Every Man’S the Hero in His Own Story

By Toby Lewis

Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Bonnie and Clydetrue love does not have to always be portrayed as having tragic endings. In reality, there are many that survive the trials of time and many long periods of prolonged separation. This is the story of a love affair that survived both, and in the end, the two people in this story lived to love each other as hard as they could. She was his hero and he hers. Come along for the ride in this story of true love winning out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984539342

Toby Lewis

Toby Lewis, a born and bred true Texan is a former journalism student who loves the telling of a good story, be it written or spoken. A lifelong weight-lifter who spent the majority of his adult life working in the night club industry working as a bouncer, bartender, and manager. That career has fortunately allowed him the privilege to live and work all over the country as well as to spend a couple of summers as a roadie for a not so famous rock and roll band. I don’t fancy myself as the most polished of writers, but I think I’m a damn good storyteller, I’ve been told that I write like I talk. I’ll take that.

Book preview

CHAPTER - ONE

My story begins with me first declaring my undying love for a girl named Marla Hale. Marla and I grew up in the same small town, Danbury, Texas, a town no different than any other little country town in Texas. I was twelve years old the first time I saw her, and it was as if a bee stung me, not the pain, but the sudden sensation you get from a bee sting. Like the wise older people always say, there is that one single special person on this planet for everyone and we were each other’s, at a very young age I was certain of that. I was sitting on our front porch shelling peas for my mother who was busy preparing Saturday dinner for our family. I saw someone coming down the road peddling what looked like a pink bicycle. As the rider got closer to our house my attention to my chore became meaningless and my heart started to beat faster. Marla Hale rode past my house, her pig-tails blowing in the wind, her eye’s wide and bright never once looking in my direction. I recognized who the girl was, we’d attended the same elementary school. Back then, Marla looked more like a boy than a girl with her short-cropped haircut and always dressed in levis and western shirt. The girl on the bicycle was somebody else, long brunette pig-tails on both sides of her head, dressed in a fuscia colored jumpsuit. Over the summer, Marla had gone from country town tomboy to the prettiest girl I’d ever seen in my life. The first time I see her and already she’s breaking my heart, the girl on the bike never looked in my direction, I went back to shelling my peas as she vanished in the distance. Her face was in every pea, where does a twelve-year-old go emotionally in a situation like this?

I was asking myself subconsciously, is this what love feels like?

I sat there my mouth wide open starring into the bowl of peas, my mother’s voice snapped me out of the trance.

Chip you done shelling them peas yet, she yelled from the kitchen?

Be done in a few minutes Mama, I yelled back.

I went back to my chore with very limited concentration. My every thought was locked in on the image of the girl on the bicycle with her pig-tails blowing behind her in the wind.

Marla Hale had gone from cute little duckling to the prettiest swan on the lake over the summer.

Danbury elementary was attended by the children of rice farmers and small-town cattle barons, the rest had parents who slaved away for years in the chemical refineries along the Gulf Coast. At our age, all kids had chores on the farm or ranch that could keep them away from town for the entire summer.

Marla and I knew who each other were, but like all kids at that age in life, the boys occupied one part of the playground and the girls another. I thought about the last time I saw Marla, it was at the county fair in Angleton, the next town over. She was showing the steer she’d raised from a calf, even then she resembled a small boy in her typical country girl attire of blue jeans, boots and cowboy hat.

The start of the school year would be our venture into that strange world called Junior High, I usually dreaded the summers end, but after seeing Marla that day, I wished it ended today.

The first day of seventh grade was frantic and exciting all at the same time with this being our first time taking different courses in different classrooms and having to find that room. I was elated to discover Marla and I were, in the same American history class taught by Mrs. Eileen Dahl. I tried my best to get a desk near Marla but so did every other guy in the class, I wasn’t the only one to notice the changes in Marla.

