Saturday, October 31, 1992
That baby’s just a cool good looker
That baby’s sweeter than raw brown sugar
Nick arrived at Eversole’s a few minutes early and she pops out the front door in probably the shortest dress he’d ever seen her in, kinda cream-tan and sheer, stockings, low black heels, cat’s ears and whiskers drawn on with a mascara pencil. After a quick peck for a greeting he got a clear view of the large pipe cleaner that protrudes from the back and upward,
“Do I get to grab your tail?”
Which fetches the expected wry, sultry stare.
But he had a surprise in store. After she gets situated in the shotgun bucket and her tail secured he pops in a tape, side two of Great White’s Twice Shy that he’d bought with the grocery store wages. As the drums and bass start in she starts off,
“I take it you approve?”
Nick just looks her over and raises an eyebrow.
“Thought so.”
She looks around a bit then Jack Russell’s vocals start in, Nick just keeps driving.
Pretty soon, “Nicky WHAT are you playing?”
He just shrugs.
The bowling alley is still about 10 minutes away with weekend traffic and this should be fun. Already she’s flushed and messing with her hair a little.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“I slept well enough.”
He looks over to find her glaring, he just stares back between glances at the road, then she folds her arms and faces forward with her chin slightly jutted out. Pretty soon she echoes the lyrics,
“She likes to let the small head rock her?”
“Later.”
Just take it like a sweet injection
Just a token of my affection
Deej shakes her head and faces her window, fidgets with her outfit, tries to relax, cracks the window.
Another night we'll take another direction
I'm going to play you like a rhythm section
He can sense her staring but she looks away when he checks.
During the solo Nick points out, “That’s Mark Kendall on guitar.”
“I just BET it is,” still facing the window.
Once that track wraps up he inquires, “Think I could play that?”
“Okay, just…what… what the HELL are you supposed to be anyway?”
Nick is donned in the Hawaiian shirt, untucked over some old chinos, sandals and had grown out a very light, thin mustache which may have been enhanced by, well, some mascara he may have snuck into.
“I’m an out of work porn star.”
Deej throws her head back, “Puhhhhleeeeeeeze.”
The next track is Baby’s On Fire, to which she just keeps shaking her head and fidgeting. Nick swears he can feel a storm brewing in her part of the car.
They arrive at the Bowl A Rama about 20 minutes before their lane is supposed to be ready. Nick gets out, locks his door and steps around to her door to find those pale blue eyes in a reddened face vowing revenge. She locks her door. He unlocks it with the key and she grins slightly, but he’s nowhere near off the hook. Nick opens the door and offers a hand, she licks it and unfolds herself from the car and stands up with eyes locked at all times.
Deej holds her gaze then jumps, but he’s somehow expecting that move and barely flinches. She then turns and walks toward the entrance. Nick follows at a safe distance then slowly catches up about teen feet from the door. She sees his reflection and gives up, turns, almost smiles,
“Did you enjoy that?”
“Did you?”
“You’ll find out, if you’re lucky…<cocks her head> do ya feel lucky, punk?” then leans in for a kiss then turns away when he goes to collect.
Nick lets her lead and she finds Vance and April near the back wall. All but three of the fifteen lanes are ocupado but these guys probably know what’s up.
“Fifteen minutes,” April relates with a crazy face, then asks Deej, “You OK?”
“Oh I’m fine, it’s this dork you should worry about.”
April, not surprisingly as a pretty cute little mouse, turns to him with a blank face, “WHAT this time?”
Nick just shrugs it off and makes the who me gesture, then turns to sum up Vance in a similar outfit to his own but with a wide-brim hat…oh,
“Panama Jack!”
“Yeap.”
Deej has a hand on each hip, “You guys sure went all out didn’t you?”
Vance catches on, “Oh you’re a porn actor or something?”
“Call me Spritz Fitzer.”
This gets a laugh, for a variety of reasons of course.
