Our days were filled with trying to do things that Al loved, but Al’s illness was doing something else. He began to fall. The first time he fell was in the hallway. There were tiled floors and the furnace was right there.
When he fell he broke one of the tiles and knocked the front door of the furnace off. I was so scared he had injured himself but the only injury to him was fear. I helped him up…
Our days were filled with trying to do things that Al loved, but Al’s illness was doing something else. He began to fall. The first time he fell was in the hallway. There were tiled floors and the furnace was right there.
When he fell he broke one of the tiles and knocked the front door of the furnace off. I was so scared he had injured himself but the only injury to him was fear. I helped him up and then with assistance we made it to the couch.
I offered him a coke after checking him all over. No blood and no lumps. While he was drinking his pop I started talking to him about the fall and how he should begin to hang on to things as he walked.
I had our grandma’s old cane here and offered it to him but with his stubborn pride he refused it. We didn’t experience any falls for about another month and then they became more frequent.
The big fall came near Christmas Time. He was walking to his bedroom and suddenly, with no warning he fell straight into the Christmas tree. This time I was scared. His head was turned side ways against the wall. I could see his legs but our tree was big so he was buried underneath all the leaves.
I told him, ” Don’t be afraid bud, I am going to call 911 and have them help me get you out from under there. I am afraid I will hurt you if I try to move you alone.” He seemed alright with that.
I called 911 and they came and three EMT’s recovered him from the branches. They took his vitals. His blood pressure was up a little but they thought that was from the accident. They talked to them and filled out paper work and then left. I helped Al to lay down on his bed. I knew that he had enough for one day.
There was one other time that he had fallen. It was in his room and he was squeezed in between his bed and lift chair. I couldn’t get him up and I saw blood on his forehead. I called 911 again and they responded immediately.
Al was alright. They placed a small bandage on his forehead and filled out another report. All of us put him in bed so he could rest. I walked the EMT’s to the door and they stopped and told me something that scared the crap out of me.
They said that if they were called one more time they would have to by state law report this to the Adult Protective Services. I asked them why and they said, ” Your brother is mentally challenged, right?” I nodded yes. ” Anytime there are falls from someone like him we have to report it on the third fall.” I thanked them for their service and information and let them out.
Shutting the door after them I walked to the couch and sat and thought about how cool this was not. With the bad relationship between him and his dad, and now both parents were deceased, I was all Al had left. I was his guardian and sister. I couldn’t let anything happen that may take him away from me, but what could I do?
I mulled over this for days. Idea after idea came and went and then I knew that I needed more help with Al than what I could do myself. I also knew that I needed to protect him from being placed out of our home.
I began to call nursing homes. After finding one that seemed nice I set an appointment for them to come meet Al. I dreaded so badly telling Al, but when I did at supper that night, he shocked me.
You have to remember his mentality. At that time his intelligence was about 10 years old. He was very excited. He said, ” This is great. Look at all the new friends I will make and I can play Bingo.”
I almost wept inside at his innocence but smiled. If he had to end up going I wanted him to go with this attitude. No more falls happened within the next two days and when the door bell rang early Monday morning, I answered it and let in the staff from the Nursing Home.
They wanted to meet Al and then after their little chat Al returned to his room to watch his favorite TV programs. Considering the time of day he was probably going to watch the Price is Right show.
Many questions and answers is what I did for the next hour. By the time they stood up to leave an appointment was set to bring Al into the nursing home for a tour. Al seemed very excited. I, on the other hand, was getting nervous. Al not here with me? I don’t know if I can deal with this. I am his sister and no one will ever love him, understand him and care for him as well as I could, but I kept thinking about how he could be taken out of this house and I had to do what I had to do to protect my brother.
The day came and we were getting ready to go in the front doors of the nursing home. Staff was there to show us around. I stayed in the background while they showered Al with attention and showed him the highlights of the place.
After the tour was over they asked Al, ” Do you want to come live here with us?” Al nodded yes. My heart broke but the fear inside me was bigger. I signed all the paper work and two days later Al was living in his semi-private room at a local nursing home.
