Lawrence & Lenexa – Part 3

 Good morning, Faithful Friday Fiction Fans,

What a week! Things at the office have really picked up and we've gone from voting around 150 people a day to over 220 people. I haven't gotten a whole lot of filing done, but that's okay. Sometimes I can get a card or two filed while we wait for voters to finish before we can let others inside because our space is pretty small. I wasn't scheduled to work today, but things are so busy that I offered and they jumped at the extra help. I've never worked on a Friday before but I've heard it's crazy busy. And I thought yesterday was busy. ;) Thankfully, we've had a great deputy helping keep order in the halls, getting sample ballots for people as they wait so they vote faster, and helping entertain any little ones. And people said the wait is only about 10-20 minutes. Much better than a 2 hour or more wait at the polls on Election Day that people are expecting.

With all that going on, I don't feel like writing at all when I get home. I catch up on emails and messages I need to read at Camp, and other things. We are counting the days until the election is over. 

Anyway, you can be praying that things go well and smoothly. 

Here's the next part of my story. Enjoy!

 Lawrence and Lenexa

    Lawrence rose and picked up his backpack. “Sorry, Mom. I forgot I hadn’t changed.”
    Lenexa sat up. “Mom, can we do something together this weekend?”
    Mrs. Johnson glanced down at her watch. “Like what, Lenexa?”
    “Oh, I don’t know, have a picnic or go to the park. You know, something fun.”
    “I don’t see how we can fit one more thing into this weekend, Lenexa. Dad has a very important meeting with a client tomorrow at one. And you know that Sunday is my bridge club. But maybe you can play golf with your father then. But change quickly now. We are eating supper early tonight.” She stepped from doorway into the hall. “Lawrence.”
    “Yeah?” Lawrence called from behind the closed door of his room.
    Mrs. Johnson sighed. “I do wish you wouldn’t shout, son. We are eating supper early so don’t take a long time changing. And make sure you put on proper dinner clothing, not shorts and a T-shirt this evening.”
    “I won’t, Mom.”
    Lenexa opened the door of her room and stood still.
    “Lenexa Marie Elizabeth Johnson!” her mother exclaimed. “Surely you were not planning on wearing that to the dinner table!”
    Glancing down, Lenexa didn’t see anything amiss. “Why not? What’s wrong with it?”
    “Your slip is showing at least half an inch. Now either find a different slip, or put on a different dress. One that is long enough to look decent.”
    “Can I just wear it without the slip? It’s just for supper–”
    “Absolutely not. No child of mine is going to come to the table half undressed. Now hurry. Your father won’t want to be kept waiting.”
    Shutting the door, Lenexa hurried back to her closet. The trouble was she had been growing. Her dresses were looking shorter, and most of her slips were too small. Except the one she was wearing. After trying on three dresses and finding that the slip still showed. Lenexa was desperate. Her mother had called her twice, and the tone of her voice said her patience was nearly gone. Grabbing a couple of safety pins, Lenexa pulled up the waistband of the slip and folded it over, pinning it in place. It was difficult to pin the back evenly, and she finally gave up trying. “As long as it doesn’t show it should work.”
    In the hall, Mrs. Johnson eyed her daughter’s outfit carefully. “You do have a slip on, right?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Then let us go down to dinner. Mr. Edger and his wife are joining us for dessert, but you and Lawrence won’t be required to eat with us.”
    Lenexa merely nodded. Mr. Edger, a lawyer from the same firm where her father worked, was friendly when alone, but neither Lenexa nor her brother cared for his wife.

*

    Mounting the stairs to their rooms, the twins looked at each other and sighed. It had been a long evening. Supper had been all right though it was a bit rushed, for the Edgers were known to be early. They were early. A whole twenty minutes early. Mrs. Johnson had the table cleared away quickly even though Lawrence was still eating. After the twins had greeted their guests politely, they were excused to eat their dessert outside. There they had remained until it began to grow dark.
    “I’m glad Mrs. Cook let me eat something else after dessert,” Lawrence murmured to his sister. “I might have starved before breakfast tomorrow.”
    “You wouldn’t have starved, Larry,” Lenexa retorted with a grin. “But you might have been awfully hungry.” Stopping in the hall, she asked, “What are we going to do tomorrow?”
    “Sleep in. Then I don’t know what. I wish we had those papers to fill out for camp.”
    Lenexa sighed. “Yeah, me too. Well, I’m going to bed. Night, Larry.”
    “Good night, Lexi.”

*

    Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday finally dragged their slow, reluctant days away, and then it was Tuesday.
    Lenexa was late for breakfast and had to rush through her meal in order to leave for school on time. There was no time to talk with her brother until they were in the car, and even then she couldn’t very well bring up the subject that was foremost in her mind.
    All during school that morning Lenexa fought to stay focused. Catching her brother’s arm in the hall, she dragged him to the side and whispered, “Do you think she’s put it there yet?”
    Lawrence shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s go eat.” He started down the hall toward the stairs.
    Keeping step with him, Lenexa wasn’t ready to let the subject drop. “What if she gives the papers to Mom? Or forgets to bring them?”
    “If she forgets than we’ll have to wait until Saturday. If she gives them to Mom, well–” He waited for a few students to hurry ahead of them down the stairs. “If Mom gets them then I’m guessing we’ll either have to do some pretty fancy persuading and hope we can get Dad on our side, or we’ll just have to forget the whole thing, listen to our lecture, and go to our usual camp.”
    “Oh!” Lenexa moaned. She felt like sitting down on the stairs but knew she’d get a lecture if a teacher saw her.
    “Come on, Lex, buck up. We only have a few more hours before we know.” Lawrence didn’t feel as confident as he tried to sound. Though he wouldn’t admit it then, he was worried too.
    
    Somehow the twins managed to finish the school day without any reprimands for absentmindedness, and they met each other at the door. Lenexa’s face was eager and excited.
    “You look too eager, Lex,” Lawrence murmured, as they were swept along by the crowd. “Mom might notice.”
    “Well, I got an A+ on my last history paper, and school is almost over.”
    “Yeah, but don’t bring the end of school up or Mom’ll remember summer camp.”
    Instantly Lenexa’s face sobered. “Oh, yeah. There’s the car.”
    Scrambling into the back seat, the twins answered their mom’s usual “How was school today” question in their usual way. She made no mention of any summer camp, or of any note from Saundra. 

 

Have you ever helped with Elections?

Did you get any writing done this week?

Would you want to go to a new summer camp?