THE END OF SUMMER... and maybe normalcy (Part35a)

I’ve hardly mentioned my parents friends (and mine as well), the B’s. They were the couple who ran the clothing store in the town where I went to college. Childless and not much for traveling, they decided that their “vacation” would be taken by going to the races any night it wasn’t raining. They would go to the Clubhouse for dinner each night. As “regulars” they were afforded some perks which included having the table closest to the finish line. That afforded them an unobstructed view of the whole track. They also go to choose who was to be their waitress. Her name was Vicki and there was no doubt about the fact that she was pretty. She had strawberry blond hair and when she wore it in a pony tail, looked like they typical “girl next door”.

Spending as much time at the track as they did they got to know a fair number of horse owners. Mr B was always looking for a “hot tip”. When he found out that I was going to be working at the track he got really excited thinking that I’d be a regular source of “inside information”. When I started work for AJ there was no time for me to get over to the Clubhouse to visit with the B’s during the races. After my “promotion”, where I was now helping to warm the horses up between races, I was able to get over to the clubhouse three or four times a week, but only for a race or two. Whenever I did, the B’s insisted that I have something to eat. It was usually fairly late so I’d usually choose something sweet. As soon as Vicki would see me she’d wheel the dessert cart over to the table.

I’d seen Vicki once the previous season the one time I’d been to the track and seen the B’s. I actually remembered her, but not her name. On that one visit I’d noticed a very prominent VPL and, when I saw her again I was actually disappointed. Management had changed the waitress uniforms and it was impossible to see a VPL dressed the way she was. Bummer! However, I eventually learned that, if I caught her retrieving something from the bottom of her wait station,sometimes I could get a quick upskirt. So, that became my goal for each visit with the B’s.

As the Summer progressed I ended up learning a lot about Vicki from Mrs B. She was a very inquisitive woman and, over the two Summers that Vicki had been their waitress, she’d learned a lot and passed some of it on to me. One of the interesting things was that she was attending the same college as Elle. But, being a year ahead of Elle and in a completely different program as well as a “day student”, commuting daily, she didn’t know her. What I found somewhat fascinating was that she commuted an hour and a half, each way, to her job at the track. She told everybody she was married but was actually just living with her fiance. Somehow Mrs. B got that out of her. In any case, she and her fiance lived in a mobile home (trailer) in this town about 1/2 hour from where she (and Elle) went to school. Her fiance, who had graduated a few years earlier, worked in a small city about 45 minutes south of where they were living. The owner of the mobile home park (Harry) also had a stable of horses at the track. He would drive up and back each day that his horses were racing. Since he had a number of businesses to run it was the only way to make it all work. When he found that Vicki had once worked at the track and needed a job he offered to drive her both to and from work on the nights he had horses racing. Because of Vicki, on the nights that he finished early Harry would come up to the clubhouse and visit with the B’s. And that’s how I met Harry. But back to Vicki... (7)

Mrs B told me that Vicki had told her that I was “interesting” and looked forward to my visits. Truthfully, I never noticed that Vicki made a “fuss” about me when I’d show up. Even after Mrs B told me I really couldn’t see it. Labor day weekend was a rough one for me because that was when Pat (the track photographer) had come on to me after we’d gone to the track picnic. I was also stressed from work and that experience certainly didn’t help. I was also stressed about the fact that my idea of getting off work to be able to go home to bring Elle back to school had been shot down by AJ. So, on that Labor day night, I wasn’t planning on going up to the Clubhouse when I got through in the paddock. But, one of the horse owners that knew the B’s made a special trip to the paddock to give me a message that they wanted to see me. “No” is a word that has never come easy for me. Reluctantly, when I was finished with my paddock duties, I made a mad dash up to see them. As always, they were happy to see me. But, Vicki didn’t bring the dessert cart, which, in itself, was a surprise. I was going to defer anyway. When he saw me approaching, Mr B got up from his chair and met me in the aisle. He’d never done that before. Being some six inches shorter than me I had to bend down to hear what he was saying. The track announcer was giving the names of the horses and their drivers for the next race which didn’t help matters. It was somewhat surreal.

What Mr B wanted was for me to do him a big favor. He’d never asked before and I knew I certainly owed him (and Mrs B) more than just one favor. So I listened. Vicki needed a ride home. Because I knew how far away she lived my first reaction was to say “no”. But I didn’t and listened to Mr B explain why. Basically, she was stranded and Mr B had eye problems and driving at night was a problem so Mrs B wouldn’t let him. Being young, and the fact that Vicki had mentioned (more than once) that I was “interesting”, I came to mind... and here I was. By then I could see Vicki standing off by her wait station. What could I say but “Yes, I would”.

To be continued...