B.A.B. (Bare Ass Beach)

"Bonnie was not my girlfriend. Why do you keep saying that?"

"That's not what my cousin, Jane told me earlier this summer."

"I told you about that, it wasn't what it looked like," I said for the umpteenth time.

"That's what it looked like to Jane. Bonnie with her big boobs sitting on your lap, on HER front porch."

I groaned to myself and stopped arguing. Earlier that summer, sometime in early June, I was talking to a buddy, Jim Greiner, on his front porch. Jim's house was about a half-block away from the Dallmeyer's on the same street. Bonnie and Debbie were twin girls that had moved to our town while we were all in grade school. Bonnie and Deb were not identical twins, Debbie was a smart, slim, and athletic brunette, who competed in girls' basketball and ran track. Bonnie was taller, had dirty-blonde hair, and was built for comfort, not speed. Debbie was more of an introvert, and Bonnie was a friendly extrovert.

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On that evening, Jim wanted me to walk along to look at an old pickup truck sitting in front of the Dallmeyer's with a For Sale sign in the front window. Bob Dallmeyer, who was the twins' dad, was selling his old 1960 Chevy C-10 pickup. These trucks were built like tanks. When we arrived, Jim and I went up to the house and he knocked on the door. After a short time, Debbie, the slim brunette came out onto the porch.

"Hi Deb, is your dad home?" asked Jim.

"Hey, Jim. No, sorry. Mom and Dad went into town to do some shopping. What do you need?' Debbie asked matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I just wanted to see how much he's asking for the pickup," answered Jim.

"Don't know, but he should be home soon if you want to wait. I can get the key so you look at it. Start it up if you want," she added.

"Okay, that would be great," Jim responded.

Debbie went inside, and Jim and I remained standing on their porch. In a minute, Debbie returned with the key and handed it to Jim. We walked out to the Chevy, and it was unlocked. He got inside and cranked the engine, Va-room! Jim looked at me with a satisfied look on his face. He turned it off, and got out, and opened the hood. It had the 235 cubic inch-Overhead valve, inline six-cylinder engine that produced 140 horsepower. Like I said earlier, guys in our small town of that generation were all car nuts.

After Jim closed and latched the hood, we walked back to Debbie, who was sitting on the porch and he handed her the key. Deb and I exchanged hellos.

"Do you know when your dad will be home?" Jim asked again.

"It shouldn't be too long, maybe a half-hour or less," she answered.

"Someone else just called and asked about it too," she shared.

"Oh, if it's okay with you, I'd like to wait. Can we sit here on the porch?" Jim had some concerns about the competition, and he had his eye on this truck since he was sixteen.

"Sure, would you guys like a soda while you wait?" Debbie asked.

"Thank you, that would be great. Coke or root beer for me," I piped up.

"Coke's good for me too, Deb," Jim answered.

Debbie got up off her metal lawn chair and went inside. Jim and I settled into the two remaining lawn chairs on their porch. The sun had set, and it was starting to become twilight. The evening was still pretty warm, and muggy. In a minute, she returned with two cokes, and she had an orange soda. We thanked her and started to drink our sodas.

I had gone to school with Debbie from about third grade through twelfth, and this evening was the most conversation I'd had with her the whole time. She was very bright, and a good athlete, but our paths just didn't seem to cross very much. She was wearing tight shorts and a French cut t-shirt. She had the build of the girls who ran track; muscular legs, a small firm butt, and small breasts. Her skin was naturally dark-complected, like her mom's, who had a Mediterranean heritage. She wore her dark brown hair in a bob hairstyle. She often had an impish smile or expression on her face, as if she was up to something. All told, she was pretty and had a pixie type of look.

"Deb, did you land a job this summer?" I finally broke the silence.

"Yea, just waitressing over at the diner, until September. I start nursing school then."

"Hey, that's great, didn't know you wanted to do that." I returned.

"What about you Jim?" she asked.

"Uh, I'm working the grounds, and cutting grass out at Indiantown Gap," Jim answered.

I had applied for that job too since I knew Faye would be out there all summer. But I never got a call. For some reason, that was a highly sought-after job by new high school grads. Jim would relate to me later that summer, that officers stationed at the base were provided housing. And their young wives lived there with some of them. Jim had some good stories about cutting grass at those houses.

