The Virginity Deadline

The day Marcus Crawley tried to become a man

It was a warm evening in late April, 1972. A senior in high school, Marcus Crawley had recently turned 18. He could now legally drink alcohol. But he had a problem….

He was still a virgin!

His number one goal in high school was to lose his virginity before he graduated. He had come very close on numerous occasions but something always happened to keep him from rounding the bases and sliding into home, so to speak. (The baseball terminology was appropriate in light of the fact that his father had been a baseball player.)

But now there was only a month left before graduation and Marcus Crawley was still a virgin. His father had told him countless times that if he wanted to achieve a goal he needed to stay laser-focused on that goal and maintain unrelenting determination to reach it. “You don’t quit the game just because you strike out on your first at-bat,” was one of his father’s favorite aphorisms.

Well, on this warm evening in late April, 1972 Marcus was as determined as he had ever been as he walked into the motel office. He had been planning the evening in his head all week. In his pocket was a condom and after paying for a room he slipped the room key into the same pocket. He then went outside to get into his father’s car which he had borrowed to go on his date. Then he drove to pick up his date.

He did not want to pay for the room with his date in tow. That would only give her an opportunity to back out. He wanted to take her straight to the motel room door.

Marcus Crawley’s date was Debby Gonzalez. Debby was also a senior. And she was a cheerleader.

Not only was Debby the epitome of female beauty in the virgin mind of Marcus but she was also a lot of fun to be around. She was effervescent; she bubbled with joy and enthusiasm. She was always smiling and laughing and her beautiful brown eyes were always wide open as though she was always looking for something to be happy about.

While in uniform on the football field (mostly sitting on the bench), Marcus admired Debby’s athletic body as she performed with the other cheerleaders. When watching the cheerleaders his gaze always focused on her.

It was in English class that he got to know her. Debby sat in the row of desks to the right of the row of desks in which Marcus sat, and one desk behind him. Before class would start he would turn around to engage her in a moment or two of conversation. Marcus was not known as a funny guy but he found that he was always able to make her laugh. He would engage her for another couple of minutes when class was over.

Debbie used the phrase, “Okey dokey,” excessively. She rarely engaged in conversation without saying it more than once. To Marcus, she was so damn cute whenever she said it.

After a few months of very brief pre-class and post-class conversations, Marcus and Debby took their friendship to the next level. They exchanged phone numbers. This was back in the age of land-lines so Marcus would sneak upstairs to his parents’ bedroom to use their phone rather than the phone in the kitchen where he had no privacy.

They talked for hours or until someone else in either of their families needed to use the phone. Several times a week, for months, they talked and talked, revealing almost everything that was in their hearts and minds. Marcus could never talk so endlessly with anyone else he knew. He became convinced that Debby was his soul-mate. She became the one he wanted to lose his virginity with.

But Marcus could not bring himself to ask her out. He came close several times but always froze. Their relationship remained one of friendship even though Marcus desperately wanted to take it to the next level of romance. He could sense that she wanted to also but, afraid that he would ruin things between them, he could not bring himself to ask her out.

Meanwhile, he continued dating other girls — promptly striking out with each one of them.

Finally, on a warm day in late April, 1972 Marcus asked her on a date. It was a Friday and, although they would surely talk on the phone over the weekend, he would not see her again until class on Monday. That was simply too long to go without seeing her.

After English class Marcus had taken to walking her to her next class just to be with her for another minute or two. On this warm Friday she was about to enter her next class when Marcus stopped her. As she turned to him he wet his lips with his tongue and took a very deep breath. And then he asked her out on a date for that evening.

A huge smiled erupted on Debby’s face. She said yes.

With a condom in his pocket Marcus was more nervous than he had ever been preparing for a date. He spent more time on his hair and his clothes than he ever had before. He even went upstairs to his parents’ bathroom to “borrow” some of his father’s after-shave. Finally, with one last look in the mirror he pronounced himself as ready and determined as he could be.

