Chapter 7

The next day I called my dad down in Loveland from the office. After they retired, he and my Uncle Dave (Margie's dad) moved there and bought a hardware store together. It wasn't anything big, just a little neighborhood shop but it gave them something to do and provided a nice little boost to their retirement income.

It was Dad who picked up. "McMillan's."

"Hey, Dad. It's Tom."

"Hi, Son! How's it going up there?"

"It's going well, Dad. How's Mom?"

"Busy, as always. I wish I had half her energy. I think she's decided she has too much to do to die any time in the next fifty years or so. How is Margie's house coming along?"

"It's looking really good, Dad. She and Davey should be moving back in about a month."

"Good, good! I always liked that old place. Is this a social call or do you need something?"

"I need something. In fact, I need to ask you about a name from the past. When I was eleven or twelve years old, I remember you and Uncle Dave talking about Lilli Pederson; about when she left town for a few months when she was in high school and that everybody thought she had gotten herself pregnant."

"Hell, Tom, there wasn't any 'thought' about it. She was already showing when she disappeared for about six months. The reason there was such a flap about it is because everybody with a lick of sense knew who'd knocker her up."

"Yeah, that's what I need to confirm. You wouldn't happen to know where she's living now would you?"

"Well, last I heard, she was still living up in Fort Collins. She married a guy by the name of Frederick Neil. He was mostly a ski bum but he wound up getting on the Fire Department up there and stayed with them until he retired as a Division Chief. That was a few years back so I can't swear they're still there but they probably are. What's all this about, Son?"

"Oh, nothing important, Dad. I just need to ask her about something. Thanks for the info. Say hi to Mom for me."

"I will. You know, you can't just leave me hanging on this. I'm going to make you tell me what it's all about some day."

I laughed, "I will some day but not now. Thanks again, Dad. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

I found Lilli Neil on the first call. I told her who I was and that I was going to be in Fort Collins on business the next week and asked if she could find time to see me for a few minutes. She agreed.

On the Friday before spring break, Lilli came to my office and the two of us met Margie in the school office after the last bell rang. We told the secretary we needed to see Mr. Pedersen and she showed us to his office. I asked Lilli to wait until I called her to come in. She nodded her assent with a knowing little grin on her face.

Frank Pedersen looked a little nonplussed when Margie and I were shown in.

"Margaret, Mr. McMillan? What's this about?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you know what this is about, Frank." Margie was doing her best to be civil but I could hear the venom in her voice. "Tommy and I are here to strongly recommend that you keep you're fat nose out of our private affairs."

Margie took a seat in front of his desk and I stood at the side with my arms crossed looking down at him and doing my best to appear intimidating. Apparently it was working because he was visibly leaning away from me when he said, "I, uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the crap, Frank! You know very well what we're talking about. You threatened to fire me if any suspicions arose about Tommy and I living together. Apparently, your preoccupation with incest leads you to assume we're lovers. Unless you spend your nights peeking into people's windows – and, by the way, that wouldn't surprise me – any action you took would be based purely on suspicion, wouldn't it. Well let's see you act on that suspicion, Frank. Tommy and I fuck every chance we get so go ahead, fire me!"

He was clearly flustered and struggling to find a way out of a conversation he was totally unprepared for. "Now, I never said I'd fire you, Margaret. I was just explaining it was my job to look after the interests of the school. I never actually accused you. You must understand that we have to be absolutely above suspicion here. I was merely suggesting that you should be aware of how some people might view your living together."

"First of all, you most certainly did threaten to fire me. I wonder what makes you such a paragon of morality, Frank? Have you led such an exemplary life that you feel you have the right and the standing to pass judgment on other people's domestic affairs? You say we should all be above any suspicion, huh? Why don't we test that premise?" Margie stood and opened the door, beckoning Lilli to enter.

All the color drained from Frank Pedersen's face when he saw his sister enter. "Lilli! What are you doing here?"

She had the most delicious evil chuckle as she said, "If you still had one or two functioning brain cells in that thick skull, you'd know exactly why I'm here, you sanctimonious hypocrite. Of all the people in the world, you have the least right to pass any kind of judgment on this lovely couple. But just in case you're still having trouble grasping the facts, let me put it in words that even a child could understand. If one sleazy rumor about Margie and or Tommy finds it way out of this school, I'll know where it came from. The next interesting news item that will hit the streets is that my older brother forced himself on me from the time I was thirteen until he knocked me up at the age of fifteen. Then I'll tell the world about how you lied to Dad and convinced him I'd been sleeping around and got him to send me to Aunt Agatha's in Kansas City to have your illegitimate baby and then give her up for adoption. Tell me, Frank, does any of this ring a bell?"

Franks face went from ash-white to beet-red. "You wouldn't!" he gasped.

"Oh, but I would! And you know what? I'm not the least bit worried about my reputation. Margie here has my permission to hold this little tidbit over your head until you're dead and in your grave. You'll probably want to be especially nice to these people from now on."