Chapter 2: Putting the Pieces Together

THE DAY MY WORLD started going to hell, in my opinion, was June 24, 1967.

It wasn’t a bad start. I had a new model from Chicago named Janna Adams. Chris was in the studio Friday afternoon to meet her and we both looked at each other to see if we thought the same thing. It was obvious that we did. Janna did not look eighteen. She looked like she might be sixteen if we stretched it. She even wore braces. But she’d driven herself from Chicago in a nice sports car.

I took her model release. She had one of the releases with a five-year delay before I could use her pictures in public. It had her birthdate as June 1, 1948, and it was notarized by my uncle. I guess she was eighteen. It’s not like I couldn’t take pictures of her if she was under eighteen. I had several model contracts from sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds. But it wasn’t wise to display any pictures of them that showed their breasts or pussy. Some of the girls I’d taken pictures of still wanted the bare look for their own personal collections, or wanted me to have them in my personal collection.

We sat to talk about what kind of pictures Janna wanted and I asked her point blank about her age.

“Yeah. I’m eighteen. I was really an undernourished street urchin when Saul found me a year ago. He took me in, got me clean and sober, protected me from my pimp, got tutors to help me finish school, got me braces, and just has been the best ever. I’d do anything at all for him and he says all he wants is a few really great photos of me. So, I want the best, sexiest, most glamorous photos you can take of me. Saul said you would know just what to do.”

“Okay, then.” I looked at Chris and she nodded. “Let’s see what you brought for us to work with.”

Janna brought several outfits and some props with her.

“Saul likes me to look like a little girl, so I guess I’m lucky I have this look. But he loves it when he thinks he’s accidentally caught me running around naked. Of course, it’s never really accidental. I try to make sure he catches me at least once a week. You’d think that as much as he likes to see me, he’d want to do some other stuff, too, but he’s never touched me in a sexy way. He just takes care of me and I just love him.”

It sounded a lot like Patricia’s dream of meeting Hugh Hefner. She imagined that he would worship her and never touch her, no matter how she teased him. He’d know she belonged to Tony. I wasn’t quite that confident of the dream.

We went straight to work. Of course, the first thing we did was work on the schoolgirl look. Patricia had done a terrific set of schoolgirl photos for Tony’s birthday a couple of months ago. I took the same kind of story approach with Janna. Chris got her made up so subtly that it looked like she was just a fresh-faced kid. Chris managed the rate of exposure, but inevitably, Janna was naked, dragging around an enormous teddy bear in front of the brick wall.

We worked all afternoon and then she went to spend the night at the Hills Motel in Huntertown. Chris and I went out to the river and fucked ourselves silly. We didn’t invite Janna along physically, but it seemed she kept cropping up in our thoughts.

“I feel like such a nasty old lady!” Chris said. “I’d swear she wasn’t more than fourteen or fifteen. Did you look at those breasts? They were like innocent little buds on her chest. I remember when my breasts were that size. I rubbed them all the time! It seems that my nipples could light a fire they were so hot.”

“And now you’ve moved from those little teacup breasts to these beautiful champagne glass breasts,” I suggested, trying to purge the image of Janna’s little tits from my mind.

“Didn’t you just want to suck on them and see if you could make her come without even touching her pussy?” Chris persisted.

“They reminded me a lot of Vicki’s. Her breasts are about that size and ultra-sensitive. The first time I made her come, it was from biting down on her nipple.” I’d dated Vicki, a sophomore cheerleader, a few times in the past year.

“Oh, that made my pussy gush. Fuck me, Nate. Right now!”

Well, you get the gist of how our evening went. Unfortunately, Chris’s first orgasm also marked the beginning of her monthly cycle. I spent the rest of our evening just holding her and comforting her.

Janna wanted to get back to Chicago on Saturday, so I skipped morning laundry, promising to get it done later in the day, and we started working at nine. I got a great photo of Janna on my rocking horse prop. She looked like a little girl, but her bare butt was showing. It was one of those extremely sexy shots—if you’re into young girls.

By noon we had all the pictures any of us wanted to take, so we bid Janna goodbye and I told her I’d send the proof sheets later in the week. Chris held together through the morning, but was in obvious pain with cramps. She went home after we’d had a few little kisses and promised she’d feel good enough to meet Sunday afternoon. I started putting the studio back together a little. I needed to get my camera put away, but Chris and I would work on tidying up the whole studio Sunday.

I was about to head upstairs to my under-desk safe when I heard a frantic knocking at the door. I thought Chris must have forgotten something and I rushed to let her in.

Instead of Chris, Patricia came crashing through the door into my arms, crying uncontrollably. She practically dragged me to the floor in her desperation. I quickly looked outside to see if she was being chased but didn’t see anyone. I still slammed the door shut and threw the deadbolt. Patricia was in a crumpled heap at my feet, sobbing.

