Blind Squirrels Read online

  The first week went well. One-hundred percent of the applicants dressed according to the rules and showed up at Pete’s house on Thursday. We passed out the flour to the fifteen candidates and told them the rules. After we had covered everything, Olivia raised her hand.

  “What if we bust the bag? Does that mean we won’t get in?”

  Well, maybe we didn’t cover everything. I quickly made up a new rule. “Not necessarily.” Hopefully, that would appease Olivia and the other applicants.

  “What’s the point then? If I can get in without carrying around this stupid bag of flour, then I’m not carrying around this stupid bag of flour.”

  Olivia was beginning to get on my nerves. “I didn’t say you could or couldn’t get in. It depends.” I had to think fast. “You get points for everything you do – including how many signatures you get. If the bag breaks, you’ll lose points. Just like if you don’t wear pajamas tomorrow.”

  Rita Daltery – now the club president – came to my rescue. “We’ve given you the rules. If you don’t follow them, you won’t get as many points. Total points will determine who gets in and who doesn’t.” Olivia sat down and looked a little annoyed, but she kept quiet. “By the way,” Rita added, “you might want to get members to sign a sheet of paper, too – just in case your bag gets busted. Then you’ll still have a record of everyone you talked to.” Rita was fairly good at making up rules as she went along.

  A week later, Olivia had every member’s signature on her bag. I was very proud of her.

  That Friday, we met in Mrs. Kalakos’ room. Olivia wasn’t there. Three candidates had dropped out of the qualifying; another five had dropped their bags. Of the remaining six applicants, none had more than seven signatures on their bag. Still, we accepted the eleven that were present into the club.

  Just before the meeting ended, Olivia came bolting into the room. She rushed up to Mrs. Kalakos’ desk with a huge bag of flour and it suddenly flew out of her hand. The bag seemed to move in slow motion as it sailed over the desk and hit on the edge of Mrs. Kalakos’ chair. Flour flew everywhere and soon Mrs. Kalakos' desk and chair were covered in it. So was the floor and Olivia. Olivia began sobbing.

  I rushed up to the desk. “Olivia, what happened?”

  “I had all of those signatures, remember?” she sobbed. I nodded and she continued, “I was so happy, but, this morning, I dropped my flour on the way to the bus stop. I ran home and got the five pound bag of flour my mom bought at the store a few days ago. I was late because I was trying to put all of the signatures on the new bag so no one would know I busted the other one. Now look what happened.”

  “So you didn’t think anyone would notice that your bag had grown by four pounds during the week?” I asked.

  “I thought maybe everyone would believe that it got bigger and heavier as I got the signatures. Dang it, Kat, I didn’t really think about that,” Olivia moaned.

  Everyone started laughing at Olivia’s story, and I told her that she could still be in the club. She seemed genuinely happy. I know I was.

  As the days slowly passed, I began hanging around Felicia and Laura more and more. I often left Olivia and Aurelia so I could be with them. Felicia and Laura seemed cooler than Olivia, and I wanted to be popular. When Felicia and Laura talked about other people, I joined right in – thinking they would accept me. Laura and Felicia soon started making fun of Olivia. I wouldn’t join in, but I didn’t tell them to stop either. Whenever I hung around Olivia, I felt guilty for not defending her. My solution was to hang around her less.

  Olivia never gave up on me. She continued to be my friend even when she knew what Felicia and Laura were saying about her. Olivia never did anything to hurt me, and she never tried to make me stop being friends with Laura or Felicia. She did warn me several times that Laura and especially Felicia were just using me and that they weren’t really my friends at all.

  I did notice that when Felicia was around, Laura tried to impress her, and she didn’t mind humiliating me to do it. But when Felicia wasn’t there, Laura was the way she’d been in middle school. I was clearly Laura’s best friend when Felicia wasn’t present, but, when Felicia showed up, she was suddenly Laura’s best friend – and I was just a peon, an underling, a nobody. Nevertheless, I stuck with them and allowed my friendship with Olivia to become secondary.

