1979 - You Must Be Kidding Read Free Page B

wedding anniversary!’
    At the back of his mind, Ken had known that something had been arranged for Sunday, but he had been so carried away with his idea of talking to a room full of potential prospects, he had dismissed whatever had been arranged for something that could be postponed.
    He looked at Betty in dismay.
    ‘I had completely forgotten! I’m sorry, but there was no way to get the school hall except this Sunday.’
    ‘But you can’t do this to Mary!’
    Mary was Betty’s sister: a bossy, self-opinionated elder sister who Ken thoroughly disliked. Her husband, a corporation lawyer, was in Ken’s opinion, the biggest bore he had ever met. They had a large, imposing house in Fort Lauderdale. He remembered now they were to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. He remembered Betty and he had been invited to a barbeque lunch, then a big dinner with a firework display.
    ‘The prospectus is being printed, honey. I’m terribly sorry.’
    Betty made a gesture of despair.
    ‘Oh, Ken!’
    ‘I just can’t cancel, honey. Sunday is the only day. I’m terribly sorry.’
    ‘When will you be through?’
    ‘Well, the meeting begins at four o’clock. It depends on the turn out. I should be through by seven.’
    Betty brightened.
    ‘Then you could come for the fireworks.’
    Ken thought of listening to Mary’s dreary yak and Jack’s pomposity. Their friends were all drags, but he nodded.
    ‘Sure. You’ll go?’
    ‘Go? Of course. The party won’t be over until midnight. You just must put in an appearance. Mary and Jack would be so hurt.’
    Ken restrained a sigh.
    ‘Just as soon as this meeting is over, I’ll be on my way.’
    She relaxed.
    ‘I’ll tell Mary and Jack why you have been kept. They’ll be impressed that you are in charge.’ She got up and began to clear the dishes. As Ken helped her, she went on, ‘Will you be working from now on, so late?’
    ‘I hope not. The trouble is, as I told you, the guy who has to sign is at work, but this meeting could fix it. If it is a success, then I don’t see why I should have to work late. We’ll have to see.’
    They went into the kitchen and cleared up.
    ‘I suppose it’s worth it,’ Betty said suddenly.
    ‘What’s worth what?’
    ‘If you will have to work so late, Ken, I’m not going to see much of you.’
    He put his arm around her and gave her a little hug.
    ‘Oh, come on, honey. Could be I won’t have to work late hours. This is my big chance, and it’s started well. I’ve already made a hundred and ninety five dollars.’
    ‘Money isn’t everything.’
    ‘It helps, doesn’t it?’
    In bed together, Betty sleeping, Ken lay awake. The brilliant moonlight made patterns on the wall. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t get Karen’s provocative body out of his mind.
    It wasn’t until the sky turned pale, as dawn approached, that lie drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
     
    * * *
     
    The school meeting was a flop.
    Ken realized this the moment he entered the hall and now there were only a few whites and blacks, sitting in the chairs that he, Karen and Henry Byrnes, the School Principal helped by the four young blacks who had distributed the prospectuses, had set up: enough seats to accommodate five hundred people.
    As he stood on the platform, surveying the people he made a rapid count: thirty-four!
    A flop of flops, he thought, but with a wide welcoming smile, he went into his carefully prepared sales talk. This time less than ten minutes, then he asked for questions.
    The questions came, and he answered them. There was a panic, then a white truck driver said it was a hot idea and he would sign. There was a flurry of voices, and by 16.30, twenty-eight of Ken’s audience had taken out insurance policies for the future of their kids. The remaining six said they wanted to think about it.
    The meeting closed at 16.45.
    When the last of the parents had gone, Byrnes came over to Ken.
    ‘I’m afraid, Mr. Brandon, you are disappointed,’ he