Summer League

Bryan made his approach. He laid the ball down with a strong follow through. His sixteen pound black Ebonite bowling ball rolled straight over the 12th board. About 2/3rds down the lane the ball reacted to the spin, gaining friction on the lane and hooked right into the pocket. Strike! He had struck out in the tenth frame for a 225 game. A good game, but somewhat commonplace for Bryan, who was leading the Thursday Night Men's Scratch Trio in average.

"Man, Bryan, when are you going to go to the next level and start bowling on tour?" asked his teammate Ernie.

"Fat chance," returned Bryan. "Those guys would probably eat me for breakfast. Anyway, I could never afford it. It takes cash and a sponsorship to make it in the big leagues!"

"Well, you've got the talent for sure," replied Ernie. "Since you've come onto our team we've been champions every year."

Ernie was right. They've won the last three years running. Bryan joined when he was 20 and he had led the league for 3 years. Now at 23, he was enjoying the competition of the scratch leagues he bowled in and the camaraderie from his teammates. He realized, however, that his schedule was getting quite hectic. The weekend semi-pro tournaments and the two scratch leagues he had committed to chewed up all his free time. Free time that all of his buddies were using to chase skirts. He was happy that this was the last week for the scratch leagues. He decided it was time for a break. Besides, it was going to be summer and his job at R&E Air Conditioning was really ramping up. It was getting hot and they were short staffed.

"So, what leagues are you joining for the summer?" asked Ernie.

"I think I'll skip this summer," replied Bryan. "I need to take care of other things." It wasn't lost on him that hooking up with some of the local ladies was one of the things he wanted to take care of.

"Really, wow," said Ernie. "You know you don't have to do anything competitive. If you want to ease up, how about one of the mixed handicap leagues? I hear that the Friday night mixed league needs a few single bowlers to round out some teams. They start up in a couple of weeks."

"I'll think about it," said Bryan. "I guess it's not a bad idea. I could look at it as practice. I don't want to get rusty over the summer. Maybe just one league."

--

Work was really hectic for the next two weeks. An early heat wave had triggered everyone to turn on their air conditioners at the same time. Most worked. Many didn't. Bryan had put in so much overtime that he wasn't doing much else than eat, work and sleep. So much for trolling for chicks with his buddies. He could barely keep up with this schedule. His boss, Rick, came up to him. "Bryan, you need to take off and get a little R&R. It's Friday. Get out of here and go do something fun. Be back by Monday though."

"Great," Bryan thought to himself. "What in the hell does he think I'm going to do? My buddies have already gone to the beach. I could never get there in time." He subconsciously drove his car over to the bowling alley. He figured he'd just get dinner at the 11th Frame Bar & Grill and maybe watch a few games.

When he walked in he saw the sign. 'Friday Night Mixed League starts tonight! Bowlers needed! Meeting starts at 6:30.'

"Oh yeah, that's right," Bryan thought to himself. "Ernie had mentioned that this summer league was starting up. Well, what the hell, might as well join up. At least it will get me out of my apartment."

Bryan walked up to the table next to the sign. He put his name down on the clipboard as a single bowler looking for a team. He then decided to set his sights on dinner.

After finishing up the greasy hamburger and fries, he made his way to the meeting room and sat in the back. He figured this was a one time thing, so he really didn't care about the mundane talk about rules and fees. Finally he heard the league president, a woman named Joy, tell the teams to take to their assigned lanes and that all the people without teams could line up and see her.

A few folks wandered up to Joy. Bryan stood in the back of the line. He didn't know anybody here, so he didn't have any team he was wanting to get matched with. In fact, if there was no more room he didn't really mind not getting in altogether. He figured he'd go with the luck of the draw.

When Bryan finally reached the front table, Joy said to him. "Oh, you're lucky, I think we have one more spot." She took a look at her clipboard. "Yep, late cancellation. You'll be teamed with..." Joy started to smirk. "Team 6," she said with a bit of a giggle.

Bryan thought that was odd. Why the laugh? Oh well. He grabbed his bowling bag and headed down to lane 6. He walked into the seating area for the pair of lanes he'd be bowling on. People were scattered all over, putting on bowling shoes and placing their bowling balls on the rack. Not seeing anyone that looked like they were expecting a new teammate, he just announced to those around him. "Anyone here from team 6? I guess I'm supposed to be on your team."

"Oh, we're team 6," came a voice from behind him. Bryan turned around.

