Things My Sister Had

If you haven't already, please read Chapter 1.

Karen, at the start of chapter 1, had just turned 18; her brother Dave was 20.

*

My sister had drive.

I already mentioned that Karen had both smarts and drive. She was planning to be an architect, so she was heavy into math and science. She'd already applied for early admission at her first choice college, and was applying to several others as well.

I was heavy into "general studies." I knew that stacking boxes at a warehouse was not the career that would get me what I wanted, so I was trying to get some drive of my own. I wished I could have gotten some smarts, too. It was pretty rough going for me.

One Friday night, when I didn't have a date, I was sitting at my desk reading — and I mean

really

reading — a book of poetry for a lit paper that I had to do. I'd never been much for poetry. I was starting to enjoy it and even understand it a little, but I just couldn't get the hang of analyzing it the way the professor expected me to. I could recognize a sonnet, and tell when something was a love poem, but I guess I tended to be too literal-minded. That's why I was studying on a Friday night instead of going out with my friends. I knew I needed a head start on a hard weekend's work.

It got pretty late. I was rubbing my eyes when my sister got home. She'd been going out with some Trevor guy for a few months. I'd met him once, and he seemed like an okay dude. My sister seemed happy with him, and she hadn't come home in tears from a date, so it was all good.

I was about ready to give up for the night when my sister walked past my door and saw me.

"Hey, Dave, how come you're home on a Friday night?"

Ever since that whole "grapefruit tits" episode Karen and I had gotten closer. We'd always been friendly enough, but now it was common for us to seek each other out for conversation. We both really enjoyed those talks. Even though we were brother and sister there were lots of things we didn't know about each other. It turned out that we had a lot more in common than we'd thought, what with her being a brain and me being ... not. We talked about serious stuff, and we joked around a lot, and we shared books that we'd read.

Stopping by for a goodnight chat had become a habit, and we often hugged when we ran into each other. Those hugs were nice, but sometimes they reminded me of how that fight had started. I'd begun to notice how curvy she was under her loose outfits, and it had started to feel weird: not exactly sexual, I wasn't getting stiff or anything, but it was

not

the same as hugging Grandma. It left me feeling good but a little guilty.

Well, let's get back to my homework. I'm sure that's your favorite part of the story.

"I have to come up with something about this poetry by Monday. I have to compare and contrast a bunch of these poems, and I'm having trouble getting my head around it. I really want to do well on this paper, to keep my grades up."

"Keep your grades up? You mean you've got an 'up' to keep?"

"Oh, c'mon Karen, I work my ass off. I have to do something before Mom and Dad throw me out of the house. I don't want to live in a cardboard box."

"I'm just kidding, Dave. I've heard them talking, and they're really proud of the way you've buckled down. Let me see what you're reading."

I showed her the book. It was a collection of poems from English poets, starting with John Donne and going all the way up to Tennyson. It weighed 47 pounds.

She flipped though it and said "You aren't expected to do

all

of these, are you?"

"No. I have to pick three, from different time periods."

"Okay, let's see what you've got so far."

"What do you mean, got so far? I have the book. I picked three poems. I read them. I'll write my essay tomorrow."

"Dave, where are your

notes?"

Karen scowled at the dumb look on my face for a minute, then she yawned.

"Look, Dave, it's late and I'm tired. How about I help you with this tomorrow?"

"Would you?" I'd never asked for any help with school work from her, or anybody else. I always figured I could handle it by myself, but I was really struggling with this. "Thanks, Karen."

She went off to bed. I put the book down with a colossal thud and went to sleep.

*****

Saturday morning I crawled out of bed and went downstairs to get myself some of whatever looked edible. Mom had left some coffee in the pot, and Karen was frying eggs.

"You want any?"

"Sure." It wasn't that I couldn't cook, at a survival level, but I was lazy. Fried eggs and toast sounded a lot better than a Pop Tart, especially if someone else was doing the cooking. "I'll clean up after."

"You fuckin' better!"

After I washed the dishes and took a shower, I knocked on Karen's door. We went down to the kitchen where we could spread out.

"Dave, you've got terrible study habits. No, that's not fair. You've got

no

study habits. We're going to do this my way!"

Like I said, drive.

