Clare De Loon, Part 4
By Missy


RATING: PG (not much in the way of anything naughty)
PART: 4 of 4
DISTRIBUTION: To LW, Kai and FG so far; any other archives are welcome to ask, but disclaimers must be included, my email left intact. send a URL, and provide full disclaimers as well as credit me fully. Please inform me if you are going to submit my work to any sort of search engine. Â Please do not submit my work to a search engine that picks out random sets of words and uses them as key words, such as "Google"
Please contact me in order for this story to be placed on an archive, or if you want know of a friend who would enjoy my works, please email me their adress and I will mail them the stories, expressly for the purpose of link trading. MiSTiers are welcomed! Please do inform me that you'd like to do the MiSTing, however, and send me a copy of the finished product. I'd also love to archive any MiSTings that are made of my work!
NOTES: My answer to the Squiggy gets the girl challenge.
CATEGORY: Squiggy/other character romance
FEEDBACK: PLEASE?!
CANNON: Anywhere during the Milwaukee years
SPOILLER/SUMMARY: The gang buys Squiggy some clarinet lessons for his birthday, resulting in him getting the hots for his sophisticated but down-to-earth teacher.

NOTES: Well, this is the end, folks; maybe there's a sequel in the series' future, but I'm not sure.

Try to recognize the line that Squiggy rips off from Welcome Back, Kotter's Vinnie Babarino; I think you'll be mildly amused.

****

Clare nervously adjusted her sweater, walking swiftly to the Pizza Bowl after obtaining directions from an a phone operator.. Jessica had, thankfully, found a place in her neighbor's family for the rest of the night; by the time Clare had arranged for her to be watched, Andrew had made his excuses and gone to the Pizza Bowl without her. Still, Clare was unsure of just how to present herself to Squiggy's friends They were all a bit younger than she; pausing in front of a plate-glass window to see her own reflection, she frowned at her reflection. She was still young, still, and often forgot that beneath layers of responsibility and sadness was a girl who hadn't experienced much beyond her high school sweetheart.

She clutched her coat to her middle, warily pressing forward to the front door of the Pizza Bowl, which opened silently and admitted her to the interior of the building. She pressed down a flight of stairs and entered the restaurant with a smile of nervous hesitation.

Inside, the restaurant carried an air of urban hustle; gabbing teenagers and brewery workers laughing aloud. The blaring sound of the Everly Brothers covered the din reporting from the kitchen area, and from the bowling alleys just around the corner. She scanned through clusters of seated men, but couldn't spot Squiggy anywhere.

"Ey, baby..." Well, that definitely wasn't Squiggy, and she almost rolled her eyes at the drooping form of a hulking sailor standing behind her.

"Are you speaking to me? Because I'm definitely not your baby." She said coldly.

"Ooh! A live one!" He laughed; even his laughter was nauseating. The foul scent of gis breath didn't improve on the situation. At that point he placed a hand on her arm, and she, rather forcefully, elbowed him away.

"Take yer hands offa her!" She recognized Squiggy's voice instantly; it seemed to break through the din completely. Or maybe everyone in the restaurant was staring at her. He shoved his way through the crowd, arriving to stand before them.

"Who sez I have to?" The sailor slurred, looking down his nose at Squiggy.

"Me!" A tall blond announced, appearing almost our of nowhere from behind him.

Then, by her ear, she heard the unmistakable cracking of knuckles. She glanced to her left, and there stood Carmine Ragusa, whom she recognized almost instantly. She opened up her mouth to greet him, but was interrupted by Carmine's seizing the drunken sailor and dragging the offending gentleman out the door.

For a good moment, no one seemed to take a breath. Then, as though nothing had happened, conversation resumed. She straightened the hem of her sweater and smiled at Squiggy.

"Don't worry, my little turtledove, that jerk won't bother you no more." Squiggy announced.

"Thank you, Andrew." She said, "That was very chivalrous of you."

"Yeah, well when they was handin' out chivil in heaven, I guess I musta gotten an extra scoop."

She smiled, and he smiled, and they both felt extremely awkward. Yearning for a distraction, she pulled out the chair of a nearby table, "Here's a nice table, why don't we..." she wasn't really surprised when he seated himself in the chair she had pulled out. She simply walked to the chair facing his and seated herself.

Clare watched a young, tall girl with ginger-colored hair in a waitress' uniform approached their table. "Hey Squig...what can I get ya?" She studiously held a pad and pencil, waiting to mark down their orders.

