The Adventures of Annie              by: Emmie Dee © 2000

 

Part 6

GRADUATION TIME

"Hello? Holdings. This is Sarah."

"Sarah, hi! I’m glad you’re up."

"Oh, hi, Marko. Just barely. Watcha want?"

"What I want is for you to put on your shrink hat and listen to me tell you about my dream."

"Okay, sure. What did you dream about the night before graduation? Getting your diploma in the buff?"

"No, but that’s a good idea. Actually, I was Annie last night. I was at my dresser, getting ready to go to church, I think. I had a white, frilly top on. Anyway, my hair was straight, like mine is, and long, below my shoulders, so I took the hair hanging down in front, lifted it back, twisted it, and clamped it behind my head, like I knew what I was doing. I put on earrings and a necklace, silver and turquoise. My nails were long and turquoise, too. I touched my breasts—they were real—and realized that they were getting bigger—getting ready. And below those two lumps was one huge one."

"Mark! You were pregnant!"

"Well, Annie sure was. I was just getting up when you came walking in through a door that wasn’t there before. You were on crutches, without your prosthetic, wearing a man’s Sunday suit, but you were taller, had a crew cut, and a cute little moustache. But the face was definitely you. Freckles and all."

"So I was your husband—wow."

"You were my husband Seth—that’s what I called you. You patted my tummy and asked if the kids were ready for church. I teased you that Luke was ready but Lanni couldn’t make up her mind what to wear. That’s what we decided to name them."

"You mean we were having twins?"

"Yeah. A boy and a girl. And I said that I was glad my husband was a doctor, so if they came a couple of days early, he could deliver them right there in church. You hugged me, sort of sideways since my tummy was so big, and you kissed me, and I thought about your moustache tickling, but I couldn’t feel it since it was only a dream, then I woke up."

"Annie, that was beautiful! Thanks for thinking to call me about it!"

"I’m Mark, remember? Now, anyway. So what do you think, shrink?" Sarah had told me that when it came time to specialize in her medical training, she might be a pediatrician, a research doctor, or a psychiatrist.

"Vell, let me tink," she said, laughing, then dropped the fake accent. "Going to church probably meant you were thinking about graduation, both being ceremonies and rituals and stuff. I think it’s neat that if you were Annie I was your husband, because you’d assume we’d be together. And wow! Me! The father of twins! Okay, new start, new life, boy and girl twins, probably about the male and female parts of your own identity. Uhh—how did you feel when you woke up?"

"Okay, I guess. I didn’t wake up screaming." Actually, I was afraid to tell her that I woke up feeling really, really contented and high, like when I had an endorphin rush on long bike rides.

"You probably would have woken up screaming if you and Seth had gone to church and you started delivering right there in the pew."

I chuckled. "That’s a fact."

"Two things come to mind. First of all, is there a history of multiple births in your family?"

"No, not that I know of."

"Us, neither. Good. Because if there are ever multiple births in our family, I will not do it. It will have to be Annie that will carry them and deliver them."

"That’s impossible, isn’t it?" I hoped so.

"I will be a doctor. I will find a way to make it happen."

"Sometimes you scare me."

"Second thing. Thank your. You telling me about your dream gave me a sign."

"A sign?"

"Yes. It helped me make up my mind what I’m going to do when I have to speak at graduation. I’m taking my crutches."

"Good girl," I said. "I’ll be rooting for you."

"I know you will. ‘Bye, love."

I hung up and began to get dressed. This was the first time I dreamed about really being Annie since our days at Hope Haven, at least as far as I remember. Some dreams are quickly forgotten. I had a feeling this one would stay with me.

Sarah was graduating third in her class, and had received an award as most courageous senior, and they had asked her to make a little speech. (Actually, if she hadn’t gotten cancer, she might have at least tied for valedictorian. I was pleased to be in the top ten percent.) She had even considered not going to graduation, because her leg was acting up again—her stump, I mean.

