Eighty and Out (5 page)

Early the next morning, I found my mom curled in a fetal position on the couch. She was still asleep, wearing her clothes from the day before, and there were crumpled tissues strewn all over the coffee table.

I tiptoed across the carpet and pulled the quilt over her shoulders, then gathered the tissues off the table and carried them to the kitchen garbage. After I threw them away, I heard the floor creak behind me.

“Hey,” Jeannie whispered, still in her pajamas. “You hungry?”

“Yeah.” We’d gone to bed without a real dinner. The news of Aunt Violet’s passing had left everyone without an appetite. “How about we make breakfast?” I suggested.

Jeannie nodded, then we quietly pulled everything out and began cooking. The aroma of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon wafted through the air, and soon after, Mom came in.

“What’s all this?” she asked. She looked like she’d aged several years overnight.

“We thought you could use some help,” Jeannie said, which brought the first smile I’d seen on Mom’s face since the bad news came.

“Thanks,” Mom said. “I really appreciate this.”

She set the table while Jeannie and I served the food. Dad came in and took a seat. After taking a bite of his eggs, he said, “Who knew my daughters were such amazing cooks?”

Jeannie and I smiled at the compliment, and we dug into our meal, which did taste pretty darn good.

“We’ll have to go to the nursing home today. Take care of things there and make funeral arrangements,” Mom said in a quiet voice.

Dad took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “We’ll get it all taken care of today,” he said.

When we had finished eating, we got cleaned up and drove to the funeral home. Mom and Dad spoke with the man in charge while Jeannie and I waited outside.

“This place gives me the creeps,” I said.

“Tell me about it,” Jeannie agreed. “It’s spooky.”

“Poor Aunt Violet. She lived a long life, though. Eighty-four-years-old.”

“Too long. The last few years all she did was lie in bed in pain.” Jeannie eyed me. “Eighty and out, right?”

I grinned. “You said it, sister.”

I was just about to tell her about the new boy I met when our parents came out. Mom was sniffling again, and Dad had his arm around her, telling her everything was going to be all right.

No one spoke on the way to the nursing home, and as we pulled in, I felt a wave of sadness wash over me that hadn’t hit before. In the past, I’d complained about visiting Aunt Violet, but now that I knew how important she had been to my mom, I felt the weight of her loss.

We stepped out of the car. “I can’t do this,” Mom said, choking back tears.

Her tears triggered mine, but I wiped them from my face and took her hand. “We’re going to do it together.”

She looked at me, no longer having to look down because I had grown taller. “Okay.”

A woman at the front desk had some papers for her to sign, and as she handled that, I glanced around, wondering how all these people ended up here, and if they could possibly find happiness in a place like this. As I considered their predicament, the woman in charge told us to follow her. She took us to Aunt Violet’s room and pointed to a box. “We’ve gathered all Violet’s belongings for you,” she said. “We thought it might make it easier.”

Mom nodded. “May we have a moment before we go?”

“Of course,” the woman said, leaving and closing the door behind her.

I watched as Mom wordlessly scanned the walls, gazed out the window for a while, and then ran her finger across the railing of the bed.

She turned to Dad. “I’m ready,” she whispered.

Dad picked up the box and we left. On the way out, I made eye contact with an elderly woman. She wore a house dress with slippers and was hunched over, gripping her walker. She looked aggravated, like life had let her down.

I averted my gaze and decided to never set foot in a place like that ever again.

Later that night, after Dad and Jeannie had gone to bed, I got up to get a glass of water and found my mom in the living room, looking at Aunt Violet’s things.

Mom pulled a framed photo out and set it on the table. The one of Aunt Violet and her husband, Irving. She grabbed the photo I liked of Aunt Violet in the gown. I took it from her.

“She looked like a movie star,” I said.

Mom smiled. “She did, didn’t she?”

I saw a brightly-colored silk scarf wound into a ball and pulled it out of the box. “This is pretty,” I said.

“I bought that for her for Christmas a long time ago.”

I studied the print closer. “You can try it on if you like,” Mom said.

I wrapped it around my neck so it hung unevenly, then I flipped my hair and smiled. “What do you think?”

