by Rona Valiere
“I want to hear you play!” she exclaimed.
The band was just coming back from a break. “Hey guys—got room for one more?” Todd called out.
“Hey, man! C’mon up!” the drummer replied.
Todd gave Cassie a quick peck on the cheek and, holding tight to his instrument, bounded up onto the low stage. He brought his chair with him as there were no extra chairs on the stage. Sitting down, he raised his sax to his lips and let out one long, wailing note. The pianist was apparently the bandleader. Cassie saw him say something to the others that she could not hear, and then they launched into a song she didn’t recognize. At one point in the song, Todd soloed, and Cassie gloried in hearing him take command of the stage and let his sax sing out.
After his solo, a waitress came by to take Cassie’s order. Noticing the missing chair, she asked what had happened to it.
“My boyfriend took it up onstage with him,” Cassie said. As she said that, a small thrill ran through her. It was the first time she had referred to Todd as her boyfriend. Well, he was, wasn’t he?
The waitress looked up onstage. “Are you with Todd?” she asked.
“Yup.”
“Nice guy. Good musician too,” the waitress said.
Cassie glowed. “Thanks.”
“So, would you like anything from the kitchen or the bar?” the waitress asked.
“We just had dinner. I’m stuffed. But what kinds of coffee do you have in decaf?”
There was a coffee menu on the table, which Cassie hadn’t noticed. The waitress handed it to her. Cassie scanned it quickly.
“Take your time,” the waitress said kindly. “It’s slow tonight.”
“I’ll have a decaf mocha latte,” Cassie said. “And thanks.”
“Be right back,” the waitress said, bustling off.
The band was really jamming, and Cassie sat clapping in time to the music. At the end of the set, they took another break and Todd brought his chair back to the table. “That’s enough for one night. I want to be with my sweets.”
“If you want to play some more I’m okay here.”
“I want to be with you.”
She squeezed his hand. He gave her lips a quick, brushing kiss.
The waitress came back to the table. “Hey there! You were really swinging out!” she said. “Can I get you anything?”
“Thanks. How about a lemonade?”
“In November?” Cassie asked, surprised.
“Well, I worked up a thirst up there.”
At ten o’clock, when the band took another break, Todd asked, “Had enough? I want to get you home before the car turns into a pumpkin. Do you want to stay over again? You’re welcome to.”
“I really need to get home, but thanks. Can I have a rain check?”
“Redeemable any time,” Todd answered.
* * * *
“Ten minutes to go,” Todd called from the engineer’s booth.
“I want to talk about global warming today,” Ginger said to Cassie.
“Sure. Why not? It’s your thing—you take the lead.”
“Feel free to jump in any time. So how’s your chocolate-and-vanilla romance going? I haven’t seen you at the real estate office in almost a week now.”
“The romance is going great. I wish I could say the same for the real estate. I’ve been working with this one couple who are sooooo picky. I must’ve shown them every available house within a fifteen-mile radius. Nothing suits them. They keep threatening to work with another agent. Frankly at this point I wish they would—although I’d hate for all the time I’ve spent with them to have been for nothing.”
“That’s the business,” Ginger said with a shrug. “I had two closings this week.”
“Lucky you.”
“But I’ve had weeks like yours too. It balances out in the end.”
“I know, but weeks like this feel like such a total waste.”
“Five minutes,” Todd boomed from the booth.
“Both lines are lit up already,” Ginger observed.
“You may not have time to talk about global warming,” Cassie said.
“There’s always tomorrow.” Ginger shrugged again.
The two women gazed at their respective notes. Most of Ginger’s were facts, quotations, and citations regarding global warming. Most of Cassie’s had to do with prejudice—not only against blacks, but against Asians and Native Americans as well.
Late in the show, a man called. “Are those publicity photos of you two girls your real pictures, or are those models?” he asked.
“No, those are really us,” Ginger answered.
“Then was that your friend I saw at the jazz club last night? It looked like the girl in the publicity picture. The black girl.”
