Whispers in the Wind

by C. E. Lemieux, Jr.

  By our sophomore year, I had finally realized boys are easily distracted, and their interests can change from one moment to another. They might be focused on their girlfriend, and seconds later the love of their life has four wheels and a horn. They can sincerely claim the same sort of affection, or even passion, towards both. However, it seems the car usually comes out ahead in this area, too.

  The car bug had bitten Henry, and its venom was coursing through his veins. I should have recognized the symptoms long before I did, but I guess I was blinded by love. He started spending all of his free time talking with the guys about motors and transmissions and stuff like that, often not even noticing if I was around.

  Henry’s parents had a ‘74 Ford station wagon they generally let him drive about anytime he wanted, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He wouldn’t rest until he had a car of his own. His parents certainly couldn’t afford to buy him one. So, Henry got a job at Coldwater’s to earn the money himself. He went down each afternoon during the summer. When school started he worked after football practice and on Saturdays. He swept up the sawdust from the cutting room, filled the pop machine, burned the trash and the cardboard, and stocked the counters.

  I hardly saw him at all that summer. Sometimes he would come over and sit on the porch with me in the evenings, but most of the time he was too tired. Every penny he made, he saved. He was so intent on getting that car there was no way he was going to let anything get in his way. That was one thing about Henry; he learned early to work hard and save his money. Those were traits that followed him on through every job he held.

  Thomas Hodge, Jenny’s father, had an old ’65 Cougar convertible sitting out behind his house. Henry had been eyeing that thing for months. Although the cloth top had been long shredded and the upholstery was split, he dreamed of fixing it up. Well, Mr. Hodge practically gave that bucket of bolts to Henry; I think just to get it off of his property.

  Henry spent every free minute he had with that car. When he wasn’t in school, playing football, or working at Coldwater’s, he was working on the car. I think he would have taken it to bed with him, if it weren’t too big. In four months, we hardly saw each other at all. Most weeks the only place I could see him was at school. He was tying up nearly every hour of every day. After a while, I got to feeling a little lonely, and maybe even a little jealous of that car.

  Finally, I asked Henry if he could break away for a night to go do something together and I was surprised when he actually agreed it might do him good to take a break. So, on Saturday night we headed over to the bowling alley in Beaver City. J.B. and Stacy Kellerman went with us. We bowled a couple of games and Henry loosened up quite a bit. He talked about the car and all of the things he had left to do to it. Most of it I didn’t understand, but it was nice to be spending some time with him.

  “Hey, you guys want to go back home and get a burger at the Commercial?”

  It was Henry’s suggestion. We hadn’t gone to the Commercial Café since the car had come into our lives. Until then we usually stopped by there every Saturday night for at least a soda.

  “Yeah, sure,” J.B. agreed for us all.

  We spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing, and having a generally great time together. Then, Henry took Stacy and J.B. back to the Newburn’s house. We drove over to my house and sat out front for a little while talking.

  “I really enjoyed spending time with you this evening. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too. It was fun wasn’t it?”

  “It seems like it has been so long since we went out and had some fun. You work so hard. You are either doing school work, practicing football, working on the car, or working at Coldwater’s.”

  “Yeah, I know. Maybe, I have been letting some other things get in the way, lately. Why don’t we plan on a picnic tomorrow after church? Then next Saturday night we can go to the drive-in movie.”

  I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight, giving him a peck on the cheek.

  “That sounds fantastic. You know, I understand how important the car is to you. All I ask is for enough of your time, so I know you still want me there. I’d never ask you to give up what is important to you.”

  “I know. I’ll come by after church and pick you up.”

  He got out and opened the door for me.

  “Okay, I’ll get a picnic basket ready to take with us,” I said, looking up at him, with a glow upon my face.

  We walked up to the porch. I always stood on the top step as he kissed me good night. It was the only way we could be face to face. I held my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes.

  “I love you, Henry.”

  “I know. I’m sorry if I haven’t been paying you enough attention. I guess I’ve been caught up in everything going on around me. Maybe this weekend will make up for some of it though.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. That was usually his cue to me that he had better be going.

