Bobby's Girl (19 page)

‘Then wear a coat.'

Penny didn't argue about the heat. She returned to her tent and pulled down the elasticised waist, gaining a couple of inches of extra skirt length by turning it into a hipster.

‘Over here.' Bobby waved to her as she jumped down from her tent platform. ‘One female, one male counsellor to a truck.'

‘Pill Face has allowed us to fraternise?' she joined him.

‘The kids persuaded the Bishop,' he whispered. ‘I'm driving, so get in the cab. The kids can bang the back window if they need us.'

‘So how you coping apart from the mosquitoes using you as a larder?' Bobby asked when they were closed into the relative privacy of the cab.

‘The mosquitoes are definitely the worst. I'm considering moving into the lake.'

‘You'd have to keep your head above water.'

‘Damn, and there's me thinking I'd found a solution.'

‘Apart from the mosquitoes?' he reminded.

‘You didn't warn me that every second of every minute of every day would be regimented.' She opened the duffel bag she'd packed in her suitcase and filled with valuables and day-to-day things like her purse, passport, comb and make-up. ‘Mrs Howard left my schedule on my sleeping bag this morning when I was teaching the kids to make leaf patterns.'

‘All the counsellors have learnt to do things slowly.
Very
slowly,' he emphasized. ‘We walk at half pace, take half an hour to get the things we need from the storehouse, and extend mealtimes by at least an hour.'

‘Pace is one thing, being surrounded by Pioneers every second another. I've always liked a certain amount of alone time.'

‘Not too alone, I hope. Tonight, for instance. Half an hour after lights out, slip from the faucet and latrine to the copse of trees behind the canoes. You can't be seen
if you hunker down low. Sandy proved that with Molly last week.'

‘In the open air, so I can get bitten even more than I am now? No thank you.'

‘Then I'll sneak into your tent.'

‘Wouldn't that be risky, given that the Reverend and Mrs Howard's accommodation has an overview of the entire camp?'

‘They go to sleep early. We're here. Be sure to sit next to me.' Bobby parked and turned off the engine.

‘We're here to watch the play?' she reminded.

‘You, maybe. I intend to plot and come up with ideas for more free time – for both of us.'

‘Can't we just mooch around Stratford, Bobby?'

‘No,' Bobby replied sharply to George, the most vociferous and rebellious of the kids in their group.

‘It's hot. None of us want to be here,' Cecile, George's ‘girlfriend' of one week, moaned.

‘Then where do you want to be?' She knew it was a mistake to have asked when she saw Bobby frown.

‘By the lake. It's perfect swimming and sunbathing weather. Theatres are for winter and rainy days.'

‘The doors are open. Everyone inside,' Mrs Howard shouted. ‘We've block-booked the first two rows in the stalls. Pass out the programmes to everyone, Penelope. Make sure the Pioneers keep them. The parents will want to see them and have a full account of the cultural activities of the Pioneers on parents' day next month.'

‘Yes, ma'am. Please!' she shouted above the din of
complaining teenagers. ‘Take one as you enter the theatre. One at a time,' she reprimanded George when he tried to push past the others.

A man tapped her shoulder. ‘Your accent. You're English?'

‘Yes.' She fought the temptation to say ‘isn't it bloody obvious?'

‘How would you like a job in this theatre?'

‘Pen, the play's starting in two minutes, we have to go in.' Bobby took the remaining programmes from her and handed them to George. ‘Pass these out.'

George rolled his eyes for the benefit of his fellow Pioneers. ‘Wow, the responsibility, man. I can't take it.'

‘Shut it, George.' Bobby saw the Bishop looking at him and lowered his voice. ‘Just get on with it,' he ordered.

The distinguished-looking man looked from her to Bobby. ‘I can see you're busy. I'm Harry Fowler, the manager of this theatre. I'll find you in the intermission, Miss …?'

‘John, Penny John.'

‘I'll see you then.'

‘Yes, thank you.' She had no idea what she was thanking him for. She ushered the remaining Pioneers into the auditorium and followed them in.

‘What did that sleazebag want?' Bobby sat next to her at the end of the front row in the stalls.

‘He offered me a job.'

‘Doing what?'

‘He didn't say.'

‘I bet he didn't. I saw the way he was looking at you.'

She laughed. ‘He's old enough to be my father.'

‘He is, but that wouldn't stop him. If you were an ice cream you'd be licked to death by now.'

‘Ssh!' Pill Face glared at them from the other end of the row.

‘Time to imbibe culture, folks,' Sandy said loudly from the row behind them where he was sitting between Joan and Doreen.

The lights dimmed, the curtain rose. Bobby grabbed her hand, lifted it on his lap and hid it beneath the sweater he'd carried in.

It was good to know he was jealous. Even if it was of a man three times his age.

