Chapter 3
I think my mom was miffed that I seemed to enjoy my three extra days off from school. I called Abby every afternoon and got all of the necessary homework assignments so I could turn them in when I go back to school on Monday.
It was two weeks after the incident that Abby’s birthday arrived. Things at school had pretty much returned to normal except no one would dare say anything bad about Abby in my presence. And Jimmy seemed to have taken a lower profile to stay out of sight.
Abby handed me a slip of paper on that Friday afternoon that had her address and instructions of how to get to her house.
“My birthday party is tomorrow afternoon and I insist that you come to it,” she told me.
I was astounded when she kissed my cheek and told me that she would not take no for an answer.
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I intended to take the bus that Saturday afternoon to make it to Abigale’s 16th birthday party. Only two weeks after mine. My birthday had been the weekend that I got suspended. I did not even get a cake because mom was mad at me. But mom drove me to Abby’s house anyway.
I was stunned when I saw the gated estate and the
mansion behind the black iron gate. I saw the limo out front. There was also a silver-gray Bentley right next to the limo as we drove up the entrance of the circular drive.
As mom pulled our mid-size family van around the drive, it was the very first time in my life that I suddenly felt not good enough. I was taken aback when the butler came to the massive oak door and asked who I was.
“My name is Jack, I’m here for Abigale’s party. She invited me to her birthday party.” Just then, the butler was joined by a very well-dressed man who I would guess was Abby’s father.
It seemed as if the two men were discussing something and they had quite serious expressions on their face. I felt my stomach fall when I glanced over my shoulder and saw that mom had already left.
“JAAAAAAAACK! You’re here,” Abby called out as she ran towards the front door. I saw the men give each other a very stern look. “You invited this boy to your party?” the father asked in a tone that that sounded annoyed.
“Don’t be such a brute, daddy! Jack is my best friend in the whole world,” Abby told her father as she hooked her arm into mine and started to lead me out to the massive patio where the party was being held.
As soon as we came out onto the patio, it became quiet. There were group of girls to the left of us and a group of boys to the right. Almost immediately, the girls got huddled together and began whispering.
The boys were not nearly so subtle as the girls.
“Look at those clothes! It looks like his mama does his shopping at the Goodwill,” one of the boys said loud enough for all to hear.
The two groups of girls to the left giggled at that.
“And look at that hair cut! I bet his mama cuts his hair for him too,” a second boy called out. Again all the girls laughed.
“Look, this was a mistake,” I muttered to Abby as I handed her my gift. “I don’t belong here…Even your father wasn’t pleased that I was here,” I told her.
“Please don’t go, Jack! I want you here,” Abby pleaded as I started walking back to the foyer to the front door. “You can’t leave, Jack. That’s a five mile walk back to where you live,” Abby offered.
“The nice thing about being poor is that you get to walk a lot,” I hissed. “I’ll be fine! The exercise will be a lot better than being stuck here with your rich friends,” I rasped.
Just as I reached the gate at the end of the quarter mile drive, the silver-gray Bentley pulled up next to me. Abby’s mom was in the driver’s seat. I watched as the passenger side window rolled down electronically.
“Get in, Jack! I will not let them open this gate until you get in,” she called out to me. “I’ll be fine! I can take care of myself and make it home,” I answered her. “Not if we don’t open the gate,” she called back.
“Fine!” I rasped. “That will be one more thing Abby’s friends can laugh about…Poor Jack had to get a ride home because he was pouting,” I hissed as I climbed in.
“Look, Jack…Kids can really be buttheads sometimes,” Mrs. Handers suggested softly. “But Abby has often told me about how wonderful you are to her and about how you always stick up for her at school,” she informed me.
“I am proud that my daughter has such a nice young man to call her best friend,” Mrs. Handers told me. “Yeah, well, your husband didn’t seem too pleased about that when I arrived,” I told her tersely. “Yeah…He can be a butthead sometimes too,” she chuckled.
I was quiet on the ride home. It was just as we pulled up in front of the duplex where I live that Mrs. Handers hit me with a bombshell. “Abby sent all those kids home. She told them that she never wanted to see them again,” she informed me.
“She did what?” I gasped in disbelief. “After all the times you have stuck up for her over the years, it was her way of sticking up for you,” Mrs. Handers,” informed me. “She didn’t have to do that! I just didn’t belong there,” I told Abby’s mother. “You husband made that very clear!”
“Look, Jack…You belonged there more than any of those other kids,” Mrs. Handers told softly me as she pulled to a stop in my driveway.
“You have been the kindest and most loyal person in her life all this time…No one deserved to be at her birthday party more than you,” she told me.
“Maybe you should tell Mr. Handers that,” I answered her as I opened the door of the Bentley to get out of the most luxurious automobile I have ever been inside of