Chapter 9

Monday, 4 Mar.

Today was another typical day at school. Sam told me at lunch that her Mom loved the idea of Montana Mike's for a Friday evening meal date. She convinced Jack that they had to take turns chaperoning us. Jack had written a note for Sam to take to Miss Cornet to put them both on the chaperone list for the dance. Things were working out nicely. Mr. Harrison had Jim and me tutoring more of the poor students, and Wednesday Jim and I would be getting our instructions for our last time. We would both only have our behind the wheel time left for our license. Once we finished our actual behind the wheel training, we could go for our tests.

Jim said he thought that us working together on his farm projects in Metal Shop was a great idea too. With both of us working on it, he would be able to get another project done that he thought he would have to put off until next fall. In Metal Shop, Mr. Stubbing started teaching me more about welding; giving me some tips, then turning me loose on some scrap steel to see how well I could weld. I tacked my pieces together and started drawing a bead, trying my best to keep it small and steady, showing minute segments like a good weld should be. Then I ground them down and polished them with emery cloth. I showed Mr. Stubbing my work and he said I was doing quite well. He would start teaching me aluminum welding on my next class day.

The rest of the day was just like normal. There was one funny thing though, neither Suzie nor I were stressed out about not having sex. I guess Mom was right; it was just a phase we were going through. We had our snuggle time when we went to bed, and settled right down and went to sleep. When we awoke, we both were in the same positions we were in when we crawled into bed to sleep.

Tuesday was pretty much the same as Monday, I worked on my schoolwork, then Aunt Barb took me to work and I came home with Sam. I did get to go around with Glenn to do an inspection of all the fire extinguishers to make sure all of them were charged and in the green. We also looked at the tags to see if any extinguisher needed inspection by the Fire Marshal.

I came home, did my chores, and helped Suzie with supper, then off to bed. Typical day, long, boring, and it's now over, thank the Gods.

Wednesday and Thursday were much like Monday and Tuesday, long, boring, and not much happening; however, Friday, was a different story.

Friday

Friday morning started out much like the rest of the week had gone. I got up, dressed, and ran a razor over the few little hairs I had on my face. I normally don't shave, but I noticed a few stray hairs on my chin and if I really looked, I could see small blondish hairs on my cheeks. Since tonight was going to be a big night, I figured I needed to get rid of the errant hairs on my face. Needless to say, Suzie laughed at me for shaving my non-existent hair growth. I told her, "Laugh it up all you want; I can't wait for you to start shaving your legs so you can look pretty for some boy. I only have a small area to shave, but you have both legs up to the knee to shave. Besides Dad told me that once you start shaving, it grows in darker so you have to shave more often."

"Oh yeah, smarty pants, I already take care of my legs, I use a hair remover like Mom does, so there!" Suzie said, and stuck her tongue out at me.

We started in on each other much like we used to, then we both stopped and looked at each other and burst out laughing. We were still giggling when we came downstairs.

"OK, what's the joke?" Mom asked.

Suzie said, "This morning while Bob was shaving, we started acting like real brothers and sisters, bickering back and forth, and then it hit us funny. We kissed and made up and it's funny, before, we would have been mad at each other for days for teasing each other like we did this morning. Now it's just funny."

"Yeah, what she said. We started arguing and calling each other names just like before, and it hit us both about the same time. We are no longer those people, we are both different. So it was funny."

Mom mumbled something like, "Kids these days, I don't know..." and shook her head in disgust.

Mrs. Carter had made arrangements that she would have most of the afternoon off, so she could be home when Sam and I walked to their house after school today. That was so my mom wouldn't have to hurry home and take me into town. Boy, this dating without a car was getting to be a real drag on me and my parents. This weekend, I hoped to get my fender patch welded in place and get it ready for painting. If I got the front end prepped for painting, Dad could drive it over to Eduardo's garage so he could paint it for me. Eduardo Pena is Ralph Ramirez's cousin, and he is a painter at the Dodge dealer here in Taylor. He promised me he would paint the truck for the cost of the paint. Hey, that kind of deal is hard to pass up. Besides, he had done such an excellent job on the bed and even clear coated the wood in the bed for me. But I may not get it all finished this weekend; I just remembered that I had to work all day Saturday, and the Leroys were coming over on Sunday. So I guess it would have to wait for another weekend or two.

