I’d made it known I wanted a shot at them. Wolf and I got big smiles on our faces. Then he decided to end our friendship.
“I hear that you and Brook are evil,” he threw out.
I blinked at him and took a big bite of cinnamon roll.
My mom cocked her head, and her eyes narrowed. All I could figure was that Brook had talked to Tami, who in turn spoke to Sarah about what we said to the guy who’d hit on my girlfriend.
“What are you talking about?” Phil asked.
It was evident that the guys all knew and were tormenting me. It wouldn’t be near as much fun for them when I got my revenge.
“What is he talking about?” Mom asked.
I gave the guys a withering glare and then turned to my mom and smiled. She raised her eyebrows to let me know that I’d better come clean.
“We stayed after dinner at the T-Bird to listen to the band and dance. I took time away from Brook to give the other girls the thrill of dancing with me,” I said with a straight face.
“I think I’d better turn my sarcasm dial to stun,” Yuri said.
Ignoring his rude comment, I continued.
“Brook did the same and danced with some of these lowlifes.”
“Hey,” Phil complained.
“I had to save her when a college guy decided to take advantage of her good nature,” I said with my best angelic face.
“You thought Brook needed saving?” Peggy asked.
Obviously, she didn’t think so.
“She would do the same for me,” I reasoned.
“Doubtful,” Phil said, earning him a beatdown later today.
“So, why are you evil?” Mom asked. “That doesn’t sound like a big deal.”
“It’s what David said to him that made him comment that both Brook and David are crazy,” Wolf said.
Maybe there would be two beatdowns. I’d all but talked my way out of this mess before he threw me to the wolves … again. I decided to come clean. It was either that, or Tami would tell my mom, and then there’d be hell to pay.
“He’d put his arm around her and was guiding her back to his table, so I stopped them. Brook told me that he’d invited us back to his place for a party. I don’t think he meant
“You guys do that kind of thing?” Phil interrupted me.
“… or if I had to hold him down while she used a strap-on on him.”
Both Peggy and Dad choked on something, while Mom was expressionless.
“You have a strap-on?” Mom asked.
There was stunned silence for all of two seconds, and then the table burst out laughing.
“I’d be willing to loan it out to your girlfriends and hold you down,” I said to the guys.
“Lighten up,” Dad ordered. “That was funny. I take it he didn’t accept your offer.”
“No. He called us crazy and scurried off before we could have any more fun at his expense.”
◊◊◊
When Mom and I returned from church, we found Scarlet and Carol there.
“Can you come over and help me today?” Scarlet asked. “Ashley ordered furniture, and it came Saturday. I need help to put it together and move it where it belongs.”
“Just be back for dinner. Your brother and his family are coming over,” Mom told me.
On my way out, I grabbed Wolf in case we had to move anything heavy. He was confident the other three could help my dad finish up the yard and install the storm windows.
I hadn’t been to Scarlet’s condo yet. It was on the floor immediately above Pam’s place and was situated at the front of the building. You walked into a nice-sized living room with the kitchen and master bedroom to the right. The other three bedrooms were off to the left.
“How are you doing this?” I asked.
“Ashley and I will share the master. Allen and Dawson will share a room, and Carol will have her own. We plan to use the last bedroom as a playroom. That way, we don’t have toys spread out all over the house,” Scarlet explained.
I wished her luck with that plan.
In the middle of the living room were boxes and furniture. Scarlet soon had us busy putting everything where it belonged. I was glad I’d brought Wolf because he would actually read the instructions on the furniture we had to assemble. I, on the other hand, would study it and try to figure it out. He saved us from having to redo a project a couple of times.
While we did that, Scarlet was hanging pictures and working on other decorating projects. By the end of the afternoon, we’d cleared out the living room and hauled all the packing materials to the trash. I walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I opened all the cabinets and found she only had plastic cups, and I noticed the fridge was almost empty.
“What’s the deal?” I asked Scarlet. “I thought I gave you money for this kind of stuff.”
“Uh, well, uhm,” she began.
“We’re making a Walmart run to get you what you need,” I announced.
I’d forgotten that Wolf was banned from Walmart. He was put in charge of Carol and sent to my house to let my mom know that we would be another hour or so. I told him to invite Tim over for dinner because I knew we would have more than enough if Mom planned for Greg to come over.
