Grandma's Teapot (eBook)
244 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-6441-7 (ISBN)
Louis Farrell grew up in a small town in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Shortly after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army where he served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam for 18 months. He went on to earn a degree in physics from Trenton State College.
This emotionally charged fictional narrative follows two childhood friends, Kelly Sue and Elizabeth, growing up in a small-town community in the 1960's. In this bucolic setting, destiny hands them fairy-tail lives that they could never have dreamed possible. However, fate intervenes and their world is dramatically altered through the selfish, cowardly act of a person they will never meet, forcing them to constantly struggle with trying to understand the conflict within.
CHAPTER 2
Kelly Sue and Elizabeth can feel the excitement as they reach Main Street and see that it is completely lined with people waiting for the parade to begin. They hear the clamor from the crowd, along with the distant blaring sounds of the brass instruments of the marching band tuning up. “We should’ve stayed home and watched it from our front porch. We would’ve had a better view as it went by.”
“Then we wouldn’t get to see all the hot guys who are here.” Elizabeth points. “Like those two over there. I think that’s Ricky and Cal. They were a couple of years ahead of us in school. Did you know them?”
“Everybody knew Ricky. He always was the loudest one in the crowd, except for you. Cal was in my geometry class. He was very quiet, seemed like a nice guy. I heard he joined the Army.”
“Let’s go talk to them. I’ve always had a thing for Ricky, the bad boy from the tough town of Folcina.”
“You’ve always had a thing for every boy, Bitzy. Besides, they don’t want to be bothered by us. Remember Ricky telling you that you were too young for him to date?”
“Yes, I do. Now it’s time for me to make him eat his words. Come on.” Elizabeth grabs Kelly Sue’s arm and pulls her down the line of people and right up to Cal and Ricky. She bumps into Ricky as she pulls Kelly Sue into the back of Cal.
Ricky turns around and his face lights up. “Hey… you.”
“The name’s Elizabeth, Ricky.”
“I knew that. Long time no see. How have you been?”
“Busy. I have a very full social calendar and I’m getting ready to leave for college next month.”
“I just finished up my first year of college.”
“How did you like it?”
“It’s okay. It keeps me out of the draft. You girls know Cal? He just got back from Vietnam.”
Kelly Sue is finally able to get her hand free from Elizabeth’s grip and turns around and looks up at Cal. She can feel her heart flutter as she looks at this tall, blue-eyed boy with short, strawberry blonde hair and a mustache. She smiles and scrunches up her shoulders as she grabs his mustache with both hands. “You have a mustache.”
Cal looks at her and the image of that beautiful, happy smile with her scrunched up shoulders grabbing his mustache will be burned into his memory forever. He immediately thinks, She must have a boyfriend. Someone as gorgeous as her has to have a boyfriend. “Hi. I was in your geometry class.” And I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world. Completely out of my league.
“Yes, you were. I remember you. You just got back from Vietnam? How long were you over there?”
“Exactly one year.”
“What did you do?”
“I was in the infantry, a grunt. I humped the boonies.”
“Grunt? You did what?” Kelly Sue starts blushing and gazes down at the sidewalk.
“He humped the boonies.” Ricky starts laughing. “No! It’s not anything dirty. It’s military talk. It just means walked through the jungles.”
Kelly Sue looks back up at Cal, who gets a sly grin on his face. “Our job was to walk through the jungle trying to find the enemy.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“It had its moments.” Cal hastens to change the subject. “What have you been doing?”
Kelly Sue realizes that Cal has no desire to talk about his experiences in Vietnam, so she explains her plan to work a year before going to college.
She and Cal, with their eyes locked on one another, continue to talk as everything around them seems to disappear. “Hey! Earth to you two! You want to go with Ricky and me and get ice cream cones?”
Kelly Sue looks at Elizabeth, who is smiling from ear to ear. She looks back at Cal. “Do you want to go with them?”
“Sure.” You’re asking me? I’d go to the end of the world with you. I’ve got to find out if she has a boyfriend.
Kelly Sue and Cal follow Ricky and Elizabeth as they walk down Main Street. “Uh… are you meeting someone?”
Kelly Sue looks at Cal and smiles. “What do you mean?”
Cal starts to fidget. “I aaa… just…um… you know—”
Ricky turns around. “You can walk through the jungles of Vietnam, but you’re afraid to ask her if she has a boyfriend.”
“Ricky, leave him alone.” Elizabeth rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “You’ve been trying to find out if I have a boyfriend all morning, but are too afraid to ask me.”
“Yeah. But unlike Cal, I’m not brave enough to walk through the jungles of Vietnam…. Soo, do you have a boyfriend?”