"What about you Tom, where are you working this summer?" Debbie asked.

I started to answer Deb, and Bonnie, came bounding out the front door. She was wearing a pink striped onesy, jumpsuit. Mother of God! Her shorts stopped about one inch below her crotch, and the buttons on the blouse were straining to stay closed over her boobs. They resembled guided missiles, ready for launch. Bonnie had a straw-colored, bouffant hairstyle, was fair-skinned in contrast to her twin, and had always been a little flirty all through school.

"Hi Jim, HI Tom, what are you two doing here? Come to see me?" She teased.

"Nah, just want to check out your dad's truck," Jim responded.

"Not a good answer, Jimmie," she chided him.

"How come you girls aren't keeping it?" I asked.

"We don't want to learn how to drive stick-shift," Debbie answered.

"It's not that hard, Jim or I could teach you," I offered.

Jim gave me a look that said, 'shut up', he really wanted that truck.

"Tom, can I have a sip of your soda?" Bonnie asked me.

"Sure," I said holding out the can from where I sat.

There were only three of the lawn chairs on the porch. Bonnie came over and sat down across my legs and took the soda from my hand. She was turned side-ways to me, and put one hand on my shoulder while she sipped the coke with the other hand. She smelled really good, and I struggled to keep my eyes off of her big tits.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do Ya?"

"Ok, with me, it's your porch," I answered weakly.

"Wow, you're really tan. Are you working as a lifeguard again this summer?" Bonnie asked while touching my upper arm.

"No, I'm working in a stone quarry near Hershey this summer. Pays better than the club pool."

Bonnie seemed to be listening and had rested her arm upon my shoulder. She was sitting right on my lap, and I could feel the soft skin of her thighs touching my legs, where my shorts ended. She was fidgeting while she was sitting. It was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. My face was literally inches from that pink cotton, that was straining to contain her boobs.

"I thought you guys here in town, got your all-over tans over at the B-A-B," she said and laughed at her own joke.

"You should try it Bon, we'll take you some time," said Jim.

Jim was a wiry, little guy, with short blonde hair; but he was also a real horn-dog.

"Maybe I will. Are girls allowed at Bare Ass Beach?" laughed Bonnie.

We all laughed along at her joke. Debbie just rolled her eyes at her sister.

"There are no formal rules, Bon. I've heard a few girls went over after a graduation party. It turned into a coed, skinny-dipping, beer party," I said.

"Were you there?" Debbie finally joined in.

"Nah, but I helped Bogie hide the beer in a shallow spot earlier, so it was cold when they arrived."

"Who all went to that?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, I'd heard a few names, but Betsy was the only girl who supposedly, swam with all the guys. Bogie said the other ones didn't have the nerve to do it."

"I'm just glad nobody drowned, since they were all drinking," I added.

"Ha! Knowing Betsy from the basketball team, I bet she did more than swim," laughed Debbie.

I just held out my hands, palms up, and made a face, like I didn't know the answer to that. Just then we could see car lights coming down the street, I was nervous that the Dallmeyer's would be pulling into their driveway, and see Bonnie sitting there on my lap. She made no attempt to move and had that a devilish grin on her face at my predicament.

The car didn't slow down to make the turn. As it passed, I saw it was Jane Kirby, Faye's older cousin driving the car. She clearly saw me with Bonnie, and her twin, pink missile launchers sitting on my lap. I groaned audibly.

"What's the matter? Am I getting too heavy?" Bonnie asked.

"No. But that was Faye's cousin, Jane driving that car."

"Oops. Well, it's no big deal, I'm was just sitting here. Tell her that you were here to look at dad's truck."

"Yea, that'll fly, I'm sure. Gotta go girls." I said and helped Bonnie off my lap.

Jim was the prankster among my buddies, and he was enjoying my situation as if he'd cooked it up.

"See Ya later Jim. Let me know how you make out. Bye girls," I said.

"Later buddy, let me know how you make out too," he laughed.

"Bye Tom; bye Tom," both twins said as I walked off their porch.

Under different circumstances the evening could have turned out quite differently, now it was going to be a damage-control shitshow as far as Faye and I were concerned. I decided to tackle it head-on, and get ahead of the situation by telling Faye the whole story the following evening. Yea, that could work.

