Whispers in the Wind

by C. E. Lemieux, Jr.

  In the spring of the same year, our eighth grade year, Sally and Lenny Thompson moved. Forgive me if I sound a bit joyful. I know it wasn’t right, but I must admit I was nearly elated when I first heard the news. After the initial feelings of glee, I guess reality set in and I realized how sad it was to see old friends move away.

  Their father worked for the MKT railroad or the KATY as most people called it. Business for the KATY had slowed down considerably, especially in Forgan. Many of the railroad people moved that spring. The trains still went through town, and the depot was still open, but it wasn’t the hive of activity it had been in the past.

  It hit Henry pretty hard. As much as I hated to admit it, he was definitely smitten with Sally. And though I wasn’t all that interested in Lenny, he’d always been nice to me, so it was kind of sad to see him leave. On the other hand, it revived my hopes Henry would begin to pay attention to me as a girl, instead of just a friend.

  There was a lot going on during those early spring months. Both Henry and I were in track, as well as being on the eighth grade graduation committee. I still managed to spend time him, but it was usually to work on homework or things for the committee. I guess I was happy to be with him, even if he wasn’t feeling the same way about me. As far as he was concerned, I was still the tomboy who had always hung around with him.

  “Dreams are only dreams until you make them come true.”

  That was our class motto. I don’t know where it came from or who said it, but it served as inspiration to me; a sign things between Henry and I might have some hope for the future. In my quiet moments I continued to dream of the day he would notice me and until then, I would stay nearby as his friend quietly waiting for it to happen.

  The graduation ceremonies were to be held in the high school gymnasium, and following that we were to be treated to our graduation movie. The guys had won the vote, and Superman was their choice. I can’t say I was overly thrilled, but then, who can complain about seeing a hunk in tights? Besides, it wasn’t what was on the screen that occupied my thoughts. My big concern was finding a way to get Henry’s attention.

  The following night we planned to have a graduation dance at the Odd Fellow’s Hall and that’s where I was going to make my big move. Everyone was keyed up for the dance, everyone except Henry. He was still moping around, complaining about Sally leaving, and whining about not having a date.

  “Heck, I don’t even know if I want to go down there. It won’t be any fun without her.”

  “We could go together.” I suggested.

  “I don’t know, Abby Lynn. It doesn’t seem quite right. I still like her, even if she isn’t here.”

  “Look, you don’t have a date, and I don’t have a date. And everyone knows we’re friends. What’s it going to hurt? Come on, Henry. It’ll be fun. You don’t want to miss your graduation dance. That wouldn’t be right.”

  “I guess, but I don’t see how it’s going to be much fun without Sally.”

  “Just give it a try. If you don’t like it we can leave.”

  He nodded.

  “Okay. I guess I don’t have anything else to do.”

  He said he would come by my house and we could walk down together. However, that didn’t work with my plan. So, I told him to meet me at the hall, because my daddy wanted to drive me down. He agreed and I could see my plan taking shape. I was so excited about the dance, I could hardly stand it, but before that we had to get through graduation night and all of its festivities.

  Friday came and, before the graduation ceremony, our class gathered to exchange gifts. Henry gave me a card, and mirror and brush set, all of which I was sure Mrs. Newburn had picked out. I told Henry I had something special planned for his gift and I would bring it to the dance. It didn’t seem to faze him at all. He showed no signs of curiosity. It didn’t matter to him. Nothing seemed to matter. He was so down in the dumps I was beginning to wonder if he would ever come out of it.

  The graduation ceremony was pretty average. No one made any major goofs. All of our mothers cried, while our fathers were busy setting off camera strobes in our eyes. Then everyone went down to the cafeteria for cookies and punch. None of us were too interested in the cookies or the punch; we wanted to get down to the theater. This was our big night, and we were anxious to get it started.

  Traditionally, the high school kids didn’t go to the eighth grade graduation movie. I guess they knew what it was like on their graduation night, and they respected our right to rule the roost.

  I sat between Henry and J.B. at the movie. It was a good movie and who could deny Christopher Reeves was a dream, but my mind was on the dance the next night. I could hardly wait. I kept finding myself playing it over and over in my head.

  After the show, both J.B. and Henry walked me home. Henry said he was tired; so he walked on home, while J.B. and I sat on my front porch. It was an incredibly clear evening with the light from the moon, and a cast of stars pervading through the newly budding branches of the trees. The gentle breeze stilled carried with it a reminder of the warmth of a spring day.

