Danny Ray (Ray Trilogy) (12 page)

“Oh, God!” She exclaimed startling him. “Don’t tell me you’re honorable, too.”

He chuckled and lightly kissed her lips. “I’m going to leave now. Go back to sleep.”

She rolled over on her back keeping her eyes shut. Again she said, “Mmmm.”

Frisker ran in circles in the driveway then ran to the barn on some unknown errand to demonstrate that he had been taking care of the place in his master’s absence. The kittens
meowed impatiently on the porch waiting at the door for him to let them in for their bowl of milk. He could also hear the calves in the feed lot calling for their breakfast.

“Okay, okay, guys. You’ll have to wait your turn,” he called as if they understood.

Danny quickly changed into his work clothes and completed his chores. He grabbed a box of cereal and a gallon of milk out of the refrigerator. He skipped the coffee and sat down at the table. He dropped his head in his hands self-effacingly. He didn’t intend to spend the night making love with Eve. It sort of just happened he told himself. He rubbed his hands over his face. He should have been in full control of his faculties since he only took a few sips of the beer. There was no way he was drunk except maybe on Eve. Why did that woman affect him so? He had seen other women pull that stunt of leaning over the bar before.

Eve was quite a woman with that
alluring smile and slim perfect figure. He had been captivated by her all night. He went into his bathroom to take a shower expecting to still see traces of lipstick all over his face and was relieved that he had escaped that humiliation this time. Then he looked down at Frisker who sat on the floor looking at him and said, “You wouldn’t have cared if I had lipstick all over my face, would you?”

Frisker li
cked his lips and smiled. He rose up and wiggled his tail and sat back down never taking his eyes off his master.

Danny smiled at him and said, “I didn’t think so.”

After his shower, Danny stretched out on his bed with his feet still hanging off and drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Coach Chuck Fairbanks put Danny back in the game after letting hi
m sit out for a couple of minutes to rest. Danny was in his senior year of college in the last game before Christmas, December 2, 1967. So far they had a 9-1 winning season and Danny had every intention of making this a game a win also.

They held down the Oklahoma State Cowboys who were ranked #3 in the Big 8 Conference. Their Bedlam Series, always a hard fought game, played in the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at Norman, Oklahoma
, was attended by 62,038 fans.

Both teams played with every ounce of energy they could muster. The coaches walked the sidelines encouraging their teams.
Energy was rampant not only on the field but in the stands. Every time one of the teams scored the fans roared from the stands. The players fed off their fan’s energy spurring them on to play their best.

Danny gave it all he could. The team knew he had his heart set on being a draft pick to play professional football. He had almost enough running yards to match the record of his predecessor so they fed him the ball every chance they could. In his heart he would love to be a Heisman trophy winner
. Coach told him that he was being watched.

Laura and Art along with Nora and Jeremy stood in the stands too excited to sit.
They would be so happy for him if he won the Heisman trophy. He was already a winner in their sight, but they knew how much Danny wanted it. They cheered him on every time he got the ball.

When the last buzzer rang the #1 ranking Sooners had won the game 38 to 14, a big win for them. Their next and last game of the season would be the Orange Bowl in Florida on January 1, 1968.

The team went out to celebrate. Booze flowed freely and many of the players went back to their rooms very tipsy. Danny partook some but usually turned down the second glass. He would rather get his highs from the lovely Lisa who would soon join them at their party. Every time he saw her she looked like a vision of perfection. He was totally captivated by her beauty, her black hair and creamy skin. He couldn’t believe someone like her could care for someone like himself. Whatever the reason, he thanked his lucky stars every time she came to him.

Soon she entered the room where the party was
in full swing. She walked gingerly in until she saw him, and then a radiant smile broke out. She ran to him as always and branded a kiss on him in front of everyone. As always hoots and catcalls were issued for their benefit.

After a decent interval of time they slipped out and went to his room. Tonight she had worn a cream colored wool pantsuit a gold shell underneath that sparkled in the light. All he wanted to do was pull that expensive wool suit off her and explore
the delicacies of her trim body.

She was such a tiny thing not much over a hundred pounds compared to his tall, broad shouldered frame of two hundred and twenty pounds. He easily lifted her and carried her to his bed. She gave as much as she took, he adored her to distraction.

Danny usually met his family for breakfast the next morning before they headed back home. It was always a fun time but he kept his times with Lisa to himself mostly. His family knew he was seeing someone but for some unknown reason he and Lisa kept their trysts to themselves except with the team. She always hurried to get out of his way so he could spend time with his family. He never thought about it one way or another.

Danny woke up from his nap stiff and tired. The fire had gone out in the big wood stove and the house was getting cold. He quickly stirred the grate and threw in another couple of logs to get it going again. He looked at the clock and realized it was time to check on the animals. He needed to buy a television he reminded himself again.

He sat back on the couch and pulled a blanket around his shoulders waiting for the fire to warm up when he became conscious of the fact once again he had dreamed about Lisa.

Back at Eve’s apartment she pulled Danny’s article again. After reading through it again, she saw where she could reinforce more of his character into the story.
The article came together for her in her mind and she revised and edited paragraphs of it again. She reread it again and decided after a few minor adjustments that she was ready to present the article for Danny’s final approval. She determined to let it ride for the day and maybe tomorrow or Monday afternoon she would present it to him. After the night of love making they had last night, she didn’t know about Danny but she needed a little time to get her head on straight again.

