Chapter 31: Alice

Alice hinted that I should call earlier than usual for our date. We had a routine of going to a movie, sitting in the same seats and leaving at 10 P.M. I assumed that she wanted to get an early start because the movie she wanted to see was a greater distance away. I called her as soon as I came in from my lawn work, about 4:30.

"Do you have enough money to take me to a nice restaurant?" She asked, sounding tentative.

"Yes," I answered without thinking about how much cash had accumulated in my desk drawer. It just appeared there, from where I wasn't certain, but I knew it was a substantial amount because I hardly ever spent any of it.

"Wear a tie. Be ready at 6:30," she said.

"Are you making reservations?" Suzanne asked when I told her I was going to dine out.

"I don't know." Alice hadn't said anything about me calling for reservations. I didn't even know where I was taking her.

"The man usually makes the reservations," Suzanne said with enough volatility in her voice for me to detect that she was kidding me.

"How much money should I take?" I asked, wanting her to be helpful, not joke around about something this important.

"Call Alice back and find out which restaurant you are taking her. I'll call them and make arrangements for the bill to be sent here."

"That's very nice of you Aunt Suzanne," I said, suddenly stricken with sentiment.

"Don't get mushy with me. Isn't that what you always tell me?"

Alice was very receptive to having Suzanne make the arrangements. She too, was very appreciative of Suzanne's offer until I told her about the conversation I overheard.

Suzanne had spoken to the restaurant manager like they were old friends. "My nephew will be bringing an older lady to your restaurant this evening. He's a very handsome lad of fifteen and I don't want you to serve him any spirits. The lady is well over the legal age, but please limit the amount of alcohol she consumes as she will be driving a borrowed car. I want you to present the bill to my nephew. I'm authorizing him to use my credit card tonight. Please accept his signature as if it were me who was signing. Thank you Seymour."

I couldn't quote Suzanne's conversation verbatim, but I told Alice enough for her to get the general idea of what was said. She laughed when she heard that she had been described as an older lady. "Let's not let it spoil our evening," she said.

Seymour recognized us the moment we walked through the door and arranged for us to be seated in a corner of the dining room, out of view from most of the other diners. Alice ordered a glass of wine and the waiter made the mistake of asking if I wanted a Coke or a glass of milk. "No thank you. I'll have some of my girlfriend's wine," I said, keeping my voice as level as I possibly could.

Seymour appeared. "You're aunt specifically..."

Alice interrupted him. "Yes, we know what Suzanne said. Sammy was joking. He'll have a Coke to drink, won't you Honey?"

I nodded and Seymour attempted a smile, but saw little humor in my threat to go against Suzanne's wishes.

"This is the first time I've ever taken a girl to dinner," I said. "It's like a real date."

"It's like our first date," Alice remarked. "It makes me happy to be your first dinner date"

She was wearing a black dress. It was cut low at the neckline, low enough for the casual observer to know that she was not wearing a bra. But unlike the dress in my dream, this one had a back. A set of pearls danced on her breasts and the tiny diamonds adorned her ears. Her summer haircut had grown out some, but it was still short enough to make her look like a boy at first glance.

"Would you care to dance?" I offered, thinking it was the manly thing to do.

The dance floor was small, like it had been added as afterthought to accommodate those seated at the bar while visible from the main dining room, some distance from where we were seated. We walked hand in hand, making our way through clusters of tables, and attracting curious glances from those seated at the tables.

A three-piece combo, men dressed in white dinner jackets, played softly, jazz I think. Two other couples were there, taking up most of the space in the small area. Alice held on to me tightly as I swirled her around the floor. "There was a dress like this with no back but I couldn't," she said. "I couldn't imagine me ever wearing it ever again."

"I like this one," I assured her.

"But if I had known we would be dancing I would have gotten the other one. That way I could feel your hand on my back." She was thinking out loud, letting her thoughts ramble.

I felt her thighs rub mine and let its round muscular shape enter my mind. My hand rubbed her back and it was if I were feeling her bare skin. The music stopped playing and the other couples left the dance floor. So caught up in the spell, I became the man in my dream, feeling her thigh against my leg and my hand on her bare skin. "We're attracting attention," Alice laughed, bringing me back to my senses. The walk back to our table seemed longer this time, all eyes upon us.

We ordered shrimp cocktails, followed by broiled fish, 'catch of the day'. Alice offered me sips of her wine when she didn't think others were looking and when the glass was empty she ordered a second glass.

We had heard each other's stories until I was sure that she was bored with my tales of the boisterous tricks we did to each other at school. And I had heard her stories, her first sexual encounter, the patience and caring of Bruce and the failed marriage with Jimmy. So we spoke of the future and what we hoped it would bring each other.

