POV: CMIII (yes, it rhymes)
Chapter 1
We drove to the Holiday Inn in Woodland Hills, California, to meet the arriving
Hairheads. Traffic was rather heavy, but we still got there at about 3:15 PM. All was very
quiet at the hotel. No likely looking strangers to even guess whether they were Hairheads
or not.
I asked the desk clerk if Tracy P. had arrived yet, and he said, "Yes, would you
like to speak to her?"
I said, "Oh, all right, if I have to."
Not really!
I said, "Oh, yes! Please! Where is the phone?" Or something like that...
Anyway, I picked up the lobby phone, the clerk connected me, and when I heard,
"Hello?" I said in my deepest, sexiest voice, "Hi, Tracy...how are
you?" She said, "Who's this?"
Shocked that she didn't recognize my distinctive voice, I said, clearly hurt, "It's
Damon!"
She then said, "Oh...Hi, Damon...this is Kathy!" OK, so I made a mistake.
There would be others.
We chatted briefly, then she turned the phone over to my original target, Tracy. She
asked whether we had met or seen anybody yet. I told her we hadn't, but no sooner had the
words left my mouth, than a guy with two guitar cases and a blonde companion walked in the
glass front doors of the hotel. The guy had dark red hair, cut in a short page boy,
turning under at the ends. His face was a cross between John Denver and Opie Taylor ---
Richie Cunningham, if you prefer...so I was pretty sure...
I told Tracy, "I think Eddie just walked in the door."
She said she'd be right down.
The Redhead came towards me, and I asked, "Are you Eddie?"
He said, "Yeah! And you're....Damon?"
I said, "I'm Damon!"
"Damon! Buddy!" He put down one of the guitars, and in a big sweeping gesture,
like throwing a ball, shook my hand. He introduced me to his wife, Nancy. We talked very
briefly, then they headed on up to their room.
About that time I noticed a tiny lady standing near the entrance of the hall leading to
the elevators. She was very quiet, but I had the idea she belonged with us. She said,
"Are you Damon?"
I said, "Yes, and you are?"
"I'm Sandy!"
"Auntie Sandy!" I shook her hand, but I towered over her, so I got down on my
knees to level the playing field a little. Still not quite enough, but that was as far as
I was willing to go. What a cutie she was.
She said later in the weekend that she was about 4'9" tall. She considered it a
compliment when I guessed her height at 4'10". (That's 4'10". Not 4'9½".)
I said that Tracy and Salia would appreciate her presence, because they would definitely
enjoy not being the smallest in the group, this time around!
Right about this time KathyR and Kristin came back from doing what I have been
forbidden to mention, so they got to meet Sandy then, too. Back on my feet, I told them
that I had already met Eddie and Nancy, and that Tracy and Kathy were on their way down.
We headed out toward the pool area, where there was a ping-pong table. I asked the
clerk for a ball and some paddles, and he obliged, so Kristin and I could play. We met
Becky out there as she headed from the pool to the hotel, but I was already going into my
sports mentality. I started hitting the ball back and forth with Kristin, and the ladies
started talking. I'm really sorry here, but I was not a good reporter at this point.
"Hi, howyadoin'." --- Play ping-pong.
"Nice to meetcha." --- Play ping-pong.
"Oh, you're Kathy? Play ping-pong with me!" (She did...not bad, either!)
"Oh, Hi Tracy!" --- Play ping-pong.
What finally stopped me, was when an overabundance of ladies accumulated, and the purses
had to go somewhere. They went on the ping-pong table! Did any of them notice me
whimpering? I DON'T THINK SO!
But, I was then able to take stock of whom had arrived while I was in the other realm.
They were, in no particular order: Jo and her sister Dyan; Lynne; NormaK; Kathy and Tracy;
Sandy; Becky; Eddie and Nancy; myself, KathyR and Kristin. I think that was all who had
gathered at the ping-pong table. Stella was not feeling well, so she had not joined us as
of that time.
Talk began as to what would be our next activity, and the consensus came to be that we
would gather in the small gym room on the second floor. Lynne had her
"Suitcase," full of Cowsill memorabilia, and no kidding, it was on WHEELS! One
of those rollable pieces of luggage. She invited me to lift it, and I did. I'm sure it
weighed about forty pounds.
We headed for the elevators to go up to the gym .... |
