"Uh, you haven't seen Jamie lately, have you?" Johnny said. He sounded like he had rehearsed it.
Well, it had been one month and four days since the basketball game and I'd thought about her at least every hour since then, but I just said, "Not lately."
I'd see her in the halls and my heart would spook and take off at a pounding gallop. Then she'd just say, "Oh hi," and I'd nod back, cool as possible. After that I'd want to either run up and hug her, or belt her. Or go off somewhere and cry. I didn't do any of them.
I wasn't about to say all that to Johnny.
"Any particular reason?" he asked.
For a second I wondered if Jamie had put him up to this. Maybe she missed me as much as I did her. Then I thought, "No way. She didn't care."
"No special reason," I lied calmly. Johnny looked at me skeptically. "Geez, Tex, you still do like her, don't you?"
He sounded like he couldn't imagine why anybody'd like Jamie.
Me and Johnny could always talk about anything. That was what best friends were for. It was weird, not being able to say anything about this to him. I couldn't do it, though. Finally I just said, "Let's get back. We don't want to miss the fireworks."
"I've called your parents," Mrs. Johnson said.
Capping the typewriters had gone even better than we'd hoped. The dead silence of a school on nine-week test day; everybody a little tense, whether they cared about grades or not--test day'll do that to you; me and Johnny looking at each other, cracking up before anything happened; Miss Carlson frowning, "What are you two..."
And from the typing room next door, noise like a machine gun. Followed by shrieks.
Mrs. Bennet had to go home with a case of nerves. Miss Carlson couldn't get the class calmed down soon enough to have time for the whole test, so she had to divide it into two parts. We heard later that the news made it all over the school in one hour, and over to the high school the next. All in all, it went better than we ever hoped, except that we were the suspects and laughing too hard to deny it.
"Your fathers, I should say."
I stared down at the paperweight on Mrs. Johnson's desk, one of those balls you turn upside down to make it look like a snow scene. I tried to look sorry.
"You called my father? At work?" Johnny's face went white.
"The last time you got into trouble, your father asked me to call him if something happened again. Immediately. He'll be here soon. Tex, your father will be here after school. You can wait in the office until he gets here."
"All day?" I looked at the dock. It was 10:30. "What about the rest of the tests I'm having today?"
"You'll have to worry about that later. I'm not going to give you a chance to disrupt the rest of the day. Just have a seat in the foyer. You'll be there awhile."
The thought of sitting around all day was making me sick. But I didn't feel anywhere near as bad as Johnny. He looked like a ghost. I really felt sorry for him.
He suddenly jumped a little, and quickly jammed his hand down his shirt pocket. "Here," he whispered, handing me his cigarettes. "Holy cow," I breathed, taking them. That would be all he needed, Cole catching him with cigarettes on top of everything else.
"Quiet you two," snapped an office worker. I stuffed the package in my pocket hastily, hearing heavy footsteps in the hall. Johnny looked like he was about to throw up. I glanced up into the doorway, cringing a little myself. It wasn't Cole, it was Mason.
"Hey," I said, "what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Mason said.
My stomach plunged. I hadn't been too afraid of facing Pop, but the look on Mason's face was giving me chills.
"Oh, God Mace, get outta here," Johnny begged, "Cole's going to be--"
Cole walked in the door. I froze where I was slouched in my chair. Johnny looked like he wished he were dead. Only Mason seemed unaffected. He just nodded at Cole like he probably would if he met him in the dime store.
Cole looked at Johnny, then at me. "I might have known," he said.
I managed to pull my legs in under me and straighten up some. Something about the tone of his voice made me feel like I was lower than an earthworm.
"Might have known what?" Mason asked, not hotheaded like you'd expect, just reasonable.
Mrs. Johnson came to the door of her office. "Since I do have a conference room, may I suggest we hold our conference there, instead of here in the hallway? Hello Mason, I don't remember calling you to this meeting."
"I'm here anyway," Mason said. "I knew Pop couldn't get off work and you'd want to talk to somebody about Tex."
"So here you are. Well, come in, everybody."
