Into the Woods Read online

  "All right, two secrets." she said,

  I stared at my card. "Let's make it two secrets and one article of clothing."

  "You already made the bet," she complained.

  "It's called seeing and raising."

  "Hey, she's played cards before," Wally cried with glee. "That's what they did on the Navy base, I bet. What did you play, strip poker?"

  "How much will you bet to find out?" I asked him. and Ashley and Roger laughed. Posy looked at me with surprise. and Randy smiled, Only Phoebe looked unhappy.

  "Match her bet. Phoebe, or give up two secrets," Roger told her. "Shut up, you idiot. Most of my secrets have to do with you." "I'm not ashamed of anything," he said.

  "Are you sure?" she asked, looking directly into his face.

  He shrugged and sipped more of his drink, shifting his eyes in retreat from her penetrating gaze.

  Phoebe was glaring at me again. deciding. I kept my face as bland as I could, remembering Daddy's advice to think of something entirely different when trying to hide your thoughts about your cards,

  It wouldn't be a fair bet." she concluded. "You're wearing too many more articles of clothing than I am."

  "You didn't complain about the risk before," Wally reminded her.

  "Well. I am now. This is different. The rules are changed." "You so... so... said we could change them," Randy piped up.

  She narrowed her eyes and considered me again. I tried not to blink. "Okay. Grace face. I'll match your bet if you strip down to a bra and panties first," she said, smiling at her brilliant rejoinder,

  "All right now," Wally cried, clapping his hands. "This is getting interesting."

  "Do it. It's the same as a bathing suit," Roger told me.

  Phoebe looked so self-satisfied. My reluctance was giving her the upper hand again. She was positive I would crumble.

  "Remember," she sang. "two secrets if you fold." "And an article of clothing anyway," Wally added.

  Without speaking. I began to slip off my sneakers. No one uttered a sound. All eyes were on me again when I stood up and undid my skirt. Phoebe started to squirm.

  "Wait a minute!" she cried, holding her hand out "What the hell are we doing this for? It's only making these boys excited and at our expense."

  Roger and Wally groaned. "What do we do?" I asked her.

  "We're changing the game. It will be the four of us girls against the three of them."

  "Oh, no," Roger cried. "I want Grace on my team if we're having teams."

  "Forget it then." Phoebe snapped, and rose to her feet. "I'm going swimming."

  "Wait." Wally called as she started toward the patio door that opened to the pool. "Let's just see what would have happened."

  He turned over her card. It was a ten of diamonds. Then he looked at me.

  "C'mon," he said. "It doesn't matter now."

  I looked at Phoebe. Then I handed him the card, and he bellowed,

  "What?" Roger demanded.

  He turned my card around to show them. It was a three of hearts.

  Phoebe's face took on a shade of red that resembled a fresh strawberry. She spun on her heels and marched out of the room. diving right into the pool.

  "I wouldn't turn my back on her if I were you," Roger said, but with a look of admiration in his eyes. "Maybe you'll teach me how to play cards like that." he added with a wink, and went to join her.

  Wally and Ashley followed.

  "I'm putting my suit on again." Posy said. "I don't care what anyone says. This is proving to be an exciting day." She rushed out.

  Randy sat with me. I looked at him and then went to the bar and poured out the remainder of my drink. I replaced it with straight orange juice.

  "There's far too much vodka in this. It will make me sick." I explained.

  He just smiled. I gazed at the others through the patio door. "You di... di... did good at se... secrets," he said.

  "I didn't want to get into any arguments with her."

  "Everybod... bad... body gets into ar... arguments with Phoebe. She doesn't care."

  I shook my head. "I don't know why anyone would like that," I said, and went to the bookcase. There were shelves of expensive-looking leatherbound classics, including Shakespeare. Randy came up beside me.

  "What does Roger's father do for a living?" I asked as I checked out all the titles and authors.

  "He's a deve... deve..." He closed his eyes, struggling with the word. I could feel his frustration.

