Deenie (15 page)

"But Daddy … "

"I know … I know," he said. "It's hard for me too, Deenie."

I ran up to my room and kicked the door shut. My father wasn't going to change his mind—even if I screamed and cried he wasn't going to change it. I knew that. So now it was up to me. I had to think hard. I didn't want to miss Janet's party. I didn't want to miss a lot of things that would be happening in the next four years. But just tonight I wanted to be like everyone else.

Suppose I wore the brace to the party and as soon as I got there I changed? That way Daddy wouldn't know anything because my friends won't tell on me.

And I'll never do it again. I swear this is the first and last time!

I changed into the brace and my regular clothes but I packed the outfit I'd been wearing into a shopping bag. Then I went downstairs.

Daddy drove me to Janet's house and when we got there he leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "I'm glad you changed your mind, Deenie. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

I felt bad about fooling him. I grabbed my shopping bag and opened the car door.

"Have a good time," Daddy said.

"I will," I told him, as I got out of the car.

The front door of Janet's house was open and as I walked in I could hear all the noise coming from her basement. I thought about going straight up to Janet's room to change before anybody saw me. Then I thought about my father and how he trusts me. I've never really lied to him and I don't think he's ever lied to me. I put my shopping bag down in the corner of the living room and went downstairs. Maybe I'd change later.

Janet has this great basement with flowers painted all over the concrete floor and posters decorating every pole. Midge and Barbara were already there. So was Buddy Brader.

"Hey Deenie," he said, when he saw me. "What took you so long? I thought you weren't coming."

"Well, I'm here now," I said.

Mr. Kayser served us a ton of food. There was a dish with rows and rows of turkey and roast beef. I guess he gets it cheap because he's a butcher. Janet said she promised her mother we'd play nice, decent games like charades even though none of us wanted to. Naturally Harvey Grabowsky didn't show up. I guess Janet finally realized he wasn't going to and she settled for Steve Hildrick instead. When she put on the record player they started dancing and I saw her press up against him.

Later Buddy grabbed my hand and led me into the part of the basement where Janet's mother does the laundry. It was dark and kind of damp in there and it smelled like Clorox. Buddy said, "Couldn't you take off your brace for a little while?"

I thought about the shopping bag I'd left upstairs. "No," I told Buddy. "I have to wear it all the time."

"Oh well … " Buddy said. This time when he kissed me I concentrated on kissing him back. I hoped I was doing it right.

Daddy called for me at eleven-thirty and as I got into the car he asked what was in the shopping bag. I told him, "Something I thought I might need for the party … that I didn't need, after all."

Scan Notes:

[15 sep 2005—scanned by ECS]

[21 sep 2005—proofed for Hurricane Ivan]

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eVersion 1.0 - click for scan notes