10. Mr. Lee's Origin
Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.
Her laugh broke the silence. It was a nervous laugh, carefully thrown out to counter the two questions he had just asked.
"Are you alone tonight? Would you like me to swing by and pick you up?"
If he could have grasped every word of those two questions through the telephone lines and wrested them from her mind, he would have.
The shaky laugh combined with what he already knew, that Jack's car was parked outside Corinne's parent's house, led him to one conclusion. His best friend was right there, likely so close to her that his breath was tickling the fine hairs behind her delicate ear.
"I don't know what to say, John. I was thinking of spending a quiet night at home studying for tomorrow's geometry test. Maybe some other time?" The apologetic tone in Corinne's voice sounded sincere and full of regret. But she had not asked him to come and help her study.
My good buddy Jack's probably doing that.
John scowled as he said, "Yeah, well, okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow in school then, huh?" As he hung up the phone he darkly contemplated what kind of studying his best friend and Corinne might be doing together.
For their entire four years of high school, Jack Harmon and John Smith had been friendly rivals for the hand of Corinne Adams. When Corinne became a cheerleader on the football cheerleading squad, both Jack and John tried out for the freshman football team. Jack started as a benchwarming replacement quarterback and made his way by his senior year into the starting position. John, lighter in weight and quick on his feet, immediately moved into one of the wide receiver positions.
Neither would admit that Corinne was the reason he tried out.
The three were often seen together, enjoying each other's company.
But tonight Jack was alone with Corinne and John could not allow that to go unchallenged.
He considered doing something to Jack's 45 Ford convertible. His best friend wouldn't be able to take Corinne to Belle Isle Park or to Rouge Park on Spinoza Drive to make out. But pranks like rolling down the driver's side window and scattering glass on the pavement and the seat, then telling his friend something had happened to his car, would almost certainly be repaid. Jack was no dummy.
No, doing anything to the car was out of the question. Running through all of the stunts he could pull to get Jack to leave, John finally hit on one he thought might do the trick this time.
He called Corinne's number again and got into character. "Ah, yes. Mister Lee's Laundry Service. Is Mister Jack Harmon there? . . . Young Mister Jack's honorable mother telling me he is stopping by in ritter while to get honorable father's dry cleaning? Shop closes soon so must hurry, please? 7943 Schaefer Road? Much thankee, young missee."
A half hour later John parked his 46 Chrysler Royal in the same spot where Jack Harmon's convertible had been minutes before. Whistling "You Are My Sunshine," he strode up the walkway and rapped sharply on the door of Corinne's house.
Corinne herself answered.
"Well, fancy seeing you here, Mister Lee. You wouldn't happen to know anything about calculating the surface area of a sphere, would you?" Arching an eyebrow at him, she crossed her arms and cocked her head to one side. She didn't look happy.
"You mean you really were studying for that test tomorrow?" John gulped.
"What did you think we were up to?" She paused. Her eyes widened. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh." John took a deep breath and scrutinized her face. "So, do you still need help studying for that exam?"
As Corinne let him in and they sat down together on the sofa, her geometry book open in her lap, his arm loosely draped over her shoulders, he wondered how many more times he could get away with using Mister Lee as a decoy.
Maybe never again. And certainly not with Jack Harmon.
ooooooo
AN: There are 42 more of these to go. Do you have any things you always wanted to know about John "Hannibal" Smith? Any story ideas? I will try to use what you send me within the boundaries of what is comfortable for me to do. Thanks ahead of time.