Chapter Four: Hose Yourself Off

Chapter Four: Hose Yourself Off

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REAR VIEW MIRROR THE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

C. Callinsky

PART ONE: TRUE LOVE

Chapter Four: Hose Yourself Off

I grab a Big Gulp and hang out.  Jimmy was worried about leaving me here, but I don’t want him here when my dad arrives.  My dad is my rock.  He is a wonderful, super-funny, sensible, caring, hardworking, and thoughtful person.  I’m the seventh out of eight kids.  I have two sisters and five brothers.  We’re Catholic.  My mom used to say, “Every time I saw your dad’s pants hangin’ from the bedpost I knew we were havin’ another one.”

Most of my siblings had moved out of the house before I was very old.  One of my older brothers and my older sister were there for a while, but for the majority of my life, it was just me and my younger sister, Angie.  She moved out recently, but I’m still hanging out.  I have to for a while based on the fact that I just up and quit my job.  Ha!  I’m not in a hurry to get one at this point, either.  My dad owns a service/gas station in downtown Tacoma.  He is now sixty-four years old, healthy as an ox, and doesn’t look a day over fifty.  He is still working his butt off, though.  He has worked his fingers to the bones for years to support the family.  I can work for my dad during the day Monday through Friday and be off every weekend.  I have worked for him before and I actually really enjoy it.  That will work out good because I plan on hanging with Jim as much as humanly possible.

Anyway, Dad doesn’t warm up to just any guy that is dating one of his daughters.  He can scare any man away from one of his baby girls in a heartbeat.  I’m afraid that if he and Jim met at this very moment, Jimmy would never touch me with a ten-foot pole.  That is so not my desired outcome.

My dad arrives.  I explain the whole thing and he cools off.  He swears up and down that someone loosened the lug nuts.

I used to date a guy that lives directly across the street from me and it didn’t end well.  I bet that when I wanted my nosy neighbors to get a good look at Jim, he was the only one that actually got a look.  I bet he loosened them after we left just to be an ass.

Dad puts the rim and tire back on and we finally head back to the house.  He drives the old Ford work truck and I drive the new Ford pickup.  When we get to the house, Dad messes with my M.G. and gets it started.  He offers to get Jimmy’s Nissan towed and fixed so we drive out there to look, but it’s already gone.

Jimmy calls later that evening.  Everything worked out.  He made it to work on time, his Nissan is fixed, and he had picked it up after work.

He is a little concerned about my dad.  I assure him that everything is cool.

Jimmy asks, “So you want to do something tomorrow?”

“I would love to, but do you think it is safe?”  We are cracking up again.

Jimmy suggests, “Let’s just hang out at your house, have a few beers, and watch a movie or something.”

“That sounds safe enough.  What time?”

“Around 6:30.”

“Cool.  What kind of movie do you wanna watch?”

“A comedy sounds good.

“OK, I got the movie covered.  You get the beer.”  I’m not old enough to get the beer yet.  Jimmy isn’t either, but he has a fake I.D.

I spend the following day cleaning.  The house is in shape so I take a long bubble bath to relax.  I put on some tight Gap jeans and a red Nordstrom’s sweater.  The red accents my sandy brown hair.  The outfit shows off my figure really well.  I spend about an hour blow drying and curling my hair.  It is naturally curly, so it takes a lot of work to style it.  I get my makeup on.  I go with the dark gray eye shadow, jet-black eyeliner, and mascara.  When it’s done just right, it makes my eyes look gray rather than hazel.

Checking myself in the mirror, I’m thrilled with the outcome.  I look hot and I’m ready to conquer the world.  Watch out Jimmy!  Here I come.

I’ve realized that Jimmy is a lot shyer than anyone I’ve ever dated before.  I love that about him.  I love his nervousness and the way he looks a little down and sideways when he gets teased or he’s embarrassed.  He is very respectful, which is wonderful.  I’m just not sure if the man will ever kiss me.

I head out to pick up a movie.  I leave the top up because I don’t want to mess up my hair.

I want something goofy because I love to hear Jim giggle.  I spend a good hour looking through different movies.  Finally, I grab Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I know it is viewed as a child’s movie, but it has some really hysterical parts in it.

I head back to the house to wait.  It is almost 6:00 when the phone rings.

“Hello.”

“Hey, I’m just now heading out.  I’ve got to swing by the store for the beer.  Do you need me to pick up anything?”

“Nope, we’re good.  Just get your butt over here.”

Jimmy laughs.  “OK, see ya in about a half hour.”

I check myself every five minutes.  I’m a nervous wreck.

Finally Jimmy pulls up.  My heart speeds up just looking at him.

