The special meeting at the high school was delayed somewhat as no one wanted to deal with the situation at hand. The school year was almost over, and everyone only wanted to be home. It took follow-up calls to fill a quorum so that any decision that was made that night could not be contested.
The secretary poured coffee for the attendees as more showed up for the meeting. She quickly passed out cookies in the hopes that the grumbling would soon stop. Once enough people gathered, the principal proceeded to start the meeting. Unknown to all it gave enough time for the mind-altering drug to take effect and because everyone was drinking coffee, no one seemed the wiser to know what was being discussed was not the intent of the meeting.
“He is such a joy to have around,” the principal proudly announced.
If truth be known, he admired Bobby Drews’s free spirit and secretly despised the jocks of the school who seemed to bully anyone who didn’t fit into their conventional mode of thinking. Anyone who was in high school and did not fit into a particular clique knew what he was referring to.
Mr. Rowe stood up and announced, “I move to make him valedictorian.”
The school secretary meticulously took down the minutes of the meeting. Unlike all the others attending the meeting, she was drinking her bottled water. Although she was puzzled by all the brilliant comments about Bobby, she just did as she was told and took down the comments as they were said. She liked Bobby and thought he was given a bum rap by the jocks at the school. She was on the school grounds when the incident happened. Unlike Mr. Rowe, she had a different opinion as to who started the fight. She tried to explain that to the principal the next morning but her pleas were ignored, and it was Mr. Rowe who convinced the principal to hold this special meeting to have Bobby expelled. She secretly smiled to herself, listening to Mr. Rowe and his praises of a student that he had apparently despised four hours earlier.
Spot played with the bottle of Viagra behind Widow Megal’s old woodshed. Suddenly the cap loosened and fell off. Pills spilled out onto the ground. Spot quickly licked the ground and chewed a couple of the pills. After a few minutes, his eyes rolled, and he hurried off.
Bobby dropped John off at the ranch and then drove off to go cruising. He didn’t know if what they did would work and he found it difficult to sit home and wait for the phone call from the principal saying he was expelled. Worse yet, he feared his plans for him going on to school would never be a reality no matter how good his SAT score was.
Bobby stopped for a red light and was in kind of a daze when he glanced into the ice cream parlor window to see the vision that had been in his mind all day. Shelby Mall sat alone looked forlorn and rejected. Bobby quickly parked the car around the corner.
Spot hurried around town servicing female dogs in heat. When he could not find a warm body to release himself, he humped a fire hydrant with great vigor when he sniffed something in the air. He quickly took off, back in the direction of Widow Megal’s home. He entered a doggie door. It didn’t take long till he found what he was looking for, Widow Megal’s pet, Buttons, who was in heat.
Jenny was sitting on the couch reading 50 Shades of Grey, enjoying the peace because everyone seemed to have someplace else to be. It was nice not having to listen to Mario Lanza blaring throughout the house. John and Jane were in the shed working on some secret project that she had no interest in knowing about. Bobby was still in town under the pretense of school work.
She was having a hard time dealing with all the problems of being part of the sandwich generation. Caring for Elmer was bad enough, but having Bobby thrust upon her was wearing her down. Granted, he was no longer a toddler, but he did qualify as a person of the younger generation. Given the fact her sister was incapable of giving the youth the proper guidance he so desperately needed, it was her job to provide that.
The knock at the door startled her at first. She quickly got up with a book in hand. As she opened the door, to her surprise, she saw Charles Hill standing on the porch with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
“Charles?” Jenny said with surprise.
Charles handed Jenny the flowers. Before taking them, Jenny quickly turned and set the book on the table with the cover down.
“I thought you had a meeting.”
“I won’t be missed.”
“So, what are these for?”
“I thought we could start over.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wanted to tell you I’m glad you’re back.”
“Do you want to come in?”
Charles glanced around and then turned to Jenny. “How would you like to go for a ride in the desert like we used to do?”
Jenny dropped the flowers and wrapped her arms around Charles. They kissed passionately.
Jane walked across the driveway when she observed Charles and Jenny at the front door. The exchange puzzled her. Jane just turned around quickly and headed back to the shed, not wanting to disturb Jenny.
It had been a long day for Bobby, one he was glad to put behind him finally. Ever since viewing the contents of Shelby’s locker earlier that evening, he regretted not seeking her out sooner. So much of what and how he felt about school was the feeling of having no real bond with anyone. Now he had a lot to make up for. Especially seeing there were only two and a half months left of the semester. He only hoped that if he buckled down, he could offset all the bad grades he had acquired earlier in the semester.
Bobby finished his sundae and then nervously glanced around the still-crowded ice cream parlor.
“So, are you going to the prom?” Bobby asked finally.
Shelby was startled by Bobby’s inquiry. Not thinking he would ever participate in anything so conventional.
“No, are you going?” Shelby asked, hoping there was a reason for him asking.
“I was waiting to ask you if you wanted to hang out with me.”
Shelby smiled at him innocently. “Sure. You still going to be in school?”
Bobby just rolled his eyes and grinned. “If I have anything to do with it, yes.”
“What time was the board meeting?”
“You know about that?”
“Everyone knows about that.”
Bobby glanced at the clock on the wall again. “I think my fate has already been decided.”
“If you don’t get expelled, what are you going to do?”
“Lay low, for one thing.”
“What about the future?”
“Now that I got my SATs, I’m sending out applications for colleges.”
“You haven’t done that yet! Christ, Bobby, you should have been doing that eight months ago.”
“I’ve got an edge on the competition.”
Shelby raised her hands. It was frustrating listening to Bobby, and she feared that he had not changed after all.
“This is what I don’t like about you,” was all she could think to say.
“It’s all going to work out. I have it under control.
Shelby just stared at Bobby’s confidence and then settled back. It was useless to worry about him if he would not help himself. She only hoped he had not waited too long to apply to colleges, but then she wasn’t aware of his SAT scores.
CHAPTER 22
John was busy working on the navigational panel, checking for loose connections. He was on the floor looking up, tightening everything he could, and then checking the electrical pulse to make sure the circuitry was grounded. John was so busy he had not noticed Jane at the spacecraft entrance watching him.