Saturday, March 14, 1987

It was a typical Saturday morning. Trixie got up and did her chores as soon as possible, so that she wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day. Everyone had been late getting to bed the night before because they had sat up visiting with Hallie, catching up on family news and making plans for the rest of the week.

Hallie had been surprised and somewhat puzzled that Trixie had no plans for spring break, other than spending time with her. Hallie thought for sure Trixie would have had some sort of trip or fundraiser planned.

With some help from Hallie, Trixie’s chores were done in record time. The two cousins headed over to Manor House and the stables to exercise some of the horses. Hallie was meeting Dan for a ride through the preserve, and Trixie was going to take a jumping lesson from Regan. It would be months before the annual Turf Show, but Trixie wanted to do well this year, and Regan had agreed to give her some extra lessons as long as she was willing to work.

By the time Trixie had finished her lesson, cleaned the tack and rubbed down Susie, it was late in the afternoon. She took a quick shower and changed into jeans and an oversized sweater. Todd had called earlier in the week to confirm their date, but that had been the only time she had heard from him. They were going to go see Children of a Lesser God and then go to Wimpy’s for a bite to eat. Trixie was a little nervous about going to Wimpy’s because she knew that Mart, Di, Hallie and Dan would probably end up there sometime in the evening, but she knew that if she should continue to date Todd, she couldn’t keep avoiding them.

When Todd picked her up at seven o’clock, he was once again the perfect gentleman. Mart was still at home this time and gave Todd the evil eye the entire time. He had enough sense not to say anything that would irritate Trixie.

On the ride to town, Trixie and Todd spoke about their week in general. Todd dominated the conversation talking about how wonderfully he played ball the night before and how excited he was for the game next Friday against Sleepyside. The winning team would be going to the state basketball tournament. He gave a play-by-play of the entire game because he knew “Trixie was so upset she missed seeing it.” If there had been videotape of the game, he probably would have forgone the movie and instead suggested watching the game tape over and over again.

Trixie’s mind began to wander and she suddenly found herself reciting in her head, “Six slippery snails, slid slowly seaward, Six slippery snails, slid slowly seaward,” remembering the tongue twister Bobby had been reciting all week.

The movie theatre was not packed, as it had been the week before. Todd dragged Trixie up to the back row of the balcony. Immediately, she felt uncomfortable. Todd set his drink in the cup holder and before the previews had even started, he began making moves on Trixie. First he put his arm around her. Trixie didn’t feel very comfortable with that, but she told herself it was because no one but Jim had ever put his arm around her. Before she knew it, Todd had bent down and had begun nuzzling her neck. She tried to pull away from Todd, but he persisted.

“Hey, don’t worry babe,” he said. “You’ll like it.”

Trixie really felt uncomfortable, but wasn’t sure what to do. She convinced herself that Todd really hadn’t done anything wrong and she was just being a prude. The previews started and she hoped that Todd would show some interest in them. Again, she was wrong. She began to feel like she was on a date with an octopus. Todd’s arms seemed to be everywhere. First they were rubbing her back as if to feel if she had a bra on. He tried to pull her into an embrace and forced a kiss on her lips. When his tongue tried to invade her mouth, she pulled back. She and Jim had never gone that far and they had dated for almost two years.

“Come on, babe,” he said. “Relax and enjoy yourself.”

Trixie could have been watching a movie of grass growing for all she knew. She spent the entire movie trying to fend off Todd’s advances. By the time the movie was over, she was fuming. She didn’t say a word as they walked out of the theater. Todd tried to grab her hand but she pulled away.

“Babe, what’s the matter?” he asked.

“First of all, I’m not your babe and secondly, I don’t like to be pawed,” Trixie snapped.

Todd looked shocked. “What do you mean, babe? All the girls I date love to be treated that way.” He almost swaggered as they walked down the street.

Trixie gritted her teeth and said, “Just take me home, Todd.”

“Can’t do that, babe,” he replied. “I told some the guys from the basketball team we’d meet them at Wimpy’s after the movie. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Loads of fun,” Trixie whispered sarcastically under her breath. As they walked down the street to Wimpy’s, Todd repeatedly tried to put his arm around Trixie and pull her towards him, and Trixie repeatedly removed his arm and put some distance between them.

