ONE NIGHT IN THE PARK

This story may contain mildly intimate scenario's involving young people.

    Hey there y’all, I’m Jane, I grew up in the Midwest. On the summer of my fourteenth birthday, my family and I went to California on vacation to visit my mothers’ relatives.

We made the trip twice per year, sometimes three times; On summer vacation and Christmas and occasionally on Thanksgiving if there was enough money. My aunt and uncle’ lived in a big two-story, Spanish style red brick home overlooking the coastline, was it beautiful? Yes, comfortable? Of course, intimidating? Definitely.

      I was brought up in a middle-class home. We lived in a middle-class neighborhood, went to public schools, and our clothes tended to be off the rack from stores like, Sears, J C Penny, and Montgomery Ward. My mothers’ relatives on the other hand were upper-middle-class. They lived in an upper-class home, in a fancy upper-class neighborhood, and their children went to private schools and wore designer clothes. They were the essence of an upper-middle-class family, which made our visits intimidating for my entire family.

       My mother tried to keep-up with her sister’s lifestyle as best she could in her middle-class homemaker attire and boxed permed hair style. Her one saving grace was her new Lexus which she traded up every two years need it or not. My father on the other hand was a good-ole-boy, who wore flannel shirts and wrangler jeans every day, except Sunday when he would put on his one and only suit to wear to church. He always said God earned the right to have us dress up for him at least one day a week. He didn’t have to worry about putting-on-airs with my uncle when they hung out, because my favorite uncle accepted people at face value, and always said how much he valued my father.

My sister April and I spent our time mimicking our self-absorbed cousins and going along with whatever they suggested, which made the time more enjoyable than if we challenged their program. My eldest cousin Cassy would take April shopping to all the fancy stores on Rodeo Drive to look at clothing, shoes and bags she knew my sister could only dream of owning.

My other cousin Sally and my cohort in crime, would take me to the bodegas and young miss somebody shops, where we would try on dresses and bohemian clothing while laughing at our put-on antics. It was this cousin who took me to an upscale beauty shop and encouraged me to cut my beautiful waist-length hair. When I left the shop there were tears streaming down my face after an extremely short, Mia Farrow hair cut that was supposedly all the rage at the time. For months afterward, I saw a skinny little boy looking back at me whenever I looked in the mirror and would break out in a fresh batch of tears.

       We had two whole weeks to go anywhere we wanted, and I wanted to go to, Muscle Beach, Big Sur, Catalina Island via San Francisco Bay, and eat at the best restaurants and my favorite was The Piccadilly Circus, a smorgasbord style restaurant. Sometimes in the evening after dinner, we would walk a few blocks from the house to the park and mess around on the playground equipment. It was so fun, we were allowed to go alone, without any adults telling us what to, or not to do. Some nights our parents would surprise us by picking us up in the van for a trip to the local ice cream parlor. It was one of those nights that everything changed for me.

       My cousin Sally and I had made the walk to the park and were swinging on the tall swing set, the one for older kids, when two boys walked through the tall hedge surrounding the park moving in our direction. Sally and I glanced at each other to gage our fear and anticipation levels as we began to slow down the swings just in case we needed to make a quick getaway.

The two boys looked completely different in appearance; one was older, tall, long blonde hair and a seriously athletic build, looking even more so as he bounced a basketball as he walked. The other was of average height, short brown hair with a skip in his step and a mischievous grin taking up a large part of his face.  They introduced themselves as Tom and Brett.

Tom put his basketball in the bend of his arm at the elbow slightly hugging it against his body.

“We just came to shoot a few baskets.” He informed us as he slapped Brett on the arm. “Come on dude, lets get at it, before it gets dark.”

Brett looked up at his friend and shrugged. “what’s your hurry they have lights on the court?” he sighed, looking back in our direction. “I know you.” He said pointing to Sally.

She looked at him questioningly and shook her head “I don’t know you, but you do look kind of familiar.” Sally said.

