Blind Squirrels Read online

  Dmitri proved to be a great host. He played games with us, and, later, he put on some music for us to dance to. The food and drinks were delicious. He even had beer, but he didn’t allow anyone to drink it inside – he sent them into the backyard.

  I stayed away from the beer that night, but Sam was drinking one after another. She soon joined some of the others that were drinking, and she left me all alone in the kitchen. I began to wonder if I’d have to call my mom to pick me up.

  I spent my time watching Max. He seemed to be having a wonderful time while I was finding it a bit boring. He barely acknowledged my existence that night, and I felt terribly alone. I started wondering if I had made a mistake in joining Bons Copains. I really didn’t fit in with the other members. I also thought about my latest experiences with Max. I felt the sting of tears when I realized that he had just been playing games with me. I suddenly knew that I meant nothing to him. I spent the remainder of the party alone on Mrs. Kalakos couch, watching people dance, listening to the music, and feeling sorry for myself.

  I stayed in Bons Copains at Sam’s insistence. After the Christmas break, we voted to have a membership drive. I encouraged Olivia to join, but she hesitated. She felt that many of the members were snobs, and she wanted no part of them. I was unsuccessful with all of my friends. No one wanted to join Bons Copains.

  We began accepting applications for new members, and then we decided that each member would adopt a prospective member as a little brother or little sister. Unfortunately, there were more members than prospects, so some people had no one assigned to them. Sam didn’t have a prospect; neither did Max. I was lucky – or unlucky – enough to get assigned a little sister. Her name was Aurora Wells. She was a ninth grader, and I had seen her a few times at PE – although she was in a different class. Aurora was a big girl – tall and chunky. She wore her long black hair in a shag haircut, and it always looked unkempt. She wasn’t unattractive – she had big brown eyes and a friendly smile – but she was overbearing and loud. I knew right away that I was her big sister for one reason: no one else wanted her.

  Mrs. Kalakos introduced me to Aurora one Monday afternoon. The other teams of members and prospects were also present, and I looked around to see if I recognized any of the other new comers. Pete McDermott and Phil Avis, a good-looking ninth grader, were teamed together; Rita Daltery was put with her real sister, Mandy; Beverly Corley was with Cherry Trinity, a sophomore and a cheerleader; Matt Bruin was paired with Michael Barr from my Chemistry class; and Kevin Cone matched up with Kyle Anders, a quiet and shy sophomore. I had the only dud in the bunch.

  Aurora was happy to be my little sister. She incorrectly assumed that being a member of a service club made you popular. She decided right away that we would be best friends, and, of course, she wanted to share all her deepest secrets with me. I was less enthusiastic, and I ditched her when we left Mrs. Kalakos’ room.

  The next day in PE, Aurora wouldn’t leave me alone. Her teacher allowed her to come over to the track and talk to me. Mrs. Ray didn’t seem to object to Aurora hanging around either. I was almost ready to hurt her feelings when she blurted out, “Why did you join the club anyway?”

  I did not intend to share my secrets with her. “I wanted to be in a club, and Sam asked me.”

  “Oh. My reason is better. Want to hear it?”

  Not particularly, I thought; but I said, “I guess.”

  “There’s this guy in the club, and I’m in love with him. I’m hoping I can get him to notice me.”

  Now she had my attention. “Really? Anyone I know?” I was expecting Pete McDermott or Matt Bruin. They seemed her type.

  I certainly wasn’t ready for her answer. “Max. Max Savage. Do you know him?”

  “I know who he is. Does he know you?”

  “Well, he might not remember, but we met once a long time ago. Now I just admire him from afar. He is so cute. I just have to meet him again. Do you think I have a chance?”

  I wanted to scream, “No!! He’s mine; all mine!” Instead, I said, “How should I know? All you can do is try.”

  “I’m going to give it my best shot,” she continued. “I already know so much about him and we’ll have lots to talk about. My mom went to school with his mom.”

  My ears perked up. I’d never discovered why Max’s aunt lived with him, and I’d never seen his mom around at all. “Have you met his parents?” I asked nonchalantly.

  “I met his dad briefly. My mom and I were at his mother’s funeral. She died when I was ten, so I guess Max was about thirteen. He was so sad that day. I’ve loved him ever since.”

