Chapter 16

Cynthia sat down on her parents bed. They had just come back from their friends. No one had said a word to each other. Teri looked at her husband and gave him the eye, saying without words not to talk yet.

Motions of getting settled for the night started. Shoes and jewelery removed. With Cynthia in the room it was almost going in slow motion. They kept glancing at her, waiting, and the silence was deafening.

They could see Cynthia trying to get out the right words. She opened her mouth several times, as if ready to speak, only to close again.

"Did..." Cynthia said, finally breaking the silence, but it stopped there.

Almost a minute later, she went on.

"Did you know, you know, when you talked. I mean when you talked to me. You know. Did ... you ... wonder?

"Wonder what?" her father asked, not being able to stand it any longer.

"If I got it."

"Got it?" he replied.

"Are you talking about your conversation with your brother?" her mother asked.

Cynthia let out a sigh, and then answered, "Yeah."

"Do I know anything about this?" John asked.

Teri's mouth twitched with a smile, then answered, "No, but that was intentional."

"What?" John stammered.

"Mom, this isn't helping."

Teri smiled at her daughter. She'd finally figured out what the conversation was about, and so was much more relaxed. Taking her husband by the hand, she led him over and had him sit next to his daughter.

"I believe what your daughter is asking is; when you took her out for a car ride and talked with her about something we thought was important, did we know if she got what we were trying to tell her."

John turned to his daughter and taking her hand, he asked, "Is that what this is about?"

"Yeah."

"You had a little heart to heart talk with..." John had started to say, then looked up wide eyed at his wife. "You didn't tell him ... Did you?"

"I don't think she said things like 'make up sex' in that conversation," Teri replied to her husband, and then stopped. She looked at her daughter and asked with a little trepidation in her voice, "Did you?"

Cynthia laughed as she tried to say, "No!" Then she was silent for a moment as her facial expressions turned serious.

"This was important. Real important and I have no idea if he got it!"

"Cyn, I got it."

Three heads whipped around to the door and they all saw Tim standing there. He then turned and walked down the hall.

"I think you just got your answer. For him to obviously be there, listening, and say that, took more out of him than I can say either one of you ever did for us," Teri said to her daughter. Then after giving her daughter a loving smile, she added, "I guess it was important for you to tell him."

I had surprised Cyn at the end of school Friday. It was the last week, well before the last week of school. Finals were over and the next week would be a busy time with graduation on Wednesday. This was something I wanted to do for Cyn before she graduated. Well, I wanted to do this for myself as well. Makes it sound better when you say it's for someone else though. I'd ask Tim and after laughing for a bit, he told me the spot.

It may have been Friday, but it wasn't dark yet. We I turned the last corner, Cyn sort of squealed.

"You're taking me to the make out spot!"

I grinned and said, "Yeah."

Looking over, as I expected her to say something else, I saw she had a big smile on her face.

There was little preamble, and it was probably a good thing it was still light. No one else was around. Even with the slightly steamed windows, anyone looking in would have got quite a shot of the two of us. A cop's flashlight would have considerably changed things. As it was, my cell phone rang to break the mood.

Pulling our clothing back to somewhat respectable appearance, I drove Cyn back to the school to pick up her car. I had to go pick up my two.

Cyn arrived home to a worried look on her mother's face. As she looked over her daughter, the lines on her face increased.

"What's going on at school?" Teri asked.

"Nothing much, why?" Cynthia asked, wondering why the state of her wrinkled clothing would make her mother think it had anything to do with school.

"I got a call from the office. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Why would they be calling?"

"I don't know," Teri said in a worried voice. "They wouldn't tell me. You look a bit..."

Cyn looked down at her clothing, again, trying valiantly to keep a straight face. It couldn't be helped and a little giggle escaped.

"Cynthia, a call from the school is no laughing matter."

"Mom, Brad picked me up right after school and we ... well..."

"Yes?"

"We went parking."

"You did what!"

"You know ... we parked, and made out."

"In the middle of the day?" Teri said in a pained voice.

"Mom, really!"

"Fine," Teri said in a huff. "Now, go call the school before everyone leaves for the weekend. I want to know what is going on." Then she added in a worried voice, "With the state of your clothes, my mind got derailed and I wondered if there were problems with the bullies," She signed and went on, "You hadn't said anything was a problem. I'm not sure I wanted to hear that explanation, but I guess I asked for it. Cynthia, It couldn't be one of your final exams, could it?"

"No. I know I aced them." Then Cyn laughed, and asked, "Did you think I might not graduate?"

"Of course not," Teri answered very quickly.

"Yes you did. You worry like ... like a mother!" Cyn said with a laugh.

Teri wasn't going to take the bait, and repeated, "Go call. The number is by the phone in the kitchen."

The stunned look on her daughter's face did nothing to relieve Teri's fears.

Tim walked into the kitchen just as Teri asked, "What's did they say?"

