ODD NUMBERS Page 11

  “That’s okay. You can go change. I’ll wait for you.”

  “Yeah, you just want to leer at her,” said Sally to Tim.

  “Better than leering at you, Sal.”

  “I think I’ll pass on the swim invitation. Thanks anyway,” said Allison.

  “Suit yourself,” said Tim, as he left the three women and promptly dove into the pool. They were standing close enough to get splashed by Tim’s wake.

  “Warn us next time,” Sally yelled at him, clucking, harrumphing, rolling her eyes, and shaking her head as she surveyed her damp skirt.

  A few other party goers clad in bathing suits jumped in the pool.

  About forty-five minutes lapsed, in which everyone ate, talked, laughed, and drank some more. For Allison dinner was unsatisfying, coming too late on top of all that alcohol. She’d had more than her share tonight. Clouds appeared in the darkening sky and it had become more humid. The crowd had gotten louder and rowdier and so had the music.

  Barb excused herself to go take a nap. She asked Sally to make sure she was up by ten-thirty so she could be at the hospital by eleven. Allison watched in bewilderment as Barb walked over to one of the lounge chairs, pushed the head back, and lay down. She appeared to be asleep within moments.

  “Why didn’t she go back to her apartment?” Allison asked.

  “She didn’t want to miss the party,” Sally said.

  “Yeah, but she’s asleep.”

  “Hey Allison,” a male voice called to her from the pool. Allison recognized it as belonging to Tim. “C’mon in. The water’s fine.”

  “No, thank you,” Allison called back as she searched the crowd for Frank.

  “Ah, c’mon Allison.”

  “I already told you, I don’t have my suit on.”

  “Would it make you feel more comfortable if I didn’t have mine on either?”

  “What?”

  “Uh, oh, Tim’s in rare form. And it’s not even eight o’clock yet,” Sally said looking at her watch.

  “Da da da…” Tim blurted out the tune to “The Stripper”. Allison watched in horror as Tim pulled his bathing trunks off from inside the pool. He let out a loud whoop, pulled his wet swim trunks up out of the water and held them over his head. He swung them around and around lasso style, all the while whooping and hollering. Several of the other partygoers egged him on, whooping and hollering right along with him.

  “Allison baby! This is for you.” He flung the wet swim trunks through the air. Allison saw them flying toward her head and tried to duck. It was too late. The cold, wet suit hit her on the side of the head, leaving her stunned and dripping. The reaction from the crowd was mixed. Guffaws mingled with boos.

  “Nice goin’, Schultz,” someone yelled.

  “You really know how to impress the women, Schultz,” another said laughing.

  The stunned reaction was subsiding and in its place Allison felt angry and humiliated. She bent down and picked up the wet swim trunks which fell first to her shoulder then to the ground. She flung them with all the strength, might, and anger she could muster. They landed in the branches of a tree behind the clubhouse.

  “Are you all right, honey?” Sally hovered and fussed over Allison.

  “Fine. Just a little stunned,” she said, gritting her teeth.

  “You’re soaking wet. Somebody get us a towel. We need a towel over here,” Sally hollered out. “You idiot!” Sally screamed at Tim.

  “I was aiming for you, Sal,” Tim hollered back. “Sorry Allison. Do you still love me?”

  Allison ignored him, pretending not to hear.

  “You know, you’re sexy when you’re wet.” Tim said and Allison shot him a look of contempt. “But not as sexy as when you’re mad.”

  Frank emerged from the crowd with a towel which he placed around Allison’s shoulders. His fingers touched the back of her neck where they lingered for just a moment. Allison shivered. She thanked him and began drying the wet side of her hair with the towel.

  “Looks like our problem child really did it this time,” Frank said to Sally. “How ya doin’?” he asked Allison in his New York accent, his concerned expression showing just the slightest glint of humor over the previous incident. Allison and Frank broke down and laughed at the same moment.

  “We can laugh now,” said Frank, “but it still won’t stop me from kicking his ass.”

  “Hey, if nobody’s gonna skinny-dip with me then I want my swim trunks back,” Tim yelled.

