Chapter 13: Playing The Field

Jim Williams picked me up at 6:30 the following Friday. I'd checked around with anyone who was still talking to me and nobody seemed to know a lot about him. He was in a couple of honors classes, was on the tennis team, but wasn't your typical, popular athlete. Most people knew who he was but not a lot more than that.

Jeff was at our house visiting Mom when Jim rang the doorbell. The next thing Jim knew, he was sitting on the couch, talking with Jeff as if they were old friends. About five minutes into their talk, Jeff suddenly said, "Well, I've got to go and I'm sure you two do, too," stood up and shook Jim's hand. As Jim turned to leave, Jeff smiled at me and held up two thumbs.

The car was obviously his parents'. A '62 Buick Skylark, well taken care of. While not showroom new, the interior was clean and it had been waxed recently. Jim opened the door for me and I slid in. I hesitated a bit, but by the time he had walked around and gotten in his side, I slid over, next to him. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Leslie, I just want to tell you I'm glad you agreed to come out with me."

"I'm glad you asked, me, Jim."

"I'm afraid I don't date much."

"Well, you don't seem to have bad breath. What's the problem?"

"I just don't get along with girls too well."

"Oh?"

"I don't know. I don't know what to say to them."

"Well, you seem to be doing OK with me."

"Yeah, I do, don't I? Gosh, you sure look pretty."

"Thanks." It sounded a little too 'Leave it to Beaver' the way he said it. Shades of Eddie Haskell talking to June Cleaver.

He had his hands in the classic 10:00, 2:00 position on the steering wheel, so I decided not to hold his hand. I leaned up against him and lay my hand on his leg, careful not to give him any ideas. Just enough to show a little affection.

"Actually, this is the first time I've been out on a date. I've done some things with groups and with friends, but never with just one guy."

"Do you like the games?"

"I went last week and enjoyed it. I didn't go to this school last year."

"Oh really? Where did you go last year?"

"I went to Parkway junior high, Jim. Didn't you know I'm a freshman?"

"Uh, no. I mean I didn't realize."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so. I mean, why should it be a problem?"

"I don't know. You obviously thought I was older. I just don't want you to feel trapped into taking me out. Consider this a 'get out of jail free' card."

"I don't need a card. You do like football, don't you?"

"I went to the game last week and had a good time. Of course, I was talking to friends for a lot of the game, but yes, I enjoyed it."

"OK. That's good enough for me."

Jim paid for our tickets and we swung by the snack bar. They had three kinds of soda and several different candy bars available. I let him get me a soda, but I'd just finished eating and didn't need any candy. He asked if I wanted gum, but I turned that down, too. I don't think there's anything as unattractive as a girl chewing gum like a cow with its cud. Unless it's smoking. I couldn't believe all the junk and the prices. Before you know it, people are going to skip eating dinner and just fill up with junk at the football game.

We found a seat about two thirds of the way up the stairs at about the 40 yard line. We had a pretty good view of the field. I could see the teams doing their warm up exercises. Bubba happened to see me and waved, a big grin on his face. I smiled and waved back.

I began to find out what Jim had been talking about when we first got in the car. Once he told me that he had a hard time talking to girls, he didn't have a whole lot to say. I tried to pull things out of him by asking him questions about school, tennis, his family and anything else I could think of and he just answered in a few words. I thought for sure he would talk about tennis but he had less to say about that than anything else.

We'd run out of things to say by halftime. Jim wanted to spend more money at the snack bar but I didn't want anything. He wanted to buy me another coke but I was more concerned with getting rid of the one I'd already had. There's something about drinking when it's cold that makes it go right through me. He went down with me since the restrooms were near the snack bar.

I ran into Vicky in the Ladies room. She had a couple of cameras hanging from her neck and was taking a break while the teams were off the field. She didn't have a lot of time to talk because she had to get back and take some shots of the marching bands. She was really getting into Yearbook.

I finished in the restroom and made my way outside. Jim was up at the front of the line, loading up with candy and a large Coke. As he came up to me, I assured him that even though he bought plenty of candy and an extra large Coke that I still didn't want anything.

We were almost silent through the rest of the game. I pointed out Bubba on a couple of plays. He seems to have a way of plowing through the other team's offense as if they're stuck to the ground and can't move.

We won by a field goal. The game was pretty good but I didn't really enjoy myself. Jim wanted to go out for something to eat after the game but I asked him to take me home. When we got there, he was a gentleman and opened the door for me. We walked up to the front door and I waited for him to make a move to kiss me goodnight. I noticed he had some gum in his mouth and it seemed like he didn't know what to do with it. After waiting about ten seconds for the kiss it was obvious I wasn't going to get, I thanked him for taking me to the game and went inside.

Mom was still up when I came in.

"How was your big date?"

"Boring."

We talked about it and had a few laughs at Jim's expense, I'm afraid. I told Mom I was surprised he wasn't fat, the way he kept stuffing himself at the game. She told me he was probably nervous being with me and was eating to overcome it.

"But Mom, why should he be nervous? I'm just me. Nothing intimidating."

"Come on, Leslie. When's the last time you looked in the mirror?"

"I look in the mirror all the time. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Boys get intimidated with good looking girls. I'm surprised he had the guts to ask you out after what you've told me. You're going to find that there will be a lot of boys who won't because they think you'd never go out with them because you're too good looking."

"Well, that's pretty rotten. I can't help the way I look."

"I know, honey. I spent many a Friday or Saturday home when I was in high school. I never went out on more than three or four dates with a boy until I met your father. The only reason he asked me out was that he had been in the Navy for a couple of years and was mature enough to see something he wanted and go for it."

"Daddy was pretty romantic back then, wasn't he?"

"Oh, yes. I'm afraid he swept me off my feet and there wasn't a thing I could do about it."

"What happened?"

"People change. Your father was always fine with just me. It was when you guys came along he started getting antsy. He just can't handle the responsibility of having children."

"Well he sure isn't showing it, getting his girlfriend pregnant."

"Oh, he had something to do with that, all right. But I think she probably made him think she was a lot safer than she really was. She had her hooks out for your father from the start. And I'm afraid your father does most of his thinking with his little brain when it comes to women."

The next day was Joey's day to mow our lawn. My brother had always taken care of it and Joey had volunteered to keep it trimmed after it was evident that Wes was going to be out of the picture for a while. Since it was the fall, he was able to get by a few weeks without mowing it. He'd usually do his lawn, then move over to our yard.