The Summer of '66 - Barbara Ann

The biggest of Chad's backers assured the bouncers, "We were just on our way out." He looked at Caelan and challenged, "You coming too, or are you punks gonna hide behind the skirts?" Caelan responded with a menacing grin; "Remember: you started this shit, and you invited us outside in front of all this witnesses. Daddy's lawyers aren't going to be able to come back on us now!"

One of the bouncers slapped Caelan on the back; "We threw that punk out three times last summer and warned him not to come back. Want me to come down and even the odds? They have 5 to your 4."

"Nah, man, thanks, but Chad the pussy don't count as a whole; it's more like 4 and a quarter against 5, and we can handle that. Just keep an eye on them for knives or guns. Bullies like those don't like getting their asses handed to them." "I'll be right behind you, and I AM carrying" the bouncer said as he patted his pocket.

None of the four girls thought this was a good idea, but Barbara Ann was adamant that they were not going to fight...until Caelan gave her a warning look that stopped her in mid-sentence. The shop girl from Pat Magee's joined them and said, "Come on; I've seen these four guys in action before. This will be fun! Although we may have to pull Caelan off the wise ass; he seems to have a hard-on for him! I've never seen him this pissed before, so there ain't no telling how will turn out for the punk!"

They followed the crowd outside, down the stairs, and 50 yards onto the beach. As the nine combatants were walking Caelan loudly told Theo: "Take the big one. He broke ribs on his right side during the spring game, so don't hit it so hard you puncture his lung again. Marc, you have fat boy. Finish that out-of-shape lump off quickly and help Danny with the other two. Danny, remember to give them the warning before you start kicking."

Chad and his friends were listening, and Caelan saw the big one touch his ribs. He grinned and winked at Theo just before they stopped and faced up.

"Now, Danny!" "Okay, okay! I'm required by law to inform you that my hands and feet are registered as deadly weapons, and provide an opportunity for you to retreat from the battlefield," Danny stated in a bored monotone.

The five looked skeptical, but concerned.

They stopped walking at the designated area and the nine combatants were surrounded by spectators; the bouncer told them to move back, and then announced to the combatants, "This is fists and feet only; you pull a gun or knife, I shoot you -- understand?"

Caelan began talking loudly as he moved around Chad, making him turn to keep facing him. "These fine examples of sissyhood are football players at SMU. This sissy right here is named Chad, and he's a gutless, spineless coward! How do I know? Because last year we played them up at the Cotton Bowl. He plays wide receiver, I play outside linebacker, and I lit his ass up on a couple of passes. I also knocked his dick in the dirt when he tried to crackback block me. He got up out of the grass cussing, and was flagged for a personal foul, which cost his team 15 yards. His coach yanked him, chewed him out, and kept him on the bench until after halftime.

He caught another slant in the third quarter, and I lit him up again. A few plays later, they ran a play to the other side; he circled around, came in behind me, and clipped me in the left knee about three seconds after the play was over. He was ejected, and his coach suspended him for the rest of the season. I got to have knee surgery and 9 months of rehab. They said I'd never play again, so Coach Royal offered me a medical scholarship. I declined, and got a job offshore on an oilrig.

That's all a little background so you will all understand why it is in sissyboy's best interest to run and hide. If he stays, you are going to witness a Category 5 asswhipping. But, I doubt he will; sure, he brags about all his martial arts training, but we all know he's a spineless sissyboy coward, and all the training in the world can't fix that!"

Caelan had made a complete circle around the five enemy combatants, who were now in a huddle facing outward, as he taunted Chad. He turned his attention to the others: "Are you boys sure you want to take a beating to support this cowardly pussy? After all, he's a black belt in ka-ra-te and I'm just an offshore roughneck, so he shouldn't need any help. Why don't y'all step back and let us settle this PERSONAL matter?"

The big boy looked at Theo, unconsciously rubbed his ribs, held his arm out, and told the others, "Let them have a go; we can always step in if we need to." He and the others stepped back, as did Caelan's three 'seconds'.

"Just you and me, pussyboy. Come on; I'll give you first shot!" Chad was in his fighting stance now: "You're going to regret this, asshole!" he yelled as he feinted with his hands and aimed a kick at Caelan's face. Caelan stepped aside and hit his extended leg with a backhand fist, which spun Chad around. He stumbled, and Caelan stepped behind him before he could escape in the deep sand. He hammered his kidney with a big fist; Chad cried "UHH", straightened up, and moved away.

