December 2001

Justy and Grandpa: The High School Years

Note on the Story

The memories of my sophomore year in High School are filed in two specific columns: pre-April 12 and post-April 12. This is a much more efficient way of remembering that year than by good days and bad days, as many people do. I chose April 12, 1991 because it the day I realized that all the effort and planning in the world means nothing because there is always someone who is more than a few steps ahead of you.

(I know, I know…this is melodramatic. But remember, I was sixteen years old at the time. For damn sure, that fateful night changed the way I thought about women, men and music. But don't worry, this is not about sex.)

The Big Board

Justy and I are brothers. At the time of this story, I was sixteen and he was fifteen. We were both in our sophomore year in High School. We were in the same grade because I failed the second grade (something about inadequate reading comprehension and classroom attention skills.) For most of our lives, from that point forward, people thought we were twins. That had both its advantages and its disadvantages. It was an advantage because that him seem older to some people; a disadvantage because it made me seem younger to the rest. The most important aspect of our relationship was that we got along. Having a brother to watch your back is very comforting.

For most of the school year our parents allowed us to bike to and from school. Every morning and night we would ride home together, that is, until one of us got a girlfriend. In that case, of course, we did not always return home at the same hour.

In April 1991, I was suffering from a four week dry spell. Not only had I been grounded for four weeks after being caught sneaking out at night to meet a girl, but she did not wait for me to be free. I was left high and dry. Meanwhile, Justy was in the sixth month of a very fruitful relationship with a girl named Kelly Denton. After school, he and Kelly would run off together, and I was left to my own devices. That was kind of depressing because I had become so accustomed to riding and hanging out with him, that causing mischief or just having fun was not the same without him.

But, on April 12th, 1991, Justy and I would ride again!

That morning, he told me to meet him by the flagpole in the front of the school at 3:30pm. You see, our parents were out of State that weekend, and they had bankrolled our "Home Alone" weekend. Justy and I were going to eat junk food and sugar cereal until our stomachs exploded. I also planned on watching six or seven kung-fu movies.

You see, not only were we parent-free that weekend, but his girlfriend was being kidnapped by her gal-pals for the weekend as well. Justy was alone and I was going to be answer to all of his woes. But he met me at 3:30 that afternoon with other plans in mind.

We hopped on our bikes and cruised over the Price Chopper for some soda, an Old El Paso 12-Taco Kit, and a pound of ground beef. With the left over cash we planned on renting a few movies and buying cheap cigars at CVS.

On our way to the cash register, I stopped at the salad bar. "Justy, you want to know the best way to make tacos?"

"Bra, I got the taco sauce in this here kit. What are you talking about?"

"We need toppings right?" I said.

"We have toppings at home, right?" Justy asked me.

"Maybe so, but they would not be fresh toppings."

Justy looked puzzled. "So what?"

"We can get all kinds of fresh toppings from the salad bar here for only 99-cents a pound. Salad, tomatoes, jalepenos and cheese." I swept my arm, Vanna White style in front of the buffet of pre-sliced bounty.

"You are my hero." Justy lunged at the bar. We packed a oversized plastic salad bowl with all of our favorite toppings. I made my brother happy. For that moment, a hero was I. But what kind of story would this be without a mysterious plot point?

With our parents hard earned money we paid for the food and soda. Bounty in hand, we walked out of the Price Chopper as two lucky men.

When we arrived at our bikes, Justy turned to me and said, "Grandpa, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, why not?"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone what I am going to tell you, alright?" Justy said, sternly.

"I think I can keep a secret." I said. "I promise."

"Good, but you also have to promise to help me sneak the car out tonight." He said, strapping a 12-pack of grape soda to his bike rack.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, that is about it." He unlocked his bike and started walking towards the street. "I will tell you my little secret when we get home."

"Hey, asshole, you can't leave me hanging like that! You have to tell me now!" I yelled.

"This is worth the wait, brother. I swear." He hopped on his bike and rode into the street. I immediately chased after him.