For most of Al’s life after the teen years, everything remained the same at home. Mom and Dad worked full-time. Al went from job to job. He would lose a job because of not comprehending quick enough what needed to be done.
He got let go from a couple of places because he spoke too much to the ladies. From what I was told the ladies were scared of him. Evidently they were not used to being smiled at and having someone say hi to them so often. I have in the past heard people, strangers make remarks about “The Freak”.
Oh, that made my blood boil. I think we all have issues in life. It is just for some, it is obvious by looking at them, and others, it is an uncommon action, like repeating the word hi to the same person every time they walked by. He still does this today. He just wants so badly for someone to be friends with him.
Cardinal Center is a company that helps disabled adults get jobs, and this was an excellent program for Al. He worked at the same job for a long time. During this period of his life our Step-mom, and it is going to be here that I quit calling her this. I will call her mom. I have spoken about the real mom and she doesn’t exist in our lives. In fact, Al never even remembers her. So it was at this time that Mom was retiring from her job.
She stayed home for some time but eventually missed being busy so she went to work for a health company taking care of their payroll. After a few years went by, she finally retired for good. The very next week she had an aneurism.
Dad found her on the potty and called the EMS. Our Mom never drank, cussed or smoke. She was only 62 years old when this happened. She was taken to the local hospital where she stayed for several hours and then was transferred to a bigger hospital about an hour a way.
While she was at the local hospital, Al and I were there with her. Al didn’t really understand what was happening but he knew something was wrong. I will never forget Mom thrashing her arms and legs around on the ER bed. She managed to get her arm out to me and she kept patting my arm. It was almost like she was telling me to be strong, it is going to be alright.
That was the last time Al and I saw her conscience. By the time they got her to the bigger hospital, she was unconscience. She never came out of it. I lived at the hospital per say,and Al came up before he went to work. Seven days later, the doctors told Dad and Al, me and our half-sister, that Mom only had 10% brain activity left. Did we want to keep her on a breathing tube?
Our tiny family huddled together. Al and the sister didn’t say anything. Dad and I decided to let her go. After they unhooked her Dad was watching me the entire time while he and I held her hand. It was as if he was asking me, is she ok?
It was a sad time for us those next several hours. Finally I was the one chosen to go tell Al that she went to heaven. Al didn’t cry. Instead he went into himself even further. The rock that held our family together was gone.
From that moment on Al had no one to speak to. Shortly after Mom’s funeral was over, my aunt in Florida moved her mother down to that area. Dad became withdrawn, and Al was left to figure out how to survive.
He went to work and came home alone. He ate alone and watched TV alone. He and Dad didn’t even sit in the living room together to watch TV. When I tried to reach out to Al, Dad would tell me to butt out.
Dad believed that if everything was going fine then don’t mess it up. But things weren’t going fine. Al was suffering and so was Dad. Al started going to auctions out-of-town and this is when he really began to collect his coca cola.
Dad hated it that Al was spending money. I will never know why. Dad charged Al a small amount of rent money for living there. I never agreed with it but I couldn’t stop it either. Al barely made above minimum wage and he already had a car payment and auto insurance to pay for. Dad even made him purchase his own groceries.
It was so stupid. Dad put his refrigerator items on two shelves and Al put his items on the other two shelves. They were not allowed to mix. It makes my skin quiver just thinking how sick that was between a father and a son.
When Dad and Al went to church it was the same one for a while and they each drove themselves. Then Al changed churches. Nothing they did was together. Dad got so upset with Al spending his Saturday evenings going to the auctions that he finally had his friends go to the auctions too and spy on him.
I thought so little of these people that they would disrespect Al so bad and even stoop low enough to do as Dad wished. I hated knowing this was going on but again, I could do nothing.
There was no one to stand up for Al anymore. What his life must have been like for him I can only imagine in my own mind. I felt so bad for him but yet I was forced to live my own life.
After several years of this routine, Dad finally met a new lady friend. He introduced her to Al and me. She seemed very nice and she was pretty. Dad liked it that I agreed with his selection. Al didn’t say too much but the little he did tell me was, that’s not my mom.