  "Take your time." I said.

  "Developer. He owns a mall in Boca Ra... Ra... Ratan."

  I plucked out a copy of Romeo and Juliet and flipped through the pages,

  "My favorite." I said. "Did you read it in class?"

  He shook his head. "Not yet."

  "I have a quote for Phoebe. So she won't struggle so hard trying to come up with something to call me," I told him, and pointed to some lines. "'What's in a name?'" I recited, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.'"

  "Show her," he told me. "May... maybe she'll shut... shut up." We both laughed.

  "What's so funny?" Posy asked an her way through to the pool.

  "None... none... none of your business," Randy told her. She grimaced and went out. "We can... can have our own se... secret without the cards." he said.

  I smiled at him. "I won't tell if you won't," I said, and he beamed.

  We sat on the sofa. and I described what it was like living on a naval base and being around ships and sailors, planes and helicopters.

  It sou... sounds like fun," he said.

  "It was exciting," I said. remembering.

  "I hate to break up this love fest, but we're going for pizza." Phoebe announced. She marched past us and dawn the hallway,

  Roger, Wally, Ashley. and Posy came in behind her.

  "Be careful. Randy. You're dealing with a card shark. She'll have your pants off before you know it." Wally said.

  "He'd like that" Ashley quipped. "So would you." Randy countered,

  "Well, whaddya know, he didn't stutter that time," Roger said. smiling. "She must be doing something right"

  He jabbed Wally in the ribs, and they all went to change.

  .

  It was as if Phoebe had decided to make me invisible. She asked me no questions, and she directed no remarks my way. Whenever anyone else spoke to me she immediately changed the subject. Actually I felt more comfortable with that. All her barbs and sarcastic arrows were shot at different targets. She enjoyed picking on Ashley. I assumed she wanted her around for that purpose only. and Ashley was so grateful for being permitted to be in the company of the prince and princess of the school, she took the punishment, practically thanking Phoebe for remembering she was there, even if it was only to belittle her.

  A number of times I felt the urge to come to her defense but quickly realized that Ashley would appreciate it the least. If there was anything she didn't want it was to ally herself with someone Phoebe didn't favor.

  I phoned Mommy right before we left for the restaurant, which was in Boca Raton in Roger's father's mall.

  "Are you having fun. honey?" Mommy asked.

  It was always hard for me to lie to her. My voice would betray me even if with all my heart I wanted to hide something from her,

  "I'm all right," I replied.

  "It's always hard making new friends," she said. I could hear the trembling in her voice and knew that despite the happy faces she was putting on she was still crying inside. I didn't have to add any of my little problems to her heavy burden,

  "I know. I like this bay who is in my class. He's sweet," I told her.

  "Oh, great. Have a goad time," she said.

  After we had pizza we wandered through the mall. Randy and I broke off from the others and went to the bookstore. He found a book about the U.S. Navy and decided to buy it.

  "You'll know more about the Navy than I do," I said. laughing.

  "Good," he said.

  When we met up with
the others Wally made Randy show him what he had bought and teased him about it all the way back to West Palm Beach.

  "She'll make a sailor of you yet. Randy," he told him.

  I noticed how Phoebe sat quietly, holding a small, icy smile on her lips. As it turned out, she was like a submarine slinking its way silently under the sea until it was in position to launch its deadly attack.

  We had pulled into my condo development and up to my new home before she fired at me.

  "I'll ca... ca... call you," Randy practically whispered. I nodded with a smile and got out of the car.

  "Maybe I'll see you at the restaurant," Phoebe said, sounding very pleasant.

  "Okay."

  "Until then, good night. Sailor Girl," she said, and followed it with a laugh that Wally and Ashley quickly joined in chorus. Roger smiled and shook his head.

  It was truly as if I had been hit by a dart in the chest. I turned quickly to Posy, who was smiling but directing her eyes toward the stars. I could feel the tears burning under my eyelids, but I would die before I ever shed one because of something Phoebe did or said. That was a vow I quickly took.

