Tears on the Red, White and Blue

I ran as fast as I could hoping I would outrun all the other football players to the dressing room following practice. I had learned from experience you either get in there first or last if you wanted to avoid the towel popping. Man! Towel popping could hurt. But this morning the coach kept me back for a “talking to” which caused me to come in just in time for the commotion to have already started. I could hear the laughing and hee-hawing before I even got to the doorway. Bursts of laughter could be heard throughout the dressing room. I tried to finagle my way in without being seen and undress, shower and get the heck out of Dodge without receiving a pop. But that wasn’t going to happen. Wet towels came at me from all directions along with the laughter and playful jabs. I really didn’t know what was more fun, football practice or the playfulness of the boys in the dressing room. Clean smelling bodies with a few unseen red marks was always a good way to start the day.

I was not the best football player on the team but I was tall and I was fast. And being a small town with just enough players to make a team, I got to play a lot. The coach prayed nobody would get hurt.I played guard, center and tackle. I sat in the center of the bench and guarded it and would tackle anyone who tried to take my spot on the bench. But mostly it was just plain fun.

I enjoyed school almost as much as I enjoyed football. We boys would joke around all the way from the football field house to the school building. If there was a girl coming our way, we would suddenly get quiet and turn and watch her walk away. Then the pushing and shoving would start up.

“Did you see the way she looked at me, Brent?” Frank would ask me and then shove me.

“Why would she look at your pug face?” I jokingly answered back.

We sounded like a herd of elephants coming down the hall to the lockers. Teachers who stood outside their classroom doors would put their fingers to their mouths and whisper, “Shhhhh. Stop slamming the locker doors.” I always obeyed but most of the others only slammed them again.

The sound we all enjoyed the most at school was the last ringing of the bell at the end of the day. Not just for us students but I swear I could hear a big gasp of air released from the teachers. We could empty that school in 60 seconds. Thunderous feet stormed out the doors and out to the parking lot.

There were three of us football players who had our own pickup trucks. And I happened to be one of them. Boys climbed in the front seat of my F150, or in the bed of the truck or they sat on the edge. Without air conditioning, we hung out the windows and the deep voices of laughter was in the air. I dropped the gear in first, purposely jerked the gear to second, slammed into third. I drove as if the cops were on my tail. Dirt flew up behind the tires as I came flying down the highway in front of the only fast food restaurant, the Dairy King, our town had. I then drove around it as fast as I dared trying to see how many of the guys I could sling out of the back. I would be fishtailing into the parking lot, skid to a stop and the race was on to see who could get inside the Dairy King first. We laughed like hyaenas. Then Gus’s mother would yell at me for driving so dangerously with the whole team in my truck. Then she would fry up French fries for us as we would not have the 25 cents for a hamburger.

I saw that the girls had gotten there before us. I stood back and didn’t go in right away. I was looking for Barbara. She was sitting in a booth with her friends. They had their heads together giggling as usual. She was wearing a brown, leather mini skirt and we boys would try to look up her dress any time she was sitting down. She had the longest legs of any girl I had ever seen and very shapely. I had a hard time in P.E. trying to keep my eyes off her.It got me into a lot of trouble from the coach. Barbara said we were “friends” but I wanted to be more than just friends, but she had the hots for our quarterback, Gus. I thought she was the prettiest girl in high school. I was in a trance staring at her through the huge glass panes when the guys began pushing and shoving each other around. I unlocked my gaze and joined in the laughter and horseplay.

Frank pulled up in his new 1967 red and white Chevrolet pickup. All of our attention switched from the girls to what was under the hood of his truck. When we got through studying the 283 cubic inch V8 engine, Frank opened the door and reached in for his rifle that was hanging on the gun rack. The 30.30 was passed around and each of us admired it and then held it up to our shoulder acting like we were shooting at something. I ran to my truck and took my 243 Winchester out of the gun rack and brought it back to the group. We country boys shared groans and grins that echoed throughout the parking lot in awe of our guns. Tall tales ensued as well as exaggerated stories of how many deer these rifles took down.