Vance remembers an SNL skit, “Or who was Eddie Murphy that time… Miles Long?”
April is quick as always, “Rock Hard?”
Deej hits it square on the next beat, “Nahh, not...quite,” which fetches precisely the laugh she wanted as she she pecks him on the cheek in consolation.
Nick shakes his head, gets an arm around her and they all take a bench that just freed up.
Soon the lane is ready and the gals are the ones making the ball jokes. Deej takes her time and finds a 16 pounder that fits her grip, Nick settles on a 14, also for the grip. Pretty soon its evident that the ladies are going to take the lead and form a clique of sorts, they speak little to the guys save for little glances, Deej messes with Nick’s hair and it’s clear some payback is in the works.
Not surprisingly April is in a clear lead with Deej only about two frames behind, they finish in the 200s with the boys about a century back, respectively. Nick is just happy to sip a beer and take it all in, they keep the air cool and he hadn’t been here since a gang at the store had him join but only did that once. Before that it was during grade school years, mostly during his brief stint in Cub Scouts.
Vance mostly chuckles at the girls’ antics, they are fun to watch in their outfits and are probably the babe-est dates in the place. At some point Nick asks how things feel with April and just gets,
“Yeah we get along pretty good.”
And so, well, at least he tried.
Toward the last frame Deej starts draping herself across Nick’s lap right before his throw and can’t help but think it’s only right. April just sticks to the visuals, good for her, stays in her wheelhouse. All said and done the score sheet gets carefully saved unfolded, suitable for framing, according to the gals, then they head to Vance’s place just few blocks away on the second floor, and it’s nice: two bedrooms, one as a kind of exercise room and decent furniture. This is definitely well above par where he stayed with his mom growing up, good to see it.
After the ritual ten second tour Vance and April take the couch in the center of the room but Nick somehow gets tackled behind it, on his back with his arms pinned by a rather spirited sheba staring at him with a what-about-it look,
“Hi there.”
Even without his glasses her expression is impossible to miss, and pretty soon she starts to lick and bite around the face area.
Vance calls out, “Everything OK back there guys?”
Nick retorts, “I’m gonna need a mouse costume at this rate.”
This gets him a laugh from the sofa but a bite on the nose from his captor, who points out,
“You started it. “
Nick responds by producing an erection that she acknowledges by grinding a little bit before pecking his nose and jumping up to sit on the couch. He follows discretely as possible by crawling around and joining her and keeping his details out of view. Vance is flipping around the channels when Deej turns to April next to her, in a forced deep voice,
“Hey Vance, remember that George Carlin routine where you cover a fart by slamming a car door?”
April catches on, “Oh hayell yeah.”
“I always wanted to see someone try that and miss.”
“OHH man, yeah…ohh…ohhh…ever amplify it with trash can?”
“Yeah, huhhh uhhh oh and who was that one band that played REALLY fast, was it…”
This denigrates into a Beavis and Butthead type of laughter until Nick pipes up,
“You know this is kinda sexy.”
Deej grabs his leg and digs in and on it goes, but after a bit more bantering she hints they should take off soon, and they do.
Back at Nick’s car she resists a once over at first then gives in, but teases,
“You gonna behave?”
“As well as you do.”
“Deal. Can we see the reservoir?”
“Perfect,” and they smooch to seal the deal.
As they embark Nick resumes the tape, “Okay bear with this Great White some more, you’ll see.”
Deej settles in to relax during the somber, bluesy groove of House of Broken Love at lower volume but Nick adjusts it for She Only and just lets it play. They hit the reservoir in the middle of that track and there’s only one other car up top. She just looks out. He sees her tear up and he grabs her a kleenex and takes her hand while the track finishes up, at which point she looks over with a smile,
She only
needs someone
She only needs
some time
“You may need to make me a new tape.”
“Been thinking about it.”
She squeezes his hand for a few seconds, “Okay, ready when you are.”
