Chapter 50

Agnes went out to dinner once with Tibor, and then the two of them also went out once with my parents, to a European restaurant in Canton. There was live music being played, and dancing. I heard later that Tibor drank too much, and became loud and quarrelsome. He even got verbally abusive towards my father and Agnes when everyone else tried to get him to slow down on his drinking. That effectively brought to an end whatever courtship plans my parents had for him and Agnes. I was glad when I heard that Agnes wasn't going to be going out with Tibor anymore.

Now that Kate was in high school with me, I was certain that my parents were going to want me to get my driver's license so that I could drive us to and from school. I sure hinted around about it enough. My sixteenth birthday had come and gone, and there it was, almost Christmas, and no one was even talking about me getting my license. Most of my friends already had their licenses, and it was common for them to be able to borrow the family car for a weekend date. I had attempted to get back into dating, but had limited success.

I was asking out nice girls, but, partly due to my old reputation, many girls were leery about going out with me. One girl would only agree to go out with me if she picked me up at my house and then drove us over to the next town to go to a restaurant and a movie. No drive in movie either, we went to the regular movie house over in Overton. It was a show that I had seen before, and I was a little upset to be going out with someone who was obviously ashamed to be seen out in our town with me. My next date was with a girl who attended St. Catherine's high school. We at least went to my regular movie theater, but she wouldn't even let me put my arm around her. I had gone from a feast to a famine, and had only myself to blame.

Part of the reason that my social life suffered was that I had developed a complexion problem. No matter what I did, it seemed that every school day I'd wake up with yet another pimple erupted on my face or neck. I was washing my face with a wash cloth at least five times a day, trying to dry out my oily skin, but it didn't seem to help any. To compound the problem, Kate's social life started to soar. She was only allowed one date per week, but no car dates unless she was doubling with another couple. She and Lisa were in the same boat when it came to car dates, and so, twice, they wound up going out together on double dates. I had heard from several people that Kate liked to sit in the balcony at the movie theater, but, while she didn't mind making out, she wasn't letting anyone go all the way with her. If she had been, I'm sure, as her brother, someone would have come up to me and told me about it. There were always people who got a charge out of bringing other people some bad news.

It was while we were out of school during Christmas vacation that my father first made me aware that he was thinking of letting me take the driving test to get my license. I had passed my driver's ed. class and taken driver's training already, so all I had to do was bring a parent who would sign off on the financial responsibility part, and then pass the driving test at the department of motor vehicles. My father took me out for half an hour after he got off of work, and we practiced parallel parking. After three days of this, he pronounced me ready to take the test.

On a cold and wet Friday, December 21, 1962, my mother drove me down to the DMV. I had to take the written test over again because the driver's education test I'd passed was more than six months before. I passed it on my first try, and then I had to wait more than an hour before it was my turn to take the driver's test. The examiner I got to supervise my test looked like he was about seventy years old. He got in my mom's car and asked me if I was ready. I had already adjusted the mirrors, but I went through the motions again for him, and we left the testing area for the street. I drove slow and made hand signals as well as using the turn signals. I did my parallel park with ease, since my mother's car was about a foot shorter than my father's Packard.

He wrote down several comments as I was trying to be careful and do everything he told me. That writing he was doing made me nervous, but I couldn't really look over there to try to see what he was writing about me. When we returned to the test area, he had to remind me to turn off the ignition. Once I did that, he stuck out his hand and congratulated me for passing my driving test and getting my license. We went inside, and then I got to have my picture taken, and they gave me my temporary license. I was happy that I passed. I never did get to see what the examiner had written on his clip board. For all I ever knew, he might have been writing his grocery shopping list.

My mother had me drive her back to the dance studio because she was working on getting her paperwork all done for the close of the tax year on the business. I knew from listening to her talking to my father at the dinner table, that the studio had enjoyed a remarkably profitable year. This was due to the fitness craze that had been sweeping the country. For several years, my mother had been offering exercise classes for women and for smaller children, and it was one of the most profitable aspects of her business. At two dollars per person, my mother often had as many as fifty women in her morning exercise class, and as many as forty in each of the two afternoon classes she ran. I never understood why people paid that kind of money to do calisthenics with a whole lot of other people.

My father made a good living, but my mother now made more than he did. Of course, half of what she made went to Agnes, but it was still a lot of money. My mother bought a lot of things for the house, things that were written off by the business. Agnes did the same thing for her apartment. There were a lot of tax loopholes, and my mother was aggressive in taking every advantage she could. Apparently, screwing the government out of some of their taxes was something that was well known to Hungarians just like it was with Americans. Dr. Horvath, the man who was my mother's accountant, took great joy in preparing my mother's tax returns each year. He said he enjoyed her fertile imagination when it came to deductions.

