The Lesson (24 page)

“I am so, so sorry,” she said, as she pulled napkins from her apron pocket. “The tray is heavy. It slipped from my hand so fast.”

“Oh don’t worry about it. I’m okay,” said Julianne as she wiped at her skirt. “Better the print skirt than the white blouse.”

She was being awfully gracious, thought Gina. Likely Kevin had told Julianne a lot of details about his relationship with Gina except the fact that he had been pursuing her like mad. Julianne was acting so sweet about everything—surely she did not know that Kevin was not but wanted to be involved with Gina. She glanced at Kevin. He gave her a knowing look, almost but not quite a smirk, and his eyes sparkled with mischief. She pursed her lips and flashed her eyes in a look that said,
“Stop it!
”

Gina apologized again while she hurriedly cleaned up the mess on the table. She rushed because she was embarrassed but also because she had other customers; Big Bick’s buzzed with lunchtime chatter and clinking plates. Cigarette smoke from the smoking section made the air seem close. Back in the side work area she opened the salad cooler and put her face in the brisk flow.

“Your officer getting you hot again?” Pilar pulled a plate from the pass-through window and checked the order ticket to make sure it was hers.

“He’s not my officer and he has never ‘gotten me hot,’” said Gina. She sounded testy even to herself.

“Then it must be his date that gets you steamed. They look like they’re having a whopping good time over there.”

Gina glanced in Kevin and Julianne’s direction. They were laughing again, likely over one of Kevin’s corny puns. Julianne looked amused enough, though their body language didn’t look
particularly intimate. The whole scene was confusing.

“Kevin is not my boyfriend. He is free to take to lunch whomever he wants, though I’d like to know why he made a point of bringing her in here on my shift. You know it’s not an accident.”

“No, probably not. He probably just wants to see what you’ll do.”

“Probably,” said Gina, glancing again at Kevin’s table. Kevin and Julianne were done eating. Gina shut the cooler door and started writing up bills for Kevin’s table and others in her section. She placed Burk’s on his table as she went by. He was still eating so she said she’d be back to check on him. She continued to Kevin and Julianne’s table.

“Your lunch okay?” she said, setting the bill on the table in front of Kevin.

“Perfect,” he said.

“Really good,” said Julianne. “We’ll have to come back.”

Indeed.

“We’re going to Valley Fair this afternoon,” said Kevin. “Going to do some shopping. Do you want to come along? After you get off?”

You have a twisted sense of humor, Kevin.

“Sorry guys. I have homework.”
And I don’t keep company with piglets.

Gina apologized again for the spill while they got up from the table. She watched from the side work area as Kevin held the door open for Julianne as they left. Why should she care if Kevin was spending the afternoon with Miss Big Boobs? They
had agreed to be friends and he had promised to cut the romantic stuff, so if he chose to take another girl out to lunch and shopping, well it was just part of the deal. But how odd that, so soon after their discussion in his garage, here he was in Big Bick’s with another girl. She was certain that Kevin had never mentioned this girl before. Did he think he would provoke her to jealousy?
In your dreams, Kevin.
He could connive and strategize behind the scenes all he wanted—just like the night when he followed her home from Cupertino—but that didn’t mean she had to play his game.

She returned to their table to pick up her tip. He had left her fifty percent. What an odd duck. He was forward. He was brash. He was charming and witty but corny. He was obviously trying to make her jealous even though she had made it crystal clear that she had no romantic feelings for him,
and she didn't
. He tipped her like he owned a bank yet he dressed like he bought all his clothes at the Salvation Army. There was a bit of a sleuth to his nature, which unnerved her. He cared little what other people thought about him, which, on most occasions was refreshing, but when it came to his clothes his nonchalance was a serious issue. He was tall—very important to Gina—and in uniform he certainly turned heads.

Oh yes: he had a very nice chest.

She was still analyzing the conundrum of Kevin when she realized she had not properly said good-bye to Burk. The lunch shift was winding down now. She returned to his table.

“Was everything okay?”

“Yes, all the salads here are good. But if you want truly hot tea, you have to prepare it yourself at home.”

Gina looked at his sightless eyes, clear and brown, and wished he could see her face, wished he could acknowledge her just once. If he could look into her eyes, maybe then he could see her fondness for him and maybe … It was at times like these that she forgot he was so much older than she was. He didn’t seem old, anyway. Her parents were old. Burk was not old. Not really.

Burk reached for the bill but made no move to get up. “Gina, I wish you’d reconsider going out with me. I could hire a taxi, and we could go to dinner or maybe the boardwalk at Santa Cruz. You’d be surprised—blind guys can be a lot of fun.”

“I never thought otherwise.”

“I’d love to spend some time getting to know you better,” he said.

Oh Burk, I’d love to get to know you better too.
She didn’t respond for a moment. She was still struggling.

“I hope my blindness is not an issue with you.” His face became appropriately somber.

Gina was instantly stung with embarrassment. “Oh no, not at all, Burk.” And she meant it. “I don’t even think about your blindness. I just think of you as … as Burk.”

“And I don’t think of you as a student. You seem older.”

She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but it sounded good.

“Then why don’t we have dinner together, maybe this Saturday? Are you working?”

“Yes, I am, unfortunately."

"I see," said Burk.

"Wait," said Gina, becoming animated. "I have an idea. My aunt and uncle are having a big New Year’s Eve party at the clubhouse where they live. My whole family will be there, my parents and all my aunts and uncles. And a bunch of my cousins. We always do stuff like this on holidays. Lots of food and champagne and dancing. I don’t have anyone to go with. Would you like to be my date for New Year’s Eve? I’ll drive us out there though, because I know the way, and we can leave whenever we want to and not have to worry about getting a taxi to get home.”

