Free Taylor Made Owens by R.D. Power Page A

ignorant of you to just brush me off when my cousin came to the party last night then shoo me away as if I were a gnat. You’re reprehensible and heartless.”
    “I did that? Sorry, Taylor. My only excuse is I was really drunk. I spent half the night snuggling the toilet. I think your gargoyle friend spiked my drink.” He rubbed his forehead. Oh, what a headache had he.
    “That’s a feeble excuse. You may not have noticed, jerk, but I’ve grown up. I hate being referred to as a cute kid. You treat me like dirt, and I resent you for that.”
    “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
    “You’re a fool trusting Jenny after what she did to you on the bus.”
    “I don’t trust her. You either.”
    “What? You don’t trust me? Why not?”
    “I’ve heard about your reputation for shooting down guys right, left, and center as soon as they show any interest. You think no guy is good enough for you.”
    “Jenny told you that, no doubt.”
    “Do you deny it?”
    “I never lead anyone on, and I don’t turn down guys for the joy of feeling superior to them, as my cousin does. When I hurt anyone’s feelings, I feel terrible. Anyway, I wouldn’t turn you down.”
    “Okay. Do you want to go out with me?” he asked.
    “Not unless it’s exclusive.”
    “So you just turned me down.”
    “I did not! I said—”
    “I heard what you said. You’ll go out with me if I commit to you. No way, Taylor.”
    “Oh!” she screeched, and she stomped out of his house and all the way home.
    1 This paragraph first appeared on the website of the literary journal, Slow Trains:
http://www.slowtrains.com/vol9issue3/powersvol9issue3.html

Chapter Seven
Pranks and Games
    K risten believed that the quintessence of a man’s character is most clearly unveiled in his wit. Wit demonstrates his mental prowess and quickness, his ingenuity, his way with words, his brashness, his irreverent attitudes—and, of course, his sense of humor. She always looked for ways to get Robert to display his wit, which she adored.
    Any good woman takes it upon herself to expand her man’s interests beyond sports and sex, if only so he’ll spend more time with her and less time on her. To spend more time with Robert, Kristen decided to invite him to her various volunteer activities. He declined each invitation.
    “Come on, Bobby. You know you need forty hours of community volunteering to graduate. Have you done
any
?”
    “No.”
    “Then how about coming along on Sunday afternoons to the children’s ward at the hospital?” He didn’t answer, but she persisted, “I take my dog there to cheer up the children. Will you come?”
    “What for?”
    “Do you listen to anything I say? You need forty hours of volunteer work to graduate. This would be something worthwhile.”
    “What would I have to do?”
    “Just be yourself. Make them laugh.”
    “All right. What time?”
    “We’ll pick you up at twenty to two. We stay there from two to four.”
    He assented and commenced joining her for the weekly visit. Normally, things went well, with Kristen offering emotional support, and Robert and the dog lightening the mood. Sometimes it was depressing, which made Robert want to stop going until Kristen made the case how important it is to lift the gloom from the lives of those suffering children and their loved ones.
    One particular Sunday was most distressing. A lovable little six-year-old boy had died of cancer the night before, and the other children on the ward were crying and worrying. Robert sat with the dog next to the wall in the room that served to entertain the children and their families. He was so disheartened, he couldn’t do a thing. Kristen, though, went to the children and hugged them, cried with them, and reassured them. After twenty minutes, she called Robert over to help cheer them up. Inspired by her, he did his best, although the dog was better medicine than he that day.
    On the way home, he said, “You were terrific with them today,