Chapter 8

Friday, 1 Mar.

I woke up early this morning and lay in bed with my sister snuggled behind me. She had a hold of my leash, as usual. I was thinking about my future, well, our future actually, Suzie's and mine. It has been nice for us to be able to release our built up tensions with each other, but at what cost? Sleeping together is one thing, having sex, making love, or whatever we call it, is that fair to either of us? I don't know the answer to that one. We will need to have a long discussion about that part of our life together.

There went the alarm; time to start the day. Suzie kissed me, and we got up, showered together, then dressed for school. Breakfast was cold cereal, toast, jam, and juice, then it was time to trudge off to school. Brad was talking about starting their home opener against Caldwell tonight. They had already won the three scrimmage games and three of the four games at the Rockdale tournament. Monday's game with Cedar Ridge was called on account of the freezing temperatures. It was supposed to be in the upper seventies for the game this afternoon.

I was welcomed by my entourage with open arms this morning. Kathy asked if I was ready for this evening. Her dad, Henry fancied himself as a great barbeque chef, and he had a treat for tonight. With the weather so nice, he was grilling steaks, actually buffalo steaks. Last fall, he won a weekend shoot at an exotic game ranch in west Texas. He was allowed two animals. He picked a wapiti elk and a bison, or buffalo, as they are better known as. So he had lots of meat in their freezer. Kathy wondered if I liked game animal meat and I said sure. Just about every year, we had some deer meat given to us or we bought some from the Taylor Meat Company. They usually had someone who hunted but didn't want all of the meat from their deer. Most guys want a few steaks and the rest in sausage. The rump roast of deer is really very good, and so is the rib meat.

"Oh boy, I am really looking forward to tonight's diner, I love game meat."

"Me too, Bob, I like the buffalo best, as it is leaner and tastier for me anyway. Rache doesn't like it at all, so she is eating out tonight."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was kind of looking forward to her being there, but no problem."

Brenda said, "Bob, what did you say to Brad Castle?"

"Not much, why? Did he say something to you?"

"No, he didn't, but Billy Franks asked me to go out with him. He said that you told Brad that I was free to be asked out, that we weren't steadies yet, and that you wanted me to go out and have fun."

"Well, wasn't that what we agreed to Wednesday, when we said that we would wait until the fall and we would date some other people to see if our love was still strong. I mean that is why I agreed to it, right?"

"Yes, it is, I just didn't expect that someone would ask me out this fast. Besides, I thought Billy was going with Wendy Sparks."

Kathy answered then, "No, Wendy is now going with Danny Selfridge, the basketball captain. She dumped Billy right after football season."

"Brenda, I told Brad yesterday morning that we would be seeing other people, but that he and I would be looking out for you so you don't get hurt. Brad said several of my friends would be watching too. I was just letting people know that you would be open to being asked out. Like you, I never expected it to happen this fast. I guess Billy has been kind of anxious to ask you out for some time now, if he was this fast about asking you. I hope you don't mind that I said something?"

"No, Bob, it just surprised me that it happened so soon. I know what I feel is real, but we need to be sure of that feeling before we commit for good, and now, when we are young, is the best time to do that. But like I said, no fooling around, OK?"

"Of course, no fooling around, with anyone; I promise." Then the bell rang, ending lunch and it was time for Driver's Ed.

In Driver's Ed, Jim and I were assisting Mr. Harrison again today. We were to assist some of the poorer drivers that just couldn't seem to get the hang of driving. I had Dick Turnbull for a student today. He was just too afraid of everything, he jerked the wheel, slammed on the brakes, and he kept pushing and releasing the gas pedal, so his starts were very jerky. So I told him to turn everything off and I had him just sit behind the wheel. I wanted him to relax, he was way too nervous to do anything right at this time. I talked to him, soothing him; in essence, I hypnotized him and let him relax. Once I had his mind open, I talked to him about what a good technique for driving was, watch the road, pay attention to things around him, and let his feet and hands go where they wanted to go. He had the right instincts, but his mind kept trying to force his hands and feet to do what he thought they needed to do, instead of letting his subconscious or instincts do what needed to be done. I woke him up using my voice only and told him to start over. He was to do what he remembered Mr. Harrison telling us to do from the first day.

