The Perfect Couple

35

"He mentioned the Coke dates before he even knew Marcus was going to win the game!" My voice quivered with indignation.

"But he didn't follow up on it and he didn't say anything about The Straw."

"He would have!"

"Maybe," she said.

I got up and started to straighten the kitchen. I'd hardly ever been so angry with Kim. Even when she changed the subject, asking me when we expected Maz home for Thanksgiving, I just said, "On Wednesday," and kept on putting stuff back in the fridge. Finally she said she better go she had some studying to do and I said, "Yeah, me, too."

Later I thought over our conversation and decided she was probably right, in a way. Alan how to show more interest in me today than he ever had before and probably it was because he thought I was Marcus's girl and Marcus was sort of a hero now. But that wasn't so terrible. I blown all the time he was only interested in girls who dated and it followed that the more important the boy they went with, the more attracted he'd be to them. It was like going after a trophy and going after a trophy was a natural challenge to him.

When I came home from school on Wednesday, Maz was in the kitchen having a cup of tea with Mom. I was really glad to see her and we gave each other a big hug. Then Mom I said if we'd excuse her she like to get on with her preparations for Thanksgiving dinner.

"I'm trying a new kind of dressing and I need to concentrate, so you girls go someplace, will you?"

Good old Mom. She really came through at times. She knew Maz and I will dying to be alone so we could have a real sister-to-sister talk. We went up to Maz's room.

Being meet like Mom, she did already put away her clothes and suitcases. There was a framed picture of a serious looking young man on her dresser.

"That's Griff," she told me. "Isn't he a doll?"

He wasn't my type, but I said he sure was, then we sat on the matching slipper chairs Mom and Dad had given Maz on her sixteenth birthday. Maz told me Griff was going to be a teacher.

"I'm thinking of changing my major, too. Teaching is so important and Griff says that's finally being recognised. He thinks that in a few years good teachers will be rewarded like engineers and management people are now."

Love sure changed your life, I thought. Maz had gone away to college with the idea of being a computer specialist. She never heard of a Griff, are given a thought to teaching. While this was going through my mind, she said she was glad I was going with Marcus.

"I think you two being in love is just beautiful . . . you have the boy next door well, almost next door. It's a real love story and I see you got yourself all prettied up for him."

Marcus didn't care what I looked like, I thought, but i only said that Kim had given me a perm. I wondered if Maz had always been so pretty and I just hadn't noticed, or if being in love had made her eyes so bright and giving her skin such a lovely glow. She had the same brown hair like I did, but she looks beautiful without even trying.

We talked till Mom cold or downstairs to help get dinner on. We were just having a light supper because Mom wanted everybody to save their appetite for the next day. I was glad when Mom said we were going to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. She promised that the only new recipe would be the dressing and even that only had a few extra herbs in it. There are times to experiment, I thought, but there are other times when you want things to be the way they've always been.

The next day Aunt Bella and Uncle Adam came up from San Jose with the two kids, Bethany, who was thirteen and Benjamin, who was eleven. While I didn't see my cousins often, I still had a feeling of family with them and it was nice for us all to have a Thanksgiving dinner together.

At the table, everyone took turns saying what they were thankful for. Benjamin, who had kind of a smart mouth, eyed the turkey and said he was glad he had a good appetite. Bethany was glad she had her braces off. Aunt Bella, who was the emotional type, got choked up and couldn't say anything, so uncle Adam spoke for them both, saying the word grateful to be included in our Thanksgiving celebration.

Mom was grateful we were all in good health and Dad as usual, said he was thankful we were all together. Maz echoed his words. When it was my turn I mumbled something about being happy for all my blessings while I wondered if Alan and I would never spend a Thanksgiving together.

Sunday morning Maz got in her vintage Mustang and headed back to San Francisco. Kim and her parents had gone to Marin County to spend the holiday weekend in a cabin they owned there. With Maz gone and Kim away, I got so lonely that shortly after lunch I got on my bike and peddled down 2 Marcus's.

Megan was out front. "What to shoot baskets?" She asked.

"Not right now. Is Marcus home?"

"Yeah." She sounded disgusted, but then she turned philosophical. "I guess someday you won't want to shoot baskets anymore at all. Girls get so silly when they fall in love."

She opened her mouth and bellowed, "Marcus! Kelly wants you!"

If anyone could bring back the town cryer it would be Megan.

Marcus came out the door. "Don't you know it's raining?" He asked me.

"It's barely drizzling . . . you made of sugar?"

He swung on his bike. "Where're we going?"

"I don't know. I just feel like taking a ride."

We pedalled along and without even deciding where we were going we took the road to Deer Creek. It was a wood sitting area and even when it rained hard you could always find a dry spot under the trees.

With the recent rain the creek was high. We found a couple of flat rocks on the bank and with a ski jackets and jeans and the trees are almost meeting above us, we were pretty comfortable.