the road tripp...1973,part six

in grammas kitchen , 8-73

 this part was originally a bit longer , so i edited it...just a bit .



pt 6,the bowling alley,and learning a love lesson

 what does a young traveler do at night whist staying at his grandmothers house?i had developed,even at the young age of 19 a reputation as a heavy partier,so i naturally gravitated to a bar.i chose the bar at the bowling alley,which was owned by my aunt jeri's family,the browns.the state of michigan had lowered the drinking age down to 18,so i was legal ! i walked into the place and sauntered up to the bar.i was almost imediately asked by the bartender what i was having.i asked for a pitcher of beer,and did they cash travelers checks?.she said she would check and made a quick phone call.that gave me the opportunity to check her out pretty thoroly...and i definitely liked what i was seeing.a very pretty blonde with a great smile and a great body.and i found her to have a personality to match.

she returned from the call and told me no problem with the checks...and by the way,where was i from?i gave her the short version,california.by way of ohio and michigan.there seemed to be a mutual attraction between us,the thought of which makes me smile to this day.she of course had to keep up with her other customers at the bar but always came back to talk to me.the rest of the clientele seemed to be people i should have known but didn't,i.e.,a bunch of late teen early twenty- something sons of local farmers.along withe the perennial barfly type at the end of the bar.the kind who would be there from opening till closing,through any and all ownership/management changes.that was his bar dammit,and he was gonna drink there no matter how many little snotnosed punks were hanging around doing flaming shooters and whatnot.

flaming shooters i guess were all the rage at that time there,about every 15-20 minutes she would excuse herself and go down the bar and pour some 151 rum and light it onfire so some knucklehead could try to swallow it without burning the the shit out of themelves.the best part for me was watching her roll her eyes when she would leave to take care of "those kids" over there.thats when i knew for sure we were clicking on all cylinders...

so,i stayed until closing time and walked her to her car.i should mention that although i had a few beers i stayed remarkably sober that night,just so i wouldn't do anything stupid...so when some of the patrons who were leaving made some,uhm,remarks,i could laugh it off.instead of breaking off their arms and shoving them down their throats.that way i got to come off as mature and adult...not like those farmboys.now,with 20-20 hindsight i may not have faired so well,but they were very drunk and me,not so much.so who knows.i think i made the best play i could have.that,and leaving her a substantial tip that night...

every night i was in clare,i was at the bowling alley bar.the regulars grew used to my presence and the fact that she spent all her time talking with me.i believe this was the first time i had passed beyond infatuation into something a little deeper.i began to dread the thought of leaving.it was all right here for me,why would i want to leave? but i couldn't just stay and leave bill to make his way back across country by himself.besides i had no income,no place to live,wouldn't have any wheels.

so,it was decided that i would go back to california,gets things in order and return.to what?why the love of my life of course.our last night together was very bittersweet,i felt really bad about leaving...but i swore i was coming back.and she said she would be there when i did.we had exchanged phone numbers and addresses already.and that was that,a hug,a kiss,another hug,another promise to see her very soon.

i called her the next day before setting off to jackson to pick up bill.i said my goodbyes and hopped in the nova and headed south.


got to where bill was staying,and told him about recent events.turns out he too had met someone,and wanted to return to michigan.perfect !.he asked me i had gotten her any flowers.fuck no i said,what an idiot.so i jumped back in the car and went back to clare.i called her from the local florist,but she wasn't at home.so i arranged for them to be delivered to her at work that night.and with that,back to jackson...