Chapter 19
Henry took Jane home and made sure she was resting before he took off again.
“Where are you going…
Henry took Jane home and made sure she was resting before he took off again.
“Where are you going Henry?”
“I got some errands to run Jane. Don’t you worry about nothing. I got it all under control.”
“You aren’t going to go see that Kurt guy are you?”
“Now what makes you think that doll? Like I said, don’t worry.”
He gave her a peck on the forehead and then turned around and went to find his mom.
“Mom will you keep an eye out on Jane? She fell out of one of the swings today. She says she isn’t hurt, but I would feel a lot better if you checked in on her while I was gone.”
Carol asked,”When you coming back? I don’t have time to be babysitting her all day.”
“I won’t be gone that long Mom. Just do it for me because you love me.”
He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and she smiled at him and said,”Alright, but just for a while.”
“Thanks Mom, you’re the best.”
Henry left, he was on a mission. He was going to find out what in the world this guy Kurt was after. He went back to the lake. He glanced around the parking lot but didn’t see the creep’s car. Upon leaving there he went back into town.
Driving past the garage he saw the car. He slammed on his brakes and backed up, and pulled in. He went inside and didn’t see Kurt at first. His buddies waved and motioned him to come to where they were. A few of them were under one car checking out the brakes.
“Where’s Kurt? I don’t see him anywhere?”
Tom pointed towards the bathroom.”He’s been in there about half an hour. Must be really having some issues this morning.” All the guys laughed and asked Henry, “What ya looking for him for? Did he do something again?”
“What you mean again? Has he been in trouble before?”
“Ya a little but nothing ever came from it. Some high school gal called the cops on him. Saying he tried to force himself on her. He denied it, said he didn’t even know her.”
Kurt came walking up and Fred asked, “Did you spray back there? Smells like a skunk died in here.”
“Very funny and ya I sprayed.”
Henry turned and looked Kurt right in the eyes and before Kurt could say a word, Henry punched him right in the face. Kurt’s head took a right turn and he touched his face. When he looked down at his hands he saw blood.
“Hey, what gives? Why in the hell you hitting me? What did I ever do to you?”
“This is a warning Kurt my friend. Stay the hell a way from my wife. She isn’t yours to glare at or talk to. She belongs to me. If I see you around her again, blood isn’t the worst thing you will see. You will see your head twisted around your ass.”
“I never touched her Henry, I swear. What ever she is telling you, she is lying. These guys here can vouch for me. I never touched her.”
“Well, don’t even be looking her way, got it? Just stay a way from her. This is your one and only warning.”
Kurt walked a way with his tail between his legs. He got in his car and sped off.
“What was that all about buddy? Did Kurt do something to your gal too?”
Henry explained, “Jane said that when she was in here last time with me, Kurt made her feel funny. She said he wouldn’t take his eyes off of her.”
“Yeah, I remember that creep following her all the way to the bathroom. Said he didn’t want her to get lost.
Gee, how big is this place anyways?”
Henry and Tom had a good laugh over it but Henry asked Tom, “Can you just keep an eye on that guy? Something about him I just don’t trust.”
“Sure Henry, sure, I got your butt covered.”
Henry continued to watch the guys for a while longer and then he said he was leaving. He went over to the bowling alley to check his schedule. He drove around town for a while just thinking about that guy Kurt. Feeling confident that he had made his point very clear he finally decided to go on home.
Pulling in the drive-way he heard screaming. He ran into the house and found his mom laying on the floor. He raced into his bedroom and there was Kurt, wrestling with Jane.
Chapter 18
Henry and Jane headed to the lake. It was a great fall day with more of the summer temperatures…
Henry and Jane headed to the lake. It was a great fall day with more of the summer temperatures hovering around. There weren’t many there as schools were back in session.
Henry got out and walked around and let Jane out. Hand in hand they walked to the edge of the water. They enjoyed the view of ducks diving in the water for food, birds flying over head and a few couples walking on the beach.
Henry kicked his shoes off and walked in the water. He was ankle-deep and then scooped some water in his hands and threw it at Jane. She hurried and took her shoes off and stepping in used her feet to splash him back.
