You're Always 17 Ch. 02

"Actually, it was. Neither one of us knew what we were doing, and looking back I'm amazed I didn't kill myself, so I welcomed any coaching, even from a book."

"Who was it that finally bought you a new, longer pole? A car dealership, maybe?"

"I think so, but they just told me someone made a donation to the booster club, and they gave the school the money to buy me a couple of new poles. They were longer and whippier and I hadn't learned how to use them until district."

"And then you set a district record at 15', went 15.6 at regional, and cleared 16' at state! I swear when he was getting ready to vault, people lined up around the pit and paused around the track. TMC was an ancient knight carrying a lance full speed into the fray! He might miss his steps and run through, he might go up and fall back, or he might hit it just right and fly over the bar and twist around in the air to land on his back rather than his head! It was fantastic entertainment!"

River asked, "If you cleared sixteen feet at state, didn't you win?"

Frankie and I laughed. "No, the winner went 17'9" and was furious he missed 18'. He vaulted in college and the Olympics - I think he cleared 19'!"

It went on like that through happy hour, which Kenneth extended, and then they began telling me of the cleanup that took place when Will Callaghan and his bandmates wreaked havoc with the county and city government. That lasted until the young parents had to go get their children, and we agreed to meet up at the reunion tomorrow.

The four of us were the only ones on the elevator to our rooms on the fourth floor, and Katrina started the harassment I knew was coming. "No friends, everyone disdained him, wasn't good at much of anything..."

"Okay, okay, but I never said I wasn't good at anything. I wasn't that bad in sports, but I don't remember Bobby and Frankie being that close of friends."

Shannon scoffed. "Maybe they were, maybe they weren't, but Nita sure was! I saw the hug and kiss, and the way she looked at you the whole time we were there, so don't try to sell me on her being a 'maybe' friend!"

She had me there! Nita and I shared more than a few intimate moments, and I was her first. Had I stayed, we might even be married. And seeing and holding her did bring back those moments, in force. Now, how to finesse that with my fiancée?

I started to, but then paused. "I was gonna lie and claim it was nothing, but I can't. You're right, Nita was someone special to me. I can't say what might have happened if I had stayed, but we were close.

"But I didn't stay, I went west, met River and Katrina, got charmed by an 18-year-old who left me, made a few mistakes, one of which was a big one, and then fell in love with the 23-year-old version of the girl who charmed me. Oh, and she bullied me into coming down here, and now she's mad that I had a high school girlfriend!"

River opened their door and Katrina said, "I'd be careful, Shannon. You'll have a ten-year reunion before long, and there might be an old boyfriend or two there that you don't want to talk about either!"

She paused, turned, shot Katrina the bird, and started laughing.

She was a woman on a mission that night, bent on driving any though of Nita, or Pam, or Joani, or any of the other girls I left behind out of my mind. It was wasted but appreciated; she had long since supplanted any of the others from high school, or the past ten years, in my mind, but a man never tires of his woman proving how much she loves him and how good a fuck she is!

The wakeup call was also unnecessary but appreciated. I ate a 2000 calorie breakfast from the buffet because my body needed the sustenance, and my fuck buddy did too. She actually looked worse for the wear than me, but then, she did most of the work.

I dressed for the luncheon/meet and greet in my finest - jeans, boots, and polo shirt; I looked trim, muscular, and tough-handsome, like the Marlborough Man of old. Shannon wore sandals with straps around her ankles, and a designer floral print halter sundress that left her shoulders and back bare, her chest exposed to the swell of her boobs, her waist cinched, her butt flaring the material in back, and her legs exposed from just below mid-thigh.

River's response to seeing her was "Damn!" and Katrina's was a laugh with "Taking no prisoners, I see."

I added, "Yeah, Cowtown ain't never seen nothing like her before!" and she beamed. She really wasn't taking prisoners.

As expected, the turnout was mediocre. A lot of our classmates had to work Saturday, others couldn't afford to hire babysitters twice, and quite a few thought a meet and greet was bullshit with the reunion meal and dance a few hours later. The Smitherman kin were present, in finery surpassed only by Shannon and Katrina, who was a vision in a more mature white sundress and sandals.

