It was the twentieth anniversary of the First Frame, a bowling alley owned and operated by my dad's cousins.
They were the first alley to have automatic pinsetters in the state and the first to expand and add more lanes and a pool room.They were the first bowling alley that offered top-of-the-line pinball and bowling machine games and a pro shop. I sort of grew up there as my dad worked on the machines as a part-time job. At thirteen I knew how to assign lanes, answer the phones and hand out rental shoes.
So to celebrate all these firsts and twenty successful years in business, a major party had been planned. Free food, drink and bowling were offered to all the invited guests. Even the pool room was opened to those of us under eighteen, that's if a table was open.
My younger brothers found friends their own age and were having a grand time playing in the parking lot, at sixteen I was a little old for that. What I really liked was shooting pool. The YMCA had both billiard and snooker tables when I wasn't swimming that's where you could find me.
So I sat and watched the pool room waiting for someone to exit which would indicate there was an open table.
"Waiting for a table?" I heard a soft female voice ask.
"Yeah, I don't think it's gonna happen," I responded.
The owner of the voice had been sitting in the booth behind me. She then came around and took a seat across from me. She was blond, fair complected and pretty, not unlike the young actress that would play Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies.
She was dressed in the standard mini dress and boots of the sixty's and like me she seemed to favor all black clothing.
"I love to shoot pool," she informed me.
"Me too."
"Ya wanna go to my house? We have a pool table," she continued.
"How far to you live?" I asked.
"About three houses away," she responded.
"Three houses away? You must be big Hank's daughter?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I'm Cassie," she responded.
I followed her out the front door pausing only long enough to tell my brother to let dad know where I was headed.
Just three houses down from the bowling alley and amid the older houses built some thirty years ago stood a large ranch house. It was common knowledge that Big Hank had to purchase two plots of land to build such a structure.
It was by luck or design that the plots just happened to be only three houses away from his business.The garage itself was big enough to be rented out as a living quarters.
Cassie extracted a key from her purse and opened the door to admit us and we headed to the basement. It was the largest basement I had ever seen and decorated like a bar. It featured a bar, recessed lighting, beer signs and bar stools.
Standing there in the center of the room was a top-of-the-line billiard table complete with overhead lights to illuminate the table top. About two dozen brand new pool cues rested in their felt lined cases.
So as Cassie racked the balls I selected a cue and chalked the tip. It would be a pleasure to play with one that wasn't broken or bent.
She gave me the privilege of breaking and with a sharp crack of the cue ball into the triangle of the other balls the game commenced. Now for someone that was normally tongue-tied in the presence of pretty girls I found that I was able to talk to Cassie like a long time friend. She was only six months younger than I was, but she seemed a whole lot smarter.
We had a lot in common. She disliked school as much as I did. She hated sports and the rallies that accompanied each season. Like me, she loved English and Drama classes.
She seemed surprised when I told her I did not have a girlfriend. I explained that most of the girls in my school only wanted tough guys or jocks, and I was neither. She gave me a slight smile and commented that she didn't have anyone special either.
"The boys in my school only like girls that put out, and I don't," she informed me.
There was an uncomfortable silence before the game commenced. I soon discovered that Cassie was as good a pool player as I was and she ran the table on me twice.
'Running the table' is a billiard term for a player that not missing a shot. They continue shooting until they miss or sink the 8 ball that ends the game.
Now while waiting for Cassie to miss was not boring. Whenever she leaned over the table to make a shot her mini dress would ride up revealing very pretty thighs.
She would turn her head to see if I was looking and smiled when she saw I was.
"Like what you see?" she asked.
"Yes," I responded and blushed at being caught.
It was less than an hour later when we heard a loud tapping on the basement window. I pulled back the curtain and saw the angry face of my father.
"I think I'm in trouble," I said as I replaced the cue to its case.
"Probably because you're with me," she responded.
Why would that get me into trouble I wondered? I went up the stairs and met my dad at the end of the driveway, he did not look happy.
