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 ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Fourth Year A Story in the Wynter/Trailer Park
Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2006 by Wizard

   Chapter 31

   "Oh, Tony!"

   I looked to the side just as Allie launched herself at me.  I caught her
and fell back against my locker.  I slid to the ground with Allie on my
lap. As my butt hit the floor, Allie pressed her mouth against mine and
kissed me.

   Not the worst way to finish the school day.  Not the worst way to finish
a week of school.  Not the worst way to finish nine weeks of school.

   "Get a room," Tami suggested when I looked guiltily up at her.

   "I got an A," Allie told her, and started climbing off my lap.  Tami
held out her hand and helped her up.  "Actually an A minus."

   Tami looked blank, and I'm sure I did too.

   "In algebra.  Mrs.  Wright told me.  My report card, I'm getting an A
minus."

   Tami hugged her.  "That's wonderful."

   They both looked down at me, sitting on the floor, my back against my
locker.

   "Are you going to sit down there all day?  Or are you going to help
Allie celebrate?"

   "Well, I don't know if I can get a hotel room for the three of us on
such short notice," I said, climbing to my feet.  "And I have a game in two
hours."

   Allie blushed.

   "No, that would be you celebrating," Tami accused, punching me in the
shoulder.  "Besides, if Allie wants your bod to celebrate with, she doesn't
need my help."

   Allie blushed deeper and her eyes widened.

   I kissed Tami on the nose and Allie demurely on the cheek.  Then I
grinned.

   "I am very disappointed, young lady," I said in a passable imitation of
her mother.  "If you'd worked a little harder, you could have gotten rid of
that minus."

   Allie giggled.  "Maybe next nine weeks."

   "I'll reserve the hotel room.  Seriously, I couldn't be prouder if you
were my own daughter."

   Allie giggled again.  "Want to adopt me?"

   "In a heartbeat."

   "So when are you and Allie going to...  celebrate?" Tami asked.

   I figured words weren't enough and buried my face between Tami's
breasts. We were sitting in Dad's chair in my living room, Tami on my lap.

   "Don't you two ever stop?" Traci asked, walking into the room.

   I looked up at her, grinned, and buried my face in Tami's breasts again.

   "Nope," Tami said with a giggle.

   "Do you think I should go out with a high school guy?" Traci asked
innocently.

   I suddenly lost interest in Tami's twin projections.

   "I don't think you should go out at all," I said, looking up at her.  "I
think you should stay in your room, Dad and I will build a moat around this
place, and we'll chase off the boys with shotguns and pitchforks."

   "Tami..." Traci said pleadingly.

   "Don't look at me.  I'm going to get a slingshot and help."

   Traci pouted.

   "Who?" Tami asked, taking pity on her.

   Traci grinned.  "Kenny Temple."

   "WHAT!" I surged out of the chair.  Tami barely managed to jump to her
feet before I dumped her on her ass.

   Traci laughed.  "Would you relax.  I'm not going out with Kenny.  Though
Peter's kind of cute."

   "Why would you even suggest that?" Tami asked, glaring at me.

   "Well, on the bus this afternoon, Kenny suggested there was a lot he
could teach me."

   "I think Kenny and I need to have a talk," I said as I started toward
the door.

   "Tony, no!" Traci yelled.

   "We're just going to talk," I said as my hand rested on the doorknob.

   "I can take care of myself," Traci protested.  "I don't need your help."

   "I just want..."

   "Anthony Marion!" Traci interrupted.  "I won't ever speak to you again.
I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!"

   I started to argue, then remembered Robbie and the scene in the
cafeteria two weeks ago.  She was still a little cool towards me, and I
really didn't understand why.

   I let go of the doorknob and turned back toward my sister.  "I know you
can," I admitted.

   Traci stepped up and hugged me.  "You're not the worst big brother a
girl could have.  I guess I shouldn't tease you."

   "You're a decent little sister yourself."

   "Sims!"

   I was standing on the sidelines talking to Larry and a couple of other
guys, waiting for the game to start.  It was the last game of the regular
season.  It was also our homecoming game.  We'd already won the league, so
tonight's game didn't matter much, but we were hoping for a perfect season.
We were playing the team from Wenatchee.  They were good; we were better.

   I looked out on the field and saw one player standing there.  Number
sixty-four.  He was just standing halfway across the field watching us.

