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I hadn’t seen Kyle for weeks, not since Laney’s party. I had a hard time keeping the shock off my face when I answered a knock at our door on Saturday afternoon and saw him standing there, carrying a basket covered by a cloth.
“Hey, Faye. I’m home for the weekend, and Mom sent me over to see if y’all are interested in taking one of Lady’s puppies. They’re almost old enough to be adopted.” He gestured toward the basket, which I now saw was shifting around on its own.
“Really? Let’s go outside.” I knew Mom wouldn’t let us get a dog, but I wanted to look at the puppies before Kyle took them away. He set the basket on the picnic table and lifted the cloth. Inside were two bundles of fur that waddled from one side of the basket to the other. They looked up at us and barked in sharp, shrill voices.
I reached in and grabbed one and held it up to my chest. It nestled against me. “Aw, they’re so cute. How old are they?”
“Four weeks today. Lady had four, but two have been spoken for, so there’s just these two I’m trying to find homes for. Do you want that one? It’s a female. We’ve been calling it Ginger, but you can give it whatever name you want.”
She was brown-gold with long hair. Yes, Ginger fit. I was in love. “What kind are they?”
“Mutt, I guess. Somebody dropped Lady off in front of our house a couple of years ago, and we kept her. She’s a nice dog. We keep meaning to get her spayed, but she always gets pregnant before we manage it. This is her third litter. Mom’s definitely taking her to the vet soon. She says this is the last time we’re going through this.” He laughed. “It’s always my job to find homes for the puppies. What do you think?”
“I’ll give it a try. Wait here.” I went inside, still carrying the puppy. Mom was in the kitchen, cleaning up from lunch. “Kyle brought over some adorable puppies that he’s trying to give away.” I held Ginger up for her to see. “Can we take her? I’ll feed her and take care of her.” Seeing the look in Mom’s eyes, I tried one last time. “Please, Mom? I’ve never had a pet.”
She glanced at the puppy and shook her head. “No. We move too much to take care of a dog.”
“But, Mom, you said we’re going to stay here until I graduate. That’s long enough.” I knew how this was going to end, but I played it out anyway.
“Take that dog outside, Faye. We can barely feed the mouths we’ve got now. We can’t afford to add another one.”
I heard the edge in her voice, so I gave up. It had been a useless effort, anyway, and continuing to argue wasn’t worth making her mad.
I took the puppy back outside and set it gently into the basket. “Mom says no. Sorry. Good luck finding homes for them.”
“Sure,” he said. “I always manage it. They’re good dogs.” Inside the basket, the puppies curled up together and went to sleep. He shrugged. “Mind if I hang out for a while?”
He wanted to hang out with me? I bent over the basket and let my hair hang over my face to hide the laughter that bubbled up. And I was sure that my face was beet red. When I had control of myself, I stood up and tried to act casual, as if it were an everyday occurrence that the boy of my dreams asked if he could hang out with me.
“Okay. I can take a break between chores.” We sat at the picnic table and watched the puppies sleep for a while. Was I supposed to start the conversation? Apparently. I had no idea what to say. “Uh, how’s college?”
He grinned and started in, talking a mile a minute. “I hate my roommate. He’s in bed by nine thirty every night, so I have to go somewhere else to study. Not that I do that much studying. I’ve been really involved in ROTC. I’m learning how to march and use a gun.” He looked at my face and quickly said, “There aren’t any bullets in the guns. At least, not now. When I join the army or the marines, there’ll be real bullets.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, alarmed. “You’re in college. Don’t you have a deferment?”
“Yeah, but it feels wrong. Why do the guys who aren’t in college have to fight in Vietnam, and I get a pass just because my parents have some money?”
I thought about that. “I’d give anything to go to college. Why is going into the military so important to you?”
“Because I hate all those Vietnam protesters. It seems like there’s a protest march every night, people marching down the streets, yelling for us to bring our boys home. They’ve got no patriotism, and it drives me crazy.”
I could see by his scowl that he thought I would agree with him, but I didn’t. “Just because you disagree with them doesn’t make them unpatriotic. If I was there, I’d be marching with them.” I was breathing fast and hard. It was the first time I’d ever argued with someone my age. It felt good. Lots better than arguing with my parents, who always won even if they were wrong.
He laughed. “I can see that we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
And we did. We talked and argued for a couple of hours, until the puppies’ little voices pierced the afternoon heat.
“Oops, I stayed too long. I need to get these little fellas home to their mama.” He paused and gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. “Really good talking to you, Faye.”
“Same here.”
After he left, I ran around and around the orange groves like a puppy with a fresh bone.
* * *
THE NEXT DAY, KYLE visited again, and this time he was without the puppies. He smiled when I opened the door. “Hi, Faye. Have you got a few minutes?”
My stomach lurched when I saw him being so friendly. I’d figured I would never see him again, after disagreeing with him so strongly the day before. I was in the middle of vacuuming, but I could take a few minutes. “Sure,” I said, wondering if I was reading him right.
“Why don’t we go out to the orange groves? I’ve got something for you.”
“What is it?”
He grinned. “Wait and see.”
“Uh, okay.” I told Mom I’d be back in a little while, and we meandered back into the orange groves until we were out of sight of the house. He held out a thin, funny-looking cigarette.
I’d sneaked a couple of Dad’s cigarettes in the past, but this didn’t look like that. “What is it?”
“A joint. You looked pretty stressed yesterday. I thought you could use something to relax.”
I’d heard of pot, of course, but I was surprised that anybody I knew would actually smoke the stuff. In health class, the teacher had lectured us about the dangers of pot and how it could lead to stronger drugs.
“No, thanks.”
