I Really Fell

As I was walking up to the entrance of McMurry Hall on the first day of class, I saw a guy and a girl I'd seen around campus but didn't know. He had a grip on her arms, was shaking her and she was crying.

My dad was old school. To him, the female was the weaker sex, it was the male's job to look after them and that's the way I was brought up. I bought into it until I found out Beverly Abbeg could throw a ball farther than I could, Nancy Wilde could run faster than I could and Nancy Neubert could hit a ball better than I could. I could hit the ball farther, but I guess her batting average would be closer to 3.75 while I'd guess mine would be around 2.90, so by the time I started high school, the "Female is the weaker sex" was history, but the "Protect women" was still there.

I walked up to the pair and said, "Get your hands off her!"

"Butt out, asshole; this ain't none of your business."

"I'm making it my business. Take your hands off her!"

"Or what?"

"I'm going to punch you in the mouth."

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that." He let go of her, but before he could turn and face me, the girl stepped forward and kneed him in the nuts. He bent forward, his hands went to his crotch, the girl swung her book bag at his head and down he went. She kicked him in the balls, said "Fuck you asshole!" and hurried into the building.

"Weaker sex?" I thought as I followed her in.

*****

The girl never turned to look at me, and it wasn't until roll was called in Introduction to Production Management at two that afternoon that I learned her name was Barbara Beeler. I'd already learned that the guy's name was David Short when the roll was called in Creative Writing 1.

The next day in the school cafeteria, Short came up to the table where I was sitting and said, "Just letting you know you and me got some unfinished business and I ain't forgetting it."

I stood up and said, "Let's go."

"Here? Don't be crazy!"

"Not crazy, just like to get things over with. We can be out the front door in two minutes and in the parking lot in three. Come on; let's go."

"You're nuts," he said and walked away. I shrugged and sat down.

Two minutes later, Miss Beeler came over to the table, sat down and asked, "What did Dave want?"

"He thinks we have some unfinished business from yesterday. I guess my butting in upset him."

"Why did you butt in? You don't even know me. I hope it wasn't because you were trying to make points with me, because I already have a boyfriend."

"How nice for you. As to why I stuck my nose in? I don't like to see guys abusing girls. Now if you will excuse me, I have a class to get to." I got up and walked away from her. Probably rude of me, but I didn't care for her snippy attitude and tone of voice when she told me she hoped I wasn't trying to make points with her. Too bad. She was a looker and I wouldn't have minded getting something going with her.

Short was waiting for me when school let out.

"Okay, smart mouth," he said, "So you were going to punch me in the..." I punched him in the mouth. It caught him by surprise. I guess he thought you had to have a conversation before getting down to it, but to me, if you were going to fight, just do it. As I said, it caught him by surprise and I got two more good licks in, which dropped him to his knees. I stood over him, fists cocked and locked, and waited for him to get up.

He looked up at me and said, "You sucker punched me."

"No, I didn't. You were out here waiting for me expecting to beat me up. Just because I didn't wait for you to getting around to throwing the first punch doesn't make what I did a sucker punch. You going to get up so we can finish this?"

He stood up and I stood there waiting for him to throw a punch, but he hesitated and I think I knew what was going on. He was a bully and he wasn't used to being stood up to. He was bigger than I was, about three inches taller and thirty pounds heavier, and I guess he expected me to run away from him crying. Maybe other guys my size would have, but I wasn't like other guys my size.

At five foot seven, I was about four inches shorter than other guys my age. My dad was only five foot six and he knew from experience there were bigger kids who liked picking on kids smaller than them, so he taught me how to handle myself. Short wasn't the first to find out that I didn't take shit from guys bigger than me, and he probably wouldn't be the last. Some of them might put me down, but I'd go down fighting.

I guess Short didn't like what he was seeing and he said, "Fuck you," and turned and walked away. With my attention now off Short, I noticed we had drawn a crowd. I heard a girl say, "About time someone put that asshole down," and another say, "Amen to that." I surmised that Short wasn't all that popular as I bent to pick up my books from where I had dropped them.

When I stood up, a cute dark-haired girl said, "I'll let you carry my books if you'll walk me home."

