Chapter 41

Cindy's Turn:

I finished, well, actually WE finished a Skype session with Kara. This time it was me and Nikki and Kara. I turned to Nikki.

"She's a sister, you know. Should be part of the Community," Nikki said.

I'm glad Nikki said it first. I don't want everybody to think I'm running this show. I'm certainly not malicious or anything, but everybody contributes in this effort.

"How do we make it happen?" I asked. "She's music, not engineering."

"We had Mizz Patel handling us, " Nikki said. "Call 'er tomorrow and see what she knows."

Mizz Patel. Genuine good person. Our patron saint.

Of course we had a sisterhood confab. Tina and Susan had met Kara on other Skype sessions.

The big question is 'How?"

I talked with my Dan. "She's a fit."

"You can't rescue everybody, baby," he said.

"You rescued one. Alan rescued one. Dan Granger rescued one. We're paying it back. Balancing the karma."

So naturally he asks the same question: "How? I mean she's living with her dad. She's seventeen, but she lives there. He gets a say in the matter."

"Yes," I said. "He gets a say. But it's Kara's dad, and she thinks he'll be glad to get her out from underfoot. Especially if she's in a musical program."

"What about high school?"

"She's a senior. An EASY senior. There are equivalences. She's got an ACT of 26 from the seventh grade."

"Wow," he said. "I suppose you've talked to Mizz Patel?"

"Not yet. Tomorrow. See if she has an equivalent in Fine Arts."

The next day I was on campus. I called Mizz Patel.

"Hello, Cindy," she answered.

I think it's neat that she knows my voice, or at least has my number tied to my name on her phone. "Hi, Mizz Patel. How are you doing?"

"Quite well," she answered, her voice rocking that sub-continent lilt. "And reports say the same about you, at least in school."

"It's like that away from school as well. I've got an 'outside the box' question."

"Is it Cindy outside the box, or another issue?"

"It's another high school student. She's sort of a music prodigy. Do you know somebody in the music department that might be interested in talking with her?"

"I know some people over there. Where's your friend located?"

"Houston, Texas. She's seventeen. A high school senior."

"A senior? Cindy, you're slipping." She laughed.

"I'm striving for normalcy."

"So now you're recruiting musicians? You've heard her play?"

"Just recordings. I met her through another musician who's in a position to know a prodigy when she hears one."

"I can make a few phone calls, sort of get things going," Mizz Patel said. "I'll let you know what we can do next."

"Oh, thank you so much," I said.

"No, thank YOU, Cindy," Mizz Patel returned. "You've added a lot of interesting things to my life in the last year."

"It really has been just about a year, hasn't it?" I replied and giggled. "It's been good for me. For you?"

Mizz Patel smiles a lot, but this time she laughed. "Why, yes, Cindy, it has been good. Of all the problems I encounter, you and your sisters have been the best. And now you bring us another one."

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"I will keep you apprised of progress. Take care."

"You also, Mizz Patel. And stop by our office when you're in the area on Fridays."

"I will do that. Good-bye, dear Cindy."

Well, now I feel good about something positive happening. Mizz Patel is one of those producers of positive things. She's a role model in a world that Dan swears is filled with all too many people marking time in mindless jobs. Dan's not like that. I saw that early on in our relationship. Since then, he's introduced me to many others who bring positive things into situations.

Okay, time to go be a positive experience for the English department. I'm glad I like walking, because I walked across campus to an imposing building and entered, looking for an associate professor of language arts. Her door was open, but I knocked before I stuck my head in anyway.

"Hello, Mizz Richards," she said.

"Good morning, Doctor Singleton," I said. I giggled afterward.

She laughed too. "Now that we've observed the formalities, how did we do with our project, Cindy?"

"I think I did well," I said. "Of course, you might not see it that way at all."

She shook her head. "Not likely, my dear," she countered. "You chose Samuel Clemens, didn't you?"

"Yes, I was coerced into it by Nikki and Terri."

"Nikki, I can accept, but your Terri. Eight."

"Yes, the Terri-dactyl. I had a lot of fun discussing themes with her."

"With an eight-year old."

"Had to explain to her. She was looking over my shoulder while I was working."

"On college literature."

"Yes, ma'am," I said. "She wanted to know what was different between what they taught in grade school and what they teach in college. So I explained that I was exploring the thread of themes in Mark Twain."

"And..."

"She says 'I read Mark Twain. Nikki reads Mark Twain. I think I know what you mean by theme'"

"That's hilarious."

"Afraid not. It's scary. She took off, came back the next day and pointed me to a document on our server." I pulled a sheaf of papers from my book bag. "The first part is mine. The second part, I just printed Terri's interpretation." I paused. "If you have the time, you might browse through it."

"You're amusing me, aren't you?"

I shook my head. (Quick thought jumped in and out of my mind: Dan gets happy when I shake my head.) "I 'm not exactly trying to amuse you, but I think it will do that."

