“Mmm!” said Dad. “Do I smell chocolate brownies?”

“Brownies?” said Mr Davidson. “As in ... home-made Freeman brownies?”

“They’re for later,” I said and put a stern expression on my face.

Then I made a show of checking that Mum was looking the other way and furtively picked one out of the container.

“You can have this one,” I whispered. “It’s broken.”

I broke it in half. “See? Broken.”

I reached up to slide one half into Dad’s mouth. Then I took the other half and popped it into Mr Davidson’s mouth. Then I held my finger up to my lips and said, “Shh!”

Both men’s eyes lit up as they savored the tiny morsel in their mouths. I giggled as I licked my fingers.

“Now, no more until later or you’ll spoil your dinner.”

I waggled my finger at them but spoiled it by breaking into a grin.

I hustled my way through the crowd and into the kitchen so that I could put down the stuff I was carrying. Counter space was rapidly disappearing as we all found spots to place things.

It wasn’t until that moment I finally twigged that I hadn’t noticed Laura in the crowded living room. I turned to Liz and Melissa who had followed me into the kitchen. I waggled my head at them and together we ducked out of the kitchen and into Liz’s bedroom where we could talk in private.

“Is Laura here? Is she okay?” I asked.

“She’s fine,” said Melissa. “She came home from the hospital this morning.”

“She’s here. She took her brothers out the back to investigate the trampoline,” said Liz.

I nodded. “Good! I’m glad she’s here.”

I moved over to look through the window. I could see Laura standing by the trampoline watching the two boys. The boys were both standing on the trampoline and doing tiny bounces. They seemed to be talking to each other but obviously I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Laura was leaning on the edge and looking bored.

“She didn’t want to come,” said Melissa. “Father told her she had to be here to watch over the boys.”

I nodded. “How did she react to that?”

Melissa shrugged. “She didn’t like the idea, but she’s here – and she’s watching over the boys.”

I nodded and watched Laura for a moment.

“You must tell us everything about last night,” said Liz. “So far I’ve only heard the CliffsNotes version.”

“Later,” I said. “I’ll talk about that later.”

I turned around to face my friends.

“Right now, I want to know what happened when my dad and Mr DiMartino met up.”

“Nothing,” said Melissa.

I shook my head. “You’ve got to tell me more than that. How did they act towards each other?”

“They were really polite,” said Liz. “They shook hands and said hello.”

“Then Father introduced Mother and the boys,” said Melissa. “Then he said, ‘I think you already know my daughters,’ and that was it.”

I shook my head. I so wished that I had been there. I love my friends but I can’t always rely on them to notice the important things.

“Your father shook my hand,” said Melissa – her eyes widening. “He has really big hands.”

I grinned at her and nodded.

“I guess we should get out there and mix with the adults for a bit,” said Liz. “It would be rude for us to hide in here the whole time.”

“Good idea,” I said and we all headed back out into the living room.

As soon as we entered the room, Mr DiMartino stood and came over to greet me. Liz and Melissa stood quietly beside me, but half a step back, and watched. Mrs DiMartino saw what was happening and quickly joined us.

Mr DiMartino held out his hand and I shook it.

“I wanted to thank you again for what you did last night,” said Mr DiMartino.

“Yes, we are so grateful,” said Mrs DiMartino.

I nodded. “Thank you,” I said. Then I closed my mouth. There wasn’t much else to say.

Mr DiMartino looked around. “Where is Laura? She has something to say to you.”

“She took the boys out back,” said Mrs DiMartino. “Apparently there’s a trampoline. I’ll go and send her in.”

She left and we were left standing in an uncomfortable silence.

After a short moment, Mrs DiMartino came back into the living room with Laura and two very docile boys trailing after her. Laura immediately came over to stand beside her father while Mrs DiMartino took the boys over to introduce them to my parents and to Dan.

Laura stood there looking slightly nervous. Her eyes darted between her father and me.

“Laura has been instructed to look after the two boys this afternoon,” said Mr DiMartino.

He was looking at me as he said it because that had been my advice. I nodded to let him know I had understood both the spoken and the unspoken messages.

“She is responsible for their welfare as well as their behavior from the time we arrived until she puts them to bed this evening. It’s a duty I fear she has dodged far too often, preferring to leave it to Melissa and the nanny when we are unable to take on the task.”

