You've Got A Friend

 

YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND

After all the suffering I had incurred to finally gain a job, my family informed me that we were going to Philmont Scout Camp in two weeks—all expenses paid. I would have to quit my job. I only worked 6 weeks. How could I quit now? I knew the Strands wouldn’t let me off for eight days; they were hard-pressed to let me have Sundays off.

Worse than the trepidation I felt in applying for the job, was the fear of betrayal I felt in quitting! I cried. I ranted. I don’t know how I wore them down, but somehow, my parents agreed to let me stay home as long as I had someone they trusted to stay with me.

Wow! Every teenager’s dream! No parents for over a week and two of my best friends getting to stay with me. I was thrilled! I could hardly wait to tell Andrea and Jeannie.

 As my family left, all packed to the gills with camping gear, I felt no remorse, but excitement. Neither Andrea or Jeannie had jobs, so I left for work with them sleeping, peddling my bike in my white uniform, smiling inside at the fun times I could imagine we’d have when I returned from work.

 When I returned, there were Andrea and Jeannie…with their boyfriends. Boyfriends? I hadn’t counted on them being a part of the threesome. Within the hour, it became apparent that the (now, fivesome) had expanded rapidly. Cars playing loud music appeared everywhere. There seemed to be a kind of assembly line occurring among the boys. In horror, I discovered multiple cases of beer being loaded into our house. I grabbed Jeannie. “We can’t have beer here!” I hissed.

 “It won’t hurt anything,” she replied.

 Just then a loudspeaker sounded from outside. “Don’t do anything your parents wouldn’t want you to do.”

 What? What? Was happening?  I walked outside to see a police car in front of our house. The lights were flashing, and they tapped their horn with a clipped “Whoop. Whoop” of their siren…and then continued down the road.

 I somehow convinced Jeannie and Andrea that if those police came back, and found beer in my home, we’d be in trouble. We concocted a plan—a wonderfully exciting plan. We got the keys to one of the boy’s cars and while they were in the back yard, we three girls secretly moved all the beer to the trunk of the car by carrying all the cases out, wrapped in coats from my front closet. We had just closed the trunk and hung the last coat back in the closet when we heard the police car again.

 The three of us hid in in the closet, hearts pounding…and then the doorbell rang. I have long forgotten the conversation we had in the closet, but there were teens scrambling all over my house, looking to hide the beer that Jeannie, Andrea, and I had already removed.

One at a time, cars took off while the police watched. Once the police left, we three girls secretly concealed our laughing at the frustrated guys, who were looking for their stolen contraband. In fact, I was laughing so hard, that when I put my head down behind a car to conceal my laugh, my front tooth chipped on the hood. The last of the guys finally left, never knowing the missing beer was in his car. That was the end of Day One with my friends.

Day Two. I went to work, leaving Jeannie and Andrea—asleep again. I came home to a trashed house. No boyfriends today. Late at night…no TV…no boys. What to do??? (About a half mile away, near city hall…and, you guessed it, the police station, there were Grey Hound dog races in a gigantic stadium that lit up the night in noise and spotlights. We called it the dog track. We decided to walk by the dog track. So…around midnight, here I was, walking in the middle of a dark street…by the dog track. Laughing, joking, we girls could see there is a bright light behind us coming closer. We didn’t turn to see who it was, we just kept going.

“Keep walking.” Jeannie said, not turning around. “It’s probably just our boyfriends. Pretend you don’t see them.”

We did. But the light kept getting brighter and brighter, till finally I turned in horror to see another police car, their spot lights pointed straight on us. The police pulled up beside us, took out a pad, and asked our names.

I was terrified. Jeannie and Andrea both rattled off fake names. My mind was spinning. Its wasn’t in me to lie and I was so shocked by the circumstances that I couldn’t even think of a fake name. “Karen Felsch, “ I managed to squeak out in a shaky voice.

The policeman whistled. “Well what do you know. Two days in a row. Boy will I have something to report to your dad.”

