Chapter 17: Candle in the Wind

Parking Lot at UWO’s Football Stadium, London, Ontario

6:14pm, Saturday, February 17, 1979

The drive from Western’s campus to Coach Jacket’s house was relatively quiet but tension filled. We listened to FM96 on the car’s stereo. When we heard Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing, Lynette commented, “I think that would be a good song for our band to play. Everyone seems to like it, and you’d kill Mark Knopfler’s guitar part.”

“It is a pretty cool tune,” I replied as I turned towards her as she slowed down on Richmond and turned onto Victoria Street to Coach Jacket’s house and the victory party. “I’m sure we’ll be able to work it so your keyboards would play a more prominent role, too.”

“Yeah, I can hear how I can rework it in my mind. I think we could trade out semi-solos between each verse. You know, several of us taking a turn as lead with the others as the backing sound.”

As I listened to her, I put my hand on her right thigh and gently massaged it just above her kneecap.

Lynette took a quick peek at my hand as she pulled to a halt at the one stop sign before we arrived at the party.

“You know,” she then said, “I didn’t mean for you to stop touching and rubbing on me back in the parking lot. Your hands always feel good.”

“You uh, seemed pretty wound up back there and I ... I guess I felt it best to give you a bit of room to, to, I don’t know, maybe to settle yourself some. When you got all quiet on me, I just took it as a sign to give you some space.”

As she pulled up behind a row of cars on the street, Lynette calmly replied, “I was a little scared back there, but not of you, though.” She then turned to face me and said, “God, Mike, when I heard your words, you calling me ‘Volcano’ with that southern accent, well ... I became paralyzed with desire. If we stayed there, I’m not sure I could have resisted anything you wanted from me.”

Lynette then leaned to the left and rested her head on the steering wheel as she struggled slightly with her words, “I was ... a little bit afraid of losing everything after I heard you say I would, ‘devote all of my womanly treasures to your voracious appetite’. Those beautiful words created such mixed but overwhelming feelings of desire and dread within me that uh, the only non-sexual thing I could think at that moment was to simply drive, just drive. By doing that, I felt like it would force me to concentrate on something besides my strong desire for you.”

“Dang, Lynette,” I whispered to her as she related her thoughts and feelings to me. “I was simply following along with your Scarlet O’Hara accented role. I had no idea that my words or how I said them would cause such troublesome feelings within you. I’m sorry, baby.”

I reached up around her and pulled her in for a hug. I ran my fingers through her long, wavy hair.

“I don’t know why that kinda scared me, though,” she said as she slightly pushed me away. “I know what I want, and I’m REALLY looking forward to tonight with you. I guess I was a touch frightened by the possible pain of ... you know, doing it and uh, knowing how you’ll, uh your thick ... how it will stretch me. I guess your phrase ‘voracious appetite’ ... I guess it ... I was just afraid you might hurt me as you attempted to satisfy both of our ravenous desires.”

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard why she was somewhat afraid and what might happen as we made love later on tonight.

“Oh, Lynette, I would never purposefully hurt you, tonight ... or any time we are together. I can’t promise this first time won’t hurt some, but just know that I would never do anything to brutalize you or cause major pain.”

“I know you wouldn’t do anything on purpose, Mike. But uh, your cock is pretty thick and, well a girl’s first time is usually pretty scary all in itself. When you add in how thick your ... well...”

She leaned back towards me after hearing and seeing how I thought tonight might go. We kissed for a minute, and then she pushed back from me.

She simply said, “Let’s head in and see what is happening at Coach’s house.”

Once inside Coach Jacket’s medium sized three bedroom ranch style house, Lynette was bombarded by well-wishers and congratulated beyond measure. It appeared to me that Coach Jacket and Coach Vickers had relayed how Lynette was forced into the starting setter’s role and only had one full practice to get accustomed to working with the regular volleyball starters. It seemed like every volleyball player under the age of thirty-five who had ever played at Medway was at this party, and wanted a moment’s time to share their volleyball stories with Lynette, and by extension, with me.

I was extremely thankful when Coach Jacket came over to our location in the living room and said, “We best let Lynette and Mike get over to the food table or there may not be anything left for them.”

