The Hayloft: a 1950s Mystery (5 page)

“But you’re saying he might have done it when
he was in an agitated state?”

“He could have. And because he was agitated,
maybe he wasn’t as careful as he should have been.”

“So if he fell, he would have landed on his
head.”

“Well, actually, he landed on his back. Which
makes sense because of the way he would have rotated. But I think
the base of his skull hit the back of a seat and that’s what killed
him. It broke his neck.”

Ralph had been a daredevil. The times I had
played with him, he had done some crazy things, such as climbing
trees to much greater heights than I would. Our house in Atherton
had a garage attached to it with a flat roof. Why a flat roof in
snow country I’ll never know, but from the time I was old enough,
whenever it snowed, I was elected to go onto the roof and shovel
the white stuff off, so that the roof wouldn’t cave in. The roof
had a low wooden fence around it, with a flat, wooden top. Ralph
had walked around the roof on the fence. That had been scary
enough. At least he hadn’t walked on his hands.

“Have you told Ralph’s parents this?” I
asked.

“I haven’t told anybody, except you. And
you’re sworn to secrecy. The poor guy’s dead. Does it matter
exactly how it happened?”

CHAPTER 6

The next morning I was looking forward to my
meeting with Sylvia and Natalie. I whistled on my drive to school.
Well, maybe whistling isn’t the best way to describe it, because
with my braces, the best I could manage was a sound like the wind
moaning.

As I walked through the auditorium, the
lights were already on backstage. I leapt onto the stage and
hurried to the dressing room. Natalie was there, but I didn’t see
Sylvia. Natalie was dressed in a blouse without transparency,
although the top couple of buttons were enticingly unbuttoned.

“Hi,” I said in my friendliest voice. And
then, stating the obvious, “I guess Sylvia’s not here yet.”

“She’s not coming. She called me last night.
She’s got a meeting or something to go to. She’s always got
something happening.”

“Oh.” Suddenly I felt awkward, alone with
Natalie. With Sylvia I had felt comfortable from the moment I had
met her, but Natalie was different. “She seems to be involved in a
lot of things.”

“Yeah. Now she’s trying to reform the
school.”

“Reform the reform school? I didn’t know it
needed reforming.” Natalie gave a condescending chuckle, and I
said, “Well, I guess we should practice nim.”

“That’s what we’re here for.”

There were things I would rather have done
alone with Natalie, but we sat side-by-side and practiced nim. Over
and over again. Until she caught on. Until she could respond to
every move I made, instantly and correctly, almost without thinking
about it.

As we played, thoughts ran through my head as
they always did when I was close to a good-looking girl. I wondered
what it was like for two people with braces to kiss. I didn’t have
a lot of experience in that area. The top of her blouse came open a
little when she moved, and I saw a strap. One strap. She was not
wearing a full slip today. Only a bra. That was very unusual. Most
girls always wore slips.

“I think I’ve got it,” Natalie finally said,
jumping up and doing a little dance. “I’m ready for Barney.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. Okay, it was partly
because I didn’t want to lose this intimacy with her, but I also
had real fears about whether she would clutch when faced with the
overbearing Barney and forget the right moves.

“I’m a cheerleader,” she said when I
mentioned this to her. “I’m used to performing in front of crowds.
I can handle the pressure.”

The awkwardness began to come back now that
we were no longer busy. It was time for me to go to my homeroom in
the cafeteria. Only I didn’t want to leave just yet. To make
conversation, I said, “Does Sylvia have a boyfriend?”

“She’s going with a guy who graduated in
June.”

“So he’s in college now?”

“He enlisted in the Army. He wants to go to
Korea.”

“Oh.” Korea. That conjured up ghastly images.
People were dying there. Or at least they had been. I changed the
subject. “Did you know this fellow, Ralph, who fell from the
balcony?”

She looked at me, a startled expression on
her face. “You heard about that, eh?”

“Yes. Umm…Sylvia told me.”

“Everybody knew him. Ralph was a great guy.”
Natalie choked up a little. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

“Do you know how it happened?”

“He was alone. Probably clowning around.
That’s how boys are.”