Opening the door, I give him a hug.  “Hey Jimmy.”  Man, I don’t want to let go.  He smiles shyly and then leans towards me for our first kiss.  It is by far the sweetest kiss I have ever had.  It is long and lingering.  Neither of us wants to stop.  Within moments we are entwined, standing there with the door still open, our bodies pressed as close together as they can get.  We are no longer two people, but one.  After a few minutes, we disconnect.

A low raspy “Wow,” is all that I can get out.  I’m literally dizzy and it takes me a few seconds to even focus my eyesight. Still entwined, supporting each other, I put my forehead against his and we look each other in the eyes.  We both look like kids that just made out with everything in a candy store.  You couldn’t rip the grins from our faces.

“OK Jimmy.  We have to stop.”

Jimmy grins, slightly cockeyed, from ear to ear.  “K.”

I retreat, grab the beer that is sitting on the floor, and high tail it to the kitchen.

I have to hang here for a minute.  I feel like I’m high.  My good voice is telling me, “Oh my gosh.  Get yourself together.  Keep your cool.  This is too soon.  Hose yourself off, chick.” Then I hear a naughty voice that’s new.  “But he is so hot.  You know that you want to jump his bones right now?” It’s my good voice again and I wish it would go away.  “It is too soon.  He will think badly of you.  Keep the respect present

What is that saying about the cow and the milk?” From the kitchen I holler, “Do you want a beer now?”

“Sure.”

I take a few deep breaths, take the caps off of the Coors Light, and bounce back to the living room.

“So what movie did ya get?” Jimmy asks.

“Alright, don’t laugh… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

He grabs his sides and doubles over as if someone has struck him and starts dying laughing.  “No you didn’t.  Oh God.”

I’m cracking up now.  “Hey, give it a chance.  You will like it.  I give you the Cindy guarantee.”

Jimmy’s eyes are smiling, he is still giggling as he shakes his finger at me.  “If it sucks, I’m so outta here.”

I sock him in the arm.  “You’re a goober.”

Jimmy is still laughing, now ignoring his torso.  He has moved onto magnifying my shot by rubbing his recently victimized arm.  “Ouch that hurt.”

You know, I think I get it.  The reason that I’m so head over heels for this man is because we are constantly laughing.  It doesn’t matter what happens to us when we are together; it is like we’re always getting each other high.  I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I won’t kick a gift horse in the mouth… or whatever.

I feel better now that we have had our first kiss.  I’m not so paranoid anymore.  I was so worried that he might not be attracted to me.  I so wish I could murder that little negative person in my head that won’t shut up.  Not that new naughty one, mind you.  Now I know that we got it going on and that’s a straight-out fact.

Jimmy stares at me.  “Where ya at?”

“What do you mean?”

“I seen that mischievous smile.  It looks like you’re up to something.”

Now I’m really embarrassed.  He so read me.  Play it off woman, think fast… I lean my head down, fidget my feet, look up at him and make eye contact, just like he is doing to me.  Here comes a replication of that sly cockeyed grin he hits me with all the time.  WHAM!  “Who me?  I’m not capable of being up to anything; much less something.”  I flutter my eyelids like butterfly wings.

He laughs and bumps me intentionally on his way to the old, beat up, ugly, brown, 1970’s couch.

Both Jimmy and I know, based on our greeting at the door, we need to act like we’re twelve.  For the time being, idiotic twelve-year-old behavior is safe.

His eyes are so beautiful when he smiles because they smile with him.  Hell, who am I kidding?  His whole aura smiles.

Okay chick, it’s time for the movie.  That naughty voice is starting to express itself again.

Although Jim probably would never have admitted it to anyone else, he really enjoyed the movie.  He laughed hysterically pretty much through the whole thing.  I think his laughter had a lot to do with seeing huge turtles skateboard around.

I have to ask something.  “So Jimmy, why’d you go into the Army?”

“I need money for college.”

“Is that the only reason why?  I mean, do you like it at all?”

“No, I hate it.  As soon as my four years are up, I’m gettin’ out.”

“How much longer do you have?”

“About a year and a half.”

“What’re you gonna do when you get out?”

“Go back to Cali, go to college, and take engineering.”

Man that sucks.  That little negative voice inside of my head is telling me to run like hell.  How can this go anywhere if he is going to leave?

You know what, woman?  Stop thinking so far ahead.  You like this guy a lot, so take it a day at a time and see where it takes you.  A lot of things can happen in a year and a half.  You never know, maybe he would actually stay here.  With that thought, I figure this is a good opportunity to dig out some information.  “So, how do you like Washington?”

