Note- Spoilers for the movies, Evil Dead and Evil Dead II are in this chapter.
Saturday March 28, 1987
"Oh come on, the movie was not that bad." Chevonne giggled as she and Roman walked out of the movie theater where they had just seen 'Evil Dead II'.
"It was so bad that I almost would have rather been in class." Roman laughed. "I mean now the lead guy is stuck in ancient Babylonia? What a dumb ending."
"It was the middle east when the crusaders were there." She laughed.
"At least you enjoyed the movie. And I got to spend the evening with you." Roman kissed her forehead.
"Well thank you for the movie. I had a wonderful time." She smiled and hugged him.
"Come on, we'll pick up something to eat." He said as he opened her car door.
She climbed in the mustang. Roman climbed in and started the engine. He pulled out of the theater parking lot and onto the highway.
"Did you see the first movie? The first 'Evil Dead' I mean?" she asked.
"Yes, and as hokey as it was, it was better than this one." Roman said.
"Well the first one put huge fear in me. That whole woman raped by a tree scene." She said.
Roman chuckled. "So what are you hungry for?"
"How about a couple burgers? Hit the drive thru and we can eat them in the park. It stays open until midnight." Chevonne said.
"Sounds good. Your mom gonna be home tonight?" he asked.
"Yes, you picking up Randy's habits?" she chuckled.
"Well despite your belief that girl was murdered by a drifter, it's better to play it safe." He said and took her hand.
"Can we not talk about the murder? I think we have all been too pre-occupied with it which is normal but…."
"It's fine. I agree." Roman said and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.
They were quiet for a few moments as Roman drove them to the one Burger King in Walkerton.
"I am just tired of being on edge all the time." She blurted.
"You're not alone in feeling that way." He squeezed her hand.
"I didn't mean to snap." She said.
"Forget it, no harm done. Let's just enjoy the rest of our evening." He smiled at her and kissed her hand.
He pulled them into the Burger King and pulled up to the drive thru. It took a few minutes to get their order, and then he pulled back out onto the street headed for the park.
"Can I ask you something?" Roman asked.
"Yeah, what?" she asked.
"Why didn't your mom ever take you and move to a bigger city where….there wouldn't have been such a stigma?" Roman asked. "It is a thought I have had a couple of times."
"I don't know. If I had to guess I would say she refused to be chased from her home by other's small minds. Besides, now I wouldn't leave for anything. My friends and the Orton's are here." She said.
"You both got guts." He smiled at her. "I like spunky ladies."
Roman entered the park and Chevonne directed him where to go that they could park and eat their dinner. They parked on a bluff that looked out over the rest of the park. A few other cars were parked there as well.
"Popular lover's lane?" Roman asked.
"From what I have heard. I am sure the kids keep the park rangers busy."
"My parents would like to meet you." Roman said as they opened their bag of food.
"I would like that. When?" she asked.
"I am sure we could have dinner with them soon."
"Do you think they will like me?" she asked.
"I am sure they will. My folks are very down to earth people. And Uncle Fatu already likes you."
"Well he should, I have known him for years." She chuckled. "Of course he never told me he had this handsome and sweet younger cousin."
"I told Dean and Seth about you." Roman said. "I called them to see what was going on back at my old school."
"Anything going on?" she asked.
"Nothing of interest, just the same old shit." Roman said. "Seth said they were getting ready for prom. He was complaining about wearing a tux."
"You must really miss them." She said as she ate her burger.
"They are something else. Dean is always about two steps from saying fuck it and quitting school, but has hung in there this long. Seth is pretty stable."
"You must have been quite the trio. Dean the rebel, Seth the prankster and Roman the strong, quiet one." She smiled.
"I hope they get to visit. It would be nice getting my old friends together with my new friends."
"Maybe this summer after graduation we can figure something out." She said. "Randy has been making noise about a road trip. Can we listen to the radio?"
"Sure." Roman switched on the radio. He scanned the stations, Chevonne nearly squealing when he came across Bruce Springsteen.
"Springsteen!" she exclaimed as 'Dancing in the Dark' played on the radio.
He chuckled at her enthusiasm as they listened while finishing dinner.
They finished their meal, chatting about small things and enjoying the quiet evening.
"You ready to head home. I don't want to get you home too late. And the curfew is still in effect." Roman said.
"Yeah, we can head home." She said as she gathered up the garbage, shoving it in the paper bag.
Roman started the car and pulled back onto the road leading them out of the park. Chevonne leaned over and snuggled against Roman as he drove.
"How about I take you home Monday? We can grab something to eat on the way home." Roman asked.
"That would be great. I think mom is working late on Monday anyway." She said.
He pulled out of the park and headed towards her house. As they drove, they came upon two police cars, an ambulance and a wrecker.
"What's going on?" Roman asked as an officer directing traffic had them stop.
"Looks like they are cleaning up a wreck." Chevonne said.
"Guess we will be sitting here a few minutes." Roman said.
They watched quietly as the police and wrecker worked. They couldn't see the car; it had apparently run off the road. After a few moments the wrecker pulled a black Chevrolet caprice up onto the road.
Chevonne sat up. "That is Principal Johnson's car." She said and jumped out of the car.
"Chevonne, what are you doing?" Roman was confused and jumped out after her.
"Hold it kids, get back in the car." The police officer stopped them.
"I know that car, what happened here?" Chevonne asked.
"Kids, I need you to get back in the car. This is the scene of an accident." The officer said.
"Look, officer…..Lesner" she looked at his tag. "That car belongs to Principal Johnson, I go to his school. Is he okay? What happened here?"
"There has been an accident." Lesner said.
"I can see that, but what happened? Is he okay? I know that is Principal Johnson's car, I see it every day at school in the principal's parking spot." Chevonne said.
"It appears Mr. Johnson drove off the road. Now please, get back in your car." Lesner said.
"Is he okay? How bad is he hurt?" Roman asked.
Lesner sighed. "I can't give that kind of information."
Chevonne looked beyond the officer and saw the paramedics loading a stretcher with a body bag into the ambulance.
"Oh my god, he's dead." Chevonne gasped.
"I'm sorry kids. You really need to get back into the car." Lesner said.
"Poor Mr. Johnson….he was such a nice guy." Chevonne said.
"Come on, we need to get back in the car." Roman wrapped his arm around Chevonne.
Roman led her back to his car and they climbed inside. As the wrecker pulled away, Officer Lesner waved them on and they drove on.
"I wonder what will happen at school. What do they do when the principal dies?" Chevonne said.
"I don't know." Roman said.
"It's just so sad. He was our principal for four years and now so close to graduation….he won't be there." She said.
"I didn't know him that well." Roman said.
"He was a great guy. I think he really cared about us, rather than being one of those teacher/principals that was only doing it for summers off." She said.
They rode the rest of the way to her house in silence. Roman could tell she was sad at Mr. Johnson's death. He pulled up outside her house. He could see lights on in the house indicating that Judi was home.
He walked her up to the door.
"You gonna be okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, just surprised and sad is all." She said.
"I'll call you tomorrow." He said.
"Thanks for tonight. I had a good time, really." She said.
"I am glad." He kissed her gently. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight Roman." She said and walked inside.
Special Thanks- Thank you to Raign and SkipsAlot for starting to follow the story. Thank you to cdajr for the message of encouragement. And a special huge shout out to Raign, thank you so much for all the reviews. I loved them and felt encouraged and inspired.