Brad picked me up and we talked baseball til we picked Kelly up. Then the conversation turned to Kelly explaining some new cheerleading move they worked out at yesterday's practice. I met my entourage at the side door as I walked in from the student parking lot with Brad this morning. It was kind of funny that once Brad dropped Kelly off at the front doors, she disappeared to find her friends and left Brad alone, but let him get close to some other girls except my entourage and she was all over him, saying that he was her boyfriend and not to get friendly with him. Funny relationship they had, but if it works for them, who am I to say it's wrong.

Sam was excited about tonight's supper date, even with her mother along. I told her I was looking forward to it as well. I had the feeling that Mrs. Carter was not quite so rigid without Jack looking over her shoulder. If she loved red meat and Jack did not, I might be able to learn more from her to help Sam.

My morning classes were easy today and then it was lunch time. Most of the discussion today was that our baseball team was winning most of their games, and, of course, my date tonight with Sam and what the girls were going to wear for the St. Patty's Day dance.

After lunch, I got to drive today, along with Brittany, Kamari, and Mike. Brittany and Mike had improved a lot, but were still a little nervous behind the wheel. Kamari was much better now that she learned to relax. She told me when we were in the back seat, while Mike was driving, that she had been practicing with her mother after school and on the weekends.

Computer class was a snap today; somehow, I just started understanding a whole lot more as we progressed in the class. Maybe all that reading and working on our computer at home has sunk in, either that or B2 is helping too. Either way, it is becoming easier for me. I worked some more on welding Jim's blade guard and, in fact, finished up the welding and started in on grinding the welds so they would look good when we painted it. The bell finally rang and it was time to walk Sam home.

When I approached the front doors, my entire entourage was there except for a couple of girls that rode buses. There was Brenda, Gail, Sam, Kathy, Sandy, Ashley, Jill, Jody, Betty Lou, LaShanda, and Kamari. Outside of school, we picked up Rachel (Kathy's sister), Maria Lopez, Estella Alaniz, and Megan Holland, who walked with us for a while. By the time we had walked about half a mile, we had dropped from the original 17 to only four; Sam, Brenda, Ashley, and me. We were soon at Sam's house and it was time to go in. We waved goodbye to Brenda and entered the house. I still felt that I should remove my shoes, so I did not track up the house. We went all the way to the kitchen, where we saw Naomi Carter sitting down to a cup of tea.

"Hi, Mom, you remember Bob."

"Of course, Dear, welcome Bob, would you like some tea?"

"No thank you, Ma'am, I would prefer either ice water or a cold Coke."

"I think we can handle that. I hear that we are going someplace special that I have not as yet been to. I was told that I would enjoy the cuisine. Is this someplace special a secret, or can you tell me now?"

"Well, I was going to keep it a secret, but since you asked so nicely, we'd planned on going to Montana Mike's for steaks, baked potatoes, and maybe even dessert, if we don't eat too much."

Naomi stood up suddenly and pulled me to her and kissed me on the cheek. "Samantha, this man is a keeper. Did you tell him I liked red meat? Is that why we are going there?"

"No, Mother; Bob saw me sneaking some more roast beef the day he was here, so he assumed that I liked red meat and I didn't normally get it here at home. He knows I eat hamburgers at school when I can, and he asked if you liked it too. That is when he mentioned Mike's. I thought with you as a chaperone, we could do it and not have Daddy any wiser."

"As much as I hate to disagree with your father, I do like this young man. I have noticed a marked improvement in your attitude toward your studies. I think Bob is very good for you, Samantha. Now, I think we need to leave early and stay late so we can savor the time we have together, don't you, Samantha?"

"Yes, Mom, I think that's an excellent idea. You can get to know more about Bob and how wonderful he is."

"Now, now, Sam, let's not get carried away, you know my situation as well as I do, and I will not waver from that. I am just trying to give you some respite from studying all the time, not permanently."

