Chapter 2

“What are you two boys talking about back there? I can’t hear you because of the music I am playing. Is everything all right?” Shirley questioned.

“Yes, Mrs. Fleming. Everything’s just fine. Can I ask you a question, Ma’am?” I asked, popping my head over the back of the front seat.

She responded, “Sure Charles, anything! What do you want to know, Honey?”

“Well, you were a twelve-year-old girl, once?”

“Yes, Charles, I was,” she said with a charming giggle of her own.

“Yeah well, today at the BBQ after saying ‘Hi’ to everybody I meet and talking about school and the weather and dance class, what should I discuss that won’t make me sound like a goofball?”

That made her, and Brian both chuckle.

“Well Charles, a young lady always likes to be told how she looks. That’s a nice blouse, a pretty dress, or cute shoes. You know, compliment her and her mother when you meet her, that’s important. Like you said, school is a good topic, especially since you go to different schools. Find out what subjects she likes best and who her favorite teachers are. Furthermore, ask her about what she likes to do in her spare time — you know, for fun.”

“Wow. That’s some good stuff, Mrs. Fleming. You know, I wouldn’t doubt it at all if you were the prettiest girl in your sixth-grade class.”

“Well Charles, thank you. That’s very sweet of you to say,” she said.

Brian pulled me back and hit me in the arm and mouthed, ‘What the hell?’ to me.

Whispering, I said to him, “What? I was just being nice to your mother.”

“Well, don’t hit on her?” Brian whispered back to me.

“I wasn’t hitting on her. I was just trying out, on her, what she had said. Get a grip, dude! Your Mom is pretty in an older non-redheaded sort of way. Hey, what did you hit me for? I was just being nice.”

“Well, be that way with your own mother, or Claire -- OK? Back off!”

We sat in relative quiet for a while looking around through the windows. We were in a part of town I didn’t know at all. All the avenues were named after US Presidents going one way and numbered streets going the other. I knew we were on Chester Arthur Avenue going west — Orienteering Merit Badge to the rescue.

Brian’s Mom broke the silence and said, “It’s around here boys. We’re getting close ... Keep your eyes open. It’s off the corner of Chester Arthur Avenue and 88^th Street Road.”

“There are probably a lot of cars there, so that will help us too,” Brian added.

“There it is, up ahead. Look at that house? Wow! There must be six or maybe seven bedrooms in that mansion. OK boys, be ready to get out — remember to be nice to everybody. Call everybody Mister and Misses. Charles, don’t end up engaged to Claire at the end of this party? Your mother doesn’t want to lose her little boy yet,” she chuckled.

“Mrs. Fleming, that’s not funny,” I responded. “Hmmm. Brian, will you be my best man?”

The look on his face was classic!

“Just kidding, dude. Lighten up. This is bound to be fun. Let’s not let our mouths write a check that our asses can’t cash.”

Mrs. Fleming remarked giggling, but trying to hold it in, “Well said, Charles ... OK boys, just call me when you are ready to be picked up.”

“Thank you, Mrs. F,” I said.
====
We were walking up to the house about to ring the doorbell, when the screen door swung open and a little girl probably Claire’s little sister came out.

Nope, I remember now. Her sister is older than her. This little girl has lovely red hair as well.

How cute is she?

“Hello. My name is Kalista. It means ‘The most beautiful one,’” she said looking up into my eyes, quite proudly.

Getting down to my haunches, I said, “Hello Kalista. My name is Charles Newman, and this is Brian Fleming. Can we come in, please?”

She couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old. Is she going to be a heartbreaker when she gets to be older, or what?

“Yes, you may, Charles and Brian. Please go straight through the house into the backyard?”

She said it as though someone had helped her to memorize it. She must be standing right by the door waiting for everyone to arrive.

“Thank you, Kalista,” I said to her getting up. “That is a very pretty dress!”

“Gee, thank you, Charles,” she smiled, curtseyed, and giggled.
====
Brian remarked as we walked into the house, “Charles, you really are a charmer, you know. You probably made her day.”

