Bayview Heights Trilogy (72 page)

“No, Erica does.”

“You won’t get the math award at
graduation.”

“I can’t get
every
award.”

Joanna’s black eyes widened. “You need to aim
for every award.”

“That’s unrealistic.”

“Not for you.”

Shondra swallowed hard. They’d been through
this before. “I need some downtime, Ma. I can’t study every
minute.”

“Your downtime is that volunteer work you’re
doing. The only reason I agreed to it was for college acceptance.
And you have time with your family.”

Time with family. Watching National
Geographic specials and the History Channel. Attending lectures on
cultural diversity. Participating in book discussion groups. All
four Jacobs children were so indoctrinated they squeaked with their
responsibility to their culture.

It was too much. She faced her mother
mutinously. “I’m going.”

“What?”

“I said I’m going to Down to Earth, with or
without your permission.”

“Well, we’ll see about that, young lady.”

“Yes,” Shondra said in a steely voice. “We
will.”

o0o

THE LITTLE MAN looked like Bob Fosse, with
his goatee and lean build. “Next,” he called out. “Julia
Starr.”

Julia rose from her seat in one of Julliard’s
many theaters, mounted the stairs and crossed to center stage as if
her stomach wasn’t leaping like a garden full of grasshoppers. She
stopped in the middle, poised and ready.

“What scene have you chosen, Ms. Starr?”

“Act V Scene 1 from
Macbeth
. I’ll be
Lady Macbeth.”

“Proceed, then. Our assistant will read the
other parts.”

Julia tilted her chin and threw back her
head. She stared off into space, imagining Lady Macbeth walking in
nightclothes carrying a taper. Julia had even worn a long white
flowing dress to look the part. Gracefully she held out her hand.
“Yet, there’s the spot.’” She swallowed hard as the assistant read
the other lines; in her mind, she watched the blood materialize on
her fingers. Her eyes widened, moistened with fright, as she neared
the famous soliloquy. “’Out—’” she hesitated “’—
out
damned spot, out I say! One, two, why then…’”

Losing conscious awareness of the auditorium,
Julia felt the stickiness of the blood, smelled its sweetness and
experienced the terror of a murderer. “Who would have thought the
old man to have had so much
blood
in him.’”

Her voice trembled, but held an undercurrent
of menace. Of excitement. By the time Lady Macbeth was led away by
the servants, she’d shrunken into a ball.

It was a minute before Julia was aware of the
applause. Strong. Sure. Even the director clapped.

“Well-done,” he said, then glanced down.
“Next.”

Julia crept back to her seat. She was always
exhausted after a performance, but she had to get up for her
dance/music number, anyway. She plunked down next to a guy wearing
a sweat suit and hair that brushed his collar. She noticed a Celtic
Cross around his neck. “Great job,” he said softly.

“Thanks.”

“What are you singing?”

“’What I Did for Love,’ from
Chorus
Line
. How about you?”

“This year I’m doing ‘Music of the Night’
from
Phantom
.”

Julia frowned. “This year?”

He gave her a beleaguered grin. “Yeah, it’s
my second tryout. I didn’t get in last year.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “I knew it was tough when I
applied. I hope I don’t have to wait another year. Three times, you
know.”

Unkindly she thought he must not be very
good.

Which was why she was stunned when he gave
one of the best performances of Stanley screaming “Stella,” from
Streetcar Named Desire
she’d ever seen, or when he belted
out the part of the phantom better than Michael Crawford.

An hour later Julia left Julliard’s
auditorium shaking. Not from the residue of her role as Lady
Macbeth.

But because, for the first time, she realized
that despite her incredible talent and her stellar grades, she
might not get into the school of her choice.

o0o

“I CAN’T GO to Down to Earth,” Ashley told
Evan when he presented her with the permission form given out in
class today. She’d been too nauseated to go to school. The
pregnancy test had been positive.

“Why not?”

“You’ve seen the videotape of that weekend,
Evan. It’s climbing trees and crossing logs and limbs and high
wires. I could—” she laid a hand over her stomach “—hurt the
baby.”

He gave her the standard jock shrug. Insolent
and insulting. “So what?”

Ashley dropped the glass she was holding and
it shattered to the floor. “What did you say?”