  In October, I momentarily resurrected my friendship with Olivia. She got her driver’s license, and she began driving us to our Bons Copains meetings. We also started hanging out on the weekends, and this is the time we started driving past Pete’s house. Olivia would bring either her John Denver tape or her Statler Brothers tape, and I was soon singing along to all the songs.

  I was anxiously awaiting my sixteenth birthday for two reasons: I’d be able to drive and date. My car – a bright green Barracuda – was already waiting for me. My parents had bought it from my brother Rick just for me. None of my other friends had their own car, so I felt very lucky. The date – a sailor named Greg that my mom met at the beauty shop – was also waiting for me. He kept begging my mom to let him take me out before I turned sixteen because he was going to transfer just before Christmas. She relented two weeks before my birthday.

  I hadn’t met Greg, but my mom told me that he was cute and nice. I soon learned that my mom didn’t know everything. We were going to go out on Friday night. I put on an attractive outfit and waited with growing anticipation. He was late. I waited two hours, and he never showed up. I didn’t know whether to be devastated or humiliated. I put on my nightgown and stared out the window. The ringing phone startled me. It was Greg. He had drawn duty for the night, but would I mind if he came over the next day? He was so sweet and apologetic that I agreed.

  The next day, a dark blue Toyota truck pulled into our driveway. Greg wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I reserved judgment on him. I had imagined a thin, handsome man – maybe something like my dad – since my mother had picked him out for me. Greg was tall – almost six feet – and he was chubbier than I imagined most Navy men to be. He had a round chubby baby face and baby blue eyes. He parted his brown hair on the left side and it was very short. He was nineteen years old, and he’d only been in the Navy for six months. He was wearing blue jeans and a navy-blue jersey with gold writing – very similar to my Bons Copains jersey.

  I glanced at my fancy pantsuit and panicked. My mom agreed to keep him company until I changed into something more casual. I came out in my club jersey and blue jeans; we matched perfectly.

  Greg and I saw each other almost every day until he transferred to Orlando, Florida. He took me out on my sixteenth birthday, and I had so much fun. Laura was dating a guy name Billy, and the four of us would go out together. We had some really good times together, but Max was always in the back of my mind. I would even have Greg drive me by Max’s whenever we went out. Greg didn’t know, of course. He just didn’t know my neighborhood well enough to get out without my direction. I was always hoping that Max would see us together and get jealous, but it never happened.

  Greg left in Mid-December. He took my address, but I knew he’d never write to me. I was just someone to fill time with – and he was the same to me. Going out with Greg was better than not going out.

  The day after Greg left was our Bons Copains Christmas party at Mrs. Kalakos’ house. My mom let me drive, and Olivia rode with me. I also invited Donna and her sister Colleen, and they rode with us, too. We arrived a little early, and Dmitri asked us to go over to the mall and pick up some Ping-Pong balls. I hesitated because I had heard that Max was going to be at the party, and I didn’t want to miss him. I hadn’t seen him in months. When I realized that it would only take a few minutes, I gave in, and Olivia, Donna, Colleen, and I left for the mall.

  We quickly found a sporting goods store and bought two packs of Ping-Pong balls. As we headed back to the parking lot, Colleen and Olivia spotted Santa Claus.

  “Let’s go see Santa!” Olivia said.

  “Yeah! Come on!�
�� This was Colleen. Colleen was outgoing like Olivia. She was always joking around and making me laugh. Her personality and Donna’s were very similar, but they didn’t look like sisters at all. Of course, both girls had been adopted by the Daleys, so their differing looks were understandable. Colleen fit in well with her Irish Catholic family: long red hair, emerald green eyes, and pale freckly skin. She was also tall and thin, a vast contrast to Donna’s chubby little body.

  “Olivia! Please, you know I want to get back to the party. I can’t miss Max.” I also didn’t want them to embarrass me by being the only teenagers to visit Santa.

  “Colleen! Must you always embarrass me?” At least Donna was on my side.

  Olivia and Colleen listened to our objections, and then they ran over to Santa anyway. I watched in horror as they took turns sitting on his lap. Donna’s dismay was equally visible. After a few minutes, we started walking for the car. We were not going to associate with those two nincompoops.

