Johnny Pulaski Chapter 17

Posted: April 10, 2006 - 12:17:35 am

Sunday, January the second, 2005 was my last day of freedom. It was back

to school the next day. I went home at nine that morning, changed

clothes, and attended Mass with Dad. It sure wasn't the same as last

Sunday without Mom and Katrina there. Of course the experience didn't

get better seeing the Cavanaughs and Rochellis sitting three pews in

front of us. Tony and Shelia were sitting side by side, of course. After

Mass we shook hands with Father Donovan on the church steps and headed

for the parking lot. Mr. Cavanaugh waved us down just as we were at

Dad's truck.

"Good morning, Paul, Johnny," he said shaking our hands.

Dad and I returned his greetings then Mr. Cavanaugh turned toward me.

"Johnny, I want to apologize for what happened New Year's Eve. Nina told

me about how the Rochelli boy treated you. I hope you realize that I

don't condone anyone acting like that, especially someone dating my

daughter. I am embarrassed that what you said that one night turns out

to be the truth. Ellen and Elaine said you probably wouldn't come over

to see them or me either because of my wife. Please don't do that, you

are good for the twins, and I'll guarantee you will be welcomed in my

house."

I told Mr. Cavanaugh that I believed him and I took his word for what he

said. He nodded and shook our hands again. Dad never said a word the

whole time. We were out of the church parking lot when he asked me to

explain things to him. I did; it took most of the drive home. He didn't

ask me any questions as I talked but he nodded once in a while

indicating that he got my point. When we pulled into the driveway he

turned off his truck and turned to face me.

"I don't know Mrs. Cavanaugh other than seeing her at church, but I was

one of Tom's first clients. Now I'm his smallest, yet I get the same

service that he gives billion dollar corporations. And all our business

is on a service for service basis, I take care of his company's vehicles

in exchange for his legal services. His word is good with me Johnny,

good as gold."

Wow, coming from my father that was quite an endorsement. I mumbled

something about how could he be married to such a shrew. Dad gave me one

of his patented looks.

"Johnny, you only know how she feels about you, she might treat him like

the King of Siam. Don't assume; and treat his wife with the respect you

show him. That's what a man does and you are a man now."

I drove back to Papa and Nana's thinking about what my dad and Mr.

Cavanaugh said. I decided that I wasn't going to let Mrs. Cavanaugh

intimidate me from being friends with her husband or her daughters. I

cleaned my grandparent's house from top to bottom because we were going

to the airport to pick them up at five. I figured that if the house was

clean Papa might give me a reduced sentence for getting his dog beat up.

I hadn't called Papa to tell him about the incident on Dad's advice. Dad

said the dog was fine and to let them enjoy their vacation.

Dad drove Nana's Lincoln to the airport. We met Papa and Nana as soon as

they cleared customs and helped them with their suitcases. After we

exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes Papa asked how Jethro had

behaved for me. I took a deep breath and told him the whole park story,

emphasizing that Jethro was as good as new. Papa's reaction took me

totally by surprise, first he and Nana wanted to know how I was doing

and if the little girl was all right. Then Papa turned to Nana.

"See Nadia, I told you the day I picked him out at the Humane Society he

was special. Now he has saved our Johnny," he said proudly.

Nana didn't have much to say to that other than she'd try to remember it

next time he dug up her roses and only injure him as much as the pit

bulls did. I was forevermore relieved, I'll tell you that.

Dad dropped us off and went on home. I went in with Papa and Nana to get

my bags and tell Jethro goodbye. The big mutt kinda grew on me during

the last couple of weeks. I remember the tape from the interview that

Roland the camera guy had given to Dee-Dee and played it for my

grandparents. Papa thought it was a hoot but Nana was mortified. She

calmed down when the edited version of the interview that was broadcast

came on. In the version that made it on the air, Jethro just sat there

looking half way intelligent with his head cocked to the side.

I gave Nana and Papa their Christmas gifts, Nana's was a framed copy of

the portrait we took; she was as happy with it as Mom had been. Papa was

also thrilled with his rod and reel and the promise that it held of him,

Dad and me going fishing together. I had already mostly spent their

present to me, but Papa insisted on giving me five hundred dollars more

because I'd spent all that money at the vet's. Nana showed me some

picture of the renovated Castle Kaminski; it was an impressive place.

