Chapter 16: Night Moves

September 12, 1980

Another week, another game. This one was against another school in our district. Angie and I hopped in the car an hour before kickoff. Dad was driving, Mom was along. They’d been talking about going to the game.

When we were halfway there, Dad cleared his throat. “Um ... Helen and I talked about it, and I think we’re going to skip the game tonight. Maybe we’ll catch one later this year.”

“You sure, Dad? It’ll be fun, especially if we manage a win.” I was optimistic about this one.

He nodded. “I think we’ll go out. You’ll have more fun without us old folks slowing you down.”

“Aw, you’re not old.” Angie smiled. “We always have fun doing things with you.”

“Still, sometimes we have fun doing things on our own,” Mom laughed.

“OK. Well, you two behave yourselves!” I said.

Both of them chuckled. “We’ll be back at 9:30. If the game’s not over, we’ll wait. If it ends early, I know people will hang out.”

“OK, Dad!”

We rolled up to the stadium, got out, and waved to them. I looked around at the crowd. Looked like it was going to be a good turnout.

Angie and I waited. A few minutes later Jimmy and Connie turned up. Slowly, most of the rest of the gang appeared. Candice was one of the last to arrive. She had on the same dress she’d worn Monday, making me smile at a few memories. She grinned when she saw me, bounced over, and gave me a big hug and a quick kiss. “Hi, boyfriend!”

“Hi, yourself!” I grinned and gave her a little squeeze.

Dan put on his stern voice. “No public displays of affec...”. Angie cut him off with a kiss.

We all headed in, locating a nice empty section of seats halfway up on the forty yard line. As before, Andy sat with the JV. Mel joined him since girlfriends were welcome to sit with the team.

Candice wound up in my lap again. She turned to kiss me. That got away from us; Angie tapped our shoulders. “Earth to lovers. Earth to lovers. You two stop it! Mrs. Higgins is heading this way.”

We broke apart and Candice moved to sit at my side. I put my arm around her shoulders. Mrs. Higgins came over and shook her finger at us. “Behave yourselves! This may be a stadium, but it’s still a school event and school rules apply.”

“Yes, Mrs. Higgins,” we all chorused.

She harrumphed and headed on her way. I looked at the others. “Look, we probably should listen to her some...” Everyone groaned at that. “I said some! But she’ll be chaperoning at the dance in two weeks. If she decides we’re trouble, she’ll get everyone after us.”

Angie laughed. “Big brother’s got a point. I want to have fun at the dance, not have old ladies with rulers checking for proper separation!”

Candice and I still managed plenty of smooching, and the others did their best to keep up. I kept my hand outside of her skirt, just caressing her leg. She opted to just snuggle in.

Halftime found the game tied. We opted to take shifts heading to the bathroom. The girls left, talking away, and I looked around at the guys. “So?”

“Helluva game,” Dan opined.

“Yeah,” nodded Jimmy.

“I think we’ve got it in the second half,” Morty added.

Mark nodded. “We’ve got it. They’re only tied because of that fumble.”

The girls returned after a bit. I looked at Candice. “Want anything while I’m up?”

She pondered. “Share a lemonade?”

“Sounds good.” I leaned in for a kiss, then headed off. Dan and Morty followed along. After a quick trip to the restroom and a slow slog through the concession line, I headed back up.

Candice was deep in conversation with Angie when I got back. Most brothers would’ve worried about their sister and girlfriend plotting. I was just glad they were such good friends. I tapped them both on the shoulder. “Hey, sis, I need my girlfriend back. Stop horning in.” Angie blushed and giggled, and Candice smacked me on the arm. “Careful! You’ll spill our lemonade!” She giggled and scooted over. I settled back down and offered her one of the two straws.

The game stayed good. Late in the fourth quarter, with the score tied, Memorial got down to the 30 yard line. They stalled there and out came the kicker, who was pretty good.

Candice and I held hands. “C’mon, make it!” Morty yelled.

Angie laughed. “No making it in the stadium. What would Mrs. Higgins think?”

Candice turned beet red. “Angie!!! Oh god!” She was giggling, too. Dan gave Angie a look that I couldn’t quite follow.

Jimmy looked at Connie. “Damn, that ruins our plans.”

Connie fell into his arms, laughing. “We’ll just have to find somewhere else.”

Candice pressed her lips to my ear. “So will we.” Well, that woke up a certain part of me! A part Candice noticed right away, if the little grind she did against me was any indication.

We dragged our attention back to the game. Alan Stinson, the kicker, got himself ready. The ref blew the whistle, the kick went up, and we all held our breath. Right through the uprights!

“Yes!” Dan exclaimed, then planted a kiss on Angie that would’ve irritated Mrs. Higgins. A second later, Candice did the same to me. Our tongues did a little dance, and she gave me another little grind. Then she was snuggling in again, and her lips found my ear. “I’m sorry. I know that makes you hurt. But I just can’t resist.”

I turned to her. “I’d be more upset if you didn’t, I think.” She giggled, kissed me, and winked.

Game over, we all headed out. I saw Mom and Dad’s car waiting. No time like the present to go for it a bit. I caught Candice’s eye and flicked mine towards the car. She caught the look, checked to see what I was looking at, and nodded. I know what she thought I meant. I pulled her into a hug and felt her tense a little. Looking into her eyes, I brought my lips to hers and gave her a nice kiss. She let out a moan and kissed back. The kiss was restrained; the nails she dug into my back, less so.

