DARRELL'S WOES Chapter Fourteen

Day Dreaming
courtesy photobucket.com

 

This last chapter will bring you up to date on me and my life so far. I have only been able to relate things as they came to memory for little was written down.

On my day off I went shopping at the mall and there I was meeting people I hadn't seen for many years. I wondered why they had returned to town since they had moved on to greener pastures, and it came to me this was the weekend of the twentieth year reunion of our high school class.

The only reason I knew was because it was on the front page of the paper.

Then I met one of the old classmates, a woman who was in charge of organizing the reunion's events and she handed me a form to fill out and the request for money for there were some bills to be paid. I told her I didn't know if I would be there, but would give her a check anyway.

She lit into me about school pride and by the time she was finished I was signed up to help with the decorations, and promised to show up at least for a little while.

While still smarting from the dressing down I just received, I ran into one of Lori's old friends who over the years had kept in contact with her.

Immediately she started telling me about Lori, and I was a little interested since I hadn't heard anything of her since she had married.  For the next hour she went on first talking about Lori and then gossiping about others in our class.  She had all the news and I tried to piece together what she had said about Lori.

I tried to tell myself that I wasn't really interested - - but I had been soaking in every word.

It seems Lori had gotten married and at the insistence of the in-laws she in a short time had birthed two boys. The doting grandparents were constantly spoiling the boys so much that mom was looked at as the tyrant when ever she tried to discipline them. The grandparents took the boys everywhere, even to Europe over Lori's protests, but the husband would say, "Just take them, go," and that was the way they grew up.

Our friend went on and said the husband had taken up with a younger woman and wanted and got a divorce.  Lori received a large settlement but the boys wanted to live with their dad and his wife who was just a little older than they were.  She finally agreed to this because they wouldn't respect her, and it would only be a chaotic situation.

The last thing my classmate said before she sailed off looking for a new victim was; “She is still single and not dating anyone and is coming to the reunion.”

This last piece of information caused me to rethink about going to the reunion and the dance that followed.  I didn't know if I was up to meeting Lori again after all this time. I figured she would be a different person than the one I knew years ago.  She might not want to see me and as I played out different scenarios my mind, I took me on an involuntary trip back to the past when I first laid eyes on her.

As you may recall it was in the middle of my High School junior year when she enrolled in school.

 

Her family was affluent and she had been in private school. The night that she came to the school dance with her hair cut like the little Dutch boy on paint cans.  Her braces had a couple more months before they came off and she had on heavy black horn rimmed glasses and to top it off she wore a too big baggy dress which went down to her ankles.  She simply wanted to see just what kind of response she would get.

When she came in she went and sat with the wallflowers and waited.  Every so often the matron in charge would send one of the boys over to pick out one of wallflower girls to dance with.  An hour passed and she still sat there.

I was sitting across the large auditorium and couldn't really see her face but decided to go over and give her a mercy dance. As I related before I didn't look at her face but just extended my hand while looking away.  I knew I would really get it from the other boys tomorrow but I did it anyhow for I thought it was a nice thing to do.

 

As I led her out on the floor the other boys were looking at me and grinning.  I started to place my hand on her waist and to take our first steps, but she grabbed me and pulled herself against me and we danced away.  I realized there was more to her than I first thought. She was light on her feet, knew all the steps, and I spent the evening dancing just with her.

Thinking about all of this had mesmerized me and it gave me a start when someone asked me "Are you all right?" 

I said sure, I was just daydreaming.

As I thought of the times past and about the special person I had spent time with, my heart strings were caused to play a melody where there had only been discord for several years.

I didn't know if I would have the nerve to speak with her, for any hint of rejection would be more than I wanted to deal with. The best I could hope for was there would remain some vestige of the person I once knew remaining.

The reunion night arrived and my girls came over and checked me out carefully. They wanted me to put on some after shave lotion and I said, “No,” but finally gave in and said, "Just a little," as they doused it on me.

Oh well, they were my babies and they embarrassed me as I left by saying "Go get them dad."

The happy hour was in full swing when I arrived and some of the "mates" were already slurring their speech and becoming obnoxious. I moved away from the no-host bar where I conversed with some of the people I hated back in the school days and also a few friends.

The orchestra was in place and the dance started.  During the first few minutes some of the old partners I danced with wanted to dance with me and I must admit I was a little rusty but finally the steps came back to me.  I went back and sat against the wall just watching as the people danced by.

Soon I noticed a woman come in who looked out of place for her hair was short and straight.  She had horn rimmed glasses on, and her dress looked like it came from the Salvation Army, for it was baggy and came down to her ankles.  She sat where the wallflower girls sat.

I couldn't see her clearly for the people were dancing by me and blocking my view. I got up and worked my way through the dancing couples toward this pitiful looking person for a better look. As I neared her she looked up and I knew who it was.  I looked directly into Lori's eyes and thought to myself, “No, I couldn't passionately love three different women, but I could love two.”  

All is Well
courtesy google search

Without speaking I extended my hand to her which she took. We stepped out on the floor and I took her hand and placed my other hand on her waist.

 
Then she put her arms around my neck, drew herself too tight to me and laid her head on my shoulder and all was right with the world once again.

 

THE END