After getting the car keys from his father, Marcus drove to the motel to pay for a room and pick up the key. He then picked up Debby and took her to see a movie.

It was in the movie theater that Marcus and Debbie kissed for the very first time.

After the movie Marcus drove to the motel. The two of them were talking merrily although he was barely cognizant of what they were talking about. When Marcus pulled the car into the motel parking lot all talking suddenly came to a halt. He parked in the parking space directly in front of the door to the room he had rented.

Turning off the car, Marcus looked over at Debby who was staring straight ahead at the motel room door, her mouth opened in surprise. Quickly, he got out of the car and walked around it to the other side, opening the car door for Debby.

She got out of the car and took his hand. They walked hand-in-hand to the motel room door. With his free hand, Marcus pulled the motel room key out of his pocket and opened the door. As they dropped each other’s hands he opened the door and motioned for her to enter. She entered.

Closing the door behind him, Marcus turned on the lights and dropped the room key on a table near the door. They proceeded into the middle of the room where they stopped and fell into a very passionate embrace, kissing with a volcanic intensity.

They kissed and kissed and kissed and then finally Debby pulled back a bit and began unbuttoning his shirt. Once unbuttoned, Marcus ripped the shirt off and tossed it. He then began unbuttoning her blouse. It, too, was quickly on the floor.

They were once again kissing, their bodies pressed tightly together. For Marcus, it felt so incredibly wonderful to feel her skin up against his. It felt so good to be kissing the girl he was convinced he belonged with.

Debby began moaning and her body began shuddering a bit. Marcus just held her tighter and kissed her harder.

But he wanted to feel her naked breasts up against his chest. She was still wearing her bra. As they continued to kiss ferociously, Marcus moved his hands to the back of her bra and tried to unhook it. This was not something he had much experience with so he fumbled for a long time. Finally, he managed to unhook the bra.

That is when Debby suddenly stopped kissing and stepped back away from Marcus. Reaching behind her, she re-hooked her bra. Then she said, “Take me home.”

In sheer bewilderment Marcus stood there with his mouth open, a drop of spittle on the verge of falling from his lip. (Was it her spit or was it his?)

Debby looked around and found her blouse on the floor. Picking it up she proceeded to put it back on.

“Wha…. wha…. what’s the matter? Wha…. what did I do wrong?”

“Nothing. Just take me home.” She buttoned her blouse and tidied herself.

“I’m so sorry. I…. I’m sorry. Just tell me what I did. Tell me why you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad. Just take me home.”

Marcus located his shirt and put it back on. Again he asked, “Wha…. why? What’s the matter?”

“Just take me home.”

They silently left the motel room and got back in the car. As Marcus drove her home his confusion only intensified and he was afraid to speak. They remained painfully silent almost the enter way to her house. Finally, he managed to speak softly, “What’s the matter?”

Debby said nothing. When he parked in front of her house he was going to walk her to the door but she exited the car quickly before he could even turn it off and she practically ran for her house and was inside before Marcus knew what happened.

Marcus and Debby never spoke to each other ever again.

With the premature ending of the date there was still plenty of evening left. In his state of utter confusion there was no way he could go home. He needed to think and try to figure out what just happened. He thought about driving out into the desert where he could sit alone on the hood of car as he looked up at the stars in the night sky. He did that often when he seriously needed to think.

Instead, he went to a bar.

It was a bar he had been in before; back before he was of legal age to drink. Parking himself on a barstool he ordered a bourbon on the rocks. And the bartender carded him! He did not get carded the last time he came in that bar when he was not legally old enough but now he was carded! Not only did he fail to become a man on this day but now he seemed to be getting younger; regressing back to childhood.

After the bartender brought him his drink Marcus sipped on it as he tried to understand what had happened with Debby. She seemed so ready and eager to make love with him and then in a split second everything changed. What was it that triggered that reaction from her? What did he do wrong?

Marcus looked to his left at a man sitting at the bar three stools away. He, too, was nursing a drink but he was also smoking a cigarette. (It was 1972 and smoking in bars was still allowed.)

