Three Sides of the Tracks Read online

  Swimming was kind to her feminine development too, sculpting her body in all the right places and adding the glow of good health to her skin, which darkened considerably during summer.

  Today, she swam several lengths of the pool freestyle with hard, strong strokes then flipped on her back and swam several more. Her shoulders strained against the water, releasing pent up anxiety with every stroke. The water was usually her friend, but, today, it was her enemy, her Thurston. Her strokes were not efficient but heavy, strained, as she cupped the water far longer than normal.

  A half-hour later, she slowed and glided through the water with graceful breast and sidestrokes, relaxing now and letting the tension ease from her muscles. She drifted through the pool then dipped and dove to the bottom and swam back along its length, loving the freedom of being wrapped in a cocoon of water.

  Caroline kicked powerfully and glided to the surface alongside the apron. She breathed normally after one or two deep breaths, still in good condition.

  Her cheek rested on the apron, and her long legs floated behind her. Exercising always improved her mood and gave her a sense of well-being. Her conversation with Danny came to mind, and she remembered when she first became concerned about her relationship with Thurston. Really concerned, not just distressed.

  An episode of Oprah caught her eye: battered women and why they took the abuse rather than leaving their abusive husbands, or, if they did leave, they inevitably entered into another relationship that morphed into abuse.

  No easy reason or identifiable pathology was identified or one definitive conclusion reached, other than most of the women had poor self-esteem. But lots of women, men too, had poor self-esteem but would never allow themselves to be abused. The women just seemed to be in a pattern and, most of the time, had been raised in a household in which their mother was abused. Caroline couldn’t figure it out; it didn’t make sense. It seemed that, rationally, the opposite would be true.

  Caroline even suffered through several episodes of the sanctimonious Dr. Phil, whom she loathed for his pompousness. She remembered an episode involving a tiny woman, perhaps five feet three-inches tall weighing around a hundred pounds. She’d told her story of fear and terror of her husband, Raymond, who hit her when he was really enraged.

  Dr. Phil talked to her and counseled her on what to do, then asked, “Okay, Betty, now what will you say to Raymond the next time he talks to you that way?”

  The mite of a woman sat hunched in her chair wringing her hands and said, “Raymond, you’d better not talk to me like that. You’re gonna hurt my feelings.”

  Dr. Phil exploded from his chair, all six and a half feet and three hundred pounds towering over the woman. He literally picked her up by the elbows, grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

  “No, Betty, no. You tell him, if he talks to you like that again, you’re going to leave. And you won’t be back. Isn’t that what I just told you to do a few minutes ago?”

  Betty stood quivering in front of the huge Dr. Phil and managed to nod.

  “Okay, Betty, let’s try it again. What are you going to say to your husband when he threatens you?”

  Betty looked up at the towering figure and seemed to gain confidence. “I’ll tell him, if he don’t quit acting up, I’ll go get Dr. Phil. He’s just as mean as you are, and, when he jerked on me, he hurt me just as much as you.”

  The audience erupted in laughter.

  Dr. Phil shook his head in exasperation, never comprehending that the crowd was laughing at him and not the woman

  Despite his nerve-grating personality, his advice to the women agreed with Caroline’s thinking, which was to get out of the situation as quickly as possible by using whatever means available short of violence, unless the women feared for their lives, which some did.

  That was the beginning of Caroline’s deep concern. She knew her mother had been abused for years. They’d even talked about it. So Caroline decided to try and understand her own situation.

  On all of her dates with Thurston after that, she paid attention to her thoughts and actions and tried to figure out why Thurston was so demeaning, bossing or making pronouncements instead of conversing. Was any of her behavior giving him reason?

  Maybe subconsciously Thurston thought that, when she asked him where he wanted to eat dinner or what movie he wanted to see, she was being submissive instead of merely polite. Perhaps he mistook her refusal to continue an argument as weakness instead of just distaste for unnecessary turmoil. She wasn’t excusing his behavior. Certainly, no one else spoke to her the way he did.