He glanced at Melissa standing beside me. Melissa shrugged.

“Laura is going to stay with her cousins at the ranch for a few months. She accepts that this will give her a chance to straighten herself out. She appeared to think this a better option than a military boarding school.”

He seemed to be trying to disguise a sly little smile when he said that.

I nodded. He may not have genuinely intended to send her to a military school but he apparently didn’t mind allowing Laura to believe so.

“My brother-in-law assures me that his wife is an experienced home-school teacher and Laura will not be disadvantaged attending classes with her for a while. He tells me there are a number of chores that she will be expected to assist with on a regular basis. Laura accepts that she is being held accountable for her actions and that we expect a change in her attitude when she returns home.”

I nodded again.

Laura was standing silently beside him throughout all of this. Her father gestured to her and she turned to me.

“I’m very grateful for what you did for me last night,” said Laura. “I’m sorry for creating a disturbance and I realize my actions were wrong. I also apologize for the way I’ve treated you in the past. My behavior towards you has been inexcusable.”

It sounded like a rehearsed script and I wondered how much of it Laura was responsible for – probably none of it. Nevertheless, it was an apology so I would take it.

“Thank you,” I said.

I stood there and looked at Laura. She began to look uncomfortable – shifting from one foot to another.

I realized they were waiting for me to say something else. I didn’t know what to say. Then I recalled all those speeches from Dad as he played peacemaker between Tara and me.

“I’m glad you came today,” I said to Laura. “And I appreciate what you’ve said. It’s time to put all of that stuff behind us now and move on.”

Laura appeared to relax a little. She looked at me through half-lidded eyes and then turned to her father.

“May I go now?” she asked politely.

He looked at her carefully and then nodded slowly. Laura turned and walked away. After a prompt from Mrs DiMartino, the boys trotted over to join her and she took them outside again.

I turned to Mr DiMartino. “Thank you for what you said. Don’t worry about Laura and me. We’ll sort things out.”

I hooked my hands through Melissa and Liz’s arms. “Today is about you meeting Liz’s dad and my family because of Melissa. We’re going to be friends for a long time and we want you to get to know each other better because of that.”

I felt little squeezes on my hand from Melissa as she reacted to what I was saying.

“So let’s all go back and sit down with the others and talk about football or the Nasdaq or whatever.”

As we walked over and found places to sit, Melissa leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Don’t get him started on the Nasdaq. He’ll talk for hours about that.”

I grinned and whispered back to her. “I don’t really understand what the Nasdaq is. All I know is that adults always want to talk about it. They even have an item in the news each evening where they tell us what the Nasdaq has been doing that day. Sometimes it scores points and sometimes it loses points. They make it sound like a really, really long ball game. Maybe I should ask him about it. I might learn something.”

She pinched me on the arm and glared at me. “Don’t you dare.”

By this time, most people were sitting in the circle of mismatched chairs. Melissa and Liz shared a low padded footstool and I perched on the arm of Dad’s chair. As I sat, I picked up Dad’s hand and kissed his knuckles – which won me a smile from him.

“How did it go with that boy, Lance?” asked Dad quietly.

I shrugged. “It pretty much went the way I said it would. Maybe not as smoothly as I predicted but the outcome was the same. He tried to kiss me, I said no, he tried again, I yelled, Dan stopped him, I told him off and Dan escorted him out of the house. End of story.”

“I still think you were taking a big risk,” said Dad.

“What risk?” I said patiently. “Dan was right outside the door the entire time.”

Mr Davidson leaned over and looked at me. I realized he must have been able to hear us because he was sitting quite close.

“Are you okay now?” asked Mr Davidson. “I’m sorry I didn’t put a stop to it yesterday.”

“Yesterday, I wouldn’t have wanted you to stop it,” I admitted. “Yesterday was a bit like a fantasy with the long gowns and the wedding and Lance being all strong and dashing. It took until today before I could think sensibly about what was going on. When I figured out what he’s really like I was a bit upset, but I’m okay now.”

I reached down with me free hand and touched Dan’s shoelace where it wrapped around my wrist. Then I touched the top of my chest where Nana’s bracelet hung out of sight beneath my top. I smiled again. I really was okay.