  At this news, I was overcome with sadness myself. “I’ve really got to go, Aurora. I’ve got to run the track. Good luck with your romance.” I practically knocked another girl down trying to get away from Aurora, and I jogged around the track as fast as I could. If Mrs. Ray hadn’t blown her whistle to signify the end of class, I might have been able to get a quarter of the way around before running out of breath. I guess I’ll never know.

  That afternoon on the bus, I began to see some usefulness in my new knowledge. Aurora was so enthusiastic about her love for Max and much more willing to admit it than I had been. This was my chance to divert attention from myself and focus it all on Aurora. The beauty of it was that Aurora wouldn’t even care.

  Bons Copains had a meeting that Thursday at Pete McDermott’s house. Aurora was there, and she spent all of her time around Max. He didn’t even notice her until I pulled her over to Max and introduced them. I quietly slipped away as Aurora poured on all her charm. She still had Max cornered when I left. I didn’t even care if he was mad at me.

  The next meeting was at Max’s again. This meeting was very important, and Mrs. Kalakos told the inductees that they had to attend to become members. Aurora was on pins and needles. She couldn’t wait to see Max’s house and meet his dad and his aunt. It was all she talked about.

  The meeting was starting at six; in the past, it hadn’t started until seven. After the meeting, everyone was going over to Mama Mia’s Pizzeria to play some games and eat pizza. Sam and I had discussed the evening, and she was going to drive us to Mama Mia’s. I didn’t have to be home until eleven.

  I walked to Max’s house, and there was only one car in the drive. The car belonged to Cherry Trinity’s mother. She was dropping her off at Max’s. Cherry was my age. She was tall and thin, and she had long red hair. I didn’t really know her, but she waited in Max’s yard until I caught up to her.

  Max met us at the door. His dad and aunt had left for the evening, and he offered us some refreshments. He asked me if I wanted a beer, and I said maybe later. In the meantime, I took a glass of ice water.

  It was almost six o’clock, and Aurora hadn’t gotten there yet. I couldn’t imagine what was keeping her, but I was glad she wasn’t there. I wondered what would happen when she did arrive.

  Sam came in the door with a big smile on her face. She was eager to get the evening started. She pulled me over to a corner and said, “Have you ever smoked pot before?”

  My eyes got very big. “No! Of course not. Have you?”

  “Just a little bit ago. It’s neat – I do it all the time. I don’t have any more, but I’m gonna buy some beer after we leave Max’s house tonight. I’m gonna see if anyone else wants to go with us.”

  I just nodded at Sam. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her plans.

  “Listen,” I said, changing the subject, “Guess who has a big crush on Max?”

  “You! You told me that already!”

  “I mean someone else...”

  “Someone else has a crush on Max? Who?”

  “Aurora Wells! She is really crazy about him.”

  “Yuck! I can’t stand that slimy girl. She looks like she never takes a bath. I bet he’s thrilled. Maybe she’ll convince him that you aren’t the worst thing that could happen to him...”

  “Thanks a lot!”

  “Sorry – I didn’t mean that the way it sou
nded. I just meant that you aren’t as bad as she is...”

  “Stop with all the compliments. You’re beginning to embarrass me.”

  Just then, the phone rang. Max answered it, and then he looked at me. “It’s for you, Kat.”

  I gave Max a puzzled look, but I took the phone. It was Aurora.

  “Kat, you have to come pick me up. I don’t have a ride to the meeting, and I have to be there to become a member.”

  “Aurora, you know I’m not old enough to drive. Besides, I don’t know where you live.”

  “I live in Lavender Park, apartment 2010-C. Isn’t there someone who can come?”

  “I don’t know, let me ask someone.”

  “Kat, ask Max. I’d love for him to pick me up. I know he has a car.”

  “Okay – hold on a minute.”

  I held the receiver against my chest and turned towards Sam and Max just in time to hear Sam tell Max that Aurora was in love with him. The look on Max’s face told me everything I needed to know – he didn’t want any part of her. Now it was time for me to push the envelope.

  “Max,” I called out, “Aurora doesn’t have a ride to the meeting. She lives in Lavender Park and she wants to know if you will pick her up.”