Everybody waited for Johnny and me to unfold ourselves and troop in first, like criminals going to the execution.
"Might have known what?" Mason asked again, once the office door was shut behind him. Like there hadn't been any interruption.
He could look Cole in the eye. He'd grown that much. Cole stared back at him steadily with those dark blue eyes he'd branded every one of his kids with.
"I might have known that your brother was behind this. He usually is, whenever Johnny gets into trouble."
"Or Johnny gets Tex into trouble. I think it's fifty-fifty," Mason said. He sounded calm, completely in control of himself. Not flaked out like he had been lately.
Cole turned to me. "Tell the truth--"
Man, with Cole Collins towering over you, you told the truth!
"Was this your idea or Johnny's?"
I started to open my mouth, but Mason said, "I know this was Tex's idea, and I know where he got the idea. The point is, it isn't always his fault. Last spring when he and Johnny were messing with the shopping carts at the Safeway store, and Johnny ran Tex into the side of the store and fractured his arm, did I come storming over to your place, trying to get you to lock Johnny up? No. I just figured next time would be Tex's turn to do something stupid."
Cole didn't look convinced. He went back to Johnny. "Didn't I tell you that this friendship wasn't going to do you any good? I want you to promise me that you're going to end it, right here."
Suddenly I was so glad Cole didn't know I was in love with Jamie. For the first time I understood what Romeo and Juliet was about, even though I never have been able to read the play.
"No," Johnny said.
Cole said "What?"
Johnny had more guts than I'll ever give myself credit for--he answered, "No, sir."
"Tex," Mason said suddenly, "tell the truth--" he was half-mocking Cole and didn't care if he did know it--"Are those your cigarettes in your shirt pocket?"
I gave him the dirtiest look I could come up with. Johnny was close to shaking.
"Yeah," I said, "they are."
Cole looked at me, and then at Johnny. Then he said to Mason, "Get to the point."
"The point is, neither one of these two turkeys is perfect. Both of them have a bad tendency toward trouble. But you can't blame Tex every time. He's not a bad kid, and he's not a bad influence, any more than Johnny is."
Suddenly I realized Mace was controlling himself because he cared about what Cole thought of him.
He didn't care if Pop or I saw him lose his temper, but here he was, breaking his back to get Cole's respect. And you could tell by the way Cole looked at him, that he'd gotten it.
Jamie was right, I thought, how weird.
"You may be right," Cole said at last. Shook up as he was, Johnny couldn't help giving me a look of amazement. Somebody other than Cole be right?!
"Well, now that we've agreed that the blame is to be shared equally, maybe you'd like to hear what the punishment is?" Mrs. Johnson said.
"I'd like to hear what your punishment is," Cole said. "What I have in mind may be different."
"Three days suspension. The nine-week tests will be made up every day after school, a test a day. They will receive a grade lower than the grade they score. And I'm sending a recommendation over to the high school that Johnny and Tex be placed in separate
classes next year."
"That sounds fair," Cole said. Then he said, "John, what did I tell you would happen the next time you got into trouble at school?"
"You're going to sell the cycle."
Man, I was so mad I couldn't see straight. They were really being big shots. And when Cole glanced at Mason, I said hotly, "He's already sold my horse, I don't think he can do much else to me."
"I'll probably think of something," Mason said mildly.
"I'm sure you will, you lousy son of a bitch," Johnny said.
Silence. Me and Johnny looked at each other. He'd said it for both of us. And to both of them. We shared a split second of triumph, before Cole took Johnny by the shoulders and marched him out of the office.
"I'll be back this afternoon," Mason said to Mrs. Johnson. "When Pop gets here."
"Mason, I understand your concern, but do you think that's necessary?"
"Oh, yeah," he said, "oh, yeah."
Then it was just me and Mrs. Johnson, looking at each other over her desk. She sighed. "Tex, you better take a seat in the foyer again. You're going to have a long day."
"I reckon so," I paused. "Listen, Mrs. Johnson, I really am sorry. I didn't think it was going to cause all this trouble."