Soon they were laughing and playing and enjoying themselves so much they didn’t see the person walking up to them. “You two having fun?” Henry and Jane stopped and turned to see no other than Kurt.
Henry got out of the water and went over and gave him a pat on the shoulder and asked, “What you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“Nah, I took the day off. Stubbed my toe yesterday and went to the doctor today. Thought I would come down here and see what was happening. That’s when I spotted you two.” Kurt was keeping his eyes on Jane as he talked to Henry.
Henry didn’t notice and Jane got her shoes back on and walked over to the swings. She sat down and making marks in the sand under her feet she swung slowly. Soon Henry and Kurt were on the swings too.
All of them were swinging and were having fun when Kurt got off his swing and got behind Henry and started pushing him. Higher and higher Henry went then Kurt decided to do the same thing to Jane.
Jane cried out, “Don’t, I don’t want to be going any faster.”
“Oh come on. Let loose and have some fun,” he laughed.
“Stop it! I said stop it!”
Henry stopped his swing and got off and said, “She said she doesn’t want to go any higher. Listen up man. Leave her alone.”
“Oh she’s just a big party pooper. She’s no fun.”
Just as he was about to step back and a way from her he suddenly grabbed her chains and pulled her back as far as he could. Before she could get a better grip he let loose and she went flying forward and fell out of the swing down to the ground. She rolled a couple of times.
Henry raced over to her. “Are you alright Jane? Are you hurt? Kurt what in the hell were ya thinking? My God she’s pregnant and you made her fall. I ought to kick your ass.”
“I didn’t mean to push her so hard buddy. I didn’t know I had that much strength behind me. Golly, I am sorry Jane, are you alright?” He leaned in with one hand to help her stand up and Henry twisted around and decked him right in the face.
“Get the hell out of here and don’t be calling me buddy. You hear me? Now get out of my face.”
Henry leaned in and gave Jane a hand to help her stand up. When she stood up she brushed sand out of her mouth and hair. Inspecting her body for broken skin she didn’t find any.
“I’m alright I think. Let’s just get out of here and go home. I don’t like that guy Henry. He stares at me and he followed me all the way to the bathroom at the garage. He didn’t leave. He stood there until I got done and then he led me back to the break area. There is something weird about him. I just don’t like him. Don’t make me have to see him anymore.”
“Gosh Jane, why didn’t you tell me this all before? I would have set him straight that same day. Don’t keep things from me baby. I don’t like it when you are unhappy.”
Jane smiled at her hero and gave him a big kiss and the two walked back to the car. On the drive home she noticed a small light pain in her abdomen. She winced a little and Henry looked at her.
“You alright? Are you hurting? Should I get you to a doctor?”
“No, it is just small. Nothing to worry about. I think I want to just go home and rest. I am tired.”
The rest of the drive home they didn’t talk. Henry was thinking about how he was going to drop his wife off and then go pay a visit to Kurt.
Henry listened to some music on his radio before getting ready to go to his new job. He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about him and Jane and the new baby. I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl. I wonder if it will look like me or maybe her. As long as it’s healthy, that’s all I care about. Ten fingers ten toes as they say.
He almost drifted off in to dreamland and then without thinking looked at his alarm clock. Oh crap, where did the time go. He jumped up from the bed and put a clean shirt on. All finished and checking his hair out in the mirror, he closed the door behind him and went and told his parents he was leaving.
At the bowling alley, the smoke was thick. Sounds of balls hitting the floors and laughter echoed from the padded walls. He saw Carl and walked towards him. Carl said,” This here guy standing beside me is the one that is going to train you Henry. Say hi to Bud”. The two shook hands and then Bud led the way to the back.
It looked like a complicated mess. Lots of metal and pin holders. A real mechanical set-up. It was cold back here. No padded walls, no nice paint on the walls. The floors were supposed to be white but were yellowed from years of being neglected.
Bud went to the pin drop machines and explained. ” Your job kid is to stay back here and watch all of these machines. If all the pins don’t drop, you put one in manually. If a ball doesn’t return out front, catch it here and slide it down the return rack. This isn’t a hard job at all. In fact on a good night, it can be down right boring.
