The Contract

by Jerry D. Young

  “I think I am insulted,” Trinity replied. “Nah! The truth is the truth, as Daddy says.” She giggled.

  “There is the bell. You really should think about it. It is a shame we cannot do that play Jason suggested. You would be great in it.”

  “Oh, no,” Sara said. “If I was going to do something like that for the first time, I would never be the lead, much less in a musical. I can sing and I can dance, but I cannot sing and dance, if you know what I mean.”

  “Now, that was a song and dance, if I ever heard one,” Trinity said. Her eyes suddenly grew large as she walked backward, away from Sara. “Boy! I am good! Song and dance! I may have to tell Mrs. Murcheson that one. Maybe I can get extra credit!”

  Sara just shook her head and went to class.

  “Where was it you went,” Sara asked Jason when they went to bed the Sunday night following Sara’s friends staying over.

  “New York,” Jason replied.

  “You went to New York by yourself?”

  Jason smiled. “Yes. I am a big boy, you know. I will be sixteen next week as a matter of fact.”

  “Okay. Sorry. What did you do?” Sara quickly added, “If it is any of my business.”

  “I do not mind telling you. My father had business interests in New York. They have all been sold, but his personal things were in storage. I needed to decide what to do with them. There were only a few things I wanted to keep. I am having them shipped back. Should be here next week some time.”

  “I would have thought your stepmother would have taken care of that.”

  “This was all before they were married. The Commodore finally was able to sell off the business a year or so ago.”

  “Oh. Was it hard? Was it hard? Dealing with your father’s things?” Sara asked.

  “Not really. There really was not that much personal stuff. And it has been over five years…”

  Jason rolled over onto his side and switched off the lamps. Sara said nothing else. She too rolled over and went to sleep.

  Sara agonized for a while on what to get Jason for his birthday. She finally settled on a pair of new roller blades for him. He was outgrowing his old ones. Not to mention wearing them out.

  She smiled and sighed in relief when he actually seemed to like them. And wished she could call his stepmother and ball her out for not sending anything more than a card. Jack Lawrence neither sent anything, nor called.

  When Trinity corralled Sara one day and told her she had arranged with Jason to go to Kathy Wilkenson’s with Trinity and Sara to show her some self-defense, Sara had a few second thoughts about it.

  When they had been talking about boys the Friday night of the sleep over, Jason’s name had come up. Several times. Kathy did seem enamored of him. There was a general discussion on how many different girls had tried to get him to go out with them, much to Sara’s annoyance.

  With Jason attired in one of his old protectors, Trinity showed Kathy how to defend herself. When Kathy showed reluctance to try the moves on Jason, fearful of hurting him, Sara quickly stepped forward and said, “Trinity did not hurt him.”

  Sara looked at Jason, though she could not really see his face through the wire mesh face mask, and asked, “Did she?”

  “No, she did not.”

  “Maybe I should show her,” Sara said. “Just so she knows you will not get hurt.”

  “Uh… Sara…” Trinity quickly said.

  Trinity and Sara both picked up on the humor in Jason’s voice when he said, “Good idea. I am sure she will see that you are not pulling punches.”

  Kathy did not have a clue as to the nuances going on. Trinity only a glimmer, as Sara ran through the same moves Trinity had used only moments before. Sara’s blows brought much louder thumps as hands, elbows, knees and feet contacted Jason.

  “See,” Sara said, breathing a little more raggedly, “He is just fine. You could not hurt him if you wanted.”

  “Wow!” Kathy said. “You really looked like you could have stopped someone!” She hesitated a moment. “But I just do not think I can do that to Jason.”

  “Pretend I am Rodney,” Jason said quietly. He reached out one hand as if to fondle her.

  “That is not funny!” Kathy cried. She took a step back, then quickly tried one of the moves. It was not very skilled, but Trinity and Sara both quickly stepped in and coached her, keeping the momentum going that Jason had started with his comment and move.