  “You moron! I ought to kick your ass, Schultz,” Frank hollered back.

  Allison was surprised to see how angry Frank got. He looked as if he was ready to dive in the pool and go after Tim. This was too much chivalry, she thought as her feminist sensibilities flared up.

  “No, no, you don’t need to kick anybody’s ass,” Allison said staving Frank off. “I’ve got a better idea for revenge.”

  “Oh, yeah! What’s that?” Frank asked.

  “Look where I tossed his swim trunks,” she said pointing to the tree behind the clubhouse.

  “Ah, ha! I think I follow you. You’re devious, you know? But I like it!”

  “Bring it on, Franky boy!” Tim hollered out. “You wanna fight, we’ll do it. Just, uh, toss me my swim trunks first.”

  “Allow me the pleasure,” Allison whispered to Frank just as he was getting ready to speak.

  “Certainment,” Frank said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

  “C’mon, man. Somebody get my swim trunks.”

  “You’ll have to come out here and get them yourself, Tim dearest,” Allison said. “Of course you’ll have to climb up that tree to retrieve them.” All the partygoers laughed.

  “Ah, c’mon guys!” Tim whined.

  “If Tarzan can do it, then so can you. Of course Tarzan did have a loin cloth,” Allison said.

  “We won’t look, Tim. We promise,” Sally called out.

  “You’d have to strain to see anything anyway,” Frank said to Sally loud enough so Tim could hear.

  “Very funny. C’mon guys! Have mercy. I gotta piss.”

  “You better not piss in the pool, Schultz,” hollered one of the other swimmers.

  “I’m gettin’ out of here,” yelled another one.

  “Me too,” yelled another as they all scurried out of the pool.

  Amidst all the hilarity, the laughter, the loud music, and the thick cloud of intoxication which hung over the party goers, came a moment of silence and stillness which caught most everyone off guard. The stereo stopped in between tracks, and the crowd paused to inhale, simultaneously it seemed, in between laughter and conversation. The church bells from the nearby church sounded once again, like an alarm awakening everyone from a dream, but instead of jumping into action like one would do at the sound of a real alarm, they all just paused for a brief space of time. In that short-lived quiet moment nothing could be heard but the sound of the water lapping against the sides of the pool and the toll of the bells. And then it was over just as quickly as it had begun.

  “Those bells are so damn loud,” Sally snapped. “They drive me crazy!”

  “Hey, turn some music on, somebody,” a partygoer yelled out.

  “They chime on the quarter hour. Don’t they?” Allison asked.

  “What’s that?” Frank asked, finally snapping back into reality.

  “The church bells,” said Allison.

  “Yeah. Nobody around here needs an alarm clock. Just open your windows,” said Sally.

  “They wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes,” said Frank.

  “Wait,” said Sally, her index finger raised in the air. “Listen! They’re still pealing. Somebody just got married.” Sally dramatically slapped her hand against her chest. “Oh! There’s nothing more romantic than wedding bells. Don’t you think, Allison?”

  Allison smiled and said nothing. She wished the bells would stop ringing. Meanwhile Sally sidled up between Frank and Allison and began pushing the two of them together.

 
; “I now pronounce you king and queen of Camelot,” Sally said, her makeup and hair beginning to wilt from the humidity and wine.

  “Huh?” said Frank, bewildered.

  “Oh c’mon, play along with me,” Sally said, grabbing Frank by one arm and Allison by the other. “You may now kiss your queen,” she said, giving them both a forceful shove until they were standing nose to nose.

  Allison didn’t know why she did it. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe just an attempt to shock Sally. Maybe she just wanted to see Frank’s reaction. It was an impulsive thing to do, but she did it all the same. She threw her arms around Frank’s neck. She intended to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head, maybe accidentally, maybe not. Their lips met. He didn’t pull away and neither did she until the cat calls coming from the other partygoers crept into Allison’s consciousness. She realized what she was doing and backed away. There stood Frank, gazing at her with those blue eyes as if she were the only person there.

  “I’m sorry,” Allison said to Frank.