  “Well, I guess I best get on so you can go to bed and have sweet dreams of tomorrow.”

  We kissed passionately, one last time, before I went inside.

  “Good night, Henry.”

  After church Henry came by to pick me up and we went down along the river, under the cottonwoods for our picnic. J.B. and Stacy Kellerman went along with us.

  Those big old cottonwoods, with their heart shaped leaves, offered such wonderful shade from the sun’s afternoon rays. We had a beautiful time there along the Beaver River, taking the opportunity to soak our feet in the cool running water and lounging around with each other. The water was so low in the river we could walk down the center of it and never get deeper than our knees. In spots, the sand was loose enough to rise up between our toes. While in other spots the bottom was gravel.

  Though some of the cottonwood leaves had started to turn pale yellow, most were still large and green, rattling in the slight breeze. We carved our names in one of those big old cottonwoods. I wonder if it’s still there. It’s been years since I was down there by that particular spot.

  The four of us spent the entire afternoon along the river enjoying the day and each other’s company. In fact we didn’t make it back home until the sun was starting to dip down towards the horizon and the air was beginning to pick up a little chill.

  The week went relatively fast. Though we didn’t really see much of each other, the thought of going out to the drive-in kept me going. Forgan couldn’t possibly support a drive-in. Maybe in its hay-day, but that was before there were drive-ins. Beaver City had a little bigger theater, but still, no drive-in. Whenever we wanted to go to the drive-in movies, we had to go to Liberal, Kansas. Liberal was only thirty miles away and that’s where most people from our area went to look for the majority of their interests.

  We were going to Animal House. It was the first “R” rated movie I’d ever seen. We weren’t actually old enough to get in, but Henry had arranged for Jerry, who was old enough, to pull in ahead of us and pay for both cars. The idea was that the attendant wouldn’t be interested in slowing things down with all the other cars lined up to do anything more than count the number of people inside. It worked and we slipped in to get our first exposure to college age decadence.

  Since Henry’s car project wasn’t done, we went in his folks’ car. Henry was a little embarrassed about having to use their station wagon, but I kind of liked it. It was a comfortable car and besides, we had enough room to let J.B. and Stacy Kellerman double date with us.

  Henry had seemed to have gotten over the tagalong stuff from our youth. However, I could tell the other guys must have been giving him a rough time about not having the Cougar done by the way he acted whenever he saw any of them. It was like he was trying not to be seen.

  The movie itself was hilarious, wild, sick, and definitely eye opening. My parents would have used a lot different words, I’m sure. If they had known I was there…I can’t imagine. I kind of felt a little guilty. I was a good girl. I never
hid stuff like that from them. I didn’t sneak around behind their backs. I didn’t really have to, because they trusted me to do the right thing. Somehow, I don’t think they would have agreed with my choice for entertainment that night.

  After the movie, we stopped at the A&W for a soda and some fries. Henry and I got separate orders so we wouldn’t fight about the ketchup. J.B. and Stacy had no problem sharing an order of fries, they both liked ketchup.

  From the A&W, we headed back home to Forgan. The worst part about going to Liberal was the drive home. It was a boring thirty miles, especially since everyone was a little tired anyway. There’s nothing but tumbleweeds and pasture the whole way, maybe a tree every two or three miles. I guess we’d all had enough excitement for the night because the car was silent on the way home, except for the rumble of the engine. I think I might have even dozed off a time or two with my head on Henry’s shoulder.

  When we got to town, Henry dropped off J.B. and Stacy, before taking me home. We sat out in front of my house for a few minutes. It was nice; the two of us being alone after all that time. I felt so comfortable with my head against his shoulder. Before long, I could feel myself getting drowsy again and I decided I had better go on inside. We kissed good night, and overall, it really had been a nice evening.

  In the locker room after football practice on the following Monday, J.B. overheard a conversation between Andy Simpson and Henry. Andy was one of those guys who thought he was every girl’s dream. He was more like every girl’s nightmare. He thought a relationship consisted of him and his desires; a groper with an attitude.

