Chapter 5: Sally McCall

It had not been my intention to see Janet and Berry off. I didn't think I could bear to see them leave. But as the hour of their departure approached, Ruth must have seen me keeping an eye on the clock. At first, I declined her offer to let me take a few minutes off. I argued that it was the middle of our rush hour. She whispered something to Ben, and he ordered me to get out of his kitchen, adding that he was concerned that in my present state of mind, I was an accident waiting to happen.

Berry was loading Janet's luggage into his car when I arrived at the Coughlin home.

"I'll see you at Thanksgiving," Janet said, between goodbye kisses. I was a little surprised that there was no promise to take up where we'd left off. After the summer we'd had together, I expected her to ask me to stay loyal to our relationship. There wasn't, nor was there a commitment on her part to resist temptation. She became serious and looked me in the eye. "I'm expecting you to look after Jane while I'm away."

That was totally unexpected. She knew that I only endured Jane for appearance's sake. Janet waited for me to accept the task of looking out for her younger sister before whisking Jane away from Berry for a brief embrace.

Berry approached me, said that he would miss me, and then in a low voice, "Take care of Jane for me, will you?"

I got a glimpse of Janet as I told Berry not to worry about his girlfriend. She was sitting in the passenger seat, seemingly looking for something in her purse as she waited for Berry to join her.

Jane and I waved as the car pulled away, but other than a toot of his car horn, there was no indication that they knew we were sad to see them leaving Perryville.

I waited two days for her first e-mail to arrive. The content consisted mainly of the names of her roommates, her class schedule, and how she was finding her way around the campus. The e-mail ended with the comment: "I hope you're helping Jane with the pool."

I felt duty bound to stop by the pool after work each day to help Jane, not that she needed it. It was the last week of summer vacation and the kids were well-disciplined. I was amused at how many older teenage boys were congregated outside the fenced area. I guess they knew Berry had left town and they thought they might have a chance with Jane. I didn't blame them. She had graduated to a bikini that accented the curves in her figure very nicely.

Mrs. Crumbly, the inquisitive neighbor, spoke to us as we were closing the pool for the last time that summer. "I hope you'll be back next year. I've enjoyed watching all the activity."

By activity, I assumed she was referring to our taking turns in the cabana. I looked at Jane, not knowing how to respond. Janet hadn't said anything about taking the babysitter job again. Jane told Mrs. Crumbly she hoped to be back, but it depended on what her sister decided.

As Jane and I said goodbye, I confirmed the time I would pick her up the following Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. She hadn't taken two steps toward home when she was besieged by two teenage boys offering to walk her home. I recognized one of them. Freddy had begged me to let him ride to school in my mom's car. Berry had only been gone one week and Jane was already collecting a following of pursuers. It was no wonder that both Janet and Berry had appealed to me to watch out for her.

The café was closed on Labor Day, so I lounged around the backyard, checking my e-mail often. Eventually, I broke down and sent another message to Janet, asking her what she was doing. Like the previous two, it went unanswered.

On Tuesday morning, I got up early and checked my e-mail before heading for the shower. When there were no messages, I vowed to stop checking my e-mail so often. Disappointment was no way to begin the first week of school.

The two towheads I'd chosen for riders looked so much alike they could have passed for brother and sister. I picked Tommy up first and told him he was to take the passenger's seat. He looked a little surprised and I soon saw why. It was obvious that the little blonde was his girlfriend. For ninth graders, Tommy and Tina were quite advanced in their relationship.

Jane had used most of the earnings from her summer job for clothes. I had to admit that she looked pretty as she got in the back seat next to Tina. Wanting to show who the Captain of the ship was, I emphasized the importance of adhering to the schedule on the way to school.

As I changed classes, I couldn't help but notice how much attention Jane was receiving from would-be male suitors. To a lesser extent, girls went out of their way to be noticed. I suppose it was common knowledge that Janet and Berry had gone away to college and that Jane and I were available. Sally McCall made it a point to sit next to me at lunch. We talked about our class schedules and she happened to mention that she would be having lots of parties, which she expected me to attend. I couldn't help but admire her body. It reminded me of Kitty, and made me wonder where she'd disappeared to.