  “No need to apologize,” Frank said almost in a whisper. He smiled at her. A smile, it seemed, that was intended only for her. She wished someone would say something, anything, to distract her from that on-looking smile. Even Sally was speechless.

  Allison became aware of someone standing behind her, his hand firm on her shoulder. She turned around and there stood Kent.

  “Kent!” Allison gasped. He didn’t say anything but only gave her a feigned smile which she wasn’t sure how to read. She worried about how long he had been there and how much he had seen. She didn’t want to ask him for fear of arousing suspicion.

  “Honey,” Allison wrapped her arms around his waist and turned the charm on high. “I see you had no trouble finding the pool.”

  “None whatsoever. I just followed the sound of all the hoopin’ and hollerin’. You seem to be enjoying yourself.” Allison wondered what Kent was implying. His body was tense and rigid. She released him from her embrace.

  The effects of the alcohol were wearing off fast, leaving her with a headache and a sense of agitation. She pinched her eyebrows together, trying to get rid of the headache and the accompanying worry and embarrassment. I’m an engaged woman and I just kissed a man on the lips I haven’t even known one week; in front of God and everyone. Did Kent see it too? How long was he standing there? Panic hovered over Allison’s head like one of the clouds in the ever darkening sky as she searched his face for answers. He was looking back at hers and she was sure he could read the guilt. It seemed everyone was looking at her waiting for her reaction.

  “I want you to meet my new neighbors,” Allison said with new found ease.

  “Frank, this is Kent. Kent, this is my fiancé Frank – I mean, my fiancé Kent, Frank. You idiot! Allison said to herself as a nervous laugh ushered forth unimpeded.

  “I believe we met the night Allison moved in,” Frank said extending his hand graciously. “Glad you could make it.”

  Kent shook Frank’s hand but said nothing, merely acknowledging him with a hard to read nod.

  “And this is Sally. She lives in my building too.” Allison put her arm around Sally and shook her with all the feigned chumminess she could rally, as if she were her very best friend. “And that’s my other neighbor, Barb,” she said pointing toward the lounge chair where the sleeping Barb, whom someone had tossed a towel over, was now curled up in the fetal position. “And that’s my other neighbor, Tim,” she said pointing toward the pool, her voice losing momentum by now.

  Suddenly everyone’s attention turned back to the pool by the sound of Tim’s voice, “Will somebody get me a goddamned towel? I’ve got to pee and I’m freezing my nuts off in here.”

  Everyone but Kent laughed at Tim and his predicament.

  “Have mercy,” Tim called out. “Will someone please toss me a fucking towel?”

  “What’s with him?” Kent asked.

  “Your fiancé threw his swim trunks in a tree,” Sally said.

  “He threw them at me first. They hit me so I threw them in the tree. It’s a long story.”

  “Nice night for the party. Don’t you think?” Frank said directing the question to Kent.

  “It was,” Kent said with a pause, “but it’s going to storm later.”

  “Nice meeting you again, Kent.”

  “You too.” The two shook hands again. Kent was a little friendlier this time. Maybe because he knew Frank was leaving their company.

  “C’mon, lets go see if we can torture Tim some more,” Frank said to Sally.

  “Sounds like fun,” Sally replied.

  Allison finally turned her attention back to Kent. “Wild party,” he said wistfully. He had that familiar expression he used to get when he’d come visit her in Bloomington and then again in Chicago; as if he never fit in anywhere in her circle. She felt sad for Kent. And guilty.

  Her mind was beset with worries. What if he saw me kiss Frank? I don’t want to lose him. She missed him already, the thought of him being gone, being out of her life.

  Yet she had made her decision. That’s why she moved back to Lamasco. She would seal their commitment tonight.

  They turned to one another and spoke each other’s names at the same time. They spontaneously embraced. “I’m so sorry Kent.”

  “Sorry about what?” he said laughing and squeezing her tighter.

  She looked hard into his eyes, but didn’t see any indication that he knew what she was apologizing for.

