Our Heart (7 page)

I turned away from the door and headed into my bathroom. I was lucky to have a bathroom all to myself. Grandma and Grandpa took the room at the end of the hall and used the main bathroom downstairs. After Dad left and I moved in, they gave me their room with the private bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried not to let too many negative thoughts work their way into my head. The eyes staring back conveyed their nervousness. I grabbed the shaving gel and lathered up my face. Grabbing the razor, I debated whether to use a new blade or not. I opted for the current blade. Every time I used a new blade, I generally nicked myself. Today wasn’t a day in which I had the time or patience to deal with a cut. I took a deep breath to calm down and managed to shave without any complications or severed arteries.

I looked on the shelves behind the mirror to pick out one of my colognes, I had so many to chose from, either the Old Spice that Grandpa had given me for my birthday
or
the French named one I got from Aunt Marcie last year for Christmas. I figured Aunt Marcie new best, so I used hers. Remembering somebody saying small doses were much better than large ones, I tried to be careful with how much I put on. I don’t know if the suddenness of the upcoming day with Allison was generating all of my nerves or if it was the underlying feeling of the wind picking up, as I stood on the tightrope overlooking the abyss, which was causing so much nervousness. I’d been on several dates in the past and even had a steady girlfriend for most of my junior year. I was never this anxious. I could sense, somehow, that today was different. It was more than not knowing anything about Allison and the mystique surrounding her. Compared to all of my other dates with the girls I’d known all of my life, this was going to be a totally new experience, and I felt way out of my element.

One last look in the mirror and an extra shot of deodorant made me feel better in the hygiene department. I took a closer look at the clothes I was wearing. I still had the flour-baggy war to do and I wondered how I was going to participate in it wearing anything else. Well, if the day was going badly, then dirty clothes might be a good excuse to head for home, needing to change. A sudden thought crossed my mind. What would Allison use as an excuse if she weren’t having a good time with me? Would she even be next door waiting for me? I now unleashed a whole new set of things to worry about. I decided to keep the same University of Iowa tee shirt on, but took a moment to consider wearing the Iowa State shirt instead. I wouldn’t care as much if it got dirty or ruined…who was I kidding? I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing it out in public; once a Hawkeye fan always a Hawkeye fan, flour covered or not.

I grabbed my sunglasses off the top of my dresser and quickly ran my fingers through my hair like a comb. I just about went out the door before I remembered: gum. You never know when you might need it. Besides, you couldn’t eat one of the amazing beer brats sold downtown without it being loaded with sauerkraut and onions. Putting the gum in my pocket made me think of my teeth and back into the bathroom I headed. I flashed myself the toothiest smile I could and looked closely to make sure I didn’t have anything packed in there that didn’t belong. I used the toothbrush for the second time that day and gave my teeth an extra scrubbing, making sure the tongue got a little loving too.

Now I was ready. I felt more confident than I had been earlier; in fact, I wasn’t nervous anymore. If anything, I was excited! My fear was being replaced with the anticipation and thrill of being with Allison. The clock was just changing to eleven, straight up. I headed out the door and bounded down the stairs, nearly knocking Grandma over for the second time in less than an hour. She was holding out the forty dollars in her hand for me to take. She had a bemused look on her face and her eyes were full of a devilish twinkle. I stopped and took the ready money from her hand and tucked it away safely, in my wallet. I gave her a sideways glance, as I moved away from her and towards the front door. I loved Grandma Sarah and loved her even more, just as the screen door slammed behind me, and I heard her yell how good I smelled. I jumped the three steps from the top of the front porch to the sidewalk below.

I no longer wanted to worry about the day. I decided on the short walk between yards that I was going to be calm, cool, and collected, as they say in movies. If Grandma Sarah and Mrs. Dittmer had gone to the trouble of planning this little outing, then maybe Allison had already hinted to her mom how the boy next door was sure one, fine specimen. I couldn’t help smiling to myself at that thought. It also occurred to me she might be just as nervous as I was, so the more relaxed I could be, the more fun we could have together. After all, fun was what the day was supposed to be about…ok, and maybe the look on Matt and Nick’s faces when they saw me show up with Allison. Just yesterday, Nick had made the comment he was thinking about stopping next door to see if the new girl wanted to go to the dance with him. I let him know exactly what I had thought about his comment by giving him an extra hard shot in the arm, as I wished him good luck and fat chance. A day later, I realized I was trying to stake a claim of my own and subtly let Nick know I had my own aspirations for Allison.