They head to her place in a similar reverence, but once inside she locks the door and backs him to the corner of the living room where he’d tackled her the other day, staring him down with daggers as she sets down her purse, the score sheet, and whips off her dress. Turns out her stockings only go up to the thigh and she pins him to the wall and stars unbuttoning his shirt, then the pants. Her hair is a mess and the ears slightly out of place. She takes his quite ready schwanzstucker and places it inside her panties, which gives a feeling of warm above and damp cool beneath. Nick kisses her neck and shoulders and undoes her bra and they start to rock.
Deej is able to squeeze him between her thighs and he tries like hell before admitting,
“This won’t last long.”
So she stops the train and they keep everything else going, for a bit, then resumes, for a bit, then she disengages to take her knees, where she uses her hand to finish him off on her bare chest. Nick slides down the wall as she chuckles and rubs it around as she always does.
“Give me a minute.”
Deej straddles his lap and kisses him affectionately, “Take your time babe.”
Nick takes a few breaths then signals for her to turn around and lean on him; he has a plan. Once they’re situated he slowly works his hands toward downtown and gradually starts to knead as he has been doing, but gradually probes, testing the waters to see if he minds. At some point she gasps,
“Now I’m really glad you use baby wipes in the car.”
He just continues the work and she adjusts to give him an easier reach, which he takes as a tacit blessing, but before long she grabs his hand,
“Lemme lie down.”
So she turns around facing him, still in her panties and he tries not to stare but even with his level of experience this is simply astonishing. Nick continues where he left off and realizes his fingers don’t reach her cervix, she’s deep, and appreciative, he tries to balance things between the inside and outside and turn his probing finger over, then finally, she twitches,
“OOH, right there.”
Nick tries the same move and gets it again, then shifts his position to keep his hand facing up, tries to find it again and does, rubs it gently and she twitches.
“OH Nick that’s my G-spot….mmmmm.”
So once this gets established the payoff is in sight,
“Don’t stop…don’t stop…right there…yeah…”
It gets a bit freaky as she convulses and her eyes roll back, she holds her breath then there’s a puff and fresh watery wetness, and she starts to giggle. Elvis has left the building.
Deej immediately nods off and he hates to see her lying there cold on the floor so he hurries to her room to try and spot a blanket, gets lucky and covers them both up, right there on the floor. Nick is able to doze off momentarily but is wary of someone coming home sooner than expected so he nudges her awake.
“Oh…hi there, looks like we found a new thing today.”
“I guess we did.”
“Hmmm…was I out long?”
“Maybe ten minutes.”
“OK good,” draws a deep breath, “I’m gonna clean up then can we relax on the couch some?”
“No need to ask twice.”
She leans in for a peck and they put the plan into action. Nick freshens up a bit as she changes into sweat bottoms and long sleeved tee. He’s tempted to bum a different shirt but that would seem a bit casual to do here. She finds some green grapes in the fridge and rinses them off in a bowl to munch on.
“Didn’t you guys used to have a dog?”
“Yeah Smokey, we never got another one since I was going to be away, but Mom and Sam kinda want another one, maybe a beagle this time.”
“Funny, my Mom would kind of like one but keeps saying Dad and I would let it run off.”
She just shakes her head at him and sets up a radio tuned to the classical.
They situate on the couch with Nick on his back and her on his side,
“You realize I may doze off again.”
“It’s been a long week.”
“And we just blew off some steam.”
“We sure did. I’m still in awe, getting to see that much of you.”
She twitches her hips, “There's still more to see big boy. And you realize I had to make fun of your outfit but it’s kinda hot.”
“Yours is hot by definition and several other measurements.”
She just giggles quietly. Then after a few breaths,
“You can say it if you though April looked nice.”
“Well, more than nice, better than I need to admit, you two were really something today.”
“Mmm hmm, that was a riot and she’s really coming into her own.”
“Definitely more confident now…all Vance will say is they get along well.”
She sighs, “Figures. She plans to go on other dates, you probably figured, since he’s not really, you know.”