“It looks good on you. You should keep it,” she said. “Something to remember her by.”

“Thanks.” I gave her a kiss and went back to my room.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. The scarf did look good on me. I decided to wear it to the movies with Jim. The diner! I was supposed to meet Jim and tell him if my parents would let me go to the movies with him. “Shoot,” I said.

The next morning Jeannie and I were talking when she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just I was supposed to meet someone, and with everything that happened yesterday, I couldn’t.”

Jeannie’s interest was piqued. “Who?”

“A guy.”

“What guy?”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “His name is Jim. He just moved here from New York.”

Jeannie looked impressed. “How did you meet him?”

I told her the story. “He sounds great,” she said. “But what are you going to do now? He was probably waiting for you and thinks you blew him off.”

The irony of how that had happened wasn’t lost on me, which made me feel worse. I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t interested in him or trying to teach him a lesson for joking about calling Sandy.

“I don’t think it’s a good time to ask Mom,” I said. “I’ve never been on a date before, and now with Aunt Violet passing...” I sighed.

“You’re going to have to ask Dad,” Jeannie said.

“He’s not going to go for it.”

“He will if you say Bernice is going with. Or just say you’re going to a movie with her and go with Jim instead.”

Jeannie was only thirteen-years-old, but she was already advanced in the thinking-quick-on-her-feet department.

“Good ideas,” I said.

Dad was in the bathroom, combing his hair.

“Hey, Dad. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, honey. What’s up?”

I was nervous, but figured I’d try being honest. “A boy asked me to go to the movies with him, and I wanted to know if that was okay?”

Dad’s expression grew serious. “Wow,” he said, rubbing his chin. “We’re at that point already, huh?”

“Guess so.”

He was quiet for a minute, and during the silence I wondered if I should have listened to Jeannie.

“Tell you what,” he said. “Let me run it past your mother first.”

That was never a good sign. It was a guaranteed no.

I went outside and sulked. At least I tried, I thought. When I returned home, Mom was sitting in the kitchen having coffee. She set her cup down when I came in the room.

“Your father tells me a boy asked you on a date.”

“Yeah. His name is Jim. He just moved here from New York. He seems nice,” I said.

Mom smiled faintly. “You’re growing up, Lou. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.”

I glanced down, unsure what to say. She was quiet for a while, then said, “I guess it would be all right if you went to a movie, but that’s it. No drive-in movies or drag racing or riding in cars with boys. Understood?”

“Understood,” I repeated. Riding in a car with a boy meant the end of a good reputation. I would never take a chance and do something stupid like that.

After fussing over my hair and donning my nicest dress, I headed to the soda shop. Though it was the wrong day, I showed up at the time Jim and I had agreed on in case he was there. I scanned the diner but didn’t see him. My heart sank.

“You stood me up,” a voice said from behind me.

I turned and found Jim leaning against the counter, smiling. He looked even better than the first time I had seen him.

“I’ve got a good excuse,” I replied, wearing my cutest pout.

“I figured you were trying to give me a taste of my own medicine.”

“Nope. Nothing like that. There was a death in the family.”

“Oh. That’s awful,” he said, looking genuinely saddened. “I’m sorry to hear it.”

“Thanks. It was my mom’s aunt. She was eighty-four-years-old, so at least she lived a long life.”

He nodded. “You wanna share a malt? It might make you feel better.”

I smiled. “Sounds good.”

We sat in an available booth, and he told the waiter our order. I felt comfortable around him even though we’d just met.

Our shake arrived. “They’re starting to know me here. Three days in row.” He grinned, taking a sip from his straw.

I leaned in and sipped from mine.

“I’m hoping you’ve got good news from your parents?” he asked.

“Surprisingly, I do. They agreed to let me go to the movies with you, but it came with conditions.”

Jim sat up straight. “What kind of conditions?”

“They said I could go to the movies with you, but no drive-in movies, no riding in the car with you, and no drag racing.”

“No drag racing?” He looked disappointed. “And here I’ve got a Matador Red ’57 Chevy Bel Air. What a shame.”