“I think that’s a great idea. But you don’t have to pick me up. I’ll have a taxi take me to your place, and you can drive us to your relative’s place from there.”

She gave him her address on Lincoln Street and her phone number and he agreed to be there at eight. She was already thinking about what she would wear as she watched him tap his way to the register and out the door. He even handled a white cane like a man of culture. She couldn’t wait to show him off to her family.

Gina finished her lunch shift, changed back into her street clothes, headed to the bookstore in Benson for M&Ms and red licorice, and then
crossed the Alameda to Orradre Library to get her required reading out of the way while she munched in a corner, hidden by the stacks. Afterward she fulfilled her daily duty by swimming laps in Toso Pavilion. She checked every shower before taking off her clothes to change into her swimsuit. She checked them again before changing back into her street clothes.

Gina had walked to the university this morning, so she was on foot when she first saw the strange burst of colors on her small front stoop. She was almost a block away from her apartment when she saw the fuzzy outline of three somethings, all about the same size, leaning against her front door. One was yellow, one was pink, and one was lavender. As she drew closer to her apartment, she could clearly make out three bouquets of flowers
. Three
bouquets? They must have been delivered to the wrong address. She never received flowers anymore, not since Michael had broken off their engagement, and before that awful day he had never sent her
three
bouquets.

As she neared her apartment door, she could see that the bouquets had not been delivered by a florist but were the type that one purchased from a grocery store, the stems and leaves wrapped in clear cellophane. Each bouquet was a stunning dozen roses festooned with baby’s breath. She searched all three bouquets for a card or note but found nothing. Perhaps it had fallen onto the stoop. She glanced about the strip of concrete. Nothing. She opened the
apartment door to see if someone had slipped a note underneath. No note there either.

Gina scooped up the three lovely bouquets, carried them into her apartment, and set them on the kitchen table with her books and gym bag. But before she had even closed the front door she glanced at the answering machine in the living room to see if the red light was flashing. It wasn’t. No one had called to make sure she had received the flowers.

Someone who knew where she lived wanted her attention and obviously was trying to impress her. And he was either blind, wore polyester pants, or delivered groceries in the night followed by a phone call with a deep voice.

Or perhaps he was none of those. Perhaps he was …
Michael?

Mobile Home Park, Monterey Road, San Jose

Gina was in her bedroom and had just finished slipping on black patent heels that buckled at the ankle when she heard the sound of a car pull up outside. That must be Burk. She rushed to the front window in the living room. A yellow taxi was parked at the curb with two heads inside. Burk would be paying the driver, she knew, so she had another minute to spray on some perfume. But before she could step away from the window, she saw a green Volkswagen beetle pull up behind the taxi. The driver didn’t get out. Instead he just sat there, watching the people in the taxi.

Kevin! Why couldn’t you call first?
Gina raced around the apartment, panicked, spraying on perfume, grabbing her evening wrap, checking her face and hair one more time, and double-checking the knot at the back of her white slipper satin halter top to make sure it was secure. It was racy enough that she wore a backless halter tonight—she didn’t want to chance that it would suddenly become frontless as well. She jiggled her hips to see the many layers of black chiffon flounces on her extra short skirt jiggle sexily. Solid black paired with solid white. Striking. What a pity that Burk couldn’t appreciate how nice she looked.

But now what to do about Kevin? He should have called. Why was he always so bold, so self-assured about their relationship? They didn’t even have a relationship for crying out loud! Always showing up at the wrong time. Always popping in and out of her life, causing angst. She was beginning to think that her problems with Michael were nothing compared to her problems with Kevin. Now here he was, putting her on the spot with Burk. How would she explain his sudden appearance to her date?

At least I won't have to explain his ridiculous clothes
.
Burk can't see them.
Gina squirmed with discomfort at that thought. As if Burk's blindness had an upside. Her life was too weird.
Kevin makes me crazy!

She braced herself behind her apartment door with a deep, lung-filling breath and, still clueless about what to say, put her hand on the knob and opened the door. Kevin and Burk were standing on her stoop, smiling and chatting. Burk was dressed in a sharp, well-cut dark suit, complete with an expertly made, white rose boutonnière cradled in baby’s breath and small green leaves. In one hand he held a clear plastic box containing a corsage of yellow roses, in his other hand he grasped his white cane. Kevin wore his favorite polyester dork pants,
but tonight he had paired them with a loud, rust-and-green, plaid button-up shirt, over which he had thrown an ancient brown sweater. It had holes in both elbows.

It was sad how his father’s garage had no mirror.

“So, you must be Gina’s Uncle Pietro from Sicily,” said Kevin, turning to Burk.

With horror Gina saw the lights dim in Burk’s eyes and his smile disappear. She felt compelled to explain.

“Burk, this is Kevin. Kevin, this is Burk.” Turning her voice toward Burk she said, “Kevin is a friend of mine. He’s a sailor assigned to the USS Flint at Mare Island.” Then she turned her head toward Kevin, “Burk is a friend of mine also. He’s a chemist. He lives and works in Palo Alto.” Then she thought to add, “My Uncle Pietro is driving to the party with my parents. Burk and I are going to my aunt and uncle’s New Year’s Eve party, the one I told you about.”

Kevin looked stunned as he turned toward Burk and stared, up and down. Then Burk put out his hand for Kevin to grasp.

“Fangauf. Doctor Burkhard Fangauf,” Burk said. He still wasn’t smiling.

“Friend of the
family?
” said Kevin, shaking his hand and acting stupid. As if he didn’t understand.

Kevin, you know what I mean!

“I’m Gina’s friend,” said Burk, devoid of emotion.