Calmer Girls

by Jennifer Kelland Perry

  “What odds,” Ben said. “Just a bit of fun, sure. Come on, let’s sit down again.” He reached for Samantha’s hand, pulling her toward the couch.

  “Do you mind if I ask you something?” she asked.

  “That depends. What’s the question?”

  She took a deep breath and forced the words out. “Are you in love with my—my sister?”

  Ben blinked at her. He got up, switched off the pool table lights, shaking his head. “I’m still trying to sort out how I feel. I do care about her. Why do you want to know?”

  “Is that why you hit that boy at the birthday party?” Samantha held his gaze.

  “I’ll tell you why. I wanted to shut him up. He kept flirting with Veronica like I wasn’t even there. I mean, he knew we had just shown up there together, but he acted like I didn’t exist. Like he could say anything he wanted to her with me standing right there.” He looked down at the beer gripped in his hand, picking at the label.

  So it wasn’t because he loved Veronica, Samantha determined. The other boy had treated him indifferently, like he didn’t matter at all. It was a pride thing. She could understand that. And Ben had apologized.

  “I don’t care for the violence,” she said. “But I do get where you were coming from.”

  Ben walked back to her, but instead of sitting on the couch he plopped down on the floor in front of her. “You are so understanding. I know I said it before and I probably shouldn’t be saying it at all, but I really do wish Veronica was more like you.”

  He looked at her through those long lashes and reached for her hand. She felt an electric jolt sing through her whole being as he held it gently in his. For the next while they sat without talking, listening to her favourite Smashing Pumpkins song on the stereo. Samantha had gotten used to the taste of the beer, was drinking her third, and feeling moderately dizzy. But she didn’t believe the alcohol owned all the blame.

  Squatting on the floor with his legs crisscrossed, Ben faced her halfway in profile. The side of his back brushed against her legs ever so slightly as he sang along with the music. Samantha caught the clean, rugged scent of him. She gazed at him and before she knew what she was doing, her fingers reached out to fondle his glossy brown hair. It was so soft, exactly the way she had imagined it at the bookstore on the afternoon they’d met.

  Ben turned, facing her squarely with a mischievous smile. “Do you mind if I take these off for a minute?” He reached up and touched the edge of her glasses.

  “Not at all,” she whispered, her voice unsteady as he gently pulled them from her face.

  Still smiling and looking directly into her eyes, he stroked the side of her cheek. “You don’t look much like your sister, but you know, you have the most enchanting green eyes.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “No, really. They sparkle like jewels. Emeralds. Don’t sell yourself short.”

  His fingers played with her hair now. He combed through her curls as he watched her. Slow. Unhurried. Maddening. Is this a seduction? Samantha felt fragile and a little woozy, but she didn’t want to leave. This was exactly where she wanted to be.

  But Ben dropped his hand and turned away. The spell was broken. He stood up and handed her back her glasses. “Come on, I’d better walk you home now. It’s getting late and you look tired.”

  She knew not to argue. Not only would it be humiliating, but deep down she knew it would probably be a huge mistake to stay any longer. She thought of Ronnie. Climbing to her feet, she attempted to stifle a yawn as she slipped her arms into her sweater.

  The lightheaded sensation eased for a while when the cool night air revived her. Ben walked alongside as they headed for her house. Nearing their destination, another wave of dizzy fatigue engulfed her. She stopped on the sidewalk, her knees trembling, prompting Ben to loop his arm around her for support.

  “Almost there, Samantha. You shouldn’t have had that third beer. You’re a lightweight. Can you walk the rest of the way?” he asked with a note of concern. “You need to get in bed and have a good night’s sleep.”

  “I’m okay, really,” she protested, laughing. She fell in love with the pleasure of Ben’s arm holding her close to him. But all too quickly, her house came in view. “I’m home already?” Darn, he’s going to let me go soon. And who is that, sitting on the front steps at this hour? Three of them. Samantha and Ben drew close enough to see Gina, Mandy, and a scowling Veronica.

  “Well, what have we here?” Veronica asked in a tone Samantha knew all too well. She sprang to her feet, her face surly. Her cohorts stepped on their half-finished cigarettes and, without a word, beat a hasty escape up the street. For a split second Samantha felt like running after them.