   "Sims!" he yelled again.

   I shrugged and walked out to meet him.  The referees were still talking
together further down the field.  According to the clock counting down on
the scoreboard, there were two minutes until kickoff.

   "Sims!" he said again when I was about halfway there.  "Remember me?" he
asked when I was about five feet away.

   I shrugged.

   Sixty-four took off his helmet.

   Peter King.

   "I remember you," I said simply.  He wasn't as big as I remembered. 
Then I realized that he was about the same.  I'd grown up a bit.

   "You called me a liar," he accused.

   "I did," I agreed.  I felt like there was a switch in the back of my
head ready to flip to fight or flight.  I kinda favored flight.  If I got
into a fight in the middle of the football field with everybody watching,
it would make Parker's year.

   "I wasn't lying."

   "No you weren't."

   We stared at each other while the clock counted down.

   "I hear you and Tami Sharp are pretty tight?"

   "I plan to marry her."

   He nodded, accepting what might be considered an outrageous statement.

   "That why you did it?"

   "I didn't like her much at the time, but she was a friend, and I thought
she deserved better."

   Peter nodded again.

   Peter's hand started to rise and I got ready to make my decision, fight
or flight.

   Peter held his hand out to me.  "I'm sorry."

   "You're..."

   "Sorry," Peter finished.  "You were being a good friend.  I was being
a..."

   "Jerk," I finished as I took his hand and shook it.

   He smiled and nodded again.  "Would you tell her I said I was sorry."

   "Tell her yourself," I suggested.  "She's in the stands."

   Peter nodded and smiled again.  "Of course, this doesn't mean, I won't
try to tear your head off if you get the ball."

   "I wouldn't expect anything less," I said slapping him on the shoulder.

   I walked back to the sidelines, smiling to myself.

   The world is a very interesting place.



   Chapter 32

   "Oh, God!"

   Robbie grinned.  "You say the sweetest things."

   "Oh, God!"

   Robbie spun, and I watched as the hem of her dress lifted and twirled.
The dress was pale blue and came to the tops of her knees.  The front
started on her right shoulder and plunged diagonally to under her left arm
with just a hint of her left breast.

   "Oh, God!"

   "You know, Tony, I think the thing I like most about you is your way
with words."

   "Oh, God!" I'd waited for her after the game outside the trainer's room.
The visiting team used the girl's locker room, so Robbie changed in the
training room because it had a shower.

   "If you can't come up with anything more than that, I'm going to the
dance."

   "Tami who?"

   Robbie smiled.  "Even if I know you don't mean that, it's the sweetest
thing a guy's ever said to me."

   "Will you marry me?" I asked, dropping to one knee.

   "I think you've already asked Tami.

   "We can all move to Utah."

   "Can I ask you something?" I said as we climbed the stairs to the main
hall.  The dance was in gym two at the other end of the school.

   "You can ask me anything," Robbie said quickly.  "Of course I reserve
the right to throw a major temper tantrum.

   "Uh..." What was that old saying?  Discretion is the batter part of
survival.

   "Tony, ask."

   "Uh, you've been kind of, uh, cool, towards me the last couple of weeks.
Since that thing with Kate in the cafeteria."

   "If you thought I was just a little cool, I wasn't doing something
right."

   "I was just trying to help.  I mean, that's what friends do, right? 
Help each other."

   Robbie stopped, so I stopped too.  We happened to be right in front of
our lockers.  "Tony, we need to get you a big white horse, cause you're
always riding to someone's rescue."

   "I..." What the hell do you say to something like that?

   "I was annoyed.  Hell, I was mad that you thought I needed rescuing."

   "Oh!"

   "It was that kind of day.  First Leslie's lame play beats us out.  Then
Kate decides to jump me, probably because I was talking to all the cute
football players and she felt left out.  Then you decide I'm a damsel in
distress and coming riding to my rescue.  You're probably lucky that you
still have all your teeth."

   "Losing the play competition bothered you that much?" I knew she could
care less about what Kate thought.

   "We were good.  I can't believe we lost."

   "We were good, but we put it together in a month.  Leslie's been acting
since...  she was probably doing Romeo and Juliet when she was still an egg
in her mother's tummy."

   "Eggs aren't in the tummy."

   "Don't get clinical on me.  You know what I mean."

   "I do.  And Leslie was good.  And her play wasn't lame.  I just get so
competitive.  I just can't believe we lost."

