The Year I Stopped Being Invisible - 7. Chapter 7

"Where the hell is Taine?" asked Rex, as he came into my room and saw me crying on the bed.

I heard Tynah's voice calling "Taine? Taine? Where are you, honey? Rick?"

"He's in here," said Rex, standing next to my bed awkwardly. He was still in uniform, but had removed his tie and jacket. Instantly, Tynah appeared in the doorway, her brow knitted in concern. I turned toward the wall, trying to cover my tears and embarrassment.

"Rick, what's wrong, honey?" She came to sit on the bed, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Did you and Taine have a fight?"

I nodded my head and began to weep again. Rex, never the best with emotional scenes, shrugged his head and left my room to pour himself a drink. Tynah stroked my shoulder, attempting to soothe me as my body shook with sobs.

"Oh, honey," she drawled in her syrupy Kentucky accent. "It's all right. Boys fight all the time at your age. You two will be friends again. You'll see."

She paused and removed her hand. I could tell, even without looking, that she was straightening up to ask what she really wanted to know. Calm the hysteric, then get the facts. The thought led to my bitter smirk as I wiped my eyes and began to come back to myself.

"Do you know where he went?" Tynah asked.

"I guess he went home," I replied, still sniffling.

Tynah stood up and left me there. I heard her pick up the phone in the master bedroom, presumably calling Taine's house. There was silence for a while, and then the sound of Tynah hanging up the receiver.

"Rex, he's not answering," she said.

"Ah, he's probably there and being a little bitch like Rick," said Rex. "Those two are like a couple of little girls."

I pulled my pillow over my head and forced it against my ears with both hands so I wouldn't have to hear. I heard anyway, but at least it was a little muffled.

"Honeyyy," Tynah pleaded in that annoying drawl, "can you go over there and check on him? We promised Sylvester that we'd..."

"Ah, shit," I heard Rex say, and something slammed loudly. "I fucking knew this was going to end up with me putting myself out. Everyone around here is always 'poor little me'..."

I heard him pause as he passed my open door. His voice took on a mocking, high-pitched tone.

"Me me memememememe ME!"

I heard my door slam shut, and Rex stomping down the hall toward the kitchen, where his car keys always hung on a tiny hook right above the spare house keys. As the door to the garage opened, I heard "Fucking assholes!" and the door banged shut. Then the slam of the car door, the gunning of the engine, and the car squealing down the road.

I sighed heavily , pulled the pillow down over my eyes, and cried myself to sleep.

* * * * *

The next morning, I learned from a crabby Rex that Taine had indeed been home, but hadn't told him what happened when Rex had asked. I said a silent prayer of thanks and left for the bus stop. I waited there for a few minutes, then -- dreading the awkward moments which I was sure would ensue once Taine got on the bus -- I decided to walk to school.

It wasn't that far, only a mile and a half, and I walked and rode my bike a lot, so my legs were strong and my stamina was good. I'd have taken my bike, but I was always worried about it being stolen during the school day, one of the downsides about attending a city school near the mall and the Interstate.

As I rounded the corner from my narrow suburban street to the main road leading to the school, turning over the previous night's events in my mind from every angle, a white VW Bug pulled up beside me and honked, startling me from my zone-out.

I looked over to see Kathy Witcher, a senior from the Drama and Debate teams, gesturing me to the passenger side. Grateful for the ride, I opened the door to see her sly and somewhat condescending smile.

"Get in, little one," she said seductively. "I have to get there early."

I climbed in and closed the door, remembering -- with a shudder -- to attach my safety belt securely around me as Kathy pulled the car away from the curb.

She was a pretty girl, if a bit overweight, and her manner of dress, makeup and hairstyle made her like a mature, sophisticated career woman, even at seventeen. I thought she would make a great lawyer, as the trophy table in Mr. McRory's room was crowded with her awards for debate, oratory and extemporaneous speaking.

"You're a cute little fish, Rick," she observed. At Polk, "fish" was the upperclassmen's term for "freshman," so I took her statement as a compliment. I was wearing a clean red Izod polo shirt and a hip-hugging pair of Jordache jeans with Sperry TopSider boat shoes, and I noticed her glancing down at the bulge in my tight pants as we drove along. "You should come out with us on Friday."