‘You'd be a general dogsbody. Work in the box office, run errands, prompt at rehearsals; go on stage as an extra. Can you act?'

Forgetting Bobby's advice at the orientation to lie when faced with a question about ability she said, ‘My only acting experience has been in amateur productions at school and college.'

‘No matter, we'll soon find out whether or not you have any ability. As an extra all that would be required of you is to stand onstage and look decorative, and from
where I'm standing I can see you're well qualified to do that. Your accent would be an asset in the box office and onstage if you work your way up to speaking roles.' Harry checked his watch. ‘The curtain's due to rise. Can we continue this discussion after the performance?'

‘We have to get back to Resonance straight after the show.' Bobby hadn't left her side.

‘We're camp counsellors,' she explained.

‘You've signed a contract with Resonance?'

‘I haven't signed anything.'

‘Only because you started work there less than
twenty-four
hours ago,' Bobby intervened.

Harry ignored Bobby. ‘That's excellent, Penny. No contract, no rights due to either party. You can leave right away without giving Resonance notice. I suggest you return to the camp after the show with your colleagues, pack up your things and I'll pick you up in an hour. That will give me enough time to get back here for the evening performance. I'll show you around the theatre and you can meet the repertory cast and backstage workers.'

‘I don't know the first thing about the job—' she began.

He interrupted her. ‘The wages are a hundred and fifty dollars a week. Ten per cent of all profits to be shared out among cast and backstage workers at the end of the season. We close on the thirty-first of September.'

‘Have the cast and backstage workers ever seen a share of profits?' Bobby demanded.

‘I only took over the management of this theatre last year. It was run-down. But I'm expecting to turn a profit this year,' Harry replied confidently. ‘What do you say to my
offer, Penny? I promise you the experience of working in this theatre will be more interesting than counselling in Resonance.'

‘At Resonance I live in. If I took this job I'd have to find somewhere to live—'

He interrupted her. ‘The actors are all staying in a boarding house, a five-minute walk away. Seventy-five dollars a week including breakfast and evening meal after the last show. At midday we eat cold cuts here, provided by the house.'

‘Penny, Bobby …'

Bobby waved to the Reverend Howard. ‘We're on our way.'

‘I'll pick you up in an hour's time,' Harry pressed her.

‘I need to think about it.'

Harry reached for his wallet and removed a business card. ‘Call me first thing tomorrow morning. I can pick you up at an hour's notice outside of performance time.'

‘Penny! Bobby! The Pioneers!' Reverend Howard shouted impatiently.

‘We have to go.' Bobby slipped his arm around her.

‘Don't forget to call me,' Harry shouted after her.

‘I won't, and thank you for the offer.'

‘What offer?' Reverend Howard asked her suspiciously as they exited the foyer.

‘It would appear the theatre manager believes Penny has the makings of an actress,' Bobby answered for her as he hustled her out of the building.

‘You can't seriously be thinking of working for that dirty old man?' Bobby demanded as soon as they were closeted in the privacy of the cab.

‘You're using the wrong adjective. We're the ones with half a ton of Resonance dirt on us. Mr Fowler looked remarkably clean to me.'

‘You never said you wanted to work in a theatre.'

‘I would love to work in a theatre because it would mean returning to civilisation. Hot and cold running water, loos that flush, paving beneath my feet, lights I can switch on when it gets dark …'

‘I get the message,' he interrupted. ‘You're not a Pioneer at heart.'

‘I was the one who wanted to spend the summer in New York, remember.'

‘The city's unbearably hot and humid in summer …'

‘The museums and galleries have air conditioning.'

He glanced at her. ‘You can't possibly hate Resonance after less than twenty-four hours.'

‘I hate the mosquitoes. And I can't say I'm keen on the bathroom and cooking arrangements.'

‘You'll get used to them. At the end of the summer you'll be reluctant to return to civilisation,' he prophesied.

‘That, I doubt.'

‘I don't trust dear old Harry. He's obviously after only one thing.'

‘I can take care of myself.'

‘And if the lodging house doesn't exist? How are you going to fight him off if he takes you to his house …?'

‘You've been watching too many horror films.'

‘And you're gullible. You know nothing about this man'

‘I know he's the manager of the theatre. He gave me his card.' She waved it in the air.

‘He could have stolen it.'

‘And the other dozen or more in his wallet?'

‘He could have stolen the wallet too.'

When she didn't reply Bobby drove on in silence for the rest of the journey, leaving her to wonder if an affair that had started so promisingly could burn out so quickly.

Bobby parked the truck alongside the ones Sandy and Joan had driven.

‘Right, Pioneers, all out,' he shouted.

‘No way,' George shouted. ‘Pioneers, let the sit-in commence.'

All the teenagers remained in the trucks and began to sing ‘We Shall Overcome' loudly and discordantly.

