Pewter Angels (21 page)

At noon, Henry got his lunch and made his way to the cafeteria. It was packed. His head swiveled back and forth, looking for Jenny. Then he heard her call his name.

“Henry, Henry, over here! I saved a chair for you.” The moment he was within earshot she recounted the events of her morning; her form teacher, the new students she had met, and the English teacher with the inch-thick glasses.

“Jenny, you’re not going to believe who’s in my form room,” Henry said.

Jenny studied him for a moment, wanting to guess.

“Gosh, Henry, I don’t know anyone yet. I couldn’t possibly know. Who?”

“I’m glad you’re sitting down. Eddy Zeigler.”

Jenny’s eyes grew large, her mouth wide. “No way!”

Henry nodded. “Yup, it’s Eddy the jerk, all right.”

“So, what did you do? Did you hit him? Tell me. Tell me.”

“So far we just stared at each other, and would you believe, his locker is right next to mine. When we were getting our books, he deliberately bumped into me. I bumped him back. I know before the week is out, I’m going to have to clobber that pipsqueak.”

“And if I see him, I’m going to kick him in the shins. My wrists were sore for almost a week after his friends forced me into their car.” Jenny’s anger lasted only for a moment then her face brightened. “Oh, Henry, don’t let him spoil your first day at school.”

“No way, in fact, I’m glad he’s in my homeroom. This way I won’t have to look for him. He’ll get what’s coming to him soon enough.”

“Well, let’s have lunch and not think about him anymore, or else you’ll have indigestion for sure,” Jenny said with a grin.

After lunch they found their way out to the west side of the school, Jenny ignoring wolf whistles from some of the other boys. Henry didn’t like it. Sensing his feelings, Jenny took his hand, surprising him with her boldness and lack of concern for what others thought.

The afternoon passed quickly, especially with the shortened periods. Henry met his history, English and math teachers. His history teacher spoke very quickly in a commanding voice like a military officer. Henry wasn’t surprised to later learn that he was a sergeant in the reserve force at the local armory.

Henry met up with Jenny after school and she told him about her afternoon classes and what she thought of her teachers. Timmy caught up to them on his bike and described his teachers as either idiots or old cranks, with the exception of his math teacher. She was young, on her first teaching assignment, and according to Timmy, was simply gorgeous. Henry could see lovesickness in his friend’s eyes as Timmy took his hands off the handlebars to illustrate her luscious 36-24-36 figure. The front wheel of his bike suddenly turned, toppling Timmy to the sidewalk. Jenny and Henry laughed.

The following Monday,
Gary was able to join them, though he still looked pale. He had been assigned to Jenny’s form, so she filled him in on everything he needed to know.

All that day, Eddy and Henry missed each other at the lockers. Occasionally they brushed each other in the hall, which, thankfully, resulted in nothing more than the exchange of a dirty look.

Henry learned the best place to get back at him, however, was in Phys. Ed. It was evident within the first fifteen minutes of basketball that though Eddy was fast, he had no idea what he was doing; he didn’t know how to dribble, got called for travelling, missed the backboard completely on his shot, and fouled constantly. Whenever he thought he could get away with it, Henry bumped into Eddy so hard he fell to the floor. At the end of the period, Henry overheard Eddy talking to the instructor to see if he could get out of the class and take shop or anything else, but the teacher would have none of it.

By the end of the week, they all knew their schedules and had learned the names of the students in their classes. At the end of each day, Jenny and Henry walked home together, with Timmy and Gary tagging along.

As soon as Henry got home, he hopped on his bike and headed over to Mr. Engelmann’s store to take care of the deliveries. After those were done, he told Mr. Engelmann about school and his classes. Henry missed working at the store and was glad that he could spend the whole day there on Saturday. Mr. Engelmann was glad, too. He was finding it difficult to keep up with all the work since Henry had gone back to school.

Henry wanted to take Jenny out to a movie on Saturday night, but her mother refused to let her go. They were expecting company for dinner that day, she said, and she wanted Jenny home to meet them.