  “You know Momma is making Henry give you a corsage,” J.B. said matter-of-factly. “She told him he needed to give you one, and he said you wouldn’t expect one from him, since you were just friends. Momma told him friends or not, no girl deserved to go to a graduation dance without a corsage.”

  I smiled.

  “I like your momma, J.B. I always have, but she didn’t need to do that. I’ll be happy if Henry will dance with me one time. Besides, I don’t want him mad at me because she made him give me a flower.”

  “It don’t matter, Abby Lynn. If Momma said he has to, then he has to, whether he likes it or not. Besides all that, you deserve it Abby Lynn. You’ve been there all of this time, and he hasn’t so much as given you a second glance. Why, I think he is crazy to keep pining after Sally Thompson, when you’ve been there all along.”

  “Well, thanks, J.B., but Henry is just Henry. He’ll come around sometime. Are you going to come and help us decorate in the morning?”

  “I don’t know. You know how he is about that kind of stuff. He doesn’t like me hanging around in his business.”

  “Well then, you can come down and help me.”

  “We’ll see. I better go now. See you later.”

  On Saturday, we spent the afternoon decorating for the dance. There were five of us, Becky Jenkins, Andy Roberts, Jenny Hodge, Henry, and me. After we had worked on it for an hour or so, J.B. showed up. Henry didn’t seem to mind it too much. I guess he just wasn’t in the mood to fight about it. We hung streamers, lights and the decorations we had made. Then we setup Becky’s record player and Andy’s eight track tape player. Everyone brought all of their favorite music. We knew there would be a lot more when all of the other kids showed up that evening.

  When we were done, Henry, J.B., and I walked over to the Commercial Café for a soda, and a plate of fries. Henry hated the way I always covered the French fries with ketchup, but he didn’t say anything about it that afternoon. I started to believe my hopes for taking the place of Sally Thompson might not come true. I wasn’t sure I would ever get him to think of me in the same way.

  My momma had made me a special dress for the dance. Now when my momma sewed a dress it looked better than a store bought dress. A lot of the kids I knew didn’t like wearing home sewn clothing, but it didn’t bother me. Momma had always sewn my clothes and, she was so excited that I wanted to wear a dress; she was willing to make practically anything.

  This was a blue chiffon dress with a royal blue satin sash around the waist. Momma said it really brought out the blue in my eyes. I had never worn a dress before in front of Henry, except for a plain broadcloth dress I usually wore to church. Most of the time I wore blue denim jeans or overalls.

  As for my hair, sometimes Momma would braid it in the back for me, but mostly I wore it back in a ponytail. I was never one to mess with it, at least up until the night of the dance. Anyway, Momma curled,
and fixed my hair for me, and with those wavy blonde locks falling down across my shoulders, all dolled up in that dress, even I didn’t recognize the girl in the mirror. When Momma looked at me, I thought she was going to cry.

  Daddy was even more stunned than Momma.

  “Is that my little girl in that dress? I’m not so sure I should take you down there around those boys. I can’t believe I’m letting you go on your first date.”

  “Oh, Daddy, it’s not a date. I’m just going to be with Henry. I’m with him every day.”

  I figured it was because they had never seen me fixed up before, but they really seemed excited for me. I don’t know, maybe they thought if I went out in a dress, I’d quit dressing like a tomboy. I must confess I did feel pretty uncomfortable in the dress, and I had a strong longing for my jeans, but after all the fuss my folks had made I decided I could handle it for at least one night. After all, if it got their attention, it might turn Henry’s head a little.

  Daddy dropped me off in front of the Odd Fellow’s Hall. I thought maybe Henry would be waiting outside, but he wasn’t. The first person I met was J.B. He was sitting on the steps by himself. He looked up at me as I approached. I’m sure he didn’t recognize me at first. Then, all of a sudden, he burst into a wide grin that crossed his face from ear to ear.

  “Why Abby Lynn, you are a sight for sore eyes. If you don’t get ol’ Henry over Sally Thompson, he is more than lovesick. He’s blind as a bat.”

  “Oh, J.B., do you really think I look okay?” I asked blushing.

  “Abigail McAllister, you look better than okay.”

  “Thank you, J.B. Where’s Henry?”

  I had this nervous feeling he might not show up.

  “Is he here?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry, he’s inside moping around.”

  J.B. motioned toward the building.

  “Hey, let me go in first. I want to see his face when you come in.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  I waited for J.B. to get inside and then I entered the building. It was pretty dark with just the colored lights we had hung from the ceiling, but even in the darkness, I still picked out Henry right away. He was the one standing over by the punch bowl, with his shoulders slumped down. Even with his back towards me, he looked sadder than he did back in second grade when his mom ran over his turtle.