"Alright you two, what is going on here? What is this situation you are talking about, Robert?"

"OK, here it is, I'm semi-committed to a girl, Brenda Leroy. I agreed to take Sam out, but there was to be no commitment between us. This was strictly a platonic relationship. Yes, I'd like to know your daughter better, but since I'm in some other type of committed relationship, it's not fair to your daughter, or to me, to pursue something more with Samantha. Don't agree, Mrs. Carter?"

"You mean that you would like to carry this further with Samantha, over and above the three dates that you are committed for right now. However with this semi-commitment with this other girl, you're not sure where you would stand with either of the girls, right?"

"Something like that. I don't know if Sam has mentioned my entourage at school to you or not." I explained about my entourage, my feelings for Brenda, and my feelings for Sam and the rest of my entourage. Sexual feelings or activities were not mentioned at all.

"So you are some kind of pied piper, gathering girls from all grades in the school and they follow you around like puppy dogs. Yet you say that you have some strong feelings toward my daughter, but what feelings?"

"Mrs. Carter, I like your daughter very much. But we connect on a different level than I do with most of the other girls. Sam and I connect mentally, more so than physically or emotionally. But that's not to say that I don't in some ways love your daughter. It is so very hard trying to describe the feelings I have for each of these girls. For Brenda, I think we are destined to be together for a very long time. Right now, I would say the feeling is mutual love for each other. My feelings for Sam are different, I like her an awful lot, it's approaching what I think of as love, but more like the love I have my sister (little white lie). We are more like equals and we blend well in mental aspects. We both enjoy reading; we both have an active imagination and intelligence that most other people don't have, or can even fathom. We are good friends, very good friends, and as long as we can interact together, we can remain just that, very special friends. I don't want either of you get the wrong impression, I'm not rejecting Sam as a possible mate, but that is not how I feel about her right now. I guess you could say that I love her for her mind and not her body. I hope that explains things?"

"I think I am even more confused than I was before, how about you, Samantha?"

"No, Mom, I think I see what Bob is saying. We are very good friends, he's right though, we do connect on some other level than with the rest of the girls. When we get to talking, the other girls just tune us out, because they just can't understand what we are talking about. It is like we are some five or six levels above what they are capable of understanding, so they tune us out and go on with their own conversations and we talk between ourselves. You know it just now dawns on me that that is what happens, I thought it was weird that when we start talking about abstract things, it is just the two of us. The others just seemed to be elsewhere, yet they were right there at the table with us, but not a part of our conversation. Mom, see what I mean about us, we click somehow, but not on a romantic level, it's purely platonic."

"Samantha, I think we need to get going so I can find out more about this genius you have hooked up with. That reminds me, you had to have been IQ tested when you entered high school, right? Do you remember the results?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I was told it was 110, but I think it has increased some since then, why?"

"I think I would like to test you again. I think you have far exceeded that number. When were you tested, last September?"

"No, Mrs. Carter, I was tested in May of last year right before I graduated from middle school. But since that time I have found a new way of studying and learning material. I also surf the internet for more knowledge, as I told you when I was here last. Do you really think I'd test out higher than I did last year? I mean it hasn't really been all that long ago."

"Yes, I think so; just from talking to you I can see that you are no mere sophomore. Your knowledge and speech belie a person much more mature and knowledgeable than most of my sophomore and junior students in college. Yes, I think it would behoove you to take the test again. Now you two go get into my car and I will leave a note for your father and we will be on our way."

Sam and I made our way out to the drive and got into a 2009 Hyundai Accent GLS sedan. It was another four door car, but in a robin's egg blue bottom and white top color. Sam and I got in the back seat and Mrs. Carter shortly came out, locked up the house, and we left. Again there was no conversation in the car, not even a radio on. However, I noticed an upgraded stereo system was installed.

