Out On The Town

The afternoon workout was intense as Red put us through exercises that gave him an indication of our talents and potentials.  As we finished, Red mentioned to me that a couple of his players were going into Spokane that evening and they would like me to come along.  I thanked him and said that would be great.  I had seen Spokane only briefly when my sisters and I traveled to Port Orchard to visit my Dad.  Red said there would be opportunities to visit Dad during the year, as it wasn’t a lengthy trip to the coast.  He also said he would like me to stop by his office in the field house at 9:00 in the morning.

The two fellows who were going into Spokane dropped by the gym and introduced themselves. They were juniors that had transferred to EWC from Oregon.  We made arrangements to meet after dinner at the dining hall.  I was surprised that there were several girls on board when they drove up and I got in.  With us three boys it made a car load.  Two boys sat in front and I was seated in back with the two girls.  I think it was a plan to get me acquainted with college girls.  They both attended EWC and lived in Spokane.  They said there were quite a few students who were commuters. I never decided if they were girl fiends of the two in the front seat.

I had experienced trouble talking with girls, but it improved during high school.  These girls were friendly and talked a blue streak, so I had no need to worry.  It was a strange evening.  We drove all over Spokane, stopping here and there to look at things of interest or get a snack.  One of the fellows identified places he had ripped off hubcaps which made me wonder what kind of characters was I mixed up with.  Finally we drove onto a point that overlooked the city and all the lights.  It was quite beautiful.

They parked the car and turned off the engine.  It was obvious this was where young people came to neck as that was going on in several cars around us.   One of the girls sitting in the back got out and climbed in front.  The girl left with me snuggled close and it was clear I was her target.  I hadn’t kissed many girls at this point in life so I was awkward.  We talked some as I saw this as a diversion.  She was a pleasant girl and we might have been friends if I were more at ease.  Finally, someone up front pointed out the late hour and the busy day scheduled for tomorrow.  I was relieved as I had been thinking about my meeting with Red at 9:00 in the morning.

We drove back to town and dropped the girls off at their respective homes.  My companion squeezed me tight and gave me a kiss before she got out.  She said she would be looking for me next year.  I thanked her for the evening.  On the way back to Cheney one of the fellows was teasing me about stealing his girl.  I felt more like I’d been ambushed and said so.  I crawled into bed at about three in the morning for a short night’s sleep.  I skipped breakfast as I needed sleep more than the food.

*Taken from "Which Road Should I Follow?, Volume 1, Growing up in the country", an autobiography by Edwin K. Hill.