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Back at the Dixie, our shakes and fries finally arrived, and we hadn't spoken since that last exchange after Bonnie passed by in her Corvair. I paid the cute waitress and gave her a buck for a tip. She gave me a big smile and said thank you.

"Eww! Big tipper, maybe she'll give you her number too."

"C'mon Faye, I recognized her, she was only a sophomore this past year," I offered meekly.

"Some of the guys at the Gap were asking me where you're going to school this fall," Faye thankfully changed the subject.

"I told them Penn State, and they all laughed, and said, you'll be up there all year with about ten to twelve thousand cute co-eds."

"Faye, they're just saying that to make you jealous and go out with them," I said.

These Army pricks had been working on her since she'd been hired. I knew this wasn't a great place for a young girl to work, who happened to be my girlfriend. One young lieutenant had actually asked her out, that she told me about. I trusted Faye, but that trust didn't extend to soldiers.

We shared the fries, and drank our milkshakes in silence, except for the slurping noise when they're almost empty. I got out of the car, and threw the empty cups and fries' tray into the garbage can at the end of the aisle, so the servers didn't have that extra work.

I returned to the car and got in. Without saying a word, I started the Ford, and pulled out of our stall, exited the drive-in, and onto the main street. We drove on with the radio playing and not much conversation. Her aunt's house was about four or five miles from the Dixie drive-in.

Faye hadn't moved over and was still sitting in the middle of the bench seat next to me, but there was no contact between us. That wasn't a good sign. I didn't drive particularly fast, so maybe the extra time would make the problem go away. Okay, so I wasn't much of an expert where women's minds are concerned.

We finally crested the little hill where our small town started, and four blocks later, I stopped in front of her aunt's house. I was debating turning the motor off when Faye spoke.

"I'm kind of tired, maybe I'll just go into bed early tonight," she said.

That was code, for she was still pissed, and didn't want my company. Under the circumstances, I thought that a night apart might help smooth things over some.

"Okay, shall I call you tomorrow night, or just stop down?"

"Yea, you can come down," Faye said and gave me a quick peck that landed on the side of my mouth, not dead-on. She got out and said, "Bye."

I watched her go up the steps and into the front door. It was a little dark, and I couldn't see if she looked out at me. This was the earliest we had split for the evening all summer. I tried not to think about what I'd be missing out on this evening.

I started to head back home but took a swing by Jim's house. Sure enough, he was outside shining up the Chevy pickup, he'd bought from Mr. Dallmeyer. His dad had put in a little driveway in the backside of their house, where we'd often play basketball. It had a spotlight and we could play into the evening. At the time, Jim was waxing the truck under that light. It was Chevy's 'Belair blue' and white, and the paint had become somewhat dull over the years.

Their house sat on a corner, so I parked at the street next to where Jim was working on his 'new' truck. I got out of the Ford and walked over to him.

"Hey Jim, do you feel like a late-night swim over at B-A-B?" I asked.

"It would be a good night for it, but I have to get this baby waxed," he replied.

"What's the rush?

"I'm taking Amy out tomorrow night, and won't have time tomorrow," Jim answered.

Amy was Jim's new girlfriend that he'd met recently. She still had another year to go in high school, and went to Eastern, on the other side of town. Amy was a quiet, thin girl with long straight black hair. She was very pretty, and Jim wanted to impress her with his newly-waxed truck.

Just so you know, most girls in my experience weren't impressed by pickup trucks. But if their boyfriends had a love for them (the trucks), then the girlfriends went along with it.

"Okay, maybe we can do a double-date sometime?" I added.

"Yea, that'd be cool. Amy is always saying she doesn't know any of my friends since she goes to Eastern. Hey, how did you make out, with the 'Bonnie' incident, when we went to look at the truck?" Jim asked.

"Don't ask. I thought it was smoothed over, and tonight we ran into Bonnie down at the Dixie."

"Ouch! So, she's still mad about that?"

"Yea, plus the guys out at the Gap, are constantly hitting on her, plus telling her I'll be playing the field this fall up at State."

"It was too bad Faye's cousin had to drive by and see Bonnie on your lap that night. After you left, it sounded like the twins may have been up for a swim at the quarry that night," Jim told me.

"No shit? I thought Bonnie was just talking big, but Debbie?" I asked.

