One with the Wind

            There was nothing exotic about Josephine Hynes, a tomboy from the rolling green hills of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The only thing glamorous about Josie was she was named after a famed cartoon, Pussycats. To Josie’s claim, if she was going to be named after a cartoon, let it be a Pussycat.

            Josie was a typical teenage girl. She had dreams of a successful career and a loving husband and children. Things were already off to a good start; she excelled at her studies and was a member of the girls' soccer and track teams. But it was soccer she loved most. There was something about running around the field, kicking a ball, slamming into other girls, and wearing a plastic mouthpiece that gave her a charge. It made her feel strong and sexy, in an odd kind of way. Josie liked to play rough and when the referee wasn’t looking, she would use David, her encouraging and supportive boyfriend, always cheered her on.

            Josie kicked the ball during her usual training session and spotted her classmate, Nick Markovich.
What is he doing here? He’s probably watching Cindy Althouse. What kind of guy wears a wife-beater t-shirt? Guess he wants to impress the girls with his muscle.
Josie gazed over at Nick’s arms to get a closer look, but was knocked to the ground before she could focus.

            “Come on Josie!” said David from the sideline.

            Josie could hear Nick laughing at her as she pulled herself up and wiped the grass off her mouthpiece.
Asshole!

 

            It was the summer before her senior year of high school. Josie and David had been childhood friends and boyfriend and girlfriend since their sophomore year of high school. Now that they approached their senior year, they discussed going all the way—responsibly of course.

            Josie even talked with her mother about it, and they both agreed it was time for her to go on the pill. But despite being on the pill, taking it all the way with David didn’t feel right. His kisses where tight and rigid and when he shoved his tongue down her throat, Josie gagged. Every time he came close to feeling her between her legs, she pushed him away. David understood and never pushed her to do anything she didn’t want to do.

            While David was on vacation, Josie attended a party at classmate’s house. She grabbed a beer and wandered through the house looking for a place to stand. She noticed that most of the other partygoers were football players and the girls they all played. Josie chatted uncomfortably to a few people from her class but soon found a quiet corner to drink her beer. She looked on as everyone laughed at private jokes or talked about things she had never heard of.

            Josie watched her classmates and thought about her life in Johnstown. Johnstown was a town divided into four ethnicities—German, Irish, Italian and Slavic. For the most part, all groups intermingled without much fuss. In this quiet town that fell asleep years ago, there wasn’t much to fight about. The townspeople bonded around the high unemployment and lack of opportunity. There were still some who worked in the coal mines—work no one really wanted. Everyone knew that you were worked to the bone in the mines and illness was almost certain, the longer you worked in the shaft.  

            Today in Johnstown there were two sides of the tracks—one side was stuck inside Johnstown, the other was out of Johnstown. Everyone wanted out. Those who were fortunate enough to have intellect and athletic ability had the promise to leave. Those whose families were descendants of the coal miners were the most desperate to get out.

            Johnstown hadn’t always been such a desolate, depressing town. Years ago, before the Great Depression, Johnston thrived as a steel and lumber city. The Textile Barons, as they were known, lavished in a big country club on top of the hills. But the Great Floods changed all of that as the waters washed away all the prosperity. The sons and daughters of the Textile Barons left, leaving the rest behind to fend for themselves.

            Josie was one of the fortunate ones. She was a descendent of a Textile Baron who, years ago, owned a lumber mill. The money earned from the mill afforded those in the family an education. Most who left never returned, but Josie’s family remained, and was able to achieve well-paying jobs. Her father, Doctor Thomas Hynes, was known fondly as one of the premiere dentists in the town. Josie, unlike many of her fellow classmates, had a ticket out of Johnstown. Whether she decided to stay would be up to her.

            Leaning against the wall, Josie took another awkward sip of her beer and admired Nick who was taking a shot at the pool table. Josie stared at him and smiled as he leaned over. She thought he was cute and always did, but she was too shy to talk to him. Josie studied him carefully and watched him slide the pool cue along his hand. She couldn’t quite classify him as a bad boy because he was a good athlete and had decent grades. But his appearance was shaggy and sloppy. She wondered if he ever put a comb through his wild mass of thick hair and if he owned any clothes aside from t-shirts, sweatpants, and sneakers.

            Nick came from the Slavic part of town; his family was several generations Ukrainian. Josie always envied the Slavic people because they held onto their traditions, and celebrated in colorful festivals. Her family shred all culture and tradition when they landed on American shores.  

            Everything the Slavic people did was with such majesty, even more so than the Italians. The Orthodox churches towered above all others in town, even the most elaborate Catholic Church. Josie always wished she could trade her Anglo-Germanic freckled skin and sunken blue eyes for the large eyes and perfect porcelain skin the Slavs had. She touched her face and sighed, at least she had full lips.

            Nick circled the pool table and pulled up his baggy basketball shorts whenever he stopped to think.
Why do guys insist on wearing pants that are too big?
As he bent over, Josie peered to the side to check if his underwear was showing.

            “Do you want to play?” he asked.

            Josie stared at him, mesmerized by his large eyes and lips that seemed to pucker into a kiss with every word. “Huh? Play what?”

