Chicago, Illinois

June 15, 1944

The Joy of Sex

“Mitchell,” he called, “come in here, will you. I want to talk to you.”

Lying on the floor listening to the radio, “Dad,” going into the kitchen, “I’m listening to ‘The Shadow’ an’ it’s almost over.”

Wanting to get it over with, sitting at the table, smoking a cigarette, in front of Walter was a book, a pad of paper, a pencil and an ashtray. “This is more important.” Motioning to the chair to his left, “Sit down.”

Wondering, What’d I do? “I do somethin’ wrong, Dad?”

“No, Mitchell.” Taking a drag on the cigarette, he put it on the ashtray. “It’s just that your mother… Your mother and I think it’s time I had a talk with you about… uh, ‘things.’”

Things? “What things?”

“Sit down!” Walter motioned to the chair again, then waited till he was seated. “Mitchell,” he said, “I want to talk to you about what’s called, uh, sex.” Looking at his son, “Do you know what I’m talking about?” Seeing him shake his head negatively, going on, “Sex, uh… sexual intercourse is what a man and woman do when they, uh… among other things, and most importantly, I guess, sexual intercourse is what a man and woman do when they want to have a baby.”

Having no idea where this was going, he’d been slouching, but his father’s words, bringing Norman’s theory about fucking to mind, straightening his body, the father then had all of the son’s attention.

“In order for us—for you and me—to talk intelligently…” Looking at Mitchell, Walter wondered if his son could talk intelligently. “I’ve got to make sure that you know the difference between men and women…”

“Would the difference be the same for boys and girls?”

“Yes, Mitchell. Of course it would.” Oh, God. Thinking, A kid that’s almost ten must have some idea! Was I ever that stupid? Answering himself, I don’t know, maybe I was. Walter’s attitude softened, slightly.

“Look, to make it easier, we won’t call them men or women, girls or boys. We’ll call them male and female. Boys are male and girls female. Understand?”

“Yeah,” nodding his head, “I guess so.”

Opening the book to a pre-marked page, “Okay, then,” Walter said dubiously, “here’s the difference.”

Mitchell stared at a black and white line drawing of a man and woman with lines pointing to various parts of their bodies at one end and to a list of words on the other. The stomachs on both were cut away showing what looked to him like coils of rope.

Using the eraser end of the pencil as a pointer, taking a deep breath, “Mitchell,” Walter said, “this is called the penis.”

He certainly knew what that was. “Yeah, that’s a p…” but catching himself, he stopped short.

“What?”

“Nothin’, Dad. Sorry.”

“No one’s talked to you about this before, right?”

Thinking it best not to mention Skorupski, “Yeah, Dad. No one’s talked to me ’bout this stuff before.”

Hesitating a moment, looking at his son closely, “Okay.” Continuing, “This is the penis, and besides using it to urinate from…”

“Urinate?”

“Urinate is when you have to go, to pee. It’s really called urinating, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Besides using your penis to urinate from, when a man and, uh, when a male and female are together, in bed together, it—the penis—gets bigger and harder and when that happens that’s what’s called an erection…”

I know ’bout boners. But, “Like in the mornin’” he asked, “when I’ve got to… uh, what you said.”

“Yes, like in the morning when you have to urinate, only then, when you’re… when a male and female are in bed together only then the male doesn’t have to urinate… Now, this is the female and she’s different from the male in many ways.” Pointing the eraser to the upper portion of her body, “These two, uh, things, are called breasts, and when a female is young her chest looks like yours, but as she gets older, oh, maybe when she’s fourteen of fifteen, they start to grow and begin to look like,” tapping the eraser, “this.”

I know ’bout titties. But, “Why do they grow?” he asked. “What are they for?”

“For one thing,” Walter smiled, “they sure look nice, but God really made ’em for feeding babies.”

Thinking about the lady on the train that morning, knowing she was feeding her baby, not knowing how, though, but thinking it best to play dumb here, in any case, “How?”

“Through these,” pointing to the small circles drawn on each breast. “These are called nipples…”

“Like a nipple on a bottle?”

“Well, yeah, kind of. When a lady has a baby they—the nipples—get a little opening in them and the baby is able to suck milk through.”

“Milk comes from cows. How’s the lady get milk in her?”

“That’s another lesson, Mitchie, and we’ll talk about that some other time.”

“Think it hurts the lady?”

“No. Matter of fact, the lady usually likes it. At least till the kid starts to grow teeth.”

“Yeah,” smiling, “I guess so.”

“Besides breasts, this,” touching the eraser to the female’s “V,” then to the man’s penis, “is the main difference between a male and a female. Males have their sex organs on the outside…”

This may be it! “Sex organs?”

“Yes. The penis is the man’s sex organ and you can see it, but the woman’s sex organs are on the inside…”

Disappointed. “An’ you can’t see ’em?”

“Well, no… uh, not unless…”

“Never? You can’t see ’em, never!”

“Well, yes, but only if she’s, uh, she’d have to be in the right position.”

“What’s it look like, then, the, uh, female, uh, sex organ?”

Stalling, lighting a fresh cigarette, When in doubt, Walter thought, avoid the situation. “That’s not important now. When you get older you’ll just have to find out for yourself, but for now,” he said a bit impatiently, “do you mind if we just go on?”

Mitchell nodded his head.

“Okay, then. The female sex organ is called…” inhaling deeply, he pointed to the V of the females thighs, “at least what you can see, is called…” his eyes following the line to the side, “the vulva.”

Mitchell giggled.

Looking up from the book, the impatience back in his voice, “Did I say something funny?”

“No. It’s just that that, what you called it, is a funny word.”

