Around 6:00 p.m. there was a knock on the door. Lolly answered. It was Amber, her eyes were red rimmed and she looked like she had been crying. In a quavery voice she said, “Can you go grab a pizza with me?”

“Uh, sure, let me ask. Do you want to come in?”

Amber shook her head. “I’ll wait for you in the car.”

“Okay.” Lolly watched Amber head back to her red Mustang. Her shoulder’s drooped. “Please God,” Lolly prayed, “don’t let this be about Bill.” She went to the rummage room and told Grandma Toady, “Amber just asked me to go grab some pizza with her.”

Grandma Toady gave her a look of concern. Lolly was afraid the answer would be no, and a part of her hoped the answer would be no, but it wasn’t. “Okay. Don’t be gone to long.”

Mitzi popped up from beneath the bed. “Me and Puccini want to go too.”

Lolly told her, “Not this time. Amber seems really sad. I think she want to talk to just me.”

Mitzi frowned and said, “Its hard to be sad.”

Indeed it was. Lolly went to her room and grabbed a jacket and a knit hat. The weather was changing again. Once she was inside Amber’s car she felt like she was being haunted by the ghost of Trevor. A pair of his running shoes were on the floor board.

In silence, Amber drove to the Pizza Inn. Lolly didn’t have the energy to pry anything out of her, so she just kept quiet. Once the placed their order, Amber finally said, “My folks haven’t seen my report card yet, and when they do, I am gonna have to quit my job and ditch Bill. I love my job, and I love Bill. I’m not good at school. I never have been. The only reason I wanted to go to college was to be with my friends.”

Lolly asked, “How bad are your grades?”

With her eyes fixed on the table, Amber said, “I flunked Algebra, Biology, completely and Sociology, by one point. Thanks to you I passed my Lit class just barely, I passed P.E. YEAH me.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “All I want to do is work. I’m good at my job. I don’t feel like an idiot when I’m working. I really don’t want to take Algebra, Biology or Sociology ever again. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” She looked up at Lolly and said, “I’m not asking for an answer, just some moral support."

Lolly reached across the table and gave Amber’s hand a quick squeeze. “You got that. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.”

She sighed and said, “You don’t know my folks. It will be as bad as I think. One things for sure, I am not giving up my job or Bill. I am gonna be 19 years old soon and they can’t make me do anything, but they sure as hell can cut me off.”

Not quite sure what being cut off meant, Lolly said, “I am so sorry this is happening.”

Amber gave her a lopsided smile. “You are so sweet. That’s one of the reasons my brother likes you.”

All on its own, Lolly’s bottom lip started to tremble. She looked down at the table, her eyes blurred with tears.

Amber asked, “What did he do?”

Though, Lolly wasn’t sure talking to Amber about Trevor was the best idea, she did it anyway. Amber knew Trevor. She would know if there was any hope at all. Bit by bit, Lolly was able to tell her what had happened.

The first thing Amber said, “In a way you could be flattered.”

Lolly said, “Well, Munch is certainly flattered.”

For the first time that evening, Amber smiled a real smile. “That Munch is a jewel.”

“He is.”

“Still,” Amber said, “for my brother to play the he-man card he must really like you. Usually he so damned self confident it makes me want to barf.” Her voice dropped a tad and she said, “What a dummy. He’s gonna be sorry. He’s probably sorry now.”

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Lolly wasn’t’ so sure about that.

Amber glanced at her watch. “I wish we could stay longer. God knows I don't want to go home and deliver my exceptionally good news.” She reached for her purse and told Lolly, “I’m buying, just so you know there’s one good Long in the family.”

“Thanks.” Lolly hoped, there were two good Longs in the family.

After she got back home, Lolly spent more time glancing from the kitchen clock to the telephone than focusing on her homework. Concentration was hard to come by. She tried to will the phone to ring, but it didn’t work. Somehow she was going to have to get through this evening. One minute followed another. She managed to get her Geometry and Biology homework done. Last on the list was the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. She had to write five part them on it. Great fun. The last thing she wanted to do was dive into Poe’s madness. And, she just couldn't look at the phone anymore. It was 8:45. Trevor was not going to call. She picked up her books and went to her room.