*****

I'd already picked three poems that I liked, so that part was done. Karen handed me a pad of paper, and had me tear off three sheets. She told me to label each sheet with the name of the author and the name of the poem, and lay them side by side on the table.

Under each title she had me write the year when the poem was written, and a couple of lines about what was going on in England at the time. She said that the societal context informed the poet's work, so it was important. That drove me to Wikipedia, but she followed me up to my room and looked over my shoulder to make sure I didn't start playing video games. That was annoying, but it made me realize that she had my back. It was a nice feeling.

Back at the kitchen table she kept asking me questions about each of the three poems in turn, and had me write down the answers on the three pieces of paper. She insisted that I answer every question, no matter how many times I said "I don't know." Before I knew it each piece of paper had grown to three, and then four. By lunch time my brain was bleeding, but I could tell I was pretty much done. All I needed was to turn my notes into a formal paper, add some kind of summary, and it would be finished.

"Shit, Karen, you made it seem so easy! I'd still be working on my first paragraph."

"You did the work, Dave. I asked the questions, you did the thinking. All I did was force you to organize it properly."

"Would you mind helping me again sometime?"

As I gathered up my papers, she came over and gave me another one of those big hugs. Then she kissed me on the cheek, and as I recovered from my startle she said "Anytime."

*****

Karen began helping me with my class work on a regular basis. She never did any of it for me, she just guided the way I did it. Not only did my grades go up, they went through the roof! I'd been a C- student when I'd started community college. Through a lot of hard work I'd gotten up to B, and I'd been on track to get my Associate's degree with no problem, but now I was an A+ student. Better yet, it seemed like the work was getting easier and easier.

I told Karen that. She smiled and said "Study habits."

*****

About two months into the semester my sister stopped by my room on her way to bed. Since my door was open, she walked in and sat on my bed. She looked serious, so I shut down the game I was playing and swiveled my chair around.

"What's up?"

"Dave, have you thought about what college you are going to transfer to?"

I didn't know if my chin really hit the floor, or if it just felt that way. I hadn't even considered the idea!

"Dave, you have to choose quickly if you expect to be admitted for next year."

"I didn't think I was going to transfer. I guess I figured this was it, I'd go out and get a full time job of some kind."

"Why do you think I've been helping you? An Associate's is an Associate's, you could have done that on your own. This is about going to a four-year college, and grad school after that."

Now I

knew

my chin was on the floor. Grad school? Me?

"What do you want to study?"

I started to get defensive, and scared. My sister had my back, all right, but she was pushing hard on it.

"How the hell am I supposed to know, Karen?"

"Okay, let's figure it out. Grab a pad."

I figured I had no choice in the matter. This wasn't drive, this was overdrive.

Thanks to my sister I'd learned to keep a pad near my computer for doing research, so I picked it up and settled it in my lap. She rolled her eyes, and said "Pen too, dummy."

I got a pen and just sat there. She rolled her eyes again, and started talking to me as though she were walking a kindergarten class through its first adventure with colored paper.

"Make three columns. Good. Label the first column 'Subject.' Good. Label the second column 'Pros.' Good. Label the third column 'Cons.' Very good. Now in the first column, write down every subject you've taken since junior year in high school."

She sat there while I scratched my head and made my list. When I was done, she said "Now cross off every subject you hated."

"What about the ones I didn't do well in?"

"Leave them on there for now, just scratch off the ones you hated."

I did as I was told.

"Okay, Dave, now read off what's left on the list."

I began my recital:

"Algebra, English Lit, Ancient History, Art History, American Lit, Calculus, Accounting, Introductory Statistics, Advanced Statistics, Macroeconomics, Computer Science I, Computer Science II, and Advanced Computer Network Design."

"You took a pretty heavy load, Dave. No wonder you were sweating it out."

"Until you taught me 'study habits.' Then it got pretty easy."

She laughed, and blushed.

"Trouble is you're all over the map. You didn't really concentrate on any one thing. Well, for now just fill in columns two and three with the pros and cons. We'll go over it tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow's Friday, I have a date."

"With Bethany?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I just didn't know if you were still going out with her." She smirked and said "She's got grapefruit tits."

I figured we'd gotten to the point where she could joke about it, so I asked "What about you? Are you still seeing donkey dick?"

She gave me a combination blush and grin and said "If only... Okay, we'll go over your list Saturday."

