{"id":546,"date":"2017-10-29T22:21:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T02:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=546"},"modified":"2017-11-02T22:49:32","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T02:49:32","slug":"my-first-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=546","title":{"rendered":"MY FIRST DATE"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction,\u00a0 and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction.\u00a0 Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"IMG_0986\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Here I am in 1958 with folded arms prepared for any undergarment failure<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/h3>\n

I reached my teens in the 1950\u2019s\u2014the age of can-can petticoats, Elvis, rolled bobby socks, and drive-ins. However, I never experienced any of those. Daddy didn\u2019t allow me to date, and if he had given permission, I was too timid to go. So\u00a0 there I was, nearing seventeen without ever having dated.\u00a0 Then a friend stepped in.\u00a0 Maureen Pratt was the envy of almost every other girl in school, because she was a magnet for every good-looking boy on campus.\u00a0 However, her parents were strict Baptists, and unless the date was a church event, they allowed only double-dates.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t reveal any of this when she invited me to spend the night.\u00a0 But on the bus after school, she confided,\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re going on a double-date tonight. Johnny, my new boyfriend, is bringing his cousin for you.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My heart sank.\u00a0 I had not worn my best bra or my best dress and , maybe worst of all, I had on my mother\u2019s good shoes, which were a size too small.\u00a0 My feet were screaming for release.
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll like Ronnie,\u201d she assured me.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s cute.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Johnny arrived in a 1950 Chevy with a coon tail on the radio antenna, his cousin was\u00a0 just another skinny, pimply-faced teenage boy with a drake tail haircut.\u00a0 Ronnie\u2019s limp hair was swept back in waves\u2014Jerry Lee Lewis style.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cHi,\u201d I said when introduced, and then wondered what on earth else I could say.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Then we were in the car, bumping along River Bend Road\u2014the roughest road in the entire county.\u00a0 \u201cBe careful of all these pot holes,\u201d Maureen said to Johnny.\u00a0 \u201cSome are \u2018bout big enough to swallow the car.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Both boys laughed.\u00a0 \u201cYou telling me,\u201d Johnny said.\u00a0 \u201cThese holes are beating the alignment right out of my front end.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cPro\u2019bly the rear end too,\u201d\u00a0 Ronnie said, laughing.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Maureen giggled.\u00a0 \u201cNaughty!\u00a0 Isn\u2019t he naughty, Faye?\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cUh, yeah,\u201d I said, trying to think of something cool to add, but before my tongue hooked up with my brain the sparkling date talk went on without me.\u00a0 More jokes, the last basketball game, who was dating who and which couples had broken up. Maybe I could mention the weather.\u00a0 We went around a curve and I slid toward Ronnie before I could stop myself.\u00a0 Grabbing the door handle I pulled myself back in place.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Johnny swerved to miss a pot hole.\u00a0 I bounced up and down and slid toward Ronnie again.\u00a0 As I pulled back I felt my right breast bounce free.\u00a0 A broken bra strap!\u00a0 I had a safety pin in my purse for this very disaster, but no way I could use it now.\u00a0 Crossing my arms across my chest, I tried to stop the bounce.\u00a0 With my luck, it might burst out of my dress and give me a right to the chin.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cFinally,\u201d said Johnny when we turned onto the Chatsworth Highway.\u00a0 \u201cGood pavement.\u201d\u00a0 Ronnie agreed that it was good\u00a0hard-d-d\u00a0pavement.\u00a0 Giggles all around.\u00a0 It seemed hours before we reached the drive-in.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWest of Laramie!\u201d\u00a0 cooed Maureen, leaning toward the lit up marquee.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you just love westerns!\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As soon as we pulled into a parking spot on one of the back rows and got the speaker attached, Maureen turned to me.\u00a0 \u201cWant to go to the little girl\u2019s room?\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Did I!\u00a0 I clamped my left arm over the runaway titty and threw open the door with the other.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen we get back Johnny and me are going to take the back seat,\u201d she whispered on the way to the concession stand.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI think he\u2019s going to propose tonight!\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We pushed ahead of a half dozen girls going in to the tiny bathroom. Doris took one stall and I took the other. Girls began pounding on my door almost immediately while I shucked off my dress and and the age-yellowed bra that Mama had bought when I was thirteen and wore a B cup.\u00a0 Now I needed a D cup but Mama said new underwear was way down her list.\u00a0 Not that I minded the size\u2014 the B cup acted as a girdle.\u00a0 I had learned the art of distributing some bust below the cup and still more under each arm.\u00a0 That still left a goodly amount to squeeze together in the middle.\u00a0 By pulling the straps as tight as possible, I could mold the remainder into what I hoped was a semblance of a normal bosom.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fishing my emergency safety pin out of my purse, I began looking for a sound area of fabric in back to pin the strap to. The commode in the next stall flushed. \u201cYou ready to go?\u201d Maureen called.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll come later, \u201c I said.\u00a0 \u201cGo on.\u201d\u00a0 The rusted pin refused to pierce the fabric.\u00a0 I scrubbed it against the metal lock on the door until I got some rust off. Finally, the bra strap was pinned and my breasts distributed.\u00a0 I tried to breathe shallow in order to avoid another rupture.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Outside, I realized another problem.\u00a0 Where was the car?\u00a0 Dang!\u00a0 Somewhere in back\u2014but which row?\u00a0 And what color was Johnny\u2019s car?\u00a0 Grey?\u00a0 Blue?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Finally, I saw a familiar car off to the right, and headed toward it .\u00a0 But just as I reached for the door handle a big dog lunged halfway out the window, barking furiously.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Retreating, I slammed into someone with a soft drink, which dropped and immediately soaked my skirt and and my right shoe.\u00a0 Now the shoe squished with each move.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d I said and sloshed off toward a coon tail I\u2019d just spotted two rows away.\u00a0 The car was vibrating, and as I got closer I saw a leg with a rolled sock dangling out of a back window.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cYou got here in time for the round-up,\u201d Ronnie said, nodding toward the screen.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cGoody,\u201d I replied, dropping myself onto the seat. Squish went my right shoe. Bounce went my\u00a0 breasts. Sproing-g-g-g went the seat.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cUh, you might want to move over this way,\u201d Ronnie said.\u00a0 \u201cBad springs on that side.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cSeat\u2019s fine,\u201d I said, folding my arms tightly over my chest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From the back seat came the sound of murmuring and heavy breathing. On the huge screen thousands of cows thundered across the prairie, and from somewhere across the lines of cars came the barking of a dog. Time stood still.\u00a0 It was only a hundred and sixteen hours until\u00a0 we were back at Maureen\u2019s house and Johnny and Ronnie were backing down the driveway to River Bend Road.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cDid Johnny propose?\u201d I asked as the car drove away.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cNearly,\u201d said Maureen.\u00a0 \u201cDid Ronnie ask you for another date?\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cNearly,\u201d I answered.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I had survived my first date.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction,\u00a0 and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction.\u00a0 Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon. Here I am in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=546"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":550,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions\/550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}