"Ey, Laverne; they threw yer boyfriend out."

The young lady's face became a mask of horror, "Pop saw him!"

"Nah, it weren't yer pop; Carmine's takin' care of im out in the alley."

"He propositioned me." Clare explained, sheepishly. "Carmine and I know one another from the old neighborhood, so he probably..."

"Eh, that's OK," Laverne shrugged, "I can go pick up another sailor any time I want to."

"Boy, is that the truth." Squiggy snorted. Laverne returned his mocking remark with a glare.

"So, you're Clare," Smirked Laverne, "Well, I hope you guys have a real GOOD time," She emphasized. "But what can I get ya?"

"Well, I'd like a beer...and would you like to split a pizza, Andrew?"

"Whatever my sugarplum wants."

She winced under the overly-fond speech and smiled weakly at Laverne, "One large pepperoni and two beers, please."

Laverne nodded, scribbling on her pad as she walked back to the kitchen area.

"So, Andrew...tell me about yourself."

"There ain't much to tell," He announced, "I was born, I'm alive, and soon I will be dead."

She blinked at him, "That's...splendid."

He tried again, "Well, I left my ma afta she picked up step daddy number two...my pop ran out on us a long time ago. I live with Lenny over there.." He indicated the spot where Lenny stood, talking to Laverne by the bar, "An' we work at Old Man Shotz'."

"Everyone works for Old Man Shotz," She joked. He smiled, acknowledging just how right she was. "Everyone I know does, anyway. What do you like, Andrew?"

"Moths." He announced simply.

"Moths? The little flying bugs?"

"They remind me of my mother."

She smiled, "Ah." Laverne promptly arrived with the beers and pizza.

"Sorry it took awhile; we're kinda busy." For a moment, she stood and watched them, until Clare met her focused gaze. Laverne swiftly backed off, and Clare picked up her beer. She was entirely unaware that she was shotgunning it until the glass sat empty in her hand.

Squiggy stared at her in amazement, "Boy, I ain't seen a girl drink like that since Laverne at Shotz' birthday party!"

She blushed, "Thank you, Andrew...I think."

They split the pizza, and an hour later they were laughing over an anecdote Clare had remembered about her daughter.

"...She ate a whole box a' chocolates?"

Clare nodded, laughing through her tears, "And she told me that she only did it so that she could find out what the fillings were!" Slowly, their mutual laughter tapered off, "Andrew, would you like to go bowling?"

"But I..." She knew, somehow, that he was going to announce that he didn't have any money, but she had a counter for that.

"I'll pay." She smiled.

He slammed a few dollars down onto the table, paying just enough for the beer and pizza, "Let's bowl!"

***

Somewhere in the middle of the third frame, Clare remembered how much fun bowling truly was. She bounced in anticipation as her ball rolled its way down the alley, leaping in victory as it struck every pin down in its wake.

"Man, that's three sets inna row," Lenny commented as he entered the alleys, with Carmine in tow. She didn't notice him at the time, or the fact that he was holding an ice-filled towel to his blood knuckles.

"I knew I remember that bounce from somewhere." Carmine announced, "Ey, Clare."

She smiled, politely, "Hello, Carmine."

"How do you guys know each other?" Lenny asked.

"Yeah," Asked Squiggy, a tone of jealousy in his voice, "How?"

Carmine smiled, "Clare was a ring girl at the Golden Gloves," He announced, "She married my old sparrin' partner, Lou Smith." These small revelations surprised Squiggy, though, unusually for him, he made not a sound.

"Did I thank you for coming to Lou's funeral, Carmine? It meant a lot to Jessi and me."

"It wasn't any trouble." He announced, absently, "How is Jessi? Can I see a picture of her?"

"Sure.." Clare picked through her wallet. "Here she is..."

"Boy, she got big since the last time I saw her."

"She'll be four in May."

"Four? Man, she's almost startin' school; time sure flies."

"Oh yeah...How are you doing? What's new with you?" As she listened to Carmine explain his current status, she sensed Squiggy's presence leave the room. It felt as odd as it sounded, but suddenly the room was less noisy, less colorful. She couldn't disengage herself from Carmine until they finished exchanging pleasantries. At last, she couldn't take the tension and excused herself to Carmine, then blurted out to Lenny, "Excuse me, but did you see Squiggy leave?"