I scooped her up and carried her to the fainting couch where I could hold her more comfortably than on the floor. I was amazed at how light she was. We sat on the couch and I held her and stroked her pale blonde hair.

“Hey, now. It’s okay. You’re safe with me. What’s going on? You know you can talk to me.”

“T-Tony,” she gasped.

I caught my breath trying not to imagine what Tony could have done to bring her to me in tears. Was he in an accident? Did he break up with her?

“What is it? Did Tony hurt you?” I asked. She shook her head vigorously.

“D-drafted! Tony’s been drafted. He has to report in two weeks.”

“Oh, shit! No. That’s not possible. He just got out of high school. They can’t draft a guy until he turns nineteen. He can’t be drafted. It’s a mistake.”

“No.” She was gasping and trying to catch her breath. I pulled out my clean handkerchief and dried her eyes. She took it and blew her nose. Well, that was why I carried two. “Tony turned nineteen on April eleventh. With the way his family always moved around, he fell behind a year in school. He’s nineteen and he’s out of school and they drafted him.”

“Damn it! Where is he now? Why aren’t you with him?”

“You know Tony. When something bad comes his way, he goes off by himself. I’m so worried about him!” Patricia cried. I was glad I hadn’t used my other handkerchief. It was beginning to look like Patricia would need it.

“What should I do, Nate? I don’t want him to go into the army! He doesn’t want to go. What should we do?”

“Well, I’ll tell you what I’d do,” I said. “I’d pack your cute ass onto the back of that motorcycle and be in Canada by tomorrow morning. Tony should refuse to go.”

“You know he won’t do that. Tony’s never backed down from anything or anyone, except you. If you talk to him ... If you tell him ... I’ll go home and pack what I need and be ready to leave as soon as he comes home. But he won’t do it. He’s so stubborn sometimes. He’ll face it head on and show he can be the best soldier there is. I just know it.”

“Oh, Patricia. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to tell you. Just hang on to him for all he’s worth and love him to the end of the earth. Whenever you need a shoulder, I’ll be here for you. You need to rally your support. Talk to Judith and Janice. You know they love you. I’ll talk to Chris. Chris will always support you. I wish I could get hold of Ronda. No one defends the girls in our class like she does. Patricia, we’re all here for you. I’m not one of his motorcycle buddies, but I’m here for Tony. I still consider him the best friend I have in Tenbrook.”

“He thinks the same of you, Nate. And so do I. Just ... Please hold me until he comes home.”

I had no idea when Tony would come home, but I held Patricia most of the afternoon.

For the first time I could remember since it became my responsibility, I didn’t get the laundry done on Saturday. I held Patricia in my arms, just petting her hair and whispering words of comfort. She fell asleep in my arms and I thought she was the sweetest and most vulnerable girl I ever knew, in spite of her reputation of being a wild girl member of a motorcycle gang.

Sunday after church, I had to go get the laundry done before I could go to the studio. I called Chris and she agreed to meet me at four. I’d used several strips of fabric from the studio over the weekend and I’d promised Chris I’d wash the blanket we used out by the river. As a result, I had a lot of ironing to do to get the fabric ready for another client. Whenever I was called for one.

When Chris got to the studio, she wanted to know why I was running so late. I told her all about Tony and Patricia, including having held her while she slept for almost two hours.

“Wow! And she just slept?”

“Cried herself to sleep,” I agreed.

“And you didn’t like ... um ... take advantage of her or anything did you?” Chris was a little unsure of herself. I took her in my arms and led her to the couch to sit down.

“Honey, Patricia and Tony are two of my best friends in Tenbrook. Which, I guess, means anywhere. For their sake, I would never cross the line with Patricia. But more importantly, I would never cross that line for our sake. I love you and if Patricia and Tony are two of my best friends, you are not only my lover but also my very best friend.”

“I know I sounded jealous. I’m sorry. Having a girl come to you to sleep in your arms is almost more romantic and intimate than just making love to her. It got me for a minute. If sometime you do want to make love to Patricia, I’m okay with that. I mean, if Tony goes off to Vietnam, she might need that level of comfort.”

“I think if Tony goes off to Vietnam, the army had better make sure he has room in his bunk for Patricia. I don’t think she’d stay home.”

“You’re probably right,” she said and kissed me. That took us a few minutes. “So, what’s the next thing on our schedule for photography?”

“Well, I got a call last night from Chicago. I have an Amy Clark coming for photos on Friday and Saturday. Same kind of arrangement as for Janna. She’s spending the night at the motel and we’ll finish up on Saturday morning. She wants a series of what she called period piece portraits which will include a selection of boudoir pictures. I think I got that right,” I said.

