Dad rushed out, I reached back, and he handed me the hose. He then peeked around the corner. Then Dad did something I hadn’t even thought of.
“SIT!” he commanded.
To my amazement, the brute put his butt on the ground and wagged his tail. Precious decided she needed me to protect her and bounded right up to me and jumped into my arms. I checked and didn’t find anywhere where she’d clawed me. I guess she was just happy to be alive.
Dad walked around the corner.
“Who’s a good boy,” he said and went up and rubbed its ears.
I had been holding my breath. It turned out this monster was the sweetest dog and I’d almost hosed him down. I took Precious home. I knocked on the back door and Bryan answered. He about fell down as he backed up when he saw what I had in my arms.
“Brit!” he called to get his sister.
I was a little irritated when he slammed the door in my face. Brit answered the door and she was shocked.
“She had a little scare,” I said, handing her Precious.
I just left her standing there and walked back to find my dad loving on the huge dog. I put the hose up, went inside and found Tami and Tim being fed by Angie. She’d made pancakes. I told them I was going running and they both waved me off. Duke was not going outside with that dog in his yard.
Before I left, Tami did make me tell them what had happened and then stuffed another bite into her mouth. I saw Angie had gotten out the rhubarb marmalade. It was a combination of orange and rhubarb, one of my favorites.
WHEN I GOT BACK FROM my run, I saw a car I didn’t recognize in the driveway. I went into the kitchen to find Lacy and Cal Bell eating pancakes. The whole family was up now.
“Go take your shower and then come back down,” Mom told me.
When I came back down, Angie put a big glass of milk and a stack of pancakes in front of me. The pancakes weren’t on my diet, but I figured I could get away with it. During breakfast, Dad told me the dog was the neighbor’s grandson’s dog. He was visiting for the weekend. Duke would be safe to roam the neighborhood come Monday.
When I finished, I was asked to join Mom, Dad and Pam’s parents in the office. I was surprised when Tami followed us in and closed the door behind her. I guess she figured she could sit in on something like this.
“David, can you tell us what happened last night? I have one daughter I had to pay a three thousand dollar bar tab for and another who won’t stop crying. Neither one will tell us what happened,” Cal said.
I started to tense up and then Tami touched my shoulder. I looked up, smiled at her, and then told my story. When I was done, I could tell Mom wasn’t happy. It sounded like Cora tried to take advantage of me, and I didn’t know what to think about Pam. Cal looked like he was going to blow a blood vessel. Lacy gave me a feeble smile.
“David, I’m sorry for what Cora tried to pull. She’s going to have a long summer working off her debt. As far as Pam goes, I think you misunderstood her actions. Did she just seem to sit there and have no reaction?”
I thought about it and realized she didn’t even talk to the guy. I nodded to Lacy.
“That’s how she gets when she’s scared. She freezes up. I bet she acted mad afterward.”
“Yeah, she was pissed at me. I thought she was mad because I got physical with her frat boy.”
“No, she was embarrassed.”
“I think she and I need to talk,” I said.
“Please do. She’s upset because she thinks she’s lost one of her best friends. She likes you a lot.”
Tami tapped my shoulder and I followed her out of the office. I could hear Mom having a very direct discussion with the Bells. Mom wanted her pound of flesh. You did not hurt her boys.
“Go get her, bring her back to your apartment and make up with her. Then you’re taking us out to Monical’s for lunch,” Tami told me.
“You know you don’t need to boss me around anymore, right?”
“Quit being a ‘stupid boy.’ You know my advice is sound on this, and you’d eventually be doing what I just suggested.”
She was right, except for the Monical’s part. That was genius. I rolled my eyes and went to get Pam.
I RANG THE DOORBELL and waited. No one answered. I tried the door and it was open, so I let myself in. I figured Pam was in her room. I opened her bedroom door and it was pitch black in her room. I was going to have to figure out what she put over the windows to get it so dark in there. I crawled into bed with Pam and she wrapped me in her arms.
“Aren’t you mad at me?” she asked.
“Not now. I was last night, but your mom came and talked to me. I think I understand now.”
“Thank you,” she said, then snuggled up to me and fell asleep.
I MUST HAVE FALLEN asleep, too, because I was awakened when Lacy turned on the lights and came into the room. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust. Pam was snoring. Lacy motioned for me to follow her.
“How is she?” her mom asked once we were in the hall.
“Fine. I think she’s exhausted.”
“We’ll wake her up in time for you to go to Monical’s.”
I never doubted that women know more than I do, so I wasn’t surprised she knew about our lunch date. We went into the kitchen; Cora was there and wouldn’t look at me. I saw my mom seated on a kitchen stool. Lacy pointed to a chair across from her daughter, and I sat down. Cal sat at the head of the table and Cora was on the side at the other end.
“Your mother has some definite ideas about what we should do with Cora after what she pulled last night. After thinking about it, I think it’s a good idea. I’ll need your help to make it happen,” he told me.
“Do I need to talk to my mom about this?” I asked.
He just nodded, so Mom and I went to the living room for some privacy.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I talked to Cal and Lacy, and they’re at their wits’ end with Cora. She was a bit of a problem before they moved here, but has steadily gotten worse since she went to college. I guess her using your tab was the tipping point that may have forced them to do something about it. We all feel she needs to understand what it means to be an adult.”
“That’s all fine and good, but why did Cal say he needed my help?”
“There are a couple of reasons. The first is, she tried to take advantage of you. The second is, Kendal doesn’t need to be carting you around all the time. If you had someone old enough, they could sign off on your shoots,” Mom said.
“Hang on, Kendal’s my agent. She does way more than just sign off on my shoots,” I said.
“Cora would be your personal assistant. She wouldn’t be taking over Kendal’s job, but she could free Kendal up to work with her other clients.”
“Has Kendal complained?” I asked.
“No, but she and I have talked about what all she’s doing. She’s suggested that with everything coming up with football recruiting and the movie, you’ll need to get someone to be your buffer.”
“I already have Lily and Tracy,” I said.
“Lily you take complete advantage of, and Tracy isn’t well.”
“I can think of like fifty other people I would rather have as my assistant than Cora. I don’t think she really likes me, if I’m being honest. Why can’t I pay Lily or ask Wolf? He could use the money.”
“You will start paying Lily. The only problem with either of them is they aren’t at least eighteen. You probably should have someone older,” Mom said.
“Like someone twenty-one, so they can buy me beer," I said.
“I might have to be your assistant,” Mom said.
“Cora’s sounding better, for some reason. Plus, I could never afford you.”