When we got to the studio, my mother told me to come back at five fifteen to pick her up. She gave me a five dollar bill and told me to get some gas for the car and to check the oil. I went and filled up the gas tank, and had to buy a quart of oil. When I was finished, I still had more than a dollar left in change. What a glorious feeling it was, driving around all by myself. I drove over to the park, and by the high school and the junior high, but didn't run into anyone that I knew. I then drove over to Frank's and parked in an empty parking space right in front. I bought myself a vanilla Coke to go, and took it outside, drinking it while I leaned against the hood of my mother's car. Still no one I knew happened by. I finally decided to go back home. Kate was over at Lisa and Rita's house, so I stopped by there to see if she wanted me to give her a ride home. It was only a short walk, but I was desperate for someone to take for a ride since I now had my driver's license.

"Can Lisa and Rita come too?" Kate had seen me pull up in front, and had come running to the Ross's front door.

"To our house?"

"No, for a ride. We want to go for a ride, and you can be our chauffeur."

"Sure, hop in. Where would you ladies like to go?"

The three girls hopped into the back seat, and, after a lot of excited discussion, decided to have me drive them down to Woolworth's, for a little shopping. I drove carefully, not really that confident yet in my driving abilities. We found a parking place near the front entrance and I parked and let them get out by themselves. As they were leaving, Kate told me to not leave them there, since they would only be a few minutes, and then they wanted me to take them all to Pepe's for lunch. I yelled after them that I only had a dollar on me, so they'd have to pay for pizza and drinks themselves. They ignored me as the ran inside the store. A few minutes turned into more than half an hour, and when they came out, there was another girl with them. A cute girl, one I had seen in school ever since the start of the school year. All four giggling girls jumped into the back seat, Rita ending up with Lisa sitting on her lap.

"Go to Pepe's now, Larry. This is Miriam Trellman, she's in all my classes this year. She's never even been to Pepe's, She just moved here from Gardner, at the beginning of the school year. Miriam, this is our chauffeur, Larry, who also happens to be my brother."

"Did you hear what I said about not having any money, Kate?"

"I heard you say you had a dollar. Let's stop by the studio, and see if mom or Agnes wants some pizza. We can get more money from them." So, I drove over to the dance studio and Kate ran in to see my mom, and to try to get us some money. This left me alone in the car with the three other girls. This was when Miriam decided to speak her first words in my presence.

"Is this your car, or your father's?" Her voice was low, like a boys voice. Kate and the other girls had high voices, but Miriam's was at least a tenor. If you aren't expecting that out of a girl, it can really surprise you. Apparently Lisa and Rita were already used to her voice, but it took me a minute to adjust.

"It's my mom's car, but she lets me use it. I just got my license today."

"You're sixteen then?"

"In August. How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen. Well, I will be on February sixth. Are you that Larry that Trudie Bowman talks about?"

"No, I'm not that Larry."

"I think you are. Trudie said it was Kate's brother, Larry. I only know one Kate, and you're her brother. So, you're that Larry, right?"

"I don't think so. I don't know anyone named Trudie."

"That isn't what I heard. I heard you know her REAL GOOD."

"I don't think so, and I would be the best one to know if I knew her or not."

"I think you're trying to fool me. I'll just ask her when I see her after the Holidays. She said that she knew you, and that you used to go out with her."

"I never went out with Trudie. It was her sister that I took out."

"So you admit you know her?"

"No, I admit I knew her sister."

"She was telling me some stuff about you. That's one of the reasons I wanted to meet you. When Kate said you were in the car, I asked her if I could go out to lunch with you guys."

All of this time, Lisa and Rita are sitting in the back seat, being quiet, and listening to the two of us talking like we had been. I didn't know what they were making of all this. Kate came back waving a five dollar bill, a big smile on her face. She jumped into the front seat.

"Mom and Aunt Agnes already ate. Mom gave me money, and she said you have to remember to come get her at five fifteen."

"Kate, Larry claims he doesn't know Trudie Bowman. Is he lying?"

"If Larry says he doesn't know her, then he doesn't. Why would Larry lie about it. I know her though, and he isn't missing much by not knowing her."

"Hey, watch it! Trudie's a good friend of mine."

"Well, that says something about you then. Larry take us back to Woolworth's, so we can let Miriam back out of the car."

I started the car back up, and drove back to Woolworth's. No one spoke during the short trip. When I stopped, in the street, in front of the store, Miriam got out of the car and slammed the door shut, walking quickly away from us. All four of us watched her as she disappeared back into Woolworth's again.

"Why did you treat her like that, Larry? Didn't you like her?" This was Lisa speaking.

"I never met her before. If she had said that Trudie was a good friend of hers at the beginning, I might have answered her question differently. I like Trudie all right. Some people just like to talk about her and make stuff up, claiming she either did that, or said that, when she really didn't."

"I know Trudie too, Larry, but she isn't a very nice girl. She has a bad reputation." Lisa was determined to make her point.

"I've got a worse reputation than she does, Lisa. You haven't been in town long enough to have heard about me yet, I guess."

"I heard. You're a boy though. People expect a boy to do stuff like that. Trudie's a girl, and she does a lot of stuff and doesn't care who knows it."

"What does that make me then, Lisa. I already told you about the stuff I've done. I don't like Trudie either, but not because of her reputation. I just think she acts cheap." Kate looked upset at her new best friend. Lisa was looking over at Rita. You could tell that she wished she'd never said anything.

