Missing Your Smile

by Jerry S. Eicher

  “I thought Mom told you the time to expect me,” he grumbled, following her up the stairs.

  “I thought you grew up with sisters, Robby. So don’t you know not to push?”

  “Three of them,” he muttered, pulling a chair out at the kitchen table and sitting down with a sigh.

  “Your face is tired,” she said. “You should have gone to bed earlier.”

  “I had a long night.” He flicked his hair over his shoulders. “And it didn’t turn out so well. And don’t look at me that way.”

  “Troubles, have we? Perhaps the princess can help?”

  “It’s because of you that I’m in trouble,” he said. “Why would I want the one with the shovel to dig deeper?”

  “You shouldn’t blame other people for your troubles. You have to take responsibility.”

  “Are you always this full of wisdom?”

  “Filled to the brim and bubbling over!” She stepped into the bedroom to retrieve her new purse from the dresser. She counted out money from her small hidden stash and shoved the bills into the purse.

  “Hey, I could use some money,” he said, leaning his chair back to peer around the bedroom door. “You shouldn’t keep that much cash in the house.”

  “Be quiet!” she ordered. “I’m thinking,” she said.

  He laughed.

  She ran through the day’s list in her head. First, the papers she needed were already in the inside pocket of her purse. And, yah, she already knew that money shouldn’t be kept in apartments, especially in big cities. But habits were hard to break. She came out, flashed him a smile, and asked, “Okay, so what did I do or say that led my dear footman astray?”

  He grunted. “It was all that stuff you told me at the beach about love and looking for it that got to me. It made me stupid enough to try again.”

  “Well, good for you! Who is she?”

  “You wouldn’t know her. Just a girl.”

  “See, that’s your first problem. It shouldn’t be ‘just a girl.’ She has to be special.”

  “Like any of them are. They smile and say sweet things, and then they’re gone after the meal. All you have left is precious money spent and nothing gained.”

  “You could try a haircut.” She gave him a looking over. “I think that would help.”

  “Any other suggestions, Miss Wisdom?”

  “You could start by treating her nicely, regardless of what happens.”

  “Even when I lose money and waste my time?”

  “Yah, because if you develop anger waves against females, they know it. The next one you met will run into all that anger coming from your brain and bam! she’ll be gone. Females don’t like anger waves. It turns us off.”

  “Ha!” he said. “Let me see one first who is worth the sweetness, and then I will be sweet back to her.”

  “You met me, didn’t you? And am I not the image of a sweet girl? Fresh off the farm, filled with goodness and virtue? Why, my smile ought to give you the pleasant brain waves you need for weeks to come.”

  “You are so full of yourself!”

  “I’m just joking. Can’t you take a joke? Remember, I had an Amish boyfriend who gave me all that sweet talk. Now look at me. I’m out on the streets of Asbury Park with an Englisha man.”

  “I think you exaggerate,” he said. “You probably dumped him to run out to the world. Isn’t that what Amish babes do?”

  “Babe yourself!” she snapped. “And I didn’t dump him, but I should have. Just goes to show how blind I was. And now you should learn like I did. You pick up the pieces and go on.”

  “Is that farm wisdom?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s some kind of wisdom, I guess.”

  “All I want to do is find one decent girl,” he said, looking forlorn.

  “Do you want to join the Amish?” she asked.

  “Hey!” he said. “That might not be a bad idea. Have they got more babes like you? Nicer ones, of course—but a little like you?”

  “What makes you think I’m such a saint? And quit saying ‘babe,’” she said. “It doesn’t sound nice. And, yah, there are lots of good girls. If you can get to them before they’re spoken for. Of course, you would have to be Amish, which is another matter entirely. I certainly don’t see that happening.”

  “I’d have to cut my hair, right?”

  “A whole lot more than that. I’m sorry, but you’re not even close to being Amish.”

  He looked cheerful. “It can’t be too hard. I mean, driving a horse and buggy.”

  “You’d better stay in your own world,” she said. “Believe me, it’s not that easy. And we have our own troubles.” She motioned toward the letter on the table.

  He raised his eyebrows. “May I read it?”

  “Yah.”

  He opened the letter and read silently. “Sounds like someone wants you to come home,” he said when he was done.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Are you going?”

  “No, but I probably should call home about Jonas. I’ll run down to the bakery and use your mom’s phone.”

  “Maybe you should go for a visit. It sounds like they love and miss you.”

  “Someone else doesn’t, so forget it!” she snapped.

  “Ah, the princess is bitter.” A smile played on his face. “You’ve made me feel so much better.” He jumped up. “Are you ready to go then?”

  “I have to make the phone call first.”

  “You can use my cell while we’re driving.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Welcome,” he said as he started down the stairs.

  “How did I make you feel better?” she asked, following him.

  “You said you’re not a saint.”

  “How does that make you feel better?”

  “Believe me.” He held open the street door. “Halos hanging around a girl’s head is not good. It gets to be a little too much.”

  “Do I have a halo?”

  “Not right now, you don’t.”

  “That’s very mean. You know that, don’t you?”

