Kaitlin

You know how you have these thoughts and, at the time, they seem normal. But in retrospect, they seem insane?

Well, this thought actually crossed my mind today: “I didn’t know Vivaldi had a fifth season!”

The bell over the door had just tinkled someone’s entrance, and then… it was as if a herd of elephants in heat came careening across the sagging floorboards of the flower shop. I blinked. The boys had galumphed into Petals right in the middle of “Spring.” How could two still relatively small human beings make so much noise?

Rad skidded to a halt in front of the checkout counter.

“Mom, you’re a girl, right?”

I looked up at him. And then over at Boo. Pink-faced and sweaty, they looked like two puppies, panting in expectation of a doggie treat.

“Last time I looked,” I said.

The boys didn’t get my humor, but I heard Tony harrumph from behind me. He was putting the final touches on a dinner party centerpiece.

“We need some advice,” Rad said.

“Oh?”

Tony clucked under his breath and then swooped around us to place the finished arrangement on the “Pick Up” shelf.

“I want to ask Sarah Gilliam to the Middle School dance. But I’m not sure how to do it.”

“Couldn’t you just ask her?” I said.

“Well, duh! But I’m afraid of putting her on the spot. You always told me to be sure not to put girls on the spot.”

“You actually said that, Kaitlin?” Tony whirled around, one eyebrow arched up above the other.

“Well, yeah. Guys I didn’t really like used to get me in these really awkward conversations and then ask me to stuff and I always felt pressured to say yes right there on the spot. I just didn’t want Rad to do that same kind of thing, you know. If you give a girl the chance to think things over and get back to you, it’s better. In the long run. You know. I think.”

“Whatever!” Tony shrugged his shoulders and went back to rearranging some of the greenery in his centerpiece.

“So?” Rad said impatiently.

“So… what?”

“Well, I think I may have put Sarah on the spot.”

“I thought you hadn’t asked her yet.”

“Well…,” Rad’s face turned red.

“He called her up on Hakim’s cell phone right after school,” Boo said.

“And what did you say?”

“He asked her if she wanted to go to the dance with him,” Boo said.

“I asked her if she wanted to go to the dance with me.”

“And what did she say?”

“She said, ‘Sure!’”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like you put her on the spot. If she answered yes right away. What did you say next?”

“I said, ‘Great! Guess I’ll see you in school tomorrow. Bye!’ And then I hung up.”

“You hung up?”

“I was really nervous. Now I think I may have put her on the spot.”

“Well, you could always call her back and say you were really nervous and then just keep talking to her.”

Rad looked at me like I was deranged. “But what would I ever talk about?!?”

“Yeah, Mrs. B. What would he ever talk about?”

“Was this just now?” Tony asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is she at home?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then why don’t you call her back and invite her to meet you at Starbucks or something?”

“What? To drink coffee?” I frowned at Tony.

“That’s a great idea!” Rad brightened.

“But you don’t drink coffee….”

“Oh, Mom, Starbucks has more than coffee. It’s like a place to hang out.”

“Yeah, Mrs. B. It’s like a place to hang out.”

I eyed Boo. “And what about you? Are you inviting someone to the dance, too?”

“Me?” Boo looked horrified. “Nahhhhhh! I don’t like girls.”

The boys couldn’t see Tony standing behind them, but he was leering down at Boo, head cocked to one side, finger poised against his cheek, as if he were appraising him. He winked at me. I gave him a dirty look.

“Can I use the phone?” Rad asked.

“You can use the one in back,” Tony offered.

“See, Mom, if I only had my own cell phone, I could call Sarah myself.”

“Yeah, Mrs. B., if he only had his own cell phone, he could call Sarah himself.”

“How much homework do you have?”

“Just math.”

“Here, take this in back with you.” I tried to pick up the backpack he had unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the shop. It must have weighed a ton. “I thought you just said all you have is math.”

“I do.”

“Well, this backpack weighs a ton. I can hardly lift it.”

“Yeah, well, it has all my stuff in it.”

“But why would you bring all your books home when you only have math?”

Rad rolled his eyes at me. “Mom, you just don’t understand!”

Apparently not.

Rad came back out front a few moments later. “Mom, can I have some money? Sarah is going to meet us over at Starbucks, and I have to, you know, be prepared.”

“Well, how much do you need….?” I hardly ever went over to Starbucks because it was so expensive. Still, I always saw tons of kids over there after school. I could never figure out how teenagers could afford to go to Starbucks all the time.

“I dunno.” Rad shrugged. “But I need to be prepared to treat my lady right.”

I stared at him. He wasn’t even thirteen.

“That was a joke, Mrs. B!” Boo said.

I rifled through my purse for my wallet and reluctantly handed Rad a twenty. All I had was twenties as I had just been to the ATM. “Bring back the change.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever!”

“Bye, Mom!” Boo smiled at me.

“Thanks, Mom!”

And then just as suddenly as they had come, the elephants in heat were gone.

And it was just me and Tony. And Vivaldi.