I wasn’t shy, but I refused to act like a bumbling idiot shoving and tussling like the other boys trying for a desk near the prettiest girl. I guess with all the attention being aimed in her direction, I’d have to take my place in her long line of suitors. As the school year went on the both of us got involved in our own respective activities and the only time I would see Marla was in the American history class. I occasionally passed her in the hall and made a point of getting her attention by verbally speaking, I did want her to know I existed. Whenever I was near her I’d always get butterflies in my belly, so I was sure she was somebody special. At the start of football season there was always a big pep rally to honor the players, which for me was a blessing in disguise. Marla was the head cheerleader for the seventh-grade team, so the day the cheerleader squad showed up at the field house to introduce themselves to the players, Marla and I finally talked to each other.

Hi, I’m Chip Gosnell, I stammered out, trying my hardest not to stutter.

In the sweetest voice, I’d ever heard, she replied, I know who you are silly, we’re in Mrs. Dahls second period history class together.

I spent the rest of the day walking on a cloud, all this time wanting to be noticed by her, then come to find she was not so unaware of my existence after all.

The cheerleaders and the pep squad had a regular routine of making these big paper murals that the team ran through before the start of our home games.

Being one of the team leaders I was always out front when we took the field, when the cheerleaders lined up to lead us out, Marla would seek me out to grab hands with as we all ran through the big paper mural onto the field.

I’m not sure if it was intentional or just the luck of the draw, but I looked forward to our home games because they gave me the opportunity to hold hands with Marla.

Marla, the daughter of a rich cattle rancher, lived a few miles outside of town on a ranch that was bigger than our entire town.

My parents were working-class people, my dad was a real estate salesman and mom sold Avon cosmetics.

The true chance of me becoming anything other than a casual friend to Marla Hale was slim at the most. On the other hand, being called a friend by her served me just fine.

By the time we got to Danbury high school, the beautiful Marla Hale was the most popular girl in town. She had her choice of any wealthy boy in our school as far as dating went, but no matter what the setting or function, if I was there we would always chat for a minute as friends. I was blessed enough to be one of Danbury’s stellar athletes in football and track and field.

On the sideline, she was always there cheering me on, no matter what socio -economic difference, a good football player in the state of Texas was everybody’s hero.

What my true feelings for Marla were never got crushed by her denying knowing me or ignoring my presence.

At our junior year prom, I was fortunate enough to spend an entire evening dancing with her.

Her date, my quarterback Brett Purdom couldn’t dance and was terrified of trying, my date Brenda K. Moon was on crutches.

Brenda Kay was the star of our girls track team and at the state championships she’d gotten tangled up with another runner in the final curve of the four-forty sprint and suffered a broken leg.

Marla and I basically traded off dates, Brenda Kay didn’t have to sit alone to watch me and Marla dance the night away and Brett didn’t mind being saved from having to take to the dance floor by his favorite tight end. While we danced, it amazed me how much we had in common. Her dreams were the same as mine, to go from high school to something that allowed us to see some of the world beyond Danbury.

She was also very athletic, Marla was a star point guard on the school basketball squad and she was the best female player on the tennis team.

I wished this dance could last all night long, not because she was the prettiest girl in town, it was we just seemed to go together, and I wanted this feeling to last forever.

That night seemed to create a bond of sorts between Marla and I, I conspired with her to get more male athletes to come to see the women compete.

I would get other guys on the football team who liked hanging out with me to go to the girls’ basketball games with me to cheer for her, and to make her teammates feel supported by their male counterparts, which was her initial intention, Marla was super kind to everyone she touched. We both ran track and that allowed us the opportunity to sometimes train together, I loved weight training and Marla didn’t. Having me around to always push and encourage her to hit the weights with me made her a better athlete and she appreciated it. Our senior year brought even more surprises, the student body elected four students to serve as goodwill ambassadors within our school districts. The committee consisted of one student from the arts department, that years foreign exchange student, a cheerleader and one athlete. It was as if the fates were pushing us together, for one reason or the other we saw and talked to each other on every school day.

My younger sister Martha Jane was tragically killed in an automobile accident our senior year, the first person at my house the morning after the car wreck was Marla. She sensed the brokenness I was feeling at having lost my little sister and was at my side through the whole ordeal, she even sat with me and my family at the funeral.