"Oh yeah, I saw him leave," Lenny snapped, "He's out in th' back alley, hidin' from ya."

"Hiding?! What for?!"

"Look, I ain't the smartest knife in the wheel a cheese, but it's pretty oblivious that you an' Carmine are in love."

"Me?! Carmine?!" At that point, she burst into a hysterical peel of laughter. Clare knew this would bruise Carmine's ego, so she apologized, "No offense, Carmine."

"None taken," He lied.

"I was having such a good time.." she began, and then, more determinedly, added, "I'm going after him."

"Don't ya hurt him," Lenny threatened.

Clare shook her head, "I want to hurt him as badly as you want to avoid get together with our waitress."

Lenny turned beet red, getting out of her way. "How did ya know?" He called after her.

"A woman knows these things." She threw back over her shoulder.

***

Squiggy was, indeed, standing in the back alley, a dank spot that had been recently mended over after being blown apart by an attempted robbery of the bank next door. Clare found Squiggy, leaning against the northernmost wall, mumbling to himself.

"Andrew?" She called; his eyes bugged out and he turned away from her, trying to hide from her, "Andrew?" She called once more, nearing his position. Finally, she tried the only thing that might make him turn around, "Squiggy?" She asked.

The shock of Clare calling Squiggy by his nickname made him turn around and face her. "Wadday doin' chasin' after me?" He snapped, "Carmine turn ya down?"

"Carmine and I don't have that sort of relationship," She explained, "He's just an old friend, Squiggy."

"What's with this 'Squiggy' stuff?"

"I thought you might be more comfortable if I called you what everyone calls you."

"You ain't everyone, Teach," He responded. Frustrated, he continued, "Me, I'm an 'everyone'."

"Andrew! Don't speak that way about yourself!"

"Why? It's true. I ain't nothin' special...'cept to the ladies of Milwaukee. Course, I'm too much fer most of 'em."

She smiled at his false braggadocio, "And just what makes me so great?"

"Waddya mean?" He seemed genuinely shocked, "Yer the greatest dame I ever dated. Cept for Shirl. Course, that couldn't a gone nowhere. Carmine woulda creamed me, and I could neva get her clothes off."

His bluntness amused her, as well, but she wanted to hear more, "I'm just another girl, Squiggy," She laughed, "I'm just Clare. You know, when I was a girl, everyone thought I was crazy to want to play the clarinet. But it was all I wanted, ever since I went to one of those orchestra assemblies in tenth grade."

"Ya mean onea those charity bussin' things, where they take all the poor kids ta the sympathy for Christmas?"

"Yeah," She smiled, "But my folks were very poor, and we couldn't even afford lessons, let alone tuition to a music college. But I was determined to play that clarinet. So I worked as a ring girl, socking everything away until I could buy one second-hand, then a week's worth of lessons. After that, I'd married Lou, and he didn't want me working. So I played for Jessie all afternoon." She laughed, idly, at the memory, "When he passed away, as sad as he made me, I got a chance to live my dream. I've been teaching lessons privately for two years, and I'm just able to pay for that apartment every month."

"Wow," Said Squiggy, but she wasn't entirely sure he was listening.

"What I'm saying is...I'm not any better than your friends. I'm certainly not any better than you, Just because I have more education or I a bigger vocabulary or know more about music."

"But yer so classy. I don't get classy chicks. Not unless they got a bet goin'."

"How shallow. They probably don't look beneath the layers of leather to see the real you."

"Yeah, somethin' like that." He said, then, as his expression focused, "Are you sayin' that I, maybe, just might be able ta take some a' your clothes off?"

She smiled, "We'll see. I'd like to take things slowly this time. Everything with Lou happened so quickly, and I'd like to know what it's like to be wooed."

"Woo woo!" He piped out, making her laugh. The moment turned somewhat more serious, and, somehow, suddenly, they drew together.

When his lips touched hers, she had no regrets.

It was an odd kiss; tenderer than either of them had ever experienced, but not devoid of passion. When they separated, she smiled and, softly, wiped away each trace of lipstick that she'd left on his mouth.

"I'll see you inside," She said, leaving him in the alley. "It's a nice start, isn't it?"

"Uh huh," Squiggy managed, the wind knocked out of him. He watched her walk away in silence; then a grin spread itself across his lips, "Oh yeah, Nice start," He grinned.

And, after making sure that no one was peeking down the alley, he jumped up, kicked his heels together just like Fred Upstairs.
The End



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