Chapter 9

After school we had our first read-through for the show. It turned out my part wasn't as big as I'd feared and there were only three songs I'd be doing—all chorus parts with the other guys. All three were parodies on the political and legal system of the time in New York City. I'd been in a couple of shows before, but just in speaking parts, no singing. As rehearsals went on I discovered that I could SING! Well, sort of. I knew I'd never be as good as Beth and maybe it was just the kind of songs I was doing, but I didn't think I sounded too bad!

Reading through the script I was intrigued with the main character. Up to then the only thing I knew about La Guardia was that he was some politician they named a New York airport after. Looked like it was time to do some outside reading.

As the rehearsals progressed both Beth and I kept busy. She was helping the stage crew build and paint sets when she wasn't on stage rehearsing and when I wasn't up I was helping Greg, Phil, and Bob with the lighting.

When I got home after rehearsal one night I found my brother sitting on my bed with that look that only comes from girl trouble.

"What's the problem, Kev?"

"It's Gail, Tommy. All of a sudden she's, I don't know, just weird. I rode my bike over to their new apartment after school and she ... oh shit!"

"Kev, what happened?"

"She let me in and took me up to her room and lay down on her bed and patted the spot next to her, I thought she just wanted to cuddle but then she told me to take my clothes off and she took hers off. At first, we just lay there then she asked why I didn't do anything else. When I tried to tell her I didn't want to rush her, she said it was because I just didn't want to get dirty. I told her I didn't understand, then she said I wouldn't do anything because she was a slut! When I said 'no' and tried to talk to her, she threw my clothes at me and screamed at me to get out! Tommy, what am I gonna do?"

What was I supposed to say? Think, Tommy, think!

"Kev, it sounds like she's still reacting to what happened with her father. Remember what I said about her feeling ashamed because of what he did? Well, maybe some of that's still bugging her. Let me talk to Beth and see if she can talk to Gail."

"Oh, God, I hope so. I can't stand seeing her acting like this. I want my old Gail back!" He got up and shuffled out of my room. I grabbed my phone and called Beth. After I told her what had happened she said she'd talk to Gail. She called me back later and said Gail told her she wasn't worth worrying about and to just leave her alone.

"Tommy, I'm glad Kevin talked to you. I'm going to call the Crisis Center and see what they say."

"Thanks. I hope somebody can do something for her. Kev is really torn up by this."

I went to Kev's room and told him what Beth said. He just nodded, not even looking up.

When I picked Beth up the next morning she said she'd talked to Gail's mom and called the Center and they set up an appointment for that afternoon after school. Beth and Mrs. Hanson were going with Gail and Beth would call me when they got home.

I talked to Mr. Franks and explained that Beth wasn't at rehearsal because of a doctor's appointment, not exactly the truth, but close enough.

Beth called after dinner. "Oh, Tommy, Gail's so messed up right now! The staff at the center say it may take a long time to get her straightened out."

"What happened? She seemed to be getting along pretty well."

"I was talking to one of the counselors, she said it might be because Gail's back with her mother."

'Yeah, but why would that cause something like this?"

Beth went on to explain that the counselor thought moving back with her mom might have made Gail fear, unconsciously, that her father might be coming back too, and that caused her to relive the shame brought on by what he'd done to her. If he had convinced her that she'd been responsible for everything it could cause her to react to Kevin the way she did.

"So what now?" I knew Kevin would be asking me and I wanted to get everything straight before I talked to him.

"I guess she'll be spending a lot of time with the counselors. They wouldn't commit to anything until they've had more time with her."

As I went to give Kev the news I thought again of what I'd like to do to the slimy son-of-a-bitch that caused all this misery.

"Kev, I just talked to Beth." I went on to tell him what the counselors said.

"Tommy, what am I going to do?"

"I don't know. You might just have to face up to the idea that you and Gail are through." I didn't want to tell him that but if worst came to worst I didn't want it to hit him blind.

"NO!" I've seen my brother's stubbornness many times but the look he gave me was something beyond just stubborn. "I lost her once and it's NOT going to happen again. I don't care how long it takes or what I have to do, but I'm going to get her back."

I hoped he was right.

The next afternoon I stopped at the photo shop to talk to Joe and try to find a swivel head for my tripod adapter. I walked in and saw him behind the counter.

"Hi, Tommy! How are you doing?"

