It was late. From Pa’s room came faint music from his radio. It was after 11:00 and Lolly should be asleep, but she wasn’t. It had been such a strange night. The supper, Munch’s anger, and then seeing Trevor. Where was he now and what was he doing? Was he home like she was? What if he called her sometime? She started feeling anxious just thinking about it. One part of her warned her not to get her hopes up, the other part of her was just incredibly happy. She pushed away the negative thoughts.

As she lay there, with Fluff snuggled up against her, she wondered if Mrs. Dutchendorph was awake thinking about Pa. She had seen the way she looked at Pa. Did Mrs Dutchendorph have the hots for Pa? Somehow that description seemed too shallow for Mrs. Dutchendorph. Her life had not been easy. In graduate school, she had met and fallen in love with Munch's biological father, but marriage was not an option. In Texas, in 1960 it was illegal for a black person to marry a white person. The bigotry and the prejudice they encountered finally broke their union. Munch was a year old when Mrs. Dutchendorph, married Mr. Dutchendorph. He was the only father Munch ever knew.

Before Munch's dad had been sent to Vietnam they had a happy family. As a child, Lolly had longed for what they had. Then the terrible day came, and news arrived that Mr. Dutchendorph's helicopter had been shot down. Nothing was the same after that. Nothing. It had taken a long time for Munch and his Mother to get to a place of acceptance. Life could be so unbearably cruel. As far as Lolly knew, Mrs. Dutchendorph had not dated anyone since Mr. Dutchendorph died. What would happen if Pa did ask her on a real date? Would she say yes? If she did, Lolly knew one thing was for sure, Munch would pitch a fit. It might affect their friendship. Lolly didn’t want that to happen. As much as she loved Pa, he was gone most of the time, but she saw Munch every day. And what about Mrs. Dutchendorph? Could a relationship really work out with Pa so far away and gone so much?

She pulled Fluff into her arms. He pressed his cheek against hers and started to purr. The sound was soothing. It pulled her into sleep.

*

It was time. Pa was driving back to Louisiana tonight. His shift started tomorrow morning. Every time Lolly saw his packed bags by the front door, her heart just hurt. Three weeks was a long time. Yes, there were phone calls, but it was never the same as having him at home, in the trailer when she could see him. This never got easier. She Pa hug and kiss Grandma Toady and then he reached for Lolly. He hugged her tight and said, “Be a good girl, Shortcake.”

Grandma Toady said, “She always is.”

Lolly thought, no not always.

Pa picked up his bags. This was a now, that Lolly never liked. She took in a deep breath and promised herself she would not cry. It was not like he was going off to war or something. They stepped outside. A light mist was falling. Mist could cause slick roads. When he traveled, no matter what the weather was like, Lolly and Grandma Toady always prayed for his safety. They watched him into the truck. Grandma Toady took Lolly’s hand. Through the truck windshield, they saw him wave and then he started the motor. This now was moving quickly into the next one. The truck was backing out now. It was traveling down the street headed for the highway. When the tail lights completely disappeared, Grandma Toady tugged on Lolly’s hand and they went back inside.

For a moment they both stood feeling the absence of Pa. He was such a quiet man, but his stillness could fill a room. Grandma Toady let go of her hand and said, “Well, we better enjoy the peace tonight. Jessie starts back to work tomorrow night and we both know what that means.”

“Max and Mitzi,” said Lolly.

“And don’t forget that disgusting little bear, Puccini. I swear that thing is alive and runs around the house when we are sleeping.” Grandma Toady laughed. It was not a real laugh. “I guess, I best go get the kids rooms organized.” The kids room was actually the dining room with a wall built down the center. The trailer only had three real bedrooms. Lolly followed Grandma Toady to the “bedrooms.” She didn’t like organizing things but it was better than being in her room alone missing Pa.

*

On Friday morning, Munch told Lolly to meet him in the cafeteria. He had some more sketches to show her. She could only hope she liked what he drew last night. The dress he had shown her yesterday was awful. Her favorite was still the pink one with the flowing sleeves, but Munch said, “It doesn’t inspire me.” It must be tough to have to wait on a creative muse.

Trevor Long had not been on the bus this morning. Maybe he rode to school with a friend or one of his parents. Rumor was his family had money and land, but Trevor didn’t dress expensive. He just wore track pants and a t-shirt most of the time.

