Chapter 11

“Jimmy, if you don’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll attend to you later!”

“Mom, Jack is threatening me again.”

“Oh, hush up, Jimmy. Jack, tell me what you and this young lady have been doing that you don’t want me to hear.”

“I have to take Liz home before she gets into trouble with her mother. I’ll talk to you when I get back. Meanwhile, don’t believe everything Jimmy tells you. You know how he likes to make up things to make minor stories into big deals.”

“Oh, yes, I am well aware of that. Please introduce me to the young lady before you take her home.”

“Oh, okay. Mom, meet Liz Watson. She has agreed to be my girlfriend.”

“How do you do, Mrs. Harbinger. Now, I really must go.”

“Good bye, my dear. I’m sure that I will have an opportunity to talk to you later.”

We got out of there as quickly as we could manage. I didn’t want Jimmy to have a chance to arouse Mom’s curiosity while Liz was there. After all, I knew how to deal with my mother, and Liz didn’t. I got the usual girlfriend’s kiss as I walked Liz to her front door, and she saved me again from having to go up the stairs.

Just as I turned away, the front door opened, and a woman asked, “Who is the young man?”

“Oh, my gosh, Mom, I forgot that you did not know Jack. This is my new boyfriend, Jack Harbinger. We’ve been seeing each other after school for several months. As you can see, he has some trouble walking, so I have not invited him into the house. Those stairs can be a pain at times even to me.”

“Well, hello, Jack Harbinger. Isn’t your father the County Engineer?”

“Yes, Ma’am, he is. He’s had that job since leaving the Army back in ‘46. I’d like to stay and talk to you, Mrs. Watson, but my Mom is expecting me home pretty soon. Maybe we can talk later.”

“Okay, Jack, I can understand that well enough. It was a pleasure meeting you. Goodbye for now.”

“Goodbye Mrs. Watson, Liz. I’ll pick you up for school on Monday if you would like.”

“Oh, yes, Jack. I would appreciate that. I’ll see you at 7:45. Goodbye for now. Call me if you can.”

I got out of there as quickly as I could before I could say something that would cause problems for Liz or me. Besides, I had to get home as soon as possible to keep Jimmy from screwing me up no end. I guess that you have figured out by now that my mother is quite possibly the world’s number one prude, and the wrong word from Jimmy could really play hell. It seemed to me that the best thing that I could do would be to admit to a tiny sin so that whatever Jimmy might say would seem like he was just embellishing an already-known fact.

With that in mind, I walked into the living room where Mom was sitting in front of the TV, watching a very snowy picture of a soap opera. My thought was, what could one expect from a show coming all the way from Mobile? I guessed that this was a bad time to talk to her, but I did not seem to have a choice.

Mom said, “Oh, I don’t know why I try to watch these programs. There is always so much snow on the screen that it is very difficult to follow the story. With that, the screen turned into nothing but a mass of snow, and the program was invisible. Mom was so disgusted with that development that she said, “Jack, please turn off the TV for me and tell me what happened this afternoon.”

Okay, now for some creative lying. “Mom, not much really did happen. Liz is now my girlfriend, and she lets me touch her in certain private places. That’s what we were doing this afternoon when Jimmy spied on us. One of these days, he is going to get into deep trouble if he keeps that up. I’m easygoing, but I know some people who are not that way at all and would be very happy to beat the you-know-what out of Jimmy if they caught him spying on them. Can you do something to make him back off before he gets seriously injured?”

“I don’t know. Jimmy is as stubborn as you are. Most of what I tell him just goes in one ear and out the other. However, you do have a point. Maybe his father can make an impression on him.”

“Maybe what Jimmy needs is a little logical thought applied forcefully to his rear end. Dad has a strong arm, and I know from personal experience how forceful he can be. On a couple of occasions, he has made me see the light.”

“I don’t know, Jack. Maybe your father can push some sense into that boy. I’ll discuss it with him. Now turn the TV back on and I will see if I can pick up the story line. Marsha is acting like she wants to break up with George, and I would like to know how he reacts to the situation.

“Oh, don’t go too far. Edna had supper almost ready. I wish your father would hurry home.”

Boy, did I escape that one more easily than I expected! Of course, Mom would have hit the ceiling if she knew what Liz and I had been doing, but I had made a brilliant move by putting the blame on Jimmy and suggesting that he might be in danger because he could not keep his mouth shut. Jimmy was her favorite, and Mom could not abide the thought of him being hurt by other boys. I wondered how many times I could get away with that ploy? Maybe not again, but it did seem to work this time.

Dad came in a few minutes later, and the first thing he said to me was, “Were you really doing this afternoon what Jimmy told me?”

“Before I could say anything, Mom said, “Don’t worry about it, Jason. I’ve already talked to Jack, and it was a little harmless petting that Jimmy is trying to blow up into a major difficulty. We need to discuss what should be done about the way Jimmy likes to inflate minor peccadilloes into major sins. Jack pointed out that he is headed for serious conflict if he doesn’t moderate his habits.”

They continued this conversation, so I got the hell out of Dodge before I was drawn into the discussion. I would be a lot better off if my part in this whole thing were forgotten.

Liz’s story:

As soon as they got into the house, Mrs. Watson sniffed. And sniffed again. “Oh, my God, Elizabeth, you have been having sex! I assume it was with that Harbinger boy. You know how dangerous that is. How could you be so foolish?”

“I couldn’t help it, Mama. He is the most wonderful, caring person I have ever met. I’ve know him for years, ever since 7^th Grade. Mama, you had better sit down—I have a long story to tell you.

“Shortly after school started this year, I was raped.”

“Oh, no, not that. Was it the Harbinger boy?”

“Mama, please let me tell my story without interruptions. You are going to find it nearly impossible to believe, but every bit of it is true, and there are no exaggerations.

“There was a gang of mostly football players who were snatching girls to rape during lunch period and study halls. I was raped during the lunch period about five weeks after this school year started. I was not permanently injured, but I was most painfully hurt by the rape. Jack Harbinger found me as I was wandering the halls crying and feeling sorry for myself. He was kind to me and comforted me so that I did not collapse in a corner somewhere. He bucked me up so that I was able to return to classes, and we continued to meet several days each week.

“You cannot imagine how much good he did me with his encouragement and general support. Were it not for him, I might well have killed myself, but he made it important to keep going just so that I could see him each day, even if we did not talk.

“Well, by means I am not sure of, he managed to get the list of 24 boys who were a member of this gang of rapists. He did not pass along the list because of the stigma attached to girls who were raped. That was why I never told you or Daddy about my rape. I knew that, though both of you loved me deeply, there would always be a little bit of your mind that wondered what I had done to provoke the rape.