Read Online Tools of Ignorance: Lisa's Story by Barbara L. Clanton - Free Book Online Page A

I’ll have a thirty by the time we’re finished.”
    Lisa laughed and got ready for her first throw. The ball hit the one pin dead on and sent it and the other nine pins flying. She couldn’t help her smile when she turned around.
    “Nice strike.” Sam held out a fist for Lisa to punch. “God, you’re strong.”
    Lisa felt her face get warm. “Thanks.” She sat down at the scorer’s table, and Sam got ready for her next turn.
    Lisa took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart and wondered what she was doing at the bowling alley with a girl she hardly knew. Lisa threw a thumbs-up when Sam knocked down five pins, but then she took a quick breath and pledged, I will take this one slow. I will not fall in three minutes like I did for Tara.
    Sam pointed to the pins. “Hey, look at that.”
    Lisa had been too busy trying to stay sane that she hadn’t noticed Sam’s spare. “Geez, are you some kind of bowling shark?”
    Sam waggled her eyebrows. “Actually, no. Bowling, skiing, ice skating—I suck at those. Softball, tennis, golf, and ping-pong I’m good at.”
    Lisa wondered what else Sam was good at.
    After Sam’s brief moment of greatness, her bowling skills deteriorated again to gutter balls and low pin counts. Lisa won the first game easily by a score of 130 to 65.
    Sam sat next to Lisa at the scorer’s table. With a shaky hand, Lisa hit the buttons to start a second game. She knew she should stand up, grab her ball, and start the next game, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.
    Sam asked, “You, uh, want to get out of here?”
    Lisa nodded and took a slow breath.
    “Okay, I’ll go pay. Think of somewhere we can go to, uh, talk.”
    Lisa nodded again. She groaned as soon as Sam left. She was already breaking the promise she’d just made to herself.
    Lisa directed Sam to the Clarksonville County Community College softball field. She’d thought about going to Lake Birch, but Marlee said she and Bobby used to go there, and she didn’t want to think about Marlee.
    The softball field was located in a remote back corner of the college campus. The field and parking lot were surrounded by a thick oak forest. No other buildings could be seen from the lot.
    Sam pulled into a parking spot at the very end of the lot facing right field. “Nice spot,” Sam said. “It’s pretty secluded.”
    “Yeah.” That’s why I chose it. Lisa felt a rush of heat run through her.
    Sam turned off the engine, undid her seatbelt, and swiveled to face Lisa. Lisa tried to swivel as well, but got caught on her fastened seatbelt.
    “Oh, geez,” Lisa sputtered and undid the belt. She turned to face Sam. “So…”
    “Yeah…”
    “Here we are.” Lisa looked down at her hands.
    “So, uh, you have a lot of brothers and sisters.”
    “Just the three.” Lisa laughed. “But, it feels like an army sometimes.”
    Sam chuckled. “I don’t have any.”
    “You’re an only child? I didn’t know that.”
    “Yeah. Just me.”
    Lisa couldn’t imagine being the only kid in a family. Actually, she had been the only child until she was six and then Lynnie came along, but she barely remembered that time. “Do you get lonely?”
    “Sometimes, but I don’t know anything different actually. I spend a lot of time with Helene because Daddy’s got his meetings, and Mother’s got her committees.”
    “Who’s Helene?”
    “Helene’s my nanny.”
    Lisa laughed. “You have a nanny?”
    Sam smiled. “Well, she’s not really my nanny anymore. She lives with us, and she’s sort of our housekeeper, cook, and, um, well I guess she takes care of everybody. Mom, Dad, me.”
    “Oh, so she’s everybody’s nanny.”
    Sam laughed and tapped the console between them. “Yeah, I guess she’s the nanny for the whole Payton Family.”
    “Payton? That’s your last name?”
    Sam nodded.
    Lisa grinned, but then shook her head. “Samantha Payton, I hope you’re not a serial killer or something, because I don’t know anything about you.