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of knights in shining armour
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of knights in shining armour |
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abbe Member
since 2003-01-20
Posts 131michigan, usa |
The summer was in full swing that year with hot days and muggy nights and promises of rain showing up in flashes of lightening. It was my 17th summer. I had just graduated from high school, had a job working as a waitress and was still waiting to decide what I would do with my life. At work I had met my new boyfriend, Jack. He was a bit reckless and drove a flashy car. Just the type to make the heart of a 17 year old girl sing. Definitely the dashing hero… my knight in shining armor. My parents were very strict and dating was not permitted until the young man was brought home for their approval. I just couldn’t see them liking Jack so I snuck around, told a few “white” lies and managed to see him at work or by saying I was at a friend’s house. My brother James (over six feet tall and the subject of many of my girlfriend’s dreams) was in the air force and would come home on weekend leaves as often as possible. He showed up this July weekend and I was dying to get out of the house but couldn’t come up with a good story. James was getting ready to go meet his best friend at the local hamburger joint, the Ritzee, and I pulled him into my room and begged “Come on…” “You have to take me with you” “I can’t stand to stay in tonight” “It’s Saturday night” “Besides, I’ll meet Jack there… we won’t get in your way… just hang out… you can meet him, and warm up Mom and Dad for me by telling them that he is an OK guy. If they think you like him, they'll like him too." “Come on…. What are brothers for… Please, please, please, please………………….. Pullleeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzeee! I seriously doubt that it was my begging or that my logic won him over. I think he just felt sorry for his kid sister being stuck in the house. “Shut up… for chris sake…. Come on. But stay out of my way!” I ran to the phone and called Jack to meet us at the Ritzee and off we went. Introductions were easy. Jack and I claimed a different booth than my brother and his friend. We held hands and grinned at each other in that moonstruck way teens do. Finally, Jack said, "this is boring. Come on let’s cut out of here for a while." I caught James’s eye and said, “We’re going for a walk, OK?” “Sure, just watch the time. I have to get you home by midnight you know!” He said with that condescending grin on his face. I felt slightly embarrassed because I had a curfew and had already graduated from high school. James could have just reminded us that the Ritzee closed at 12, instead he had to rub in the fact that I had to be home by that time. To hide my embarrassment, I grabbed Jack’s hand and off we ran. Up the street… laughing, dreaming, talking and stopping to kiss… We wandered to the City park and stopped at a park bench… more kissing, dreaming, laughing, talking…. Lightening split the sky over our heads and thunder rolled almost simultaneously. We had been so engrossed in each other we didn’t realize a storm was about to break. Jack grabbed my hand and began pulling me behind him. I tried to keep up, but lost my shoe in the struggle… “Wait” I cried, “my shoe came off” “We don’t have time, come on…” Jack yelled at me. “No wait… my shoe. I can’t leave without it!” “Quit being such a baby…Come on… we’re going to get drowned… and your brother is going to kill me.” He drug me along after him. I stumbled along trying to keep up... and finally just reached down and pulled the other shoe off running barefoot the rest of the way. The heavens opened and the deluge quickly drowned us. We arrived at the Ritzee just after it closed at midnight. James stood on the top step glaring down at me in my bedraggled state, barefooted, holding one shoe in my hand, and completely soaked to the bone. He started down the steps toward me, grabbed my arm… “You… in the car!” he said gruffly, putting me into the car and slamming the door. “You” he pointed at Jack “Go home!” Unbidden tears began rolling down my cheeks. “ So where’s your shoe, Kid?” He demanded as he crawled under the steering wheel on his side of the car. “I lost it in the park,” I blubbered “we were running to try to get back on time… and it came off!” James began driving towards the park… “Where were you?” I showed him where we were sitting. He parked the car… got out in the now steady drizzle and walked around until he found my shoe. He held the soggy item over his head… smiled his big “see what I did” grin and started walking back to the car, carrying it like some trophy. He sat there for a minute, somehow enjoying my discomfort. “Well, OK, Kid, now what?” he asked. “What do you mean… Now what… we go home, of course!” I simpered. “Yeah… but first we have to get the ‘story’ straight” he said. “You don’t just waltz into the house late, looking like a drowned rat without some explanation… hmmmm?” “Think fast girl…. This is your debut for making up the ‘can’t be broken’ excuse” I just looked at him like he had crawled out from under a rock some place. He started up the car and headed for the house. Looking out the side window. Somehow, I thought I saw a slight smile on his lips. By the time we got home it was 12:45… and I was more than a little bit nervous by now. But I’m thinking “they won’t say anything, after all I'm with James” He read my mind. “You think I’m going to get you out of this don’t you?” he said, looking me straight in the eye. “Better think fast kid!” and he opened the door and got out of the car. I tagged along behind him into the house – my heart beating triple time. I was going to get killed. I knew my end had come. I heard Mom’s footsteps coming toward us from her bedroom (no one came through that door at night without being met by Mom, no matter what time it was). James positioned me behind him and said to Mom "yeah, we got a little wet", shoving me down the hall toward my room before she had a chance to see me. I slunk in, closed my door and began pulling off my soggy clothes. I heard their muffled voices coming through the wall. Somehow, I knew James was fixing everything. I crawled into bed. Feeling warm and curled up… and slowly went to sleep smiling. Years later, I still remember that hot July Saturday night. I remember, Jack, and the romance that quickly died and turned to memory. Sometimes I wonder what ever became of him. That boy that made my heart sing. But mostly when I remember that night… I think how strange that my knight in shining in armor turned out to be my brother... the one who snuck me in and rescued me from a fate worse than death. And today… he still is. |
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| © Copyright 2003 anne earle - All Rights Reserved | |||
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SPIRIT Senior Member
since 2002-12-29
Posts 1745California Desert |
Loved this, very nice write indeed. I be me BUT who does me be? |
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jjote Senior Member
since 2002-12-25
Posts 1088Ontario, Canada |
lovely unexpected ending.. |
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