It Starts With a Lie

by Mary Clare Lockman

  “Hold them now,” Coach Richter said.

  It was the bottom of the seventh inning. Lake City had runners on first and second. The batter swung hard and smashed it. The ball was a high line drive to second. It looked like it would easily land in center field. Both runners left their bases. Zastrow leapt straight up, stabbed the ball out of the air, pivoted around, and ran toward the base runner who had left first, tagged her out, pivoted around again, and ran toward second. The runner who had been racing back to second, turned around, and ran toward third. Zastrow threw it to me. The batter was in the hotbox. I threw to Zastrow who moved toward the runner. The runner ran toward third. Zastrow threw the ball to me while moving closer to third. I ran after the runner and tagged her out. Triple play!

  Well, I tell you, we went nuts. Laurie Zastrow looked like the Cheshire Cat, her smile was so wide. We circled around her and pounded her on the back. The coach had leapt off the bench and run to second. “That was exciting,” he said. “Thank you to all of you for a great season. Have a good summer. Go line up and shake Lake City’s hands.”

  “Good game.”

  “Good game.”

  Mrs. Reynolds and my mom were having a discussion. They looked really serious. Sally came over and said, “We have to talk. How about tomorrow afternoon?”

  “At your house?”

  “Yeah. One o’clock?”

  “Okay. I’ve gotta go.” As much as I wanted to talk things out with Sally, I felt a little nervous. After all, she stopped talking to me for months over something we should have been able to work out. I was glad I got her away from the party but I wasn’t going to get my hopes up about our relationship. I guess I didn’t trust her not to dump me again.

  Aunt Florence, Uncle Mike, Rosie, my parents, Gramps, and the Musolfs waited by the stands for me. Aunt Florence loved to scream and cheer at games so her voice was husky when she said, “That was great. Congratulations.”

  “It was a great game, wasn’t it?” I said.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  A Talk with Sally

  On the ride home, Gramps went over the plays of the last two innings again and again. I wish I could have recreated the triple play; it was so wonderful.

  My dad opened the store at two o’clock and my mom went with him. Gramps and I had the afternoon to ourselves. I told him the story of Jake from beginning to end. He listened intently. He commented, “You’ve learned a valuable lesson. I hope you remember that lies might start out small but they always multiply.”

  “I will.”

  “You know your family loves you. You can tell us anything,” he said.

  Easier said than done. There were some things I couldn’t tell my family. That’s why I needed a best friend. I didn’t want Gramps to worry about me. “I know I can talk to you,” I said.

  The next day, we walked to nine o’clock Mass as usual. We went to the Diner for breakfast as usual. Gramps got his pancakes and exclaimed as usual. I got my eggs, over hard, and hash browns as usual. It was a usual kind of morning.

  The afternoon would be far from usual. I hadn’t been over at Sally’s house for almost three months. I tried not to expect too much.

  I rode my bike over to Sally’s. She opened the door before I rang the bell. “C’mon in. We’ll go up to my room.”

  Mrs. Reynolds said, “Good to see you, Colette.”

  She couldn’t be too mad at me. “Good to see you too,” I said.

  We went up to Sally’s room. “Just a minute,” she said. She checked the closet for stray ears in the form of Anna or Margaret. “It’s clear,” she said. “Sit down.”

  I sat on the bed her two sisters shared. She sat on her bed and leaned forward toward me. “Thanks again, Colette, for saving me at that party. My mom said that could have been really bad for me. She went on and on about what happens when kids are drinking and no parents are around.”

  “That’s why I went there.”

  “You’re a lot smarter than me. By the way, did you hear that Jake’s parents were really mad too?”

  “I heard his parents took his car away.”

  “I heard that too.”

  The conversation was hardly moving along quickly.

  There were lapses of silence and I wondered if Sally and I would be okay.

  “Anyway, John and I are not allowed to be with the O’Malleys. My mom said that Jake is a wild boy and she was right about him from the beginning.”

  Now, this was something new.

  “She said she doesn’t like Sam either. So they’re both banned from our house.”

