Date night. We've only been an official couple again for a couple of weeks after she attended my junior prom with a friend of mine. But what do I have to worry about? She recently said, "I will never break up with you again. We'll be together forever."
I turned onto 2nd Street and continued until I pulled into the driveway of Anne's home in the Northgate addition. Northgate was a pleasant subdivision on the north edge of the town where her family lived. They lived in a typical single-story ranch-style house with an attached garage and a finished basement. The basement was Anne's sanctuary where she spent a lot of her time. We attended different high schools in different towns and had been going out on and off for about two years.
I walked up the three cement steps to the stoop at her front door and knocked like I always did. Her father opened the door with a smile and proclaimed, "Anne wants you to pick her up at Dewey's."
I wasn't exactly thrilled at the slight revision Anne had made in our plans to get together. Nonetheless, it wasn't that big of a deal. Dewey's Dew Drop Inn was a drive-in type of restaurant located on the west edge of town and was only about a three-minute drive from her house. Dewey's was formerly an A&W drive-in in my younger days. The Dew Drop Inn served hamburgers and other sandwiches and seemed popular with teenagers. I think perhaps Dewey's still had the Order-Matic menu boards at each stall allowing one to place an order from the comfort of his or her car. In addition to the drive-in stalls, Dewey's also had a small indoor area of seating space.
I arrived at Dewey's and parked in a small parking area off to the side. By the entrance to the small dining area stood a group of local teens. Now I found myself a bit flummoxed. I wanted to go inside to find Anne, but I didn't want to walk past the guys by the door. Plus, I realized I looked like some sort of dandy in my black nylon pants and black polo shirt with red collar. These cowboy boot and t-shirt wearing yahoos were going to pound me.
Teenager Assaulted by Local Brutes on Account of Dandyism
"The dude got what he deserved for wearing nylon pants in our town."
Well, I finally "grew a pair" and decided I wasn't going to sit in my car forever. I anxiously approached the door, and the local teens didn't seem to notice me at all. I just walked right on past them and into the safety of Dewey's.
I looked around. The place wasn't very busy. But I didn't see Anne anywhere. I wasn't exactly panicking but I was certainly disquieted by this turn of events. Where the hell is she?
Finally, I saw her friend Kari which fostered a glimmer of hope. "Have you seen Anne?" I asked.
Kari stood there with a blank, distant look on her face for a brief period before finally uttering, "Oh, she got into a car with some friends to cruise around town. So, you're supposed to drive around town until you run into them."
Well now I was dismayed to say the least perhaps even approaching something akin to, dare I say, anger. My quest to locate my girlfriend was not over. What the fuck? Why did she do this? This is wrong. I became filled with righteous indignation.
But what choice did I have? Sure, I could have said "fuck it" and just drove home refusing to go on this wild goose chase. But I loved her, and I wanted to see her. So, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and began driving around.
I was disheartened by the situation and had no idea where or how to begin this foolish pursuit. Sure, it was a small town, but I didn't know where the local teens liked to cruise. I didn't know whose car she was riding in or even its color.
I began by simply heading down Main Street which seemed a perfectly logical thing to do.
As I drive along, I see the Food Ranch to my right and the Dari-O to my left. The Food Ranch used to be part of the Red Owl grocery store chain. Food Ranch doesn't seem as cool as Red Owl. But I like the Food Ranch IGA supermarket and I like having cheeseburgers in the Food Ranch Cafe. I've never been in the Dari-O before. I think decades ago there may have been a Dairy Queen outlet on that property.
Soon I pass the Coastal Mart convenience store on my right. I don't think I've ever purchased gasoline there. But some other guys and I have stopped there before because the C-Mart restroom has a condom machine. The machine sells condoms for 50 cents as well as something called Joy Jelly which always makes us laugh. The restroom is always locked so you have to ask for the key. Asking the cashier if she can make change for a dollar and give you the key to the restroom is always a bit awkward. She knows what you're up to!
Next, I pass by Gus & Tony's Pizza & Steakhouse on my right. I went there once with Anne for dinner one evening. We shared a very tasty pizza. It was pleasant and romantic.