Caelan stayed in place, in a relaxed stance as Chad circled back, bouncing on his toes, before launching another attack; this time with closed fists after a feint kick. Caelan deflected one fist, took one beside the left eye that opened a cut, stepped inside, and hammered Chad's abdomen and ribs with multiple blows. When Chad tried to move back, Caelan stayed with him, delivering a mighty blow to the liver. Chad bent over in pain, but Caelan let him recover and retreat.

The bloodthirsty crowd was shouting, encouraging the fighters; some were yelling for Caelan to finish him off, others for Chad to fight back. Barbara Ann looked distraught and terrified; tears were running down her face. The other girls were hugging on her, but watching the bout.

The taunting began again, with Caelan telling Chad his daddy couldn't help him now, and he was going to pay in blood for all the gutless bullying he had done in his life. Chad screamed in fury and responded with a flurry of chops and blows that Caelan deflected with his hands and arms before kneeing Chad in the lower belly. When he bent over in pain, Caelan slapped him on the left ear and then the right. He grabbed his ears with his hands, screamed, and then flew at Caelan, who had moved off a few steps. Chad jumped in the air, kicked and missed, landed off balance, swung wildly twice, and Caelan laughed at him; "Badass black belt! Pain makes you forget all that training doesn't it, punk?"

Chad tried to right himself and get under control, but Caelan's laughter and the taunts from the crowd infuriated him and he launched an all-out attack. He attacked relentlessly, a whirling dervish of punches and kicks that Caelan eluded by retreating toward the crowd. Chad screamed and took a mighty swipe at Caelan's head with his right foot. Caelan eluded the fight-ending kick, and that caused the off-balance moment Caelan was waiting for.

When Caelan finished his counterattack, Chad's eyes were both bleeding, his nose was broken, ribs were broken, and he had pissed on himself while he lay crying on the sand in the fetal position. Caelan approached, stood over him, pointed down at him, and sneered. He held the pose for a few seconds while the crowd grew silent.

"This is the way you stood over me, pussy boy! How does it feel knowing you just got your ass handed to you in front of a couple of hundred people? Only one thing missing..."

Caelan looked into the crowd, spotted a mortified Barbara Ann, and commanded, "Get out here!" She hesitated; he started toward her, and she began walking tentatively toward him. "Right there! Stand right there! Now, shake your pom poms and smile real big in celebration, just as you did when I was lying on the Cotton Bowl grass!"

Barbara Ann looked aghast as the memory and Caelan's anger overwhelmed her; she pointed at him and fainted, collapsing in a heap on the sand. Caelan ignored her, and the three girls who ran to her. He looked down at Chad, and said, "I promised you wouldn't be able to use your limbs when I finished, so prepare yourself, asshole! A couple of surgeries and a year or so of PT and maybe you will be able to walk again and shave again!"

He raised his foot to stomp Chad's knee; Chad cowered and begged, but Caelan stomped as hard as he could. Chad screamed in pain before realizing Caelan had stomped the ground beside his knee. He rolled up in a ball and sobbed.

"Come get this piece of shit, boys" he told the four who came with Chad. "I promised myself I'd completely destroy him, but my conscience acted up there at the end, so he's all yours!"

"Oh, you did destroy him!" the big guy said. "He really believed he was a bad ass, and now he knows what one looks like, and it ain't him." Two of them pulled Chad up, put his arms around their shoulders, and agreed they should take him to a hospital in Corpus. One warned, "Put a towel under him; I don't want the smell of piss in my upholstery!"

Caelan waked toward The Dunes with the chattering crowd following behind. "What about Barbara Ann? You aren't going to leave her lying in the sand, are you?" Danny asked. "Why not? The bitch cheered while I lay on the ground writhing in pain while her boyfriend stood over me sneering and pointing. What do I owe her?"

"Fuck you, Caelan!" Danny exclaimed. "That girl didn't do that on purpose! She cried like a baby when you told the story, knowing it was her you were talking about. She kept saying she didn't know what had happened, then turned to Paula and said 'You know I broke up with him when I found out what he did! You have to help me with Caelan; he hates me but I think I'm in love with him!' Damn, dude, at least give her a chance to explain!"

