Chapter 2

I got up out of bed again, and headed off to the bathroom to get myself a shower and to take a leak. I looked anxiously in the mirror to see myself. I wasn't as good looking as I'd remembered thinking I was. For one thing, my hair was too long, and the grease I was using to keep it in place had left it all oily and dirty looking. My skin was broken out a little bit too, probably from all that grease in my hair getting into my pores. My skin color had an unhealthy pallor as well. I was disappointed with how I looked, but determined to make the improvements needed to restore my looks and my body to the best it could be. If this was really June of 1957, I'd only been smoking for less than a year. I could quit smoking, and I was determined to do so. I took my shower, shampooing my hair three times, to make sure that I got all of the goop out. I shaved, cutting myself three times with the safety razor that I used in 1957. I tried combing my hair with a side part that I'd used most of my adult life, my other life, but the hair was just too long to look good in a part.

I got myself dressed after my shower and went out into the kitchen, through the small living room. I'd forgotten how small the living space had been in this little apartment. It was two bedrooms, one bath with a living room and a small kitchen. I'm sure it couldn't have contained more than 600 square feet of living area. The whole apartment was the size of a large room at a good Las Vegas hotel in my day. I saw my mother working in the kitchen.

"Morning Ma."

"Good morning Jimmy, Happy Birthday. It's hard for me to believe that my baby boy is eighteen years old already." She met me between the kitchen and the living room and gave me a hug and a kiss on my cheek. She was forty two years old in 1957, but, to me, she looked older than her years. I'd noticed the same thing about both of my parents when I'd come back to save my baseball card collection earlier. In my day, forty two and three year olds didn't appear so old. My parents both appeared to be in their fifties then, using the appearance of people in 2006 as a reference point.

"Thanks Ma. It really feels good to be eighteen. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how good either. Is dad gone to work already?"

"Sure, where else? Be home by five this afternoon though. He's taking the both of us out tonight to the Chief's Club for dinner, to celebrate your birthday. He says he's got a big surprise for both of us." I knew what the surprise was. In my other life, he had informed us that he was being transferred out to Long Beach, California. He was shipping over for his final hitch in the Navy before retirement, and had pulled some strings and gotten himself transferred out to California, where he planned to retire after his twenty years were done. In 1957, he was stationed at Naval Air Station, Anacostia, at the Naval Photographic Center. He was a Chief's Photographer's Mate, and one of the senior Chief's in his section. In my former time through, my father and I had gotten into a big argument over my refusing to join the service after high school, and it had resulted in me deciding not to accompany them out to California. Instead, I had found work as an office boy in a patent attorney's office, and lived with a friend of mine for two years.

"That's great Ma. I'll be ready at five. I'm going down to Charlie's and get this mop of mine cut off. I'm tired of having it so damn long."

"Are you serious? That will make your father so happy. It will be a big surprise to him too." I remembered then that my hair had been another big bone of contention between my father and I from the time I was about fifteen and had insisted on being allowed to wear my hair in whatever style I preferred. My father had barely tolerated this display of independence, and had gone out of his way to make derogatory comments about my masculinity and my appearance, often threatening to buy me some dresses if I wanted to wear my hair long like a girl.

"I'm not doing it to make him happy Ma. It's just too much bother, and it looks nasty all greased up to keep it in some kind of place."

"That doesn't mean he won't like it Jimmy. You don't need to tell him that you aren't doing it for him either. In fact, it wouldn't hurt if you let him think that his happiness was at least a factor in your decision. It might make it better between the two of you."

I had some toast and a glass of milk and went off to the barber's. Charlie's was a place where a lot of guys hung out. You could get a haircut, a shoe shine, bet on a horse, borrow money at 20% vigorish per week, and, get some pretty good bargains on purchases of goods that may or may not have been stolen. It was the neighborhood barber shop. Vic, the guy who usually worked on my hair was off, so I waited for Charlie's chair to be free. Charlie was the owner and the bookie and Shylock for the place. He was about fifty, and was originally from Brooklyn, New York. He claimed to have gotten his training as a barber while serving time in prison in upstate New York. Half of the time, people believed his stories of the things that he had said he had done when he was younger. The rest of the time, he was not believed.

"You still willing to pay me ten bucks if I let you give me a regular haircut Charlie?" Every time I came in to see Vic for a trim, Charlie would make me the offer.

"I'll pay you twenty if you let me buzz it all off Jimmy." Charlie laughed, thinking that he'd made a joke, just like he assumed that I'd made earlier.

"Sure Charlie, give me the buzz cut. I can always use an easy twenty bucks."

"Are you serious?"

"Go for it. Cut it all off, I don't care."

"Your old man finally convinced you to join up didn't he?" Everyone knew that my father had been trying for the past three months to get me to join one of the services as soon as my high school was finished.

"Charlie, I promise you that I'm not going into the service. If you don't want to buzz it off though, I guess I'll just take a little trim, in the back, and on the sides."