“Yeah not a priority.”
After a pause, “You’re making me a priority, see what it gets you?”
“It gets me more of you.”
Silence.
After a few breaths he checks in,
“You OK?”
She sighs, “Yeah…I’m…I’m still not feeling very fit to be your gal, just…”
“Deej you know -”
She raises up to face him, looks down for a few seconds, draws a deep breath, “Nicky…it’s been what, a month now, since we got reunited, I’m still adjusting.”
“Of course.”
“And you know I - well we already covered that….oh dammit, okay, I was hoping, like a girl does, I’m guilty.”
“So?”
“I just wish things were more…black and white, cut and dry, my motives.”
“Your motives have always been like a…lighthouse for me, a compass.”
She throws him a confused look. “What?”
“I’m serious, it seems you’re usually a day or two ahead of me, like in knowing what’s important.”
She smiles a little and plays with his hair, “Thanks.”
Nick just looks at her.
She continues, “I just feel like a stubborn ass sometimes, I want you more than anything but I can’t seem to give you me.”
“Like the song in the car?”
She closes her eyes, “Yes.”
“Then we’ll give it time.”
She kisses his hand and lays her head back on his chest. “Can you handle another deep dark secret.”
“All ears.”
This gets a chuckle, “Okay…toward the end of freshman year out there there was a girl I’d talk to sometimes, we’d play ping pong and sit in the same cafeteria group, shit like that. One day she asked if we could room together the next year…at first it seemed fine but over a couple of days it started to feel…well, like, I realized she would make me feel more secure, you know how girls go for that in a guy, that’s why I’m here with you, but…being out there with no family and not many close friends, it just seemed like, I’d be dependent on her and - believe me I’ve never been attracted to another girl, but I…wasn’t sure how she felt, and I didn’t know how to ask, so I just told her I couldn’t and then she avoided me after that.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah…it was hard to tell her no without explaining, and she didn’t ask, I hope she didn’t feel rejected but…”
Nick lets her sob some more and rubs her head, pretty soon she dozes off. He’s pretty comfortable and falls off the earth a few times himself. Eventually she stirs,
“Can you see the clock?”
Nick peers over at a vintage VCR, “How’s 5:36 for ya?”
“We should be getting company soon.”
“I’ll wanna hear how Sam did, or thinks it went.”
“OH, she talked to that boy some, her…ex…Jeremy, at school, at least he doesn’t run away now.”
“That’s progress.”
“We’re hoping they can get along, the poor kid doesn’t have a lot going for him so he needs some confidence with girls anyway.”
“Sounds like it.”
“I’m pretty sure that ugly little fucker drinks.”
Nick cracks up.
“Okay that was harsh, but she’d like to have someone to talk to, I dunno, I doubt she wants to date anyone, but she’s joked about asking your Mom if she can make a younger brother for her.”
Nick laughs harder, “Oh god.”
“You gotta admit that’s sweet of her.”
“Yeah, she’s a treat, capo or not.”
Deej digs into his ribs and laughs maniacally.
“Hey none of that now.”
“Hope you know it’s hot to watch you play.”
“Puhhhleeeze.”
“It is.”
“Does it affect your undergarments?”
She buries her head in his chest and laughs.
“Hey have you been running?”
Once she catches her breath, “Actually the past three mornings, it’s becoming less of a struggle to keep up, but you know, can’t let the old man leave me in the dust.”
“Mmmm hmmm.”
“We should walk the reservoir sometime.”
“Yeah we should, it’s what, 2 miles?”
“About that. I think the top is all gravel.”
She squeezes his rib cage, “Wish I could bottle this. Although, you know this is where I usually lie to watch TV with Mom in the evenings, after this she’ll probably bust my butt for grinning.”
“We are really very good at this…OH…I have a confession.”
She peers up expectantly.
“There were a few times I hid from your mom at the store.”
“Nooooooo.”
“I know, big surprise, but yes it was awkward.”
