Chapter 4

“Around seven years ago, after thinking they couldn’t have any more children, my mother ... became pregnant and was really excited, so was I ... but the baby girl 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, she could have likely looked a lot like Kalista.”

Claire held me close.

“I am so sorry, Charles. That’s really sad,” she said putting her hand on my face.

Gosh, that felt nice.

The whistle went off signaling the start of Apple-on-a-Rope. Mr. McArthur hosted this particular event and explained the rules:

“For this game, there are two players on a team one to hold the apple and the other to eat the apple. The apple has been strung through its core with a thin rope about three feet in length. The apple holder will hold one end of the rope in the air while the apple dangles. The apple eater will eat the apple while their hands are tied behind their back.”

He went on to say, “The first team done eating the apple down to the core is the winner. There will be a judge for each team to decide when a team is down to the core. Use caution please because players could choke if they inhaled the apple or its core. Although this game is better for older players, anybody twelve and older who wants to play can. If you wear dentures, sorry.”

He was chuckling at his own joke.

This game was for any two people to play. Claire and I wanted to play it and so did Brian and Susan, and about ten other couples joined in, including Josiah and his girl Cassandra.

Now, there was something only Brian and I knew. We both absolutely loved apples, so this was going to be the most fun game ever. During the school year, Mom gave me an apple a day!

OK, there were twelve teams all playing at the same time, each with their own judge. I told you there were a lot of people at this BBQ. Well anyway, we were all given our apples, and the whistle blew, and everybody started trying to get the important first bite. They were all trying different methods.

Brian and I got on our backs directly on the grass, and the girls simply dropped the apples into our mouths. Nobody else thought of that until after they saw what we were doing. So, it came down to Brian and me.

We were about neck and neck, until Susan said to Brian, “Come on Sweet-Lips, I know you can do it.” Brian got the giggles as well as blushing from this remark and finished in second place to yours truly, Charles ‘You can call me X’ Newman.

After cleaning up, and being untied, from this obviously messy event, the Medals were awarded — with Claire’s older brother Josiah earning third place, Brian second and me getting first.

There was another fifteen-minute break, while the BBQ was started back up for anyone who wanted more food. At the thought of more food, Brian and I took one look at each other and laughed so hard our sides were hurting.

Susan and Claire were absolutely beaming that ‘their boys’ did so well at the 17th Annual McArthur Family Games.

I turned to Brian and asked him quietly, “Hey, have I had any ‘googly-eyed’ looks on my face at all today?”

“No, actually the closest you came to it was just before your three-legged race with Claire.”

“That’s good. I have been trying to enjoy myself, but when you pointed it out earlier, I got a little worried. Thanks, buddy, for having my back.”

It was now about three o’clock, and apparently it was Showtime. Music had been playing most of the day during lunch, but it was really just background music. It was turned off during the various competitions, but now with things slowing down, it came back on. Claire’s twenty-two-year-old brother Russell was the DJ for the day.

Claire and I were standing just a few steps from the 25 x 25-foot square beautiful parquet dance floor that had been put together for our purposes. I was behind her with my arms around her waist, and she had her hands over mine. It felt really nice, like we were supposed to be like this.

Dusk was upon us all, lights had been turned on, and you could hear a microphone being turned on. Mr. McArthur began thanking everyone who helped make the BBQ such a big success, also thanking everybody for being there as well.

Brian and Susan were across from us, in a similar manner. He and I had a quick nod of the head to one another.

Daniel paused a moment. He was growing emotional, as he went on to say, “My youngest daughter Claire, or as I call her ‘CC,’ invited a very nice young man to be here today. His name is Charles Newman. He and his best friend Brian Fleming performed very admirably at our Family Games!”

There was a smattering of applause. “I talked with this young man for a while today, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back to next year’s Games along with Brian.”

“Besides being excellent apple eaters, (pause for laughter) both boys along with my CC and her best friend Susan Williams recently started taking dance lessons this past week at the Bradshaw Family Cotillion. Now, they’re going to show us what they have learned.”

He made an arm motion, and Russell started the Frank Sinatra version of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

Once it began, the four of us walked out together and graciously turned to ‘Closed Position,’ and we started to dance, effortlessly switching from Box Step to the Left Box Turn and after about half the song had passed, Russell asked everyone else to join in.

A couple of times, Jimmy’s ‘International Dance Panic Signal’ helped Claire and I avoid collisions with some adults who were joining us on the dance floor. When the song was over, everyone stopped and applauded. I was looking at Claire, and Brian caught my attention with a signal that must have meant I was ‘googly-eyed.’

Don’t care. I was very happy.

I knew there would be more dancing, but I took Claire off the dance floor and told her I thought I should call Mrs. Fleming. It does take over half an hour to get to the McArthur house from our side of town.

