Chapter 6: Premiers

Today is a day of firsts. Faye is taking us to a golf course for the first time. It’s an out of the way, small, inexpensive, par three course. We are two groups of four, arriving in two cars, and only plan to play a maximum of the first three holes. We are warned, we might not stay to play three holes, if members become frustrated. We only play the first hole, and spend most of our time looking for wild balls off the forward tee. We aren’t very successful at finding the lost balls, either. It is a disastrous outing, enjoyed by no one. Faye least of all.

Hope this evening goes a little better. Stix has it’s first gig. A freebie, playing in the breaks between the paid sets of a professional band. We are there for two hours, and on stage only five times, about six minutes each time. Long enough to play two short tunes each break. Even the regular band encourages us, and our strange instruments marvel many critics. One of the other band’s members suggests, a fiddler would round out our band perfectly. Faye intends to find one.

While a fiddler will undoubtedly improve our sound, and give some needed balance and credence to our other non-standard instrumentation, it individually costs us money. The larger the band, the less is each member’s cut. The best argument for a larger band is, hopefully it gets us more gigs and higher paying gigs than we would get without the additional musician. Tonight is a freebie, no one makes any money. We need to break into the business, get our foot in the door, and playing for free is one method of gaining a reputation.

The final first time for today, for this evening, is actual coitus with someone near my own age. Surprises me it’s with Melody. I didn’t consider her attractive when we first met. Neither are the other girls in the band. Faye fixed that impediment. She got them wigs to wear. Wigs to hide their frizzy home trimmed, home permed, wrong for their faces EZ-care hairdos. With big hair in gorgeous colors and a judicious amount of makeup, all the girls appear stunning. Melody, with a sunset fiery mane is particularly lovely. Their very long slender legs display to good effect in tasseled cowgirl boots and very short skater’s skirts with bikini bottoms. Faye took the other girls home afterwards, and I rode with Melody. She borrowed the family car to transport all her horn cases.

“Well, we got out feet wet. You’re the best musician I’ve ever heard. The rest of us just hold you back. Was all the preparation frustrating for you?”

“Sometimes, it’s frustrating. Regarding talent and skill level, Carol and Janey are very adept at their instruments, but they are using them differently than their training. Mantha is very limited by her ukulele not by her skill with it. It’s not a very versatile instrument. She should switch to guitar, in my opinion.”

“Yeah, Faye wants her to pretend that over-sized ukulele is a lead guitar. I doubt it will work as she intends.”

“Give her some time, give Mantha a chance. How about you? Are you totally frustrated?”

“A little. Confused more than anything.”

“What confuses you?”

“Life.”

“Hee hee. Besides life in general, anything more specific?”

“Myself. I don’t understand my own emotions.”

“Yeah, but that’s a universal problem for all teens, they say. Can you offer an actual for instance, more specific than just emotions?”

“Several, but one instance occurred earlier this evening and confused me, my crazy emotional reaction is what confused me, when those men at the road house were trying to pick up you and the other girls. I felt so jealous, I wanted to fight them. Why would I feel jealousy?”

“Maybe what you felt, was protective instincts towards us. That would be natural, to be protective of your group. Don’t you think?”

“Maybe. That doesn’t quite cover my reaction. It was like they were trespassing rather than threatening and you girls needing protection.”

“Trespassing? Taboo, adult men preying on minor aged girls?”

“Maybe, but more personal, like they were invading my territory!”

“You think of us a belonging to you, like your personal property?”

“Would it upset you if I confessed that’s the way I feel?”

“If you were arrogant about it, yeah. Since you acknowledge I’m justified in feeling upset over your possessiveness, I’m not upset.”

“The odd thing is, you four are not my girlfriends, I haven’t even considered recruiting you as girlfriends, yet you are like girlfriends.”

“Are we even friends, Earl? Or just associates? What do you want us to be? To each other. Am I putting you on the spot? To encourage forthrightness, I’ll tell you now, I’m open to anything you want.”

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

“One of? If the rumors are true, you already have many girlfriends. Are any of your girlfriends different races, or different languages?”

“Nope. Are you asking if I have a black girlfriend? Nope, not yet.”

“I can fix you up. I have black girlfriends I could share with you.”

“Are they like, intimate girlfriends? Or just female friends?”

“Are your rumored multiple girlfriends intimate with you?

“It’s true, I do have many, with varying degrees of intimacy with each of my different girlfriends, and they vary in age and other aspects also, but not racially. An oriental and a black girlfriend would be interesting and welcome additions. Can you fix me up?”

“Is it worth my while to procure exotic girls for you? Anxious to get home? Not yet? Let’s park in a quiet place and talk some more and stuff. Maybe we can arrive at some mutually rewarding agreement.”

“We can park at a spot I know, one of my fishing holes, if you aren’t afraid of the woods at night. It’s a private place and not far away.”

“Okay, give me directions. While I’m with you, I feel safe. I won’t be afraid. You have strong protective instincts. Do you like me?”

“Yes, I’m glad we are getting to know each other better, and the more I know, the more I like you. Would you like to be a girlfriend?”