When I followed Lynette around the food table, I whispered in her ear, “Bet at the start of the season or prior to Thursday, you didn’t think you’d be the center of attention at a party like this.”

Lynette turned slightly and smiled back at me and softly replied, “You got that right. I’m very happy that we won and that I played well, but I sure could do without all this attention being focused on me. Heck, I’m just one of several girls who played well. But because nobody expected me to play that well, I’m a big deal.”

“Exactly,” I said as I filled up my small paper plate with cheese, crackers and assorted fruits and vegetables. We both were a little disappointed that all the sandwiches were gone by the time we made it to the table. “Does my MVP want any more of these cheese wedges?”

“No, thanks, I’m good with what I have,” she sweetly replied. After we got what few things were available, she said, “I think we’ll have to stop at Harvey’s to snag a burger and fries after we head out. This is nice and all, but I kinda want some real food, right now.”

“Me too, babe. I’m starving. A Harvey’s burger and fries definitely sounds like a plan to me.” We both grabbed a can of coke from the ice chest at the end of the table, and surprisingly found an unoccupied lounge chair to sit in. After I parked my butt down, Lynette saw me lift my arms up to create an open spot on my lap for her to sit.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” she asked between bites of cheese and crackers, and swallows of coke. We only had a few guests come by to say hello and offer her congratulations as we scarfed down the few finger foods on our plates.

“Yes, Ma’am. Sitting here with you in my lap, I sure as heck can’t complain.”

Lynette turned and gave me a quick peck on my forehead and then wiggled her butt onto my crotch before she softly replied in my ear, “I love sitting here with you, but I’d rather wiggle something besides my butt, over something hidden in your lap.”

“Girlfriend, you are going to get us in trouble if you keep talking and moving around on me like that,” I calmly said as Coach Vickers walked by and gave us a smirking grin. I looked at my watch after I drained my can of coke, and saw it was 6:58pm.

Lynette saw that as well and asked, “Are you about ready to hit the highway to Harvey’s, and then to Komoka?”

“Sure am!” I replied and gave her a light hand-slap across her knee. “I better find my brother and say hello. We’ve actually gotten along pretty well these past few of days, so I better not rock the boat by ignoring him.”

“I’ll come, and say hi and bye to MaryAnn. They’re back together, aren’t they?”

“As far as I know,” I said and took our paper plates, napkins and empty coke cans in my hands and tossed them into the large garbage can. We looked all around Coach Jacket’s house but couldn’t find either MaryAnn or my brother.

When Joanne Gramm saw us hunting for someone, she asked, “Who you looking for, Lynny?”

“Mike’s brother and MR. Have you seen them?

“They left about ten minutes ago. They seemed all lovey-dovey as they said their good-byes.”

“Thanks, JoJo,” I replied. “I was just going to say hi and bye to them, so it’s not a big deal. Are you having fun?”

“Yeah, but I wish Paulie was here. He has a hockey game tonight in Lucan. I was going to try to make it up there, but I’m kinda worn out after last night’s dance and today’s game.”

“Well, be safe if you drive up to Lucan. There might be a little more snow up on those highways than down here around London, or your place in Killworth,” I cautioned the tired looking girl.

“Yeah, I’ve been warned numerous times by Paul that Lucan is north of the Snow Belt line, and that white-outs can pop up anytime. Right now, I’m leaning on heading home, though.”

“Okay, girl. We’re heading out shortly, too,” Lynette replied to her longtime best friend.

“Are you going back to your place?”

“Yes,” Lynette grinned as she fired off that quick reply. “We might try out the hot tub as well. You know, to work out the kinks in our tired bods.”

Lynette rotated her head around and lifted her arms up slowly to emphasize the reasons for hot-tubbing it.

Joanne chuckled at her girlfriend’s answer and added, “You probably want to work the kinks out of some other body parts, too.” When Joanne saw both of us blushing at her reply, she added, “Just be careful, you two.”

“We will,” Lynette replied and squeezed my hand. “Let’s grab our jackets and head on out. Oh, yeah, we’re going to stop at Harvey’s on Oxford West, for a burger and fries. You’re welcome to join us if you like.”

“Thanks but I’m good. I ate too much here I think, which is making me kinda sleepy.”