Taking another drag, “Anyway, when the man, uh, when the male has an erection, he puts it in the female’s… You remember about erections, right?”

“Yeah.”

Looking closely at his son, satisfied that the boy was taking his lecture seriously, going on with what he considered the most difficult part, “When the male has an erection… a not having-to-urinate erection, he’ll—if the female lets him—the male will put his erection, his penis, in the female’s, uh, vulva, only now, inside the vulva it’s called…” looking at the glossary, “it’s called the vagina,” pointing to the cutaway, “and when the man’s penis is in the woman’s vagina, they have what’s called intercourse.”

Fucking is… “‘Intercourse’?” Mitchell asked.

“Yes.” Taking another puff, Walter put the cigarette onto the ashtray, and with his right elbow on the table, crooking his arm, covering his brow with his hand, speaking without looking up, “When a male and a female come together, uh, sexually, it’s called intercourse, and the male, kind of, lays on top of the female and puts his penis in the female’s, uh, vagina, and they both, uh, kind of, move up and down till the male has what’s called…” stopping, stalling, he pretended to look for another pre-marked page.

As Walter thumbed through the book Mitchell saw that a number of the pages had drawings depicting people, men and women, female and male people in various positions fucking and, I’d like to find where they keep this book, and look at it, all by myself.

“Yes.” Glancing at Mitchell, Walter went on. “When the male is, uh, laying on top of the female and has his, uh, when he has his penis, uh, inside the female’s, uh, vagina and the two of them are…” taking a deep breath, “moving up and down together, pretty soon the male has what’s called an…” reading directly from the book, “‘ejaculation: A sudden ejection of fluid…’”

“‘Ejection of fluid’?”

“Yes, it’ll, uh, he’ll, uh, it’ll come… Mitchell, when a man has intercourse with a woman, he’ll, uh, pretty soon a, uh, kind of a liquid… You know what liquid is?”

“Like the stuff uncle Al drinks?”

“No,” smiling for the first time since this conversation started, “that’s liquor. Liquid is… water is a liquid. Only the liquid that comes out of a man’s penis when he’s having intercourse, when he, uh…” glancing at the book again, “ejaculates, is much, much thicker and it’s called…” looking at the book once again, “semen, and when the semen goes into a woman’s vagina…”

Semen! That’s the white stuff that squirts outta me!

Back-paging a few pages… “When the semen goes into the woman’s vagina it mixes with an egg, here.” Walter pointed to the cutaway of the fallopian tubes.

“Egg!” Attempting to hold back laughter because he was relieved in knowing that his ejaculations were normal, and also because, “Girls got eggs in ’em? Like a chicken?” but he couldn’t and began to laugh.

“Yes, eggs! No, not like a chicken, like a female! Stop!” Walter held his hand up, palm forward. “Don’t ask any more questions! Just listen!”

“But, Dad, it’s so funny!”

“No! Shhh!” Holding his forefinger in front of his lips, Walter silenced his son. “The male has… When the male ejaculates his liquid, his semen has what’s called sperm, and they, the sperm, look like this…” Turning to another page, he showed Mitchell what looked to the boy like little fish with long, curvy tails. “…and when the sperm reaches the female’s egg it fertilizes it, and…”

“Like when Joe puts stuff on the grass to make it grow?”

“Well, I suppose it’s like that, in a way.” Waiting for another question, getting none, Walter went on. “Anyway, after the male’s sperm fertilizes the female’s egg, it, the egg, stays in the female’s…” looking at the book again, “‘womb’ for nine months…”

“Room?”

“No.” Looking up, sighing, “womb, not room. The womb is where the female’s egg, the fertilized egg, stays for nine months while it grows into a baby, and…”

“Huh?” He couldn’t believe it. Norman was right! “A baby?”

“Mitchell, that’s something else I want to talk to you about now… Your mother, uh, your mother and me, we’re going to have another baby.”

Thinking a moment, absolutely unable to envision his mother and father fucking, yet, “Dad, that’s great!” he said sincerely, excitedly. “I’m gonna be a big brother! Can I help mom with him? You think maybe I can watch when she gives him her milk?”

Relieved that it was out, and accepted, “Slow down, it could be a sister. Least ways that’s what your mother’s praying for, and I’m sure that she’ll be only too happy to let you help, but as for watching her nurse… uh, feed the baby? Knowing your mother I’m not too sure she’ll want you to do that… Oh, and one thing more,” Walter said as almost an afterthought. “Because of the baby, she had to quit her job last week so we can’t afford to send you back to Baylor. That okay with you?”

“Sure! That’s great! I always miss you’n’mom so much anyway.”

Surprise showing in his voice, “Me? You miss me, too?”

“Yeah, Dad, sure! Why wouldn’t I miss you? You’re my dad,” Mitchell said, “I’m supposed to miss you!”

Deeply touched, Walter considered hugging his son, but unable to bring forth the needed show of emotion, “Mitchie,” he asked instead, “how’d you like to go to the circus tomorrow? Just you and me.”

“The circus! Yeah, Yeah! I’d love to!”

“Okay, kiddo.” Reaching for his cigarettes, “Tomorrow it’s just you and me.”

“I wanna ask you, Dad, why’d a guy wanna do it? Put his, uh, penis in a lady’s, uh, what’ch’ma’call’it?”

“First off,” lighting a cigarette, “it’s God’s way of creating life and making sure that there’s always people here, and also, because God made it feel so nice, people always want to do it.”

His thought of ‘how nice it’s got to feel’ confirmed, the thought of intercourse still repugnant, though, “Well, not me!”

“Oh, yeah? Just you wait. You just wait!”