He got the man’s attention then asked if he could bum a cigarette from the man. The man obliged and handed Marcus a cigarette. The bartender almost immediately brought him an ashtray and a book of matches. Marcus did not really care for smoking but he had smoked a few times at parties when he was drunk. As he stewed in his confusion and pity party, Marcus quickly learned that bourbon and tobacco go very well together.

He ordered another drink and after finishing the cigarette he looked to his right. Up against the wall near the hallway that led to the restrooms was a cigarette machine. Fishing in his pocket, he pulled everything out. He saw that he had plenty of loose change and there was also that very unused condom. Snarling at the condom, he put that back in his pocket. (Would he ever in his life use it?)

With a handful of change Marcus proceeded to the cigarette machine and purchased his very first pack of cigarettes. While this warm day in late April, 1972 was NOT the day he became a man, it did turn out to be the day that he started smoking.

Marcus kept drinking until the bartender finally cut him off. He got dizzy as he stood up from the barstool. Standing still until the dizziness passed, he then walked out of the bar and got into his father’s car. Rolling the window down, he sat there in the car for several minutes hoping the night air would sober him up at least a little. He thought about smoking one more cigarette but he could never do that in the car. His father would surely smell it the next day. Finally, he started the car and headed home.

It was a five-mile drive to his house. Marcus knew the roads quite well but it sure seemed different driving them while drunk. Driving on the four-lane avenue he was driving at a fast speed and it was temporarily fun. But when the avenue curved he did not turn the car appropriately and he swerved into the oncoming lane. Thankfully, there were no other cars on the road at the time.

Marcus slowed down and drove the rest of the way home at a much safer speed. It seemed to take forever but he finally made it and parked in the driveway in front of his house. Getting out of the car he closed the car door as quietly as he could. Walking towards the front door of the house, he looked back at the car and realized that he had not parked very well. The car was not parked straight in the driveway. It was parked at a slight angle. He would surely hear about that from his father.

As quietly as he could, Marcus unlocked the front door and entered the house. All the lights were out and everyone must have been asleep. Without turning on any lights he tip-toed to the bathroom and then his room. It was not long before he was sound asleep.

Needless to say, Marcus had quite the hangover the next morning. He was sitting at his desk with his elbows on the desk and his face in his hands when there was a knock at his bedroom door.

Marcus looked up. This was odd. It obviously was not his mother because she never knocked before coming into his room.

He got up and opened the door.

It was his father. “May I come in?”

“Uh…. yeah…. of course.” Marcus stepped back into the center of the room to allow his father to come in. He tried to think of the last time his father had come into his room but could not remember the occasion. It had been years. This surely could not be a good thing.

His father stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He did not proceed any further into the room. He then pulled a folded piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and unfolded it. He then handed it to Marcus.

As soon as Marcus took the paper he realized that it was the receipt for the motel room he had rented the night before! Blood began rushing through his body. He already felt horrible and now he was in serious trouble.

“You left that on the car seat.”

Marcus looked at his father then down at the receipt. Could things possibly get any worse for him? He wanted to die.

“Marcus, do you have any idea how much trouble you would be in right now if your mother had found that receipt instead of me? Do you have any idea how pissed off she would be? How can you be so stupid?”

He looked up at his father who started to turn to leave the room.

His father turned back towards Marcus and pointed at the receipt, “If I were you I’d get rid of that. Burn it or something.” He then opened the bedroom door and was about to leave when he turned again towards his son.

Looking at his father, Marcus could tell that he was trying hard not to smile but he was unsuccessful as a faint smile appeared on his face. His father then quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Marcus sat down on his bed. With his left hand he crumbled the motel receipt and with the palm of his right hand he slapped his forehead.

On this cool morning in late April, 1972 Marcus did not wake up a man. He was still a virgin.

Ironically and undeservedly, however, he was now finally a man in the eyes of his father.

For Marcus it was a fleeting and hollow consolation.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.