Eight days before graduation, Sarah Beth developed a problem that her doctor says is fairly common among amputees. Her stump developed an inflammation. That new part used her wheelchair, keeping her prosthesis strapped to her for cosmetic reasons. "I just don’t want to be pitied and stared at," she said when I asked if she would be more comfortable without it. At home, she took it off and swung around quite rapidly on crutches. She had doctor’s appointments to get antibiotics and cortisone to fight infection and swelling, and an appointment with the artificial limb people to reconform the leg to her stump.

But none of that would work in time for today, when it was so important for her to walk across the stage to get her diploma, to stand at the podium to make her speech. At one point, she was so low that she thought she might not even go to graduation, speech or no speech. It was such a drag to spend the last week of high school in a wheelchair. Now she had decided to go, and to walk on her one leg and crutches. Yes, I was proud.

I don’t remember too much about graduation except Sarah’s speech and us getting our diplomas. She had been sitting on the stage in her wheelchair from the beginning. Then the assistant principal said some nice things about her being an inspiration, and Sarah got up on her crutches. Everybody applauded wildly as she made her way to the platform.

"Thank you, Mrs. Timmerman. Excuse me. I’m a little embarrassed, but I’m happy, too, I guess. Please let me make like the Academy Awards and thank everybody first. I want to thank my teachers for helping me, and my family because they’ve been through so much, Joanie Hudnut, who has been a big help at helping me adjust to life with a disability, and especially Mark, my fiance, who loved me even when I was bald and grumpy, and Annie, who isn’t here tonight, but who was my roommate at Hope Haven, and who was the only person who kept me from giving up completely." Of course by this time, tears were running down my cheek. "Anyway, I’m not sure why the seniors voted for me for this award, because I’m not really courageous, I’m just surrounded by a lot of wonderful people. Something bad happened to me last year, something that could happen to any of us, cancer, or an accident, or whatever, and I’ve just had to have faith in God and deal with it the best I can. But again, what kept me going was the knowledge that I was never, never alone. One of our classmates died this spring, and he died like he lived, alone. I felt for him and I pray for him constantly, but I only wished that I could have gotten beyond my own problems and reached out to him when he was alive. So that’s all I want to say. Surround one another with love. My burden in life is kind of noticeable. A lot of you are carrying burdens that aren’t so visible. But bear each other’s burdens, and it’ll be okay. Thanks."

 

RACE DAY

"Annie! Annie!" Roberta yelled as she hugged my legs. (She had already called "Sarah!" and hugged her.) I loved the exuberant welcome from our little friend, but it was a little confusing, since I wasn’t Annie today. This was the day I was going to introduce her to Mark. We had arrived at their apartment on a Friday morning when my bicycling team, the Ocelots, were going to race in a rally with several different teams from around our state. I hadn’t been as active on the team with spending more time with Sarah and planning our wedding, but I was still able to hold my own, and they needed me. We had called Vicky and agreed that we would meet them at their apartment and take them to the race, so her daughter would have a chance to meet Mark—well, Mark as Mark.

"Hi, Annie, I’m so glad to see you!" she beamed up at me.

"Uh, hi. You must be Roberta. I’m Mark, Sarah’s boy friend."

"No you’re not, you’re Annie," she grinned. "Quit teasing me."

I had my spandex Ocelot uniform on, which she had seen me in last Summer as Annie, so I guess I could see where she could get confused, even with my hair in a somewhat boyish cut. (It was short on the sides, but I was growing the top and back longer to get my ponytail back.) "I really am a boy, Roberta. I really am Mark, and I really am going to marry Sarah this summer, and I really want you to be our flower girl, okay?"

Vicky mouthed to me something, I thought she said, "she knows."

Then Roberta said, "I know you’re Mark, but I know you’re Annie, too."

By now Sarah and I were totally confused. We went inside for coffee and a danish. "I’m sorry, kids, but after the last time you were here and you said that Annie wasn’t going to be at the wedding, she decided that she didn’t want to do it. She cried and cried. Finally, I explained that Annie and Mark were really the same person, and that you were Annie last summer because that’s the only way you could help Sarah get well. And that you dressed up as Annie to see us just because she liked Annie so well, and because you liked her that much, too," Vicky explained.