She said Uncle Vik and Alexandra (I'm too young to be a teenager's

auntie) wanted Katrina and I to go over there for a few weeks this

coming summer. I also learned that, after my Dad, I was second in line

to be the Viscount of Kaminski. Take that, Donna Cavanaugh!

I was home by eight and on the phone with Michelle by five after. I told

her again what a great time I'd had on our date. She laughed and said

from where she sat the pleasure was all hers. I asked her if I could

drive her to school tomorrow and she readily agreed. We talked for an

hour and neither of us wanted to hang up when we did.

The routine of school was a blessing of sorts after my frenetic

Christmas vacation. I fell into a nice relaxing rhythm that was helped

along by spending time with Michelle. We dated some and studied together

at least three evenings a week. We sorta became a couple if you can

believe that. We mutually agreed that we weren't going to go steady and

both of us had a few dates with other people. But the fact was that we

enjoyed each other's company the best.

Stan and I both made the baseball team. Stan was a returning starter at

third base and I beat out a couple of other kids for the right fielder's

job. We practiced three days a week, either in the gym, or if the

weather was warm enough, out on the diamond. The baseball coach was our

PE teacher, Mr. Neivers. Coach Neivers had played two years of single

'A' ball for the Cubs organization. When he realized that his potential

for the bigs was limited, he quit the grind and went to college. Neivers

was an excellent coach and really loved the game.

The only bump in the road of my contentment was that jerk, Tony Rochelli.

Rochelli, for some reason, started singling me out for his boastful

derision. At first it was little things, calling me Polack or nerd boy.

Then, thinking he was really clever, he started calling me Ox, short for

Oxymoron; he told his friends knowing it would get back to me. Polish

hero, he explained, was an oxymoron. He was talking about the incident

in the park, of course, saying that it was probably the little girl who

really saved me. I took Papa and Dad's advice about idiots and tried to

ignore his taunting.

Harder to ignore was his relationship with Shelia Cavanaugh. They were

the hot new gossip of the school. He made it well known that he stole

her from me, intimating that I hadn't been man enough for Shelia. Most

everyone knew that was bullshit, even the kids in his snobby clique.

Shelia's behavior during all this was strange too. She hung all over

Tony and openly made out with him in public. She didn't even seem to

mind that his hands were always on her possessively.

It was about the middle of January when I had my first cause to be

alarmed about Shelia. I was sitting alone in my truck one morning in the

student parking lot. I was double-checking an assignment due that day

when I saw Tony's silver Porsche pull in a row behind me, and to my

left. I became curious as to why no one exited the car so I sat there

looking at it in my side mirror. I saw a couple of heads move around

every once in a while but couldn't really see into the car because the

sun was reflecting off its windshield. Finally the doors opened and Tony

and Shelia got out. Shelia looked like she was adjusting her bra as Tony

stood there laughing. Then Tony said something and Shelia started wiping

something white and powdery off her upper lip and nose. Wiping caused

her to sneeze and Tony laughed even harder as she dug out a tissue.

The couple walked past me on the other side of the car to my left. They

didn't have a clue I was there because of the heavily tinted windows of

my truck. Tony had a handful of Shelia's ass as they threaded their way

through the lot. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that they

had been sitting in the car snorting cocaine and fooling around. I wish

I could say that the thought of Shelia Cavanaugh walking into school

with a snoot full of nose candy absolutely blew my mind. But the cold

truth was that it didn't. Shelia Cavanaugh was seventeen, rich and

spoiled; cocaine was the Budweiser of that crowd. I waited until they

were out of sight and followed them in.

I managed to bump into Shelia in the hallway between first and second

period. We exchanged greetings and I surreptitiously studied her face.

She appeared to be high all right, her eyes were a little glassy and she

was more animated than usual. She dismissed me rather abruptly and

continued talking to a couple of her friends. I went through the motions

of being a student until lunch then checked myself out of school

claiming illness. I needed time to think without any distractions. What

the hell was I supposed to do with what I suspected? As I thought about

it, I decided that first I needed more information and that secondly, I

needed some help. I grinned when I thought of just the person to supply

both. I got in my truck and headed to Palmdale Trails to see Al Jerdin.