"What'd I do?" I asked as we started walking back toward the bowling alley.
"Don't you know that she is crazy?" he said as his finger made a corkscrew gesture against the side of his head.
"No, I didn't know," I responded.
"She almost bit some kids ear off last year," he informed me.
"Really?"
"Yes really. Now grab a seat and stay put," he commanded.
Feeling totally humiliated I took a seat in the booth I had before. I dug out the pack of cigarettes I hid in my sock and lit one. My parents didn't like me smoking and I was forbidden ever to smoke in the house. In public was a different story.
As I angrily puffed away on this forbidden indulgence Cassie reappeared and took a seat across from me, she looked a little sad.
"You got into trouble cause you were with me, didn't ya?" she stated.
"Yeah. Something about you biting some kids ear off," I responded.
"I figured as much," she answered.
"Did you?".
"Yes I did, but no one ever asks why."
"So why did you?" I asked.
"Like today I was shooting pool with a young man. Like today every time I leaned over the table to make a shot my dress would ride up. He would look and smile and I would smile back. Well, one time as I was stepping away from the table, he stopped me and kissed me. I like kissing, so I kissed him back, this happened more than once."
She paused for a moment to let this sink in.
"The third time he stopped to kiss me, he placed his arms around me. I like hugging too, so I hugged him back. The next thing I knew he had pushed me against the table and was trying to pull my skirt up and he was rubbing his hands on my legs.
"I told him to stop, but he didn't listen and he tried to pull my panties down. When he leaned in to kiss me again, I bit his ear as hard as I could. He ran out of the house screaming bloody murder."
"Well, the story got around that I bit some kids ear off for no reason and I was tagged as being touched in the head and crazy," she continued.
"Wow, that really sucks," was all I could say.
"Like I said, my dad keeps forgetting to tell that part of the story. Maybe he was embarassed or thinks that I asked for it."
"I'm sorry for staring at you when you leaned across the table," I apologized.
"No need. You're a nice guy and I didn't mind you looking," she responded.
Suddenly, Cassie stood up and approached her father who was standing at the bar talking with a guest and demanded his attention. What followed was a long animated conversation between them that ended with him walking away and Cassie heading to the ladies room in tears.
It was shortly after that my dad took a seat across from me. He grabbed my cigarette and crushed it out before he spoke.
"If you still want to play pool with your friend you have my permission," he said simply.
"What changed?"
"Big Hank told me the whole story about the ear biting incident," he responded.
"Do I have to check in with you?" I asked.
"No, Just keep it in your pants," was all he had said before he got up.
I approached Cassie, who was sitting at the bar and asked if she wanted to continue our game. She smiled, stood up and took me by the hand. We returned to her basement and played pool for a few hours.
It was during a break in the game that she approached me and stood very close to me.
"Do you think I'm pretty? she asked.
"Yes, you're very pretty."
"Would you like to kiss me?" she asked.
"I would, but I don't know how," I responded.
"You never kissed a girl?"
"No."
She laid her pool cue down and placed her arms around me and bade me do the same. As she slowly placed her lips on mine, I involuntarily flinched.
"Relax. As long as you don't try to pull my skirt up or touch me down there I won't bite," she said softly.
We took a seat on one of the couches and I learned how to kiss a girl. We returned to the bowling alley a few hours later as we were both starved and ate well before we returned to her house for more pool.
However once we got there she was more interested in sitting on the couch necking and that was fine with me. It was about 11:00 pm that my dad banged on the basement window again and told me it was time to go.
"Now remember if you're asked if you know me you have to keep the crazy girl story alive," she stated.
"Why?"
"It will help to keep some of the creeps away," she answered.
"If that's what you want," I answered.
"You should also think of joining a teen Summer league here," she said, as we walked back to the alley.
"I'm not that great at bowling," I admitted.
"Neither am I, but the teams are co-ed and you could be on my team. Unless you have problems hanging out with the crazy girl," she responded with a smile.