"A good explanation, but I’m sure it’s still confusing to her. It is to me, sometimes," I admitted.

"Reynaudo helped me explain it to her," the curly-haired lady told us wisfully.

"Reynaudo?" Sarah and I asked.

"Reynaudo is my friend," Roberta said. "I carry him around inside me, so he’s always with me. He likes it when I have fun, because he has fun, too."

"I’d like to meet Reynaudo," I said. "He sounds like a nice boy."

"You can’t meet him," she said. "He’s inside me. Right here." Roberta tapped her chest.

Then I thought I understood, but Vicky clarified it. "Reynaudo was a little boy, seven years old, who was part of a migrant worker family in Kansas. Their pickup truck overturned. Reynaudo fell out. He was brain-dead. But his mother, bless her heart, in all her grief, said yes when they asked about organ donations. So we know that Reynaudo’s in heaven right now, but he’s also a part of Roberta. And yes, we do believe that whenever Roberta has fun, Reynaudo’s having fun, too. So, Mark, since she understands about having a little boy inside of her, she can understand that you’re a boy, but you have Annie inside of you. She knows Annie and loves her. But she’ll love you as Mark, too. Just give her time."

We put Roberta’s little bicycle on the rack on the roof of my jeep wagon, right next to my big racing bike, and all drove off to the rally. Roberta wore her way-oversized pink helmet and the red and blue ribbon I had given her last summer. (Of course, that was only after she had me try it on.)

Sarah, Vicky, and Roberta settled down in lawn chairs and a blanket with the other spectators near the start/finish line. During the day, we had several sprints and a few longer races. When I was between races, I noticed a guy from the host team staring at me whenever he thought that I was looking the other way. I recognized him as the guy that I, as Annie, had beaten last summer. This could be bad. If he found out that I was the girl who had caused him to bike back into town with the hair ribbon that Roberta now wore, and that I was a guy, he would probably punch me out and tell everyone, including my Fort Russell teammates, that I was some sort of fairy queen. How should I handle it? I couldn’t pretend I was Annie, since I was racing in men’s competition. If I acted as nervous as I felt, he might be able to figure it out. So I had to lie boldly.

I walked up to him and said, "I’m sorry, you keep looking my way. Do I know you?"

He introduced himself, and said that he had met another member of my team last summer, who looked an awful lot like me, except that she was a girl.

"You think I look like a girl, huh?" I asked.

He apologized. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. These uniforms are sort of unisex, and you’re about her height and size, and your face is shaped a little like hers. Now that you’re close up, I can see you aren’t her."

"So how did you get to know this girl?" I asked innocently (well, not very).

"I was just out bicycling one day, and I met her down at the riverfront park. We got talking, and we rode up a trail to restaurant, and had a coke and fries. Nice girl, in a plain sort of way, but she had these flashy fingernails and had some silly long ribbons in her hair like that little girl over there. I didn’t get very far with her, or anything."

I smiled. "Oh, I think I know who you meant. It sounds like my fiancee’s sister. She’s in college now, a real jock, basketball player. Her name’s Julie. But a lot of people think we look like brother and sister. She’ll be my sister-in-law soon enough, though," I grinned. "She has sort of a blond bubble hairdo."

"Yeah, that must have been her," he admitted. "Well, thanks. Good to meet you. Have a good race."

"I’ll try," I smiled. I did, too. I didn’t win any, but I finished with points in two sprints and the longer road race. Even more important, Annie was safe.

On the way back to Vicky and Roberta’s, Vicky smiled and asked, "Do you want a part-time job next Fall?" We weren’t going to have much time for outside work, but we asked what she meant.