“As cute as she is, Brian, everybody will likely say something like that to her today. Let’s go to the lions.”

We both laughed as we walked in the house.

While on our way to the backyard to meet the ‘thundering horde,’ Brian and I stopped and noticed a woman who was coming out of the kitchen carrying some food. Her hair was the exact same shade of red as Claire’s. This has got to be her mother.

“Mrs. McArthur. Can we help you carry something outside?”

Brian looked over at me.

“Well, who’s this? Yes, you can help boys, both of you. Oh? You must be Charles and Brian. Welcome, and thank you. How did you know who I was?” she grinned.

“Mrs. McArthur, you look just like Claire, only prettier.”

“Aren’t you the charmer, so you must be Charles and this handsome young man is Brian?”

“Yes, Ma’am — you got it in one.”

Brian loves that expression.

Brian looked over at me again and said quietly, “Charles, you dog. You are something else.”

Ignoring him, I asked, “What can we help you carry outside, Mrs. McArthur?”

“Well, Charles,” she said glancing around. “You can carry the hot dogs and hamburgers to the cook, my husband. Brian ... you can carry the hamburger and hot dog buns to the first table on your right once you get outside.”

“Sure, thing, Mrs. M,” Brian responded.
====
So, now, we’re carrying food out of the back door and who do we see the moment we exit the house? None other than our delightful looking dance partners, Claire, and Susan!

Susan had her long blonde hair in pigtails and was wearing a pretty, pink blouse that had sequins on it. She had on a pair of blue jeans that looked brand new. A very different look for her. She is almost as cute as my Claire.

Claire’s shimmering red hair was also in pigtails, looking shorter than I remembered from the Cotillion. She was wearing a matching soft blue blouse, also with sequins on it. To complete her ensemble, she was also wearing jeans, but they looked a little worn. I hadn’t realized how attractively slim she was until this moment.

Claire said, “Hey you two — glad you could make it. Charles, follow me, I will take you to my daddy who is cooking the food. Susan, why don’t you direct Brian to where the buns need to go?”

Susan giggled at the word ‘buns.’

“Claire, you look awesome. I almost didn’t recognize you with the pigtails and jeans. Fortunately, your hair color gave you away.”

She turned on me saying, “I don’t color my hair, Charles!”

“No ... no, NO! that’s not what I meant, I meant...”

“I know, X! I was just messing with you. Calm down.” There are those dimples again.

“Brian and I ran into your mother coming out of the kitchen and offered to help. I surprised her because you have the same beautiful shade of red hair.”

“Beautiful! Oh, Charles, I am going to have to keep you around me if you are going to use words like beautiful,” she said, gazing deep into my eyes.

“That’s all right with me too, Claire. I like having you next to me. It makes me feel good inside,” I replied.

“You are so sweet, X.” With that, she gave me a little peck on the cheek. I was embarrassed, but I don’t think I blushed. Thank God.

Mrs. McArthur came outside and spoke: “Attention, Attention Everybody. We’re going to start cooking in a bit. We’re still waiting for Ken and his family before we start any official ‘McArthur Family Games.’”

“Games?” I questioned to Claire, “What kind of games?”

“You will find out X. Have a little patience and relax. You look like you are about to be thrown into the lion’s den,” my dance partner said with a giggle.

I chuckled considering I had said those very words to Brian on our way here. Claire took my arm, with both hands, and we wandered around as she introduced me to her brothers and sister as well as her in-laws and out-laws. She giggled when she said that. She also brought me up to speed on the fact that she and Susan are BFFs and have known each other for almost as long as Brian, and I had.
====
With her arm wrapped around mine, she walked up to her father who had started cooking and said, “Daddy. This is Charles Newman. We met at Cotillion this past Tuesday night, and he is my favorite dancing partner, after you, of course. Charles. This is Daniel McArthur, my father.”