   "If I tell you something, will you promise never to mention it again. 
To take it to your grave?"

   Robbie looked at me, then slowly nodded.

   "We lost by two votes."

   "Two votes!  We should get a recount.  What about the kids who were
absent that Monday?"

   "Robbie!"

   "We should...  get over it and think about next year."

   I nodded.  "We should go to the dance, and you can dance with Mike and
I'll dance with Tami.  Then Mike can dance with Tami and you and I will do
whatever it is you do to the light fantastic.  Then Mike and I can have the
slow dances..."

   "You keep your grubby hands off Mike.  He's mine."

   I bowed and we walked down the hall to the dance.

   "You okay?" I asked Robbie as everyone applauded.

   "I just thought...  I...  I'm okay."

   Jenny Velesquez, the student body president, had just announced the
sophomore homecoming princesses.  Tami was one of the four, Robbie wasn't.

   "I guess Katie Green is right.  People don't think of me as a girl."

   Mike Rose, Robbie's date, stood on the other side of her, his arm around
her shoulder, watching the four sophomores join the freshmen and get
crowned, but she spoke quietly with me.

   "Try to remember that a lot of the kids in this school don't have an
opinion until Kate or somebody else gives it to them," I said.

   "I guess," she muttered, biting her lip.  "I'm glad Mikee made it."
Mikee was standing in the middle of the freshmen looking like she was going
to bust.

   "Me, too.  And you've got something better than homecoming court. 
You're a member of the first team in school history to have a perfect
season."

   "Regular season anyway," she said with a small smile.  We'd won
tonight's game easily.  In fact, Robbie and I had only played a few
minutes. The coach used a lot of the kids who didn't play much.  I'd only
handled the ball three times, and Peter King did his best to take my head
off, nailing me once just after I launched a long pass that just grazed the
ends of the receiver's fingertips.

   "Plus, from the looks you've been getting, I think you answered Kate's
question of whether you know how to look like a girl."

   "I didn't even need help with my makeup."

   I'd been watching the stage as they announced the juniors, and my head
jerked to look at Robbie.  "You're not wearing any."

   Robbie giggled.  "Of course I am.  I just like makeup to highlight me,
not change me into someone else."

   "Amen," I agreed and looked back toward the stage.

   "Paula Grey!" Jenny announced.  'Not a big surprise, ' I thought as I
applauded.  In fact, the buzz around school had been that Paula might make
queen, though it was almost always a senior.  Paula hugged all the
princesses already on the stage, especially Tami and Mikee.  The trailer
park was well represented.

   Jenny announced the senior princesses, finishing with Kate Green, who
looked annoyed.  Being a princess meant she wasn't queen.

   "Before we get to the queen's coronation, I'd like to remind everybody
that Inherit the Wind will be performing for the regional judges next
Saturday.  Be sure to come out and support them.  To announce this year's
queen, I present to you last year's queen, Alana Temple," Jenny said into
the microphone, then started clapping.  Alana, who'd been standing off to
the side stepped forward, wearing the tiara she'd owned for the last two
years, having been elected her junior year too.

   "This is a special year.  For the first time in the thirty-three year
history of this school, our team has had a perfect season."

   The gym erupted into applause and yells that lasted almost two minutes.

   "And we're going to bring home the state championship for the first time
since 1993."

   This time the applause lasted almost five minutes.

   "And I couldn't help notice that for the first time in the history of
the school, a girl was on the team." Not completely correct since Robbie
had been on the team last year too, but close enough.

   There was a stunned silence for several seconds then Tami yelled,
"Robbie!"

   A few seconds later, it seemed like every girl in the gym was chanting
her name.  Robbie looked at me, blushing deeply.  I reached over and took
her hand and squeezed.  Then all the guys were chanting and stomping too.

   Alana held up her hands and eventually the noise quieted.

   "Enough already.  Just announce the damn queen." I heard Kate say behind
Alana.

   Alana turned and gave Kate a glare that could have cut down a redwood.
Then she turned back around and smiled.  "In college, I'm taking a class in
logic, and I can't help but wonder: first girl on the team, first perfect
season, hmmm."

   That brought a lot of laughter and renewed chanting.

   "This is a year of firsts.  For only the third time in school history,
the queen is not a senior."

   I looked around trying to figure out what junior could have beaten out
Paula.

