Chapter 8: Who Brings Boys to Malls?

Tony settled into a hard chair in the food court at the mall and began sipping his Coke and leafing through the latest issue of Road & Track. One of these days he really was going to own a Porsche he thought. It was one of those things you couldn't ever really justify buying; then again he did drive a new Celica GT-S. He had bought it mainly based on the recommendations from this very magazine as being a reliable low-end sports car with better than average performance. More importantly he could get away with it. It didn't turn heads that he owned a Toyota, and it really was a nice car.

They had stopped by to pick up a few things for Rebecca on the way home from picking up Tina at school. It started when Rebecca admitted she didn't have a bathing suit. Tina concluded she also didn't have a proper overnight bag and as things happen when two teen girls realize such gross deficiencies, an afternoon assault on the mall was meticulously planned and even now being executed. The ammunition was Tony's American Express card. Tina, every bit as wealthy as Tony, didn't carry a credit card, (she did have one, Tony had seen it) and could somehow be counted on to never have more than $20 on her at any given time.

Tony had realized long ago that while for him the large sums of money attributed to his name were a rather abstract thing, for Tina they were simply unreal. Tony knew he had a lot to learn before he could actively start managing his own money and investments. He also realized he would probably have to do the same for Tina, probably forever. Tina was just like that. The things that interested her she threw herself into without reservation. She was, for instance, nothing short of a musical prodigy. Things that didn't interest her, however, she simply chose to ignore. She simply ignored money. She had no interest in Kalliste at all until she started to leave the dock and then there was no chance that she wouldn't be on board. Tina ignored the nuts and bolts of boats but knew almost as much about sailing them as Tony. It amused Tony to think of the poor guy that eventually earned Tina's single-minded obsession. The poor guy wouldn't ever know what hit him, but what a way to go.

"Tony, my man!" came a voice from his left. He looked over to see Dewayne and his girlfriend Gwen walking toward his table. Gwen, light skinned for an African-American, was tall and lithe, only an inch or so shorter than Dewayne. Tony slapped hands with Dewayne and pulled Gwen into a brief hug and kissed her cheek.

"Hey you two, come have a seat." Dewayne set down a shopping bag he had been carrying and sat down at the table with Gwen.

"So, Tony, what brings you to the mall today?" asked Gwen.

Tony looked to Dewayne and asked "Dewayne, what always brings young guys like us to shopping malls?"

"Women," he answered without hesitation. Tony simply smiled at Gwen and shrugged.

"Boys!" chuckled Gwen. "So what women brought you here today Tony?" Gwen asked with a sweet smile.

"Ah yes, I do believe West-Central rumor mill has been in overdrive today," he replied. "You're fishing for something Gwen," he continued in a sing-gong voice. "Come on out and ask it."

"OK, well let's just say that rumors do say that a certain girl has gotten her claws into West-Central's most eligible perpetual bachelor, a certain cute little red-headed girl perhaps."

Tony started to laugh almost uncontrollably. The images the statement put in his head were absurd. "OK," he said when he could control his mirth, "I think that is essentially correct. But the image of Rebecca having actual claws like some of those wildcats at school is just too much."

"Well you better watch her. I know a lot of those girls never had a chance, but they certainly never figured that out. They think this new girl just moved in here from out of town and took over."

"Bah," Tony replied. "If I need to put a few of them over my knee and spank some sense into them I'm not adverse to that."

"Tony," Gwen warned, "there's a few of them who would like nothing better than to be over your knee getting spanked. I think I'd be careful with that if I were you." Gwen and Dewayne both chuckled at Tony.

"OK, OK, probably not my best idea. Really though, give them a couple of days and they'll all be fighting over some new boy-of-the-week that none of them really wants but thinks the other does."

"I'm not so sure Tony."

"What are they going to do? Maybe you and Tina can pull her aside and tell her what to expect, but I really don't think she's going to let a few air-headed high school girls get under her skin."

"Well I don't know her at all," Gwen answered. "Dewayne says she really is a sweet girl. We wouldn't want those wildcats as you call them to chew her up."

"Dewayne, as you already know, is an absolute genius when it comes to judging female character." Gwen beamed at the compliment. Tony was sincere. He thought Gwen was a peach. "Rebecca is a very sweet girl, but she has also spent a lot of years being a bit of an outcast in school. She can handle a bit of jealousy. In fact, it might just do her some good to see it. She has a teeny bit of an inferiority complex she needs to get over. If she sees other girls a little jealous about her boyfriend maybe it will chase that last bit away for good."

"So what's the shopping trip for?"

"Rebecca is coming over and didn't have a swimsuit. Tina took that as a personal affront to female shoppers worldwide."

"So let me get this straight." Dewayne said. "Your girlfriend and your very cute little sister, I know she's your sister but she is cute, are out in the mall trying on swimsuits and you're sitting reading a magazine? That ain't right man."