Small Problem -4- How It Works by Melanie Brown

Small Problem

Part 4

As we got into Jonathan’s car, Cathy looked at me and asked, “Are you going to call him?”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, why would I? I don’t know him, and he’s a boy.”

Cathy laughed as we seated ourselves in the car. “That’s why you talk to him. To get to know him. He seems to be interested in you. And you like him.”

I frowned at Cathy. “What do you mean, I like him? Like I said, I don’t even know him. I wouldn’t know what to say to him.”

Cathy shook her head at me. “You can start with ‘Hi. My name is Amanda. We met at Marcia’s party.’ You go from there. And don’t tell me you don’t like him. I saw you looking. He’s cute and not seeing anyone that I know of.”

“I wasn’t looking!” I denied. “He kept standing in front of me.”

Cathy grinned knowingly at me. “Yeah, right. I believe that. Not.”

Jonathan interrupted Cathy, “If I may interrupt this dazzlingly brilliant conversation, I need to ask if you two are okay with Taco Bueno? I’m buying.”

Cathy chuckled, “Dude, if you’re buying, let’s go to Gladstone’s!” Gladstone’s was the most expensive restaurant in town. It even had a tie requirement for men. And I’d bet women weren’t allowed to wear pants. They went out of their way to be exclusive.

Affecting an air of sophistication, Jonathan felt the collar of his t-shirt and announced, “I seem to lack the necessary accouterments to dine at that fine establishment.” He looked down his nose at Cathy and announced, “And for you, my good woman, those jeans will not suffice.”

Cathy laughed. “I guess we’re stuck with Taco Bueno then. What do you say, Amanda?”

I didn’t look up from studying Chad’s phone number. “Actually, Dolby’s is just as good as Gladstone’s but without the dress code.”

Cathy made a face. “That sounds like someplace geeks and engineers from some tech company would go to.”

I looked up to grin at her. “Hey, that’s right.”

Jonathan started to drive out of the parking lot. “Taco Bueno it is.”

Cathy narrowed her eyes at me. “You better put that number in your purse before you lose it.”

I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if I lose it. I’m not calling. And besides, I don’t have a purse.”

Shaking her head, Cathy said, “We’ll have to fix that. I’ll tell Mom. Want me to put it in my purse for safekeeping?”

I said, “No. I’ve got it.”

Before turning around to look out the windshield, Cathy flashed me a wry grin.

I looked down at the piece of paper I was clutching in both hands. I should just toss this paper out the window. That would be littering.

I asked myself, what could Chad want? I was convinced he was going to ask me to sit next to him at the movie until that bitch Becky butted in. Why would I think that? I don’t care who Chad sat next to. He’s a boy. Until a few days ago, I was a forty-seven year old man with a family. Chad’s just a boy. A cute boy, but a boy nonetheless.

I looked out my car window. The summer evening sun was starting to cast long shadows. Why is this phone number causing me such inner turmoil? I should just toss it out the window. I don’t owe this Chad person a call just because he pushed his phone number into my hand.

I grunted a laugh. The joke’s on him anyway. I don’t have a cell phone or a purse to carry it in. Why can’t I have usable pockets? Is it a conspiracy by Big Purse? I had a cell phone. It was company-owned. I carried it in my pocket. Pocket! Hear that Purse Industrial Complex? Men are too smart to carry purses. The company took my phone away. Cheap-johns couldn’t pop for one lousy phone!

What does Chad want? Hi Chad. It’s me Amanda. Did you need something? Be sure to smile because the person on the other end can detect it.

“Earth to Amanda.”

It took me a moment. I looked over and saw Cathy holding my door open. “Space Cadet Amanda, would you like to join us for dinner?” She giggled.

I started to exit the car. “Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

Cathy grinned. “About Chad?”

I frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She laughed.

As we entered the restaurant, Jonathan announced, “You girls order whatever you want. I’ve got it.”

I patted my useless pockets.  “That’s good, as I have no money.”

Cathy frowned at me. “Amanda. Boys pay. That’s just the way it works.”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure that’s universal.”

Jonathan shook his head. “It don’t matter. I’ve got it.  You guys go find a place to sit.”

While we were waiting, a group of girls came in and sat across the room from us. Cathy jumped up. “Oh. There’s Janet. I need to go talk to her.” She hurried across the room.

Jonathan nudged my arm with his elbow. “So. How do you like having Cat as a sister?”

Leaning my head on my palm, I grinned at him. “It’s definitely a trip. I’ve never had a sister before, so I’m learning new things constantly.”