“I’d keep one of your windows cracked a bit then, Jo,” I replied. “The cool air will help you stay alert on the way home.”

“Good idea, I’ll do that.”

Harvey’s Fast Food Joint, West London

7:20pm, Saturday, February 17, 1979

“I’ll have a single with ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles and mayo, plus a regular fries and a regular coke,” Lynette said to the sixty-something year-old lady behind the counter at Harvey’s.

“Onions?” I guffawed to my grinning girlfriend after she ordered her burger and fries. “You’ve had the last kiss from me tonight, sweetheart!”

“Don’t be cruel like that to this beautiful young lady,” the lady behind the counter said with a smile. “By the look of her pretty white teeth, at least she doesn’t smoke which is way worse than eating onions.”

“That is so true, Ma’am,” I replied back to her. “Still, I’ve got to get my shots in on her every once in a while, don’t I?”

“As pretty as she is, I think you can put up with up ‘onion-breathe’ now and then to get some of her sweet sugar.”

“Yeah Mike, you can put up with onion breathe from this pretty, beautiful young lady,” Lynette said with a smile. “And thank you for that compliment. I appreciate hearing things like that.”

“You don’t give her compliments, young man?” she asked me with a stern voice and a frown on her face.

“I tell her all the time that she’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever known, don’t I, Volcano?” I replied as I gave Lynette a little hug.

“He’s been trained pretty well on that,” Lynette chuckled to the older lady. “So, what are you ordering my good man?” she asked me with a smile.

“This ‘trained’ man would like two single burgers with ketchup, mustard, and extra pickles, a large fries and a large coke, please, and thank you,” I said to the smiling older lady behind the counter.

“Two burgers?” Lynette commented, with surprise in her voice.

“I told you I was starving. All I had tonight was cheese and crackers, and a few pieces of fruit at Coach Jacket’s house. That barely put a dent in my appetite.” Lynette just shook her head in disbelief. I then added, “If I was in the middle of track season, I might have ordered a third burger and another large fries. If we were at a pizza place, a large pizza is usually not a challenge for me.”

When I went to pull out my wallet to pay for our food, Lynette swatted my hand and said, “I’ve got this right now.”

“Lynette!” I called out and stared down at my grinning gal as she fished out a $20 from her skin tight blue jeans’ pocket. “I think I can afford to get this.”

“I know you can. Don’t worry about it, though. You’ll have your share of buying things down the line,” she said with a smile.

“Alright,” I said, “Thank you.” I then leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Smart boy,” the lady replied after hearing and seeing my response to Lynette’s offer. “That will be $11.49, sweetie.”

I carried our tray of food and drinks over to a table by the front window. Lynette sat right beside me as we ate and she was still somewhat amazed that I had gotten two burgers.

“When my mom makes spaghetti or some type of pasta,” I offered up to Lynette. “I’ll often down three BIG plates and demolish some dessert. Mom has asked if I have hollow legs or something, because she can’t fathom me eating that much at one time, while staying relatively lean and mean.”

“I’m sorta in the same boat. I can eat pretty much what I want and not gain weight,” she replied.

“It seems we ‘picked’ our parents pretty well, genetically speaking. Of course, being active young critters doesn’t hurt, either,” I chuckled out to her.

“Picking our parents, good one, Mike! ... Changing topics here,” Lynette masterfully said, “Cathy mentioned something to me last night in the band room, about possibly adding a saxophone player to our little band. What are your thoughts on that?”

“I wouldn’t object to having a sax player. I think it could really add to the sound of our band. Heck, Springsteen, Seger, the Eagles all have either have a full time sax or use one on some of their songs.”

“I kinda like the idea, too, but having six people in the band might be too much. More may not be merrier when it comes to working things out like what songs to play, who sings lead on what song or how to make a song sound distinctively ‘us’. For example, I know you and Sam can sing the daylights out of songs, and I’d like to sing lead on a few, from time to time. So far, neither Paul nor Cathy seems interested in taking the lead on songs, but you never know. Would this saxophone player be limited on what he or she can do in the band?”

“I think if we get another person in the band to play sax, hopefully they could either sing or play another instrument, when their saxophone isn’t needed. We’d just have to make sure everybody gets along together. Chemistry is the key to group success, in my humble opinion.”