This was no longer just a school boy crush, I loved Marla, not as a pretty girl, but as a person.

On graduation night while everyone else was at one party or the other, Marla and I rode around the county in the new Mustang her father bought her for a graduation gift. We just drove around and talked, she’d surprisingly joined the Air Force with the intent of becoming a female jet pilot. I took a scholarship to play tight end at a little junior college in east Texas. We were both aware that this was probably the last time we’d be able to hang out like this for a long time.

Marla and I had never smoked pot together, mainly because I thought she didn’t smoke, she parked her new Mustang on Surfside Beach, so we could watch the waves under a full moon.

Marla, you don’t mind if I smoke a joint do you, I asked her?

I don’t mind, if you share it with me, she said in response to my question.

Holy crap Marla, I would have never thought you smoked pot in a million years.

She laughed at me, Chip everyone in our senior class smokes pot, I never asked you to because us cheerleaders thought the football players would never do it, I know Brett doesn’t.

Brett has missed out on a lot of great parties because he’s so critical of the guys who smoke marijuana, I told her. We don’t fault him because after all, his dad is a preacher.

She turned the car stereo on, and then put a Neil Young tape on while we got stoned and watched the tide come in and roll back out.

Chip I’m going to ask you something and I don’t want you to be offended, okay.

I’m your friend Marla, I won’t be offended, no matter what you say, so fire away.

Why have you never asked me out on a date, we’ve known each other since grade school, and you’ve never asked me out?

I sat there stoned with the song heart of gold playing in my ear, the waves crashing onto the shore in total shock, after a long moment, I opened my mouth to answer.

Marla I’ve been in love with you since the first day I saw you riding your bicycle past my house six years ago. I’ve enjoyed us being friends so much, I didn’t want to ruin it by telling you this before.

Sorry I had to be stoned to be completely honest with you about my feelings for you.

She said nothing, Marla took my chin in her hand to turn my face towards her and kissed me long and loving on the mouth.

After the kiss, she pulled away and said, you silly boy, I’m so glad your reasons are so honorable and humble, I thought you were going to say you were gay.

What I screamed, there ain’t nothing feminine about me, is there Marla?

No, I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just that every boy I’ve dated has tried to have sex with me and the boy I like spending time with more than any other was too good a friend to even try. I love you Chip, and now I understand why, I have to report for basic training in six days, so I suggest we drive into Lake Jackson, get a hotel room and let’s make our last night together for a while, one to remember.

We talked on the phone more than a few times on the days before she left, when that day came, she was leaving for a base in Birmingham, Alabama.

I went out to her folk’s ranch to see her off, Marla was taking her hot little royal-blue mustang with her. She didn’t want to be stationed in some strange new town and not have her wheels, she showed me a picture of us that she was taking with her.

Our last night together was wonderful Chip, you don’t mind if I carry that memory around with me for the rest of my life, do you?

Wouldn’t it be cool if we held co-ownership of it for the same period of time, I answered?

Deal said Marla, ten minutes later I watched the tail of her blue Mustang vanish into the distance as she drove away.

I wasn’t a good enough athlete to get recruited by any of the power schools, but I did get the opportunity to play at one of the larger colleges developmental junior colleges. I wasn’t disappointed, my dreams weren’t those of becoming an NFL star anyway. I cared about getting a college education and being exposed to better theatre teachers. I’d wanted to act since I was a little kid, I took every drama class taught at our school and the one public speaking class taught by the same teacher. I started on the football team at tight end, mainly because I was a good blocker. In the seventies’ Texas football was still run and gun I formation football, an offense that relied on good blockers.

Marla and I exchanged letters a few times a month, we didn’t fall off that routine until she got reassigned to a base in Europe, I would only hear from her every few months. I wasn’t hurt, what she was doing was a very serious role to play as one of the few women doing it. One day I got a letter from her in a big envelope, inside that envelope was a round-trip plane ticket to Athens, Greece, and a letter from Marla.

Dear Chip, I’m out of flight training school, got my own jet, got ten days off here in Greece, would not like to spend them alone.

At the bottom of the page was a phone number, I dialed it and she answered on the second ring, it’s me Chip, I said.