Danny found the book of house plans that he bought when he had gone to the lumber yard. He pulled a cola from the refrigerator and sat down at the table and tried to find one that would meet his needs and not cost an arm and a leg. After a while he chose the one that he liked the best and brought out his graph paper again and began to draw it to scale.

Sunday afternoon Angela leisurely drove
south on HWY 69 toward home enjoying the scenery along the way. She stopped at the edge of Missouri at the rest stop to stretch her legs. The blue sky overhead had developed a few cirrus clouds toward the west promising some possibilities of much needed rain.

She had spent the entire weekend in Kansas City posing for pictures to send to reputable modeling agencies. When she had been in college a friend
, Teresa Meyers had suggested she submit her portfolio to some of the modeling agencies that she knew about. Teresa had sent her portfolio in and now she traveled and poised for shots where ever they sent her. Some of the great perks about modeling Teresa explained are the wonderful benefits, such as great clothes, travel, and money.

Angela mulled it around in her mind for months before she called to set for the poses they needed. She knew that it would take her away from home in a crucial time when he
r greenhouse neared completion. If she should get a job in modeling she no doubt would have to sign a contract for a period of time which would set her business she wanted to start on the back burner for a while. Then again she considered how slow her meager savings were adding up from the job that she had at Samantha’s Flower Shop. At this rate she wouldn’t have the capital to have a business anyway. She had always heard the saying ‘In order to make money, you have to have money.’  Right now she had to admit her pockets were very shallow.

She got back in her car and drove just a few miles where she crossed back into Oklahoma. No matter how far you travel or how long a person has been gone, it always seemed to feel good to know you are getting close to home. At Miami she turned onto the turnpike to drive the rest of the way to Big Cabin where she would get back on HWY 69 until she entered Pryor. Just a short stretch left now.

She passed by Danny’s house and saw his pickup in the driveway so she pulled over and stopped. She wondered if he had missed her and their date night.

He met her at the door, “Hi, Angela. Come right in.”

“Thanks.” she smiled and asked, “Did you miss me?”

“Well, sure. We have somewhat of a standing date night on Friday nights. You sort of mysteriously left for the weekend, but I made it just fine.”

“Really?” She bantered back wishing he had at least offered to kiss her. “What did you find interesting to occupy your time?”

“Aaron called and asked me to come over and play cards with them. We had a great time.”

“Good,” she commented. Seeing the house plans on his table she asked excitedly, “Did you find a house plan that you like?”

“Sure, come see what I found.”

“Oh, I like that.” She bent over the house plan to study it more closely. “I like the way the master bedroom faces the west. That way the morning sun doesn’t shine on you when you want to sleep in.”

They discussed different aspects of the house
for a while, and then she told him, “Goodnight, Danny. I’m headed for home. I’ll see you around.”

“Okay, Angela, goodnight.”
He walked her to the door and waved as she left the driveway.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

At the newspaper office on Monday morning Eve set her briefcase on her desk
, and pulled out all the papers that she had brought home for the weekend that she had wanted to complete including Danny’s story. She checked all the notes left on her desk which needed her attention, then headed to her boss, Mr. Green’s office.

“What do you have for me?” Mr. Green asked gruffly looking up from his desk. His demeanor of gruffness actually was a result of throat cancer that was caught just in time to save his voice. Eve looked fondly at him ignoring his gruff sounding voice instead seeing his
auburn hair turning gray, each of his eyebrows had at least five long thick white hairs revealing that in the future his eyebrows if not trimmed would eventually define his face. His ruddy cheeks suggested possible high blood pressure probably due to his stressful job of maintaining the newspaper and meeting stringent deadlines continually.

“I have my first draft of Danny’s story ready for him to approve, I wondered if you wanted to read it first before I present it to him.”

“What do you think of it? Do you think it’s good?” he asked.

She smiled at Mr. Green, “
I really like his story. I think someone should do his biography.”

“Okay, I’
ll read it and then you can take it to Danny. You have me intrigued.”

Not long after Eve returned to her office, she heard a police dispatch come over their
police scanner that there had been a wreck on north HWY 69 at the underpass three miles out. A hay truck piled high with bales of hay had tried to go under and raked off the two boys that were riding on top of the hay. Both boys were suspected dead on the scene.

Eve jumped up and immediately headed out the door.
She rushed to her car already hearing fire trucks blasting out their warnings along with the whirly sirens of the police cars. She followed the blue and red flashing lights of the police cars speeding out to the scene.

The f
irst sight she saw was the hay truck sitting sideways in the road under the railroad overpass with the top row of bales lying askew and some had fallen to the asphalt. On the road beside the fallen bales of hay rolled a man broken in grief. He pulled his knees up under him with his hands on his face to the road presenting a kneeling position. He was so wracked in pain and sobs.

Upon closer inspection Eve looked up and saw blood and human skin and hair that had been scraped off someone and attached itself to the concrete of the overpass. The medics carried one young man on a stretcher
whose head was almost decapitated. Another gurney held another body of a young man who looked to have a broken neck and scrapes all over his body. Most of their clothes had been jerked off their bodies.

Eve quickly took pictures of the accident and walked back to her car. She took several deep breaths to keep from losing her breakfast. She was thankful that this was a cool day with a slight breeze or she may not have made it. She sat down for a few minutes to settle her stomach before finding out the information crucial to her news story.