First Date:
Spiders and Terror
by Don Drewniak
I had a driver's
license tucked into my wallet two days after
turning sixteen. With the help of my high school
guidance counselor, I secured a part-time job at
a combination hardware store/lumberyard within a
week of getting the license
After five
weeks of work, I bought an eight-year-old, two-door
1952 Ford for $99.00. It was time for my first
date. Having received a yes from a girl in one of
my high school classes, I spent the evening
before the big date cleaning and polishing the
car.
Dashing home
after a full Saturday's day of work, I showered
and opted to wear a blue, short-sleeve, button-down
shirt, white chinos and desert shoes.
The weather
was perfect with clear skies and the temperature
in the upper-sixties. I practiced over-and-over
what I would say if one or both of her parents
greeted me at the door.
A man who I
presumed to be her father, opened the door. He
was six-feet tall give or take an inch, well over
two hundred pounds and had a pronounced beer
belly.
Before I could
say a word, he bellowed, “She's not here,”
and slammed the door shut.
Stunned, I
stood motionless on the porch for upwards of a
minute before retreating to my car. Not wanting
to return home only to have my parents ask what
happened to my date, I opted to go to a drive-in
theater where I watched two horror movies, Earth
vs the Spider and Terror from
the Year 5,000.
Back at high
school, BMC Durfee in Fall River, Massachusetts,
on Monday morning, I resisted the temptation to
ask Miss She's Not Here when her father's baby
was due. We never once spoke to one another for
the balance of the school year. She didn't return
to Durfee for our junior and senior years. I
theorized that her father sent her to a Catholic
school in preparation to becoming a nun.
Earth
vs. the Spider
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04kQo2bSe4
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