Justy never asked me to keep a secret for him. For almost two years of high school, we lived under an expectation of privacy. There had never been a time when he spilled the beans to anyone, and neither had I. The law was unwritten, but set in stone (if that makes sense.)

As you can imagine, being asked to keep a promise made the secret sound juicy - very juicy. I could have cooked the beef with the heat generated by my head when I thought about what he kept from me. We sped home in what must have been a record time. I peddled so hard that I could hardly yell at him from lack of breath.

After we unpacked the groceries, he sat on a stool in the kitchen and said, "What I am about to tell you cannot be known by anyone else on the planet."

"I am all ears," I replied.

"Jenny Richardson is having a party at her house tonight. Her parents are out of town, and my Kelly is going to be there." He said to me so frankly that I almost forgot that he had passed on good news.

"Jenny Richardson? I did not hear about this party."

"That is because there will only be ten girls there tonight. It is a girl-only party." Justy went into the fridge for the milk. He drank right out of the jug. I did not care. I had done the same thing. He continued, "Her parents gave her permission for a small, overnight party for nine other girls. No boys, or she would not be able to drive until she was thirty."

"Are you serious?'

"I don't know what kind of deal she made, but we can get into that party at midnight if you drive me there. I plan on having some fun tonight. The Richardson's have an indoor pool and sauna. Jenny's dad is a lawyer and her mom is a doctor. This house is huge! And we will have the run of it." Justy was interrupted by the phone.

I picked it up. "Hello." It was my friend, Dex. "How you doing…Cool. No. Just me and my brother…No, they have the neighbors watching us…I know it…You can come over tomorrow. Ride your bike. If you leave it in the garage, no one will know that you are here…Good…see you then."

Justy laughed. "I bet that was hard to hold that one in, eh?"

"Actually, I am betting that you promised Kelly that you would be there, and I am not going to ruin your fun if there is a good chance that I will have fun as well." A teen age guy in love is not hard to figure out. "You and I have some planning to do if we are going to sneak out at midnight."

Our parents asked their friends on either side of the house to watch out for uninvited visitors and wild parties while they partied in Toronto for the weekend. This had been done to us before, and we knew the drill quite well. To our East lived the Deveraux family, to the West, the Ridgley's. On a typical night, both Mr. Wrigley and Deveraux watched for trouble until midnight. For both, that involved watching TV in their respective living rooms while looking for commotion in our house.

Usually, we had our friends bike to the house during the afternoon an at dinner time, park their bikes in the garage, and stay all night in the basement. That plan was fool-proof as long as no one set off any fireworks or turned on the strobe light.

This night we had a peculiar hurdle: getting the car out of the driveway without startling a soul. We did not foresee and problems getting the car out, really. We would simply wait for our neighbors to go to bed, then we would roll the car down the street and around the corner. That being done, we were going to be home free. The trick was going to be getting home without being noticed.

We decided to forget about the morning until the morning. So we made ourselves a fantastic taco dinner with all the trimmings. We drank coca cola and grape soda while playing 'Asteroids ' and 'Defender' on our old Atari 2600.

At 11:30, we quietly made our way from the basement to the first floor. Justy watched the Deveraux house and I watched the Wrigley's. At 11:45, Mr. Deveraux went upstairs to bed. I watched Mr. Wrigley depart only a few minutes before midnight.

We waited five minutes for any sound or movement from either house. And under the cover of a dark night and a bustling wind outside, we sneaked into our parent's 1986 Honda Accord and quietly drifted off into the night.

Jenny Richardson lived five minutes from our house. We pushed the car to Jenny's house as well. We found an open garage with a young woman waiting for us in the dark. "You guys are late. They think I am out here smoking. The girls are hanging out around the pool."

Justy kissed Kelly and she lead us into the house. We walked through the kitchen and an atrium on our way to the pool room. Nine heads turned to look at us in unison. We were not, as it turned out, scheduled visitors.

