Chapter 9

I heard them talking and felt the cold cloth on my face. I opened my eyes and saw four people staring at me, Rita, Walter, Nina, and Gay. I wanted to get up but Walter stopped me.

"Just lie still a couple of minutes and you should feel better, besides you probably couldn't stand anyway.," Walter said.

I knew he was right because I couldn't feel my legs at the moment. I knew I was on the kitchen floor and I wondered why. Rita placed another cold cloth on my head, removing the old one. I was regaining my bearings and began remembering what had happened. Feeling like a fool for fainting was nothing compared to the way I was feeling about the possibility of having contracted a venereal disease. I looked at Gay and Nina and wondered if Rita had told them why I had fainted.

I was quite sure I knew the answer when Nina asked, "What happened?, What made you pass out?"

Rita saved me, by saying, "It's probably from the tension he has been under the past week. He was probably trying to do too much too fast. He will just have to take it easier for a couple of days."

Gay and Nina coddled me for more than an hour and I was glad when Gay said she had to go home. It had started to rain and Rita told Nina to drive her.

After the girls left, Rita asked, "What are you going to do now? It's obvious you were with Jenna this afternoon, or else you do have a problem."

I felt like a complete fool, as well as being embarrassed. I wanted to climb into a hole. I certainly didn't want to talk about my afternoon. I looked at Rita. "I am sorry, I didn't listen to you and I screwed up. I will see the doctor tomorrow, Jenna saw him today."

Walter spoke, "You know you can't have contact with any women until you find out, one way or the other."

"I guess so," I replied.

"Wrong answer," he quickly piped back. "There is no guessing about it. You will not have relations with a girl until you find out for sure. Is that clear?" He was speaking to me but he was looking at Rita for her approval of his remark.

Rita was nodding, her eyes on me.

I said, "I didn't mean to use those exact words. I know I can't have any contact with women until I find out. I'm sorry; I just used the wrong words."

I was happy to see Nina return an hour later. During this hour I listened to Walter and Rita, and in Walter's words, he was "speaking like a father." The subjects were on integrity and responsibilities, and after half an hour, changed to morals. I remember the last question I was asked, just before Nina returned. Walter had asked me, "What was the difference in my behavior and that of a girl I called promiscuous?" I didn't have the opportunity to answer because Nina saved the day, or night, for me, by returning home.

I lay in bed thinking about Walter's question and I didn't see any comparison, at first. Nina had admitted being promiscuous before I came into her life, but she had changed, for the better in my opinion. I viewed my relations as normal and healthy for a boy my age. I enjoyed my escapades. The longer I lay awake I began thinking differently, I came to realize the only difference between what I had been doing, and Nina's actions, was our sex. I had great respect for Nina and I began to think differently. She had enjoyed going with the different boys, and young men, just as I enjoyed the women I slept with. I began to realize that the sex of the person involved was the uncommon denominator. I was no different than the girls that boys and men talked about as being 'loose'.

I lay awake wondering just how Rita and Nina saw me, and what names they had for me. I lay awake for a long while, unable to sleep wondering how they really felt about me. I managed to get a couple hours sleep before I was awakened for breakfast.

At breakfast, both Nina and Rita wanted to know how I was feeling. As far as they were concerned, I was in good health and told them so, albeit I was definitely tired, resulting from not sleeping well or long enough.

I made a beeline for the doctor's office after school, having promised Rita and Walter. I was embarrassed to explain why I had to see him. He made me feel comfortable, listening to my heart beat, checking my reflexes, talking all the while. When he finally asked me to explain why I was in his office, it seemed like it was a part of the conversation. He didn't change his expression during my story.

I was relaxed and when he asked me to be specific in a couple of areas, I was at ease when I told him I had showered immediately after making sexual contact. He made me feel much better when he said I probably wasn't infected, because of the quick shower, and the short duration of the act. I really hated telling that part, but he asked. I thought the visit was over, but his last comment got me. "Drop you trousers and shorts. I have a little something for you." That is when his expression did change. He wasn't exactly smiling, but there seemed to be a bit of humor in his tone of speech and his directions.