On Sunday when he saw Jenny briefly after church, she told him she really hadn’t needed to stay home. The guests were old, and she had excused herself right after dinner, gone to her room and read a book. Henry’s stomach sank. He suspected Mrs. Sarsky had kept Jenny at home just to keep her from going out with him.

J
ust like every other Monday morning
, Henry awoke to the drone of the washing machine drifting up from the basement through the wooden floor of his bedroom. The monotonous sound made it difficult for him to get up. It reminded him of the hum of the car engine after a late night visiting relatives on the farm and he lay half asleep in the back seat. However, on this particular Monday, Henry was eager to see Jenny. So he jumped out of bed and counted down the minutes to eight-thirty when he could hold her hand as they walked to school.

When he got to Jenny’s, the front door, usually open behind the screen door to let in the brisk morning air, was closed. He waited a few minutes, hoping Jenny would come out, but with no sign that the Sarskys were even up, he decided to head to school. He would have knocked on the door, but Mrs. Sarsky had been so edgy lately, he thought it best not to irritate her or add to the growing distance between them.

As he walked to school, his thoughts oscillated between Jenny and Mr. Engelmann’s business. Things had definitely been looking up at the store, and customers were very impressed by the improvements. The free Saturday delivery was a great success, as was the special delivery service after four o’clock on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Another idea Mr. Engelmann and Henry had was to hand out flyers advertising upcoming sales. Not only were they able to sell more, but they’d also moved older stock and items that hadn’t been selling well. One of the salesmen who came to the store once a week had offered to print their flyers; Mr. Engelmann only had to pay for the paper used. The salesman was really nice and was happy to see them improve business and get ahead. Of course, that also meant selling more of his product as well.

Most of their other suppliers wished them well too. Coca-Cola had agreed to deliver a new upright soft drink cooler like the one Henry had seen at the Golden Gate Confectionary. Mr. Engelmann had also asked the pop company to put up a new sign in front of the store that would advertise its name as well as theirs. Henry smiled as he recalled how excited they had been when the Coca-Cola salesman agreed to do it.

Henry wanted to paint the front of the store—it really needed it, and the interior looked so nice now. With so many deliveries, he didn’t have the time and had offered to do it on Sunday, but Mr. Engelmann wouldn’t hear of it. Sunday was a day to relax, go to church, and have fun with family or friends. They could paint without compromising the Lord’s day.

But where was Jenny? Henry hoped she wasn’t sick. She’d seemed fine after church yesterday, but he hadn’t seen her for the rest of the day. Which, come to think of it, was sort of unusual.

Henry had yet to meet Jenny’s dad and wondered if that might help thaw Mrs. Sarsky’s frostiness. Jenny just joked about his uneasiness over her mother’s concern about their relationship and he always chuckled at Jenny’s imitation of her mother. Putting on a stern voice, Jenny shook a finger at him, “You’re too young to be seeing so much of that boy—why don’t you make some other friends?” Actually, it sounded reasonable to Henry and was probably what he would have said if he was a parent. Yet he was so in love with Jenny that he wanted to see her day and night, and no argument would sway him.

“Hey, Hank, what’s your hurry?” Timmy yelled out, coming up from behind on his bike.

“Hey, Timmy.”

Timmy slowed his bike to a wobble to match Henry’s pace and asked, “So, where’s the wife, Hank?”

Henry just looked straight ahead and didn’t respond for a brief moment. He wished Jenny was his wife and not the subject of a Timmy Linder joke.

“I don’t know,” he finally replied. “She wasn’t out this morning when I passed by her place. So, how are your classes going?”

“Geez, Hank, I really like math all of a sudden. I never thought I would but I can’t wait for that class.”

“Is it the math or that gorgeous teacher, Timmy?”

“Well, of course it’s the math,” he retorted with a smirk. “What do you take me for?”

As they neared the high school, students streamed in from all directions and converged on the main doors. Henry knew many of them by name. A school of 440 students wasn’t really that big, and gossip spread quickly. He knew some of the students were already talking about him and Jenny and the fact that they held hands all the time.