       “Yeah, I know you live a couple blocks up on the right in a red brick house.” Tom told her.

       “How do you know that?” Sally asked him.

       “I live on the next block up. I see you getting chauffeured to school some mornings.” He explained. “And I see you around the school too.”

       “Okay. Well Brett, I’m Sally. Next time you see me give me a shout.” She said as her swing came to a stop.

       “Cool.” Brett said.

       I nudged her leaning my head in Toms direction as I hopped off the swing.  “Oh, this is my cousin Jane. She’s from out of town,” Sally introduced me.

I smiled shyly as I looked at Brett and then took a longer look at Tom. “Hey there.” I said in a soft voice.

“Cool.” Tom said. “C’mon, let’s hit the nets dude.” He said to Brett.

As they walked away Brett turned back. “Later Sally, and Jane.” Then he laughed as he turned back toward Tom and slapped him on the back.

“They seemed nice.” I told Sally.

“Yeah, I guess.” Sally nonchalantly replied. “I wonder why I’ve never seen them around before?” She thought aloud.

“Yeah, if you go to the same school, you would have thought you would have at least seen him before.” I agreed.

“Oh well, you want to swing some more or what do you want to do now?” She asked as if the meeting had never happened.

“I don’t know.” I looked around the park. “How about the Merry Go Round. Those are always fun.” I suggested. Then thought about who I was talking to, whatever we did it would have to be her idea. “Whatever you want to do, is Okay with me.”

Sally walked around like she had never been there before as I followed behind her. “How about the Merry Go Round?” she said like it was the first time anyone had thought of it.

“Yeah, that sounds great.” I said excitedly, like I had never been on one before.

After we had taken turns to push and jump on a few times each, Brett and Tom walked up.

“Hey girls.” Called Brett. “Ya want me to give you a push?” he asked.

Sally looked at me with a grin on her face. “Sure, but not too fast.” She requested.

“No Problem.” He said, laughing.

Tom jumped on the Merry Go Round with Sally and me as he taunted Brett. “Come on then, let’s see what ’cha got dude.” Tom laughed slyly.

When Brett started pushing, we lurched forward, and Tom had to grab a hold of the bars so he wouldn’t fall off. Sally and I laughed and the faster we went around the more I laughed.

Sally always had an issue with things that were moving, she became dizzy easily. I remember once she passed out riding her bicycle. One minute I was watching her peddle down the sidewalk and the next she was falling over on the ground, out like a light. It scared the heck out of me… I ran into the house and got my uncle who came out, picked her up and carried her back inside with him. He later told me that she was a blue baby. I asked what he meant, and he explained that she had a defective heart when she was born. I found out later it was called Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and was profoundly serious. She had something wrong when she was born that caused her to have a hole in her heart. That’s why they never let her ride the scary rides when we went to the amusement parks, because she could have a fainting spell at any time, because her blood flow didn’t work right. Fortunately, he told me, she is a lot better than when she was younger, and she should continue to get better as she gets older. She has, but not on that night. The spinning around so fast made her head spin too.

As I watched her face, I could see her turning white and she swayed back and forth with no control over it. I could see she was in trouble.

“Brett, you need to stop pushing.” When he laughed and continued pushing, I yelled at him again with no effect. “Tom, you must make him stop. Sally’s going to be ill.” I pleaded with him to help.

“Hey Brett. You need to stop this thing now.” Tom called too Brett as he pointed to Sally. “She’s not feeling it man.”

Brett looked at Sally, she looked like she was about to fall out. He dug his feet in as hard as he could as he dragged his feet around the worn dirt track of the Merry Go Round. When it began to slow down enough, he ran over to Sally, arriving just as she collapsed against the base floor, still holding on to the bar beside her.

“Sally, are you alright?” He seemed genuinely concerned. “I’m sorry, you said not to go too fast, and I didn’t listen.”

I walked up beside Sally and put my arm around her. “Can I get you some water? Would that help?” I asked her.