  “Lavender Park? No – tell her no. Tell her my car has a flat. Tell her anything as long as it is no.”

  I put the phone back to my ear. “Aurora, Max can’t pick you up. He has to stay here because his dad’s not here. He can’t leave the rest of us in his house alone.”

  “Isn’t there anyone else? I can’t miss this meeting.”

  “Actually, there’s no one else here that has a car.” I was lying, but I knew Sam would never go pick her up. “I’ll keep asking when people come in, but I can’t promise. Give me your number so I can call you back for directions if I do find someone.”

  Aurora called out her number. I jotted the number down even though I knew I wouldn’t be calling her back. Out of the whole club, I probably cared the most about her predicament, and I didn’t care very much. I felt a little sorry that she wouldn’t be making it into our club, but not too bad.

  I hung up the phone, and Max walked over to me. “Well, is she coming?”

  “I don’t think so. No one wants to pick her up. I don’t think too many people like her. But she told me that she really likes you, and she was certain that you felt the same.”

  I watched Max’s face intently. I was sure I would see his disgust, but what I saw was pity. “I would go pick her up if she didn’t live in Lavender Park, but that place is dangerous. I’d probably get my tires slashed – I might even get mugged. It’s a shame that Aurora has to live there. And now she won’t be getting into the club either.”

  “Wow, I guess you do like her.” I hoped this was just another rag on Max, but part of me feared I had guessed the truth.

  “Not in the way she seems to like me. But she seemed nice. And her mother used to know my mother. It would have been nice to talk to someone about my mom.” I suddenly felt very wicked for this little game I’d come up with. I’d played with Aurora’s feelings without a thought, and I hadn’t taken into account that Max might not be as repelled by Aurora as I wanted him to be.

  After the meeting, Sam and I headed out to her car, a tan-colored ‘68 Impala. I started to get in the front seat, and Sam said, “You might want to ride in the back. Kyle Anders, Mike Barr, and Cherry Trinity are riding with us. I’ll get Cherry up front, and the boys will be in the back with you. Since you’ve given up on Max, you’ll have a blast.”

  I didn’t know I had given up on Max, but it still sounded like fun. I climbed into the backseat, and I was soon sitting between Kyle and Mike. As we backed out of the yard, I noticed Max watching us from the living room window. I wondered how he felt about our seating arrangement.

  Our first stop was a liquor store. Sam went inside. I was nervous. I was certain we were going to get caught trying to buy beer. A few minutes later, Sam came out with two six-packs. Cheers erupted from both sides of me as Sam passed each of us a Miller High Life. Mike opened mine for me, and then challenged me to a chugging contest. I turned my beer up and drank half of it in one swallow. Mike did the same. We decided it was a draw. I was getting used to the taste of beer.

  A little later, we stopped by Mama Mia’s Pizzeria, but we didn’t stay long. We couldn’t buy beer in there, and, besides, there was plenty waiting for us in the car. We each had two beers, and then Sam pulled through a liquor store drive-up and bought another six-pack. After the third beer, Kyle said he had to go home. He lived in a neighborhood called Rosewood, and so did Mike. We let Kyle out first, and he staggered up to his front door. Mike rode with his arm around me until we reached his house. He kissed me on the cheek, and it surprised me. Then he leaned in through Cherry’s window and kissed her, too. I felt I would never understand boys.

  Miraculously, we made it home safely that night. I wasn’t the least bit scared when I entered our house, and neither Mom nor Dad knew I’d been drinking. That night was a prelude to my carousing days. It would get much worse before it got better.

  The next week, Mrs. Kalakos posted the new club members. Aurora didn’t make it, and Kyle Anders withdrew his application. Everyone else made the cut. Additionally, two others joined in the place of Aurora and Kyle: a sophomore named Sunny Wren and the star quarterback of our football team, Kenny Byron.

  Sunny lived a few blocks from me, and we started riding together to all the meetings. Although we made an unlikely pair, we were soon good friends. Sunny was very sophisticated, and she considered herself a member of high society. I later learned that her mother was from a very rich family, but her father was just average. Sunny’s mom spoiled her rotten. Sunny would try to boss me around from time to time, but I would usually stand up to her. It was only when she put on her pouty face that I would give in and do her bidding. She would lower her big blue eyes, wrinkle her little nose, poke out her full red lips, and bat her long thick eyelashes; I could almost see the tears in her eyes. Her silky black hair crowned her head like two floppy ears, and she reminded me of a puppy that needed loving. I know – I was a sucker.

