Chapter 3

We walked down the trail till around five, holding hands. Tammy said we should head back. When we got back, she waited on the passenger side for me to open the door for her. We headed to a cafe for a quick bite, and went to the movie. Funnier and funnier, I thought to myself. Here was a girl with me for all but eight hours today, and she still seemed happy. We really weren't lovey dovey, we were just friends talking and sharing a smile here or there. She would admit, however, to getting a neck strain from trying to share my smile before we sat down and were almost even. With a giggle, she grabbed my hand and put it around her shoulder, and held it there through the movie.

After we left the movie, we just drove around for awhile, until she dared me to let her drive us through the drive-in, one time before she ran me home. Thinking the night was almost over and knowing she was right, that I needed to go home, I didn't mind too much... Right, but I could grin and bear it. There was little that hadn't been said about me before. As expected the entry of the "Browardmobile" drew instant attention and sly laughs, as the specter of me riding in the passenger seat was noted and laughed at behind windshields. If it was not known by then, it would be by the time the sun rose tomorrow. Most in school would know of my trip around the drive-in. When a space opened, Tammy pulled in, and we ordered some shakes and discussed the movie. I jokingly told her we should order more and emulate the eating scene from the movie, and she just smiled and said, "You wish."

After a half hour she wanted me to rub her shoulder. She had strained it pulling into the parking place, and, handing me the keys, said I would have too take her home, as it was just soooooooo painful to drive.

The switch was also noted on the way out, in a final circle at her insistence.

When we got to her house, we sat outside, held hands, and talked till one, when I had to get up to walk home. She surprised me, actually knocked me over with a feather when she gave me the keys to her car, telling me to pick her up at eleven for church. At this time, church was not just church, it was a social event where most people shared time, went to be seen and talked to or talked about, as much as for the service. This amounted to almost a community announcement that we were at least really good friends, with a larger intent. When I asked if she was sure, she just smiled, lifted her sweater, and flashed her boobs before running inside.

Funnier and funnier. What was going on in my mind now, instead of "Hang down your head Tom"? I was hearing a song of her laughter tonight. I parked her car in front of the house, and went in to find my Dad waiting there, even though I had called and let them know where I was through the day. He wanted to say a few words to me.

He looked out and saw the car, and asked where it came from. When I told him, he just looked strangely at me and said to go to bed. We needed more than a few words. Visiting Mrs. Palmer and her five daughters that night, with visions of Tammy laughing, she filled my mind and dreams; at least one dream in particular caused me to have to change shorts the next morning.

After the talk with my dad, where he emphasized a few points he had made earlier to me while mom was out of the room, he gave me a few rubbers, and told me to make damn sure I used them. He then talked about responsibility to Tammy, and how I should at least clean the car out and wash it before I picked her up for church, and also in the future when I bring it home, which should be rarely. (Emphasis on the rarely.) It was almost like he felt affronted by it, which I guessed he might have, or perhaps he felt that I had become a "kept man." He also emphasized that while there at the church, since her family was out of town, the two of us should sit with our family.

When I finished the cleaning, washing, and waxing I drove to pick up Tammy. She opened the door dressed only in a half slip (no, the door wasn't in the slip... now that is really weird). She said with a smile that she needed help with the zipper. I looked real carefully all over her, and even lifted the slip a bit, but sure didn't see a zipper. When I told her that she just laughed, and ran up to get her dress, one did have a zipper for me to practice on being her loving servant. Ah, so sometimes I was slow, or, more appropriately, lost in amazement with her antics.

When we got to the church, she held my hand and smiled as we walked in. This meant, in the visual language of the church, we were more than friends, but not committed. That cue was arms hooked, I think. My family was on the left side of the church, near the back. When my sister was one of the restless kids, we started sitting in the back. Mom, because of the three kids she had lost between our births, liked to be near kids. I think they were her favorite people in the world, the way she fawned on them, and volunteered to help at anything that provided kids to help. Cub Scout den mother, then brownies and girl scouts, and classroom mom. You name it. Just say "kids need you", and she was yours for any task.