Wisdom ~ Chapter 3

An old typewriter given to Kaitlin by her grandmother is more than it seems.

      CHAPTER 3

Kaitlin’s heart pounded in anticipation as she stared at the back of Hannah’s head, wondering what her reaction would be if Ethan did in fact ask Kaitlin to the dance. She had to cover her mouth to avoid laughing at the thought of Hannah standing there stupidly, her mouth gaping open while Kaitlin and Ethan walked off hand in hand.

When the bell rang, she quickly headed out to the bleachers and waited for Jason to meet her for lunch.

Kaitlin closed her eyes and felt the warm sun beating down on her fair skin. Inhaling deeply, she breathed in the scent of the freshly cut and watered grass. Everything felt fresh and new. She loved everything about spring—the warm breeze, the deep blue sky, the bright green of the grass, and the birds singing their cheerful songs in the wide variety of trees.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Kaitlin opened her eyes to see Ethan standing in front of her, looking perfect as always. His sun-streaked blonde hair was cropped close on the sides and combed neatly back from his face on top. A few strands hung loose over his deep blue eyes, and his skin was deeply tanned.
Does he use a tanning bed? Kaitlin thought. Who’s that tanned this time of year? This is Calgary, Alberta, not California.

“Kaitlin, right?” he said, sitting next to her.

She nodded.

“This is awkward, but I’ve noticed you watching me, and I had the strongest urge to talk to you.”

Kaitlin couldn’t believe her ears. She shifted her eyes nervously. “Oh um, really?”

Ethan smiled. “I was kind of hoping you would go to the Spring dance with me.”

Kaitlin felt like a thousand butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach. “Um, uh, yeah, I would like that.”

“Great! Could I get your phone number and address?”

Kaitlin looked in her bag for a pen and paper, only finding a pen. “Do you have anything to write it on?”

Ethan held out his hand, palm up, and winked. “Will this work?”

Kaitlin’s heart almost jumped out of her chest as she took his hand and wrote her phone number and address on it. She didn’t want to let it go.

“Awesome! I’ll call you later to discuss the details,” he said, flashing her the sexiest smile she had ever seen.

“I’ll be waiting.” Kaitlin responded.

He got up and walked back toward the track.

I’ll be waiting? Seriously! Could I have sounded more desperate?

Then it hit her.

Ethan Wagner just asked me to the dance! This is actually happening!

She quickly dialed Naomi’s cell and spilled out the whole story, leaving out the part about the typewriter.

“OMG! Are you serious?” Naomi squealed. “Just out of nowhere? What about Hannah? I didn’t know they broke up!”

“Neither did I. I’m as shocked as you are, but it’s actually happening!”

“You are coming dress shopping with me tonight. We only have two days left until the dance! This is going to be so epic!”

“I know!” Kaitlin giggled.
“What’s all the excitement about?” Jason asked, sitting down next to her.

After hanging up with Naomi, Kaitlin told Jason what happened.

“Wow,” he said quietly.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Um… well, that’s great I guess,” he said, avoiding her eyes. “I guess I just thought—”

“What?”

“Nothing. That’s awesome. It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”

“Of course! You know that.”

“Well then, if you’re happy, I’m happy. I just came to tell you that I have some work to get done over lunch, so I have to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

For the rest of the day, Kaitlin was on cloud nine. She couldn’t stop smiling. Now she just had to convince her parents to buy her a dress.

Kaitlin stepped off the bus in front of the trailer park where she lived. She ran down the street toward her family’s blue-and-white trailer and stopped when she saw a police car in the driveway.

“Oh no, what now!”

She ran up the steps and threw open the door. Her mother was sitting on their new black leather couch that she had bought with her recent inheritance. The sleeve of her white blouse was torn, her hair was disheveled, and an ugly bruise covered the whole left side of her face.

“Mom!” Kaitlin cried. “What happened?”

“I tripped and fell, hitting the side of my face on the bathtub,” her mother said, shaking her head. “I can be so clumsy sometimes.”

“Mom,” Kaitlin whispered, pleading with her eyes for her mother to finally tell the truth—but her mother’s eyes pleaded back for her to stay quiet.

