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Let’s go back and set-up the history for this part of the story. Steve joined Junior Achievement in his second year of high school and it was at one of these meetings that Steve met Will Weston. They became very close friends. Will had a car. Actually, he had two cars, one, a 1954 Chevy and the other a 1956 Chevy. These cars played a very important role in Steve’s relationship with Beth. But we’ll get to that momentarily.
Will had no father and was the only child in the family. A very good student, quite the opposite of Steve and he went to a different school. Turns out they were both born on the same day. Will had rebuilt his ’56 and it was beautiful. White, with a smooth running engine that could set you back in your seat when Will would put the pedal to the floor. Tuck-and-roll upholstery and he always kept the car clean and polished. Will and Steve would cruse the main street of town just like in the old movies. Stopping off at a certain drive-in for fries and cokes and of-course they had to stop and get gas to chat with others cruising the main boulevard. Will had a nice car and he knew it. Others knew it too. You know. This was right out of a Beach Boy’s record. Will was, well, let’s say his car was his obsession. He always changed the brake pads and packed the bearings on a set schedule. The tires were never bald. The engine tuned to run smooth and he had glass pipes that gave the engine a low rumble sound.
It was Will’s car that made it possible for Steve and Beth to see each other. They would double date. Will would pick up his date, then cruise over to Steve’s house, then cruise over to Beth’s. There were always movies to go to and with most everyone in the car going to different schools, it was possible to know where a decent party might be taking place. Party they did.
Now some of this gets confusing. It is hard to keep things in the proper order.
The Movie Theater was on the main drag of town, at the north end, right across from one of the favorite drive-ins all the kids hung out at and used to turn around and start cruising back down the main street, was once a very famous place. All of the first releases of motion pictures were held there. This was before Hollywood. Of course this all happened long before Steve was born. Now it was used for Community Theater, and special events. Steve actually performed there in some school function; but he never could remember what and of-course, they always ran first-rate movies. Movie stars and producers all in fur coats and limousines weren’t as regular as years past, but they took place regular enough.
Mind you, Steve grew up in a very wealthy town. People in fur coats and limousines were a pretty commonplace thing to happen. Some of the richest people in the nation lived or owned property there. Funny thing was, the rich people, and movie stars all drove around in beat-up old VW’s during the week. It wasn’t until there was some special event or outing on the weekend that the limousines came out of the garage. Steve figured that was how the rich stayed rich. No point in spending the extra money.
Steve and Beth spent a lot of time at that theater. It was a beautiful theater. When you went inside, you were outside; kind of like being in an amphitheater. The ceiling was painted blue, and there were little lights that made it look like stars in the sky on a bright and clear night when the lights went down for the movie; it appeared that you were sitting in a courtyard. There were balconies up high all around the sides that were built like windows in Old Spanish homes. They were actually box seats reserved for special sponsors. When the lights came on, the ceiling looked like a clear sky in the daylight. They would sit there, holding hands and watch the movie. Sometimes they would go up into the balcony and would make-out. You never saw two people that couldn’t keep their hands off of each other like Steve and Beth. In fact, if ever an opportunity presented itself, you could find those two groping each other like rabbits.
Now Will’s ’54 Chevy wasn’t in the same shape as his ’56, but it ran good, had a good heater and radio and after some alterations, became a bed and bar on wheels. Will and Steve took out all the seats, replaced the drivers seat with a bucket chair and the rest of the car was wall-to-wall mattress.
No, they cut up a big mattress to fit around the bucket seat. It was great! The mattress went from the very front all the way to the trunk. When the back seat was removed, it left the trunk open on the inside because the back of the seat that covered it was gone. So they built in doors that covered the trunk. They sanded them smooth and used a blowtorch to burn the surface to give the wood character. Then they varnished the doors to make it look like that was the way the car was meant to be. That way they could go to the drive-in movie with two in the trunk and avoid paying. And because there were doors on the inside, nobody had to get out of the car and open the trunk to let someone out to get into the car. That’s how most kids got caught, but in Will’s car, they just opened the doors and crawled through.
That was clever enough, don’t you think? Don’t answer. You’re wrong. Leave it to Will and Steve to take things to the extreme. Remember I said a bed and bar? They built shelves on the trunk side of the doors. The hinges were on the trunk side of the doors so they were hidden. When they were closed, it just looked like there was wood covering the trunk. But when you opened them up, there were bottles of booze on the shelves. Pretty damn smart those two. Reality was, there was very few times the shelves had much booze. When they could afford it they couldn’t find someone to buy it for them, or they didn’t have the money to buy it when they could.
You could always tell what the plan was for the night depending on which car Will drove. If it was a date to go to the movies and stop by the drive-inn for fries and a coke then Will would drive the ’56. If it was a night for romance, then Will would drive the ’54. As you might imagine, Steve and Beth made good use of that mattress. Will would drive up into the foothills or to a secluded beach and the lovemaking would go on until it was time to head home before curfew.
No. When Steve and Beth got together, there were no other people on the same planet. Whatever was happening with Will and his date was of no concern to them. Besides, there was a kind of respect between them. Will and his date would take a walk while Steve and Beth made love in the car and then Steve and Beth would take their walk while Will and his date did their thing. Other nights their roles would switch. Fact was, Will and his date would wait until Steve and Beth was dropped off. Most of it arranged prior to the boys ever picking up the girls.
Yes I do. Funny you should ask. I can’t believe I can still remember her name. It was Lilly. A very well built beautiful oriental girl. Complete with long hair and gorgeous drop dead eyes. Will loved her, maybe as much as Steve loved Beth. I don’t know. But Steve said that Lilly was all Will would ever talk about.
Steve and Beth had much more going for them than physical attraction. They were in love.
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