His Daddy's Car

Bobby's real reason was that when he had selected this parking spot, he hadn't considered having a passenger with him. In order to fit into the space properly, there was only about 20 inches of clearance on the passenger side for the door to open. He didn't want the paint on the door damaged by hitting the cinder block wall right next to it.

He opened the door for Patty, and realized that she had plenty of room to get out of the car, so unless she carelessly just threw the door open, it shouldn't hit the wall. On the other hand, Bobby was enjoying himself as he took her hand and helped her out of the car. She bent to retrieve her backpack and stood looking at Bobby.

He said, "If you give me a minute to get the top up and secured, I'll walk with you to class. If you want to go ahead without me that would be okay too."

Patty made a fake pout, "I'm new here and might get lost between your car and the class. I would feel better waiting for you to show me the way."

Bobby chuckled, "I am honored to be your guide."

From that morning on, Bobby was hooked. After school that second day he drove Patty home, which allowed him to know where she lived. He met her parents and heard her called by her full name 'Patricia Kathryn' as well as her nickname "PattyKat" for the first time.

They made arrangements for him to pick her up at her house rather than along the side of some road. On the third day of school, they started eating lunch together, usually discussing class assignments and homework, but Bobby was amazed at how her eyes seemed to burn right into him. He sometimes felt like she was communicating with him through her eyes alone, and all he had to do was translate this new foreign language in order to unlock all the mysteries of life.

Bobby and Patty had become lab partners in Biology and sat next to each other in every other class that they shared, so naturally Bobby went to her house a few times to study or work on class projects together. From the first time he met her, Bobby was more comfortable around Patty than anyone else in his life, and while he sensed she felt the same about him, they hadn't discussed it.

When baseball wasn't in season, Bobby tried to work at the electronics store three evenings each week, usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. Even though he didn't play football in high school, Bobby enjoyed going to the games and cheering for his school, unfortunately his work schedule frequently made that impossible.

During lunch with Patty one day, he asked, "Have you been to any football games since you came here?"

She gave him a questioning look, "Not yet. Why?"

"More curious than anything," Bobby said. "I don't even know if you like football."

Patty smiled, "I always enjoyed the atmosphere much more than the game on the field. Of course that may have been influenced by going to a school that NEVER won a single game," she laughed. "I'm anxiously waiting for baseball season though so I can watch you play. I'm going to be your biggest fan. What about you? Do you get to many football games?"

Bobby confessed, "So far all the home games this year have been on Friday nights, and I'm scheduled to work. So no, I haven't been to any games yet this year. However, the game this week is on Thursday night because it's Homecoming, so I could probably make that one."

"That's nice," said Patty.

"Those eyes!" thought Bobby. "What did they just tell me?" Bobby gazed into Patty's eyes with more focus, and then he knew.

"Patty, if you're not doing anything Thursday night, would you like to go to the Homecoming game with me?"

"Bobby I would be so honored," she said as she smiled glowingly at him, but it was what he saw in her eyes that told him he had read them correctly.

From the Homecoming game onward, every night that Bobby wasn't working, he and Patty were together, and on nights he worked, he called her when he got home. There were not a lot of 'dates', but they combined their studying with activities that real couples would do. Rather than reading in the library, they would sit under a tree at a park to read, often with one or the other lying with their head on the lap of the other. They would hold hands between classes on occasion, but when they were in his car, Patty's left hand was always in Bobby's right, or it was on his arm or shoulder. She was steadfast in maintaining a physical connection to him, and he welcomed her efforts. Their kisses were quick, infrequent, and reserved, but they could both sense a passion growing each time their lips met. It became common knowledge around the school that Bobby and Patty were exclusive, though neither of them had ever acknowledged it themselves.

During the Christmas break, Bobby and Patty became even more inseparable. Bobby always considered their first "real" kiss to be the one they shared under the mistletoe at his house on Christmas Eve.