The hallways were packed, as usual, and they had to swim upstream to the second floor and their lockers. Jenny’s locker was also on the second floor and just down the hall, Henry glanced over to see if she was there. She wasn’t, but Eddy was. Henry threw him a disgusted look and turned away. They had fallen into a sort of cold war, even when they played basketball in gym class. They often played on the same side but made no effort to work together. Still, Henry could see that though Eddy had no athletic training, he had a lot of potential for a guy his size. Henry could have helped him and offered suggestions but he preferred to make Eddy look foolish by throwing the ball slightly ahead of him or to make him fumble by throwing it too hard. It seemed that neither of them was prepared to forgive and forget.

Henry was always amazed by how quickly the hallways emptied when the bell rang. Just as he was about to enter Mr. Derkatch’s English class, he heard Jenny call out his name. She was running down the hall, and as she drew closer, Henry could see she’d been crying. Henry hurried over to her and grabbed hold of her hands as she reached out to him.

“What happened, Jenny? Why are you crying?” he asked, trying to calm his racing heart. He had never seen her like this.

“Oh, Henry,” she stammered, her voice trembling. “I’m leaving—I’m going away!”

Henry looked at her. Her eyes were red and fresh tears tumbled down her cheeks.

“What do you mean, you’re leaving?”

“My dad,” she sobbed, trying to catch her breath, “my dad has to go to Ottawa, right away.” Jenny could barely get out the last word, then began to sob so hard she couldn’t go on.

Henry took her into his arms and held her. Her chest heaved with her tears. She held onto him so tightly he had difficulty breathing. He didn’t know what to say. He had to find out the details. He stroked her back, trying to calm her.

“Why does your dad have to leave?” Henry finally asked as Jenny settled a bit, swallowing her tears.

“The president of the company died yesterday morning. When we got home from church, the company called and asked my dad to replace him. He’s flying to Ottawa tonight at seven and …” tears welled up in her eyes and before losing control again, she blurted out, “and I have to go with him!” She started sobbing again.

“What do you mean you’re going with him? For how long?”

“For-for … ever.”

Henry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could Jenny be leaving forever? She had just moved here two months ago! This had to be something temporary. “That’s impossible, Jenny. You’ll only be gone for a little while, right?”

“No, no, Henry, I’m going with my dad, tonight. They don’t want me to miss too much school. This morning my mom phoned a high school close to where we’re going to live and I’m already enrolled. They’re expecting me tomorrow!”

A bright bubble of pain burst in his chest and his heart sank. Henry’s whole world was crumbling. The thought of Jenny leaving—of not seeing her on the front steps anymore—was unbearable. He began to feel sick, his knees grew rubbery and he had trouble staying upright.

“Oh, Jenny,” he finally said, “Tell me it isn’t so.”

“I wish I could, but it’s true. We’ve already started packing. They’re so anxious for my dad to get there, the company’s sending movers and someone to drive our car to Ottawa. Mom was calling the real estate agent when I left.” She took a long shuddering breath. “

Tears welled in Henry’s eyes and now Jenny tried to comfort him as the reality of the situation finally sank in. He felt like he had been struck by a heavy weight and all his senses were suddenly deadened. He pulled himself away from Jenny and looked into her eyes for the mischievous spark that would let him know it was all a joke. The look she returned confirmed his worst nightmare.

Jenny was leaving. Really leaving. He couldn’t bear to think on it any longer. No longer concerned about morning classes, Henry took hold of Jenny’s hand and turned down the hallway. Jenny let him pull her along, then picked up her gait to walk close beside him. At the end of the hallway, they descended the stairs and made their way through the first door they came to. They walked out into the shadow of the building and the surrounding trees. Although it was a hot day, Henry shivered. Jenny leaned into him. The idea of not having the warmth of her body next to his from now on was unthinkable. He choked back what he was afraid was a sob.

“Oh, Jenny,” he groaned, “I just don’t know how to cope with this. The thought of you going away …” He didn’t know how to finish the statement.