I made up my mind Friday morning, as I showered, that would be my last penicillin shot. I took it on Wednesday afternoon and it was still very sensitive to the touch, to the point I could point to the exact spot where I received the injection. Still, like the doctor told me, it was precautionary.

Rita had worked up a great breakfast and had packed the leftover biscuits and sausage for snacks during the trip. It rained during the night and turned much cooler than it had been the prior three days. It began raining half way through the three -hour drive, after I had stopped for Frank, and then Fran.

We drove to the courthouse and Fran and I followed Frank. He walked down the hall to the sheriff's office and registered us as bidders, and the clerk registered our letter of credit. Frank explained that by registering we would have fifteen days to remove any purchases, while unregistered bidders had 48 forty-eight hours. He pointed this out to us in the circular, noting it was in the fine print.

Frank was in good spirits as we drove the twenty miles, following the map he had been given, to the auction site. There was a large sign announcing the auction and the following day's date as we drove through the gate to the farm. Actually, there were two signs, one for the equipment for the following day, and the second announcing the sale of the land and buildings. There was no date, just a notice. We passed a county bus and alongside it were about a dozen inmates, dressed in orange one-piece work suits, eating sandwiches and drinking from white cups. There were two deputies sitting nearby.

We followed the signs marking the route to the auction and I glanced over at Fran and the look on her face was a mirror of my own appearance. Weeds and brush were at least six feet high, covering everything. We passed the farmhouse and the weeds had been cut around it for about fifty feet from the house. We drove over a small hill and we could see four large buildings, each about six or eight times larger than our barn. The weeds and brush were in the process of being cut.

There were cut patches of weeds spread everywhere; each cut spot surrounded a farm implement of some sort. Fran and I followed Frank around for three hours, getting literally soaked to the skin. We were wearing raincoats and Fran had an umbrella. She had given it to Frank, in exchange for his hat, as he was trying to keep the circular dry that he was writing on. Fran and I were cold, and our teeth were chattering, from being soaked. It didn't seem to faze Frank one bit.

Frank hadn't spoken or made a sound once we stepped into the rain, his mind was focused on looking at each item and making notations. This changed when we entered the last barn, temporarily out of the rain. I heard him let out a long moan, and then a deep sigh.

"What's wrong?" Fran and I asked, speaking simultaneously asked.

"This barn has been flooded," he remarked, pointing to the obvious waterline on the wall.

Fran was quick to ask, "They look OK to me. Is there something wrong with them?" She looked at him with her brows raised, pointing to the tractors, and other equipment.

"Yes," Frank said, "they will need to be disassembled and cleaned," referring to the motors, "and each bearing removed and cleaned, and much more. It looks like Eddie and Jonah will have something to do, if we get anything here."

I wondered about his last statement, "What do you mean, "if we get anything here?'" I asked.

"Well some people don't realize you can't operate, or shouldn't, operate equipment after it has been flooded without disassembling it, and cleaning all the sludge and water from inside. You are asking for trouble if you don't clean it and some will just drain the oil, replace it, and go about normal business. It works but reduces the life of the equipment, sometimes by half."

He started looking over each tractor, pointing to reinflated tires on almost every piece. I guess this was to be expected because he had pointed out to us, on the drive up, the equipment had been idle for five years.

Frank crawled over every tractor, looked under each one, and constantly made notes. He spent twice as much time on the two combines, taking many notes. It was five o'clock, and we were asked to leave, the time having run out for inspection of the items to be auctioned. I looked around and we were the only three people still in the barn. We drove from the farm, and the inmates were still working, cutting the brush and weeds around pieces of the scattered equipment, unimpeded by the continuous rain.

We drove back to town and checked into the motel, that Fran had had the foresight to reserve earlier in the week. Frank began going over his notes. Frank and I had showered and Fran had come to our room, after her shower, to sit at the table and discuss the sale the following day. Pizza was ordered and it was late when Frank and Fran finally came to an agreement on the maximum amount we were allowed to spend.

I woke to a bolt of lightning and the crack of thunder immediately afterwards. Frank was sitting in the lone comfortable chair, fully dressed. He was grinning as I sat upright. I looked out the window and saw the rain was coming down heavier than the day before. He seemed to be in a good mood although I didn't know why.