"Yea, it surprised me too, but she's pretty cool when you talk to her for a bit. Bonnie is all fluff and tits. With Debbie, it's kind of smoldering beneath the surface," Jim added.

"Interesting. I'd have never guessed, but you've lived pretty close to them all these years, and know the twins better than me."

"Looks like we both may have missed out on a good time. Besides, the twins weren't as interested in going for a dip, when the big bad lifeguard got up and left," Jim added.

"Never know, just keep your options open, I guess. See Ya later buddy, say hi to Amy for me."

"Okay, sorry you're flying solo tonight. Be careful," Jim said as I walked back to the Ford.

It was a damn hot and muggy evening, I started the Ford, and drove further down the street, to where there weren't any more houses. I parked at the last vacant lot, which was an acre plot that my dad owned and had his large vegetable garden. At the end of that street, it made a left turn parallel to the railroad tracks.

Our little town was bordered over the entire length by three major railroads, all clustered together. They were the Pennsy, the Reading, and the B. & O. (Balt. & Ohio). For a city of thirty thousand, give or take a few thousand, that's a lot of railroads. The reason being, our county made steel, mined iron ore, and used a lot of coal. There was a small strip of land next to the three RR tracks. On our town's side of the main tracks was yet another small railroad track called the Piney, short for Pine Grove. It wasn't used very often with a few exceptions. The main reason was, the Piney was the main or only track that hauled heavy equipment to the Indiantown Gap military reservation.

Dad's acre plot ran right up against the Piney, but in later years, the tracks were ripped out and replaced with a bike path. The tracks were actually about ten feet down a hill from our land, so you'd never know they were there unless you walked over there and looked downhill. After parking my car, at the corner of dad's lot, I got out and decided to smoke a cigarette before walking over to the quarry. I was in the middle of my short smoking period, and practically all the guys at the stone quarry were smokers. I hadn't told Faye about it yet and avoided smoking prior to being with her. Her dad was a smoker, and she was often around it, so I could always claim that it was sticking to my clothes or some other bullshit.

At home, I could open the back door and step across the threshold, and Mom would be sitting in the middle room watching tv or crocheting, and she'd loudly ask me if I'd been drinking or smoking. Moms had noses that rivaled drug dogs at airports.

So, I was leaning up against the fender of my Ford, and smoking a cigarette, contemplating the crappy turn of events that evening. That's the only part of smoking that I've missed, it often distracted you. And that distraction might help your mind come up with a solution, that otherwise might go unnoticed.

There was a beautiful full moon, and I was spending it alone having a smoke. Had I planned a little better, I might have thrown a few cans of dad's beer into a little cooler. If I'd overindulged, I could easily walk home the few blocks and pick up the car tomorrow.

It was a quiet street and no trains were running at this particular hour. I saw car lights heading my way. Someone had turned off the main street and was driving the two blocks before you ran into the train tracks. I was sitting there in plain sight and saw the old '62 Mercury Comet slowing down as it approached the left turn down Boundary Avenue. It stopped right in the street beside where I was leaning against the fender.

My cousin Becky, yelled out the passenger window with a laugh," What are you doing down here, Tom?"

"Uh, just finishing a cigarette, and thinking about going for a swim," I said while motioning with my head in the direction of the train tracks.

The quarry, that we called, B-A-B was across those tracks. Becky lived about six houses down on Boundary Ave., and knew all about the quarry.

"Want some company?" she asked.

"Sure, C'mon out."

Becky backed up her Merc and parked it right behind mine.

She got out and walked over to where I was leaning against the Ford. Without asking she reached over and took my cigarette from my fingers. She put it in her mouth and took a puff. She didn't offer to give it back.

Becky and her younger sister, Ginny, were my closest cousins both physically from where we lived and the closest thing I had to sisters. I did have an older sister, but she was long gone from living at home, as I was growing up.

Becky, which was short for Rebecca was a year older than me at nineteen. She had a boyfriend, Don, who was in the Navy. Don was about four or five years older than me and had met Becky at a local dance. Becky was cute and had a great sense of humor. She was known for being able to talk very directly with everyone and didn't mince words. She was wearing a pullover summer blouse and shorts. She was about five foot five, and was a little on the chunky side, with thick reddish-brown hair. Her freckled face would light up with her laughs, and she wore glasses.