  He didn’t see me enter the room, so I moved over to him slowly, trying not to attract his attention. As I walked up behind him, I noticed J.B. and a group of his friends watching from the corner of the room. I was shaking a little, and my hands were beginning to sweat at the thought of him seeing me.

  “Would you mind getting me some punch, Henry?” I asked as I walked up.

  Recognizing my voice, he didn’t turn around immediately.

  “Oh, hi Abby Lynn. Yeah, sure.”

  After he had filled a glass, he turned to hand it to me.

  “Here you… are…”

  He was visibly stunned. He stood there holding the glass in his hands. The silence between us, while he gazed at me, was almost more than I could take. It seemed to go on forever.

  I thought of some of my most embarrassing moments. At fourteen, I hadn’t had a lot of them yet, but there were a few. I started wondering if this might be my most embarrassing to date. I felt totally vulnerable, and on top of it all, there were a lot of people watching.

  He finally recovered and spoke.

  “Wow! I uh…I mean, uh, here’s your punch. You look great, Abby.”

  “Are you sure, Henry? You don’t sound too convincing.”

  “Yes, you look great. I never saw you look so pretty.”

  “You don’t think I look silly?”

  I still had that awkward feeling, and I was beginning to feel like I’d made an awful mistake. You know how sometimes you think something is a good idea, and then the more you think about it, the less appealing it begins to seem.

  “Of course not. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone prettier than you are right now.”

  I didn’t know if I should say it. I knew it might make him start moping again, but I had to know.

  “What about Sally Thompson?”

  The sad look returned to his face, but his answer still left me with hope.

  “Abby, she was my girlfriend and I miss her, but I have to say she never looked as pretty as you do right now. I’ve never seen you like this before. I mean, well…your hair is lovely that way, and that dress is beautiful. You look like a different person. I guess I never realized how pretty you are.”

  He paused and then he looked down at the floor.

  “I’m sorry. I suppose when you look at someone all the time, you don’t always see them the way everyone else does.”

  He looked into my eyes, and he said something I never expected.

  “Gosh, you’re beautiful, Abby.”

  I felt butterflies floating inside of me while he spoke. The thought occurred to me, I might have finally gotten his attention. When I found my voice, I said the only thing that came to mind.

  “Well, thank you Henry. It’s nice to know you finally noticed I was a girl. Would you like to dance?”

  He smiled, and took my hand to lead me to the dance floor. We danced all night, except for one dance when he let J.B. cut in.

  “Well, you sure stunned him, didn’t you?”

  J.B. seemed sincerely happy for me. I nodded.

  “I hope he realizes how lucky he is Abby.”

  “Thank you, J.B. That’s nice of you to say. And thanks for listening when I want to talk.”

  “I mean it, Abby. You’re a real nice person, and a real pretty girl.”

  I laid my head on his shoulder.

  “You’re so sweet J.B. Some girl is going to be very lucky when she catches hold of your heart.”

  I thought I heard him whisper something else, but I couldn’t understand him.

  The dance ended around 10:30 and Daddy came by as everyone was leaving for the evening. I asked if he would let Henry walk me home.

  “Okay, pumpkin, but straight home. I want you in the house by eleven.”

  I knew Daddy was being tolerant because it was a special occasion. So, there was no argument.

  “Okay, Daddy.”

  “Thank You, Rev. McAllister,” Henry added.

  We walked up by the park, past the old jailhouse we used to sit on to eat our peanuts. We didn’t really say anything. We just held hands as we walked.

  When we got to the corner of my block, Henry stopped and turned to look at me. I guess he knew my daddy would be looking out the window when we got to the house.

  “Abby, I’m sorry I guess I haven’t been a lot of fun lately. I started realizing tonight how lucky I am to have a friend like you. I’ve always been able to count on you, even when no one else was there. You’ve been my best friend, and I don’t want to change that.”

  He had an awkward look on his face.

  “Do you think you would mind going to the movies with your best friend?”

  I smiled.

  “I won’t mind if you don’t mind.”

  “Abby, can I kiss you goodnight?”

  I thought he’d never ask, but it made me feel good to know he was gentleman enough not to assume it was okay. As I replied, I thought back to our fifth grade year, the year he started liking Sally Thompson.

  “For practice?”

  He took my hand.

  “No, this time it’s for real.”

  We kissed. It was nothing big like in the movies. In fact, we probably kissed more dramatically back in sixth grade when we were practicing. But it was nice, and there was feeling to it. A feeling I had wished to experience for longer than he could have imagined.