Al wasn't on duty when I got to the gate so I turned around and took out

my cell phone. I scrolled through my address book and hit dial when the

cursor landed on Nina Murphy's number. Nina answered her cell on the

third ring. We exchanged pleasantries for a minute then I asked her if

she knew how to get in touch with Al Jerdin. She laughed and said just a

second.

"Yo Dude, s'up?"

"Al?"

"Yeah Man, me and Red are at the beach, the waves are righteous today."

I'll just be damned!

"I need to talk to both of you, I need some help."

He said sure and told me where they were. I motored across the causeway

and drove down to the beach approach closest to the jetties. About a

half mile down the beach I found Al and Nina leaning on the hood of an

ancient minivan with a couple of surfboards. It was a cool day and both

of them were wearing full Rip Curl neoprene wetsuits and split toe

booties. Nina looked cute as hell in the skintight suit. I jumped down

from my truck and greeted them. After a few minutes of talk about

surfing I told them what I had witnessed earlier in the parking lot.

Maybe I should have used a different approach to telling them because

Nina went ape shit. It took us five minutes to settle her down enough to

continue, even with me flooding her with calming feelings.

"What can I do, JP?" Al asked.

I explained my just blossoming plan to them. As I saw it, confronting

Shelia about it wouldn't do much good and certainly wouldn't hurt Tony

at all. By the same token, reporting Tony wouldn't do much either. What

I thought we should do was engineer Tony getting busted buying coke,

hopefully in a quantity large enough to cause him serious heartburn.

With Tony dealt with; the family could decide what to do about Shelia. I

had wrestled with my conscience about what to do about Rochelli. Was it

vindictiveness that was driving me to setting up Tony? I decided that

revenge probably had a little to do with it, but my main concern was to

not see Shelia, or any other girl for that matter, continue to be taken

advantage of by that slime ball.

"Al can you check around and see who might be selling to Tony? I'm

figuring it has to be someone up scale, I can't see Tony scoring off a

Latin King on the street corner. Also, just out of curiosity, see if he

is into any other drugs, Ecstasy or something like that. I'm beginning

to suspect that his success with the ladies isn't all because of his charm."

Nina reluctantly signed on with the plan but she insisted on getting her

father, Sean Murphy, involved. Mr. Murphy was semi-retired as the head

of Thornton-Turner security and had access to people and technology to

help cook Tony's goose. Nina was all for Tony getting his nuts crushed

in a vise. After some back and forth, she agreed to keep the Cavanaughs

in the dark about everything until Rochelli was out of the picture.

I left Al and Nina to their waves and headed back to the mainland. I

called my favorite twins as I drove. I wasn't going to get them involved

but I wanted their take on how Shelia had been acting recently. They

were glad to hear from me and invited me over to their house. Their

mother was at a board meeting and wouldn't be home until late. I said

I'd see them in a few.

The housekeeper let me in just as a distinguished looking older man was

making his exit. He had college professor written all over him, down to

the bowtie he was wearing. The girls were waiting for me and dragged me

upstairs. Elaine unlocked their private room and we all sat on the

couch. The twins were wearing identical shorts and Greenday t-shirts.

The shorts were not quite Daisy Dukes and the black t-shirts were not

quite skintight. I spoke first.

"What do you two think about your sister and Tony?"

The twins looked at each other startled.

"That was exactly what we were going to ask you!" Ellen exclaimed.

"I don't know what to think; they sure aren't keeping their relationship

a secret at school," I said.

"He feels her up in front of us and laughs about it if she says

anything. And we saw him with his wiener in her mouth down by the pool

last weekend. She does what he wants like she was hypnotized or

something. He asked us to show him our boobies so he could see if we

really were identical, and she just giggled about it," huffed Elaine.

Wow, things were even worse that I thought. I decided to let the girls

in on my theory because I wanted them to be wary of Tony lest he do

something to them, too.

"Do you think he's giving her drugs?"