  “For being so wishy washy about what I want. You’re what I want. Please know that I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  They kissed. Here Allison was in the same spot where she kissed Frank just a few minutes prior to this. She held on tight to Kent, her arms around his neck. Over his shoulder she could see Frank and Sally standing at the opposite end of the pool, talking to Tim who was still stuck in the pool.

  Frank glanced over at her. She thought she saw dejection on his face. She squeezed Kent tighter and closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at Frank anymore. What’s wrong with me? How can I be in love with Kent and still be so attracted to someone else? It’s just a crush. An infatuation. The right combination of chemicals and hormones. That’s all it is. Chemicals and hormones. Allison remembered that she’d read in some women’s magazine that your body chemistry dramatically changes every seven years. This was her seventh year with Kent. The seven year itch. She decided that’s what was ailing her.

  Allison kissed Kent again, this time long and deep. She realized she was making out with him in front of all these people, something she hadn’t done since senior prom. She hoped it would rekindle some of those feelings she had for him back then, but all she could think about was Chemicals and Hormones. Chemicals and Hormones. Her mind wandered off back to her high school Chemistry class. She kissed Kent as fervently and passionately as she could, but all the while her mind was trying to remember the Periodic Table of the Elements and which conglomeration of molecules and atoms was shifting around in her brain causing this magnetic attraction to Frank. She tried to remember the abbreviation for the different elements and why potassium was “K”. Was it “K”? She thought so anyway.

  What was the first chemical reaction that human beings learned to produce and control? Answer: Fire. She was aware, even with her eyes closed that it was becoming darker. She heard the distant roll of thunder. She ended her kiss with Kent and opened her eyes in time to see a flash of lightning streak across the sky. Some of the party members began to disperse at the sound of thunder.

  “I guess that’s the end of this party,” Allison said looking up at the ever darkening sky.

  “That means we gotta go back to your place,” Kent whispered into her ear as he tightened his embrace and kissed her softly on the temple.

  Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky and a loud crash of thunder followed immediately.

  “Holy shit! I’m gettin’ outta here before I get electrocuted,” Tim hollered out from the p
ool. The nude lawyer bolted out of the pool, his hands covering his genitals, as he streaked to the clubhouse as fast as he could amidst raindrops and laughter.

  Allison looked around for Frank but didn’t see him. She was relieved.

  Chapter 7

  September 1983

  Everything moved a little slower outside her car window these days since Allison became a student of Defensive Driving School. She figured she’d slow it down a notch, if for no other reason than the ever-conscious knowledge that she was going to be a bride in June. Such a wonderful season to get married, but first she’d have to get through fall and winter. She observed the trees; all around the edge of leaves were beginning to splash with colors of reds and gold. Already the days were getting shorter and the nights cooler. Fall was coming and for Allison a certain sadness. Soon Kent wouldn’t be around much as his time would be divided between work at the bank and work on the farm.

  Kent was the only real friend she had in town since she moved back to Lamasco. They had been closer than ever this summer. They had reconnected and recommitted that night back in June after the cookout at Camelot. They became lovers again that night after such an awfully long time; and it was she, not Kent, who insisted on setting a wedding date before that night was over.

  And so a date was set–June 1984–which at the time was a whole year away. Kent didn’t really understand why it had to be so far off. Hadn’t they been engaged long enough without having to wait another year? But Allison explained if they wanted the kind of wedding she’d always dreamed of then they would need a year to plan. The year would give them a chance to save some money and buy a house, and best of all; it would give them a chance to get reacquainted. They had such a lovely time doing so this summer, but soon it would be over; Kent would be absent, the air would be colder, and she would be stuck having to plan this wedding with no one but her mom.

  Her mother’s idea of a wedding reception was fried chicken and mashed potatoes in the church basement, which they would decorate themselves the night before. She imagined staying up all night with her mother blowing up balloons and taping twisted streamers of crepe paper onto paper table cloths. She imagined setting up metal folding chairs, while Kent and his buddies moved long rows of old beat up cafeteria tables together. She imagined the pale green tile and the smell of the church basement, which was a cross between disinfectant and decades of cooking odor that never went away, but lingered in the air along with the mildew.