Steven Hunley
06-09-2012, 03:22 PM
http://youtu.be/dmf8rZfGTKQ
Crossing the Line
by
Steven Hunley
Sue couldn’t see what Eddie had to offer. Eddie couldn’t imagine the head cheerleader having anything to do with him; he was an outsider and liked it that way. Eddie was a maverick with a small circle of buddies, and Sue owned a circle of friends the circumference of the earth. Too bad for both of them, that both of their noses were stuck up in the air so high they both deserved nose-bleeds.
They sat across from each other in English class, and it was a good thing, because Sue knew all of the answers. Head cheerleaders always know all of the answers; it comes with the territory, along with honor classes, parties, and plenty of jock boyfriends.
Eddie, on the other hand had all of the questions. It was a match made in Heaven, or in High School, which is much the same thing.
After the bell rang Sue was shuffling her papers and stacking her books so that Biff Strong the captain of the football team could carry them to her next class. She noticed a tiny plastic object the size of her fingernail on the floor under Eddie's desk.
“What’s that?” she asked herself, and picked it up.
“What’s this?” she asked Biff when the big lummox showed up.
‘That’s a guitar pick,” answered Biff, and they walked down the hall for all the seniors to take note. The cheerleader and the captain of the football team were an item, at least in public.
Eddie was rifling his locker for his brown-paper lunch sack and saw them walk by on their way to get sushi.
Sue stopped and saw that on the inside of the locker was a stack of flyers.
“Here, Eddie,” she said, handing him the pick. “You dropped this.”
Biff gave Eddie a look than said simply, “Hands off.”
“Thanks,” he said and grew so flustered he slammed the locker door shut and the papers flew everywhere. Sue and Biff laughed and continued down the hallway to the cafeteria, while Eddie and Mugabi, a black exchange student from Nigeria, who was also a music student, stooped down to pick up the papers.
Later that afternoon, Sue walked down the empty hallway. The school had been closed for hours and Biff had gone home on the bus. Sue was used to having a retinue, but enjoyed the silence anyway, to her it was music, and if there was one thing she enjoyed it was music.
Biff liked Johnny Mathis and always put on his records when he wanted to “make out” with Sue. His tactics never worked, and Sue never “put out” because, if the truth be known, Sue liked rock and roll. She liked the beat, and though she had retained her virginity, she suspected that the pulsating rhythm of rock and roll just had to be as satisfying as sex.
A paper, the same color as one of the flyers, was still lying in the corner. She stooped to pick it up and turned it over. It announced a concert with someone called Eddie and the Cruisers at the Roxy Theatre on Saturday night. Could that be Eddie? But Eddie was sooo shy!
Saturday night found Sue at the door, actually trembling in anticipation. After the first group appeared, the Cruisers were next. Sue made her way to the front of the crowd.
The stage was dark, but when the lights came on Eddie turned and she saw his face glistening with sweat and how his hair gleamed under the spotlight. His muscled arms bulged out of his sleeveless shirt and he held the microphone with care and caressed the microphone stand as if it was a woman’s arm. His guitar was slung over his shoulder like Matt Dillon’s gun on his hip. His jaw was square and his eyebrows were brooding just like in school.
How they jammed! Eddie was in his element and the king of his musical domain.
There was Billy from history class on base, Wendle from English on drums. Wendle, always good at English, had written the song. Now she knew why Eddie called him ‘Word Man.”
Joe from economics was on rhythm guitar, and Mugabi was on sax. Cherrie, a girl she thought to be Eddie’s girlfriend, was singing. But she was mistaken.
Suddenly they made eye contact, and Sue realized that every single line of lyrics was about her, about them. Eddie felt mean, he felt crazy, he was her bad boy, and he was on the dark side.
She decided right there to cross over the line.
Then time, like it always does, ran by like an express train bound to nowhere in particular.
Now it’s twenty years later and Sue and Eddie live in northern California. They have seven kids and together along with their with Mom and Dad, make up a baseball team that plays every Saturday at Sacramento Municipal Park, about a half-mile from the Crocker Museum.
And they live happily….on the Dark Side, Oh yeah!