"Oh no, we made a deal Jimmy. Twenty bucks and I can take it all off. You already agreed." I could tell that Charlie was really looking forward to this. It was bad for his business, all of us young guys wearing our hair long. At a dollar per haircut though, he'd have a long time recouping his twenty bucks.

"Well then, let's get started. I've got a lot to do today." I heard Charlie starting up his electric trimmer, and the next thing I felt was him starting it right in the middle of the back of my neck and bringing it up and forward through my hair. If I hadn't already washed my hair thoroughly, that trimmer would be clogged with hair grease by now. As it was, the hair came out easily. My scalp was all white and it looked strange seeing it again. He finished taking everything off in about five minutes. My scalp shape looked weird to me, perhaps misshaped a little. I looked like Paul Winchell's puppet, 'Knucklehead Smith'. I collected my twenty bucks, and endured the laughter of all the guys hanging around the barbershop. I didn't mind. This was my second chance, and I was prepared to endure a lot more than a little ribbing from guys that I hardly knew.

I walked over to Carolyn Adams house. In my prior time through, Carolyn and I had flirted with each other a lot, but we'd never managed to connect. Her nickname in the neighborhood was "headlights", because she was really stacked, and they stuck straight out from her chest. I walked up her steps and knocked on her screen door.

"Oh my god! Is that you Jimmy?" She had her hand up covering her mouth. This was something Carolyn did a lot, because she had two buck teeth, and she was embarrassed by them. I had always thought that they were very cute. She and I had spent a good part of the summer of 1957 flirting innocently, right there on her front porch. Both of her parent's worked during the day, and she had to stay home and watch her brother and sister. Her brother was just a baby, and her sister was about three. It was her mother's second marriage, and Carolyn was born to her mother's first husband, who'd been killed in World War Two. Her mother had gotten remarried about four years before, when she got pregnant with Carolyn's sister. Carolyn was sixteen years old, and was the best developed girl of my acquaintance in 1957. Like I had mentioned, in my first time through, she and I just flirted on her porch all summer while she watched her brother and sister.

"Yeah, it's me. How do you like the cue ball haircut?"

"I liked your long hair Jimmy. It's all gone now. You sure look different. It's hard to get used to."

"I was hoping that you'd let me come inside today Carolyn. The sun is burning my head, and I don't want to get heatstroke."

"Why don't you run home and get a baseball cap or something?"

"I threw my baseball hat away. Can't you let me in for awhile? I'll be good, I promise."

"You know my parents don't allow me to have visitors inside when they're not home Jimmy. I'd get in trouble if I let you in."

"Margaret Ebue will let me in Carolyn. Do I have to go over to her house to get out of the sun?" Margaret had been a friend of Carolyn's for a long time, but she had stolen Carolyn's boyfriend, Jimmy Herndon, about two months before. Now they were enemies and rivals, although Carolyn had sent Jimmy packing when he'd tried to come back to her after his little fling with Margaret.

"Margaret will let anyone in Jimmy, but I'm not telling you not to go over there. You might have to wait in line though, because I hear it sometimes gets congested over at her doorway."

"I'd rather stay here Carolyn, you know that. Today's my birthday though, and I wanted my birthday kiss somewhere private, and out of this hot sun."

"Is it really your birthday? You're not just saying that?"

"Nope, I'm eighteen today. I've been looking forward to my birthday kiss for a long time too."

"I've never kissed a bald headed man. Well, except for my Uncle Carl, but that shouldn't count. All right Jimmy, I'll let you in for just a minute, for one kiss, but then you have to leave, all right?" She unhooked the lock on the screen door and I opened it and went inside. She had taken a couple of steps backwards to let me step inside, but after I was inside, she stepped forward and I put both of my arms around her. In my past time through, Jimmy Herndon had told me about Carolyn, and about how hot she got from kissing, and how she would let him play with her breasts after only a couple of minutes of kissing.

I started my kiss slowly, but soon was trying to get my tongue inside her mouth. She put up a token resistance before allowing me entry, but was soon involved in some rapid tongue work of her own. After about five minutes, my dick was pressed against her stomach and I had no doubt that she could feel it. She didn't try to move away from it either. I started moving one of my hands along her side as we kissed, slowly moving it closer to her big knocker. She was starting to breathe heavily through her nose and I could feel the warm air as it passed through my cheek after being expelled by her. I finally worked up the nerve to cup her breast with my hand, and she didn't pull away from that either. I started kissing her neck and rubbing her back with one hand and squeezing her breast with my other. Carolyn started making little sounds deep in her throat, sounds that seemed to indicate a willingness to continue. I dropped my hand down her back and gave one of her butt cheeks a squeeze and drew her to an even closer contact with my dick. I went back to French kissing her mouth while I squeezed her with both of my hands. Finally, she pushed me away.

"Jimmy, you have to go now. Please, I'll get in so much trouble if you don't." I could tell, mostly from my prior life experience, that Carolyn was really revved up. Her face and neck were both red, and her nipples were both fully aroused. Her breathing was quicker, like she had run a recent sprint. Her chest was heaving too. It was wonderful for me to see. I let myself back outside on the porch.