Haven’t you left for the airport yet mister, she asked in her best stern military voice?

No, not yet ma’am but I’m packing as we speak, how’ve you been Marla?

As busy as a bee, the classroom time is as brutal as the flight training, I started to feel sorry for my flight simulator, I crashed it a thousand times. But it’s over and I’ve won the battle, now get your tail over here, Greece is beautiful. I miss you so much Chip and I want to hear everything about theatre school when you get here."

"I’ve missed you a lot too Marla, I didn’t realize how much stuff we did together until you were gone for a few weeks, see you in sixteen hours.

I can’t wait to see you Chip.

I expected her to meet me in uniform, but there she stood at the arrival gate lobby dressed in a lavender floral print sun dress and flip-flops. Dressed the way she would be if we were back home hanging out on Bastrop Bayou waterskiing, she was still remarkable. She was also absolutely right about Athens; the city was romantic and beautiful all at the same time.

Marla took a room at a bed and breakfast place called Franceska’s House at the center of Athens historical structures. We spent all our time touring sites like the Parthenon or we were in our room, making love to each other, barely speaking a word. The goddess Athena was surely looking down on us with prideful eyes as we stood in front of the temple of Athena embraced in a lover’s kiss. We responded to each other’s touch at times, knowing within that the other needed to feel the touch of the other without speaking a word.

This is the way we should feel all the time isn’t it Chip, she asked me out of the blue one morning?

I want exactly what you want Marla, at the top of that list is the smile that’s been on your face these past few days, I’m in love with seeing you so happy.

Please Chip, don’t ever let go of that, just think for a minute, all these years us being in some worthy group or organization together. God was putting us together without us ever being completely aware of it, you’ve been just my friend for all these years, and I yours with no strings attached. I love the story you tell about the day you saw me on my bike, I didn’t see you that day, but you saw me. That is the day we fell in love for me Chip, what you say you felt that day, I feel now, these past few days have assured me of that.

That story is the truth Marla and I still feel now the way I felt that day, I agree with you that God has surely had a hand in keeping us close all these years. And yes, these past days have had the same effect on me. I say we finish these lives we’ve already begun, and I’ll meet you here at this place when it’s all done.

Deal she proudly stated, throwing her strong athletic arms around my neck and pulling me to her, I loved holding Marla in my arms and the feel of her, pulling her body closer to mine.

We didn’t leave our room all that day, what time we had before parting, we used to get closer to each other, to love one another as hard as we could. We went for swims in the Mediterranean Sea and made love at a coed bathhouse late at night. Marla was still Marla to me, but she’d become much more than that, she was a jet flying, confident and strong-willed woman still finding her own way through life. The fact that she was in love with me was the part of the story where our love for each other smashed together like two atoms in a nuclear fusion device. The massive implosion of feelings in the greatest way, the most unique feelings rushed through my mind, my heart and soul. This was real, this person felt the same way as I did. God if this is what being in love with another human being is, thank you, and for having that someone be Marla, double thanks my Lord. Our last evening together in Athens, a taxi driver took us to a nightclub that featured American progressive jazz bands. We sat in that bar snuggled together at our table and let the most wonderful sax player on earth take our love to new heights.

Chip, we’re going to make us work okay, she said to me that night, sounding way too vulnerable for me not to notice. I took her in my arms and into her ear I softly whispered,

remember we’re still co-owners of that memory of our first night together as lovers. That deal bonds us together for life beautiful girl, we’ll be fine. Marla, you do your career and I’ll do mine. Somewhere in there we can steal as many moments like this, as we can, I love you Marla, like I said we’ll be fine.

Our last kiss at the Lufthansa boarding lounge was real enough for us both, hey I almost forgot, I got a letter from James Barbie, he’s trying to get some of the folks from our class together for homecoming. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from someone back home, let me know if you’re going to be there.

