Kari

by Libba Bray

  Dee was the next person through the door. Her figure looked even more spectacular than usual in her short teal silk dress. I felt a minute of panic, wondering if Connor would take one look at Dee and forget all about me.

  Dee, as usual, said the right thing. “Ohmigod, you are so beautiful! I love your new hair—very bouncin’ and behavin’.”

  “You don’t think I used too much hair spray, do you?”

  “No way. Connor’s gonna flip out.” She checked her makeup with a small compact mirror. “I’m a little nervous about Jared. Suppose he doesn’t think of me that way?”

  “You’ll be fine,” I said, stealing a quick look at her for lipstick on the teeth. “Just remember everything we went over.”

  We didn’t have too long to agonize. Jared and Connor walked in together. The sight of Connor in a vintage cream-colored suit with a silver tie almost knocked me over. Jared looked grumpy and uncomfortable in his wrinkled seersucker suit, which was a little too short on him. He had loosened his tie already. His hair was in its usual long, unruly state.

  Connor smiled at me and kissed my hand. I wanted to freeze-frame that moment forever. I wanted it etched onto the backs of my eyelids so every blink brought the moment back.

  “Wow.” Connor whistled appreciatively. “You sure do clean up nice, Miss Dobbins.”

  Jared had a bad-smell face. “What’s with the poofy hair?”

  “It’s my new ’do.” I bristled. “Very chic.”

  “If you’re fifty and on your fourth husband, I guess.”

  Jared was clearly ticked off at me. Now that he’d seen Connor, he probably realized he’d been set up. Oh, well. He’d get over it Soon enough. Jared took a look around. “So this is the famous Magnolia….”

  “Jared,” I said through clenched teeth. “You haven’t said hi to Dee yet.”

  Dee lit up like a birthday party. Jared registered the gorgeousity package. Whew. “Hey, Dee.”

  “Hey, Jared.”

  Connor nudged me slightly in the ribs. It was quiet. Jared seemed completely tongue-tied. I was silently begging Jared to say something sweet and romantic.

  What was I thinking?

  Jared looked around nervously. “So what’s a guy have to do to get some service around here?”

  A wave of embarrassment washed over me. Connor showed off his trademark calm by walking up to the maitre d’ and announcing our arrival, party of four. The maitre d’ said hello to Connor like they were old friends, and Connor called him Frank. I couldn’t help being impressed. Frank showed us to a table tucked away in an alcove and handed us menus.

  My menu swung open, and I about died. The cheapest item was roasted game hen, and it was twenty-six ninety-five. I wasn’t even sure I liked roasted game hen, but for twenty-six ninety-five, I wasn’t going to find out. I mean, I knew the place would be expensive, but I didn’t imagine it would be more than a hundred dollars for the four of us. I did some quick calculations in my head. If I ordered a six-dollar salad and a nine ninety-five appetizer, then skipped dessert, I’d hopefully have enough to cover Connor and me. I prayed Dee had enough for her part. One thing was for sure, Magnolia was out of the question for a catering choice. A second sour note in my evening.

  Jared took a sip of water and sputtered as he opened his menu. “Holy inflation, Batman! Isn’t this joint a little ritzy to cater your party, Karnage?”

  “They have a different menu for that,” I said icily, then changed the subject. “Doesn’t Dee look amazing tonight?”

  Jared was buttering a piece of bread in an oblivious state. He looked embarrassed. “She looks like Dee,” he said. I could have kicked him. “I like the dress,” he added, passing the bread basket to Dee.

  Dee gave a little giggle. “I can’t eat that. Bread makes you fat.”

  “Only if you eat a whole loaf of it in one sitting,” Jared snarled. “Why do girls get so freaked about weight?”

  “I know what you mean,” Connor said. They were hitting it off, connecting on that basic guy level.

  Dee’s cheeks were red and not from her new blush. “Oh yeah? By the way, Jameson, I paid for these streaks. They’re called highlights. Not that you’ve ever had any!” She plopped a piece of bread in her mouth and chewed it with a satisfied smile. Jared and Connor were totally confused.

