WAITING FOR SUMMER... with high hopes (Part 108c)

I decided to take my time as far as the motor was concerned. I wanted to pick a time that was what I considered “favorable” to let Elle know about it. To get out without grief I would tell her I was helping a fellow racer. Darren had set Wednesday nights aside for us to get together at James’ shop. The first night we were there we were curious to find out if the motor had been set up for racing. The fact that it came out of a race car didn’t mean anything because when I started racing all I had was a motor out of a wrecked street car. Things weren’t looking good as we began the disassembly process. It appeared that everything was stock with no modifications. That id until we got to a part called a “camshaft”. The motor was siting on the floor and when we took the plate that covered the front of the cam we had to get on our knees to look at it. We were looking for a brand name stamped into the face of it along with an identifying part number. We were startled by a female voice behind us and when we looked up we saw Peggy, James daughter, standing there. We’d left the door open and Peggy, when driving by the shop, saw the lights on and stopped to see who was there. She didn’t stay long but when she was walking out I made a statement about what a good looking girl she was. Darren agreed but immediately stated that the blonde we’d seen when we went to get the motor was better looking.That, of course, started a friendly debate. I couldn’t disagree but my position was that it took more than good looks to be beautiful. The only thing that was determined was that Darren reaffirmed his desire to get to know more about the blonde.

When we got back to the motor we found that there was a racing camshaft in it. By then it was getting late and we agreed to meet the following week. As we were leaving I reminded Darren about finding more out about the blonde. He laughed but said he’d work on it.

As the calendar approached the end of the month Elle was asked to finish out the last weeks of school like she’d done two years before. That was great news because, with the increase in the daily pay, it meant we’d see a nice paycheck as we headed into Summer. Because she’d mostly taught one or maybe two days a week, baby sitting hadn’t been a problem. If it was a Tuesday or Thursday, her mother would cover it. For any other day Elle had made arrangements with an older lady who lived just down the street. She regularly babysat her grandchildren and had agreed to take on our kids but she wasn’t willing to do it every day. When Elle approached her this time she was more receptive and actually mentioned that she’d been asked to look after quite a few kids once school was out. She told Elle that she’d approached the owners of the park and asked to be allowed to use the meeting hall and thought that they’d say yes. Her concern was that she would need help and, knowing that Elle had the Summer off as a teacher, asked if she would be willing to help her. She wasn’t but said she’d see if she could find someone who would.

It was right after that conversation took place that Elle mentioned it to me. I’d been impressed with Peggy’s ability to get along with our kids right from the first time she came to baby sit for us. I’d just seen Peggy a few nights prior and immediately mentioned her name. Elle thought it was a great idea. It was still a few weeks until school was out so Elle didn’t act on the suggestion right away.

The end of May was almost upon us. On a personal level, our oldest daughter, Jean, was going to be six on the 29th. Her birthday was going to be different because it was the first one where she could invite friends. There had always been a dearth of girls around her age living in the park but, having spent a year in kindergarten, she had made friends that she wanted to come to her party. It was a Saturday so everyone who was invited came. The weather in our area could be fickle and it was on that day... sunshine but cold and very windy. We ended up using the meeting hall. If the motor in the racecar hadn’t blown up I wouldn’t have been involved but... I was. I’d never met any of the mothers of the kids that had been invited and the first few that arrived were... let’s just say were nothing special. However, there was one who definitely got my attention. I think her name was Eva and she had curves... everywhere... and she knew it. She was also wearing a mini skirt and I remember Elle’s reaction when she saw her walk in the door. She looked at the woman and then immediately looked at me to catch my reaction. When I saw Elle looking at me I knew I’d hear about it later that night. I honestly tried not to be obvious when looking (staring) at her. It was hard! I really hadn’t seen anything but the clothed shape of her body the whole time she was there. One of my duties at the party was to clean up and I was out at the trash barrels when she and her daughter were leaving. Her car was parked right across the street and when she was helping her daughter into the car she leaned in and I know I let out a gasp. I didn’t really know what I was looking at but later on in my life I found out it was called a g-string. I don’t know if she saw me string or not but it didn’t matter. I never saw her again.

To be continued...