Part 7 (1/2)
”Would you mind telling me exactly what this is all about?”
The officer was now turning his hat round and round in his hands. ”Ma'am, my name is Officer Peterson, with the city police here in Savannah.
We had a call tonight from the governor's office, saying your father had called them and was distraught over the possibility that something might have happened to you. He asked that we verify your whereabouts.”
”Excuse me,” Emma said, raising one eyebrow, ”but that doesn't sound like my father.”
”Brent Cresswell was the name we got, ma'am.
Evidently the credit card center called him to verify a lost or stolen card report, and he feared for your well-being.”
”That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard,” snapped Emma. ”My father has never in his life even wondered about my well-being!”
Even as she said it, she remembered her father's desire to stay in closer touch from now on.
Could that be it? Could he really be concerned about her because she'd reported the credit card lost? But then Emma had a terrible thought: He didn't do this because he cares about me. He did it because he's just afraid I'll vanish from the face of the earth before he can find a way to use me against Mother!
”We couldn't very well ignore a request from the governor's office, ma'am,” explained the po- liceman.
”Officer Peterson, I am eighteen years of age and no longer a minor. I see this as a violation of my privacy, and-”
”Please, Miss Cresswell, if you'll just show some identification, then me and Mr. Conland here can go back about our business, and you and your friend can go back to bed.”
Sam thought the glare on Emma's expression could have stopped a speeding bullet. It was unbelievable. There Sam was, ready to die of fright, and Emma had this cop cowering in his boots. Sam was even beginning to feel a little sorry for Jimmy Peterson.
Without a word, Emma turned and swept into her room, returning a moment later with her wallet, which she virtually flung at Officer Peter- son. After checking her driver's license, the two men apologized once more and left.
”I cannot believe what just happened,” Emma said softly as soon as the girls were alone. She sank back into a chair.
”You were awesome!” Sam cried, her eyes s.h.i.+ning.
”Thanks,” Emma said in a monotone. But the look on Emma's face was not one of triumph. In fact, she looked terribly sad.
”I guess we should have called your father,”
offered Sam. ”Parents do worry about these things.”
”This little charade had nothing to do with worry,” Emma replied with a sigh. ”Believe me, I know the man. This was about power.”
Sam, who wasn't sure she understood, had nothing to say.
”I can't think about it anymore,” Emma added, turning to reenter her room. ”Let's go back to bed and forget this ever happened.”
The girls said good night and retired to their rooms. Sam fell immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep. But Emma's Technicolor dreams featured herself as a heroine, driving a beat-up VW bug on an urgent mission and leaving two evil hitchhikers behind in a cloud of dust. One looked vaguely like her father, and one was a blond- wigged Minnie Mouse waving a hand that sported an enormous diamond.
Much further north, in New Haven, Carrie looked up from the political science textbook and rubbed her eyes. She'd have to get some sleep soon if she expected to do well on her midterm exam the next day. She found herself thinking that if the night had gone as she'd planned, she wouldn't still be cramming here at three in the morning. Fighting a rising irritation with Josh, she opened her desk drawer to find one of the candy bars she kept hidden there.
They had met at eight o'clock in Josh's room to study together for the test. But Josh, who wasn't as far behind in his work as she was, had wanted to talk. The talk had soon escalated into an argument, eclipsing any possibility of study.
”I think I've been pretty patient, if you want to know the truth,” Josh had said after bringing up the subject of spring break.
”You have been,” Carrie had meekly agreed.
The fact that she was spending spring break with Billy had been eating at him, she knew. But she had been so busy! She hadn't seen much of Josh lately; when she did, she'd been so rushed that it was easy to avoid the issue. A little guiltily, Carrie realized that she had hoped to sidestep it entirely. Anyway, she would be spending time with Sam and Emma, too. It wasn't just Billy.
”So listen, we've got to deal with this,” Josh had pressed.
Carrie had tapped her pen lightly on the notes they were starting to review. ”We're watching the Third Reich come to power, and you're wor- ried about spring break?” she had joked, trying to bring Josh back to the cla.s.swork.
Josh had grabbed the pen from her hand and in his frustration had sent it flying across the room.
”I'm sick of this, Carrie!” he had exploded. ”We never talk anymore! You're always at the news- paper, or at the library, or in the darkroom, or in New York . . . when are you going to have some time for me? Or is that just not enough of a priority anymore?”
”I do care about you, Josh, it's just that-”
”It's just that you're planning to spend the only free time you've had all year with someone else.”
*Josh, I've admitted I'm confused ...”
”Well, I'm confused, too. I'm confused about how some guy from last summer could have made such an impression that you'd throw away a five-year relations.h.i.+p!”
Carrie had looked in silence at her hands, waiting to see if his anger was spent. She still loved him so much. Why couldn't he understand that it was just different now? ”Josh, I-” she started.
”No, wait,” Josh had interrupted. He'd lowered his voice, and Carrie noted a new, serious tone.
”The fact is,” he had continued, ”since you don't seem willing to do anything about it, I'm going to call the shots. I know you've been planning this trip for a long time, and I wouldn't ask you to call it off. But if you're still confused when you get back, I'm ready to start seeing someone else.”
Carrie had felt something catch in her throat.
”Someone in particular?” she had ventured, and was stunned to see Josh fighting a guilty smile as his face flushed all the way up to his hairline.
”Well, there's someone I'm attracted to.”
Oh my G.o.d, it's Sarah Lovett! Carrie had thought, now feeling she'd completely misinter- preted the secretive smiles they'd exchanged pa.s.sing in the hall. White-hot jealousy seared like molten lava through her veins. How dare she?
Carrie had thought.
”Josh,” she had managed to strangle out, ”please don't ever think you don't mean the world to me. I guess I've just been so busy that I didn't see how unfair this has been to you.”
In the silence that had ensued, Josh had reached for her hand, holding it tightly between both of his, and finally raising it to his lips for a kiss. He had given out with a heart-rending ”Oh, Carrie”
before taking her into his arms.
Fear of losing him had sweetened the moment, and quickly renewed her attraction to him. Josh had kissed her pa.s.sionately, and Carrie, returning the kiss, had felt an overwhelming desire for him.
He had been her first love. . . .
What am I doing? Carrie had found the pres- ence of mind to ask herself. A moment later, she had gently disengaged herself from Josh's em- brace. Josh had pounded his fist on the wall in frustration.
”How do you think this makes me feel?” he had cried. ”You're spending your only vacation with that guy, and I'm not even allowed to touch you!”