Caelan looked at his friend, looked back, and saw that Theo and Marc had helped Barbara Ann up, and her friends were dusting her off. The beach bunny left her and walked to Caelan with fire in her eyes: "Damn you, Caelan, you're better than that! I've known you for years and I've never seen you do something that crappy to anyone, much less an innocent girl like her! You march your ass right back over there and apologize right now!"

"Why, Kathy? She hasn't apologized to me, and she had nine months to do it! She could have written a letter to me care of the football team, she could have called information and gotten my number, or sent a damn telegram to the school, but hell no! Why should I feel bad for the selfish, self-centered little rich bitch?"

Kathy shook her head, closed her eyes, and directed, "Just go talk to her. Please, for me."

Caelan stood there; he looked at the expression on Danny's face and the concern on Kathy's. "All right, dammit, but I'm not apologizing until she does!" "You know you sound like a petulant little bitch, don't you?" Danny asked. "What the fuck? Are you a second grade girl?"

He wanted to get mad, but that made him laugh. "You looking to get your ass kicked too, big boy? 'Petulant little bitch...' Fuck you!"

Caelan stopped laughing, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and walked over to the hysterical Barbara Ann, who was being supported physically by Theo and Marc and emotionally by Paula and Judy. "Look at me," he directed as he raised her chin with his finger. "You knew who I was all along, didn't you? What was your plan? Were you setting me up for your boyfriend?"

Barbara's blubbering continued, but she shook her head violently and managed "I didn't know! I promise! I didn't know! He's not my boyfriend! Please don't hate me!" All eyes were on Caelan, including the disapproving eyes of Kathy, who had rejoined them.

"I've spent more than nine months reliving that night in the Cotton Bowl. There was a picture from the Dallas Morning News that shows Chad standing over me, with you cheering in the background. I have that picture framed, hanging on the wall of my workout shed. I have another copy I take to the rig. The hate I'm able to raise from looking at that picture has driven me through the PT and my workouts. The team doctor said that my knee was so messed up I'd be lucky to walk without pain, much less run, and that I'd never play football again.

Do you have any idea how devastating that was -- and IS -- to me?

I refused to listen, and made my way to a clinic with the best orthopedic surgeon in the country. He had a new procedure for repairing knees like mine, and it worked. I can walk, I can run, I can cut and lift and do all kinds of things they said I wouldn't be able to - but it cost me! Fear, excruciating pain, tears, and lots of money, and it still costs me a couple of hours of agonizing physical therapy each day!

And you, Barbara Ann McLaughlin, stood 10 yards away cheering your lowlife coward of a boyfriend and my career-ending injury! Why wouldn't I hate you?"

Sobbing so hard she was gasping and hiccupping, Barbara leaned on Theo without being able to reply.

"Caelan, we're her best friends. Let us tell you what we know about her and about your accident," Judy interjected. "It wasn't an accident, Judy -- it was an ambush!" Marc stated coldly. "And, frankly, I'm not sure anything you can tell him will help. He has photographic evidence to the contrary."

Judy gave Marc an icy look and continued, "If the photographer had kept taking pictures, he would have captured Barbara Ann looking confused when the referee threw the flag and then ejected Chad. He would have pictures of her asking the other cheerleaders what happened, and then crying when she found out what he did. He would have a picture of her breaking up with Chad right after the game, calling him a coward, and telling him never to call or speak to her again! The next pictures would show her refusing his phone calls, and walking away from him when he approached her on campus.

The truth is, she was celebrating what she thought was a good block because Chad had told her the coach moved him to second string because he didn't block well. She knew all along that his character was weak, but their parents were friends who kind of pushed them together. Chad is a real 'ladies' man' who couldn't believe Barbara Ann wouldn't put out for him, so he pursued her relentlessly. She went to some parties and dances with him, but it was never serious to her; just a date!"

Judy lowered her voice so the remaining portion of the crowd couldn't hear. "In fact, Caelan, I've never seen her react to anyone like she reacted to you today. When you and Theo started 'putting suntan lotion on her', I expected her to get up and slap both of you. When you made her cum twice right there in front of us, I couldn't believe she let you OR that she did! And when you carried her to the house and had your way with her, I was shocked beyond belief!

She may or may not have been a virgin -- she doesn't talk about her sex life ever, so I don't know; but I do know I've never seen or heard about her doing anything like that before!"