Wonder of wonders, he started the car, looked all around, and then eased it into gear and started out. He was starting to get jerky again, and I just said, "Relax, Dick, pay attention to the road, not your feet." He smoothed right out and never had a problem for the rest of the test lesson. He even slowed down when he saw the ball, and was just about stopped when the little boy ran out from between the cars ahead of him.

Mr. Harrison came over and congratulated me on a fine lesson, I said, "It was all Dick's doing, I just got him to relax and not be so worried about doing everything at once. Once he figured out that he was his own worst enemy, he relaxed and knew what to do."

"Well then, maybe I need to let you teach the class instead of me."

"No Sir, you give us all the right basic tools, we just have to teach ourselves how to use the tools you give us. Once we learn that we can handle the tools, we can progress to where we will have more experience and be better drivers."

"That's very well put, Bob" said Jim Fisher. "When I was much younger, my dad would sit me in his lap and let me steer the tractor. Then as I got older, he let do the throttle lever too, and I had to learn when to speed up and when to slow down. Then I learned shifting, and next, we had to wait until I grew enough to reach the brake and clutch pedals so I could learn them too. By the time I was ten, I was driving tractors by myself. Without those first lessons, I would have been hopeless. This is like that too, but we are getting it all at once, so we don't have the time to be comfortable with everything we need to know and do. Bob is right, we need to let our instincts help us, we know when we are going astray by jerking our feet and hands, if we relax, that part is going to pretty much take care of itself."

"Thank you, Jim, you both make good points. There is a lot to cover in a short amount of time, but it is what we have to learn to be able to take the final driving test. So listen to the people around you, the ones that are doing well. Take what they can teach you and turn it into something each of you can use to make your driving better." The bell rang and Mr. Harrison ended with, "Practice as much as you can this weekend, and come back in here on Monday ready to show me you have improved."

The rest of the school day was pretty normal. Since I had finished my fender patch, I was working on a shift console. I had a five-speed on the floor now instead of a three-speed on the column, so I really needed to make a console. I was going to make one from wood at first, but I got to thinking that a metal one would work just as well and I still had lots of time left to build one. I had worked this past weekend and this week on drawing one up on our CAD program at home, so I had all the drawings done. I got with the shop teacher, Mr. Charles Stubbing, to see what metal thickness would be best for this and he thought either 8 or 9-gauge aluminum would work the best. That was just about 1/8 inch thick and I would still be able to easily bend it into the shape I wanted, and yet be strong enough to stand up to some abuse. I would need a piece at least 24 by 30 inches. We found a 26 by 35 inch piece in the leftovers stack. I said I could start with that. I was measuring out the cuts I would need to make when Mr. Stubbing asked how I planned to fasten the sides together. I said I thought I would use tabs on one side and rivet the sides together.

"Why not cut your sides and then weld the pieces together. That way, once you finish grinding and polishing the welds, it would look like just one piece of formed metal."

"But I'm not too sure I could weld aluminum good enough to do that."

"You can't say you can't until you try. I'll teach you some of my tricks with welding aluminum, and we'll try you out on some scraps until you get it down pat. Then you can weld your part together. You get what you want to build and you learn a new skill."

"Wow, thanks, Mr. Stubbing; that would be great. I kind of do pretty well with steel and I planned to tack my patch into place, then fill it in with fiberglass to make it smooth on top. But if I can improve my welding skills, cut my patch to fit the hole, and then just weld it in, I wouldn't have a problem with sealing the underside."

"Jim Fisher is doing a project for his dad and there is a lot of welding involved. He is like you, a pretty good welder with steel, but he is learning to weld much better and has me helping him as I get time. I'm sure if I asked him, he would be glad to have some help. You do know Jim, right?"

"Yeah, he is in my Driver's Ed class and we are the two best drivers in class. In fact, Mr. Harrison is having Jim and I work with some of the other students that are having trouble getting the hang of things. When is his class with you?"