My best guess is that Daniel was near my father’s age, but had silver hair, looking very distinguished.

After taking the platter of food from me, he took off a glove and we shook hands.

I said, “Wonderful to meet you, Sir. Thank you for letting Claire invite me to your Annual McArthur Family BBQ. You have a wonderful house from what I have seen, and this backyard is amazing. I met your wife inside, and I see that Claire gets her looks from both of you, her mother’s hair and your great big smile.”

“Isn’t he just the nicest young man you have ever met, Daddy?” Claire beamed.

“You know CC; he might just be,” he answered.

He messed up my hair like adults often do.

“Thank you, Sir. Claire is the nicest girl I have ever met, and we seem to get along, especially on the dance floor.” I started fixing my hair, but Claire slapped my hand away doing it for me.

Her father responded, “You know Claire. That’s right. I forgot something. Excuse me, you two?”

“RUSSELL!” he yelled to one of the boys nearby, “Come here?”

He started a very animated conversation with this young man who then left quickly back into the house.

“I almost forgot the surprise I got for you, CC,” her father said.

“Oh, Daddy, what? What is it?”

“You will know soon enough. All right kids, move along ... I have lots of food to cook.”

He had at least four grills surrounding him on three sides. One had charcoal, while the others were propane, it appeared. I saw a large bottle labeled ‘Secret sauce!’ Cool!

Russell came back out with a large box in his arms along with five other young men carrying similarly sized boxes. Russell got Claire’s father’s attention and asked, “Do you want it over here, Mr. McArthur?”

“YES,” he responded.

“Is there anything I can do to help, Mr. McArthur?” I asked.

“No son, your work ... will be later,” he said mysteriously.

“All right, Sir. I am not afraid of hard work. I received my Eagle Scout Rank with Two Palms this past year.”

Mr. McArthur asked me, “Exactly, how many Merit Badges have you earned, Charles?”

“Well sir, out of over a hundred and thirty available I have only earned sixty-seven so far, but I can earn them until I am eighteen. Who knows how many more I might end up with, Sir?”

“Which ones are you working on at the moment?” he probed.

“Backpacking, Canoeing, Climbing, Fishing, Fly-Fishing and Nature, Sir,” I replied.

“Smart boy, they’re all interconnected to each other. Are you planning anything special to get all those done?”

“Well Sir. Brian, my best friend, plus four other Scouts and me, along with our fathers are all going out in a couple of weeks for a long weekend of camping. We hope to do all of those Merit Badges, if not more.”

“You are quite the young man, Charles,” Mr. McArthur added, giving me a slap on the back as he said it.

“Thank you, Sir, I do appreciate that.”

Claire and I walked towards where one of her brothers, and the other boys were unpacking the boxes. They were putting together what looked like a jigsaw puzzle, but with three-foot square pieces.

I walked up to him and said, “Hello. I am Charles Newman, what are you putting together there, boys?”

“Hello, Charles, I am Russell McArthur, Claire’s older brother and these other guys are cousins. Nice to meet you! We are putting together a high quality, parquet dance floor. We hear that you two are quite the dancers. Personally, I am looking forward to learning a thing or two from the two of you.”

I turned to Claire. She had a look on her face. She quickly blurted out, “Charles, I didn’t know Daddy would be getting a dance floor! We have never had one at our family picnics before. I am so embarrassed. I am going to go and talk to my father about this, right now!”

Grabbing her arm and stopping her, “No Claire, don’t! You would only embarrass him. When it’s time, we will get up and do what we know how to do, Waltz. It actually sounds like fun. Do you want to go inside and practice? It’s been almost four days. I can teach you the Left Box Turn? If I can learn it, I know you can, because you are not only pretty, you are smart, too.”

“How many girls have you used that line on, Mr. Newman?” Claire said with a giggle.

Suddenly, I was on defense, “None — absolutely none! You are the only girl I have ever even talked to not counting my sisters, mother, and female relatives. Let’s go in and practice before we’re expected to ‘perform for the masses?”

