Friday, May 11, 1984
“Want some peanuts, Josie?” Trixie asked, holding out the bag. Josie took a handful with a smile and turned her attention back to the game. The Sleepyside team was playing well. Bottom of the fifth, two out, man on second, and Sleepyside was leading two to one. Mart was at bat, and Diana grabbed Josie’s hand, squeezing it as Mart took a first ball strike. Josie’s eyes were focused on Dan, creeping stealthily away from second base. C-r-a-a-a-c-k! Mart made solid contact with the ball, driving it straight into the gap between second and third base. Dan rounded third before the ball hit the ground, and crossed home plate well before the ball arrived. Sauntering back to the dugout, accepting the high-fives of his teammates, Dan looked up at the stands. His eyes landed on the Bob-White cheering squad. Josie waved, and Dan winked up at her before rejoining the team.
“Would you hurry? I’m starving.” Mart slammed the door of his locker closed, and leaned against it. Dan ignored him and continued lacing his shoes. “Are you ignoring me again?” Mart asked. “Because I am quite capable of increasing my amplitude, if you’re having some sort of an auditory issue.”
“Did you get a letter from Mr. Stratton?”
Mart took the change of topic in stride. “You mean about the Jump Start program?”
“Yeah. You got one, too?”
“I did.” Mart sat down on the bench, his stomach temporarily forgotten. “It’s a great idea, taking college classes at the same time as high school ones. Graduating with a two year college degree at the same time as your diploma would be terrific, and it would save money on college, in the long run. Are you thinking about it?”
“Yes,” Dan finished tying his shoes. “I asked Ms. Shefland, the counselor in charge, and she says that the school is hoping that eventually the district will pick up the whole tab, but for the first two years they’ve only agreed to pay eighty percent.”
“Oh, that’s why it’s six hundred dollars to do it. That makes sense.” Mart stood up to check his teeth in the locker room mirror. “Still, getting the first part of college out of the way for six hundred bucks a year is pretty good.”
“I know,” Dan pulled on his Bob-White jacket. “Are you going to discuss it with your folks?”
“Tomorrow,” Mart replied. “I think they’ll be excited about it, especially with Brian starting college in the fall. How about you?”
Dan nodded. “Sunday, probably. Regan’s coming back to the cabin for dinner, so I’ll have a chance then. I think it’ll come down to the money, but hopefully, I can pick up a camp job again this summer. You ready, yet?”
Mart slugged Dan in the shoulder. “I’ve been ready, you
numbskull. Let’s get out there before they go eat without us.”
Wimpy’s was always hopping after a home game, so Jim and Brian had taken Trixie and Honey over to the restaurant to secure a table, while Diana and Josie waited for Mart and Dan to shower and dress. Exiting the locker room, Mart and Dan took a moment to admire the view. Diana, her dark hair in a smoothly swinging ponytail, wearing an SHS team shirt and snug blue jeans, leaning against the gym wall chatting with Josie, whose long curls were held in double tails by navy blue ribbons. Dan had to grin at his new friend’s Hoosier jersey and Chicago Cubs baseball cap.
As the boys approached, the girls turned to them. While Mart kissed Diana’s forehead and slung an arm around her shoulders, Dan tweaked Josie’s cap and stage-whispered, “Hope springs eternal.”
“Our day will come,” Josie joked, slapping away his hand. “Then you will bow before the mighty Cubs and repent of your disbelieving ways.”
“Josie, my grandchildren will be dead before that day comes.”
“Perhaps,” she replied triumphantly. “But at least you admit that it will come.” Dan just laughed, and offered her his arm. With a mock curtsey, she took it, and they followed Mart and Diana down the street to the restaurant.
Joining the others in the crowded booth, they ordered cheeseburgers and milkshakes, and settled into a comfortable chatter. Leaning back against the seat, Josie watched as Mart misdirected attention in order to snitch fries from Trixie’s plate, laughing as Trixie smacked at her brother and retrieved her fries. Trixie turned blue eyes on Josie and asked, “I’ve been dying to ask this, Josie. What exactly is a Hoosier?”