"Hi, I'm Ronnie, this over here is Becky and over there is Lisa. What's your name?

Bryan stammered a bit. Here he was with his lean 6'2" frame totally surrounded by 3 short stocky women. "Oh...uh...my name's Bryan," he was finally able to reply. "I guess I'm your 4th."

"Well," flirted Lisa. "I've had a lot more than 4 men in my day, I think you're going to have to up your count!" She elbowed him a bit in the ribs.

"Jeez Lisa, don't start already! We haven't even thrown the first ball yet!", scolded Ronnie. "Don't pay any attention to her, she's always like that!"

Bryan could only wonder what he'd just gotten himself into. He looked at each lady one by one. They were all at least 45, he thought. Maybe older. All were plump and round and the tallest was about 5'5". He figured their hair color was how he was going to tell them all apart. Ronnie was a redhead, her hair was straight and was shoulder length. Becky had jet black hair, obviously from the bottle, that was wavy and short. Lisa was a bleach blond. She even had the ends dyed purple. They each ran up to him and started all talking to him all at the same time.

"Whoa, whoa ladies! One at a time!" said Bryan.

"Ha!" laughed Lisa. "He called us 'ladies'. He must not be from around here, you'd think he would have heard of us by now!"

"Heard of you? I've been around here for a few years, but it's my first time in a mixed league. Why would I have heard of you?"

"Because we're the 'Hoochie Mommas'," Lisa rang out, shaking her boobs in the tube top she always wore to bowl in. She had the biggest set of tits in the bowling alley.

"Wha...," stammered Bryan.

"She's just kidding you Bryan," said Becky. "That's just our team name. That's what the other teams always called the 4 of us every summer."

"4 of you?" asked Bryan.

"Well, it's normally been 4 of us," said Ronnie, "but our friend Beth couldn't make it this summer. Her husband's taking her on a long european vacation. Lucky bitch. She would have missed too many weeks, so she decided not to join this time."

"We started calling ourselves the '4 Mommas', cause we're all about the same age and we all had 3 kids each," explained Becky. "But the other teams added the 'Hoochie'. Lisa just showed you why. She does that whenever anyone on our team gets a strike! We're not very good bowlers though, so it doesn't happen too often."

Bryan thought to himself, 'She's going to have two black eyes and really sore tits if she does that everytime I get a strike.'

"Do you know how to bowl Bryan?" asked Lisa.

"I've done it a time or two," he said. "Well, I guess I'm going to be on your team this summer. Take it easy on me."

"Oh don't worry!" shouted Lisa. "I'm always easy!"

Ronnie and Becky just rolled their eyes. Bryan could only stare. This was going to be a long summer.

--

Bryan didn't get much practice in since he was the last one to be assigned a lane. No matter. He'd been bowling this alley for years and knew how they typically oiled the lanes. He'd probably be able to zero in on a mark pretty quickly. Becky wrote their lineup onto the projector screen. He'd be going last in the anchor spot.

The other team they were bowling against tonight was two couples. Bryan noticed that the older gentleman seemed to have a decent form. He was also their anchor. When Bryan's turn came, he threw at his normal starting mark, but the lanes were a little dry and the ball hooked up onto the nose. He ended up leaving the 7-10 split. He hoped this wasn't an omen.

The other anchor's name was Jim. Jim rolled up and threw a strike. As he passed Bryan on the way back he said, "Watch me son...maybe you'll learn something." Bryan smiled. It was on. He picked up only 1 pin on his second ball and went and sat down to wait for his next turn.

When his second turn came up, Bryan went to pick up his ball from the return. While wiping it off, he said to Jim who was on the other side. "Care to make this interesting?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jim.

"Oh, just a friendly wager," Bryan replied. "How about the loser between us this game buys the other team a pitcher of beer."

"You're on," replied Jim. "I'm getting thirsty already. You might as well go order that pitcher now!"

"How many pins do you want?" Bryan asked, just to seal the deal.

"Ha!" Jim laughed. "You're losing already pal. I don't need your charity. Eat my dust."

Jim went to throw his second ball, but the added pressure from the bet made him twitch a little on the delivery. He missed his mark and the ball rolled up on the nose. He was lucky to leave only a single pin spare.

Bryan made his approach and rolled his ball in for a thunderous strike. "Hoochie Momma!" yelled Lisa, wiggling her boobs. Bryan gave the chance of her tube top surviving the evening at 50/50.

