Getting to Know Everybody

Janice said, "Sam, you're trying to trick us, aren't you?" She looked back and forth from me to Bambi and back. I was afraid the jig was up already until she continued, "Why didn't tell us you had a sister."

"I didn't know she was going to be here." I said, trying to stay somewhere close to the truth.

"Do you go to another school?" Jolene asked. "I don't remember seeing you around. You must go to Hillmont."

"Actually, I've graduated already," Bambi admitted. The look she gave me said she wasn't going to tell an outright lie to keep the game going.

"You must have skipped a grade, then. I'd remember you as easily as I'd remember Sam." Janice said.

"Do you go to college here in town?" Connie asked. "I went there for a couple of semesters."

"No," Bambi said. "I've been thinking about college, but I hadn't made up my mind."

If she had decided to tell to the truth whenever possible then something had started her thinking about school. I knew she had married Ben right out of High School and hadn't had time for college before Jim and then Bud had come along. This was new information.

"I hope you decide to stay in town," I said. "I'd miss you terribly if you went off somewhere."

"I'd miss you too, honey. I really haven't decided, but I doubt I'll be going out of town.

"Connie, I understand you're working now. Are you still going to school?"

I thought that was a nice deflection of the topic and let Connie assume that I was the source of the information. Bambi seemed to be warming to her role.

Connie said, "My grades weren't what they needed to be. I wasn't focused enough on my classes, I guess. Uncle Sergio suggested that I help out at the restaurant until I figure out what I want to do. The whole family works there, so it's a comfortable thing to do."

"Are you living at home?" Bambi asked.

"Yes. I lived in the dorm while I was attending college. I've moved back home now. My family has been very supportive. We were close even before my father was killed in a car wreck. After that Mama and I moved in with Uncle Sergio and Aunt Rosa."

"It must have been hard for you, living in a dorm after having such a close family life." I said.

"Yes, that was part of the problem. I thought I would be OK with living with a big group of other girls after sharing a house with eight other family members. But it turned out to be too much of a distraction. Someone was always partying, going out, doing this, doing that. I got a taste for partying and I started going to every one I could. After a few weeks of that it was hard to remember what I was there for. I dropped my courses a month into the last semester and moved back home. That was three months ago."

"Are you going back in the fall?" Janice asked.

"Maybe. I've got a lot of stuff to get out of my system first. That's why I was so happy Sam invited me here. She seems like a girl who knows how to party."

Everyone laughed at that. I didn't know how to take it and I blushed and looked away.

"You watch out for Sam," Neeka said. "She knows how to throw a wild party all right. I was here for the last one, and it was something I'll never forget. You know, she made a bet that she could get her date's clothes off faster than her brother could get his date's off?"

"That's wild, all right! You won, of course. But you two have a brother, too?" Connie asked.

"A courtesy title," I explained. I gave her the short explanation of how I had come to live with the Reynolds and how much better the situation was now.

"Mrs. Reynolds has been so good to me," I said, managing not to look at Bambi. "I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't taken me in. She has done so much for me that I don't know how I will ever repay her. I love her dearly."

"She certainly is one of the more prominent people," Connie said. "Everyone says she's the most beautiful woman in town. Everyone talks about her hair, her clothes, her makeup, as if she were a movie star.

"Uncle Sergio wanted me to find out if there was some reason she hadn't been coming to the restaurant as much lately. He's afraid business will suffer if people think she is unhappy with the place. Is she here?"

"Oh, she's around the house somewhere," I said. "You may get to see her later. She likes to stay out of sight when I have friends over. She thinks they might be inhibited if she were to hang around. But you can tell Uncle Sergio that the restaurant is just great. We have just been eating-in more lately."

"She sounds very considerate," Janice said. "I know my Mom would never trust me to have a party like this without feeling like she had to chaperone."

Neeka spoke up, "The irony is that she's the most wonderful person once you get to know her. When she lets her hair down, she's just one of the girls."

Both Bambi and I gave her a look for that one. This was getting too close to the edge.

"Well, I promised everyone some sun," I said, "so lets head up to the deck and catch some rays while there's still time. I'll put some towels on the dumbwaiter."

"I'll get some sodas and ice from the kitchen," Bambi said.

Neeka showed the rest to the elevator while Bambi and I stayed behind. When everyone else was out of earshot, she said, "Well, that tears it. We can't let them know who I am now. It would be too embarrassing after everything they said. I'd swear you put them up to that."

"Nope. And every word was true. Yes, Neeka and I took advantage. But we both meant it. We're not trying to embarrass you. But it does look like you are going to be stuck with 'Bambi Kramer' for the duration."

"Flattery aside, I admit that I'm having a great time. Your friends are all wonderful. I'd hate to hurt any of them."

"What to you think of Jolene?"

"She's darling! That nightshirt is a great idea for a casual party dress. I wish I'd thought of it."

So Jolene was officially 'stylish'. I was going to have to find a way to let her know that she had been praised so highly.

"It gets better," I said, smiling. "That nightshirt is the only thing she has on or brought. And she's prepared to lose it at any time."

"A girl after my own heart," Bambi said. "Jolene and I need to talk. Maybe she will let me do her hair?"

"We'll see. Now let's hurry upstairs."

Even though we took the stairs, we all arrived together. Neeka had apparently given our guests the ten-cent tour of the house before leading them to the elevator to the fourth floor.

"This is a beautiful house!" Janice said. "And a deck on the roof! This is marvelous!"

"It has the advantage of never being in the shade," I said. "You'd think it would be too hot up here, but the breeze keeps you cool."

"Look! A spa!" Jolene said.

"Yes, it's very relaxing to come up here after it's cooled off and sit in there. Maybe we can try it out later."

"Mr. And Mrs. Reynolds must have put a lot of thought into this house," Connie said. "Everything is just perfect. That downstairs bathroom is huge!"

"That's the small one," I said. "You should see the one in my room. Or Mrs. Reynolds' room. The bathtub in there is almost as big as that spa."

"The only thing it doesn't have is a pool," Neeka said. "I understand they planned one, but never got around to building it."

Bambi looked like she wanted to speak up, but she couldn't admit to knowing anything about the house or the plans of the owners without blowing her cover.

I decided it was time for a change of subject, so I passed out the towels and everyone claimed a lounge chair. There was an awkward moment when everyone hesitated to see how much skin everyone else was prepared to expose to the sun. I had an easy solution to that.

"Jolene? Give me that shirt."

I think Jolene beat Neeka's record for getting naked. I caught the nightshirt before it sailed in the wind and flew off the roof and put it on the dumbwaiter so it wouldn't get lost.

With Jolene setting the standard, everyone else peeled off as well. Neeka helped Bambi with the safety pin and we were all shortly stretched out bare-assed in the afternoon sun. Since we were all doing it, everyone looked comfortable.