If you are going to smoke, make sure you step out that back door there”. He pointed towards the rear door. ” You got any questions kid? What did you say your name is”?
“Henry, that’s my name. No Bud, I don’t have any questions. You going to be hanging around in case I do run into a snag”?
“Sure, I will be here until the joint closes. You see that black wall phone over there? Dial 0 if you run into any problems. Well, I gotta get back up front. Good luck kid, I mean Henry”.
Henry found a chair and thought the best thing to do was place it right in the middle of the machines. He sat down and started watching. Man, they move fast. It seems like when one is returning another one is coming.
He had been sitting there for about an hour when one of the pins didn’t drop. He had missed it but soon heard buzzing sounds. He saw a red light on one of the machines and found out it was a speaker. He could hear pins didn’t drop. You asleep back there at the wheel?
He grabbed a new pin and as he placed it in the empty slot, he pushed the red buzzer and said,”sorry folks, new here tonight. I will try to watch better”. He heard clapping out front, and he knew all was alright now with lane number nine.The night went pretty smooth from then on. He went out back on his break and took a couple of drags off his smokes. He thought to himself, wonder what Jane is doing. No one has let me know if she is here.
Before he knew it, the shift was over. The bowling alley became quiet. He walked back out front to punch out on the time clock and saw the janitor sweeping the lanes. He waved to him and punching the clock, checked his schedule and then told the boss goodbye and walked out the front door.
He had parked his car in the very back of the parking lot, boss’s orders. Supposed to leave room for the paying customer. He got in the driver’s seat and was about to put the key in the ignition when a pair of hands covered his eyes from the back.
At first he was shocked then went in to attack mode, then he recognized the words guess who. He turned around and the first thing that came out of his mouth were, “geesh Jane, I could have hurt you real bad. You scared the crap out of me”.
Jane said,”Well come back here in the back seat baby, and I will show you how sorry I am”. Henry wasted no time in getting to the back seat. He kissed her on her lips and then started tickling her. She started screaming and laughing and he placed his hand over her mouth saying, “don’t scream baby, you want the boss to call the cops? How would it look if the cop tapped on the window and saw us doing this”.
“Doing what? All we are doing is laughing and having a good time”, Jane said. Henry pulled her to him her head falling to rest on the arm rest. He lifted her skirt and slid her panties off. He felt her warm flesh. He felt where the baby was growing. He was thinking, this is all mine. My baby, my woman.
Her leaned over her and kissed her lips and then moved down her neck, letting his tongue find its way through every delicate piece of flesh. He smelled her perfume and ran his fingers through her hair.
He ran his hand down her legs. They were so soft and as he re-visited her woman hood, she raised to him and a soft moan came deep within her throat. Henry wasted no time in taking her. It was quick but they both were satisfied.
Helping her to get dressed, he zipped up his pants and gave her a quick peck and got back in the front seat. He asked,”What you waiting for doll? Get your cute little rear up here with me. You know I don’t like driving alone”. She grinned at him and hopped over the front seat. Putting her one arm around his neck and the other arm between his legs, he started the car and drove her home.
Henry pulled into the bowling alley parking lot. He had been here a few times. Went bowling with friends, but bowled so bad he never went back. When he walked inside it was pretty quiet.
He could smell coffee coming from the little cafe on the side. He head a few pins being knocked down. As he looked out over the lanes, he saw one family sharing some time together. He thought, that could be me and my kid some day.
Other than the family of bowlers he didn’t see anyone else. He walked over to the cafe and grabbed a cup of coffee and put his dime in the money cup. He took it over to the red table and sat down. Wonder who runs this place. They on vacation?
A bald man came out of the back office. He had a big gut and the bottom button was left undone. Probably too fat to get it buttoned. The guy noticed Henry sitting there and walked up to him.
“Can I help you kid”? Henry stood up and extended his left arm out. Shaking hands Henry said, ” I heard you are looking for a set-up man. I came right over when I heard about it. Are you still looking for someone”?