“Wow. Anything special we need to get for it?”

“Yes. I need a bed.”

“Oh, my God!”

“That’s what I thought. I plan to go down to Mrs. Wilson’s and see what she has. I’m not going to spring for buying a mattress, though. Amy might need to recline gracefully on a piece of plywood.”

“That would definitely keep her from getting too comfortable.”

“In addition to that, Dad and Mr. Kowalski want to get started on my new darkroom construction. They’ve assured me that I don’t need to worry about anything. They have my sketches and Mr. Barkley’s go-ahead. They say they will handle the whole thing, including blocking off the area with Visqueen. I hate to have a construction site visible when I’ve got a client, but there isn’t any way around that. I guess the only other thing is getting Janna’s proof sheets printed up and shipped off to her.”

“You should take Anna with you on your buying trip so she can see how Mrs. Wilson keeps the records and start copying them.”

“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll plan it for ... Oh, crap! I don’t have a car to carry stuff in. I’ll have to carry the bed on my back from Mrs. Wilson’s to the studio. That’s five-plus blocks!”

“I’ll see if I can get the wagon. I forget your dad has your wagon for work now.”

“That would be great if you could do that. Want to come home with me for ice cream and TV after we finish here?”

“That sounds so cozy. Will you rub my tummy? And will we get to kiss?”

“I’ll be your heating pad. Mom understands those things. But kissing, only when I walk you home.”

“I guess I can live with that, if you give me some good ones now.”

I did my best to keep her satisfied.

I went to the studio Monday morning to finish the proof sheets for Janna, wondering what was happening to Patricia and Tony. I wondered if he’d come back and if they’d taken my advice to run for the border. I didn’t need to wonder long as there was a knock at my door, only a little less frantic than Patricia’s on Saturday.

When I opened the door, though, it was Patricia, beaming, with Tony beside her. She came in and hugged me and a step later, Tony caught me in a hug.

“Can you take us to meet your mother?” he asked.

“My mother?” I asked, stupidly.

“The one you call Reverend Mother Superior,” Patricia laughed. “We want her to marry us.”

“Wow! That’s ... so unexpected.” I looked at my watch. “If we go right now, we should catch her before her appointment in Huntertown. She doesn’t usually work on Mondays.”

We jogged down the stairs and they got on the motorcycle. I just kept jogging the three blocks home while they kept pace with me. I opened the door and called inside.

“Mom? Are you still home? Can we talk to you?”

Mom came out of the kitchen. She was not dressed professionally, meaning she wasn’t wearing a clerical collar, but she had a nice pantsuit on to go to her hair appointment.

“What on earth, Nate? Who’s with you?”

“Mom, these are two of my best friends, Patricia and Tony. They want to know if you’ll marry them.”

“Oh, my. Perhaps we should sit and talk for a few minutes.”

Mom sat in the living room with Tony and Patricia and I went to get pop and coffee in the kitchen. I think Mom was a bit surprised, not only by the request, but by me bringing them into the house on her day off. She focused all her attention on the couple, though, without even glancing to see what time it was.

“When did you want to get married? Before school starts this fall? Or are we talking after Patricia’s graduation?” Mom asked.

“We’d like to get married tomorrow,” Tony said excitedly. “We got our license this morning.” He held out the piece of paper and Mom looked it over while I gave everyone their drinks.

“Nate, perhaps I should talk to Tony and Patricia alone. I have to ask some delicate questions,” Mom said. I turned to leave but Tony interrupted.

“Please, Reverend Hart. We’d like Nate to stay with us. He’s our best friend and we want him to be our best man and to take pictures of us. Can he stay?”

“Well, if you really want him to, I can’t say no, but...”

“I’m not pregnant,” Patricia broke in. “I assume that was the delicate question you wanted to ask. Tony and I have been in love for a year and a half. We just want to be married.”

“That’s fair enough,” Mom said gently. “You’re right, that was one question. But your request is very sudden. You simply went out to get a marriage license this morning and want to get married tomorrow. Why the sudden rush?”

Tony heaved a deep breath and sat up straight.

“I’ve been drafted, Reverend Hart. I have to report for induction in two weeks. First of all, I don’t want to go into the army without showing Patricia that I love her and am committed to her in every way. It’s also something that will make it easier for me to set up things like pay and insurance to support my wife. And ... well, we want to get married tomorrow so we’ll have time to go on a little honeymoon before I have to report,” Tony said.

“The draft again. I can’t tell you how much I hate that you have been drafted,” Mom sighed. “Tell me, why do you want me to do this wedding. You’re Catholic, aren’t you, Patricia? Are you, Tony?”