  “O-kay.” Jared shook his head. Somebody needed to recover the conversation fumble.

  I took a breath. “You know. Dee and I were talking about movies the other day….”

  Dee barged in. “I’d rather watch the Marx Brothers any day.” She snorted through another mouthful of bread. She was taking Jared’s bread statement a little too seriously.

  “I love the Marx Brothers,” Jared said. Okay, back in the safety zone.

  “Me too,” Connor chimed in.

  “Then it’s agreed. We all love the Marx Brothers. Hey, we should rent some of their flicks and hang out at my, um, Dee’s house sometime. I’ll make popcorn.”

  Connor gave me a wink. “Sounds great.”

  Dee was still on another conversation track. “I mean, that whole thing about the workers in Russia fighting for their rights and stuff. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was how come if the Marx Brothers were members of the social party, they didn’t have more fun? I don’t know. Weird.”

  I can’t even tell you how long the silence lasted. It seemed like a millennium.

  Finally Connor spoke up. “I’m sorry. I’m a little out of it. I thought we were talking about the Marx Brothers.”

  “We are,” Dee answered, very proud of herself. “Well, .Karl Marx, anyway. I don’t know his brothers, but I’m sure they all feel the same way he does because, like, they’re family, right?”

  Connor put his napkin up to his mouth and started coughing to cover his laugh. His shoulders were still shaking, though.

  Jared was staring at Dee with a look that was either wonder (good) or disgust (beyond bad). “Where did you come from, Dee?” he asked.

  “I was born right here in Greenway.”

  Jared laughed. “I was more asking what planet you’re originally from. Because you have to be an alien.”

  Dee threw her napkin on the table and laid down what was a major insult for her. “I know you are, but what am I?” Then she stuck out her tongue. I am not kidding. She actually stuck out her tongue, copping ’tude like I hadn’t seen since pre-K.

  It was horrible. Dee had turned into one of those talking robots that suddenly short-circuits, jumbling up all its phrases. And I was the doomed scientist, helpless to do anything to stop my wayward creation.

  “Dee,” I said quickly. “Could you come with me for a sec? We’ll be right back.” Smiling, I took Dee’s arm and led her to the ladies’ room. Even the Magnolia bathrooms were fancy. Ceramic bowls of homemade peach potpourri sat beside the marble sink. “Dee, what movie did you rent?”

  Dee was nervously running a comb through her hair. “I don’t know. Something about revolution. I asked the guy at the counter if he had anything on Marx, and he pointed me to the history section.”

  “You rented a movie on Karl Marx, the father of communism, not the Marx Brothers, the comedians!”

  “I thought it was weird that it wasn’t very funny, but…” The true awfulness registered on Dee’s face. “Ohmigod. I can’t go back out there. He thinks I’m an idiot! Tell Tared that I got sick or something. I have to go home!”

  I sat Dee in a chair and calmed her down the way I’d heard about directors calming drama-queen actresses. “Look, it’s not that big a deal, okay? In fact, it totally broke the ice. Someday we’ll look back on this and all laugh.” That someday was going to be a very long time from now.

  Dee managed a weak smile and nodded. “Now, let’s go back out there ai*d have a great time,” I added.

  “Okay.” Dee sighed. “But I’m not saying much.”

  “Fine. I’ll do most of the talking till you get your second wind.” Dee started for the door. “By the way, you should go
ahead and give me your money for you and Jared so I can make it seem like it was all my idea.” Dee’s face fell, and a hand of fear clawed at my insides. “You did bring cash, didn’t you?”

  “You didn’t tell me to bring money, Kar. I thought you were paying for it.”

  My legs went wobbly for a second. How was I going to pay for everything? The only person I knew with any money was Lila, and she’d never let me hear the end of it.

  The waiter came to take our order. Connor and Jared went for broke—appetizers, entrees, side dishes. I ordered a dinner salad. Dee claimed all that bread had made her sick and didn’t ask for a thing. She kept eating the bread, though. By the time dessert rolled around, my stomach was making grumbling noises loud as thunder.

  “Man, this chocolate mousse pie is outrageous,” Jared said, passing a forkful under my nose. “You sure you don’t want a bite?”

