One of these days, I would have to have a talk with Patty about her hang-up about breast size. Kristen pulled on a pair of sandals and left the room quietly.
Patty turned to me. "Jim, you need to be careful with Kristen. I told you yesterday that she’s in a weird state. She’s still there. Can you believe that she’s never had a friend in her life?"
"Huh?"
Patty nodded. "The gang that hangs around her? They do it only because she gives them things. Not one of them really likes her. They’d turn on her in a second if she didn’t give them jewelery, meals, booze, and stuff. They probably have already started."
"Patrice?" I asked.
"Just as bad as the others, Jim." Patty’s eyes went soft. "Look, I know you have feelings for Patrice, but she’s just as much a gold-digger as the rest of them, according to Kristen."
"Wow," I said, not knowing what to say.
"You were the first person to just hold Kristen, to try to make things better for her. You asked her to lunch. Didn’t you hear me yesterday in the bathroom?"
"I thought you were pissed at me," I said. "I wasn’t really listening."
Patty sighed. "I was very angry at you turning Kristen into a fucking addict. I thought that the very thing that I fell in love with had gone from you. I was very disappointed in you."
My heart sank at those words.
"But, Jim… you made it better!" Patty said. "You fixed it, maybe not completely, but you got rid of the worst of it. And then you held her. Kristen doesn’t have a friend in the world, and you, her tormentor, just held her. And you showed me that you WERE the person that I loved. And, more importantly, you showed Kristen."
I shook my head. I’ll never understand women. I wondered if I would be able to give myself a ticket and wish to understand them.
"But I just held her," I protested.
"And you invited her to lunch with us. You realized, without her even telling you, that she was starving. You treated her as a friend!"
Patty moved over to where her clothes were, and then asked, "By the way, that was a sweet thing you just did, hugging Kristen. May I ask what you whispered to her?"
I blushed, and said, "I thanked her for making me feel good."
The red haired girl smiled at me. "You really are sweet," she said, and started dressing.
I loved watching Patty dress, and today was no different. She was wearing a lavender version of the pink dress that Kristen had worn.
"Wow," I said, finally getting what Patty was telling me.
"Wow, indeed," Patty said as she pulled on her sandals, looking at them with a sour expression. "Fuck… these are Kristen’s. I guess she has smaller feet than me. God, I have big feet and tiny tits."
"Now, Patty…" I started.
"Oh, pooh!" Patty smiled. She moved back to me and kissed me.
As she got to my door, Patty turned and said, "Remember I told you that Kristen is in a weird state?"
"Uh, huh."
"Well, it’s a bit weirder than you think. She’s actually in love with you."
Patty smiled at me, having delivered her bombshell, and simply exited.
"Huh?"
But Patty didn’t elaborate; she had already left. I was stunned.
I realized that I had a piss hard-on that felt like it would burst. I exited my room and did a messy job of emptying my bladder.
I knocked on Jack’s door, and Patrice answered it. She didn’t say anything, but just shrugged and went back to her chair in the living room.
I found Jack in his bedroom. "What’s up with Patrice?"
Jack shrugged. "Don’t know. Don’t care. She’s a fucking bitch."
"She’s your sister, for Christ’s sake!"
Jack shrugged again. "I’ll trade her for yours if you want."
"You don’t even like Merry," I said to another shrug. I had brought my duffel bag with my Frisbees in it, and the two of us walked to the park.
I realized on the way that I had left my tickets at home, but didn’t anticipate that I would need them. I had fucked things up pretty bad when I had used them on Kristen and had decided that I was going to be extra careful before using them again. And I’d probably better stop using them for revenge.
At the park, we saw Doreen, who brightened up when she saw us.
I looked around, but Marla was nowhere to be found.
Jack and I waved to Doreen, who waved back at us. We walked over to her.
"Hi, Doreen," Jack said.
"Hi, Jack."
"Where’s Marla?" I asked.
Doreen turned to me. "I could ask, where were you? Marla and I waited for you for an hour the other day. We thought you might bring Jack."
Oh, Fuck! I had said I might meet them at the mall.
"I… um… I got tied up…"
Jack looked at me. "You saw Doreen at the mall?"
Doreen said, "You didn’t tell him I said hi?"
Now I had two more people angry at me. "I… shit! I forgot." Fuck! Fuck!
Doreen nodded at Jack. "I told him to say hi to you." She turned back to me and said, "Marla’s back in Orange County. She left last night. You didn’t even say good-bye to her."
Feeling like a complete idiot was becoming quite a habit with me.
Jack’s attention was on Doreen, and Doreen had turned back to Jack, having answered my question.
They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and I started to feel like I was crowding them. "Think I’ll walk home."
"Sure Jim," Jack said without even looking at me. There wasn’t any anger in his voice; he was just distracted with Doreen there. She had nicer tits than I did, I supposed.
I walked back home and threw my duffel bag in the shed. Having nothing else to do, I walked over to the mall.
I was wandering aimlessly. I visited the record store where I had met the three girls. I looked at the lingerie shop where I had given them the tickets. I went to the food court where I had seen Marla probably for the last time. There were a lot of memories in this mall, and they weren’t necessarily the ones that I had wanted to think about.
School would start in just a week. I never thought that I’d look forward to it, but there was nothing right now that interested me.
I thought about Jack and Doreen. They were the same age, unlike me and any of the girls that I had been with, with the exception of Marla.
I felt sad to know that Marla was back in California. I wondered if I’d ever visit the Golden State, and if I did, would Marla remember me? Or would she be mad at me for standing her up here at the fucking mall?
"Lookie here!"
It was a familiar voice. Wendy!
I turned around and smiled. "Hi, Wendy! Hi, Camille. Where’s Patty?"
Camille smiled back. "Patty’s with her new best friend."
I looked at Camille strangely. I had thought that Camille was Patty’s best friend.
Camille saw the confused look in my face. "She’s with Kristen, you dummy. She told me that the two of them were going to visit you today. I thought they were with you." Camille looked around, but didn’t see any sign of the other two girls.
I shook my head. "I saw them for a bit earlier. Then they went out. I have no idea where."
Wendy shrugged. "We’ll probably see her later anyway. We usually go to the mall Wednesday nights. You remember last Wednesday, huh?"
That was the day that I had met the three girls. I smiled. "Uh, huh."
"We’d love it if you could hang out with us," Wendy offered. "Maybe we could visit Kneely Park again?"
I was surprised by that offer, especially since it didn’t come as a result of me handing Wendy a ticket. "Sure," I said.
Camille said, "Oh, and thanks for lunch yesterday. It was a killer sundae."
Wendy nodded her agreement.