Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 00:04:28 -0500 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Part 5, Chapter 1 W.A.R. Part Five -- Secrets Chapter One -- Billy Fails by Jeff Wilson I sat in the chair waiting patiently for my orthodontist, watching the sky get darker and darker as a winter storm was closing in. Over the last few years, I had spent a lot of time in that chair. I had been poked and prodded. I'd had metal glued onto my teeth. My mouth had been squeezed and tortured. But at long last, I was going to be done with all of that. Dr. Martin walked up to my chair, for what I knew would be the last time. He looked around inside my mouth and made a few notes on his clipboard. Then he frowned at me. "What?" I asked nervously. "You're not ready yet." Dr. Martin said. I felt my heart drop down through my guts. "What do you mean I'm not ready?" Dr. Martin explained, "You need at least another three months. Your teeth aren't coming together as quickly as I thought they would. You're going to need a few more months to finish everything up." "Oh..." I said sadly. "Well... I guess if you have too." "Nah, I'm just kidding you. We're going to take them off today." Dr. Martin said, then started laughing. I stared at him incredulously. "Dr. Martin, if you don't start getting these off me I'm going to take them off myself." Dr. Martin laughed and began the task of disassembling the mass of metal construction inside my mouth. It was definitely much easier having the braces taken off than it was having them put on. He used some kind of chemical to loosen the bonds and then they came right off. After a quick rinse, I ran my tongue along the front of my teeth, feeling nothing but tooth for the first time in almost three years. "So, do you want to see?" he asked, holding out a mirror. I took the mirror and smiled. There was Billy Roberts, smiling back at me. My pearly whites were all nice and straight, with no sign of the gap that had been my trademark. The happiness lasted long enough until Dr. Martin said, "Okay, now let's get a mold for the retainer." I really didn't care about staying for a while longer while Dr. Martin got the necessary molds for the retainer. What surprised me was how quickly he came back to me with the retainer ready. "How did you get that so fast?" I asked. "Modern technology, Billy. Now remember, you wear this as much as possible. You can have it in while you eat, but we don't recommend it. But it is very important that you keep it in as much as possible. You'll talk funny at first, but you'll get used to it." I put it in so that he could see how it fit. After that, I put it in the case and put the case in my pocket. Then I walked out to the waiting room. Mom wanted me to smile of course, so I did, showing her my nice straight perfect teeth. Then she thanked Dr. Martin and talked to him a bit about what would happen now that the braces were off. She scheduled my next appointment for February, then we walked out of the office toward the car. "So, are you going to take me like you and dad said?" I said. "Sure, we can go. Where's your retainer?" She said. "What? Oh, it's in my pocket." I replied. "Well, you better put it in like Dr. Martin said." "Come on, mom. Can't I enjoy one day without having something in my mouth?" "Put it in. We didn't spend thousands of dollars on those teeth to have them go right back to the way they were." She said sternly. I grudgingly pulled the case out of my pocket and put the retainer in my mouth. "Well, let'sph go." I said. Unfortunately, Dr. Martin was right, I couldn't talk right with that thing in my mouth and I ended up spitting all over myself. "Okay, are you sure you're ready for this today? You've had a long morning." "Mom, I've been getting ready for thisph for monthsph. I'm ready." I said, making a mess all over the place. Mom carefully drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the county drivers' center. Snow was beginning to fall as she drove, and many times she said that it might be a better idea to head home. But I insisted. Mom and dad had promised that as soon as I got my braces off they would take me to get my learner's permit test. I had turned sixteen in December, but because my birthday is so close to Christmas, we couldn't find time to make it to take the test. But now that the holidays were over, I was going to make sure that my parents stuck to their end of the bargain. We arrived at the center and quickly walked inside. The place was packed. I guess the backlog of kids who couldn't get in over the holidays had added up. I took a number and relaxed. I showed the number to my mom. "Twenty-one. My lucky number. Must be a sign." "Number three! Number three! Please report to the service desk." The secretary said. Mom sighed heavily and pulled out her knitting supplies. She would occasionally look out the window at the snow mounting up and sigh again. The numbers got higher and higher and my palms got sweatier and sweatier. I went to the bathroom about three times while waiting. I struck up a conversation with a cute blond guy in there on one trip. He told me he was really nervous, and I told him that I wasn't, which was a lie. Finally, they called for twenty. I got my last second cramming in before they called my number. "Just remember, relax. You know the answers, you just have to relax and answer. Remember... Relax." Mom said, not really helping to relax me at all. I walked to the desk and the woman there sent me into the room where one of the driving examiners was standing behind a counter. I handed him my information. "Okay, William. Right this way please," the man said. I walked to a machine where I got my vision tested. Asked the examiner if I had to take my contacts out for