We didn't eat much, but my three companions were intent on carrying on a conversation with every person there, and I was surprised at how much less arrogant the rich and mighty seemed since Will Callaghan sicced his Austin lawyers on their parents - many of whom were now serving time in prison.

We hadn't been friends and never would be, but they didn't irritate me nearly as bad as they used to.

There were a couple of instances of what I expected, but not that many. One came at the hands of two of the worst teachers on the planet, who turned up their noses at me, scoffed, and exchanged knowing looks when I answered their inquiry by replying that I worked in the oil field now.

Katrina and Shannon couldn't let that attitude stand. Katrina stated, "Actually, he's being modest. Theo and my husband are partners in an oil field services company with about $100 million in contracts to service this year, so he was truthful, but overly humble!"

In her best Highland Park snooty rich girl voice, Shannon added, "Theo has a degree from Texas Tech in Pre-Law, but prefers business to practicing law, like my grandfather, father, and brother do in Dallas. We are getting married the third weekend of October, by the way!

"What do your children and grandchildren do?"

There were a lot of people within earshot, and a lot of snickering after they burned the old biddies, who had nothing more to say.

The other instance was when one of the Smithermans, who had been a deputy sheriff when I was younger, made a crack to a circle of rednecks. "Oh, shit! Here come's one of the Carr kids - hold onto your wallets!"

I took that one. "Well, hello deputy! Raped any teenage boys after you stopped them for alcohol lately? Oh, that's right - you got fired, didn't you? So, who are you bullying now?"

I really thought - no, hoped, the SOB would take a shot at me, but he tucked his tail and ran! How he got out on parole when so many others were still in prison confused me, because he was one of the worst of a bad lot.

When he ran off, his circle of low-lifes disintegrated. River clasped me on the shoulder and quietly mouthed, "You're always 17 in your hometown," and then patted me on the back. Katrina just said, "Be better, Theo."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Like you were to the biddies?" She rolled her eyes and grinned.

Shannon looked searchingly at me and asked, "So he's one of the ones?" I nodded, told her he was one of them, but not one of those I busted up, and she hugged me.

We left a bit early and went for a ride. I showed them around town, pointing out things that the Eagle Ford discovery changed, and historic sites remaining around what was once a rough and tumble frontier town. I was driving, and no one brought it up, but I turned on Johnson Road and drove on out past a ramshackle house with several derelict road graders and dump trucks outside, like I remembered.

What I didn't remember was a new doublewide a few hundred feet west with Carr Electric on the side of three vans, or a new dirt equipment yard just beyond that with an almost identical doublewide on the nearside. A sign with "Carr Earth Works - Road Building and Maintenance, Site Prep, Pad Construction, Fencing, and More" was neatly affixed to the fence, and a nice pickup was parked in front of the trailer.

Maybe I underestimated my brothers.

"Your family?" Shannon asked quietly; I nodded, and the ride back to the hotel was silent in contemplation.

****

River and I wore our best boots and hats and our best western-cut suits to the evening festivities. Hell, we even sported a touch of silver and turquoise on our belt buckles and watches!

Our ladies, though, Good God! Shannon wore a shimmering, body-hugging, champagne cocktail dress that ended at mid-thigh, with four-inch matching heels. Her golden hair fell in a cascade of curls, and she carried a clutch that matched the dress. No one ever looked classier or more fuckable than she did, ever!

Katrina's was a slightly more sedate cocktail dress that flared after clinging to her flat belly, but her D-cup boobs were front and center, and her butt protruded nicely. River was mesmerized by his wife, as were many others that night.

We presented our tickets, were awarded our name tags, and went to look for a place to sit. As they had promised, Bobby and Frankie had secured a huge table just to the right of the bandstand. They waved us over, and I got to renew another dozen old acquaintances while my fiancée left the crowd agog with her physical charms and charming personality.

The Housers were there, so River and Katrina sat with them; we joined the Flores and Garcias, and a couple of dozen other old classmates/teammates/lovers. Beer and conversation flowed freely, though Shannon and I sipped rather than guzzled. She seemed to instinctively know that it wouldn't do for me to lose my inhibitions with Smithermans and such around.

