Ribs, The Rebels, and Boo circa 1974

This time of year, when the air gets cool and the leaves fall, always reminds me of my high school years. My whole family used to go down the Ole Miss to watch the Rebels play. Some of the frats down there would barbeque all night long, and the odors and smoke from their pits would wander from one end of the Grove to the other. Some times, when the Rebels weren't playing at home, Dad would do his ribs.

Dad had an upright smoker, and would cook his ribs for about 6 hours. Without fail, when dad did ribs you could be sure that 1) my sister would not leave until she had ribs, and 2) Boo would show up and not leave until he had ribs. After dinner, Boo and I would go running around. I had a Datsun 510 which Boo and I painted black. It took 7 cans of spray paint and looked just as good as you think a car painted black with spray paint would look.

One time we were out running around, and we saw a friends car parked back in the woods a little at Craighead Forrest. We know what Goose was up to. Goose had a date that night, and the movie had been out for about an hour. Boo and I thought it would be really funny if one of us got a running start, ran up the trunk of the car, over the top, and down the hood. Somehow, I was chosen to go first, which ment that Boo was going to be driving for the get away. I got out of the car, and sneaked around back of Goose's car. I got a running start from about 30 feet away. It's harder than you think jumping onto the back of a car while at a dead run. I fell and rolled over the top, scrambled to my feet as I fell off the front of the car, and sprinted to the car. Boo punched it, and we made our get away while laughing so hard that neither of us could breath.

Now, it was Boo's turn. We hunted for a while trying to find another friend parking, and finally came up on Bat. Bat had a Camero, and was very proud of it. Boo sneeked around to the back of the car. He got a running start and, striding like a hurdler, leaped onto the back of the car. His other leg came around and planted squarly in the center of the roof...the convertable roof. He went through the roof and hit the top of the wind shield with his stomach. A girl was screaming at the top of her lungs, and some guy was really pissed, and Boo was fighting his way out of the wreckage of the roof. Finally, after an eternity, Boo got free of the roof and sprinted to the car, and I took off. A pair of lights came on behind us, and I knew we were in trouble. There is only one way for a Datsun 510 to lose a Camero. We had to go off road, and after driving litterally through the woods and onto the MotoCross track, we lost the Camero.

I remember Boo, still looking a little shook up, saying "That wasn't Bat's car."