"Oh no you don't," said another voice, "He belongs to me." I turned and found Barbara Beeler standing there.

The smart ass in me came out and I said, "Why, Miss Beeler; I didn't think you cared."

"That's because you are male and therefore clueless." She took my hand and said, "Let's go, sweetie."

Well, she was right about one thing: I was clueless as to what was going on. I mean she HAD already informed me she had a boyfriend.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You are walking me home from school."

"Just curious, but what happened to the boyfriend you had just three hours ago?"

"I decided to move up in class."

"Please; you already know that I am clueless so you have to fill me in, otherwise I will remain clueless and I just can't see you wanting a clueless boyfriend."

"You are my boyfriend now?"

"Just going by what you said. Your 'He belongs to me,' was loud and clear."

"As to what happened to my ex-boyfriend? You witnessed our breakup. My knee to his privates and my book bag to his head pretty much let him know we were done."

"But you told me you had a boyfriend in the cafeteria this morning, and that was after your little set-to."

"I said that because I didn't want you thinking you could move in on me just because you came to my aid. Because of Dave and the way things went with him and some of my previous experiences with guys, I was down on guys in general. As the day went on, I changed my mind. I decided that the White Knight who came to my rescue deserved a closer look.

"Once I made that decision, I started looking for you. By the time I found you, you and Dave were facing off. When Glenda made her play for you, I decided that I wasn't going to let her beat me to you and I made my claim. So what we need to do now is find a place to sit down over coffee or something and get to know each other."

"The only problem with that is that I need to get to work. I've enough time to run you home if you don't live too far away, and I get off at seven so we could get together then."

"Actually, I live here in the dorms so it is only a short walk for me. How about we meet at Harry's Shake Shack at seven-fifteen?"

"Sounds like a plan."

She headed off to the dorms and I headed for student parking to get my truck and then head to work.

"You're late," my father said as I entered the office."

"Your fault."

"How is it my fault?"

"You are the one who pounded the 'take care of the weaker sex' into me." And then I told him how my day had gone where Short was concerned."

"You did good, Bobby; I guess I can let you slide this time," he said with a smile.

Work went quickly and when I got to Harry's, Barbara was already there sitting in a corner booth with two guys. I walked by the both and sat down at a table. I'd no sooner put my butt down on the seat than Marge was there to take my order.

"What'll you have, Bobby?"

"You know what I want, Marge."

"Sorry, Bobby, but I'm nowhere near ready to drop Sam."

"I guess I'll settle for a burger, well done, fries and a strawberry milkshake, but I'll be waiting when you finally do drop Sam."

"You're in for a long wait, Bobby, but I'll keep you in mind."

She turned and left and Barbara got up from the booth and came over and joined me. She sat down and asked:

"Why didn't you join us in the booth?"

"Didn't want to intrude."

"I'm here to meet you, so all you had to do was join us."

"I do not know you, Miss Beeler, nor about the crowd you run with. You have already witnessed how I react to people who get in my face. What I didn't need was to try and join you and have one of those guys tell me to butt out. My response would probably have Harry barring me from the place and since I'm addicted to his strawberry milkshakes, I cannot allow that to happen."

"I can't help it when people who know me see me and want to join me. I told them I was waiting for someone and they told me they would keep me company until you got here. I'm sorry; I didn't think of how you might look at it."

"Not a problem. Since we made this date to get to know each other, tell me about yourself."

"Well, you know my name. I'm a twenty-year-old junior with an Interior Design major. I'm from Ypsilanti, Michigan, a place you have probably never heard of. My favorite color is blue. I like most music except for rap. My favorite food is a five-cheese macaroni my mother makes. I like football, baseball, am so so on basketball, I think hockey is stupid and soccer is just plain boring. I love to dance and I never kiss on the first date. What's your story?"

"Nothing at all exciting. I'm a twenty-year-old junior with a Business Management major and I'm from right here. I work in the family business. I don't know as I have a favorite color, but I can't say I dislike any in particular. My taste in music runs from classical to rock and roll. I don't care at all for rap and most acid rock, and heavy metal leaves me cold. My absolute favorite is bluegrass, and I have always wished I could play the banjo.