Todd started to get frustrated, “Quit being such a drama queen,” he scolded. “There are lots of girls who would do just about anything to go on a date with me.”

Trixie stopped in her tracks. Todd continued for a few steps before he realized that she was no longer next to him. When he finally stopped and looked at her, he appeared to be annoyed.

Trixie spat, “Well, maybe you should have dated one of them, because I surely wouldn’t go out with you again if you were the last man on earth.” She started walking again and marched right by him. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to Todd. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find my own way home even if I have to walk.”

She turned back around and headed down the street. Not quite sure what she was going to do, she walked into Wimpy’s. She entered the diner and headed straight to the restroom. Thankfully, no one was in there when she entered. She headed to a stall, locked the door, and sat down on the toilet. Valiantly, she willed herself not to cry. She tried every technique she could think of.

First, she took deep breaths. When all she got was light-headed, she tried biting her knuckles. All that gave her was sore knuckles. In the end, she decided to let the tears flow. She lost track of the time. Eventually, she stood up and wiped her nose with a tissue she found in her purse.

She washed her hands and checked her face. She did her best to hide the fact that she’d been crying, but to no avail. Finally, she threw her shoulders back and with her head in the air walked back into the diner.

Todd was in the diner talking with some of his teammates when Trixie walked in. He quickly glanced at her and then ignored her as he continued to speak. “Yeah, we did it in the back row of the Cameo. We went to see some lame movie about some deaf chick. I sure wasn’t going to watch the movie,” he bragged. “Of course, she’s from Sleepyside so she was kind of a cold fish. I guess it could have been worse, but I don’t know how.”

Trixie’s eyes widened when she heard the remarks along with just about everyone in the room. She glanced around and saw Mart, Diana, Dan, and Hallie sitting in a booth. Disgust was written all over their faces. Trixie turned ten shades of red. Then she got angry because she thought her friends believed Todd Roberts and hadn’t even asked her for her side of the story.

She turned on her heel and raced out the door. She was halfway home when she slowed down and caught her breath. She realized it wasn’t the wisest thing to do, walking home alone late on a Saturday night, but it would take her just as long to go back into town to call her dad to pick her up as it would be to just walk home.

She was surprised that she made it home before Mart and Hallie. She figured they would have come after her and confronted her. She was glad they hadn’t. All she wanted to do was crawl in bed and go to sleep. Maybe when she woke up in the morning she would realize this had just been a bad nightmare.

She hung up her coat and headed upstairs. After sticking her head in her parents’ bedroom to tell them she was home, she headed to her bedroom. She felt so dirty after her date, she took a long hot shower before she climbed in bed. She heard Mart and Hallie come in just as she crossed from the bathroom to her bedroom. Quickly, she turned off her light and climbed into bed. She listened as Mart climbed the stairs, stopped by his parents’ room and then headed down the hall. The footsteps stopped in front of Trixie’s door. She prayed he would just let her be tonight. She was in no shape to deal with his disappointment. Her prayers were answered when the footsteps continued down the hall.

Sunday, March 15, 1987

Trixie had tossed and turned all night. Finally, about five o’clock she fell asleep. She awoke to someone pounding on the door.

She groaned when she heard Mart’s voice. “Come on Trixie. It’s eight o’clock. The Belden Bus is leaving for church in thirty minutes.”

After mumbling something incoherent about getting up, Trixie rolled over and buried her head under her pillow, hoping last night had just been a horrible nightmare. Finally, she realized that it wasn’t, and she better face the music.

Quickly, she got out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, hoping to avoid Mart and Hallie. She managed to get ready just in time to get into the car with the rest of the family. Trixie climbed into the back of the van, buckled in and stared out the window the entire way to church. She was quiet on the ride back.

Trixie and Hallie helped Moms prepare Sunday dinner. Dan and Diana would be joining the family. It was all Trixie could do to keep from crying. She even volunteered to cut the onions because then she would have an excuse for the tears. Hallie tried to carry on a light conversation with Trixie about the happenings in Sleepyside. Trixie struggled to keep the dialogue going.

