CHAPTER 7: Dinner Talk

That evening, we were all sitting around the dining room table, having dinner. Nannie, Elizabeth, and Daddy had cooked scalloped potatoes, crescent rolls, lima beans, and one of my all-time favorites, Swedish meatballs. I absolutely love those, especially when Nannie makes them. She knows just how to make them taste just the right way.

"So, what did you kids do today?" Daddy asked.

"Well, we went to the library," Kristy answered. "By the way, any word on when the computer will be done?"

"Soon, we hope," Elizabeth answered. "That was quite a virus we got."

"Does that mean the rest of us are going to come down with something?" Andrew asked worriedly.

"It's not that kind of virus, Andrew," Sam said as he got himself a second helping of lima beans. "That means our computer isn't working right, and needs to be fixed."

"Oh," Andrew said. He still didn't get it, but at least he knew what we were talking about.

Well, sort of.

I couldn't wait to tell everybody about how we'd met Jason and Bebe. "Oh, you know those new apartments at the end of the block?" I asked. "Well, Hannie and I met the new boy at Kristy's school at the library today, and not only does he live in one of the apartments, but his stepdaddy's the superintendent of the whole complex."

"And his sister goes to my school," David Michael added. "I'll just bet her locker's in better shape than mine."

"And she calls him DM," I jumped in, gesturing toward David Michael. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," he answered.

"Remember how Jason sounds when he talks?" I asked Kristy. "See, he puts the 'eh' sound at the end of 'Kristy' and 'Hannie', instead of the 'ee' sound."

"Oh, that's nothing!" David Michael said. "Bebe says 'sore-y' instead of 'sorry', and 'oht' and 'aboht', instead of 'out' and 'about'."

"I'm glad somebody likes their accents," Kristy said. I hadn't noticed how quiet she'd been until now. Most people say it's because I talk too much.

"What do you mean?" Daddy asked.

"Well," Kristy said, laying her fork down, "a couple of days ago at school, which was also Jason's first day, he was sitting with us BSC members at lunch, and one of the guys in the Badd Boyz—you know, the gang that got Logan in trouble at Sound Ideas—started shooting his mouth off at us. Of course, Jason got up and told him to leave us alone, and that's when he started in on Jason, making fun of his accent, mostly. Well, they had a few words, and then this jerk started poking Jason in the chest with his finger and really egging him on, so Abby shoved him and told him to get lost. And then, do you know what he did after that?"

I pretty much lost my appetite, because I could tell by the looks on the adults' faces that they weren't going to like what was coming next.

"He said something about Jason letting us girls fight his battles for him, and Jason just lost it," Kristy continued. It was obvious that she was trying to keep herself from either crying or getting mad. "He grabbed the guy by the collar and slammed him against the wall. If Mr. Taylor hadn't broken it up, Jason probably would've rearranged this guy's face. And this happened in front of everybody. I thought I was going to die, I was so embarrassed."

And that's when it hit me: "I think it'd be a good idea for us to give Jason his own personal space," Kristy had said. Right away, I realized why she'd said that: Jason had a really bad temper.

For a moment, nobody said a word. Sam just continued eating as if nothing had happened. Charlie and David Michael got up to take their dishes to the kitchen. David Michael looked a little frightened, but poor Andrew was just sitting there with his eyes wide open. I thought for sure he was going to start crying. Emily, on the other hand, wasn't paying any attention to us.

It took some time for people to start talking again, and I expected Kristy, of all people, to be the one to say something. Instead, Daddy broke the silence.

"Kristy," he said with a sigh, "I understand that you thought this boy was nice for standing up for you and your friends. I get that. But he could've seriously injured either himself or someone else, and you know that your mother and I don't approve of resorting to violence as a way to solve your problems."

"But he didn't hurt anybody!" Kristy protested.

"That's not the point here, darlin'," Elizabeth explained. "The point is, Jason and this other boy could've gotten in a fight, and you could've gotten hurt because you and the other girls were in the way. Do you understand what Watson and I are trying to say here?"

Kristy nodded. She also looked like she was going to start crying.

"Okay," Elizabeth said, handing her dishes to Nannie. "Now, I think it'd be in your best interest, and also Karen's, if Jason were left alone from now on, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," Kristy mumbled. She got up from the table and left the dining room. I took Andrew's hand, and we followed Kristy.

I knew Daddy and Elizabeth were looking out for us, but I couldn't believe what they'd just said.