Bobby's parents had left to spend the evening with their daughter Lindi's family in Corona before driving to Ontario Airport to pick up his sister Franc who was flying from school in Texas for Christmas. Patty's mom was holding a Christmas Eve party at her house for some close friends and work associates.

Bobby and Patty knew that they each would be expected to spend Christmas day with their own families, so they had planned to get together on Christmas Eve to exchange presents with each other.

Bobby picked Patty up from her house and took her to an early dinner at a restaurant along Pacific Coast Highway with a window view of the decorated boats in Newport Harbor. After dinner they went to his house to exchange gifts. All night Patty's eyes had been radiating her feelings for Bobby, and he reveled in what they told him. While they sat cross-legged, facing each other in front of the Christmas tree, Bobby handed Patty a wrapped package.

She smiled across at him as she unwrapped the box. It contained a complete pastel art set, including sketch pad. Tears came to her eyes as she leaned over, pecked Bobby on the lips and said, "I love it. Thank you. Now I just need some inspiration for my first masterpiece..."

"I actually thought about that, and have the perfect model for you," as he handed her another wrapped package.

"Two gifts?" she asked.

Bobby grinned and said, "I wish there could be more."

Patty pecked him on the lips again as she tore the paper off. This present brought a tear to her eyes as she squealed with delight, "Oh Thank you Bobby! This is perfect in so many ways! I'll cherish it always." Then she brought the framed photograph of Bobby's Corvair to her lips and kissed it. His car had been the constant in their relationship. It was shared only by them, and it was the one place where they were free to express themselves to each other in relative privacy, even with the top down.

"Ready for your gift?" she asked as she stood and pulled Bobby to his feet.

"Okay," Bobby chuckled as he let her lead him. Patty reached into her purse and removed a small wrapped present and handed it to Bobby.

"I sure hope you like it," she whispered as he opened her present.

"Wait!" she said. "You'll need more light." She quickly pulled him over towards the doorway that led to the kitchen so that the light from the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling would shine down on them. Bobby finished removing the paper, and then opened the small box to reveal a key chain fob.

As he examined it, the Chevrolet Corvair Monza emblem was very prominent on one side, and there appeared to be something engraved on the other side. He angled the fob so the light would hit it better, then he silently read, "To Bobby with all my love. PattyKat."

Bobby was at a loss for his own words because of the words Patty had written. Looking into her eyes left him no doubt that the words were true, and now he had to let her know that he felt the same.

When Bobby motioned with his head for Patty to look up, she noticed for the first time that there was a sprig of mistletoe taped to the top of the doorway they were standing under. Bobby pulled her into his arms, smiled and while looking into her eyes, tried to beam to her the same feelings that her eyes showed him.

To make sure she got his message, he whispered, "I Love you PattyKat", and then he kissed her. He kissed her the way he had wanted to kiss her for months, with his lips, his tongue, his hands, arms, and whole body, and she met him point for point.

"Cute," Bobby thought as he realized Francis' reference to a Doobie Brothers song. "Now I'm going to have that damned song in my head for hours... "

"When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town

Down around San Antone

And the folks are risin' for another day 'round about their homes.

The people of the town are strange

And they're proud of where they came.

Well, you're talkin' 'bout China Grove, wo, oh, oh,

Oh, China Grove."

"Well," he thought, "at least I know I'm on the right road." Bobby tapped his fingers against his key fob to the beat of the song but his mind soon lost the rhythm...

Bobby remembered getting tickets to the Rose Parade, so on New Year's Eve, he and Patty drove to Pasadena to spend the night along the parade route. Bobby didn't tell their parents that he had actually paid for reserved grandstand seats, so there was no need for them to spend the night on the parade route, but Patty knew.

Bobby packed a couple of sleeping bags into the trunk of the Corvair, and since the temperature was a bit on the cool side, he left the top up for the drive. They arrived in Pasadena by 9 p.m. and found a place to park that was close enough to the port-a-potties should they need them, but far enough away where they wouldn't have people walking past them all night.

Bobby retrieved the sleeping bags and handed one to Patty.