Dinner was agony for Trixie. She felt like Dan, Mart, Hallie and Di were looking at her in disgust. Mart hadn’t said anything to her yet and she was just waiting for him to say, “I told you so.” After dinner, the two couples decided to take advantage of the warm, spring-like day and go for a walk in the preserve. They invited Trixie to come along, but she declined.

Later that evening, Mart knocked on Trixie’s door. “Can we talk?” he asked.

Not wanting to be further humiliated, Trixie replied, “I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.” Mart didn’t press the matter and Trixie felt like she had dodged a bullet.

The rest of Spring Break dragged on for Trixie. She really tried to make an effort to do things with Hallie but her heart wasn’t in it. Trixie was miserable. Her best friend was out of the country and she couldn’t commiserate with her. She knew she still had feelings for Jim and now that it had been several months, she realized that she had been wrong in the way she handled not only her break-up with Jim, but Brian and Honey’s as well. She really wanted to talk to her friend Jim, but didn’t know how to approach him.

She couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with Mart. She was so embarrassed by the entire episode with Todd. Dan was even worse. She felt like she not only had let herself down but the rest of the Bob-Whites as well.

By Friday, everyone in the household was walking on pins and needles. No one knew what to say to Trixie. Moms was frustrated because she wasn’t quite sure of all that had transpired. While she would have loved to ask Mart about the problem, intuitively she knew she needed to wait until Trixie confided in her.

At about noon on Friday, Moms called up to Trixie who had been sulking in her room like she had most of the week. “Trixie, I just put a cake in the oven and I need you to run to town.”

Reluctantly, Trixie came out of her room and shuffled down the stairs. “Where do you need me to go?”

“I thought I had everything for the get-together after the game tonight, but I just realized there isn’t any strawberry pop and your brothers broke into the chips. Could you take the car, stop at Lytell’s and pick those few things up?”

Trixie tried to muster some excitement but she couldn’t quite do it. “Sure, Moms,” she said. “Anything else you want me to do?” At least she’d have something to occupy her time.

“If you’d like, you could head over to the train station. Your father had to run into the city this morning and should be back on the one o’clock train. He’s taking the afternoon off to do a few things around the house before the game.”

Trixie took off and headed to Lytell’s. She was a little nervous about going inside. Mr. Lytell always seemed to know everything about everybody. There was no doubt in her mind that he had heard all about Saturday night’s escapades. Squaring her shoulders, she walked into the store. She had done nothing wrong and she was tired of moping around about the entire incident.

To her surprise, Mr. Lytell greeted her with a gruff hello and said nothing else. Quickly, she picked out the things that she needed. She had checked out and was heading out the door when she heard, “Todd Roberts is a jerk.” She looked back to see Mr. Lytell wink at her. For the first time all week, a real smile made it to her eyes.

Trixie pulled into the train station about five minutes early. She decided to park the car and walk into the lobby since her dad didn’t know that she would be picking him up. The train was just pulling up. Trixie looked for her dad and when she didn’t see him right away, she headed over to a bench to wait. Before she could sit down, strong arms engulfed her from behind. Before she could put up a struggle, the person whispered, “It’s okay, little sister.”

Trixie turned to Brian and gave him a huge hug. For several minutes, she held on for dear life. She didn’t realize it, but tears were running down her eyes. Brian just held her until she loosened her grip.

Finally, he set her back and looked into her eyes. “Hey, what’s the matter, Trixie?”

Trixie suddenly remembered where she was and quickly tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. Her eyes scanned the lobby looking for someone. “Was Dad on the train with you?” she asked.

Brian chuckled. “No,” he replied. “I think Moms was trying to surprise you.” He hesitated for a second, debating what to tell her. “I think she was worried about you.”

Trixie’s cheeks turned a bright red. She looked around the lobby one more time. “Did Jim come home with you?” Jim was the last person she wanted to deal with today.

