Ease Up, Rambo!

I was in the back seat of Dan’s car when I met Tom.  No, this wasn’t another wine cooler occasion.  I was hanging out with Dan, his girlfriend, and a couple of friends.  We were driving around the plaza where everyone hung out back in the day.  There was a movie theater with seven screens.  Wow! That was a lot back then.  There was also a Bennigans, a Burger King, a Baskin Robbins, and, of course, the staple of every Florida plaza, Publix.  You name it; this plaza had it.

So, Dan was parked in the plaza and this other guy, Tom, walked up to the driver’s side window and started talking to Dan.  I had never met this person before, but he went to my school. I thought he was cute instantly.  He had dark hair (I’ve never been attracted to blonds, except for Sting) and blue eyes.  He looked past Dan and said, “Hi!”

Dan introduced us that night, and within a week we went on our first date. Our first date involved going to a movie at Ocean Walk on Hollywood Beach.  Then, after the movie, we went to the arcade and played a few rounds of video games.  We didn’t really know what to do after that, but we didn’t want the night to end, so we went to visit our friend Dale.

I always wonder what happened to Dale.  He went to our school for about a year.  He lived by himself in a three bedroom condo on Hallandale beach.  For some reason, his parents had deposited him there, while they stayed mostly in Philadelphia.  I never could figure that out.  Anyway, Dale’s parents had money and gave him a credit card, which he used to buy us alcohol and take us out to dinners we could not otherwise afford. Since I was 16 and broke, and Dale was a super nice guy on top of being rich, I considered him one of my closest friends.

I stayed with Tom for over a year.  He was my first “real” relationship.  We were comfortable together.  We slept together, yes, but we also napped together and cooked together (mac and cheese straight from the box), and hung out together every day. 

Then, things got weird when Tom wrecked his car and dropped out of school.  Those two things happened right after the other. He was acting like a goofball and racing a friend down a street near our school.  This was when they were on their way back from lunch.  Anyway, Tom was acting like a teenage boy with a car and trying to show off. He ended up crashing into a pole.  He wasn’t hurt too bad, but his car was totaled. He had no transportation. Soon after, he dropped out of school.

His employer at the time was like a father figure to him.  So, this nice man bought him a motorcycle.  We continued to date for about a year. Tom got his GED and started taking classes at the community college and working.  For some reason, Tom got really clingy with me, and I hate clingy.  I’m someone who requires a lot of alone time.  He wasn’t just clingy, he was possessive.  For Christmas, he bought me a large, gold TAKEN charm.  He also got defensive when other boys talked to me and immediately claimed me by saying, “She’s my girlfriend.” I’m no one’s possession. So, I broke up with him.

Tom could not accept that and would follow me places.  Once, my friends and I went to a park before a football game to hang out and have a beer or two.  In the 80s, teens could purchase alcohol pretty easily.  Anyway, Tom showed up.  He had followed me and my friend there.  He even followed us through a McDonald’s drive-through.  When we got to the park, he followed me all around, insulting me. Of course, he called me a whore.  That was the insult of the day.  When he did this, one of the guys in our group of friends decided to speak up.  This person was someone I was never really close to, and he was one of the last people I expected to come to my rescue, but he did.  He walked right over to him and said, “Ease up, Rambo!”  Everyone laughed because Tom was wearing camo shorts.  Tom finally left.  It was finally really over.

“Rambo” and Me