In the middle of June the grades arrived from Stephens for the second semester. I was really surprised that I ended up with a 3.7 average considering the first semester the average was barely a 3.0. A letter also arrived from Mr. Wheeler, my advisor and TV, Radio and Film professor telling my parents how well I did, what he recommended I enroll in for the next year and also how I had been elected Producer of our Montage television show, President of my sorority and Senior rep for the dorm I was to live in. The grade point average did not seem to impress Mother and her question was how I expected to do all the extra stuff and get good grades. Not one of my better days.
Needless to say I was just a little terrified to tell Mother that Barney was coming to Muskogee. The 4th of July fell on a Sunday so Barney decided to drive down that day and return to Columbia on Monday. I waited until a day or two before to break the news to Mother and all I got was a disapproving look and silence for the next two days.Would have been nice if she had asked about him. She could have asked her favorite question "What does his Father do for a living?". But no, just not talking to me.
I started watching for Barney to come up the drive to the Club way too early in the day. That only made the day seem longer. I was watching for the blue Bonneville but never saw it. While trying to keep two boys from drowning each other I heard the familiar "hey" behind me. After a few kisses we sat on the bench holding hands while the children wanted to know if he was my husband, boyfriend, where did he live and on and on while they dripped all over him. Bob came out of the clubhouse to meet him and said since we were not that busy to close the pool at 6:00 and go have some fun.
As we walked to the parking lot I asked where his car was. He said it was parked next to my VW. No Bonneville but there was a new blue Corvette convertible. He followed me home as I worried about the reaction he would receive when we got there. Luckily Mother was in one of her "flirty" moods so between his dashing good looks, very polite manners and the blue Corvette she was at the top of her game. After all the introductions and a visit to our backyard hot rod shop to meet Kenny I went to change clothes. Mother took him on a tour of the house and her Japanese garden. By the time I was dressed Barney had taken her for a ride in his car. He invited the whole family to dinner but they declined and we dashed out the door.
The dinner requirement was fulfilled at Russ's Drive-In. It was one of the local stops on the dragging main tour even if you weren't going to eat. The Corvette caused a lot of attention with Missouri plates and me, the local girl. Everyone stopped to say hi and to check him out. I looked like I had a lot of friends that night. One guy actually challenged him to a drag race not realizing he was not the drag racing kind. Barney finally asked if there was someplace to go watch fireworks and maybe to be alone. I had the perfect place in mind - or just thought I did.
A short drive from Russ's is Honor Heights Park. Since it was getting dark we made a quick tour of the park and then parked between the VA Hospital and the Reservior which was the highest point in town. From there you can see all of Muskogee. Must have had a brain fade and forgot that cruising through the park was part of the evening routine and it looked like a parade. Of, course everyone who had seen us at Russ's drove by, honked and waved. But we watched the fireworks and talked about families, friends and everything else in the world until midnight. The one thing we did not talk about was Sarah. Even though Barney and I could talk about everything and tell each other things we usually did not express, Sarah was the one thing I did not want to talk about.
The next morning Mother woke me up at 5:00 AM dust mopping under my bed. I got up and had coffee with her. She asked me what I had planned for the day and I told her I was meeting Barney for breakfast before he left. She asked where he was staying and I played stupidity and just told her some motel. As soon as she left for work I dashed out the door and headed to Barney's motel. He had decided after he took me home the night before that my family only liked him because of his car. I told him that might be true but I would still love him if he drove a 1958 faded four door Nash Rambler. That got him laughing.
Barney had not said anything the night before about his high school football letter tacked up over my bed but mentioned that it looked like I slept with him every night - well, sort of. But I did tell him his letter had replaced a picture of Paul McCartney so he should feel really special. He had sent in his application for the MBA program at Northwestern in Chicago and hoped to go for the spring semester next year. If all went well with summer school he would graduate at Christmas. I had to be proud for him since he made his goal of graduating from college in three years but it was hard to imagine him not being in Columbia. Chicago was a many miles away.
Chet's Hot Dog stand was lunch as no respectable Central High person can miss a trip there when back in town. He ate FOUR! I think he would have eaten more but he kept getting into conversations with everyone who walked in the door. (One of the things I adored about him.) Then it was off to say his goodbyes to my parents. Saw Mother at the newspaper and she was still all "flirty". Then to see Dad at the Drugery and he was happy to see that Barney had done well with Mother. A quick trip through Honor Heights Park in the daylight, a cruise by dear old Central High and whatever other sights we passed in our tour. Then it was back to pick up my car and say goodbye. He promised to come back in four weeks when summer school was over but I missed him the moment he drove away.
The Mother Quiz came that evening. Boy! Was it a doozie.
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