Chapter 11

The next morning, on our way to school, I asked Dorothy if she had any plans for later that night.

"What kind of plans? Like for a date or something?" She seemed pleased, thinking I was asking her out on a regular date. I didn't want to disappoint her by correcting her interpretation of what I'd meant.

"There's a new John Wayne picture playing, I think it's called The Searchers. It's a western. Ward Bond is in it too."

"Gregory Peck has a new one too, The Man In The Grey Flannel Suit. Do you think we can go see that one, instead? I don't understand westerns. Besides, Gregory Peck is such a good actor. John Wayne always plays the same part. I'm not even sure he's really acting."

"You've got to be kidding me? John Wayne is only the best actor in Hollywood." I let that slip out before I remembered my real reason for asking her about later that night. "My mother said it would be fine with her if someone came over and spent the night in my room with me. I was thinking we could go out and get something to eat, maybe drive around for an hour or two, then go back to my room and do whatever we wanted to?"

"She said that? Tell me what she said, as close to exact as you can remember."

"I asked her if she would have a problem with you coming over some night, like you did that one time, through the gate, and spending time with me. She said it was my room, and I could invite anyone over at any time. She told me to tell you that you were welcome to visit any part of the house, and that you would be a welcome guest at any time, day or night. She wanted to make sure that you knew she and my dad had given permission to me for our doing this."

"She said any time? Day or night?"

"That's what she said."

"So we could just go to your room, after school, and no one would be upset or say anything about it?"

"And, you could stay, all night if you wanted to. They both know what we'd be doing, and they said it was all right with them."

"The movie starts at seven thirty. We could get something to eat, something quick, at six thirty, go to the movie, then come back to your room after the movie was over. Would ten o'clock be too late for us to come in through the front door? Would anyone get upset if we did that?"

I had never spent a whole night in bed with her before. In my excitement, I failed to pick up on her saying the movie started at seven thirty. The John Wayne movie started at seven o'clock. When I realized what had happened, I didn't make any complaint. I sat through the Gregory Peck movie, mostly thinking about what we'd soon be doing in my room.

When it was finally over with, and we were back in the car, headed towards my house, Dorothy decided she needed to stop by her house to pick up a change of clothes, and some other things she thought she would need. I dropped her off in front of her house, and drove the last block home.

My mother was the only one still up in the living room. My Dad was at work, and my two brothers were out on their own dates. Nancy hadn't been feeling well, and had headed off to bed early, hoping a good night's sleep would have her feeling better in the morning.

"How was the movie, Jim?"

"I guess it was all right. It wasn't a movie I'd have picked to go watch. Dorothy seemed to like it though. She'll probably be coming over here in a few minutes."

"I'll go to bed then. I don't want her embarrassed, and she very easily could be, if she sees me sitting here in the living room." My mother got up and went into her bedroom. I waited up for over an hour, and Dorothy never came over. It was after eleven thirty before I finally gave up and went off to bed. I was surprised and disappointed, but, I suspected that Dorothy might be sending me a message by being a no show.

She woke me up at two thirty in the morning, knocking on my outside door. When I got up and opened it for her, all I was wearing were my underpants.

"What kept you so long?" I was yawning, still half asleep as I let her in.

"I had to wait for everyone at home to fall asleep. My father and oldest brother came over late this afternoon, right after we left to go to the movies. I think my mother must have called them, and told my father that I was dating an American boy. They were gone by the time I got back tonight, but my father had left a message for me, saying that I was forbidden from ever seeing you again. My mother and my sisters don't want me to disobey him. They are afraid of what he might do to all of us."

"What can he do? He isn't sending your mother any money anyway, so why should she have to listen to what he says?"

"They are still married. She does have to listen. I don't though, and I don't plan to allow any of them to control anything I do from now on."

We got into bed shortly after that, and spent the next hour making up for some of the time we had missed out on being together. Dorothy gave in fully to her highly aroused condition, and seemed unable to get as much of me as she appeared to be wanting. Worn out, and shaking from exhaustion, I had to finally surrender myself to sleep. I knew Dorothy would have been very happy to continue on, but, there was no way I could accommodate her in that regard. I was already falling asleep when I felt her lifting my left arm and backing her body close in to me. She let my arm go and it wrapped itself around her waist. I vaguely remember using that arm to pull her in even tighter to me. It was nine o'clock before either of us stirred from that position.

I awoke to Dorothy's insistent shaking on my shoulder.

"Jim, wake up. I need to go the bathroom. Can you go check to make sure the bathroom off the living room is free?"

"It will be, Dorothy. We almost never use that bathroom. My mother wants to keep it clean and neat, in case we ever have guests come over."

