The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Well at least you are benefitting from this.”

  “Not really.” Frank dropped his voice to a murmur, “Not yet.”

  “I heard that. Don’t be a dick, Frank, or at least don’t rub it in. I’m depressed.”

  “Well, I can’t rub anything in yet. Not with Dean like he is.” Frank motioned his head up to the bleachers to Dean and Ellen. “Look at her with him. It’s sick. She gets him his drink, lives with him. God, I have to get him self-sufficient or I’m not getting her away from him.”

  “He’s getting there, Frank. You did good.”

  “Not good enough.” Frank nudged Henry. “Hey, you’re the fix-it guy. Why don’t you make him some new eyes so he can see?”

  “Easier said than done, Frank,” Henry stated, taking Frank’s joking request so seriously. “If I could make him new eyes I would. Unfortunately, his blindness has nothing to do with his eyes. It’s all in his brain signals. Now if I could ... If I could ...”

  “If you could what?”

  “Oh shit!” Henry’s eyes grew wide.

  “What?” Frank looked next to him and Henry was backing up. “Henry, where are you going?”

  A huge grin hit Henry as he held his hand up. “You have to play without me, Frank,” he spoke rapidly and excitedly. “I have to take care of something. Tell everyone not to bother me.” He got farther away. “This is important. Yes!” He took off running.

  “Henry, what the ...” Frank grunted and turned to the field. “Fuck. Now I’m short a player.” He faced the fence again and whistled loudly. He had no choice and he wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. “Hey, Dean! Come on, we need you!”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Dean chuckled, lying on his couch, his back against the arm of the sofa, headphones on, and Nick on his chest. His eyes were closed, and his knees were bent up to allow room for Ellen who sat on the opposite end of the couch, reviewing notes.

  Ellen would read, make a notation, look up to the noise above her, then smile and shake her head at Dean, who continuously chuckled. It was nearing the end of an uneventful evening at home. Working and relaxing on the couch, her leg catching Dean’s for some contact. She was so comfortable that she hated the thought of getting up when she heard the knock at the door. She debated, then yelled out, “Come in!”

  Dean slid his headphones off slightly. “Huh?”

  “Not you,” Ellen told him and watched him close his eyes again and listen. She looked up to the opening door to see Frank peek his head in.

  “Hey, El. I brought Brian home.” Frank stepped in. “Ready? I got him haircut. Actually, I cut it myself.”

  Ellen screamed when she saw Frank lift the baby and walk in with him. “Oh my God! What did you do to him? He’s bald!”

  Dean flung off the headphones. “What are you screaming, El?”

  “Brain’s bald. Frank gave him a crew cut.”

  Dean’s eyes widened. “No, tell me he did not cut off that kid’s curly hair.”

  “Uh ...” Ellen shifted her eyes to Frank who held his finger over his lips and shook his head at her. “No, Dean, it was uh ... blind joke. Go back to listening to your reading.”

  Dean nodded, rewound his tape, and listened again.

  Frank walked to the arm of the sofa behind Ellen and kissed her on the cheek. “What are you doing?”

  “Going over some notes. Can you put Brian in his walker? It’s in the dining room.”

  “Sure.” Frank carried the now shaven-head child to the dining room and set him down. “Kids upstairs?”

  “Playing,” Ellen told him.

  “I’ll let them go. Hey, I’m going to do that perimeter. Smell me, El. I smell good.” He leaned into her.

  “You were hanging around Robbie, weren’t you? I smell cigarettes.”

  Frank sniffed and shrugged. “Anyhow, you gonna come out with me tonight?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I’ll stay here in case Dean needs me.”

  “Come on, El. Josh will come over. He already said so.” Frank knelt down behind her. “Please.”

  “I’m not in a good mood, Frank.”

  “I’ll put you in one.” He saw Dean laughing. “What the hell is he listening to?”

  “Oh, Jason has been recording Dean’s favorite books. You remember Dean loves to read. So, right now he’s reading The Albertine Experiments, or rather listening to that research. Boring.”

