26 April 1985 – Hardwick Road, Enfield, Massachusetts
The bus carrying the Thompkins School baseball team pulled back into the school gym’s parking lot following their away game at Springfield Central Catholic. The game ended in a disappointing four-to-three loss. Central Catholic scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning – the final inning in high school baseball games.
The late April weather compounded the misery of their loss. The snow had melted away a week ago but there’d been no wind to help dry the fields at Central Catholic. The outfield was a sodden mess and the day’s low temperature and drizzle did nothing to improve that.
Jeff played because their regular center fielder was out sick. Jeff’s spectacular diving catch on a line drive to left-center in the bottom of the sixth gave Thompkins a chance to win the game. He broke into a sprint when the ball left the bat and timed his leap just as the ball was about to pass over his left shoulder. Stretching out, he caught the ball in mid-leap. He splashed down into the muddy, swampy outfield. His catch ended the sixth inning but it went to waste an inning later.
A miserable thirty-minute ride back to Thompkins followed the game. Their driver turned the bus’s air conditioner on to keep the windshield clear of all the moisture carried onto the bus by the players in their soaked uniforms. Jeff felt the epitome of cold, wet and tired. His soaked uniform and wet underwear riding up didn’t help. He kept his sneakers dry by riding in his socks. His cleats would need the shoe stretchers and a warm oven. Jeff stepped off the bus, grabbed his bag and one of the team’s equipment bags from under the bus, and limped towards the school. He noticed Pauline standing along the path halfway to the field house.
“Hey...” he said in a weary voice. “Thanks for coming out to the game. We don’t get many people at away games.”
“Of course,” she replied. “You look like you need a long shower.”
“Are you offering to help?” he asked before his brain caught up with his mouth. “Sorry, that was pretty rude.”
“It was? I was going to take you up on the offer,” she joked. He looked stunned. “Jeff, it’s fine. I don’t get offended that quickly, so don’t worry about answering off-the-cuff like that.” She kissed him. “Go shower and change. I’m hungry.”
“I think I’m starting to warm up,” Jeff commented as they sat in a pizza parlor booth near her house an hour later. “I can feel my fingers again.”
“Should I give you something interesting to test them on?” she asked while she batted her eyebrows, causing Jeff to blush. Pauline seemed bound and determined to embarrass him tonight.
“I should have realized this place would be busy on a Friday night,” Jeff said in apology as he looked around, seeing how hard the staff was working behind the counter.
“This was my idea, remember?” Pauline reminded him. “Contrary to popular opinion, the woman in the relationship is not always right.”
“Until the man suggests that she’s not, then she is.”
“See? You’re learning!” she laughed. “Jeff, I wanted to spend time with you tonight and, while we’re waiting, that’s what we’re doing.”
“Okay, okay,” he relented.
“You’re sure about this sausage and black olive stuff?”
“It’s my favorite pizza, but there’s a reason we asked them to only put olives on half of the pizza. In case I’m wrong.”
The couple focused on each other while they waited for their pizza, oblivious to the unhappy eyes watching them from another, darker booth.
Jeff drummed his fingers on his thigh, trying to calm himself down while his parents drove him to Pauline’s house two weeks later. Tonight was the Junior-Senior Prom. Jeff knew all four parents would take an insane number of photos before he and Pauline would be allowed to leave. Jeff still couldn’t believe he would escort Pauline to the dance.
Reserving the tux wasn’t an issue, even as late as Jeff thought he was calling the shop to do so. The tuxedo shop’s owner laughed when Jeff asked over the phone if there was still time to reserve one.
“Son,” the man said, “it’s not uncommon for some fool to waltz in here the day before their prom and expect to rent one. During Prom season.” The owner snorted at the absurdity. “A three-week notice? I’ve got plenty of inventory that’s not spoken for, so you’ve still got your pick of just about anything.”
Jeff decided to go with basic black as the color choice of both the tuxedo and bow tie in the end. He also chose a traditional cut to the coat when the owner told him it would ‘go with anything.’ When he told Pauline of his choice, she simply nodded and said nothing more on the subject.
They arrived at Pauline’s house. Jeff got out of the car and put his jacket back on, making sure it sat well across his shoulders. He picked up the box with Pauline’s corsage and led his parents to her front door. Chris answered the doorbell.
“Hey, Jeff,” Chris greeted.
“Hi, Chris. You remember my folks, right?”
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Knox. It’s nice to see you again,” Chris said, shaking their hands. “Please, come on in.”
Chris showed them all to the living room where his parents waited. They stood around chatting for a few minutes. Pauline, who must have been waiting for Jeff to arrive, made her appearance a few minutes later.
“Good evening, Jeff,” she said, causing all eyes to turn to her.
She wore a diaphanous blue gown that complemented her trim body and the blue in her eyes. Jeff gulped loudly enough to be heard across the room. He approached to pin on her corsage. He managed to pin the orchid to her dress without sticking her, or sticking himself and bleeding on her dress. It took a few attempts and he lightly pricked his thumb only once. The parents snapped their five rolls of film before Pauline and Jeff were allowed to leave.