  She’d had four dates with Thurston after that and then confronted him with his behavior, which he denied. “She was stupid. She was imagining things. She had PMS.” It was always her.

  This morning was it, and she ended their relationship.

  Floating in the pool, she concluded that, altogether, the relationship had been a good thing. She learned a great deal about herself. Early enough in life to not make a bigger mistake later.

  The phone rang, and, in a few moments, the housekeeper came out. “Miss Caroline. A young man wants to speak with you. Richard Turner. You know Richard Turner?”

  Caroline was speechless for several seconds. “Tell him to call back in thirty minutes, please, Harriett.” Richard’s kind eyes flashed through her mind. “Or take a number,” she called out. “Either way is fine.”

  “Okay, Miss Caroline, I’ll tell him. Sure is good to hear a polite voice for a change. All that gruntin’ and bossin’ bout got on my last nerve. Hope he won’t be callin’ here no more. Sure do. Uh huh. Sure do.”

  Caroline kicked and pulled herself out of the pool in one motion.

  “Why didn’t I say ten minutes,” she scolded herself as she dried off.

  Harriett pushed open the sliding glass doors and handed Caroline a piece of paper with Richard’s number on it. “Sure hope he’s better lookin’ than that gorilla what’s been comin’ round here,” she said and rolled her eyes.

  Caroline grinned. “That gorilla won’t be coming around anymore, Harriett. You can rest easy.”

  “Whuuuu me; thank goodness. Best news I’ve heard in a long time. You finally had yo’ ears cleaned out. Thank goodness.”

  Caroline surprised herself by being both curious and excited at Richard’s call. She waited another five minutes, which seemed to go by very slowly, and dialed the number.

  “Richard, this is Caroline,” she said recognizing his voice.

  “Hi, Caroline. Thanks for returning my call. Um . . . Um, Caroline, I realize we just met this morning, but I overheard some other students talking about you and the tough guy breaking up, and, you know, it might be a little early, but I’m hoping you might do me the honor of going to the dance with me Friday night. Is it too soon after breaking up with your boyfriend, or are you considering going back with him?”

  Caroline hesitated. What would Thurston do when he saw her with someone else?

  “Well, I don’t know, Richard. I’m not sure how Thurston—‘the tough guy’ as you call him—is going to behave. It might be better to wait a while until he settles down some and accepts me breaking up with him. I don’t want to be the cause of any trouble. He can be violent at times.”

  “Is, umm, is that the only reason keeping you from saying yes?”

  The hazel eyes flashed through her mind again. “Yes, that’s all. But we could go somewhere less public or to Atlanta maybe.”

  “That would be fine, but I don’t mind going to the dance, unless it would make you too uncomfortable. I feel kinda, I suppose irritated to let someone else determine what I do. Can’t live like that, Caroline.”

  His words and frankness shocked her. She remembered the courage of the tiny lady on Dr. Phil. “You know, that’s right, isn’t it? If you’re not afraid, then, okay, the dance it is.”

  “Good. I admire your courage. I love to dance and haven’t in a long while. Long for me, anyway. Couple of months at least. I’ll call you, say, Thursday n
ight, and we can set the time. Okay with you?”

  “Sure, Richard, that’s fine. I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Thank you for calling.”

  “Goodnight, Caroline.”

  Her hand froze right before she turned off the phone. Had his voice softened when he said her name? She heard a click as the connection broke.

  Her stomach fluttered with excitement. It had been a while since she’d felt that, and it felt good. Three faces flashed across her mind: Richard, Thurston, and then Danny. The tingling felt so good she didn’t bother to worry about the faces.

  “A real night out,” she whispered to herself. “Should have ditched him a long time ago.”

  Richard picked her up at seven Friday night, and they went to Outback Steak House for dinner.

  He politely stood beside her as she slid into the booth then sat on the opposite side, so they could face each other as they talked.

  The restaurant filled up as other couples stopped in before the dance. Caroline and Richard seemed to be the topic of conversation judging by the furtive glances and whispers coming from the other couples.