   "And for the first time it's not a junior either."

   A sophomore?  It couldn't be a freshman.  That would bend the laws of
time and space and cause the Earth to collapse into a black hole.

   "And the first football player."

   Robbie spun and faced me, Mike's arm falling off her shoulders.  "Did
you do this?"

   "Your 2004 Homecoming Queen...  Robbie Tate!"

   "I didn't even vote for you," I said honestly.  I had voted for her for
princess.  But I voted for Paula for queen.  I found out later that Larry
had started the campaign for Robbie.  She got twice as many votes as the
other eleven nominees combined.  I put my hands on Robbie's shoulders and
turned her toward the stage.  "You deserve this," I whispered in her ear as
I pushed her forward.

   "I guess Robbie figured out how to be a girl," I said to Kate later that
night.

   "That is a cool hand print," Tami said a minute later.

   I grinned.  This one, I considered a badge of honor.



   Chapter 33

   I noticed Tami's mom's car wasn't in the driveway as I walked up to her
house the next morning.  I grinned.  A Saturday with nothing to do for a
change, and a teenaged girl alone in her house.  Life is good.

   I knocked, and Tami opened the door almost immediately.

   "Hi, Tony.  Guess..."

   I didn't wait for her to finish.  I stepped inside, pulling her to me,
and pressed my lips to hers.  One hand squeezed her butt cheek through her
jeans, the other quickly found her breast, protected only by a thin
t-shirt. Even as we kissed, I turned her and took a step toward her
bedroom.

   Tami pulled away.  I was surprised.

   "Tony, have you met my grandmother?"

   My head jerked toward the sofa where an older woman was sitting, her
hand covering her mouth.

   "Uh..."

   "Tony, I've heard so much about you," the woman said.  She stood and
held out her hand.  "I can see all of it's true."

   I wondered if I could go home, get back in bed, and pull the covers over
my head until Monday.

   It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon for the middle of November.  I'd
spent the morning working on a term paper for history.  It wasn't due until
the end of January, but why wait for the last minute?  I'd written a great
conclusion; now I just had to find enough facts to support it.

   I didn't even glance at Tami's house.  I knew she, her mother, and her
grandmother were off shopping.  That was one of the reasons I was working
on my paper.

   I noticed Kelly and Mikee sitting in garden chairs outside their
trailer. They were wearing shorts and halter tops, enjoying the sun after
all the rain that had cursed the month so far.

   Their chairs were facing away from the street, so I walked quietly up
behind them.  I reached down and grabbed their shoulders.  "Hi, girls. 
Enjoying the sunshine?"

   Mikee jumped at my unexpected touch, but Kelly jumped harder, jumping up
and jerking away from me.

   "You okay?" I asked after glancing at the cornered-animal look in her
eye.

   "Fine.  I just don't want to be touched.  Okay?" she spat and raced back
into her trailer.

   I looked at Mikee.  "I..."

   Mikee got up and hugged me.  "It isn't you.  She's been weird for a
couple of weeks."

   "What's wrong?"

   "I don't know.  She won't talk about it."

   Mikee looked up at me.  "Can we...  ?" There was a lustful look in her
eye.

   "I don't know.  I've never done it with a princess.  I'm a commoner, I
might burst into flames or something."

   Mikee giggled.  "I'll get Queen Robbie to knight you."

   "As it happens, my house is empty.  Traci's got a concert tonight, and
the folks took her to rehearsals." I looked at the trailer.  "What about
Kelly?" I wasn't being greedy.  Really I wasn't.  I wasn't even looking for
another threesome.  I just didn't want her left out.

   Mikee sighed.  "I don't think she'll be interested."

   "You know, you've grown up a lot since I've known you." I looked down at
her naked body laying on my bed.  My eyes were drawn to her pussy.  She had
a lot more hair than Tami, and it was darker too.

   "If that's your idea of seductive conversation, you need a lot of work,"
Mikee said with a smile.

   "I just meant...  hell, I don't know."

   "Don't sweat it.  Sex is confusing.  We'll have it all figured out by
the time we're sixty."

   "Comforting thought." I pushed my pants down and stepped out of them.

   I grinned and lowered myself onto Mikee's pussy.  Her lips were more
open than Tami's, so my tongue had no trouble pressing in.  I wondered if
there'd ever be a time when I had sex, or girls, all figured out.  Or was
it that when you got older, you just stopped caring.

