Tommy 38

"Jeff Metcalf, Do you mind telling me what that was about earlier?" Ginger's hands were on her hips, as she stood squarely in front of Jeff. He was pulling the garbage out of the can & tying it up. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Ginger." Jeff avoided her gaze the best he could. Jeff's denial only fueled Ginger's temper even more. "Don't play games with me, Buster. You know what I am talking about! When you saw that young man with Becky you marched over there as fast as you could. Next thing I know Becky is storming out of the backyard. Now you may have been able to carry on without anyone else noticing but I sure as heck noticed." "Ginger, it has nothing to do with anything, but I can't tell you about it without breaking a promise to Tommy that he can trust me to keep what he says to me to myself." Jeff used a mental reservation to add the fact that he was keeping Sam's confidence also. Somehow he knew with Ginger's behavior earlier it was best to not mention it. Ginger wasn't satisfied with Jeff's explanation, but let it go just long enough for him to take the trash out back. ********* Tommy walked Sam back to her place after the family left. He really wanted to stay overnight but knew his mother wouldn't approve of it. Tommy wasn't ready to face the wrath of Ginger. He stood on Sam's front porch kissing her goodbye, exactly where they had been for the last hour. "Did you have a good time tonight, Sam?" He asked her in between kisses. Sam's face lit up. "I had the best time. All of your family seems really nice. It must be great to come from such a huge brood. Casey & I have no cousins or anything like that. My mother, Dollene, was an only child & my dad's sister, Alice, never married or had any children. It was kind of lonely growing up. The last thing Casey wanted was his baby sister tagging after him. I  really only had one girlfriend while I was growing up. Her name was Denise & I am still convinced till this day that she originally became my friend because she thought Casey was the end all, be all." Sam laughed as she remembered her friend dreamily staring at Casey whenever he was in her presence. "Are you two still friends? You look like you miss her." Tommy snuck another kiss in before she could answer. Sam hated to have Tommy's lips leave hers. "We are great friends, she is married & living in Florida with her husband, Gary & their 2 daughters, Niki & Christy. We just got back into contact, Derrick didn't like me having any friends because he said it took away from his time with me. I just recently got into contact with my 5 sorority sisters to give them all my new address. We try to get together once a year." "That sounds like fun. Will you tell me what they are like?" Tommy sat down on the porch swing & motioned for Sam to sit next to him." "Are you sure? Because once I start talking about them I won't stop." Sam sat next to him. She notice he seemed genuinely interested. He nodded enthusiastically. Tommy could listen to Sam talk for hours about anything. "Well, Jennifer is a dancer on Broadway, she just told me that she met the man of her dreams while eating at a sidewalk café. Linda just married her high school sweetheart & moved to a farm in Iowa. Niki & Tracy are still roommates & they live in LA. Niki is a production assistant & Tracy is an actress, still struggling but she landed pilot. I am not yet sure of the storyline. & Karen is a press secretary for the Cubs & she of course lives in Chicago. Karen is the one I get to see the most because of our jobs." Sam leaned over & kissed Tommy. "Thanks for listening, it helps me not to miss them so much when I get to talk about them." "I love you so much, Sam" "I love you, too, baby!! It's getting pretty late, are you sure you don't want to just stay?" Tommy groaned, "That is very tempting, Sweet Pea, but I don't want to upset my mom, especially since you two just met. But how about if I come over really early & wake you up?" "That sounds amazing. Here." Sam reached into her front pocket & withdrew a key to her house. Tommy took the key & kissed Sam again. "Mmmm, I better go because if we keep this up I won't go!" Tommy jumped off the porch & turned back to Sam. "I love you, Sam. Thanks for moving here!!" "I love you, too! Goodnight!" Sam turned & entered her home, locking the door behind her. ********* Good grief, what is taking Jeff so long with that garbage, Ginger thought to herself. If he thinks he can avoid telling me what is going on by staying out there he is sorely mistaken. Tommy walked into the front door as Ginger was about to go out back to find Jeff. "Hey, Mom." He kissed her on the cheek & noticed the distraught look on her face. "What's wrong? Why are you still up?" "Your dad went out to take some trash about an half hour ago & still hasn't come back in. I was about to go see what is keeping him." "I'll go, be back in a sec." Tommy disappeared out the door. He figured Jeff was in trouble for something & was just hiding out in his garage workshop until Ginger cooled off. He looked in the garage, it was empty. Tommy began to walk to the alley where the garbage cans were. Ginger stood on the back porch waiting to see Jeff & Tommy re-emerge "MOM, CALL AN AMBULANCE!!"