Merry squirmed to get out of my grip and ran to Kristen and hugged her.
"So, Meredith," Kristen asked. "What were you looking at?"
"Oh, Kris," Merry said. "You’ve gotta take a look at these!" She dragged Kristen by the arm to the box that had captured her attention a few moments earlier.
"New outfit," my mother noticed.
"Yeah," I said. "A gift from Kristen’s dad and mom."
"You know, Jim… you’d never wear something like that if I picked it out for you."
"Aww, mom!" I said.
My mom looked pleased, however. "I didn’t expect you and Kristen to be here," she said.
I grinned. "Kris has never been to a flea market. She thought it was a place to find used pets!"
"That’s an old joke, Jim," my step-father said, not looking up from a fishing tackle box that had captured his attention at a nearby table, just like Merry’s box of whatevers had captured hers.
"Well, Kristen hasn’t heard some of the old jokes," I said in my defense.
Merry came running toward me. "Jim! Look!" She had a handful of those elastic fabric things. "All I could grab for fifty cents!"
"Looks like quite a handful, Shortcake!" I said.
Kristen was fastening her purse, and I realized that my lovely girl friend had paid for Merry’s precious treasures. I grinned at her.
"Mrs. Cummings?" Kristen asked my mother.
"Yes?"
"Do you have plans for lunch?" Kristen asked. "Jim and I were thinking of going to Vaughn’s, and we’d like you to join us."
Kristen hadn’t mentioned lunch plans to me, but I realized that she just wanted to get to know my parents better.
My mother looked at Merry, but my step-sister was in her own world, trying to sort out the treasures that she had managed to grab from the ones she didn’t like as much. Apparently, Merry hadn’t heard Kristen’s offer. "Well, that sounds very nice, Kristen. But let me talk with my husband."
My mother moved to where my step-father was still looking at that tackle box. They exchanged a few words quietly, and my mother smiled and nodded toward Kristen. "That sounds great. What time?"
Kristen looked at her watch. "How about an hour from now. There’s still much more for me to discover here."
"What time for what?" Merry asked, looking from my mother to Kristen.
"Lunch," Kristen said, smiling. "We’ll all be eating lunch together, honey."
"Wicked! Can I ride in your car? I promise to stay in the back seat!"
Kristen looked from Merry to me to my mother. I didn’t have a problem with Merry tagging along. As I mentioned before, I actually enjoyed her company and her seemingly limitless youthful enthusiasm. My mother shrugged. "OK. We’ll meet the three of you at one-thirty."
"Thanks, Mrs. Cummings, Mr. Cummings. See you later," Kristen said. "Come on, Merry… you’re with us, now."
"So wicked cool!" Merry said, making a beeline to the next table that had some more treasures that she couldn’t live without.
We tagged along after Merry, leaving my mother and step-father at the table where he was still gawking at that tackle box. I figured the odds were ten to one that that tackle box would end up in our garage later on that day.
As soon as we were out of sight of my parents, Kristen begged off, saying she needed to make a phone call. She headed toward the phone booth near the building that housed the bathrooms.
After a few minutes, Kristen returned. Merry was now looking at a bunch of Barbie clothes. Kristen and I giggled at that, thinking of last night’s Beautiful Krissy Dress Up game.
Kristen whispered to me that when we get to the restaurant, there’d be a gift certificate waiting for me, and for me to pick it up on the sly without my parents seeing me.
"Why, Kris?"
"Well," Kristen said. "I don’t think your parents will feel comfortable with me paying. So, I just purchased you a fifty dollar certificate that you can say was a gift to you. You parents would definitely feel better if you paid rather than me."
I shrugged. Usually at Vaughn’s, Kristen paid, even though I still had some money of my own. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that situation; I hated to be seen as a gold-digger. I knew that I’d have to find a way to earn some money so that we wouldn’t always have to be relying on Kristen doing things like that. But Kristen had told me that the money wasn’t important to her, and that I should be saving my money toward college. I shrugged.
There indeed was a gift certificate waiting for me at Vaughn’s. It had my name on it, and the host handed it to me quietly, smiling at Kristen.
As we moved to our table, I noticed Kristen hand the host a few bills that she had hidden in her hand, apparently paying for the certificate.
Lunch was delicious, as the food is always great at Vaughn’s. Merry insisted on a Belly Buster, and my mother was about to say "no" when Kristen said that she would love to share with Merry and me.
Hopelessly outmaneuvered by Kristen, my mother gave in, not looking angry and even smiling when the humongous dessert arrived.
Kristen set it down in front of Merry, who was sitting between the two of us. There were five spoons, but it was only the three of us kids that actually had any.
Merry managed to eat the lion’s share. I had half a scoop myself, and Kristen actually had even less.
"You managed to finish it, Merry," I said to my step-sister.
"Yeah. That’s killer!" the little girl swooned.
When the check arrived, my step-father went for his wallet when I interrupted. "Excuse me, but I have a gift certificate."
My mother looked suspicious. "A gift certificate?"
I pulled the envelope out of my pocket. It had my name on it, "Jim Crittenhouse." I opened it up, and there it was, a little slip with Vaughn’s logo on it, signed by the manager. There was also something written on the bottom, which read, "Happy sixteenth birthday!"
Kristen had thought of everything.
"Jim, we can’t let you pay!" my mother protested. "This is your present!"
I looked over to my blonde Goddess, and she smiled at me. I drew courage from her poise, and insisted to my mother that not spending it would not allow be to use my own present the way I wanted to. It was convoluted logic, and I think that I picked up that technique from my many conversations with Kristen, Patty, and the other girls. My mother eventually relented.
I paid the bill, mentally calculating fifteen percent as a tip. I actually received about ten dollars change, and I made a mental note to give the change back to Kristen.
As we were leaving the table, my mother said, "Wow. A new pair of slacks, a nice shirt, and even a gift certificate. Who did you get the certificate from?"
I decided to see if I could answer without lying. "Well, the girls had a surprise party for me at Kristen’s yesterday for my birthday. And the certificate was from one of the girls."
Technically, this was a true statement, and I hoped that my mother wouldn’t press.
My mother smiled, and I saw something in her eyes that indicated that I had indeed answered her question without my even knowing it. "Well, you’ll have to give one of the girls a kiss from me, then. You’ll have to tell her I think she’s sweet."
I was a bit embarrassed, wondering how my mother could read me so easily. My parents invited Kristen over for diner, but she said that she and Patty had already made plans for dinner, but that she would make sure I was home before six.
We all said our good-byes, and Merry hugged Kristen very tightly before they left.
I let Kristen drive me back to her place. I told Kristen that I had the change from the gift certificate, but she told me to keep it for now. I didn’t see any point in arguing, but I felt a bit more uncomfortable. Paying for a meal was one thing, but having me keep the change was another.