I narrowly escaped getting into a fight with a senior who was walking Jane to the car. He objected to my reminding Jane about our schedule.

"Why do you care who she walks with? She's not your girlfriend," he said.

"She's my girlfriend's sister, and that makes her my responsibility," I retorted, knowing how lame I sounded.

Jane stopped it before it got started. "Get in the car, Mickey, before you're the one making us late getting back to Perryville."

We were barely on the road when she chided me. "That was sweet of you, Mickey, but really, don't you think challenging the old moose to battle over me on the first day of school is a bit childish."

"I wasn't," I began, before seeing her grinning face in the rear view mirror.

The ninth graders were obviously curious, but didn't ask what the moose talk was about.

That set the tone that lasted the next three weeks. A different boy, mainly seniors, would walk Jane to the car each afternoon. I often overheard her politely decline their requests for a date.

Sally McCall caught up with me between classes on Monday of our third week of school.

"Are you going to the game Friday night, Mickey?"

"I don't think so. I have to get up early on Saturday morning."

"Oh," she said, feigning a frown. "I'm having a party on Saturday afternoon. I hope you can come."

"I work until three."

"That's okay," she said, smiling as she waved goodbye.

As usual, we had to wait for Jane to let the guy who had walked her to the car down gently.

"I heard you're going to Sally's party," she said, as soon as she was seated in the back seat.

"I told her I have to work until three."

"Does that mean you're not going?" Jane asked, with a touch of urgency in her voice. Hell, it was only Monday; the party was not until Saturday.

Tuesday was more of the same. Sally informed me that it was a pool party, probably the last of the season. I told her I didn't think I would make it, pointing out that Perryville was a thirty minute drive from her house.

The minute Jane got in the car that afternoon; I could tell that she had heard I was not going to the party. "I guess I'll have to tell Gary that I'll go to the party with him," she said.

This got my attention. I could visualize Jane in her bikini with every male in the senior class fawning over her. "Who's Gary?"

"He's the old moose."

She didn't need to say more. Gary was the senior who had told me Jane was not my girlfriend the first day of school.

I wondered if she planned on wearing the bikini at the party, but didn't ask, because I didn't want Tommy and Tina to hear the concern in my voice.

The next morning, Jane handed me a folded piece of paper as soon as she got in the car. We didn't talk and I didn't unfold the paper until we got to school. Gary, the old moose, was waiting to walk Jane to her first class. She looked back at me, questioningly, before falling in step with Gary.

The paper was an e-mail message from Janet.

Hi, Sis,

How's school. I hope Mickey is watching out for you.

J.

P.S. I just met the cutest moose.

Jane and Gary were some twenty feet away. I had to yell to get her attention.

"JANE, may I speak with you for a minute?"

The glare I received from Gary was threatening. "Jane, this will only take a second."

She said something to the tall senior before practically running to meet me halfway.

"I'll have to shower. It will be four o'clock before we get there, but..."

"Are you asking me for a date?" she asked, coyly.

I glanced at Gary and saw that he was pawing the ground. "You haven't told him you will go with him?" I asked.

"Are you asking me to go with you?"

How could I explain that it was not a date? As far as I was concerned, I was merely fulfilling the request of her sister to watch out for her. "Yes."

"We'll talk after school," she said, walking away to join Gary. He pawed the ground, obviously thinking he had won the battle.

I didn't have to wait for our talk to find out that Jane planned to go with me to the party. Sally caught up with me at lunchtime.

"I hear you're bringing Jane on Saturday. Why didn't you tell me? I'll be the only one without a date at my own party. What am I going to do now?"

Was she saying that she expected me to be her date? "I promised Janet that I would look out for her sister."

"Oh," Sally said, seeming to read more into my explanation than I'd intended to say. She went away satisfied, but as I soon learned, it wasn't over yet. Gary and two of his cronies cornered me in the restroom.