Watching Cat, Jonathan said, “I’ll be honest with you. You dodged a bullet joining that family when you did.”

I gave him a curious look. “How so?”

Jonathan took a deep breath. “Her dad… or both y’all’s dad, not sure how that works in this case, but anyway. He was a total dick. I’m serious. He ignored Cat. He hated me. The only thing important to him were those little buggers that eventually killed him. Good riddance, I say.”

I sat up and frowned. “That’s a mean thing to say. I heard he was a loving, dedicated father who was trying to help the world.”

Jonathan smirked. “Who told you that shit?”

I shrugged. “Mom.” Actually, nobody told me that. I told me that.

Jonathan chuckled as he started to get up to get our food. “She was blowing smoke up your ass for some reason. Cat’s father was a loser, and history will thankfully forget him.”

I narrowed my eyes as I watched him walk from the table. Did I say I hated this boy? Well, now I despise this little shit. Sure I devoted my life to my project. But it was to provide Charlotte and Cathy with a better life. How dare this street racing, vulgar bully call me a loser! He probably can’t even spell nanite, much less create one.

Cathy came hurrying back when Jonathan returned to our table with our food and drinks. She seemed excited about something. As she unwrapped her burrito, she poked me in the arm. “You know what Janet just told me?”

Shrugging, I said, “I have no idea.”

Her eyes sparkling, “Chad’s been asking about you. Isn’t that awesome?”

I hunched my shoulders. “No. It’s not. I don’t want some boy asking about me.”

Looking confused, Cathy said, “Don’t you get it? One of the hottest guys in school is interested in you?”

“So?”

Looking like she might explode, Cathy said, “Let’s step into my office.” She started to stand up.

“Your office? What are you talking about?”

Scowling, Cathy said, “Amanda, I need help with my make-up.”

I studied her face a moment. “You look fine to me.”

Anger crossing her face, Cathy whacked my shoulder. “Just come in the bathroom with me for a minute.”

Jonathan chuckled as I stood up.

She took my hand and pulled me into the girls' restroom. Once inside, she checked each stall. Then she pulled me up to the mirror and growled.

“Dad! Listen to me. I’m the only one here who knows you haven’t been a girl your whole life. You really need to cut out this shit of acting like you don’t know about boys and not understanding why one would like you. I know why you’re being skittish around boys. But no one else will. You need to become the teen girl you are. You’re in it for the long haul. You’re embarrassing yourself and me. Nobody is saying you have to like Chad, but react like a girl. Not like my Dad.”

I waved my arms around and giggled, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Chad likes me? Oh! Oh! I can’t believe it! Oh, oh, oh”

Cathy gave me a cold stare. “I don’t know you.”

I laughed. “Okay. I’ll stop. I’ll try to behave.”

Shaking her head, Cathy said, “Let’s go back to the table.”

When we got back to the table, Jonathan asked, “What was that about?”

I shrugged. “What?”

Cathy said, “It was nothing.”

Jonathan shook his head. “I’ll never figure women out.”

I took a bite of my cooled-off burrito and asked, “What can you tell me about Chad? I want to know something about him before I call him.”

Cathy squinted at me. “You’re gonna call him?”

I nodded. “After we get back home.” I asked, “What can you tell me about him?”

Cathy grinned. “He’s gorgeous, but you know that. He’s smart. I think he’s taking calculus, so you two should get along. He’s my age and grade. Of course, he’s on the football team. Jon, what does he play?”

Jonathan looked thoughtful for a moment. “Tight end, I think.”

Cathy finished off her burrito. “That’s all we know. When are you calling him?”

“Precisely nine thirty-seven.” I frowned. “I don’t know. Before ten. How’s that?”

Cathy grinned. “That’s good enough. I know you’ll like him.”

*  *  *

I looked at the clock. It was nine-thirty. Cathy and I had discussed with Mom the necessity of me having my own phone. She agreed, and we’ll be going up to the phone store and getting me one as soon as she got off work.

I looked back at the clock. It was nine-thirty. Sheesh. Is the clock broken? A moment later the number one flipped the zero. I relaxed a bit. Why am I nervous about calling some boy? I’ve called senators and CEO’s of corporations.  Calling a high school boy should be easy-peasy.

But it’s not.

What if he’s not at home? What if he blows me off, saying he’s too busy? What if my mind goes blank? And… and… what if… what if he doesn’t like me?” I smirked to myself. Of course, he likes me. He wants me to call him.

