Childlike

chapter 5 Cowboys and the Answering Machine

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Chapter 5

Cowboys and the Answering Machine

             Saturday morning was already warm and breezeless, with flags lifeless and limp on their poles, cloudless blue skies foretelling of the coming afternoon heat. The arid brown eastern mountains looked like over baked bread and the asphalt parking lot was already hot when the manager let me into the store to begin another day of work.  The milk delivery had arrived requiring me to spend a morning inside the walk-in cooler looking up prices for the milk and stocking the nearly empty shelves.  Not many people like working in the “cold box”, with frozen breath and goose bumps, and icy steel shelves. It was nicknamed the polar bear as in “you’ve got the polar bear duty”. Some guys would volunteer for the job, especially on hot days, sneaking a beer or two as they stacked and labeled shelves with prices, feeling it their right for enduring the polar experience. But I enjoyed the polar isolation for it allowed me to think, and this morning's thoughts were centered on pretty Yvonne and what the future may bring with her.  I had already memorized her phone number and intended to call her at lunchtime. And even though Bobby says that she is a missionary to most of the guys in the valley, never keeping them as suitors once they join her church, I couldn’t help but think that it would be different with me.  I would be the one man who would woo and win her.

 I'm sure Missy would have something to say about my plans, for she seemed to know a lot about the Bible and Jesus; stuff that I really didn't want to hear about.  Besides, what’s wrong with going to church to get close to a girl? Isn’t it better than not going to church at all? Unfortunately, my conscience was telling me that it was wrong to do anything under a false pretense.

The morning dragged. I kept watching the clock as if I could mentally move it, my heart, wild with anticipation. What would she say when I asked her out? Would we kiss on the first date? Would I make her laugh? Would I want to go out on a second date? Would she? It was like I had never been on a date before, sweaty palms and blown up imaginations. With Yvonne, it was as if I had made it! I had climbed Everest and made it to the summit for the entire world to see. With Yvonne on my arm others would think so too!

 When my lunch hour finally came I immediately went outside and punched in Yvonne’s number.  The phone rang four times then Yvonne's voice came on the line saying, “I'm not here at the moment, but I want to talk with you, so please leave a message, and if this is Joshua Nun, meet me in front of the church at 11 tomorrow morning.  Bye.” The answering machine let out a shrill sound, then hesitating a moment, I said that I'd be there and hung up, realizing afterwards that I hadn’t said who I was. For some reason, I felt like the mark in some kind of con job. She was the missionary and I the lowly sinner, nothing more. She treated all her customers like that. It reminded me of a hairstylist I use to frequent. She always flirted with me, making me feel special, making me want her to cut my hair all the time. Once I happened by and watched her flirting with another customer, making him feel special and me a special fool. For some reason I thought I was the only special customer, someone that she looked forward to filling her chair. But then I cheered up reasoning that she did make me feel special. So what if she does that to every customer. I didn’t own her.

When I told Bobby about the message he just laughed and shook his head. “Pretty presumptuous, isn’t she?” he said.

 “Yeah, I guess so,” I answered feeling again like a fool.  Here Bobby had warned me about this girl and still I was walking like some dumb animal into a trap! But I still couldn’t help but feel that maybe this time it was different, maybe I might be the one that this Yvonne really falls for, a sort of reverse trap.