12

Jackie Revisits Friday Night

at the Inn

Jackie slept straight through the night. Generally she woke up at least once, but her Friday activities helped her sleep through the night. At eight thirty she was awakened by David, who called her from Mary’s. While the kids ate breakfast at Mary’s, Jackie decided to have some Rice Krispies and coffee before Lisa and David came home. Soon after she finished, David and Lisa tumbled in the back door.

“Hi, Mom. Guess who won the miniature golf last night,” David said.

That was easy: David would not have asked unless he had won. Jackie said, “Let me see . . . Lisa won.”

“Mom. Guess again,” said David.

Jackie was in a teasing mood and said, “Billie.”

“No! I won,” David announced.

David and Lisa had been invited to their cousin’s birthday party that afternoon. Jackie told the kids to get their cousin’s presents so they could wrap them. After they finished, the kids went out to play, and about eleven, Jackie gave them some fruit to hold them until the party. After they finished, they got dressed in clean clothing, and Jackie drove them to her sisters.

Jackie had to hurry home because she was expecting the grocery store to deliver her order. She decided to make a light dinner, so she took some hot dogs and potatoes from the refrigerator. She put the hot dogs on the stove to cook, and while they were boiling, she cut up some hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, celery, onions, and olives to mix into a salad.

It was about two when she heard a knock at the back door. It was the delivery boy with her order. She opened the door and said, “You’re new. I don’t remember you delivering my order before.”

“You’re right. My name is Chris, and I just started at the grocery store about two weeks ago.”

“Do you live around here, Chris?” Jackie asked.

“Yes. I’m a student at Princeton. I needed some extra money, and this job seemed to fit into my schedule,” he replied.

Jackie looked him over and thought, What a stud. He’s better looking than the trainer at the spa. She had the feeling she had seen him before. “Are you sure we’ve never met?” Jackie asked.

“I don’t think so.”

Jackie playfully said, “Call me Jackie.” She asked him to place the bags on the counter and the kitchen table. “I had a large order this week,” she remarked. “Could you give me a hand putting it away?”

“Sure. I’ll hand it to you and you can place it on the shelves.”

As Chris was handing the groceries to Jackie, a bag of jelly beans slipped out of his hand and split open on the floor. Chris knelt down to pick up the candy, and Jackie moved closer to him, so that he was staring directly into her lap. Jackie was feeling playful, and Chris was aware of what she was doing. Jackie wondered if he would react to her teasing him.

Chris decided to see how far he could go and placed his hand on Jackie’s leg. He moved it up just under the edge of her shorts. Jackie was startled, and for a few seconds she didn’t react. Chris took that to be a green light and moved his hand under her shorts until he touched her most private part. At that moment Jackie remembered her dream at the inn. She jumped away from Chris and said, “What do you think you’re doing? Get out of here before I call your boss.” Chris was both startled and afraid. He quickly got up and drove off in his delivery truck without saying a word.

Jackie was so unnerved by this she locked the doors and went up to her bedroom. She didn’t know if she was more disturbed by what Chris had done or by the fact that it was an exact replay of the dream she’d had six months earlier. When she tried to recall the name and face of the delivery boy in her dream, she knew it was Chris. In addition, the name of the grocery store manager was Dan Jones and he was a friend of Jerry’s. How could this be true? It wasn’t possible to dream what would happen in the future. This was the most bizarre event that Jackie had ever experienced.

She thought, What if I hadn’t stopped him? Would I have gotten myself into the situation in my dream? Jackie was so disturbed she didn’t finish putting the rest of the groceries away. About four o’clock the phone rang. It was David. He wanted to know if they could have dinner at his aunt’s.

“Put your aunt on the phone,” Jackie said. “Brenda, are you sure you want the kids for dinner?”

“Yes. We’ll bring them home after seven. They’re having a good time, and I would like them to stay. Why don’t you come over too.”

Jackie said, “No, thanks. I appreciate you feeding the kids. See you later.”

Jackie was glad Brenda had asked the kids for dinner. She didn’t feel much like making dinner. She had some fruit and milk for her dinner. She wasn’t very hungry. It was seven thirty when Brenda knocked at the door with the kids.

“Come in and stay awhile,” Jackie said.

“No, thanks. I need to get home and clean up from the party.”

Lisa and David were anxious to tell their mother about the games they’d played at the party. Jackie pretended to listen to them, but her mind was on the events of that afternoon. She got the kids off to bed and decided to rest on the sofa in the family room for a while. She pondered the afternoon, and about ten o’clock she decided to get into bed.

There was nothing special on the agenda for Sunday. She took the kids to Sunday school, and they stopped for brunch before returning home. Jackie couldn’t relax or get the incident off her mind. She wanted to call the store manager, but she knew that would get the delivery boy in a great deal of trouble. Jerry would also find out what took place, and she knew he would be angry and want to go to the police. She wondered if she could have sent Chris the wrong signal. She knew boys, especially at that age, had raging hormones. She also knew that she didn’t stop Chris when he put his hand on her leg or object until his fingers touched her female parts. In fact, Jackie wasn’t sure what would have happened had it not been for her dream. Could she have ended up on the kitchen table with this young man?

Jackie desperately wanted to discuss it with Mary. She knew there was no one else she would trust in talking about either her dream or the incident with Chris. Jackie decided to call Mary Sunday night to make sure they were getting together the next morning. “I have something very important to discuss with you,” she said.

“Do you want me to come over now?” Mary asked.

“No. I don’t want to alarm John. It can wait until tomorrow morning,” Jackie said.

The next morning, Mary knocked at the door and walked into the kitchen. “Hi. What’s on your mind? You sounded so concerned last night.”

Jackie said, “Please sit down and have some coffee. You’ll need several cups until I finish.” She proceeded to tell Mary all about her dream at the inn.

At first, Mary didn’t understand the significance of her dream until she told her what took place with Chris Saturday afternoon. At first, Mary tried to dismiss it as a bazaar coincidence. However, as Jackie went into more and more detail, Mary realized this was more than that. Much more.

Mary wanted to know if Jackie planned to report Chris to the police or the store manager. Jackie told her that at first she meant to, but she didn’t want Jerry to find out. She also admitted that she might have encouraged Chris a little. After talking it over with Mary, she decided to say nothing. She wouldn’t have groceries delivered and would shop at a different store in the future. So long as Chris didn’t attempt to have any further contact with her, Jackie decided to put the incident behind her.

Even though Jackie was somewhat successful in putting the incident with Chris out of her mind, she couldn’t explain how the dream had occurred in the first place. After all, it isn’t possible to know the future. However, in reality, that was just what happened to Jackie that February night.