After the Thanksgiving meal was finished, I retreated to his
room, listening to his records and making a sincere attempt at
avoiding Betty. To think she was his cousin and what he’d done… He
couldn’t think of it and had to keep his mind elsewhere.
He pulled out the latest copy of Circus magazine. It was
one of his favorites because it let him read about the latest
groups of the day, told about the glamorous lives of the rock
stars, and most of all, all the advertisements about guitars.
I could lose himself in reading for hours, and when he was
interrupted by a knock on his door, he didn’t respond right away. A
second, harder knock got his attention.
“What?” he called out.
It was Juliette, “Your uncle is leaving. Come and say
goodbye.”
I wanted to avoid Betty at all costs, but it seems there was no
avoiding it. He came in to the room, gave his Aunt a hug, shook his
Uncle’s hand, and waved goodbye to Betty before retreating to his
room.
A few moments later his mother returned. “You didn’t treat
Elizabeth very nicely today. I thought you’d be excited to see her
after all these years.”
“I see her all the time,” I revealed. “She’s in the band. I didn’t
know who she was until today. She’s always hanging out with the
snooty girls.” He had to find some excuse for his seeming
disinterest.
“Well, I think you should make an effort to get to know her better.
She’s a very nice girls.”
I had known her better that he ever wanted to again.
A few days later, another I-Day had rolled around. Like so many
other holidays, it had been an appreciated day off from work and
school, but falling so close to Thanksgiving and the Christmas
holidays, its importance was diminishing. A number of schools and
businesses no longer observed it, and even the Mall family focused
more on birthday activities than on the national holiday. A late
session lame duck congressional vote nearly succeeded in removing
it as an official holiday, but enough votes weren’t mustered to
pass the legislation. Some say it was in deference to
President-Elect Nixon, as it was under the administration where he
served as Vice President that the holiday was first
established.
As it was I’s fifteenth birthday, he was becoming a bit
disinterested in it himself. With the Christmas holidays rapidly
approaching, and the thought of time off from school, away from
Betty’s presence, he wished the days in between passed even
faster.
When Christmas did finally arrive, I was delighted to discover that
Spike’s family was coming over for dinner. He had wanted to renew
his friendship with Spike, which had seen better days. But when
they did arrive, it was just Buddy, Annette and an eleven-year old
Angela.
I asked, “Where’s Spike?”
Annette looked to Buddy, and then simply said, “Adrian is spending
Christmas with his grandparents.”
Henry and Juliette were well aware of the relationship Annette had
with Buddy’s former in-laws, and did not press the question any
further.
The families sat down for dinner, and Angela was seated next to I.
I did not appreciate having this little girl next to him, but he
didn’t really have any choice. Angela told him, “My brother told me
you have a girlfriend.”
I tried to ignore the implied question. “I haven’t talked to your
brother for a long time. How would he know anything about
me?”
“He said the other kids at school were talking about it.” Angela
was determined to keep the conversation going.
“What’s this about a girlfriend, I?” Juliette asked. “You didn’t
tell me you had one.”
“I don’t!” I was emphatic. “They just probably saw me talking to
someone and are trying to spread rumors. Some kids at school are
just plain mean.”
“I’ll be your girlfriend,” Angela pursued.
I stared at her, “You’re just a little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl!” Angela protested. “I’m almost twelve. I
got my period last week!”
Annette nearly spit out the coffee she was drinking, and Buddy
started to chuckle.
“Angela!” Annette cried. “That’s not proper dinner table
talk.”
Angela deferred to her mother’s manners correction and dropped her
interrogation of I. A few snickers from the parents gradually faded
into general conversation, and the whole “girlfriend” matter was
dropped.