SMARTER?

‘Jamie, how about asking Alma if you can play in her house this afternoon? She’s in her yard playing with her new puppy. Mommie has someplace to go. Tell her you will eat lunch home.‘ ’Really, Mom?’ ‘Of course, really.’ Jamie puts her chalk board and damp cloth on the kitchen table and flies next door. The adorable fluffy retriever yips and nips at Jamie’s shoes. ‘Alma, can I hold her?’ ‘Sure, if you are careful. She’s just a baby. I’ll go ask my mother about today. Don’t worry, she’ll say ‘yes.’ Alma is back in a second. ‘I told you she’d say ‘yes.’ Mom will be home with us all afternoon.

The girls have fun. Fluffy takes short naps and wets the kitchen floor a lot. Alma wipes it up with newspapers and takes them to the trash can in the yard. ‘Jamie, how come your mother’s car is still out front? I thought she had to go someplace.’ ‘Maybe her friend, Miss Nicholson, called for her. Can we play mothers in your room? You choose the doll you want first.’ Alma puts Fluffy in the kitchen, closes all the doors so she can’t get into the living room and the girls go upstairs. They each take from the shelf one big doll that walks and talks and a small one that only says ‘Mama’ and wets like Fluffy.

Hours go quickly. Jamie looks out the front window and sees her mother get out of a shiny black car, wave to the driver, and hurry inside. ’My mother’s home now, Alma. I’d better go. Let me help you put everything back in place. If you want, you can come to my house tomorrow. I don’t know about Fluffy.’

‘Mommie, I’m back! Alma and I had a lot of fun. Her puppy is so cute. Wish I had one. Fluffy likes me, didn’t even bite. Did Mrs. Nicholson get a new car?’ ‘No. Why?’ ‘I saw you come home with somebody in a black car.’ ‘You don’t know Mrs. Lutz, Sweetheart. She and I had lunch together at Smitty’s, sat, talked, shopped and here I am. Please set the table in the kitchen. It’s easier than in the dining room. I’ll defrost a pot roast in the microwave in plenty of time for Dad to come home.’

‘Mom, I’ve invited Alma to come play here tomorrow and she said ‘sure.’‘You shouldn’t have done that, Jamie, without asking me. I’m not going to be home all day. Call her and cancel your invitation. Instead, tell her to come over at 11:30. I’ll fix an early lunch, then drive you two to the Stanley to see a Disney picture I saw when I was your age, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. I learned every song, still know them. The second kids’ feature will be ‘The Little Mermaid’. It is over at 3:30 and I’ll pick you up. Wait outside.’ ‘Swell, I’ll call Alma now.’

Before she can dial, the phone rings. A man says, ‘Hi, Hon.’ Jamie asks, ‘Who is this?’ The stranger’s voice says, ‘Sorry, wrong number.’ ‘Mom, Alma’s mother wants to thank you in advance. She will take care of Fluffy all afternoon so Alma can enjoy our afternoon together.’

The phone is ringing when Jamie and her mother come home. Jamie grabs it first. A man says, ‘Did you get the kids home on time?’ ‘Who IS this?’ she asks. The line goes dead. ‘Mom, the same man who hung up yesterday called. All he said was ‘Did you get the girls home on time? Then he hung up. Who was that?’ ‘I have no idea, Darling. Forget it.’ Jamie can’t. Each afternoon about 3 the phone rings twice and stops. Noone is there when Jamie answers. Once her mother reaches the phone first and in a low, soft voice whispers, ‘Stop calling now or ever!’ and slams the phone hard.

Jamie tells Alma about the strange calls. Alma tells her mother. Her mother tells Alma not to tell stories about friends but in the quiet of the night tells her husband.

Jamie’s parents argue a lot. He gets so angry he moves out. Jamie cries and cries. Her mother’s eyes are always red. She empties box after box of Kleenex. Mother and daughter are sad, lonely. So is Jamie’s father. It takes a long, long time but he does come back. Things are almost the way they used to be except– --Fluffy is full grown, doesn’t pee on the floor anymore. Janet and Alma no longer play with dolls. Instead they connive and talk secretly about cute boys, listen to rock music and make many decisions.

The ‘iron clad one’ is ‘We will never get married. We will each have two children and a puppy.’ Maybe they are smarter than their parents.

Maybe NOT.