Back in the summer of 1972 I was
staying at my aunt's house in Syracuse, NY. They were going to go
away for a few days and had decided I was old enough to feed myself
and not burn down the house while they were away. I assured them I
was used to taking care of myself as my mother worked full time and I
pretty much kept myself busy as it was. They pointed out where all
the important things were and headed off while I sat on their front
porch admiring my luck at being known for such a responsible young
man. After marvelling at how I was pretty much on my way to growing
up I decided to set up a back stop and practice my pitching arm and
glove handling.
I took and old picnic table they had
in the back yard and turned it on it's side facing down the slope of
the driveway. I had a lacrosse ball, which if you've ever seen a
Super-Ball you know is just about the bounciest thing ever made - I
could bounce it off the ground with little effort and it would soar
into the sky where I could practice making outfield errors to my
hearts content. I went to the bottom of the driveway and tried in
vain to make one play after another while the lacrosse ball zipped by
me like I wasn't there. I consoled myself with the fact that a
baseball could only be child's play after trying to corner a lacrosse
ball on the bounce.
I kept a eye out for the occasional
car and lost the ball in the grass and bushes once or twice when I
noticed a young woman on a bicycle pedalling around the street. I
almost ran into her one time and she made a joke about passing on the
wrong side. I smiled at her and went back to my practice, lobbing
the ball at the picnic table and stabbing in vain one more time as it
zipped right on by me. This time she was standing there in the
street, bike in hand, laughing at how silly I looked chasing a stupid
ball around the street. I was tempted to remark that she didn't look
much better with her old-fashioned (girls) bike but instead looked
her over (she was wearing shorts and a nice halter top - fine apparel
for the weather we were having that summer) and asked her to help me
with finding my lacrosse ball (again).
After a few minutes of pointless
searching I decided maybe I didn't want to play ball anymore and
offered to get her some iced tea. She was genuinely funny as well as
attractive, quoting from cartoons and trying to steal my glove and I
was hoping she wouldn't mind my company. I didn't really know any
other kids in Syracuse and I was hoping I had made a new friend. She
remarked that she wasn't really from here and didn't really know
anyone else either, but couldn't stay too long as she would be
expected back. We sat in the shade of a tree (she didn't look too
keen about my suggestion we sit on the front porch but I figured, a
girl, she probably thinks I'm being a little pushy) talking and
joking and just being a couple of teenagers in the summertime.
After a while she looked at her watch
and said she would be missed if she stayed away too long and started
to get her bike ready to leave. I told her again how I was pretty
much house sitting and (without being too pushy, I hoped) invited her
to come back anytime since I didn't really have too much else to do
and I really liked her company. She said the same and said she would
think about it, smiling and riding off with only one glance back,
which was enough to make me feel as if I were not quite the dork I
had been thinking I was, trying to field a lacrosse ball before it
put me in the path of an oncoming truck or something.
I spent the rest of the day losing
the lacrosse ball again and watching television ( the Olympics were
on from Munich, Germany - which had gotten me in the spirit of being
some kind of athlete in the first place) , thinking again at how I
was growing up finally, having a house all to myself and meeting a
new friend, and a pretty girl at that.
Around dusk I heard the sound of a
bicycles horn, the cool old-fashioned kind with the rubber ball you
squeezed. I looked outside and sure enough, it was her. I invited
her inside but she didn't seem too happy about the idea, us both
being teenagers and all. The neighbors might not think it was so
innocent