What if he asks me out? Not likely on a first call. At least not when I was a teen boy. I’m getting myself worked up again.

I looked at the clock. It was nine thirty-two, and I was going to wait until nine forty-five. I should just call now.

I picked up the handset for the home phone. I took a deep breath and pressed the “Talk” button, and I heard the dial tone. I took another deep breath and started tapping in the phone number. It rang twice. This is a waste of time. He’s not going to answer.

“Hello?” said a pleasant woman’s voice over the phone. Oh my God. Who’s that? I disconnected the call. I slapped the palm of my hand against my forehead. You idiot. It was probably his mom. She’s going to think I’m just some silly girl. I took another breath and pressed the re-dial button. Nothing happened. What is wrong with me? I pressed the “talk” button and then the “re-dial” button.

“Hellooo?” answered the same pleasant woman. I froze.

Again, the woman asked, “Hellooo?”

Finally I was able to say, “Hi. Is… is Chad there?”

The woman giggled softly. She said, “Yes, he is. Whom may I say is calling?”

I froze again. I couldn’t remember my name. Have I gone insane? I said, “Sta…” Shit. I almost said Stanley. What the hell is my name?

The woman laughed. “Hello? Who is calling?”

Finally, I said, “Sorry. This is Amanda.”

Over the phone, I heard the woman shout, “Chad! Amanda is calling!” I heard her giggle.

I heard Chad shout back, “Cool! Thanks, Mom.”  I should hang up now.

Over the phone came Chad’s voice, “Amanda! Hey. I’m so glad you called.”

Not sure what to say, I said, “Hey Chad. I got your note. So. What’s up?”

“I heard you talking at Marcia’s party where you and Cat said you were adopted. I wanted to let you know you’re not alone. I understand what you might be going through because I’m also adopted.” I certainly wasn’t expecting that little confession.

I said, “Well, that’s certainly a surprise. It’s certainly a life changer.”

Chad exclaimed, “Yes! It is. It’s a huge change. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was that you lost everything in a fire. That is so devastating. I mean, how do you pick up the pieces after something like that?” I really hate having to tell that lie, but the truth would be hard to swallow for most people. At least, that’s what the legal team told us.

I said, “I feel very fortunate that Cathy’s mom was able to take me into her family, especially after the tragedy of losing her husband.”

Chad said, “I’m sure that was real relief for you. I lost my parents to a car accident when I was nine. I was put in foster care, and that was awful. My fosters threw away or sold all my stuff. I suffered for a year under that.”

“How awful!” I exclaimed. “But you got out from that?”

“Yeah. The best day of my life was when they decided they didn’t want me anymore.” I could hear the tears welling up in his voice as he spoke about his experience. “And then everything turned around when I got adopted. That’s why I wanted to talk with you. You have this terrible loss, and you don’t know what to do. But then you find yourself in a loving family. I really thought my life was over until I got my new family.”

“I’m glad you reached out to me, Chad. It’s nice to know there’s someone who can understand what I’ve gone through.” I felt a tinge of shame for lying.

“It’s too bad you never got to meet Mr. Moore,” Chad said, changing direction.

“Did you know him?” I asked. Until Marcia’s party, I’d never seen Chad before.

Chad said, “Not personally. He came out to our school and gave a presentation once. He talked about all the great things his company hoped to achieve.  He seemed like a hero to me. Saving lives, eliminating cancer and disease, fixing broken bodies and all that with tiny robots! Can you imagine such a world?” I think I love this kid.

I sighed. I could have been a hero. I could have been on TV. Everyone would know my name. I said, “Too bad he died in that explosion.”

Chad said, “Yeah. Some of my friends and I came up with a theory about that. We think an international cabal of doctors fearing he would put them out of business had him assassinated.”

Well, that’s certainly more exciting than just being stupid. I like Chad’s version of what happened. I said, “I guess we’ll never know.”

“And all his work was destroyed as well.” Chad said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to drag things down.” I hadn’t heard about my work being destroyed. Dollars to donuts, it’s not, and they plan to not credit me for my work.

I said, “I’m sure their computers had backups.” And the explosion story is also a lie.

Chad said, “You seem really nice. I enjoyed talking to you.”

“I enjoyed talking to you too, Chad,” I said sincerely.

Chad then lowered the boom. “Do you think maybe you’d like to go out sometime? Maybe a movie? There’s a new movie out that you might like. It’s a romance and action flick. It’s called Racing Hearts. But we don’t have to go to that one. What do you think?”

A date?  Well, shit.

End of Part 4 of Small Problem