‘Quiet, you lot!' Sandy shouted.

‘Too late, the Bishop and Pill Face have arrived and are watching,' Doreen whispered.

Reverend Howard left his car and wobbled over to them. ‘What's going on?'

‘A sit-in,' Bobby explained.

‘A what?'

‘A sit-in,' Joan reiterated. ‘We're not sure what the problem is …'

The Pioneers switched to, ‘No no, no more culture, no more shows. You can't tell us where to go.'

‘I guess they didn't like the play,' Sandy quipped.

Reverend Howard turned purple. ‘Get them out of those trucks.'

‘How?' Joan asked.

‘Order them out.'

‘We tried. They ignored us,' Bobby pointed out.

‘They can't sit there for ever. Sooner or later they'll have to leave the trucks to use the latrines.'

‘Penny's right. Give them enough time and they'll get antsy and bored,' Bobby agreed.

Reverend Howard glared at both of them. ‘We're here to educate and discipline the Pioneers, not ignore their rebellious streaks.'

‘They're exercising their constitutional rights.'

Reverend Howard was incensed by Sandy's remark. ‘They're children who need to be taught right from wrong. And you're inciting them to flagrant disobedience.'

‘They're teenagers, finding their feet. If we don't encourage them to make decisions based on their own experiences, society will stagnate. We need young people to think for themselves so they can instigate the changes necessary to cope with changing social conditions.' It was only when she saw Bobby and the others staring at her, Penny realised she'd repeated an argument from one of her social studies essays that had earned her a straight A. ‘Sorry,' she murmured in embarrassment. ‘I allowed myself to get carried away.'

‘That's the first time I've agreed with you since you arrived here, Miss John,' Reverend Howard bellowed. ‘You certainly did allow yourself “to get carried away” as you put it. Your misguided liberal attitude will only
incite these childish miscreants into more flagrant shows of rebellion.'

Penny considered her reply. There was no way she was going to abandon her principles to accommodate the demands of a job she didn't want, especially when there was a better one on offer. ‘I apologise for lecturing, sir, but I won't apologise for approving the actions of the Pioneers. I believe that in thinking for themselves, some of those sitting in the trucks will become caring and
life-changing
members of American society.'

‘They'll become idle wastrels and Communists,' he spat out the last word with venom, ‘who'll demolish and eradicate everything America stands for.' Reverend Howard's face turned purple. ‘Seduced by the likes of Bob Dylan and your Commie-loving John Lennon, they blindly follow Marxism with the aim of overthrowing the work, ideals and principles of the forefathers of our great country. Instead of laying down their lives, and gladly, for their country and liberty, as their fathers did in the Second World War, all the present generation can do is grow their hair long and organise illegal marches and sit-ins to protest against a right and just war to stop the spread of the Communist poison that is already infecting this country. Burn their draft cards and demand rights for the Blacks who are happy with a segregation that protects them as much as it does the white population …'

Although Bobby had warned Penny about the reverend's political views she simply couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nor could she stand idly by and listen.

‘You really think it's right for a government – any government,' she added, mindful of her uncle's directive to tread carefully where American national pride and sensibilities were concerned, ‘to order its young men to face death fighting in a third-world country to uphold a capitalist creed that none of the native population support or want? I couldn't bear the thought of my brothers dying for a lost cause—'

Reverend Howard finally exploded. ‘You are an extremely dangerous young woman. I order you off Resonance. Now!'

‘I'll pack.' She clutched the bag containing Harry Fowler's telephone number and walked to her tent.

She heard Bobby, Joan and the reverend arguing behind her. The reverend was shouting, the others remonstrating. But they were speaking too fast for her to follow the conversation.

It didn't take her long to pack. After changing out of her Mary Quant suit into jeans and T-shirt she rammed the rest of her belongings into her tartan bag. The overflow she pushed into her duffel bag. She emerged from her tent to see the Pioneers continuing their sit-in, only now they were chanting.

‘Reverend Howard's a big fat coward. Penny stay. Penny stay.'

Bobby was waiting for her in front of her tent. ‘Ready?'

‘I have Harry Fowler's telephone number.' She held it up.

‘To hell with Harry Fowler. Sandy's calling Kate from the supply hut. She can be packed by the time we drive to
the other side of the lake. We're going on a road trip.'

‘To where?'

‘People tell me it's a big country.'

‘What'll we do for money?'

‘Work. There's always kitchen work and waitressing jobs. You game?'

She looked at the piece of paper with Harry Fowler's telephone number.

‘Where's your sense of adventure?' Bobby asked.

‘It moved to make room for my sense of
self-preservation
.'

Sandy waved to them from the supply hut doorway. ‘Kate's packing,' he shouted in a momentary lull from the singers.

Bobby looked at her. ‘It's up to you, Pen.'