"You won’t be the only two in school next Fall. I want to get my GED in evening school, but I need somebody to watch Roberta. You could still get your studying done with her around, and since she loves you two, it seems like a nice match. If I send her to evening day-care, I won’t have enough money left over for luxuries like food or clothing." Vicky had gotten pregnant in high school and dropped out to marry Roberta’s father, who had gotten so frightened by having a daughter with a severe heart defect that he had deserted the two. Vicky had been working as a waitress. Although she was the mother of an 8-year old, Vicky was barely 6 years older than we were. That’s why it was easier to strike up a friendship with her than with the other parents at Hope Haven.

"That’s great!" Sarah told her. "I’m so proud of you, Vicky. Of course we can, can’t we Mark?" I agreed, too. Roberta squealed with delight. It wouldn’t pay much, but we had a job that wouldn’t interfere with our studies, well, not much, anyway. More important was the friendship factor.

 

SHOWER FOR ANNIE

The summer moved quickly, busy with work at the bike shop, wedding preparations, and college planning. Sarah and I would get together once in awhile just to be together. But mostly it was busy. Julie was away again working in the summer basketball camp program at Westview.

One Saturday in early July, I was out biking, hit some loose gravel, and went down hard. I had some patches of road rash on my left leg and elbow, and a sprained ankle. It didn’t hurt real bad, but it swelled up and was weak enough that I had to get it taped up and use crutches for a few days. "Now you’re finding out how the other half lives," Sarah teased me.

"Yeah," I replied. "Now we have two good legs between us."

The next afternoon, we were sitting on the couch at the Holdings. My ankle was propped up in front of me, with a bag of ice on it. I was able to lean enough to try and kiss every freckle on her left shoulder. I had to move to reposition the ice, so I asked her, "Help me understand something, Sarah Beth. Last spring at the overlook, you told me a little bit about how you and Julie came up with the idea of me being Annie. But what I want to know is how did you get the idea in the first place? Did it just pop up out of your warped little brains because you liked to paint my nails when I wasn’t looking?"

"Hmmm," she said. "Let me think. Actually, I was sitting around here, wondering whether I’d ever get enough courage to leave the house again, and Julie and I had the TV on to some cable channel. It was showing an old movie—maybe early 90s, late 80s, I don’t know. I can’t remember the name of it. There was a boy in college, on the tennis team, and he developed a mad crush over a beautiful exchange student who was on the women’s team. She was shy, and generally not interested in him. So he asked some girl—his sister?—for advice. She suggested that he become a girl for a little while, and get to be her girlfriend, so he could understand her better. Well, he did, and it went on from there, with him being a girl part time, and a guy part time, all to get in good with the beautiful blond. It was kind of a sweet movie, and in the middle of it, I said out loud, ‘I wonder if Mark loves me enough to do something like that?’ and Julie said, ‘Probably, he’s really stuck on you, Sis, and he would be kind of cute.’ Then we were quiet for awhile, and we suddenly realized who could take Julie’s place at Hope Haven!"

"Maybe we’ll find the video some day. Maybe I could learn some makeup tips from this guy," I kidded.

"Nope," Sarah said. "Annie’s definitely cuter, but yeah, we can watch it sometime. Then

She looked at me with an intriguing expression on her face. "I talked with Julie on the phone today. She said that she wants to do something for us for a whole weekend, the first weekend in August. She really appreciates what you did last summer, and wants to do something nice."

"She doesn’t have to," I said.

"No, but she wants to." After a pause, she continued. "And she said that it would be more fun for everyone if you would be Annie for that weekend."

I hadn’t dressed as Annie since the end of the school year. It sounded intriguing. "Are you sure I can trust her on this?" I asked.

"You can trust us on this," Sarah replied. "I know what she has in mind, and Annie will have a ball. So will you. But don’t feel you have to, or anything. If you’re uncomfortable or anything…."

"No, it’s okay. I’ve been working enough weekends for other people, I should be able to get someone to return the favor. But I don’t suppose you’ll give me a clue." Sarah shook her head no and smiled. I went back to kissing freckles on her shoulder, but since I had lost count, I started over.