Carl, the owner said, “Ya, I am still looking, who’s interested”?
“I am. I need some more money. Got a kid coming on the way and I need more hours. I work over part-time at the grocery store bagging groceries. It is an ok job, but won’t do enough for me”, Henry said.
“You got your girl knocked up huh kid. Pretty stupid thing to do if you ask me, but who’s asking? This job pays every week. It is a late-nite job. You come in around 7 and you work until we close at midnite. It pays sixty cents an hour. You interested”?
“I sure am sir. When can I start”?
“How about tonight? My name is Carl but you can call me boss”. Henry reached out his hand and shook on the deal with Carl and putting his hat back on he turned and left, yelling back at the guy, “See ya tonight and thanks”.
Henry was smiling and whistling his way to his car. He had done it. He had landed himself another part-time job. With these two jobs he now had a full-time job. Wait til I tell Jane and the guys.
He got in his car and took off a little faster than he should. Dirt scattered in the parking lot. He saw a cop sitting on the next corner but he must have been eating his donut as he didn’t do a thing.
He went over to Jane’s house and jumped out of the car and raced to the house. Banging on the door, it wasn’t long before it opened, with Jane standing there. Henry grabbed her by the waist and picked her up and swung her around. She started giggling and telling him,” put me down Henry. Right now”. Henry ignored her as he continued to swing her.
“I got another job doll. I am going to be working over at the bowling alley. Going to be a night job. I am going to bag groceries through the day and then go set-up pins at night”. Jane’s face went from giggles to frowns.
“When we going to have time to see each other Henry? If you work day and night when you going to fit me in”? Henry let her down and tried to think of the perfect answer. He didn’t want any fighting to start. He knew what he was doing was the right thing.
“Oh doll, you know I will be with you every minute I can. You know how much I love you. We are going to have to help mom and dad out when we start staying there. We can’t expect them to feed us every meal can we? This way we can have time together alone. We can go to the restaurant and get a burger, then we can go to our special spot and be together”. He winked at her and she recognized that wink. Sex, is that all men ever think about? Isn’t that how I got myself in this position, by having sex?
Jane smiled at him. She knew in her heart that he was right, but she was going to miss him. “So, when you going to start this new job”?
“Tonight at 7. Maybe you can come over and see me on my break. I got to get going doll. I have to be at work in in a few hours and I’m starving”. With this, he reached down and squeezed her real hard placing a hard kiss on her lips. She gasped for air, but when he turned around to wave as he was leaving he saw that smile. Her smile melted his heart every time he saw it. “Remember, next Saturday, you and me, getting hitched”. Jane had no time to respond as he climbed in his car and spinning his tires took off.
He drove home with his radio cranked. Patsy Cline was singing Crazy, and Henry thought to himself, ya crazy, crazy for you doll. He pulled in the drive and went inside. His mom was washing dishes and she smiled at him as he entered the room. As he was getting some ham out of the refrigerator, he said,”I got a job mom. I mean I got another job to go along with my baggers job. You won’t have to worry about me and Jane living here as much now mom. We won’t be any problem. We will try to find our own food to eat so you and dad won’t have to worry about your budget”.
He got the bread out and the ketchup and made himself two sandwiches. He poured himself a tall glass of milk and sat down at the table to eat. Carol remarked,” Honey you aren’t going to be any problem. It’s that girl you are going to have living here. I worry how she and I are going to get along. Does she talk much? You know I have my own routine and I don’t want someone yakking in my ear all day”.
“Ah mom, don’t worry. Jane’s quiet. She will stay out of your way. She will probably sleep a lot being pregnant. You won’t even know she is here”. With that his mom came over and tugged on his ear and smiled down at him. Then she turned and left the kitchen, the dishes being done.
There wasn’t any conversation while Jane and Henry waited for the food to arrive. Once it
came they both dug in. Their appetites were big, coming from the stress of having to tell the truth.
Once they were down to only drinking their malt Henry turned towards Jane and said, ” It won’t be so bad doll. Hell, I have lived with my parents forever. I just tune them out. We need a place to live. I promise you, I am going to look for a better job first thing in the morning. Trust me babe, it’s going to be alright”.