"Jim has 4^th period with me; we just started tack welding a guard blade for a sickle bar mower. I'll ask him Monday if you can help with the welding. Then once we get you up to speed, we can start on your project."

"That sounds terrific, Mr. Stubbing, I hope Jim will let me work on his project too."

Our metal shop is somewhat different from major city schools; we do have projects that can be done by anyone that teach you the basic skills to work around metal, but the school also allows kids to do projects for themselves. There is a senior who is building a trailer, from scratch, to haul his motorcycle and an ATV. He either buys the material from the school or from another source, and the school allows him to use their equipment to build his project. It works out that the school benefits because the students learn a trade, and the students benefit doubly, because they learn a trade and get access to all the neat equipment for free. Our wood and auto shops are the same way, as students can work on home projects at school.

There went the bell, so now I have to rush home, get cleaned up, and have Mom drive me to the Fletcher's for supper. I caught the bus and sat contemplating what the supper would be like tonight. I had already met Kathy's parents when I took her out that time last year. I would be getting to know her family better this time. I think Kathy was really disappointed over Brenda's and my decision to be steadies and professing our love for each other. I think she had designs on me being her boyfriend for a while, well at least until she had her way with me, anyway.

I got home and called to my sister with my mind, "Hey, Squirt, I'm home."

I heard in my head, "I'm upstairs finishing up my homework."

I headed upstairs and walked into my sister's bedroom. Suzie was in her desk chair, writing something. I came up behind her and hugged her upper body and kissed her on the top of her head. "Sis, we need to talk about us this weekend. Brenda is getting to be a major player in my love life and I want to be honest with her. But I don't want to harm our relationship either. I've been thinking of cooling it with us as far as the sex goes. I mean we still sleep together, of course. That may never change, but the sex is different. I hope this doesn't hurt you in that regard." Suzie had turned around in her chair, and we moved to sit beside each other on her bed.

"Brother Dear, I have been meaning to talk to you about that. We haven't done anything since Monday afternoon, and it has not bothered me in the slightest that we haven't. I know our lovemaking has been very intense, but I, like you, think we need to cool it for a while. I think Mom and Dad are beginning to worry about us becoming too dependent on each other for sex. Neither one has said anything, but I get the impression they are not real happy about it. I think they are hoping it is just a phase we are going through and it will wear off soon. But, also like you, I think our sleeping together is something that will go on for some time to come. The sex thing is nice. No, let me say, 'it is the greatest thing on earth, ' but I, too, think we should cool it for a while. Don't you agree, Brother Dear?"

"Yes I do, I am so glad that you feel the same way about this. I thought it would be real hard to tell you that I didn't want to make love to you for a while. But you not wanting to, as well, makes things so much easier for both of us. Thank you for being the great loving and understanding sister that you are. Now I have to get ready for my supper date. Night, Squirt, see you when I get home." I kissed my sister sweetly and headed to my room for a shower and a change of clothes.

I had just come downstairs when Mom showed up, so we went out the door and were on our way to Kathy's house. "Now remember, if you need a ride home, just call us. We'll be up until at least 11, so don't hesitate to call."

"I won't, Mom; I shouldn't be later than 10 or 10:30. I'm sure they will want me gone before then."

We arrived at the Fletcher home and I rang the bell. Rachel was just on her way out, "They're all in the backyard, just go through the dining room and kitchen. You can't miss it. Just follow the foul smell of meat cooking."

"I take it that you are a vegetarian?"

"No, I just don't eat red meat. Bye, I hope you have a good time, I know Kathy has been looking forward to this all week. See ya," and off she went. She got into her Mustang and roared off. It was still light out as the sun wouldn't set until about 6:30 and it was only 5:15 now. I found my way to the covered patio. The patio went across the whole back side of the house, with a brick grill made at the west end of it. The grill was so large that it looked like you could cook half of a cow on it. The chimney rose to go above the patio roof which had to be over 9 feet in the middle, sloping down to about 7 feet at the back edge. There was a picnic table that could seat ten people on the right side. There were places set for four people at the table, but no food as yet. There were about eight chairs between the picnic table and the grill area and Henry, Denise, and Kathy were seated, having some cool drinks. Kathy jumped up as soon as I stepped down from the kitchen door and ran to hug me hello.