"Pretty good. I just stopped over to see if I could find a head for my 'pod extension." I put my homemade adapter on the counter.

Joe looked at it. "You made this? Looks pretty good. Will it fit any tripod?"

"Should fit most of them. I've only tried a couple."

"You know, I'll bet you could sell a bunch of these. Can you make them in black?"

"I don't know ... but I know who can tell me. You really think people would want them?"

"Tommy, you should know by now photographers are gadget freaks. If you can get a few made up, I'll sell them on consignment for you."

"Joe, let me do some checking and I'll let you know." My extension for sale in a pro photo shop? I'd never considered selling them, I just made up the one to use myself.

We talked for a few more minutes. I described the head I was looking for and he said he'd never seen one. "Looks like you're going to have to build one yourself," he said with a grin.

As I was driving home I thought about my tripod extension. Was it something other photographers would want? Looks like it was time to talk to Beth's dad to see if there was a good way to make a number of them. Oh, and how to make them in black.

After rehearsals the next day Beth invited me over for dinner. Well, dinner and other nibbling. After dinner I talked to Beth's dad about my tripod project.

"Tommy, I've been thinking about this gadget of yours. Is there anything you'd change if you had the chance to start over?"

"Yeah, there is. I'd like to make it adjustable, instead of welding the pieces together. Make it with some kind of hinge arrangement so the camera could move up and down without having to move the whole thing. I've been trying to figure it out for a month. The problem is I can't come up with something that can be locked in place. Oh, and Joe suggested I make them in black."

"Oh, black is no problem. Let me give you the name of a guy who runs a metal finishing company, I'm sure he can help you. As far as making it adjustable—have you talked to Beth about this?"

"No, I've mumbled about what I'd like to change but we haven't talked about it." I saw a little grin and figured I'd missed something.

"Maybe you should."

"Did you talk to Dad?" my lady asked.

"Yeah, he said I should ask you for some ideas." When I saw the clouds appear I could feel the ground slowly slide out from under me.

"But you didn't think a girl could know anything about building things, didn't you." Not a question, an indictment that stopped me cold. Had I been ignoring Beth's mechanical abilities because of her gender? Yeah, I had been. After all our time together, and all the times she'd shown she could do designs as well as work with machine tools, I hadn't even considered asking for her help, all I'd done was gripe. All of a sudden I didn't like myself very much.

"Oh shit, Beth. You're right. I know you're going to be an engineer but I just ... well ... oh, hell, I'm sorry!"

"I expected to run into that attitude once I started school, but I never expected it from you." Beth was really upset and the worst part was, I couldn't blame her. I really screwed up this time.

"Beth, I'm sorry. I know better, I just..." I ran down.

"Tommy, maybe you should just go!"

"Okay." I felt like I could have walked out without even opening the door—I could just walk under it. Driving home, I tried to figure out how I could have been so stupid. So insensitive. Such a ... a ... a God-damned chauvinist!

Mom was sitting in the living room when I came stomping through. "Whoa! Looks like you had a bad night. What happened, Tommy?"

I plopped down on the couch and told her what I'd done—or hadn't done, depending how you looked at it.

"Oh, Tommy. I can't believe you did that! After everything Beth's taught you about that stuff, you didn't even ask her if she could help?"

"I know, Mom. I really screwed up this time." I trudged up to my room, muttering under my breath.

The next morning my phone rang as I was getting ready for school. The caller ID showed it was Beth. "I'm sorry," I answered.

"Oh, Tommy, I shouldn't have unloaded on you like that. I've just been so upset about Gail that, well..."

"Why don't we just call it a draw," I responded. "Should I come over and pick you up?"

"Tommy, I'm going to drive this morning." Oh, oh, it looked like my place of residence was still in the canine domicile.

"Okay," I sighed. "Maybe I'll see you at school."

"Don't you want a ride?"

"Oh, um, yeah. I thought ... So I'll see you soon?"

Bach? Beethoven? Brubeck? None of them wrote anything that approached the sound of my lady's laugh. "I'll be there soon."

I was waiting on the front step when she came around the corner. By the time I stood up Beth had swung into the driveway, squealed to a stop, popped out and met me in front of the Jeep.

"Tommy, I'm so—" "Beth, I'm so—"

"Sorry!" we said in unison. I swept her into my arms as we both broke into laughter.

"So how is Gail doing? It's got to be better than Kevin."