"What's going on Friday?" I asked. As upset as I still was from last night's events, I perked at the prospect of being invited out with the big kids.

"Oh, you'll see, little one," she purred as we pulled into the school parking lot. I thought her calling me "little one" was pretty silly, as she stood almost a foot shorter than me, but I found it both endearing and -- oddly -- pretty hot.

Kathy parked the Bug in the senior parking lot, turned off the engine and regarded me seriously, her eyes sparkling with what looked to me like pure sex.

"Be ready at eight," she said, leaving no room for argument.

I nodded, flummoxed and blushing, and got out of the car. Friday night was sure to be an adventure!

But as Kathy and I parted ways outside the school -- she leaving with a slow, sexy wink -- my thoughts returned to the previous night's events. I had really done it this time. I was sure I had driven Taine away forever, and it made me wish I was dead. I had only known him for a week, and I thought I would literally die if I lost him. And I had no one to blame but myself if that was what had happened, as I was convinced that it had.

Please just kill me, God, I thought to myself. Either bring Taine back to me or just kill me.

Then, thinking again of Friday night's event, the other part of my mind added...

But you can wait until Saturday morning.

* * * * *

I was surprised...

No, not just surprised...let me start again.

I was overwhelmed, overjoyed, beside myself with happiness when I entered Mrs. Colby's classroom and Taine gave me a small wave, inviting me over to where he sat drawing something in his notebook.

"Hey," I ventured tentatively.

"Hey," he responded. "Your dad came over really late last night. He seemed drunk."

"Yeah," I said softly. "My mom tried calling you and she got worried when you didn't answer, so she sent him over to check if you were okay. I think she's just so used to him being drunk that..."

"Oh, man, was he drunk," Taine smiled.

"Yeah," I said, taking my seat a row back from his and to the right. "Anyway, we were all happy you were okay."

I thought I saw him nod slightly, but he didn't say anything else because the bell rang and Mrs. Colby began her lesson. Something about gerunds, I think.

* * * * *

Taine sat with me at lunch again, and again I ended up with most of a bonus meal. We were both trying our best to avoid talking about what had happened, and instead fought the awkward tension by talking -- a little more loudly and forcefully than usual -- about this and that, everything and nothing. Mostly nothing.

I was at least happy that our relationship had not been completely destroyed, but it had obviously been altered. Just before the bell rang and we left the lunchroom to go to our separate 4th period classes, Taine looked at me and said something. He said it so quietly that I couldn't really hear him over the din of the students in the hallway, so I asked him to repeat himself.

"My dad is getting back from Houston today," he said. "He wants to know if you want to come over and have dinner with us?"

My heart skipped a beat, but I studied him for a moment, trying to decide if his father's invitation to me was mutual.

"Only if you want me to," I replied. "I mean, I don't want to..."

"Sure I want you to," he pointed out. "If I didn't, I just would have told him I forgot to invite you."

With that, he walked away to his locker and, once again, blah blah blah, I was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day.

* * * * *

Rex and Mr. Maxwell talked briefly that afternoon, and Rex told me to go pack a bag after he had gotten off the phone.

"I'm staying overnight?" I asked happily.

"Yeah," Rex said -- roughly, but with humor. "I sure as hell don't want to put up with both of you Whods babbling on all night. Sly has more patience with that bullshit, I guess."

"Sly?" I was puzzled, never having heard the nickname for Sylvester before.

"Yeah, Sly. Your girlfriend's dad. Get the hell out of here."

"Crusty old man," I teased, before bounding to my room to pack my things. I was gone within five minutes, practically running all the way to the Maxwell house.

* * * * *

As I approached the house, I saw Taine and his dad ("Sly", I giggled to myself) standing in their spacious driveway, scoping out an absolutely gorgeous, brand-new 1982 model Lamborghini Countach.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. "Look at that car!"

I ran up to get a closer look, joining an obviously giddy Taine as he walked around and around the cherry-red sports car.

"Rick!" he yelled. "LOOK at this thing!"

