"Nina's a big girl, let her make her own decision, for better or for worse, on her own."
He stared for a long time, his brain working over what I'd said. I hoped I'd given him the logic he needed to make the right decision. I had every intention of pursuing Nina to the conclusion of our relationship but, as I'd pointed out, the road would be much bumpier if decided to keep up the resistance.
"I'll let her see you." He finally said quietly.
It took a minute for that to sink in. When it did, a grin spread across my face. "Thank you." I told him.
"I don't know WHAT I'm going to tell Mary, but I find you make a good argument." He smiled a little. "I guess my little girl is growing up some and I guess it's time to let her spread her wings, for better or for worse as you say."
"I agree." I told him.
"But if you hurt her." He warned, pointing a finger at me. "I'll make what Jeff Zand did to Bob Simpson look like a mother's kiss compared to what I'll do to you."
I chuckled. "I'll consider myself duly warned." I answered.
Al Steiner-July 30, 1999 Chapter 11 ->
Chapter 11
Dad came home shortly after Mr. Blackmore left. I'd cleaned up the beer bottles and carried the remainder of the twelve-pack back up to my room and re-stashed it in my closet. I thought about telling Dad that I'd received tentative permission to resume my relationship with Nina but eventually decided to keep silent about it. After all, he might change his mind. People did that. I figured I'd give it a few days and see how things went before I made any mention.
I considered calling in sick for my job at the pizza joint that night. I'd been up most of the night worrying about the reunion with Nina and the beer I'd drank with Mr. Blackmore certainly hadn't helped my fatigue. But in the end my work ethic wouldn't allow me to call in on my first scheduled day back after my injury. I showered up and drug myself in.
My manager was very pleased to see me return and offered some of the same comments that Mindy had earlier that day. He became very displeased however when I told him that I'd been recommended for hiring at the hospital and that, in all likelihood, January 25 would be my last day working for him.
"That's really too bad Bill." He said sadly. "You're one of the best workers I've ever had here. Like you said when I originally interviewed you, you're not a typical teenager. I'd even offer to give you a raise if I thought it would help keep you but unfortunately I can't afford to match six dollars an hour."
I told him I understood and that I appreciated him hiring me and giving me a chance to prove myself and blah, blah, blah. I kept my amusement at his pathetic attempt to lure me to stay longer to myself. In truth I never much liked the man. He was a shameless exploiter of teenaged labor and he'd never bothered to offer me a raise before. But I also believed in not burning my bridges behind me. If things didn't work out at the hospital for whatever bizarre reason, I knew he'd hire me back in an instant. If I went in and wrote my resignation in urine on his wall, he might not be so inclined.
I was exhausted by the time I got off that night. When I got home I barely was able to remove my clothes before I fell into bed. Less than a minute later I was fast asleep; the first good night of sleep I'd had in a while.
The next morning I waited near the front of the school again. This day the sky had cleared of snow clouds and the wind had returned. The air temperature was a chilling eleven degrees at that time of the morning. The wind chill factor was probably somewhere below zero. You gotta love Spokane in the winter. I shivered and shook and felt the tears that were streaming from my eyes freezing on my cheeks. Finally I spotted Mrs. Blackmore pulling to the curb. Nina hopped out and headed for the school while her mother pulled quickly away and headed off.
Nina was looking around immediately, braving putting her face into the wind to search for me. I raised my hand and she rushed to me, colliding with me so hard that both of us nearly went down into the snowbank. As always the feel of her body against mine, even through multiple layers of winter clothing, made me feel warm all over.
"I can't believe it!" She yelled, kissing my face and my lips. "How did you do it? What did you say?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked nonchalantly.
"You know what I'm talking about." She smiled. "I couldn't believe it. Daddy sat me down last night and told me that if I insisted on seeing you that he wouldn't stop me." Her smile faded a little. "He said he still didn't particularly care for you or trust you, but that he saw no advantage to trying to keep us apart."
"Well," I said. "It's not exactly a dowry of a kingdom just yet. But it's a start. And your Mom?"
"Mom wasn't too happy about his decision." She admitted. "In fact, I heard them arguing about it. They were actually yelling at each other when he told her. Finally they started whispering back and forth, so I couldn't hear what was being said. She didn't seem too happy this morning but she didn't tell me to stay away from you like she did yesterday."
"So I guess I won't be coming over for any family dinners in the near future?" I asked.
She smiled and kissed me again, a long, luxuriant kiss. "Not just yet." She said. "But give it time."
We started walking into the school. "So what did you say to Daddy anyway?" She asked. "He wouldn't tell me."
"I don't think your Dad would really like it if I told you what we talked about." I answered. "It was kind of personal."
"Did it have to do with the years after the war like you thought?" She asked, her curiosity plain on her face.
"Nina, I really don't think he would want you to know what he said. Sorry."
She frowned. "You must have some sort of gift Bill. How you got Dad to open up to you, how you convinced him to let us be together." She shook her head. "Will you tell me someday? Someday in a few years?"
"I'll consider it." I told her. "In the meantime, I have the night off. I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner and a movie tonight?"
She gave me another kiss, again in front of everyone on the quad. "I suppose." She said. "Unless something better comes along of course."
We decided that it would be a good idea to establish with her parents that we would in fact be seeing each other. With that in mind I agreed to pick Nina up for our date at her house; just like a normal teenager would do. It had seemed like a good idea when we discussed it but as I pulled my car up to the curb that night I felt that maybe it hadn't been such a hot plan after all. My body was tensed up with nervous tension and I hesitated before I was able to pull myself out of my Datsun and trudge up to the curb.
There was another long hesitation before I could bring myself to ring the doorbell.
My nervousness turned out to be unfounded. Nina answered the door and quickly stepped out of it onto the porch. The reason for my nervousness however, was not so unfounded. Nina, dressed in a nice pair of slacks, her hair styled attractively (the mark of Tracy and Cindy), looked a little upset.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Let's go." She replied, heading down the porch for my car.