Life is hard when you're 19, not smart enough to get into college and poor. It's pretty much the trifecta for not being able to get attention from a girl, yet alone keep it for more than a fleeting moment. Unfortunately in the fall of 2003, Chad was coming to the realization that this was his reality.
Chad had already lost two jobs that year and had few prospects for finding a third. He couldn't afford to live on his own, didn't have a relationship with his dad, and had a mother who's financial situation, remarkably, was even worse than his own. Each day presented a challenge. Government assistance only went so far. Money for gas station hot dogs, beer and Bojangles was obtained through a variety of hustles, gambling and an occasion theft from those more fortunate.
Despite waking up in the musty, poorly lit, crowded confines of the trailer Chad shared with his roommate Ricky, today was going to be different. Chad had won three tickets to the big game at Memorial Stadium two nights prior when someone bet him he couldn't dislocate his own finger and pop it back into place. It was a big score for someone who had never attended a game as a paying customer. Sure, Chad saw a few big games working in concessions and cleaning up empty cups, hot dog wrappers, discarded napkins and half eaten containers of nachos, but having his own seat and a ticket stub to prove it gave Chad a sense of pride and belonging that was about as rare as a January thunderstorm.
If Chad was being honest though, he'd admit that he was even more excited about the prospect of tailgating with one of the hottest girls in Oconee County. Her name was Lacey and she didn't even know Chad existed. Lacey had long blond hair with soft curls, blue eyes, and above average tits. She probably had just walked out of the room when someone coined the phrase "an ass you could bounce a quarter off of." The closest Chad had ever come to speaking with Lacey was when he mowed her dad's yard and she went inside either because of the noise or being uncomfortable about Chad and the rest of the crew staring at her as she laid by the pool in her fire engine red bikini glimmering in the sunlight with a sheen of Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil.
Chad made up for his lack of intelligence and ambition by being fun. One could say Chad had more friends than he could count, but that wouldn't do it justice since he couldn't count very high. A group of about twenty of these friends were going to get together two hours before kickoff to partake in the south's finest tradition, College Football Tailgating.
Chad showed up to the event in his finest cargo shorts and knockoff Ed Hardy tee shirt. He was out of place amongst the mostly college educated guys who wore their conservative khaki pants, braided belts and plaid polo shirts that had become known as their "Saturday uniforms". That was part of his charm though and everyone loved it. The reactions to Chad were totally different than the reaction to the acid washed jeans and Best Buy uniform shirt that Chad's friend Tickle wore. A much older, particularly uppity, attendee named Ben Galine went so far as to ask Tickle to change into a better shirt or he wouldn't hang out with him. Ben dared not ask the same of Chad.
Soon after Chad and Tickle arrived, the first three girls showed up. They were all wearing sun dresses and the tall boots that were popular at the time. The guys were particularly appreciative of how the girls erect nipples showed through the light weight material of the dresses on the brisk 63 degree morning. While the majority of those that arrived early partook in Bloody Mary's and mimosas, Chad nervously threw back Natural Lights in between a couple shots of JΓ€egermeister. While all social situations made him anxious, the pending arrival of Lacey had him particularly on edge.
Next to arrive was a friend that everyone called Mauldin, a nickname endeared to him since he was the only person anyone knew who would admit to growing up in the small town famous for nothing more than being the birthplace of discount grocery chain BI-LO. Chad's eyes noticeably rolled at Mauldin's arrival because he feared Mauldin could be his chief rival in the pursuit of Lacey's affection. The reason was obvious if you saw him. Even flaccid, Mauldin's penis had the girth of a toilet paper roll. It was impossible not to notice with his intentional choice of athletic fit stretchable pants that didn't become popular until many years later.