Friday night in Texas
Friday night in Texas
On the third circle of the tiny parking lot, I decided to park in the weird triangle shaped spot beside the median that jutted out. My Jeep fit perfectly once I put two tires on the curb. Not wanting to be tortured just yet, I loaded my pool game. Moments later I was lining up my shot on the eight ball. I was about to be two games away from my ring. My finger was sliding the doohickey to choose how much force to use. I sucked my lip between my teeth.
Jason Aldean’s A Girl Like You suddenly filled the car and my husband’s face was on my screen.
“Why do you hate me?” Perhaps not the friendliest greeting for my spouse but, he’d now knocked me back to four games to get my ring.
“Stop hiding in the car and get in here.” Not even a little remorseful. He was so lucky he was hot. “Do you have cash on you?”
“Of course I don’t have cash. The guy I do private dances for only uses credit.” I grabbed my wallet out of my bag before shoving it under the passenger seat. “Doesn’t even tip. Which seems unfair given the filthy things he asks for.”
“Oh, I’m sure he gives you more than just a tip.” I could hear Savannah’s ewww in the background. With a giggle, I beeped the car alarm. “See you in a few.”
A few minutes later I reached the opening in the chain link fence. There were a surprising number of police officers standing guard, mingling with the school security people. Two officers were working the entrance table. Now I understood why I needed cash. There wasn’t a card reader in sight. According to the sign I needed seven bucks to get in. I shook my wallet. There were definitely some coins in there. Doubtful that there was seven dollars’ worth of quarters. Maybe I could pass for a student. They only need five dollars.
“Don’t try it. You can’t pass for a college senior let alone a high school one.” A warm shiver went down my back as I felt warm arms wrap around my waist. I didn’t even question how he had managed to sneak around behind me.
“You calling me old?” I snuggled my head into his chest as we waited to pay my entrance fee.
“You think I’m going to walk into that trap, woman?” I could feel him shake his head as his arm reached out to pay the officer to the left of us. She stamped my hand then waved us on when she saw the stamp on Jesse. “Come on, you have already managed to miss the first half.”
We strolled over to the bleachers hand in hand. I looked up into the stands to see our daughter sitting almost perfectly center. Wonder what time they had to get here to get those kinds of seats? Minutes later, we were all settled on the padded stadium seats that Jesse had insisted on buying the summer before Savannah started high school. He had been convinced that we would be spending every Friday night watching football. He’d grown up in East Texas where Friday nights in the fall equals football. Even if you weren’t still in school or if you didn’t have a kid at the school, the whole town gathered at the game. Sadly, he had failed to take into account how much our child hated football. She had refused to come to any game. He’d tried to convince me to come with him. Silly boy. I didn’t want to spend my Friday night out in the heat or cold depending on how the Texas weather was swinging that night. So, the poor guy spent a bunch of money on seats a year ago that had never been used.
Then our daughter met Jock Boy. A six foot three two-hundred-pound linebacker with a smooth deep voice that knew how to bewitch a teenage girl. On more than one occasion, I had heard my child waxing longingly with her friends about his caramel-colored skin with his brown eyes that seemed to glow. I didn’t trust this boy one bit. We had made it to sophomore year without her having a serious boyfriend. Personally, I was hoping to get her out of high school before she started dating.
Jesse handed me what I assumed was a burger wrapped in foil and slid a box of fries into my lap. “Is it edible?”
“Yes. Journey’s dad makes them.” Savannah answered without taking her eyes off Jock Boy on the sidelines. My mouth watered as I unwrapped the burger. Journey’s dad owned the best BBQ joint in town. I knew my taste buds were in for a treat. “Why isn’t he playing?”
“Uh because he’s defense and the offence is on the field.” Jesse answered without taking his eyes off the field. Jock Boy chose that moment to look up into the stands. I could tell from the flirty smile that he had found my little girl. I wanted to throw my fries at him. But that was probably against the rules plus a waste of good food.
After I devoured my meal, Jesse gathered up the trash and claimed he was going to throw it away. He looked offended when I scoffed at him. Clearly, he thought I was blinded and didn’t notice the group of dads gathering over in the grass. He wasn’t going to be back for a while. He played poker with about half of them. Savanah watched her dad carefully walk down the bleachers.
“Mom?” She leaned close to whisper in my ear. I tilted my head to let her know she had my attention. “What’s a first down and how can we have more than one per game?”
I snorted soda out of my nose. This child came from a football family. There had been brawls on Thanksgiving. My family were die hard Chiefs fans. My husband loved his cowboys. There were a few traitors in the extended family that had been swayed by the dark side. One year a traiteurs distant cousin who showed his lack of intelligence by rooting for the Cowboys over the Chiefs was dangled off the second-floor balcony at my grandparents. Sadly, we had to pull him back up before we got him fully extended out of fear that one of the adults in the living room below us would see his feet dangling in the window.