  My mouth was watering at the thought. “No thanks,” I said. I was desperately trying to think of a way to pay for the meal. Did restaurants really make people wash dishes when they couldn’t cough up the cash?

  The waiter brought the check on a little tray. My palms were wet. Jared snickered. “Moment of truth, Dobbins.”

  The waiter’s eyes flickered at the Dobbins mention. “Dobbins. Not Henry Dobbins’s daughter?”

  “Yes,” I said softly.

  “Then you must be Lila Huntington’s granddaughter.”

  Wariness crept up and took a seat. I nodded.

  The waiter shook his head with a look of disbelief I’d come to recognize whenever my family’s name was mentioned. “I’ll never forget the time she staged a protest on our front lawn. We were serving Maine lobster, as I recall, and she complained that lobsters mate for life. So she painted her body red and performed a dance piece called?…oh, what was it called?… Meditation on a Lobster Boiled to Death. Something like that. And now that I remember, your mother played a triangle while your grandmother danced. They gathered quite a crowd.”

  I wanted to sink right through the oriental carpet. There were so many horrible Dobbins stories, I’d forgotten half of them.

  “She actually did that?” Connor was agape.

  “Magnolia was indebted to her. We sold a lot of lobster that night. Well, I hope your meal was enjoyable. Here you are.”

  “Thank you,” I choked out, staring miserably at the check. I let it sit there, untouched, till Jared swiped it and let out a whistle.

  “Wow. One hundred and thirty-two smackers and change. And that’s without the tip.” With a flourish he handed the bill to me. I started looking through my purse on automatic pilot. Kind of like looking in the fridge for something to eat when you’ve already checked it five times and found nothing there.

  Connor took my purse and put it on the floor. “That’s pretty stiff. What do you say you let me pay for this?”

  “Great!” Dee said cheerily.

  I was too stunned to speak.

  “Really,” Connor said. “My parents have a tab here. They won’t mind.”

  His family had a tab. Mine had a reputation. I burned with the shame of it.

  “Besides, I owe you for the ride to Robin’s Hoods the other night.” Connor went up to the maitre d’.

  I tried to breathe normally again. Talk about close calls. I felt like my dad was watching out for me at that moment. It may sound stupid, but that’s how I felt.

  Jared was mumbling under his breath in a mimicking voice. “His parents have a tab here. Oooh.” But I was so relieved, I didn’t even care.

  Things might have been bumpier than I ejected, but I didn’t want the night to end yet. I suggested we take a drive.

  “Great,” Jared said, and he and Dee piled into the back of Connor’s car.

  “Didn’t you bring your car?” I asked Jared.

  “Still in the shop,” he answered matter-of-factly. Whatever hopes I had for quiet romance would have to wait. It looked like our double date was still on.

  “Great locale, Dobbins,” Connor said, looking across the large pond at the big, shady trees stretching their fingers across the moonlit sky.

  It was my secret hiding place. The old swimming hole near the railroad tracks was what my dad used to call “an oasis in the industrialized desert.” My dad wasn’t big on developers building on Greenway’s lush land. Being so close to the tracks, this place had remained untouched. Jared and Dee had come with me before, but I was excited to share my secret with Connor.

  I sat on a big rock by the water. “So glad you approve.”

  “I’ve got a great idea!” Dee chirped. “Let’s play truth or dare.”

  “You cannot be serious.” Jared groaned. He was skipping pebbles across the smooth surface of the pond, sending ripples out to the banks. “That is so sixth grade, Dee.”

  Actually, it was a brilliant idea. That way I could download some crucial info on Connor without coming off as a nagging detective. It would all be part of a game. “I think it’s a great idea. Dee, you start.”

  Dee plopped down next to me on the rock. “Kari, truth or dare?”

  I decided to play it relatively safe. “Truth,” I said.

  “Okay, how many guys have you kissed?”

  The truth was, I fit that bad stereotype “Sweet Sixteen and never been kissed.” But saying so made me sound like a loser or a prude. Lying was sort of a bad thing in truth or dare, but I saw my loophole. She hadn’t said “passionately kissed.” It could be any guy, like Theo or my dad. “Two,” I said cryptically, and turned to Connor. “Truth or dare.”