"She's making progress, but her father really screwed up her head. She seems to accept that it wasn't her fault, but now she's afraid to face Kevin because of the way she acted."

"Is it time to get the two of them together?" I ventured.

"Maybe we should wait for a while yet."

The next couple of weeks were tough on Kevin. Beth sat down and talked to him one night and explained Gail was getting better, but she didn't want to see Kev yet. "But she's getting better, Kev. I think now it's more a matter of her being embarrassed by what she said and did the last time you saw her. Give her a little more time and I think she'll be okay."

A couple of weeks before opening night it was Beth's eighteenth birthday. She had insisted she didn't want any kind of a party or gift so I took her out for dinner to the same place Greg and I had taken the girls before the Prom last year. Since it was the end of February the trout pond was frozen over which meant Beth didn't have to fish for her supper.

That Friday we made our usual stop at our coffee shop and since Beth's birthday was exactly a month before mine she took a lot of ribbing over being the "older woman" and the trouble she could be in for chasing "jail bait." I sat back, amazed at how well she handled being the center of attention. No more scared little mouse there.

"Hey, Tommy, how are you going to get through the next thirty days? Or are you going to make Beth a felon?" one of the guys asked.

"A felon?" Beth and I looked at each other. "How?"

"Technically, anything you do could be considered statutory rape. After all, for the next month you're still a kid."

Beth and I looked at each other. A month? No visit to the farm after opening night? Damn!

Saturday Beth came over and we spent part of the morning reworking the design for my tripod extension. After a few minutes of talking at cross purposes she fired up Sketchup on my PC, and started drawing the parts she'd been trying to describe. I'm obviously a visual person because as soon as I saw what she was doing it all made sense.

"So those four pieces will fit in the end of the tubes and connect to the vertical pieces?" I wanted to make sure I was following what Beth was doing.

"You've got it. All the joints will be bolted together and allow the end piece to move so you can set the camera at any height."

"Yeah, but what's going to lock it in place?"

"Three of the joints will just be bolted together. We'll use nylon lock nuts to keep them from loosening up, the other one of the joints will have a threaded knob. Just tighten it down and you're locked solid."

"You are a genius! That's exactly what I need!" I lifted her from the chair and started nuzzling all my favorite spots. "Do we have enough time to get to the scrap yard and pick up the aluminum?"

"Sure. If you'll let me go!"

Decisions, decisions.

After picking up the tubing and other aluminum pieces we'd need, we drove to the shop and I got to play with the big toys again. Beth showed me some quick ways to mill out the parts and we made a couple of changes as we went. She made me swear that as soon as I got home I'd convert her quick drawing, including our on-the-fly changes, into a finished drawing in AutoCAD. I'd picked up enough stock for half a dozen finished extensions but only made enough parts for one. I wanted to make sure the new design would work before I made any more and once we did know it was right I wanted a final drawing so making more wouldn't be a hassle. After cleaning up the machines and locking up the shop we drove to the Pizza Palace and joined Greg and Cindy for lunch.

On the way back to Beth's we stopped at a hardware store to pick up the nuts and bolts we needed to tie everything together. Once we had all the parts the assembly was pretty easy and it worked! Now to get it painted.

Monday I didn't have a rehearsal so I had a chance to go to the metal finishing company Beth's dad mentioned. It was a small shop, not too far from our house. When I walked in a guy came up to the counter. From the look of his clothes, he worked in the shop, not the office.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I've got some aluminum I need painted." I shook the pieces of the extension out on the counter. "My name is Tommy Randahl. Chuck Jones mentioned you might be able to help me."

"Hi, Tommy, I'm Scott. Lets see what you've got here." He looked over the pile of aluminum, stopping to fit the pieces together. "What is this for?"

I explained how it would be used and that I'd like it painted black.

"Hmmm. I'd suggest powder coating rather than paint. It's tougher and the cost is about the same." We talked for a few more minutes and Scott quoted me a price that was less than I expected. He asked if there was a rush and I asked him if I could have them back by Friday.

"No problem, Tommy. Oh, and say hello to Chuck next time you see him."

The rest of the week was taken up with school—both classes and rehearsals. At least it took my mind off what my gizmo would look like when it was finished.

Friday after school Beth and I stopped by the finishing shop to pick up my parts. "Hi, Scott. My stuff ready?"

"You bet, Tommy." He looked at Beth. "You must be Chuck and Bev's daughter, right?"