  I wondered if Sally was worried about a long summer without anybody to talk to. I chose not to think that was the only reason she was talking to me. My mom told me to keep an open mind. Still, she had never apologized for not talking to me.

  Sally was biting her nails so I knew she was nervous. “This is so hard, Colette. I never thought we’d have trouble talking with each other.”

  That was it. “That’s what happens when you don’t talk to someone for months. And when you don’t want them at the lunch table. And when you blame them for your date that wasn’t a date. Maybe we don’t have much to say to each other.” I stood up and walked toward the door. “I should go,” I said.

  “Please don’t go. I apologize for that whole movie mess. I am truly sorry for acting so crazy that night.”

  “Why did you give me the silent treatment?”

  “I don’t know. I was mad, I guess.”

  My hand was still on the doorknob. “I know how stubborn and proud you are, Sally, but that really hurt my feelings.”

  Sally walked over to me. She put her arms around me. “Colette, I understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore. In fact, I deserve it. I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. Please believe me.”

  I didn’t want to cry but I couldn’t help it. Sally started crying too. We hugged. “Should we sit down again?” She said.

  Sally gave me a tissue. I wiped my eyes. She gave me another tissue. I blew my nose. “Well, this is a new one. The two of us crying up in my bedroom.” She giggled.

  I laughed. “Maybe we should do this more often.”

  “Once a month, I’d say.”

  I missed this; the laughter. It seemed like Sally did feel bad about not talking to me. I guess that was a start. “I have something to tell you that might actually shock you.”

  “What? Tell me.”

  Here goes, I thought. I told Sally about Musolf’s. She put her hand over her mouth.

  “John did that?” Sally asked. “I can’t believe it.”

  “John and Mike too. Jake was the organizer.”

  “Wow. That happened the day after the movie?”

  “Yeah. The day after.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Tommy Musolf?”

  “I don’t know. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to be a tattletale. So I ate the candy bar on the way home.”

  Sally was leaning forward at this point. “Colette, you didn’t steal it.”

  “I felt so bad when I got home and saw Mr. Musolf. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Jake started working at our store.” I told her about checking out cigarettes for him. “I didn’t like having him there after awhile. Then he came over when I was babysitting one night.” I told her about the whiskey. “So that’s it. That’s why I knew I had to go to that party.”

  “All I have to say is that Jake is a bully. Is that why you were grounded?”

  “Yes, I was accused of taking the whiskey.”

  “You didn’t tell the truth?”

  “No.”

  “You didn’t tell on me either about the movie or the party.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Thanks, Colette. I really was obsessed with Jake. I wanted to blame you for the fact that he wasn’t interested. I’m lucky he wasn’t.”

  “Sally,” Mrs. Reynolds yelled. She opened the door. “It’s four o’clock. I ne
ed to run to the store. Please babysit for an hour at the most.”

  “I’ll be right down,” she said. “Gotta go, Colette. Thank you for talking to me.”

  “Sure.”

  I hadn’t told Sally about going up to St. Paul with Aunt Florence. Or about Jake being fired. We had lots more to talk about.

  Sally told her parents about Musolf’s. Mrs. Reynolds took John to Musolf’s and made him apologize. He had to give them ten dollars. She asked him if that was the only time they had stolen. John didn’t answer. Mr. Reynolds got involved then. John was grounded for two weeks. He couldn’t drive for a month. He had to do all the yard work and Mrs. Reynolds had him babysitting which Sally loved.

  I felt more and more comfortable talking to Sally again. I didn’t see any reason to stay mad. I remembered what Aunt Florence said about Suzy. I told Sally that Suzy was my friend too. If she wanted to be friends again, Suzy was included. She agreed.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jake Falls

  On July third, Sally, Suzy, and I went for a long bike ride after dinner. The downtown was really busy because all the stores were closed on the Fourth. So we decided to go north of downtown until we got tired. At this time of year it was still light until almost ten o’clock. We talked as we rode.