"I will look at it, then, Cindy. Now, let's talk about this next assignment..."

That's how a lot of what my college life is like. I don't do classes so much as just meet my professors. I left the building an hour later with another assignment. Back across campus. History this time. I oughtta minor in it. I could, but the department head told me that I'd have to do some classroom time and a thesis. And yes, I have a list of classes. Food for thought.

Making the remainder of my day is a visit to Mecca ... Uh, okay, the Engineering Department. And a couple of hours in the lab on that railgun thing. I was sipping a Coke, watching a bank of capacitors charging up. Time there, you know. Like filling a bath tub with a squirt gun. I texted Dan real quick.

"What's up for the evening? Plans?"

He texted back. "No."

"Don't make any. I'm posting a black square on the community calendar. 'Us time'."

I got a smiley emoticon in reply. Nope. Cindy is NOT going to neglect Dan. Or vice versa.

Like the one time he walked into one of our sisterhood confabs, picked me up, tossed me over his shoulder, and walked out to the squeals and catcalls from the other three. Him grunting like a caveman added to the effect.

As he walked up the sidewalk with me over his shoulder we passed Terri and Rachel. They stepped aside and let up pass.

I went along with the abduction right up to the point that I was dumped onto the bed and attacked. Then I attacked right back. In the afterglow, he was propped up on one elbow, has free hand idly teasing one of my nipples, tracing circles around it.

"Does this mean you're feeling neglected, my love?" I asked.

"Not in the least," he said softly, kissing me several times on my face. "Just means that sometimes I think about you entirely too much."

"And I like it that way," I sighed, pulling him over atop me.

So when I got in Susan's car at the end of the day, she was smirking. I knew why. Just as well play her game. "What are you carrying on about?"

Giggle. Shake of blonde head. "Somebody's got a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the calendar this evening."

Giggle. "Are we keeping score? I think you're right at the top of the list there, Mizz Susie!" I still enjoy her fake outrage at being called 'Susie' although it's changed from 'My Gramma's the only one who can all me Susie' to 'Gramma and Jason'.

"Didn't say it was a BAD thing," she giggled. "I'm just being happy for you..."

We stopped across the square to pick up our other two co-conspirators and I was subjected to two more smirks.

"Whaa-aat?!?" I squealed. "I'm married. I don't have to sneak. And I do not want any disturbances."

"Because I intend to create MY own..." Nikki giggled.

"You people know entirely too much about my private life," I laughed.

"We all know everything about each other," Tina said. "We're sisters."

"So what did Mizz Patel say about Kara?" Nikki questioned.

I filled them in on the conversation.

"So where're we going to put her?" Susan asked.

"Maddie and Anita have a spare room," Tina said. "Maybe she'll fit there." Maddie and Anita were in one of the three-bedroom units of the apartment. "They're good people. We need to talk with them."

"They know about 'er," Susan said. "She doesn't know about them."

"So introduce them. Kara was kind of nervous about being a non-engineer student."

"Look," said Tina, "Kara's a polymath just like the rest of us. None of us is single-minded about life. We all read and we love music and culture. She got on board with that part."

"Yeah," I said. "She's smart. We have a lot of smart people."

"Happy ones, though. Kara's kind of dark and brooding."

"Like me before Dan," I said. "I needed an environment change."

"Good point," Tina smiled. "Very good point. I'll talk to Maddie and Anita."

"Kay!" I popped. "I gotta get home."

She giggled as I bounced off.

I walked into our apartment and made a quick little pass though the place. Took the dishes out of the dishwasher. Wiped the counter. Went in the bedroom. Turned the covers back. Made sure the bottom sheet was tight. I was propped up on the sofa between an engineering text and my MacBook when the door opened and my husband entered, grinning.

"Lock it," I said.

The lock clicked. "You know, little redhead, that you crashed half of my afternoon? As soon as I saw the calendar..." He was grinning as I closed the book and the computer.

I stood. "I had a good day, and therefore I desire the perfect end to it." I smiled. I'm a year and a half, well, almost, into being the mate of Dan Richards, a position for which I volunteered, and I regret not the least.

I've got eyes. I see other men and boys, and I am not stupid. Despite the fact that I'm notoriously small—breasted, I still get a lot of looks. I know red hair is a fetish to a lot of men, and I have it. Not quite a bright red as Johanna's, but still plenty red. Tina's is red in the proper light. Mine's red unless it's wet. Johanna's ... My friend Johanna of the sailboat and the flute, I seriously believe that she glows in the dark.

But I don't care if other guys are eyeing me. None of them is my Dan. None of them is THIS guy who's standing in front of me as I stand up. None of them is the guy who takes me in his arms and senses what I NEED. We've done is fast and slow, soft and hard, frantic, lazy ... I have never been unsatisfied since the first time I climbed into his bed one dark and stormy night.