Goodbyes

We arrived for lunch to find the Hendersons setting the table and pouring the iced tea while Bambi added garnish to the plates of neatly sliced sandwiches. One look told me that she had no intention of lowering her standards on preparation or presentation, despite my complaint that she was overdoing things. I decided with a shrug that if she got a kick out of preparing and serving us gourmet meals, then I would shut up and eat them and be grateful that I had such a wonderful mother.

Jim and Bud came in right behind us and we all sat down to eat. Everyone had an appetite and there was very little conversation until the food was almost gone.

Lori brought up the inevitable subject, "Mrs. Reynolds, we want to thank you for having us over and for cooking for us and everything. We really hate to leave, but we both have homework left to do before tomorrow and we should be getting back."

Sara chimed in, "Oh yes, this has been the best time I've ever had. I hope we can come back real soon." Her blatant plea for a follow-up invitation was rewarded by her sister with a nasty look; one that she returned with a pout.

Bambi answered graciously, "I'm glad you had a good time. It's been a pleasure to have you here. I'm sorry you had to be exposed to that unpleasantness last night. You do realize that you can't discuss that with anyone, don't you?"

Both girls nodded vigorously. Lori said, "Oh yes! Sam made us promise not to say a word. And we really don't want Sam mad at us. Seriously, we know we owe Sam a lot. She probably saved all of our lives. But if she doesn't want to be a hero, then we'll never tell." That earned me a couple of looks from Neeka and Bambi that I knew were about that 'wanting to be a hero' comment.

"Thank you," I said. "But you know this is best for everyone if we just forget the whole thing ever happened." I got a few nods at that, even from the boys.

"Your clothes are in the laundry room. It's the first door on the right going down the stairs to the Family Room." Bambi said. "When you are ready to go, I will drive you home. I'd like for you to keep the outfits you have on..." Lori and Sara almost squealed with joy at this news. "... but I'm afraid your mother might not approve of either the gift or the, ah, style. If you like, I can keep them for you so you can wear them whenever you come over. OK?" Lori and Sara both jumped up and ran over and hugged Bambi at hearing her compromise. It meant they would be coming back and that they could wear their sexy outfits again. After Bambi, they kept going around the table, kissing and hugging everyone before running off to change.

"I'd better go, too." Neeka said. "You'll be seeing enough of me around here, and I have to go check on Mom. Besides, you two have some things to talk about." She got up and took her plate into the kitchen. When she came back, she said to me, "You stay in touch, now." Like it was something that I had control over. Then she bent down and kissed me good before moving on to do the same to Bud, Jim, and Bambi. When she had run off to change as well, I gave the boys the steely eyeball until they spontaneously volunteered to clean off the table and do the dishes.

Bambi and I went off to the first-floor living room to talk. It was the first time I had been in one of the formal rooms, and it was a really impressive place. They only used it for holidays and parties and stuff, and it looked like a picture out of a magazine. It was full of gold and brocade and elaborate lamps and deep plush carpet. I perched on a loveseat and Bambi sat down with her arm around me.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked. "Monique seemed to think it was a serious matter."

"It's something that happened just a while ago. I didn't want to bring it up so soon. Neeka is right, though. I need to talk about this now, so we... so you can be thinking about it. It has to do with where I'm... where we are going from here. It's about what I plan to do... to become. This is harder than I thought it would be. I really don't want to make you unhappy, but when I found... Oh crud." I wasn't going about this in any coherent way, I realized. Time to back up and start over.

"I was snooping." I confessed. "I went down the back stairs into the workshop." I looked up at Bambi. She didn't bat an eye. Either she didn't know what I was talking about or she did and she wanted to see where I was going. "I found the motorcycle."

"I don't..." she began, "... Oh! Ben's bike! You want to know if you can use it?"

"Well, yes. I know I'm too young. I know I'll need lessons. Neeka can drive me until then. We'll be really careful, I promise." I tried my best to look pitiful. I was wasting my acting talents.

"Of course you can use the bike. I'm not afraid of you riding the motorcycle. Damn, girl. You had me scared. I thought it was something serious."

"I'm sorry." Now I was confused. I just apologized for not having something to ask that would bother her. "I was afraid that... well, it was Ben's and all."

"You thought I would be bothered by you riding a machine that my husband bought. One of his toys? Honey, those were his toys we were playing with yesterday. Those were things he actually touched. If he knew what we were doing with them, and you won't really ever fully convince me that he wasn't watching us, he would have been very happy. That bike has been sitting down there for the last year. He ordered it two years ago from a man in California. They spent a lot of time fooling around with what it was going to look like and how fast it could go, but Ben never lived to see it. It was finished and shipped after his accident early last year. I have no emotional attachment to it and if Ben thinks anything about it, I'm sure he would rather it be ridden than to sit down there and rust away.