The young lady was sitting on a bench talking to another young lady that did not have Russell’s attention at all. The one that he was interested in was indeed someone he had immediately fallen in love with before saying a word. The normally sure-handed Russell never let anything worry him. As the starting quarterback of the school, he faced danger every Friday night in the fall. While grappling with opponents in wrestling, Russell barely broke a sweat while taking them down. As a pitcher chucking 80 to 90 mile per hour baseballs at batters as they hit them back towards him with the same or even greater force, Russell did it without a care in the world. However, on this day, the closer that he walked to the girls, his heart started pounding and he began to sweat. A nervous Russell barely knew what to do and what to say the closer he got to them.
Finally, when he got to within ten feet of the young ladies, he got noticed by one of them. “Russell Arlene, how can we help thee?” One of the girls asked Russell while seated next to Russell’s focus. Russell paused because he did not know the names of any of the young women.
“What’s wrong with him?” The other girl said as she was seated with Russell’s focus.
“How do you know my name?” Russell asked the first girl while standing in front of the three.
“Who doesn’t know your name? Russell Arlene, the captain of the football team, led the team to the state championship game last year,” the first girl explained while Russell kept looking at the beautiful young lady that caught his eye.
“Wow, that sounds impressive,” the beautiful young woman replied before standing up to shake Russell’s hand. When she stood up, she was only a couple of inches shorter than Russell and wore a bright pink and white blouse that was low cut that showed a lot of neck and chest area above her cleavage. “It’s nice to meet you, Russell. I’m Amanda.”
While shaking her hand, Russell paused again. “H-h-h-hey,” Russell stuttered without getting anything else out.
“Rachelle, is there something wrong with him? Did he get hit in the head too hard or something?” Amanda asked one of her friends. Amanda had a Georgian-style Southern accent that made Russell’s heart melt. She smelled of vanilla, and Russell was not disappointed at any of it. Still nervous, Russell did not know what to say even though he had mustered up enough fortitude to walk over to introduce himself.
“I don’t know about all that, but he needs to get with it,” the girl, Rachelle, replied. “Catch my drift?”
In an instant, Russell snapped out of his trance. “No, I didn’t get hit in the head. I’m good. How’s it hanging, ladies?”
“We’re good, Russell. How was the first day of school for the captain of the football team?” Amanda asked before sitting back down in her previous seat.
“I’m not the captain of the football team. I never was. I just played quarterback, but I decided to retire to focus on other things in my life this year,” Russell replied while continuing to check out Amanda.
“Did you hear that, Katie? Russell’s retiring from football,” Rachelle scoffed at Russell’s statement. “Who does he think he’s fooling?”
“Say what, girl?” Katie, the other girl, replied. Russell did recognize Katie, as she was the younger sister of one of his former football teammates.
“Girls, cut him some slack,” Amanda ordered before turning her attention back to Russell. Amanda’s skin color was a shade of an almond shell tan and nearly blemish-free to be a teenager. Her luscious locks were tied together with an oversize bow. Her hair was thrown over her left shoulder that displayed the near true length of her amazingly long hair. “So, Mr. Russell, what do we owe your attention?”
“You girls need a ride home?” Russell foolishly asked knowing the girls were obviously waiting for someone to pick them up from school. “I just washed and waxed my pony yesterday.”
“Pony? What the hell are you talking about? I know we’re not in the city, but we ain’t riding horses around here,” Rachelle replied.
“No, girl, the pony he’s probably talking about is a Mustang,” Amanda corrected her friend. “Daddy just bought Mom one two weeks ago, and she loves it.”
“I hope she picks us up in it today. That car is off the hook,” Katie added.
“Russell, where is your pony?” Amanda asked.
“That’s an old one. Mandy, didn’t Ms. Hailey’s just come off the assembly line in Detroit?” Katie asked speaking of Amanda’s mother’s car.
“I don’t know where it came from, but it’s fresh. It had three miles on it when Daddy drove it off the lot,” Amanda replied.
“Russell, let’s go!” Rolonda, his sister, yelled while standing a few yards away from Russell and the girls. “I have to get to work!”
“I’m coming, sis,” Russell replied before reaching into his pocket and tossing her the keys to his car. “Start the car and turn on the air conditioning. I’ll be over in a minute.”
Rolonda fumbled the keys before dropping them when she tried to catch them. “Russ, if I’m late to work, I’m telling Mom,” Rolonda replied before picking up the keys and heading towards the car. At the same time, a bright red 1980 convertible Mustang pulled into the driveway of the school. The top was down and a white woman was driving the vehicle.
“Hey, Katie, let’s go. Mom’s here to pick us up,” Amanda stated. “It was nice to meet you, Russell. I’ll be seeing you around.”
“Hey wait a second, Mandy, what period do you have lunch?” Russell asked Amanda as she was grabbing her bright pink backpack from the ground.
“Fourth period, will I see you then?” Amanda asked.
“Yes, I’ll find you tomorrow,” Russell replied.
“Will you buy me lunch?” Amanda stated while noticeably holding a lunch bag.
“Buy you school lunch? I’d rather buy you dinner,” Russell said.
“Would we ride your pony?”
“Of course.”
“Where is it?”
Russell turned and pointed towards his car that had his friends Tim and Fred standing by. Fred had apparently joined Tim while Russell was talking with the ladies. “Right there where my idiot friends are standing by,” Russell said while pointing.
“Mandy, come on before Ms. Hailey leaves us!” Katie yelled while grabbing her friend by the arm.
“Find me tomorrow,” Amanda stated before getting up to leave.
“I got you!” Russell replied while still standing in the same spot. “Just don’t make yourself scarce.” He continued to stand while watching Amanda and Katie get into the beautiful Mustang. Russell continued to stand and gaze at Amanda as the car drove away.
Be A Man Universe 