  “Chill, Veronica,” Ben said, his arm still around Samantha. “I walked your sister home from my place, is all. How was the party?”

  “From your place? What were you doing over there, Sammie?” Veronica’s gaze bored into her, her eyes full of questions. “I forgot my key but I figured you would be here anyway, like you said you were going to be. But no, not only was I locked out, I had to wait here on the bloody step for nearly an hour. And now I find you with my…with Ben.”

  Samantha discovered she was too tired and beyond caring what her sister thought at this point. She pulled her key from her pocket. Veronica snatched it out of her hand, stomped up the steps and unlocked the door.

  “We had a game of pool,” Ben said. “Don’t get mad at her.”

  With her hand on the doorknob, Veronica turned around. “You can leave, Ben. I’m not interested in what you have to say at the moment.”

  “Goodnight, then!” He thrust his fists in his pockets and walked away.

  “I’m going to bed,” Samantha said, elbowing past her sister in the doorway. Switching on the light, she blinked at the explosive brightness.

  “You little bitch,” Veronica growled, grasping a fistful of Samantha’s sweater sleeve. “Who do you think you are? Think you stand a chance with a guy like Ben, do you?” She jabbed a finger in her sister’s face. “Stay away from him, you hear me?” She pushed her shoulder, catching her off-guard. Samantha lost her balance, stumbled, and fell back heavily against the wall.

  “Were you drinking? Little Miss Holier-than-thou has a buzz on?”

  Samantha saw the hallway tilt at a sickening angle. Her stomach rolled over in a wave of nausea and she tasted bile. “Get out of the way,” she muttered. Head spinning, she aimed herself for the stairs.

  “Hey, wanna big tall glass of Mommy’s wine, Sammie?” Veronica jeered from behind. “Before she gets home and drinks it all?”

  Cruel laughter filled her ears. “Leave me alone,” she managed to utter.

  Climbing the stairs, she made it to the bathroom and closed the door before her insides heaved once more. She knelt on the cold tile in front of the toilet and vomited until there was nothing left.

  Chapter Nine

  The next day was an uncomfortable one for Samantha. It kicked off with a blinding headache and a mouth that felt like sandpaper the second her eyes fluttered open. By the slant of the sun streaming through her bedroom window, she knew she’d slept late even before she checked the time.

  Someone was making a lot of noise downstairs in the kitchen. The rattle of dishes and cutlery rang through the house, most likely Ronnie being noisy on purpose. She hoped it didn’t wake their mother from her much-needed sleep. Groggy, she crawled out of bed and padded silently to the bathroom.

  The phone rang when she entered the kitchen. She poured herself a tall glass of orange juice and swallowed a couple of Tylenol while Veronica answered it.

  “Oh, hello, Father,” she said curtly. “Fine. No, she’s not up yet…yes, she worked last night…Oh?…that’s good news, I guess…listen, I have to go, I’m late for something…fine…yep, just a sec.”

  Veronica covered the mouthpiece of the receiver. “He wants to talk to you, bitch.” She dropped the receiver, letting it thump against the wall before it dangled
near the floor. She flashed a look of pure contempt at Samantha as she pushed past her.

  “Hi, Daddy.” Samantha rubbed her temples where the rhythm of blood pounded. She wasn’t in any mood for conversation right now, but the sound of her father’s voice perked her spirits up a little. “You did? You found another job? A better one? Great news.” Her skull throbbed. “I’m very well…alright. Okay, I will…yeah, it’s fun, actually. It doesn’t pay a lot, but I like it…listen, Daddy, I have to run too, unfortunately. Yes, we’ll talk again soon. I’ll leave a note for her to see as soon as she gets up…I love you too.”

  Samantha said goodbye and hung the receiver in its cradle. She glanced sideways at Veronica who was tying up her sneakers.

  “I’m going to work. Deadbeat Daddy got a new job, so my money is my own again, I s’pose.” She pulled her blonde hair into a scrunchie and applied lipstick in the hall mirror. “Have a super crappy day, dumb ass.”

  Samantha fumed. Was Veronica going to be hostile with her forever? She pushed the ugliness of her sister’s mood from her mind and poured a bowl of Cheerios. While she was eating and wondering how long the headache would last, a knock came on the door. Swinging it ajar, she smiled with relief. It was Kalen. His long hair was in his eyes as always, and he was wearing a faded Ghostbusters T-shirt and a pair of cutoff jeans. He winked at her, a slow grin spreading across his face.