Dr. Graves had said much the same thing. It
irritated me that everybody assumed Ralph was responsible for his
own death. “Do you really believe that nobody was with him?”

“That’s what everybody said.” Natalie looked
at me. “Why are you so interested in Ralph?”

I almost told her that I was Ralph’s cousin,
but I couldn’t get it out. It would make the moment too emotional,
and I wasn’t an emotional person. Instead, I said, “Just
curiosity.”

Why would he be in the balcony of the
auditorium alone? If he were really clowning, he probably had an
audience. I knew from my own experience that there was no point to
showing off if nobody was watching.

***

By lunchtime I was excited— and terrified.
Natalie had said she was going to challenge Barney today. What if
she lost? She would be humiliated again, and I would be to blame. I
couldn’t coach her. I couldn’t even acknowledge that I knew
her.

On the other hand, if she won, I would have
two permanent allies. And what allies. Beautiful Natalie. Even if I
couldn’t date her, I could have a platonic affair with her behind
Joe’s back. And my imagination would do the rest. And Sylvia, who
made her own rules and was trying to reform the school. And then I
realized that our friendship would help me spy on her. Bleah. Every
time I had a happy thought, I was knocked back to reality.

I went through the lunch line and took my
tray to the far end of the cafeteria. I wanted to be as close to
the table where Barney played his games as possible. I sat with two
boys from my math class. I had earned the right to do so by
answering a couple of questions in class. They were Barney
admirers. Except where Barney was smart and loud, they were smart
and quiet. Which was more typical. Barney was in my math class,
too. But he sat across the room from me, and I hadn’t officially
met him yet.

I had no intention of being permanently
identified with any particular group. I was going to be a man
without a clique. I would associate with anybody and everybody, the
way Sylvia did. She was my model. Today she was sitting at the
table across the aisle with some other girls, including Natalie.
Their excitement was palpable, as they talked rapidly in voices too
low to carry to other tables. I knew what they were talking
about.

After about five minutes, Barney showed up at
my table. I had thought he might. It would give me a chance to
observe the enemy firsthand. He sat across from me, and one of my
seatmates introduced us. He stuck out his hand, and I shook it. He
was well-dressed for a brain, with a clean sport shirt and pressed
pants. And his dark hair was immaculate.

“You’re the guy who answered all the
questions in math,” he said.

I shrugged. “Once in a while I get
lucky.”

“Are you going to join the chess club?”

“I might.” That wasn’t on the forbidden
list.

“Maybe you’d like to play a game of nim
sometime.”

The last thing I wanted was for him to think
I was interested in nim. I said, “I’m afraid that’s out of my
league.”

As the conversation turned to other things, I
found myself sweating with anticipation at what was to come. I had
trouble eating, which was unusual for me. But Barney, laughing and
chatting, had no idea that his fate, as well as mine, might be
determined in the next few minutes.

Finally he said, “Okay, I need milk
cartons.”

I donated my two, and he set them up on the
table beside us, which had been kept empty, not because it was
beside the faculty area, which is what I had surmised, but because
it was Barney’s private playground. He moved over to that table,
and the room became quieter. The teachers had all left, which was
undoubtedly why he picked this particular time.

I glanced across the aisle to where Sylvia
and Natalie were sitting. Sylvia was whispering in Natalie’s ear.
Natalie looked pale. My anxiety deepened. Maybe she wasn’t up to
this. Barney issued his challenge. The room became quieter. Nobody
moved. Then Natalie stood up. She walked over to Barney’s table and
sat down, opposite him.

Barney had a strange look on his face. He
said, “What are you doing?”

Natalie said quietly, “I’m challenging
you.”

The silence in the cafeteria was now
complete. You could have heard a napkin drop. For a few seconds,
neither of them moved. Then, in something approaching his usual
loud voice, he said, “Okay, we need stakes.”

“You first,” Natalie said.

“Well,” Barney said, “same as before. Except
that you have to run around the building after school this
afternoon, during football practice.”

Football practice and cheerleader practice.
When a lot of students would be there. Not only football players
and cheerleaders, but also anybody else who could make it. And I
knew there would be a crowd to watch a naked Natalie. And there
would be consequences afterward. What Dr. Graves would do to her
was anybody’s guess.

