“We went to Key West. Dad has an old college friend who has a house there. We got to use it, and their boat, for the week. I don’t think I took my swimsuit off the whole trip,” she bragged.
“I hope you got lots and lots of pictures,” I teased her, as I squeezed her knee.
She leaned over, kissed me, and whispered in my ear.
“I’ll show you my tan lines.”
She was in a good mood and I was happy to see my friend back. I also wanted to see those tan lines. I had a faraway look when she brought me back to earth.
“So, I hear you’ve been busy.”
She looked a little strained when she said it. I told her we would talk about it later, nodding towards our parents just a few feet away. I told her I needed to go to the mall and get running shoes since mine were getting tight. I was suddenly worried when she said she’d love to go to the mall. Had I just backed my way into a shopping trip?
MY GREAT DAY WENT INTO the ... anyways, our moms heard the word ‘mall,’ and suddenly they were going, too. Somehow, our dads had something else to do; I think it was watching football, so they got out of going. Peggy and I were given instructions to meet at the food court at five o’clock. I looked at my phone and it was only eleven-thirty! Mom and Mrs. Pratt were laughing as they walked away. I guess I had a funny look on my face.
Peggy took me to the food court and sat me down so we could plan our shopping day. When we got there, it turned out it was really to find out what I’d done all week. I told her about the storm and getting out of school early. We talked about the party Tracy and Pam were having in my apartment when I got home. Peggy had me go into great detail describing the different lingerie.
I was getting hints someone had already told her what I’d been up to. My guess was Tracy, so I didn’t hold back. I admitted to being with Pam, Tracy and Cora while she was gone. When I was done, she had news for me.
“You need to buy t-shirts,” she said.
That was a weird statement.
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s because the girls all helped themselves to a t-shirt. I think Tracy said the rule is if you get naked at David’s, you get one.”
It finally dawned on me this might be why girls kept stealing my clothes. I wondered when this rule went into effect because all my friends seemed to have a t-shirt or three. I wasn’t really mad about it. I was more irritated. Most of the t-shirts were free through my modeling, but a few I really liked and some were worth good money. I’d have to talk to Tracy about which ones were fair game. Maybe I could just set up a drawer for the girls.
I didn’t want to get too many t-shirts, though, because I was going to Utah in a few weeks and was sure I’d get a lot of gear there. What I didn’t have were Jade t-shirts. I knew they had a store in the mall, so I called Michael Reese, my main contact at Jade.
“This is Mike,” he answered.
“Hey, it’s David Dawson.”
“I hear congratulations are in order. I watched your game on ESPN. Not to change the subject, but I hope you’re calling to say you can start working again, now that football is over.”
I agreed to do a photo shoot next Sunday afternoon at Hill Marketing. He said he would call ahead to the Jade store and have them pick out some new items for me to wear. They wanted me seen in their clothes. I told him my girlfriend was with me, and he offered to set her up, too. I put her on so she could give him her sizes.
We went to the sporting goods store to get my running shoes. While I was there I got Peggy a letterman’s jacket, and we loaded up on Range gear. Peggy wanted several pairs of spandex running shorts. There was no way I wasn’t buying those for her. We got more clothes for her than me. I just bought stuff I would need before my trip. I did buy a couple more ‘TEAM’ sweatshirts because I couldn’t find mine ... again. I remembered to get sweatshirts for Suzanne and Beth. I also got a few t-shirts that proclaimed us State Champs. I used my Range credit card because Sandy had been on me to get new gear. I was happy when she didn’t call me as soon as I used it.
We then went to the Jade store. The store manager had six bags for each of us. I think she gave us one of everything. I peeked and grinned when I saw there were more of their vintage jeans, and they looked like they would fit. Peggy wanted to try hers on. I fully approved of the fit because her bottom looked great!
I ended up making three trips to the car to put everything into the trunk. I wasn’t going to carry all those bags around all afternoon.
When I got back, Peggy wanted to shop at Victoria’s Secret. I found the salesgirl, told her Peggy could spend a certain dollar amount and showed her I was giving Peggy my debit card. Peggy thought it was too much, but I explained I expected to see said purchases. She got the idea.
I wandered around until I came up short: there was a new tattoo parlor in the mall. I went in and a freaky chick, who was strangely arousing, was at the front desk. She gave me a smile.
“Little Stud Dawson. And how are you doing?” she asked.
She was vaguely familiar. I tried to imagine her without all the tattoos and piercings. Then it hit me. It was Paula, one of Greg’s exes. I would guesstimate she was five or six years older than me. I hadn’t seen her in over four years.
“Paula, long time no see,” I said, as she came around the counter and gave me a hug.
Dad had always told me to try to negotiate if I could. I wanted a tattoo for our state championship.
“I was thinking it would be cool to get something for winning state. Do you have any ideas?” I asked.
She showed me their book, and we didn’t find anything. She then got out a sketchpad and drew our logo, the bulldog, with a football under him with ‘Football State Champ’ centered on the ball. I had no idea she could draw so well. I wanted it.
“Tell you what: give me the tattoo, and you can take a picture of me with it for the store. I’ll also give it to my social media gal, and she’ll put it on all my sites. I bet every player on the team will want one.”
She went back and found a big biker-looking man who took me into the back and put it on my upper left arm. They could only do a henna tattoo that would last two to four weeks because I was too young. That was perfect because I wasn’t allowed to do any tats in permanent ink unless Ford, Range Sports, and Jade all signed off on it. I was also sure Adrienne had some say in the matter. I completely forgot about my mom.
When he was done, he took my picture and sent it to me. Lily still trusted me with access to my Twitter account, so I sent it out. I was saying goodbye to Paula when Mom came storming in. I figured I would just play the excited teen to try to head her off.
“Look what I got!” I said, showing my mother, who was now turning funny shades of red.
“Did he tell you he was not of age?” she started on Paula.
“Shhh, Mom! I had to tell them I was eighteen to get it done. Don’t be getting me into trouble,” I moaned.
Paula looked at me, wondering what I was doing.
“David Allen Dawson! We’re going home right now to show your father,” Mom ranted.
Score! No more shopping. I think she caught on I was a little too happy. She turned to Paula.
“Is it a real tattoo?”
Crud! The jig was up. Sure enough, Paula ratted me out. That didn’t stop Mom from chewing on me. She had several bags I somehow was put in charge of; i.e., taking them to the car. I mumbled something about the trunk already being full.
I was ordered to take the car home, empty it, and come back. I found Peggy and we drove to my place. I went in and told Dad he was to pick up Mom at the mall at five and gave him her keys. Peggy and I went up to my apartment. Problem solved.
I showed her my tattoo, and she showed me her tan lines and new outfits. She made me try on my new Jade stuff. She showed me which t-shirts to hide so the girls wouldn’t steal them. I think it was her way of saying I could still play, as long as I didn’t embarrass her.