Camouflage & Shotgun

 

 

Once the Football season began, it was time for Scotty and me to watch Frank coach in a new town.  We were so proud to be the wife and son of this amazing husband/father, Coach.  The fans, players, teachers, and students loved Frank.  It seemed that all of the people in Bremond, Texas, had taken us under their wings and embraced us as part of their loving community, and we were so thankful.

The next story is one of my favorite stories from when we lived in Bremond. Since Frank and I were very trusted by the people in this beautiful town, and they knew that we would always do our best to help support the community, the school, and the students, they decided to enlist our help with a little problem.

Camouflage & Shotgun

Frank always came home after the Pep Rallies on Friday afternoon before a Home Football game.  He would grab a quick bite to eat, kiss me for luck, hug and kiss Scotty, and then go back to the fieldhouse to get ready for the Football game.

On this particular Friday afternoon, when Frank entered the house, he was very excited, but all that he would tell me was, “Nancy Lou, you need to get a babysitter for Scotty this weekend, and he will need to stay Saturday night with the sitter. You and I have a job to make extra money.”

I tried to ask Frank about the job, but he smiled those big dimples then told me that he would talk to me about it the next morning after watching and going over the game film with the football players and coaches. I just smiled at him as he hurried out the door to go back to the Fieldhouse.

One of the teachers who taught with Frank at the High School was a good friend of mine, and she loved Scotty. I called her and asked if she could babysit Scotty the next day, which was Saturday, starting at noon, Saturday night, and Sunday until we could pick him up. She instantly agreed to keep Scotty, and she was so excited that I had asked her. She even promised to spoil him rotten.

I was so relieved and thankful that she wanted to keep him because we had only left Scotty one time before, which was when Frank and I moved our things to La Pryor.  Since Scotty was our third Musketeer, we just never thought about him not going everywhere with us.

With the babysitting handled, Scotty and I got ready for the Football Game then went to cheer for the team and coaches.  We won the game that night, and everyone in the town of Bremond was happy.  Scotty and I went on the football field to hug our favorite coach, congratulate the players, and other coaches, then we went back to our home. Once home, I got Scotty into bed then packed him a bag for the next day to go to the babysitter’s house.  Of course, I packed too much stuff, but that is what Mom’s do.  You want to make sure your child has anything and everything he or she might need. Knowing that Frank and the other coaches had gone to Waco, Texas, to wait for the football game film to be processed, once Scotty’s bag was packed, I went on to bed too.

Early the next morning, Frank left for the Field House to watch the game film with the players and coaches, but before he left, he asked me if I had gotten a babysitter for Scotty.  I told him, yes, then while walking out the door, and he said, “Nancy, we are going to have so much fun tonight.”

Of course, Frank did not give me a chance to ask him questions, and he just flashed those big dimples at me.  Dang dimples! While he was gone, I fed Scotty breakfast and lunch, then at noon, I drove him to the babysitter’s house.  When I arrived back at our home, a few minutes later, Frank came home, too.  He was so excited when I met him at the door, hugged me then led me into the bedroom.  Frank started pulling out his camouflaged hunting clothes, his boots, and stocking hats.  Thinking to myself, “Are we going hunting?  Those clothes won’t fit me.”

Not being able to handle the suspense of not knowing what we were going to be doing, I grabbed Frank’s hand, pulling him away from the closet, and asked him, “Okay, Dimples, what are we doing?”

Frank just laughed as he walked past me back to the closet then he said, “Nancy Lou, we have a job.”

Needing more information, I asked, “Are we going hunting, Frank?”

Frank answered, then chuckled to himself, “Sort of.”

My mind was perplexed, but I decided not to ask any more questions and do as he told me.  We got dressed in Frank’s camouflaged jumpsuit thangys,  green stocking hats, and boots.  Of course, since I was wearing his stuff, I had to roll the pant legs and sleeves up, but my reward was that Frank offered to let me wear his old combat boots.  I did smile big while telling him that they were way too big. My mind was full of questions, but I was determined not to ask because we were now in game mode with each other.

Once we finished dressing, Frank put one of the green ugly stocking hats on my head, then told me, “We can get the black grease stuff at the Field House for your face.”

In my mind, I was thinking again, “What black grease stuff for my face?  I will not ask.  If I do, he wins the game. I will not ask. Dang you, Dimples!”

Next, Frank led me to the kitchen and told me that we needed to pack up some stuff to eat and drink during the night.  We packed cheese, summer sausage, crackers, cookies, Vienna sausage, etc. into a bag, then we filled an ice chest with a container of water and some soft drinks.  I still had no idea what we were doing while helping Frank load the food into our car, but at least we would have food.  While I got into the car, Frank ran back into the house and came back out with two flashlights in his hand, he jumped into the car then drove us to the Field House.

As Frank and I walked into the Field House, he winked at me then asked, “Nancy Lou, why haven’t you asked me what we are going to be doing? Don’t you want to know?”

Laughing, I told him, “No, Dimples! I figure you will tell me in your own sweet time.”