  “Truth.”

  Where to start? “Connor, where do you want to go to school?”

  “I don’t know. The ’rents want; me to go to law school. But I can’t really see helping people with their wills and divorces for the rest of my life.”

  “You could be a criminal lawyer,” I offered. “Save people’s lives. Fight for justice. There’s a noble cause.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure what I want to do. I’ll figure it out later. Dee, truth or dare?”

  I stared at him for another moment. It bugged me that Connor wasn’t committed to a career choice. I don’t know why. Maybe because my question fell flat. Or maybe because I’d lived my whole life with a sense of purpose, an overpowering, totally consuming dream. My family was just that way. Lila had her creepies; Mom, her wu-wu; Theo lived for music; and Isis was a net-surfing goth chick. And Daddy. Daddy had had his photography. Dee finished her turn and asked me again.

  “Excuse me,” Jared snarled. “Is anybody gonna ask me anything?”

  “Sure thing, Daddy-o,” Connor said. “Name your poison.”

  “Dare.”

  “Dare it is. I dare you to swim across the pond, fully clothed, shoes and all.” Connor leaned back on his car hood and waited with a satisfied grin. Dee giggled.

  Jared threw another pebble, hard and far. “That’s not a dare, man. That’s a camp activity. A dare should have, oh, I don’t know, some aspect of the daring in it. Like…”

  The sound of a train whistle broke through the canopy of trees. It would be down the track and rumbling by us any minute. A look I couldn’t read passed over Jared’s face. “I’ll give you a dare.” He took off running up the embankment. Within seconds he had clambered onto the tracks and was standing there, completely still, a long-limbed scarecrow daring anybody to mess with him.

  “All right, you’ve proved your he-man status. Now come back,” I yelled over the growing train noise.

  Jared didn’t move. The train was inching closer, making the ground tremble. Dee grabbed the sleeve of my dress. I could feel her rising fear. Mine too.

  “Make him stop, Kar.”

  Question was, how did you make Jared stop? Once he set his mind on something, there was no deterring him.

  Connor was on his feet, pacing nervously. “Dude, I’d hate to think I just paid for your last meal, man. Why don’t you come down? We should be getting back, anyway.”

  “A sentry does not
leave his post, Major.” Jared was saluting the oncoming train. “That’s what the old man says. And he should know.”

  The words chilled me. The whistle of the train was close now. I could see the long metal snake creeping through the trees, seconds away. The high beams from the engine car flooded Jared with eerie light.

  “Jared, cut it out!” I screamed. “Get down here now!”

  Connor started up the small hill toward Jared. The train started honking wildly. Dee was screaming.

  Connor slipped on the hill, sliding back to the bottom. I couldn’t watch. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t move.

  At the last second Jared dove off the tracks, tumbling head over heels down the embankment as the train screamed past on its way to parts unknown.

  Jared stood up and dusted off the knees and elbows of his too short suit. Flashing a brilliant smile, he said, “Now that, my friends, was a dare.”

  It took at least twenty minutes of dull conversation to get my heart rate down to five hundred beats per minute. Dee was comfy now, babbling about her favorite Friends episode, while I shot hate darts at Jared. I made a mental note to tell Jared what a royal jerk he was the second I got home.

  In the meantime I needed to save this night from complete ruin. My brain was spinning as to how to get Dee and Jared together and away from us when Connor threw me for the second loop of the evening.

  “Jameson. Why don’t you take Dee home? You can use my car. I’ll get it from you tomorrow.” Connor drove a vintage 1968 Mustang that belonged to his dad. Jared was practically drooling over the keys. The rest of us had dropped off our cars at our houses.

  “If you’re sure that’s okay…,” Jared said happily, grabbing the keys and making the motor purr into action. “Come on, Malloy. Shake a tail feather.”

  “He is soopo cute!” Dee mouthed to me silently. She did a secret happy-boy cheer, then climbed into the Mustang with Jared. “How will y’all get home?”