  He grinned, showing all his teeth.

  She glared at him. “Where is the buggy?” she asked, when they reached the street.

  “Over here, princess! Ready and waiting.” He waved his hand toward his car parked at the curb.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The light was red at Main and Cookman. Robby gunned his engine while waiting.

  “Would you behave yourself? I’m trying to figure out how to use your phone,” Susan said.

  He laughed. “Just dial the area code for Indiana and then the number.”

  Susan punched in the numbers and listened as loud beeps followed each number she pushed. “What now?” she asked.

  “Push the send button,” he said, taking off when the light turned green.

  “That’s not funny!” she said, trying to glare at him as she grabbed the door handle to hang on. “Oh, it’s ringing now.” Likely no one will answer, she thought. The phone shack is a long way from the house, and it’s the middle of the morning back home. Folks would be busy with the day’s work, although someone might be walking by if it is time to pick up the mail.

  There was a click and little voice said, “Hello.”

  “Hello, hello!” Susan replied. “Is this Vernon?” she said, taking a guess. It was often hard to tell voices over the phone.

  “No, it’s Andrew. Who are you?”

  “Susan,” she said. “I’m calling about Jonas. Do you know how he is?”

  “Oh,” he said. “Susan.”

  “Yah. How is Jonas?”

  “He’s home from the hospital, that’s all I know. Do you want to speak with Mamm?”

  “Yah.” She clutched the phone. Do I really want to speak with Edna? Will she lecture me? Likely. But I need information about Jonas…

  “Mamm!” Andrew hollered.

  Susan jerked the phone away from her ear. There was nothing like a farm boy’s voice to stretc
h a person’s eardrums. Susan rubbed her ear and glanced at Robby.

  “He’s calling his mother,” she explained.

  She heard Andrew shout again, the phone further away from his mouth this time. “It’s Susan from that faraway city.”

  Finally Edna’s voice came on. “Hello. Is this Susan?”

  “Yah,” Susan said, relaxing. Even if Edna pressed her about coming home, it was good to hear her sister’s voice. “I’m calling about Jonas. I received Mamm’s letter last night. Is he doing okay?”

  “As well as can be, considering his arm was all chewed up from hog bites. You know how infectious those can get.”

  “He won’t lose his arm, will he?”

  Robby jerked to a stop at another stoplight.

  The roar of car engines coming from the vehicles crossing the intersection made it hard for Susan to hear. She held her hand over her free ear to block the noise.

  “No,” Edna was saying. “Where are you, Susan?”

  Oh no! Here come the questions. What can I say? I’m driving around with an Englisha boy, going to get my GED and take my driver’s test. No! “I’m living in an apartment in Asbury Park, New Jersey,” she finally managed.

  “Is that a big city?” Edna asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess so. It looks big…at least to me.”

  “Are you behaving yourself, Susan?”

  “You know I am,” she whispered, lest Robby hear.

  “When are you coming home? We all miss you an awful lot.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t say that, Edna. This is hard enough already.”

  “Then why don’t you patch things up with Thomas? Surely whatever your problems are with him they can be worked out.”

  “How do you know I haven’t been trying?”

  “Well, of course I don’t know for sure. But whatever you’re doing doesn’t seem to be working.”

  “I can’t make it work with Thomas,” Susan said. “That’s why I’m here and not there. Tell me, is Thomas dating Eunice?”

  “Not that I know of,” Edna replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “Then he’s keeping away from her to make me look bad,” Susan responded. “I found them together after a hymn sing one night.”

  “Ah, now I see. But you shouldn’t be so bitter, Susan,” Edna said, her voice patient. “It could be making you do things you wouldn’t do otherwise.”

  Susan took a deep breath. “He betrayed my heart,” she whispered. She didn’t want this to go any further. “I’ve got to go, Edna. I’m using someone’s phone.”

  “Okay, but don’t forget us now, Susan. Remember!” Edna said.

  “I won’t. Please tell Mamm I called.”

  “I will,” Edna said. “Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye.” Susan closed the phone and handed it back to Robby.

  “I take it that didn’t go too well,” he said.

  “Jonas is doing okay. That’s the important thing,” she said.

  “I suppose so.” He accelerated as another light turned green and nearly ran into the car in front of him.

  “That was close!” he muttered, slowing down, allowing ample distance between the two vehicles.

  “So enough of my troubles,” Susan said. “Tell me about this girl you were talking about earlier.”

  “Why should I tell you? And if I do, will you tell me your secrets?”

  “No,” Susan said. “But I want to know your girl troubles anyway. Tell me about her. Please.”

  “Well, I met her at a bar last week…”

  “You go to bars?” She gasped. “But you’re Laura’s boy!”

  “So what? A lot of guys with nice moms go to bars,” he said with a laugh. “Look, Susan, I’m not interested in Mom’s religion anymore, not with church and all. And besides, what has my going to a bar have to do with Mom?”

  “It’s not right, Robby. That’s what it has to do with.”

  “Oh, so you don’t want to hear the story after all?”