When the day came, I drove over to the Holding house, assuming I’d change into Annie there. I was glad that my ankle was healed, since the jeep has a manual transmission. It surprised me that Sarah was at the door with a duffel bag. She told me that she had everything Annie needed. She knew that I was still a little nervous about driving as Annie, she explained, and that I could change when I got there. I shrugged, and carried Sarah’s bag and Annie’s to the wagon. She gave me instructions to go to a neighborhood in the south side of the city. The house she had me pull up at was small, very tidy, and unfamiliar. At Sarah’s request I fetched the stuff and we went to the door. Was I going to be changing at a stranger’s?

No, it was okay. Joan Kim warmly welcomed us in. Her little daughter grinned from a playpen. "Don’t worry," Joan told me. "All the other family members are working today. Lunch isn’t ready yet, so why don’t you go change, Annie?" As I changed into my yellow satin panties and bra set, Sarah pulled out a yellow sundress and unrolled it. It had remained remarkably wrinkle free. I asked if Sarah had brought a wig, and she told me that she hadn’t. Sarah handed me a pair of white sandals that went nicely with the white pattern in the yellow dress. I asked about makeup, and Sarah told me not to worry about it. Still I felt a little uneasy, knowing that I looked like a boy in a dress.

"Come, let me do your nails," the Korean nail tech told us. She had her supplies set up on the dining room table. She cleaned the old polish off of Sarah’s nails, and applied short extensions. Then she worked on mine, gluing on extensions. I checked to make sure that they could come off by Monday morning, and she assured me they would. Joan stroked plum polish on Sarah’s nails, then applied a pale blue to mine. "That works with the yellow, don’t you think?" she asked, "and I know how you always want blue polish." She propped our feet up and gave us each a pedicure, and applied daisy decals to our big toes.

After our nails dried, our hostess dropped egg rolls into a fryer. Then I helped Joan carry food in from the kitchen, and we enjoyed an oriental lunch. Of course, I had to show off my chopstick prowess.

As we were cleaning up, the doorbell rang. An attractive blonde lady hugged Joan and came in. It took me a second to recognize her. "Hi," she said. "I’m Tina Bidesky. Remember, I did your first makeover right after Joan here gave you your acrylic nails last summer?" That would have been hard to forget, with the bleaching, perm, and piercing, and waxing. "It was hard to get off on our busiest day, but I wouldn’t miss this in the world!" Miss what, I wondered. She carried a beige work bag with her, with a designer name on it. Soon, I was in Joan’s bedroom, sitting on her vanity bench, while Tina was rolling hot rollers into my hair. "Yes, I think we can get something nice out of this," she told us. While the rollers were drying, she worked on my makeup. "I wish we had time to give you a facial first, dear," she said, "But you can come to the shop sometime and get a free one on me. It does wonders for softening your skin. You’re out on that silly bicycle too much. Even with sunscreen, you’re getting a little tough." It was fun to watch a pro at work. Without being obvious, the makeover made Annie look about as attractive as Annie can get. Now I felt like Annie, as well as looking like her. I wonder what was going to happen next?

We put the baby down for a nap. The doorbell rang, and I saw a small crowd walking toward the Kim residence, emerging from the Holding’s minivan and another car, carrying bunches of stuff. Julie and Karrin came in and hugged me, followed by Vicky and Roberta, and our two moms. "Happy wedding shower, Annie," they all told me in one way or the other as they hugged me.

"A wedding shower? But Sarah’s the bride, not me!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, but we all know that Annie will be a part of this marriage, too!" Karrin explained. "And when you told me that you didn’t think you would have a bachelor’s party, I felt so sad for you. So I told Julie, why don’t we have a bridal shower for Annie?" I knew that Sarah’s was scheduled in another two weeks.

"Well, I’ve never been to a bridal shower before," I grinned, "So you’ll just have to tell me what to do."

"You just sit back and enjoy it, baby," mom said as she hugged me.

"Did I see you and Roberta get out of the minivan?" I asked Vicky.