"Mom, Dad, you have met Bob before, Bob this is my mom, Denise, and my dad, Henry."

"I quickly shook Denise's hand and then Henry's. I said, "It's a real pleasure to see you both again. Something smells exceptionally good out here, is it Denise's perfume or Henry's meat."

"It must be the meat, since I don't wear perfume," said Denise, "But I can understand your confusion, it does smell good."

"Well, Bob, how do you like your meat; rare, medium, or well done?" asked Henry.

"Actually, I like mine with a little pink in the middle, but hot all the way through."

"A man after my own heart, that's just how I like it too. Kathy, go grab Bob a Coke or something. Bob sit, take a load off. So my daughter says that you like game meat, so have you done any hunting?"

"Not a lot, Mr. Fletcher, I fish some and have hunted dove with my dad on occasion. I went deer hunting with my Uncle Don last year, but I didn't shoot anything. We only saw one doe. She wasn't very big and we also saw her fawn not far from her, so she looked to still be nursing. I know it is weird that a doe had a young fawn that late in the season, but that is what we saw. But the deer lease was down in the valley, so it may not have been that weird with the weather we had last year."

"Bob, if we are to be friends, please call me Henry, OK?" I nodded and he continued. "I have been an avid hunter since I was a kid up in Kentucky. We hunted mainly to supplement our food larder; my dad had several hundred acres outside of Dansville, not far from Lexington. My brother still lives there and I sometimes go up there to hunt. But this last summer, I entered a drawing for a weekend at an exotic game ranch out in west Texas. I never expected to win and already had plans to go up to my brother's place to get us a couple of deer for this year's freezer.

Three days before I was to leave for there, I get a call from the ranch that I had won. Wow! I made the arrangements and left right on time, but heading west instead of east. I got me an elk and a bison. Man, the elk weighed in at 697 pounds; dressed out it was only 500, but that's still a lot of meat. Now the bison was the heaviest, as she topped the scales at 1823 and dressed out at just over 1600 pounds. So we now have meat for a couple of year's worth of cookouts, and I also had the processor make about 40 pounds of jerky, so I'll give you some to go home with."

Henry checked the meat and told me about his adventure in west Texas and the shoot. Soon the meat was done and Kathy and Denise had brought the rest of the food out from the kitchen. We ate a great meal; the meat was tender, and 'melt in your mouth flavorful.' We all talked during supper, mainly making small talk. Henry was a junior partner of a big law firm in Austin, and Denise was the chief accountant for Dell at their Round Rock facility.

After supper, I helped bring everything inside. We went into the living room and I asked Henry how he came to be down here.

"Well, Bob, I went to the University of Kentucky, and I applied to the UK law school. I also applied to several other law schools. One of them was the UT Law School. They had a better offer than UK, so I came down here. I met Denise at school; she was getting her accounting degree at UT, but she comes from North Dakota originally. Another small town girl comes to the big city and never leaves, just like me."

We talked for a couple of hours, then it was time for me to leave. I know I really enjoyed talking with the Fletchers. They were easy to talk to and very down to earth people. They had similar backgrounds, came from small towns, grew up living in the country, and met going to school in Austin. Overall, it was a very pleasant evening and I really enjoyed myself. Kathy kissed me goodbye and Henry drove me home. On the way home, Henry asked, "Bob, Kathy said that you and another girl are pretty tight, and she doesn't think that you and she are going to be anything special. I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but Kathy really likes you a lot, an awful lot. I don't want my little girl hurt, so if this is going nowhere, then end it soon. I like you, Bob, you are a nice person, and you are respectful and very smart. But remember this, I also am smart, and I don't like people who mess with my family. I hope we understand each other."

"Mr. Fletcher, Sir, I have the utmost respect for Kathy, I know she likes me a lot, I like her too, but not as a possible mate. There is nothing wrong with her, I just don't love her. But I like her company, and I will definitely let her know how I feel. If she no longer wants to be around me, then I will accept her decision. Last year, you know, I was the one to help her get things settled with her sister. I think that gratitude is what she feels more than love for me, or it may be that she loves me for giving her the strength and resolve to confront her sister to resolve their differences. Whatever the case might be, I will try to settle this in a peaceful manner, and I hope to remain friends with her and her family. I also want to thank you and your family for a wonderful evening. I enjoyed myself immensely and I would like to call you friends."

