[Saturday, August 20, 1988]
As Tami and Eric caravanned from their hometown of Tyler to Waco, Texas, where he would play for Baylor University and she would try to jump-start her academic future at Waco Community College, they used a couple of walkie talkies Eric had been given by his aunt for his 12th birthday.
"You all right up there?" Tami asked, holding the walkie with one hand and looking at him in his pick-up. He'd passed her and taken the lead a few miles back. "You look like you're doing some kind of weird dance. Over."
"Shoulders are just sore," he replied. "I was rotating them." She could hear sports radio playing softly in the background. She needed peppy music when she drove on long trips. "You have no idea how hard coach ran us during training. Over."
"Well, sugar, I'm looking forward to your first game of the season. Over."
"I'm looking forward to trying out that futon when we get you settled in your apartment. Over."
Tami chuckled. "That might have to wait. I don't think I'm going to meet my roommate and then go straight to the bed with you. Besides, I think I took pretty good care of you at the parsonage this morning. Over."
He'd returned to Tyler from training to help her pack up at her new stepfather's house this morning. Tami still couldn't quite get used to the fact that her mother had married the pastor.
"Tami, it's been two weeks. Once in two weeks is not sufficient. Over."
"Love will find a way. Just not necessarily as soon as you unpack me. Over."
"I'm going to unpack you a'ight. Over."
Tami laughed. "Stop it. I have to concentrate on driving now. And I'm about to crank up this George Strait song. Over."
"Is it 'Baby Blue'?" Eric asked. It had been a number one hit in April this year. "That song always makes me think of you. You bring colors to my life that my eyes have never touched. Over."
"You really want to get laid tonight, don't you? I'll tell you what. I'll think about it. But I'm jamming right now. Over and out."
She tossed the walkie on the passenger's seat and cranked up the radio.
[*]
When they got to Tami's new apartment, Eric walked her up the stairs to meet her roommate. The entrances were all on an external balcony, like a motel.
"Third story," Eric said. "That's going to be hot. And it's going to be a royal pain for the two of us to get the furniture up here. I might have to call my roommate to help. Let Stumpy practice his feats of strength."
Tami knocked on the door of her new abode. A twenty-something girl with short, black hair and a nose stud answered. She had on a white, spaghetti strap shirt that emphasized her pert breasts and tattoos ran up and down her bare arms.
"Gretchen?" Tami asked. They'd talked briefly on the phone, only as long as it took to schedule Tami's move-in. The girl's voice had been soft and sophisticated, like something from a cosmetics commercial. Tami had not anticipated the rather sullen looking creature she now found before her. She put on her most charming smile. "Hi! I'm you're new roommate, Tami."
Gretchen looked Eric up and down, more judgmentally than appreciatively, but Tami thought her eyes did linger on his biceps. "Is this your boyfriend?"
"Yes," Eric said hesitantly, "I'm Eric Taylor. Tami's boyfriend." He extended his hand.
Gretchen looked at his hand but turned around instead, saying, "Well he better not half move in here. Come in and I'll show you around and tell you the rules."
They followed her inside, Eric shutting the door behind himself.
Gretchen swirled around. "This is the kitchen table," she said, pointing to the kitchen bar, which had two stools resting in front of it. "And over there," she pointed beyond the bar, "is the kitchen. Stovetop, oven – oven doesn't work right now - it keeps turning itself off – told the landlord three days ago – still hasn't come to fix it – fridge, freezer, microwave. You want me not to eat something in the fridge, you label it. Otherwise, it's fair game. No dishwasher." She pointed to a plastic contraption next to the sink. "Drying rack. Use it." She pointed to a telephone mounted to the wall. "You pay half the monthly bill, except for long distance. Long distance we go over every month and you pay for the calls you make and I pay for the calls I make."
Now Gretchen stretched out her other arm in the other direction. "Living room. No cable unless you want to pay for it. I'm not paying a dime for cable. We get five channels with rabbit ears. That's my TV. You can watch it anytime I'm not watching it. You can watch it WHEN I'm watching it, but then you watch what I watch. That's my couch and my coffee table. You can use them, but don't spill anything on them. This way."
Gretchen began walking down the hallway. Tami looked at Eric with a raised eyebrow, and he winced on her behalf.