After the kiss she whispered, “You sure?”

I nodded. “I’m taking you to the dance. If they can’t handle us kissing, they need to get over it.” She sighed and laid her head against my shoulder. Looking up, her breath caught and I could see her hesitate. Then she decided against whatever it was, closed her eyes, and hugged me.

I looked over and Angie had ambushed Dan with a kiss of her own. Well, there we go. Mom and Dad will hopefully be cool.

Candice and I separated, and I scanned the line of cars. OK. Candice’s parents’ car was a ways away so I doubt they saw. Hopefully, if they did, it wouldn’t be a problem. I took her hand, walked her over, and opened the door. Her dad gave me a big smile.

“One daughter, delivered. Thank you for letting me borrow her, Sir.”

He laughed. “Like I get a vote in this! Thank you, Steve. I hear so many good things from Candice. Some of them must even be true.”

From the back seat: “Dadddddddy!”

I laughed, then smiled to Candice. “See you Sunday for studies!”

She grinned back. “See you then!”

I headed back to Mom and Dad’s car. Dan had copied me and was helping Angie into the car. I slipped in the other door and gave her leg a squeeze.

Dad pulled out. “Sooooooo. I take it Dan and Candice are both ... close friends?”

Angie was ready. “Of course they are. We wouldn’t be going to the dance if they weren’t.”

Mom tried to be stern, but it sounded half-hearted. “I’m still not sure. You are both just fourteen. It just seems so fast!”

Dad, to the rescue. “Weren’t your brothers both dating Helen and Colleen when they were fourteen?” Wow! I did not know that! I almost couldn’t imagine my Aunt Helen as a fourteen-year-old, dating. Kissing. She was the most conservative person I knew. And yes, my aunt has the same name as my mom. Awkward, sometimes.

Mom blushed! “Well, that was a different time. They worried about my brothers being sent to the war.”

“That might be true, and it was a different time, but kids are still kids, Helen. And Steve and Angie are at least as mature as Tim and Ryan were, I’d venture to guess.”

Mom knew she’d lost. “OK. Well. Fine.” She laughed after a second. “They have Tim and Ryan beat hands down. Sorry to destroy your image of your uncles, kids. But they were hellions in high school.”

I nodded. Maybe that was it. Mom was wondering if I’d go down that route, or if Angie would run into someone she couldn’t handle. “You know we’ll be OK, Mom. Both of us know what can go wrong. We listen; we try to be good. And you and Dad are always providing us good examples.”

“Laying it on a little thick, there, Steve,” Mom laughed. “But, fine. You’re right. I worry. I’ll always worry. But if I can’t trust you two to use your heads, I suppose I should just pack in the whole parenting thing.”

I saw Dad give Mom a pat on the leg. That made me smile.

September 13, 1980

Studying over, Candice and I sat on a park bench. There were two little kids playing on the teeter-totter with their mom and dad watching, smiling. We were reining things in. Some quick kisses, nothing more.

Candice leaned in, head on my shoulder. “I meant it, yesterday.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We ... I ... I want to. Um...”

“Find somewhere else?”

“Yeah. That.” She was quite red.

I turned to her, looked into her eyes. “I meant what I said on Labor Day, too.” She looked confused. “Taking it slow, but maybe not too slow.” She nodded, still red. “Candice? It’s not a race. We could always find five or ten minutes and a quiet part of the woods, somewhere. But I don’t think that’s what you want.”

She nodded harder. “I want ... I want it, um ... to be... right. Not rushed. But, damn, Steve. I want to figure out a way. I love everything we’re doing, but I just... “ She shook her head. “Now that I know what you can do to me, I want it all the time.”

I grinned. “You think I don’t? I’m a guy. Everyone knows that’s the only thing we think about.”

She giggled hard. “You think about other things, I know that.”

“Nah, it’s just that my brain has a few tracks. One is just for those sorts of thoughts.”

She giggled more. “Sooooooooo when you get, you know, worked up, and, you’re alone...”

“That track is just full of Candice thoughts.”

She squirmed. “Mine is full of Steve thoughts.”

Our kiss got a bit deeper this time. Sorry, cute little family enjoying the park.

Angie and I met up in my room later that night. I wondered what Mom and Dad thought of all these late-night conversations. Angie waited until they’d gone to their room and closed their door. Maybe they didn’t know. The little voice in the back of my head insisted that I was better off assuming they knew more than I thought they could. But they hadn’t been listening in, or we’d be grounded for life.

“So, sis. Connie, last night. Did you two have that set up?”

She gave me the wide-eyed innocent look. “Who, me? And Connie? Would we do something like that?”

I nodded. “Uh huh. Yes, yes you would.”

“Welllllll maybe. Um...” She blushed.

“C’mon, sis, you know I wouldn’t think anything bad.”

“Yeah, well. All the girls were talking. We all want to, um ... find somewhere else. The park was a stroke of genius, and thank you,” she grinned, “but it only worked so far. We don’t have cars and even if we did ... well, backseats? I don’t know. Our parents — I mean, everyone’s — won’t let us hang out anywhere unsupervised.”

“And, you’re saying the girls want ... unsupervised.”

“Hell yes, I’m saying that. Girls get just as horny as guys, you know.”

“So I’ve been told.”

She laughed. “We do. Maybe even more. And some of us — not saying who — think the guys we’ve found are, you know ... honest and trustworthy. And hot. And that’s just fucking frustrating with nowhere unsupervised.”