  "Gee, Posy," I said, and you didn't even have the lowest card."

  There was a moment of deep silence, and then Roger burst into laughter,

  "Let's get out of here," Phoebe ordered, He began to accelerate but kept laughing and shaking his head. I watched them turn and then drive away. Randy looking back at me as they disappeared around the turn, the music from the car's CD first shattering the night and then drifting off with them.

  "Those your new best friends?" I heard, and turned to see Augustus standing in the darkest shadows by our home,

  "Hardly," I replied.

  He stepped forward into the light spilling down from the front of the condo, his hands in his packets. This time he wore a black T-shirt with a large eye at the center of his chest,

  "Don't you ever wear shoes?" I asked him.

  He looked down at his feet as if he hadn't realized he was barefoot. "Just forgot." he replied.

  "Just forgot?"

  "Once I almost went to school without shoes. My grandmother caught me getting into the car and sent me back for them."

  I shook my head.

  "Where did your not new friends take you?" he asked.

  "To the driver's home. His family has a boat. We went water-skiing. Or I tried. I should say. Then we went to Boca Raton and had pizza and hung at a mall for a while."

  "Sounds like you're gain! to fit right in after all." he said with some disdain.

  "I'm not as sure as you are."

  He raised his eyebrows with interest. "Disillusionment is the first step toward rebirth." he quoted.

  "Right now I just want to get some sleep and leave my rebirth for tomorrow. How is your project coming along?"

  "Today I finally figured out how to dissolve myself, metamorphose into pure energy, and disappear. What I haven't figured out is how to reappear.

  "Maybe I won't bother," he added, and retreated again to the shadows. He was gone so quickly I wandered if he had just done what he claimed he could.

  Mommy was waiting for me. She turned aff the television as soon as I came into the condo.

  "Hi," she sang, dressing her voice in bells, "Was it a nice mall? Was the pizza good? What's Phoebe like?" She fired her questions in machine-gun fashion, which was something she and I used to do to each other all the time. It made me laugh.

  "She's a spoiled brat." I said, sitting across from her.

  Mommy nodded. 'Dallas as much as admitted that. Wasn't she nice to you at all?"

  "She's too concerned with being the center of attraction. She's older than I am. so I don't see myself hanging around much with her anyway. Mommy."

  "Well. you'll pick and choose your friends carefully. You always do. Daddy was always impressed with that."

  I nodded, and we were both silent.

  "Oh." Mommy said. "that nice boy back in Norfolk called for you."

  "Trent?"

  "Yes, He said he didn't find out you had called until today, and he apologized. He left a number. It's by the phone."

  "Great." I said, jumping up. It was too late to call. but I took the slip of paper with his number to my room and kept it beside my bed. One of the first things I did the next morning was call.

  "Hey," he said when he came to the phone. "How are you?'

  "Okay," I said. Anyone could tell my okay was not okay, but he went right into a description of his baseball camp, the coach he had who had been a major league pitcher, and how much he was learning,

  "I struck out twelve batters yesterday," he bragged. "And he says I hit better than most pitchers hit. I have a natural ability."

  "That's wonderful. Trent."

  "I wish you were coming back to our school," he finally said. "Me, too."

  "I'll try to keep in touch. I'll send you the sports pages from the school paper when the baseball season starts," he promised.

  "Okay."

  "Gee, I gotta go." he said. "Take care of yourself."

  I could actually feel his hand slipping out of mine. Time and distance were too much to overcome. We were going in different directions.

  "Goodbye," I said.

  The click brought down a lead curtain between us.

  Maybe Augustus wasn't all that weird after all_. I thought. Maybe we disappear more often than we think.

  .

  As she had planned, Mommy began working on the weekend. For the first few weeks Dallas and Warren thought it would be best for her to serve alongside a seasoned waitress. Even so, she came home tired. mostly. I thought, from the emotional strain of worrying about whether she was doing things right. She would flop in our big easy chair and put her feet up on the hassock. I would take off her shoes and rub her feet for her while she moaned with pleasure.

