was razor-sharp. “I’m only calling to make sure you’re safe. Are you alone, or is anyone with you?”
Something about the way your aunt talks made it seem as if I had to answer her. Like if I didn’t tell her exactly what she wanted to know, I’d be in enormous trouble. “My brother’s here.”
“Yes, of course, your brother.” She sounded delighted at this news. “Splendid. Now, Sharon, I won’t keep you. My top concern, again, is that you’re careful. I do hope you’ll keep in mind that you can’t allow yourself to be led astray this summer while you’re away from the positive influence of school. You’re a bright girl with a promising future ahead of you, and it would be a shame if anything were to interfere with that. The choices you make right now could determine everything.”
I stared down into the receiver. “How did you get my number?”
“I must be going, dear. Please do think about what I said, and God bless.”
The receiver clicked. The hissing stopped.
Aunt Mandy hung up on me.
I dropped the phone back into its cradle, my hand shaking.
What the Hell was that?
I tried to replay her words in my head, to make some sense of what had happened, but it was already swimming together.
Let’s talk as soon as we can. I’m scared, Tammy.
Yours, Sharon
Sunday, June 18, 1978
Dear Diary,
My hand is shaking, trying to write this down. I’m back at home, and Tammy should be, too—but she’s not.
She doesn’t know her aunt called. I have to tell her. Being the only one who knows is eating me up inside.
But all I can do now is wait, so I’m going to try to keep my head busy writing about the rest of tonight.
As soon as I’d left the letter on Tammy’s pallet, I grabbed my jacket. Peter had already left, so I headed for the bus stop and made my way to the restaurant where Kevin works. We hadn’t made plans to meet up tonight, but I couldn’t stand to be alone.
I didn’t know what time he’d finish his shift—they usually aren’t very busy on Sunday nights, so sometimes he gets out early—but I wound up waiting more than an hour on the hood of his Camaro a couple of blocks from the restaurant. When I finally saw him, I did my best to act as if nothing was wrong.
“Sharon?” Kevin frowned as he approached, like he wasn’t quite sure it was me. He was dressed in his shiny black vest and bow tie, his apron bunched in his hands.
“Hi.” I slid down from the hood, smiling. It’s usually easy to smile at Kevin, but not tonight. “I wanted to surprise you.”
He smiled back, but his smile didn’t look much easier than mine. “That’s great. I’m beat, but it’s good to see you.”
“I thought maybe we could go somewhere.”
“Sure.”
He unlocked my door first, the way he always does. As I slid into the passenger seat, I took a deep breath, trying to push back all the thoughts creeping into my head.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked, a Santana tape blaring as he twisted the key in the ignition. He smelled faintly of salad dressing.
“How about the park?”
He glanced at me and nodded, smiling more easily this time.
My heart pounded, and I tried to focus on the music’s soaring rhythms as we steered down the hills. Ever since I finished that letter to Tammy, I’d been trying to convince myself I wanted to see Kevin, but now I wasn’t so sure. I’d almost managed not to think about that phone call during the hour I’d sat on his car, but now I couldn’t stop.
I was terrified of what it could mean for Tammy. To be honest…I was terrified of what it could mean for me, too. Was her aunt making some kind of threat?
The guitar music pouring out of the tape player was smooth, melodic. Pretty. I tried to focus on it,