Chain Letter

Chapter Four

The rehearsal was going lousy. This early in the morning---before first period--- it was always hard to concentrate. Alison would have preferred working on You Can't Take It with You after school, but their drama teacher, Mr. Hoglan, had the erroneous belief that they were freshest closest to sunrise and could give him their best effort only when the birds were singing. Fran's swiping of the living room props was not helping matters. Alison had difficulty getting into her Alice role when she was supposed to look out the window and she had to stare into a featureless wall. But the biggest problem this morning was Brenda, who was playing Alice's sister, Essie. Essentially, the play was about Alice's introduction of her fiancé's super-straight parents to her own super-wacky family. Brenda, though she would never admit it, was effective only when playing weird characters. Essie's constant spastic dancing and frequent airhead one-liners created a role perfectly suited to her talents. Brenda, however, had already made it clear she dislike portraying "an unnatractive geek." She was going out of her way this morning too reemphasize the point. She had added loudmouthed brain damage to Essie's character. In other words, Brenda was trying to drown out the rest of the cast. She was getting on Alison's nerves.

Normally, Alison loved being on stage. Turning into someone else seemed entirely natural to her. In her brief career she had played a conniving cat, a seductive vampire, a spoiled daughter, and even a psychotic murderer, and she had had to wonder if she hadn't at one time been all those things in past lives---she had felt so at home in their brains. But she realized with a lot of her pleasure from acting came from simple ego gratification. She loved having people's attention totally focused on her.

"Let's go again," Mr. Hoglan called from the last row of the small auditorium. A short, pear-shaped middle-aged man with a thick gray beard and a thick jet black toupee, he was a superb instructor, knowing how to offer advice that did not cramp one's individual style. He was being very patient with Brenda this morning.

"From the top?" Alison asked. She was the only one on stage not holding a copy of the play. She always made it a practice to immediately memorize her lines. This also annoyed Brenda.

"No, start from: 'He's vice-president of Kirby & Company.'"

Alison nodded, taking her position. Mr. Hoglan gave a cue and she walked toward the coffee table--or where the coffee table was supposed to be--saying, "'No, he's the vice-president of Kirby & Company, Mr. Anthony Kirby, Junior.'"

"'The boss's son?'" Brenda asked, with way too much enthusiasm.

"'Well,'" thier mother said. Penny with playing with Sandra Thompson and overweight Sandy already looked like someone's mother. She was a fine actress, though.

Alison took a step toward her mother and smiled. "'The boss's son. Just like the movies.'"

"'That explains the new dress!'" Brenda shouted. Alison grimaced, coming out of character; she couldn't help herself. Fortunately, at that moment, they were interrupted. It was not Mr hoglan, but a kid--a freshman, probably--in running shorts, standing at the open back door. He was talking excitedly about something on the gymnasium.

"What is it, young man?" Mr. Hoglan asked, unperturbed as ever.

"You've got to see it!" the kid exclaimed, and then he was gone.

Alison did not know why Brenda and she did not immediately put two and two together. As they hurried into the hallway after the rest of the class, the Caretaker was not even on their minds.

"You sure are in a bad mood this morning," Brenda said as they strode from beneath the wing of the auditorium into the bright morning sun. The day was going to be another cooker. Built in the fifties of red black and austere practicality, Grant High did not have air conditioning. During the months close to summer, sitting in class was more a dehydrating experience than an educational one.