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“I just need five minutes.” Nancy says, as they pull into the driveway. “Do you mind?”
“You know I don’t.” Robin assures her, “You won’t have any fun if you’re too hot.”
“Yeah,” Nancy says, looking down at her knit shirt and sweater. “The layered look works great for the office in Boston, not so great for southern Indiana in July.”
Robin leans back against the headrest and looks over at her girlfriend. “And you just know Steve is going to make us hike forever before we get to the picnic by the creek part of this double date.”
“Remind me why we agreed to a forced march with Steve and his new girlfriend instead of…oh I don’t know…just you and me skipping right to the beer, sandwiches and skinny dipping?”
Robin grins. “Because Steve is my best friend, we’re only here for two weeks and we need to get in friend time… and you love me.”
“I do love you.” Nancy replies. She gazes at Robin for a long moment. If they were in her apartment back in Boston, or on campus at Smith, she’d pull Robin in for a kiss. But they are in her parents’ driveway in Hawkins, and Holly is 15 feet away trying to fix her bike. They both know this is not the place for open displays of affection. Robin reaches out and strokes Nancy’s fingers with her own. The gesture is small, but intimate. Nancy watches Robin touch her hand and the sight sends a small flutter of delight to the center of her chest.
“Go change.” Robin says. “I’ll wait.”
“You can come inside, you know.”
“Is your dad home?”
“He doesn’t hate you, Robin.”
“He doesn’t like me either.”
“I told them we were dating a year ago. Everyone is fine with…”
“It’s one thing for them to be fine with it when we are a thousand miles away in Massachusetts. It's another thing for them to be fine with it in their living room.”
“My mom even said…”
“Your mom isn’t your dad.”
Nancy rolls her eyes. “I do not have time to win this argument right now. But you don’t have to sit in a hot car while I change. Ok?”
“Ok,” Robin agrees.
“Five minutes.” Nancy can’t resist; she gives Robin a quick kiss, then hops out of the car and quickly heads into the house.
After a moment, Robin gets out of the car too. She’s not sure if she is ready to sit and chat with Mr. Wheeler, but it is getting stuffy in there.
“Hi Robin!” Holly waves. Even from over a dozen feet away, Robin can feel the warmth of her beaming smile. Rockin’ Robin has been off the airwaves for a couple of years now, and Holly is 13 years old and well into becoming a surly teen. But between the Tiffany records and saving her from Vecna, Holly will forever be one of Robin’s biggest fans.
“What’s up with your bike?” Robin asks, heading closer. Holly has the bike upside down, propped on the handlebars and seat, and she’s poking gingerly at the chain.
“The chain keeps falling off.” Holly replies. “I can get it back on, but when I shift through the gears it just slips again.”
“Let me take a look.” Robin crouches next to Holly. “I used to ride my mom’s old bike, it was practically an antique. I had to get pretty good at fixing whatever went wrong.”
Within a few minutes, Robin diagnoses the problem. The chain is too loose, they need to move the wheel back. Holly runs to get tools and when she’s back with a hex key and a wrench, Robin quickly gets to work, removing the shifter, loosening the lug nuts, and pulling the wheel back to add tension. She shows Holly how to make sure the wheel is straight before tightening everything back up.
“It works!” Holly is thrilled. “Thank you, so much. If I had to wait for my dad to drive me everywhere I’d just die.”
“Believe me, I know the feeling.” Robin says. “Just oil it up and you’ll be good to go.”
Holly nods, and heads off to put the tools away. “Thanks again, Robin!” she calls over her shoulder.
“No problem.” Robin calls back, getting to her feet. And it was no problem, she was glad to help. But now her hands are covered in bicycle grease. She wipes her fingers on the grass, to little effect. She’ll have to go inside to wash up.
Thankfully, Holly left the back door open, Robin doesn’t have to knock or struggle with the doorknob with grimy hands. She slips through the open door, and into the empty kitchen. Robin knows better than to waste time with the bar soap on the side of the sink. She grabs the Palmolive dish soap and pours a few drops into her hand, lathering it into a froth of suds with hot water. It takes a few rounds, but soon her hands are clean, and she’s drying them on a dish towel.
“Dad, I know how to use a stereo.”
“Do you, Mike? Because if you knew how to use a stereo, it wouldn't be broken.”
“Maybe Holly broke it. Or Nancy. Or mom. OR YOU. Why do you assume it’s me?”
“You’re the only one who’s been in here, blasting rem or whatever you call it.”
“R. E. M., Dad, Jesus.”
Robin stifles a laugh. Mike is home for the summer from college. Nancy said he’s been having constant arguments with their father, chafing at family life after being independent all year. Robin doesn’t want to step into the middle of their power struggle. But rem, that’s funny.
Robin must not have been as quiet as she hoped.
“Karen, is that you?” Mr. Wheeler calls from the living room.
“Ahh. No. It’s me.” Robin steps out from the kitchen. “Hey, Mike. Hi, Mr. Wheeler.”
Mike smiles and returns the greeting. Mr. Wheeler just frowns at his stereo.
Mike waves her over to where they are standing. “You know audio stuff, Robin. Can you explain to him that I couldn’t possibly have ruined his speakers by listening to music too loud?”
Mr. Wheeler regards Mike disdainfully over his glasses. “Really? Then why can we barely hear out of the right speaker then?” He purses his lips and turns his attention to Robin, waiting for an answer.
Robin chews on her lip and does her best to avoid shooting Mike a glare that says “Thanks for nothing kid, this is exactly how I don’t want to interact with my girlfriend’s dad.” but she marshalls all her resources and remains calm.