I got this sick feeling as I listened to him telling me to go home. A sick feeling also grew in me when I realized my friends could rattle off lies so easily.

 

As the week wore on, my house grew more and more trashed. I would leave my sleeping friends in a semi-clean home as I pedaled to work and would come home to a trashed home. Empty cans in the yard. I had no idea what they did while I was at work, but they were always up for fun when I came home. We didn’t own a TV. What we would do, ended up reconnoitering with Jeannie and Andrea’s  boyfriends—both, of who were not members of our church, consequently not keeping the standards of the church that Jeannie, Andrea, or I professed. The next few nights we were taken to homes of people I did not know. For me it was boring, because I didn’t have a boyfriend…and those boyfriends seemed to think they couldn’t have any fun without drinking.

Saturday night came—the  night before Sunday. Jeannie’s boyfriend had invited us to another beer party. The girls wanted to go. I had done everything they wanted for the entire week, but Sunday was the next day and I didn’t want to be out in the wee hours. I finally stood up for myself. I mean, this was my house; I had let them make all the decisions the whole week! I asked them to stay home so we would be ready for the Sabbath. Result? I stayed home. They went with their boyfriends anyway. 

Alone, I turned on the radio, and reflected on the week, my friends, etc. Lots of time to think. Perhaps it was my fault, because I didn’t ever say ‘no’…I didn’t ever put my foot down. What use were friends if they didn’t respect me or my property? Perhaps they weren’t really my friends. Perhaps they were just using me…and I let them. 

I stared out the window into the darkness as tears rolled down my face. I had no friends. It was midnight and still the girls were out. I waited up for them, like a mother waiting for their children to come home from a date. With each passing moment, my realization that my so-called friends were not who they said they were. They were not my friends. 

Then, as my soul sorrowed, and my loneliness increased, music from the radio seeped to my mind. Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” seemed ironic, but as I sang, listened, and cried, I had an epiphanic moment.

 

            You've Got a Friend by Carole King

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running, running, yeah, yeah, to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there, yes, I will

Now, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend
When people can be so cold?
They'll hurt you, yes, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them, oh, but don't you let them

 

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running, running, yeah, yeah, to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there, yes, I will
You've got a friend
You've got a friend

Ain't it good to know you've got a friend?
Ain't it good to know, ain't it good to know, ain't it good to know
You've got a friend?
Oh yeah now, you've got a friend
Yeah baby, you've got a friend
Oh yeah, you've got a friend

 

At first, I was hearing the lyrics and feeling, “Oh, wo is me,” but as the music went on, I realized that I did have a friend, who will never leave or desert me. One who will always be there. I thought of Jesus and Heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost. I always have them. They lift me up. They make me better. I can always talk to them. They redeem me. They save me. They turn my darkest night to light. I poured my heart out to the Lord. 

My loneliness dissipated and my heart was filled with joy. Then thud. My ‘friends’ came home. Drunk. No longer did I feel betrayal, but shock…then realization.

 

Yes, I did get in trouble. My parents came home to the beer cans in the driveway, and a trashed house. Jeannie and Andrea weren’t there. But when I got home, my dad—the city manager—already had the police report in hand. Turns out, unbeknownst to me, he had asked them to particularly watch my home. No wonder they were there so frequently!

Punishment? Yes. I was told I would not be able to be in any more plays. You see, I had been promised by the Drama Coach that I would have the part of the wicked queen in Once Upon A Mattress, and Mother Superior in The Sound of Music. Those productions had been planned with me in mind. Although I had had the starring role in Arsenic and Old Lace, the previous year, those parts were ones I wanted. I didn’t think it was fair. To me, the only thing I did wrong was to ‘let’ Andrea and Jeannie determine what happened, instead of leading out as to what should happen.

My father told me that when they first left me, he would pray for the house and me to be safe, but as the week wore on, he felt to pray that I might resist temptation and evil influences.