SUMMER... My day of infamy (Part 84c)

As soon as I walked in the door she demanded to know where I’d been. When I told her she started in calling me names all over again. This time I wasn’t going to take it and started yelling back at her. Her complaint was that I was totally insensitive to our situation and going off to work on a ”stupid race car“ when we didn’t have all that much money and I didn’t have a job. She just made me mad so I told (yelled) her that there wasn’t much I was going to be able to do about a job until I’d seen Mrs K at the Civil Service office on Monday. Then I grabbed the other set of keys for my car and stormed off, still without eating. When I got back to Eric and Cal they were sitting and staring at one side of the axle. Eric had discovered that the kingpins (I won’t bore you with the explanation of just what they are) were worn and he said I’d be crazy to try and race with them the way they were. The problem was that they were ”frozen“ in place and the only way to get them out was to heat them up with an acetylene torch and drive them out. They’d already removed the ones from the bent axle so they were stymied until we found someone with a torch. I didn’t need the aggravation so suggested that we all get something to eat and asked Eric to drive me to the County Center to get my car.

Mad at Elle and frustrated with the race car I decided to just take a ride to look at the water on the bay. My thoughts kept coming back to the call to Mrs. K on Monday. Because things were going so wrong at the time I wouldn’t let myself think positive thoughts. I decided that in a worst case situation I’d go to the brothers who owned the mobile home parks and ask them for a job until I could find something. A little above minimum wage would at least keep food on the table.

I was calmed down when I got home. I didn’t say a word and neither did Elle. I went in to take a shower and when I came back out there was dinner on the table. No words were spoken but I made a silent offer of ”peace“ by offering to wash and dry the dishes. I remember silently watching TV that night but when Elle headed for bed I decided it would probably be best not to follow and, again slept on the sofa.

I was awake at daybreak and found it oppressively hot for being that early. When Elle appeared I made a stab at conversation. I asked if she was going to sail with me that afternoon. The look I got could’ve killed and that ended the ”conversation” such as it was. Here it is almost 50 years later and I still don’t know what it was that she expected from me at that time. I was trying to find things to do to keep me from dwelling on the situation. There was nothing I could do to undo what had happened. So, I got in my car and headed for my parents house to get my sailing gear and then to the sailing club hoping that I’d be able to find a crew.

At the club there was quite a bit of activity for being so early (around 11am). There was a blackboard on the porch for skippers to post that they needed a crew. I was first and felt good about my chances. I got to talk with quite a few of the other skippers as they arrived. I was a bit disappointed that Cat had chosen not to wear the tight white shorts that she’d worn the previous weekends. With the heat a number of the ladies had worn bathing suits so they could go for a swim before the races began. It was pretty obvious that’s what Cat had done as she was wearing a printed bra like top. That left me to concentrate on Willie’s wife, Merry. My past observations of her had indicated that she was very modest and wore loose fitting clothes. I truly wasn’t expecting to see what I was looking at as she and Willy approached the clubhouse.

To me it was a cross between a very short robe and a mini dress. The reason I thought of it being a robe was that it had buttons down the front and had a larger than usual (for a dress) collar. It was a pale yellow with little flowers. Mini skirts still hadn’t come into fashion as every day fashion in our area as yet. But, Merry lived in the city and if there was one thing I really appreciated in my last few visits to the city was the “view” that the mini afforded. I really don’t think I was drooling as she approached but my concentration was solely on the hem of whatever you wanted to call what she was wearing. I was at my boat as she walked by with a wave. I waited until she was about ten to fifteen feet ahead and then quickly fell in behind her. She was headed straight for the steps of the clubhouse and I wanted to be right behind her but not too close, if you know what I mean. There were ten steps up to the porch and by the time she reached halfway I saw exactly what I was looking for. The only thing that would’ve made it any better was if there had been a breeze blowing. But... with the heat there wasn’t any and the prognosis for the day was that there probably wouldn’t be any. As my gaze followed her up the steps I was sure I was looking at the same style of panties that I’d found in the sand. I could clearly see a good bit of the crotch and could see the lace inserts that had completely encircled the leg openings. OH MY HEART!

To be continued...