“I listened in on some of their conversations. A couple of her girlfriends will come over and they’ll go into her room and shut the door. They don’t know that I have a…”
“What, Johnny? You can tell me now. I understand.”
“I have a peephole. There’s this separation between the molding of the doorjamb and the wall.”
“There’s an adjoining door?”
“Yeah, but ever since she was twelve years old, the door was locked. Like I give a shit. I told them good because she’d probably come walking in on me and my friends. Anyway, you get bored sometimes and I thought I’d get a kick out of listening to their dumb conversations and seeing what they do.”
“Tell me some of what you’ve seen and heard,” Mr. Lucy said. “Take your time and try to remember what you think might be the most important stuff. You want a Coke or a glass of juice?”
“No thanks.” Johnny was eager to go on and impatient with anything that might interrupt him.
“OK,” Mr. Lucy said. “Go on. I think I might already have an idea of how to help you,” he added.
Johnny was encouraged. He reached into his memory and began.
5
Johnny opened the hallway door to the basement and walked down the carpeted stairway slowly and silently. He wanted his entrance to be a dramatic surprise. Ordinarily, whenever his sister had a friend over, he would consciously avoid them. But this time it was different. Mary Warren was here, and from his description of Denise’s close friends, she was the one Mr. Lucy had chosen.
There were good reasons for the choice. Of all his sister’s friends, Mary Warren was the most physically developed and the most precocious. She looked more like a tenth- or eleventh-grader than a seventh-grader, and she had the potential to be a very attractive woman. She was a dark-skinned, five-feet-two inch girl with long, shiny black hair. Although there was a softness in her face reminiscent of preadolescence, the maturing process was easy to see. Her dark brown eyes were lit with a knowing awareness, and for a seventh-grader, she smiled too suggestively at upper grade boys. Also, she had taken to wearing a wet, shiny lipstick that gave her an older, sensuous appearance.
Johnny knew that Mary took after her mother, a tall, full-figured woman who looked like she might have been a beauty contest contestant. Mary’s bosom was probably ninety percent of what it would be. Her waist had narrowed and her thighs and rear had tightened and curved, giving her an attractive figure. Like all the other seventh-graders anxious to be considered grown-up, she wore her jeans too tight and her make-up too heavy.
From listening in on her sister’s conversations and from observing her and her friends here at home and at school, Johnny also knew that Mary was something of a leader in the group. The others usually did whatever she suggested and thought whatever she thought. She knew the most, talked the most, and told the most. Johnny suspected that she had already lost her virginity. He had heard her name mentioned by a few upperclass boys. Hearing all this, Mr. Lucy said she would be perfect for what they had to do.
And so Johnny thought that he couldn’t pass up this opportunity. About a half hour after the girls had gone down to the basement, he decided to attempt the plan. Before he made the turn on the stairs near the bottom of the flight, he heard their laughter. He imagined they were already into one of their “private talks”; he figured the atmosphere was perfect and the timing was ideal.
The Mastersons had a full, finished basement. It was furnished with a soft, velvet eight-piece sectional with two ottoman pieces, end tables, and a vibrating easy chair. Johnny’s father called the room his “Playboy Palace.” There was a thick, soft shag carpet on the floor done in a light, natural lamb’s wool shade, and real plank wood panels on the walls. They had a large-screen projection television set and video deck directly across from the sectional. To the right of that was a brick-faced bar with cushioned stools and a pool table.
But the pièce de résistance was in the left corner: a whirlpool spa had been set on a masonry platform with marble steps. The water in it bubbled and the filter hummed. Its scented water perfumed the air. The scent was enticing, suggestive.
As Johnny reached the bottom steps, he saw that the stereo unit that was built into the bookcase on the rear wall was lit, but the tape in the player-recorder was rewinding. His sister and Mary Warren were seated on the sectional, their knees up and folded as they turned into each other to giggle and talk. He saw they had their homework out on the ottoman pieces. Neither of them heard him or saw him because they were so engrossed in their conversation.
