Mom and Dad had apparently eaten and were drinking their coffee. Dad had a piece of bacon on his plate. I pointed at the sink.
“What’s that?” I asked.
When he turned, I snatched his bacon and stuffed it into my mouth. He always fell for that one. I turned on the skillet and whipped up a bacon-and-Swiss omelet, which was one of my favorites. I was plating it when Peggy came down with her hair still wet. She grinned at me and took my omelet; Dad enjoyed the irony. I made a replacement rather than whine about it.
“Do I even want to ask what happened last night?” Mom asked.
“I’m not talking,” I said.
“We just slept together,” Peggy said, and then blushed when she realized what she’d said.
“I don’t need to know,” Mom assured her.
I think my mom must have had a stroke or something. Had she just said she didn’t need to know?
The toast popped up, and I buttered it. Sure enough, Peggy took that, too. I put another two slices in the toaster. So far, I’d figured out that girls would steal your food, your t-shirts ... and the list went on. Dad always said it was cheaper to marry Mom. I think he meant he gave up and just gave her everything.
I sat down and gave Dad an extra piece of bacon. I’m sure at some point I would need something from him.
WHEN I GOT TO SCHOOL, Gina was waiting for me. Peggy kissed my cheek and went off to her locker to give us some privacy.
“First of all, you need to change your schedule next semester so that you have first lunch. This not seeing you every day sucks. Second, I heard from Alan that you’re thinking about skipping AP classes. Why would you do that?”
“Good morning to you, too, Gina.”
She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.
“It was something my uncle told me: ‘don’t be in a hurry to grow up.’ I know everyone thinks it’s so great to skip out of a year of college so they can hurry up and get a job. He told me that working sucks. Enjoy college for all four years, because you’ll never get them back.”
“What about your class ranking? You’ll start to drop without the AP classes.”
Gina knew I was competitive. My guess was that Alan had talked to her about next semester’s schedule, and they wanted to get me into their classes.
I personally didn’t mind the challenge of harder classes. I was bored half the time anyway. The problem was that if I started to take AP classes next semester, I’d be biting off more than I could chew when you added in seven-on-seven football, baseball, modeling, and the movie. I would need to hire Suzanne to come back and tutor me.
I just shrugged. Gina slugged me and stormed off. I could tell she wasn’t done with me.
I thought I was going to make it to my locker. Silly me. I was hip-checked and turned to see Tracy smiling at me.
“Good morning, Sexy,” she purred.
Oh, crud.
“Why do I think you’re up to no good?” I asked.
“It’s Tuesday. What time should I come over?” she asked.
I drew a complete blank. Had I invited her over for something? She saw my confused look and helped me out.
“Tuesday night sex night,” she reminded me.
“I can’t,” I said. “Peggy’s staying with me this week.”
“So?”
Mr. Happy asked the same question as he voted for Tracy to come over. I just shook my head.
“Okay, I see that this week isn’t going to work. I have another question: what are you going as for the Halloween Dance?”
“Seriously? Wait, is that this week?” I asked.
“Friday. What’s Peggy wearing? Did you ask Peggy to go?”
I just pounded my head against my locker as Tracy laughed at me. I missed her being my social secretary. I think I need someone to keep track of stuff like this. It never even occurred to me that I might be the one that should handle that task.
WHEN I GOT TO LUNCH, Piper was already there, having beaten everyone else. There were three boys talking to her, and she didn’t look comfortable. I skipped getting my lunch and went to the table.
“How about you come over this afternoon, and hang out with us?” one of the boys asked.
“How about I help you into a garbage can―headfirst?” I asked.
Their heads all snapped around. Two of them decided that now was a good time to walk away. The one asking wasn’t going to leave so easily.
“Get lost, I was talking to Piper,” he said, puffing up.
I could never figure out these little guys. He had to be all of five-eight and weighed less than one-fifty. If I were him, I’d have wanted at least two or three buddies there to take on someone my size.
“Do you want to talk to this guy?” I asked, turning to Piper.
She shook her head ‘no.’
“The lady isn’t interested in your advances. ‘No’ means ‘no;’ now take off,” I ordered.
By now, the cafeteria was filling up, and Moose was watching us. He must have drawn the short straw and gotten stuck as lunchroom monitor. The kid looked around, and I could tell he wasn’t willing to lose face. I wasn’t surprised when he took a swing at me and hit me in the chest. Moose was heading our way when he swung again.
“David!” Moose warned me.
I let him hit me in the arm. Moose grabbed the kid and put him into the wall.
“You wuss! Are you afraid to fight me?” he yelled, pointing over Moose’s shoulder.
He wiggled free of Moose, and I just snatched him up by his neck and held him against the wall, albeit six inches off the floor. His eyes got big, and he was hanging onto my wrist so he wouldn’t get choked out. Moose gave me a weak smile and took the kid off to the office.
“Grab a sack lunch, and meet me in the office,” he told me.
I grabbed a lunch, paid for it, and followed them to the office. If they got tough and pulled the ‘zero tolerance’ routine, then I could miss the game Friday with a three-day suspension. I was feeling a little uncomfortable when I got there.
“David, what are you here for?” asked the secretary.
“There was an altercation at lunch and Moose told me to come here,” I said.
“Oh, that must be Yuri you had the trouble with. Moose is with him in Mr. Palm’s office. Eat your lunch. If they need you, I’ll let you know.”
When she said his name, I remembered who he was: Yuri Antakov. He was one of the little tough-guys that were new to the school. Piper really didn’t need to be hanging around him and his friends.
I finished my lunch and waited. Soon Yuri was sent out, and I was called in.
Moose looked pissed, and Mr. Palm looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. This couldn’t be good.
“David, I’m going to have to suspend you for three days,” Mr. Palm said without preamble.
“Will I get to play on Friday?” I asked.
Moose glared at Mr. Palm. He seemed to consider his options. He was stuck because he couldn’t be seen giving me preferential treatment. I had technically been in a fight, even if I hadn’t thrown a punch. My fight last year had been caught on camera, and I think Tom put some serious pressure on them to keep Tracy and me from being suspended. This was different. There was no video, only the word of eyewitnesses. I knew in my gut I wasn’t getting out of this.
Mr. Palm looked at his watch.
“Your suspension starts right now. I expect to see you in class Friday afternoon,” Mr. Palm told me. “You are not allowed on school grounds. Tell your mom to stop by if she wants to talk to me.”
I raised my eyebrows. I would make sure Mom didn’t visit Mr. Palm since he had just bent the rules enough that he didn’t get lynched, but he still could say he’d followed them.