Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher [109]
“Logan Witherspoon.” I took to the stage, and Bloch handed me one of the last diplomas. From the stands, Mom, Laura, my grandpa, and my uncle cheered. Tonight, before the Boyer graduation party, they’d take me out to dinner. I’d get a few hundred bucks in gifts. This summer would be the last time I would really live in the trailer. I’d come back to Boyer to visit and for vacations, but it wouldn’t be my home. I really didn’t have a home anymore.
The last student filed past the principal. Mrs. Day shuffled her notes.
“One Boyer student could not be with us today. Sage Hendricks.”
A loud cheer in a tiny voice floated above the polite applause. I turned to see Tammi, sitting in the highest bleacher, cheering for the sister she no longer had. Her parents were not with her.
Sage. So she’d graduated. She’d only managed to spend four and a half months at Boyer. Less than half a year. But Christ, the mark she made.
I was aware that people were cheering, that I was being struck by falling graduation caps. As the grads got up to meet their families, I just sort of sat there, remembering. Her husky laugh. The way she’d shove me all the time. Her crazy clothes. Her soft hands and warm tongue. How, for one wonderful night, she’d been mine. No matter what she did with her life, no matter where she ended up, I was the first (and possibly only) guy who’d kissed her. She’d always remember that.
I just wish we could have shared some more memories. I just wish we could have said goodbye.
“Logan?” Mom was standing next to me. “Are you ready to go?”
I glanced back at the bleachers, but Tammi was gone. I stood.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “I’m starved.”
Seniors in Columbia take an end-of-the-year trip to Chicago. Seniors in Moberly get a weekend in St. Louis. Seniors in Boyer are rewarded with a night locked in the gymnasium at Boyer Baptist Church, a deli tray from IGA, and the church’s stereo system belching out preapproved music. Party on.
I stood in a corner drinking an overly syrupy fountain soda and watching my classmates mill around. Some were playing the carnival games set up by the PTA. Others stood clustered in groups talking to their friends. No one was dancing. Thirteen years of school with these people, and this was our last night together.
The booster club had taped our yearbook photos to a large sheet of construction paper. We’d all written where we were headed the next year. There were few surprises. State and community colleges, the marines, the police academy, one adventurous fellow headed for California. Just four graduates planned to stay in Boyer. Only Sage’s picture had no caption.
This was truly the end of the life I knew. Everyone but my mom was leaving town. Laura and I would only come back here to visit her.
“Hey, you.”
I smiled and turned to the familiar voice. “Hi, Brenda.”
My ex stood there looking regal and shy as always. She wasn’t wearing her glasses. She must have finally gotten the contacts she always talked about.
Brenda glanced over at the poster. “Still going to Mizzou? I think you’ll have fun there. It’s a great school.”
I shrugged. “And you?”
“Washington U.”
I nodded. We stood there looking at the hardwood floor for a moment. She eventually broke the silence.
“Hey, let me give you my e-mail address.” She scribbled something on a piece of paper. “You can tell me what you’re up to.”
My Boyer School District address had already been canceled. By the time I got around to getting a new one, I’d have already lost Brenda’s. But it was a nice gesture.
“I’ll do that.” We both shifted from foot to foot. This was probably the last time we’d speak. Did we really have nothing left to say? “Guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah. Bye, Logan.”
We didn’t walk away, and within two seconds we were hugging.
“You take care of yourself, Brenda.” I meant it, too.
“I’ll miss you, Logan.”
We squeezed each other tight, then walked off in opposite directions. I was glad we could end things like that. Although,