Mary was dressed in a dark blue sweater a size too tight, and a pair of old, faded jeans that strained so hard around her buttocks, they looked like they would tear apart any moment. Her sweater had a V-neck collar, and looking down from the stairs as he descended, he could see that it revealed a nice portion of her cleavage. Both she and his sister had their shoes and socks off. Mary played with the heel of her left foot as she talked.
“Hi,” he said.
They both jumped. Denise turned to him disgustedly, making it obvious that she detested his invasion of their privacy. On the other hand, Mary, as she usually did, smiled warmly, her eyes dancing with interest. Johnny thought there was even a note of challenge in them. She’s a natural tease, he thought.
“What do you want?” Denise asked, her emphasis on “you” as though he were a servant in the house. When she grimaced widely, her braces made her look like a vampire, Johnny thought. “We’re studying for a test.”
“So what?”
She turned to Mary and whispered something and they both laughed. Ordinarily, he would have had a clever, nasty comeback, but he pretended to ignore them instead and went to the bookcase. The two girls worked silently in their notebooks for a while, acting as though he were a teacher who had caught them goofing off. When he turned around, however, Mary was staring at him. He gave her his best, most interested smile. Her eyes widened with surprise and delight. Denise looked up, aware that her friend’s attention was being pulled from her.
“What are you looking for, Johnny?” she asked, her voice still filled with a tone of annoyance.
“I thought we had a book on European history down here, Gunther’s Inside Europe.”
“I never heard of it. We never had a book like that. You’re making it up.”
“Sure we did. You don’t know the titles of all our books, Denise.” He kept his voice from sounding angry or annoyed. He saw that just as Mr. Lucy said, that made her appear more childish and impressed Mary. It encouraged him. It was as though Mr. Lucy was right in this room with him.
“I know more about our books than you do. That’s for sure. He never even read The Diary of Anne Frank,” she said. Actually, she whined it, hoping to get a laugh of ridicule out of Mary, but Mary didn’t even smile.
“I didn’t read it either,” Mary said.
“But you had to…to be in the A group,” Denise protested.
“I faked it after I saw the movie,” Mary said. She kept looking at Johnny and he kept smiling at her.
“I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that because he’s here.”
“It’s not so hard to do that, Denise,” Johnny said. “I’ve done it myself plenty of times.” He took a few steps closer to them. “But the best way to do it is to go to the library and get a hold of Masterplots. Ever do that?” he asked Mary.
“No,” she said, “I never thought of it.”
“That’s stupid,” Denise said quickly. “You don’t get all the facts and your teacher might find out and give you a zero on a major assignment.”
“You get enough of what you need,” Johnny said. He was looking only at Mary now and she was quite aware of it. “I’m not saying it’s the same as reading a book, but when you’re in a pinch…”
“You’re always in a pinch,” Denise said. “That’s why Mommy had to get you a tutor.”
Johnny shrugged, his wise guy smile still written over his face. Mary liked it.
“It’s good to know about that Masterplots thing. Thanks,” Mary said.
“I thought you were changing your ways,” Denise said. “Since you started with your fabulous tutor. That doesn’t sound like someone who is changing his ways,” she added, mostly for Mary’s benefit. But her friend did not come to her aid.
“I’m changing. I’m changing. But I’m not giving up on the things that have helped me all along. That would be stupid. Even Mr. Lucy said so.”
“Sometimes your teachers pile on the work and you’ve got to do something like that,” Mary said. “I bet they even expect you will.”
“Exactly.”
“I never would,” Denise said, but her tone was softer. She was losing this battle and she didn’t want to appear out of step with Mary. “It’s not right.”
“Well, she’s got all this time on her hands now,” Johnny said. He winked at Mary. ‘Find ways to separate them,’ Mr. Lucy had said. ‘Find ways to draw them apart.’ “When she gets older and her interests develop in other things besides homework and stars on her report card…” he added, widening his eyes on ‘other things.’ Mary smiled and nodded knowingly. Denise sensed she had been wedged out of the conversation.