He smiles softly because he knows what I’m getting at.  “I like it OK, but it isn’t Cali.  My family’s there.  I can surf and the weather is almost always super nice there.  I wouldn’t want to stay here.”

The only place I have been is to Canada on a band trip.  I would have a very difficult time moving because of my family.  I love Washington.  There are so many things to do just within ten miles of my house.  If you are willing to hit the road for a few hours, there are a range of things to do.  I’m forty-five minutes from Mount Rainier, two hours from Ocean Shores, four hours from Canada, and twenty minutes from Seattle.  I have never even thought about going surfing.

When you grow up in Washington you do things that involve mostly staying indoors because of the near constant rain.  You have three or four really good months in late summer and early fall where you can really enjoy the weather.  That is when you do all the outdoorsy things.  The other months consist of stuff like underground clubbing, movies, concerts, and hanging out at Heidelberg Brewery where all the new bands have their practice pads, and stuff like that.  I would probably kill myself trying to surf, or worse yet, get eaten by a shark.  I was an avid skateboarder for about a year.  Then, I broke my ankle on one.  I was nicknamed “Hop-Along-Callinsky” for a good two years because of those damn crutches.  That was the end of that.  From that moment on, I concentrated on safer sports such as softball and bicycling.

Jimmy asks, “Would you ever consider moving?”

A look of frustration crosses my face.  “Geez Jimmy, I don’t know.  I mean, I have five brothers and two sisters.  It would be really hard for me to leave my family and especially my dad.  I love him so much.”

We both look each other in the eyes in a sort of hopeless way.  At that moment, looking into those big brown eyes, I decide that I’m not going to let this ruin it.  A lot of things can happen in even just a few months.  I feel like we possibly have something here and if I run, I will never know if it could have become something.  I would be an idiot if I didn’t hang out and see where this leads.  I like this guy a lot.  Cali seems like a world away, though.

We hook up the following evening.  This is good.  The talk about Cali and Washington was rough and is still kind of hanging over us like a big black cloud, but apparently Jim had the same thoughts as I did, because he isn’t willing to throw in the towel just yet, either.

We decide to hang out somewhere of my choice, listen to music, and talk.  He doesn’t know the area very well so I can show him some really neat spots.

We head out to Strawberry Hill in his low-rider.  It is a gorgeous spot, but not the prettiest in Tacoma.  I want to save those for later.  It is a curved, steep, down-sloping road with a gigantic hill on the left and a sloping cleft down the right.  You can see most of Tacoma and all the way into parts of Puyallup because it is so high up above the city.  It is nicknamed Strawberry Hill because of the strawberries that grow all down the side of the cleft.

When it’s dark, it’s breathtaking because of all of the lights.  It is also secluded because there are no houses on the road.  We park and I scoot over close to him.  We are listening to Depeche Mode and Jimmy has his arm around me.  We are so comfortable together.  It just feels so right.

He is astounded at how beautiful it is.  I knew that he would love this and he hasn’t seen anything yet.

We sit there, drinking a beer and talking about all kinds of stuff.  I ask, “So Jimmy, tell me ‘bout your mom.”

“I love my mom very much.  She’s a very strong woman and very independent.”

“Yeah?  How so?”

“She does it all on her own.  She is also a very kind woman, but very free spirited.  She drives a Harley, too.”

I’m shocked.  “She sports a Harley?”

“Oh yeah.”

I’m instantly excited.  “One of my dreams is to own a Harley.  I don’t want one of them crotch rockets.  I want a meaty hog.”

Jimmy starts cracking up, which makes me laugh.

I slap his leg.  “I’m serious, Jimmy.  I’ve wanted one since I was old enough to know that they existed.”

Jimmy is still laughing.  “I know you’re serious.  It’s just that the meaty hog thing cracks me up.”

“She sounds like a really cool woman, Jimmy.  I hope I get to meet her one day.”

“I do, too.  She’d really love you.”

The fact that he just said that warms me to the bones.  I look him in the eyes and he smiles sweetly.  I want to kiss him and this time I do.  I don’t ever want to stop, but I do because the attraction is unbearable and we can’t sleep together yet, no matter how much I want to… I am so falling for this man.

This place is so romantic.  We have this connection.  We talk so easily about everything.  I really trust him, too.  I don’t really understand why I do, but I totally do.

I have learned over the years to trust my gut instincts.  Sometimes it is hard to tell them apart from that negative voice in my head.  I have to really listen hard, as well as pay attention to my body’s reactions.  I have not received any bad vibes from Jim.  When I get that little negative voice in my head, I know it is fear and it is totally different than my instinct voice.

Read Chapter Five: Big Kahuna

Copyright © 2006 – Infinity C. Callinsky

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