by Ed Nelson
“It was Dad, they don’t see the real me, they keep making things greater and better than they are.”
“That happens, Rick it is human nature. You are learning one of the hard lessons of fame. So far you haven’t bought into it and I can’t tell you how happy I’m for that. Let me ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
“Is John Wayne the greatest cowboy that ever lived?”
“Of course he...no he is an actor that plays cowboys.”
“Did Mr. Wayne come across to you as someone who believed he was a great cowboy?”
“No he was just a nice guy who was doing his job.”
“But many people want to believe he is a great cowboy, the embodiment of the American dream of the west. He has learned to separate what people think he is, from what he really is. If anything that is what makes him great.”
“You haven’t come to terms with that. It sounds like you are scared to death that you have to be what people think you are, rather than the person you really are.”
“Dad you have no idea what it’s like when people are chanting like you are some God or something. I wanted to smile and wave and let my subjects bow down. But that would be a fraud; I am just Ricky Jackson, kid from Bellefontaine, that’s all I really want to be.”
“And that is all that you should be, however you have to realize that you have done some special things, things that most people will never have a chance to do in their life. They look at you as living their dream. Just don’t believe for one moment that you are their dream.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Be yourself, when people applaud like they did today or chant, ‘Go Bellefontaine’ just remember they are voicing their dreams and don’t let it affect yours. Take it in stride, don’t expect it; don’t reject it, just go on being Ricky. As you have already seen you can be a hero one day and a bum the next in the public eye.”
“Again, what should I do?”
“Damned if I know Rick, it’s your problem to sort out, not mine.”
My mouth dropped open, this was my dad; he wasn’t going to help me. Then I closed my mouth, he wasn’t going to help me because he couldn’t, I had to learn how to handle this myself.
“Thanks dad, if I hurry I can still make golf practice.”
“Mum and I have talked to the school; they don’t expect you until tomorrow. Mr. Gordon understands that the last two days have been hard for you. Tom is bringing your assignments.”
“Thanks Dad, I think I am going to read until dinner time.”
Even that plan didn’t work out. Denny and Eddie had just got home from school. They pestered me to shoot some baskets with them. It turned out to be fun. They were both better shots than me. I just never cared for the sport. Eddie was the real surprise. He was now taller than Denny. For his age he was quite tall.
We played horse until dinner time. For some reason I felt better when we were done. I had forgotten about everything except trying to beat those two little monsters at the game. They kept calling me bad eyes when I would miss a shot. Insult to injury I was first out every game. No chance of me being a superhero here.
Dinner was like nothing had happened. The two boys hadn’t been told of my leaving school. They hadn’t even been told about me pulling the people out of their car. Queen Mary deigned us with her presence. I know she did because that is what she told us.
Mum had got some magazines mailed from England that had news of the royal family. She had read it out loud to Mary and I guess Mary crowned herself. No messing around as a Princess she went right for the top job.
The Bellefontaine Examiner had the correct information about the wreck. Mr. Weaver wrote that I was trained by the Scouts on what to do, and I had done it. No big deal. He didn’t say that, but that was how he wrote it.
Tom had dropped my school assignments off, but it turned out I had already done them. They were all problems and questions from the end of the chapter. That guy at Berkley was right on.
My reading that night had difficult language but it was a hoot. Back in the seventeenth century Tom Jones had quite a life of his own it was certainly more interesting than mine.
Chapter 27
Tom and Bill were waiting as usual Thursday morning. It was a cool but clear day so I had done my morning run. The conversation today was about Elvis being in the Army; Tom had a picture of him as they cut his hair. We wondered if they saved it, or just swept it away.
Bill figured some barber saved it and was selling it. From there it was, well he could sell all the hair cut that day or any day and say it was Elvis’. Tom said, “I can just see him selling a bag of blonde hair or better yet red hair, as Elvis’s.”
The way we talked you would have thought we were teenagers.
Waiting at the front door at school was Janet. She wanted to make sure all was okay for the dance. I thought that was a little odd. She didn’t ask how I was. She just wanted to know if everything was still on for the dance. Of course it was.
Once she heard that it was, “Great, C’ya.”
No one said anything about my speech in the cafeteria or how I left school. At the same time I got a lot of good mornings. I felt so much better today than yesterday. Being treated like I was normal was much better than being some fake hero.
Classes went well except the teachers gave us an early homecoming present. They knew that homecoming day wasn’t the day to give tests, so they all gave them today! What a present.
Golf practice was fun. We did the front nine, and I did some things right and got a thirty two. Coach told me the course record was sixty four so if I kept it up for nine more holes I would have tied it.
After practice I stopped at the restaurant and confirmed that my reservations were still correct. They were. Kathy got me good. She asked me if I was so nervous about things because I was going to pop the big question.
“What big question?”
“Propose to her.”
She burst out laughing.
“You should have seen the look on your face. I wish I had a picture.”
I was blushing and feeling pale at the same time. I swear my life flashed before my eyes.
Kathy grinned, “I was just teasing.”
I know but it was a shock.