I caught up on people and events, and Shannon learned a lot more about me from the stories. Well, I had warned her I was an asshole, although no one seemed to hold it against me tonight. In fact, they seemed to think I was some kind of anti-establishment hero.

At eight, the host and hostess, our former class president and vice-president, thanked everyone for coming, asked us to keep our addresses current on the website, and said that tonight's entertainment had changed. With a grin that said he was lying, the president told us, "The DJ backed out at the last minute, but a local band volunteered to take his place."

Everyone at our table was tittering in excitement, save Shannon and me. I was cool with whatever, and then the host said, "Let's give a big round of applause to the little band that got its start just southeast of town on Billy Goat Hill! Here are two of Cowtown High's finest, Will and Woody, with some of the best singers and musicians in the world - I present to you the Grammy-winning BILLY GOAT HILL PUNDITS!"

Remember, I had been lost in the deserts of west Texas and New Mexico for ten years. Yes, I knew who they were and had heard some of their songs, but not really. Shannon, on the other hand, went as wild as the rest of the crowd.

Yes, we danced, but much of their music was for listening, and my nose stopped up and my eyes got red several times as they sang songs about the town and people I hated so badly. Lila and Lina were particularly devastating with their songs about physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and those made Shannon suffer from the same maladies.

Honestly, it was cathartic - I wasn't the only one who had been wronged by the corrupt and evil powers that be, who had been looked down upon, beaten, cheated, and hated, and these guys had the guts to write and publish songs about it. Damn! Talk about brass balls!

Meeting them at intermission was a thrill, and when Will said, "Hell, I remember you! Running back and linebacker on that team that went two rounds in the playoffs, for the first time in school history! You were the 'Angry Young Man' I wrote the song about! We'll play it in the second set, and I'll tell them you were the inspiration!"

That scared the crap out of me, but Shannon looked at me in awe. "That song is about you? Oh my god! I love that song! We had a debate about it in government class!"

I wandered back to the table in a daze, only to be pounded on by my friends, who asked me if I knew it was about me. Hell, I didn't even know the song existed!

The second set was less 'protest' or 'folk' and more eclectic dance music. These guys and girls could play just about any kind of music, and they did. Woody, Lila, and Lina took turns singing lead and backup on a series of rock and country rock songs that got everyone up and onto the floor.

If Shannon wasn't already the 'most desired female,' she was after that series ended. She, Nita, Joani, and a wife I didn't know were having so much fun doing various dances to one Allman Brothers song that Lina jumped down off the stage and joined them! She was a good dancer and a hottie, but she was no better than #3 in that group; yes, Nita looked that good herself!

Restrictions were off for the night; these were my high school friends or classmates, so she was free to dance with whoever asked, and I was free to ask whoever I wanted. Katrina was another popular choice despite the age difference, and River looked to be as successful with the ladies as his wife was with the men.

It took two beers for me to ask someone other than Shannon, even though she had been out there with at least half a dozen of my classmates already. I chose Pam because Shannon didn't know our history and Pam was a level two hottie (7ish on the ten-point scale, 10ish on mine). She was taller, thinner, and lacked boobs, but she had long legs and a high, tight ass, which is what attracted me to her in high school.

She was married and all grown up about sex, so she had no problem turning away and enticing me with that ass while we rocked. Her husband watched and applauded her efforts, which caused her to lose more of the inhibitions I worked so hard to overcome back in CHS.

I knew hubby: he was from a rival high school about twenty miles away, and he was quite the character back then. Looked like that hadn't changed. I took Pam back after the dance, BS'd with Joe, her husband, and got picked up by Joani on the way back to my seat.

This was a slow song, and the lights glinting off her naturally platinum hair, which was still long and straight, brought back memories of moonlight glistening in her hair up on Billy Goat Hill. She might have read my mind, or the look on my face, because she asked, "Are you remembering what I'm remembering? Billy Goat Hill, soft rock music, and the thick foam pad rolled out in your pickup bed?"

"I've forgotten a lot about old Cowtown and CHS since I left, but the light of the full moon glistening in your hair and on your body isn't one of those things," I replied.

She winked and said, "Me either, but don't tell Buddy and I won't tell Shannon. Deal?" "Deal."