  When Sara was driving Trinity home, Trinity said, “You know, I think maybe that helped Kathy. Not so much the moves, though, being a cheerleader, she picked them up really quick, but the expression of anger she was getting out. I think she might actually react if Rodney tries anything bad.”

  “I hope so,” Sara said. She looked back over her shoulder. “Maybe we should have taken Jason home,” she added, knowing as she did, that if they had, Trinity would know Jason and Sara were living in the same house.

  “He had his bike,” Trinity replied. “He said he had something else to do before he went home.”

  Sara turned back around. “I know. Still…”

  Trinity did not help when she said, “I am really glad Kathy was able to lay into Jason, finally. She has had a case on him since she was eleven. Did you see the way she fawned over him when we were finished?” Trinity shook her head. “Like he had done the training. All he did was act as target.”

  Sara was able to smile slightly at Trinity’s annoyed tone. Kathy had thanked Jason, but not Trinity or Sara.

  The smile faded very quickly when Trinity added, “Maybe Jason will break down and go out with her. He does not have a thing for her, or anything, but it would let her express her thanks, and get him out, and give her a chance to prove to herself that she does not have to put up with Rodney.”

  “You do not really think he would go out with her, do you? I mean, sure, he helped her out, and she is thankful, but you said he does not really go out on dates.”

  “I know. But I know him pretty well, Sara. Me and you and Bootsi… We would be dates. Kathy, he would be helping out, to get over this thing about being subject to Rodney’s advances.”

  “You could be right,” Sara said, remembering Jason’s comment in the Erick-son’s study that Kathy had offered to let Jason see her nude.

  More to reassure herself than anything, Sara said, “But Jason would never take advantage of that gratitude, would he?”

  “Jason? Take advantage? Are you nuts? Once, when we were twelve, Kathy offered to let Jason see her naked when the subject of anatomy came up. Jason turned her down flat. And, boy, were we all curious!”

  When Sara did not make any comment, Trinity looked over at her, to see Sara staring at her.

  “Hey! It was innocent… More or less… One of the teachers had just found a girly magazine in a boy’s locker. There had been a big stink. That stuff was on everyone’s mind. The subject just sort of came up that time after school.”

  “She would not have let him see her naked!”

  “Uh… Well… Kathy… Maybe,” Trinity said. “I cannot say that me and Bootsi and Joanie did not discuss what it would be like. Surely you have thought about what it would be like to have a boy see you naked.”

  “Well… Sure… I guess… But Jason…”

  Trinity laughed. “Come on. That is not fair. The way you feel about him! But Kathy. Even the rest of us. You are about the only one he really seems to butt heads with on a consistent basis. I still cannot figure that out. It is almost like he does it on purpose. Or you do.”

  Trinity shook her head again.

  “Hey,” she said as she pulled up the drive. “Are you sure you do not want some help with the Halloween party? We would all help. That Mrs. MacDougal and all the staff were so great the other day, I kind of feel guilty about bringing up having a Halloween party here.”

  “They really seem to be getting into the idea,” Sara said. “I have only lived here a while, and they seem to enjoy doing things like this.”

  “Yo
u make sure they know some of us will help. Daddy, too. Bootsi’s Mom, too.” Trinity held out one hand and rocked it slightly. “Joanie’s Mom and Dad. I do not know.”

  Then Trinity was grinning. “I bet Jason would lend a hand.” Her smile faded. “Though that guardian of his…”

  Trinity saw the look on Sara’s face and laughed again. “Hey, do not worry. I will not put him up to it. You do not have to worry.”

  “What?” Sara asked, slightly confused.

  “You looked like you would rather invite Rodney than Jason.”

  “That is not funny, at all,” Sara said. “Besides, why would I not invite Jason? The way we were talking, it was going to be the whole class, except for Rodney and his group.”

  “Well, good luck,” Trinity said. “Usually Jason will go to this kind of group thing. But he has never gone trick or treating that I know. Before Momma died, she always tried to get him to go with us. And Daddy has, too. Well, until we were fourteen and too old for it. Helping is one thing. Going, another.”