With a flourish of his yellow rain jacket, Munch swirled into the cafeteria. He got some looks but he did not care. He had been getting looks his whole life, When he saw Lolly, he smiled for the first time that week. His eyes locked with hers as he strode to the window where she stood. It was obvious he was in a very goof mood. Lolly knew why. Pa was offshore and a long way from his mother. This irritated her. He did not have to be THAT happy. When Munch reached her, he sang out, “Hello Sunshine.”

“Hi.”

He gave her a coy little smile and said, “I have the most fabulous sketch. I was listening to Etta James sing, I'd I'd Rather Go Blind, and this idea just popped into my head. I think it is perfect.” He flipped open his sketch book and flipped through pages of his cast off designs. Finally he stopped on a sketch of a stick body in a green pencil skirt and a sheer blouse with a lacy undershirt. First of all, Lolly did not like the skirt. Walking down that runway was going to be hard enough without having to fight against the restrictions of a pencil skirt. The blouse was too froufrou for her. He must have read her face because he said, “You don’t like it.”

“It's just I like the flowing pink dress better.”

He rolled his eyes. “Would you get over that dress, I have. Now tell me what is wrong with this ensemble?”

“It looks like something Etta James would have worn in 1968. This is 1975.”

Silently, Munch studied the drawing for a moment. He bit his lip, then said, “Damn girl, if you ain’t right.”

This was a first. Maybe he might be receptive to another conflicting idea. Now might be a good time and it might not be. She said, “Munch, you know how hard it is going to be for me to walk down that runway. I am having nightmares about it.(This was not entirely true, but Grandma Toady believed that sometimes persuasion needed the truth to be embellished.) Please Munch, I love that pink dress. I have loved it since you first time you showed the sketch to me. If I got to wear it, I thiink it would give me courage.”

For a long second, Munch studied her. She could feel his mind turning. Would he agree? She hoped so, she prayed so. Finally he said, “I won’t make any promises, but if I can find the exact shade of pink I want, I will make that dress.”

It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but it was something. “Okay.’ She gave him back his sketchbook and turned to the window. It looked out over the school parking lot. A fancy red Mustang drove passed the window. In it was Trevor Long. A woman was driving the car. Was that his mother? Lolly strained to see.

Munch asked, “What are you looking at?”

A warm flush rose on Lolly’s skin. She lied, “Nothing.”

“Girl, I know when you are lying.” He did, but Lolly, didn’t say so.

The car stopped. Trevor got out. He was wearing his track suit. According to yesterday’s morning announcements the cross country team had a meet in Rosenberg this afternoon. Some of his friends met him on the sidewalk.

Beside Lolly, Munch squealed, “Oh my God! You like Trevor Long. I never figured you'd fall for a jock."

Lolly punched him in the arm, "Shut up, do you want the whole cafeteria to hear?”

Munch rubbed his arm. “Careful now, you better be nice to me.”

“Why should I?”

Mischief played in Munch’s dark eyes. “I have Trevor’s phone number.”

“How did you get that?”

“While I was supposed to be solving problems in math yesterday, I got this idea for man's suit and started sketching instead.Trevor sits behind me and he asked what I was drawing. I showed it to him and he said, and I quote, 'That is really good.' He asked me who was wearing it in the show and I said, No one. And then," Munch's voice rose an octave, " He said, 'I could wear it.' I nearly squealed with delight. He will be the only person in my show not related to you."

Lolly felt like a huge cold wave had just crashed over her. Trevor was going to be on the runway too!

Gently, Munch place a hand on her arm. “He's coming over for a fitting. Would you like to be there?

Worried, she asked, "Wouldn’t that look suspicious?”

“I don't think so. Everybody in this whole damn school knows that we are best buds. So, it would be no big deal."

She hoped not.

Munch batted his eyelashes at her and cooed, “Come on, you know you want to be there."

She did. "If I do come, you have to Promise me that you won't do anything to embarrass me."

Munch placed his hand over his heart and said, "That I cannot do. I never know what under the stars in heaven is going to embarrass you. I can promise to be on my best behavior."

"Okay." Once again Lolly's brain was torn between delight and terror.