Reading the conflict on Caelan's face, Judy said, "I know you aren't really the kind of asshole you've been the last hour -- well, maybe all day if your seduction of my friend was just revenge -- but you need to go fix this, right now! That poor girl is devastated!"

Barbara Ann had her arms around Theo's waist and was crying on his shirt; Kathy was petting her and telling her it would be all right, and Theo was staring daggers at Caelan.

"Ummm, perhaps...it's possible...that I misread the PHOTOGRAPHIC evidence. It's possible that I ascribed the blame for the asshole's sudden arrival at a dancehall way down in south Texas - on the only night I've been there since I got off - to her when it was simply A MOST UNLIKELY circumstance...But every one of you has to admit I had good reason! The circumstantial evidence is pretty damn compelling, don't you agree?"

"I do!" Paula responded. "Are you also willing to consider the FIRST PERSON testimony refuting the circumstantial evidence? You've heard from Judy, who was there that night and the rest of the school year; I was too, and I can assure you what she says is true!

As to Chad-the-asshole's sudden appearance way the hell down here, all I can tell you is he stalks her relentlessly, and he continues to BS her parents trying to get them to help him. It's possible that they told him where she is, but I KNOW she didn't! She would rather swim with hungry sharks than be in a room with Chad!"

After a deep breath, Caelan took a big step to stand beside Barbara Ann, who was now sniffling instead of sobbing, but tears continued to leave tracks on her cheeks. Her right arm was still around Theo, her hair was mussed, her eyes swollen, and her very pouty bottom lip was quivering. She looked up at him with a combination of fear and angst, and he thought he'd never seen a more appealing girl.

"Barbara Ann, I need to apologize. Your friends have convinced me that I misunderstood the events that seemed so clear, and that means I need to beg your forgiveness."

Her lip continued to quiver as they looked at each other, but she released Theo and stood up straight. "You were mean! You lied to me all day, you seduced me, and you USED me! I'm not sure I can ever forgive you!"

"I'm not going to lie or mislead you anymore, but you need to see it from my point of view. You can imagine what I thought when I first saw you -- the person whose picture hangs in my workout room to motivate me to overcome the brutal injury caused by your boyfriend. The picture of the person who was CHEERING MY INJURY! I recognized you as soon as you took your sunglasses off, and I assumed you recognized me as well.

I wanted to yell at you, curse you, call you all the names I've called you the last nine months...but you seemed oblivious, so I went along with it. Yes, I set out to seduce and use you -- in fact, I was going to let Theo use you too, and maybe the others! I mean, you deserved it!

Somewhere between and among the surfing, lunch, shopping, and the application of suntan lotion...I'm not sure when, but I had a change of heart. Why? First, I began to doubt that you were the evil bitch I had conjured up. Second, you seemed too sweet, naïve, and gullible to be the schemer I expected. Third, you really aren't my type -- I've always gone for tall curvy blondes." He gave her his killer smile, and continued, "Yet, I found myself so strongly attracted to you that I called Theo off when we started your suntan lotion seduction.

And fourth, the reserve you show in public disappears when you enter a bed...in fact..."

Caelan's serious demean had become playful after number 2; Barbara Ann's angry pout had turned into a frown at three, and, when he got to number four, she put her finger on his lips and told him to shush! "That's enough, Mister! I'm still mad at you, but I think I understand better now. You were mad at Chad and the bitch cheerleader who was celebrating your injury, but that is not what I was doing! You should have shown me the picture and asked why I would do that; I could have explained!"

"And you, Princess, could have written me a letter or even called me after you saw that awful picture in the DMN" Caelan responded. "Perhaps we both could have handled it better?"

"Actually, I've never seen the picture. I rarely read the sports page, even if I am a cheerleader," Barbara replied with an embarrassed grin, "but now I HAVE to see it!"

"Come home with me and I'll show it to you," Caelan proposed with a suggestive grin. She raised her chin, gave him a hard look, and replied, "I'll go look at your picture and we can talk about it, but that's all! I'm still very angry at you!"

With a completely sincere face, Kathy advised her "I wouldn't fall into that trap, honey. You are all emotional, there is a full moon shining down, glistening off the waves and sand, his chiseled body...Caelan is a dangerous man in those conditions!"