Chapter 3: Moving Along

1964

Mary asked, “By the way, what did Daddy do after I left? He seemed kind of upset.”

Angela laughed. “Like I told you, I took care of your father. I calmed him down.”

“You said that, but how? Is it something I can learn?”

Angela laughed loud and long. “You can learn, but don’t try it on your father! You’ll need to calm your own husband down someday.”

“What...”

Angela kept laughing. “Simple! I showed him my tits and gave him a blowjob! Then I took him upstairs and gave him a workout. He’s still sleeping!”

Mary stared at her mother in disbelief. “Whaaa ... Oh my God! You gave Daddy a ... a...”

“Darn right I did! A good blowjob is the most powerful invention ever created to keep a man under control. Learn how to do it right and it will pay off for you in spades!” Angela laughed.

“MOM!”

Angela laughed. “Remember in the Bible, how Samson was the strongest man in Israel, but Delilah was able to drain his strength by giving him a haircut? Give me a break! She was draining something else!”

“You put his thing in your mouth?” her daughter asked incredulously.

“It’s not a thing. It’s a penis, a cock, a dick. And why not? He puts it in my pussy all the time.”

Mary thought she and her mother had an open relationship, but this was the craziest conversation they had ever had. “Isn’t it ... dirty?”

“Are you dirty down there? I’m not, neither is your father, and I would bet that your boyfriend isn’t either.”

“Oh my God!” Mary’s mind was whirling at the thought. Then she looked at Angela and asked, “How...”

Angela smiled. “Oh, no, I am not about to give you lessons. Ask Tommy. Trust me, he would love to teach you how to suck his cock. He will be putty in your hands afterwards!” She laughed some more. “Oh, and when are you bringing him over? Did you ask?”

That was something Mary could answer. “He’s coming over for Sunday dinner.”

“Then this afternoon and tomorrow we are cleaning this house from top to bottom!”

Harry Tomasino happened to be the closest person to the front door on Sunday afternoon when the doorbell rang. Mary was on the floor changing Hersch’s diaper and Angela was in the kitchen. Mary’s head turned at the sound and said, “You get Hersch, and I’ll get the door.”

“Forget it!” replied her father. “I can handle a door, and you can handle chemical waste.” He went to the door as Mary hurriedly worked on her son’s diaper. He opened the door to find a young man standing there with a child in his arms. “Can I help you?”

“Uh, is Mary Tomasino here?”

Mary yelled out, “Give me a minute!”

Angela came out of the kitchen and went to the front door. “You must be Tommy. Come in, come in! Who’s this?” She reached out and the little boy smiled and held out his arms. She took him and said, “Harry, get out of the doorway!”

Mary finished with the diaper and stood up with Herschel. “You made it!”

“Give me a minute!” Tommy turned and went back down to the pickup truck and returned with a couple of bags, one larger than the other. He stepped inside and looked at Harry and Angela. “I’m Thomas Caparelli. Thank you for inviting us.”

“You’re welcome. Who’s the little guy?” asked Harry. He hadn’t been aware that his daughter was dating a package deal.

“That’s Joey, Dad,” said Mary. She came to the door and handed her son to her father. Then she wrapped her arms around Tommy and kissed him. “Mom, Dad, this is Tommy and Joey. Tommy, these are my parents, Harrison and Angela Tomasino.”

Tommy stuck his hand out and Harry automatically shook it. “Thank you for having me.”

“You’re welcome. Come on in.” He turned to the women in the house and asked, “Am I the only one surprised by the short guy? Or are you two pranking me?”

Angela laughed. “Welcome, Tommy. Mary told me about your son, but it was too good a joke not to play on my husband. Please, come in.”

Tommy gave Mary’s parents a confused look. To Mary’s father he said, “I’m a widower. Joey is our son. Karen died when he was three months old.” To her mother, he said, “Now I know where Mary gets her great looks.”

Angela laughed and looked at her daughter. “I like him. He’s a keeper! If you two don’t work out, I’m trading in your father!”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I might go along with that. Anyway, welcome. Come on in. Can I get you a drink?”

Tommy glanced at Mary and said, “Absolutely!” Harry just laughed and handed Herschel back to his daughter. “Here.” Tommy passed over the small bag he had brought. “I wasn’t sure what would be best, red or white, so I brought one of each.”

Harry looked in the bag and found two bottles of wine. He snorted out a laugh and answered, “The best choice would be a bottle of bourbon and a bottle of Scotch. Come into the kitchen and we can get started. My guess, we are going to need both!”

With that Harry began a low level but polite interrogation of the man dating his daughter. It wasn’t the third degree predicted by Mary and Angela but was certainly the second degree. Tommy took it good-naturedly.