*****

Saturday morning she was waiting in the kitchen when I came down. After the customary bribe of fried eggs, this time with bacon, she sent me back upstairs to get my pad. I sat down at the kitchen table and quickly filled in the two columns. For most of them, one of the cons I'd written down was "no jobs." I really had no ambition to be a college professor, so something like Ancient History would be a dead end for me.

Karen looked over my shoulder at my list. "Was there an Introduction to Computer Network Design?"

"Yeah, but I skipped it."

"How come?"

"Well, they said I did well enough in the other computer classes that I didn't need it, so I went straight to the advanced class."

"Did you like the computer stuff, Dave?"

"A lot. It's pretty."

That got me a confused look.

"What do you mean by 'pretty'?"

"You know how the crystals in Dad's geode look pretty? They have such simple shapes like cubes and stuff, but they grow into such complicated patterns? Computer code is like that, and when you do it right it almost shines."

Her brow smoothed. "I know what you mean. Ever since I saw them building that big mall I've been fascinated by how all of the pieces have to fit together. That's how architecture is for me. I think computer science is your thing."

I thought about it, and nodded. "I think you're right. So, now what?"

"Wait right here," she said, and she ran up to her bedroom. When she came back down she had a pile of papers and what looked like magazines.

"I figured we'd need these. Here are some college catalogs I was checking out for you, and application papers to go with them."

I took a quick glance at the names. "But Karen, you're crazy smart. These colleges aren't for guys like me!"

She gave me a dirty look. "David Olivera, if you weren't so stupid you'd know how smart you are! These colleges

are

for guys like you. What were your SAT scores?"

"Um... reading was 769, math was 783, and writing was 655."

Now, instead of a dirty look, I got one of amazement. "Your scores are as good as mine! No wonder you're doing so well."

"Yeah, thanks to your patented 'study habits'." It had become a standing joke between us.

"Okay, let's go through these. Some of the liberal arts schools have decent computer science departments, and you might get a better general education; but I think you'd be better off at one of the ones I picked, the ones that have really good applied math and computer science departments. And don't worry about being a late bloomer, sometimes that appeals to them. Take this stuff and look it over. We don't have much time, so you need to make a decision and get your paperwork in right away. As it is you'll probably get wait-listed at most of them."

*****

As instructed, I spent the rest of the day and evening going over the college catalogs and settling on a handful of schools. Bright and early (for a Sunday) the next morning, Karen was knocking on my door.

"C'mon, Dave, let's get going on those applications. Each one requires an essay, you know."

"Do I at least get breakfast?"

"Okay, but hurry up and get downstairs while Mom's still in a cooking mood."

The promise of a Mom-cooked breakfast was enough to get me moving, so I took a quick shower and came down in time to get some pancakes. Dad was just finishing his coffee before leaving to play golf, and Mom was planning to go off with her sister to do whatever it was they did. That meant Karen and I would be able to use the kitchen table without attracting attention. For some reason I hadn't said a word about any of this to Mom or Dad; and I didn't think Karen had either. Since I was considered an adult they didn't even get copies of my grades, so they didn't know how well I'd been doing.

By the way, if you've gotten the idea that our parents weren't around much you're right. They both worked, sometimes long hours, so once Karen and I got old enough to be trusted alone they started making up for all those years when they were trapped in the house with us kids.

As soon as they were gone, Karen and I spread out the catalogs and I told her which ones I'd picked. She looked at me with a satisfied smile and said "Those are the same ones I picked."

Now came some

real

work. I had to fill out four different applications, which was more of a nuisance than anything else, but then there were the essays. I asked Karen if they could all be the same, and she said they could be, pretty much; but I had to tailor each one to the specific school.

"Pretend that you're trying to get the school to marry you. Don't talk about your grades or scores, they'll get that from your transcripts. Tell them how impressed you are with what they have to offer, that kind of thing, and tell them how happy you'll make them. Explain what a good fit you are, how much you hope to contribute to campus life, how fulfilling the relationship will be, shit like that."

She grabbed her car keys and headed for the door.

"Hey, where are you going? Are you just going to abandon me?"

"Keisha, Linds, and I are going to hang out, maybe go to the mall or hit a movie. You'll do fine. You'll have your degree in Computer Science in no time. Just get busy, I want to read those essays when I get back."

My sister had drive.