Lynette smiled as she swiped a fry from my container as I shared my view on this issue. I just rolled my eyes at her small time thievery and added, “I know Cathy and Paul real well, and they’re pretty easy going. Both will nail you with a zinger, if you give them the opportunity, but they’ll follow the majority opinion on most things without raising a stink. Sammy seems pretty cool too, but I don’t know her all that well, yet.”

“Me neither,” Lynette replied. “I don’t think she’s a prima-donna, but if you think I’m from a money family, I’m like a beggar at Dundas and Richmond compared to Samantha Labatt. Hopefully, what we’ve seen of her since the beginning of January is who she really is, a down home, everyday type of girl.”

“Yes, indeedy,” I replied to Lynette between bites of burger and fries. “With her being a black belt in Wushu, I think her martial arts experiences will help keep her grounded, too. So, if we want to add a saxophone player, who would you chose?”

“Hum, good question. I think from the group of sax players at school, I’d say it would be Wayne or Michele from our grade, or possibly Jennifer Rathje from the eleventh grade would best fit in with our little crew. I think Jennifer is the best saxophonist at school, but she’s a year older, a gymnast and I’ve heard, a little stuck up or ‘high and mighty‘. What do you think?”

“From our grade, I’d have to say that Wayne would be the best choice from a music and personality stand point. However, he has a lot going on outside of school with his pole-vaulting, and probably wouldn’t have the time. I’m not real keen on Michele. I think she is a little too mechanical, which I don’t see going well in a rock-oriented band. If I had to pick off the top of my head, I’d go with Jennifer. As you said, she is the best sax player, and I think her attitude might be good for a rock band like ours. Like Wayne though, I think she has a lot going on with gymnastics and cheerleading, plus school band and choir.”

“You don’t think Jennifer would be a major prima-donna if she was in our band?” Lynette asked.

“She can be a handful, but every time I’ve talked with her one on one, she’s been nice and down to earth. I know she has a little bit of that cheerleader attitude, but you could probably say we have a touch of the ‘jock-itish mentality,’ which is just a different form of the same brashness.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she replied but I noticed that her face was scrunched up after I mentioned the ‘cheerleader attitude.’

I’m not sure what caused me to say this, other than my ‘mouth before brain disease,’ but I chided her with, “You’re not afraid of a little beauty competition from her are you?”

“Nooo,” she drew out. “Heck, Cathy and Sam are both beautiful girls and I didn’t have a problem with them. I, uh, guess it’s just the ‘bow-head‘ thing with cheerleaders. You know, they have their hair all done up in ribbons, and use a false, high pitched squeal-like voices as they cheer on the guys.”

“You know I was just messing with you there, baby, but I do know what you mean about that falsetto, screeching voice that cheerleaders tend to use. I think Jennifer is able to turn that on and off pretty well though. She has a solid, pleasant alto voice when she sings, if I remember correctly.”

“That she does,” Lynette replied after she took the last bite of her Harvey’s burger. “Let’s just see what the others think before we jump too far ahead with this. I think a sax player would be good, but as the saying goes, ‘Too many cooks’... “

“Yes, ma’am,” I said and nodded at my grinning girlfriend to indicate I understood her truncated statement. I downed the last bit of my second burger, and washed the last of my fries down with my coke. “Thanks again for picking up these burgers and fries.”

“No problem,” Lynette replied.

She gathered up all the wrappers and fry boxes onto our tray. I took one last swallow of coke, before I grabbed the loaded tray.

“You two lovebirds have a good evening,” the older lady behind the counter called out as she saw us put our jackets back on. “I just heard that the weather might take a turn for the worse, later tonight or this morning, so be careful if you’re out on the roads.”

Both of us were a tad surprised at the Harvey’s lady’s farewell statement and then at hearing her weather announcement. Lynette shouted back at her, “You have a great evening as well, and thanks for the weather update. We’ll be safe.”

“Good night, Ma’am,” I called back to her as I held the door for Lynette.

On the twenty minute drive to her house, Lynette and I talked about what songs we might want our band to play. She was really interested in hearing my ideas of songs from her favorite bands or singers that would come out in the 1980s and ‘90s. After last night’s session with Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, Lynette really wanted to hear about his future songs from his second album. I told her about, Life is a Lemon, Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through, and I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).