it, but he said that I had to use them. Oh yeah... the contacts. I found out that the reason I was getting headaches in school wasn't because of my allergies, it was because I couldn't read the board. Miss Winston told me one time too many to stop squinting at the board and suggested to my dad that I get my vision checked. She was right of course. Fortunately, braces and glasses would have just been too nerdy and my parents let me get contacts as well as glasses. I passed the vision test and I was ready for the knowledge test. The first question was what state I was taking the test in. Easy, Pennsylvania. One right. I continued through the easy questions and then it asked my what the legal limit for alcohol was. I missed it. That left me a little flustered and all of the sudden, I missed the next question too. Well that got me a little nervous and I started to feel my forehead begin to sweat. I spent two minutes debating how far away from train tracks one should stop. I debated and debated before finally picking, and getting it wrong. I failed. I sat there staring at that screen for a minute or so. Finally I stood up and walked back to the man at the counter. "Sorry, William. Remember, you can take this test as often as you need." He said, sympathetically. "I can't believe it. I have all the answers in my head. How the heck did I miss them?" "It happens to the best of us. Good luck next time." I walked out to my mom, who had been waiting patiently in the lobby. "So, how did it... Oh..." She knew from the look on my face not to continue her question. I wasn't so much angry as I was confused. How in the world could I have failed? I never failed any test in my life. I got straight A's for Pete's sake. I couldn't believe what had happened. We walked back to the car, which was now covered with snow that I had to remove. All the while I kept asking myself what had happened. I got into the car and sat with my arms folded and looked out the window. "I guess you should have studied more. I kept telling you to keep studying that book. You are so used to breezing through all of your school work that now when you have to study, you can't do it." Mom said, trying to be helpful in her own unique way. "I don't know when we'll find time to get back out here. We thought you'd pass, too. Maybe some time next week." "Yeah." I said, hopelessly. I watched the road as we drove. I knew what every sign meant. I knew what all of the road markings were for. I had all of the information in my head. How could I have failed? I even knew how far to stop while approaching a rail road crossing. It took us longer than usual to get home because of the snow. Mom hates driving in the snow and she goes about 30 miles per hour the whole way. When we got to the house, the snow was falling harder than it had before. By evening, it was officially a blizzard. I sat in my room working on the homework from school that Brett had dropped off while we were out. I had to write a paper that I'd been assigned two weeks ago and was only now working on. At about 7:30, mom told me that school was already cancelled for the next day. I stopped working on the paper, took out my retainer, and called Brett. "Hello?" Dr. Reilly said. "Hey, it's me." I said. "Hi, Me," Dr. Reilly laughed. "Brett! It's for you!" I heard her yelling. After a moment or two, I heard a click that meant Brett had picked up the phone in his room. "Reilly's Wreckers. You crash it, we smash it." Brett said. I heard a second click and knew that his mom had hung up her phone. "Hey, no school tomorrow." I said. "Yeah. I already heard. It's snowing like crazy out there. So how'd it go today?" Brett asked. "I failed." I said miserably. "Aw, shit! Billy, how the heck did you fail?" "I don't know! If I knew that I wouldn't have failed." I said. "Wow. I just can't believe it. You mad?" "A little I guess, at myself. I should have studied more I guess. So, since there's no school, you want to make some money shoveling snow?" "Eh, I'm just going to use the tractor and plow." Brett said. "Well, you can help me make money by plowing with me." I said. "I guess I'd have to ask my mom, but sure, I'll help you." "Great! I'll tell my mom that you're coming over so I won't have to shovel out our driveway, then I'll be ready for you whenever you call." "Okay, see you tomorrow then. Bye." Brett said, then hung up the phone. I told my mom our plans, then called some of the elderly people around the neighborhood to make sure that I'd have some customers. I figured if I called the right people, they'd get some more business for me by calling their friends. Then I went to bed early to rest up for the next day. Before falling to sleep, I ran my tongue over the front of my teeth once again, feeling the smooth tooth surface again. The day hadn't been a total waste. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Well, here we go again. First of all, thank you for your patience! I really needed a break and I hope that the story has benefited from it. This chapter is kind of short, but it serves the purpose I intended. As you can see, we've moved ahead in time. One and a half years have passed since the end of Part Four. Billy is sixteen now, and Brett is late fifteen. Next chapter should be up shortly. I have a group on yahoo now. All readers are welcome to join! You can find it at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/squirrelwriter If you join, you'll get to see the story before I put it on nifty. You'll also get to see other stuff that I come up with. It's not quite a website, but it's something! And of course, you can always write! That is ALWAYS appreciated! vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com OR jkwsquirrel@yahoo.com Either one will work. See you next time!