“So, what are you going to make me do if you
win?” Barney had recovered from the surprise of seeing Natalie
issue a challenge.

Natalie looked at him with disdain. “Nothing.
The pleasure of beating you will be sufficient.”

Barney stared at her with his mouth open.
There was an audible sucking in of breath among the students, many
of whom were now clustered around the table, and a few shouts of
what she should make Barney do. Some of the suggestions were
obscene, producing scattered laughter. But I began to understand
that this was perfect. Losing would be Barney’s humiliation, and
nothing could top that. I wondered whether Natalie or Sylvia had
thought it up.

Barney was on the defensive. Looking over the
heads of others who were watching, I saw his Adam’s apple bob up
and down as he swallowed. But again he recovered and said, somewhat
gruffly, “Okay, go ahead and start.”

Natalie smiled sweetly at him and said,
“Barney, I’m going to be big about this and let you start
today.”

I almost cheered. She had pulled herself
together. Barney was in a pickle, just as I had perceived he would
be. He couldn’t insist that she start without giving himself and
the game away. And losing face.

He said, lightly, “Ladies first.”

“No, I want you to start.”

Her tone of voice let Barney know that he
couldn’t jolly her into starting. Barney appeared to be studying
the pieces, but I knew that he was trying to figure a way out of
his dilemma. He must be wondering whether she really knew what she
was doing.

He looked up and said, “I gave you the
opportunity to start, but if that’s what you want. Far be it for me
to go against the wishes of a lady. Don’t say I didn’t warn
you.”

He hesitated again, perhaps hoping that this
psychological ploy would change her mind. She sat, immobile, with
her eyes looking straight at him. And I knew what damage her eyes
could inflict. He withered under her gaze.

“Well, here goes,” he said, trying to cover
his discomfiture. He removed three cartons from the row of
five.

I had been thinking he might do that and had
drilled Natalie especially on the response to that move, because it
was not at all intuitive. But when she didn’t do anything for a few
seconds, I began to perspire anew. Had she forgotten? Had the
lessons flown out of her head?

I glanced at Barney. He was trying not to
look cocky. He was thinking the same thing. She was at a loss. I
glanced at Sylvia, who was standing beside Natalie’s shoulder. She
was trying to hide her concern.

Natalie looked up from the board at Barney
and said, “I thought you were going to make it difficult for
me.”

She daintily picked up a carton from the row
of seven and set it aside. One carton. My heart almost stopped. But
when Barney moved his hand as if to take a turn, she slapped it and
said, “Wait. I’m not done.”

She picked up a second carton from the row of
seven and tossed it back over her shoulder where it hit an
unsuspecting boy in the chest. Laughter. She picked up a third
carton and threw it in another direction. More laughter. Then the
fourth. And the fifth. By the time she picked up the seventh
carton, the cafeteria was a pandemonium. She flipped it right into
Barney’s face and said, “Your turn.”

Barney sat there with milk running down his
nose. The game wasn’t even over yet, but he was already soundly
defeated. Automatically, he removed a carton. Natalie countered. It
was anticlimax. By the time Barney was forced to remove the last
carton, the cheering must have reached Dr. Graves in his office,
who would be wondering if he had an insurrection on his hands.

Sylvia hugged Natalie. Other girls hugged
her. Boys patted her on the back. Barney got up and slunk away, all
alone. After he had left the cafeteria, I also left, all alone. Now
that it was over, I was feeling let down, and I was wondering if my
senior year had already peaked. It dawned on me that Sylvia and
Natalie didn’t need me any more. And I didn’t have any other
friends.

CHAPTER 7

For the third morning in a row, I arrived at
the school early and went to the backstage rendezvous. Sylvia had
caught me at the end of the day yesterday and asked if I could
come. I was at my lowest ebb, emotionally, since I had started
going to Carter. Ruing the past, missing my friends from Atherton,
not looking forward to attempting to adjust to life at Carter. And
thinking about Ralph, especially at night in his old room. And
wondering how to fulfill the demands of Dr. Graves.