Gretchen stopped in the middle of the hallway and touched the thermostat. "We keep it set at 82. That may feel hot at first, but you'll get used to it. Air conditioning is fucking expensive, and I don't have much money. I'm guessing you don't either if you're living here. We split utilities straight down the middle, so keep the lights off unless you need them." She opened a door to her left. "Your room. It's smaller than mine, but I was here first. Also, you're paying $15 less a month."
Tami looked into the room. She'd seen the floor plans, but it looked even smaller than she imagined.
"We can put your futon flush against the left wall," Eric suggested, "your dresser on the right. That'll give you a couple of feet along one side of the bed."
"And my desk?" Tami asked.
"We can kitty corner it at the end there. I think it will work."
"I won't be able to open the closet without hitting it."
"You can open the left door," he said. "Just use that door."
"I wish my futon were a single," Tami muttered.
"You have a double?" Gretchen asked. "Dumb move in a place like this, but I suppose you want room to fuck your boyfriend."
Eric's eyes widened and he coughed.
"About that," Gretchen continued. "No overnight guests more than one night a week. And keep the noise down when you're fucking. I have to live here too."
She continued walking down the hall. She pointed to a closed door. "That's my room. You don't go in there."
Then she put a hand into an open room at the right and flicked on the switch. "Bathroom. This is it. You have to jiggle the handle every time you flush. Maybe your boyfriend can fix it. Can he fix things? Damn landlord says it can't be fixed without replacing something or another he doesn't want to replace yet."
"I..uh…I'll take a look at it," Eric said.
"The shower gets really hot really fast, so beware," Gretchen said. "Also, no fucking in the shower. Your boyfriend can use it if he's staying over, but no jerking off in it. I've got to use that shower."
Eric looked down at the light hall carpet, which was stained and frayed along the edges.
"Rent's due the 10th, to me," Gretchen said.
"I thought it was due the 15th," Tami said.
"To the landlord. But you give me your share the 10th, and then I pay him on the 15th. That way I know you're good for it. Lease is in my name. I lose the deposit if you screw up anything." Gretchen flicked off the light, stepped away from the bathroom, and looked Tami over. "You have really nice tits," she said, and walked back down the hall.
Tami turned deliberately to Eric. "So glad you insisted I get a girl person for my roommate."
"What the hell is wrong with her?" Eric asked. "She wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"
Tami shrugged.
"You think she's a lesbian?" he asked.
"Maybe she's just a self-appointed judge of the quality of tits." Tami began walking down the hall.
From behind her, Eric muttered, "Well, she's not wrong."
When they were back between the living room/kitchen area, Tami said, "Well, I'm going to start bringing in my stuff."
"I'm headed to work." Gretchen grabbed her purse from off of the kitchen bar. She fished out a key and handed it to Tami. "Don't forget to lock it every time you leave."
"I won't. Where do you work? I'm looking for a job myself."
"Bazookas."
When Gretchen was gone, Eric muttered, "I'm so sorry you have to live with that."
"What's Bazookas?"
"Topless bar on 12th."
Tami shot him an accusing look. "Did you go there while you were down for summer training?"
"No. Some of the guys did. They talked about it."
"I'd prefer you not go with them."
"Yeah. I already made that assumption, Tami. All on my own."
She smiled and kissed him. "Well, if you get that futon up here and set up for me…maybe you can get some topless service."
He wiggled his eye brows. Eric got Tami's desk chair and all of her boxes upstairs, except for the few she carted. Together, they muttered their way up three flights of stairs with the mattress, but then he broke down and called Stumpy from the kitchen phone to come over and help with the bed frame for the futon and Tami's desk.
In the meantime, Eric and Tami ran to the grocery store to get some assorted groceries. Tami also bought a roll of masking tape and a sharpie so she could label it all. "I don't want her eating and drinking all my stuff," she said.
When Stumpy arrived, Tami noted that he was a good three or four inches taller than Eric, who Tami already thought was pretty tall. He had chest hair spilling out of the top of his t-shirt. He was slightly tan, with dark, almost black eyes. His New York accent was grating to Tami's ears when he spoke. "Holy fucking shit, 32! You're right. Your girlfriend is hot! I thought you were just bragging, but goddamn!"