“I won’t be fifteen till next month.”
This took Kathy aback. You are fourteen? I thought you were seventeen going on eighteen. You are certainly big for your age.”
I just nodded, not knowing what else to do.
The fact that Kathy had even looked at me was astounding. She was an extremely attractive twenty something. Way out of my class. I retreated from this minefield as quickly as I could. Anyway the bus was almost ready to leave to take us back to school.
Dinner was cheerful. Mary had decided she would rather be a pony. Not have a pony, be a pony. She talked Denny and Eddie into taking rides, but took one look at me and said, “Some people are too big to ride ponies, they ride horses.”
I continued my nightly reading and finished the adventures of Tom Jones. Now there was the life.
School Friday was a complete waste as far as learning went. All the talk was of homecoming. The biggest issue was that the Captain of the football team, Tim Jefferson was black. The Captain of the team was always the homecoming King.
He would crown the homecoming Queen and then kiss her. This created all sorts of potential problems but the senior class elected Connie Hastings. Connie was the only black girl in the class.
That solved the racial issue nicely. It was politely ignored that Tim and Connie were first cousins. I always wondered later how their families felt about that.
Right after the second lunch period there was a big pep rally. The team and Coaches were introduced and we were told how they were going to beat the Kenton Wildcats. Many cheers were led and we were dismissed for the day. I picked up the corsage from the junior class. They had set up in the cafeteria and from the number of corsages being picked up; they would have a very nice prom. No
t that I was old enough to go.
There wasn’t golf practice that night, but we did have a match on Saturday, so Coach Stone asked us to not stay out to late on Friday because we played Sidney on Saturday. Luckily it was a home match for us, so we didn’t have to be at the course until nine o’clock for a ten o’clock tee off.
I was dressed for dinner just on time. My suit still fit me, just. It was tight in the shoulders and the pants cuff should have been let down. The pants weren’t embarrassingly short, but I would have to have the cuffs turned down if I tried to wear the suit again. When the limo pulled up I was about to walk out the door; when Mum reminded me of the corsage in the refrigerator.
“Thanks Mum; that would have been a bad start to the evening.”
“I would’ve brought it with me.”
“Brought it with you? What’s going on Mum?”
“Sue Ellen and Belinda and I are going together to Janet’s house to take pictures. You didn’t think we would let our boys go on their first dates without pictures did you.”
Actually pictures never entered my mind.
“Oh, then see you there.”
The limo gleamed it had been shined so much. There was a discreet lettering on the driver’s door which said, “Maverick Taxi Service.” The driver who turned out to be John Sullivan was wearing an old fashion driver’s uniform with buttons, he even had the hat.
He jumped out and opened the door for me. This was going to be neat. I told him so.
Mr. Sullivan said, “This is our big night, our opportunity to show this thing off and make some money. Speaking of which, you still owe twenty dollars.”
I had the money ready. He had a receipt already made out so it was an easy exchange.
My parents took pictures of me by the limo. Neighbors were coming out to take a look. Tom and Bill, who only lived a few doors down walked over, all dressed and ready to go. They were both awed by the limo.
Our Mum’s were taking pictures of us and the limo; dads were checking the limo out. After a few minutes Mr. Sullivan opened a back door for us and said, “Gentlemen your chariot awaits.”
We boys were pushed aside by the Mum’s who had to check out the interior of the car, they were followed by the Dad’s. After the proper amount of Ooh’s and Ah’s the guys were allowed to get in. I started to apologize to Mr. Sullivan and he laughed.
“This is exactly what we were hoping for.”
There was even a small refrigerator in the back. It was loaded with soda pop, but we didn’t have time to open any, and besides we didn’t know if we had to pay separately. When we arrived at Janet’s house, Mr. Sullivan again jumped out and opened the doors. I asked him about the soft drinks and he told me they were free and to help ourselves.
We marched to the door and rang the doorbell. The door was opened by Mrs. Huber. She invited us in all the while telling us how nice we looked. I guess we dress up pretty well. Tom had on a dark blue suit with a thin red stripe. Bill a dark brown suit with a light cross check pattern in it.
Both their ties were the snazzy thin Vic Damone style. The singer sure had set a fashion trend. Even Frank Sinatra had followed his lead in the super skinny ties.
I went with full western rig, fancy suit fit for the Grand Ole Opry, boots, and black cowboy hat. I wore a bolo tie with a turquoise slide. This would be a sight to see for staid old Bellefontaine. We had also pre-staged our clothes for the football game; all of us had jeans, long sleeve shirts.
It was cool enough we also had a light jacket. I was wearing one of my silver western belt buckles with the jeans and would still have hat and boots.
We only had to wait for the girls to get ready for about five minutes. Nancy’s mom told us that this was almost a record time for an event like this. I tried to picture what they were doing upstairs, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine. I got a vision of girls in garter belts and nothing else would come to me.
They came down the stairs together. I must say our dates were lovely. All wore beautiful dresses with crinoline underskirts which their moms had starched so they really stood out. I knew this because Mum would starch hers. There was the corsage presentation ceremony. Thank god I didn’t have to pin one on Janet, I just knew I would draw blood.