  Susan met his look. “Of course I do. But you shouldn’t be in bars. So go ahead. I’m listening.”

  Robby sighed. “It’s not like I’m a bad person just because I go to bars for a quick drink. I don’t get drunk or do drugs or sleep around, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “I should hope not!” she exclaimed. “Amish boys aren’t saints either. Well, some of them aren’t. Thomas was never wild, but some of the others are. But they straighten up eventually. I suppose that can happen to you too.”

  “Well, that’s a novel way of looking at it,” he said with a shrug. “But, hey, I’m not wild just because I go to bars occasionally. Look at me! Do I look wild to you?”

  Did she dare say the truth? “To be honest, you do look a little wild.”

  He laughed out loud. “I suppose it’s my long hair. Okay, so I may look a little wild to an Amish girl. But I don’t act wild.”

  “No, I’ve never seen you act wild,” she agreed.

  “Well, that settles it then.”

  “Yah. So we agree. You go to bars, which you shouldn’t. But you don’t act wild.”

  Robby laughed. “Back to the story. I had never met this girl before. Well, maybe once in passing a few weeks before, but she was with someone else. That night she was alone, so I walked up and talked to her.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Of course. How else would I do it?”

  “Perhaps a woman wants to know who you are. I mean, you could be anyone.”

  “That’s why I told her, first thing. ‘I’m Robby and I grew up around here,’ I said.”

  “How does she know that? You could be lying. You’re in a bar, which is not exactly the best place to be.”

  “I know,” he said. “Sin, degradation, evil, wickedness, and all that.”

  “Yah. And especially in a place like that, a girl wants to know who you are before she becomes friends with you.”

  “Do you want to hear the story or not?”

  “Yah, go on.”

  “I asked her if she wanted to go across the street for a burger, and she said yes. We had a nice chat over our meal, and I thought everything was going great.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that when we parted, I asked her if I could see her again next week. She said no! I don’t get it. Why did she accept my invitation for a burger when she obviously wasn’t as interested in me as I was in her? I don’t get women!”

  “You shouldn’t take it personally, Robby. There could be any number of reasons. Maybe she’s seeing someone else.”

  “Of course I take it personally! That’s what it’s all about.”

  “Have you thought about meeting the right kind of girl in…say… church?”

  Robby let out a long sigh. “I’ll take your advice under consideration.” He wrinkled his face into a fake smile as he turned left and pulled into a triple-story parking garage. Squeezing the car into a parking slot he said, “This is the closest parking to the college—our first stop of the day. Does the princess need an escort inside?”

  “You might as well come,” she said. “That way I won’t feel pressured about hurrying—worrying about you being bored in the car all alone. You might even find a self-help book in their library on how to win girlfriends.”

  “Cute, really cute.”

  Robby led the way to the college administration building, pausing to point out the tall pillars in front that reached all the way to the second-story roof.

  “That’s nice,” she said. “It’s certainly nothing like the little buildings they have in Salem, Indiana.”

  “They built the pillars to impress country girls who come to visit,” he said with a grin.

  As they stepped inside, Robby said, “Over there is the information desk, the place to start your journey. As for me, I think I’ll go see about a girlfriend book.”

  “What do I ask for?” she whispered.

  “Just explain what you need,” he said, not pausing. “They’
ll be helpful.”

  Susan watched Robby walk away and then took a deep breath. The place was huge, even larger than it had appeared from the outside. She never felt more like a little Amish girl far away from home.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Susan approached the desk and glanced around, hoping the well-dressed lady would look up and notice her.

  “Excuse me,” Susan finally said softly.

  “Yes, may I help you?” the lady asked.

  At least she seemed friendly. She was much younger than she had appeared from a distance. Susan relaxed, managing a smile. “I need help finding materials on how to prepare for your GED exam,” Susan said.

  “You didn’t finish high school?” the lady asked.

  “I…no…I didn’t finish,” Susan said.

  Should she explain that she was Amish? Better not. An Amish girl living in Asbury Park who only completed the eighth grade? That was an unlikely story.

  “Well, you’ve come to the right place! We are more than glad to help,” the lady said.

  Robby’s head appeared from behind a nearby aisle of books behind a wall of glass. He waved and smiled.

  “There are two ways to study that I recommend,” the lady continued. “Either you can take our night classes or you can study online. Here is the web address and the hours the college gives the classes.”

  Susan glanced at the papers the lady handed to her.

  “May I take this home with me and decide what I want to do?” she asked.

  “Of course,” the lady said with a smile. “Whatever way works for you is fine.”

  “Where is the exam taken?” Susan asked.

  “Here at the college. But you should study first. Each exam has a fee attached, and you will have to repeat the entire exam if you fail any section. I advise a full complement of studies before you attempt the test.”

  “Okay,” Susan said, turning to go.

  She found Robby in the library across the hall, his nose stuck in a book. She got his attention by whispering, “I’m ready to go.”

  “Oh!” he jumped and slammed the book shut.

  She looked at the title as he slid the book back on the shelf. “The Five Love Languages,” Susan read aloud. “Hmm.”

  Robby’s face turned a bit red.