“Oh, honey, does your head hurt? Lacy, do you have any aspirin? I think Cora might have hurt herself,” I said with concern in my voice.
I think I was lucky her parents were there to protect me.
“Just because I’m blond and a former Valley girl does not mean I’m an airhead,” Cora informed me.
I looked at Cal with disbelief. He started laughing and left me to my fate. Lacy, the girls’ mom, tried to keep the smile off her face. I don’t think anyone teased Cora. Thankfully, Pam came down and saw her sister glaring at me.
“You need to dump this one. He’s not invited back,” Cora huffed.
“What did he do?” Pam asked.
“Honey, it’s complicated. Let’s go before your sister has a stroke,” I explained.
Lacy started laughing because I had just called both of her children airheads. I had teased Pam before, so she was quick on the uptake and slugged me on the arm.
“Behave,” she ordered me.
“Where are you taking Pam tonight?” Lacy asked.
“I don’t know, she hasn’t told me yet,” I confessed.
“He’s not even smart enough to plan a date,” Cora scored.
“All his friends call him ‘stupid boy.’ That’s why I have to plan our dates,” Pam piled on.
“You said ‘dates.’ If you keep it up, it might just be one date,” I grumped.
“Settle down. Everyone knows you’re a special boy,” Pam said, patting my hand.
“Special Ed,” Cora mumbled.
I decided I needed to make a tactical retreat.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The Thunderbird for dinner and dancing,” she told me.
It was over at State and they had good local bands on the weekend. I could see Cora wanted to go but was afraid to ask. I nudged Pam and she saw her sister’s look. I’d leave it up to her if we wanted to bring her along.
“Cora, do you want to go with us?” Pam asked.
Her mom gave her a dirty look, but I think Cora didn’t want to stay home on a Friday night.
“Be right back,” she said and she raced upstairs.
“Thank you for letting her go with you guys,” Lacy said.
“She’d drive you and Cal nuts just hanging around tonight. Plus, I need to build up brownie points for when I keep Pam out past curfew some night.”
Cal came back into the kitchen.
“We have the house to ourselves tonight,” Lacy clued him in.
He perked up.
“I might need some extra cash to feed Cora,” I teased.
Cal was reaching for his wallet, but Pam stopped him. Cora came down in an outfit I would never allow my daughter to wear, but I think they had fought this battle before.
THE TRICK WITH GETTING into the Thunderbird, if you were underage, was to go early and eat. They never kicked you out. But if you came later, they had a bouncer checking IDs at the door.
The Thunderbird was known for their Italian beef sandwiches. They also usually had a special or two for Friday and Saturday nights that was above and beyond bar food. Tonight, they had prime rib and catfish. Neither of the girls had ever had catfish, so we ordered catfish fingers as an appetizer. I love catfish, but I wanted the prime rib tonight.
After dinner, Cora spotted some of her sorority sisters. She went to talk to them, giving Pam and me some privacy.
“Sorry I pushed you to invite your sister.”
“No, it was sweet of you. I’m sure my parents now owe us. She would’ve been a pain all night.”
“Well, she really doesn’t know anyone to go hang out with. She moved away from her hometown and went to college, so the girls who might be friends are unknown to her. We should introduce her to Cindy, Beth, and Suzanne. They would make sure she had some fun,” I suggested.
“Aren’t you worried she might be a bad influence?” Pam asked.
“Not at all. They’re strong women and would never be influenced by your sister.”
Pam looked at me, not sure if I was right or not. Cora had always been a leader of the ‘in crowd.’ I knew my three older friends had enough backbone not to be led astray unless they wanted to be.
The band started to get ready. I was surprised when three pitchers of beer were delivered to our table, accompanied by a stack of plastic cups. That was soon followed by some frat boys who pulled up two more tables and chairs. I wasn’t happy when one of them started hitting on Pam. I was even less happy when she didn’t ignore him. It got worse when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Take it easy. If she goes with him, she wasn’t really with you,” one of the guys said.
“If he touches her one more time, I’ll break his wrist,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear.
I think her suitor thought we were ten years old. He pointed at her and slowly moved his finger forward. He was going to call my bluff. When he got close enough, I reached out and snatched his finger and he was soon on his knees. Cora came running up.
“Why are you such an asshole?” she screamed in my face.
Pam hadn’t said anything, but I could tell she was pissed. I let go of the jerk and stood up. I don’t think the frat boys realized how big I was until I stood up because they then all took a step back. I pushed through the crowd and walked out the front door. I didn’t bother to look back because I knew Pam wasn’t with me. I was unlocking the Jeep when I heard Pam call out.
“David, wait!”
I looked up to see her marching towards me.
“Were you just going to leave me?” she demanded.
I gave her a hard look and got into the Jeep. She climbed into the passenger seat and looked out the side window. It was a quiet drive home. I was still seething and in no mood to talk to her. She hadn’t made an effort to slow down his advances, and I was right there. It reminded me too much of Harper.
When we got to her house, she burst into tears and ran for the front door. I would never figure out women.
I was halfway home when I realized I hadn’t paid for dinner. I pulled over and looked their number up so I could call them. I finally got through to the manager and explained my problem. He was a nice guy; he put me on hold so he could pull my bill.
“Mr. Dawson, did you order alcohol?”
“No, sir. I’m sixteen and wouldn’t put you in that kind of position.”
“Shit. Someone charged a number of pitchers and shots to your tab. Don’t worry about it. I think I know who did it.”
“Cora Bell,” I said.
I gave him my credit card number and paid for our dinners and a nice tip. I’d let Cora worry about paying for the rest.
Chapter 3 – Your Assistant Is Something Special
Saturday May 30
When I got up, I could tell something was up. Duke was in stalking mode. The cat from hell had to be hiding somewhere to get this reaction out of him. Tim and Tami were waiting for us and they watched as Duke went around the garage.
“What’s he doing?” Tim asked.
“The damned Callahan cat must be playing games with him. If you see it, steer clear. That thing will take your hand off,” I warned them.
I heard a yip and my pup came charging towards me with his tail between his legs. What the heck was his problem? Then I heard a yowl from Precious. It sounded like she was cornered. There was something not right. I heard our garbage cans go over and imagined a huge mess to clean up. I ran around the edge of the garage and stopped.
There was a huge mastiff staring down Precious.
“Tami, Tim, take Duke and go into the house,” I told them.
Tami started to walk towards me.
“No, no, please do as I say,” I gently ordered. “Oh, and tell my dad to get my gun.”
I could see where Precious had popped the big guy in the nose because there was a little blood. As much as I would enjoy Precious’s demise, I couldn’t stand by and watch it happen. I started to edge back and the mastiff growled deep in his massive chest.
Dad came running out and heard the growl. He was smarter than me and went to get the garden hose. There was probably some law about discharging your gun within city limits. It took him what seemed like forever. In the meantime, the stress was getting to Precious; I could see her shaking. Brit’s kitty knew she was a goner if this dog decided to take her out.