The Dittmer’s house looked a lot like our house and was fairly similar to all the other houses up and down the street. We all had two-story, older homes, most of them with porches on the front and a few, like the Dittmer’s, that needed some extra work to bring them back to life again. As I was about to climb the steps to the Dittmer’s porch, I caught movement in the window, up and to my left, on the second story. All I glimpsed was the fluttering of the drapes, but I smiled to myself anyway. It was a good sign in my book. I figured Allison must have been looking out the window, waiting for me. I returned my gaze to the front door and sucked in my breath as I stood face to face with Mr. Dittmer, behind the fine mesh of the porch door. He was taller and much bigger than I was. I didn’t realize how much so when I had seen him the other day carrying things in with the movers. He had well defined, strong arms, and I instantly knew I would not want to have him mad at me. He opened the door and held it outstretched with one long arm, motioning me to come in with his other hand.

“You must be Jason? Glad to meet you, son, come on in,” he said, in a voice that did not fit his exterior look at all. It was kind and, once I stepped over the threshold, he offered a full smile, which gave him more of a big teddy bear look. I was instantly put at ease and found myself warming to him immediately. He went on to say, “My name is Larry and I prefer you call me that instead of Mr. Dittmer and, by the way, you tell your grandma that her strawberry-rhubarb pie was out of this world!”

We were interrupted as Allison and her mother came down the stairs, both wearing the same, identical look on their faces. I heard my grandfather say many times that, when you date the daughter, you date the mother, too. Being the suave man of the world, who I really wasn’t, I did my best to play it cool. As soon as they hit the landing, I complimented Mrs. Dittmer on what a great house she had. I kept the smile on my face and waited to see what her reaction was going to be. If you looked around the place it was still stacked with boxes, and stuff was cluttered around everywhere. Mrs. Dittmer didn’t disappoint me and she started to laugh. She came over to me and placed her hand on my upper arm, giving it a light squeeze.

“How wonderful of you to notice; it’s taken me a long time to get it to look this good,” she practically sang out, smiling all the while. It was right then I knew the Dittmers were going to be one of my favorite couples to spend time with. Looking past Mrs. Dittmer to Allison standing there, smiling and looking back at me, I had no doubts I was going to be seeing a lot of them too.

Allison didn’t even give me the opportunity to make the next move. She stepped past her mom and said, “Jason, I want to thank you for offering to take me to the town fair! I was hoping somebody would be kind enough to show me around, especially after I saw the huge banner hanging over the street downtown.” Ok, I was now thoroughly hooked, and I could feel the barb firmly planted in my stomach, as she just reeled me in without a fight. “I hear there’s a street dance and fireworks tonight. Are you going to the dance?”

God help me! I couldn’t find one word to say other than, “yep!” It didn’t matter that I came across like a country hick. Allison’s smile brightened and her eyes shone with pure excitement. I know my face was turning red, but I didn’t care. When she grabbed on to my arm, my whole body started tingling. As she ushered me out the door, I couldn’t have told you what day it was; hell, what year it was.

There is something about the sensation that travels throughout your body when someone you are attracted to touches you. I was riding cloud nine as Allison held on to my arm. I’d had this same feeling before when other girls had gotten close, but never this quickly or with such intensity. From far away in the distance, I heard the soft fluttering voice of Allison’s mom telling us to have a good time at the celebration. Stacy Dittmer called out louder this time, telling Allison they would try to catch up with her later in the day. Her Dad couldn’t resist interjecting some humor as he added a comment about how the town might be too big and how they would probably get lost. Larry chuckled as he said he’d do his best to find her, short of hiring a bloodhound. We all laughed and I just kept floating along. I don’t think Allison had any idea what kind of affect she was having on me. We turned the block and headed down the sidewalk towards Main St. She let go of my arm and we walked the next block together in silence.