"I have heard of Ypsilanti. I almost went to school there. I had a baseball scholarship to Eastern Michigan, but my dad talked me into staying here and working in the family business. He wants me ready to take over if anything happens to him. My favorite food is whatever I'm eating at the time. Favorite sport is baseball followed closely by football. I don't care much for the rest of them and I will always kiss a girl when she lets me."

"I need to ask this. Got a girlfriend?"

"Not any more. Had one, but she wanted to keep me on the hook while she dated other guys. Said going steady was too high schoolish. It wasn't acceptable to me, so we parted ways."

"You don't sound all that happy about it."

"I'm not. We were together for five years and both mothers were in wedding planning mode."

"If she wanted to come back, would you let her?"

"No. She's burned too many bridges for that to happen."

"So where are we going on our first date?"

"You free Friday?"

"I have to wait that long?"

"It's only three days. I can't do it any sooner because of my work hours and the need to study, work on papers and stuff like that."

"What will we do?"

"You said you like to dance, so how about we go dancing?"

"I'd like that. Where?"

"The teen club is usually where I go when I want to dance."

"You say usually. I thought the teen club was the only place you could go if you were under twenty-one."

"Not so. You can go to the VFW if you are with a member. Mom and dad go every Saturday night and I sometimes go with them."

"So if I play my cards right we could go dancing this Friday and Saturday?"

"Could happen."

We talked for another ten minute and then I took her to her dorm.

*****

I almost said "Wow" out loud when I picked her up at her dorm on Friday. I knew she was a good-looking girl, but when I'd seen her before it was with her hair in a ponytail, little to no makeup and wearing jeans and a sweater. Now she was made up, her hair fell to the middle of her back and she was in a dress and heels.

I might not have said "Wow" out loud, but she could see it on my face and she smiled and said, "Thank you; that's the look I was going for."

When we got to the teen club, there were a couple of people already there who I knew and I introduced them to Babs (She asked me to call her that instead of Barb or Barbara), and then we pushed a couple of tables together and sat down.

The waitress came over and took our order. I ordered a Coke, Babs asked for Dr. Pepper and then we hit the dance floor. Babs not only loved to dance, but she was damned good at it and she kept me out on the floor until the band took a break.

While we were on the dance floor, some more people had arrived and joined the group at the tables. I introduced them to Babs and then we sat and socialized until the band came back. Once the band came back, Babs had me back out on the floor.

As we moved into the waltz, Babs said, "I noticed the look on your face when you introduced me to Pauline and Charlie. You didn't seem all that pleased."

"Pauline is the girl I went steady with for five years."

"She seemed happy to see you."

"How about we talk about your favorite color. Blue, wasn't it?"

"Okay; I get it. Off limits. How about them Broncos?"

We stayed on the floor for three numbers and then went back and joined the group at the tables. Luckily for me, Pauline and her date were at the other end of the three tables we had pushed together so she wasn't close enough for any personal interaction, but she was still closer than I would have liked. My own fault, though; I should have known she would be at the club on a Friday or Saturday.

A girl Babs knew asked if she could join us and she took the empty seat next to Babs. Babs introduced me to Cindy, and then Babs and Cindy started talking. While that was going on, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Pauline. She smiled at me and asked me to dance.

Babs heard it and said, "Go ahead, sweetie; I don't mind."

After that I didn't think I could say no. I could have, but if I said what I wanted to I knew just how Pauline would react, and the scene would have cast a pall over the evening. I stood up, Pauline took my arm and we moved out onto the dance floor.

As I took her in my arms for the Waltz she said, "I wanted to scratch her eyes out when she called you sweetie. I've missed you, baby. Why haven't you called or come to see me?"

"You know why, Pauline."

"What's with this Pauline stuff? I've always been Paulie to you."

"That was back when you were mine. Once you started dating others you stopped being mine, and that's also the answer to your question. I haven't called because you are no longer mine."

"But I explained it all to you, baby. I was still yours. I just wanted to date other guys occasionally."