They shared that look again; their expressive green eyes open wide.

"That could be Johnny, she is doing things we never in a million years

thought she would do. When she's with him she acts like a ho in a music

video," Ellen said.

"Will you two keep this conversation between just us? I'm pretty sure

Shelia is using cocaine with him and who knows what else he has given

her. Keep an eye on them if you can and make sure he doesn't get one of

you alone. Be careful about leaving your drink near him and don't let

him get a drink for you, Okay?"

"Okay, but what about Sissie? Shouldn't we tell our parents?" Ellen asked.

I explained about how I thought it would go if we made the accusation

without any proof. They saw my point immediately. These girls might be

socially undeveloped but they were seriously smart. I also told them I

had a plan and I hoped to nail Tony in a week or so. If it didn't work I

was going to tell their father my suspicions. Mentioning their parents

caused Ellen to change the subject completely.

"Speaking of parents, Mom had a hissy fit when we said we weren't going

to have a birthday party unless you were invited. Daddy was on our side

too, so that made her even madder."

"That was a bold bluff."

"We weren't bluffing. She has planned this really big deal, when all we

really wanted was a pizza party with some kids our own age. So you are

our date, the party is on February twelfth so don't make any plans."

I told them I'd be honored to be their escort. And that was the truth. I

like the hell out of them; they were this amazing dichotomy of brains

and naiveté.

I did my best to ignore Tony Rochelli at school for the rest of the week

but it seemed the more I ignored him the worse he acted. Thursday I

talked to Dad and Papa about it. I was expecting the standard ignore the

idiot speech that I'd heard twenty times before. I could do that, I

guess I was just venting. So Dad really surprised me.

"Son, this has gone on long enough, sometimes you have to put a bully in

his place. This sounds like one of those times. Do what you have to do

and I'll understand. But be smart about it, okay?"

It was very okay.

Friday morning I timed it so that I ran into Tony in the student parking

lot. He was with Shelia and a few of his friends. I was pretty sure he

was jazzed on coke from the animated way he was talking. As soon as he

made some comment about me being the Polish Fred Sanford because of my

pick up truck I turned on him. I cut loose with every slur I'd ever read

or heard concerning Italians. For the first time in my life I was trying

to instigate a fistfight, intent on hurting someone. I dropped my

backpack making sure I had some room to maneuver as I continued to taunt

him. It was not my finest moment, but I needed him to be angry enough to

swing first.

I got my wish as Tony assumed this kung fu looking stance and tried a

snap kick at my groin. I'm guessing that Tony learned most of his

martial arts watching reruns of */'The Karate Kid'/*. The kick was weak

and he telegraphed it by looking were he was going to kick me. I know it

didn't seem like it last year when Arturo was mopping up the park with

me, but my grandfather really had taught me how to defend myself. I

dropped my arms down, my wrists crossed and easily blocked Tony's Gucci

loafer. As soon as his foot was in the 'V' formed by my wrists I opened

my hands, grabbed his foot and yanked it upward sending Tony sprawling

on his ass.

Tony was livid when he stood up. I put my hands up and motioned him

forward. This wasn't Tony's first fight, had he not been so mad or high,

he might have fared better. I deflected a couple of wild shots as I

looked for an opening. I got it when he threw a looping right hook at

me. Using the hard lessons I learned from Arturo, I stepped inside the

punch and landed a short, crisp jab right on his beak. I didn't have a

clue that snorting cocaine made a persons nose so sensitive. Tony

dropped to his knees in an explosion of snot and blood. As he knelt

there with both hands coving his nose I almost felt sorry for him. I

picked up my book bag and walked to my homeroom, the silence behind me

deafening.

We were fifteen minutes into World History when the intercom squawked.

"Mrs. Gilliam, please have Mr. Pulaski report to the office."

I was expecting the call. I sighed, picked up my books and headed to the

admin offices. One of the secretaries directed me to have a seat. I

plopped down and watched as four or five people went in and out of the

Assistant Principal's office. I recognized all of them as having

witnessed my altercation with Rochelli. I took some comfort in the fact

that they all weren't members of Tony's posse. Five minutes after the

last witness left, Coach Boyette, also the Assistant Principal, called

me into his office. Coach did not look even a little bit happy.