  Richard’s skin tingled when Caroline smiled: her rising cheeks became fuller and green eyes sparkled with life. He hadn’t seen this smile before. He’d originally thought Caroline attractive, but this Caroline sitting across from him was exceptionally more than attractive—much, much more. And all without any makeup, he observed.

  They stopped noticing the glances or stares directed their way and were surprised to find that the restaurant crowd had thinned when Caroline excused herself to tidy up.

  “Gosh, look at the time,” she said.

  “Ten o’clock. Wow, that went by fast, huh?”

  “I’m surprised the waiter let us sit here this long,” Caroline said.

  Richard winked. “No man would ask such a beautiful woman to leave.”

  Caroline hadn’t blushed so profusely in a long time. Her hands covered her face. She knew she was supposed to say something but was at a loss.

  A few seconds passed before she regained her composure. “I don’t usually lose my composure that easy,” she said to cover her embarrassment, unsure which was worse, the blushing or the excuse.

  “I think it’s charming. Most women with your looks are so self-absorbed they wouldn’t recognize an honest compliment if it bashed them over the head.”

  “Oh, you’ve dated a lot of beautiful women?” Caroline said with an impish grin.

  “Of course. You don’t think I’d date ugly women, do you?” Richard grinned back.

  “So,” Caroline began, her confidence having returned, “why did you ask me out?”

  It was Richard’s turn to blush but only slightly.

  “Got you back, didn’t I?” Caroline said and giggled.

  Richard nodded sheepishly. “I noticed you my first day at school. Naturally, your good looks caught my eye first, but then the way you were friendly with everyone. I didn’t see you pass anyone in the hallway without speaking. You must know everybody in school.”

  “I do, some better than others. There aren’t many I don’t know, at least casually. But there are some who just like to stay by themselves—who’ve never had any friends. I wonder about them but haven’t quite known how to approach them. I mean, year after year just going from one class to another without talking to anybody and then sitting in the back of the room. It’s always like that; the ones who don’t socialize always sit in the back. Interesting. But Benton is so class conscious, I figure it had to do with something along those lines and maybe they’re embarrassed about something. Know what I mean?”

  “Kinda. Doesn’t mean it’s true, but it’s as likely as not.

  “Anyway, to get back to the subject, when we bumped into each other, I already knew I liked you and wanted to ask you out. I just hoped you’d like me. Then, when Brutus walked up, my heart kinda sank because of your relationship, but I thought about it all day and decided, what the heck, maybe she’s tired of him. It won’t hurt to ask. I won’t know unless I do. Plus, I like the way you shake hands,” he added with a chuckle.

  “You’re a real cut up, aren’t you?”

  Richard’s eyebrows knitted. “Cut up. What’s that?”

  “Oh, teasing all the time.”

  Caroline saw a slightly hurt expression pass briefly in Richard’s eyes, and, before he could reply, Caroline jumped back in.

  “I could just have easily said ‘charmer’; that’s really what I meant: that you’re fun to be with. I forget you haven’t been here long and don’t know southern slang. I’ll have to be more careful.”

  Still feeling guilty, Caroline reached across the table and grasped Richard’s hand. “Let’s go to the dance. You ready?”

  The confident look returned to Richard’s face. Actually more so. It seemed a hurdle had been crossed, and the two felt closer.

  ***

  Cars filled the parking lot when they arrived. Richard parked on the curb and hoped he wouldn’t get a ticket.

  “Oh, the police don’t bother about that when there’s a big event. So long as you’re not blocking anyone’s driveway or those kinds of things,” Caroline assured him.

  The two stopped at the entrance, and Richard paid the twenty dollars for both of them. All the money went to the band, imported from Atlanta.

  “Are you too full to dance? Want to wait a little while?” Richard asked.

  “No, I didn’t eat as much as you, and it’s been a couple hours now. In fact, I’m getting hungry again,” Caroline said with a giggle and poked Richard’s stomach.

  Richard goosed her in the side and took her hand. “C’mon then, let’s dance.”

  Caroline flashed him a big smile.

