Love Is A Burning Thing
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| David |
A new school year, the final school year. Things were going well. I had three classes and then reported to work at 2:00 P.M. at Iverson Mall. At 6 P.M., I was on my way home. I would go home and do my homework, eat a little dinner, and watch TV. I would check in with Shelley and Judy and go to bed about midnight. Pretty tame.In September, I turned 17. It was just another day. One year closer to 18, one year closer to leaving home. I wasn't sure what I was going to do; my only plan was to leave.
A few days after my birthday, the following Sunday, Shelley and I were sound asleep. She had spent the night, and we stayed up late talking and listening to music. We usually would sleep until noon or so. At about 9:30, my mom came in and woke us up. We had company. What! Not at 9:30 in the morning, tell whoever we are asleep and call or come back later. I think I said that. We immediately went back to sleep. Knock, knock, knock. Really, again? Mom told me it was some of my friends from Virginia. I stumbled out to the door. It was Jimmy, David's brother. He said that he and a couple of the guys wanted to hang out, maybe go to Fort Washington. I agreed but told him they had to wait because we had to "get ready," meaning it would be a while. He said they would go to DC to get some beer and then wait in the car for us.
At about 11:00, we left my apartment and got in the car. I paid no attention to the back seat because I climbed in the front seat. Shelley was just standing outside of the car with the back door open and not getting in. "Get in the car Shelly so we can leave.", I said. My mom was watching from the balcony. "Shelley, get in the damn car!" I was getting aggravated. She said she couldn't get in. I turned around to see what the deal was. The "deal" was David was sitting in the back seat, she didn't want to sit down, and he didn't want her to sit by him. I was extremely ticked off that he just decided to show up. And, he was married. I told Shelley to get in the back; I wasn't moving. I was so mad that I could feel my face burning, and I was shaking, and damn, David looked good. It was about a 15 or 20-mile drive to the fort. Music was playing, and everyone was talking and laughing except for two of us. He kept trying to talk to me, and I would just turn the radio up louder and sing. It was a long drive that day.
When we got to our spot that we always went to, we all piled out of the car and went over to the picnic table. I sat on top of the table and was drinking my beer. David sat down next to me and tried to talk "small talk." I told him, "Look, what are you doing here? I'm not interested in you; you are a married man!" "Just leave me alone." He grabbed my shoulders and shook me; it was hot if you know what I mean. He said, "Look, Red, I'm getting a divorce; we only stayed together for two months, and then she left with some Marine. I haven't seen her or talked to her in a long, long. time." To myself, I said, wow, this is good news. To him, I said, "Well, that is your problem, not mine." He looked crushed. I asked his brother to take me home and went and sat in the car. I was followed by, you know who, and he got in the driver's seat. It was getting interesting and intense.
I sat, not looking at him, and let him talk. He told me the whole ugly story. Part, I already knew. They hadn't known each other very long. He knew he would be drafted, and if he got married, he would be given a deferment and would not have to go. He met this girl, and they decided to get married. He didn't really even know her that well. He was drafted anyway, President Johnson flipped the law, and now there were no marriage deferments. As soon as he went to boot camp, he found out that she was cheating on him, and then she left with the other guy. I told him I didn't believe him. He said he would call his mom and tell me that what he was saying was true. I knew his mom, she wouldn't lie for him. I said, "I'm going back to the picnic table to ask your brother to tell me, in his own words, what really happened."
I went back to the table and asked Jimmy to tell me exactly what was going on. He told me that David was telling the truth. I just sat at the table. Everyone else took a hike. David came over and asked me how I felt about the situation. I wanted to tell him that I was so glad that I had missed him that I still cared about him, but I didn't. I just said, "I don't know that I can trust you. You hurt me." He told me he had 30 days before he left for Vietnam and that he planned on spending as much time with me as he could. I told him I worked 6 days a week and couldn't take off; he said he would be there to pick me up when I left work, and we would spend as much time together as we could. I was all quivery, sorry that I had been such a witch, and told him okay. I also told him that he better not mess it up. I said, "You know, my birthday was last week." He said yes, he knew, and he was glad that I was an adult now. I told him, "David, I just turned 17. I was only 14 when I met you." He said he didn't know that he was in love with a baby. I was ready to attack him but in a good way.
We walked around the park and talked. We went down to the lighthouse and sat by the water and made up and made out. It was like we had never been separated. He asked me what had happened to "old Steve" I told him that I had broken up with him and he found a fat girl to marry. He laughed and said that he never wanted to hear me speak Steve's name again. He said if he ever saw him anywhere, he would kick his ass. To this very day, he says the same thing. He never got over the fact that I was interested in his friend.
We left Fort Washington and drove around DC. I couldn't tell you what anyone else in the car was saying or doing; I was only focused on him. We drank, and kissed, and held each other like we would never let go. We walked around the Jefferson Memorial. We sat on a park bench and enjoyed each other, kissing passionately, causing some tourists to do a double-take. Holy crap, I forgot about Shelley; we had to get her home.
We took Shelley home and stopped by my house. I told my mom I was going back out and would be back at midnight. David was with me, and she didn't like him very much. She had always been icy to him, and she hadn't changed over time. She just told me not to be late.
We rode around listening to Creedence Clearwater and Jefferson Starship, and the Beatles. Good songs played all evening long. They still hold special memories for me. We were having a good time, talking to his brother and one of the other guys. We were all catching up, making up for time lost. I had to go home. I didn't want to, I didn't want to go to school, and I didn't want to go to work. It was torture saying goodnight; we counted down days now; time would be very precious.
When I went into the house, my mom nailed me, wanting details about why I was back with David. I had never talked to her about my love life details, and I wasn't going to now. I just told her we were back together and he would be going to Vietnam. I let her know that I would be spending all of my free time with him. She just gave me a dirty look. I sincerely doubt that she had ever felt the way I felt about him with any man. She was just a cold cookie. But she wasn't going to mess this up for me.
I have never cared about any man in my entire adult life the way I did for this one. He meant everything to me. He could just look at me and make me quiver, and that is an understatement. I would have a hard time controlling myself; no, I wasn't a tramp; I actually was a little virgin girl. But I knew what I wanted; I had thought about being with him so many times, even when I really wasn't totally savvy in the art and knowledge of physical love. But I wasn't going to have sex with him; too much was at stake. What if something happened to him, what if I got pregnant, what if something happened to him AND I was pregnant? I didn't want a baby; we would go to California when he got out of the Army. We were going to be free and not be tied down to material things. We were going to "get our motor running." He had already been to California and made friends; he knew where he wanted to live. I was California Dreaming. I loved this man, I would go anywhere with him.
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| Jefferson Memorial |
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