She began rummaging through her purse for a cigarette when a couple of sounds caught her attention and EmT appeared under the backdoor light. Kay Kay leaned against her VW Bug to watch him. Sure, he had that scar now and his movements were a little jerky, but in her heart she saw the tall, handsome boy in his powder-blue tuxedo who had swept the wrong girl off her feet when he was a senior and she was in seventh grade.
At first EmT just opened a trashcan lid and dumped in a bucket of scraps but then he folded himself into a cross-legged position and sat quietly. Kay Kay realized the other sound she had been hearing was the whining of a puppy and she saw it slowly creep into view.
The dog was a waif; there was no doubt about it. It had crawled into the ally behind a stack of cardboard boxes, as if it was waiting for EmT carry out the garbage. EmT pretended not to notice but when the little brown dog finally showed itself, he reached into the pocket of his kitchen apron and pulled out an offering. The dog gobbled up its food and began wriggling into EmT’s lap and licking his face.
Kay Kay tossed her unlit cigarette and handbag into the front seat of the Bug and crunched over to the pair, “Hey Emmet,” she said softly, “Do you remember me? I’m Janet’s little sister, Katie. You came to our house to take her to the prom and you told me not to worry ‘cause it wouldn’t be so long ’til I’d get to go to the prom too. Do you remember that? And then it seemed like right after that you got drafted.”
EmT sat with the puppy squirming and licking his hands, but he didn’t move or look at anything.
“I heard you were back and, you know, umm …everything, that was a while ago. I was junior varsity cheerleader and I always hoped I’d see you at a game. I guess you didn’t go out much back then.”
The puppy was getting more excited and EmT started to get up while still holding onto it at which point the puppy began to leap out of his arms and Kay Kay rushed to grab both of them.
“No, look,” she said laughing, “You hold it like this.” She gently took one of his hands in hers. “You give it support on its bottom.”
They stood close to each other with one of her hands holding his and the other hand around his waist and, for one second, she thought she saw his eyes focused on her.
Kay Kay looked into his face and sighed. “I sure wish you remembered me, Emmet, that would surly be nice.”
She leaned her head closer to his ear and began to whisper in a confidential way. “I decided just tonight, here in the parking lot, that I’m really ready to go to school in Denver. I’ve been saving some money and Ma says she can help some. I want to make strong, elegant tools like my father used to dream about. I’m going to study metallurgy and drafting and that stuff. Maybe I’ll be like those women’s libber girls in New York. Or maybe I’ll become a hippie. Could you imagine me like a hippie with hairy legs?”
She took a step back but then rushed up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “I hope that maybe when I come back, maybe you’ll remember me, Emmet.”
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