“I’m interested in other things,” she claimed. She said it so vigorously that both Johnny and Mary had to turn to her.
“Oh?”
“But it’s none of your business.”
“That’s immature,” he said. He knew he couldn’t say anything worse as far as she was concerned. Especially in front of Mary.
“It is not.”
“Maybe it is,” Mary Warren said, her eyes on Johnny again. She was obviously playing for his approval.
“Yes,” Johnny said. “You can’t be ashamed of your other interests. As long as they’re natural,” he added, his smile widening.
“I’m not ashamed. I…I just don’t like talking about it, that’s all.”
“You do too,” Mary said.
“Mary!”
Johnny laughed. He walked around the sectional and plopped himself down on one of the ottoman pieces.
“I know someone who has the hots for you, Denise,” he said quickly. The expression and the idea took both Denise and Mary by total surprise. Denise’s mouth dropped and Mary’s smile widened. Mary put her notebook down between herself and Denise and turned to him completely.
“Who? Who likes her?”
“I told him he’s nuts. He should either see an eye doctor or a psychiatrist.”
“You would. He’s lying anyway,” Denise said, but Mary’s attention couldn’t be rescued.
“I don’t think he is. Come on, Johnny, tell us,” she pleaded. She turned her shoulder suggestively and leaned on the arm of the couch. Her breasts pushed up into the V-neck collar, deepening her cleavage. Johnny admired how pink and smooth her skin was there.
“Well, he’s a junior,” Johnny said. This impressed both the girls.
“How do you know he…likes me?” Denise asked. She tried to be disdainful, but her voice weakened as the real possibility took hold.
“He’s always talking about you. Whenever the other guys are not around, that is. He thinks you’re cute. We have the same tutor,” Johnny explained to Mary. She nodded, her face growing serious. Johnny kept his eyes on her.
“Who?” Denise asked after a long pause. “Tell me,” she squealed. “If you’re kidding me, Johnny Masterson…”
He sat up and shifted from the ottoman to the couch to sit next to Mary. She shifted to make a comfortable place for him immediately. He put his arm behind her, stretching it over the back of the couch.
“I don’t know if I should tell you. I’m not teasing,” he added quickly. “I just don’t know if he wants me to. He never asked me to say anything.”
“If he told you, he probably meant for you to say something to her,” Mary said. “You’re her brother. He’d expect it,” she concluded.
“That’s right,” Denise said. “Besides, it isn’t fair. It’s like teasing.”
“It is teasing,” Mary added.
He nearly laughed at the way she pleaded with her eyes. He turned away, acting as though he were giving the matter deep thought. Both girls waited anxiously. Then he nodded to himself.
“Well, you can’t tell him I told you. You’ve got to act cool about it. You can’t let on. I’m not so sure I’m not violating some code of privacy or something.”
“I won’t.”
“She won’t. I’ll make sure she doesn’t,” Mary promised.
“All right. It’s Gary Rosen.”
“Gary Rosen! He’s…”
“All right,” Johnny said quickly. “Not too many people know him like I do now. He’s a very sharp guy.”
“I always thought he was,” Mary said quickly, even though it was obvious she had just thought of it. “He’s got dynamite eyes. Shirley Ruderman said so too,” she added. Shirley had been speaking about someone else, but Mary thought she could always claim she thought she meant Gary.
“I never thought about him,” Denise said. “He never says anything to me.”
“Afraid to,” Johnny said. “Because of me.”
“Because of you?”
“He thought I would be upset, since he’s a junior and you’re only in seventh grade.”
“Yeah, but seventh-graders are different nowadays,” Mary said. “It’s not the same as it was, even when you were in seventh grade.”
“I know,” Johnny said. He leaned toward her. He could see a small flush come into her neck.
“Well, I’m certainly not going to chase after him,” Denise said.
“You don’t have to,” Johnny said. “All I have to do is give him the word and he’ll chase after you.”
