Quite An Evening
It had finally arrived – the County
Fair. In all of his twelve years he
could remember no anticipation that had even remotely rivaled that he felt
now. He was taking his best girl – and,
by the way, his only girl – Lisa Ward to the Rodeo and this would be the night
it would happen. It was quite an event
in a boy’s life, and I suppose the same would be true for a girl, but this
story is being told from the standpoint of the boy. Other boys in his grade had done it years before. Some did it earlier in that same week. Some did it everyday! Tonight would be his chance.
Everyone
knew what his plan was, and so they were watched closely. Everyone wanted to see what would happen and
when and where and how. They had
“dated” for years, if you will call it dating.
This was the first time they had ever actually “gone” anywhere, but in
the way boys and girls were considered boyfriend and girlfriend back then these
two had dated. I suppose they were as
much of an “item” as any two others.
He
showered – on a Friday afternoon, no less, and it wasn’t even hot outside… He
was careful to comb his hair just so and even applied hairspray. He went to his grandparents’ house and
borrowed a splash or two of Granddad’s Old Spice aftershave and cologne. Grandma had him wash his face in Seabreeze
first, but he just applied extra Old Spice to cover the smell. Granddad was watching the evening news, so
Grandma had a little talk with him. She
told him how important it was to treat a young lady properly. She said that he should open the door of the
car for her – to which he rejoined that they were to meet by the big hamburger
stand at the Fairgrounds and he would have no chance to open the door for her. She told him to be sure her needs were met
before his – ask her if she wants a drink or a hamburger or anything else and
then, when you have taken care of her, get your own. She said he should not walk so fast that the girl had to struggle
to keep up, and, above all else, to remember that God was watching him. It was a pretty effective pep talk.
At
about 6:30 he left – the walk to the Fairgrounds would take him about 40
minutes and he was to meet her at 7:15.
As he walked along he began to think about the evening and all the
talking he had done in school that day.
He remembered his boasts to the other boys in Study Hall. He thought of the confidence he exuded at
Lunch. Everyone knew what he wanted to
do and that he hadn’t done it prior to tonight and that he had promised that
this would be the night. He passed the
old High School building and crossed the highway near the old Catterton Bait
Shop. He looked to his left and thought
about the times he had mowed Mrs. Russell’s lawn and about the time he tore the
shed in her back yard down for her – and for money. He remembered how angry the policeman was when he discovered that
the service alley had been blocked off for the weekend because “time ran out”
before he could finish. He really got
into trouble that time.
As he
continued on his journey, he found his confidence beginning to wane. Oh, sure, it was one thing to brag about
something everyone else had already done far removed from the actual doing of
it, but quite another to take the boasts and turn them into actions. He passed the crossroad where he used to
turn to see his other grandparents before they moved. He began to sweat – and it was 42 degrees! As he passed Curly and Mattie Hitt’s house,
his great-grandparents, he began to feel sick – not really sick, nervous
sick. The feeling in his stomach would
have kept an honor student home from school.
He was now only about a quarter-of-a-mile from the front gate now. He teetered between sickness and confidence,
doubt and certainty, longing and dread.
He would be there in just a couple of minutes.
It
dawned on him that she might well be as nervous as he was. What if she didn’t want to? What if she said no? What if she had invited along some of her
girlfriends? Then he realized that no
girl in her right mind would try such a thing with him. After all, she should consider herself lucky
to have such a boy as himself. But the
doubts lingered.
“That’ll
be five dollars, sir.”
He
paid the lady and pressed down his hair and made sure his shirt was evenly
tucked in and that his zipper was up – and those are both most appropriate
concerns for a twelve-year-old boy going on his first real date. He made his way through the parked cars and
headed toward the big hamburger stand.
He scanned the crowd in search of Lisa.
He saw Sterling and Robert and Joey and Kenny and Luther and Greg and
Theresa and Mona and Merry and Karen but no Lisa. She must be on the other side of the stand. He made his way around the corner and there
she was.
She
wore her best blue jeans and a pink sweater.
Her hair, blond and straight, was pinned back and she had on a jacket as
well. She walked to meet him and, like
the gentleman Grandma had taught him to be, he offered to buy her something to
eat and drink. She said that she didn’t
want anything and that they had better go because the Rodeo would be starting
in just a few minutes.