Dorothy wasn't reassured, so I had to get up, throw on a shirt and pants and go check, then give her the all clear signal. While this was going on, my whole family was sitting down to breakfast in the kitchen. Ma sent Willy in to tell me that they were holding off on eating until Dorothy and I came to the table. When she came out of the bathroom, I let her know that we were both expected to make an appearance at the breakfast table. Dorothy's eyes got really big after I told her this. We went back into my room again, so we could both finish dressing, and Dorothy could brush her hair and try to make herself more presentable.

I know my mother thought she was helping things, by including Dorothy for breakfast, trying to make it seem like her spending the night was a normal thing, and nothing that anyone need take any special notice of. Too bad she didn't spend more time explaining her plan to Nancy, Willy, and Kevin. The three of them were treating Dorothy and me like a new exhibit at the zoo. They stared at the two of us all through breakfast. They made me uncomfortable, and that isn't so easy to do. Finally, I tried to put an end to it.

"C'mon guys, please. You staring at us like we're bugs under your microscope, is making both of us feel self conscious. Can't you please give it a rest?"

Both my parents jumped in after I spoke up, but by then, Dorothy was very self conscious and embarrassed.

"I'm bringing Donna home next weekend. If Jim can have girls in his room, so can I." Donna was Kevin's current girlfriend.

"You'll do no such thing, Kevin. When you start showing some of Jim's sense of responsibility and maturity, we might be willing to discuss something of that nature happening, but it certainly won't be before you learn that you can't be switching girlfriend's as often as other people change their socks. Jim has been keeping company with Dorothy for quite some time now. Come see us when you have shown you can keep a girlfriend for longer than a few months at the most. You'll also need to have shown us you can keep up your room better too. I'll not have a guest in our house visiting that pigsty you call a room."

"Why don't you just admit it? Jim's your favorite, and anything he wants to do is just great with you?" Kevin was angry, angry enough to put his surly side on display in front of company. That was a definite "NO NO" in our family.

"Get up and excuse yourself from the table, Kevin. You'll go to your room, and stay there, until I can come in and have a chance to correct your sorry behavior. Dorothy, I apologize for Kevin's childish tantrum. He'll be apologizing to you himself in short order, just as soon as he's gotten a good reason to see the error of his ways. Get up now and leave us Kevin. You don't want to be adding to the trouble you've already made for yourself."

Kevin got up and left, realizing that he'd made a serious error in causing my father to become so upset. Once angry, my father was going to extract his pound of flesh from someone's hide. I glanced over to see my mother's reaction to all this. Usually, she could be relied upon to keep my father's anger somewhat in check. Not this time though, and seeing that, I knew Kevin was really in for it.

"If you plan on taking the belt to him, and I, for one, believe he needs it, make sure you keep that big buckle of yours in your hand. Count to ten before you lay in to him. That way you will have regained control of that temper of yours."

From my mother, that was the equivalent of passing an extremely harsh sentence on Kevin. She had encouraged my father to take the belt to him. Kevin was turning seventeen soon, and I couldn't remember him getting swatted with my father's belt in several years. I had the sudden worry that Kevin might take it into his head to try to resist my father's attempt to punish him. I got up from the table, excusing myself, and went to Kevin's room. He looked up angrily as I opened his bedroom door. He'd been expecting our father, so I knew this wasn't a good sign of what could be expected, once my Dad did come to see him.

"You really stepped in it this time, Kev. Ma just gave Dad the green light to go ahead and whack you with his belt. From the way you looked at me as I opened your door, something tells me you're all ready to do something pretty stupid. Remember when we first moved to California, and I had that dust up with Dad? Remember what you told me then? What you'd do if I ever hit him again? I'm going to be right outside your door when he comes in to give it to you. You better suck it up and let him tear into you, that's all I have to say. You make even one move to resist him, and you'll be sipping your meals through a straw for the next six months. You fucked up with that big mouth of yours, Kevin, and now you're just going to have to take what you have coming to you from him. Let him whack you with his belt, and the whole thing will be over with, and all you'll end up with is a very sore ass. Do anything else, and you'll have to answer to me. You won't enjoy it if that happens."

I stopped talking and left him alone with his thoughts. I hoped he was smart enough to see he had no better option than submitting to my father's punishment. I went back to the breakfast table and walked an upset Dorothy back to her house. For some reason, she believed she was responsible for Kevin's outburst. I assured her it hadn't been her doing at all. Kevin had been pushing both my parents with some of his recent behavior, including coming home past his curfew, and coming home drunk, at least twice that I knew about. Some of the kids he ran around with were part of a wilder bunch of students and high school dropouts who liked to impress each other by pressing the limits of acceptable behavior.