“That was me,” Cassie replied.
“You were with a white guy.” The voice was accusatory. “And I saw you kiss him.”
“Yes. He’s my boyfriend.” She sounded a bit more defiant than she meant to.
“Can’t you stick to your own kind and leave our boys alone? It’s not seemly for you to date outside your race.”
Cassie felt the sparks jump out of her eyes as she opened her mouth to go off on the caller. Ginger quickly said, “We’ll be right back after these words from our sponsors,” and signaled Todd to cut off Cassie’s mike and run a commercial block. Then she put a hand on Cassie’s shoulder and said, “Breathe.”
When they returned to the air three minutes later, the caller was still on the line, and Cassie was still ticked off, but she had gotten control of herself and was able to deal with him more calmly. “Maybe we should all intermingle and intermarry,” she suggested. “When all of us are shades of light brown, you’ll have to find some other reason to hate people.”
“I don’t hate black people,” the man said in a surprised voice. “I just don’t want them mixing with us. Everyone has their proper place.”
Cassie wanted to ask, “Oh? And where is our proper place?” But she kept her thoughts to herself and just said, “Well, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I hope to hear from some callers with different opinions. The number is 555-9889. Listeners, let’s hear from you.”
Line two lit up, but unfortunately the caller, a woman, was of the same mindset as the man whom Cassie had just disconnected. Cassie was taking it personally, and she signaled to Ginger to handle the caller. She didn’t trust herself not to lose her temper or even start crying.
At one point she looked up at the booth, and Todd flashed her a smile, then put a forefinger at each corner of his mouth and drew his lips up into a “created” smile. Then he blew her a kiss. He normally didn’t get personal during their work hours, but Cassie figured her emotions were laid bare for all to see and hear, and he was offering some much-needed encouragement and support. She appreciated it and flashed a wan smile back at him.
Ginger handled the caller on line two with firmness but grace, arguing in favor of “chocolate and vanilla” relationships and enumerating well-known examples of black-and-white unions. Thankfully the next caller was more supportive, pointing out that at one time it had been considered just as problematic or even offensive to have a relationship or marriage between a Christian and a Jew, which was certainly accepted now with hardly a blink.
The next caller was off on a different topic: the high cost of college tuition. Ginger flashed Cassie a thumbs-up when they heard that something other than intermarriage was to be the topic. Cassie gathered herself and talked to the caller sympathetically. Glancing over at the booth, she could see Todd relax visibly. There were only a few minutes left to the show—no time for another caller. They would wrap up quickly when they were done with this caller. They might even have to cut her short. There would surely be no more bigots airing their views on today’s show.
Tomorrow, of course, would be another day.
Chapter Five
“You can’t let assholes like that get you down,” Todd said consolingly to Cassie after the show. “T
hey do exist. He’s not the only one. But fortunately they’re in the minority. I love you and you love me. Idiots like him don’t matter.”
Love? They had never yet exchanged I love you’s, yet here he was tossing it casually into the conversation—‘I love you and you love me.’ The words gave Cassie a warm glow and, at the same time, a shivery thrill. It certainly wasn’t the way she had expected to hear the first ‘I love you’ out of him, but it sounded good regardless of the circumstances.
“Yes, I love you,” she said, turning to face him and tilting her head up for a kiss.
They were standing in the hallway at the radio station. Usually they kept things businesslike at work. No kissing. No PDAs of any sort. Not even affectionate talk. But she was hurting, and when he crossed their usual boundaries, she followed. She kissed him. She told him she loved him. She sagged against him and tried to draw solace from the nearness of his body.
“Let’s plan a big weekend,” Todd said. “Let’s go to the amusement park on Saturday, and Saturday night let’s look at the lights. A lot of houses have them up already.” It was late November, and plenty of houses in Indian Springs were already decked out in their Christmas adornments. “Let’s do something on Sunday too. You pick. What do you want to do?”
“Do I have to tell you this minute? Can I have some time to think about it?”