“You’re not gonna have it, anyway. Goddamn
it. Haven’t you heard what I’ve been saying all week? We’re not
gonna have a baby. We’re too young. It’ll ruin our lives.”

“But I’m pregnant.”

He watched her coldly. “That’s what abortions
are for.”

“Evan, I told you—that’s a sin.”

He rolled his eyes. No longer was he the
sweet wooing boy she’d taken off her clothes for. He was a man
today, dark and dangerous. “So is premarital sex, according to you.
Grow up, Ash.”

Battling the ever-queasy feeling in her
stomach, she stared at him. “You don’t mean this.”

“Not only do I mean it, but I want you to
talk to those Planned Parenthood people you volunteer for and find
out how to go about it. Sammy’s girlfriend had one last year, but
I’d just as soon the whole soccer team didn’t know you’re in
trouble.”

“Jenny did?”

Disgusted, he dropped into a chair. “You’re
so naive. Most of the guys on the team have been through this.”

She bit her lip. She was just another girl
who got knocked up. A terrible thought hit her. “Did this...has
this ever happened to you before, Evan?”

“No, of course not.”

“I wasn’t your first, like you were
mine.”

“So what? I’ve never been careless in my
life.”

Left unspoken was,
like you
.

She didn’t say anything else.

He glanced at his watch. “Look, I gotta get
to work.” Standing, he shoved the paper into her hands. “Sign this
and find out how to take care of the other problem.”

Still she didn’t answer. Tilting her chin up
with a finger, he raised her face to him, then bent over and kissed
her. Gently. Tenderly. Like the old Evan, not the Mr. Hyde he’d
turned into for a few minutes. “It’ll be okay, Ashley. After you
fix this, we can go back to like it was.”

He turned then and sauntered out the
door.

She scanned the kitchen. Everything looked
normal.
Like it was
. But her whole world had changed. And
in her seventeen-year-old heart, she knew no matter what she did,
nothing would ever be the same again.

“DOWN TO EARTH is all about cooperation,
self-confidence and trust building.” The manager of the site, Franz
Hoffman, spoke in a deep bass that matched his burly
appearance—longish hair, slightly graying beard, sturdy build
covered in denim and flannel. Kurt had heard the kids label him
Paul Bunyan.

Having inspected the sleeping and eating
areas and toured the grounds, the Bayview Heights contingent had
gathered in the open grassy area in front of the lodge for
instructions about the weekend to come. The sun had just set and
the wind blew gently around them, turning the warm late-October
afternoon into a cool evening.

“I’ll conduct the physical activities
tomorrow,” Hoffman continued. “And Ms. Caufield will handle the
psychological part.”

Along with the school counselor, Kurt knew,
who would be here tomorrow morning. The one who looked like
Elizabeth. He wondered if Zoe had noticed.

The director smiled. “Get a good night’s
sleep. You’ll need all your energy in the morning.” The kids
grumbled at his words. “Meanwhile, the fixings for dinner are
ready. Your first lesson in cooperation is to cook together.” Zoe,
who stood next to him, held up an envelope. Hoffman continued,
“These are the chores. Everybody take one and head to the kitchen.”
More grumbling. Just as they’d complained when they’d seen the
rustic sleeping accommodations.

Kurt’s gaze strayed to Zoe, who was passing
out the jobs. Dressed in jeans and a red BVH sweatshirt, with
sneakers on her feet and a smile on her face, she bounced from
person to person offering a pleasant comment to each of them.

He’d sleep on a dirt floor if he could share
it with her. He smiled, remembering how she’d cuddled into him at
night, and how he’d awaken with her wrapped around him They’d
manage just fine on one of the cots—or anywhere else.

Zoe approached Alex Ransom. Kurt scowled, as
he had when the young vice principal had shown up at the front of
the school to leave on the bus with everybody else…

What’s he doing here?
Kurt had
asked.

Turning. Zoe had followed his gaze.
Alex
oversees the health program. Besides, it’s good to have an
administrator along. It helps him bond with the kids.

Did you ask him to come?

She’d given Kurt a scathing look and hadn’t
answered, which had been confirmation enough. Damn.

