As a general rule, Southern Baptists dont dance. In Beaufort, however, it wasnt a rule that was ever strictly enforced. The minister before Hegbert-dont ask me what his name was-took sort of a lax view about school dances as long as they were chaperoned, and because of that, theyd bee a tradition of sorts. By the time Hegbert came along, it was too late to ge things. Jamie retty much the only one whod never been to a school dand frankly, I didnt know whether she even knew how to da all.
I admit that I also had some s about what she would wear, though it wasnt something I would tell her. When Jamie went to the church socials-which were enced by Hegbert-she usually wore an old sweater and one of the plaid skirts we saw in school every day, but the homeing dance was supposed to be special. Most of the girls bought new dresses and the boys wore suits, and this year we were bringing in a photographer to take our pictures. I knew Jamie wasnt going to buy a new dress because she wasly well-off. Ministering wasnt a profession where people made a lot of money, but of course ministers werent in it for moary gain, they were in it for the long haul, if you know what I mean. But I didnt wao wear the same thing she wore to school every day, either. Not so mue-Im not that cold-hearted-but because of what others might say. I didnt eople to make fun of her or anything.
The good news, if there was any, was that Eric didnt rib me too bad about the whole Jamie situation because he was too busy thinking about his own date. He was taking Margaret Hays, who was the head cheerleader at our school. She wasnt the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but she was ni her own way. By nice, of course, Im talking about her legs. Eric offered to double-date with me, but I turned him down because I didnt want to take any ces with Eric teasing Jamie or anything like that. He was a good guy, but he could be kind of heartless sometimes, especially when he had a few shots of bourbon in him.
The day of the dance was actually quite busy for me. I spent most of the afternoon helping to decorate the gym, and I had to get to Jamies about a half hour early because her father wao talk to me, though I didnt know why. Jamie had sprung that one on me just the day before, and I t say I was exactly thrilled by the prospect of it. I figured he was going to talk about temptation and the evil path it lead us to. If he brought up fornication, though, I knew I would die right there on the spot. I said small prayers all day long in the hope of avoiding this versation, but I wasnt sure if God would put my prayers on the front burner, if you know what I mean, because of the way Id behaved in the past. I retty nervous just thinking about it.
After I showered I put on my best suit, swung by the florist to pick up Jamies ce, then drove to her house. My mom had let me borrow the car, and I parked it oreet directly in front of Jamies house. We hadnt turhe clocks back yet, so it was still light out when I got there, and I strolled up the cracked walkway to her door. I knocked and waited for a moment, then knocked again. From behind the door I heard Hegbert say, "Ill be right there," but he wasly rag to the door. I must have stood there for two minutes or so, looking at the door, the moldings, the little cracks in the windowsills. Off to the side were the chairs that Jamie and I had sat in just a few days back. The one I sat in was still turned in the opposite dire. I gu