  Olivia and Colleen showed up at the car just as I was deciding to leave them. Donna and I refused to speak to either of them. Colleen insisted on talking.

  “We were only having fun. Isn’t that what tonight is all about? Life is too short to live like squares. Lighten up...Have fun!”

  Donna and I decided that maybe Colleen was right. We had only wasted ten minutes. No one had laughed and pointed at us. It wasn’t the end of the world.

  Back at Mrs. Kalakos’ house, there was no sign of Max. I sighed with relief.

  As I headed towards the game room with the Ping-Pong balls, I noticed that quite a few guests were there. Sunny, Rita, and several new members were sitting in the living room, while Pete McDermott and Kenny Byron stood in the kitchen eating. Kenny was a snob who thought he was God’s gift to women. Most girls thought he was gorgeous – sandy brown hair in a tight perm, big blue eyes, a pleasant face, and a perfect body. I suppose he was cute enough, but I couldn’t stand him. Once you ripped off the pretty paper, you would want to return the gift right away. He was rude and obnoxious to almost everyone. He had no desire to learn – football would get him where he wanted to go. I had learned all I needed to know about Kenny in Physics class where he spent most of his time sleeping. Pete and Kenny were best friends, so I found myself being leery of Pete, too.

  Michael Barr was in the game room, and he was happy to see the Ping-Pong balls. I watched him play a game with Dmitri, and then Pete came in to challenge Mike. They struck up a conversation, and I eavesdropped. After a little small talk, they moved on to something of interest.

  “How long have you been here, Pete?” Mike asked.

  “Twenty minutes maybe,” Pete answered.

  “I guess you saw Max Savage then,” Mike said.

  “Yeah. He was with Matt Bruin...All right! My point!” Pete went on to win the game, and there was no more talk of Max.

  After the game was over, I pulled Mike to the side. “Did you say Max was already here? Where is he now?”

  “Oh, he only stayed about five minutes. He and Matt were going somewhere else. He did ask about you though.”

  “He did not!” I wanted to believe, but I couldn’t.

  “Dmitri told him that you went to buy Ping-Pong balls and that you’d be right back. Then Sunny told him that your boyfriend was also coming to the party. Max left right after that.” Mike seemed sincere, and he didn’t really know that I loved Max.

  “Boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend. Why did she tell him that?”

  “You’ll have to ask her.”

  I stormed out of the game room and headed straight for Sunny. Just as I reached her, she looked up and smiled. “Is your boyfriend here? I really want to meet him.”

  Her innocent look stalled me out. All I could manage was, “Huh?”

  “Your boyfriend, Greg. Where is he?” I wondered how she knew about Greg. I hadn’t really bragged about him or anything.

  “Greg isn’t my boyfriend. I dated him for a while, but he’s moved to Orlando now. I’ll probably never see him again.”

  “That’s too bad. Oh, by the way, did you know Max was here earlier? He asked about you.”

  I urgently had to get away from Sunny. She hadn’t meant to, but she had ruined my night – my life even. I ran outside into the cool night air. Mike was standing in the driveway with a beer. “Where can I get one of those?” I asked.

  Mike opened a cooler and took out a bottle. “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot that you’re the beer guzzling queen. Here. There’s plenty more where that came from.”

  I drank two beers while Mike and I talked. As the beer and the conversation began to run out, we both went back inside. Colleen and Olivia were sitting in the kitchen. Olivia was admiring Pete, and Kenny was flexing his pecs for Colleen. Donna was in the living room acting demure as Dmitri sat very close beside her. I wondered where Mrs. Kalakos was because Dmitri was behaving like a smitten schoolboy. Donna had that way with men. None of my friends seemed to be missing me, so I followed Mike upstairs.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I left my coat up here, and I’m getting cold.”

  We walked into the master bedroom. Coats covered the bed. Mike described his leather jacket to me, and we began looking for it. We both grabbed hold of it at the same time and began laughing as we tugged it back and forth between us. Mike gave the coat a powerful tug, and I lost my footing. I tumbled across the bed until I landed at Mike’s feet. He took my hand and pulled me up. Our eyes met and he pulled me close to him. We began kissing. I had very little experience with kissing, but I knew this was a great one. I lost track of time and space as we found our way to the bed. My head was spinning, but I wasn’t sure if it was the kiss or the beer. Just then, we heard someone clear their throat.