© Steven Hunley 2012
Crossing the Line
by
Steven Hunley
Sue couldn’t see what Eddie had to offer. Eddie couldn’t imagine the head cheerleader having anything to do with him; he was an outsider and liked it that way. Eddie was a maverick with a small circle of buddies, and Sue owned a circle of friends the circumference of the earth. Too bad for both of them, that both of their noses were stuck up in the air so high they both deserved nose-bleeds.
They sat across from each other in English class, and it was a good thing, because Sue knew all of the answers. Head cheerleaders always know all of the answers; it comes with the territory, along with honor classes, parties, and plenty of jock boyfriends.
Eddie, on the other hand had all of the questions. It was a match made in Heaven, or in High School, which is much the same thing.
After the bell rang Sue was shuffling her papers and stacking her books so that Biff Strong the captain of the football team could carry them to her next class. She noticed a tiny plastic object the size of her fingernail on the floor under Eddie's desk.
“What’s that?” she asked herself, and picked it up.
“What’s this?” she asked Biff when the big lummox showed up.
‘That’s a guitar pick,” answered Biff, and they walked down the hall for all the seniors to take note. The cheerleader and the captain of the football team were an item, at least in public.
Eddie was rifling his locker for his brown-paper lunch sack and saw them walk by on their way to get sushi.
Sue stopped and saw that on the inside of the locker was a stack of flyers.
“Here, Eddie,” she said, handing him the pick. “You dropped this.”
Biff gave Eddie a look than said simply, “Hands off.”
“Thanks,” he said and grew so flustered he slammed the locker door shut and the papers flew everywhere. Sue and Biff laughed and continued down the hallway to the cafeteria, while Eddie and Mugabi, a black exchange student from Nigeria, who was also a music student, stooped down to pick up the papers.
Later that afternoon, Sue walked down the empty hallway. The school had been closed for hours and Biff had gone home on the bus. Sue was used to having a retinue, but enjoyed the silence anyway, to her it was music, and if there was one thing she enjoyed it was music.
Biff liked Johnny Mathis and always put on his records when he wanted to “make out” with Sue. His tactics never worked, and Sue never “put out” because, if the truth be known, Sue liked rock and roll. She liked the beat, and though she had retained her virginity, she suspected that the pulsating rhythm of rock and roll just had to be as satisfying as sex.
A paper, the same color as one of the flyers, was still lying in the corner. She stooped to pick it up and turned it over. It announced a concert with someone called Eddie and the Cruisers at the Roxy Theatre on Saturday night. Could that be Eddie? But Eddie was sooo shy!
Saturday night found Sue at the door, actually trembling in anticipation. After the first group appeared, the Cruisers were next. Sue made her way to the front of the crowd.
The stage was dark, but when the lights came on Eddie turned and she saw his face glistening with sweat and how his hair gleamed under the spotlight. His muscled arms bulged out of his sleeveless shirt and he held the microphone with care and caressed the microphone stand as if it was a woman’s arm. His guitar was slung over his shoulder like Matt Dillon’s gun on his hip. His jaw was square and his eyebrows were brooding just like in school.
How they jammed! Eddie was in his element and the king of his musical domain.
There was Billy from history class on base, Wendle from English on drums. Wendle, always good at English, had written the song. Now she knew why Eddie called him ‘Word Man.”
Joe from economics was on rhythm guitar, and Mugabi was on sax. Cherrie, a girl she thought to be Eddie’s girlfriend, was singing. But she was mistaken.
Suddenly they made eye contact, and Sue realized that every single line of lyrics was about her, about them. Eddie felt mean, he felt crazy, he was her bad boy, and he was on the dark side.
She decided right there to cross over the line.
Then time, like it always does, ran by like an express train bound to nowhere in particular.
Now it’s twenty years later and Sue and Eddie live in northern California. They have seven kids and together along with their with Mom and Dad, make up a baseball team that plays every Saturday at Sacramento Municipal Park, about a half-mile from the Crocker Museum.
And they live happily….on the Dark Side, Oh yeah!
© Steven Hunley 2012