It was that time again. Pa was leaving. Mrs. Dutchendorph was there to see him off too. Lolly wasn’t sure she liked this intrusion. Munch, thank God was not there. He would have been casting gloom and doom or hate and daggers. Pa leaving was hard enough without that. Mrs. Dutchendorph clung to Pa’s hand. There were tears in her eyes. Lolly honestly didn’t know how Mrs. Dutchendorph was going to survive Pa leaving every three weeks. This time, he would be gone for five weeks. He had switched around his schedule so he could be home for Christmas. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, back before Pa and Mrs. Dutchendorph were even dating, but now it didn’t. Christmas was going to be a disaster.

Pa’s bags were by the door. He had his coat on already. Outside cold rain was falling. The weather was bad. Lolly and Grandma Toady would be praying tonight. He took a move toward his bag. He needed to get on the road. To Lolly’s dismay, and maybe Pa’s, Mrs. Dutchendorph burst into tears and threw her arms around him. Seriously! She was making a scene. Lolly shot a look in Grandma Toady’s direction. There was a tight smile on her face.

Pa spoke to Mrs. Dutchendorph in a low voice. She nodded and let go of him. Gently, she kissed him and stepped back. Pa hugged Grandma Toady and then Lolly. He told her, “I will call you tomorrow before I go on shift.” He kissed the top of her head. Lolly really didn’t want him to go. He picked up his bag, gave her one more smile and went out the front door followed by Mrs. Dutchendorph.

Grandma Toady hugged Lolly. She said, “Well, that was different. I hope she don’t do that every time he leaves.”

“Me too.”

Outside the front window, they saw Pa’s truck headlights flash on and begin to move away. When they had disappeared, they heard a car door slam. Mrs. Dutchendorph’s headlights came on and she left without saying goodbye. Lolly was secretly glad, she suspected Grandma Toady was too.

Grandma Toady said, “I guess I will go straighten up the rummage room and get caught up on my quilt squares.” Mitzi, Max and Puccini were with Uncle Luke, so Grandma Toady could quilt in peace tonight.

Lolly nodded and went to her room. Today, she hadn’t had to take anything but Tylenol and she was glad she did NOT have fuzzy brain. Now, she could finally type up her paper. Before he left, Pa had set up the typewriter on the kitchen table. Lolly went into the kitchen. Fluff was asleep on the window seat. Beside the type writer was her handwritten copy of her paper. She wished Mrs. Beasley believed in receiving hand written papers, like some of the other teachers. While, Lolly’s hand written paper was not perfection, it at least was not a disaster. Grimly, Lolly sat down in front of the type writer. Beside it, the perfect clean sheets of paper taunted her. This was not going to be a fun experience. The typewriter had never been her friend and Liquid Paper, which was supposed to cover up her mistakes, highlighted them. No matter how hard she tried, she always applied too much Liquid Paper on her multitude of typos. She took a deep breath and glared at the little bottle of Liquid Paper. Next, she turned on the typewriter. It made a whirring sound. Fluff did not like it. He jumped off the window seat and stalked out of the room. Next, she picked up a clean, perfect sheet of white paper. God, how she hated the fact she was going to destroy it. There was not use pretending she wouldn’t, because she would. She might as well accept it.

Diligently, she began. Her pace was slow. One word followed another. For the first time ever she got through two paragraphs without making a single mistake. It was down hill from there. At the end, she had seven bloopy, Liquid Paper blotches brushed onto her paper. Any attempt to do it again would be an invitation for a complete catastrophe. She pulled the last page out to the typewriter. It wasn’t anywhere near perfect looking but it was DONE.

As she put her paper in the folder she had bought for it, the phone rang. She answered.

Trevor said, “Hey Lolly.” By the noises in the background she knew he was calling her from a pay phone again. A horn honked.

“Hi, Trevor.”

“You sound better.”

“I am feeling better.”

There was a slight hesitation in his voice when he asked, “Could Amber and me stop by tomorrow?”

Trevor Long wanted to come see her! Grandma Toady would be thrilled. “Yes. I’d love to see y’all.”

A horn honked loud and long. Trevor covered the receiver with his hand and shouted, “Take a chill pill!” To her he said, “Great. We will be by around three if that’s okay.”

