Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara [48]
Did you? I m glad I said it then.
He put his arm around her and tried to kiss her. No, she said. All right, he said. Don t spoil it, she added. It wouldn’t spoil it. Not now. At least I don t think so. I waited till you were dressed.
Yes, and I m glad you did. I like you for that, Joe. But even now. You know.
No, frankly. I don t know what you mean.
Yes, you do. You oh, hell.
Oh, you mean because I saw you without any clothes on.
Mm-hmm, she said, although up to then she had been thinking that technically he had not seen her without any clothes on. Now she wished she had been completely nude. It was something you had to get over, and with Joe it had been a grand chance. All right, he said, and took his arm away. They talked about her trip abroad. It was her first. He said he wished he were going with her, or could go in time to take her around Paris and so on, but he couldn’t make it; he had to be a good boy at the National City, because it was time he was getting somewhere and making some money. A crooked lawyer and his mother s stupidity had reduced his father s estate. So he was working for the National City, with an office in Reading and a salary that just proved to him how worthless he was. She couldn’t muster much pity for him; she had seen the Montgomery home, Mrs. Montgomery s Rolls. Well, this is all very nice, she said, but I think maybe we d better start back to town. How far is it?
Oh, plenty of time. It isn’t far. I don t really know how far it is exactly. Let s not go back right away. You’re going away so soon, and for such a long time.
But I have so many things to do, she said. You ve no idea.
Oh, yes, I have. Turkish towels, six. Heavy woolen underwear, six. Handkerchiefs, twelve. Two sweaters. The school will supply sheets and bed linen, but we recommend, and so on. All marked with indelible ink or Cash s woven labels.
But I have. I have to
Parents are specially urged to exercise restraint in providing boys with pocket money. A dollar and a half a week will be sufficient for most needs.
Oh, Joe.
The use of motorcycles is absolutely prohibited.
What about cigarettes?
Members of the Upper Middler and higher forms are permitted to use tobacco on written permission of one or both parents.
I could tell you some you don t know, she said. Such as?
Oh girls schools.
Oh, that s easy. In cases where a girl is likely to be absent from class and other activities at frequent intervals during the school year, a letter from the family physician, addressed to the school nurse
That s enough, she said. She was embarrassed and angry with herself. Here she was, talking about the most intimate part of a woman s life, with a man whom she did not really know. It was the second time tonight that she had done a first thing with him: he was the first to see her with nothing on (she had well-founded misgivings about the protection the step-ins had given her), and he was the first to talk to her about That. She hated all the euphemisms for it, and when she thought of it she thought of it in the Bryn Mawr term: Off the sports list.
His arm was around her again and his head was close to hers. He thought she was angry with him, and for the moment she did not care; but then she rested her face on his shoulder, and she put up her mouth for the kiss and then she let herself coast with him. He took down her dress and kissed her breasts and she patted and rubbed his head. She waited without tension for what he would do next. She thought she knew what that would be, and she did not prepare to fight against it. But she was wrong. He suddenly slipped her shoulder straps up her arms and back where they belonged. Her breath was coming as though she had stopped running a few minutes ago, slowly and deeply. You virgin? he said. Yes, she said. Are you sure? Please tell me the truth.
Mm-hmm. I am.
Do you love me? he said. Yes, I think I do, Joe.
How old are you? he said. Twenty-five. Twenty-six soon. No. I am twenty-six.
Oh. Then you want to be a virgin when you get married. That s why you are now.
I guess so, she said. I