  “Doesn’t sound it.” Frank reached over Ellen’s shoulder and hit Dean’s foot and kept hitting Dean’s foot until Dean stopped the tape.

  Again, Dean lowered the headphones. “What, El?”

  “Not me. Frank.”

  “Frank? What do you want, Frank?”

  “Enjoying your book, Dean?” Frank asked with sarcasm.

  “As a matter of fact, yes.” Dean tried to put on his headphones.

  “Any good sex scenes?”

  “It’s research, Frank,” Dean snapped.

  “So, any good sex scenes?” Frank snickered when Dean groaned. “Hey, Dean, are you still pissy about losing the game for your team?”

  “I didn’t lose the game for my team, Frank. I can’t believe you guys had me playing ball.”

  “You did good,” Frank told him, “even though you lost the game. One run, one run was all you guys needed.”

  “I hit the ball.”

  “Very impressive too, but you also got thrown out at first, because you ran the wrong way.”

  Dean gasped in shock. “What do you expect? First you guys yell because I miss the two fly balls that came out to right field. Then your team throws me out on a base I can’t see. I should have been cut a break, Frank. I can’t see.”

  “Yeah well let me tell you, Dean, the blind shit is starting to get old.”

  “Go away, Frank.”

  “I’m leaving.” Frank stood up. “El, I’ll be at the hall. Please stop by.”

  “I don’t know,” Ellen said. “Dean might need me.”

  “Dean,” Frank called him, getting in response a very annoyed look. “You don’t need Ellen tonight, do you? I’ll get Josh to come over and lend a hand. She can come hang with me right? Tell her to.”

  “No I’m not telling her to.” Dean started to put on his headphones, but stopped. “I might send her there if she doesn’t let me sleep again, so don’t be surprised if she does show up.” He laughed and put his headphones on.

  “See, El.” Frank kissed her again as he moved from the couch. “Finish your work and meet me there.”

  “I’ll think about it, really I will. But ... Henry won’t be there will he?”

  “No.” Frank shook his head. “I haven’t a clue where Henry is. He went to do something, said not to bother him, and zipped away.” Frank lifted his hands. “If he’s there I’ll send him here. Sound good?”

  “We’ll see.”

  “El, you’re giving me a complex here.” Frank reached for the door.

  “It’s not you, Frank, really it’s not.”

  “All right, I’ll see you.” Just as Frank started to leave, he stopped, ran to the back of the couch where Dean’s tape player sat, turned up the volume full blast, and took off out of the house laughing.

  Dean flung off the headphones, holding his ear. “El!”

  “Not me.” She pointed to the door then returned to her notes. “Frank.”

  “God is he an asshole.” Readjusting the volume, Dean listened again, happy that he only had to deal with two blind jokes on Frank’s visit. The headphones, and fortunately, Brian’s haircut was a blind joke also, but unknown to Dean, it wasn’t.

  <><><><>

  It was about the fastest Henry’s fingers ever moved against the computer keyboard. A cup of tea, a soldering iron, a workbench scattered with papers, and a circuit board sat in front of him. Henry would type, read, write, solder, and sip. But there was one thing Henry was doing as he worked at his computer. It was the one thing that Henry barely did all week and if he did it wasn’t sincere. Henry wo
rked and Henry smiled.

  <><><><>

  “One dart.” Frank shouted loudly over the noise at the Social Hall to Danny. He closed one eye and twitched his head. “Man, doesn’t Robbie’s band ever take a break. God!” He held up his hand. “One dart, the bull’s-eye, and game over.”

  “You think,” Danny said, nearly instigating.

  “I know.”

  “Awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  Frank lowered his throwing arm. “Danny, you haven’t been in Beginnings that long. I can do this.”

  “With one dart? Frank, it took you eight rounds to get the other two bull’s-eyes.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t trying. I didn’t want to embarrass you by kicking your butt your first night in the hall.” Frank reached over to the side of the bar and grabbed his drink then his cigarette that was setting in the ashtray.

  “Care to bet?”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet you.” Frank took a long hit from his cigarette and put it down again. “If I get this, you have to do my cleanup tonight. I’m on cleanup.”

