Chapter 69: Absence Makes Things Grow Fonder

Friday, March 19, 1982

We met Mom and Dad for breakfast at 7:30am, were checked out by 9:30, and were home around 1:30pm, after grabbing lunch at a Stuckey’s. I phoned Jasmine once we were in the house and, fortunately, got her.

“Hello?”

“Jasmine!”

“Steve! I missed you!”

“Me, too!”

“Are you back?”

“Yeah. Just got back.”

“Free for dinner? And, dessert?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea!”

“Just us, tonight. Lexi will be joining us tomorrow evening. Sheila wants time before Sadie Hawkins so you have some schedule juggling to do, but don’t make it tomorrow at lunchtime. You need your energy!”

I chuckled. “Yes, Honey.”

“We’ve got plenty to talk about. All good, don’t worry, I’m not pulling the ‘we need to talk’ line on you. Yet.”

“Yes, Dear.”

“Consider yourself smacked! Pho?”

“Consider the joke made.” She giggled at that. “5pm?”

“Works great. See you then!”

“I love you, Jasmine Nguyen.”

“And I love you, Steve Marshall.”

Angie and I took advantage of the open afternoon to run to the Radio Shack and browse answering machines. We’d never gotten around to getting one, and this seemed like a good time.

I was a bit stunned at how expensive they were. Angie and I both rolled our eyes and wished time would march on a little faster. At least we had plenty of money.

We decided we had to have remote playback, since we planned on concealing the machine. We didn’t want to dig into its hiding place every time there was a message. That created its own problem — we would need to be diligent about checking, or we’d miss something. But Mom playing back messages was potentially disastrous if we used it for much of anything.

Once we had that settled, I also called AT&T and added call waiting. It’d been bothering me for over a year that, if one of us (most likely Angie) had been on the phone at the wrong time, the world would be without Candice Matthews. Our local exchange hadn’t been eligible for call waiting then, but it was now. One more thing to not worry about as much.

I just stashed the machine for now. It would take serious rewiring to get it set up the way we wanted it. That was a task for another day. I changed into some nice going-out clothes and was at Jasmine’s at 5pm.

To my surprise, she wasn’t waiting, and Camille answered the door. “Hello, Steve! It’s good to see you.”

“A pleasure, Camille.”

“I wished to speak to you, just for a moment. I know we aren’t like most parents. We consider that to be a good thing.” She grinned and winked. “We also consider you to be a good thing for our daughter. I wanted to let you know this, as I think you are someone who would appreciate it. Most teenagers ... they do not want to speak to their date’s parents any more than necessary. You, and your sister as well, are always welcome at our house.”

I’m sure I was blushing, though I was getting good at keeping it under control. “Thank you. I love your daughter and will always try to make her happy.”

She nodded. “But you are a check on some of her impulses. Believe me,” she said with a soft little chuckle, “I am well aware that, sometimes, one is more happy when one does not indulge every whim along the way.”

“I agree, but I’m sure you knew I would.”

She nodded. “We have no illusions about teenage love, yet ... you are good for her, and it seemed right to let you know that we think so. Having no illusions simply means nothing is a foregone conclusion.”

“Thank you again. I very much appreciate it.”

She hugged me and kissed both of my cheeks, something I guessed I might need to get used to. “She is waiting. Impatiently, I believe.” She turned and opened the door and Jasmine was indeed just inside, smiling, and jumping into my arms as soon as she could get around her mother.

“I missed you! Bye, Mama!”

“Goodbye, Honey. Have fun. Enjoy your pho!” She chuckled, enough that I was certain she was well aware of the pun.

I took Jasmine’s hand and walked her to the car, helping her in, then getting in and getting on the road.

“Mama, no doubt, wanted to tell you they approve.” I nodded and she grinned and chuckled softly. “I’m glad you pass the ‘mama test’. That means you pass the papa test and can stop worrying about shotguns! Seriously, she’s right. You are good for me. I think I’m good for you, too, but you’re quite good for me.”

“Oh, you’re very good for me. And I don’t mean that way. Though, that way, too.”

She giggled. “I’ve gotten you into a lot of extra work. And extra ... drama.”

“Extra work that I’m enjoying and that’s good for me. I mean, who would’ve thought I’d be performing in a musical? Ever! And yet here we are, getting ready. And, Lexi and Sheila? Mikayla? That’s good drama. I like them all.”

She hesitated. “I decided I should ask you. Do you want me to invite you sometime when Angie is over?”

I shook my head. “We talked about it. I think ... well. You know we have our own ... um ... take on things, I guess. Before, I thought yes, but ... no. Neither of us is comfortable with that, not as long as we are trying to behave. And that’ll be the rule for a long while.”

“I understand. That makes sense. I’d, of course, offer you my room if that was the issue, but I know it’s not.”

“Not at all. We could find privacy. So, besides that, what’s up?”

“First, let’s just say that my sources say that your turning down Jessica has significantly improved your dating appeal. Not that it was low anyway, but still.”

“I’m not even sure how that makes sense. I turn down the hottest girl in the school by most standards, so other girls want me to ... turn them down?”

She giggled. “I know, right? But now you’re a catch. And yes, word is everywhere that you and Jessica may well date after all. Doesn’t matter. No one said these things were rational.”

“I don’t know that I need any more dates.”

“At this point, the more you turn down, the more in demand you’ll be.”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?”

She giggled. “I advise not telling any of them you’re comparing them to horses.”

“Yeah. I value my life.”

We pulled up to Pho King, got out, and busied ourselves ordering noodle soup. I ordered a large again, to a grin from Jasmine. “Angie?”

I nodded. “She loves Pho King, too.”

“Who doesn’t?” she said with a big grin.

We picked a table and sat next to each other, holding hands, snuggled together. “The next bit of news making the way through the gossip mill is you and James Palmer squaring off in the cafeteria. I’m not sure he could have done anything worse for his chances. Probably a hundred people or more saw at least part of that little stunt, with him almost charging you — twice! — and with full senior-to-be arrogance. He and Cindy are egging each other on to self-destruct, I think. I’d watch my back if there’s no teachers around, though. He, Ray Dixon, and Randy Holmes might resort to violence. Alone, or perhaps together. Bunch of hotheads all around.”

“Wonderful. I don’t need to get jumped twice in the same year.”

“Just watch your back. If they strike first, put them down.”

Inside, I was laughing at that. 1982, right? I’d lived through decades of ‘zero tolerance’ policies, policies that wouldn’t exist for years yet. By the time my kids were in school, anyone who fought was in trouble, whether aggressor or victim. Defend yourself and you get the same punishment as the bully. That was completely not accurate in 1982. In a way, I’d already used it when fighting Max, but that was much more about not caring if I got in trouble, and the fight being in a place teachers avoid noticing, for whatever reason.

“I will. You don’t think Randy would go after Lizzie, do you?”

“Nah. Beating up the lezzie chick? He’d be a total laughingstock. Wait, unless you mean ... huh. Damn. I ... maybe? He’s the sort of idiot who’d think she’s ‘asking for it.’ I imagine she already knows to watch her back, though.”

“Probably so.”

“Things are going to be interesting for the next couple weeks at school.”

“Yeah, I agree. We’re meeting Tuesday to discuss what we’re doing.”

“Basically, keeping your heads down and preparing for the assembly, I think. And making signs, but ... eh. I don’t know that signs matter much.”

“Probably not. Who knows?”