   "Would you please fuck me?" Mikee moaned.

   I lifted my head enough to look up Mikee's body.  "Not getting enough
from Brian?"

   She'd been going out with Brian Thomas since the middle of October.  He
was a freshman on the JV football team and had a pretty good rep as a stud
for a ninth grader.

   "I'm not getting anything from Brian."

   "I thought he..."

   Mikee giggled.  "Brian's a lot of fun, but I'm not going to let him do
anything.  He'd tell half the school in an hour."

   "How'd you get so smart?"

   "I had a good teacher." She reached down, grabbed my ears and pulled. 
"Now get up here before I find a new teacher."

   I let her pull me up until my crotch was above hers.  She let go of my
ears, reached down, and guided my cock toward her pussy.

   "What if I'm not in the mood?" I asked.

   "You're always in the mood."

   "Not always.  There was an hour about two years ago when I wasn't."

   "And there'll probably be an hour two or three years from now when you
aren't," she said as she pulled my cock into her.

   It's hard to argue with a girl when she's wrong.  When she's right...  I
drove Big Tony forward.

   "It's a good thing for you that Mom and Dad dropped me off, then went
shopping."

   My head jerked toward the door.  I hadn't closed it.  Traci was standing
there.  The look on her face was hard to read.  I don't think she was
surprised that she'd caught me fucking.  I do think she was surprised at
who I was fucking.

   "I can't believe that you'd do this to her." Traci backed out and ran
toward her bedroom.

   I had a feeling that the 'her' in that sentence wasn't Mikee.

   Mikee reached down and pulled my soft little worm out of her pussy.  Big
Tony had run away.  "I think that's my cue to go home."

   "Mikee, I..."

   Mikee put her finger on my lips.  "I hope I haven't screwed things up
between you and Traci."

   "I..." I didn't have the first clue what to say.

   Mikee slid out from under me, dressed quickly, and left.

   My own place.  That would solve so many of my problems.  Nothing fancy.
Maybe a studio apartment.



   Chapter 34

   Tami came with me to Traci's concert.  We sat up front, away from my
parents, and had a chance to talk between performances.

   "I need a favor."

   "Here?  Now?  What will people say?"

   I grinned and wondered what had happened to the shy girl I'd met almost
three years ago.

   "I need that too.  But I need a different favor more."

   Tami started to ask, but the next song started.  This was Mr.  McCoy's
advanced band, and Traci had a solo coming up, so Tami waited.

   "What favor?" she asked after we'd given the advanced band and
especially Traci a standing ovation for their first song.  I still couldn't
believe how good Traci had gotten, considering how bad she'd been.  I guess
that's what practice is all about.  I was glad she'd been a part of our
play.

   "Remember when I asked you to give Traci the talk?"

   Tami nodded.

   "She needs part two."

   "What part two?  I told her everything.  Unless you mean kinky stuff,
and I don't know that much about the kinky stuff."

   "It's pretty kinky.  I need you to talk to her about Mikee and me."

   Tami's eyes almost bugged out as the band started their second number.

   After the song, I told Tami about my afternoon.

   "Oh, boy!" she said.

   "That would be the G-rated response."

   "Oh, shit!"

   "That would be the PG-response."

   "Oh..."

   "I know," I interrupted.  "I tried to talk to her, but she won't let
me."

   "What makes you think I can talk to her?"

   "I don't think she's upset that she caught me fucking Mikee.  I think
she thinks I'm betraying you."

   "Oh, boy!"

   "Yeah."

   "What makes you think I can get her to listen if she won't even talk to
you?"

   "I have a plan."

   "What's wrong between you and your sister?" Mom asked as soon as Traci
excused herself to get her saxophone.

   "It's, uh, private." I said.  Tami and I had joined my parents after the
concert.  When Traci came over, we congratulated her, but she totally
ignored me.

   "And how long is this private problem going to last?"

   "It kinda depends."

   "On?"

   "I want to drive the rugrat home."

   Mom and Dad looked at each other.  "I don't see how that's going to
help, but okay." I'd been driving since my birthday in February.  I'd even
driven Traci a lot with either Mom or Dad.  She didn't even pretend to
cringe anymore.

   Now came the hard word.

   "Alone." We'd come in two cars, since Dad had gone back to work after
shopping and had driven straight here.