Once we arrived, we were seated in an out of the way area, my choice, and the conversation soon flowed. We covered topics from economics, ESP, the sad way we are losing our wounded veterans, school choices for Sam's college and mine. We talked of many things, and when we left at the end of the evening, all of us were in a very good mood. Mrs. Carter, oops, she wanted me to call her Naomi. It was very hard to do that, but I tried. Anyway, Naomi said that she would contact me about testing on an evening after school. She assured me the test would be entered into my records, regardless of my score. It would be administered by the test monitor who normally gave these tests.

I arrived at home about 9:30 and said goodnight to the two ladies and waved as they drove off, with Sam in the front seat next to her mother. I went inside and told my tale of the evening and said I was tired and went up to bed. Suzie came in a couple of minutes later as I was crawling into bed. We soon were in the arms of Morpheus, the Greek God of dreams. His father, Hypnos, was the God of sleep. So between the two, we were comforted in sleep and dreams.

Saturday, 9 Mar.

Ah! What a morning, I arose with a renewed vigor this morning. Things seemed right with the world today. Sam, Naomi, and I had a great time last night and I think Naomi saw a side of her daughter she had not seen before. She saw a self confident and happy girl, flirting with a young man she approved of. She saw emotions and attitudes that had been hidden behind a shield before. That shield was forced upon her by her father's and mother's attitude to excel, but with no outside interests except studying. Last night, Naomi Carter got to see Samantha without her shield in place, especially with me, and in a different atmosphere. Those attitudes and emotions that were held in check were let loose last night, and what Naomi saw both frightened and excited her.

As the time went on last night, she started remembering her own childhood and her teenage years. Her parents had never pushed her to excel, now she wondered if forcing Sam to leave her teenage years behind her and pursue education only, was a mistake. She would have to think long and hard about this matter. But in the event that she saw that harm was coming to Samantha, could she, or would she, approach Jack on the matter.

Naomi Carter, nee Watson, had met Jack when in college. She was starting her Bachelor's Degree in education, while Jack was finishing up his Master's degree thesis in higher mathematics. It was funny to her, at first, that although they were only a couple of years apart in age, Jack was so far ahead of her in school. After meeting the first time, it was several weeks later before Jack called her for a second date. The rest was a whirlwind courtship. But from the beginning, Jack was the dominant person and she the submissive, in just about all matters except sex. She ruled the roost on that subject. Upon getting her Bachelor's degree at age 20, Jack and Naomi were married and Sam was born shortly afterwards. By now, both Carters were extremely busy with school and Jack's parents, Ben and Barbara Carter, took care of young Sam while the couple pursued their degrees.

By the time Sam was three; Naomi had finished her master's and was well on her way to her doctorate. Jack had completed his doctorate and was doing consulting work for NASA. About that time, Sam was placed in a very good preschool and excelled through the ninth grade level by the time she was 13. The private school was no longer enough for her educational appetite, so she was placed in Taylor High School's accelerated student program. The elder Carters felt that 13 was just a little too young to tackle the rigors of full time college studies, so they allowed Sam to go through high school like a normal child, however she would seek outside education courses through online or correspondence courses through the Universities of Phoenix and Maryland. Both schools would allow brighter children to take courses online and have credit available to them once they graduated high school.

At the time of Samantha's fifth birthday, Jack was offered a teaching position at UT, Austin (University of Texas) and Naomi was close to completing her doctorate in Economics. Needless to say, Mary Hardin Baylor snapped up the chance to acquire Naomi as a teacher. At the present time, both teachers had achieved tenure, and continued to want to teach.

I gleaned all of this information from Naomi's mind last night while we were having our supper and light conversation. I ran most of that back through my mind as I showered, dressed, and again at breakfast this morning.

When Sam Simpson drove into our driveway, I turned my attention to work related matters.

We were quite busy today finishing up one project with the CAD and my working with Felix and Glenn to make sure I would not have a problem during Spring Break when I would be taking over for Glenn for those two days. Glenn said that he thought he would let me do most of his work all that week, but that he would be physically gone Tuesday and Wednesday. The other days he would be here, but let me do the work. Sam and Glenn thought that would be the best way for me to get an idea of how much work running a department like that would be. Most of the other departments' required very specific experience and knowledge, but Support Services was much more hands on and in dealing where common sense matters.