Maybe Tomorrow (eBook)

Chapter 15

The Mean Rooster: Tulsa

In our new neighborhood, I soon met a boy who lived nearby. His name was Charles, and he was rather cute. What I liked about him best was that he was taller than me. He started hanging around often when he saw me feeding our rabbits and chickens. I enjoyed feeding them and loved watching the rabbit’s pink noses twitch back and forth when they smelled the rabbit food.

But I wasn’t too fond of the new rooster that Dad had bought to keep the chickens happy. That rooster had a mind of his own and a mean streak. He would watch for me to enter the fenced-in area where we kept him along with the chickens and the rabbits.

The very minute I would turn my back to reach in and feed the rabbits in their cages, he would pounce on my back full force, flapping his wings and hanging on the best he could. I had to learn the hard way that I needed to carry a big stick with me when walking into the fenced area, so I could use it to try and scare him off.

When I was talking to Charles one day, I forgot to take my stick. That stupid rooster was waiting, and as soon as I turned my back to feed the rabbits, he pounced on my back and hung on for dear life. He seemed to know I didn’t have that stick and could not fight him off.

“Run, Lori,” I heard Charles yelling at me.

Charles then jumped the fence and came running toward me. He had my stick clutched tightly in his hands. He hit that rooster off my back with enough force to kill us both.

“RUN!” he said.

I ran and jumped the fence higher than I thought I could ever jump, but it was not high enough. I cut a big gash on my leg on the barbed wire that Dad had put across the top.

I saw that my leg was bleeding a lot. Then I looked up and saw that stupid rooster lying on the ground and Charles walking toward me with a big grin.

His expression changed when he saw that I had hurt myself. He took his handkerchief from his back pocket and placed it tightly on my cut leg.

“Here, hold this on it real tight while I get your mother,” he told me.

Mom came out quickly and took me inside to clean and dress the cut. Charles followed us into the house and sat quietly watching.

“I may have killed that rooster!” he told Mom.

“Don’t worry about it, Charles,” Mom told him. “I’m just glad you were there to help Lori when she needed it.”

Mom told us both that she was also afraid of that rooster but that he was a prize rooster, and Dad had paid a lot of money for him, so she needed to try and save him. I didn’t care if that dumb rooster cost a hundred dollars—I hoped he was deader than a doornail!

Mom checked and made sure I was alright, then went out to check on that stupid prize rooster. I couldn’t believe it when she returned with it wrapped up in a towel, placed it inside our bathtub, and started trying to revive it. I remember standing over that bathtub, looking down at that mess of feathers, and wondering what made me the maddest—Mom for trying to save it or that mess of feathers for not dying.

Charles asked me out later that week. He wanted to take me to the new drive-in theater in town. Of course Mom said no, but she did say that she would take us in her car. I didn’t care what we did. Charles was just a good friend and had been very nice to me. Mom took us and allowed us to sit in the back seat together, which surprised me.

Charles did hold my hand during the movie. A few times, he would place his hand on my leg. It was dark inside the car, and I knew Mom couldn’t see what he was doing, so I didn’t try to stop him.

When the movie was over and we got back home, as Mom headed to go inside, she looked at me and said, “Don’t be outside too long now, Lori.”

Charles took my hand and led me to the side of the car, where he knew Mom couldn’t see us from the house. He was taller than me, and it felt good just standing beside him. Then he kissed me. It felt funny, but I found myself kissing him back, and he pulled me closer—so close, I wasn’t sure I would be able to get my next breath. The kiss Charles gave me was new and strange, but what I felt below his belt certainly was not. His hands reached up slowly under my blouse, touching my skin. Just then, I heard Mom’s voice.

“Lori, you need to come in now!”

“I’ve got to go in now, Charles,” I told him as I pulled away and fixed my blouse. “Will you come over again tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said.

As I watched him walk away to go home, he didn’t seem as tall to me as before.

When I reached our front porch steps, Mom said, “Don’t go in yet, Lori. We need to have a long talk.” She motioned for me to sit beside her on the porch swing.

“Okay, Mom, what do we need to talk about?” I asked her.

“First, I need to tell you about your dad’s job. I’m sure you noticed that he had to stop selling whiskey for a while. But everything will be alright now. He is going back into the same business, but it will be different than before. You will need to tell your friends not to call you often because our number will be a business phone when school starts. Your dad will be putting a lot of whiskey bottles around the house. They will be in all those places he has been building. We will need to keep all of it hidden as best we can. And if any policeman comes around and asks you any questions, tell them absolutely nothing. And if they ever ask to see your dad, or if he is home, come and find me first,” she told me.

Mom had answered all my questions in just those few minutes of my conversation with her. Why had I not been smart enough to figure it all out? I was angry, but the look on Mom’s face showed much more than anger. Her face showed pain, hurt, and sorrow.

“Alright, Mom,” was all I could say.

I knew Mom didn’t like Dad’s job any more than I did and that she felt terrible about having to tell me these things. It did feel good to know that she trusted me enough to talk to me about it. As she hugged me, I sensed how hard it was for her to hold back her tears. That evening on our front porch, we formed a mother-daughter bond with just those few minutes of conversation. We both knew that whatever Dad told us we needed to do, we had to do it. Even if we felt it was wrong, we would do whatever he asked us to do.

“Did Charles kiss you goodnight?” she asked me.

“Yes, he did, Mama, and it felt nice!” I said to her.

“Lori, if you have any questions about boys, I hope you will feel free to always come to me and ask,” she told me.

I knew I could talk to Mom about certain things because she had always been open with me on different subjects. She had explained menstruation to me long before my body changed and my monthly periods started. Most of my girlfriends at school learned those things from me because their mothers had not discussed it with them.

“You also need to know, Lori, that when a boy and girl get to be close, they will want to start holding hands and kissing. It’s a natural part of what caring for someone of the opposite sex is all about. It can be beautiful if you control it and don’t let things go too far,” she said.

“How far is too far?” I asked her.

With hesitation, she said, “You have let things go too far when you feel a certain part of his body changing.”

Mom must have seen the look on my face that said more than I wanted.

“Have you already felt this before?” Mom asked.

I wanted to tell Mom so many things at that moment. I wanted to say, Yes, Mom, yes! I felt it when Dad shoved my face in his lap! Yes, I did feel it just now when Charles kissed me. I needed to tell her I saw it with Dad and my Girl Scout leader when they were making love in her bed. I needed to tell her all the times I had felt it on Dad when he would hug me or take me with him on his trips. I needed to let her know that I was not a bad daughter. I was not evil like Granny told me I would be. But I couldn’t tell her any of these things!

I was happy that Mom felt she could trust me and talk to me like a grown-up, but what would she think about me if she knew I had already experienced these things? How would she feel about me? I couldn’t take that chance! She was unhappy enough with Dad. I couldn’t make things worse by letting her know how evil I was. I loved her too much. I wouldn’t be able to bear having her hate me for being evil like Granny said I would be.

“I did feel something tonight when Charles kissed me,” was all I could answer.

“It’s just a part of growing up and becoming a beautiful young lady. I’m hoping that you will learn not to let those things happen. You must be the one to stop them when you see the boy you are with is getting too excited. When you get a little older, you will learn to do other things, which should come later in your life. But it would help if you knew before then always to say no. Now, let’s go inside and get some sleep. Tomorrow we will go shopping and get some new school clothes for you and Terrell,” she said.

As I lay in bed that night watching my red light blink, thinking of what Mom and I had discussed, and drifting off to sleep, I seemed to feel a nice warmth. I felt like someone was holding me tight. It was not Charles or Dad who were in my thoughts. It was Marc who was...