“Sure. Give it some thought.”
“I know!” she said suddenly. “Let’s get our Christmas trees on Sunday. One for your house and one for mine, and we’ll decorate them both. I want to do something different with mine this year. I want to string garlands of popcorn and cranberries, and decorate the tree with just that and silver tinsel, with my angel tree topper. Do you have Christmas ornaments? If not, you can use mine.”
“Okay. Sounds like a plan, except I don’t need your ornaments. I have plenty, but thanks. What about dinner Saturday night, between the amusement park and looking at the lights?”
“Let’s be spontaneous. We’ll see what we’re in the mood for on Saturday,” Cassie suggested.
“We may need to make reservations,” Todd cautioned. “Especially on a Saturday night.”
“Well then, we’ll talk about it Saturday morning.”
Saturday morning dawned brisk but sunny, with only a light wind. Todd and Cassie had spent the night Friday night at their respective homes, but they had arranged for Todd to pick Cassie up at eight o’clock and take her out to breakfast. Right on the dot of eight he showed up at Cassie’s place. She was waiting and hopped in the car with delight. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“The Magic Carpet,” he answered. The Magic Carpet was a restaurant that had opened only recently, and neither of them had eaten there before. But it was open for breakfast, so as Todd explained, “I thought we’d give it a try. It’s bound to be more interesting than someplace like Denny’s.”
“Sure. I’m an adventurer!” Cassie said.
The restaurant had subdued lighting, with oriental carpets hanging on the walls. In addition to conventional seating, there were several low tables whose seats were large pillows on the floor. “Oooo—fun!” Cassie squealed when she saw the pillow seating, so they sat at one of the low tables.
Cassie ordered vanilla french toast, a blue cheese frittata, and vanilla coffee. Todd ordered a western omelet, cheesy home fries, toasted homemade raisin bread with orange marmalade, and a Cuban coffee. Their server was a young man with multiple piercings, and Todd speculated aloud, after the waiter had left with their orders, on whether most restaurants would hired a multi-pierced fellow like that, or whether they wouldn’t at least demand he remove his facial jewelry before his work shift started.
“It kinda makes me feel good about the place,” Cassie said. “They let him be himself. I like it. Let’s come back here for dinner later. Unless our breakfasts turn out to be disappoining. They’re supposed to have an eclectic menu. Let’s try it.”
Breakfast was not a disappointment, and Cassie and Todd scarfed down as much food as their stomachs would comfortably hold. The waiter offered to bag up the leftovers, but there wasn’t an awful lot left, Cassie and Todd were eager to get to the amusement park, and they didn’t want to have to double back to either of their homes to put away the leftovers in the fridge, so they declined.
Todd did try to make a dinner reservation when they went to the register to pay the bill, but the cashier informed him that The Magic Carpet didn’t take reservations. “It’s first come, first served,” he told him. “We seem to get a late crowd, so if you’re looking to avoid a long wait, I’d advise you to get here early.”
Todd and Cassie thanked him, put on their winter jackets, and went out into the cold to drive to the amusement park. It felt like it had warmed up a degree or two by now as the sun was reaching higher into the sky, but it was still decidedly chilly. “I don’t know about going on the roller coaster in this weather,” Cassie said with a voice full of uncertainty.
There were plenty of parking spaces in the amusement park’s parking lot. Todd paid both of their admissions, and they went through the gate. The first ride they came to was the carousel, with a ring dispenser from which riders would try to snag the brass ring. Callie climbed onto a horse in the outer band of animals, so that she could reach out to the ring dispenser every time they passed it. Todd mounted the zebra next to it.
As the music played, the carousel started to move, and Cassie hollered, “Hi-ho, Silver!” as she posted up and down on her steed as if it were a real horse. Todd smiled at her antics. Each time they passed the ring dispenser, Cassie hooked a ring, but she had no luck in getting the brass one. Eventually the merry-go-round slowed down. “Can we go around again?” Cassie asked.
