I was a Tech Rep working on the mighty F-4C in the wild town of Houston, Texas. I owed one of the airmen a favor. He had secured me some mach II gray aircraft paint, and most importantly the thinners, hardeners, primer and primer thinners that make for the complete paint job. He also threw in some insignia blue. I found out the reason why.
"Would you be interested in taking my younger sister out on a date?"
"Damn, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do something that would leave a bad taste in my mouth."
"Hey, my sister's a real nice girl, that's the reason I'm trying to get her out more. I'll pay for the date." He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a twenty.
"Twenty, that won't even pay for my beer drinking, release its twin and you, got a deal." He pulled out the other twenty, on standby.
"Deal."
I picked her up at the given address. The entire family was introduced as I retreated through the gauntlet. She was an extra large girl, with a large family. I knew that each one of the introduced brothers, had plans on kicking my ass. So I gave them my best hand shake. I like to push any rings between their fingers with my thumb then input a quick and hard crush. As we drove away the brothers were all checking their hands for any permanent damage.
Our escape vehicle was a black Dodge Ram van with no windows and no seats. It had two chairs up front. The back dim interior was empty except for the mattress on the floor and a couple of yellow half octagon aircraft chocks joined together with ¾ inch yellow rope. I didn't ever use my parking brakes, (sticky) so I thought the clocks would come in handy. I only used the chocks once, to much trouble.
I watched her struggling with the seat belt buckle.
"Don't worry about seat belts, this van has truck plates, so you don't need to hook up"
She had the belt loose, and attempted a hook up. She was a big girl; the belt was about a foot short of protecting her girth.
"Don't worry about it, I'll drive slowly. Do you like to shoot darts?"
"I don't know, never tried it before."
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"What's you name?"
"Maria."
It was Friday night, I was loaded with enough, "gooseneck' Bud to feel brave and I was 39 years old. "Hell" was just another option.
"We are going out for an evening of dart shooting."
"Am I dressed okay for dart shooting?" She was dressed in black, shoes, slacks, and blouse. I knew she was smart, white clothes would have made her look like a walking glacier.
"Yeah, you are looking good, let's get rolling."
I kicked up the pace; we could still make the dart tournament. I whipped around a curve to the right and unplanted Maria. She bounced off the engine nacelle and rolled into the back of the van. Her momentum carried her across the van as I completed the hard turn. When she rolled into the other side I managed to fight the lean, it corrected itself fast. She banged into the other side, the van rocked hard to the right. I was hanging on, slowing down and playing the lean. We looked like a wobbling meatloaf chased by a wolf.
I got the van stopped, she had also stopped. Her final roll had her at the opposite side of the van by the side doors. "Are you okay?"
"Yes"
"Are you comfortable?"
"Yes"
"Good, don't move. I'm going to chock you up for the rest of the ride."
I placed the chocks against her exposed side and kicked them.