"That’s right," she answered. "Julie came down to the city to pick us up, and then we met Karrin at the bus station. And we’ll be riding back with you tomorrow." Hmmm. Evidently, this was going to be a big weekend.

They all bustled around, getting drinks out of a cooler and setting out munchies of all sorts. Then they pulled out cards and presents. I assumed since everybody knows that I cook it would be a bunch of kitchen stuff, and there was. The lingerie surprised me. Excuse me—the incredibly sexy lingerie in my size surprised me—a lot. My face must have been as red as the nightgown. So was my mom’s, but she seemed to enjoy it, too. Mom gave me a plastic bucket with a pink bow on it. It was filled with tools, nails, screws, and other kinds of hardware. "Everyone setting up house needs this kind of thing," she said. "It was your father’s idea." Dad knew about the shower? He must be mellowing. Tina had to leave to get back to work, but the rest of us sat and snacked and teased one another unmercifully. Well, mostly they teased me and Sarah. Vicky and Roberta gave me (us?) a darling crayon picture of me (as Annie) and Sarah that her mother had framed. Mrs. Cameron and Kelly Cassidy had mailed gifts, too—a generous gift certificate to a department store from Roger’s mother and something raunchy from Kelly.

Finally the party broke up. Mom drove my jeep home, and I rode with the others to a family-style restaurant in a nearby town. The chicken-fried steak was tasty, and the laughing and giggling of this large table full of women brought chuckles and appreciative glances from the older folks that made up most of the crowd. A very old woman left her table to hobble over to tell us that the good time we were having helped make her day. My mom picked up the check for our group.

We went to the Holding’s house and everyone that was still with us (Joan Kim had to go back to work) were instructed to get into our swimming suits. The public pool in Fort Russell wasn’t going to be open that long, and the Holdings certainly didn’t have a pool, so I had no idea what was going on. Obedient, though, I went up to Julie’s room, where she handed me my blue-skirted one-piece suit that I used in water therapy last summer, and changed in the bathroom. When I came down, I saw that Sarah, in changing, had taken off her prosthetic, and that the right leg of her bathing suit was sewn shut. "Since we’re not at the hospital, I thought it would look better this way," she told me. Some of us just had on our bathing suits, towels, and flip flops, and others slipped on loose garments over them. So we went back to the cars for our mystery destination. It was a health club downtown. The pool closed at 8, but Mrs. Holding and Julie had made arrangements for a private party for an hour. We all had a great time, even though I had to wear a shower cap and wasn’t allowed to get my hair wet, because I needed to save the set for the next day. Sarah and I have always enjoyed swimming, and now she enjoyed it even more, because the buoyancy of the water offset the gravity that always bore down on her single leg. She swam surprisingly smoothly, reminding me of a mermaid. She had been self-conscious about going to the public pool here. We were going to have to find a way that we could swim once we were married and at the university.

After we got back to the Holding’s, we had a sleepover. It had been a long day, so there wasn’t too much chattering, and soon I was dropping off to sleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

The next day, Julie, Karrin, Vicky, Roberta, Sarah, and I all climbed into the minivan. After dropping off Vicky and Roberta, we went out for supper at a favorite place, and then Julie drove us up into the foothills. There, at an amphitheater, we spread a blanket on the ground, sat down, and heard a great Lillith’s Fair concert.

On the long drive back to Fort Russell, Julie asked if I was glad that I came. "I can never repay you for last summer, no matter how I try," she said, "but I just wanted to let Annie know how much she’s loved." Sarah seconded the motion with a very long kiss. Who was I to disagree?

 

The End

 

A Note from Emmie: I want to thank all of those who have sent me emails. They are so loving and encouraging. This is the end of this particular story, since after their marriage, Sarah, Mark, and Annie will enter a new part of their lives. I am planning a new story about their wedding and first year of marriage, since I just can’t get them out of my head. I wasn’t intending an epic, but they keep insisting. Love, Emmie Dee

 

© 2000
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