“It is.”

“See you then. Bye.”

“Bye.” Lolly put the receiver back in its cradle and stared out the window. The rain was coming down harder. She sent up a prayer for Pa. It wasn’t that she worried about his driving, he was a good driver, it was all the other people on the road that scared her. Was whoever Trevor was with a good driver? She sent up another prayer.

*

Saturday morning Lolly stood in front of her closet. If only Mitzi were there. She was feeling very anxious about seeing Trevor today. He knew where she lived, but he had never been in her house, her trailer house, her home. She tried to block out images of his house. Now, for the Armor of the Day so she could Face the World. Mitzi was only four and a half and she could slap together an outfit in less than three minutes. Unfortunately, she was with her dad. After fifteen minutes of staring into her closet, she reached for faded overalls, a turquoise pocket T, and her new chucks. It was going to have to do. If she stared at her closet one more minute her head was going to explode.

The morning was long. The hands on the wall clock barely moved. Why did waiting stretch out time? She tried to start a new novel, but she just could not focus. Fresh air, was what she needed. She put on her hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up. Hopefully, the hood wouldn’t irritate the stitches it hid. As she was making her way down Gnu Street, Kevin came out of his trailer. He saw her and waved. His smile was friendly, but it was not the same bright one he used to give her. He knew about Trevor. Still, he walked over to her.

He asked, “Mind if I join you?”

“No.”

They fell into step together. He said, “Thanks for the note. I never got a note from a girl before.” His face turned the slightest shade of pink.

“You’re welcome. It was sweet of you to write.” Now, to get the attention off of her. “How are you?”

“Okay. Nothing exciting. Max and me are going to the movies tonight. Don’t know what we are going to see. I’m kinda hoping Mitzi and her weird little bear don’t come too.”

Lolly could understand this. They looped the trailer park. When they reached Lolly’s trailer, she said, “See you later.”

“Later.” Kevin grinned and headed toward his trailer.

When Lolly got back inside and looked at the clock only fifteen minutes had passed. Seriously!

*

Lolly’s radio clock flipped the numbers to 2:45. In fifteen minutes, if they were on time, Trevor and Amber would be there. Panic had a hold on her. From the kitchen came the smell of baking cookies. Sugar cookies. Lolly loved them, but right now they smelled disgusting. One minute followed another. Five minutes before 3:00, Lolly heard a car pull up in the drive. She rushed into the living room and peeked through the curtain. It was THEM! Like Mitzi, she rushed to the door and threw it open.Trevor was just closing the car door. He looked at her. She had not seen him in days! He smiled. That smile. He was coming toward her. When he reached her, he hugged her. Lolly was so amazed, so stunned, it took her a second to hug him back. His arms tightened around her ever so slightly before he let go. Lolly had no idea what to say. They just stared at each other.

The clunk of Amber’s platform shoes hit the wooden porch. She said, “Hey girl!” The next thing she knew, Amber was hugging her. She let go and said, “You are fierce.”

“Thanks.”

From the door Grandma Toady said, “Come on in kids. I got some cookies fresh out of the oven.”

Trevor said, “Cool.” They went inside.

Shyness paralyzed Lolly. Grandma Toady handed out cookies. Trevor sucked his up like a vacuum cleaner. Max ate like that too, and she didn’t understand it. Amber sat in the recliner talking about the precious Bill, but Lolly was not listening, neither was Trevor. His eyes roved around the room. There were pictures on the wall. Pictures! Dang it, Trevor could see what she looked like when she was little and still had hair. He got up off the couch and went to look at the picture wall. Lolly remained where she was. He said, “Amber, come look at this. Baby Lolly.”

Oh, God. Lolly had been such a chubby baby. Her arms had rolls of fat. Amber said, “Girl, you were so cute.”

Trevor pointed at the picture of Lolly dressed as Tinker Bell. He said, “I love this. Kinda reminds me of the Blue Fairy. I guess you’ve been magic your whole life.”

This pleased Lolly. She felt her anxiety begin to evaporate. When Trevor rejoined her on the couch, he sat down closer to her and then he took her hand. His fingers slid through hers. She glanced at Amber. Amber gave her a smirk, but it was a nice smirk. Then, Amber launched back into part two of the adventures of Bill.