MICHAEL MALONE
441
football, like when you go for two up the middle. The same for the sun
popping up out of the waves at the beach, or the first time I saw New
York City. Oh , and dancing, I always danced right under the band
where I could feel like I'd dived down the throat of a horn and was
floating on the melody. The same for the way things like carrots and
radishes would pop out of the earth into my hand. All those feelings
were as strong as seeing Mandy 's moony breasts with the nipples tight
as thimbles . I was in a constant quiver of aliveness that would kill me
now.
But I'm the first to admit we got way out of hand with Mandy after
a while. She cried her head off on the way home. She said, "I hope y'all
all have little girls some day and a bunch of animals do something like
that to her and see how y'all feel then." Well, I guess I would go crazy if
a horrible thing like that h appened to Belinda, except Belinda's not the
sort of girl that something like that
could
happen to, because she'd
never jump into a car with five guys, all of them tighter than Dixie's
hatband, and Wilson Hubbard actively throwing up a six-pack all over
my back seal, and not think those guys were cruising for whatever they
could find. Still there were no hard feelings in the long run . Mandy
married Malcolm Bates, and she and my wife Linda play bridge
together every now and then.
Linda and I started going together in the twelfth grade. She was a
cheerleader and sweet as a dream of Paradise. Just staring into Linda's
eyes gave me the same feeling I got from that first look at Mandy 's big
breasts, except with Linda it was peaceful at the same time because you
knew it was a good thing you were doing because you weren't doing
anything. Of course, I was in constant pain. Linda sent me back
to
a
stage I thought I'd passed in junior high: we'd French kiss for three
straight hours and stop there. I could hardly stand up straight enough
to walk her to the door.
It
was honest to God love.
It
took me to
graduation night to get her bra off.
After I went to State, I found out there were girls who would haul
you into the bushes right in front of their dorms . But all I could think
about was Linda. The White Knight and I barreled down to Women's
College every Friday, or else Linda'd drive up
to
State with her friends.
We'd pet until dawn . She wouldn't let me get inside her, but she got so
she loved everything else. I loved her to death. I loved State too. Billy
Weatherspoon and Dickey Moore and I pledged K.A. They had a lot of
great guys back then, and we raised some hell. I'll say this, we drank
our share. God gave me seven big plays my last season, one of them 64
yards running against Duke in the Homecoming. The only problem I
had at State was the classes got a little tough. Nothing I couldn't
handle, but I had to drop a few courses and bust my wazoo cramming
