“He wasn’t very popular then?” asked Homicide.
“Well, no. I mean, he had friends, but not anyone that he was really close with. He didn’t have people over on the weekends, you know. That could have been because no one wanted to drive all the way out to Fruitland though. Sure, there were a few kids in Mount Royal that he hung out with, but even they weren’t very close. It was a convenience thing more than anything else. He was sort of a loner - more interested in his experiments than in forming relationships with people.
Anyway, when he moved in with Grandma Stewart, his parents also told him that he was going to join the Boy Scouts and get a job. They thought that this would keep him too busy to get into trouble with his experiments. Part of the reason he was sent to live with Grandma was the fact that Crescent City was closer to the jobs and she could drive him to work until he was old enough to drive. They had hoped that he would get a job at the Miller’s Supermarket, but the manager was still a little sore about the whole ammonia incident, so instead he wound up being the pool boy at both the YMCA and the KOA Kampground. This was right up his alley as he was able to use his chemistry know how with the pool chemicals. He was really good at it too. The pools were never so clean as when Michael worked on them.
The day he moved into Grandma Stewart’s, my cousin Diane, my brother Stephen, and I were all hanging out on the porch of our trailer next door. The houses were up on this hill that overlook the lake - probably the only high ground in Crescent City, right next to the fernery and the Magnolia crop that belongs to Mr. Newbold - but you all knew that. Why am I telling you that? You can see the lake from our porches.
We were sitting on the porch looking for something to do when we saw Michael moving all this stuff out of his Grandma’s car into the garage. He was hauling box after box of clanking glass and eventually curiosity got the better of me and I had to pop over and introduce myself. I was only 12 at the time and rather precocious. Stephen and Diane went with me.
I was the first to peek my head around the side of the open garage door. Michael was inside setting up his lab/bedroom.
‘Hi! Can we come in?’
He looked up, startled and nearly dropped a box of beakers. ‘Uh, hi. Sure. I guess. Who are you?’
‘I’m Marlene,’ I said, extending my hand, ‘and this is my brother Stephen. We live next door.’
‘Stephen? Aren’t you Mr. Behm’s T.A.?’
‘Yeah,’ Stephen replied, ‘How’d you know that?’
‘I’ve seen you around.’ Michael said as he began un-boxing the beakers and setting them on a shelf.
Just then, Diane butted herself in front of Stephen and myself ‘And I’m Diane,’ she said, glaring at me. ‘Thanks for introducing me Marlene.’
‘I was getting to it.’ I said.
Michael looked like a deer caught in headlights as Diane batted her eyes at him. ‘Um,’ he swallowed.
‘It’s nice to meet you too.’
‘Oh, the pleasure is, all mine.’
Now, it should be noted that despite the fact that Michael was at this time a fully fledged Chemistry geek, he was not an altogether unattractive one. He was a little gangly, and little lanky, but he was what adults would call conventionally handsome. Blonde hair, parted to the side, blue eyes, average height, nice smile. If it weren’t for his awkward manner, most girls would have been all over this guy.
Diane, however was not most girls. She laughed as she flipped her frosted, Rachel cut hair over her shoulder and said in a chirpy voice “I haven’t seen you around before.”
Michael swallowed. ‘That’s funny. I go to Crescent City. I’m going into the 10th grade.’
‘Oh, wow! I’m going into the 9th! Maybe I’ll see you around next year!’ Diane shrieked.
‘Wow, that is cool,’ Stephen said, rolling his eyes ‘we’re all going to go to school together. How fun.’
‘Yeah, I’ll be starting 7th grade out there in the fall too.’ I said.
“Wait,” Thunder Mountain interrupted. “What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t you remember?” Homicide replied. “They have a Junior/Senior High School. It goes from the
Seventh to the Twelfth grade.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. Noth that that matters. Get on with the story.”
“Let the girl take her time, we don’t have anywhere better to be, Martin.”
“Okay, Jalisco, but you know, at some point, we ought to break for dinner.”
‘‘Jalisco’ I thought. ‘Maybe ‘Martin’ is Thunder Mountain’s last name.’
Homicide shifted in his seat. “It’s only 4 o’clock.”