Usually she would give me a wry grin and say, "Try not to let it happen again." But today she set her jaw and said, "Texas, listen to me. You had better start thinking."
I kind of cringed out of her office like a whipped pup. I hate to get people I like mad at me. But I can't seem to stop doing things that make people mad. It is really strange.
Nothing exciting happened in the office that morning, except when I accidentally tripped somebody. My legs are growing so fast it's hard for me to keep track of where the end of 'em are.
I got to leave for twenty minutes to get some lunch, but sitting around had killed my appetite, so I went out to the smoke hole instead of the cafeteria. I was getting congratulated on the best stunt of the year, when I noticed a blue car parked along the road next to the baseball field. I ducked out of the group and ran over.
"Hey, Lem!" I opened the car door and hopped in. "What are you doing out here?"
Lem looked like I'd just woke him up from a nap. "Hey, Tex, how's it goin'? Oh, I'm waiting around for Dwayne Kirkpatrick. I'm tryin' to talk him into letting me have some of that third generation home-grown he's got. Man, I could get a hundred bucks a lid for that stuff. I gotta little bit left, want to try it? One hit'll last you the rest of the day."
"For a hundred bucks a lid it ought to last you the rest of the month. Shoot Lem, nobody's got a hundred bucks to spend on grass."
"You'd be surprised, man. And this is dynamite stuff, killer weed."
"Well, if you're waiting for Dwayne you'll be here all day. He skipped school to go fishing."
Lem shook his head. "That turkey--he's got no sense when it comes to money. He'll make the grade in aggie school, though, 'cause he sure knows how to breed his weeds."
"How's the baby?" I asked. Lem'd been doing grass himself--his eyes were reddish and the car smelled so strong I thought I was going to get a contact high. You know, even though I don't smoke grass much, I really like the way it smells. I always connect it with friendly people.
"Oh, he's fine. You know, that kid really is smarter than the average baby. Connie looked it up in a book. He's real advanced for his age. Big, too."
I hadn't seen Lem in months, not since that time we went to the city to see about Mason's ulcer, but he didn't seem very excited about seeing me. When somebody's smoking it's hard to get them excited about anything except ice cream.
"Still like it in the city?"
"Yeah, there's always something going on. I miss havin' horses, though. I ain't had a chance to ride in a year. When you going to get another horse, kid?"
"I don't want another horse," I said, my stomach tightening. "Losing Negrito was like losing my best friend."
"Well, I know how that feels," Lem said.
"Why don't you come by this afternoon?" I said. "Mason'd be glad to see you." I didn't realize I was lying till I saw the look Lem gave me. I went quiet. Then Lem said, "You know, I used to think all Mason wanted was money. But that ain't it, or he'd be in this business with me, 'cause I'm rolling in it right now. But what he really wants out of life is to be respectable. If that ain't a hell of a goal."
"Different people go different places," I said, getting out. I had to be heading back to the office. "Say hey to Connie and the baby for me."
Lem seemed to be thinking hard for a minute, then he said, "I'm making a delivery out here this afternoon. You want a good deal on white crosses?"
I shook my head and waved him off. Maybe I was just depressed about going back and sitting around the office, but I had a strong feeling that Lem didn't belong in the city. There are people who go places and people who stay and Lem should have stayed.
Mrs. Johnson called me into her office when I got back.
"Tex," she began, then stopped. She sniffed suspiciously.
"Have you been smoking grass?"
Damn. I should have let my clothes air out a little before coming back in. "No, ma'am," I said. "I wouldn't want this day to drag out any longer than it has to."
"I suppose that's true. Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about was a job this summer. Mr. Kencaide of Kencaide Quarter Horses contacted the school, wanting to hire some kids for summer work. Would you be interested?"
"Sure!" I said eagerly.
"Mr. Kencaide wanted me to emphasize that he doesn't want a bronc buster, or people out to play cowboys and Indians. But for some reason I think you'd behave responsibly in a job like that. I don't know why I think that, except I did have one or two people you mowed lawns for last summer call me and say they were pleased with your work Here's Mr. Kencaide's card, give him a call and say I recommended you. Please don't give me any reason to be sorry I did."