Josie laughed, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Well,” she started, lowering her voice so everyone had to lean in to hear over the surrounding din. “Way back when Indiana was still a territory, before it became a state, it was really wild. There were more bars than houses, and more bar fights than horses, and native Indianans developed a reputation for fighting dirty.”
“Fighting dirty?” Diana’s eyes were wide.
Josie nodded. “Yeah, really dirty. I’m talking gouging and biting off body parts; fingers, noses, ears. It wasn’t unusual for the barkeeper to be tidying up after a brawl, and find...pieces of the fighters. They took it in stride, they’d just pick up the piece and yell, “Whose ear?” That developed into Hoosier, and the rest is history.”
Josie sat back with a shrug. The Bob-Whites looked at her, wide-eyed and silent. She held the pose as long as she could, but their stares were too much; a slow grin spread across her face, and she erupted into giggles. “Oh, if you could only see your faces!”
“So, that story isn’t true?” Honey asked.
“I really don’t know,” Josie admitted. “I don’t think that anyone really knows what a Hoosier is. There are tons of stories. The ear one is just my favorite. Hoosier is just what you call yourself if you are an Indiana native. I don’t know why, we just do.” She choked back another laugh.
The Bob-Whites joined her laughter. “You really had me going with that one,” Jim told her. “I had this vision of earless settlers all throughout Indiana.”
“There probably were a few,” Josie told him. “Heaven knows they needed a reason for not listening. We grow them tough, scrappy and stubborn in Indiana--at least that’s what my Granddad claims.”
“Tough, scrappy and stubborn?” Dan teased. “Gee, maybe all you girls were grown in Indiana.”
Trixie narrowed her eyes at Dan, and looked at Diana, Josie and Honey. “I think we are going to take that as a compliment, aren’t we, ladies?”
“Yes!” they chorused.
“Otherwise,” Honey told Dan sweetly, “we might have to hurt you.”
“And that would be a shame,” Diana agreed, as she kicked him under the table.
“Yeow!” Dan exclaimed, reaching down to rub his injured shin. “It was a compliment. I swear! I surrender.”
“And on that note,” Brian interjected, “we’d better head home. It’s nearly ten, and some of us have chores to do in the morning.”
Mart groaned, “More planting. Thanks for the reminder, my back hurts already.”
“Give it up, Mart,” Dan groused good naturedly. “Try patrolling the preserve at dawn and then planting the garden. Want to trade?”
“Ah, Daniel, you are forgetting that my job includes the esteemed Robert Belden, esquire, who modus operandi is to perambulate along behind me, unplanting what I plant, whereas you have solitude and doughnuts while out wandering the woods.”
“Good point.” Dan slid out of the booth, taking Josie’s hand as she followed. Hand in hand, the four couples walked back to the school parking lot. Brian, Honey,Jim and Trixie climbed into Brian’s jalopy, while Dan held the station wagon door for Josie, and Mart and Diana climbed into the back seat.
At the door to the Fisher house, Dan shuffled his feet slightly. Josie looked up at him. “Thanks for dinner, and I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“I’ll pick you up at six, if that’s okay. I thought we’d eat first, and catch the seven-thirty showing.”
“That sounds great.” Josie looked over Dan’s shoulder, and then at the door. “You can kiss me good night, if you like,” she said.
Dan grinned. “I’d like, but I never kiss on the first date.” At her slightly surprised look, his grin widened. “But I will remind you that tomorrow night will be our second date.” He squeezed her hands gently. “Goodnight, Josie. Thank you for coming out with me tonight, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned and walked back to the car, leaving her shaking her head behind him.
Sunday, May 13, 1984
“Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!” Josie and Katie chorused, as they carried breakfast and flowers across the threshold.
Mary Fisher, propped up on plump pillows smiled at her daughters as they bounced into the room. Next to her, her husband Ken gave an exaggerated groan and pulled the covers over his head.
Setting the breakfast tray in front of her mother, Josie poked at her father. “Be nice, Dad,” she said. “You get yours next month.”
Poking his head out, Ken opened one eye. “Promise?” he asked.