“Oh, tell him to do it,” Mary said. “It’ll be a great experience for you, Denise. Tell him,” she repeated when Denise hesitated.
“I don’t know,” Denise said. She looked worried.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Mary said, and then in a low voice added, “Remember what I told you about me and…” She looked at Johnny. “Remember?”
“Yeah.”
“Look,” Johnny said. “If you don’t like him, you’ll tell him to bug off. He won’t push himself where he’s not wanted. He’s not the type. Look,” he added, seeing the continued hesitation in Denise, “I’ll tell you what…this is just a possibility, but think about it.”
“What?”
“We’ll have a little prearranged get-together this weekend, down here in the basement. Mary will come, you know to make it look like one of your regular get-togethers or something, and I’ll invite Gary over. We’ll just happen to come downstairs. You can have your tapes going and we’ll have a spontaneous little party. What’d’ya say?”
“Oh yeah,” Mary said. “Great. I’ll come, I’ll come.” She turned anxiously to Denise. The reality of it frightened her, but she wouldn’t let on in front of her sophisticated friend. Johnny could practically feel his sister’s tension.
“I don’t think it’ll make that much difference, but if you want to…”
“I do.”
“OK.”
“Mom and Dad have that party over at the Singletons, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. We can do whatever we want,” Johnny added, touching Mary’s shoulder. “So let your minds run wild,” he said. He leaned forward and nibbled on Mary’s upper arm. She squealed and he got up, laughing. “Oh,” he said, turning back to them, “if you see that book anywhere, let me know, will you. I’m working on a report and I need it.”
“I’ll help you look later,” Denise said, suddenly cooperative and pleasant.
“One other thing,” he said. “Don’t tell any of the other kids about this. I don’t want any crashers.”
“We won’t,” Mary said. She gave Johnny a look of understanding. He nodded and started away.
When he looked back, they were both staring at him, Mary, wantonly, Denise, in something of a shock. He waved an
d went back upstairs. Before he closed the door behind him, he heard Mary speak in a loud whisper.
“Your brother’s so great,” she said. “I wish any one of my brothers had half his personality.”
Denise didn’t reply, or at least, if she did, he couldn’t hear what she said. He laughed to himself and closed the door. Why was it Mr. Lucy was always so right about people? he wondered. And then he wondered if he would ever have Mr. Lucy’s power to understand and predict what people would do.
That’s the ultimate secret, he thought. He knew it was the one that would take the most time to learn, but it was the one he wanted the most. He looked forward to greater and greater discoveries through the eyes of his tutor.
Gary Rosen stood across the street from the Mastersons’ house, just where Johnny and Mr. Lucy told him to wait. He still didn’t completely understand why all this was so important, but when Mr. Lucy explained how sensible it was for them to support one another, he immediately agreed to be part of it. He didn’t know all the details of the plan, but he understood they were going to discredit Johnny’s sister.
“I’ll do it,” Gary told him after they left Mr. Lucy’s house, “but I’m not sure how it’s going to help you.”
“If you had a younger sister who ridiculed you all the time and parents who supported her all the time, you’d understand.”
“Maybe,” Gary said, but Johnny could see that winning his parents’ favor was not very essential to Gary. He could live without it.
“And I’m tired of the way she makes fun of Mr. Lucy,” Johnny added. “She calls him my Band-Aid, which is supposed to be her little joke.”
“Nasty little bugger.”
“Needs a good lesson.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Gary said.
And so he stood behind a tree, waiting. When the Mastersons came out of their house and got into their car, he did what Johnny wanted: he stepped out just enough to be visible and then pulled back so he would look sneaky and guilty of something.
As Johnny had hoped, his father saw Gary peering at them. He stopped the car at the foot of the driveway. Johnny’s mother said something to his father and they both looked in Gary’s direction. Gary kept himself behind the tree until they pulled away and were well down the street. Then he stepped out and walked to the house. Johnny greeted him at the door.
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