Girls of Summer(64)

They worked together for another hour, talking easily, deciding with some discussion but no arguments, and Beth began to wonder if they could become friends.

And what would Theo think if they did?





twenty-three


The June day notched up the serious summer heat. Tom and Dave had installed the window in his mom’s bathroom. Now they were tearing out the layers of old wallpaper so they could repair the plaster and hang new paper. Theo had a huge bulky bunch of old wallpaper in his arms and was carrying it down to dump into the trash barrels when Mack drove into the driveway.

“Hey!” Theo said, nodding a hello. He stuffed the load of paper into an already full barrel.

“Hi, Theo.” Mack climbed out of his truck and walked over to him. “I need to talk to you a minute.”

“Sure,” Theo said, but his guts turned to ice.

“You’ve been helping out the guys almost every day, I hear,” Mack said.

Theo couldn’t speak. What could he say? I’m a lazy useless bastard and don’t have a job on this island where all the businesses are desperate to hire?

   “So here’s what I’m thinking,” Mack continued. “I’d like to put you on the payroll for the summer. I need a good worker and you could learn on the job. Is this a possibility?”

Theo stopped breathing. He wanted to hit the sides of his head as if he had water in his ears. Had he heard right? Mack wanted to put him on the payroll? Mack thought Theo was good enough to work for him?

“Yeah,” Theo said. “I’d like that.”

“Let’s go up and tell the guys,” Mack said. “Dave is the boss when I’m not here. You answer to him.”

“Works for me,” Theo said, adding, “I mean, great!”



* * *



—

Theo worked like Superman the rest of the day. While he drove a load of debris to the dump, he had time to think it through, why he was so exhilarated, so absolutely damn proud to be on Mack’s crew. Theo had prided himself on his performance in sports, but he still had felt inferior to Juliet. She was older than he was, and way smarter, plus she was innately cool.

Now he thought maybe he wasn’t inferior. Just different. He liked the clean, visible effects of his work. A shingle hammered, an old cracked baseboard pried loose and replaced with a nice, sweet-smelling piece of new board, the truck bed emptied at the end of the day. Helping transform a room from just okay to spectacular. He admired Mack for the kind of work he did, restoring and renovating houses rather than building ridiculously large vanity mansions.

He’d always known as a boy growing up that he could never model himself on his father. First of all, he never saw his father, but also, he knew he would go crazy trying to work in a bank. It might be a stretch to consider Mack as a father figure, but he could definitely qualify as a mentor. He was a man Theo would like to be. And while Theo learned, he’d be hammering, wrenching, carrying, painting, and his world would become just a little bit better, safer, lasting.

   When he got home, Theo was still emotionally high, so he decided he’d make his one never-fail meal: meatloaf, baked potatoes, frozen peas. He understood that this was a meal enjoyed best in winter, but it was better than pizza or tacos. Also, he always enjoyed squishing the egg, crackers, onions, and grated cheese into the hamburger. He decorated the top of the loaf with a design of confetti made from ketchup. Disappointingly, once it had cooked, the ketchup had spread and didn’t look like confetti, so he smeared it all around and it looked better that way.

“What smells so good?” his mom asked when she walked into the house.

“I made dinner,” Theo announced, trying not to sound too pleased with himself. After work, he’d taken a quick shower and pulled on clean clothes, and while the meatloaf and potatoes were baking, he’d cleaned the kitchen and set the table.

“Why, Theo, this is wonderful!” His mom hugged him. “It’s so nice to have a hot, home-cooked meal for a change.”

Juliet strolled into the kitchen. “Wow, Theo. Get you. Something must have happened. Tell us.”

“Don’t be so cynical,” Lisa said. “I’m going to open a bottle of red wine. Anyone else?”

“I’m having beer,” Theo said. “And Juliet’s right. I’ve got an announcement. Mack has asked me to join his crew.”

“Theo, how wonderful!” Lisa held up her glass. “Here’s to you, Theo!”

Juliet said, “I wonder what Beth’s going to think about this.”

Theo knew he was turning red, partly from embarrassment at his cynical sister even knowing how he felt about Beth, partly in anger. He put on the damn oven mitts, took out the meatloaf, all shiny with ketchup, took out the four baked potatoes—he planned to eat two. His mother and Juliet bustled around filling glasses with water, putting the butter dish on the table, pouring the peas into a small serving bowl. Theo had already laid out the dishes and silverware and salt and pepper.

   He swigged back a big gulp of beer, trying to think how to let Juliet know he was pissed off at her. He knew he wasn’t as smart as she was. She was making a six-figure salary with her computer expertise. But she was always butting into his personal business, and he wanted her to step back.