Audry Becker
A Home Run
Summer romance. How many movies and TV programs cover this more than common experience. Between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, besides my work at the restaurant, I took a day job lifeguarding at the municipal pool. I usually worked the 9:00 am until 2:00 pm shift five days a week.
My co-worker, who took over the chair at 2:00, was a girl, Audry Becker. Audry was a small girl. I figured about 90 some pounds. She was about five feet with a head of brown fading in the sun to shade of red hair. Her face was long with a mass of freckles splashed over her turned down nose and cheeks like a can of spray paint exploded in her face. She had gray-green eyes and a small, puckered mouth.
Like all of the female lifeguards, she wore a one-piece bathing suit. Over the weeks we worked together, I counted three of them. Hers, like the rest of ours, were fading from the sun and the chemicals in the pool.
My lifeguard job was necessary for keeping order more than saving lives. For the most part, the mothers kept a close watch on their little kids. I didn't get too many teenagers. The young hormonally charged middle and highschoolers generally didn't come to the pool until later in the afternoon. Teenagers, kids my age, were the biggest problem. They ran after each other, snapped towels, and splashed water all over everybody. All of these things were against the rules, and they knew it.
After a couple of days of the changing of the guard, I recognized that my dialogue with Audry was pretty cryptic. It was, "Hi. I've been watching the little kid in the red trunks. If he falls in the pool, his mom won't notice. She's too busy talking with the other moms. See you tomorrow. Have a good day."
To which Audry would nod to acknowledge she heard me, put on her sunglasses, tip her visor lower on her forehead, and climb up into the chair without so much as a word passing her pouting little thin lips. It didn't bother to take it personally because I knew it was pretty much how she acted with everyone.
But I remember Rebecka telling me what a nice guy I was, and this daily rite became more irritating every day that passed. One day I climbed down but kept myself between her and the ladder.
"What did I do that pisses you off so much," I said.
She was surprised. It took her a moment to gather herself.
"You didn't do anything to piss me off."
She must have thought that was going to be it. She started toward the ladder. I blocked her way.
"Do you realize you haven't said a word to me all summer until just now."
She got this smartass smile at the corners of her mouth.
"I haven't got anything to say to you."
"Okay, just thought I'd ask."
I let her pass me on her way to the ladder.
The next day I didn't greet her. I didn't pass on any cautions. I brushed up against her shoulder as we passed each other.
" Hey, you bumped me!" She yelled.
I kept walking.
That evening, I got a call from Ernie, the person who scheduled the lifeguards. He asked me to fill in on Saturday for a lifeguard that was taking a week off to go on vacation with his family. I agreed to do it.
"Listen, Richard. What's going on with you and Audry? She said you ran into on purpose this morning. You know, like you were trying to knock her down."
"Hmmm. I don't even remember touching her. Should I apologize?"
"Well, that might settle it. You don't remember touching her, huh?"
"Nope."
"Truth is I checked the surveillance video, and I couldn't see it either. Is she ticked off at you for something?"
"Look, I thought the same thing. I can't get a hello out of her all summer. So the other day, I asked her. She told me she didn't have anything to say to me."
I'd have to wait to apologize, Audry asked for a day off. A guy named Andrew subbed for her. I hung around for a little while.
"Andrew, see the big guy over by the lounge chairs?"
"Yeah, I know him. What's up?"
"He's been bothering those girls, and they aren't enjoying it."
"I talk to him if he keeps up. He's a little socially retarded. If you know what I mean?"
I left Andy to handle his friend.
The next day I showed up at 2:00 on Saturday for my fill-in shift. I noticed that no one was in the chair when I came out of the changing room.
Quickly I realized that there was a crowd down by the lounge chairs. I walked down and saw Audry was nose to nose with my problem guest from the previous day.
"You. You ain't kickn' me out of the poo,l bitch. You ain't nothing here. What right you got to order me around."
I walked up behind Audry. The kid looked at me, and I could tell he knew he was in trouble.
"Problem Audry." I was standing just behind her, at her shoulder.
She looked back at me.
"This guy was bothering those girls."
She gestured with her head.
"I told him to stop or leave the pool. He didn't stop."
"I guess that does it then. Please leave, sir."
"Hey, I'm not leaving. I didn't do nothing and they ain't going to say I did."
I could tell the girls were concerned about getting involved with this dispute.
"Okay, I'll tell you what we're going to do. I'm going to get a police officer over here. Then we can all go to the park office and look at the surveillance tape, and we will determine whose right and wrong, Okay?"
Audry got a smile on her face. The kid looked like he got punched in the nuts. He grabbed his towel, kicked his feet into some sandals, and left. The crowd drifted apart and went back to enjoying the pool. Audry walked beside me back to the chair. When we got there. I faced her.