I couldn’t believe he had such a nice car. No one I knew had one. “Well, Mom didn’t say anything about being a spectator.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to break any of your parent’s rules. I don’t race my car. I’ve got more important things to do with my time, like make money to take you to the movies.”

I lit up. It felt good to be the thought of as important.

“When would you like to go?” he asked.

“Well, the funeral is tomorrow, and I should probably hang around the house. My mom has been really sad – she needs someone to cheer her up. Is Saturday afternoon good?”

“Saturday’s perfect. I’d offer to give you a ride, but since you’re not allowed, let’s meet in front of the theater at noon.”

“Okay.” I said, smiling brightly. “I should be going home now. I told my mom I wouldn’t be gone long.”

“So soon?” Jim offered an exaggerated frown. “Okay, see you Saturday then.”

“See you,” I said as I stood. “And thanks for the malt.”

“My pleasure,” he said in a velvety voice.

I floated out the door, and once I was down the street, began skipping. I couldn’t wait to see Bernice and tell her all the news. So much had changed in a few short days.

When I got home, I barged into Jeannie’s room and jumped on her bed. “I’m so excited,” I said.

Jeannie looked groggy. “That’s swell, but can you please not shake the bed?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I got my period. Being a woman isn’t as fun as I thought it would be.” She frowned.

I remembered my first one. The cramps were excruciating. “Do you want me to get you some aspirin?”

She shook her head. “Already took some. Just waiting for the pain to go away.” She fluffed her pillow, trying to get comfortable again. “So tell me what’s going on.”

“I went to see if the guy who asked me out was around, and he was. I told him Mom said I could go to the movies with him, and now we have a date for this weekend.”

Jeannie’s eyes grew wide. “Mom agreed to that?”

“Yep.”

“Well, at least someone gets to do fun things around here,” she said with a smirk.

I wasn’t sure why she was reacting like that. There had never been any hostility between us.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She sighed. “There’s a boy I like, too. And when I hinted about going on a date with him, Mom immediately shut me down.”

“What do you mean there’s a boy you like? When did this happen? Geez. I thought you told me everything.”

“I didn’t tell you because he’s a little older.”

“How much older?”

“Over eighteen.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How much over eighteen?”

“He’s nineteen.”

My exciting news had been trumped by her news, but I didn’t mind. I wanted her to tell me everything, and from the way she was acting, it seemed I’d have to pull it out of her bit by bit.

“Mom’s not going to let you go out with a guy yet, especially not one over eighteen.”

“I know. That’s why I left that part out. I just said a boy had asked me to go to a movie. I figured you were going to ask, so maybe it would work for me, too.”

“Yeah. But I’m a few years older than you, and even then it was like they were going to say no.”

“I’m almost fourteen,” Jeannie added.

“Like that makes a difference to Mom and Dad.” I shook my head at her. She had guts. I’d give her that. “Tell me more about him. How’d you meet a guy so old?”

“He’s not old,” Jeannie snapped.

“You know what I mean.”

Jeannie hesitated. “He works at Smith’s Auto Shop.”

“Okay. But how do you know him? You said he asked you out.”

“I talked to him once when I was there with Dad. He came around with the keys while Dad was in the restroom, and we got to chatting.”

“Did Dad see?”

“No.”

“What’s his name?” I asked. She was being unusually guarded about him, and I didn’t like it.

“Chuck,” she said, smiling. “He’s really nice. And dreamy, with blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“And just like that he asked you out?”

“Yep.”

I frowned. But maybe Mom was right this time. Maybe she was too young to date, especially someone his age.

Jeannie looked at me. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course.”

She glanced over my shoulder at the bedroom door, making sure it was shut, and lowered her voice. “Next time I was at the shop, I told Chuck the bad news. He said he was heartbroken we couldn’t go on a date but understood.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at how corny that line was but didn’t because it would hurt Jeannie’s feelings.

“One day I was walking home from school, and he saw me and offered to give me a ride, so I accepted. He didn’t drop me off here though, just nearby so I wouldn’t get into trouble.”

My jaw dropped.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Mom and Dad don’t know.”

I wasn’t worried about them. I was worried about who might have seen her get into the car with him. Jeannie might have scammed our parents, but what she didn’t realize was that she was already in deep shit.