   "You can't.  You don't have a license," Mom said immediately.

   "I will in three months."

   "You can't," Mom repeated.

   "It's important?" Dad asked, speaking for the first time.

   "It's important," I confirmed, nodding as solemnly as I could.

   "I would like to point out that if you get caught driving before you get
your license, they won't let you get it until you're seventeen.  Is it that
important?"

   I nodded again.

   Dad looked at me for a minute, then reached in his pocket and handed me
his keys.

   I looked bug-eyed down at the keys in my hand.  I thought I was
negotiating for Mom's keys.

   "He can't," Mom said again.

   "Honey, if Tony drives everybody home, you can take me out for that
birthday dinner you've owed me for a month.  The kids can order a pizza."

   "I..."

   "And we have the extra advantage of not being there when the cops bring
him home."

   "Maybe it'll be that nice Deputy Boyd.  He likes Tony.  Maybe he won't
use the handcuffs," Mom said, agreeing to the inevitable.

   "Or his nightstick," Dad added.

   I was still staring at Dad's keys.

   "You scratch my new baby, and you won't see daylight until Traci can
drive," Dad threatened.

   I nodded, still looking at his keys.  Dad had bought himself a Porsche
for his birthday.  I never thought he'd let me take it.  Actually, I would
have preferred Mom's mini-van.  I know that sounds un-American.  Even
un-teenage.  But I was a lot more comfortable with an automatic.

   "You scratch my old baby," Mom said.  "And you'll never see daylight
again."

   I looked up at them and nodded again.

   Tami, Traci, and I stood on the steps of the school, watching the
parking lot clear out.  It was raining lightly, but we were under the
overhang.

   "Where's Mom and Dad?" Traci asked after a couple of minutes.

   "They went out to dinner."

   "How are we getting home?"

   "I'm driving."

   "You can't drive," she said, then added, "by yourself."

   "I am.  Let's go." There were only a couple of cars left.  I figured
they belonged to janitors or people who were staying awhile.

   Traci looked reluctant.

   "Trace, it's either get in the car or walk home in the rain.  You know
I'm a good driver."

   Traci hesitated, then nodded.

   We ran to the car.  I clicked the button on the keychain when we were
halfway there so at least the doors were unlocked.  I could have been a
gentleman and gotten the car and pulled it around to them on the step, but
to be honest, I didn't think of it until we were running through the rain.

   Traci and Tami got in the front seat together and pulled the seat beat
around them.  I belted in and started the car.  I looked at Tami and
nodded. Then I looked out the windshield at the rainy parking lot.

   My first solo.  In a car with too much power, a stick shift, and on
rainy roads.  Well, if this didn't work, there was always the bus.

   Tami and Traci talked intently all the way home.  I didn't hear much,
just an occasional word.  I was concentrating hard on the road.  Once, when
I stopped at an intersection, I did hear Tami sigh and say, "It's
complicated." Then I pulled the car away from the stop sign and couldn't
hear again.

   At the trailer park, I pulled the car into the driveway and killed the
engine.  I leaned back, still clenching the wheel.  Traci undid the seat
belt and got out.  Tami sat there, looking out the rainy windshield.  After
a minute, Tami leaned forward and, one at a time, pried my fingers off the
wheel.

   "Well?" I asked after the last one.

   She smiled.  "We'll see.  How'd you like driving the Porsche?"

   I looked at the steering wheel, expecting to see the impressions of my
fingers permanently embedded.  "Cool.  Maybe in a year or so, I'll try it
again."



   Chapter 35

   "How's it going with Traci?" Tami asked on Monday.

   "Better.  She's a little cool, but she isn't ignoring me." I got my
books for first period and closed my locker.

   "What's wrong with Traci?" Robbie asked.

   Tami smiled and told her about Traci catching me with Mikee and the talk
she'd had with her.

   Robbie laughed.  "Tony, you're turning the whole county into the
twilight zone.  I keep expecting Rod Serling to step out of a doorway."

   "What'd I do?" I protested.

   "You keep getting caught cheating on your girlfriend by everyone but
your girlfriend, then you get her to bail you out of trouble."

   "It's not cheating when I know about it," Tami said, snaking her arm
around me.

   "It's still kind of twilight zone."

   "No, it's the Trailer Park Zone.

   "Uh, hi, Tony."

