10: Picking sides

I was pretty tired when I got home from delivering papers Saturday morning. It was a late night for me and I didn't get to bed before ten. When I got home at six-thirty, I figured I'd get a couple hours sleep before I got up to do collections.

That was exactly what I got. At nine o'clock, Mom pounded on my door and said I had a phone call from a girl named Rhonda. Man, I was out of my room and grabbing the phone before I realized I was still in just my underwear. Well, Betts always dragged the phone into her room, so I figured the cord would reach to mine. Mom just stared at me the whole way.

"Did I wake you up?" Rhonda said cheerily.

"No. Well, yeah. I got up at four-thirty and went back to bed at seven. It's time to get up so I can collect anyway. What's up? I sure had a good time at the game last night."

"Yeah. Me too. That's kind of why I was calling. You know. You should always call your date the morning after." She giggled. Oh, man. What a great sound. "I was wondering if you ... um ... my boyfriend would like to ride bikes this morning. Together."

"Cool. Well. I have to go out and collect on my paper route and then take the report to the office after lunch. You could ride with me if you want."

"Really? I forgot you had a paper route. Is it hard?"

"No. It just takes time and you have to get up early every day. You could ride with me on my route while I collect."

"That would be fun. Should I ride to your house?"

"I live about two miles from the Methodist church, but we could meet at McKinley and Cedar. That splits the difference."

"I'll leave right now."

"No wait. I can't start collecting until ten. I have to get breakfast and uh, you know, shave and stuff."

"You shave?"

"Not really. But—you know."

"Oh yeah. You just got up. I'll see you at the gas station at ten. 'Bye!"

Wow! Apparently Rhonda was a morning person.

I pulled my shorts on and dragged the phone back to the kitchen. The cord barely reached from the kitchen to my bedroom. I'd had to sit on the floor inside the door to talk. Mom was waiting for me. I turned to go to the bathroom without saying anything.

"Just a moment, young man. Why exactly do you have a girl calling you on the phone at nine o'clock on Saturday morning?" I groaned.

"Mom, please. Bathroom first and then inquisition?" She shooed me away. I tried to take as long as possible with a shower and brushing my teeth, but I was dressed and still had fifteen minutes before I had to leave for collections. I went to the kitchen to get a peanut butter and pickle sandwich for breakfast.

"All right, spill it, mister. Who is Rhonda?"

"She's just a friend from school, Mom. She wanted to know if we could ride bikes this morning."

"His girlfriend," Betts said from the kitchen doorway. She was still in her pajamas and must have been waiting for this opportunity to get her out of bed.

"Girlfriend?" Mom asked.

"They were on a date last night."

"A date?" I bared my teeth at Betts who just smiled back at me, the smug bitch. "As in your first date? With a girl? Without being just a group of friends getting together?" I sighed.

"We didn't actually decide it was a date until after we got there and I bought her a Coke."

"But, Brian," Mom continued, "a first date is a very important milestone in a young man's life. It's something he should tell his parents so they can get all upset and lecture him and then at least take a picture or something."

"Mo-om!"

"And when did she become your girlfriend?"

"At halftime. We took a vote."

"A vote?"

"It was two to zero in favor."

That did it. Mom doubled over laughing. Betts was beginning to see it was a lost cause but I could tell she wasn't giving up on getting me in trouble.

"He ditched me and got a ride home with his girlfriend."

"That's not fair, Betts. You met Rev. Gordon and okayed me riding home since they were bringing Joanne home, too."

"Rev. Gordon? The new minister? I heard he had two daughters. Is Rhonda the oldest or youngest?"

"Her older sister is Donna and she's a good friend of Joanne's. That's why they were coming here anyway."

"Well, that makes sense then. And what are you going to do with your girlfriend today?"

"Mom!" Betts was about to lose it.

"She's meeting me up at the gas station at ten to ride with me while I do collections," I said.

"Well, that's okay. Just remember you need to be back here by noon so we can make it to the office before one-thirty to get your report in. Tell her she can stay for lunch and ride with us if she wants. I'll check with her father to make sure it's all right."

"Mom! You can't let him date a girl. He's only thirteen," Betts yelled.

"Almost fourteen," I said. As if to emphasize the point my voice cracked and I said the last word in two different octaves. Great!

"You didn't let me date till I was sixteen. No fair."

"You are a girl and frankly were not as responsible," Mom said. "You can go, Brian. Now, Betts, I want to hear about your evening last night. You didn't come home until one o'clock. That's an hour past curfew." Betts was looking like a rabbit being chased into a hole by a pack of wolves when I grabbed my collection book and pouch and took off.

Rhonda and I had a blast. We'd race our bikes from house to house—and she was really fast—and then she'd wait for me to make my collection and we'd race to the next one. When we got to the Dog and Suds drive-in, I bought her a root beer. We both burped big after we'd gulped it down and about died laughing. I don't think I'd ever heard Brenda or Rose or any of the other girls burp. They always made a face and said "Gah-ross!" when one of the guys did, so we tried to hide it from them. I mean, you didn't want the coolest girls in school calling you gross. The last half-mile to my house we just coasted on our bikes and talked about what we were going to do this fall.

