Joy Argento - Carrie and Hope (11 page)

Carrie got up and took the ball off the rack. “Let’s start with holding the ball the right way.” She handed the ball to Hope. Hope slipped her middle and ring finger into the holes and did the same with her thumb. She held the ball up to her nose, supporting the ball with her left hand.

Carrie reached over and placed one hand under Hope’s left hand and the other on top of the ball. “Lower the ball, and move this hand over here to the side.” Carrie could feel the softness of Hope’s hand under hers. She continued with the lesson. “Okay, that’s the way you should hold the ball to start. Now let’s turn around and face the pins.” Carrie dropped her hands from Hope’s and Hope turned to face the lane. Carrie stood behind Hope and whispered in her ear. “Remember that this game is about accuracy. It’s not a race. We are going to go nice and slow. You want to be in control.” Carrie put her hands around Hope’s waist. “Let’s move back just a little here.” She stepped back and moved Hope with her. “Good, now start from here.”

Carrie stepped away from Hope. “You are going to take four steps to the line, start on your right foot. As you step you are a letting the ball swing, nice and easy. Let it swing straight back and let it swing straight forward. Bend your knees a little on the fourth step and let the ball go. Don’t worry about where it goes right now. Let’s just worry about getting the rhythm of the steps and letting the ball swing.”

Hope tried to take in everything Carrie was telling her. She counted her steps to the foul line, letting the ball swing back and forth with the steps. She let it go and it bounced once before skittering down the alley and into the gutter.

“Much better,” Carrie told her. “But you let the ball go a little too late. Here let me show you. Come on back here to start.” Hope moved back a few steps. Carrie came up behind Hope and put her left arm around her waist. With her right hand she took Hope’s hand in her own. “We are going to walk through this,” she said into Hope’s ear. She could smell the faded scent of honeysuckle perfume.

In unison the women took four slow steps. Carrie guided Hope’s hand back and then forward again. “When your hand is here…” Carrie said stopping her hand for a moment, “…is when you let it go. Keep your hand in this position. Don’t let it turn.” She stayed close behind Hope for a moment longer before letting her go and stepping away.

Carrie retrieved the bowling ball and handed it to Hope. “Give it another try.”

Hope looked at Carrie. “Can you show me a few times so I can watch you?”

“Amateurs,” Carrie said as she shook her head. She retrieved her ball from her bowling bag and walked to her starting point. Carrie turned to look at Hope. “I’m starting a little closer than I told you to start at because my legs are a little shorter, so my steps are a shorter.”

Carrie turned to face the lane. She narrated her movements as she went. “See where I’m holding the ball. This is a good starting point. I’m looking down the alley at a spot just left of the head pin. That’s what works for me. We’ll figure out later what spot would be best for you to look at.” She continued talking as she went through the moves. When she released the ball it slid smoothly down the lane, taking a slight curve to the left before hitting squarely on the head pin, sending most of the pins flying. The seven pin in the corner teetered back and forth before settling back down in an upright position.

Hope clapped her hands together. “Wow, you are good.”

Carrie smiled and went back to the ball return to wait. She threw her second ball, again talking through it, explaining where she was aiming and why. The ball easily took out the seven pin. “That’s a spare,” she said to Hope.

“That was great.”

“Now let’s work on your stance. We’ll work on your release and accuracy later.” She took a seat again. “Start where I told you to start.”

Hope walked to the area, bowling ball in hand. “Here?” Hope asked.

“Perfect. Start there. Do you want me to talk you through it again?”

“Would you mind?
Just until I get the hang of this.”
  

They continued to work and Hope made steady progress. Pins started to go down with each throw.

“Now that we have the basics down the only thing left to do is practice, practice, practice,” Carrie said as the lessons for the day came to an end.

“Wow, that’s the same way you get to Carnegie Hall,” Hope said.

“Funny lady.
What are you doing tomorrow night? We could come back and get some practice in then if you want.”

“I would really appreciate it,” Hope smiled, “but can we go buy me a pair of my own bowling shoes first?”