“I’ll take care of her from here,” Kaitlin said to the police officer.

The officer didn’t look convinced, but he sighed and turned to Kaitlin. “The neighbors called us again, reporting a domestic disturbance. These episodes are becoming pretty frequent. I think it’s obvious to everyone here what is really going on, but if your mother refuses to press charges, there’s nothing further we can do.”

“We’ll be okay,” Kaitlin assured, holding the door open for him.

When the officer left, Kaitlin sat down next to her mother on the couch. “Mom, you can’t let Eric keep doing this to you. You deserve better than that.”

Her mother forced a smile. “It’s not that bad, really. It’s my fault. We had some friends over, and you know me—I can be such a flirt. Eric was right to be angry. He just loves me so much, and it hurts him when I do stupid things like this.”

“Mom! You know there’s no excuse for him to hurt you. If he ever does it again, he will be sorry.”

“Kaitlin! Please don’t do anything stupid. If anything ever happened to you…”

“I know, Mom. Don’t worry about me. Let’s just get you cleaned up.”

“…Who would take care of me?” her mother continued.

Kaitlin’s lip trembled as she brought her mother into the washroom and ran her a bath. “Take a nice hot bath, and then we’ll put some ice on that bruise.”

She shut the door and walked back into the living room, sitting on the couch. Wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, she felt a flood of emotions overwhelm her—anger toward Eric for what he had done to her mother, and an intense sense of loss, not only for her grandmother but for the last thread of hope she had held onto that her mother truly loved her.

She isn’t capable of loving anyone but herself.

After her mother came out of the washroom, Kaitlin swallowed her tears, wrapped some frozen peas in a dish towel, and handed them to her.

“Thanks,” her mother said softly, wincing as she gently pressed the frozen peas to her face.

The door opened, and in stumbled Eric. His hair and clothes were disheveled, and the smell of beer, rum, and cigarette smoke filled the trailer.

Without saying a word, he stumbled into the bedroom and closed the door.

“Pig,” Kaitlin muttered under her breath.

She went to her room and closed the door. Walking over to her dresser, she took the picture of her grandmother off the mirror and lay down on the bed with it.

“Grandma, I wish you were here. Everything made more sense when you were here.”

Curling up on her side, she held the picture close to her chest. She had begun to drift off when her cell rang. She quickly answered it.

“Hello.”

“Kaitlin?”

“Yes.”

“This is Ethan.”

Kaitlin’s heart almost burst out of her chest at the sound of his voice. “Hi! How’s it going?”

“Pretty good. So you still want to go with me to the dance on Saturday?”

“Yes, definitely.”

Did I sound too eager?

“Great! I’ll pick you up at 6:00?”

“Sounds great!”

When she hung up, she took a deep breath and walked out to talk to her mother about the dance.

In the living room, she found her mother dressed in a short black leather mini skirt, a red low-cut shirt, and thigh-high black leather boots. Her blonde hair was curled and sprayed with so much hairspray that Kaitlin could smell it across the room. Her face had so much makeup caked onto it, Kaitlin could no longer see the dark bruise on her cheek.

“Mom, are you going out again?”

Selena smiled cheerfully, as if nothing had ever happened. “Eric and I have a party to go to. Don’t wait up, okay?”

“Wait,” Kaitlin said quickly. “Before you go, there’s a dance on Saturday and I’ve been invited, but I need a dress. Could I have some money to get one?”

Selena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you think we’re made of money? It’s not like your grandmother left us a fortune. Almost all of it is gone already. Wear something you already have, or borrow something from that friend of yours. You two look about the same size.”

“Her name is Naomi, and she wants me to go dress shopping with her tonight.”

“Well maybe she’ll buy you one too. Aren’t her parents rich?”

Kaitlin sighed. “They aren’t that rich, Mom, and I’m not going to ask her to buy me a dress.”

“Suit yourself. Why don’t you wear that dress you wore to the funeral? It was pretty.”

Kaitlin just shook her head and walked out of the room. “Have fun, Mom.”