Now he watched the big guy lean over and
whisper something in her ear. She giggled girlishly.

It was going to be a long weekend.

When she reached Kurt, she raised her brows
and said lightly, “One job left.” She smelled fresh and clean, like
soap and the outdoors.

Giving her a phony smile, he drew it out of
the envelope. “What’d you get?” he asked.

“Dishwasher.” Her gaze dropped to his paper.
“You?”

He looked down. Well, the god of the woods
must be watching out for him. “Dish dryer.”

She shrugged, as if it didn’t mean anything
to her. “I’ll see you then.”

The group trekked back into the big lodge.
The place resembled a ski chalet, with a big stone fireplace and
stuffed couches and chairs. To the right were the three bedrooms
that had been assigned to the girls. Above was a loft where the
guys would sleep. The kitchen was in the back. The cooks—Ashley,
Erica, Shondra, Alex Ransom and two guys from the class Kurt didn’t
know—started back there.

Julia, lounging at the huge trestle table
that would seat the twenty of them, watched the kitchen helpers go.
“The blind leading the blind,” she called after them. “Only Ashley
knows her way around a kitchen.”

Ransom, having heard her comment, turned to
the girl. “I resent that, young lady. My mama raised me good.
I
can cook.”

Kurt mumbled under his breath, “Anybody can
do spaghetti sauce.”

Zoe froze on her way past him to the
bedrooms. He cursed his tongue.

They’d been making dinner at his place…

Here, taste this
. He’d held out the
wooden spoon. She’d leaned over the counter and licked it. He’d
gotten hard, watching her.

Hmm. Needs more salt
.

He’d lifted the spoon to his mouth and closed
it over the spot where her lips had been.
It’s perfect
.
Holding her gaze, he’d ditched the spoon and circled the counter.
Fast and furious, he’d picked her up and set her on the table,
knocking off papers and assorted paraphernalia; he’d had her
horizontal in no time.
So are you
, he’d told her before he
claimed her…

It had been cataclysmic. Neither had been
able to mention spaghetti sauce again without conjuring up the
memory. Swearing to himself, he sought out his bunk.

Dinner was a lively affair. The food was a
bit heavy on the garlic and missing the hot pepper Kurt liked, but
Zoe praised each and every bite. When most of them were done, she
said, “All right, take your plates to the kitchen and then give us
a half hour to clean up. We’ll meet back here at eight for the
first exercise.”

“Anybody want to shoot some hoops?” Ransom
asked, bounding off the bench.

“I do.” Dan Caruso got to his feet.

Julia frowned. “When did he turn into Mr.
Jock?” she asked when Dan left.

Shondra and Erica exchanged a look.

“What’s with you and that guy?” Erica asked,
tapping her fork on the table in a nervous staccato. “You’ve been
picking on him for weeks.”

“I keep getting paired up with him.” Julia
stood. “Can’t you do something about it, Ms. Caufield?”

“Can’t do much about the pairings, Jules.
Just like in class, they’re either assigned according to your
volunteer groups or they’re random. The point of this weekend is to
work well with everybody.” She was careful not to glance at
Kurt.

Once the dishes were under way, he thought
she’d relax. But she didn’t. At the sink, her posture was stiff.
She’d taken off her sweatshirt, beneath which was a plain white
T-shirt. He could see the lacy outline of her bra beneath it.

“Switch some music on, will you?” Her hands
delved into the water, chasing soap up her arm.

“Why? So we don’t have to talk?”

She shot him a sideways glance. “I’m not sure
we have a lot to say to each other.”

He stared at her. “This is hard for me,” he
finally confessed.

“What is?”

“Being around you.”

“Then stay away.”

“As you said, we can’t pick our partners.” He
lifted plates and began to dry them. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good
idea for me to come.”

Her shoulders sagged, but she didn’t look at
him. “No, it was a good idea. All the other supervisors came.”

“They don’t have the history with you that I
do.” He set a plate down on the shelf a little too hard; it
clattered into the others. “Except maybe Ransom.”

“Jealousy doesn’t become you, Kurt.”

“Well, excuse me if I hate seeing another man
touch you.”

She stiffened even more and said cuttingly,
“If we’re going to cast stones in that area…”