CHAPTER 3: NOTHING TO LOSE BUT A LOAD TO GAIN!
As Peppermint Patty headed back to Leeville from Sparkyville after catching up with Linus all day, she thought about all he had to say about Charlie Brown. As it turned out, after graduating high school, he went to college himself before becoming a truck driver. Charlie Brown made it a point that after his parents retired to Florida and Sally moved to California to never return to Sparkyville ever again. In fact, when he was near there, he would call Linus and meet up at a bar on the outskirts of town so he wouldn't enter Sparkyville. Because it harbored bad memories there, Charlie didn't want any part of it now that his family was no longer living there to begin with. If not for Linus still being there, he'd avoid that area all together.
Barring Linus, most of Charlie Brown's friends and acquaintances had moved out of Sparkyville, themselves. Linus had told Patty that Lucy was trying to get him and their parents out to where she was in New York City. Linus had considered it, but their parents were reluctant, due to Rerun being enlisted in the Navy. Frieda had also moved to New York when Lucy did, and went into cosmetology. Violet was living in Missouri somewhere, as she pretty much cut off all contact to her former life. No one knew what she was up to. Pig Pen went into construction in Pennsylvania, now having an excuse to be dirty. And Peppermint Patty already knew what Franklin, Marcie, and Roy were up to, as they were the few she kept in close contact with. But the one she really wanted to reconnect with, Charlie Brown, was almost impossible to pin down due to his busy schedule in trucking.
After coming back home as her roommate, Wendy, was just heading out on a date with her boyfriend, Patty sat down at her computer and got on Facebook again, going directly to Sally's profile. She decided to type a message to her:
Hey, Sally. It's been a long time. Sorry I haven't gotten in touch before now, but I was hesitant, due to the history and tension between myself and your brother. Which I what I wanted to talk to you about. If you can do me a favor, can you give him my number? And then see if he can give me his? If he doesn't want to talk to me, I will understand. Anyway my number is ###-###-####. Let me know what he says. Thank you. Patty.
Then Patty, after thinking it about whether to delete it or not, pressed send on the message. Now all she had to do is wait. She was ready for him to not want to talk to her. But she at least hoped that he would respond back. After a while, Messenger binged in a message. It was from Sally, responding back to Patty's message. She immediately read it:
About time you asked about him. His number is ###-###-####. He's usually available from 6PM to Midnight. That's the best time to reach him. Don't mess up this time! Tell him how you feel. Sally.
Patty quick wrote down his number. She also thanked Sally for sending the number to her. She was nervous about calling him, knowing how she left things with him. She bit the bullet and dialed his number. After ringing a few times, it went to voicemail.:
This is Charles Brown. Sorry I missed your call. But if you leave your name, number, and a brief message, I will get back to you ASAP. Thanks. Brown out!
After the beep, Patty left him a message:
"Hello Chuck? It's me, Peppermint Patty. Sally gave me your number. Please give me a call me when you can. I would like to catch up with you, as it had been years since we last spoke. I miss you."
She hung up the phone. She hoped that he would call her. Now she waited to see what would happen. She was prepared for him to reject her. After upsetting him, she didn't expect him to be warm, let alone forgiving. She just hoped that he would at least let her apologize for what she did. She was tempted to call him again, but decided against it. She didn't want to sound obsessive or desperate, though she was as far as the latter goes. As she watched TV, her cell phone rang. She answered it.
"Hello?"
"Peppermint Patty? It's me. Charlie Brown."
NEXT CHAPTER: CHANCE ENCOUNTER