Mom had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches waiting for us and said Rev. Gordon was okay with Rhonda going into town with us to make my paper payment. We tossed Rhonda's bike in the back of the station wagon so we could drop her off at her house on the way home. When we walked up to the desk, Rhonda kept tugging at my sleeve. "Look!" she insisted. I followed what she was pointing to and saw my picture hanging in the middle of the wall with the other carriers. Under it was a sign that said, "Carrier of the Month—August." I snapped around to look at Cary. He was grinning and so was Mom. She already knew and hadn't told me.

"Congratulations, Brian," Cary said. "What is this, the fourth time you've won?"

"Yessir. I didn't even know I was in the running this month. I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"Well, you've done a good job on your route. The prize this month is a weekend at Price's Dude Ranch. You can take it anytime this fall."

"Cool!" I'd been to the Dude Ranch once last summer and with a group in the spring. It was fun. Mostly it was just doing a little riding and watching a rodeo. Sometimes we got to play horseshoes and do sheep-roping. I was already trying to figure out when I could go. I turned to Rhonda and she gave me a fist-bump.

We got her home and unloaded the bike while Mom talked to Rev. Gordon. Rhonda was bragging that I'd won carrier of the month.

"You sound like a real leader, Brian," Rev. Gordon said. "We could use you in our youth group." I suddenly had visions of Cassie's church and the way we had to sit on opposite sides of the room and memorize Bible verses. I glanced at Rhonda and then at my mom. She knew that going to church with Cassie had been my least favorite part about that summer, even though I'd learned a lot of Bible verses, just because I was so competitive. I had to be the first to find a verse in my Bible and had to have the most verses memorized. Still, I didn't want to do it again. I took a deep breath.

"Rev. Gordon, thank you for the invitation, but I would like to respectfully decline at this time. I hope that decision will not affect your willingness to let Rhonda and me spend time together because we're really good friends, but I don't feel able to join a church group right now," I said. I kind of cringed because I expected him to send me away.

"Well, not everyone is suited for church life," he said. "We still have to make the invitation. You're a respectful and honest young man. As long as you continue to respect my daughter, I'm not going to interfere in your friendship. I'm glad to see she has a good friend in you." I thought Rhonda was going to knock her dad over when she launched into him and hugged him.

"I'll see you Monday, Brian," she said, still not letting go of her father. I shook his hand and Mom and I left.

"That was very mature of you, Brian," Mom said in the car.

"Thank you, Mom. But you know I had to go to church to even be friends with Cassie a couple years ago. I really didn't like it. I felt like I was being held hostage or something. I really, really like Rhonda and I don't want it spoiled by having to go to her church."

"Well, you walked into a big responsibility as well."

"What?"

"You presented yourself as mature enough to respect her and treat her nicely. If you fail to do that, her father will probably not be as happy about you spending time with her. And frankly, your dad and I would be disappointed, too. I know you are growing up and you might be having urges and desires that are new to you, but I expect you to follow through on your promise to Rev. Gordon. Think of it as your promise to Rhonda, too. I don't think she is as mature as you are."

"I know what you mean, Mom. She's a few months younger than I am and I'll only be fourteen in October. I'll try to remember that. And I'll keep my promises. But I'd never do anything to any girl that she didn't want to, Mom. Any time I even think about that, I remember what those guys tried to do to Joanne and..." I don't know why thinking about that still upset me so much, but I almost wanted to throw up.

"That's why we all trust you, Brian. Let's go get an ice cream cone on the way home. This is probably the last weekend the stand will be open for the winter."

Things were different at school on Monday. It started when I went out to get on the bus Monday morning and Joanne whispered, "Congratulations on your new girlfriend, Brian. I knew you'd find someone." Geez! When did this word get around? I mean it had only been a weekend. Then I realized that Joanne was friends with Rhonda's sister and if Rhonda told her sister, then her sister would have told Joanne. And we all rode home together. And I told Betts, so I'm sure she told Doreen and Ella. And if Doreen knew then Doug knew. And if Doug knew...

At lunch, there was just one open seat when I got there. It was between Rhonda and Carl. I think it was the first time in two years that I'd sat down to lunch and didn't have a girl on each side. Rhonda was completely oblivious to it, of course. How would she know? I looked a question at Brenda and she winked at me. Each one of the girls winked at me when I looked at her. Then Lionel...

"All right. Don't you start it, too," I said. I was a little angry, but I supposed it was my fault. "I didn't think it needed any big announcements or anything since none of the rest of you seem to announce who you are going with, but you might as well all know that Friday night Rhonda and I decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Now quit snickering and winking." Rhonda looked at me and grinned, just about as happy as she could be. Everybody said congratulations and the table relaxed. I wasn't ready for it to end. Whitney and Rose were the easiest targets, so I zeroed in on them. "And if the rest of you girls decide that means you won't sit next to me, then I'll just move to a different table and you won't have to worry about it. Okay?"