"I won the contest," Cyn said in a stunned voice.

"Contest?" Tim asked.

"Apparently something at school," Teri answered her son, then asked her daughter, "What was the contest about, what did you win, and why wouldn't the school tell me about it?"

"I'm speaking," Cyn got out.

"You wrote a speech!" Tim broke in, astonished.

"Speech? Why am I the last to know about anything?" Teri lamented.

"I think," Cyn said drolly, "that that's Dad's line."

"Very funny. Now what's this all about?"

"She's going to give the graduation speech," Tim answered, still looking at his sister in disbelief.

Teri was looking between son and daughter.

"But ... but you're not the Valedictorian, or even the Salutatorian. I mean your smart and all. I'm not..."

"Mom!" Cyn said cutting off her mother from digging more of a hole for herself.

"Mom," Tim chimed in, "the girl who would be the Valedictorian is uber smart, and a total geek. She lives in a whole other world. There is no way in the world she could, or would want to, get up and talk. She hates to be the center of attention. It scares her to death!"

"But what about the next in line, the Salutatorian?" Teri asked.

"That would have been Jim Smart. He..." Cyn stalled, as she started to get emotional.

"He was expected to do it and would have done a great speech," Tim filled in.

"So what's the problem then?" Teri asked.

After a pause, Tim noted his sister wasn't going to say, so continued with, "Three days ago the family left to go to Germany."

Teri glanced at her children.

Cyn plunged in with the rest. "Their daughter is in the military and was ... in Afghanistan, I think. She's in the hospital, and they left immediately."

Teri took hold of the kitchen counter to help support herself. She knew that military personnel transported to the German hospital was never a good sign. The pain that family must be in, pulsed through her.

"Have you told Brad?" Tim asked his sister.

"What?" Cyn asked. Then digesting what Tim had asked, she answered in a startled voice, "No!"

That response brought Teri back around.

"Don't you want to?" She asked her daughter.

Looking rather nervous, she answered, "No."

"No?" Tim asked.

"He writes, don't you think he might help polish it a bit?" Teri asked.

"He ... I ... He can't see it!"

Teri raised her eyebrows as she asked, "Won't he hear it when you give the graduation speech?"

Cyn's eyes grew, as she realized that is exactly what would happen.

"I need to make a call," Cyn said as she ran out of the kitchen.

I had the feeling that something was up, but what ... well, of that I wasn't sure. I can be as clueless as the next guy. At least I knew there was something strange going on.

Strange, both at home and at work. I think it took both places, for me to know that things were just not right.

Cyn was graduating. There was a lot going on in her world that week, but I would have thought she'd spend a bit more time with me. In person at least. It wasn't as though she was avoiding me. I saw her, but just not for any extended time.

Then there was work. I took until Tuesday to realize that I had been missed a couple of people I normally see. Our department isn't that large and no one was out doing something off site. It was as though I was being avoided.

Wednesday, it came to a head. Graduation was that afternoon. I went to see if Stephanie was going. I knew she and Cyn had become friends. That odd felling came again when I found out she was already gone. I picked up my two and headed for home. I gave them a quick clean up and then we were set to go to the stadium.

An afternoon graduation meant I wouldn't get to see Cyn until after she graduated. Tim called just as I was ready to walk out the door, saying they were heading out. So we drove together and parked as close as we could. It's a whole lot easier when someone else is managing one of my children, so I can pay attention to the other. We were there on the early side, so we could get decent seats. Then it was wait, and keep Brian and Kim occupied.

It wasn't until the graduating class had filed in, that I looked at the program. Like anyone else, I wondered how long it was going to take.

That's when I saw Cynthia's name listed class speaker! I shoved the program in front of Teri and pointed.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"I don't know," was her response.

Her facial expression told me a lot more. I couldn't understand, and felt hurt.

So I waited, wondering, until she got up to speak. She went through the general niceties and then got to the meat of the speech.

"Graduating class. You are here tonight feeling a sense of accomplishment. From the time you entered Kindergarten, this has been where your parents and teachers have been leading you. Now is that time.

"I want you to take a moment and reflect. Think of where you were four years ago. How little, as you look back, you knew. Let me tell you now, that the next four years of your life you will change more than in these last four years. Events will catapult you into a whirlwind ... and some of you will not survive.

"Statistics may not always tell the truth, but they don't lie either."

She paused, and I could tell she was using it for dramatic effect.

"Statistically, for this size graduating class, tomorrow morning one of your parents will be looking at the lifeless body of one of you who is wearing a cap and gown today."

She paused again. I could see people getting a little uncomfortable. This was not the usual graduation speech.

"I hope I just got your attention with that one, because it's important. It's not just important to the one that could end his or her life, tonight. It's important for the friends around you. The ones that think its funny that someone got so drunk, or high. The ones who didn't want to seem like a nerd and didn't take away the car keys. The ones who will be haunted for years because they didn't do something.