"Stumpy," Eric said, "don't use that language around my girl, a'ight? Show some respect."
"Is that a southern thing?"
"Respect?" Eric asked.
Stumpy laughed. "I meant not swearing much in front of girls. Sounds sexist to me." He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Tami. I'm Giovani."
"Giovani?" Eric asked. "I never knew that."
Tami smiled lightly and shook his hand.
"But you can call me Stumpy. Everyone else does." He clapped his hands together. "Now how may I service you guys?"
"Don't call my girl a guy either," Eric said.
"You guys is gender neutral, Taylor."
"Y'all is gender neutral," Eric insisted.
When Stumpy and Eric had Tami's room set up, Stumpy slumped in the arm chair with a beer Eric offered him, and Tami curled onto the couch next to Eric with a wine cooler.
"So that fake I.D. I got you worked for you?" Stumpy asked.
"Yeah," Eric said. "Still not sure I should keep using it. I really don't want to get caught and get kicked off the team for doing something stupid like that."
"Ah...they'd make that go away. Just don't get caught driving drunk like Leo did. At least not more than once." He swigged his beer.
"Stumpy, man, you've got to meet Tami's roommate." Eric told her about Gretchen.
Stumpy laughed. "Ah, yeah, I know Gretchen, actually. She works over at Bazookas."
Tami rolled her eyes.
"Your girlfriend disapproves. Hey, it's an honest living." Stumpy took another swig of beer. "Or were you judging me for going?"
"I didn't say anything," Tami said.
"You said volumes, sweetheart."
"Don't call me sweetheart."
Stumpy laughed. "I bet she's feisty in bed."
"Stumpy, man, seriously," Eric said, "I don't want to have to get in a fight. I just moved a bunch of stuff. I'm tired."
"My apologies, Tami," Stumpy said. "That was rude of me." He scratched his sweaty forehead. "I actually asked Gretchen out last time I was there, but she says she doesn't ever date customers. Does she go to Waco Community, Tami, do you know?"
"Yeah," Tami said. She told Stumpy what little Gretchen had told her on the phone. "She's in her second year there. She's 22, and she wants to switch careers. I guess the topless waitressing business isn't all it's cracked up to be." Tami shot Stumpy something of a dirty look when she said it. Was this guy really Eric's closest friend at Baylor? Tami missed Joey by comparison. She'd have to call Sarah to see how the two of them had settled in at UT, but only after she had secured a job and could afford the call.
"Well I suppose you guys want to get on with your evening together," Stumpy said. "You coming back to the room tonight, Taylor?"
Eric looked at Tami. Tami smiled. "Well, I guess that depends. Do you want to use up one of your one nights a week? Because apparently you only get one."
Eric smirked at her and then turned to Stumpy. "Nah. Not tonight, man," Eric told him.
Stumpy stood, and Eric rose. "Before you go, want to see if you can fix a toilet?"
"Do I ever!" Stumpy said sarcastically, but he had the toilet fixed in under ten minutes.
As Eric saw him out, he said, "Thanks for the help."
"No problemo."
"Sorry you have to live with that," Tami told Eric when he was gone.
"Stumpy? Nah. He's a'ight. I like him."
"Why?" How could Eric's taste in friends have deteriorated so much since high school?
"He's rough around the edges, but I can rely on him. He's a guy I can trust to have my back."
"On the field you mean?" Tami asked.
"Or off. Hey, he helped you move and he fixed your toilet. Give him some credit."
"Fine. I need a shower. Want to join me? No funny business, though," she told him, smiling. "Gretchen has to use this shower."
"I'll be good," he promised, but he spent a long time washing her chest and bottom.
When they got to her bedroom, she laughed at the way his erection tented the towel wrapped around his waist. "You have condoms, I assume?" .
He fished in the jeans he'd left hanging over her desk chair.
"I haven't unpacked the KY," she said. "I don't know where it is."
He smiled, tossed the foil package on the futon, picked her up, and lay her down. "Then I guess I'm going to have to find another way to make you good and wet first."
He seized the towel where she'd wrapped it around her cleavage and unraveled it, watching the revelation intently. He kissed the curve of her neck and then worked his way slowly down.
Tami let her legs fall open, buried her fingers in his hair, and pushed him a little faster to the desired spot.