  “I think he will be there,” Sara said stubbornly.

  “Oooh!” Trinity said, “I think I feel a challenge! And that might just get him to come. Make a bet with him.”

  “I am not going to make a bet with him!” Sara said forcefully. “He will be there.”

  “If I tell him you said he would,” Trinity teased her friend, “he will not come. Which is actually what you said. But, if I was to tell him you said he could not come, then he probably would.”

  “Trinity, you have a very convoluted mind. It is a moot point. I am telling you that he will be there.”

  “Okay. I will grant you that there is a chance, since it is with the class. But I bet he will not wear a costume.”

  “Why not?” Sara asked. She really could not think of a reason that Jason would not.

  “We teased him once about wearing a kilt. He said he would never wear any-thing like that again,” Trinity said. “Actually, I feel bad about that. We were kind of mean.”

  “Why on earth would you tease him about a kilt?”

  “Hey! We were thirteen! It was a guy in a skirt. And everyone wanted to know what he wore under it.”

  “But a kilt is really important to a Scott. It is part of their heritage,” Sara said.

  “Well, sure…” Trinity said. “His name is Mc not Mac. He is not big into the Scottish thing. He told me his family has been American since before the revolution.”

  “I do not know,” Sara said carefully, “but I think he would take something like that seriously. He takes everything else seriously.”

  Parked in the drive, Trinity turned to look at Sara. “You know, you could be right. I have not thought about it since then, but knowing Jason for years now… You might just be right. I may have to apologize to him.

  “Since they had to cancel the Renaissance Fair for this year, maybe I can bring it up sometime and see if I can talk him in to wearing one to that next year. That will give me time to think about this.

  “Uh… you will not use this to get back at him, or anything, will you?”

  “No! Hey! I am the one that thought it was a bad thing to tease him about it, you know.”

  “Oh. Yeah.”

  “Wait a minute,” Sara said, just realizing something. “Apparently you guys have gone to the Renaissance Fair before. Did he go in costume?”

  “Well sure! That is what we do. It is part of it. Well, for those of us that are in to it. Some people just come to watch.”

  “Costumes are part of Halloween,” Sara said triumphantly.

  “Not the same. You will see.”

  “I may just have to team up with him and show you,” Sara said.

  It annoyed her greatly when Trinity burst out laughing, laying her head on the steering wheel for long moments before she regained her composure.

  “Just what is so funny?” Sara asked.

  Trinity took one look at Sara and burst out laughing again. She was finally able to say, “You and Jason? Teamed up? You look at him most of the time like you are looking at me, now. Annoyed.”

  “Well, I am not always…”

  Suddenly Trinity got one of the looks she occasionally got that Sara had learned meant problems for someone.

  “Whatever it is, no,” Sara immediately said.

  “But it would work great! It kills two birds with one stone. Jason would not be able to resist. Neither would Kathy!”

  Sara was liking this less and less.

  Trinity was excited. “All we have to do, is kinda of get everyone together, then prompt Kathy to try to finagle a date with Jason. When he declines, we put it up to him that he has to go out on a date with her, if he does not come to the party in costume!

  “Put him between a rock and a hard place.”

  “That is not very nice, to start with, and I do not really think it would work, anyway. Why not just ask him to come?”

  “Okay. You ask him tomorrow. Then you find me and tell me what you want to do about it when he turns you down cold. Again, about coming, in costume. I really do think he would help with the preparations.”

  “Okay. You will see,” Sara said, stepping out of the convertible. “Tomorrow.”

  Sara was bordering on furious. Jason had flatly refused to come to the party in costume. He was going to hire a caterer to help the staff. And even help with the preparations, just as Trinity had said. But he had told Sara that he would be doing something else Halloween night.

  “Trick or Treating?” Jason said, smiling.

  “Baloney!” Sara responded. Mrs. MacDougal and the rest of the staff kept silent.

