My friend
Sandy was one of the most beautiful girls in high school. I wanted to hate her,
but she was smart, funny and nice . . . and she was my friend. All of the cute
and popular boys wanted to date her, but she had other ideas. She met a high
school drop-out with a job and a motorcycle. He seemed so worldly and cool, and
was incredibly good looking, but what Sandy loved most about him was how
DANGEROUS he was. Sandy’s father was concerned and threatened to cut off all of
Sandy’s privileges AND her allowance. Sandy didn’t care. She was under the
spell of Motorcycle Man (we called him M&M, not to be confused with the
candy or the rapper).
Sandy snuck
out every night and he would be waiting around the corner on his bike. They
would drive around town -- a small town in central Florida where there wasn’t
much to do. Sometimes they would park right off the edge of the drive-in
theater and watch the movie without the sound. Most of the time they weren’t
watching the movie anyway.
M&M’s kisses
were as hot and passionate as they come, and Sandy was addicted them. We
couldn’t wait to hear every detail of every night, and were in awe of Sandy’s bravery.
After several months of clandestine kissing orgies and heavy petting, M&M
wanted more. When he said he wanted to take the relationship to the next level,
Sandy was oh so ready. But what she didn’t expect to hear was his plan for the
“next level.” It turns out that he was boosting his livelihood by robbing
houses in the area, and M&M thought Sandy would be a perfect partner –
straight A student, cheerleader, calendar girl and all-around upstanding
citizen. No one would suspect her if she cased the houses of friends and
neighbors.
Hurt,
shocked and upset that she could have been so wrong about the man she loved, Sandy
resolved to dump this bad boy, call the police and turn him in, and start
dating some of the nice guys at school.
When I read the
stories in When Love Goes Bad, I
couldn’t help thinking of Sandy’s M&M and all of the bad boys I found
myself drawn to (more about them later). But maybe some of us have to
experience the dangerous boys. Their passion and willingness to live on the
edge is daring, exciting and ultimately stupid, but they CAN teach us lessons.
The thrill and excitement of living a little dangerously can be channeled for
good when we are willing to take positive risks for ourselves – daring to write
that novel, start that dream business, take that trip around the world. Go for
it!