I joined the teen Summer league as soon as school let out.
They were the first alley to have automatic pinsetters in the state and the first to expand and add more lanes and a pool room.They were the first bowling alley that offered top-of-the-line pinball and bowling machine games and a pro shop. I sort of grew up there as my dad worked on the machines as a part-time job. At thirteen I knew how to assign lanes, answer the phones and hand out rental shoes.
So to celebrate all these firsts and twenty successful years in business, a major party had been planned. Free food, drink and bowling were offered to all the invited guests. Even the pool room was opened to those of us under eighteen, that's if a table was open.
My younger brothers found friends their own age and were having a grand time playing in the parking lot, at sixteen I was a little old for that. What I really liked was shooting pool. The YMCA had both billiard and snooker tables when I wasn't swimming that's where you could find me.
So I sat and watched the pool room waiting for someone to exit which would indicate there was an open table.
"Waiting for a table?" I heard a soft female voice ask.
"Yeah, I don't think it's gonna happen," I responded.
The owner of the voice had been sitting in the booth behind me. She then came around and took a seat across from me. She was blond, fair complected and pretty, not unlike the young actress that would play Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies.
She was dressed in the standard mini dress and boots of the sixty's and like me she seemed to favor all black clothing.
"I love to shoot pool," she informed me.
"Me too."
"Ya wanna go to my house? We have a pool table," she continued.
"How far to you live?" I asked.
"About three houses away," she responded.
"Three houses away? You must be big Hank's daughter?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I'm Cassie," she responded.
I followed her out the front door pausing only long enough to tell my brother to let dad know where I was headed.
Just three houses down from the bowling alley and amid the older houses built some thirty years ago stood a large ranch house. It was common knowledge that Big Hank had to purchase two plots of land to build such a structure.
It was by luck or design that the plots just happened to be only three houses away from his business.The garage itself was big enough to be rented out as a living quarters.
Cassie extracted a key from her purse and opened the door to admit us and we headed to the basement. It was the largest basement I had ever seen and decorated like a bar. It featured a bar, recessed lighting, beer signs and bar stools.
Standing there in the center of the room was a top-of-the-line billiard table complete with overhead lights to illuminate the table top. About two dozen brand new pool cues rested in their felt lined cases.
So as Cassie racked the balls I selected a cue and chalked the tip. It would be a pleasure to play with one that wasn't broken or bent.
She gave me the privilege of breaking and with a sharp crack of the cue ball into the triangle of the other balls the game commenced. Now for someone that was normally tongue-tied in the presence of pretty girls I found that I was able to talk to Cassie like a long time friend. She was only six months younger than I was, but she seemed a whole lot smarter.
We had a lot in common. She disliked school as much as I did. She hated sports and the rallies that accompanied each season. Like me, she loved English and Drama classes.
She seemed surprised when I told her I did not have a girlfriend. I explained that most of the girls in my school only wanted tough guys or jocks, and I was neither. She gave me a slight smile and commented that she didn't have anyone special either.
"The boys in my school only like girls that put out, and I don't," she informed me.
There was an uncomfortable silence before the game commenced. I soon discovered that Cassie was as good a pool player as I was and she ran the table on me twice.
'Running the table' is a billiard term for a player that not missing a shot. They continue shooting until they miss or sink the 8 ball that ends the game.
Now while waiting for Cassie to miss was not boring. Whenever she leaned over the table to make a shot her mini dress would ride up revealing very pretty thighs.
She would turn her head to see if I was looking and smiled when she saw I was.
"Like what you see?" she asked.
"Yes," I responded and blushed at being caught.
It was less than an hour later when we heard a loud tapping on the basement window. I pulled back the curtain and saw the angry face of my father.
"I think I'm in trouble," I said as I replaced the cue to its case.
"Probably because you're with me," she responded.
Why would that get me into trouble I wondered? I went up the stairs and met my dad at the end of the driveway, he did not look happy.
"What'd I do?" I asked as we started walking back toward the bowling alley.