  Sally was very chatty about her brother, John, and all the work he had had to do in the last couple of weeks. “I wanted to cheer when my dad said he had to cut the grass.”

  “Doesn’t he do that anyway?” Suzy asked.

  “John? Ha. He’s an expert at being gone when my parents need a babysitter or the grass needs cutting.”

  “We have jobs we have to do first before going anywhere,” Suzy said. “Like I have to dust every Saturday. One of my brothers cleans the kitchen floor. The other one always helps with the trash. Plus we have to clean our rooms.”

  “I refuse to clean my room because there are three of us in the room.”

  “You poor thing,” Suzy said.

  “I know. My sister, Anna, is really messy. She can never find her clothes because they’re all over the floor. It’s a total disaster. Isn’t it, Colette?”

  “Yeah. It’s unbelievable. By the way, is John mad at me?” I asked.

  “Who cares? He’s the one who was stealing. Tonight John is staying overnight at Mike’s house. He couldn’t wait to get out of the house.”

  Boom!

  “What do you think that is?” Suzy asked.

  “I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s pretty big.” The sounds continued. Boom! Boom!

  “Let’s go see who’s there,” Sally said. She turned her bike towards the river.

  Red Wing had lots of parks and some of them were on the river. There was one my mom called Party Park because kids liked to go there to hang out, drink, and party. Every summer kids would be partying and someone would fall into the river. My mom made me promise never to go there.

  “I’m not supposed to go to Party Park,” I said.

  “C’mon, Colette,” Sally said.

  “I don’t know. I’ve gotten in enough trouble this summer already.” I stood by my bike. Boom! It was definitely coming from the river. “Suzy, what do you think?”

  “I wonder who’s down there and what they’re doing. Don’t you?”

  “I guess. Okay, let’s go.” It was eight thirty but still light so we headed down to the river. It didn’t take us long to find the source of the noise. Jake, John, Mike, and a few other kids had a fire going. They were lighting off firecrackers, actually M-80’s, from sticks they pulled out of the fire. One person lit it and then ran. Everybody stayed far away from the M-80’s. Boom!

  “Well, look who’s here,” Jake said. “I suppose you want to tell on me again.” There was no smile on his face and his blue eyes were cold and icy. “Get lost.”

  I shivered. I couldn’t think of anything to say.

  “John, you’re not supposed to be with Jake,” Sally said.

  “And you’re not supposed to be down here. So just be quiet.”

  Sally looked like she wanted to say something but she saw Sam and waved to her. I felt more and more uncomfortable. I had nothing to say to anyone. I stood by Suzy. “I’m ready to leave. How about you?”

  “I don’t need to stay any longer,” Suzy said.

  “Let’s ask Sally what she thinks,” I said. Sally was in an animated conversation with Sam. “We’ll wait until Sally wants to go. Please stick by me, Suzy.”

  Suzy gave my arm a quick squeeze.

  “Watch this,” Jake said. Jake took his cigarette out of his mouth, put the lit end on the little fuse, and threw the M-80 up into the air. Boom! “Not much room to spare that time,” he said.

  “That’s really dangerous, Jake,” Sam said. “You could blow off your fingers. What’s the matter with you?”

  “That didn’t happen.”

  “I said it could happen. Just think, you wouldn’t be able to play football or baseball anymore.”

  “Settle down, Sis. Nothing happened.”

  “Quit being such a show-off.”

  John and Mike looked at each other. “I’m going home,” Mike said.

  “Me too,” John said.

  “Okay, okay. I’m just having a little fun.” Jake backed up away from the fire. He was right on the edge of the river.

  Sally came over by Suzy and me. She whispered, “Let’s go.”

  “If Jake gets any closer, he’s going to fall in,” I said.

  “Oh well,” Sally said. “I never realized how stupid he is.”

  We heard a splash and turned. Jake had fallen backwards into the river. He yelled, “Help, I can’t swim.” His legs and arms flailed and his head went under water. Everyone ran over. His head came up and he screeched, “Help me.”

