Billy Stewart performing “Sitting In The Park”
Listen to this chapter, “In the Park.”
The next day, around two o’clock, two girls were walking in the park. They wandered to a secluded, shady spot hidden among the trees.
“So you think he really likes you for his girl, huh?” Julie asked.
“Why else would he act the way he did last night?” Sandra asked.
“Sandra, I’ve got to tell you something,” Julie said. “Ken didn’t write that note. Ella and I did.”
“I know,” Sandra calmly replied. Seeing Julie’s startled expression, she added, “Ken told me last night that you and Ella forged it.”
“You’re not mad at me for it, are you?” asked Julie.
“Mad at you!” Sandra exclaimed. “Mad at you because I got a date with Ken out of it? Or mad at you because he likes me now instead of Ella?”
“Well,” laughed Julie, “I’m happy for you, but don’t trust Ken too much.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sandra in surprise.
“You just can’t trust men too far,” Julie answered.
“Well, Ken’s different,” answered Sandra. “You don’t know him. He’s just wonderful, Julie. You’ve probably never had a boyfriend like him.”
Well, Sandra was right. Julie had never had a boyfriend like Ken. Every boyfriend she ever had was about her age or younger. She had never had one older than she was. Except for Dick. He was five months, fourteen days, and seven hours older. They would still probably be going together if he hadn’t moved away. They had lived next door to each other for as long as she could remember. They had grown up together. Then, in the summer of seventh grade, his dad was transferred a thousand miles away. No one knew the childish agony Julie had gone through trying to forget him. Not that she was so madly in love with him, but every place she went and everything she did brought back memories of days that she could never relive.
“Well,” said Julie now, “good luck with Ken.”
Sandra sighed and leaned back on the grass. After a moment, she sat up and said, “Oh, Julie, how did things go for you last night? I noticed Billy Kingston and Dennis Holman were giving you a pretty rough time.”
Julie smiled, then related the details.
On the far side of the park, two boys were having a conversation, discussing women.
“Aw, Steve,” Ken was saying, “you don’t need to quit Cynthia just because I’m going with Sandra now.”
“I’m not, honest,” answered Steve. “I had been thinking about it for a long time before that.”
“You didn’t say anything about it until I got mad at Ella.”
“Well, that’s just the way it happened. I didn’t drop my ring in the Snack Shop on purpose.”
“I still think you should apologize to her. She’s a real sweet girl.”
“What about you make up with Ella?”
“Oh, look,” Ken said, as he nervously whittled at a twig with his pocketknife, “it’s not the same thing. Ella’s just too independent. She’s too sophisticated, too. I’m just not her type. I want a woman to be soft and tender and weak.”
“And I take it Sandra’s that kind of girl?”
Ken sighed. “At first, I only asked Sandra to the banquet because I wanted to show Ella she wasn’t the boss. And I wanted to make her jealous. But, I’m telling you, she has the hardest head this side of the Mississippi. I just gave up on her. Now Sandra’s more my kind of girl.” And he sighed again. “Now I’ve given you my reasons,” he continued, “and they’re all perfectly good ones. Now suppose you give me your reasons for quitting Cynthia. I couldn’t think of one good reason you should stop going with such a cute girl as Cynthia.”
“Well,” said Steve, “she may be cute, but that’s not all that counts, you know. She’s cute, yes, but the trouble is she knows it. And she thinks she owns me. You may think that Cynthia never talked back and stood up to me the way Ella did to you, but Cynthia had her own secret way of getting me to do whatever she wanted me to. I was just getting a little tired of it. Anyway, a guy can have a lot more fun if he isn’t going steady with just one girl.”
Ken got up and stretched. “Let’s go get a Coke or something, cat,” he said. “But just wait until spring comes. You’ll go right back to her or to some girl. You can’t go without going steady for long. I know you!”
Steve said nothing but shook his head and thought, “I’ll show you how wrong you are, Ken, old man. Wait until spring comes. Just wait.” And he followed him to the hot dog stand.
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