No Sensible People Chapter Eight (part 4)

Previous

Stuart looked at his watch and announced that Aunt Lucy should be on her way home and we headed back to the house. It was nowhere near time for Uncle Frank to come home, and Stuart came in to use the dance studio. At
first he didn't think he should, but Aunt Lucy reminded him that Uncle Frank had had it put in for him in the first place.

Aunt Lucy had heard about what had happened at school. The office had left a message, but it didn't tell much, and she asked me for the details. "Oh, don't make her go through it again," Stuart told her. "She had her talk with the priest, and I talked to her too. She got a little sarcastic with her teacher is all, and I think she got more out of her day than if she hadn't said anything. Some things need to come out," Stuart told her.

I was impressed. "Thanks," I said. It still miffed me that Stuart was willing to stick up for me. Aunt Lucy erased the message and told me it would probably be better if we didn't mention to Uncle Frank that I'd been sent to talk to Father Christopher.

"I don't know what it is, Stuart," Aunt Lucy said. "But Frank is on this big discipline kick with Jennie. He's not even factoring in everything she's been through."

"You gotta remember, Luce. Ryan was about Jennie's age when Frank's first wife took off to Colorado. That's gotta be affecting him."

"But Jennie's not Ryan, Stuart," she said.

"Yeah, I know. But it's strange how people react to stuff sometimes.

Have you guys heard from Ry? Is he coming for Christmas?"

"Frank's going to Denver." Aunt Lucy gritted her teeth, and didn't look at either of us. "He's going by himself."

"He won't let you go?" Stuart asked. "Did he say why?"

"He says he'll be working, that he's barely going to have time for Ryan, let alone us."

"But Lucy, you don't really want to hang out with Ryan, do you? The time with Jennie by yourself might do you some good," Stuart said.

"Well, I know," Aunt Lucy said. "But something's off right now with us, Stuart. I don't know. Just last week he stayed out all night again."

I had been doing my homework, and I looked up from my math book to help Aunt Lucy remember. "That was the night Uncle Frank was out with Stuart, wasn't it Aunt Lucy?"

Stuart looked at Aunt Lucy and spoke to me. "I haven't been anywhere with Frank in ages," he said.

"Maybe Frank had someone else call me," Aunt Lucy told me. "I guess I misunderstood." She was starting to cry again, and Stuart gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he said. "I love my brother, but he can be a real ass."

Aunt Lucy forced a smile and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose.

"Thanks," she said. "You're coming to Thanksgiving aren't you? At Susie's place? Susie said you could come. I don't know if she's had a chance to call you yet."

"That sounds great," Stuart told her. "I love Susie's apartment. I'd move right in if I were straight," he said.

"Oh, no," Lucy said. "I would've nabbed you for myself if you were straight."

I promised I wouldn't bring it up anymore when he agreed to go to Thanksgiving at Susie's.

"I wonder why he'd make a fuss over that?" Stuart asked.

"Susie invited Taffy too," I told him. Stuart looked confused and Aunt Lucy clarified that Taffy was Susie's brother Denny from Leifton.

"Oh," Stuart said. "I see."

School was better after that day. My teacher was still treating me like something ready to shatter, but at least she was calling me Jennie most of the time-unless she caught me talking to Amber or Skye while she was trying to
teach her lesson.

It didn't take long before Amber and Skye asked me if I was planning on going to the St. Ignatius All Hallows Eve Lock-in Party for grades four through six.

"I wanted to go so bad last year," Skye told me. "But they don't let you in until 4th grade."

I had remembered my flyer in my backpack saying something about it, but I didn't know how to feel about it. I had never heard of a "lock-in" before. I didn't know what it was all about, but Amber filled me in. She said you go to school Halloween night around 6 pm, and then you got to stay up all night playing games and doing all sorts of activities-like a carnival almost.

In the morning Father Christopher would lead a short prayer service for All Saints Day. The parents, or guardians, would come to the service, and pick up the kids.

"And the best part," Amber said, "is if you participate you don't have to come to school November 1st."

I told Amber and Skye I would talk to Aunt Lucy and Uncle Frank about it and get back to them. It was becoming more and more apparent that Aunt Lucy and Uncle Frank were going to be celebrating Halloween no matter what I thought of it. Uncle Frank was hanging more and more decorations as the day got closer. They both thought it sounded like a lot of fun, and Aunt Lucy reminded me if there was anything to worry about Halloween night there couldn't be a safer place to be than in a church.

Amber and Skye were wearing costumes to the party, which Father Christopher said was fine as long as nobody wore anything violent or demonic. Amber was a ballerina and Skye was a Princess. I told them that I planned to be an Angel of the Lord and they both laughed. I told them I wasn't sure if it was blasphemy or not, but I called my friend Taffy from Leifton, and he said that it wasn't. He said as far as he was concerned I'd never been anything but an angel.

"You're a little different, Jennie," Skye told me.

Mama used to tell me that everyone was a little different and if I tried very hard, I could find something to impress almost anyone. It never worked in Leifton. Folks in Leifton had a way of cutting into the thing that was different and dwelling on it forever.

But St. Ignatius was a different place and I decided to try it again. I told Amber and Skye that Aunt Lucy was a real dancer and promised that once Halloween was over I could talk her into doing a show and that maybe she would let us play in the dance studio. Amber and Skye got excited about that idea, and I hoped Aunt Lucy would go for it.

The Halloween party was one of the most exciting things I had ever done. Mama had never let me stay up past ten--let alone all night. St. Ignatius had basketball in the gym, dodge ball in the cafeteria, and different arts and
crafts in various classrooms in the school. They also kept a quiet room with mats in case someone wanted to lie down for a little while. Amber and Skye were determined to avoid the room, but we finally headed over to lie down
about 1:30.

The next morning Aunt Lucy and Uncle Frank came in to wake me up for the prayer service. It was the first time that Uncle Frank had been to St. Ignatius for a church or school function. He told me he thought the prayer
service would be a good way to test out what he thought of Father Christopher. So far, he said, he wasn't so bad, and he might even try mass after a week or two.

I didn't know what had caused Uncle Frank to suddenly be so pleasant and cooperative, but I decided to take advantage of it and ask if Amber and Skye could come and play in the dance studio. Uncle Frank told me he was
glad I'd made friends so quickly, but told me it was up to Aunt Lucy. I also noticed that he'd bought a lock for the door of his art studio. He said he knew I'd want to have company and he felt better if he could keep control over the studio since he was so crazy about it.

Aunt Lucy said she would check her schedule and would get to have my friends over soon. She reminded me that she was crazy about the dance studio herself, and we could only be in there if she was there too, and we were not to touch the stereo.

I was relieved to find out that Uncle Frank was working at home, and I was going to be able to stay there. It was fun at the lock-in, but I did not feel like going anywhere else. Uncle Frank explained that he would be able to
work from home more since the gum commercial had gone through.

"That commercial was very good," I told him. "Stuart told me you have a lot of busy spots with your job."

Uncle Frank told me he was glad I was getting along better with Stuart.

"He's okay, I guess," I said with a big yawn and I decided it would be best if I went to sleep.

Over the next week, Aunt Lucy and Uncle Frank got along better than I could have hoped. November had arrived, and I couldn't wait to tell Taffy that things were going better at the house. Minneapolis wasn't as crazy as I
thought. Maybe he could learn to like it too.

Next Section

No Sensible People on Amazon

My Lulu Store