I did, and although I'm not really that much into cars, I was truly impressed. Mr. Maxwell stood by the garage door, in black jeans and a tight black V-neck shirt, its sleeves straining at his massive biceps. He was grinning as he watched us examine his new purchase.

"Mr. Maxwell," I said excitedly. "Just...wow!"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I figured that we needed something fast enough to get out of the way next time. And call me Sly."

"Okay, Sly," I agreed.

"We'll go for a ride later," Sly promised. "Let's get your bag inside and get you guys ready for dinner. C'mon Taine!"

Taine had to struggle to pull his wide eyes away from the new car, but he followed Sly and me into the house.

And that house was impressive, even by the standards I'd expected from a racing legend. I looked around the high foyer with its enormous hanging crystal chandelier, wide mahogany staircase and gold-rimmed skylights in a hallway-atrium beyond.

I could see into the expansive, tastefully-appointed dining room, and my attention was drawn by a framed photograph of a radiant young woman, cradling a small infant in her arms. It was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen, and I knew in an instant that it had to be Taine. My mind wistfully played a snatch of one of Rex's old 78 rpm records:

You must have been a beautiful ba-byyy

'Cause, baby, look at you now...

"That's my mom and me," Taine said softly when he saw where I was looking. "Dad says she always looks over us when we have dinner."

"All the time," Sly added.

"I'm sorry," was all I could manage.

"Taine's room is upstairs on the right," Sly directed me as Taine disappeared into the hallway bathroom. "You can take his brother's bed."

"Taine has a brother?" I was surprised. Taine had never spoken of any family except for Sly and his mom, and I hadn't even considered that he might have siblings. I looked at Sly questioningly.

"Yeah," he said, "you didn't know? His brother Chuck is away at college at Rutgers in New Jersey, and his sister Sasha is at Berkeley. I have seeds all over the country!"

Sly smiled broadly and headed for the kitchen. I could smell the delicious aroma of homemade spaghetti sauce, and the wonderful garlicky smell permeated the hall. I began to climb the immaculately-polished stairs, debating whether I should wait for Taine. I was eager to see his room for the first time, though, and I knew that he was probably in the bathroom for a while, mourning his mother as privately as he did everything else.

When I reached the second floor, I turned right, past several closed doors and more framed photographs of Taine, his mother, Sly, and a boy whom I assumed to be Taine's brother Chuck. Strangely, there were no photos of either of his sisters, Patty or Sasha, but I didn't attach any particular significance to this at the time. In fact, it didn't even register.

What I did notice was that they were all family photographs, rather than the Formula 1 racing victory shots and publicity photos which I had expected. There was probably a trophy room somewhere, but it was clear that this was meant to a loving family home and not a tribute to Sly's racing career.

I opened the door at the end of the hall, and found myself in a simple but tasteful bedroom, with twin beds on either side of a large mahogany desk. Other than Taine's school books and notebooks on the desk, a couple of Rutgers pennants on the wall above what I surmised to be Chuck's bed, and Taine's book bag by the other bed, there was no sign that anyone lived there at all. In other words, it was just like my room at home.

The beds were neatly made, there were no other decorations on the sky-blue walls, and the air smelled only faintly of lavender, a scent I traced to a Glade Plug-In air freshener inserted in an outlet by the perfect, white-trimmed wainscoting. As I looked around the room for any errant signs of life, my eyes settled on a sliver of white sticking out from under Taine's bed.

I went to pick it up, and found that it was a photograph of Taine's mother, just as radiant and smiling as in all the other pictures I had seen that afternoon. But this one was wrinkled, unframed, and stained with what were obviously the tracks of countless tears. My heart broke in my chest again. I replaced the photo under Taine's bed and laid my bag at the side of Chuck's bed, sitting gently so as not to mess up the carefully-placed diamond-print duvet, which matched its twin across the room.

Soon, Taine came into the room, tossed his cap lightly onto his desk and sat down on his bed, looking at me from across the room.

"You should probably go wash up for dinner," he said. "The bathroom's the third door after this one."

I got up and started to leave the room. My heart thudded in my chest as I heard him say one more thing, softly but seriously.

"After dinner...we need to talk."