“Didn’t Sam catch you once?”
“Yeah, that little face stuck in my mind for a while after that, she was lit up.”
“Nick I avoided that store more often than not, what was it, our junior year? Same thing, so…”
He squeezes her shoulders and plants on on her forehead, then after a few moments, “So who all uses the gym?”
“There’s classes then open gym, so you see faculty, staff, students, and then there’s some special needs in the community that can get access with a doctor’s note.”
“That sounds familiar from campus orientation.”
“What, you stopped working out three times a week?”
“The chicks wouldn’t leave me alone so I had to for the sake of order.”
She lifts her head and throws the dirty eye.
“You realize you’ve got the most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen.”
“I do get the most complements on my eyes.”
“I could write a book.”
She pauses. “And you realize your complements add up to trouble, right?”
“I just like giving credit where it’s due.”
She takes a deep breath. “Nicky, I talked to the gynecologist this week.”
Nick takes a deep breath.
“Okay, well, I know this is a bit uncomfortable, but you should know, the tests show I would have a hard time becoming pregnant.”
Nick’s heart skips a beat.
“You OK?”
Nick clears his throat, “Yeah,” takes a breath, “Are you…how do you feel about it?”
She pauses. “Well…I think you know, we’re pretty much on the same page, in a way I see it as a confirmation.”
“Yeah.” This all has a strange hint of familiarity.
“But, then again…well, Mom had the same thing and that’s why it’s just me and Sam, they would have kept going and built on to the house.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, and the way it looks there’s doubtfully any grandkids. I get the sense Tim and Dena want kids if they stay together.”
“I get that sense too.”
She sighs. “Mom and Dad have talked about adopting, like from, um, Vietnam, Cambodia, places we used to bomb.”
“I’ve heard of that.”
“Anyway, that’s what’s going on.”
“Are you healthy otherwise?”
“Yeah, sounds like it, no cysts that they could see.”
“Those can get pretty bad, a girl I worked with got really sick and the treatment was like chemo, had to wear a wig.”
“It can get like that, I’ve been fortunate. Mom had a good checkup too.”
“Well thanks for not going into details.”
“Well you kinda know some of the details at this point, ahem…” and then cracks up maniacally.
Nick reaches his right hand beneath her sweats in the rear and just a pinky yanking her panties northward starts a war that ends in a truce when they hear the garage door go up. Remaining Eversoles trickle in and Dean speaks up first to take a guess at Nick’s costume, but Nick was ready,
“Ever heard the saying about twenty thousand comedians outta work?”
“Ahh,” Dean buys it without asking for a receipt and echoes what Deej had already mentioned about Lorena, said she’d probably ask to meet up briefly over at Fred’s. After he disappears Deej congratulates him for a new level of BS explaining away the costume.
Sam I Am had already passed through carrying the guitar to her room then came back out to plop down on the couch with them.
“We got away from each other a couple times but figured it out.”
Turns out Sam only played along on the newer chorus stuff since the hymns are usually in arrangements that didn’t have guitarists in mind.
It becomes clear that Deej is trying to keep him around as long as she can tonight, which no one minds, there’s plenty of leftovers to pick and they play several hands of rummy, some hands with and extra player or two. At around ten she listlessly strolls out to his car holding his hand.
“Two more years,” She says when he turns to face her by the driver door.
“School?”
She looks him in the face in just the light from a nearby pole. “It would be so nice to not have to go home, send someone home.”
“I think that every time.”
She leans on him, for a moment, then faces him again.
“OK, I just made sure I have my motivation, it’s there, just…not there so much on the weekend.”
“Isn't’ that what weekends are for?”
“Yeah and we made the most of today.”
“And then some.”
She draws a breath, “Alright, get going before I drag you back in or stow away,” the plants a good ‘un on him, “Nite.”
“Nite you, talk tomorrow.”
She walks in then looks back as he gets set to drive then waits to wave as he drives off.