Craig had confided in me the outdoor work would be very trying. He explained why natural light was much harder to film in and only gave a limited time to get the scenes shot. You couldn’t have shadows from a morning shoot be different in the next scene shot in the afternoon. They tried to fix most of the shadows with lighting, but for long shots it was impossible. He advised me to really work on my lines because they wouldn’t want to do as many shots of a scene if they didn’t have to.
Craig, and by extension Trip, and I had become friends. Trip came to realize Halle and I were taking things slowly, and his overprotective big-brother nature went away. I found I really liked him and thought he and Craig made a good couple. It was a little sad Trip had to be very careful in public around Craig. Craig’s career could take a serious hit if it was known he was bi. While people were more tolerant now, you just didn’t get the leading male roles with the stigma of liking men.
I would miss Halle. It simply came down to us living in two different worlds. The two weeks were great and I was glad for the time. I vowed to myself if we ever could be in the same town for an extended period of time, and we were not committed to anyone else, I would make a serious play for her. We both knew the score, and I was glad she was smart enough to not allow our relationship to get too physical. If we had, it would have been very hard to say goodbye. We would see what the future held.
Chapter 5 – Dakora
Monday February 2
Peggy and I walked up to the front of the school. Pam saw me and hurried over. She didn’t look happy.
“Tracy withdrew from school,” she blurted out.
“Okay. I take it she’s in treatment,” I said.
“Her parents took her Friday. She’s in a depression treatment center.”
“What can we do to help?” Peggy asked.
“I don’t know. I wish there was something,” Pam said.
“Have you talked to her or her parents?” I asked.
“I talked to Mary for a minute. They were a little busy, so I said I’d call after school today,” Pam said.
I gave her a hug. I could feel her relax, knowing we were there to help her. She gave Peggy a funny smile, but Peggy ignored it. We both knew Pam was attracted to me, but she respected Peggy. I tried not to think about what the three of us had together. Peggy helped to not make it weird by giving Pam a hug as well. Peggy was very perceptive of other people’s feelings. That was one of the things I liked about her.
We agreed that if any of us got word about Tracy, we would contact each other. I hoped the intensive treatment would finally allow Tracy to have a normal life. I could only imagine what all she must have gone through to get to this point.
LUNCH WAS A HOT MESS. Everyone wanted to hear about the movie. More importantly to the girls, they wanted to know about Halle. The guys wanted to see my tattoos. My last day on the set they had reapplied the tattoo staining paste so that the tattoos would be fresh for the photo shoot with Dakora this weekend. I looked a little jarring if you just saw me on the street.
Halfway through lunch, everyone was clamoring to ask questions. I finally called a halt to the madness. We had people standing three-deep around our table. I jumped up on a bench and Coach Hope came to stand beside me.
“Settle down!” Coach Hope called.
“This is the last time I’m doing this,” I started as the crowd quieted down. “The tattoos aren’t permanent. It takes them about 90 minutes to put them on me and then I have to sit and let them stain my skin. They’ll be visible for three to four weeks before they fade.”
“Are there more than what we can see?” someone asked.
“Yes, they’re also on my torso and arms,” I said and pulled off my t-shirt.
“That is so cool,” Ed blurted out.
I did a slow spin and then put my shirt back on. The next fifteen minutes were spent answering their questions. There was something different about the way everyone was treating me. Uncle John had warned me, but I was just the same old David. I was relieved when the bell rang. Coach told everyone to go to class.
IN PE WE WERE LEARNING the box step. I was glad we didn’t have to change clothes for ballroom dancing. We just had to make sure we had on tennis shoes so we wouldn’t mark up the gym floor. I was bored as I danced with Donna, one of the girls in the class.
“I learned some new moves from the actors I hung out with in Vancouver,” I whispered to her.
“Anything good?”
“Oh, yeah.”
We had no idea where our teacher went each day. Donna looked around and then ran over to the sound system. She stopped the song.
“David’s going to show us some new moves he learned,” she announced and then put on some dance music from this century.
Craig, Ben, Bree and Elizabeth had shown me their best moves. Halle upped the ante and put a whole new meaning to sexy. Then there were the choreographers. Those girls put us all to shame. Once I learned that everyone was talented, I would bug them to teach me new moves each day between takes.
Donna had taken dance since she could walk, so I always liked dancing with her. I grabbed her, pulled her onto the dance floor, and started showing her moves. I just did my thing for a song or two and then started showing them all how to do the moves. Our teacher came in at the end of class to see us all shaking, jumping and shimmying to the beat of the music. She joined us and danced with us for the last song before the bell.
I was in a much better mood after class.
WHEN I GOT HOME, TAMI’S mom was sitting at the table while Mom and Dad made dinner. I went to her and gave her a hug. I was a terrible boy and hadn’t been to visit her for several months. I had promised her way back when Tami went to Wesleyan that I would come and visit her. When Tami went off to the UK, it had become hard for me to see her. I was happy she was here, though.
I took Duke out. I was teaching him how to play fetch to wear him out. He thought the game was to have me throw the ball and for me to go get it while he followed me. Then Duke would rush up and snatch it just before I could pick it up, and then would make me chase him. When we were done, Duke was dragging. I let him in the back door to get a drink while I went up and showered and came back down.
Mom hit me with the four words that put fear into every guy.
“We need to talk.”
Dad was finishing up dinner when Mrs. Glade and Mom had me sit down. Mrs. Glade took the lead.
“I want to know your honest opinion about living in Chicago this summer,” she said.
I thought about it for a moment.
“I don’t think it’s a great idea. I know you’re not happy about it. It’s not like I don’t think we can take care of ourselves, but we’re only going to be seventeen,” I said, then argued the other side. “It would help Tami, though. I know she’ll make a great doctor. If this would help her, I’d do anything to be there to support her. Plus, I miss her. I think it would do a lot to bring us closer together.”
“Do you want to do it or not?” Mom asked.
“If this stays just between us, then not,” I admitted. “I’d rather have her come home for the summer. She’s been away too much since she went to Wesleyan. We all miss her. I think she thinks just because she can, she does. She forgets about everyone she’s left behind.”
Mrs. Glade’s eye’s misted over. I wondered how Mom would take it if I was gone for nearly two straight years. I was sure she missed Tami more than I did.
“Okay, if neither of you can make a decision, I will,” Mom started. “David, you can’t move to Chicago for the summer.”
Mrs. Glade looked relieved. Mom was going to take the bullet on this one. I gave her a fake pout and Dad whacked me in the back of my head. I just stuck my tongue out at him. I knew what it cost Mom to do this. Tami and she had always been very close and my best friend might not take this very well. I loved my mom for being the responsible one. Plus, I wasn’t ready to grow up and leave home. I’m glad I didn’t have to say that out loud.