What the Drummer Said

Eddy fangen's band? coming to cedar rapids? not that far from Addison? In three weeks? How about that?

Because big stuff like this hardly ever happened. Not around Addison. And just at the right time, too. Because Casey had been watching Jeanne Miller for some Sundays now when she sat with her family in the Lutheran church about four rows in front of him.

So after the service on this Sunday, he followed her down the aisle and then waited while she talked to a girlfriend out by the flagpole in front of the church.

"Oh, hi there," he said to her after her girlfriend had left.

"Oh, hi," she said.

She had really nice long brown hair that fell over her shoulders.

"So how are you?" said Casey.

"Oh, I'm fine."

"That's good."

"And how are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, too."

"Nice weather."

"Oh, yes, it's nice weather."

"Hey, you know what, I found out something."

Casey reached inside the breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out the advertisement from the Addison Times with the big picture of Eddy Fangen.

"You seen this?"

Casey showed her the ad.

"Eddy Fangen!" she said.

"Oh, yeah. He's coming to Cedar Rapids. In three weeks."

"Oh, wow!" she said.

So Casey did it. Right then. Right there. By the flagpole in front of the church. He asked Jeanne Miller if she wanted to go with him to see Eddy Fangen.

Guess what? She said, "Oh, wow!"

Three weeks later on the afternoon of the big night Casey backed the family '47 Ford up to the well next to the barn and gave the car a good washing and then a good polishing so that its red paint really shone. When he drove it back though the gate up beside the house and parked it next to the pickup truck, Aunt Ada was hanging up the wash beside the vegetable garden.

She stopped and looked over.

"Well, don't that car look like something now?"

Casey's little sister was standing beside Aunt Ada.

"Why's Casey gone and done that?"

"Casey's off to a dance tonight, honey."

"Can I go?"

"No, sweetie, you can't."

After supper Casey stood in front of the mirror in his room and put on his just-ironed white shirt and his brown slacks with the sharp creases, then knotted his red tie with the big knot just as Aunt Ada had shown him. He had two jackets, but one of them was part of his Sunday going-to-church suit, so he chose the other one, the sportier one. Then he made sure he really had the tickets (imagine him showing up in Cedar Rapids without the tickets!), put them into the breast pocket of his jacket, and patted the pocket to make sure they were really there. Then he took his pin, the one that showed he was a letterman with the Addison track and field team, and put it into one of the front pockets of his slacks. Of course it was still too early to ask Jeanne Miller to get pinned. Way too early. This was only the first date. But, then, you had to be ready. You never really knew what might happen.

"Now, will you look at Casey!" said Aunt Ada when Casey came down the stairs and passed through the kitchen.

"Yes, he looks very nice," said his mother.

"Why is Casey dressed that way?" said his little sister.

"Why do you think, sweetie?" said Aunt Ada.

By the time Casey had the '47 Ford backed around, Aunt Ada and his mother and his little sister came out of the house. His father wasn't there because he was still working the east forty with the John Deere.

"Casey, you drive carefully," said his mother.

"I will," said Casey.

"You understand?"

"I do."

"Because if you had an accident or anything . . ."

"Good heavens, Mildred," said Aunt Ada.

Then Aunt Ada handed Casey the corsage.

"You almost forgot this."

It was true. Unbelievable. He'd almost forgotten the corsage.

"You can't...