"Top or bottom?" she asked. Bobby looked at her quizzically.

She smiled and said. "We are going to zip the two sleeping bags together silly and cuddle up together to stay warm. One bag will be the top and one will be the bottom. Do you care which is which?"

Bobby grinned, "Since you seem to have a plan already, I'll defer to your judgment on the matter."

"Good answer," she giggled.

They zipped the bottom of the two bags together and then positioned them in the backseat of the car. Once they had both crawled in and gotten themselves situated inside the bags, they each pulled the zipper closed on their respective side, and then snuggled against each other to wait for the New Year.

Just minutes before midnight, Bobby turned to Patty and said, "I want to start this year, and every year to come with you Patty."

He slid his class ring off his finger and said, "I hope you'll accept this ring as the first of many I have planned for you PattyKat. Will you go steady with me?"

Bobby's only regret was that it was too dark to clearly see Patty's eyes as tears flowed.

Between her sobs, Patty whispered, "Now and forever Bobby". They fell asleep still kissing.

When Bobby arrived at the park and practice fields, his California license plates were immediately noticed by U.S. Marshal Kirby Wallace.

Kirby had been with the Marshall Service for a little over two years after transferring from the Secret Service so he could take a job that would allow him to move to San Antonio. His fiancée at the time had transferred from Walter Reed Hospital to Brooke Army Medical Center, and Kirby had sought a position that would allow him to relocate with her. The relationship ended when she began an illicit affair with a female doctor, but by then, Kirby was established in his current role, and decided to stick around the area.

While he didn't attend every practice, Wallace did make a habit of keeping an eye on JR's practices on a regular basis from a discrete viewing spot across the street from the practice field. Kirby observed the stranger just sitting in his car as he watched the practice, and then saw him meet and receive a hug from one of the other parents watching the practice. The apparent familiarity with one of the Reids was somewhat comforting, but Kirby was still suspicious. He called for backup and kept a closer eye on the stranger in case he tried anything with JR.

As the practice came to an end, Jason Reid noticed his wife Francis chatting with her brother. He rounded up Joey and his friend JR since he would be riding home with them today, and then headed over to join his wife.

"I see that Francis didn't get you lost with her directions," Jason said as he walks up to Bobby.

Bobby shook Jason's hand, smiled and said, "The directions were spot-on. That darn song being stuck in my head has me considering an alternate route in the future though."

Jason and Francis both laughed and Jason says, "You're telling me!"

Francis called one of the boys over and said, "Bobby, I am pleased to introduce your nephew Joey. Joey, this is your Uncle Bobby."

Bobby saw almost equal parts of his sister and Jason in the features of his nephew, and thought how lucky the boy was to have such visible indications of who both of his parents were.

Joey shook Bobby's hand and introduced his friend JR.

Continuing to watch from across the street, Kirby tensed momentarily as JR shook hands with the stranger, but then he relaxed slightly as the group started moving towards the parking lot.

Bobby veered off towards his car to follow Jason and Francis back to their house when Joey noticed the Corvair for the first time.

Joey's eyes grew wide as he nudged JR and said, "JR, that looks just like your Dad's car!"

JR agreed and the two boys approached Bobby's car to examine it closer.

Bobby looked down at JR. "Does your Dad have a Corvair?"

JR looked up at Bobby, "I don't know what kind of car it is. I've only seen pictures of it that my mom keeps."

As the boys walked around the car, Joey asked, "What does the license plate mean?"

Bobby sought an explanation they would understand and then told them, "You probably know that boats are often named in honor of ladies, so in the same tradition, I named this car after a special girl in my life, hence the license plate that reads "PATTYKAT".

Francis walked over and told the boys that they could talk more about the car when they got home since Bobby will be following them, so they left Bobby to get in his car and they headed to their SUV for him to follow.

The backup that Kirby Wallace requested hadn't arrived by the time that the practice ended. When he saw the stranger in the convertible pull out and start to follow the Reid family with JR in their vehicle, he began tailing them as well.