“Oh sure.
I’ll take you to get bowling shoes before we come back here. Now come on, I’ll buy you a soda after you get out of those disgusting, germ infested things,” Carrie said, pointing at the rented shoes on Hope’s feet. Hope gave her a playful swat.

Chapter 12
     

Hope knocked on Carrie’s door. “Are you ready?” she asked when Carrie opened it.

“Just about.
Come on in. I need about two more minutes,” Carrie said. “I just got home from the visiting my grandmother and I want to change my clothes.” She led the way to the living room. “Sit, make yourself comfortable, and I will be right back.”

Hope sat down without taking off her coat. “You must be hungry,” she called to Carrie.

“A little bit,” Carrie yelled back from her bedroom. She emerged a few minutes later wearing a pair of butt-hugging dark denim jeans and a long- sleeved dark blue tee shirt. She looked at Hope. “You didn’t even take your coat off. Aren’t you getting too warm sitting there?”

“Umm, I’m a little embarrassed about the shirt I’m wearing,” Hope said.

Carrie smiled. “What do you mean you’re embarrassed about your shirt?” Is it really low cut or something?”

“No, it’s just really ugly?”

“Why are you wearing an ugly shirt?”

“It’s our team bowling shirt. I can’t believe they are making us wear these.”

“Well, seeing you are bowling on your league tonight for the first time, I think that wearing the team shirt is only right. Let me see it,” Carrie tried not to laugh at the strange look on Hope’s face.

“I’m not sure I want anyone to see it,” Hope said.

“I’m not just anyone. Are you planning on bowling with your coat on all night?”

“Maybe,” Hope said. She stood up. “Are you ready to go?”

“We can go right after you show me the shirt. Come on. Let’s see it. It can’t be that bad.”

“The only thing that will be more embarrassing than my bowling tonight is going to be this shirt,” Hope said.

Carrie took two steps towards Hope. She unbuttoned the top two buttons on Hope’s coat. She stopped suddenly. The move felt much too intimate and personal. She felt flush being so close to Hope. “Sorry,” she stammered, unsure of what else to say.

“It’s all right,” Hope reassured her. She unbuttoned the rest of her coat and pulled it open, revealing a shocking orange bowling shirt with her name embroidered above the pocket on the left side.

“Wow,” Carrie said, doing her best not to laugh. “It sure is bright.” She took another step backwards to get a better look. “It brings out the brown in your eyes.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Hope smiled. “I think I’ll wear this color more often. I am always looking for clothes that bring out the color of my eyes. The back is even worse. But, you’re going to have to wait until we get there to see it, because we have to go, so we aren’t late.”

“I’m ready,” Carrie said. She grabbed her coat from the rack as they headed out the door.

“I’ll buy you a hotdog and beer for dinner, while you watch me make a fool of myself bowling,” Hope told Carrie as they walked to the car.

“Deal,” Carrie answered her. “But you aren’t going to make a fool of yourself bowling. You have improved so much since we started practicing. You are going to do fine.”

Hope started the car and looked over at Carrie. “I’m really nervous about this,” she admitted. “I am so glad you are going with me.”

“Any time.”
Carrie looked at Hope and saw her smile. She reached across and touched Hope’s shoulder. “You are going to be just fine. Honest.”

“Thank you,” Hope said.
“For everything.”

Fifteen minutes later the two women walked into the bowling alley. The rest of Hope’s team was already there. Carrie thought Hope actually looked very cute in her bowling shirt, at least compared to the rest of the team. All five team members wore the same ugly orange shirts with the words
JENSON DENTISTRY
with a large white tooth embroidered on the back.

Hope carried a small canvas bag containing her new bowling shoes. She sat to put them on and wiggled her toes in them as she tied the laces. She felt much more comfortable in them than she did in the rented shoes. They looked and felt more like sneakers than shoes.

As promised, Hope bought Carrie a hot dog and beer. It took only a few minutes for Carrie to inhale the food. She sat next to Hope on the bench behind the ball return and nursed her beer. They talked in low tones while keeping an eye on Jerry Jenson, the first bowler up. His first ball slammed into the head pin and sent seven of the pins flying. The team clapped and cheered him on. He retrieved his ball and sent it once again flying down the lane. Two more pins went down.