“Why do you ask?” Elizabeth winks at Kelly Sue.
“I just don’t want some big guy coming over here and punching me in the nose because he thinks I’m moving in on his girl.”
“Are you moving in on his girl?”
“Yes. I mean no. I don’t know! Can we just go get the ice cream?”
“I don’t know if my big boyfriend who punches guys in the nose would be okay with me getting ice cream with you.”
“Bitzy, give Ricky a break.” Kelly Sue looks at Ricky. “She does not have a boyfriend.” She then turns to Cal. “I don’t have a boyfriend either.”
Cal gets a big smile on his face. “The ice cream cones are on me.”
Cal buys all of them ice cream cones and they stand outside the confectionery store eating them as the parade goes past. He points at Kelly Sue’s cone. “I see you like chocolate.”
Kelly Sue smiles as she looks up into those blue eyes. “Yes. Doesn’t everybody?”
“Not me. I’ve never liked chocolate ice cream. My favorite is this.” Cal holds up his cherry vanilla ice cream cone.
“I don’t like cherries. It’s a texture thing with me.”
“Kelly Sue! Hey, Kelly Sue! Up here!” Mickey is calling to her as his float is going by.
“Ooooh! Is that your boyfriend? Look everybody, there’s Kelly Sue with her boyfriend!” Liam is pointing as all the Boy Scouts look at her and start making catcalls and rhymes about sitting in a tree.
Kelly Sue turns bright red from embarrassment and lowers her head. She feels a finger under her chin lift her head and she looks up at Cal’s smiling face. “Are they friends of yours?” I’d be honored to be her boyfriend.
“No. I’m sorry. They’re my stupid, little brothers.” He sure has a beautiful smile. “Is this parade moving slow or is that float extra long?”
“Everything seems to be moving along at the right pace. You don’t have to apologize to me. I was a tormenting, little brother to my sister. It’s just what we do.”
“HEY, BUTT HEADS! DON’T’ MAKE ME COME UP THERE AND SHOVE YOUR DIAPERS DOWN YOUR THROATS!” Elizabeth takes two steps toward the float and the Boy Scouts immediately shut up. “AND GET YOUR BEADY, LITTLE EYES OFF OF ME!” The Boy Scouts quickly turn and look at the crowd on the other side of the float. Elizabeth turns to a shocked Ricky, licks her ice cream cone, then calmly asks, “So, do you want to go to the egg toss in the park or are you too old for that?”
Ricky stands there with his mouth agape and, after a few seconds, nods his head and murmurs, “Ahh…”
Cal leans toward Kelly Sue. “I have never seen Ricky speechless. She sure has a lot of fire in her.”
“This is nothing. You should see her when she really gets mad.”
“Kelly Sue, let’s start heading toward the park so we can claim our lucky spot.” Elizabeth looks at Ricky. “There is a tip of a rock barely jutting out of the ground. That’s our spot. We always stand there.” Elizabeth grabs onto Ricky’s arm and they head for the park.
Cal smiles at Kelly Sue. “You do the egg toss?”
“Yes. I don’t mean to brag, but Bitzy and I are the reigning champs.”
“If I was her partner, I’d be afraid to lose.” They both laugh and follow along behind Ricky and Elizabeth.
When they reach the park, Elizabeth displays a devious smile. “Why don’t you and Cal enter the contest?”
“Yeah, Cal. You and me. What do you think?”
“I don’t think I can do that. I’ll just watch.”
“Sure you can. It’ll be just like throwing grenades. You were trained for that.”
“Yeah. It’ll end up the same way as a grenade… splat.”
“Excuse us.” Elizabeth pulls Kelly Sue to one side. “Do you really want to defend our title? We can retire as the undefeated champions.”
“What are you planning? You have that look in your eye.”
“I would like to do the egg toss with Ricky. I can’t wait to see him with egg all over his face, literally.”
“You’re going to hit him in the face with an egg?”
“He deserves it, telling me I’m too young for him.”
“Are you kidding me, Bitzy? That was four years ago. And judging by the way he’s looking at you, I don’t think he believes that anymore.”
“I know. I’ve been torturing him about saying that all morning. You would’ve seen him squirming if you weren’t so engrossed with Cal. What’s up with that?”
“Nothing. We were just talking. He’s really nice.”
“And cute.”
“Yeah, he is. What about you and Ricky?”
“I think he’s trying to get up the nerve to ask me out, but I’m not going to make it easy for him. So, will you be okay if I do the egg toss with...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 19.7.2024 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-3509-6441-7 / 9798350964417 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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