“Can your computer play those songs for me, now?”

“Yeah, sure,” and almost before I got that out, we felt the energy wave as my computer materialized in my lap. “Play...” and thought ‘live version of I’d Do Anything‘. In a second’s time, the wild live introduction came through the computer’s built in speakers. Lynette grinned as she listened to the piano, drums and guitar riff before everything faded out but the piano.

Because I knew that song by heart, I started to sing Meat’s soft vocals after the live audience went wild at Meatloaf’s stage appearance. I smiled back at Lynette whenever she’d take a peek over at me as she was driving. “Your voice blends well with Meatloaf’s. He is purposely getting off the beat, every so often but I’m guessing that helps stylize or personalize the song.”

I nodded at her as I kept up singing along with the music. Before the main female section near the end of the song, I said, “You or Sam will probably have to fight it out over who sings Patty Russo’s incredible coming up lines. You’re going to love it ... here it comes.”

I actually sang out Patti Russo’s part to make sure Lynette heard each mind-boggling line. She was grinning from ear to ear after the first three female sections.

I quickly said, “Listen to this...” as Meatloaf sang his ‘I can do that‘ reply. I turned my vocals up a notch and sang:

“Will you cater to every fantasy I got?

Will ya hose me down with holy water – if I get too hot? HOT!

Will you take me to places I’ve never known?“

Lynette cried out, “Hose me with holy water, holy smokes!” She then chuckled, “I’ve GOT to sing that part, Mike, I’ve just got to sing it,” as Meatloaf replied to Patti Russo’s questions.

I smiled and nodded back at her as I finished singing out the last two troublesome or accusatory female parts. Lynette’s smile faded a tiny bit as she heard those lines as being a ‘fling’ and ‘screwing around’. I was glad to see her smile brighten a little as I sang back Meatloaf’s final loving response:

“I won’t do that!

No, I won’t do that.“

As the music died down on my computer, Lynette turned her mom’s car onto a side road out in Komoka area where her house was located. Lynette was going only about twenty mph on the bumpy, slick gravel road.

She smiled and said, “That is an amazing song. It’s long, but I just love it.”

“That was Meatloaf’s first and only number one hit song,” I replied to Lynette. “He and Jim Steinman waited until 1993 to come out with their second album, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell. The radio version was slightly modified and a good bit shorter than the album version, but I think it was still about eight minutes long.”

“I knew that that live version had to be ten plus minutes,” Lynette commented as she slowed down when she approached a large, isolated Tudor-style brick home.

“Almost here!” she said with a smile as she passed a large snow covered area, which I took as their garden spot. Her house sat on at least four acres of beautifully landscaped ground.

“Awesome house, Volcano,” I said as she wheeled the car onto a concreted driveway. “Is that an in-ground pool, behind that fence?”

“Yuppers. We’ve had a few pool parties, and it’s also pretty well concealed and private out here in the country. In the summer, me and a few of my girlfriends ... plus my mom have been known to work on our overall tans.”

“Dang, Lynette, that lady at Harvey’s really should have said, ‘Don’t be cruel‘ to you instead of me. You’re just killing me here with stories of topless sun...”

“Not just topless but naked,” she interrupted me with a huge grin on her face. “You know, OVERALL tans!”

“Aaaaah! My head is going to explode from erotic imagery overkill. No more, stop! I can’t take anymore!” I falsely cried out to my laughing girlfriend.

I held my hands over my eyes, with my thumbs stuck in my ears. Lynette laughed out loud as she pulled her mom’s car under the carport and turned it off before she turned towards me and laid a sweet kiss on her ‘blind and deaf’ passenger.

When she pulled back from me, I dropped my hands and smiled at her.

She then kind of shocked me by asking, “So, who were you picturing naked to make your head want to explode? Joanne, Heidi, Andrea, Kalena or was it ... my mom?”

My eyebrows rose up involuntarily as I heard Lynette mention her mother laying out nude in the sun. I stammered out, “I, uh, wasn’t picturing any of your friends, just you, baby. But, now that you mentioned your mom being naked outside with you, well, she is one smoking hot lady.”