We went inside to what Claire called their family room. As we were moving into ‘Closed Position’ Claire gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

“What was that for?” I asked her.

“For talking to my daddy like he’s just a person and being so friendly to everyone, especially me.”

“It’s really easy to be nice to you, CC — You are my dance partner,” I said.

“I like you calling me CC, Charles.” What a smile.

OK. I explained to Claire that the Left Box Turn was just how it sounds. It’s the same elements that we learned last Tuesday night, in a slightly different step pattern. After showing it to her and demonstrating it, we were doing a pretty good job of it.

I had been humming “The Rainbow Connection” out loud since it was a waltz-tempo song. Claire started humming it too. Wow, she’s pretty; she can dance and sing. We were about halfway through the song, when the doors suddenly burst open, “What are you two doing in here?”

I recognize that voice. It was Brian, along with Susan.

“You scare the cra ... bejesus out of me, Brian! Why did you do that?” I said, practically jumping out of my skin.

“Because I can, Charles. What were you doing, anyway? It kind of looked like the waltz, but different.”

“Yeah, it’s the Left Box Turn. It’s what Jimmy plans on teaching us next Tuesday night.”

“Show us, will you, please?” Brian pleaded.

“Yes,” said Susan, “Please?”

“OK, but I hope you all are as quick a study as Claire. They are putting up a dance floor outside and we are expected to dance for everyone.”

After moving a sofa out of the way, I set up Brian and Susan. They were standing next to us and everyone did pick up the Left Box Step, pretty quickly.

A voice from outside yelled, “Come and get it ... Foods On!”

We all scooted outside to get in line for the food. I looked at my watch and saw it was just eleven o’clock -- exactly when the food was supposed to be ready! Apparently, the McArthurs believed in scheduling everything down to the nth detail.

Background music was plqying, specifically imusic from the 50s.

While in line waiting to get lunch, I turned to Claire and asked, “Claire. The Summer Memories Dance — What are the boys supposed to wear, shorts, suits, or tuxedos with tails? Both Brian and I have been terribly worried about this ever since last Tuesday night.”

Susan, who was right behind us with Brian, chimed in, “Pretty much the same thing as what we wear at Cotillion, girls in dresses - not too short, and gentlemen in nice shirts, pants and ties. A jacket or coat would be appropriate, but it’s not required. Claire’s wearing a blue dress just like the yellow one she wore last week at Cotillion, and I have got a pink dress like the blue one I wore last week.”

“Does what you girls are wearing affect what we should be wearing?” Brian asked. Good question!

“Well,” Claire said, “If I am wearing light blue then, Charles could wear warm azure or even dark navy blue. You would only need to change your shirt. The black pants you wore last week would work fine maybe a tie either red or blue, plus a jacket if you have one. Don’t go out and buy one? It’s not that big a deal.”

“What about me?” Brian asked. “If Susan is wearing pink, what color should I wear?”

The girls looked at each other and muttered among themselves for a minute, then they turned around and said together, “Green.”

Brian and I both thanked the girls for their help. Now the question is, do I ask my mom to buy me a jacket when we’re getting my blue dress shirt? Why not? All she can say is ‘No!’

It was just about our turn to get food from the cook, so I turned to Claire and quietly asked her what she wanted to eat, and she told me a cheeseburger, some chips, and a Diet Pepsi. I turned to her father and said in the closest thing I had to an adult voice, “Claire would like a cheeseburger, chips and a Diet Pepsi, please, and I will have a cheeseburger, chips and a regular Pepsi, please Sir?”

“What a gentleman! CC, keep your eye on this young man, don’t let him get away,” he remarked.

“Oh, Daddy,” she blushed.

We all got our food. I carried Claire’s. She had both arms around my right arm again, and we moved to one of the tables that had been set up and started to sit down, and then something my mom told me clicked and I asked, “CC, would you like to sit across from me or next to me?”

“Next to you. I would like to sit next to you, Charles.” That smile appeared again.