   I looked up.  I'd been resting my throat on Tami's shoulder as we waited
in line for lunch.  We'd been talking, but mostly to hear each other's
voices.  I was hungry and concentrating on watching the line move slowly.
It was mac-and-cheese Tuesday, something the lunch ladies hadn't figured
out how to screw up.  Yet.

   "Hi, Darlene.  Just the person I wanted to see." I hadn't really talked
to her since the play.

   She smiled self-consciously.  "You did?"

   I grinned.  "I have good news and bad news."

   "Damn, I hate this game.  What's the bad news?"

   "Tatiana Reid is pregnant."

   Darlene looked confused.  Tatiana was a senior, and Darlene probably
hadn't even talked to her before.  "Uh, what's the good news?"

   "Tatiana Reid is pregnant."

   "Umm, okay." I loved the look of total confusion on her face.

   Tami brought her elbow back into my sternum.  "Stop teasing.  Tell her."

   "Yes ma'am.  Tatty's a cheerleader." Darlene nodded, but didn't look any
more enlightened.  "She's not going to be cheering anymore, I don't know if
it's her mom or her doctor or what, but she's off the squad."

   Darlene nodded dully.

   I grinned.  "I talked to Paula.  She and the other cheerleaders would
like you to try out after school today."

   Darlene's face lite up.  "You mean it?" I nodded.  Darlene surged
forward and hugged me.  A pretty good trick, since I'd been pressed against
Tami's back.  "Oh, God, I can't believe it."

   Tami had stepped to the side when Darlene grabbed me and was watching us
with an amused smile.  Darlene noticed and let go of me so fast you'd think
I had leprosy.

   "I'm sorry, I didn't mean, I..."

   Tami stepped forward and hugged the other girl.  "It's okay, he's pretty
huggable."

   I put my arms around both girls and guided them into the space that had
opened up in front of us.  "How about I buy you two ladies lunch to
celebrate."

   Tami looked around me at Darlene.  "He's also a big spender."

   "I have a plan," I announced, sliding my arms around Robbie and Tami
who'd been putting books in their lockers.

   "Should we be afraid?" Robbie asked.

   "Somebody should," I said and laughed maniacally.  Which earned some
strange looks from people in the hall.  "Do you know what day this is?"

   "Uh, Wednesday," Tami ventured.

   "Exactly."

   The girls looked at each other, then me.  "Is there more to it than
that?" Tami asked.

   "We are halfway through the first week of our second nine weeks.  We
need to celebrate."

   "It was obvious," Robbie said, nodding to Tami.

   The girls closed their lockers, and we started up the hall toward lunch.
Mike Rose came up, and I surrendered Robbie's back to his arm.

   "What kind of celebration did you have in mind?" Tami asked after Mike
and Robbie slipped into an empty doorway for a quick game of tonsil hockey.

   "Well, Saturday, we're all going to the play.  I thought after that we
could have a Monopoly marathon."

   "Could be fun," Tami agreed nodding.

   "Oh, little one, my plan is lot more devious than that."

   "Really?"

   "Yeah.  You know how my sister always beats us?"

   "I still think she cheats."

   "And you know how Zoe always beats us?"

   "She cheats too."

   "We'll invite both of them.  Maybe they'll cancel each other out and one
of us can win."

   Tami nodded.  "Not bad.  You might not be Fu Manchu when it comes to
devious plans, but not bad."

   "I have my moments."

   TONY SIMS, ROBERTA TATE.  PLEASE REPORT TO THE VICE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE.

   I was sitting next to Tami in Journalism when the announcement came of
the P.A.  system.

   Tami looked at me accusingly.  "What did you do now?"

   I shrugged.  "Nothing I know about.  Maybe they discovered one of my old
crimes."

   I stood and started gathering my books.

   "You're not coming back?" The period had just started.

   "I doubt it, as long-winded as Parker is."

   "Try not to get suspended, March is three-and-a-half months away."

   I nodded, wondering if March was becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
"I'll try, but it's not always easy."

   I got to the office first and waited for Robbie.  When she saw me she
spread her hands, palms out and looked at me questioningly.  I shrugged. 
Robbie nodded and together we walked to Parker's door.  I knocked.

   "Come!" his voice said from behind the door.

   I looked at Robbie and smiled, I hoped encouragingly.

   I opened the door.