I felt like everything was okay with us, Marla was living her dreams, she was happy, and I made her happier. My acting career was going as I’d planned, I was doing time working as a stage actor in whatever part I garnered. Still, my aim was attaining access to better teachers of the theatrical arts. I worked as a bartender in every town or city I landed in, I was very good as a bartender, to me it was just like playing a part in a stage play. It was simple for me to play that role during the night and maintain my life as a thespian during the daylight hours. Women sought more of my time, I always had my theater work as an excuse to not get closer than an occasional partner for sex. Marla and I stole two days together somewhere every month, even if she was out of the country. I guess the Air Force had a plan for the air men and women to obtain travel vouchers for personal travel. We made love on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and in some of the finest hotels one could imagine. Eventually I caught on to a part in a television sitcom, playing you know what, a bartender. The show was a hit and for a few years, I gained a bit of notoriety. People would recognize me on the street and some of our moments would be stolen by the autograph hounds. By the time we met again, I was in full disguise any time we were in public, no one was welcome to share any of our brief interludes together, not one second of it.

We could never coordinate the timetables to get us back home to Danbury at the same time, but those two days of the month just for us never ceased. There was a time in a year once where we only talked on the phone, she was stationed in a war zone over in Iraq. If possible, I was going to where she was, a year away from Marla was emotionally crushing me. I caught wind of one of the popular talk show comics looking for people in the industry to go over to Iraq and entertain the troops. Calling it The Good Hope Show, I wasn’t super famous, but I was a known enough actor to sign on. I’m certain some of the ten-thousand we were entertaining were fans of our show, the sitcom was going into its sixth season. I told Marla what day and where I’d be in Iraq; the story was the troops had pushed the horrible dictator out of his seat of power and the show was a part of the celebration. Marla told me to wait for her at the secured area base just outside of Baghdad, so I hung out with the ground crew while I waited. The group of men and women soldiers and I sat in the hanger talking about my television show. Someone outside yelled, here comes Commander Hale. The group and I stepped outside and there she was parking her jet right outside the hanger, like she was parking her mustang. The vision of her in the cockpit of that jet was indelibly implanted on our love, she wanted me to see her in this element that made her so happy. I got it woman, I thought to myself, but she could see it in my eyes, I get it. It was very cool seeing my home-girl climb down out of her jet and exchange salutes with the ground crew just before she ran and jumped into my arms. We kissed warmly and so lovingly right there under the wing of her jet, the ground crew all seemed to get it. These people looked death in the face every time they flew a mission, why shouldn’t they have someone on the ground who loves them and is thankful every time they return from a mission. There was no place for us to be alone, but that wasn’t going to let the minutes be stolen, Marla hung out backstage with me during the show. She met a few famous actors and comedians, and even wound up out on stage playing a part in one of the comedy skits.

The folks back home are going to love this Chip, they’re going to see you and me on television, we’ll never get any peace at home once they see this.

The last words I said to her were I love you, before I boarded the big military cargo plane back to the states. I wanted her to know that my love for her was strong, coming up with a way to see her, even in a war zone was a deal breaker. It was another four months before we were able to meet each other at a naval installation in Port Aransas, Texas. She was there for three months of helicopter training, my honey was a beast, the chopper certification meant a promotion. She was on point with her training but at the day’s end, we picked up takeout and spent every evening in our hotel room.

I never let myself picture Marla with any other man, if she had been, I didn’t want to know.

The women I’d been with were just that, women I’d been with and I would never speak to Marla freely about any of them. One of the sleazy tabloids had connected me with a blonde vixen who I just happened to be standing behind in line at a trendy club.

I knew that was a lie the second I saw it laughed Marla, that skinny girl with all that makeup on. I couldn’t say it to anybody who questioned me about it, but you know I was thinking, you’re so rough in bed, you’d break that skinny woman all to pieces. Come here let me show you what I mean mister movie star, we made love to the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore at Port Lavaca Bay. Later I stood wrapped in a blanket at the window of our room that was facing Lavaca Bay.

You know something Marla, I’ve lived in Texas for much of my life just like you, but I never knew the Gulf water out here was so blue.

She rolled out of bed, pulled the string to close the curtains, took my arm and led me back to the bed, after we recovered from a heated round of loving each other as hard as we could, she