"Young man, I think that will depend on how my daughter reacts to you coming clean with her about a possible future between the two of you. In addition, we also enjoyed this evening; you are a very interesting young man, a rarity in today's society."

The rest of the ride home was quiet and somewhat stilted. We said our goodbyes and I went into the house and put away the jerky Mr. Fletcher gave me. Everyone was still up as it was only about 10:15. I explained my evening to my family and then told of the conversation I had with Mr. Fletcher on the way home. Mom and Suzie thought it was a little harsh, but Dad agreed with Mr. Fletcher, saying that he would not want someone toying with his daughter's affections either. We discussed this some more, then it was time for me to go to bed, since I had to work all day tomorrow.

Suzie and I went upstairs and got ready for bed. We snuggled up together with her spooning my back, with a firm grip on my leash, and we drifted off to sleep.

Saturday, 2 Mar.

I woke up this morning raring to go, I guess my decision to let Kathy down easy had finally settled my mind, I would explain to Kathy, Gail, and any others from school that I would or could date them, but not to expect too much from me. I'm pretty sure Brenda is the one, but I want her to have the opportunity to check out some other guys. I think my heart belongs to Brenda and Suzie, so there is not much left over for any others. But, hey, I just might be surprised if I keep my eyes open for opportunities.

I showered, dressed, and went downstairs. My dad had just come out of the bedroom and was starting to make coffee. I had some cold cereal and toast this morning, while Dad had coffee once it was done. He also had some toast when I asked. He said, "Son, I'm not too sure that you aren't getting a little over your head with all these girls. When you date them, they are going to expect some commitment from you to continue dating. Like Mr. Fletcher told you last night, don't toy with their emotions, make it plain and clear up front what your motives are. I do assume that you are doing this to let Brenda see that there are others out there like you, but you are letting her make up her mind about you being her only one. Your Aunt Barbara met Don in high school and never had another date with anyone after that. She has confided in me that she felt cheated because she never could tell for sure if Don was the one. I think that is what started their swinging. But they quit after a while, even with us, but she now knew that she had made the right choice all those years ago. But for quite a while there, she had doubts. So this openness with you two should eliminate that concern later on."

"Thanks, Dad. I think I'll let Brenda know that this is what I was aiming to accomplish with the openness for right now. See ya tonight; I think that was Sam that just pulled in. Bye."

"Bye, Son, remember what I said about keeping things open."

I climbed into the front seat of Sam's car and off to work we went. "Sam, did you go out with a lot of women before you met Judy?"

"Eh, Bob, where did that come from?"

"Well, last night I was at this girl's house having a supper date and meeting her parents. Most people at school know Brenda Leroy and I are kind of exclusive. I mean we think we love each other a whole lot, but we feel that we are too young to totally commit to each other right now.

"So I was at Kathy Fletcher's house and we discussed that I was kind of playing the field right now to figure out if my love for Brenda was true. Well, when Mr. Fletcher was driving me home, he was real angry saying that his daughter likes me a whole lot and I was not to toy with her affections if I was not serious. I can see where he was coming from, but he almost threatened me about hurting Kathy. Now Kathy, Brenda, and I are all about the same age, so we can't see making any permanent connections with each other as a good thing, but I don't think Kathy sees it that way. I know I'm rambling, but the reason I'm asking is because my dad said he knew someone that regretted not experiencing other people when they committed to someone too young. That regret made them look for outside interests after marriage. I wondered if you or Judy had other relationships before you met each other, and if you didn't, did it make for hard feelings at times. I know this is really none of my business, but I'm kind of confused and I could use some help."