"I understand I bumped you pretty hard yesterday. I want to apologize. I didn't intend to bump you. But if I hurt you in any way, I'm sorry."
She was looking at the ground underneath the ladder.
"Look, I'm kind of a bitch these days. There's a lot of shit going on in my life. I seem to take out all my anger on other people that don't have anything to do with it."
Her candor surprised me.
"Okay. We're good then?"
"Yes, we're good. And ah...thanks for stepping in over there. I'm impressed. It was smooth. I didn't know we had video surveillance ."
"I'm not sure we have coverage over there, but I knew those girls were intimidated. They weren't going to turn him in."
I softened my voice so as not to be overheard.
"Look if you need to talk to someone about what's going on? You know. I'm a pretty good listener."
She snickered. Then she looked serious.
"You know you might be the right guy to talk to. Let me think about it."
For about a week after that event, our conversation wasn't necessarily long or personal, but it was friendly. Then I got mentally T-boned at our Friday shift change.
"Do you have Sunday off?"
"Yes."
"I live at 450 Cromwell. Do you know where that is?"
I wasn't familiar with the address, but I knew the neighborhood. This young lady was from a wealthy family.
"I can find it. Why?"
"I'm inviting you to brunch at my house. I'd like it if you could help me with a decision I have to make. You said you'd listen to me."
"Sure. I will try to help if I can. What time?"
"Ten o'clock. Bring a bathing suit."
"Sounds good I'll see you then."
Sunday morning, I walked my bicycle up the curved entrance driveway to Spanish style home. I kicked the stand down on the bike and walked to the front door. Audry answered it. She smiled at me, and then the smile faded when she spotted my bike behind me.
"You didn't drive?"
"I don't even have my license yet." I smiled. "Why do we need a car?. I mean, I assumed we were having…"
"No, it's fine. Why don't you walk your bike around the side of the house to the back."
"Sure,"
When I got to the end of the walkway to the backyard, I was in this magic world I only saw in movies. The pool was big enough to swim laps. The furniture around the pool was probably more expensive than what my parents had in our house. She had answered the door with a short robe over her bathing suit. I parked the bike. She was standing by the bathhouse.
"You can change in here. Do you drink coffee?"
"I do, thank you."
I put on my bathing suit, and when I came out of the changing room, she was sitting at a patio table. On the table was a tray with a coffee carafe, some mugs, milk, and sugar on it.
"Help yourself."
"Thanks."
I poured the coffee. I knew it was different from what we drank at my home just by the smell. I didn't bother with my usual milk and sugar.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Let's enjoy the morning for a while."
I nodded.
We discussed our schools. She attended a non-religious college prep school that was expensive and, therefore, exclusive. She was the only person I knew that went to that school. She got a grin on her face.
"What do the kids that you go to your school think of my classmates and me?"
"What you probably can guess. You're snobby, rich, and pampered."
"What do you think?"
"That you're snobby rich and pampered."
She squealed with laughter.
"You don't pull your punches."
"I was kidding, of course. I'm known to say anything for a laugh. I don't know you, any of your friends and or classmates. So I have little to judge you on. As far as my classmates go, I'm sure they think pretty much the same. Frankly, I can never remember anyone having any conversation about your school."
"Wow. That's disappointing. We spend all of this money trying to incur your envy, and no one notices."
"Hey, we're too busy with our noses to the grindstone trying to impress our parents. We haven't got time to think of you guys."
"Well, you're not missing much, in case you ever do think about it."
"Like what?"
She got up.
"Let's eat. I've been preparing all morning long. I have to make sure you eat it before we talk."
"Really! Why?"
"You might end up running from here screaming. I don't want to get stuck with the food."
She was smiling, but I took note of some slight discomfort, so I passed on making the pithy remark that came to my head.
Audry had been at work in the kitchen. There was a stack of fried bacon strips in the warming oven. Alongside the bacon was a bowl of hashbrown potatoes. She pulled a pitcher of grapefruit juice and a bowl of whipped eggs out of the refrigerator. Audry seemed to be a little confused with what to do with the eggs.
"Do you want me to fix the eggs. I work at a restaurant."
"No kidding, where do you work?"
I stepped in and took control of the frying pan just before it was going to blacken the butter she had put in it.
"Manitou's Supper Club."
"Oh, my folk's go there all of the time."
"I've never seen you there."
"No, I don't go there. My folks do."
There was more than a hint of anger in that remark.
"So, you cook there?"
"I help in the kitchen on occasion, but mostly I bus dishes. I can't wait tables until I'm older."
"This is what you aspire to, being a waiter."
"As long as it helps me get through college."
I was slowly stirring the eggs to finish them but not dry them out.
"Why do you work at the pool? You can't need the money," I said.
"Like my mother, I work to get out of the house. You can't believe how sheltered this kind of money will force on you if you let it."
"I see now we.re talking about your reason for inviting me."