  “OK. But if you miss, you have to ...” Danny closed his eyes thinking. When he opened them he had a bright smile upon his face. “You have to ...” He started to snicker. “You have to shave your chest.”

  Frank’s mouth dropped open. “Now what the fuck would even make you bet something like that. That is really off.”

  “Ah, but it isn’t.” Danny held up his finger. “There is no money, so therefore we must bet something of value that we can take from the other. You must feel that it is a waste of time to do cleanup. My time, anyone’s time, is valuable so you bet me cleanup. I know how valuable your chest hair is to you, or rather to Ellen. I was at the field and seeing that your chest is the only thing she was rubbing, I’m going to say she feels that is your best asset. Of course I saw your voodoo doll too.”

  “Hey.”

  “We on?”

  “What do you have to gain by me shaving my chest?”

  “Nothing really. I just think it would be really funny. Frank? Afraid.”

  “Fuck no.” Frank took another sip of his drink and walked to the line. “Watch.” He tilted his head to the left, then the right, rolling it around. He extended his arm, toe near the line, and concentrated.

  “Frank.”

  Frank’s arm dropped. “Danny. Shh.”

  Danny watched and as soon as he saw Frank ready to throw, he called out again, “Frank.”

  “Danny!”

  Danny laughed. “Go on. I don’t need to cheat.” He folded his arms, envisioning in his mind Frank with a bald chest and Ellen’s shock when she saw it. Then that vision swept from his mind when he heard the bull’s-eye music play, and he looked up to see Frank’s dart sticking out from it. “Shit.”

  “Cleanup tonight, pal. It’s Saturday night too.” Frank handed his darts to the next guy who was waiting for Frank and Danny’s game to be over. He walked to the bar with Danny. “And the band,” Frank used his head to point to Robbie’s band that had just stopped to take a break, “you’ll have to throw their asses out of here, all but Denny. His mom comes for him.” Frank leaned into the bar, smoking and drinking.

  “This place is really great.” Danny looked around. “It reminds me so much of the old world. A band, the juke box coming on when they take their break, people laughing, drinking, and Ellen just walked in.”

  Frank’s head sprang up and he quickly blew out the smoke he held in his mouth. “Shit.” He hurriedly put out his cigarette.

  “I take it you don’t smoke in front of Ellen?” Danny asked, then watched Frank finish his drink and put the glass far from him. “Or drink in front of her.”

  Frank shook his head. “She doesn’t ... hey, where is she going?” He watched Ellen walk from the bar with a glass in her hand, through the crowded Social Hall, and sit at a small table nearer to the band. She sat alone there, staring at the stage.

  “I thought you asked her to meet you here.”

  “I did.” Frank kept watching her.

  “I’d like to say she didn’t see you, but how can she miss you?” Danny moved closer to Frank. “She looks really down.”

  “Yeah she does. Fuckin Henry.” Frank twitched his head in disgust.

  “You going over there?”

  “Yep.” Frank looked around the bar, grabbed his glass back, poured a small amount in there, and downed it. He slammed down his glass. “I don’t want to see her like this anymore.”

  “Think you can help her?”

  “I know I can help her.” Frank flashed a quick closed-mouth smile and walked across the hall to the table Ellen sat at. Still staring forward, a glass of water in her hand, she seemed oblivious to anything but that stage. “Hey,” Frank whispered in her ear, “they just took their break.”

  “I’ll wait,” Ellen spoke so down. “Just tell me I didn’t miss the ‘Silly’ song.”

  “You missed the ‘Silly’ song.”

  “Shit.”

  “Can I sit down?” Frank pulled out a chair.

  “What if I said no?”

  “I’d still sit.” Frank sat next to her. “I’m feeling really bad here, El.”

  “Why is that?” She looked at him.

  “I asked you out. You turned me down. Then I ask you to hang out, you turn me down. You show up and ignore me. Do you really want me to leave you alone?”

  “If I told you ‘yes’ would you leave?”

  “If you really wanted me to ...”

  Ellen stared at him for a second. “I don’t want you to.”