  “Oops, somebody still got her jam-jams on,” he teased, ogling an eyeful of her naked legs in the short baby-doll nightie she wore. He stroked his goatee thoughtfully.

  Samantha blushed a deep shade of crimson, trying to hide halfway behind the door. “I slept in. What are you up to?”

  “Not much. Want to hang out?” Kalen’s friendly demeanour poured over her like a soothing balm, the perfect antidote to Veronica’s resentment. “Let me warn ya, it’s a scorcher.”

  “Kay, come on in while I throw some clothes on.” Samantha scooted up to her bedroom while Kalen waited in the kitchen. This was exactly what she needed—a distraction. Anything to keep her from reliving last night in her head, both the good parts and the bad. She pulled on a pair of denim cutoffs of her own, a lime green sleeveless blouse, and a pair of sandals. After brushing her teeth and making a face at her tangled hair, she put on her hairband and glasses. “Coming!” she called out to her friend. In the kitchen, she jotted down the message from her father for Darlene to call him and stuck it on the fridge with a magnet.

  “You weren’t kidding. It’s on fire out here!” The sun’s rays seemed to penetrate her skin as soon as they stepped outside. She thought wistfully of how nice it must be back in Calmer Cove. When they rounded the corner to Gower, an ice cream truck parked at the curb came into view. A noisy band of children, clutching money, clustered around the proprietor’s window. A flock of pigeons skittered out of the way on the sidewalk in front of them, purple and green chests puffed out, their grey heads bobbing good-naturedly as they strutted along.

  “Move in with your mom yet?” she asked, hoping he didn’t have to leave too early. She liked having someone to talk to and pal around with for a while.

  But Kalen wasn’t listening. He came to a halt by the rock wall, pulling Samantha back by the arm. He pointed up the street in the direction of Ben’s house. “His mom,” he said.

  Samantha saw a late-model navy blue Ford Taurus parking in front of the Swifts’. An attractive dark-haired woman emerged. So, Ben’s mother was here for another visit, but she was alone this time. They watched her as she rapped briskly on the front door. Ben opened it, his face without expression, then disappeared back inside. His mother followed and closed the door behind her. The T-bird convertible was absent from the driveway.

  A black pickup truck dotted with grey patches of bodywork stopped by the curb in front of her and Kalen. Gina sat behind the steering wheel with Mandy in the passenger seat.

  “Hi, you two,” Gina said. “How’s it hangin’? Tag along for a ride?”

  Samantha and Kalen looked at each other. Mandy slid over to let them in the front seat with them.

  “I’m bringing lunch to my brother,” Gina said, chewing furiously on her usual wad of gum. “Joey works out on the highway and he forgot to take it this morning. It’s out near Paddy’s Pond. Hurry up if you’re coming, time’s a-wasting.”

  Samantha and Kalen nodded in agreement and climbed into the truck. It was a tight squeeze and the interior of the cab was hot, stuffy, and stank of stale cigarette smoke. Samantha felt uncomfortable, sandwiched between Mandy and Kalen, and the shabby green vinyl of the seat, split in places and sticking to her bare thighs, didn’t help. As the truck picked up speed, the welcome relief of fresh air circulated through the open windows.

  “Kalen, did your little gal pal there tell you she was out with Ben Swift last night?” Mandy asked.

  Kalen’s head swivelled around so fast to stare at her, she blushed. “Really? So while Veronica and the rest of us were at that dumb party, you two were on a date?” He appeared crestfallen. “Did he tell you he was breaking up with her?”

  “No, I’m not sure where they stand,” Samantha said. Why was Kalen so concerned, she wondered. “And it wasn’t a date! We hung out, that’s all.”

  “Then why is your face that colour?” Mandy laughed, sounding victorious. “We saw how pissed Veronica was last night when she saw you. Ha, two sisters fighting over the same guy. Love it, I do. Our own little neighbourhood soap opera!”

  Samantha’s cheeks burned, but she didn’t want them to get the wrong idea. Or for anyone to know how she actually felt about Ben. That would be infinitely worse for her if Veronica continued to date him.