"Kate, don't put Lisa on the spot like that. She's your friend. People always make allowances for friends and relatives. After today, when people see Rita and Lisa out with you and me, their reputations will be shot too, and people will be talking about them." I was relieved to hear both Lisa and Rita laughing. After that, the tension subsided, and we went into Pepe's and ate two pizzas, and drank two pitchers of cherry Cokes. I didn't like the cherry flavoring, but there was a two for one special on the pizzas and the Cokes, but they had to be the same, no substitutions, and none of the girls liked vanilla flavored Coke anyway.

Rita was a healthy eater, just like me. She was fourteen now, and was losing that baby fat. In fact, she was starting to look pretty good. Lisa was still built like a stick at fifteen. I had seen her mother, and she wasn't that much more developed than Lisa was. Rita had to take after her father's side of the family. Already, her breasts were bigger than her mother's. Kate had told me that Rita's development was hard for Lisa to take. I could believe it. If Rita hadn't been so short, she would have looked like the older sister. I was looking at Rita's chest, not really paying any attention to what any of the girls were saying, when I heard someone calling my name.

"Larry, earth to Larry, do you think you can possibly stop staring at Rita's boobs long enough to answer us?" I pulled my head away from staring at Rita and looked over at Kate. She was the one who had said that to me.

"I was just looking. Measuring their outward progress."

"I'm sure we're all happy that you were taking such an interest, Larry. We asked you if you'd like to take us all to the drive in movies tonight. We can pay our own way in."

"Me take you three? To the drive in? Why would I want to do that?"

"To see the movies? You don't have any date for tonight, and I thought you might still want to do something to celebrate getting your license."

"You mean you were hoping to work your new chauffeur overtime?"

"That too. You can sit with whoever you want to up front, so you don't look so much like the undateable sad sack that you are."

"I'm not even going to dignify that last comment with an answer. Now that I've got my driver's license, I'm sure I can have my pick of dates. If you had asked me nice, I might have done it for you as a favor though."

"You know that you want to. Who would you pick to sit up front with you?"

"I'd pick you, Kate. That way I'd know these innocent girls would be safe from you." As soon as I said that, I knew I'd made a big mistake. For a year, Kate had been good. Living down her earlier reputation. I didn't know if Lisa and Rita even knew about Kate and Clara. "That way you couldn't eat all their pop corn or hog their candy." I tried to recover, but one look at Kate's stricken face told me that I'd failed miserably. Rita didn't seem to get it, but Lisa's face had turned all red. She got it all right. I felt lower than a snake's belly. I wished there was some way I could take that thoughtless sentence back.

"Take us back to Lisa and Rita's house, Larry. I wouldn't let you take us now, not even if you begged me to be able to."

"I never said I wouldn't want to take Rita and Lisa, Kate. I'd even take you if you promised to sit over in the back and put a blanket over your head if anyone I know happens by. A guy doesn't want to be seen out at the drive in with his own sister."

"Are you begging me? You have to say it if you want me to forgive you."

"I'm begging you to forgive me, Kate. I didn't mean it the way it came out."

"So who do you really pick to sit up front with you?"

"How about both of them?"

"No, only one. You can switch if you want to, after the first movie. They both want to sit with you anyway, so it wouldn't matter who you picked first."

"I don't know Kate. Do these girls know what's liable to happen if they sit up front?" All three of them giggled, and nodded their heads, while looking at each other. I knew that Kate and Lisa had dated, and that Kate knew what Lisa had done on their double dates together. I never heard that Rita had started dating, but I might have just missed mention of it. I was just so grateful that Kate wasn't going to go into a prolonged sulk over what I'd said earlier. "I'll take you then, but, only if you girls promise not to take advantage of me." There was laughter, and then the three of them stuck their heads together, and started whispering. When they broke their little huddle, Kate spoke for the three of them.

"We promise not to do anything that you haven't done before."

"Nope, too open ended. Remember this is a first date. I need set limits that you won't try to go past. You have to promise not to try to go past first base."

"On you or on us?" This was Lisa.

"On me."

"What is first base for a boy?"

"No touching any of the important stuff, same as for a girl."

"Boys don't have any important stuff except for one thing."

"What about on us?" This was Rita asking me that.

"Depends. When it's your turn in front, you can whisper to me what your limit is."

"Me too?" Lisa again.

"You too. All of this depends on all of our parents saying it's all right to go to the drive in together. We'll need to leave before six. I'll take you girls home, so that Kate and I can go pick up my mom and find out if we can even go."

I dropped the Ross girls off and drove straight to my mom's studio. Kate and I went inside together after I was parked in our parking lot. Inside, my mother was finishing up with all of her tax stuff. Her desk had about fifty different manila envelopes on it. Each one was filled with different kinds of receipts. It was a little before five o'clock, but she looked like she was just getting finished.

"Mama, can Larry take Lisa, Rita and me to the drive in movies tonight, in your car? We all want to go, and he said he'd take us if you agree."