“No,” he replied. “He decided to stay at school. With his parents and Honey out of the country and Hallie staying at our house, he felt he should stay at school.” Brian hesitated, looked directly in Trixie’s eyes and quietly said, “He’s been a little distracted lately and said he could use a weekend by himself to get back in the routine.”

Trixie groaned. She knew how distracted she had been the last two months. She hoped that Jim’s grades had not been affected by their break-up.

Brian picked up his bag and backpack and guided his sister out to the car. Trixie handed the keys over to him. She didn’t feel much like driving. In fact, she just wished she could blink herself home and hide in her bedroom until she turned thirty.

Once they were both in the car with their seatbelts fastened, Trixie threw her head back and closed her eyes. Brian started the car and headed out. After several minutes, Brian stopped the car and turned off the engine. They were home, but Trixie wasn’t quite ready to go into the house. She knew she needed to talk to someone and she wanted that person to be Brian.

“Do you mind if we go for a walk?” she asked. “I really need to talk to someone who can be a little objective.”

Trixie didn’t move until Brian had walked around the car and opened the door for her. “Come on. Let’s walk and talk,” he said.

As they walked, Trixie talked. Brian was surprised when she started with his and Honey’s break-up and how that had affected her. That led to telling the story of Jim’s break-up.

Brian couldn’t keep quiet and had interrupted her, “You mean to tell me that you and Jim broke up because of an argument you had over Honey and me?”

“I know, Brian. It was stupid. I was all for meddling in your business, but Jim insisted we stay out of it. I thought he was acting that way because he was getting ready to break up with me. We got into a huge fight and I panicked. I broke up with him so he wouldn’t break up with me. How stupid is that?”

They were walking past the dock at the Wheeler Lake. Even though there was still ice on the lake, it was starting to melt. Brian guided Trixie over to the picnic table that was pushed up against the boathouse. “Trixie, let me tell you something about Honey and me,” Brian started.

This time it was Trixie’s turn to interrupt Brian. “Don’t say another word. It is none of my business what happened between the two of you. If I would have just minded my own business I wouldn’t be in the mess I’m in right now. Jim and I would still be dating, and I would have enjoyed Hallie’s visit this week instead of moping around like a spoiled brat.”

Brian looked off over the lake as he continued, “No, Trixie. I want you to know this, and Honey wants you to know this as well. She called me right before she went to Europe and we talked.” He paused and for a moment, Trixie wondered if he was going to continue. Finally, spoke again. “Honey and I broke up at Christmas by mutual consent. Neither one of us wanted to date anyone else, and we had a wonderful time for most of the holidays. First semester had been a killer; I had Organic Chemistry and it took up so much of my time. Even though we knew our time would be limited, I felt like I was abandoning Honey and felt she didn’t deserve it.”

When Brian paused, Trixie chimed in, “Always Mr. Honorable. I can’t believe Honey went along with that.”

“She didn’t want to at first. I explained every which way to China that it wasn’t because I was interested in seeing anyone else. Finally she agreed with the break-up on the condition that if we felt the same about each other in the spring, we would go to prom together.”

Trixie sat there, hanging her head. “Did Jim know about this?” she asked.

Brian looked a little sheepish. “Well,” he stalled. “We had some discussions before finals last semester. I didn’t know where to turn and he is my best friend. He knew what my concerns were but we never spoke about the actual break-up, and for what it’s worth, we didn’t speak about yours either. We decided when we started dating that if our friendship was going to survive, we had to keep our noses out of each other’s relationship.”

Trixie tried to inconspicuously wipe the tears out of her eyes. “I wish some of your smarts would rub off on me. Maybe I wouldn’t get myself into such trouble.”

Brian grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her up to continue their walk through the preserve. “Something tells me there’s more to this story than just yours and my break-ups.”

Trixie sighed. “You have no idea the rest of the story.” She proceeded to tell him about her escapades with Todd Roberts and how Mart had badgered her about going out with Todd. She told about her dates and that fateful night when she and everyone in Wimpy’s had overheard Todd talk about their supposed activities. “I was so embarrassed. It was bad enough that half of the school seemed to be there but when I looked over at Mart and saw the disgust in his eyes, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I was shocked that he believed Todd without even asking to hear my side of the story.”