   "You wanted to see us?" I asked in a tone I hoped would pass as
respectful.

   "No, I didn't," he said without looking up.

   "But the P.A.?"

   "I had you called.  Mr.  Mulino would like to see you both."

   I wondered exactly what the standards were for a master's in education.

   "Wouldn't it have made more sense for the announcement to send us to the
superintendent's office then?"

   Parker half stood, glaring at me.  "Are you trying to tell me how to do
my job?"

   "No.  I just thought that would be more efficient.  I don't pretend to
know anything about running a school.  I guess efficiency isn't important."

   I closed the door, hoping I hadn't gone too far.  I really didn't want
to get suspended, now or in March.  Though more than one of my friends has
suggested that I do it on purpose.

   "What's it all about?" Robbie asked as we walked down the hall.

   "Not a clue," I admitted.

   "Start any revolutions lately?"

   "Not in the last hour, hour-and-a-half.  I do have a small coup
scheduled for tomorrow.  How bout you?"

   "Me?  I'm a good girl.  I just associate with a bad class of people."

   "Hi, Mr.  Mulino wanted to see us," I told the secretary as we walked
into the office.  I realized that I didn't know her name, though I'd seen
her a dozen times.  She didn't have a nameplate on her desk.

   "He's waiting.  Go right in." She nodded toward his door.

   "You've changed your hair," I said as we started back.

   She sat up straighter and primped the back of her hair.  "How nice of
you to notice."

   "It looks good," I added before leading Robbie to Mulino's door. 
"Brownie points," I whispered.  "You can never have enough."

   Robbie laughed softly.  "You've been watching Eddie Haskell on Leave It
To Beaver reruns, haven't you?"

   "I try to learn life lessons wherever I can," I said and knocked.

   "Come in."

   I opened the door.  Robbie walked in, and I followed before I noticed
the three grown-ups seated in his office.

   "Your secretary said to come in, we knocked," I explained quickly,
thinking we'd interupted a meeting.

   "It's okay Tony.  We were all waiting for you." If it was Parker waiting
with three strangers, I'd feel like an animal in a trap.  With Mr.  Mulino,
I was only a little nervous."

   "Tony, Robbie, this is Robert Anolly, Tom Baxter, and Janet Martin." As
he introduced them, they stood and shook hands with both of us, then sat
back down.

   There was an awkward silence after he finished, the Mr.  Mulino laughed.
"I'm sorry," he apologized to his guests.  "Tony is such a self-confident
young man for his age.  I was enjoying the look on his face.  I kind of
liked having him off-balance for once."
Memo: Take Mr.  Mulino off Christmas card list.

   Mr.  Mulino looked up at us.  "They're the committee from the Prentiss
Foundation."

   Another silence.  The name sounded a little familiar, but...

   "The play contest," Robbie blurted out.

   Mr.  Mulino nodded.  "Exactly, they're the judges for the play Saturday
night."

   That wasn't helping.  Our play lost.

   Janet Martin looked at us.  "Did you two really write a whole musical in
a month?"

   "Tony and his girlfriend did," Robbie said before I could act modest. 
"They wrote most of it in a weekend, though we tweaked it a little here and
there.  I just directed."

   "That's amazing," Baxter said.

   "They were hoping to see it," Mr.  Mulino suggested.

   I wondered if one of the parents had videoed it.  My mom talked about it
but couldn't find the camera.

   "We were wondering if you'd consider an encore performance on Sunday,"
Anolly said.

   "We'd lov..."

   "That depends," I interrupted Robbie.  "This wouldn't take anything away
from Leslie's play?  She's the school's choice."

   From the corner of my eye I saw Robbie ready to object, and I knew she
was thinking about those two votes.  I gave her my most intimidating look.
I don't think she was intimidated, but she kept quiet.

   "No, it won't affect Inherit the Wind in any way.  We just heard about
some students writing a musical in a month, excuse me, a weekend, and Mr.
Mulino was telling us how good it turned out.  We were, are, curious,"
Baxter said.

   I could see Robbie going into executive mode.  "I assume we can get the
stage Sunday or Mr.  Mulino wouldn't have asked us.  I'll have to talk to
all the cast members and see if they're available."

   "I'll be available," I said.  "She'll hurt me if I'm not."

   "I can let you know by the end of the day," Robbie finished, ignoring
me.
   It looked like I was back in show business.