Chapter 4

That evening, the girls gathered in Jill and Kris' room. Sal had the opened photo album in her lap. She kept leafing through the pages, remembering other times. Sometimes she would come across events she didn't remember and her sisters filled her in. "Oh, look, here's Jill's high school graduation!" Jill and Kris sat down on the bed next to her. Jill took the album.

"Oh, yeah! We had a double celebration."

"Why?" Sal wanted to know.

"Dad quit drinking right after you were born, and managed to stay sober until Jill's graduation." Kris told her.

"He had a few setbacks, but he managed to pull himself out of them and get his life back together. By the time you were old enough to remember, Sal, he'd gotten back on track and had a regular job. He even kept it." Jill added.

"I heard Mom tell him at one point to sober up or she was leaving." Kris said.

"She did." The girls looked up to see their grandmother standing in the doorway. "Your mother called me in tears more than once. Your father had some hard luck for several years and tried to solve his problems in the bottle. I was glad when he finally got help and stopped drinking. Your mother was too."

Grandma came over to the bed where the girls were sitting and looked at the open pages in Sal's lap. "Jill's graduation. We were so proud of you." Jill smiled at her grandmother.

"There has got to be a story in there somewhere," Sal said.

"There is," said Jill.

The girls scooted over to make room for Grandma on the bed. She sat down next to them and began.

Jll had always been boy crazy. At first, boys were good playmates. They were always around to trade baseball cards with her, or available for a quick game of baseball. As she grew into her teen years, she began to notice boys more and more. In high school, she majored in boys and sports. Up until that point, Jill had been a fairly good student. She did her homework faithfully. In her Senior year, she became interested in racing. She and her friends met after school to drag race. That was fun until they had a couple of close calls with the police. The cops didn't think it was funny when teenagers ran red lights and drag raced down the main streets. Saturday and Sunday afternoons often found Jill in front of the TV watching NASCAR and other races. Homework began to slide down her list of priorities. On weekday mornings, Jill got up and got ready for school. She'd head for the high school, grateful that Kris couldn't follow her because she was still in junior high. Jill would go to a class or two, but if it was a boring one, and there were no cute guys in it, she'd skip it and go hang out with her friends. She got away with it for awhile, until the attendance office called her parents.

The phone rang in the Munroe household. Helen had been doing some ironing while watching the soap operas. She put down the iron, turned down the TV, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Munroe?"

"Yes."

"Mrs. Munroe, this is Mr. Cottrill in the attendance office at the high school. I am calling about Jill."

"Is anything wrong?"

"In the last three weeks, she has had six absences."

"That's impossible! I see her leave for school every morning."

"She's been skipping alot of classes. Her grades are going down. She's going to get kicked off the girls' basketball team. If this continues, she will not be able to graduate."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will talk to her."

""Thank you, Mrs. Munroe."

"Goodbye, Mr. Cottrill."

Helen put down the phone. She wondered how to approach Jill and how she was going to explain it to her husband. She thought about it as she went back to her ironing. It was soon time for the girls to come home from school. Sal came bouncing in, her pigtails flying.

"Hi, Mom!"

"Hi, honey. How was school today?"

"Fine. Can I watch some TV?"

"Homework first. You can play outside for a little bit, though."

"Aw, man!" Sal went to her room to put her books away. Soon Kris came in.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hi, honey. How was your day?"

"The kids made fun of my braces. I HATE these things!" Kris stormed off to her room. Helen shook her head and started to put the ironing board away. It was time for Jill to come home.

After a while, she showed up.

"Hi, Mom."

"Hi, Jill. How was school?" Helen looked at her oldest daughter closely.


"Fine. I'm going to go meet some friends. Is that OK?"

"Jill, sit down. I want to talk to you."

"What about?"

"The attendance office called. "

"Did they say why?" Jill knew this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Yes, they did. Do you want to tell me why you've been skipping your classes?"

"No."

"Jill Munroe!"

"Sorry, Mom. It's just that school is so boring. I'd rather be out with my friends. I don't see how all the stuff I'm supposed to learn in school will help me when I'm going to pursue a career in sports."

"Jill, those things are nice to dream about, but you need skills so you can support yourself while you're doing it."

"Ok, Mom. I'll try harder."

"I will have to tell your father about this."

"Do you have to?"

"Yes, he needs to know."

"Great."