  “Hey, Henry, was that your daddy’s station wagon I saw at the drive-in the other night? From a distance it looked like you and Abby were really steaming up the old man’s windows. So, are you finally getting somewhere with her?”

  Henry leered back at him.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You know what. You and Abby Lynn; you guys have been steady so long you might as well be married. So tell me, are you getting any of the benefits? No offense, but with a shape like that, I bet she can really rock the old man’s backseat. Does she make a lot of noise?”

  Henry shook his head.

  “Whatever.”

  Andy’s grin got more cocky than usual.

  “You ain’t ever been man enough to find out, have you? Maybe, you need someone else to break her in for you. I’ll stand in if you need me to, like I said, she has a great shape. Can’t say I particularly care for listening to her, but she’d be alright if you taped her mouth shut.”

  “Mind your own business, Andy.”

  “Hey, don’t get so upset. I was only offering to break her in for you. I mean, it seems pretty obvious you can’t handle it.”

  “Listen Andy, I don’t need any help breaking her in; I do fine on my own, thanks.”

  “Okay, I said I meant no offense.”

  He acted like he was going to let it drop, and then he grinned and started in again.

  “So, how is she? Does she moan a little or a lot?”

  By now, J.B. was listening pretty intently and he was getting steamed.

  “I really don’t see that ‘how she is’ is any of your concern, but she’s good enough. Okay? As long as she’s my steady and not yours, I guess you won’t have to worry about it, now will you?”

  “She’s good enough, huh? I’m impressed. I really didn’t think you had it in you, and I definitely didn’t think Abby Lynn would let you get that far. She seems a little too much like a prude to me. Guess I was wrong. But man she does have a body. If you decide you’re through with her, you let me know.”

  J.B. couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped around the corner and put in his two cents worth.

  “Henry, don’t let this jerk talk that way about Abby Lynn. You’re letting him think she is some kind of sleaze, and you know she ain’t. She isn’t that kind of girl. Don’t you even care that you’re messing with her reputation here?”

  “Who you calling’ a jerk, B.J.?”

  J.B. wasn’t one to rile easily, but once he was riled, he didn’t back down easily either.

  “I’m callin’ you a jerk, Simpson. Ever wonder why every girl in town heads the other direction when you come around? The only one you could get to go out with you is a new one and even they won’t give you the time of day, if the others have had time to warn them about you. You’re the biggest jerk in town. You want to continue to talk trash about a friend of mine, you’re gonna have trouble getting the words past your fat lips. I’ll lay you out.”

  Well, that pretty well shut Andy up for the time being anyway. He knew better than to go to fists with J.B. Newburn. He might not be the biggest kid in town, but he was the quickest, and when it came to a fight, he was like a bulldog; he bit down and hung on ‘til the end. Andy turned and walked away.

  Then J.B. turned his attention on Henry.

  “I can’t believe you of all people, Henry. She’s your girlfriend, and a good one at that. She’d do anything for you, and you couldn’t even swallow your pride enough to make sure her reputation didn’t get ruined. Why, Henry? Don’t you love her enough to protect her?”

  “Aw, now J.B., I never said we did anything.”

  “No, but you didn’t deny it either. You were just gonna go ahead and let that jerk’s imagination run wild. Then he would’ve went around telling stories about her like he knew it was gospel.”

  “But nobody believes anything Andy Simpson says anyway.”

  J.B. looked him square in the eyes, before looking down at the floor.

  “No, but they all believe what Henry Newburn says, or at least most of them. I’m starting to wonder.”

  Surprisingly, Henry was the one that told me the story. I’m not sure whether he told me because he was really sorry, or because he figured J.B. would tell me if he didn’t do it first. I guess it doesn’t really matter. It did take a lot to own up to it and he did apologize. I don’t think it hurt as much as it would have if I found out in a different way. In fact, I almost understood. I mean, not that it was okay or anything, but guys do have this thing about looking macho in front of other guys.

  Well, anyway, I accepted his apology and forgave him, and I never really heard anything go around school about it. I imagine Andy Simpson was scared that if he said anything J.B. would come after him. He probably would have, too. He was never afraid to stand up for what he believed. He always was a gentleman, even back in high school.