They walked in silence for several minutes before Brian responded. Quietly, he asked, “Are you sure it was you he was disgusted with? Did he say that to you?”

Trixie stopped in her tracks. She had been so embarrassed by the situation that she had, as usual, jumped to conclusions without really thinking it out. “No,” she responded. “I guess I didn’t. I was so angry at Todd and when I saw Dan’s and Mart’s faces and the disgust in them, I just assumed they believed him. That was pretty stupid, wasn’t it?”

Brian wrapped Trixie in his arms again. “I think that Mart understands. In fact, he was the one who called me and asked me to come home this weekend. He mentioned the two of you had had a huge misunderstanding and he couldn’t get through to you. He was worried.” He paused for a second and then continued. “And no, he didn’t tell me the story. I think he knew that you needed to tell it to me.”

Trixie sighed with relief. “I’m so glad my brothers have more sense than I have. This week has been miserable. I had actually been looking forward to spending time with Hallie, but I’ve been so embarrassed, I could hardly set foot outside of my bedroom. I was just glad that she and Dan were able to spend some quality time together.”

Brian glanced down at his watch. “Oh my goodness, it’s after three o’clock. Moms is probably worried about us.”

The two walked back down to the farm. Trixie felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She asked Brian about his classes. Brian commented that since he and Honey had officially broken up, they actually communicated more. Honey had even called from Europe to talk to him. They were working on cementing a friendship that both hoped would one day again lead to something more.

By the time they were back to the house, both of them had smiles on their faces. They stopped by the car to get Brian’s gear and the pop and chips for the party that evening.

Mart had just walked into the kitchen when the two of them entered the house. He stopped in his tracks, as if not knowing what he should do. Trixie set her packages on the table and ran into her brother’s arms.

Mart wrapped his arms around his sister as she sobbed into his shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I know I should have listened to you and trusted that you trusted my judgment. I was just so embarrassed.”

“Shh,” Mart soothed. “It’s okay. I knew some way or another it would work itself out. I never doubted for a minute that Todd was making up stories.”

“It was just so embarrassing,” Trixie sobbed. “Everyone there heard him and believed him. The entire school must think I’m easy.”

Mart continued to embrace Trixie as he replied, “Everyone there does not believe him. Most people know you and know that you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

The three siblings talked for a few more minutes. Mart glanced at the clock and said. “Well, I’ve got to get a few things together before I leave. They want us at the school early today since it’s such a big game. I’m leaving in twenty minutes.

Trixie gasped, “That means I’ve got to get going, too. I’m supposed to help Di set up the concessions. Where’s Hallie? Do we have to pick up Dan? I wanted to get a shower.”

The kitchen door slammed shut and Hallie and Dan walked in. “You ready to go, Belden?” Dan asked.

“Hi, Dan,” Brian said. The two friends greeted each other with a handshake and a pat on the back. Brian then moved to Hallie and gave her a hug. “We were just discussing transportation to town.”

“I’ve gotta get cleaned up,” Trixie said. “You guys decide logistics while I do that.”

The next fifteen minutes were chaotic. Trixie raced around washing up, changing her clothes and trying to tame her curls. Finally, she tousled her hair with her hands and gave up. She didn’t realize how that simple act made her so attractive. She changed into an oversized sweatshirt that had “Sleepyside High”, emblazoned on it along with a pair of jeans and her Reeboks.

As she raced down the stairs, the rest of the group was just starting to head out to the BWG station wagon that Dan had driven over.

“Do we need to pick up Diana?” Trixie asked.

Brian climbed into the driver seat and Trixie rode shotgun.

“I just called her,” Mart replied. “She’s ready and waiting for us.”

When the six friends pulled into the parking lot of the high school, the bus with the Croton-on-the-Hudson team had just pulled up. Trixie cringed at the thought of seeing any of their team, but in particular Todd Roberts.

As she got out of the car, Mart put his arm around her and said, “Don’t let them get to you. Act as if nothing happened.”