  Sam had grown tired of Bons Copains. She hadn’t officially withdrawn, but she was skipping all the meetings. Sunny moved right into Sam’s shoes as my club buddy. Sunny didn’t drink or anything, so she was mostly good for me. Sam and I were still friends, but we would never again be as close as in those first months in Bons Copains.

  A few things were changing at school. My circle of friends was growing, and my grades were holding up pretty well. I was beginning to hate French – or maybe it was just Monsieur Guest that I hated. The first semester ended, and school was half over.

  As the new semester began, Mr. Raymond – my Chemistry teacher – married his long time sweetheart and moved away to her hometown of Pittsburgh. Mr. Billet would be our new Chemistry teacher. I was a little saddened, but I soon learned that Mr. Billet was less demanding and that I had more time for writing in his class. Mr. Billet was much older than Mr. Raymond. He was very short and skinny and he combed his obviously dyed black hair over the top of his head in an effort to conceal his baldness. I was sure he thought that the sparse comb-over completely fooled everyone; I’m also sure that a few years later Mr. Billet would become the number one fan of hair in a can. Mr. Billet was passionate about chemistry and his lectures could be stimulating and compelling. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – his stamina was low, so his lectures generally lasted less than half an hour and his assignments never took more than ten minutes to complete. I usually had thirty minutes to spend on my stories and notes.

  Second semester also meant moving into Driver’s Ed and leaving World History behind. I would now answer to three teachers instead of one, and I would have no time for note writing. Coach Maharis would be our classroom instructor. He would show us gruesome movies and make us memorize the Driver’s Handbook. A jovial sort, Maharis didn’t fit in with the other coaches in Driver’s Ed. He
was younger than the others, and he didn’t mind joking around from time to time. Coach Oliver would instruct us on the driving range. A strict taskmaster, you’d get no breaks or compliments from him. He spent most of his time yelling at us over an intercom, and no one was immune from his criticism. Coach Kravitz took us on the road for practice. He wasn’t as stern as Coach Oliver, but he was no piece of cake either. He was good at recognizing mistakes, but he didn’t yell the way Coach Oliver did.

  The coaches split the class into two groups. Each group would spend two week intervals either in the classroom or on the range. Coach Kravitz would select students from the range group to go on the road. I would be in the classroom with Coach Maharis for the first two weeks.

  Coach seated us alphabetically, but I didn’t know anyone that was sitting around me. Actually, I didn’t know anyone in my group at all. I soon met Mona Jones who was sitting in front of me. Mona was about my height, but she was boney. She had long dishwater blond hair and big blue eyes. She was very friendly, and she loved to talk. We became friends the very first day of class. She introduced me to her cousin Bill who was also in the class. Bill was tall and lanky. He had the same color hair as Mona, but his eyes were a duller shade of blue. He liked to talk almost as much as Mona, so I did a lot of listening when they were both around.

  There were also some changes on the bus. A new family had moved in next door to Aurelia, and there were several children. Three of them started riding our bus. Stella was the youngest of the three. She was a freshman, and she was extremely shy. She had long curly brown hair and she wore thick glasses over her blue eyes. She seemed nice, but she rarely spoke to anyone other than her brothers, Wayne and Roger. The boys were twins and they were juniors. Wayne was very friendly and witty. I liked him immediately. He wasn’t handsome at all with his uneven blue eyes, crooked nose, and dull brownish-gray hair that had a cowlick in front. But he was a charmer. Kind-hearted and sincere, Wayne always made me laugh. Roger was more arrogant and less pleasant. Although they were twins, Roger didn’t look much like Wayne. Roger had the same washed out hair color as Wayne, but Roger had an extremely handsome face. While Wayne was gangly and somewhat scrawny, Roger was much shorter and compactly built. I didn’t much care for Roger and he didn’t seem to like me either, but it was clear that Roger loved his brother and sister very much. With the addition of these new faces, the bus began to be interesting again, and I quit dreading the trips I had to make on it.