I blushed.

As we all sat down to eat, Brian wondered aloud, “I wonder what’s scheduled after lunch, Charles?”

As I had said before, their backyard is huge. Easily as big as two football fields next to each other. After lunch was over, Mrs. McArthur blew a whistle that got everyone’s attention and announced:

Welcome to The 17th Annual McArthur Family Games. We couldn’t get the Dunk Tank we had last year because somebody didn’t ask for it soon enough,” she said giving Daniel a look. “So, this year’s games will include three-legged races, doubles sack races and a new one this year called Apple-on-a-Rope.”

I turned to the girls and Brian said, “That all sounds like lots of fun. I wonder what Apple-on-a-Rope is?”

Susan said with a grin on her face, “I have heard of it before — You boys shoul love it.”

Mrs. McArthur continued:
“First, will be the three-legged races. There will be three separate ones, Boy-Girl, Boy-Boy, and Girl-Girl. Come on up and get two pieces of rope if you want to participate in the Boy-Girl race.”

That got Claire and me along with Brian and Susan up off our butts, and we got the ropes. Claire and I tied my right to her left and so did Susan and Brian. There were four other couples in the race, all of them older than us. The race was twenty-five yards long. There was even a person with a camera at the finish line. Brian and I said good luck to each other, and then we were told to get ready.

The whistle sounded and Claire and I were off to the races. We had such a rhythm it was absolutely amazing. We beat the next-best team, Brian and Susan, by at least five yards.

High fives went all around and next was the Boy-Boy race and again, Brian, and I were the youngest pair in the race. The rhythm Claire and I had, sadly wasn’t there this time. We could barely finish the race. Nevertheless, Brian and I still enjoyed ourselves.

Now the Girl-Girl race, it was no contest at all — Susan and Claire were positively gliding along like pumas. You could tell they had done this a bunch of times.

The three-legged race results were given out, Olympics style with third, second, and first place ribbons given. Everyone had a blast, and the winners got their photos taken.

The sack races went well. Claire and I came in second in the Boy-Girl, Brian and I redeemed ourselves by placing second in the Boy-Boy and again ‘Our’ girls won the Girl-Girl.

Awards were given out again, and then it was announced there would be a twenty-minute break before the Final Event, Apple-on-a-Rope.

The four of us were all very tired, so we sat down and drank some homemade strawberry flavored lemonade.

“This has been so much fun,” Claire said. “Charles and Brian — Susan and I are really glad you could join us — You will have to come back next year!”

“OK by me,” said Brian, “Only, I am going to wear more comfortable shoes next time. My feet are killing me!”

“Oh, let me rub your feet, Bri,” Susan said. “My daddy says I give a great foot massage.”

Brian looked over at me with a goofy smile on his face. Claire and I just rolled our eyes, got up and started to walk aimlessly.

Taking her by her hand, I stopped and turned to Claire. I took her other hand and leaned in a little. I quietly said to her, “Thank you for inviting me, CC, I am having the time of my life.”

She looked all around to see who was looking and gave me a quick peck again, but this time it was on my lips.

Nearly out of breath, “What was that for, Claire? I didn’t do anything to deserve that, besides I think your dad and all of your brothers would take turns killing me if they knew you just did that.”

“I know, ‘X.’ It’s that nobody has ever made me feel so good about myself.” Her eyes were moistening.

Looking side-to-side first, like I was about to cross the street, I said, “We had better not do any more of that, OK Claire?”

“Too many eyes,” I added.

Right then Kalista came up to me and gave me the biggest hug, saying, “I like you, Charles Newman,” and left. It was a hit and run!

I started to cry.

Claire asked, “Why are you crying, X?”

“About seven years ago, after thinking they couldn’t have any more kids, my mother became pregnant and was really excited, but the baby was stillborn. If she had survived she would be about Kalista’s age. I almost had a baby sister and with my mom’s red hair, my little sister could have likely looked a lot like Kalista.”