Reconciliation 5

Chicago, Illinois

June 21, 1957

 “Where can we go to be alone?”

“I’ve an idea!”
The wife said,

“We’ve eighteen bucks.

How’s ’bout we get something to eat,

go to a movie,

then,

by the time we get out it’ll be dark

and,

like we’re on a date,

what if we find someplace to park

and,

you know,

fool around.”

The young woman had been correct;

it was dark when they came from the theatre and,

“Bum­bababa­ba­ba­buming”

‘The Colonel Bogie March’,

the theme from

‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’,

the young man anxiously drove to the closest,

and first place either he or she could think of

where it would be dark and

where they could be alone:

“The Montrose Beach parking lot.”

 On the way,

“Honey,”

remembering,

“unless you’ve got one with you—

and if you do,

 I have no idea what you thought

you were going to do with it—

I think you’d better stop and buy some.”

“Buy some what?”

“Rubbers, honey.”

Yeah!

It took three tries till

he was able to find a drugstore

with a male pharmacist,

with no women or

salesgirls within hearing range.

When,

his hand to the side of his mouth,

whispering to the man behind the counter,

“A package of Trojan red­-wets, please.”

Although dark,

it was still too early for

most of the kids that

went there for a necking session,

and there were only a

few scattered cars parked

in the large Montrose Beach parking lot.

Circling twice,

the young man parked in the furthermost,

most secluded spot.

Turning the motor and lights off,

“Baby,”

he asked,

“you want to move to the back?”

©November 15, 2011 / Mark M. Lichterman

To be continued as “The Reconciliation 6