Blowin' In The Wind (Part II)

Well, this girl called me the next day. She asked me if I'd like to come to her house to meet her mother and her son. I said, I'd be delighted. (Okay, I didn't say "delighted"... I said "cool". I was 6'1" tall, 165 pounds, and thought I was hot shyys.) I went to her house and met her mother and little baby boy, who was one year old at the time.

We talked and I gave her mother the same spiel... that I was home from college, working at "The Department of Recreation", and I lived with my mother, father, and brother over on the northwest side of Market Street. Her mother seemed surprised that I came from a two-parent home (?), impressed that I was still in college (?), and had some crazy idea that I had "money"(?).

I had what you call a "Kansas City knot" in my pocket... that's a twenty dollar bill on one end, 60 one dollar bills in the middle, and another twenty dollar bill on the other end. I carried it in a money clip and it gave the appearance that I was what you'd now call a "big baller... shot caller". I laugh about it now... I thought I had so much game. It was all a mirage, as Smokey Robinson would say. (I know you younguns, "Zack", "Dreamy", maybe even "O.G.", and certainly Shanita, don't know nothin' about "Smokey".)

We began dating that summer... we went to movies, a baseball game, Atlantic City, and a couple of clubs. (We were both under age but, a little thing like that never stopped me). I began to notice things that I didn't like about her right away. For one thing, she was very flirtatious. Everywhere we went, she would be winking or giving some guy the eye... enough to make him think he could come over and try to "beat my time".

I wasn't her man, not officially, and there wasn't too much I could say. All I ever did was pout and I think she actually liked that somehow. Guys would be slipping her their phone number while I was paying the bill at one of many places we would be eating and, all the while, I was powerless because more than anything, I didn't want to "lose" her. She was fine and I was kind of the envy of my friends because I had her on my arm but, it soon became apparent that I didn't really have her... she had me!

Then, of course, there was Tyrone.

To be continued...