The conversation moved on and I was content to sit quietly and hold onto Dad’s hand while I looked around the room. Mum and Mrs DiMartino were getting along like a house on fire. Angie was sitting on Mum’s knee and playing with Lucy. Dan and Mr DiMartino were talking about Dan’s career plans with occasional interjections from Mr Davidson and Dad. Melissa and Liz were doing the “seen but not heard” thing – paying attention to the conversations going on around them but not saying much except in response to direct questions. Tara was flitting about with a plate of crackers and dip. Laura was still outside with the boys. I wondered if she was avoiding me. It wouldn’t surprise me if she were.

I was thinking about how I’m a tribal sort of person. I guess you could say that my tribe is made up of those people I trust to look after me when I need looking after and also the people I’m responsible for – people I will protect and nurture when they need protecting and nurturing. A large part of my tribe was in this room. I felt comfortable here. There were others, of course, but this was the core of my tribe. Or maybe I’m a part of several overlapping tribes, each with its own purpose, each with its own chieftain. This room contained one of my tribes. I wondered who was the chieftain of this tribe.

My eyes flickered naturally to Mr Davidson. He was the obvious leader in the room. It was hard to think of him ordering people around because mostly I only get to see the warm and fuzzy side of him. With me, he’s always such a gentle and easy-going man. My brain replayed an image of him sitting on our living room floor after a few too many beers and playing Zebedee as we acted out The Magic Roundabout using a collection of stuffed toys. That had been such a fun night.

But Mr Davidson always has that sense of power about him – simmering below the surface. In any kind of emergency I’d want him in charge. I guess other people think the same thing – given his job. And I know that some people find him intimidating given his size and his tattoos and his military background and his habit of riding around on a Harley-Davidson with a bunch of other equally scary men. I guess it’s another aspect of my weirdness that I find big men comforting rather than scary.

Speaking of big men, I looked down at the big hand I was holding. Dad had been content to let me hang onto it and keep it in my lap while he talked with the others. It was interesting that he and Mr DiMartino seemed quite comfortable with each other without ever having talked through the tension that was between them the other night. I guess it’s a man thing – shake hands and all is forgiven.

I looked over at Dan where he sat. Now he was talking with Mum and Mrs DiMartino. Angie had switched onto him and was standing on his thighs with one hand (the one in the cast) resting on his shoulder while she ran the other hand through his hair over and over – I think she was trying to style his hair into some kind of unusual shape. Dan had his hands ready to catch her if she slipped but was otherwise engrossed in his conversation with the two women. I ran my finger along his shoelace again. It’s silly, I know, but it was also really, really comforting at the same time.

My mind flitted to Laura. Somehow, somewhere along the line she’d become a part of my tribe. She was like a wayward child who needed constant watching but now she was definitely someone I wanted to look after rather than run away from. My eyes flicked back to Mr DiMartino. I could help Laura. I’d already helped her a bit. The question was – what should I do next? I decided I should go and talk to her. She might need some prodding before she would take the next step. Simply avoiding me wasn’t going to work.

I was about to stand when my way was blocked by Tara – she really did look splendid in her waitress outfit. She curtsied in front of me and held out her plate of crackers and dip.

“Can I tempt you with some aperitifs, M’Lady?” asked Tara in an outrageously posh English accent.

I sat up straight and lifted my nose a little. “Why, thank you, my dear,” I replied, matching her accent. “That is most gracious.”

I delicately plucked a cracker from the plate and scooped up a little dip. “Quite delightful, I’m sure.”

Tara slipped sideways to stand in front of Dad and repeated her curtsey and her offer.

I kissed Dad’s hand before I let go of it and stood. I was smiling as I nibbled on my cracker. I was wandering towards the back door when Melissa and Liz caught up with me.

“Where are we going?” asked Melissa.

“I thought I should say hello to your brothers,” I said, smiling at her. “And maybe I should say something to Laura as well.”

“What are you going to say to Laura?” asked Liz.

“I don’t know yet,” I replied. “I guess it will depend on what she says to me.”

Frederick, the seven year old, was bouncing on the trampoline, getting some good height on each bounce. Laura had her back to us as she leaned on the side of the trampoline and watched her brother. The younger brother, Benjamin, was sitting on the side of the trampoline and kicking his legs while he waited for his turn.

