GOOD TIMES... Spring (Part 69k)

Elle decided to have the girls next door babysit our kids. Even though kids were invited to the party Elle knew our younger one would be intimidated by all the adults and noise and would end up being a ”klingon“. Plus Jean, the older one, wanted to play with the toys she’d received at her birthday party the day before. Elle fed them a bit early and I went outside to play ”Flower Flip“ with the older one while she got dressed. The game was a kids version of horseshoes using plastic rings shaped to look like flowers. I was showing Jean how to throw the rings when Janelle showed up from next door. There was no doubt about the fact that she was a ”looker“ and the pale green pants she had on only added to the ”look“, at least for what I was looking for. She came over to see what we were doing and when she went down on her haunches to talk with Jean I got a beautiful DP (downpants). I called it beautiful because there was no mistaking the fact that she had on two pair of panties. I didn’t need confirmation but when she went to retrieve an errant toss by Jean and bent over to pick it up, the VPL showing two separate crotch lines made my nether region come to attention. I had to walk away.

The party had been going for quite a while by the shape some of the guests were in when we arrived. It had been cool and windy all day and with the sun now hidden by the trees most of the women had gone inside the meeting hall. The kids were running amok outside and most of the guys were gathered around the half keg that Mac had provided. It was easy to tell when Mac had a snootful as his voice went up a notch or two. In this shape he would usually ”hold court“ on one topic or another and would leave no doubt as to how he felt about it. I stood back and smiled. Typical Mac.

It was starting to get dark when the ladies insisted that the guys start cooking. Unfortunately, it interrupted another good dialog (argument) between Mac and Andy. Sober, they were very good friends but fueled by alcohol they put on a ”show“. It reminded me, again, of the bet that Mac had made with Lil, Andy’s wife, in which the looser was to walk down the street in their underwear. I’d asked Mac about it once and he’d indicated that it had been resolved but never said what the resolution was. I made a conscious decision to follow up on it before Mac left.

Some food in their stomachs seemed to calm the guys down and after everybody had eaten Mac held court to make his big announcement. I’d been ”out of the loop“ with most of the guys over the Winter but it appeared that they all knew, like me, some of Mac’s plans. He would be mustered out in two weeks and they would be on their way by the 15th of June. The big news was that with Elise and his kids going back to Ohio to live with her parents they were selling just about everything they owned. He was going to ride his motorcycle back and Elsie would drive their car, a 1959 Ford Fairlane 2 door, back with the kids. If their stuff couldn’t fit in or on the car it was staying behind. They had a buyer for the trailer and on Friday night they were having a yard sale for the residents of the trailer park. However, the people at the party would get first choice the next evening.

Jay had continued to badger me about taking his old racecar and, now that I had a few dollars in the checking account, I had begun to dream about the possibility. One thing that I would need would be a helmet and Mac had an extra one. I hadn’t mentioned the thought of doing this to Elle and had to figure some way to buy and hide it from Elle. Not an easy job. I decided to ask Jim (who’s cousin was a racecar driver) to buy it for me and to keep it. I spoke to him the night of the party and, other than the fact that he was drunk, was satisfied that I could pull it off.

One of the surprise guests at the party was Alice, the lady who had looked after our kids when Elle first started getting calls to teach. Her husband was one of the small group of residents who were involved with the development of the lunar module. From time to time he rode to work with Tom, my original neighbor, and became a fringe part of the ”group“. When the ladies were inside the meeting hall Elle and Alice sat together and, while talking, Alice asked Elle if she played tennis.

As the weather got warmer Elle had been mumbling about having some outside interests other than walking the kids around the trailer park. In college, both Elle and I had to take mandatory physical education in our freshman year. Ironically, we both chose tennis and golf. We had to buy tennis rackets which hadn’t been touched since then. After chatting with Alice, Elle wanted to go to her mother’s to see if she could find hers. She also pressured me to go look for mine. In a normal week Elle’s mother would use the excuse of coming to town to do her grocery shopping when in reality it was to come see the kids. Not this week as Elle got it in her mind to go to her mother’s the next day to dig out her tennis racket.

I got home that Thursday night to see her racket planted out in plain sight. I knew what was coming but I avoided it as I wanted to get to Mac’s to see what he had for sale. He insisted that we all wait until 7pm before he would open his shed. Elise had picked out the clothes she was keeping for herself and for her kids and had the rest laid out in the living room. Unfortunately for Elle, her taste in clothes was different so there wasn’t much to choose from. Elle was a pastel type where Elise favored dark colors. After reminding Jim of our conversation from the previous night I gave him the money for the helmet. I picked out some yard tools and a picnic table and benches. I believe the total cost was under $20 so I was really pleased. Elle told Elise that she would take the clothes that didn’t sell to the church thrift shop that she’d been frequenting which would take some of the burden off of her.(11)

To be continued...