  The water didn’t seem deep but the river could be deceiving. I wondered if he could stand. “Stand up. Just stand up,” I yelled.

  Jake thrashed like a turtle on its back. He shrieked, “I’m drowning.”

  John, Mike, and Sam shouted, “Stand up. You can stand. It’s only two feet deep.”

  “Maybe he’s really in trouble,” I said.

  John and Mike walked into the water. “C’mon, man, stand up,” Mike said. Each of them grabbed one of Jake’s arms and pulled him up. He stood shakily at first and then caught his footing. The water came to his knees. He walked out of the river, completely drenched. I held out my hand. He batted it away. “I was kidding,” he said. He ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Right, you were kidding.” Sam said. She slapped his arm.

  Mike and John laughed out loud. John said, “You were scared. No big deal.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Jake said. “I fooled all of you.” “

  You sure did,” Sally said.

  “I wasn’t scared,” Jake said. “I was just having some fun.”

  “Okay. Whatever you say,” Sally said. She patted me on the back. “Should we go?”

  Sam stopped us. “I shouldn’t have been so mean,” she said. “Sorry.”

  We walked over to our bikes. Suzy was almost jumping up and down. “I’m so glad we went there. Jake was screaming when all he had to do was stand up.”

  “He was panicking, that’s for sure. I knew the water wasn’t deep there. It was only funny because it was Jake. I’m glad he’s okay.” I got on my bike. “It’s getting dark. Let’s go.”

  “I can’t believe I liked him,” Sally said.

  “I can’t either,” Suzy said. “I knew he was a phony from the first time I saw him.”

  “You were smarter than me,” Sally said. “Are we meeting for the fireworks tomorrow?”

  “Good idea,” I said.

  “I’m in,” said Suzy.

  I didn’t tell my parents about the events at the river that night but I did the next day. One of the promises I had made to myself was that I would not lie to my family. I thought I might get into trouble for going down to the river but I had learned that I wasn’t the type of person who
could hold things in. So I told my mom, dad, and Gramps at breakfast. They couldn’t believe it.

  “Were you in any danger?” my mom asked.

  “No, mom, I really wasn’t.” I quickly added, “I know the river can be dangerous and I’m really careful.”

  “I don’t think you should make this a habit. I mean hanging out at the river,” my dad said.

  “I won’t.”

  Gramps had been sitting with his hands on his lap. “That was quite a story. I’m glad you noticed he was in trouble. I can’t swim either so that might have been my reaction.”

  So that’s my story. Jake apologized to my dad for everything that had gone on with me. He went to Musolf’s and apologized to all of them. He even apologized to Mrs. Reynolds. I guess once he started he just kept apologizing. My mom said he must have been thinking about all the things he did, so maybe landing in the river was good for him.

  Sam apologized to Mrs. Reynolds for the party. Sam also apologized to me for hitting me at practice. I told her I had already forgotten about it. After the apologies, Mrs. Reynolds told John and Sally that they could see Jake and Sam. She made them promise that there wouldn’t be any more “shenanigans.”

  I guess I’m a pretty lucky girl. Sophomore year will be starting in a couple weeks. I’ll be trying out for the varsity basketball team and I hope I make it. Sally, Suzy, Sam, and I hope to have the same homeroom again and maybe some classes together. We decided we won’t keep secrets from each other. And we’ll never ever get mad at each other. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

  I tell Aunt Florence every couple of weeks that she’s my favorite aunt. She acts surprised and then says, “Wait a minute. I’m your only one.” She says we should go to the River Room and St. Paul when we don’t need to have a heart-to-heart. Just for the fun of it. She plans on coming to all my basketball games with little Rosie. Uncle Mike told me he was wrong to get so mad at me and I could babysit anytime.

  My cousin, Daniel, came to Red Wing for a visit before he went back to Madison. I told him about Jake, the movie, Sally not talking to me, Musolf’s, the whiskey, the party, and finally the firecrackers and Jake falling in the river. Daniel listened to the whole story. He said, “Jake isn’t so cool after all.”