Bracing herself, she began to read. For reason’s she did not know, the words, “Pyrros is my name. Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled,” leapt out at her. This story was supposed to be autobiographical. It was a glimpse into Poe’s real life. The story surprised her. It was not ghoulish, but sad and strange. It was a story of young and desperate love. The words were as fantastic and vivid as Edgar Allen Poe’s words always were but they were not shocking. The mention of hair as a point of female beauty was painful for Lolly. It always was. She had to choose a theme for her paper, so she chose the curse Pyrros had bound himself to lest he unfaithful to Eleanora.

The phone rang. Lolly leapt to her feet and raced to kitchen. Was it Trevor? When she reached the kitchen, Max had already answered it. He said, “It’s your mom.”

It had been a while since she last heard from her mother. Lolly took the phone. “Hi Mama."

“Hey Sweetie, how are you?”

Did she really want to know? Lolly decided not to risk it. Tonight she couldn't bear to have her life dismissed. She said, “I’m okay. How are you?”

Trinia let out a squeal. “The episode of Police Woman I’m in, will air the first week in January. I just got the word and I had to call and tell you. A friend of mine swears my scene is a good one and it won’t end up on the cutting room floor.”

Silently, Lolly prayed it would not end up on the cutting room floor. The last time that had happened her mom had gone into a funk for two months. Lolly said, “I can’t wait to see it.” Really, she could wait.

Abruptly, Trinia changed the subject. “I talked to Vance’s sister. Remember Vance, he was that tubby guy your dad was friends with back in the day.” Vance and Pa were still friends, but Lolly didn’t correct her mother. “Any way, she mentioned your Pa’s wedding. I pretended like I knew. Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

The answer was simple, it was hard to tell someone something when they hadn’t called. Lolly was in no mood to coddle her mother. She said, “If I had heard from you I would have told you.”

Trinia said, “Ouch. But, I know I deserve it. I promise I will do better.” How many times had Lolly heard this? “Anyway, who is he marrying?”

“Munch’s mom.”

There was laughter on the other end of the line. “I just can’t picture your Pa with Estelle. What do they have in common? Don’t tell me he has become a vegetarian.”

“No, he hasn’t.”

To Lolly’s’ dismay her mom said, “A red blooded man, needs red blooded meat.” What was that supposed to mean?

For several more minutes, Trinia chattered away. She sounded genuinely happy and that was a good thing, but as usual the entire conversation was about Trinia’s universe. Before she hung up, her mom said, “I got a new number. You got something to write on?”

Grandma Toady kept a pad and pencil by the phone. “Yeah, I do.”

Her mom recited the number. A new number meant a new living arrangement. She sounded too happy to be single. Dutifully, Lolly wrote it down, knowing she would probably never use it. Lolly glanced at the kitchen clock. It was 9:15 and Trevor had never called. Or if he had, their line was busy. Whatever her mom said next, Lolly didn’t hear. When she said, “Love you sweet girl! Call me if you need anything. Bye!”

Lolly felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She managed to push the words, “Love you too, Mama,” through her constricting throat. She hung up the phone.

Grandma Toady stepped into the kitchen. She asked, "Is everything okay?”

The tears started. Misdirected tears wobbled down her cheeks. If only she had eyelashes! Grandma Toady took her in her arms. “You have had a hard day.” Unable to speak, Lolly nodded against Grandma Toady’s shoulder. Gently, Grandma Toady pulled away from her and asked, “Would you like me to read you?”

“Yes.”

“Go get ready for bed, I will be there in a second.”

Lolly did as she was told. Fluff as usual was hogging the bed. It must be nice to be a cat. Fluff didn’t even know who his mother was. Lolly’s mother didn’t know who Lolly was. Unless Pa had told her, Mama didn’t know anything about Spence or Trevor. She knew nothing at all.

When Grandma Toady came into the room, she held an illustrated copy of Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was Grandma Toady’s favorite book. Lolly pushed Fluff onto his side of the bed and climbed under the covers. Grandma Toady sat down on the foot of the bed and began to read, “Once upon a time..." The rhythm of Grandma Toady’s voice was the balm that Lolly’s sore heart needed. Grandma Toady knew her, Grandma Toady loved her, Grandma Toady was with her. There was comfort in this knowledge.