As Frank smeared the black grease onto my face and his, he could not hold off any longer telling me what we were going to be doing, and he blurted out, “Nancy, we are going to be on guard duty here at the school all night! This is so cool!”

Frank went on to tell me that someone had been driving through the schools late at night on the weekends throwing beer cans and rocks at the windows and breaking them.  The school had asked Frank if he would like to guard the school that weekend and see if he could catch the perpetrators.  Of course, this was right up my Frank’s alley of fun, and he knew that I would agree to help him.  After all, I was his forever “Shotgun” in all adventures.

Okay, now we had black grease on our faces, camouflage clothes on our bodies, food, and drink, so all we needed was a place that would be our headquarters to store all of our food and drinks.  Frank decided that the perfect hideout headquarters would be the “Ole Dino” bus, and I totally agreed because, from the bus, Frank and I would be able to see all of the roads that went through the schools. So we got into the car, and Frank drove us to where the buses were parked then we carried our things into the “Ole Dino” bus, and I waited inside the bus while Frank drove our car to the Field House to hide it. As I waited for Frank to return, a big smile came on to my face with the thoughts of the fun we would have. Also, excitement filled my body because we were already having so much fun.

Soon Frank came running up to the bus then came inside.  He sat down across from me, then looked at me with a broad smile and said, “Nancy Lou, do you know how beautiful you are to me?  I love you, Nancy.”

There I sat with black grease all over my face, an ugly green stocking hat on my head, and dressed in enormous sized camouflaged coveralls, but this amazing man had just told me that I was beautiful.  I got up off the seat, then walked over and kissed his black greased face, wondering to myself how I could love him more and more without my heart bursting from that ever-increasing love, but realizing that I would.

When it got dark, Frank and I left the bus to cross the street then hide in the bushes in the schoolyard.  We were like two small children, anxiously waiting for action.  Suddenly, a car drove down the road between the buildings.  Frank pushed me to the ground, and we laid there watching, but nothing happened.  After the car was out of sight, Frank decided that we should low crawl to one of the large trees and then climb it.  I was laughing so hard that Frank had to push me up into the tree while he laughed too.

Frank and I sat in the tree for a while, climbed down out of the tree, then low crawled back to the bushes where we waited a few moments until we ran across the road back to the “Ole Dino” bus. We decided to eat some of the snacks that we had stored in our “headquarters” bus, knowing that the action would probably increase closer to ten o’clock that night. While we ate, Frank and I talked and made plans for our undercover moves later that night.

The Principle of the school had given Frank the keys to all of the buildings, so about 10:00 p.m., we left the bus, ran across the road, low crawled to the school building, then Frank unlocked the door, so we could go inside to use the restrooms.  As we were walking to the door, which was made of glass to exit the building, we heard a car coming, so we both dropped down to the floor to hide, hoping not to be seen.  The car drove around the road that looped the schools, but it did not drive on the street between the school buildings.

Once the car left Frank and I exited the building, he locked the door then we ran across the road to the bushes that we had hidden in before.  While squatting down behind the bushes, we decided that it might be best if we split up.  I stayed in the shrubs where we were, but Frank crossed the street then hid behind a tree there, then we waited.  Soon more cars came cruising around the schools, but all seemed to be just making the loop as part of their regular cruising route.

Suddenly, a car turned on to the road between the schools then stopped, and I heard a  crash and glass breaking.  Frank walked out from behind a tree in front of the car and stood in front of the vehicle. There was my six foot three tall husband/coach standing in front of this car with black grease on his face, a green stocking hat on his head, dressed in camouflaged coveralls, wearing combat boots, and staring at the young people in that car while blocking their forward motion. Priceless!  I held my breath, praying they would not panic and run over him, but thank God they did not.

Frank walked forward, then put his hands on the hood of the car and told the young culprits to get out of the vehicle.  As I ran to Frank’s side, the kids were standing beside the car.  Frank gave them a good talking to then wrote down their names, then he told them that he would be getting in touch with their parents the next day and that they would be paying for the window, not their parents.  Before the young culprits drove off, Frank told them to spread the word that he would be guarding the schools.  You know what?  Not one car drove by the schools after they left.

After they drove off, I told Frank, “You looked really scary when you walked out on the road!”

Frank laughed then hugged me while saying, “That’s exactly how I meant to look, Nancy Lou.”

We walked hand in hand back to the “Ole Dino” bus then laughed together while huddling in the school bus for the rest of the night.

On Monday morning, all of the parents of the kids showed up at the school and informed Frank that their children would be working to pay for the window.  Frank told the parents that he would also be running them after school on the track for a few days, and the parents thought that was a great idea.  For the rest of the school year, the school building did not have any more windows broken.  The school offered to pay Frank and me for our guard duty, but we had so much fun together that we declined the offer

The most beautiful thing about this whole experience for me was that I had the Best Date Ever with my dimple faced husband.  Now you tell me, who would not want to dress in camouflage, wear black grease on their face, cover their hair with a green stocking hat, low crawl on the ground, climb trees to sit on a limb, and hide in the bushes with the love of their life?

We were definitely, Dancing In The Dark.

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