            He laughed and held out the pool cue. “Ah, chess, checkers, beach volleyball, bingo…”

            “Sure,” she mumbled.

            “Grab yourself a stick. Have you ever played before?” Nick asked.

            “Yeah. I’m not that good though. I am really good at shooting balls
off
the table.” Josie joked as she watched him carefully arrange the balls in the triangle. “You break.”

            “Okay.” He walked to the end of the table and butted her with his hip to get out of the way.

            As he calculated his shot, Josie admired him further. He looked like such a punk—his baseball cap was turned backwards and his over-sized shorts resembled more a skirt than anything else. Nick took his shot and scratched his head in disappointment. “Shit, your turn.”

            Josie stalked the perimeter of the pool table and looked thoughtfully at the balls. She positioned her pool cue. “Four stripe off the back wall, Jared’s left temple and into the right corner pocket.”

            Nick roared with laughter. “If you make that shot, I will marry you on the spot.”

            Josie winced.
Marry
? She gazed up at his grinning face.
He’s crazy
. She nestled into her shot, struck the ball and watched as it bounced off the side away from any other ball.

            Nick chuckled and walked past her. He gently tapped her behind with the pool cue. “No worries. There will be other chances.”

            After Nick completely ran the table on her, he fetched her a beer and they found a quiet place to talk. Nick leaned casually against the wall and stared at her. Josie sipped her beer and swallowed her nerves. “So tell me about yourself,” she said with an awkward smile. “What are you interested in?”

            “Nothing really,” he said and took a swig of beer.

            “Nothing? You play football. Do you like the Steelers?”

            “Not really.”

            “Dude, everyone in Western P.A. likes the Steelers; it’s almost mandatory,” Josie said.

            “They’re okay, but I guess I prefer wrestling,” he said.

            “Who’s your favorite wrestler?”

            “Viktor Lebedev.”

            Josie had absolutely no idea who that was and had even less of an idea how to continue the conversation.
Can I really have nothing in common with someone I think so cute? He didn’t even like the Steelers
. She took a sip of her beer and glanced away.

            Nick sighed heavily. “I guess if you must know. I kind of like world cultures, history, ancient history, UFO’s, ancient aliens and star peoples.” He paused and smiled wickedly. “I’m not really from here. I’m from the future. I’ve come back to monitor and observe.”

            “Are you high?” she asked matter of fact.

            He threw his head back and laughed boisterously.

            “No, I guess you’re just weird. Who would have thought?” Josie sipped her beer and looked at two footballers dancing on the table.

            Nick leaned closer to her and brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face. “Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?”

            Josie may have been a virgin, but she knew what it meant when a guy asked a girl outside for ‘fresh air’. She looked at her beer and hoped that the butterflies in her stomach would settle down. She would be a goner for sure, but she couldn’t resist. “Sure why not?”

            Nick took Josie’s hand and led her through the kitchen and out to a rickety wooden porch. The grass, already wet from the nighttime dew, squelched under their feet. A cool breeze blew the humidity that hung in the air and the lightning bugs illuminated sporadically.

            Nick escorted Josie to an old wooden shed, stopping just outside to admire her. He looked at the dark circles around her blue eyes and smiled. She wasn’t as put-on and put together as some girls and he liked that. He often thought she was out of his league, which is why he had never bothered before. She certainly wasn’t like the other girls he had had.

            As far as Nick was concerned, there was a distinct difference between girls. There were girls who were just good for blowjobs. There were girls pretty enough to fuck, but who weren’t girlfriend material. Then there were girls like Josie—girls he was afraid to approach because he didn’t want to make the wrong move and turn them off. Now that he had Josie outside and alone, he didn’t know what the hell to do with her.

            Josie gazed up to the sky and stared the stars. “You know, I think on a night like this I can see your people up there.”

            “Funny,” he said as he pulled her toward him and held her against his body. He put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her gently on the lips. When the tip of his tongue touched hers, Josie felt an explosion in her belly that ignited a fire. She wrapped her arms around his waist and moved closer to him, hoping she could feel his erection, if he had one.

            Nick pulled away and looked at her with a warm smile. “That was nice. Do you need a ride home?”

            “What? Huh? Okay,” she said, dropping her arms by her side.

            Josie followed him inside the house wondering what happened.
Was my kiss not good? Is he not attracted to me?
She grabbed her purse and waved goodbye to her classmates as she walked out the house.
Perhaps he wants to park and make out
. Nick didn’t say a word to Josie on the way home and when he pulled outside her parents’ split-level home in the upper middle class suburb, she knew the night had come to an end—a disappointing end at that.

            “See you around,” he said without looking at her.

            “Yeah,” she grunted, slamming the door behind her. Josie opened her front door and walked past her parents without saying a word. She headed straight to her bedroom and flung herself face down on her bed.

            Josie got into bed and tossed and turned. The area between her legs throbbed with desire but she had no idea what to do about it. She curled up with her legs pressed together tightly; hoping at some point the desire would dissipate. It was hours before she was able to sleep, but her dreams were of Nick.