Benjamin saw us coming first. He jumped off his perch and ran to us. He skidded to a halt in front of us and stood there with a serious expression on his face.

I knelt down on one knee so I was closer to his height. “Hello Benjamin. It’s nice to see you again,” I said. My knee felt cold on the concrete but I ignored it.

“Good afternoon, Rebecca. I’m pleased to meet you again,” he said and held out his hand to be shaken. Coming from a five year old, the serious greeting was simply too cute for words. I solemnly shook his hand.

“May I give you a hug?” I asked.

He bit his lip and looked up at Melissa. Apparently he saw approval there so he smiled and nodded. Then he launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around me. Fortunately I was braced for it or he would have knocked me over onto my back. I put my arms around him and squeezed him firmly into my body.

I waited until I sensed he’d had enough and then let him go. He stepped back and looked at me thoughtfully.

“You smell nice,” he said.

“Thank you, Benjamin,” I said politely.

Liz knelt down beside me.

“Did you get introduced to our friend Liz when you arrived?” I asked.

Benjamin nodded.

“Hey champ! That looked like a great hug,” said Liz. “Do I get a hug, too?”

She held out her arms and Benjamin stepped into them. It looked like he hugged Liz a bit more tentatively – probably because he’d only just met her. While they were doing that, I stood up and brushed off my knee.

When they were done, Melissa reached down and brushed a hand over his hair to straighten it.

“So, Benjamin,” said Melissa. “What have you been up to since we arrived?”

He grinned up to her. “I bounced on the trampoline. I bounced really high.” He held a hand above his head as high as he could reach to indicate how high he’d jumped. “It was fun, fun, fun. But then Laura said it was Frederick’s turn, so I had to get off. It will be my turn again soon. Will you watch me when it’s my turn?”

“Okay,” said Melissa. “I’d love to watch you jump on the trampoline.”

She held out her hand to Benjamin. “Let’s go over and watch Frederick until it’s your turn.”

Benjamin turned his big eyes towards me and held out his other hand. “Will you come, too? Will you watch me jump on the trampoline?”

I smiled and took his hand. “Of course I will. I want to talk to Laura. But after that, I would love to watch you.”

He looked doubtfully at Liz – obviously concerned because he’d run out of hands to offer. “You can watch me, too,” he said.

Melissa held out her other hand for Liz to hold and that seemed to satisfy him.

We walked over to the trampoline as a group. Laura watched us come but didn’t say anything. Melissa lifted Benjamin up to sit on the edge of the trampoline. Frederick noticed us and waved as he bounced.

“Hi, Melissa,” he called, breathlessly. “Hi, Rebecca. Hi, um.”

He bounced twice while he tried to remember.

“Elizabeth! Hi, Elizabeth.”

“Wow, look at you go,” I called back to him.

“How long until it’s my turn,” Benjamin asked Laura.

Laura sighed and looked at her watch. “Soon,” she said.

I moved up and stood next to Laura. I stood there quietly and watched Frederick on the trampoline.

After a moment of silence, Laura became edgy. “What?” she asked. “What do you want?”

I smiled and looked at her. “I figured you might want to talk to me without your father standing over us.”

She looked down at her toes and her shoulders moved in the tiniest of shrugs.

After a moment she said, “I don’t know what to say.”

I looked at her and paused for a moment. “Yes,” I said – meaning that I understood.

I looked at her for a moment longer. “I’m sorry that I frighten you,” I said.

She scowled. “You don’t scare me,” she said tersely. It was an automatic denial. Nothing scares Laura – at least nothing she’d care to admit to.

“Yes!” I said firmly. “I do scare you. I’ve always scared you. It’s because you don’t understand me. I get that. I don’t mean to frighten you. I try to be myself and some people find that weird, other people find it scary.”

“Is it my turn yet?” asked Benjamin.

Laura looked at her watch. “Soon!” she said.

“Keep going Frederick,” called Melissa. “You’re doing great.”

“I always thought you were a freak,” said Laura quietly to me. “I kind of still do.”

“I know,” I said calmly.

“But you keep doing all these things for me – like last night. And you’re a good friend to Melissa.”

“I try,” I said.

“But you keep doing freaky things, too. I watched you hugging Benjamin. You’re not going to hug me, are you?”

