A Long Way Home, Chapter Four

One night after Frank and I left Cains where we had sat and visited with our friends, he asked me if I wanted to take a different road on our way back to Van Vleck to take me home.

Frank told me it was a shell road and it was a nice scenic drive which would take us a back way into Van Vleck. Something told me that maybe Frank had something more on his mind than looking at the scenery, especially since it had been raining and there was a creepy fog hugging the ground which made it hard to see anything.

I told Frank, “I don’t think we will be able to see anything with the fog.”

Frank smiled that big smile of his then replied, “Yes, Nancy, it is foggy but we can still see the stars.”

I replied, “Really Frank? We are going stargazing?”

Frank did not answer but was just smiling with his dimpled face looking at me when I agreed to his new route. Dang those dimples! Frank knew that I trusted him with my heart and I knew I could trust him to go stargazing but besides that, I knew that I could handle him. So, we turned off of Highway 35 on to another road which led us to turn on to a shell road.

“The Longway Home”

The fog was now creeping along the ground and was about halfway up on the sides of the car.  It was very thick and it looked like we were driving through a cloud. We could barely see the road in front of us.

Frank had his left hand on the wheel, his right arm wrapped around me, the music was playing loudly and we were cruising along in his car when suddenly water was rushing on to the hood of the car then the car died.

I thought, “Oh, my goodness! Did we drive into a lake? Where was the road?”

All I could see around us was fog and water, lots and lots of water. Of course, back in this day and time, we did not have cell phones.  Frank and I were definitely “up a creek without a paddle” or a running car.

Frank rolled up his pants legs, took off his shoes and socks, opened the door then got out of the car. Frank walked to the front of the car and opened the hood then after a few minutes he closed the hood. Frank walked back to the car and got back inside.

Frank looked at me smiling then said, “Nancy, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the water isn’t really very deep and the car is sitting on a bridge that crosses a creek. The bad news is that the spark plugs on the car got wet so we will have to stay here for a while until they dry out so the car will start.”

All I could think of as Frank told me the bad news was that I had a curfew and my Dad was never going to believe this story, ever! I reminded Frank of my curfew then he just smiled and told me, “Nancy, just look how beautiful the stars are.”

I was thinking, “Are, you kidding me, Frank? Stars?” then I told him, “Frank, you need to get this car started now and take me home before my curfew or my Dad is going to shoot us both.”

Well, that did not work for me because Frank decided that he would just be “Mister Funny Man”! Frank got out of the car, walked through the water, climbed up on the hood, stood there with his hand in a salute and looking side to side like he was in a crow’s nest on a ship. Of course, I could not stop myself from laughing which was exactly what he knew I would do.

Suddenly, out of the fog, a truck appeared in front of us. A rice farmer got out of his truck and told “Hood Dancer” Frank that he had witnessed us stop abruptly and knew that we had probably stalled out in the water which was running over the bridge because of the rain we had received during the week.

The man had brought a chain with him to pull us out of the water, which he did, and then he helped Frank get the car started. Frank and I thanked the man then we were off cruising in the car again.

Frank was back to his left hand on the wheel, his right arm wrapped around my shoulders, the music was playing loudly and we were cruising down the road again.

Frank was looking at me smiling with those big dimples when he said, “I told you it would all be okay, Nancy. Just look at all of those stars in the sky in front of us as we are driving.”

I just smiled back at him knowing that the light that shone in him and from him was brighter than any star in the sky

Frank and I made it to the door of my house with minutes to spare before my curfew ended.  He gave me a big hug with a long kiss standing on the porch of my folk’s home and I did not seem mind that at all.

It seemed like things were moving so quickly in our relationship but it also seemed like we had known each other our entire lives. We were alike but different, we strengthened each other’s weaknesses and together had doubled our strengths.

God definitely had a plan for us to become one. December had come to an end and it was the middle of January. Frank and I had been together as a couple for about a month and a half but it seemed like we had known each other all of our lives.

Frank was on Christmas break from college still but I was not on break from high school and I was playing basketball.  Frank would come to all of my practices and watch us practice then try to show me after practice how to do a hook ball but to no avail, because I was a guard, shooting baskets was just not my forte.

Frank had played football, ran track and played basketball in high school. He loved sports, so he loved watching me play basketball and trying to help me improve.

Frank bought me a beautiful gold ID bracelet for Christmas with his name engraved on it.  It was my first gift from him and I still have it.

Next Chapter >>>>>>

Visits: 241