It didn't take long for Jim to realize that he was the sucker. Bryan had rolled off 6 more strikes in a row. Jim looked at Bryan and said, "OK, OK...you got me. I relent," and went to order the pitcher of beer before the game was even over.

"God Bryan, you really are a good bowler," said Ronnie.

"What are you doing bowling with the likes of us? Becky asked.

"I just wanted to see how many times I could make Lisa shake her tits!" Bryan teased.

"Ha!" laughed Lisa. "I knew you'd fit in, but I think I'm going to have to change my strike celebration if you're that good a bowler! My chest is already starting to hurt!"

"Ok," said Bryan. "How 'bout the whole team has to shake it when I get 3 in a row."

"Oh yeah?" said Lisa. "What are YOU going to shake? It doesn't look like that muscular chest of yours is even going to wiggle a little bit."

"Wouldn't you like to know, Lisa," Bryan flirted back, lifting his eyebrows.

"Oh stop it you two," said Ronnie. "God, is it going to be like this ALL summer?"

Bryan was laughing when Jim showed up with the pitcher and 4 glasses. "I know when I'm beat. Nice game!" admitted Jim.

"Woo hoo. Early happy hour for us!" screamed Lisa.

"What does she mean by 'early'?" Bryan asked Becky.

"We usually have a beer in the bar after we finish bowling," replied Becky. Gives us a chance to gossip a little and talk about the kids or whatever. I guess since you're on the team now you should join us."

"Sure," answered Bryan. He knew he had nothing else lined up tonight and another beer would help him forget all about the pussy he was missing if he had made it to the beach with his buds.

--

They finished the third game and tallied up the scores. The ladies were all excited, they had won all four points. All three of them bounced up and down. "Hoochie Momma!" they all yelled.

At the bar, Bryan ordered a round for all of them. "Let me get the first one, ladies!" he said.

"Wow Bryan," said Becky. "We never win all four points. We're lucky to get one or maybe two a night. We've finished in last place every year. Not that it matters."

"Well, I guess it's time to turn your luck around," said Bryan. "So, since I'm the new guy, I guess I'll tell you my life story..."

"Should be a real quick story," teased Lisa. "What are you? 22 years old?"

"Well, I'm 23 actually," replied Bryan.

"Oh my god, to be 23 again," interrupted Ronnie. "Back when everything on my body was still firm and tight." The ladies all laughed.

"Well then, why don't you tell me about yourselves then?" Bryan said, wondering if he'd ever get a word in edgewise with this group.

"Well," started Ronnie, "Lisa and I are 49 years old and Becky over here is..."

"Don't say it!" shouted Becky

Ronnie mouthed, "The Big Five-Oh".

Bryan sat back and chuckled at Ronnie while Becky turned a crimson red. They each took turns telling him a bit about their lives and families. They were all remarkably similar. They were all married, had three kids who except for Lisa's youngest were all out of the house, and they were all stay at home moms who were now getting bored as they became empty nesters. The only difference seemed to be that Ronnie and Lisa gushed about their husbands and seemed to have a good relationship with them. Becky didn't say much about her husband, but she was also the shy one who didn't talk as much as the other two.

"How did you all end up bowling on a team together?" asked Bryan.

"We've been bowling together for about 5 years," explained Becky. "Our husbands were always busy with poker nights or watching basketball or some other sport. We all got tired of being home alone on Friday nights, so we got together and started bowling. It gets us out of the house and we get to gossip, so it's fun, I guess."

Bryan wondered if this is what married life would end up being for him. He used to think that if he was married he'd be knocking the bottom out of it every Friday night. He guessed that when you got to be that age maybe the old plumbing didn't work anymore.

After the round of beers was consumed, the ladies decided to call it a night. Bryan figured he would too, he was dead tired from working. He took it easy and stayed away from the bars that weekend. He knew he'd have to get back to work on Monday and that it would be a busy few weeks.

The next couple of weeks went much like the last one. Work was busy, but things started to revert back to a more normal pace. Bryan kept bowling with the 'Hoochie Mommas', but he was really beginning to hate that name. He was teased every week by the opposing team. He made them pay for it on the scorecard though.

"Hoochie Mommas!" Yelled Lisa at the end of the third week. "We're 12 and 0. We're leading the league! Let me buy the round tonight! Bryan, this is fun. I've never been on a winning team before!"