  “I think you two better get downstairs.” It was Mrs. Kalakos. We quickly got up and rushed past her. My cheeks were burning, and Mike was red all over. She said something else about behaving ourselves, but we were moving too fast to fully understand her.

  As we trotted down the stairs together, Mike whispered, “Maybe you can give me a ride home tonight. I would really like to spend some time with you.” I was unable to speak, and I needed another beer. Mike’s idea sounded good; I just didn’t know if my friends would go for it.

  Back outside, I inhaled three more beers, and I saw Mike drinking more, too. He was looking better and better to me. He wasn’t Max, but he was somewhat cute. And with all that beer in me, all I could think about was that I desperately wanted a boyfriend. I decided that I would take him home whether my friends wanted me to or not.

  Olivia came outside. “Dmitri’s playing an Elton John album on his stereo. Why don’t you come in?”

  I was afraid to come across Mrs. Kalakos again, but I needed to sit down. Hearing Elton would also help my spirits. “Okay,” I told her.

  The album was Elton’s Greatest Hits. While listening to it, I started aching for Max all over again. Finally I turned to Donna. “Let’s go. Do you think Colleen will drive?”

  Colleen heard me. “I can’t drive a stick shift. You’ll have to do it.”

  I thought about Mike. I wanted to sit in the back with him. “I’ll talk you through it. I’m too drunk to drive.”

  “Okay, if you say so,” Colleen said, shrugging her shoulders.

  “We’re going to take Mike Barr home. Let me go get him.”

  I rushed outside to find Mike. He was talking to Rita. As I approached them, I heard him say to her, “Will you give me a ride home? I’d like to spend some time with you.”

  I was too drunk to be hurt by what I heard, but I still felt my eyes welling up with tears. I was sober enough to realize that Mike was either a jerk or very drunk – maybe both. I turned around and went back inside. He could find his way home without me.

  “Where’s Mike?” Olivia asked.

  “He’s riding with someone else. Let’s go.”

  Colleen started the car easily. I knew she was going to do a good job. “Shift into first
. Okay, slowly take your foot off the clutch...” The car jerked, sputtered, and died. “I said slowly! Also, you have to give it gas at the same time.”

  Colleen started the car again. She jerked her foot off the clutch and gunned the gas. The tires squealed, and we roared onto the street. “Shift gears!” I yelled.

  “How?” she yelled back.

  “Put in the clutch; pull the gear shift down. Then let out the clutch and give it more gas. Oh – and remember to watch where you’re going.”

  Colleen did as I said, and we jerked and bucked and squealed our way down the street. After two or three miles, I said, “Let me drive.” Colleen gladly stopped the car – by stomping the brake and pulling the clutch out at the same time – and I moved to the driver’s seat.

  “It’s too early to go home,” Olivia said as we smoothly glided back into traffic.

  “Let’s just ride around awhile,” Donna suggested.

  We drove to a more rural part of town, and I turned onto Harmony Highway – a two lane road with mostly residential lots. The speed limit was thirty-five, and I was keeping to it. Suddenly, a car pulled up in the lane next to us; fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic. I looked to see who was driving. Teenage boys filled the car, and they were yelling and motioning for me to pull over. Instead, I slowed down and watched them drive away from us.

  Up ahead was a convenience store, and I needed to pee. I pulled into the store’s parking lot and then ran inside. Olivia and Colleen went inside for munchies, but Donna stayed in the car. While the rest of us were inside, the car full of boys pulled in beside my car. When I came out, four boys were encircling my car. One of them was trying to get Donna to get out, but she was acting uncharacteristically skittish and bashful. Olivia and Colleen came out, and the three of us pushed our way into the car. We drove off and left the raging hormones in the parking lot.

  It was then that Donna noticed that Olivia had a pack of toilet paper. “Gosh, Olivia! Are you afraid we won’t make it to the next 7-11?”

  It was Colleen who answered. “We thought we might TP a house or two tonight.” Here we go with their brand of humor again.