Jane replied,” Henry, I don’t know if I can pull this off. I love you but,living with your parents, your mom? I don’t want to be without you so I will give it a try, just for you”. The two finished off their drink and he started the car letting the waitress know they were ready to leave.
He drove them up to lover’s lane. It was a windy road that ran around the lake. It was made of dirt and not much traffic. He turned the car off and got out of the car. He walked around and opened her door. The two of them grabbed a blanket from the trunk and walked until they found a nice soft spot of grass and spread the blanket out.
He sat and pulled her to him. He kissed her lips and as he was kissing her neck, he unbuttoned her shirt and unhooked her bra. She took her cue and laid down on the blanket. He followed her grabbing a hold of her swollen breasts and began to kiss them, cupping them in his hands. He bit the tips causing a hardness to form in her nipples and in his pants.
He ran his hands over her belly, leaving it rest for a moment where the baby was growing. He then lowered his hand and ran it down the length of her legs and then back up to the garden of love. She arched her body to him, inviting him to go deeper. He fondled her and stirring desires from deep within her, he continued until she could take no more. She screamed with passion and grabbed a hold of his manhood and led it deep into her flowering garden.
He wasted no time as he rose above her and let himself slowly slip in taking her for his own. The two rose to another level of sanity as they were no longer able to keep their senses under control. Moments later, they laid on their backs gazing up at the millions of stars. He said, “Was it as good for you as it was for me”? Jane rolled over on her side next to him, and touched his lips saying,” hush, let’s not ruin the moment.”
After they had laid there for a while in each others arms, Henry got up and said, ” We better get going. I have to get to bed early so I can look for a new job tomorrow.” The two gathered the blanket and tossed it back in the trunk. When he pulled up in front of her house, he leaned over and gave her a peck on her cheek and then she got out of the car waving at him.
On his way to his own house he thought about her living with his mom. Anxiety rose inside of him at the thoughts of anyone but him being able to live with his mom. She was not the most friendly mom, but for now he would make sure it worked. Where am I going to get more work or a better job? I work at the bowling ally now sitting pins. I like it but it isn’t enough to pay for a baby. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Taking a big puff on it and letting rings roll off of his lips, he sat in the drive way thinking before he walked in to who knew what.
After he smoked he got out and went in. His parents were still sitting in front of the television. They looked up at him as he closed the door behind him and headed for his room. As he was taking two steps at a time his dad called out to him.” Got any ideas how you are going to handle this? Got any money saved up Henry”?
Henry stopped and turned towards his dad and said matter of fact,” I am going to take care of it first thing in the morning. Don’t worry dad, I am not going to mess up or ask anything from you.” With this he turned and went to his room. His dad went back to watching television.
The next morning Henry woke earlier than usual and the first thing on his mind was money. He took a shower and went to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. His mom was sitting at the table drinking her coffee. As he sat down to eat, Carol said,” Son we don’t talk too much about serious things, but make sure you take care of this problem. Don’t let yourself end up like your mother”.
Henry asked,” Like you? What, did you get yourself knocked up before you were married too?” His mother started to shed a tear and hung her head. She said, ” I thought I was in love. I let the guy convince me that our love was forever. I ended up pregnant. My parents had a fit and kicked me out. I had nowhere to go and I had nothing with me except the clothes on my back. I ended up walking to my girlfriend’s house. I guess from the crap going on in my life, it caused me to lose the baby. Now that I look back, it was actually a blessing. No parents, no boyfriend, no baby”.
Henry went over and gave his mom a hug. This was something the two had not shared since he was a child. He told her, ” don’t worry mom. I got it under control. With you and dad helping us out by letting us stay here, it will help. I am going out now to find a better job.”
Carol patted his hand and dried her tears. “Please don’t ever mention this to your dad Henry. I never told him.” He looked at her and for the first time understood his mom a lot better. He thought, no wonder she is always in a bad mood. She has carried this deep dark secret for a long time. He said, ” don’t worry mom, it’s our little secret,” and with this he left the house to job hunt.
Who I am 