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Stories from the Verse
Re Verse All
Chapter 62: Takano 33
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Hastings 206
By the end of the second week Tammy was walking to school and home again by herself. Tommy’s one rule was that she had to come directly home, and then they could talk about whether she was going somewhere else, but she was welcome to bring friends home if she wished. During the morning Tommy would wash the breakfast things and get some laundry done, either her own or Tammy’s, and then when Tammy returned they would agree on what to have for lunch.
The crowds at the hamburger stand were smaller, some of the kids having gone away to college elsewhere, but Dot, Peg, Clark, and Jimmy were still around. Signs had gone up announcing that the last day the place would be open would be Columbus Day.
“Where do we hang out after that?” Tommy asked.
“Um,” Dot asked around a mouthful of hamburger, then stopped to swallow her food and wash it down with a drink of her root beer.
“A lot of places,” Jimmy offered. “Sometimes we go downtown to the five and dime, sometimes we catch a matinee, sometimes we go window shopping at the strip mall. I remember one time we went bowling. None of us are any good, but it was fun.”
Tommy nodded. “Sounds good, but how do we know?”
“Oh, usually we just call each other on Thursday or Friday, sometimes Saturday morning. Of course, Dot works every other Saturday, so you’re better off calling Peg.”
“Probably,” Tommy said, “particularly since if I’m going downtown I’ll need a ride.”
“Yeah, well I don’t always have the car,” Peg said, “but if I don’t I’m not going downtown anyway, unless someone else can drive.”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said, “Clark sometimes drives.”
“But I don’t have his number,” Tommy said.
“Yeah, well you wouldn’t call me anyway,” Clark offered. “My mom gets freaky about girls calling me; she says it isn’t right, that girls shouldn’t call boys unless they’re at least engaged or practically so.”
Another weird thing about the dark ages, Tommy thought.
“I could call you, though,” he added.
“I’m not sure I like that,” Dot said. “You can call me, and I’ll call her. I can’t have you running around with a younger girl.”
Clark blushed. “I only meant--”
“I’m teasing,” Dot said.
There was an awkward moment, and then Peggy broke it. “Next week,” she said, “you want to go back to the camping supply store? I know there were a few more things you wanted, but you needed to build up a bit of money.”
“Oh, yeah, next Saturday would be great. Clark, are you free? I mean,” she blushed a bit, wondering whether she had overstepped a line, “you know your way around those things, and I don’t, and I’d hate to waste good money on bad stuff.”
“Um--sure, I can be there. Dot? Jimmy?”
“I work next week,” Dot said, “which I think is why Peg thought it would be a good day.”
“I’m in,” Jimmy said.
“Great,” Peg replied. “Call me Thursday or Friday to make sure there aren’t any problems; I’ll be home by five. Meanwhile, I’ll plan to pick you up around ten, and we’ll shoot out to the store then.”
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #376: Characters Arrive. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