  "I've got to get the right shoes for this. There's so much walking involved. You don't sit from the moment you arrive till the moment you get into your car, but at least it isn't boring. They do have some very interesting customers, many, as Dallas said. from Palm Beach. Sometimes, the place is glittering with enough jewelry to light up a football stadium. They do tip well, though," she said with a smile.

  I knew she didn't like leaving me at home alone, but Randy called me on that first weekend to invite me to a movie at the nearby theater. He gave me the bus schedule and the station as well, since neither he nor I was old enough to drive or had a car available anyway. I told Mommy, who thought it was wonderful I had a date already.

  I saw Augustus that morning and asked him if he ever went to the movies. He looked at me for a long moment and said, "Even, night. In here." He pointed to his own head. I thought about inviting him along but decided to leave that for another time

  Randy was waiting for me at the bus stop near the mall. He was very eager to show off his knowledge of the U.S. Navy and talked about the different ships. I knew how much he wanted to impress me. and I was flattered, but after the movie, when he returned to talking about the Navy. I reached across the table in the restaurant where we were having some ice cream and put my hand over his to stop him.

  "Thanks for learning all that. Randy," I told him. "But every time we talk about the Navy now, I think about my father, and it's painful for me."

  I said it as simply and as softly as I could. "Oh," he said, his eyes filling with some panic. "I... I..."

  "It's okay. I love that You learned all that, but let's talk about you. too. And tell me all about the school and our teachers," I suggested.

  We had a good time then, and he insisted on riding the bus back to my station and walking me to my door.

  But then you'll have to wait so long for another bus, and you won't get home until so late," I said.

  He had told me he was the youngest of three boys and that his older brothers were now in college, both very athletic and both good students. His father worked in the city water department and had a managerial position. His mother was a grade-sc
hool teacher.

  It wasn't difficult to see that he had always felt inferior to his brothers and always believed his parents loved him less because of his speech problem.

  "That's why I... I like to work wi... with corn... corn... Fitters," he said. "No one know... knows how I spe... speak."

  I told him I had never had one and that my father was going to get one for me when we had settled into our new home in Norfolk.

  "I'll hel... help you ge... get one," he offered.

  Despite my pleas, he accompanied me home and walked me to the condo. When we got there, we found Augustus lying on our front lawn, looking up at the sky.

  "Who... who... who's that?" Randy asked with some concern.

  "His name is Augustus Brewster. He lives in one of the units. He's a genius and goes to a special school." I explained quickly. "Don't worry. He does whatever he wants at the spur of the moment. Augustus?" I called, and he sat up.

  "Oh. I was looking for you. I wanted to tell you about this movie I saw tonight." he said excitedly. He looked at Randy. "You're the boy in the backseat." he said, pointing his forefinger at him.

  "Wha... what?"

  This is Randy. Augustus."

  "Right. Do you want to hear about this movie or not?"

  "Sure," Randy said. "Where... where did you... you see it?"

  "Here," Augustus replied.

  "Here?" "Augustus. Randy has to catch a bus. It's late, Maybe some other night," I said.

  "I won't remember it some other night," he angrily shot back at me.

  "I.., can... can stay a li... little longer."

  "You have a pronounced speech defect. huh?"

  "Augustus," I snapped. chastising.

  "It's wrong to pretend it doesn't exist. Some people have thought that addressing the problem makes the stutterer or, as the English call it, the stammerer more aware of his problem and more sensitive and withdrawn. That's medieval." Augustus concluded,

  Randy continued to look impressed.

  "How long has it been since you had any treatment?" Randy just shook his head.

  "Your parents never had you in any therapy?"

  "No."

  "Typical. They bury their heads in the sand expecting him to outgrow it He's too old. It would have happened already."

  "He has a school therapy program. He told me so. Right. Randy?"