They
made their way through the crowd toward the arena and as they passed by those
students who were savvy to his plans they found themselves stared at and the
girls, starry-eyed and hopeful, smiled while the boys, taunting and teasing,
slapped him on the back. One of them,
Joey, whispered to him as he passed that he should take her hand. He thought about it but decided it might not
be gentlemanly so he would wait. They
arrived at the ticket gate and he bought her ticket – the first time he had
ever used his own money exclusively to gain admission to anything, let alone to
gain admission for someone else. All of
a sudden he felt pretty grown-up. He
took her arm and they made their way into the arena and found a seat on the
bleachers at about the mid-point of the grandstand.
As he
began to think of the evening ahead the Rodeo started. Before he knew it folks were standing up and
making their way down the bleachers to leave.
They remained seated and when the crowd was pretty well gone they got up
to leave. They passed through the gate
and he heard her ask something about the Rodeo or make a comment about it or
something, he wasn’t exactly sure. As
they reached the parking lot she stopped him.
“Aren’t
you supposed to do something this evening?”
“What
do you mean?”
“You
know, the whole school has been talking about it.”
“Well,
I did intend to…”
“What’s
stopping you?”
“Well…”
“Are
you chicken?”
Now
that was a curve ball! Why would she
try to pressure him into this thing? I
mean, after all, that was something he should decide first, not her.
“Well,
no – I am not chicken, I am just waiting for the right time and place.”
“My
dad is parked right outside the gate so if you don’t want him to see us you had
better find the time and place fast.”
About
that time Greg walked by and said, “We knew you’d chicken out. All talk.
Are you ‘funny’?”
“Mind
your own business, Greg, I am a gentleman.”
“Is
that what they call sissies now, gentlemen?”
Now
his heart was beating at about twice the normal speed and, despite the fact
that the temperature had fallen to thirty-four degrees he was in a full
sweat. His hair was sticking to his
forehead and his shirt was drenched and he had yet a four-mile walk to make it
home. Lisa, growing impatient, said,
“It’s now or never, Tim, let’s get this over with.”
That
wasn’t exactly the romantic line he had imagined her speaking at such a time as
this, but then neither was this the location he had in mind nor were his
actions exactly what he had planned.
“You
know, Lisa, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“Don’t
talk to me about my ‘want to’, you are the one holding out.”
Well,
the moment of truth had arrived. It was
now or never, and he certainly didn’t want it to be never! He looked into her eyes, reached out with
his right hand to take her left hand, squared his shoulders and started to make
his move.
“Hey,
brother, I’m supposed to walk home with you tonight. Are you ready? It’s
already time we should be home.”
His
brother! How could he come at such a
time as this? Didn’t he know what was
about to happen? But then he remembered
his big-brotherly-duties. He couldn’t
do this now – think of the example it would set. After all, he didn’t want to be the cause of his brother becoming
a sex fiend. No, that just wouldn’t do.
He
turned to Lisa and whispered, so as not to be overheard, “Well, Lisa, I was
going to kiss you tonight, but I think that it would be irresponsible and
selfish of me to do it in front of Tony.
I’ll just owe you a kiss for later, OK?”
Just
then he felt a tug on his right hand and, before he knew it, she was pressing
her mouth hard onto his. He was
stunned! What had happened? Then it dawned on him – she kissed him. Right there in front of God and everybody
she kissed him on the mouth! Suddenly
the influence such an encounter would have on Tony meant nothing. He scanned all about to see who had
witnessed this momentous event. There
were the guys from Study Hall. There
was the older guy he worked with pitching hay on the farm. There was even a teacher or two standing not
far, but he couldn’t be sure they had seen him.
When
he gained his composure, he looked at her and said, “Was it good for you?”
She
smiled, giggled, then took his left hand in her right hand and said, “Daddy
will be waiting. We had better get on.”
So it happened that he passed from the ranks of the “unkissed” to the incredibly experienced – all in an instant. As he walked through the crowd he felt a little bigger and stronger and older than he had felt coming. He was practically a man now. He might even start shaving. It was quite an evening.
03/26/2004