Changing Course

By Barbara Bailey

Changing Course continues the story of Joan Williams, an exceptionally intelligent teen, surrounded by people who value just about everything above intelligence. Immediately after her graduation from elementary school, the family moves from Chicagos Westside to the Southside so Joan can attend a good public high school and meet the right people. Changing Course takes place from April through August, the end of her junior year and the summer before her senior year. Joan, a shy teenager, who wasnt included in social groups for herself, is changing. During the time of this second novel in the series, Joan learns more about who she is, what she wants, and how to be a part of the social scene without compromising her integrity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483685571

Barbara Bailey

Barbara Bailey is Professor Emerita of Gender and Education and former University Director, Institute for Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

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Changing Course

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Barbara Bailey

Copyright © 2013 by Barbara Bailey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 08/26/2013

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Contents

Chapter 1 Upheaval

Chapter 2 Clearing the Air

Chapter 3 Small Steps

Chapter 4 Bigger Steps

Chapter 5 All Aboard

Chapter 6 Back Home

Chapter 7 Revelation

Chapter 8 Even More

Chapter 9 You Really Can’t Go Home Again

Chapter 10 Disturbance

Chapter 11 Suzanne with an e

Chapter 12 Les Fleurs

Chapter 13 Making Plans

Chapter 14 Taking an Interest

Chapter 15 Surprise

Chapter 16 Rebound

Chapter 17 Lucky Thirteen

Chapter 18 New Star Rising

Chapter 19 Joan’s Turn

Chapter 20 The Party

Chapter 21 Aftermath

Chapter 22 School’s Out

Chapter 23 Going Forward

Reading Group Guide Questions

To my husband

for his encouragement

and

for his support

I

Young girl, tempest tossed

Young girl, never lost

II

Ofttimes, nature’s force

Causes changing course

Chapter 1

Upheaval

D ays have a way of becoming almost anything. It’s as though they have a life of their own. A day might start calmly and abruptly change course. A day may begin violently and yet end in a whisper. This day is no exception. Its opening serenity is most decidedly interrupted.

Joan Williams and her boyfriend, Chris, had just visited Vassar’s campus. Having been granted early admission to Vassar College, Joan had persuaded her parents to let her and Chris see it first. Then Joan would invite her parents, who had accompanied and chaperoned them on this spring-break trip to New York, to come see the campus where Joan would attend in the fall. If the plan had been followed, this day would have unfolded in perfect harmony. But before long, the day’s calm was piercingly shattered.

You decided what? screamed Kitty, who rarely yelled but was really going off now, quite like a powerful firecracker, her older daughter having just informed her of her decision not to attend Vassar, one of the most prestigious private colleges in America.

We traveled all this distance for you to see the school and now…

The train ride was relaxing and scenic. And it was partly a vacation trip, intoned Joan’s father, Clarence, in his calmest tones.

That did not mollify Kitty as she continued in the same loud, shrill voice. If having the vapors was still fashionable, that’s exactly what I’d be down with now. After all the hard work we put in to get you into Vassar and…

We filled out some forms, wrote a few checks, and gave Joan encouragement, her father offered.

What will all your friends think? They’ll think you’re crazy! That’s what they’ll think, continued Kitty.

I think her friends might be glad to have her company a bit longer, her father added.

And what about Chris? Have you changed your mind about him too? Are there any other surprises that you have for us, or is it okay if I faint now? Even Kitty had to laugh when she heard herself utter that last statement. This would have been one time that calling ahead would have been appreciated. At least I’d have been prepared.

No, Mother. There aren’t any other changes. Maybe now isn’t such a good time to talk about this, replied Joan, sounding more like the grown-up than her mother did. At five feet seven she was able to look her mother directly in the eyes. She had as good a figure as Kitty but did not have her mother’s knack of looking great in whatever she wore. Often this gave Joan a feeling of insecurity, but this time she was determined to stand her ground. She would not give in. She would wait her mother out if necessary. The days of doing it all Kitty’s way had ended just as suddenly as her decision about next year. Joan was determined to have her senior year of high school.

Aunt Kitty— began Chris before being abruptly interrupted.

Listen, Chris. If you’re going to date my daughter, you need to drop the aunt business. It makes it sound too… Kitty sputtered, stopped talking, and breathed deeply.

Clarence took his wife’s pale, manicured hand into his own darker one, massaged it gently, and led her to the single overstuffed chair in their hotel room. He guided her into the seat.

May I get you some water, or does the lady require something stronger? he asked in a mock gallant manner.

