Lolly, Max, Kevin and the rest of the trailer park kids were huddled under the little awning that was supposed to keep the rain off. It didn't. Today was January 5, 1976. A year ago the United States of America was still involved in the Vietnam War. A year ago, Pa had not been engaged to be married or even been in love. A year ago, Lolly and Munch had lived in their own little worlds. A year ago, Lolly didn't know that somewhere on the planet a boy named Trevor Long existed. What would 1976 hold?

The squeal of the school bus braking, pulled Lolly from her reverie. Mrs. Anderson opened the bus doors and said, “Happy New Year!” A few kids, including Lolly returned the greeting. Could a whole year be a happy? It seemed to Lolly that there were good hours, good days, and sometimes good weeks, but she had yet to live a whole month that was good, much less a whole year. For sure, 1976 would be different than 1975. How much different she didn't know.

The bus rolled away from the trailer park. Munch wouldn’t be on the bus this morning. The Art Club was having an early morning meeting to finalize plans for the Art and Fashion Show on Thursday evening. Estelle was one of the volunteers so she had taken Munch to school. Just the thought of the Art and Fashion show still sent a shiver through Lolly. She didn’t hate it as much as she had, but she still dreaded it with every fiber of her being. It would be a relief to put it far, far behind her. She kept her eyes focused out the side window. In the pastures cows stood huddled in the rain. Poor things.

The bus neared the ditch where Munch and Max had had their accident. Behind her she could hear, Max saying, "Yeah, right there is where Munch smashed it." There were still ruts in the ditch where the VW Beetle had skidded off the road and into the ditch. As best as Munch could remember, he had hit the gas instead of the brake when he swerved. She looked out the front windows and she saw Trevor standing by the road. He was holding an umbrella and looking at his feet. For some reason he reminded her of Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh. He probably wouldn't like that comparison, but he was so darn cute. Trevor raised his head and watched the bus pull up beside him. He didn’t look happy. He closed his umbrella and got on the bus. When Mrs. Anderson greeted him with “Happy New Year!” Trevor said, “We’ll see.” He plopped down on the seat beside Lolly. Mrs. Anderson raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t tell him to go to his assigned seat.

Lolly took his hand. Had something happened during the night? Before she could ask he said, “Well Amber now knows about the move and she is in full out war mode.”

“Did you tell her?”

“Nope, didn’t have too. When Amber got off work last night, my mom told her. It got really ugly, really fast. Amber stormed out and went to stay with Bill and his Grandma.”

“Wow.”

“Yup, she has deserted me. If Dad cant’ get this sorted out with my mom, I'm gonna ask Jake if I can stay with him next fall. I just don’t understand how my mom can be so selfish.”

Until she got to know Trevor, Lolly had no idea that people with money had a whole different set of problems. Having money was like having a magic genie. Many wishes could be granted, but was that always a good thing? It seemed a certain level of wealth just made life more complicated. She squeezed Trevor’s hand. He gave her a rueful smile.

*

Tuesday night Grandma Toady, Lolly and Fluff sat on the couch. Trevor was at a basketball game and Mitzi and Max thankfully were with Aunt Jessie. Lolly had the Kodak movie camera set up on its tripod. It was pointed at the television so she could record, Police Woman.The camera was old. Pa and her mom had bought it when Lolly was a baby. It could record images but not sound. Still, if her mom did show up on TV, she would be able to capture her image. Trinia's appearance on screen might be so brief that if they didn’t film it they might miss it all together. The name of the episode was, The Melting Point of Ice. According to TV Guide it was about stolen diamonds. The commercials flipped by. Lolly didn’t record them. The show, began. Slowly Lolly turned the handle on the camera. Pepper, Angie Dickinson’s character, was working undercover as a caterer. As the story moved along, Lolly wondered when and if Pepper would go into a grocery store. Would she buy supplies for the catering business? The actor Robert Vaughn was in this episode and Lolly knew, Grandma Toady had a secret crush on him. Well, it wasn't so secret. Grandma Toady got a big smile on her face every time he was in a scene. Lolly really admired Angie Dickinson. She was so bad ass. It was very rare to have a smart, sexy woman as the lead in a dramatic series.

