Chapter 10

Saturday afternoon I received a joint phone call from my Engineers as Dad called them. Don Thompson had two phones at his house so they could be on the line at the same time. They reported they were making progress, and should have a complete set of drawings available by early December, and by the way, thank you very much for the checks.

Mum had written to them for me. We agreed that we didn’t have to have these calls every week unless they ran into difficulties. If all went well they would call me on the first Saturday of December.

Tom picked me up for the hayride. We then went to Tracey’s to pick her up. His parents had let him use the car, but he had agreed to wash and wax it for the privilege. He had just got his driver’s license, so it was all exciting for him. I offered to help with the car if he wanted to do it tomorrow. He jumped all over that idea.

When we picked Tracey up she wanted to know all about Sue Barton and I, how long had we been going out? I told her that we weren’t that we were just friends that would date occasionally. She didn’t seem to buy that but didn’t push the point.

The hayride was a ball. Sues dad took us out for an hour. Yes we did cuddle to keep warm, and there was a kiss or two, but nothing else. We just sang songs, joked and enjoyed ourselves. That continued on with the bonfire. I had never been to one so big. Sue’s Dad would collect brush all year; then lit it off in the late fall. When he lit the fire, it must have jumped thirty feet in the air.

After it had died down we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mr. Barton had set picnic tables up in the field so we had everything we needed.

Sue’s parents would come and go just enough we didn’t feel smothered, but enough that we couldn’t get away with much. I noticed that Tom and Tracey went for a long walk in the dark, but they soon came back, shortly followed by Mr. Barton.

Sue walked me to the car and really laid a kiss on me. That was the first time I ever had a tongue involved with a kiss. Wow!

On the way home, Tracey said, “Just friends.”

It was late enough when we got home that I didn’t feel like reading.

Sunday I had to give Mum and Dad the complete details on the hayride. Well almost all of the details, I doubted they would be interested in any hugging and kissing that I may have done. I escaped that conversation as quickly as I could and went over to Tom’s to help wash and wax his parent’s car.

After that, we came back to my house, where Denny and Eddie soundly beat us at basketball. How could we have lost? They were both shorter than us. They were also faster, better passers, and a lot more accurate with their shooting. Also, Denny had picked up this annoying habit of stealing the ball.

This was the end of an exciting week.

Dad wanted to be seen as a landlord that took care of his tenants and property. That way he would attract a better class of renters to Jackson Housing.

We went home to find that poor Mary had really broken out in blisters all over her body. I don’t remember any of us being that bad. She was burning up with a fever so Mum kept damp rags on her forehead. She was asleep currently so we ate dinner. Mum hadn’t time to prepare anything, so Dad made some pancakes. Somehow it didn’t seem like a party. We just ate and were done.

Mum went back upstairs to see to Mary, while Dad and I did the dishes. While we were doing them, him washing and me drying, he asked me if I had seen the Winger’s new car. I hadn’t. He told me to check out their driveway. They had a brand new 1958, Ford Edsel.

Dad said, “It has to be the most butt ugly car ever made!”

I had heard that about them but had never seen one. I would have to check it out.

I received a telephone call from my Scoutmaster, Mr. Geist. He asked me to participate in a planning group for a Boy Scout Camporee. It was to be a multi-council event and the largest gathering of Scouts ever held in Ohio. It would be held in May. I was being asked to work with our District group to suggest events for the boys. Our suggestions would feed up to our Council. Then in turn to the overall Camporee committee who would pick the most popular and feasible recommendations.

I said it sounded like fun. The meeting would be at a church near West Liberty, Tuesday night. He would pick me up at 6:30 if that was okay. I told him that would work.

I explained it to Dad when I hung up, and he shrugged, “Just be careful when I was your Cub Master they told me it would only take about two hours of work a month. You saw how that worked out.”

It took Dad about ten hours a month not counting all of Mum’s time.

We watched a little Monday night TV but it was boring so I went to my room and read. It was about the Baltimore Gun Club and their cannon. It gave a new meaning to, “One of these days, Alice, right to the moon.”

Tuesday the weather was nasty, it was a cold hard rain which had set in for the day. I didn’t even think about running. Mary was still breaking out in blisters, which hadn’t started to burst yet. She came down to breakfast but just sat at the table, she hadn’t any appetite. She was so forlorn looking it was sad. Mum had dabbed each of her blisters with cornstarch to reduce the itching. She had also put a pair of mittens on her so even if she tried to scratch she could only rub and not dig.

Eddie brought a little smile to her face. He had pasted little red dots on her favorite Teddy Bear. He told her she would have to take care of Teddy because he also had the chickenpox.

She took the Bear and cuddled it while telling Teddy he had to get plenty of rest and drink lots of water. If his head ached she would put a cold rag on it. Eddie got smiles from all of us.