"Thanks Carolyn. That was the best birthday kiss I'm ever liable to be getting."

"Happy birthday Jimmy. That was a little bit more of a birthday kiss than I was planning on giving you. Where did you learn to kiss like that? You really surprised me there for a few minutes."

"That's only about the third time I've ever kissed a girl Carolyn. I was afraid it wouldn't be good enough."

"Don't worry about that Jimmy. It was good enough. If it had been much better, I don't know if I could have pushed you away."

"Was it as good as Jimmy Herndon's?" She laughed.

"On his best day, Jimmy couldn't kiss half as good as what you just did. Right now I'm having a hard time not letting you come back in here and kiss me some more. How come you never tried to kiss me before Jimmy?"

"I only kiss girls on my birthday. If you send me away today, we'll have to wait another whole year for the next time."

"I hope you really mean that Jimmy. If you don't mean it, I'm afraid of what I might let you do with me after a few more kisses like that last one. I sure wouldn't want to get pregnant before I was finished with school."

"I wouldn't want that either Carolyn. I could get us some rubbers though. Plus, there's a lot of other stuff that is really fun that won't get you pregnant."

"You better go Jimmy, before you talk me into doing more stuff with you. Come back and see me later though. My mom and dad get home around five. We could go for a walk and maybe talk some more."

"My dad is taking my mom and I out for a birthday dinner tonight. I don't know what time I'll be getting home. If I'm home by eight, would that be too late to come over?"

"Eight isn't that late. Heck, there's no school for the whole summer anyway. It isn't even dark at eight. If we go for a walk, it would be better if it was dark out. I don't like people knowing all about my business anyway. You can come over anytime before nine o'clock Jimmy."

"Should I go to the gas station and get some rubbers, just in case, to be safe?"

"No, Jimmy. I was only kidding about that. I'm not Margaret Ebue. I'm saving myself for my future husband."

That afternoon, when my dad got home, he was really surprised about my haircut. When I told him that Charlie had paid me twenty bucks to let him cut it all off, he gave me another twenty bucks of his own too. Twenty bucks was a lot of money to be throwing away in those days too.

"I'm really happy that you got rid of that nest on the top of your head Jimmy. Now, when I look at you, I can tell that I have a son, and not a daughter." Him saying that pissed me off, just like it had all the other times that he said things like that to me before. This time, I remembered all of the trouble he and I had caused each other over unimportant things like this. I knew that he wasn't going to change his way of thinking, but I could change mine.

"Well, pop, I'm glad it makes you happy to see me like this. I'll make an effort to make sure that you always know that I'm your son and not your daughter." That didn't hurt too bad, and it seemed to make him a lot happier for some reason. I guess he figured he'd won an important victory with the hair. I decided that it might be good to let him win some of these unimportant things, but I'd still try to stay with my core beliefs and convictions. There was no way that I'd give in on the joining the military service issue. If I happened to get drafted, I'd go, but I wasn't going to be a volunteer. In my last life, I hadn't been drafted, and I hadn't volunteered either. This time, I'd try to finesse things with my father, so that it didn't drive such a wedge between us.

"Jimmy, I haven't seen you smoking at all today. Did you quit or something?" My mom and dad both smoked. I hadn't really thought much about it. I hadn't smoked a single cigarette all day, and I didn't seem to have any withdrawal feelings or nicotine cravings either.

"Yeah Ma, I've quit. It was affecting my wind and I didn't like the way I was getting little burn marks on all of my shirts. I think cigarettes are bad for you, health wise. Maybe you and pop should think about quitting?" In my past life, my mom had died of cancer, and my father's lungs were pretty weak during the last few years of his life too. Both had smoked on the day that each died though, and I doubted that they'd change their habits easily.

"You just worry about your own self Jimmy. Your mother and I can take care of ourselves."

"Sure pop. That's good advice. I'm just now beginning to realize that you give good advice."

"Well, you're starting to grow up and become a man Jimmy. You should continue following my good advice and get yourself into one of the armed services and get some training for your future."

"Well, you're right about me needing some training pop. I think I might consider going to college or a trade school in the Fall."

"Jimmy, why pay for education? In the service, they pay you to go to their schools. You can't beat the training either. A four year hitch, and you'd have a real trade when you get back out. You might even find that you like it Jimmy, and decide to make it a career like I've done."

"I'll tell you what pop. I'll think seriously about what you said. I'll keep an open mind about the possibility. For right now, this summer at least, let's both of us hold off on getting upset about whether I will join up or not."

"Jack, you should listen to Jimmy. This is him meeting you halfway on the military thing. Let him have the summer to decide what he wants to do. He just finished high school. Let him take a little break before he has to decide things." My mother wasn't pro military like my father was. For her, she just wanted me to get some skills so that I'd be able to support a family later.

"I'll ease up on him Martha, if he really means that he'll keep an open mind. That's all I really wanted him to do anyway. Investigate the opportunities, and then he could come to an informed decision. He's been rejecting the idea of joining the service because of a bias that he has against me and against any authority. He's been rebellious these last few years. I'm glad he's starting to shape up on his own."