Then we went "parking" as old-timers would say and steamed up the windows if you know what I mean.
Similar to necking, parking is a slang term for “the act of kissing and caressing in a parked car.” This usage was most popular in the '40s and '50s, likely due to the rise of car culture and drive-in movie theaters changing the landscape of dating.
I zip past 3rd Street where Anne has her best babysitting gig. They seem to be a nice couple and have one child. They don't mind if I hang out with Anne while she's watching the little guy. She puts him to bed pretty early anyway. We almost had sex in that house one evening. We'd been planning on doing it for the first time. But then Anne accepted a babysitting job, so I figured any sexual activity was canceled. After she put the kid to bed, she asked me if I had stopped at the aforementioned C-Mart to purchase a condom.
"No," I replied, "I didn't think you'd want to do it here while you're supposed to be watching the kid."
"Well, the way I've been feeling lately I would do it anywhere." she stated.
Of course, years later I realized I could have simply said. "I'll be back in five minutes." Coastal Mart was literally just up the street. Why wasn't I one of those guys that carried a condom at all times? Maybe I believed it when authorities said that a condom could easily degrade if carried around in a wallet. At any rate, we never had sex that night.
All of this reminiscing isn't helping me find Anne.
I reach the downtown area and zip past her father's business. I see a girl I know named Jenny in a car nearby. She's too young to drive so another girl is driving. Jenny is a really cute freshman and has a bit of a reputation. She seems to recognize me and waves. I turn left by Happy Joe's Pizza and then into the parking lot behind the Opera House at the top of the hill.
The Opera House didn't actually serve as a place to see opera. The Opera House was a sort of community center that often held receptions and dances. I'd been to the Opera House one evening with Anne because she was required by her parents to make a showing at someone's wedding dance. Anne ended up dancing a few dances with some foreign exchange student which really pissed me off.
Despite the name "opera house", small-town opera houses generally did not house repertory opera companies but, instead, served as general theaters to host touring productions of plays and vaudevillian shows, as well as occasional operatic performances, that brought popular entertainment from urban areas in the Eastern United States into more recently settled parts of the country. When not used for performances, they also functioned as community centers.
But I digress.
The girls follow me into the parking lot. I think they want to talk. I am too shy to stop and say hello. I just wave and pull back out onto the street. But seeing Jenny gets my imagination going.
Maybe I should pull over and get into Jenny's car. Maybe I could spend the evening with Jenny and her friend. That would teach Anne not to change plans. That would show Anne that other girls desire me and that I don't need her, and she'd better learn to appreciate me or else!
But, of course, I merely kept driving aimlessly around. I pulled onto Spring Avenue and zipped past the IOCO convenience store where I sometimes buy gas and soon I passed by the Fireplace Lounge. The building that houses the Fireplace Lounge has a large billboard advertising a local bank above it featuring a giant Indian in a headdress with one arm raised skyward.
I drove down by the Pamida discount store. I parked momentarily to ponder my next move and was about to pull out when I saw a car racing toward me. I soon could make out Anne smiling in the front seat as the car pulled up. Anne jumped out and came running to my car.
"Didn't you see us earlier?" she asked.
"No," I replied coldly.
"Well, we crossed paths earlier and I tried to wave you down. I can't believe you didn't see us."
"Well, I didn't"
"Okay, anyway, let's drive to Decorah and meet Sheila and Brad at the drive-in theater."
I pulled onto the road and started heading out of town.
"Are you mad?" she asked.
"No," I lied.
Clearly, she didn't believe me and began to plead her case. "I wanted to hang out with some friends. Is that so bad?"
"No, it's fine" I said.
Dear reader, you'll have to forgive me. I was a quiet, introverted teen boy. I was not adept at expressing my feelings. If I'd had the facility and the nerve, then perhaps I could have said something.
For instance, I might have said, "Yes, I am a bit angry. When you weren't at your house, and I proceeded to Dewey's and also found you absent it left me a bit distressed, my dear. After all, it's not nice to alter plans on the spur of the moment. I thought I might never find you. I didn't appreciate the inconvenience of driving around town to find my date. If you wished to spend some time with your friends prior to our engagement this evening you could have telephoned to let me know when and where to pick you up."