"We'll figure out a suitable punishment. In the meantime, you can go to your room and start on some of that homework you're going to have to catch up on."

After dinner that night, Helen and James went to the living room while the girls did the dishes. Helen had filled James in on Jill's antics. Now they had to decide what to do.

Helen got up from her chair and went into the kitchen where the girls were.

"Jill, please come into the living room. Your dad and I want to talk to you. Kris and Sal can finish in here."

Jill and Helen went to the living room, while Kris and Sal wondered what kind of trouble Jill had gotten herself into. In the living room, Helen pointed to the couch. Jill sat.

"Jill, your mother tells me you've been skipping classes. Why?" James began.

"I'd rather be with my friends. "

"You can be with your friends in class," Helen pointed out.

"It's not the same. School is so boring. "

"What are you doing when you're not in class?" James asked.

"Racing." Jill's voice was a whisper.


"WHAT?" James thundered.


"We've been racing. It's fun."

"It could get you a traffic ticket. It could get you in trouble with the police. It could get you killed." Helen told her.

"It's the speed. It's so exhilirating."

"Jill, if I get word that you're skipping anymore classes, I will come looking for you. There will be consequences. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Dad."

"I want you to find out what you've been missing in your catch up your work. If you don't shape up, you will get kicked off of the basketball team, and you won't graduate."

"Yes, Mom."

"And you are grounded. You will have plenty of time to finish those assignments, because other than school, you're not leaving the house. No TV either." Her father decreed.

"Yes, Dad. Can I go now?"

"You can go to your room and start on the homework." Her mother told her.

With a resigned sigh, Jill left the room. Her parents watched her go.

"She really is a good kid," Helen remarked.

"Yes, she is," James agreed. "We just have to get her through this."

The school year passed. Jill quit skipping classes. She studied hard and got her makeup work done. She still watched boys, but not as avidly as before. Soon it was time to get ready for graduation. Jill checked with her guidance counselor and found she had all the necessary credits. The big day arrived. Jill had her cap and gown and everything was ready. The family drove to the high school and met Grandma and Grandpa there. Jill went backstage to line up with her classmates as the family found seats and sat down. The ceremony began. There were the usual speeches and musical numbers, and then it was time for the diplomas. The class stood up and filed towards the stage. Jill had to wait a while for her turn. Finally, it came. She went up the steps, and tripped on the last one. Regaining her composure, she crossed the stage, recieved her diploma and shook hands with the dignitaries. She made it the rest of the way without further incident and sat down. After the ceremony, the family met back at the house for a party. There were presents and cake and ice cream. Jill appreciated the gesture, but she wanted to go to some of the graduation activities.

"Mom, Dad, this has been really swell. It was sweet of you, but I was wondering if I could go to the cap and gown hop? And then maybe a party after?"

"In a minute, Jill, " Her dad told her. He went outside for a minute, leaving everyone to wonder what he was up to. He came back in a few minutes, wheeling a top of the line 10 speed bike. Jill gasped.

"Jill, a long time ago, I did something I shouldn't have. I sold your bike so I could have money for booze. I'm terribly sorry. I've felt bad about it ever since. I couldn't bear the look of disgust you gave me then. I've been working on cleaning up my act. I'm proud to say I haven't had a drink since Sal was born. I bought you this to replace the one I sold."

"Oh, Dad...." Jill had tears in her eyes. She flung her arms around her father. The rest of the family blinked back tears. James hugged his oldest daughter. "It's Ok, Dad."

"Time to celebrate!" Grandpa exclaimed. The family continued to celebrate with soft drinks. Jill stayed with them a little longer, her arm around her dad. Then she went to celebrate her graduation with her friends.

"What a graduation!" Sal remarked.

"Yeah, it had some interesting moments," Jill said.

"Especially when you tripped up the stairs," Kris laughed.

"I thought when your father announced that he had stopped drinking was the best part." Grandma added.

"Yeah, it was," the girls agreed.

"So, did he stay sober after that?" Sal asked.

"Actually, he did," Grandma answered.

"But they were killed in a drunk driving accident."

"He didn't cause it," Jill told her.

"And that is a story for tomorrow. It's getting late, so I will say goodnight," Grandma said as she got off of the bed.

"Goodnight, Grandma." The girls each hugged their grandma as she left the room.

"I'm going to bed too, but I'm taking this with me," Sal picked up the photo album and hopped off the bed. "Goodnight, you guys."

"Good night, little sister."