| General Fiction posted January 1, 2023 | Chapters: |
...28 29 -30- 31... 
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Abby seeks E.J.'s advice about Kenny
A chapter in the book Some Call It Luck
Some Call It Luck - Chapter 30
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant and beautiful but insecure, nerdy young woman befriends a going nowhere older alcoholic caddie. Together, they bring out the best in each other and collaborate on a startling new invention |
(See the Author Notes for a description of the main characters.)
We leave E.J. for a bit and return to Abby who has just completed her senior year of college and has returned to Brentwood CC to work at the snack bar again this summer to earn money for grad school. While at school a few months back, she had met an interesting guy who she never saw again until he walks up to the snack bar with her friend Eddie. They are playing in the finals of the club championship. Abby is visibly flustered by Kenny’s reappearance and spills coke on him while serving him. Later she brings drinks out to the group and watches them play the final two holes. On the final hole, a par-3, Eddie caroms his ball off Kenny’s and into the hole for an unlikely hole-in-one and the win. Abby drives them back to the clubhouse.
A continuation of the chapter Abby St. Claire - June, 1987
I dropped the boys off at the clubhouse before returning to the snack bar to unload the remaining drinks and to lock up, then I returned the cart and headed into the clubhouse to get ready for my waitressing shift.
I took a few minutes to freshen up, change into my waitressing outfit—a black skirt and white top—put my hair up, and apply a little makeup. Then I went into the kitchen to learn about the specials of the day.
About an hour into my shift, who should come in for dinner but Kenny and Eddie? The hostess guided them over to my section of the dining room. Right away my heartbeat sped up.
I grabbed a pitcher of ice water and walked over to their table. “Hi, guys. Can I get you something to drink besides the water?”
“As a matter of fact, I’d like to order a bottle of champagne to celebrate my new friend’s brilliant victory today,” said Kenny.
“I’d say it was more lucky than brilliant, but whatever,” I said to him as I poured their water.
“Hey, you didn’t see all those putts I sank before that,” said Eddie. “Gimme some credit here.”
I just smiled then went to retrieve the champagne. I grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator, a cork screw, and two flutes and headed back to the table. I had never actually opened a bottle of champagne before, but I’ve opened wine bottles. How different could it be? I removed the foil that surrounded the top and saw this wire thingy. What was that for? So, I untwisted the wires and slipped it off.
All of a sudden, the cork flew up from the bottle and hit me in the forehead, and the champagne started shooting up and drenched my blouse. I shrieked.
Eddie and Kenny immediately grabbed their napkins and hopped up to try to give me a hand in drying things off. Kenny helped blot my face and handed me the napkin to take care of my chest.
“Are you okay? It’s a good thing that didn’t catch you in the eye,” he said as he inspected my forehead. I put my finger up and felt a little dent where the cork had struck. I felt myself really blushing now. I looked down, and the champagne had soaked through my blouse which made it quite revealing.
“Yes, I’m okay, just embarrassed. I’m so sorry about that,” I said to them. I’ll go back and get some towels to clean up the mess and see if I can find another blouse to change into. I’ll be right back,” and I hurried away.
I was so thoroughly humiliated, that I just couldn’t go back there. I asked another girl if she could take over my table, changed into my regular clothes and left. What is it about that guy that turns me into such a walking disaster area? What can he possibly think of me?
I went home, got ready for bed, pulled out a book to read, and just tried to forget what a fool I had made of myself, but I couldn’t concentrate on a word.
E.J. came down to the snack bar to see me at noon the next day. He knew that I had a lunch break from 12:00 to 12:30, and he would often come down if he’d had an early morning loop. We walked up to The Overlook together and sat down. I brought my lunch with me.
“E.J., I feel like such a fool. I was introduced to this really nice guy out here yesterday who I’d actually talked to briefly a few months ago, and from the moment I saw him again, I felt tongue-tied and acted like a complete klutz. I don’t think I can ever face him again.”
E.J. had a momentary wistful expression on his face when I said this, but then he brightened and said, “Oh yeah? What was his name?”
“It was Kenny something. I don’t even remember his last name now.”
“Kenny Payne, perhaps? Tall, young, good-looking guy?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“Nice guy. I’ve caddied for him once or twice. He just lost the club championship to Eddie Phillips yesterday from what I understand. So, tell me what happened with him?”