Trixie took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and marched into the school. The Croton team just started to debark the bus when Trixie walked by. She didn’t hesitate at all and kept her eyes forward. As she opened the door, Todd walked by her. While he didn’t show any remorse for what he had done, he did seem to give Trixie and her friends a wide berth.

Trixie shook her head to clear it and headed to the bleachers with Diana, Brian and Hallie. They found seats in the student cheering section on the side of the gym opposite where the teams sat.

Before the beginning of the game, the team captains met with the referees at center court. Dan and Mart represented Sleepyside and Todd Roberts and along with another player represented Croton-on the Hudson. When the co-captains were instructed to shake hands, Dan and Mart extended theirs immediately. The other player shook theirs immediately but Todd hesitated. As Todd reluctantly shook Dan’s and Mart’s hands, he seemed to shift his weight uncomfortably as if something was chafing him.

The game began. Sleepyside took the lead and by the end of the first quarter they led by ten points. Dan’s and Mart’s games were on and they couldn’t seem to miss a shot if they had been blindfolded. Todd, on the other hand, couldn’t have hit a basket if it had been lowered to five feet off the ground and he walked right up to it and placed the ball in it.

Every time Dan or Mart looked at Todd, he squirmed. By halftime, it was obvious that his concentration was shot. Unfortunately, his cockiness was not stifled and Todd made a crass comment to Dan right in front of the referee. It was so vulgar, a technical foul was called on him.

Time had run out on the clock when Dan sank the two free throws, increasing Sleepyside’s lead to eighteen points as the teams went into the locker rooms.

Trixie looked at Diana. “What’s going on?” she hissed. “Did Dan and Mart say something to Todd? It’s like he’s afraid of them.”

Diana innocently glanced at her friend. “I have no idea if and what they said to Todd. I do know they were furious with him last weekend so I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something.”

“Well, I suspected that Todd had an inflated idea about his talents on the basketball court. I did think he was better than that though. He is the team captain,” Trixie commented.

Diana shrugged her shoulders, but she couldn’t meet her friend’s eyes.

Hallie was sitting on the other side of Trixie. “I don’t know what anyone would see in someone like him. I mean, he’s not that good-looking and even if he was, his ego is so big you’d always play second fiddle to it.” Suddenly, Hallie gasped realizing what she had just said and she blushed. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it to.”

Trixie wrapped her arm around her cousin’s shoulder and said, “No offense taken. If I hadn’t been wallowing in self-pity I don’t think I would have even given Todd Roberts a second glance. He was pretty decent on our first date, if you don’t count his constant talking about his favorite topic - himself. It was on the second date that he got so creepy.”

During the rest of halftime, Trixie regaled her friends with tales of her dates with Todd Roberts. She even found herself laughing at Todd’s antics.

Hallie and Diana had to hold back their anger several times when Trixie told about how he treated her in the theater and on their walk to Wimpy’s.

“I don’t know what Dan and Mart said to Todd, but if I get within ten feet of that jerk, he is not going to be able to walk for days and his family jewels may need to be re-set,” Diana said.

The second half of the game started. Brian had made his way back to where the girls were sitting. He sat down next to Trixie and the four of them enjoyed the rest of the game. All focused on the great game play of the Sleepyside team and not the poor play of the Croton-on-the-Hudson team.

In the end, Sleepyside increased its lead to twenty-five points before the final buzzer rang. The Sleepyside student section stormed the court to help celebrate their first trip to the state basketball tournament in twenty-five years.

Trixie had just given a hug to Dan when she looked up and saw Todd Roberts dejectedly making his way to the locker room.

Dan saw her look and gave Trixie an extra hug of encouragement.

“Just what did you and Mart say to Todd?” Trixie asked.

“A guy doesn’t reveal all of his secrets, Trix,” Dan said. “Besides you’re better off not knowing.”

Mart came up behind the two of them, one arm around Diana. “Someday, Trix, I’ll tell you but for now just know that Todd Roberts won’t be spreading rumors about any of the girls he dates for a long time.”

For once, Trixie’s curiosity did not get the best of her. She knew that it was probably best that she didn’t know what those two had done. She was grateful she had family and friends who believed in her and watched her back. Having Todd Roberts out of her life was an added bonus.