Then it was the pictures, us with our date, us as a group, and us with our mum’s, then us with our dates and our mum’s, and finally all of us as a group. The Kodak Brownies were clicking like crazy. I had spots before my eyes because of all the flashes going off. I kept looking at my watch because we were getting close to our dinner reservation. We finally broke free and went outside.
We were greeted by the sight of half the neighborhood looking the limo over. You would think they had never seen a car before. Of course the limo set off a new round of picture taking, with all the various groups. There was the obligatory examination of the interior of the car. Finally we were ready to go. Mr. Sullivan was all smiles as he held the car door for us.
As the girls got in the car you could hear all that starched crinoline crinkling. It sounded like a small rain storm. The girls had all changed their minds and were wearing white gloves and small pill box like hats. They also had on silk stockings which renewed my vision of garter belts. The Sears catalog had given me an extensive education on garter belts.
The trip to the country club went quickly as the girls recounted the trials and tribulation of getting ready. Who knew that so many disasters lurked in the closet, on the makeup table and in the curling iron?
We arrived at the country club only a few minutes late and our table was ready. Mum had coached me on such refinements as holding the chair for my date, putting my napkin on my lap and using the silverware from the outside in. Also I wasn’t to slurp my soup or belch. I promised not to slurp; the belch would take its chances.
The waiter took our drink order. Of course we all had soft drinks. I went with a Dr. Pepper to keep up the western theme. The rest had a Coke. I flinched at the drink prices, fifteen cents each! I wistfully thought of the free drinks in the limo, but knew it would be gauche to bring them in. I loved the new words I was learning from all my reading.
Each of us was looking over the menu; Nancy mentioned they had lobster, and that she had never tried it. I told the group I had it in a restaurant in Philadelphia and that it could be so messy you had to wear a bib.
She looked down at her dress and changed her mind. Bill heaved a sigh of relief. There wasn’t any dollars mentioned on the menu for lobster, just Market Price.
We all settled on some form of steak. I hadn’t eaten many in my life so wasn’t familiar with things like filet mignon. I ordered a T-bone medium rare. Luckily I found out that I liked it that way. As the meal progressed we talked about school but it quickly centered on my summer vacation. The other kids asked questions about the people I had met and places I had been.
It was so pleasant from this day I can’t tell you what I had for dessert. This was the first time I was able to have a normal conversation with kids my own age since I got home. It was wonderful.
Chapter 28
Other kids were here with their dates, as a couple or in groups, their parents must be members. During the course of the meal kids would walk from table to table to say hello. Our table was treated the same as the others.
Well other than the fact that in every group one of the guys thought he was a genius by calling me, “Tex.” I took it in the fun it was meant. I think my companions got tired of it before I did.
I was in such a glow that when the check was brought, I told the guys that I’ve got this. I signed my name and away we went. The girls exchanged looks and my social status went up another click. I would pay Mr. Hastings what I owed the club in the morning.
Mr. Sullivan was waiting with the car at the entrance to the restaurant. He took us back to Janet’s house where we changed into jeans, shirts with light jackets. I was able to wear one of my belts with the large silver buckle. Everyone asked about that. I explained it was for the National Juni
or Championship in bull riding this year and that it was 100% silver. You could hear my status click up again.
The game was great; we beat Kenton in a close game 21-20. At half time the homecoming Queen was crowned and kissed. After the game we headed back to Janet’s to change. Getting in the limo I mentioned to Mr. Sullivan that this was the only way to travel and that he would see me again.
He chuckled, “Not in this car, the cards went the wrong way last night. We were allowed to keep this commitment and then have to turn it over to the new owner. Easy come, easy go.”
“That’s tough!”
“I had this job for ten years; this is the way it is. We always end up ahead but sometimes the road gets bumpy. After tonight I suspect we will actually buy one.”
It was chaos at Janet’s house as we all changed back for the dance. Bill had managed to mess up the tie I had pre-tied for him, so I had to stand in front of a mirror and tie it, then slip it off and slip it over his head. Okay, so I pulled it a little tight, he lived.
We were only going to be a little late, which was okay as it was only ‘fashionably late’, according to the girls. I wish someone would explain that to my teachers.
The dance was okay. The youth center had been decorated for the occasion and every table had a center piece. Tom had a chance to shine here. His older brother told him about past dances, so Tom had paid extra and reserved us a table.
It was a table for eight and there were only six of us. Linda Harvey and her date Jason Robertson joined us. None of us really knew them, the only interaction I had with Linda was to help her get through a crowd at school. It turned out that Jason was visiting from Louisiana. It was a town I had never heard of. Monroe. He came with his dad on business with Mr. Harvey. He seemed nice enough, but I bet he had to shave twice a day.
There were more kids then seats, so other girls would leave their purses at our table when they danced. This allowed us to talk to a lot of people without having to walk all around. It was a good thing because Tom Humphrey and some of his pals were kicked out, because they tried to take some other freshman’s table.