I ran several questions and comments through my mind, but none of them seemed to be the right one to ask; they all seemed really lame. I finally decided on, “I bet it was tough having to move with only a couple of years left of high school?”

“Yes and no,” Allison replied, “I had lots of friends and I was pretty active in things at school, but I don’t know…it kind of felt right…like I needed to have a change in my life. I knew Mom and Dad wanted to do something else and I had similar feelings. They were great and included me in all of the decisions. I was even the first one to spot the house we bought. It kind of stood out to me, and when Dad saw the picture, he was sold. Mom had to do a little more research, but I think she knew too. Sometimes the bigger cities aren’t as friendly, and you get tired of driving in all the traffic just to get somewhere. I liked the idea of things being a little slower, and who knows, maybe I’ll even get a chance to play on some of the sports teams. I really like basketball, but I never would have gotten an opportunity to play where we came from. I’m hoping I can make the team here.”

I started laughing. At first she smiled with me then she started getting an “are you laughing at me look?” I felt like I was walking a tight line so I stopped and said, “I’m not laughing at you! They only had eleven girls on the team last year and there aren’t any tryouts; everyone who goes out makes the team.” I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t grasp what I thought was so funny, then it dawned on her and her bright green eyes shone even more spectacularly. She looked at me and grinned. Every second I spent with Allison drew me in more and more and put me farther out on the tightrope in my mind. I noticed every little detail about her, the kindness in her smile, the freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose, and the enticing scent of her perfume. Each and every trait would be firmly engraved forever within my memory.

Over the next hour we walked and talked, much like her mom and my grandma must have done earlier this morning. We had probably even followed fairly close to the same path they had taken themselves. We stopped often, as I introduced her to my friends, and all of the people we encountered, who I knew by growing up in a small town. By the time we finally ran into Matt and Nick, Allison and I must have talked to nearly the whole town. Nothing made me more ecstatic than when one of the guys from school saw me and give me that knowing smile. I just returned it with my own slight nod, the one that said, “Yep, she’s with me!” It was a nod that got easier to give as the day moved from late morning to afternoon; I even started to believe it myself. We stopped and ate brats from one of the food booths and had homemade, iced lemonade from another. I even let her talk me into cotton candy and did my best not to make a mess with it. With some people, conversation and comfort come easily and naturally; it was definitely like that between Allison and me. In the space of a few hours and in the midst of a small town celebration, I had found a certain, special someone with whom I “clicked.”

Matt and Nick hung around with Allison and me most of the afternoon. By the time we headed over to the flour-baggy war games, she was pretty comfortable having them around. Several times she used her quick witticism to take a jab at Nick. At first, he was uncertain how to take it, but soon he was all in. The four of us were making snide remarks back and forth and Allison played her part well. A couple of times, Nick tried to make a noticeable and not so subtle move towards Allison, nothing too strong, kind of testing the waters. Both times his hook came back empty, even more appropriately, snapped off at the end of the line. Nick recovered from the errant cast and the group talk turned to some other topic, but I felt my spirit soar a little higher each time.

Matt took one brief moment, when Allison stopped to use the restroom, to put his arm around my shoulders and say, “Way to go, Man…she’s sure into you.” I just nodded and smiled my best “and don’t you know it” grin.

By the time we got in line to do the flour-baggy war, Allison was an official member of our team. We counted the number of people in line ahead of us and figured we were going to be in the third group, which meant we might be standing in line for another hour. Most of the time, the participants went through their bag ammunition pretty quickly; sometimes, though, you’d get a couple of people who’d choose to hide behind the hay bales and not throw theirs. They would hoard them and try to wait out the initial frenzy. If the game wasn’t progressing at a reasonable pace, then the person running the show would yell and tell the entire group they were now on the clock. He would start counting time down from ten minutes. It was one of the most popular games, and many people would play the game several times. During the day, they would rotate the color of flour in the baggies.