Rembrandt Street - Chapter 5(A)

After Dinner

After dinner the Willobee's spread out in their various rooms. Margret and E'beth had dishes to wash. Mr. Willobee had mail to look through in his study. Mrs. Willobee and Cathy were in the living room with their projects. And, Megan stayed behind in the kitchen to play with the new kitties.

Margret and E'beth didn't mind the task of washing dishes. It gave them a chance to talk about school, family, family events, and boys. E'beth hadn’t had her first serious steady boyfriend. She had her regular group of girlfriends that busied her life. Her best friend was Caitlin; the boys she knew were part of her larger crowd and had been fun and easy to be with. The larger crowd would be meeting the next morning with E'beth's close girl friends at the roller skating rink.

E'beth enjoyed talking about the people and events in her life with Margret. E'beth and Caitlin had been together as best friends since before kindergarten. Their families had moved onto Rembrandt Street the same year, which was the year before E'beth was born. Their mothers had been best friends. The mothers shared an interest in reading and they often did their shopping together. During the day, when there were a few open moments, Mrs. Willobee and Mrs. Morgan would often keep in touch over the telephone.

Mrs. Morgan, Caitlin's mother, was a special person in E’beth’s and Caitlin's life. She included them in her adult conversations and as a teacher, took particular interest in their work. Mrs. Morgan was also the scout leader for the girls their age. She'd been the leader of the same group of girls since the third grade. They were now in the 8th grade. The troop was planning a trip the next year to the big gathering of girl scouts in Wyoming. There was going to be a meeting Saturday afternoon to talk about food preparation for the trip. E'beth was also in charge of the travel arrangements. E'beth was a patrol leader and Caitlin was her assistant.

Now speaking with Margret, E'beth had a chance to think through a few problems she'd been worrying about involving Caitlin. Caitlin was very beautiful where E'beth had been a plain girl. E'beth had long since been comfortable about this difference, but now, this year in school, there were changes in the relationship in that boys were being more attracted to Caitlin and seemed to be pushing E'beth away from her best friend. It seemed as if Caitlin liked this special attention. This made E'beth feel lonely for the friend she used to know.

Margret asked E'beth, "Are you jealous of Caitlin?"

"No I don't think so. I've always known Caitlin to be prettier than me. It's just that I'm feeling like I'm not as important to her as I used to be. As if she could get along without me. Like when we were in school yesterday, I was late for lunch and when I got there, she hadn't waited for me. She was already eating with some of the group and didn't remember to save a place."

Margret listened as her sister went on. "You know Margret, I am starting to think even the big trip to Wyoming isn't important to her. She never talks about it anymore and is not interested fund raising or anything. She also is starting to spend more time with Alice."

"Who's Alice?" Margret asked.

"She's a new girl in the group. She's pretty smart. She plays flute for the school band. She is supposed to be the best in the band. I think Caitlin said she's first chair."

"Is she going skating tomorrow too?"

"Yes. I think so. I don't really trust her. She thinks the scouts are kids stuff. She doesn't understand how much we do with the scouts," stated E'beth.

Margret said, "Yes, I know what you mean. When I was in scouting, some of the kids used to tease about it, but those weren't the kids I used to spend time with, so it was ok."

"Gosh Margret, I don't know what I'd do without scouting. It is a big part of who I am. You know though ... now that I'm down at Daddy's office, I'm starting to get a feeling that this is who I am too."

"What do you mean E'beth?" asked Margret.

"Well, it's just that when I'm down there, people treat me real nice because I'm Daddy's daughter.  I feel as nice as they treat me."

"E’beth, maybe they treat you nice just because you are already nice!" Margret exclaimed.

E'beth said laughingly, "Well maybe, but I think some of the students treat me special because I'm Daddy's daughter like people treat Caitlin different because she's so beautiful."

"Hmm. I never thought of it like that. Have you talked to Daddy about it yet?"

"Yes, I did. He said it's very common and that I should watch out for myself because sometimes people will use you to get ahead.  They’ll make themselves bigger than they really are." Laughing again, "Daddy said they don't know that messing around with theProf's daughter isn't going to get them ahead!

Margret laughed, "No I don't suppose so. Daddy is so smart!"

The dishes had long since been done and the girls were both sitting at the kitchen table. When the conversation paused, Margret again took notice of Megan. Megan had been with the kitties since the conversation started. She had watched them romp from one side of the room to another and do somersaults over one another. Now one kitten was lying in her lap and the other kitten was laying next to her watching Megan trace a circle on the floor with the string of one of the bibs she pulled from the drawer.

"How are you doing Megan?" asked Margret.

They're just wonderful!" exclaimed Megan. Do you think Daddy and Mommy would let them sleep with me?

"No, I don’t think so. They are pretty tiny and might need to be able to reach their litter box during the night. Margret responded.

"I could keep the door open?"

“Well Megan” said Margret. How do you think they’d be able to get up and down in the middle of the night?"

"I’d lift them!"

"Yes, but when you’re sleeping you couldn’t help them. Why don’t we wait a little longer until they are able to get up and down off the bed on their own and than ask Daddy and Mommy?

"Yes, I guess so. That’s a pretty good idea. They sure are beautiful though aren’t they?"

"Sure are sweetie, they love the pieces out of you!"

Megan smiled peacefully. “Yes,I think you’re right. They sure do like me, don't they?”

Margret and E’beth laugh. E’beth said, “Megan when you are a kitten or a six years old girl, you just can’t help but to love!”

The girls didn’t say anything for a few minutes because they all seemed to be in their own warm thoughts. “Say, I have a great idea.” said Margret. Why don’t we make some popcorn balls, then E’beth’s friends can come over for something to eat after the roller skating. How does that sound E’beth?”

"It would be great Margret! Maybe only a few of the girls though. I’d like to invite Caitlin, Margot and Tammy."

"What about Alice?" asked Margret.

"Hmm, do you think so?" asked E'beth.

"Sure be a great chance to know her. Maybe she’ll turn out to be a real neat person." Margret suggested.

"Oh, I would hope for that. Great idea let’s ask Mom!"

(Please continue below, after revision entry was over 25,000 characters. Sorry)