  “Look, we had a couple games of pool. We’re friends, that’s all.” But was that true? Was that all they were? She wished someone would change the subject. A warm trickle of sweat ran down between her breasts. “What was so dumb about the party?”

  “Andy’s big brother came home and drove everyone out,” Gina replied.

  Crystal would have been there with Andrew, Samantha concluded. Glad I missed that one.

  “Probably just as well,” said Mandy. “It was turning into a make-out party anyway. What happened to you, Kalen? Didn’t see you leave.”

  “Yeah, I left,” Kalen replied. “Hey, guess what? I’m moving out of that old basement apartment this weekend and in with Rita. Mom and Dad found a better place too, in that apartment complex on Blackmarsh Road.”

  “Your Nan and Pop, you mean,” said Gina, pulling out to pass a car towing a travel trailer as they left the city limits. The old pickup shook and vibrated as she changed gears and sped along in the passing lane.

  “Yeah, yeah. Nan and Pop. So anyway, I’ve got this jeezly big bedroom with two windows, a rec room with a bigger TV to play video games on, and an awesome stereo and speakers from my uncle. Oh, and a real back garden.”

  Samantha grinned, happy for Kalen and his new living arrangement. She hoped he’d be able to stay with Rita from here on in. She hated to think of another ‘loser boyfriend’ of hers displacing him and upsetting his life once again. The guy didn’t deserve that treatment. He seemed like a good kid who’d been through enough already.

  The pickup slowed down. Samantha saw the road repair crew just ahead, on the section of the Trans-Canada highway where they were outside the city. Gina braked and parked a safe distance behind a large dump truck and the other heavy equipment. A group of workers in hard hats looked briefly in their direction as one of them, a young man with a red face, walked toward the pickup.

  “Thanks, Gina,” he said as he reached for the lunch bag she held out. “Hey, guys.” A sheen of sweat glistened on Joey’s thin, sunburned face and neck, and dust caked around his mouth. Without ceremony, he reached into the sack and grabbed the bottle of orange Gatorade inside, gulping it down in seconds. “Appreciate it, sis! Take your time going back in that old thing.”

  He smiled and waved goodbye, joining a co-worker in another truck to eat his sandwich, as Gina put the pick
up back in drive.

  “Must be brutal working out here on a hot day like this,” Kalen said. “If I did, I’d spend my breaks in that pond over there.” He gestured to Paddy’s Pond, the expanse of rippling, indigo waves beckoning from their left as the truck turned around.

  “Hey,” Mandy piped up. “Who’s game? Anyone dying for a dip besides moi?”

  Gina laughed. “But we don’t have our suits. Should we?” She looked at the others and cracked her gum, eyebrows raised.

  Kalen grinned, his eyes mirroring mischief.

  “Ah, who cares,” Mandy scoffed. “Let’s skinny dip, I dare you all. Come on, little chickens!”

  As soon as the old pickup came to a halt on the opposite shoulder, they tumbled out. Samantha couldn’t believe they were actually going to do this, right here in the open and in broad daylight. And with a boy! The others scrambled down the rough embankment, walking through scratchy alder bushes and over the rocks to the shore of the lake. Hesitantly, Samantha followed.

  Gina sloshed in to her shins and reached down, riffling her hands through the water. She raised them up, droplets trickling from her fingertips and dancing in the sunlight on the lake’s surface. “It’s not bad at all,” she said, straightening up and pulling her shirt over her head in one fluid sweep.

  Samantha looked sideways at the plump voluptuousness of her, admiring her for her lack of inhibition. With her shorts off now and tossed aside, Gina waded into the pond in her pretty pink lace bra and underpants.

  “That’s not skinny dipping,” Mandy shouted.

  Samantha turned to see Mandy wading into the water, completely naked. Have these girls no shame at all, she marvelled. Gina laughed and unhooked her bra at the front, throwing it to the shore. Her full white breasts bobbled in the sunshine. Even Kalen blushed, Samantha noted.

  Oh my gawd. They were totally doing this. Samantha shivered, not wanting to wimp out, but self-conscious beyond words. With quick, shaking fingers she undid her blouse, slipped it off, and stepped out of her cutoffs. She looked down at the goosebumps on her skin. The wind was cooler here where it blew off the water. She couldn’t bring herself to take off her underwear, so instead she plunged headlong into the lapping waves before anyone took her to task about it.