  “Good.” Frank smiled. “Can you tell me something though? Can you tell me why you wouldn’t let me ask you out for date purposes?”

  “I just like to give you a hard time, Frank.”

  “I would just like to give you a good time, El.”

  “As appealing as that sounds right now, I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t think anyone can make me feel good.”

  Frank smirked and threw his head back. “You don’t think?”

  “No, I don’t.” Ellen stayed solemn.

  “El, babe,” Frank took on a tone of cockiness, “you just so happen to be sitting, right now, with the only guy who can make you forget about everything and put a smile on that face.” He touched her cheek.

  “Is this coming from the man who has the most arrogance Beginnings?”

  “Nope, it’s coming from the man who loves you the most in Beginnings.”

  Ellen smiled slightly. “That’s really nice.”

  “See.” He pointed to her mouth. “A beginning.” Frank tapped his fingers on the table, looking around. “You know what I haven’t done with you in awhile.”

  Ellen only turned her head with raised eyebrows.

  “Besides that.” Frank returned the raising eyebrows. “I haven’t danced with you.”

  “The band is not playing, Frank, or haven’t you noticed.”

  “We have the jukebox.”

  Ellen twitched her head to it. “It stopped too.”

  “Easily remedied.” Frank began to stand up.

  “No, Frank, I don’t feel like dancing.”

  “I do.” He walked backwards to the jukebox. “I’ll play our song.”

  “No I ...” Ellen watched him walk to the jukebox, grab the stock dollar and press the selection quickly. Walking back to the table, Ellen saw by the way Frank stopped and the way his smile dropped from his face that he screwed up. “Frank, that’s not our song.”

  “Shit. I hit ‘E-7’. Damn it.”

  “Oh well.”

  Frank moved to the table. “We’ll make this our song. We’ll just say it’s our song.”

  “This is ‘Tears on My Pillow’, Frank. It’s far from our song.”

  “So dance.”

  “No. We’ll just sit.”

  “I’ll make you.” Frank tilted his head.

  “How can you make me dance?”

  “El, if you don’t dance.” Frank held out his hand. “I will
... I will sing until you get up with me.”

  “Frank, I’d rather ... Whoa.” Ellen grabbed the sides of the chair as it was slid to the edge of the dance floor. “Frank ...”

  Loudly, and capturing the attention of everyone—first, causing moans, then silence—Frank began to sing. “You don’t remember me ... Come on, El, dance ... but I remember you.”

  “Oh my God.” Ellen stared speechless at Frank standing before her with his arms out.

  “Was not so long ago ... everyone’s watching ... you broke my heart in two.”

  “Frank ...”

  “Tears on my pillow.”

  “Frank ...”

  “Pain in my heart. Caused by you ...” He pointed at her. “You-u-u-u-u.”

  “Frank, please.” Ellen tried to get up, but he made her sit down. “Please quit it.” She looked around as everyone stepped closer. “Oh God.” She covered her face.

  “Dance with me, El.” He pulled her hands from her face, and she struggled to put them back up. He kept pulling and kept singing. “Love is not a something or other ... I’m good huh ... love is not a toy. I have found the one I love, you fill my heart with joy ... whoa-oh-oh-oh. Here is the really big part!”

  “No!”

  Frank dropped to one knee, holding his hands out, and singing even louder, “If we could start anew! I wouldn’t hesitate ... El, please ... I’d gladly take you back ... I mean that ... and tempt the hand of fate.” Just as he gave one more pleading look, Ellen’s hands plopped down into his and she stood up.

  “Stop singing.” She fake smiled and joined him on the dance floor.

  “Tears on my pillow ...”

  “Frank.”

  “Pain in my heart.” He pulled her into his chest, holding her right hand as he swayed upbeat to the faster-tempo slow song, smiling the whole time, keeping his grinning face so close to hers. “Told you I’d make you smile.”

  “Only you, Frank.”

  “I can sing that next.” He continued to dance with her.

  “No, don’t.” As Ellen hugged Frank at the end of the song, the room filled with the applause of those who clapped for Frank’s valiant efforts. “Oh shit.” She pulled back to see those who watched them.