"I just got off the phone with your father, Pulaski, he didn't appear to

be surprised about you being in a fight this morning. He said he would

believe anything you told him because you don't lie. I swear if this is

about that cheerleader you embarrassed yourself over last year I'm going

to nail your nuts to the wall and..."

The intercom interrupted him mid-tirade. He snatched up the phone,

growled something at the secretary, and then shot me an odd look. "Put

him through," he finally said. Still giving me fish eyes, he had this

mostly yes and no conversation on the phone then put down the handset.

He leaned back in his chair; still never taking his eyes off me, he

started tapping the pen he was holding against his desk.

"Speaking of Shelia Cavanaugh, that was her father on the phone. I guess

your father called him. He said he is your family's lawyer, and did he

need to be here. Then */he/* told me that whatever you said would be the

truth. This shit I don't need, especially from you. What was the fight

about and who started it?"

I told Mr. Boyette about the constant sniping that I'd endured from Tony

since school started back up. I said that by this morning I'd had enough

and said some things back to him. I didn't deny that I was spoiling for

a fight, but I did say that Tony threw the first punch.

Coach continued tapping the pen and looking at me after I wound down.

"Fortunately, Rochelli's nose doesn't appear to be broken and he refused

his mother coming to pick him up to take him to a doctor. Everyone,

including Rochelli told me the same thing that you did, minus the

history before this morning. I'm disappointed in you, Pulaski, I though

you were above childish crap like this."

"So did I Coach, the whole thing is not nearly as satisfying as I

thought it would be. I don't see something like this happening again."

"Well, it certainly won't happen in my parking lot because I'm revoking

your parking pass. I'm giving Rochelli a three-day in school suspension.

Now get the hell out of here."

I stared at him in disbelief, revoking my student parking pass was a

diabolical punishment. It meant that I could not drive to school.

"How long?" I asked.

"I'll let you know," he replied.

I nodded glumly and trudged out of his office. From out of nowhere I

remembered the theme song of this detective show I saw on */'Nick At

Night'/*. It went, "don't do the crime, if you can't do the time...",

but holy crap, stuck riding the bus again, that sucked!

My performance in the parking lot drew mixed reviews during the rest of

the school day, but in general there were more, "he deserved its" than

there were "you're an assholes". One person whose response surprised me

was Shelia. I figured she'd let loose on me with that Irish redhead

temper, but the two times we passed in the hall she just looked at me

weirdly. I didn't know what to make of that.

I caught up with Michelle in Spanish. After class, as we walked to her

locker, I told her what happened and my punishment. She said that next

Tuesday she was getting her license and she'd drive me. Then she grinned

and said, "That way I can take you parking every day on the way home."

No one was paying us any attention so I kissed her.

"Rochelli tried to kick me in your birthday present but he missed," I

whispered in her ear.

She blushed prettily and whispered back; "Don't tease me about that

Johnny. Every time I think about it I soak my panties. It's all I can do

to keep from raping you every time we are together."

Michelle and I hadn't gone all the way yet, although we had done about

everything else a couple could do. I was the one to convince her to wait

until her birthday because she'd wanted to make love since after our

first date. I had been putting her off because I didn't want to take her

cherry and leave her with unrealistic expectations that we would be

together forever. I mean, I liked the hell out of Michelle, but I was

nowhere near ready to settle down. I thought that Michelle giving up her

virginity was a big deal and I really didn't know if I was worthy of

getting it if I couldn't commit to her. Yeah, I know, suddenly I was one

of those smart teenagers I complained about who over thought the

problem. Michelle finally had to set me straight.

"Listen Johnny, I like you a lot and I have for years, but I never

considered us getting married or anything like that. I want you to be my

first because I know you'll be loving and sweet and considerate. I

picked you to be the one when I was fourteen, remember. I still feel the

same as I did then. I know in my heart that you'll make it special for me."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

My plan for Tony Rochelli's downfall did not happen the way I

envisioned. Our fight was the reason. Here's what actually happened:

At four in the afternoon of the day I fought Tony, Mr. Cavanaugh called

me on my cell. He asked me if I could come see him immediately. I agreed

and was ringing the doorbell by four-twenty. Ellen answered the door and

led me to Mr. Cavanaugh's home office. Shelia was sitting on the sofa,

God, she looked small and pitiful, her eyes red rimmed, her makeup

streaked and smeared. Elaine and Ellen were sitting on either side of

her holding her hands. Mr. Cavanaugh was sitting behind his desk, I

could tell he was upset, but he was in control of himself.