“So, you’re part of Caparelli Construction?” asked Harry.

“That’s us. You know us?”

Harry nodded. “I know a Bob Caparelli, anyway. I run Tomasino’s Building Supply. You guys have an account with us.”

“He’s my dad. I’m the oldest. I have two younger brothers and a younger sister. My brothers and I work for him,” answered Tommy. “I do carpentry. Jack, he’s twenty-two, works for us part-time and goes to Albany State part-time; he does plumbing. Andy is twenty and is learning to be an electrician. Sarah is only sixteen and is still in high school.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I know your father, maybe just through business, but I’ve run across him.”

“Is Sarah going to work for your company, too?” asked Angela.

Tommy laughed. “Only if she manages to kill Mom or Dad off. They say she is going to college or else.” He smiled and shrugged. “That wouldn’t be a bad thing. She’s really smart, like Harvard smart.”

“Have you met the family?” Angela asked her daughter.

Mary shook her head. “Not yet. We’ll do the parent thing with them next week.”

Tommy shook his head at that. “Next weekend is out. They’re going up to Lake George for the weekend, something about getting away from all us kids. That’s what Mom said, anyway. Dad just grumbled and grunted and agreed with her. We can see them the following weekend.”

“So, Tommy, tell us about your marriage,” asked Harry.

“Yeah.” Tommy nodded and explained. He had met Karen their senior year at Ballston Spa Senior High; though they had both been there for several years, it was the first time they had been in a class together and they were seated next to each other in English 12. “I guess it was love at first sight,” he said. “I asked her out that weekend and she said yes. That was it for me. We dated all through senior year. I just knew she was the one.”

After graduation Karen started taking classes part-time at Albany State and working as a receptionist in Rock City Falls. Tommy began working for his father. They kept dating and a year later they got engaged. They got married at twenty, moved into an apartment in Saratoga, got pregnant at twenty-two, had a baby at twenty-three, and he was widowed three months later.

“That’s terrible,” said Angela.

“Yes, it was, but some things worked out. Joey, for one. He’s a little piece of Karen.” Tommy looked over at Mary. “It’s strange. I loved Karen with all my heart, and if she hadn’t died, we’d have never met. She was the one who did the grocery shopping. Since then, though, I’ve met you, and that’s such a change for me. I feel guilty for missing her and happy for meeting you. Does that make sense?”

“And I’m happier now than I have been in over a year. Things happen. That’s all I know.”. she answered.

Angela looked over at the boys, napping on a baby blanket. “They get along well.”

Tommy and Mary smiled at each other. “They do,” he said.

“At least we only have to chase one of them around,” added Mary.

That got her parents laughing. Harry said, “Yeah? Six months from now, that one...” He pointed at Hersch. “ ... will be crawling...” Then he pointed at Joey. “ ... and that one will be walking, and probably in the complete opposite direction.”

“Have you told your parents about Mary’s... situation?” asked Angela.

Tommy nodded. “A week ago, when we started getting more serious. I figured they would start asking inconvenient questions at some point and I didn’t need my brothers saying something that might get them punched out.”

“And?”

He shrugged. “They were curious about what you’ve told people. My parents figure the topic has probably come up at some point.”

Harry sighed and nodded. “Not specifically, but something similar happened to a supplier I know. He told me it was bad enough what some people said about his daughter, but he was amazed by the guilt by association. Some people wanted to know why he and his wife hadn’t raised their daughter better, that sort of thing.”

Mary looked shocked at that. “Daddy?”

“This is many things, honey, but we know how we raised you and it’s not your fault. There is a difference between a mistake and something sinful.” He turned to Thomas and said, “We’ve resorted to a little white lie. Mary was married right out of high school, but when he learned she was pregnant, he chickened out and ran off to Las Vegas for a quickie divorce. They’re supposed to be easy out there. To be sure, it mostly doesn’t come up, but it beats telling people to go screw themselves.” He shrugged.

“Let us know how that conversation goes,” added Angela.

Mary arrived at Tommy’s apartment shortly after six Friday evening.

“Did your parents say anything when you said you were visiting this weekend?” he asked.

Mary looked at her boyfriend and shook her head. She handed him the baby and pulled a suitcase and the jumbo baby bag from the Beetle. They juggled possessions and she retrieved her son and Tommy took the bags. He led the way inside. “It’s not like they don’t know we’ve been ... uh...”

“Intimate. I think that’s the best word.”

“Intimate.” Mary set her son down on the couch and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. “Intimate! Like we haven’t been for a week! I need some ... intimate!”

Tommy laughed. “Not until we have dealt with Batman and Robin and had some dinner.”