“Son of a gun! Looks like I got myself a cat!” Jake walked outside to bring in the box he had placed on his deck, hoping this day would come, and filled it with litter from the plastic container he kept in his pantry. He closed and locked the door.
Jake was so pleased seeing the cat sleeping on his couch, he forgot the anger he felt toward his father. He didn’t care about Amanda, either. How weird that a mangy cat could take the place of the luscious Amanda Pettijohn.
As Jake started to get changed he had one leg in his jeans when he thought about Trinity Henderson. He’d promised himself to think about little Trinny. In his bare feet, he walked out to the kitchen, popped a beer, and carried it back to the couch of a thousand smells. He was extra careful not to wake Elway. He made a mental note to take Elway’s picture so he could prove to the other tenants that Elway had indeed come indoors and actually climbed onto the couch and gone to sleep. He propped his feet on the scarred coffee table, fired up a cigarette—his one bad vice, which he had no intention of giving up—and puffed contentedly. He told himself two cigarettes a day weren’t going to harm him. Settled on the couch, he leaned back, closed his eyes, and traveled back in time to the last time he’d seen Trinity Henderson….
The back tire of the bike he was riding skidded on the shale road. A heartbeat later he was flat on his back staring up at Trinity Henderson, who was laughing her head off. Girls are so stupid, was his first thought. Then he decided to cut the girl a little slack because she was great fun. “Anyone else make it out here today?” he grumbled as he got to his feet. He picked up his bike and straddled it.
Trinity brushed at her curly blonde hair that was always full of straw. She was picking at it. She shrugged.
Jake immediately knew what the shrug meant. Sarabess Windsor had corralled the others and invited them to the house to spend time with Emily, which meant there would be no ball game today. “I told them to come in the back way. Miz Windsor can’t see us on the back road,” Jake said.
“Then how do you explain the fact that she was waiting for them on the back road? They didn’t want to go, but you know how Miz Windsor is. She would have called their parents and told them about their bad manners. They’re probably playing Parcheesi, drinking lemonade, and eating those sticky little cakes Emily likes so much. It’s pretty hard to say no to Miz Windsor,” Trinny said sourly.
“That means the guys will be up there for two hours, and I have to get home to mow the lawn. I hate that woman, and I hate Emily even more,” Jake grumbled.
“Yeah, I know. It could be worse, Jake. She could have corralled you, too.”
“Nah. I told my father how much I don’t like her and Emily. I told him I wasn’t going up to the big house anymore. I told my mother, too. My mother told my father I didn’t have to go there if I didn’t want to go. My father tried to tell me it was a charitable thing to do. He meant keeping Emily company. All she does is whine and cry. You have to let her win every game or Miz Windsor gets mad. I’m seventeen, and I think I’m a little old to be playing Parcheesi. I can’t stand that girl. She isn’t even nice to Miz Windsor. My parents would ground me for a month if I sassed them the way Emily sasses her mother.”
“When you’re sick you can do whatever you want.” Trinity gave Jake such a push he sailed forward on his bike. “I heard Emily is sweet on you. Like in really sweet. Marie told me the last time they were up there all Emily wanted to do was talk about you until Miz Windsor made her stop and told her you were too busy with your paper route and all that kind of stuff. Marie said Emily kicked and screamed and said she wanted you there NOW. You must be hot stuff, Jake Forrest. I don’t know how she can think that. You’re so homely, with all those freckles and that hair of yours that stands straight up.”
Jake flushed. “You’re only twelve years old. You shouldn’t be talking about stuff like that. If I’m homely, then you’re downright ugly, with those spaces between your teeth and that pigtail. You have freckles on your nose, too. Look how skinny you are! You look like a stick of spaghetti.”
Trinity stopped in her tracks, hands on her hips. “I can whup your ass with one hand tied behind me. You take that back, Jake Forrest.”
“Not in this lifetime, Trinny Ninny.” Jake pedaled as fast as he could on the shale road because he knew she was going to make good on her threat. “Okay, okay, I didn’t mean it. You’re beautiful even if you do have spaces between your teeth. I’m getting a haircut tomorrow. Truce, Trinny.” He was looking over his shoulder and knew his words weren’t getting through to the skinny girl. From the determined look on her face, he knew she was going to whup his ass. How was that going to look to the others when they found out? And they would find out because Trinny Ninny would make sure she told them. Not good, that was for sure. He slid on the shale and once again was on the ground, Trinity standing over him. He looked up and was stunned to see Trinny’s eyes glistening with tears. Ah, shit! He rolled over and got to his feet. “Okay, take your best shot,” he said cavalierly.
Trinny strode past him. “You aren’t worth it, you jerk!”
“Aw, c’mon, Trinny, give it up. I’m sorry. Maybe I am homely. Who cares? Let’s go riding, or we can hit balls. I’ll pitch to you.”
Trinny pounced and was in his face within seconds. “Are you really sorry, or did you just say that?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, but you are skinny. I guess you can’t help that. Neither one of us can do anything about our freckles. Sooner or later your teeth will grow together. If they don’t, you can always get braces. So, do you want to go riding, or do you want to hit some balls?”
Trinity thought about the question. What she really wanted to do was go swimming in the pond, but there was no way she was going to let Jake Forrest see her skinny body in a bathing suit. He’d laugh himself silly, and she’d cry all night long. “Why don’t you just go home and build your character some more by mowing the grass.”
“If that’s the way you feel about it, I will. Not that my character needs building, either. Who’s being a jerk now?” With that, Jake turned his bike around and headed down the shale road. He pedaled slowly to make sure he didn’t slip again. Trinny would be laughing into next week if that happened. He stopped once, turned around, and waved at his young friend. He felt a lump form in his throat when she didn’t wave back.
When Jake arrived home ahead of schedule, he walked around to the back of the house, where his mother was working in one of the flowerbeds.
“Was the ball game canceled, Jake? You’re home early.”
Jake sat down on the grass and hugged his knees. “Things didn’t work out. The witch got to the guys first. There was just me and Trinny. We got into…a thing, and we both said some things to each other. I hurt her feelings, and she hurt mine.”
“Jake, please don’t call Mrs. Windsor a witch. Why in the world would you say anything unkind to Trinity? I know she’s younger than you are, but that’s no excuse. Little girls have feelings. On top of that, I do believe she has a bit of a crush on you. That’s not like you. Well, Jake?”
Jake plucked at a blade of grass and put it between his fingers and whistled. His mother did her best to hide her smile. “She said I was homely and my hair stuck up or something like that.”
Nola Forrest’s smile blossomed as she plunged the trowel into the soft, loamy earth. “Your hair does stand up on end. You were supposed to get a haircut a week ago. You aren’t homely, you’re rather cute. I think that’s what Trinity was trying to say.”
“Jeez, Mom, you didn’t hear her. That’s not what she was trying to say. I was there, and she was mad.”
“Did you apologize?”
“Yeah, up one side and down the other. She wasn’t buying it, so I came home. How come I have to mow the lawn when we have a gardener?”
Nola smiled again. “Because