But I didn't possess that skill at the time. It's much easier to piss and moan. Actually, that's not quite right either. She might have liked it if I'd pissed and moaned because at least I would have been expressing myself. No, I enjoyed sulking quietly. When I feel I have been wronged I tend to remain silent and resentful.
At the drive-in we got into the back seat of Brad's car. They had some "root beer" to share with us. Sheila and Brad started making out. I tried to kiss Anne, but she didn't respond. It was like kissing a dead fish.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She became indignant and said she shouldn't be expected to always be in the mood.
I respect that. I do. But I am also not a fool.
I pressed her and finally she said quietly, "We have to break up."
Now this wasn't exactly a shock. She'd dumped me before. I don't even remember what the reason was this time. I was too quiet. I didn't share my feelings. I was boring. I was too short. She wanted to see other people.
I could have been a dick and asked her if "forever" meant two weeks in girlspeak. But I didn't say anything.
After the movie was over, I drove her home. On the way back she pleaded with me to speak my mind and yell at her. The best I could do was say, "I should have listened to my friends who said you'd break my heart. Plus, you're bossy." So there!
I pulled into her driveway, and I shut off the car.
"Are you saying you absolutely never want to go out with me again?" I asked.
She hesitated and then quietly said. "Yes."
We shared what was seemingly one last kiss and then I took off. The tears were welling up. I wasn't weeping. It wasn't like I had to pull over and bawl my eyes out. Nonetheless, I didn't feel so hot. How was I going to move on? She'd dumped me before. But this time felt different somehow. This was really the end.
As I drove along, I listened to the radio. "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" by Phil Collins begins to play. I hear the pain in his voice.
So take a look at me now, oh there's just an empty space
And there's nothin' left here to remind me
Just the memory of your face
Ooh, take a look at me now, well there's just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against the odds
And that's what I've got to face
Tears are streaming down my face. I can't see very well. Everything is getting blurry. I have to pull over, so I don't wreck the car. Oh my God! I can't go on!
Okay, that didn't actually happen. But that would have been awesome!
Sometime after that I attend a youth group meeting. One of Anne's classmates is in that same youth group. He follows me into the restroom.
"So, she dumped ya, huh? I know it hurts but ya got to just love 'em and leave 'em. That's what I say."
He was trying to be supportive I suppose but I wanted to tell him to fuck off. But, seeing as he was a friend, and we were in a church I held my tongue.
I wrote Anne a letter asking her to never call or write me again so I could get over her. She called me two weeks later. Yes, I even visited her house again one evening. Yes, we kissed. But I was finally smart enough to realize we weren't meant to be.
I believe it may have been during this time period that she began saying things like, "I think of you more like a brother now."
When a guy is in love with a girl, he doesn't want to hear that he's now merely thought of as a dear friend or a brother figure. I suppose she thought she was actually paying me a compliment, but it just hurt my feelings. I didn't want to be thought of as her damn brother. So, ladies if your feelings change for a guy just dump him. Don't tell him you think of him as a friend or brother.
We tried "going out" as well as seeing other people as I recall. But she seemed surprised when I did date other girls. Soon, she only wanted to go out on weekends when I didn't see any other girls. Who the hell does she think she is?
I told her I was booked up the rest of the summer so she wouldn't be seeing me. We had a bit of a falling out after that.
She showed up at my house sometime just before Christmas with her new boyfriend. My mom was furious but let her and her man into the house. She returned a necklace I'd given to her. She thought I should give it to someone else. Was this some show of loyalty to her boyfriend? Did she really think I'd give that necklace to some other girl?
She called me later one evening in February after I'd wrestled in the state tournament. She tried to explain returning the necklace. She said she was truly happy now but that I'd taught her so much. What did I teach her? She seemed to be hinting that I'd taught her about relationships, love, intimacy, and even sex. At any rate, we had a nice conversation.
Yes, she married that guy. Yes, I am happy for her.
By the way, I still have that necklace.
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