"Well," replied Bryan. "I do like seeing you girls shake'em when I get a turkey! It's prime motivation!" They all laughed. Their 'evening happy hour' at the bowling alley bar became more relaxed and even a little bawdy as they all got to know each other more. When the talk came around to sex, Lisa always had some wild story. Ronnie had a few of her own too, but Bryan noticed that Becky was largely silent on the topic. They always asked Bryan how many girls he had shagged that week.

"Oh, somewhere between 20 and 30," he always jokingly replied. Truth was he wasn't getting any, with his workload and lack of a steady girlfriend. This wasn't the best start to his summer.

--

Becky was a no show for the next two weeks. Ronnie and Lisa couldn't figure out why. They called and texted her numerous times, but Becky would only say she couldn't be there. The girls were worried. "I wonder what's going on with Becks," said Lisa as she sipped her beer.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to her," replied Ronnie. "I've tried to talk to other friends and even had my kids message hers. It's radio silence. No one will say anything."

"Oh no," said Lisa. "I hope her husband isn't up to his old tricks!"

"Old tricks?" asked Bryan.

"Ken and Becky had some sort of big blow up a couple of years ago. She had even thrown him out of the house for a few days, but they got back together and never really told anyone what went down. Becky sure did cry a lot back then though."

"I hope she's OK," said Bryan. He was having a good time with these ladies and became fond of them. He wouldn't want them to be hurt.

The next week, Becky was absent again. "Anyone heard from Becky?" Bryan asked.

"Yeah," replied Ronnie. "She said she didn't think she could bowl but she'd join us afterward for a drink. She sounded pretty upset."

Lisa and Ronnie were pretty subdued during bowling. There wasn't much cheering since they were worried about their friend. Once bowling was over they headed to the bar. They bought a round but Becky still wasn't there.

Becky came through the door. "Over here Becks!" yelled Lisa. "Sit down. Sit down girl! What is it? Is everything OK?"

"No, it's not," replied Becky in a meek voice. She put her head in her hands and began to cry.

Ronnie tried to comfort her. "You know we're here for you Becky. You can tell us. Maybe we can help!"

Becky continued to sob.

"You'll feel better if you just go ahead and let it out," said Lisa. "C'mon, spill it girl!"

"It's Ken," she said through the tears. "The bastard left me. He's shacking up with some slut half his age! I thought we were doing OK. I thought he had put his cheating ways behind him when I caught him two years ago. Turns out I was wrong. I can't believe he's gone!"

"Shit Becky, that's horrible," Ronnie said as she tried to console Becky. She put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. "He's a stupid slug for treating you like that. He didn't know how good he had it. Do the kids know?"

"Yeah, they know," replied Becky. "He gave them some bullshit line about how the heart just wants what it wants and that she's his soulmate. It all just makes me want to barf. I gave that man the best years of my life and he's thrown it all away for some bubble-headed bitch."

"Have you talked to a lawyer?" asked Lisa. "You need to take that slimeball for all that he's worth!"

"I have," Becky answered. "But Ken's got all our money tied up in his failing business that he started up a few years ago. I doubt we'll even have money to pay for the lawyers. I'm still in the house, but things are already starting to break down and I don't have the money to get them fixed. Lost the air conditioning last night. I couldn't even sleep it was so fucking hot."

"I could help with that," Bryan volunteered. "You know I work as an air conditioning tech. I can come to your place tomorrow if you want. You'll only need to pay for the parts. I won't charge you for labor."

"Could you, please?" responded Becky. "There is so much going on and I don't even know where to start. It would help me so much."

"Sure thing," said Bryan. "We friends gotta stick together. I'm happy to do what I can."

"Thanks Bryan," said Becky. "Text me tomorrow before you come over and I'll give you my address."

Lisa and Ronnie continued to console their friend. Bryan decided to take his leave, what did he know about any of this kind of stuff? He only knew to stay away from married women. He didn't want any complications.

--

About noon the next day, Bryan texted Becky. She lived relatively close so it would only take about 15 minutes to get to her house. It was a scorcher today with humidity in the 90 percent range. He broke into a sweat just walking to his work truck.

Becky answered the door and gave Bryan a quick hug and asked him to come in. He instantly noticed that she had on only a thin white cotton t-shirt and no bra underneath, as well as a short skirt. "Bryan, thanks for coming. It's ridiculously hot! I'm dying here without air conditioning. I even went to sleep naked with the fan on full blast last night!" She blushed a deep red when she realized what she had just said.