REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133b)

REALLY BIG CHANGES... and repercussions (Part 133b)

When I got home that night Elle greeted me with one word... ”WOW!”... and then proceeded to tell me that the fallout from not renewing the principal’s contract was all over the town. She’d gone to town to get the mail and that’s all anybody wanted to talk about. She added that a couple of her mother’s friends had some unkind words to say to her for supporting “an outsider” who was going to cause taxes to be raised. After eating I tried to get in touch with both Jon and Bob but they weren’t home. Saturday was supposed to be the first day to open up the sailing club and I’d promised Rex that I’d be there so spent the time after supper doing the lawn. There was still daylight when I finished up so did a walk around the house to see if anything else needed attention. When I came around to the East side, the side closest to Sabrina’s house, I saw a red Ford Mustang in the driveway. I’d never seen one there before so wondered who was visiting her.

Back inside the house I heard Elle on the phone with Ginger. I, more or less, knew she was going to have the bladder sling procedure fairly soon. Elle had talked with her about the whole thing, especially the recovery time, and had decided she wasn’t interested. Ginger had told her she’d be “out of commission” for about six weeks and Elle, on top of her fear of any kind of operation, couldn’t see having to pretty much give up her Summer to recover. She’d lived with her ‘problem’ for so long that she’d adapted to it. I overheard Elle offer to look after a couple of Ginger's kids if it would help her out. I got her attention enough to ask if Jon was home yet. She nodded positively so I waited for a few minutes to talk with him.

I wasn’t real ‘close’ with Jon but I had respect for him and his ideas so asked if he (and the other three who’d voted not to renew the contract) had contemplated the reaction. He hesitated a bit and admitted that they hadn’t really discussed it but went on to say that the Board president had called for a special, closed, meeting for Sunday. He wouldn’t go any further than that.

At the sailing club I couldn’t believe that so much of the talk was about the school situation. Less than half the people who were there lived in the school district all year round. I asked one of the people who only spent Summers there why the interest. He shrugged and said it was just a “change of ”pace“ to the idle, inane conversations that usually took place at the club. I thought about it for a few seconds and sort of agreed with him.

It was good to see the activity as the storm windows came down and the boat racks were re-assembled. I’d hoped that when the women arrived to make lunch that some would offer up a VPL (visible panty line) or DP (down pants). However, when they arrived around noon time the only one who offered up anything of interest was Elle. However, she knew the water hadn’t been turned on for the bathrooms so she wore a partial ‘package’. I, because I’d seen it many times before, recognized the little bulge between her butt cheeks. I’d assured her, many times, that it wasn’t noticeable to others. Truthfully, it didn’t show much more than a regular sanitary pad did. I definitely remember surveying the group and missed seeing some of the familiar faces of just a few years past. But, that’s what marriage and having kids did. I felt lucky that Elle was still participating.

Later that afternoon I ended up going to the landfill. As I’ve mentioned before, going late in the day meant less people and a quicker turn around. I’d unloaded my stuff and was making a quick ‘pass’ to see if I could score some ‘treasures’ like the previous week. The last person I expected to bump into (literally) was the president of the local commercial bank. He was digging into a pile of rags and as he turned towards his car he hit me. We both laughed. I remember saying something to him about never knowing who you could run into at the dump. But, after putting some of the rags in the trunk of his car he asked what was going on with the school. I really didn’t know what to say to him. I knew his daughter was in the same class as my oldest daughter, Jean. Since it was near closing time I didn’t want to get harassed by the attendant like the week before so I asked him to give me a call when he got home.

Driving home I felt somewhat important. Even though I’d lived in town, off and on all my life, we’d never spoken before. Knowing his position I knew I had to couch what I told him very carefully. When the call came in he opened by telling me to call him”Ski“. Needless to say, he was Polish.
Once I started talking it was like I was a used car salesman. But, as soon as I mentioned the quality of the education in our school being somewhat inferior as compared to neighboring school districts he got his wife on the line as well. I’d used the fact that Elle had taught in a number of schools other than the one in our town and had first hand knowledge. That seemed to impress them. By the time we hung up I felt I’d made an important ally. They promised to ”get the word out“ to their friends that the changes were warranted. I'd also mentioned, in an off-hand way, that 'Polak Joe' seemed to be involved with the controversy and got a laugh from him. I couldn't draw him out on that but it did seem to confirm it as fact.

After supper I took a peek in Sabrina’s yard and saw the Mustang was there again. The fact that it was was now getting to me. The first time I saw it I was curious but now I was a bit intrigued... did Sabrina get her own car? Elle had wanted the new lawn swing placed in the back yard right outside the kitchen windows so she could observe the kids playing in it without being outside with them. I decided to go sit in it with them for a few minutes but not so much as to play with them but to be in a position to see/hear any activity next door. Luck was with me because after just a few minutes I heard voices. A quick peek through the hedge revealed Sabrina getting into the passenger seat of the car but I couldn't see who was driving. I found that very interesting... did she have a new suitor?

To be continued...