"Sammy, don't change. You'll have lots of women worshiping at your feet if you remain as you are. They will want to do things for you without your even asking. You seduced me and I wasn't looking to be seduced." I was sure Alice was trying to prop me up. This was our first and last official date. She probably wanted to leave me laughing, but I enjoyed her little speech anyway.

"I didn't seduce you. You are the one that said we were at a point in our lives where we both needed something," I differed with her.

"That's my point. You don't have to do anything except be yourself. What do you think put the idea in my head? You seduced me without my knowing it." She held her empty fork in the air, unconscious of its suspended form, looking as if she had just happened on to one of life's mysteries.

"I didn't seduce Ellen. She was paid for. I didn't seduce Colleen, did I? I didn't seduce Paula. She used me. And I didn't seduce you. You seduced me."

"Ellen didn't want to charge you. That means you made her want to do things for you on her own. That's what seduction means. You made Colleen want to give you her virginity. Paula may have used you, but it was because ... okay ... that's not a good example. Don't say you didn't seduce me. What levelheaded twenty-four-year-old woman would have an affair with a fifteen-year-old boy if it weren't for him appealing to her in a way she couldn't resist? You seduced me. Please don't argue with me."

"Tell me again what I have to do to get women to worship at my feet," I said, wanting to hear Alice exaggerate more about my sexual prowess. It was the most entertaining conversation we had ever had and I wanted it to continue.

"That's just it. You don't have to do anything except to show patience. Women like to make up their own minds about such things. We like to be made to think it is our idea. With me I knew it was just a matter of time until we made love. You didn't rush me. You let me think I chose the time and place when, in fact, I was ready. I was psyched to fuck you. What you didn't do resulted in seduction. You made me think I was seducing you, but you were the seducer and I was like putty in your hands."

"Will you be putty tonight?" I asked, grinning at her.

"Honey, I think you know the answer to that," she said.

"Alice, I'll never meet anyone like you again. You'll always be special to me; I'll never forget you."

She looked at me, smiling shyly. "I'll always remember you too and I'm sure I'll never meet another Sammy."

"But you will. I want you to," I stammered, feeling a little choked up. "I can see him now. He has blond hair, bleached because he's spent too much time in the sun. You'll meet on the tennis court and the first time you play you'll whip his ass. He's a good player, just unable to focus on his game because he's taken with you. You're just the kind of woman he's looking for, slender with small breasts, serious about tennis and good in bed."

Alice had to take a sip of wine to compose her self. There were tears forming in her eyes when she was able to look at me. "Good in bed? How does Blondie know I'm good in bed? We just met. I just whipped his ass, remember?"

"I knew you were good in bed the first time we met," I countered.

This brought a long calculating stare from Alice. "You did? You were thinking about how I would be in bed the first time we met?"

"I had a good feeling about it. Blondie is a little older. He will be able to tell better than me," I said, seriously.

"What should I do? What should I say to Blondie? How should I act? Tell me, oh wise one?"

We were having so much fun we didn't see the waiter approach. His name was Neil. He wore white gloves and was very accommodating. We thanked him when he cleared the table. No, we didn't care to order dessert. We both had coffee and leaned back in our chairs, sipping the coffee and looking at each other, satisfied.

As I look back to that night I realize that Alice was accomplishing something that needed to be done. We had forecast each other's future. We said it was okay to move on. We let go.

But at that point in our dinner date all I could think of was getting Alice back to the cottage and showing her how much she meant to me. Seymour presented the check, saying that my aunt had called again to say that the bill should be sent to my uncle's office, that all I needed to do was sign the check. I looked at Alice for guidance, biting my lower lip to show that I was uncertain as to what was meant for me to do.

"Suzanne wants you to verify the check is correct Honey. You don't need to add a tip; she'll know to add one. But write our waiter's name down so he gets credit for serving us."

Seymour nodded his agreement to what Alice told me. He thanked me when I handed him the signed check and offered to help Alice with her chair. We walked through the crowded dining room, not caring that we were the objects of so many pairs of prying eyes.

That night in the cottage I told Alice the truth about my identity. She listened attentively, not believing me at first, but as I filled in the gruesome details she absorbed them like liquid to sponge. At the end I explained my reason for telling her about myself. "Now you can see why tonight meant so much to me. The old Sammy would not be allowed inside that restaurant. A domino fell just so at the pond that day. I'm privileged and I know how lucky I am."

"There's one thing that I don't understand. What makes you want to return to that place? I know you're homesick and you think you have something to prove, but you don't have to spend a full school year to accomplish those goals. You could go home for a week or two as often as you want. You could show off your fine clothes and everyone would see how strong you are. Stay here, go back to C.M.A. You've earned the right to enjoy the privileges."