  They danced half a dozen dances then headed for the refreshment table. Cokes and sugar cookies in hand, they found seats along the wall with the other sweaty dancers. Caroline waved at several people but didn’t feel like making introductions just yet.

  She and Richard were deep in conversation and didn’t notice the couples around them stand up rather quickly and walk off.

  A gang of boys, young men really, approached Richard and Caroline and formed a semicircle around them. All were big, husky football players, friends of Thurston.

  “What you doing here with Thurston’s girl, new boy?” the biggest, Big Tony, asked. He was a lineman and weighed three hundred pounds. It was a close call as to whether he had more teeth than not.

  Caroline’s smile vanished and the irritated expression on her face should have warned Big Tony that things had changed. “Get out of here, Tony. Thurston and I aren’t dating anymore. It’s no business of yours anyway.”

  Johnny, the smaller of the bunch but still 210 pounds of stocky muscle, slapped the cup of Coca-Cola out of Richard’s hand, luckily in the opposite direction of Caroline, but still splashing a good amount on Richard’s pants. “You fixin’ to get your butt whipped, boy. Thurston warned you ‘bout messin’ with his woman.”

  Caroline jumped from the chair and pushed Johnny away, or tried to. He didn’t budge.

  Richard grasped Caroline’s arm. “Come on, Caroline, I’d better get you out of here.”

  Thurston appeared and pushed his buddies aside. “You ain’t going nowhere, pretty boy. Not with my girl.” He slapped Richard’s hand off Caroline’s arm, grabbed her wrist and pulled her to within inches of his face. “I told you plain you’re my woman, Caroline. I came here tonight expecting us to be together and find you holding hands with this turd.”

  His head swiveled to Richard. “I warned you the other day, buddy. Now, I’m going to make you wish you’d listened.”

  Another four or five guys, all football players, joined the group surrounding Richard. “Get his stuck-up ass, Thurston. Walking around school like he’s hot shit.”

  Before Thurston could say anything, Johnny jumped on Richard, got him in a headlock and bent him sideways to cut off his wind.

  Richard stomped Johnny’s ankle. There was a cracking soun
d, and Johnny fell to the floor. His head banged off the hard wood.

  “You punk,” Thurston shouted and threw a hard right hand at Richard’s jaw that sounded like a balloon popping when it hit. Richard turned a half circle, knees wobbly.

  Caroline grabbed Thurston’s arm, but he snatched it away and slapped her with the back of his hand. She crashed and flailed through the row of chairs and banged her head against the wall. Stunned but conscious, she tried to stand but tangled in the chairs again and tumbled to the ground. Teresa Weaver helped her up and guided them both around the melee, Caroline too dazed to know where she was.

  Richard steadied himself enough to throw a punch at Thurston, but the 300-hundred pound Big Tony grabbed his arm just as he swung.

  Thurston’s next blow hit Richard square in the face. Blood shot from a broken nose and split lip, and Richard’s knees sagged.

  Big Tony held him up while Thurston punched Richard again. The cheekbone cracked so loud everyone heard it.

  Suddenly the expression on Big Tony’s face changed. “Look out,” he shouted.

  Thurston felt a brief flash of pain before he hit the floor unconscious.

  Big Tony took it next; a blow to his stomach left him retching the liquor he’d been drinking all night.

  Another one, Butch, ducked as the lead singer’s microphone stand sailed just over his head.

  “You don’t know what you gettin’ into, Danny boy,” Butch said, just before Danny threw the stand down and hit him six staccato punches.

  Jimmie Decker, Michael Dunn, Tommy Whitehead, and a half-dozen other boys jumped on the other football players, and the melee became a riot.

  Thurston was out cold, so Danny straddled Big Tony and rained blows on his head before he could get his wind back.

  “Stop it, Danny, stop. I quit,” Tony wheezed between broken teeth. “You win. You win.”

  “What? I can’t hear you,” Danny stood up and stomped Tony’s ample gut. Tony rolled slowly to one side struggling to get a breath.

  Danny looked around for someone else to hit, but the rest of the football players were lying in various states of disarray, bloodied and scattered around the floor while Danny’s friends taunted them.