“I’m um…not really an expert or anything. Not Dustin levels of audio engineering expertise. But…actually Mike, it is possible you overheated the coil.”
“Ha! Thank you.” Mr. Wheeler beams at Robin, and it’s a nice half second, it really is. But Robin has to be fair.
“But…it’s also possible the cable is failing. Or even a dirty connection on the balance control. Did you try switching the connections? That’ll tell you if it's the cable or the speaker itself.”
“Great idea.” Mr. Wheeler says, nodding at Robin. “You didn’t think of that, did you?” he says to Mike.
Mike protests, and while they continue bickering, Robin gingerly slides between them to reach the stereo. She reaches behind the unit to switch the cables, tests the sound, and finds that the problem has switched to the left speaker.
“It’s the cable.” she concludes. She disconnects the offending item and hands it to Mr. Wheeler. “Replace this and you should be good as new.”
“Thank you, Robin.” He says sincerely. Only then does he wonder why Robin is in his living room. “Are you waiting for Nancy or something?”
With Mr. Wheeler’s full attention on her, Robin is flustered. “Oh yes. We’re going out. Together. With other people. But. Um. She was too hot. I mean. Her clothes were too hot for…. She had to change. I’m. Yeah. Waiting. Sorry. I…” Robin manages a deep breath. “I’m waiting for Nancy, she’s changing.”
“Sure, well, get a Coke or something. You know women, they take forever.” He gives Robin a half smile, and Robin can tell this is a serious effort on his part. She meets him halfway, and manages a small grin in return.
“C’mon Mike.” Mr. Wheeler says. “We’re going to Radio Shack…” Mr Wheeler guides Mike into the hall, Mike protesting all the way.
“Why do I have to…”
Their conversation fades as they walk out the front door and Robin is finally able to breathe again.
“Hello?!” Karen Wheeler is at the back door, calling into the house. She must have come in the back just as Mr. Wheeler and Mike left from the front. “Why is it that everyone disappears when it's time to carry grocery bags?…”
“Hi. Mrs. Wheeler, I can help.” Robin hastens to the back door to relieve Karen of the heavy groceries in her arms.
“Oh, Robin. Thank you.” Karen has gotten used to encountering a variety of teenagers and young adults in her house at any hour of the day, and she’s happy to take help from anyone who offers.
Robin puts the first two bags on the counter, and dashes out to the car to grab the rest. She has everything inside in short order, and begins unpacking the bags.
“Where do you want the cereal, Mrs. Wheeler?”
“I’ve told you Robin, call me Karen.”
“Right, Mrs. Wh…Karen. Where would you like the cereal?”
Growing up with hippy parents, Robin never had any trouble addressing adults by first name. She was never taught to stand on ceremony or be particularly deferential to her elders. But with Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, she layers on extra manners - I’m-dating-your-daughter manners that she specifically asked Steve to teach her. She doesn’t want to cause any trouble for Nancy with her family. Any more than she already has by falling in love with her.
Nancy insists her parents are…if not thrilled with their relationship, at peace with it. Her mom is just glad they are all alive after fighting literal monsters. Her dad feels the same, in his begrudging, grumpy way.
And Robin is sure the Wheelers do love Nancy no matter what. But they are under no obligation to like Robin at all. She and Nancy aren’t around the Wheelers that often, as a couple, but when they are, she is always striving to be polite, helpful, out of the way. It’s hard to relax. And it’s nearly impossible to call Mrs. Wheeler Karen.
“So, how’s school going?” Karen asks. “Nancy tells me you’re self designing a major?”
“Yeah. I just declared at the end of last semester. I’m calling it Cross-Cultural Linguistics and Translation. It’s basically Comparative literature, modern languages, a little linguistic anthropology thrown in…I already have a lot of the language credits…”
“Sounds complicated… and it sounds like you’re pretty excited about it.”
“I am actually…” Robin pauses. “I didn’t know Nancy told you about my major.”
“She’s proud of you.”
Robin cannot stop the blush that climbs up her neck, into her cheeks. She rushes to fill the silence.
“Nancy’s doing great too. She’s been doing amazing work on this ongoing police corruption series the Herald has been running. She managed to uncover evidence of fraud in the…”
Karen reaches out and covers Robin’s hand with her own. “You and Nancy have both grown into amazing women, doing amazing work,” she says in a calm, comforting tone. “You two really bring out the best in each other.”
Tears spring to Robin’s eyes, but she blinks them back and manages to meet Karen’s gaze and say a small, simple “Thanks.”
Karen squeezes her hand. “Thank you. You understand her. It means a lot. To know she has someone looking out for her, out in the world…Someone who loves her.”
Robin can’t hold back the tears this time. She drops her gaze to the floor and rubs a hand over her eyes.
“What are you two talking about?” Nancy asks as she enters the kitchen, having changed her knit sweater set for a thin cotton t-shirt with the sleeves hacked off.
Robin brushes the last of the tears from her cheek. “Nothing. Groceries.”
“Yes.” Karen concurs. “I was just showing Robin where we keep the cereal.”
Nancy eyes them both with suspicion, but decides to let it go, for now.
“Speaking of groceries…” Nancy says, picking up a bag of chips from the counter and tossing them into the tote bag she’s carrying. “Perfect timing. We'll be taking these for our picnic.” She turns to Robin. “I’m glad you decided to come in from the car.”
“Yeah,” Robin nods. “Me too.”
Nancy reaches over and takes Robin’s hand. Robin holds on tight.
Karen watches them through the window as they walk out to the car. She calls after them, “Have fun. Be safe.” She watches until they reach the end of the block and turn east, toward the sun.