Before he was "Hollywood Jim" in Los Angeles, he was a geeky kid with a funny nickname in the Connecticut suburbs . And before he had numerous starlets as friends, he had various girlfriends. Here then are the "Adventures of Hollywood Jim-The Early Years".
*
The work at the Baldwin's continued and even though Marina was gone, I had no real regrets. She was a nice girl but I doubt I'd be running off to Moscow on the weekends. So something to take my mind off her was best. We finished work early one day and as I was walking home a cool looking vintage black Chevy pickup was coming toward me, complete with a dangerous sounding engine. I caught the drivers' eye as he passed by. Just as I realized who it might be, I heard it slow down and slowly come back in reverse.
"I know that guy!" the driver said pointing a finger at me
I peered inside and recognized him.
"Joey?"
"Jimmy my boy! Been a long time!" he said with a big smile.
It was Joey Reed. Joey had been an occasional pal when I was a kid but we'd lost track of one another as we got older and my visits to Canaan became less frequent.
"Man, how long has it been?" I asked.
"Too long, man, too long. Are you up here with your parents?"
"Yeah, I'm here for the rest of the summer. Doing some work at the Baldwin's place."
"Good gig, pal!"
"What about you?"
"Still at the same house, working for my Dad, that's how I got the wheels here." He said with a slap on the door frame.
"How's he doing?"
"Great, he's on a project down in Boston and I got the house to myself." He said with a comical flutter of his eyebrows, meaning something was up.
Joey and his Dad, a successful electrical contractor, shared a restored lakefront house that had a wide expanse of land in addition to the lake frontage and a fancy speedboat.
"You heading home?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah, why?"
"Come on, let's ride around I gotta do a beer run for tonight."
I climbed in and we took off down the road. It was rare when I could enjoy a beer or two and with the drinking age still being 18, there'd be some fun. After we stocked up with 2 cases of Budweiser we headed for Joey's house.
"You came along at just the right time." He said as we drove back
"How so?"
"Gonna have a bash at my place tonight, gets kinda dull seeing the same crowd you know."
"Jeez, I'm only here once or twice a year I'm not gonna know anybody there."
"Well, you never know." He said with a grin and a shrug.
Joey's house was down a short dirt and gravel road. The lake house was just as I remembered, with maybe a new coat of paint. As we pulled up to his house, I could hear music playing inside, a couple of people playing volleyball and some down by the lake. Joey and I lugged the beer and other things inside. As I suspected there was nobody there I knew even though Joey introduced me as we went along saying I was "an old friend from way back". But I liked wandering around his house, as small as it was there was funky charm to it. I remembered his dad having a huge record collection so I was on the floor pouring over it as evening fell and I was feeling loose after a few beers. More people had arrived and I heard Joey talking excitedly to someone.
"Hey Jim!" he called "Someone here you should meet."
I pulled myself up off the floor and saw he was with a cute pair of ladies.
"I think you know this one" he said.
I looked at her for the longest time, it was a face from long ago.
"Hi, Jim, been a long time hasn't it?"
"Uh, maybe but I'm not sure I remember..."
"Bonnie." She said with a big smile.
"You remember Bonnie Matthews don't you?" Joey said.
Wow! Bonnie Matthews. I think I had the biggest crush on her when I was little. She was the cutest girl on the street when we were kids, but I'd completely lost track of her. The last thing I remembered was her moving away to Ohio with her dad and sister when her Mom died suddenly. Now she had athletically short blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and a body worthy of a Playboy centerfold. She had on denim cutoffs and a red Nike t-shirt. The other girl I didn't recognize.
"Bonnie! Wow! How long has it been?"
"Way too long, you look great!" she said as we hugged. "You know who this is?" she said turning to the other girl. She was slightly shorter with longer sandy brown hair, khaki shorts and an Ohio State football shirt.
"I'm afraid not." I said hesitantly, hoping I wouldn't regret my lack of recognition.
"This is my little sister Tracy." Bonnie said.
"Hi, Jim I didn't think you'd remember me anyway." Tracy said as we hugged.
"Man, you two look great!"
"Don't wanna burst your bubble, pal" Joey said "but this one's mine." He said as he held Tracy around her waist. We all laughed as they went off to get a beer.
Bonnie and I found a spot on a couch.
"So, how've you been, it's really been too long." Bonnie said. "I tried writing for awhile, you know."
"Yes, I remember, I might still have those letters somewhere."
We were really looking at one another.
"I can't get over how good you look." She said.
"Same here." I replied. "Same here."
We talked about school, families, all the memories just seemed to gush out of us.
"So, am I gonna meet an angry girlfriend?" she said.
"What do you mean?"
