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I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert, but I can look, and breathe, and see the sun in winter time. In a Big Country, Dreams stay with you, like a lover's voice across the mountain side...
Big Country.

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To produce her flute's gentle tone, Tessa pushed a huge amount of air across the mouthpiece. Only half of her breathy output created the vibrating air column in the tube, with the rest dissipating in a contented sigh. Like her flute, Tessa's base nature sang no other way.

As a trumpet player, it took great skill and effort to bring a gentle voice from my inherently harsh instrument. I hope Tessa appreciated it...

🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺🎺

9:30 PM

Hey Tessa, your boyfriend's a gentle sociopath!

🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

Spotting a vendor cart, I dragged her over to buy a coke. "Tessa, wait here. I'm going to mix us a drink."

Demonstrating total comfort, she smirked. "Oh, you're a bartender now?"

I paused to study her. "You're funny, Tessa. I like that, a lot."

Voice cracking, I added, "I'm feeling close to you, and that make me happy."

Tessa gaped at my blunt and awkward kindness. Embarrassed, I hurried into the bathroom to pour the rest of my rum into the sticky sweet soda, then I took a test sip through the Mickey Mouse logo straw. I suspected Disneyland used more syrup than normal, with the goal of keeping guests from getting tired and leaving with money still straining to escape their wallets. However, it made for a delicious cocktail, and I smiled in approval at my new mixology talent.

Tessa, your boyfriend has many skills. You're going to love the ones Jackie and Kelly taught me...

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

The nearly empty outdoor cafe provided us a place to drink our illicit beverage. A trio of beautiful mallard ducks waddled over to receive their tribute of crinkly packaged snacks, so Tessa leaned over to a neighboring table and handed me a packet of crackers. "Ray, you seem like the kind of guy who likes to feed animals."

"I am, Tessa. Why do you say that?"

"You're... umm, gentle."

Gentle is not a compliment most boys strive to hear from a girl, and I wondered why she said it. I watched Tessa take a long sip of the potent elixir, while pondering something Kelly had told me. "Ray, you have to read between the words girls say."

Because I was not subtle, I asked, "Uh, Tessa? When we kiss, do you want me to be... gentle?"

She anxiously crossed her arms and shifted her eyes, but the rum worked it's magic on her courage. "I don't know. I've never... umm, kissed a boy. But I think I would like gentle. At least at first. Like you were on Space Mountain. That was... nice."

I slackly nodded at her, then tossed a cracker to the fussing birds.

Tessa marveled and slurred, "I love this place. Even the ducks are perfect. Have you ever seen such gorgeous creatures?"

Sweet Tessa, not every ugly duckling turns into a swan, but you'll soon have your chance...

Tessa bent down, and offered the other cracker to the brilliant, emerald feathered male, which he gingerly took from her outstretched hand. "See, gentle. I do like it."

Tessa's silly grin had become my favorite part of her.

She offered her hands to me, so I took them, and gently rubbed them. Her short, fleshy fingers didn't intertwine properly with mine, but Tessa gazed at me, took a deep breath, then bit her lip. "Ray, are we going to...umm, Have Fun now?"

The beads of sweat on her high forehead, betrayed her confident delivery.
"Ohhh, yes. Come with me, Tessa."

My girlfriend's ready to rock!

🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀

I had been slowly guiding us towards the makeout spot for the last half hour, so our final handheld walk only took a couple of minutes. Along the way, Tessa nervously stated, "I'm wondering about something., Ray. You know, I'm the only Mexican girl in our band."

My face scrunched up in confusion.

What does that have to do with making out?

Not knowing how to respond, I just grunted, "Hmm."

Tessa sighed, then took a few more sips of our drink. The cup was almost empty, like my understanding of what she wanted.

Damn, I did something wrong. Chicks are weird...

Trusting my intuition to fill in the blanks, I started speaking without a clue of what to say. "Uhh, Tessa?"

Her hopeful look prompted me to continue. I took a sip. "So, what's that like? Do the other girls treat you different?"

"No. That's not..."

She looked frustrated, but I had nothing else. Seeing my befuddled and bewildered face, she tightened her lips. "Umm. Ray, do you like...Mexican girls?"

There were many attractive Mexican girls at my school, including Tessa's mother and older sister, but they were only about ten percent of the two thousand strong student body in 1980.

I almost said, "Yeah, they're hot," but my dust coated, rust laden, Empathy compartment picked up the neural megaphone, and shouted, "Don't say that, you stupid fuck! She wants to know why she's here."

Empathy would have to recharge for a couple of years after that unprecedented outburst.

My girlfriend's sweetness and vulnerability brought on a surge of kindness. "Tessa, I like... you."

Holy shit, I think I got it right!

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She leaned against me, and I could have felt her breasts on my arm if not for our jackets. I appreciated the effort. She softly responded, "I think I like you too."

Then she burped.

Even with medium-brown skin, a glowing crimson filled her face. I burst out laughing. "Tessa, it's the full tomato," then put my hand on her cheek to feel the warmth. I assured her, "It's really cute."

🍅🤭🍅🤭🍅🤭🍅🤭🍅🤭🍅🤭

I suspected she had belched on purpose, to break the tension. We had said just enough sweet things to each other, and any more words would have been clumsy. Because most social encounters were opaque to me, Tessa's skill at handling a complex situation, that she had no experience with, left me with a sense of awe.

My girlfriend's cool!

😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

Colorful painted lines on the asphalt marked the cleverly disguised parade exit, and we slipped between the tall hedge and picket fence that only appeared connected. Two turns around a storage container brought us to an secluded nook, featuring a breathtaking view of the snowy, glowing Matterhorn peak, soaring above perfectly trimmed eucalyptus trees. Potted white, orange, and red roses framed both ends of an almost invisible, black wooden bench, which I thoroughly brushed off with a handful of napkins from the cafe. Tessa chuckled, "I wondered why you grabbed those. How did you know about this place?"

I made a grand sweeping gesture with my arm. "It's kind of an underground band legend. The employees use it too. Now you know, and can pass on the knowledge to a select few."

She twirled around, then giggled, "Ray, you sound like Indiana Jones!"

Most of us had seen the mega-blockbuster, Raiders of the Lost Ark, a few times. I cracked an imaginary whip in response. It looked more like a fairy waving a magic wand, but her saucy expression told me she understood. Tessa swayed a bit, then put her wrists around my neck. "Kiss me, Indy!"

My girlfriend's the best!
Alright, Tessa, here we go...

🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂

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