"Kelly! I am not allowed to have boys here tonight! I could get into a lot of trouble!" Jenny Richardson barked at Kelly, but it was like the barking of a small dog. "You two are going to have to leave right now!"

Kelly pulled Jenny aside and they exchanged heated words. By and by, Jenny calmed down and we were allowed to stay, but not invited into the pool. I sat down at the side of the pool and chatted with the young ladies. They were all in my class. I had known a few of them since the first grade.

Kelly and Justy sauntered away from the group and buried themselves in each others faces. The last twelve hours they spent apart must have felt like an eternity, or something nearly as long, for they kissed with both vim and vigor. We were all rather moved by the site.

I used every ounce of my strength to keep from smiling and giggling without control. My wonderful brother had ditched me at a private pool party with nine of the cutest girls in our class. But at the precise moment when I wanted to raise a glass to toast my brother for his generous gift, Jenny yelled at the girls to get out of the pool and move upstairs to her bedroom.

While I was obviously not invited upstairs, I did still wish to thank Jenny for asking the girls to get out of the pool. In a flash, I watched eight beautiful girls pop out of the pool one at a time, some climbed out, some used the ladder. At that moment, I lived every high school boy's dream. I was king of my own little world.

Before the ladies left me alone in the pool room, one of them, Dawn, touched me on the shoulder and said, "Thanks for not telling the whole world about our little party. We're glad that you and your brother are such gentlemen."

"No problem, Dawn. I am always happy to help." I will never forget saying that to her. In a night full of frozen moments, that may be the most prominently frozen moment in my mind for no other reason than that it is emblematic of my otter failure to prepare myself. I looked up out of my embarrassment to find that my brother and his girlfriend had left me as well. I was alone in a very big, very nice, house.

I opened a coke and eat a slice of pizza (the three pizzas they ordered were untouched.) I walked into the living room in search of a stereo system. I found a cherry stereo system opposite the fireplace.

The Richardson's record collection amazed me. They had a good one for a lawyer and doctor: Bob Dylan, Miles David, Bruce Springsteen, the Doors, the Dead - even Supertramp!

I thought about plopping 'Breakfast in America' on for a spin, but I feared the girls coming downstairs to the sound of me singing along with the band: "Don't you look at my girlfriend, she's the only on I've got." That was my one great moment for foresight all evening.

Looking for something modern with universal appeal, I decided upon Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. Everyone likes that LP, and everyone my age has a story about the first time they saw the 'Thriller' video. I could not fail with that choice.

I sat in the living room for almost two hours. I heard muffled shouts and giggles coming from the girls upstairs, and an occasional stiffing of Justy and his belle, Kelly.

At exactly 3 AM, Dawn came downstairs with her friend, Dani Nichols. Dani was a gymnast and also a girlfriend for three days in kindergarten (something that I often forget, but my mother always remembers.) They wore more than they had been when last I saw them. Extra-long red tee-shirts draped over their shoulders. I could not make out their figures in those terrible sacks.

"I can't believe you are still here, Gramps. We figured you would get bored and leave." Dawn said politely.

"I am the driver, I can't leave until Justy is done."

"I'm sorry. I forgot. Have you seen those two lately? We are so mad at Kelly for ditching us, you know."

I did not care at this point. "I can imagine. But she needed to be with her man. That is a powerful urge, too. It gets in the way of sisterhood every day, I bet."

"That's true!" Laughed Dani. "And it's funny that you mention that, right Dawn?"

"Right, Dani." Dawn put her hand in mine, "We need to talk with you about this party we had tonight. Join us here on the couch."

We walked across the floor to the couch. With every step I prayed to myself, 'Please be the kissing part of Truth or Dare. Please be the kissing part of Truth or Dare.' But like every other fleeting wish in my life, I did not get what I asked for.

Dawn started, "Gramps, you know that summer is coming, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, some of us girls decided to do a summer-long experiment on all of the boys in the High School."