"No, I'll do a good job. I take horses serious."
"That may be what saves you. Tex, would being expelled bother you?"
I almost dropped the card. "Expelled?" I managed finally. "Yeah, it would."
"I was seriously considering it today. In fact I've seriously considered it several times during the last three years. I haven't, because I like you. But I like an orderly school even more, and if it comes down to a choice, you just might lose out. Understand?"
I nodded. Expelled--I didn't even know anybody who'd been expelled, except Paula Luiz, for jumping on her home-ec teacher with a rolling pin.
"It's not very long until school's out--but remember, it's never too late to be expelled."
Mrs. Johnson's eyebrows twisted together in the middle when she was saying something serious not very seriously.
"Now just take your seat again. Your father ought to be here about four."
About four. It was noon. I'd heard the phrase killing time, but now I knew what it meant. I felt like I had murdered a whole day. I could never hack an office job. You know how it feels when your foot goes to sleep? Well, by four I felt like my whole body had gone to sleep, including my brain.
Mason came stalking in, right at four. He didn't say much, but it was pretty clear that he'd used up his quota of self-control for the day.
"Come on in, Mason," Mrs. Johnson said. "You, too, Tex."
Almost everybody had gone home, except the sixth-hour gym guys. You could hear them out on the baseball field. Mrs. Johnson wanted to get us out of the way of the janitor, who was mopping the office.
"I don't know if the old man is going to show up or not," Mason said abruptly.
"He said he would when I talked to him," Mrs. Johnson said. "If I remember right, he came up here to talk to me about you a few times. Your big problem was fighting."
It took all Mason's politeness not to scowl at her. He certainly didn't want to remind me that he'd been in trouble before, too.
"Yeah," I said. "I've never been big on fighting."
"But you've been in here for everything el
se since the seventh grade," Mason said. He didn't get into fights much anymore. Nobody wanted to mess with him.
"Well, anyway, this is the first time Pop's had to come in and talk about it," I said defensively.
Mason gave me a sarcastic grin. "It's not the first time he's been asked. It'll just be the first time he's showed up for it."
Just about then Mrs. Seymore, from seventh-grade speech, stuck her head in the door and said, "Helen, come here and look. You won't believe what I've found in a locker..."
That stuff had been going on all day. I never realized how much running around the building was involved in an office job.
"I think I can trust you two to stay here."
"Sure," I said. Mason didn't say anything. I wouldn't have cared if he left. Instead he paced around the room, getting madder and madder.
"I don't know why you have to go poking your nose in," I remarked. I was thinking it was a wonder he had any insides left. He'd had to go to the doctor again, just a few weeks ago.
"I am poking my nose in because I don't want to see you get expelled," he said savagely.
I started. "You knew I might get expelled?"
"God yes--they were laying bets on it over at the high school."
"Huh," I said, amazed. I sure hadn't known what a big deal I was causing.
"You had just better wake up a little, man--" Mason began, when Pop walked in.
"Surprise, surprise," Mason said. Pop took one look at him and decided to ignore him. When Mace was like that, sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't.
"I hear you got into some trouble," Pop said. He'd come straight from work, he was covered with oat dust and burlap fuzz.
"Yeah," I answered. "I glued caps on the typewriter keys this morning. School started off with a bang."
"Well, I wonder where you got that idea." He was trying hard to keep from grinning. I had known all along that Pop wasn't going to think this was real serious--especially since he was the one who had told us about doing the same thing in high school. It probably never occurred to him that I'd try it, but it was a little late to make it the crime of the century.
I couldn't see what else he could do, besides take it calmly, but Mason was absolutely enraged.
"Okay," he stalked around the room like a frenzied panther. "Okay, so you can't take Tex serious. So you can't give a damn about what happens to him. All right, I'm trying to live with that. Then think about me! For God's sake, how do you think I feel, seeing you being 'nice' to him, like you'd be 'nice' to a goddamn stray puppy! While I'm the one who has to look out for him and what's going to happen when I'm not here?"