It took less than half a mile for Bobby to realize that he was being followed. There weren't a lot of through roads in this semi-rural area, and the black Suburban didn't appear to be doing anything other than traveling in the same direction as them, so Bobby just kept an eye on it as they drove to his sister's house.

When Jason pulled their SUV into the drive of their home, Bobby pulled his Corvair along the side of the road in front. The black Suburban continued past and Bobby watched it as it went around a curve down the dead end road. As Jason, Francis and the boys piled out of their car, Bobby was already walking towards them.

Bobby heard thunder in the distance and looked to the sky. There were storm clouds off to the north that looked like they would pass by, but he yelled to the group, "I'm going to go ahead and put a cover over the car rather than put the convertible top up."

Joey and JR both asked if they could help Bobby, but Francis said, "Joey you need to help us unload our own car, but if JR wants to help Bobby that would be fine."

When Joey didn't object to this JR trotted the few feet to Bobby, and then they walked together back to the Corvair. JR headed to the back of the car expecting Bobby to keep the cover in the trunk.

Bobby saw this and then he smiled and asked, "JR do you know anything about a Corvair?"

JR shook his head as he said, "I've only seen the pictures that my mom has."

Bobby told him, "Come up front with me".

Bobby opened the trunk compartment and JR's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, "Where's the motor?"

Bobby then took JR to the back of the car and opened the engine compartment.

"The Corvair was the only production version of a rear-engine car ever manufactured in the United States," said Bobby.

"You mean this isn't a foreign car?" asked JR.

Bobby shook his head, "Nope, built right here in America."

Bobby closed the hood and led JR back to the front of the car where he removed the cover he had folded in there.

As he removed it, JR noticed a baseball glove on the floor of the trunk and asked, "Is that your glove?"

"I forgot that was in there!" said Bobby. "Yeah it's my old glove."

"Do you play baseball," JR asked.

"I played third base in little league, three years in high school, and then four more years in college," replied Bobby.

JR said, "I play third base on our team. Joey and his dad usually play catch for a while after supper. Do you want to play catch with me if they do?"

"Well, I'll pull it out now in case we get the chance, but no promises." Bobby pulled out the glove and tossed it onto the road in front of the car, closed the hood, and then started unfolding the cover over the car.

JR went around to the other side and tried to help unfold and position the cover, following the actions that Bobby was taking on his side.

"Do you think you could take me for a ride in your car sometime, Bobby?"

Looking at the boy, Bobby thought how he reminded him of himself at that age. The similar hair and eye color aside, JR exuded a confidence that allowed him to ask for what he wanted and, Bobby expected, the strength to accept not always having his desires fulfilled.

Bobby smiled at him, "JR, I never make promises I can't keep. Whether I can take you for a ride will depend on things outside of my control."

"Like what?" asked JR.

"I cannot take you for a ride unless your parents say it's okay for you to ride with me. You'll need them to give me their permission."

"Both parents?" asked JR.

"Is that a problem?" responded Bobby.

"I only have a mom," said JR. "I mean I have a dad, but I've never met him."

"I'm sorry," Bobby said. "I thought that when you and Joey said this car looked like his that..."

"I don't know anything about him other than the pictures of his car. Mom says that she will tell me about him someday," JR says. "I think she may tell me soon because she doesn't cry as much anymore when I ask her about him."

"So you've only seen a picture of a car and she told you it was your dad's?"

JR told him, "I've seen lots of pictures of the car. There's a new one each year."

"So your dad sends her new pictures each year? That means he must still be around somewhere."

"No," JR replied. "Mom paints the pictures herself from her memory. She frames a new one each year on Easter Sunday. As far as I know, we never hear from my dad."

The thought of someone else holding a special memory of Easters past brought tightness to Bobby's throat. He stifled it and finished covering the car, showing JR how to secure the spring clips around the bumpers and wheel wells.

Bobby retrieved his glove from the road, and he and JR returned to join the others on the back deck of the house.