"Johnny, thank you for coming so quickly. Shelia has been telling me a

most interesting story. She tells me that she and Rochelli have been

partying for three weeks on drugs and booze. Naturally, I wondered if

your fight with the Rochelli boy this morning had anything to do with that."

Man, did that question put me on the spot. I thought for a minute and

asked him if we could speak in private for a moment. He said sure, got

up from behind his desk and walked me to the media room.

"What's this all about Johnny?"

So I told him most everything. When I was finished he sat there with his

fingers steepled, his face a practiced neutral mask.

"You thought of this yourself?" he finally asked.

I nodded affirmatively.

"Why didn't you come directly to me?" he followed up.

I told him my reasoning. It was his turn to nod his understanding. He

stood up and extended his hand.

"You are an extraordinary young man, Johnny, and I'm proud to know you.

I'm also deeply indebted to you. I'll handle things from here, though,

okay?"

With a sigh of relief I said it was more than okay.

A week later Tony Rochelli withdrew from Palmdale high and transferred

to a private military school near West Point, New York. Mr. Cavanaugh

had modified my plan to the extent that he used Al Jerdin's lead on the

drug dealer to get Tony busted buying a quarter ounce of cocaine. He and

the County Sheriff, no less, delivered Tony to his father with an

ultimatum: either Tony went away voluntarily or he got dragged through

the courts. I accepted what went down, although I thought Tony should

have gone to jail. To me, him getting away that easy proved Papa's adage

that "money talks and bullshit walks."

Oh, and Shelia's sudden confession to her father? The twins engineered

that. Shelia came home and told them about the fight, then told them a

few other things. Ellen and Elaine used their persuasive ability on her

and convinced her to fess up to Mr. Cavanaugh. Smart little shits,

aren't they?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I suffered the indignity of riding the bus until Tuesday afternoon when

Michelle drove me home in her new car with her new license. Michelle's

parents gave her a used lime green Volkswagen Beetle. It was high

mileage but had been given a clean bill of heath by the experts down at

Pulaski's Auto Repair. I almost caused Michelle to wreck when I told her

that in four days a Pulaski dipstick would be checking her oil too.

I was able to give Michelle the experience she deserved the weekend

after her birthday when my father flew out to Houston for his own

romantic weekend with Mom. Mom had a three day weekend like we did

because of MLK Day so she and Dad decided to burn up the sheets at some

no-tell motel on South Padre Island. Go Mom and Dad!

Michelle did not try to pull anything sneaky to get to spend the weekend

with me. Instead, she sat down with her mother and told her what she

wanted to do. Mrs. Hoffman went for it without protest, proud of her

daughter for being honest. Heck her mom even helped her pack. Michelle

said it was as if her mom was acknowledging a change in their

relationship towards one more adult. I told you that Michelle had a lot

of character!

Friday night Michelle arrived with her suitcase at seven. I had dinner

ready when she arrived. I stole Katrina's idea and had a supermarket

roasted lemon-pepper chicken with a couple of side dishes in the oven.

After dinner we sat on the couch cuddling, kissing and talking. At nine

Michelle went upstairs to my room with her bag. She came down ten

minutes later in an electric blue camisole and matching tap pants. She

stood in front of me and let me stare at her, a small smile on her lips.

She looked good and she knew it.

"Come on Johnny, it's time for bed."

She held out her hand but instead I swept her up in my arms. She whooped

in delight and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. I carried her up

to my room and deposited her on the bed. I tried to initiate some

foreplay but Michelle said later for that. Michelle's hymen was long

gone, sacrificed to applicator tip tampons and her own fingers. She was

tight but wet and willing, so her defloweration was a rousing success.