"I hear you're not coming to the party until it's almost over. I'll pick Jane up so she can get there before the sun goes down."

"Jane rides with me, both ways," I said, with as much conviction as I could muster.

Gary's reaction to my statement was predictable. He pawed the ground, making me wonder if he had heard about the moose and the monkey. "Listen to me, kid. I don't know what Sally sees in you, but you've got your own date. Jane is my date."

"Jane rides with me," I repeated, still standing my ground.

A janitor came into the restroom, saw that I was outnumbered, and warned us that we were going to be late for class. I mouthed a 'thank you, ' to the janitor as we left the restroom.

Jane waited until we were on the outskirts of town before she told me to take Tommy and Tina home first. I was happy to comply with her order, wanting to hear what she had to say. She took Tommy's place in the front seat as soon as he got out. I drove to our old parking place a couple of blocks from her house.

Jane turned in her seat as soon as I shut off the engine. "Are you taking me to the party because of what Janet wrote or is this a real date?"

How could I tell her that I was to be Sally's date? "What do you want it to be?"

"I just want to know so I'll know how to act at the party. If we're together, I'll act one way, but if you're just taking me because of what Janet wrote, I'll act another way."

"You make it sound like you don't care which way it is?"

"Like I said, I just want to know."

"Jane, if you ride there with me it means you ride home with me, okay?"

She considered what I was saying for a long minute. How much clearer could I make it? I was looking out for her. That was all there was to it.

"I've got it," she said, signaling that everything that needed saying had been said.

I didn't tell her about the men's room incident with Gary and his goons.

Why had Jane shown me the e-mail from her sister? Was it to remind me about my commitment to watch out for her? Or, was it to let me down easily? I was haunted by the knowledge that Janet had met someone. Hell, she'd only been gone three weeks, she'd stopped answering my e-mails, and she'd met a cute moose.

Other than fretting about what Janet was doing, the next two days could not have passed more pleasantly. Sally joined me at lunchtime, chatted with other girls about what they were going to wear to the party, and asked me at least three times if I was sure I couldn't make it to the Friday night football game.

Gary walked Jane to the car both days, apparently accepting the fact that she was going to ride to and from Sally's pool party with me. He must have seen Sally having lunch with me and assumed that I was her date. He looked miffed at me when I interrupted their prolonged farewell on Friday afternoon.

Tommy was happy because of the new seating arrangements. Jane was now sitting up front with me and he got to take his place next to Tina.

"You're not going to the game tonight?" she asked, when I stopped the car in front of her house.

"I can't," I said, thinking she knew the reason why.

She opened the door and was about to step out when she remarked. "Gary wanted me to go with him."

"Is that what was taking so long when you were saying goodbye?"

"He thinks you're a real asshole, but I told him you mean well. That's all it is, right?"

"I promised Janet I would look out for you."

"That's what I thought. You're sweet," she said, as she got out of the car.

Was she going to call Gary and say that she would go to the game with him? What did Janet expect of me? I couldn't watch out for her sister twenty-four hours per day. There was only so much I could do.

I got some good news the next morning. Ruth told me that Kitty was back in town.

"Is she working for Buster?"

"No, he has the Richter kid running the gas pumps."

"Is she with Kenny?"

Ruth looked at me, like she knew what I was getting at. "She moved in with her mother. That's all I know."

Ruth must have overheard me telling someone about my plans, because she told Ben to let me take off early. He grumbled, saying kids today were lazy and unreliable, but in the end, he told me to have a good time.

I ran home, called Jane to tell her that I would pick her up in fifteen minutes, showered quickly, and was at her door a few minutes before three.

My stars must have been lined up perfectly. It was a sunny afternoon, we were going to a party, and Kitty was back in Perryville. I did have one question that I was dying to ask. Did I really want to know the answer?

"Did Janet want you to show me that e-mail?"

Jane hesitated, like she was forming her response. "She really does care for you, Mickey."