Jeff held Pauline’s car door while she slid into the driver’s seat. He raced around to get in on the passenger’s side. They rode silently to the hotel where the Prom was being held. Jeff was still in shock that this was happening at all.
“Why do the Cosgroves hate you so much?” Pauline asked Jeff as they drove away from the Prom.
“I wish I knew,” Jeff said, touching the gauze-bandaged wound on his cheek. “It’s getting dangerous being your boyfriend. Good thing our folks took the pictures before this happened, huh?” Pauline just shook her head at the big goof.
Jeremy Cosgrove had punched Jeff without warning while he and Pauline were on the dance floor. Jeff, blind-sided by the attack, didn’t hesitate to put the senior class bully down. He knocked the older Cosgrove to the dance floor, and absolutely flattened Jeremy’s nose with a hard punch. The entire incident was over in seconds.
Mr. Clemençeau, the head of the foreign language department and one of the chaperones for the night, saw the altercation. Jeff was surprised when Mr. Clemençeau only kicked Cosgrove out of the dance, but he didn’t argue. The police arrested the elder Cosgrove brother and took him to the Greenwich Village Medical Center ER. Jeff figured they wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore that night.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” she asked him once again.
“Really, Pauline, I’m fine,” he assured her. “I’m just glad I didn’t get any blood on your dress. Let’s go in and have some fun at the party, okay?”
Jeff’s facial wound bled freely until others gave him something to cover it. The EMS crew gave him some Band-Aids to hold the wound closed. They called his parents to allow Jeff, a minor, to refuse ambulance transport.
“Okay,” she said, smiling.
Pauline parked not far from the house. Jeff sprang out of the car to get her door. She checked out her handsome, young, sophomore date while he held the door open for her. He looked so good in his classic, black tuxedo. She knew her instinct to ask him out had been the right decision.
Pauline giggled as Jeff held out his arm to escort her to the front door. He went out of his way to make her feel special. She felt safe and comfortable in his presence. She knew she had nothing to fear despite the times he found it necessary to defend himself. The people who found it necessary to test Jeff?
’Well, you can’t cure stupid,’ she thought.
Jeff knocked on the door to the Diebold house and waited, Pauline still on his arm. Leland Diebold opened the door. Lee was a senior this year and destined for Harvard. He dripped with money in the literal sense, but he managed to be a decent guy.
“Hey!” Lee said, a little drunk but only a little. “It’s Rocky and Adrian!” Jeff colored at the reference to his fights. “Relax, Jeff. I know you’re not out looking for trouble.” He paused to waggle his eyebrows at Pauline. “Not with this bonnie lass on your arm, you lucky dog, you.” Now it was Pauline’s turn to blush. “The Cosgrove brothers both deserved what they got. Beverages are in the kitchen, guys. Have a good time.” Jeff shook his hand as they entered his house.
Pauline changed out of her prom dress, into a simple but flattering skirt and blouse combination she brought with her. They held drinks as they sat together on a couch in Lee’s living room with the other Prom-goers. Pauline sat on Jeff’s lap. Jeff sipped his first-ever alcoholic beverage. Pauline limited herself to one light drink as she was driving. They would nurse their drinks for as long as possible tonight.
The others accepted Jeff’s presence as a natural thing. Pauline was playfully amorous with him in public. She looked and felt great in her new outfit. Time passed, the conversation waned as the beverages did, and the various couples began making out.
“Our turn,” whispered Pauline, drawing Jeff into a kiss. She opened her mouth, inviting his tongue in. Minutes later Pauline broke the kiss, stood, and pulled Jeff off the couch.
“Come on,” she whispered, leading him to a small, downstairs room. She ushered him into it and locked the door behind them. “I’m not ready to go all the way, Jeff, but I’m ready to go a little further than we have in the past.”
Jeff’s stroked the back of Pauline’s hand as she drove. His hand covered hers while she worked the car’s gear shift. He relaxed back into the seat and closed his eyes. He could not believe what he experienced this night; it almost made getting sucker-punched worth it.
He couldn’t see Pauline’s gentle smile with his eyes closed. She knew that what he lacked in actual skill, Jeff made up for with his enthusiasm and attentiveness. Again, she knew she made the right choice in Jeff, despite what her ‘friends’ had told her.
“Jeff?” she asked in a near whisper. He opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Hmm?” he replied.
“I had a really nice time tonight,” she told him, smiling. “And not because of what happened when we were alone. You always make me feel special, no matter where we are or what we’re doing.”
“That’s the way things should be,” he shrugged.
“But not always how things are,” she reminded him. He shrugged again.
As they pulled up to his house, he directed Pauline to park along the side of the road for an easier getaway. His twisting driveway was not the easiest to negotiate when backing up, even in daylight. He told her to stay in the car owing to the late hour. Her curfew was only thirty minutes away and it would take her half of that to drive home. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for another kiss. She let him go after a few moments, though she hadn’t wanted to.
“I’ll talk to you later this afternoon, sometime after church.”
“Okay,” he answered with another goofy grin on his face and got out of the car. He watched her leave, then he walked up the driveway to his house.
