Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger

“If this keeps up, you’ll both be competing for valedictorian,” my father said.

I could tell from the look in his eyes, the way he tightened his lips and moved his ears slightly back, that he really didn’t believe what he was seeing. I imagined we looked too perfect, too innocuous, or perhaps our faces were still flushed. We hadn’t had time to throw cold water on them. He didn’t look angry as much as he looked a little more concerned this time.

Seeing the knowing expression on his face made me wonder why any teenager, boy or girl, believed he or she could completely fool parents, anyway. My father wouldn’t tell me, I’m sure, but in his youth, he was surely in some similar circumstance. Yes, teenagers today were probably more sexually active than they were in my dad’s time, I thought. Eighth-graders were getting pregnant. The attitude about virginity seemed completely upside down. Once, a girl could be proud she had held out until she met the man she loved and who loved her, but now, girls even considered carrying virginity into their late teens to be so

me sort of failure.

My father worked hard. He didn’t socialize as much as everyone else’s parents did, but he wasn’t oblivious to the way things were today. Just because he trusted me not to get into trouble, that didn’t mean he would never worry that I would, maybe especially now that I was dating a boy as carefree and privileged as Kane Hill.

“Hey, Mr. Masterwood,” Kane said. “No worries. Kristin is so far above me in grade point average, I need a telescope to see her scores.”

Dad smiled. “I bet.”

“What are you doing home so early? I thought you said you would be late all week,” I said.

“I have to change and put on some formal duds. I’ve been invited to dinner at Spencer’s.”

“Spencer’s? Très top-notch,” Kane said. “My father goes there to close deals.”

Dad nodded.

“Who invited you?” I asked him.

“Mr. Johnson. He wants me to meet someone,” he added. I knew he didn’t want to say any more in front of Kane.

“Your blue suit was dry-cleaned a month ago,” I said. “It’s on the right side in your closet.”

“I was thinking about that. Good.”

“And wear the light blue shirt with that tie I bought you last Christmas,” I added as he started to back up.

He glanced at Kane, a little embarrassed, but nodded and backed out, closing the door softly.

The look on Kane’s face made me laugh.

“Yes?”

He shook his head. “You really take care of him, don’t you?”

“We take care of each other, Kane.”

He looked very sad for a moment and then turned back to his math homework. “Let me know when you’re hungry,” he said. “I’ll order and go pick it up.”

“I can just throw something together here, but you had better remember to call home and tell your mother this time,” I warned. “Stay on your homework. I’ll be back,” I told him, and went down to see what I could make us for dinner. I was pretty good at pasta with olive oil, cheese, and some eggplant. Everything was there, so I started.

I heard someone coming down the stairs about twenty minutes later and saw my father standing in the doorway.

“Well?” he asked, gesturing like a six-year-old boy waiting for his mother’s approval.

“You look very handsome, Dad.” I walked over to him and brushed his hair back a little before kissing him on the cheek.

“I always feel a little awkward in a jacket and tie, especially after a day in the field.” He looked back at the stairway. “Staying for dinner, I see,” he added, glancing at my preparations.

“Yes, I thought I’d do a nice pasta, some salad. Defrost and heat up that Italian bread we have in the freezer. Nothing fancy.”

“You’ll probably eat better than I will. I don’t like dinner meetings. Everyone waits for the right pause in chewing and drinking to say the important things after the mandatory small talk.”

“You and Uncle Tommy are really different, from the sound of how he runs his business. He says the better the deal, the better the restaurant, or vice versa.”