"Bob, I think I can understand where you're going with this. I had been with several women and girls during my dating days. So I have no regrets. When I met Judy, I knew she was the one for me. Judy had dated quite a bit as well, so I don't think there was any regret there either; well, except when I started neglecting her, but that is a thing of the past now. But, Bob, I think if you keep telling everyone that you are too young to make major decisions regarding dating, then they just might listen. Sure there are going to be some broken hearts along the way; that always happens. But if you keep firm in your convictions, then it is not your fault if you break a few hearts."

"Thanks, Sam, I feel a lot better now. I will remember to keep it light so maybe I won't break too many hearts. By the way, how is Ronnie? Has she taken our breakup alright? I know there a couple of times she seemed really mad at me, but she seems to have settled down now."

"Yes, I believe this week it is Rodney Fuller, or was that last week. No, it's someone new. She mentioned this guy was a guard for the basketball team."

"That could be either Paul Fortner or Sean Sullivan. There may be another guard, but I can't remember his name."

"I think she said it was Sean, but then I can't keep up with all her changes in boyfriends. So, yes, Bob, she is getting over you just fine."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. Now if I can just survive high school, dating wise, I might make it through my life."

"That's one way to put it. You are too popular a guy to have that many problems."

We arrived at work and went in to the building. I went to the basement and Sam went to his office on the first floor.

Things started out well today. Glenn had me in his office and we were going over all the reports and other administrative duties he had. "Bob, I'm going to give you a treat today. I'm going to let you give the briefing at the meeting. You know more about what is going on in this section than almost anyone, and if you are going to be taking over for me in three weeks so I can have a couple of days off, you need to get used to this. I figure on taking Tuesday the 19^th and Wednesday the 20^th off so you will be in charge those days."

"But, Glenn, how can you have those days off, I'll be in school half a day on Tuesday and all day Wednesday. How can that happen?"

"Aren't you going to be working full time here during spring break?"

"Spring Break, oh man, am I out of it or what? It never dawned on me that I would work all during spring break. It never crossed my mind. Yeah, I'll be here during that week. It's not like I have other plans. If my family had plans they would have told me by now. Boy, do I feel stupid. Well, if I'm going to take over for you, let's get busy so I can learn all you do."

We worked until meeting time and when it came to Glenn's turn, I stood up and gave my report and then added, "There seems to be a problem with the residential toilets we have here. I know there are only six of the single toilets in areas not associated with Admin, but we have gotten calls on three of them in the past month. I think we need to look them over very carefully to ensure we don't have any more flooding problems like we have experienced lately. I have also noticed that we have been a little lax in having fire drills. The last one we had was back in November of last year. We need to have one every three months according to state and companywide recommendations. Now I know they are very disruptive, but if there is a fire, everyone needs to know where to go and how to get there. I think that we in support services will try to get with each section manager and work out some procedures and a schedule so we can be better prepared. That's all I have."

Sam spoke next as Support Services always gave the last report. "Thank you, Bob, I didn't realize it had been so long since our last fire drill. I assure you that you will get full cooperation from the section managers on this. I have one more announcement that needs to be made. In two weeks, Glenn is finally taking a couple of days off. Bob is going to be filling in for him on the 19^th and 20^th, so we shall see how well our new intern does on his first solo assignment. OK, let's get back to work."

We had just gotten back to the shop when we got a 911 call. A woman in Section C, our clean room section, had collapsed and we needed to get to her immediately.

I turned my body over to B2 and I scanned for the woman in Section C. I found Maria Alvarez unconscious at her workstation. Her co-workers were all gathered around her. I looked into Maria's body and I found a blocked artery in her brain. I immediately zapped the clot and forced her heart to start pumping faster to move the now flowing blood faster to her brain. In the meantime, I was running down the halls to get to the section C locker room. By the time I got there, Maria was on the floor being looked at by Audra Anderson. I now had put my cloth booties, smock, and hairnet on, and zoomed into the clean room. I had Audra help me put Maria in her chair and we wheeled it into the locker room. Audra had given Maria oxygen and taken her blood pressure. She was alarmed when I insisted that Maria be in her chair. I explained that she could have more problems from her stroke if she stayed lying flat, as it increased headaches and possible brain damage. Also we needed to get her to an area where the paramedics could easily get to her. Audra relented and as she did, Maria became awake.