“Promise!” the girls chorused.
“Fine,” Ken grumbled, sitting up in the bed. “But I want coffee, bacon and eggs, and waffles. Not this frou-frou toast, fruit and tea.”
“Gee, Daddy,” Josie teased. “We were planning on Lucky Charms and chocolate milk.”
“No way. I want man food for Father’s Day.” Ken grinned at his oldest daughter. “I want you to cook.”
“Actually, Daddy,” Katie corrected him, “I think you want me to cook. The last time Josie cooked breakfast, she set the tea towels on fire.”
“Good point,” Ken agreed, ignoring the irritation on Josie’s face.
“That was a total fluke,” she protested. “I’m a very good cook.”
“Prove it, daughter,” Ken challenged. “I’ll be waiting anxiously for my breakfast.” He leaned over and kissed his wife, before sliding from the bed. “I’m going to take a shower. Why don’t you fill your mother in on your big date last night.” He made a kissy face.
“Daddy!” Josie blushed. “Tell me you weren’t spying on me.”
“Sorry, baby girl. No can do.” Ken kissed his daughter on the top of her curly head. “About all I can say is that the boy brought you home on time and in one piece, and he didn’t look like he was slobbering on you, overly much.”
“Daddy!” Josie screeched again. Ken laughed, ducking the hastily thrown pillow, and slipping into the bathroom. Josie collapsed on the bed, hiding her burning face in the coverlet.
Mary laughed softly at her daughter’s embarrassment. “Don’t worry, darling. Your father is just looking out for you. It could have been worse, you know. He could have stood in the entry way and flicked the porch light on and off. That’s what my father did to him.”
Josie raised her face. “Really?”
“Really.” Mary picked up her toast, and took a small bite. “Now, did you and Daniel have a nice evening?”
Josie blushed again. “He really is sweet, Mama. He took me to Wimpy’s for dinner, and then over to the Cameo to see Footloose.” She smiled at her sister. “He bought me a soda and popcorn, and after the movie he took me to Sally’s for an ice cream cone.”
“And?” Katie prompted.
“And we talked, and then he brought me home,” Josie said, her eyes wide and innocent.
“And?” Katie asked impatiently.
“And what?” Josie asked.
“How was the kiss?” her sister asked in frustration. “Dad said he kissed you. How was it?”
“It was very nice.” Josie said, demurely.
“Nice! Nice?” Katie shrieked, “He kissed you for almost five minutes, and all you can say is nice?”
“How do you know how long we were kissing?” Josie asked, narrowing her eyes at her little sister. “Don’t tell me you were spying, too?”
Katie’s mouth closed abruptly, and she quickly averted her gaze. “You were spying on me!” Josie exclaimed. “Mom!”
“Katie,” Mary said, her twinkling eyes betraying her stern expression. “Spying on your sister and her date is best left up to your father. Try to remember that.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Katie kept her eyes down, but a dimple twitched as she struggled not to laugh.
Mary turned her attention back to Josie. “So, does this mean you’ll be seeing him again?”
“I think so,” Josie said slowly. “He did ask me if I’d go with him to the awards banquet next Friday night, and he invited me to a barbecue out at Honey Wheeler’s house after graduation. Honey’s brother, Jim, is graduating. A bunch of kids from school will be there, and there’s going to be horseback riding and swimming, if the weather holds. Katie’s invited, too, if you and Daddy say it’s okay.”
“I think that will be fine,” Mary leaned back against her pillows, as Ken emerged, fully dressed. “Dan seems like a fine young man. I think your father would agree.”
“Seems nice enough.” Ken agreed. “That doesn’t mean I’m not watching him, young lady.”
Rising from the bed, Josie walked into her father’s arms. “I know, Daddy,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “I would expect nothing less.”
Ken wrapped his arms around her in return. “I’ll always be watching you, baby girl. Both of you.” He opened his arms, and Katie joined her sister in the embrace. “No matter how old you get, you will always be my little girls.” He hugged them both, tightly, his eyes meeting those of his wife.
Mary Fisher closed her eyes, and smiled.