“Why not?” He ran his fingers down the joint and stuck it in his mouth. After digging a lighter out of his pocket, he lit the thing and inhaled deeply. Smoke wreathed his face, and a soft smile curled his lips. When he finally exhaled, his eyes were a little glassy.
Kyle held the joint out to me again.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to get addicted to drugs.”
His laughter was kind, but he was still laughing at me, and I felt my face flush. “You won’t get addicted,” he said. “It’s not like they say. Just try it. You’ll see.”
Confused, I walked away from him, toward a white ibis that was pecking at something in the grass. I tried to sneak up to it, but it squawked and flew off when I was a few feet away.
I stood with my back to Kyle, considering. It felt like an angel was standing on my left shoulder, shouting that this wasn’t a good idea, and a devil stood on my right shoulder, whispering that I should try the pot if for no other reason than that Kyle, the coolest boy I’d ever met, was offering it to me. If I refused to do this, I’d probably never see him again.
Taking a deep breath, I turned around and walked toward him. Kyle handed me the burning joint and told me to take a big puff and hold it in my lungs for as long as possible. I did that, but then I started coughing so hard my lungs burned as though I’d swallowed fire. A few minutes later, after a few more puffs, I noticed that Kyle was right—I did feel more relaxed.
We sat on the grass, careful to avoid the sandy cones of anthills, and smoked the entire joint together. For the rest of the afternoon, we lay back and watched the clouds gather and change into animals that flitted across the sky. Just before he left, Kyle leaned over and brushed his lips against mine. It was my first kiss, soft and gentle. His lips lingered, and I wondered whether he could tell that I didn’t know what I was doing. He didn’t seem to notice, so I relaxed into the kiss. But when his hand started to caress my stomach, I tensed. He removed his hand and apologized, but the spell was broken.
He left immediately, saying, “I’ve got to go. See you later.” He flashed me his heartthrob smile as he walked away.
Confused about what had just happened, I stumbled inside, gobbled three chocolate chip cookies, then took a nap. It was the best sleep I’d had since Benny had run me off the road. Not a single nightmare.
Mom woke me before supper. She sniffed and gave me a hard look, but she didn’t say anything. She must have been relieved that I’d finally gotten some sleep. Later that evening, just before bedtime, she said, “I don’t want Kyle over here again. He’s too old for you. If he asks again, tell him you can’t see him anymore.” Her tone hardened. “Either you do it, or I will.”
Outrage erupted in every fiber of my being. “Aw, Mom, why not? He’s just a friend.”
“Dana Faye, you are not allowed to date until you’re sixteen, and that won’t be for another two months. And even then, you can only go out with boys in your school. Kyle’s a college man now, and he’s too old for you.”
She’d probably snuck up on Kyle and me while we were out in the orange grove, stoned. Maybe she had even seen the kiss. Eww! I didn’t dare ask her what she’d seen, and she didn’t say anything more.
Mom might have been right about Kyle being too old and too experienced for me, because later that evening, he called. She gave me a hard look but handed me the phone.
When I answered, he said, “Faye, I need to tell you something. Linda and I broke up for a while, but we just got back together this evening. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about you and me. I really like you, but can we just be friends?”
That was fast. He’d just kissed me a few hours before. My heart sank, but I summoned my most casual voice. “Uh, okay. Sure.”
We hung up, and I felt like the stupidest girl in the world. I went to my room and spent the rest of the evening hiding under the covers, sobbing my eyes out.
* * *
THE NEXT SATURDAY, which was the first day of Thanksgiving break, a car pulled into our driveway. Dad was out in the groves, so I ducked into my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I didn’t care for the way some of the citrus workers looked at me.
My mom answered the door. “Why, Francie. So nice to see you. Please come in.”
I burst out of my room, surprised to see my friend. She usually worked at her dad’s real estate office on weekends.
“What have you got going today?” she asked.
“The usual chores. And I’ve started working for Mr. Barrett, too. Why?”
“I have a better idea,” she said, eyes twinkling. “How would you like to go to Daytona Beach with me?”
Such magical words, the beach. Of course I wanted to go. I’d never seen the ocean, and I’d been dying to go ever since we moved to Valencia. Mom and Dad kept promising to take me, but they hadn’t gotten around to it.
I nodded and then turned toward Mom. She laughed. “Yes, you can go. I’ll tell Mr. Barrett that you can’t work today. Just be back by dark.” But then she stopped, her eyes big, hands lifting toward her mouth. “Just a minute. Who’s driving? Your parents?”
Francie shook her head and held up car keys. “I am. I got my license last week, and my dad let me borrow his car.”
I held my breath, waiting to see what my mom would say. It would be the first time I’d driven anywhere with a friend without a parent along. She thought for a minute, her shoulders hunched, and then said, “All right. If your parents think you’re safe to drive, I’ll accept that. But do not speed, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
There was a long silence. Finally, I asked Francie, “What should I bring?”
She laughed. “I forgot this is new for you. Just your bathing suit, flip-flops, and a towel. I packed food and Cokes.”
I’m going to the beach, beach, beach!
An hour later, Francie drove right up onto the hard sand and parked. I hadn’t realized that cars were allowed to drive on beaches. Francie looked amused when I squealed in delight. The experience was old hat to her, but it was one of the highlights of my life.
We got out and skipped to where the waves, curling up in little zigzags, met the hot sand. I’d thought it would be too cold to swim, since it was late November, but the day was warm. I stuck my toes in and discovered that the water was cool but not cold. The sand dissolved out from under my feet when I tried to stand still. I edged in a little farther, up to my thighs, and a wave knocked me down on my behind. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
We bodysurfed and ran on the beach and got home just before dark, sunburned and salty and extremely happy. This was the way November was supposed to be, instead of snowy and cold. I loved my new life in Florida.
I had gone the whole day without speaking Kyle’s name or thinking much about him. Who cared about Kyle, anyway?