Thanks, water will be fine. I don’t think I need anything else on the strong side. This news has been strong enough. Kitty was starting to regain her composure.

Joan, her parents, and her boyfriend, Chris, had taken the train to New York with the express purpose of seeing Vassar, where she had been accepted as a freshman in next fall’s class. Joan, an extremely intelligent teenager from Chicago, would be an asset to the school, Miss Thomas, her high school counselor, said. She informed her that those good Eastern schools needed to have bright, capable students from the Midwest in them. It helped their balance. Likewise, Joan would benefit from being among the best and the brightest that this country had to offer. Never one to back down from a challenge and always appreciating having her intellect recognized, she thought at first this might be ideal for her.

After looking into her heart, she knew there were other things she wanted to do first. Finishing her senior year at Hyde Park High School was one of them. Always able to talk with her father about complex issues, she felt that it was about time for another of those conversations. Her father helped her clarify her thoughts while not imposing his own. At the moment, however, the calming of Kitty was uppermost on the agenda.

Just a short while ago, the nearly seventeen-year-old Joan Williams stood in front of Vassar, a million thoughts and emotions bombarding her. Here she was, a young girl from Chicago’s South Side, about to enter an Ivy League college hundreds of miles from her home. The ring of lily-flowering tulips blooming in the April sun at the school’s main building and her boyfriend by her side provided an idyllic setting. This tranquil and orderly scene contrasted markedly with her state of mind.

A penny for your thoughts, said Chris, taking her hand as they strolled around the campus.

Oh! This time it’ll cost you more than that. I’d say a dime at the very least, Joan said, attempting to sound lighthearted.

Well…

I was just thinking about the last few years of my life. This is exactly what my parents want for me. They moved us from our old neighborhood so I could get a better high school education. And now, here I am with an early acceptance that allows me to skip my senior year of high school.

That’s not a dime’s worth yet.

I guess there’s more. They wanted me to meet and go out with some of the nice boys from the ‘right families’ as my mother put it.

Aunt Kitty’s only thinking about what’s best for you.

Yes, but it really didn’t turn out like that.

What do you mean? There was a little annoyance in his tone.

I don’t mean that you aren’t from the right family. You most certainly are. But the boys at Hyde Park haven’t shown any interest. Well, maybe one did, but my mother didn’t approve of him. No, that part didn’t go as she’d planned. Betsy’s the one with the real social life.

Joan, you should be happy to have that behind you.

Chris, she said, stopping and looking directly up into his green eyes, it is what I want, but I don’t want it right now. Remember when you said I was still a child? In some ways I guess you were right, but I didn’t see it then. I don’t want to miss my senior year. There’s so much I could never recover. I don’t want to leave home yet. I thought I was ready, but I’m not. I don’t know exactly why I feel this way. There are so many questions that I don’t have answers to. Perhaps I’ll find the answers, but I won’t find them at Vassar. I need to look closer to home.

Jo, I don’t have a lot of the answers either. But I do know that I wish you were going to attend my college and be there with me. And I do know that this is better, Vassar is better.

She always liked it when he shortened her name. It made it so special. It made them so special. He slipped easily from Joan to Jo, and that really pleased her.

Yes, we all know it’s better. But is it the right thing? Is it the best thing? In my heart I know this isn’t what I want now. I will go back to Hyde Park High School and finish my senior year. Once said, she knew how right this was for her.

Kitty’s voice brought Joan back to the present. You do realize that Vassar might not wait for you, don’t you? This type of indecision might make the admissions folks change their mind.

Mother, I’ll just take my chances. I have a whole year to think about choices. If Vassar’s the place for me, I’ll get there. Remember that Howard accepted me too. You and Dad went there, so I’m pretty sure I’ll have another shot there as well. You’ve always said what a good school it is.

Don’t forget Wilberforce, Chris added.

No, I haven’t forgotten. But you’ll graduate before me, and if you’re not there, it won’t have the same appeal.

I could always apply for graduate school. That would only help my engineering career.

No, she repeated, I haven’t forgotten Wilberforce.

Chapter 2

Clearing the Air

C larence suggested that Joan and Kitty go shopping. There were probably some things in New York City they could not find in Chicago. He thought that mother and daughter could use some time together to get matters sorted out. He knew that he always felt better after long talks with Joan. Perhaps this would be the case with Kitty. At this point, it was worth a try. Clarence also needed to have a man-to-man talk with Chris. Two birds could be killed with one stone, as the saying went.

Here, Kitty, take this checkbook. I don’t want you to spend money from yours, Clarence said as he handed his wife his black leather personal checkbook.