“I know,” she replied, “but we’ll figure something out. We can write to each other, and maybe when my dad comes to Regina on business, I can come with him. It’ll be all right … somehow.” Emotions chased each other across Jenny’s face as she spoke: hurt, sympathy, understanding, turmoil. Try as she might to regain composure, her pain and sorrow was plain. She had reassured him somewhat, but he tried to think of other solutions, too. His mind churned. When could he see her again? How could he get to Ottawa? Where would he get the money from? Could he go alone or would his mom or dad have to come with him? Rather than give him hope, however, these thoughts overwhelmed him. He couldn’t think any longer. He felt only despair.

Henry started walking again, tugging a listless Jenny along. He couldn’t stand still. Feverish emotion was building up inside and he had to expel it somehow. They walked for a long time, absorbed in their own thoughts and unsure what to say. They crossed busy streets and heard honks, not knowing or caring if they were directed at them. Maybe being hit by a car would be the best thing in the face of this tragedy.

“It just isn’t fair,” Henry burst out, breaking the long silence. “You’ve moved three times in the last four years, and now you’ve hardly been here two months and you’re supposed to move again?!”

“They promised my dad this would be his last move,” Jenny’s words were quiet. “They’re paying for all the expenses and even giving us a new house on the outskirts of Ottawa.”

“But, Jenny,” Henry reasoned, “that may be okay for your dad and mom, but it’s not fair to you … it’s not fair to me. You’re just starting school, and now to have to move? What are they thinking?”

Henry was angry and ready to fight but he didn’t know what to hit or whom to lash out at. Mr. Sarsky’s company sounded inhuman. The whole thing was unreal.

“Who could I see there?” Could he talk to Jenny’s mom and dad? What would he say? Who was he to tell them what to do? No one would listen to him. They’d probably just laugh at him and tell him to go away.

Jenny squeezed his hand.

“Don’t worry, Henry, we’ll work something out. There has to be a way,” she said again, but Henry could hear the hollowness in her words.

“We could run away,” he blurted.

“Yes, we could,” Jenny replied, “but for how long? They’d find us. They’d send the police after us. They’d be so mad at us they’d maybe never let us see each other again. And what would we do without money?”

“I could maybe borrow money from Mr. Engelmann.”

“But you told me he was already in financial trouble. And your parents don’t have any extra money—even if they did, they’d never give us money to run away. It’s no use thinking that way, Henry. I’m sure we will find some way to stay together. It might not be right now, but in time we’ll find a way to be together again.”

“Oh, Jenny,” Henry stopped so abruptly he almost tripped her. He took both her hands and looked into her eyes, memorizing her face, “I love you, so much.”

“I know, Henry. I love you, too.” Oblivious to the traffic of downtown Regina and the people walking around them, they moved closer together. Jenny tilted her head to the side and parted her lips slightly as Henry’s mouth pressed gently against hers. Henry didn’t know how long they held each other, but in that moment, all his worries and concerns vanished. Jenny was his and he was hers. Their hearts beat as one. Had it not been for the sharp blast of a horn and a warning call from a passerby, they would have stayed that way much longer.

They turned towards home. Traffic was heavy and as they waited to cross the street, Jenny repeated the words that had so captivated Henry’s heart on the first day he’d met her. “Quickly, hold my hand.”

And take me along with you wherever you are going.

They’d walked all morning. As they turned onto Broder Street, Henry asked if he would see her that afternoon.

“I don’t think so, Henry. Mom and I are packing. I packed most of my things late last night after mom and dad told me we were moving.” A sheen appeared in her eyes once more.

“But, Jenny, I have to see you again. This just can’t be the end.”

So absorbed in their dilemma were they, neither noticed Jenny’s mother marching towards them. At twenty feet away, Mrs. Sarsky could no longer contain her worry and anger.

“Jenny! Where on earth were you? We were looking all over for you. When you didn’t come back right away, I phoned the school, and they said they hadn’t seen you.” And then she directed her fury at Henry, “And you, Henry, what on earth are you doing out of school, and what are you doing with Jenny?”