The Rolla Boys™-Chapter 8

It wasn't long before we heard a vehicle rumbling up the drive. Howard had called to let us know he and Cool wouldn't be in until sometime around 9 p.m., so we knew it must be our good old friend Vic DaWatt from Denver. The last time either of us had seen Vic was 5 years earlier at our 20 year high school reunion in Rolla. We were looking forward to spending a couple days listening to tales of Vic's former grid iron escapades at RHS and William Jewel College, where Vic played football for 4 years and occasionally attended a class.
When I'd contacted Vic a couple months earlier about coming down, I honestly figured he wouldn't make it. Vic lives in Denver, Colorado with his lovely wife Karen and their 2 boys, where Vic is Director of Admissions for a prestigious university. With busy work schedules, family activities and the logistics of getting from Denver to Barry County, I just figured something would come up at the last minute that would keep him from attending our get together. But there he was in his sock footed sandals, climbing out of the Chevy Cobalt he'd rented in Springfield, Missouri. As always, he looked relatively awake, very relaxed, and ready for a weekend of no plans and no expectations.
We unloaded Vic's car and put his bags inside the cabin next to the gun safe. After a quick stop off at the commode, Vic found an empty chair on the deck where he, Beav and I spent the next couple hours eating Ranch Chile, drinking mostly non-alcoholic beverages, and catching up on what had been going on recently in our individual world's.
The subject came up of how Beav and I had first met Victor, and we both remembered it vividly. I first became aware of Vic DaWatt's existence on the 15th day of August, 1973-the first day you could legally start torturing kids in the state of Missouri under the guise of "football practice". It was also the day we met the new rookie football coach for the Rolla Junior High Bull Pups, Coach Theodore Arthur. I don't know who impressed me more; the new kid from Springfield who would quickly become the new star running back for our 8th grade football team, or the new Coach, who would eventually become the Principle at our old Junior High School. In any event, both these guys were cool and in their individual ways made great additions that summer to my ever changing 13 year old world.