"Down boy. We'll get there. Enjoy your breakfast."
We talked about where we wanted to go to college and what we wanted to study. She wanted to study law. I said engineering. I was applying to State, She was hoping for one of the Ivy League schools. I helped her clear the table and load the dishwasher. Apparently, there was no such thing as leftovers in their house; uneaten food went into the garbage can.
After we finished cleaning the kitchen, we went outside to the patio.
Audrey took off her robe. She had on a two-piece bathing suit. Models and Hollywood stars wore these suits called bikinis. No one I knew wore them. Yet, there she was. She was as my grandpa would say, skin'n and bones. She hardly had enough curve in her hips to hold up the string from the bottoms. Her body showed just a hint of breasts. It was only the determination in her eyes that betrayed her age to be over ten years.
We swam. I swam laps. Audry dove underwater and swam as far as she could before surfacing for air. After a time, she got out of the pool, patted herself dry, and laid down in a lounge chair. After a few more minutes, I joined her. Laying down on the chair next to her, I could see she had her eyes closed beneath her sunglasses. I said nothing. I don't know how much time passed before she spoke, but her voice was quivering.
"So, you've seen my problem."
I waited, but she said nothing.
"I'm not sure what you mean?"
"Don't go braindead on me. I'm a young woman, seventeen years old, almost eighteen in the body of a child. I'm smart. My test scores are at the top of every measure. My friends tell me I'm old beyond my years."
Again I waited. She said nothing.
"I don't know what to say, Audrey. I know we didn't get off to a great start, but I like you. I think your friends are right. You're smart and mature. And let me say, you can't help the way you look, which in my mind isn't bad, by the way."
She sat up and moved her legs, so she was sitting sideways on the lounge chair facing me.
"Really! My body isn't bad. Okay, explain to me why I haven't ever been asked out for a date. Tell me why I have never been kissed. Nobody has grabbed my ass in the hallway. I've never heard a boy make a crude remark about how it would be to have sex with me. You see, most of the girls we know would hate it if they hadn't gone out on a date, been kissed, or even groped by a guy. With me, they pretend they can't understand why I miss it. Or that's what they tell me. They know, but they don't know how to tell me without hurting my feelings."
She was choking back tears and trying to control the rage.
I sat up and reached over, picked up one of her hands, and put it between both of mine, on her lap.
"People can be jerks. Often we're faced with situations where we don't know how to react. I can't explain why your body isn't more… more womanly. I do know that guys are attracted to women who are more … more seductive in their appearance. Maybe we aren't mature enough to see you for the person you are rather than the women we might want."
She was tearing.
"Let me ask you something."
"What?"
"Would you kiss me?"
I reached for her. She pushed me back.
"Like you mean it."
I took her hand away and gathered her into my arms.
"Tell me when to quit when you've had enough."
Given, I had little experience, and she had none; it probably was pretty comical to watch, but we, as we said in those days, went all the way. Sometime between both of us getting completely naked and actually copulating, we ended up in her bed in the house.
We laid next to each other with the same question most lovers have the first time particularly.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yes, It was a little painful to begin with, but I liked it."
"Aren't you supposed to be bleeding or something?"
"Horseback riding took care of that." she smiled.
"How do you feel?"
"Honestly?"
"Yeah."
"Like, I want to do it more."
Put my mouth next to her ear and mumbled something to the effect that she was wanton trollop and an unforgivable slut who captured my soul.
Her laughter echoed through the empty house. She wiggled out from underneath me.
"I get to be on top this time." she declared.
Audry and I got together a few more times after that. I learned that one of the reasons she was so upset with the world and everyone in it was that she felt that she was disappointing her parents. Complicating that relationship was the fact that she was adopted.
Anyway, we were pretty honest with each other. We both had aspirations that left no room for each other in our lives. We made out a lot for a month. I can tell you I was paralyzed with fear the first time I bought condoms.
"When we went back to school, that was pretty much it for our sex life together.. I did take her to one dance at her school. It was a riot. Her friends didn't know what to say to me. They looked at me like I was something they were looking at through a microscope.
I told her it wouldn't help her reputation. They would think that she picked me up on the wrong side of town because no one else would date her. She told me that was the joke. One of her friends talked her brother into asking her to the dance. She knew he really didn't want to do it. She told him she already had a date. She thanked me for covering for her.
I think we both knew there would be a time when it wasn't going to work. Remember, she was a year ahead of me. I know when she went east for school, she was dating another guy. And I was also, so everything worked out.
But there is one thing I learned. Never judge a woman by her looks. Audry might not have been centerfold material, but she was an exciting lover. Once I got to know her, I really liked her. No, that's not entirely candid. I wasn't sure of my feelings for Audrey. I wasn't in love, and it wasn't as if I was in like either.. It was something in between that I never felt before. And I never felt again, until I got married.
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