"Experiment"

Dani busted in, "Yes, and experiment. Just now we held a dating summit to decide who we are going to date this summer."

"You decided for who?"

Dani answered me, "For all nine of us."

"Grandpa, let me be straight with you. All nine of us are attractive, right?"

I blushed. "Yes." Dani smiled back at me.

Dawn continued, "Us girls have been worrying about how we were going to spend our summer. There are concerts to go to, movies to see, and party's to be seen at. And since most of us do not have cars, we will have to depend on the combination of ourselves and boys in this school.

"What we did here tonight is make a list of boys who can take care of our social needs, and are also cute. We simplified our lives."

I was stunned. "And you think you will get into concerts and movies for free? Really free? Do you really have such low opinions of the guys in this school?"

"Grandpa," Dawn said, "we are merely taking advantage of a scientific fact: boys want what we've got. They will jump over each other for a chance to touch any one of us. And, pitted against each other, will give us exactly what we want."

"Why are you telling me?"

"We talked about this upstairs. We know already that you can be trusted, but you can be trusted my your brother, not by any of us. So we decided to tell you about our plan and make you swear to keep our secret. For the mere chance to date one of us, we figure that you will keep our secret forever. Does that make sense?" The whole time Dawn said that, she ran one hand through her long, blonde hair. Her other hand was plated firmly on my knee.

"I guess so. But what choice do I have, really?"

"Exactly. So next week, when your buddies brag to you in the locker room that they have a date with this girl or that girl. Do not tell them anything. Wish them good luck. They are going to need it." Dawn stood up. "I am going to find your brother. His time is up. We are going to separate them for good." Dawn walked into the kitchen, and downstairs into the basement.

Dani looked at me with sad eyes. "Don't worry about this. If you promise to take me out for dinner this summer, I will ask the girls to be easy on you."

"That sounds like a good deal. We'll talk some time in June, OK?"

"Call me tomorrow, I don't care." She clutched my hand for a moment, stood up and walked out of the room.

I was alone again on the couch, confused and alone.

At the right moment, Justy walked into the room. "Let's get the hell out of here. I owe you breakfast, anyway."

We escorted ourselves to the Honda. We rolled out of the garage just after 3:30AM. I drove straight to the Grand Boulevard Diner. I needed an order of pancakes with a side of onion rings. I also needed a coke.

Justy and I said almost nothing to each other while we eat. Instead of asking for a mozzarella stick, I said nothing.

"They may have made that whole thing up, you know." He mumbled as he took a bite out of his burger.

I thought that he was testing me. After all, his girlfriend was one of them. "Made what up?"

"The summer dating plan, you moron. Dawn and Kelly told me. I am supposed to keep my mouth shut, too. But I can talk to you because you are in the same boat as me. But I would bet you twenty bucks that those girls made up a story just to mess with us." While he talked, he waved his last mozzarella stick in the air at me.

I grabbed half of the stick from his hand and tossed it in my mouth. "You are out of your mind, brother. This is what I suspected all along."

"What's that?"

"I always had a feeling that girls plan much farther ahead than I ever could."

"Of course, but almost everyone makes plans better than you, Gramps," he said. "In fact, I have seen you go weeks without planning anything. You seem to be most comfortable when you are flying by the seat of your pants."

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course. You actually sound more authoritative when you have no idea what you are talking about."

Before I could respond, our waitress, Michelle interrupted us with the check. I decided to silence my self, let Justy pay the check, and quietly drive home.

We backed the car into the driveway a few minutes before 6:00 AM. We stirred neither the neighbors nor the birds. We were professional.

Justy slept like a king on the Laz-e-boy in front of the television. I sat in my room for hours thinking about what Dawn and Justy told me. It was during those early morning hours that I began to contemplate a new life style: active aimlessness.

Seriously, at that moment I faced two choice, beat them or join them: I made a third choice. From that day forward, I promised myself that I would cease tampering with the world around me, and allow the world to happen to me. I was responsible to prepare only myself.

That was the beginning of a new life.