“He and Eddie walk up to the snack bar between 9s, and Eddie introduces us. Right away my heart starts pounding and I start blithering and feeling the blood rush to my face. They put in their order and go sit down. When I bring it out, I set Kenny’s drink down, then I proceed to knock it over when I put his sandwich down, and it runs all over the table and down his leg. I am so embarrassed. I apologize like crazy and go and get some towels to wipe everything up. He’s very gracious and forgiving, but I feel like such a fool, and of course, I’m blushing again. Then when they’re ready to go, I call him Kevin by mistake.”
E.J. patted me on the shoulder. “Relax, would you? Kenny is such a nice guy; he won’t hold that against you.”
“But there’s more.”
“Oh, boy. I can’t wait to hear this,” E.J. said, chuckling. “What else happened?”
“Quit laughing, will you? It’s not funny. Well, maybe it is, kind of. So, they come in to have dinner after the round and sit down in my section. I was waitressing last night, you see. Kenny orders a bottle of champagne to celebrate Eddie’s victory. Now, I’ve never opened a bottle of champagne before, and I”
“Oh no, I can picture it now.”
“And I take the foil wrapper off then the wire thingy that holds the cork on and remove it, and next thing I know, the cork shoots up and hits me in the forehead, and champagne explodes everywhere and gets all over my face and blouse, soaking me right through.”
E.J. just closed his eyes, smiled, and shook his head back and forth as he pictured this scene.
“So, of course, both Kenny and Eddie hop up to help me dry off with napkins, but you can see right through my blouse now, so I go back in the kitchen to get some towels, but I’m so embarrassed, I just can’t go back out there. I ask another girl if she could take over my table and finish out for me, and I head home after that. God, what can that guy think of me?”
“That’s a great story, but you know what? I wouldn’t worry. You have so many good qualities: you’re smart, you’re pretty, and you’re probably the nicest person I’ve ever known. He’ll see these things in you one day.”
“I don’t feel so dang smart. I feel like a complete idiot.”
“Believe me, he doesn’t think that. I’ll bet he finds it kind of endearing.”
“Well then he’s an idiot.”
“Maybe so, but he’s no different than any guy I know. Here he sees this pretty girl who acts shy and clumsy around him. I guarantee you he will have found that to be cute and kind of flattering. You and he are going to laugh about it one day. You wait and see. I bet he asks you out before next weekend. I can really picture the two of you together.”
“Thanks, E.J. I hope you’re not just saying that to make me feel better.”
“I’m not. Just relax, and the next time you see him, just be your wonderful, intelligent, charming self. He’ll see that; I guarantee it.”
Abby St. Claire: Age 20. She has just graduated from Penn State University where she was a math major and has decided to go for a master's degree there next year. She is intelligent and beautiful, yet shy and awkward with most people her age, having been picked on quite a lot while growing up. She works at the snack bar at Brentwood Country Club during the summers.
E.J. Budrowski: Age 37. An alcoholic with a traumatic past (an abusive father and a mother driven to suicide) who is a caddie at Brentwood CC. One day he finds a dirty old golf ball on the edge of a pond that seems to have unusual powers, for he makes two holes-in-one with it. He and Abby become friends when she encourages him to take up both golf and bridge again after long layoffs.
Kenny Payne: Abby met him briefly at a frat party in her senior year and was intrigued by him, then she sees him again when he walks up to the snack bar several months later.
Eddie Phillips: A young member at Brentwood known for his extremely good putting and ability to hustle his opponents. Eddie is friends with Abby and beats Kenny in the club championship with a miracle shot. He and Kenny become best friends after that.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. E.J. Budrowski: Age 37. An alcoholic with a traumatic past (an abusive father and a mother driven to suicide) who is a caddie at Brentwood CC. One day he finds a dirty old golf ball on the edge of a pond that seems to have unusual powers, for he makes two holes-in-one with it. He and Abby become friends when she encourages him to take up both golf and bridge again after long layoffs.
Kenny Payne: Abby met him briefly at a frat party in her senior year and was intrigued by him, then she sees him again when he walks up to the snack bar several months later.
Eddie Phillips: A young member at Brentwood known for his extremely good putting and ability to hustle his opponents. Eddie is friends with Abby and beats Kenny in the club championship with a miracle shot. He and Kenny become best friends after that.
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