“I know man, but I got low blood sugar.”
“Go grab a Coke or something then.”
“Alright, you want anything?” Thunder Mountain said, as he got up and started to walk toward the door.
“Hmmm . . . Maybe a coffee if they have any. How about you, sweetheart? You want anything?”
I looked up at Thunder Mountain. “I would love a Fresca.”
“She wants a Fresca.” Thunder Mountain scoffed.
“Don’t worry” I said. “I know they have them in the soda machine, and if not, they have them in the package store at the Parker House next door. Actually, if you’re gonna go over there, a bag of Funyuns would be great too.”
“Funyuns?”
“Yeah,” I said, digging around in my pocket. “Here’s five bucks. That ought to cover it.”
“Okay.” Thunder Mountain said as he grabbed the money from my hand. “I’ll be back.”
And with that Thunder Mountain was gone. I looked at Homicide.
“Should we wait for him to get back?”
“Nah, I’m recording all of this for posterity. You can go ahead.”
“Where was I?”
“You were telling Michael that you were going to be starting 7th grade in the fall.”
“Oh, right. So, we were all going to be going to school together, and yet somehow, no one was acquainted with one another yet.
‘Well, this just won’t do,’ I said. ‘You’re our neighbor now.’
I was the kind of kid that was always trying to make connections. I was the matchmaker of the group. I thought that we would all be the best of friends like one of those groups you read about in books that go on adventures together and solve mysteries together or something. I guess in some ways it sort of turned out like that, except it way more like a trio cum duo instead of a group. Diane was never really involved except to try and get into Michael’s pants.
‘What sorts of things are you into Michael?’ I asked.
‘Um, science?’ he replied, while absentmindedly opening a box of lab supplies.
‘Oh really? What kind of science?’I asked, as I began to put the supplies on the shelf next to him.
‘Chemistry?’he said, handing me jars of chemicals out of the box.
‘Really?’ I asked. ‘By the way, where to you want these bottles?’
Michael pointed to a shelf above my head. ‘There.’
‘Ah.’ I said, placing them where he wanted them. ‘Stephen here is really into chemistry as well. Aren’t you Stephen?’
‘Well, yeah.’ Stephen said, looking down at the floor.
‘See!’ I exclaimed. “Common ground. Friends!’
Michael stopped unpacking and looked at Stephen. ‘What is your primary area of research?’
‘Analytical chemistry. You?’
‘Some analytical chemistry, but primarily nuclear chemistry. What are your plans?’
‘Pharmacology. Yours?’
‘Nuclear physics.’
‘I figured. Are you looking at any schools?’
‘Michigan State.’
‘I’ve heard that their program is up and coming. I’m thinking of Stetson for my undergrad since I feel like I have a pretty good chance of landing a good scholarship and then Emory of UF for my graduate degree.’
‘Not a bad plan.’
Diane was so irritated the entire time this exchange was going on. She couldn’t stand for things to not be all about her. Suddenly, instead of the focus being shifted to her, if shifted to me.
‘What about you, Marlene,’ Michael asked. ‘What are you into?’
I laughed. ‘I’m not much of a science buff. I’m into religions. I want to go to Stetson for Religious Studies.’
‘Really. That’s interesting. I don’t know a whole lot about religions. I mean, I go to church with my family, but I don’t really think about it a lot outside of that.’
‘My faith is very important to me. I want to be a light unto the world.’ I said. At this Diane rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe you’ll go to church with us some time?’
‘Maybe.’ Michael replied.
‘Maybe in the meantime, you’ll let us show you around town? Take you on a walking tour?’Diane said.
‘Yeah, that’s a great idea,’ I agreed.
‘Well, it’s not like I’m new around here. I’m just sort of new to living here. I only moved from Fruitland.’
‘Still, it’s different when you live here full time,’ I said.
Michael looked at me and smiled. It was the first time I saw him smile and I was charmed. ‘I’d love to, really, but I have someplace I have to be very soon and I can’t be late. Can I take a rain check?
I smiled back at him. ‘Sure. There’s plenty of time. We have all summer.’
‘Thanks,’ he said as he continued to unpack another box and assemble his lab.
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