I looked at her calmly. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because...”

I smiled gently at her.

“Is it my turn yet?” called Benjamin.

“Yes,” said Laura without looking at her watch. “Now it’s your turn. Come on, Frederick. You’ve had long enough.”

Frederick didn’t complain. He stopped jumping and immediately made his way over to where Melissa was watching.

“Hooray!” yelled Benjamin. He scrambled into the middle of the trampoline and started jumping. “Look at me,” he called. “Are you watching? See how high I can jump.”

Melissa helped Frederick off the trampoline. His eyes were glowing with excitement as he quietly but rapidly told her how much fun it was on the trampoline.

I turned back to Laura. She was watching Benjamin and trying to ignore me. It wasn’t working.

Finally she turned back to me.

“You don’t own me, you know,” she said with a scowl. “You can’t do whatever you’d like to me because of what happened last night. It doesn’t mean you own me.”

It hadn’t occurred to me to put it that way, but since she went down that path, I was happy to follow.

“Yes it does,” I said firmly. “I own you, now. I own every last inch of you.”

I wondered how long it would take for Laura to figure out that she owned me too. Probably not until she realized that she and I meant different things when we talked about ownership.

“I hate you,” she said. I think her upper lip might have been quivering.

“No you don’t,” I replied. “You’re lashing out because you’re scared of me. You’re scared of what I might do.”

Her lip was definitely quivering. It took a moment but then she whispered. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to hug you,” I said, calmly.

I could almost see her trembling. “Why?” she whispered.

“Because I think you need it.”

I saw her force herself to swallow. “Okay. If you have to. I can’t stop you.”

She stood there with her eyes closed and her arms hanging loosely by her sides. It was like she was going to her execution.

“Not now,” I said. Her eyes popped open in surprise.

“Later!” I said. “I’m going to hug you later.”

I turned and walked away from her, leaving her standing there with a surprised look on her face.

Then the surprised look turned into a worried look.

I walked over and stood between Liz and Melissa as they watched Benjamin bounce on the trampoline. Melissa had one arm draped loosely over Frederick’s shoulder. He was standing quietly and leaning against her.

“Go Benjamin,” I yelled and clapped.

“Go Benjamin,” yelled the others.

“Hooray,” yelled Benjamin.

Liz leaned over and spoke to me quietly so that only Melissa and I could hear.

“You’re messing with Laura’s head,” she whispered.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Why?” whispered Melissa.

“Because...” I replied.

Because I was setting her up. When I started, I didn’t know why but now I knew. Later I was going to get her to do something scary – more scary than hugging me. Also I was showing her that she no longer had the sort of hold on me that allowed her to bully me.

Was I now bullying her? I’ll have to think about that one.

“Because I need to keep her off balance. It’s the only way she’ll do what I want her to do later.”

“What are you going to make her do?” whispered Liz.

I smiled. “It’s a surprise. If it works it will be a surprise. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

And if it didn’t work, I could pretend that whatever happened was my plan all along. Okay, I didn’t think of that until later. Maybe I was playing with their heads as well.

We stayed out there for a while, grouped around the trampoline. When Benjamin had enough of bouncing up and down, Liz and I clambered up and had a short turn together. We tried to get Melissa to join us but she was wearing a dress and that would have been awkward.

Laura was also wearing a dress and I suspect she was relieved at having the excuse. I pretty much left her alone but she kept throwing suspicious glances in my direction. Perhaps I’d been too successful in getting her off balance. Oops! I decided to ease off on her a bit.

Angie came belting out to join us and she had a turn on the trampoline with me holding onto her. Then she talked Liz into giving her piggyback rides around the back yard. That meant Melissa had to give Benjamin piggyback rides. Angie was shrieking and Benjamin joined in with his high-pitched little-boy voice. Liz and Melissa were laughing and calling out to encourage each other.

Frederick looked sadly at Laura who was leaning against the trampoline and ignoring everybody, so I offered to give him a ride. Frederick was heavier but not as heavy as Sam so I managed to go at a slow jog, but I couldn’t go as fast as the other two. They cheerfully lapped me and then slowed down to trot along beside me for a while. Frederick rode quietly on my back, his breath warming my ear. When we were done, he carefully slid down and thanked me politely.