“Sure. But I think you just want that brass ring.” Todd paid for them to ride again. This time Cassie was luckier and, just as the ride was slowing, her forefinger hooked a ring that turned out to be the brass one.
“Free ride!” she squealed.
“I’ve had enough,” Todd said, dismounting and getting off the carousel. “I’ll watch you from that bench over there.”
“Enough?” Cassie asked with surprise. “I can never get enough of merry-go-rounds.” When the ride started up again and the operator came around to collect the tickets, Cassie triumphantly proffered her brass ring. She waved to Todd every time her horse passed the bench where he was sitting. Finally, though, the carousel slowed down again, and reluctantly Cassie got off.
Next door to the carousel, under a roof with open sides, were the bumper cars. “Watch out! I’m a demon driver!” Todd warned Cassie as they paid their admission and each took a seat in a car, Cassie in a bright yellow one and Todd in a flaming red one. When the cars were activated, Todd took off after Cassie, who did her best to elude him. Ignoring the other drivers except for Cassie’s using them as shields to keep Todd away from her, they were in their own world, playing their own chase game. Todd finally caught up to Cassie and rammed into the rear of the side of her yellow car. As she tried to get away, he banged into her car again. Finally she managed to get to where another car was between hers and Todd’s, and although he gave chase, she avoided him successfully until the cars came to a stop and the ride was over.
“I’m glad you don’t drive your real car that maniacally,” Cassie said as they wandered down the midway. They came to the Ferris wheel, and Cassie said, “Let’s go on this,” so Todd bought two tickets and they seated themselves on the ride. From the top of the Ferris wheel, Cassie could look out over the entire amusement park and beyond the front gate to the street outside.
“Looks like the parking lot is filling up,” Todd observed.
“I’m glad we got here early and got a close-in space,” Cassie said.
Todd paid for another turn on the ride, and they went around again. Then they got off and resumed their walk along the midway. At the petting zoo they stopped to pet the animals—mostly babies—in the enclosures and to feed them food that they purchased from a machine. T
hey lingered, enjoying the interaction with the animals. When Cassie asked if Todd was getting impatient to move on, he said, “No, we’ve got all day. Take your time. Enjoy yourself. Today is dedicated to your pleasure.”
He was certainly thoughtful! It was one of the qualities she appreciated most about him. Taking him at his word, she spent more time with the animals, deriving comfort from their cuteness, their furriness—whatever each animal had to offer. Finally, however, she had had her fill and was ready to move on.
The next part of the midway featured games of chance and skill. Shoot water into the clown’s mouth and blow up the balloon. Be the first to pop your balloon and win a giant stuffed animal. Throw ping pong balls at goldfish bowls. Get the ball in a bowl and win a fish. Throw basketballs at targets, throw softballs at milk bottles, throw rings over broad pegs—the games were many and varied, and there was variety in the prizes too. “What do you want me to win for you?” Todd asked Cassie as he paused in the middle of the midway.
“None of it,” she said. “I don’t need a giant panda or elephant, and if I had a goldfish I’d worry about getting home to feed it when I wanted to spend the night at your house. But I’d like to spend a few minutes watching other people play. I enjoy that.”
“You’re serious? You don’t want a prize?”
“I’m serious.”
By the time they got to the part of the midway where the food booths were, their breakfast had long since settled and they were ready for lunch. Todd had two corn dogs and Cassie had one plus a clam roll. They each had a funnel cake. And to ward off the chill, they each had a cup of hot chocolate. When they reached the arcade, Todd asked Cassie whether she’d mind if he played a few video games. “Knock yourself out,” she said.
“Do you want to play against me?”
“Why not?” she answered.
When Todd had had his fill of video games, Cassie played a couple of games on an old-fashioned pinball machine and a couple of games of Skee Ball. They both agreed it was time to go home after that, and they wearily walked back to the parking lot. Tired after a day on their feet, they both expressed relief that the car was parked close to the entrance.