When the commercials came on, Lolly stopped turning the camera's handle and waited. The show resumed. Half way through the episode there was still no sign of her mom. Was this going to be a bust? God, she hoped not. As they neared the end of the show, Pepper went into a grocery store. This was it! Tension filled Lolly’s stomach. Would her mom appear or had her scene ended up as trash on some cutting room floor? No, there she was! Trinia was at the register. It had been a long time since Lolly had seen her mother. She was so stunned she almost forgot to keep the camera rolling. Carefully she studied every detail of her mother's face. The quirk of her lips, her smile. Those big eyes. She was dressed as a checker. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a pony tail. Her flawless skin was luminescent in the light. Pepper asked, “Have you seen this man?” She flipped out a photo.

Those big eyes squinted, as Trinia carefully scrutinized the photo. She shook her head. She parted her lips and spoke. The familiar voice came at Lolly in a wave that sent prickles up her spine. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually seen and heard her mother speak. Her mother had said only four words, “No Ma’am, I haven’t.” Pepper said, “Thanks,” and left. There were supposed to be more words. How much would Trinia get paid for only saying four words?

The story moved on to its conclusion, and then the credits began to roll. Lolly filmed them. They were almost too fast to read. The words, Trinia Phelps...grocery checker scrollled down the screen. More names appeared but Lolly didn't read them. Did any one even read credits? The credits ended and another commercial flashed onto the screen. Lolly turned off the camera and stared at the TV. Four words, a few seconds on camera, a single line and her name in the credits, was that enough for her mom? Would any of her big dreams come true? Ever? Lolly got up and unscrewed the camera from the tripod. She held it to her eye and checked to see if the film had recorded. It had. Tomorrow Grandma Toady would take it to be developed. She turned the camera over and opened the back where the film cartridge was. It had a bright yellow orange label on it with red letters. She handed the cartridge to Grandma Toady.

Grandma Toady took the cartridge and asked, “What did you think?”

What did she think? Lolly didn't know how to articulate what she really thought. There was this weird swirling void inside of her. She said, "I thought she did good. She looked really pretty.” To her dismay she began to cry.

Grandma Toady opened her arms to her. Lolly leaned into them. She pressed her face hard against Grandma Toady's shoulder. Grandma Toady knew what it felt like, what it meant to be left behind. So, did Pa. It hurt. Lolly knew her mom wouldn't call her tonight to find out what she thought about the show. Trinia was probably going out to party with her friends to celebrate her triumph. Was it a triumph in the huge scheme of things? It didn’t feel like it, at least not to Lolly.

*

The next morning when Munch got on the bus, Lolly didn’t tell him her mom had been on TV the night before. At school when she and Trevor went to the cafeteria, she didn't tell him either. She didn't tell Lisa or Jake or anyone at all until, she was on her way to Geometry. Spence Drew stopped her in the hall and asked, "Can I talk to you a second."

Her first impulse was to shout, NO! But she thought better of it and said, "You're not supposed to talk to me."

He mumbled, "I know. I was just wondering something. I was watching Police Woman last night. That grocery clerk looked kinda familiar. In the credits I saw the name Trinia Phelps. Is she related to you?"

"Uh, yeah. She is. She's my mom."

He grinned and said, "Well, I'll be damned. I never knew anyone on TV before."

He didn't know anyone on TV now. He'd never even met her mother, but she didn't point that out. She sure hoped he didn't tell anybody, but she didn't dare ask him not to.

He jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb and said, "Tell your mom she's got a fan in Texas."

"I will."

"Thanks, see ya."

"See ya." Lolly watched him walk away. That was really weird and unexpected. Could it be possible that her mom's appearance on Police Woman had just worked one small miracle in her life?