  Sara had a sudden thought and turned to Mrs. MacDougal. “Tell him he has to be here. It is his house and he has a responsibility.”

  “You are Mistress of the House,” Jason said calmly as the others watched, paused in their discussion of the preparations. “It is your responsibility to get me to come, not theirs.”

  “Okay,” Sara said, trying to keep her temper in check. “You said my wishes took precedence over yours in matters of the household. Right?” She looked at the other for confirmation.

  Each nodded.

  “I did. And I still stand by that. When there is a difference of opinion between you and me, the staff is to act on your wishes.”

  “So, you will be here. In costume,” Sara said triumphantly.

  “No. This is not a difference of opinion that the staff can act upon. I either choose to be here or not. I choose not.”

  “Why!” Sara’s foot was tapping.

  The staff exchanged glances.

  “I do not want to be here,” Jason said calmly.

  Sara crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her foot was still tapping.

  The staff prepared to get out of the way.

  “Why?” Sara asked.

  Jason held up one hand, then counted his fingers as he stated why.

  Sara’s fists went to her hips as she watched.

  The staff eased back their chairs slightly.

  “One. Lots of people.

  “Two. Silly costumes.

  “Three. Lots of people.

  “Four. Noise.

  “Five. Lots of people.”

  Sara stood toe to toe with Jason, hands on hips, eyes flashing. “I will give you one, two and four. Not good enough.”

  The staff stood, ready to intervene, if need be.

  “One. Lots of people.

  “Two. Silly costumes.

  “Two, A. Girls in sexy costumes.

  “Three. Lots of people.

  “Four. Noise.

  “Five. Lots of people.”

  Sara narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute. What is this about girls in sexy costumes?”

  Jason shrugged. “What are some of the costumes that have been mentioned?”

  “Okay. So why would you object to that? I know you like girls. I have seen you watch the cheerleaders. You like girls in sexy costumes.”

  Each of the staff flinched slightly when Ja
son responded.

  “Sure. But not with lots of other people around. And noise. And lots of more other people around, and…”

  “I get it! I get it!”

  Sara’s foot tapped harder. “Are you intentionally trying to make me angry?”

  Jason shook his head.

  “I should have let Trinity tell you I did not want you at this!”

  “Trinity does not have a clue to our arrangement. That would not have worked, either.”

  “Just what would work? Trinity also suggested tricking Kathy into tricking you into situation where you had two choices. Going out with Kathy or coming to the Halloween party in costume.”

  “Between the two, I would come to the party. But that will not work, now, will it?” Jason smiled.

  The staff got ready to hog tie Sara.

  But suddenly Sara was smiling. “Okay. Finally. You avoided a question. Now I have you.”

  Jason looked uncertain. So did the staff members.

  “What question? And you do not have me,” Jason replied calmly. His hands went behind his back, and he spread his feet just slightly.

  The staff recognized the pose. So did Sara. She smiled. Mrs. MacDougal, Duchess, Henrietta, Candy and Juliet smiled.

  Sara turned and sat down. “I asked you, what would work? You did not answer.

  Jason stared at her for a few moments. Then he relaxed. The staff all suddenly looked over at Sara.

  Sara was standing again. She was no longer relaxed. The staff all looked back at Jason. So did Sara.

  “Wait a minute!” Sara said. “Uh…”

  “We get a DJ for music, plus karaoke. And you have to sing… at least three songs. Solos.

  “Your costume has to be something pretty. Not that witch thing you cooked up.”

  “You said you would not dictate my clothes to me,” Sara said quickly.

  “This is a costume for a particular circumstance. And you were forcing the issue.”

  “You will come in costume?”

  Jason nodded.

  “Not something silly. As you implied my witch costume is.”

  “It will be such a good costume you will not even know it is me,” Jason replied with a smile.

  “Oka… Wait a minute. If I do not know it is you then you could just say you were here!”

  “Do an unmasking!” Juliet injected.