“Michael!” Lynette called out and smacked me on my left shoulder. “That’s my mom you’re talking about, and visualizing, right now!”

“You were the one who mentioned her sun tanning in the buff, and you specifically asked me if she was one of my ‘mental pictures’. Don’t blame me now for creating that image. Your mom could easily pass for your older sister, and there are no other words besides ‘smoking-hot’ to really describe that image.”

“She is a hot momma, no doubt. But, still, how could you?” Lynette jokingly asked as she turned to open her car door.

“Uh, remember that I have an adult’s memory within my sixteen-year-old body and uh, your mom would definitely fall into the top level of ‘GLMs’.” I immediately saw confusion on Lynette’s face as she stared at me from across the car’s roof.

As I walked towards her and the side entrance to her house, I added, “When I coached Little League baseball in Alabama, the coaches had to draft their teams like the pro leagues draft their players. The best players in Little League were picked first, obviously. Then, after each team had five or six skilled players, a few coaches picked their remaining ‘less skilled’ players based on the mom’s appearance.”

“No way!” Lynette said as I came up beside her.

“If the mother was attractive or hot, she was identified as a ‘GLM’ ... or a Good-Lookin’ Momma on the coach’s evaluation sheet for that child.” I could tell that Lynette was stunned by this bit of information. I figured I might as well complete the picture for her, so I finished up saying, “If you or your sister were low skilled as a five-six-, to probably eleven-twelve-year-old in one of those leagues, you would have been picked relatively early or before your real ‘skill-based slot’ because of your smoking hot GLM.”

“That’s unbelievable!” she exclaimed as she opened up the side door to her house. “Did you really do that?”

“I may have made a few selections based on that, but I know several coaches who always did. I saw a star-based rating system one time on a few coaches’ evaluation sheets. One of those guys became a good friend of mine, and he told me after the season was over about their GLM rating system.”

“Dang, Mike,” Lynette chuckled. She then asked, “So you think my mom would have been a what, a three star GLM?”

“Four stars! Definitely a top, four star GLM,” I replied as we hurried into the side mud-room of her house. “If your sister is as good a softball player as I think she is, your mom’s look would also have helped her get a higher first or second round selection, too.”

“That is just crazy.”

“Well, girlfriend, when you have kids, you’ll be a top level GLM too, guaranteed!”

“You’re so sweet,” she replied and turned to kiss me. After she took my hand and led me through her large kitchen, she stopped, turned to face me and seriously said, “You better promise to pick my kid with the first pick in the draft even if he or she stinks, or you won’t get another glimpse of this hot, future GLM’s body.” She then poked me in the chest and said, “Got that, Mr. Hotshot coach?”

“Oh, yes Ma’am!” I replied with my best southern accent.

As I expected, Lynette jumped up towards me, and wrapped her arms and legs around me as she had earlier this evening. She showered my face with sweet kisses before she zeroed in on my lips.

After Lynette eased off on her kissing, I got another lungful of air, grinned at her and said, “Your kids will be the best players out there. I’d probably have to get the Energists to rig the little league draft in my favor, in order to get the first pick to draft them and their beyond hot GLM!”

“Oh, Lordy, Mike, you say the nicest things.” Lynette also let me know with her gyrating body that she appreciated my words. Because I didn’t know the lay out of her house, I simply held my position in her large kitchen as Lynette kissed and wiggled her smokin’ body up against mine. When I reached down under her tight butt and gave her sliding body a little hoist up, Lynette leaned back slightly from my face, nodded to her left and whispered, “Down that hall ... my parents’ bedroom has easy access to the screened back porch.”

With her hugging me tightly once more, I started in the direction she alluded to. At the end of the short hallway, we came across a partially opened double French-door entrance. Lynette reached behind with her left arm and pushed the two doors open.

Her parents’ bedroom was simply stunning. A king-sized, dark mahogany, canopy bed with sheer tan colored lace hanging down dominated the large room. Two beautiful night stands with tan shaded lamps completed the bed look. A similarly styled mahogany dresser with a monster sized mirror, a five drawer chest, and a matching entertainment center, with an ‘old’ Sony Trinitron 21 inch color TV sitting on it, barely filled up this spacious master bedroom.