Claire breathed a really, big sigh, but understood and nodded to go ahead and call for our ride.

“Hello, Mrs. Fleming, this is Charles?”

“Yes, hello ... oh, we’re both having a wonderful time! I don’t expect you to drop everything and come right over, but we will be ready to be picked up when you can get here.”

“Not for an hour? Oh, that’s all right, there’s still a lot going on. Brian and I will see you in about an hour, OK?”

“Ohhhh, closer to an hour and a half? That’s fine, sure! Could you maybe give me a call, when you are about ten minutes out?”

“Thanks, you are the best, Mrs. F. See you in a little while. I will tell Brian, bye.”

“So, you will be here another ninety minutes?” The voice came from behind me. It was Claire. “I overheard that, Charles. I’m sorry for eavesdropping.” She had her arms around my waist, this time.

Turning around inside her arms and surprising her, I said, “Yes, that’s exactly right, CC. Let’s go tell Brian and Susan, OK?” I gave her a quick kiss on the lips, also surprising her.

“OK, X,” she said, with her infectious smile. She squeezed me tight, responding to my kiss. We ran off hand in hand to find our best friends.

We found Brian and Susan, sitting at one of the BBQ tables, just talking. I saw their hands with interlaced fingers. We sat down with them and started having some meaningful conversations as a group of longtime friends would. It’s amazing how easy it is to talk to a girl once you find you have some common interests.

Brian and I spoke about Foothill Elementary School that we had just finished only weeks earlier. We told Claire and Susan about our (few) friends, favorite classes, and teachers, along with our most embarrassing moments. Claire and Susan went on and on about The President’s Elementary School, where they attended, and the Summer Memories Dance was being held.

There was a reason all those street names were named after the presidents. We heard a familiar rhythm in the song Russell had just started to play, and we all got up to dance.

It’s remarkable how much less stressful it is to dance, when people aren’t watching every step. While I was looking in Claire’s eyes during this dance, I felt myself slowly slipping into a world of bliss and happiness. All because of a dance -- and a girl. A very pretty and remarkable girl.

I asked Claire where she was going to Junior High School at the end of the summer, and she said there was a brand-new school that had been built that both Susan and she wanted to go to, but they weren’t sure.

Most of their friends would be going to The President’s Junior High School. It makes sense, I guess, but they wanted to go to Independence JHS; the new one, and sort of branch out on their own.

I asked her if she would be coming to The Bradshaw Family Cotillion through the rest of the summer. She smiled and promised me that she would keep coming. She really liked dancing with me.

Of course, I blushed and told her I may never stop dancing. I enjoy it far too much. The same was true about my growing feelings for the remarkable redhead I was dancing with and holding hands with.

The dance stopped and we all applauded, and I escorted Claire back to where we had been sitting and sat down on the same side of the bench table from before and looking at her without saying anything.

After a moment, I saw Brian behind Claire, pointing to his eyes, and making circles. I knew what he was trying to tell me, but that didn’t stop me from doing what I felt like doing.

I leaned forward, put my hand behind Claire’s head and gave her a kiss on the lips, and not just a peck.

It felt wonderful, although I quickly realized anybody could have seen it, so I pulled away and asked, “Claire, I-I ... I really like you; will you please be my girlfriend?”

Mrs. F parked and had come in, in order to find us. What she found was her son holding hands with a very pretty blonde and her son’s best friend kissing an equally beautiful redhead directly on the lips.

She knew she had interrupted something, so she decided to clear her throat, “Ahem, Boys. Brian and Charles; It’s time to say your good-byes!”

I went over to Claire’s parents and thanked them both for a wonderful day, kissing Sarah on the back of her hand, and giving Daniel a firm handshake.

I went and gave Russell a high five, and then went back to Claire and said very quietly, “We’re going to rock them next Tuesday night, aren’t we?”

Claire said, “I hope so, X and by the way, Yes, I will be your girlfriend.”

Brian and I waved good-bye to everyone and started through the house on our way out to the car.

“Just a minute, Mrs. Fleming?” I said running out the back door for one last good-bye.

I went back outside, looked around and found Kalista. I picked her up and gave her a big hug and a peck on the cheek and said, “Good-bye Special K, until we meet again.”

She giggled as I set her down, and she waved goodbye to Brian and me.

As we got into the car, Mrs. Fleming turned to tell me, “It looks like you might be growing up too fast, Charles. Two hearts in one day, kiddo?”

I broke the moment by asking, “Mrs. Fleming, do you know where Independence Junior High School is?”

Brian looked over at me with a smug look on his face.

“Yes,” she said. “I can drive by it on the way home. It’s actually just off the beaten path, between Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren Avenues. I will show you boys. I would guess it’s just about halfway between here and where we live.”