The bowler from the opposing team, Andy’s Auto Parts, also bowled a spare. The competition was on.

Hope was the third bowler up on her team. Carrie crossed her fingers and held them up for Hope to see. Hope picked up her ball and walked to the lane. She took a deep breath and tried to block out everything but the sound of Carrie’s voice in her head telling her what to do. Carrie had worked endlessly with her on technique and follow through. She wanted to make Carrie proud. Hope held the ball up and counted out four steps and let her arm swing straight back behind her and forward again, releasing the ball as she did. It traveled down the lane, knocking three pins down.
Damn
, she thought
.
All right.
The next shot will be better. Slow down, take your time. No need to rush it.
Carrie’s words came back to her.

She turned to wait for her ball to return and caught Carrie’s eye. Carrie gave her
a thumbs
up. She picked up her ball again and went through the same actions. She aimed a little more to the left where most of the pins were still standing. To her surprise, all but one of them went down. The team cheered as she made her way back to her seat. She tried to look nonchalant but a huge grin broke across her face as Carrie gave her a high-five.

Hope drank a soda and Carrie sipped her beer as they watched the other bowlers take their turns. Carrie quietly whispered in Hope’s ear. She pointed out good things the other players did as well as little errors to avoid. When Hope whispered a question about something the current bowler did, Carrie felt Hope’s warm breath on her ear. She had difficulty as she tried to block out the hot feeling of having Hope so close and to concentrate on what she was saying so she could answer the question. She felt flustered and confused by the feelings.

Her team was ahead when Hope got up to take her turn in the fifth frame. She looked down the lane, over the top of her ball, at the pins standing at attention daring her to knock them down. She took her steps, let her arm swing like a pendulum and released the ball. It veered to the left slightly but curved back toward the center as it rolled smoothly down the lane right towards the head pin. It hit squarely and nine pins scattered. The final pin standing was bumped by another flying by and teetered as if it was deciding whether to remain upright or fall over. The decision was made for it as another pin caught it at its base and brought it down. Hope heard the cheer from her teammates behind her before she fully realized that she had just bowled her first strike ever.

Carrie was on her feet clapping when Hope turned and looked at her, a huge smile plastered on her face. Carrie took two steps forward as Hope approached and pulled her into a tight hug, swaying side to side.

“Great job, Hope,” Carrie said as she released Hope from her arms.

“I couldn’t have done that without all of your help.”

Carrie grinned wide. “I know. Aren’t I great?”

“And modest too,” Hope said as she sat down, grabbing Carrie’s arm and pulling her down to the seat with her.

They watched the other bowlers take their turns. Carrie was enjoying herself much more than she thought she would. It seemed that she enjoyed herself no matter what she was doing as long as it involved Hope.

Hope bowled well that night and Carrie was proud of her. She did bowl one gutter ball, but managed to redeem herself when she got six pins down on her second ball.

It was a close game but Team Jenson Dentistry pulled it off in the end and came out ahead. Hope knew that her part of the win was due to all of the help Carrie had given her. They had practiced almost every evening for the past eight days in addition to that first Sunday lesson.

“Anyone want to go get something to eat?” Jerry asked the team as they packed up their shoes and bowling balls.
“My treat.”

“No thanks. We aren’t really hungry,” Hope said without consulting Carrie. She slipped her bowling shoes off and put her loafers back on. “Ready, Carrie?” she asked her.

“Yep,” Carrie answered. They said their good-byes and Carrie followed Hope out the door.

As soon as they were in the car Hope said to Carrie, “I’m sure that hotdog wasn’t enough to eat and I’m starving. Would you like to go grab a bite somewhere?”

Carrie tried to hide the look of surprise on her face. “Sure,” she said. “How come you didn’t want to go out with your teammates?”

“I see them all day at work. I like them, but I wanted to spend some time alone with you. Is that all right? You don’t mind do you?” Hope asked her.

“No, not at all.
I like spending time with you, too.”

“Where do you want to go? Oh, shit, I just remembered that I have this stupid looking shirt on. Are there any restaurants where it’s okay to leave your coat on while you eat?” Hope asked.