Then I led her through a turn, she pulled herself tightly against me, and moaned quietly. "Sometimes, I dream I'm back there, T. You were incredible, and I'll bet you're even more incredible now!"

"You were amazing yourself, Snow. You made high school bearable for a while, until you got curious."

"What a stupid girl I was! But Nita made that last semester awfully good for you, and speaking of, she's going to claim you before you make it back to your seat, so be prepared."

I glanced around the dance floor and saw Shannon with Bobby Flores, just dancing and talking and having fun. 'Snow White' was right - Nita took my hand as soon as I seated my previous partner, and I almost crapped when I heard the hollow drumbeat. We had danced to 'Lover' by Taylor Swift a few dozen times, if not more, and the tight smirk around her mouth meant she planned this. Well, she was one of Lila's best friends, and Lila was singing.

We looked like a choreographed couple as we assumed the position and swirled around the floor in time with the music. It was fun, and I greatly appreciated that she kept the requisite distance for high school dances, because, well, she was attractive and sexy, and my fiancée was standing by our table watching. Nita minded her behavior throughout, we ended with a flourish, she sighed, and I escorted her back to our table.

My socialite was waiting, and she took my hand as soon as it was available. The BGH Pundits were playing a hit tearjerker of their own, written by Will, as Woody had announced before he began singing. Shannon affixed herself tightly to me, used her body to urge me to show off a little on the turns, and kept me in place. The next song was another 'belly rubber,' sung this time by Lina.

I was hard as a rock by the time that ended, and Shannon had a little smirk of satisfaction, as if she were proud she could make me hard. Talk about a low bar! Every girl had gotten me hard, and for her, that took nothing more than a look or touch anyway.

There was an expectant pause. Will took the mic from Woody and said, "It took me five years after graduation, a cheating wife, and a thrashing by the powers that used to be for me to take a stand against them. This song is about one of us, from the wrong side of town, who stood up to them and their enablers - at age 17! I can't promise you every lyric in this song is 100% correct, but they accurately reflect the legend that had grown around this young man by the time he graduated, before promptly disappearing.

"Give it a listen, #46, and you can let me know during intermission how much is accurate."

Will's deep, rough, Johnny Cash voice was the perfect medium to bring the story to life, and he did. The .357 Mag I kept in my hand at night, and the reason I did, was worth one verse, and my expression of contempt for the high school grading system that awarded extra credit for being from one of the right families, and the discipline codes that varied by economic and social status got another.

Calling out the most corrupt sheriff in history, beating the hell out of two abusive deputies, and double-dog-daring the social worker, judge, and sheriff, who were threatening me for reporting my old man's beatings of my family members, to do something to me, got the final verse.

The Angry Young Man title came from the chorus, which varied somewhat after each verse, but each time extolled my courage and toughness, described how my fury translated to the athletic fields and court, and the steps opponents took to avoid my wrath. The second chorus also mentioned my willingness to cross over the 'color line' in dating. I could still hear the shit Nita and I took for that.

I was glad this was the first time I'd heard the song, because it clouded my eyes and made me lock my angry young man face in place when the spotlight paused on me as it ended. Shannon standing beside me and holding me as tightly as possible while crying on my shoulder didn't help any, but I made it through the song and the roar of appreciation without a sign of weakness.

To do otherwise would have ruined the song, and the legend. I gave Will a nod of appreciation, and he tipped his hat to me.

It was a hell of a moment for a fuckin' Carr boy.

The BGH Pundits always left classic country and rock music playing on the sound system during intermission, so they could dance with their spouses, the current love interests of Lina, Gary, or Danny, or their fans. Will, Lila, Woody, and Lina came directly to Shannon and me, and Will asked, "What do you think?"

I shrugged. "Can't argue with a word you sung. Doesn't conjure up my favorite memories, but it's accurate."

Lila said, "You wouldn't believe how emotional Will got while he was writing this! He was a bear for two days, and then as self-satisfied as you can be. We had equivocated some about having what others were calling 'protest songs' on our third album, but Will told us the story and insisted we listen. He strummed and sang so emotionally we were all captivated, and big tough Woody burst into tears."