Chapter 1

In September of 1955, my cousin Dale left for Worcester, Mass. to attend Clark University. It was a proud moment in our family, as he became the first person from the Connecticut branch of the family to ever be enrolled in a four year university. We had a few normal school attendees, including two graduates, but a university man, he was about to become the first. It is difficult to say who was happier on the day that Dale left, him or his brother Billy. Dale was happy to be getting away from an environment where actually studying and completing home work assignments was looked down upon, while Billy was thrilled to finally have his own bedroom. Billy had just turned seventeen, celebrating that happy event by announcing that he was done with school forever more and would henceforth become a member of the working force. Uncle Bill and Aunt Margaret accepted Billy's decision, though with reluctance, realizing that he'd seldom applied himself in school anyway. One of Billy's friends was able to get him a job cutting firewood for his father. To everybody's surprise, Billy liked working hard physical labor, and became a model employee.

Billy's five year quest to have sex with the lovely Margaret Tracy was now in it's end game. Over time he had broken down every other barrier she had ever erected. They had had a stormy run over the years, making up and breaking up, but each time they parted everyone knew they'd eventually get back together. Margaret really had no other choices since Billy ran off any would be suitors with either threats of violence or actual mayhem. He had beaten one poor boy from Poquonnock Bridge so badly that he'd been kept in the hospital for seven weeks. That boy had asked Margaret for a dance and had objected when Billy immediately tried to cut in. The police were called, but Billy got off because the other boy had been drinking and he was two years older and quite a bit bigger than Billy. After that incident, mere threats served for the most part. Now that Billy had the privacy of having his own bedroom, he was certain that he had overcome Margaret's final objection.

It took until November for Billy to lure Margaret into his bedroom. He told her that he'd bought her an expensive gift for her birthday, but that she wouldn't get it unless she agreed to come into his bedroom and make out for a little bit. Margaret was a very attractive girl, possessed of both a gorgeous body and a stunningly pretty face. Her personality was both venal and vain, and her intelligence was highly suspect. While she may not have been very smart, she knew that she had the looks that could lure a rich husband to her if she could only somehow get free of Billy's control. By the time she consented to go with Billy to his bedroom she had already formulated a fool proof plan to accomplish her goal.

Margaret got her birthday present, but not before Billy had managed to pin her down long enough to forcibly take the virginity that she'd so long denied him. She made some token protests that Billy had raped her, but even her own parents asked her what she'd expected, agreeing to go into the bedroom of a boy who'd as much as told her that he expected to screw her. The whole incident became a non-issue in the neighborhood soon after when Billy and Margaret jointly announced their engagement right before Thanksgiving. Betting was 9 to 1 in favor of Margaret being pregnant as the cause of the upcoming nuptials, but, as spring came to New England Margaret was still not showing any signs of imminent motherhood. The wedding was set for the second Sunday in June and banns were posted at the church, announcements were sent out and Uncle Bill met with Margaret's parents to coordinate renting the wedding reception hall and getting together some things for the newlywed's new apartment. Minnie, Billy's grandmother, got into the spirit of the occasion and generously offered to cater the entire reception at the Griswold Hotel, in a smaller banquet room, at a 50% discount from normal rates. When Uncle Bill pointed out to her that she got that discount just for being an employee at the hotel, Minnie decided to personally provide free beer and wine as her gift to the happy couple. Minnie called in a few favors and got the drinks given to her by a group of Hotel vendor's wanting to stay in her good graces.

Cousin Dale returned home from Clark University at the end of May, having finished his first year of college with distinction, being placed on the Dean's list for both semesters. Billy resented having to once again share his bedroom with his brother, but took solace from the fact that he'd soon have his own place and wouldn't have to put up with Dale's unwelcome presence after that. He felt like he'd always come up short in comparisons between the two of them and was glad to finally be free of that. Dale had managed to save more than $3,000.00 from his caddying and working other odd jobs through the years. He was on a full scholarship at Clark which included all tuition, room and board, books and lab fees. He also had a part time job at the University that took care of all his spending money needs for incidentals and entertainment. As a result of all his scholarships and grants, Dale had actually managed to save a little money his first year away. After hearing Dale telling his parents about how well his finances were doing, Billy began hoping that he might somehow convince Dale to either give or loan him $500.00 so that he and Margaret could enjoy a nice week long honeymoon in New York City. Cleverly, Billy sent Margaret over to pigeon hole Dale and try to convince him that doing this would be a very good thing.

Dale had never had much, if anything, to do with girls up to this point in his life. He had a monstrous crush on Yvonne Di Carlo, the movie star, but that had never really blossomed, no doubt due to the fact that she was never aware that Dale even existed. Dale did have the most comprehensive pornography collection in the neighborhood though, so it was clear that he did have some interest in the fairer sex. By the second of June, Margaret reported back to Billy that Dale was really considering giving them the $500.00 as a wedding present. She told Billy that she thought that Dale would be pushed over the edge into doing it if Billy would agree to have him serve as the best man rather than just as an usher. Billy absolutely refused to consider that as an option. He had always said that John Spicer would be his best man, and he wasn't about to change that now. He told Margaret to keep working on Dale, that he was sure to come around if she used her charm on him.

The next day, Margaret worked on Dale from just after the time she got back from driving Billy to work, almost getting him to commit to gifting them the money two or three times, but each time he almost said he'd definitely do it, something would come up either in Dale's mind or in his mother's, that needed either clarification or reassurance from Billy and Margaret. By noon Margaret was getting very frustrated at continually coming so close and then having the prize somehow elude her. She decided that she needed to get Dale out of the house and away from his meddling mother if she was going to ever succeed in getting the money. She asked Dale if he'd ride with her over to Mystic, keeping her company, when she went to pick Billy up from work at four that afternoon. Dale agreed and Margaret went over to her house for lunch and to rest up from the headache that trying to convince Dale had given her.

At 4:00 Margaret came and got Dale and the two of them left to get Billy and bring him home from work. At 7:00, a pissed off Billy walked into his parent's house wanting to know what the hell had happened to Margaret coming to pick him up at 5:00.When neither Margaret or Dale had been heard from by 10:00 that evening, Uncle Bill started calling the police, the hospitals and the Connecticut State Troopers. He was worried that there had been an accident and that Dale was hurt so bad that he couldn't get to where there was any help. On the seventh of June, four days after they'd left to go pick up Billy, Dale and Margaret called from Maryland to tell Margaret's parents that they'd just gotten married. Margaret's dad called Uncle Bill that night and told him the news. When Cousin Billy was told about the marriage he went totally out of control, throwing furniture through windows and completely trashing his parents house. Police came and arrested him, and when he resisted arrest he was beaten into submission and then taken to the state mental hospital over in Norwich for a 72 hour observation. Billy was released from the hospital after his 72 hour stay, but was booked down at the police station and charged with a host of serious misdemeanors, including assaulting a peace officer and resisting arrest. Uncle Bill bailed him out with money he'd been planning to spend on furnishing Billy's new apartment.