No Sensible People Chapter Six (part 2)

Previous

Frank didn't come home at all that night, and in the morning I lied to Jennie and told her Stuart had called to say he was safe with him. He didn't want to wake us, when it was going to be her first day of school. I wasn't sure
if she believed me, but I didn't have the time or energy to debate it to Jennie or myself. It wasn't the first time Frank had not come home. I knew he would be back. I had to remind myself that, despite everything he took good care of me, and I probably needed that more than ever.

We arrived at the school at 9:30, about a half hour before the rest of the school began. Father Christopher had told us it would probably be better to wait until the office was settled after morning attendance. There was half a
tree's worth of paperwork to fill out, and Jennie was still not able to start that day. Jennie's shot records had not transferred from Leifton Elementary. They also needed a copy of the letter (which was probably sitting on someone's desk in Leifton County) that Molly and Nate had named me legal guardian.

"You know what?" the secretary said, How about you take the week to get things straight and Mary Jeanette can start next Monday. Jennie and I both told her she preferred not to be called Mary Jeanette, but she looked at
both of us as if we were making the name "Jennie" up on the spot.

"Even Father Christopher calls me Jennie," she tried to explain. The secretary responded by placing her hand on Jennie's head as if she were a priest and she were giving Jennie a blessing. I knew it was hard for Jennie to
hear the name only Molly had called her, and I hoped the rest of the teachers would be able to respect her feelings.

We got back to the house at five o clock and Frank was there waiting for us. He brought me a dozen roses, which I put in water and a "premium grade" art set for Jennie. She barely acknowledged the gift, and didn't even take it off the coffee table.

There was no time to argue. I had to make plans for Jennie for the rest of the week, and spent most of the evening on the phone trying to make some sort of plan.

"They're a church," Uncle Frank pointed out. "They aren't supposed to turn people away."

"I'm not turned away," Jennie told him. "It's a delay."

"A costly delay," I declared as I got off the phone. "I spoke to Nadia Slatskov's mother. You remember Jennie, she was the girl from dance class- the one who is home schooled? She agreed to take you the rest of the week-
as long as I refund the price of Nadia's dance lessons."

"That's blackmail," Frank said.

I agreed, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I was desperate. It helped to have a common sense of injustice, it relaxed us, and we were finally able to sit down and eat some of the leftover roast. This was something new for Frank and me since Jennie came. We usually didn't sit at the table and eat dinner, unless it was at a restaurant somewhere. I told him about all the red tape at St. Ignatius and the delays at Leifton County. He talked about his gum account, which he had secured. Jennie seemed more relaxed too, and on her way back to her room she stopped by the coffee table and grabbed her new art set.

Jennie didn't like it at Mrs. Slatskov's. She had made Jennie join in on her home schooling lessons, which, according to Jennie, were dumb. Jennie was given the same lessons as Nadia, which were a grade behind her.
After much begging and whining Frank agreed to try and do some of his work at home, so Jennie would only have to go over for a little while. She would have to let him work, though. If he couldn't concentrate he'd have to
take Jennie to Mrs. Statskov's. I wasn't sure Jennie would go for it, after the way Frank had yelled at her, but she didn't like it at Mrs. Slatskov's and suddenly seemed open to almost any alternative.

The days weren't normal, but they seemed about as close to it as I had seen. But Wednesday Jennie was especially elated when she opened her mail.

It was a letter from Denny, addressed as Taffy in the return envelope. She was all set to write a reply when Susie called. She was going to go to Chicago for the weekend on business, and planned to stop in Leifton on the way. She had called Denny, and he agreed, if it was all right with Frank and me, to let Susie drop her off and pick her up on the way back.

Jennie shrieked when she heard the news.

"My goodness, Jennie," Frank told her. "You'd think this Taffy was a rock star or something."

"You're just jealous, Frank," I told him. "Jennie loves Denny. I think it's wonderful that Susie's taking her to see him."

Frank stared at me and the room went quiet for a few seconds, but I wasn't going to let Jennie's happy moment break for long. For once she was like a regular little girl, and I didn't want anyone spoiling it. I turned back to
Jennie.

"Susie wanted me to thank you for talking to her about her brother," I told her. "He says they made up the whole plan when she called him the other day, and she probably wouldn't have called him if it wasn't for you."

She smiled. I was glad to make her feel like she had done something good. "I have an idea," I said. "How would you like to go shopping for a present to bring Denny when you get out there?"

"I don't have any money," Jennie told me.

I told her it was okay, that she could pick something out, and I would buy it. But that wasn't going to work.

"But if you buy something, it's from you," Jennie said. I glanced over at Frank. There was that look again. I pretended not to notice. I suggested that Jennie earn back the price of the present by helping with yard work. She
accepted that, and Frank seemed to relax a little too. Up until then we only saw Denny once a year, and even that had made him nervous. We were certainly going to see more of him, and we would have to deal with that.

Next Section

No Sensible People on Amazon

My Lulu Store