Three Brunettes
Natalie
He poked at his cereal watching the Quisp bob up and down in the milk. Mom smoked a cigarette and continued to yenta to his aunt about the latest in the General Hospital storyline. So then Audrey told Dr. Hardy…you know they have a thing for each other. She has the patience of a saint. He rolled his eyes and took another sugary spoonful.
He got up and put his bowl in the sink. His Mom rinsed it out and put it in the dishwasher, all without missing a beat on the phone. As he went out the front door, she reached into the trendy avocado colored fridge for another Tab.
His Dad was in the living room messing with the Hi-Fi. Chicago played, all horns and percussion as dozens of silver knobs raised levels. Woofer. Tweeter. Balance. Tone. Bass. Treble. Each one filtered through the cardboard cones of the enormous speakers. As he passed through, his Dad looked up at him questioningly. Greg paused, "Sounds a little tinny to me. Needs more bass," he offered. His Dad nodded and goosed the knob, Greg nodded, "better."
"Greg! Get home by three; you've got piano!" She screamed through the screen as he headed over to the park with his glove.
He walked up to the curve in the cul-de-sac and over to the park. That was a mistake, their having this house. It was the model. Upgraded with green sculptured carpet, foil wallpaper in the powder-room, the pass-through from the kitchen to the patio, the fireplace, all of it was for some other family. But the salesman screwed something up, and instead of the starter home in phase III, his family had moved into the fully tricked-out model when they closed out the subdivision.
The path meandered through the park. To the left was the 'little-kids' playground, full of merry-go-rounds, swings and those horses on springs. It was the first summer Saturday after school had let out, so everyone was here. He veered right, through the picnic area, to the baseball diamond. He saw the other kids warming up and he quickened his pace. He was hoping to pitch.
The sun shone, but it wasn't hot. Kevin's face was already red with sunburn. Greg tugged on his cap and squinted. He threw a few back and forth with Brian. Some girls had stationed themselves at the perimeter wearing colorful cotton dresses and sandals. Karen with her blond hair and pink, paisley dress stood out, a classical beauty amongst the others who were trying too hard with white frosted lipstick they had shoplifted from the Rexal.
After the choose up, Greg took his place on the mound and they started. His starting pitches were slow, but as he got warmed up he was able to get them across the plate with reasonable heat. Not that the kids from the neighborhood could appreciate it. Bobby from across the street swung at all three of them well after they had passed him.
They played until the skies grew dark and threatened rain. By then it was time to go home and see what their moms had made for lunch. He waved to the guys as they dispersed and saw out of the corner of his eye that Karen was following behind him with her best friend Natalie. Natalie and Karen were inseparable; it was as though they were one person with the name of Natalieandkaren. Karen was beautiful, the one the guys all talked about on the schoolyard, but…there was something about Natalie.
Karen had perfect long, Breck-girl hair, blue eyes and a soft voice that you had to strain to hear. Natalie was her polar opposite, a loud brunette who was a know-it-all in school. Last summer Natalie went into the irrigation canal with the boys to catch penny-frogs while Karen sat on the banks and waited. Natalie lost her balance and got her butt wet and the boys teased her for the rest of the day. Karen was much too ladylike for stuff like that.
Greg had the feeling that they wanted something, but kept on walking towards his house. He was just at the part where the fence separated the park from the Martin's house.
"Hey Greg!" Natalie shouted and he could hear her salt-water sandals pounding the sidewalk behind him.
He stopped and turned around. Natalie ran towards him as Karen hung back, fiddling with the hem on her dress. "What?" He stuck his glove under his arm and waited.
She got up to him and grabbed his elbow. "I have something to ask you."
They waited a minute. Girls rarely spoke to boys, unless it was to tease them, or to ask for help. "So ask."
She swallowed and looked back at Karen, who smiled encouragingly at her. "Okay, but not here."
"Where?" They were in a park, there weren't all that many private places, besides, he wanted to get home in time for American Bandstand.
Natalie walked towards the fence, which was shaded on the park-side by a tall oleander bush. When they were younger they played back there, pretending it was a cave or a house or even as Natalie contended, a magical portal that could transport them to Disneyland. She was always coming up with stuff like that.
Natalie brushed the flat, shiny leaves of the oleander out of her way and leaned against the fence. "Someone likes you." She smiled shyly.
He didn't know what to say to that. He liked her, but it wasn't like he was going to start hanging out with girls. His buddy Bruce was always talking about kissing girls, but Greg didn't see the point. Although sometimes Natalie wasn't like the other girls. "Oh?"
"Yes." She smiled at him. Karen might look like those girls in his Mom's magazines, but Natalie was genuinely beautiful when she smiled. It was something in her eyes.
"So?" He waited for her to get the point.
She looked down at the dirt. The bush made a pink flowered crown at the top of her head. "Well, what do you think?"
Greg looked at her; if he was going to like a girl it would have been Natalie. "About what?"
"About Karen." She smiled, "She thinks that you're groovy."
"Oh." It wasn't Natalie. It was Karen. If the other guys knew that Karen liked him they'd envy him, although honestly, none of them knew why exactly. "She's okay."
"So do you want to be her boyfriend?" Natalie looked up at him and he saw something in her face, something that was a cross between hope and anguish.
He waited for a moment and leaned in. His face was just inches from hers and then he kissed her. "No." He said as he made his way back to the street. He turned around and she had the oddest expression on her face. He smiled at her and walked home.