“Bathroom.” She whispered breathlessly.

“Sure, let me help you up.” I tried to steady her, but even though she was so thin and small I was having problems keeping her upright.

Brett stepped up and put an arm around her waist. “Just lean against me, I won’t let you fall.” He said anxiously.

Sally leaned into Brett’s side, allowing him to help her until we got to the restroom. I managed to get her through the doorway on my own while the guy waited outside.

“Are you going to be alright or do I need to go get your dad?” I asked her concerned.

“No. Don’t tell them, they’ll never let me come here alone again if they find out.” She pleaded.

“Okay, we’ll go sit on the bench until you feel like you can make it home.” I agreed.

After the guys helped get her to the bench by the parking lot we sat and talked for a while until I had to go to visit the restroom.

Tom jumped up and came over to me. “I’ll walk you over.” he offered.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I told Sally. “Are you going to be alright while I’m gone?” I wanted to make sure she was okay being there alone with Brett.

We took our time walking to the facilities talking and getting to know each other. When I came out Tom asked if we could just sit on the grass behind the building and talk before going back.

“Brett’s with Sally, he won’t let anything happen to her.” He coaxed. “Please, just for a little while?”

“Just a little while.” I agreed. “Then I need to check on Sally.”

Tom told me about the public school he went to, and the basketball team he played for. We talked about our parents and families and what we did for fun. We had a lot in common, liked many of the same things, movies and music and roller skating.

I told him about where I lived and how different my life was from Sally’s. He told me about Brett’s family having money and his not. So, it seemed we even had that in common.

After fifteen minutes or so he reached around putting his arm across my shoulders pulling me closer. “I really like you, Jane.” He looked around like he was looking for something.

“I like you too, Tom. But I think… I should go check on Sally now.” I said nervously.

“Yeah, sure.” He said, leaning closer as his hand rubbed my bare arm. His lips touched mine for just a second before he drew back.

He looked intently into my eyes. “No, I really like you.” He said pulling me close again pressing his lips to mine again, this time the kiss was firmer.

I had never been kissed before. At least by a boy not my relatives. I wasn’t sure what to do. I lightly touched my hand to his chest; his shirt was slightly damp and cool. I could feel his heartbeat beneath my fingers and my body relaxed against him. Tom was older than me by two years, which both excited and frightened me at the same time. I was unsure what he might expect from me. I had heard some of the older girls talking in the bathroom at school, about things they did with their boyfriends, and I didn’t think that was something I should be doing. As he put more pressure into the kiss, I instinctively applied more pressure against his chest.

“Is something wrong?” he asked as he gently pulled away.

“No. Nothing's wrong.” I said nervously.

“I won’t hurt you, Jane. I just wanted to show you how much I like you.” He tried to explain.

“it’s just, you are my first kiss.” I told him, slightly embarrassed.

“Cool.” He said kissing me again.

My lips softened under his and I leaned my head back to try to make it a more comfortable experience. My arms reached up encircling his neck, he pulled me closer as I pressed my body against him.

“Jane? Jane, our parents are here.” Sally called out as she approached the restroom area.

Tom and I pulled apart and looked in the direction the sound of her voice came from. As Sally came around the side of the building she stopped quickly. “We, have to go. Now. I told them you were in the bathroom. They are waiting.” Sally turned to leave. “I’ll tell them you are coming but hurry up.” With that she was gone.

Tom stood and helped me to my feet. “I wish I you didn’t have to go.” He whined slightly.

I looked around, I could hear the parents talking over at the bench where I had left Sally. “I don’t want to go either, but I have to.” I said hurriedly.

“Will I see you again? Can you meet me here tomorrow?" he asked.

“I don’t know, I’ll see what I can do.” I stretched upward and stood on my toes, wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him hard and long. “Bye.” I said as I tore myself away and ran around the building and up the hill to the parking lot.

I never did get to make it back to the park. We left two days later. I never forgot my first kiss or the handsome boy I met one night in the park.

END