"Don't you know that she is crazy?" he said as his finger made a corkscrew gesture against the side of his head.
"No, I didn't know," I responded.
"She almost bit some kids ear off last year," he informed me.
"Really?"
"Yes really. Now grab a seat and stay put," he commanded.
Feeling totally humiliated I took a seat in the booth I had before. I dug out the pack of cigarettes I hid in my sock and lit one. My parents didn't like me smoking and I was forbidden ever to smoke in the house. In public was a different story.
As I angrily puffed away on this forbidden indulgence Cassie reappeared and took a seat across from me, she looked a little sad.
"You got into trouble cause you were with me, didn't ya?" she stated.
"Yeah. Something about you biting some kids ear off," I responded.
"I figured as much," she answered.
"Did you?".
"Yes I did, but no one ever asks why."
"So why did you?" I asked.
"Like today I was shooting pool with a young man. Like today every time I leaned over the table to make a shot my dress would ride up. He would look and smile and I would smile back. Well, one time as I was stepping away from the table, he stopped me and kissed me. I like kissing, so I kissed him back, this happened more than once."
She paused for a moment to let this sink in.
"The third time he stopped to kiss me, he placed his arms around me. I like hugging too, so I hugged him back. The next thing I knew he had pushed me against the table and was trying to pull my skirt up and he was rubbing his hands on my legs.
"I told him to stop, but he didn't listen and he tried to pull my panties down. When he leaned in to kiss me again, I bit his ear as hard as I could. He ran out of the house screaming bloody murder."
"Well, the story got around that I bit some kids ear off for no reason and I was tagged as being touched in the head and crazy," she continued.
"Wow, that really sucks," was all I could say.
"Like I said, my dad keeps forgetting to tell that part of the story. Maybe he was embarassed or thinks that I asked for it."
"I'm sorry for staring at you when you leaned across the table," I apologized.
"No need. You're a nice guy and I didn't mind you looking," she responded.
Suddenly, Cassie stood up and approached her father who was standing at the bar talking with a guest and demanded his attention. What followed was a long animated conversation between them that ended with him walking away and Cassie heading to the ladies room in tears.
It was shortly after that my dad took a seat across from me. He grabbed my cigarette and crushed it out before he spoke.
"If you still want to play pool with your friend you have my permission," he said simply.
"What changed?"
"Big Hank told me the whole story about the ear biting incident," he responded.
"Do I have to check in with you?" I asked.
"No, Just keep it in your pants," was all he had said before he got up.
I approached Cassie, who was sitting at the bar and asked if she wanted to continue our game. She smiled, stood up and took me by the hand. We returned to her basement and played pool for a few hours.
It was during a break in the game that she approached me and stood very close to me.
"Do you think I'm pretty? she asked.
"Yes, you're very pretty."
"Would you like to kiss me?" she asked.
"I would, but I don't know how," I responded.
"You never kissed a girl?"
"No."
She laid her pool cue down and placed her arms around me and bade me do the same. As she slowly placed her lips on mine, I involuntarily flinched.
"Relax. As long as you don't try to pull my skirt up or touch me down there I won't bite," she said softly.
We took a seat on one of the couches and I learned how to kiss a girl. We returned to the bowling alley a few hours later as we were both starved and ate well before we returned to her house for more pool.
However once we got there she was more interested in sitting on the couch necking and that was fine with me. It was about 11:00 pm that my dad banged on the basement window again and told me it was time to go.
"Now remember if you're asked if you know me you have to keep the crazy girl story alive," she stated.
"Why?"
"It will help to keep some of the creeps away," she answered.
"If that's what you want," I answered.
"You should also think of joining a teen Summer league here," she said, as we walked back to the alley.
"I'm not that great at bowling," I admitted.
"Neither am I, but the teams are co-ed and you could be on my team. Unless you have problems hanging out with the crazy girl," she responded with a smile.
I joined the teen Summer league as soon as school let out.