As our senior year was winding down, the boys of class1968 decided to make one last trip across the border for a visit to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. We were very familiar with this town across the border from Laredo, Tx. It was the town for a lot of firsts for most of us. Our girlfriends were raised rather conservatively so to let off any release it was in Nuevo Laredo. I was the one who usually did the driving. We strolled down the streets stopping in our favorite bars to buy beer. We had to get pretty tipsy before our last stop, which was a cat-house, as it was called back then. The ladies didn’t mind servicing a group of teenagers from across the border as long we brought money.

Two o’clock in the morning, and drunk from the nightlife and alcohol, Gus, Frank and I headed home. So, sitting tightly, shoulder to shoulder in the cab of my truck, we quietly headed back across the border. There wasn’t much light from the moon, but we could find our way back home in pitch dark. We sat quietly as the truck ate up the black asphalt. Nobody was in the mood to talk. And then someone would start off with a low chuckle. Before long, we all were laughing out loud and talking at the same time. Through the laughter our stories of the night spilled out.

Gus and Frank came home with me. We tried to be extremely quiet as we unlocked the door and stumbled inside. I held my hand to my mouth to tell the guys to be quiet. We just chuckled under our breath. I took a step forward and walked smack dab into my dad.

“Are ya’ll O.K.?” he asked.

Trying to hold in a laugh I said, “Yes sir. We are fine.”

“Keep it down. Don’t wake your mother.”

It was May 1968 and graduation was nearing. Barbara invited everyone to her house for a swim party as our last hurrah. Half of our 48 students of our senior class showed up. Barbara and Gus were wrapped up in each other’s arms. Frank and Rosie were making out in the pool. I was smiling as I watched my best friends enjoying themselves. I grabbed a coke from the ice chest and sat down on a fold up chair. I felt someone walk up to me. I looked up into the eyes of the shyest girl in our class, Marion. Marion’s wet hair hung down past her shoulders and across her face in a rather sexy way. The outdoor lights highlighted the outline of her beautiful face. I took in a deep breath as I admired her in a new light. For some reason, she looked different. I guess it was because she was not sitting in a desk or hurrying away from everyone between classes. All the guys admired Marion from a distance because she didn’t seem very friendly. Having two brutes as brothers didn’t help either. I was totally surprised she was at the party.

“May I sit next to you, Brent?” she asked.

“Of course you can” I said. I looked around her to see if Jack and Jeff were lurking anywhere close by.

“You can stop looking. They aren’t here,” she said.

“What are your plans after graduation?” she asked.

“I’ll be going to Baylor. And you?”

“I joined the Marines. I’ll be going to Parris Island, South Carolina in June.”

I sat up and looked into her blue eyes and could see she was proud of her decision.

“I wish you luck, Marion. I would like to hear from you. I’ll get you my address.” I leaned in for a peck on her soft lips.

She smiled back and sat back in her chair. Small talk commenced after that.

Graduation night was a night I will never forget. I was valedictorian of our senior class therefore I would be delivering a speech. Before my name was called to step up to the podium, I sat in front of my class, in the front row of the auditorium listening or half listening to the school administrators. I had time to reflect on my school years. Realizing this was our last day of Rayburn high school, my thoughts went to my best friends, Gus and Frank. I realized my life, as well as my classmates lives, would soon be changing. I also realized there would be no more drag racing at Rattlesnake Hill. There would be no more deer or hog hunts. No more trips to Mexico. I would miss them all. I had no regrets of my 12 years. Besides Gus and Frank, I started to think about Marion. We had become inseparable since the swim party. I knew I would certainly miss her.

But the biggest lump to swallow was the news Frank and Gus shared with me. They both showed me their enlistment papers. My heart skipped a beat as I blinked away tears. They had joined the army. Frank would be going to Ft. Polk, La for training and Gus was going to Ft. Knox, Ky. Following training, they would be going to Viet Nam. The war had heated up, and I was afraid for them.

I had promised a short and sweet speech at the insistence of my friends. And it was just as they asked until I went off the script. I spoke from my heart as I revealed the pain I was feeling at the closing of our years at Rayburn High. I expressed the love I had for them all. I wished everyone good luck, especially to our new soldiers, Frank and Gus and Marion. I led our class and staff in prayer for all the soldiers fighting for our country in Viet Nam.

Two years later, I stood on the air strip in San Antonio next to the plane. A flag draped casket carrying Frank’s body was being unloaded. I patted it lightly as a tear fell from my eye onto the red, white and blue.