"And I told you that it was totally unacceptable as far as I was concerned and it would kill us as a couple, but you went ahead and did it anyway. It hurt me. It hurt me bad, but I've managed to get by it."

"Damn it, Bobby; I was still yours."

"No, you weren't. You were anybody's who asked you out."

I felt a tap on my shoulder and a voice asked, "May I cut in?"

I turned and saw her date. I stepped away from Pauline said, "You may," and I headed back to the table.

"I was wondering if I was going to have to be the one to go out there and cut in," Babs said.

"Well, you do need to go out there."

"What?"

"We did come here to dance, didn't we?"

She gave me a big smile, got up and we headed out onto the floor. For the rest of the evening, every time I glanced Pauline's way, she was looking at me.

*****

Babs lied to me. She did kiss on the first date and it was a pretty hot and steamy one. As was the one I received on the second, third and fourth. Barb and I had four more dates before I took her home to have dinner with me and my parents.

After, while driving her back to her dorm, Babs said, "Your mom doesn't like me."

"You can't know that."

"Yes I can. I could tell. She doesn't think I'm suitable for her baby. Your dad, on the other hand, likes me a lot. He wants to jump my bones."

"Runs in the family."

"What does?"

"The wanting to jump your bones thing."

"If that's the case, why haven't you tried?"

"I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe that a move in that direction would be met with favor."

"Well then, how about this. Would you please take me someplace and fuck me?"

I smiled and said, "If you insist," and I hung a left onto Wilcox and five minutes later we were in room 221 of the Bide-A-Wee motel.

Once we were naked, she got on the bed, spread her legs wide and said, "Come and get it."

I think I surprised her when I didn't just get on the bed and get in. I started playing with her tits, licking and sucking, and then I kissed my way down her body until I got to her pussy. I licked all over it, found her clit and sucked on it. Then I ate her pussy and kept at it until she had an orgasm. Then I lined myself up and eased my way in. I went slowly until she moaned:

"Faster, baby; pound me. Fuck me. Fuck me hard."

I drove on and managed to get her off three times before I got to the point where I had to have mine. I held myself over her until my dick got soft and then I slowly pulled out and fell to the bed beside her.

Babs looked over at me and said, "I could stand a steady diet of this. How soon will you be able to go again?"

"Maybe ten minutes or so."

"What if I help?"

"Don't know."

"Then I guess we will just have to see." She went down on me. I didn't time it, but I'd guess she got me ready in five.

We managed three times before I had to get her back to her dorm. On the drive to her dorm, we made a date for the next evening to go dancing at the VFW. When I walked her to the door, I got a kiss that curled my toes.

*****

Work was only half a day on Saturday and when I got off work, I found Pauline waiting by my car.

"We need to talk, Bobby,"

"About what?"

"About us."

"There is no us anymore, Pauline. You put an end to us when you decided to date other guys."

"I explained that to you. We got together in the eighth grade and you were the only the second guy I ever dated. I just wanted to see what other guys were like. You were still my guy and would get seventy-five percent of my time."

"Well, you were the first girl I dated, Pauline, and I knew the first minute I saw you that I didn't ever want anyone else. When you told me I wasn't enough for you, it just about killed me."

"I never told you that!"

"Yes you did. When you told me you wanted to know what other guys were like, it was the same as telling me you weren't satisfied with what you had. You were telling me that if you found a guy you liked better, you were gone."

"Damn it, Bobby; that isn't what I said!"

"Yes it was, Pauline. The only reason for seeing what else is out there is to see if you can find something better. Well, good luck in your search. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a date to get ready for."

I got in the car and drove off leaving her standing there and watching me go.

The encounter put me in a sour mood, but the mood flew away when I picked up my date. Babs looked stunning in her skirt, blouse and heels.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For the look on your face. Heels okay for tonight, or should I wear flats?"

"Heels are fine for tonight."

"Why the qualifier?"

"Tonight is dancing in general: waltzes, a fox trot or three and some rock and roll. The third Saturday of the week is country western, and leather-soled shoes or boots work best for that."

"Third Saturday? That's next Saturday, right? Will there be line dancing?"

"Of course."

"You want to lock me in now for next Saturday?"

"You bet I do."