All the stamina I developed with Caroline Hernandez stood me in good

stead with Michelle as we made love in every manner she could think of.

And she thought of a lot.

Michelle was so sweetly enthusiastic she made my night as memorable as I

made hers. When Kong absolutely could not get hard again we fell asleep

in a naked tangle.

Michelle was a joy to be around and the weekend was fantastic for both

of us. Michelle loved being naked with me and she was determined to make

up for the lovemaking she said my being old fashioned cheated her out

of. We ate take out food and did it like hyped up rabbits all over the

house. The most dressed either of us got Saturday was her putting on one

of my long sleeve button up shirts and her panties to pay the pizza guy.

She looked so cute, I jumped her bent over the coffee table as she was

setting down the pizza box.

Saturday night we were both too sore for more so we just kissed and

snuggled. Michelle was a world class snuggle bunny, she loved to sleep

as close to me as humanly possible. She didn't fit against me as

perfectly as Katrina did but she came close.

Sunday Michelle went to Mass with me for the first time. I introduced

her to the Cavanaughs as we were leaving. The twins immediately hijacked

Michelle, leaving me with their parents and Shelia. Mr. Cavanaugh and

Shelia started toward their car but Mrs. Cavanaugh stayed planted in

front of me.

"Thank you for what you did for my daughter," she said.

I shrugged. "You know me Mrs. Cavanaugh, always trying to make myself

look good."

No high road for me when it came to her. She took my sarcasm without rancor.

"I misjudged you horribly, young man, I wish we could start all over."

"I don't know how we could ever do that, Mrs. Cavanaugh, it would be

like putting toothpaste back in the tube. But I'm willing to try to let

bygones be bygones if you'll do the same."

I stuck out my hand but she surprised me by kissing me on the cheek.

"I'll try too, Johnny Pulaski, and I know if I mess up you'll tell me

about it," she said with a grin.

When she walked off I saw the twins standing within earshot with

Michelle. They both wore huge smiles. They ran up and gave me hugs and

kisses then raced off after their mother.

Michelle walked up to me as the twins skipped off, she looked perplexed.

"You were right, I've never met anyone like them, but I like them. They

asked me if I was going to be in your harem, too. What did they mean by

that?"

I laughed and told her about how I spoofed them with the harem thing.

"But don't worry, Shelly, so far you have a lock on head concubine."

Her eyebrows went up, "So far? I though I'd earned that job yesterday."

Michelle left that evening in time to be home at eight as she had

promised her mother. I told her I'd see her tomorrow as Stan and I were

going to work on a new weight routine for baseball that he'd read about.

Katrina called at nine my time. We jabbered away for an hour. I told her

all about my weekend, including Friday. She was pleased that everything

worked out as well as it did considering my track record in fights and

with spending the night with anyone but her. She filled me in on her

life since we had talked last on Wednesday. She said it was damned cold

again, that the temperature had been below zero for the entire weekend.

She said Borkowski and his dickhead friends were still making her life

miserable but she was hanging tough. After we hung up I decided I had

better talk to Papa about what Katrina was going through. After all, he

was a GI once; maybe he knew how she could handle it better.

I called Papa and asked if we could meet for breakfast in the morning

and he said "Oh, hell yeah." At eight the next morning we were ogling

Tina's treasures at Mama's diner. Tina asked me about my love life as

she took our order. I told her that it was most excellent, but not

because of Rachael. Rachael was busy getting back into the grind at UCF.

She was taking a course load that would allow her to graduate in only

three years so she was slammed. An occasional phone call had been our

only contact. Tina laughed and kissed me on top of my head.

"All you Pulaskis are the same," she said.

While we were waiting for our food I told Papa what I knew about

Katrina's plight. Man, oh man, did that ever piss him off. He grumbled

about chicken shit officers and their charm schools but said he just

might be able to help. He said Colorado Springs was where Fort Carson

was located and Fort Carson was now the home station of his old unit,

the Tenth Special Forces Group. He said Special Forces guys took care of

their own, including old retired farts like him. He knew some people out

there through his ties with the Special Forces Association.

"I'll make a few calls later this evening," he said.

/Edited by Bert/
Joe J
Chapter 18