A FBOW excerpt in sequence: “The Colonel Bogie March”
In the empty passageway, the door closed behind them.
Instantly in each others arms. Their lips pressed together. Unwilling… Unable to break the magnetic hold of their kiss.
I love you!
Their commingled thoughts, though unspoken were heard… Were felt.
I love you!
The words no longer thoughts.
“I love you!”
“Marsha...” moving his mouth from her mouth, “...oh, my God I love you!”
He looked at her, Oh, God, beautiful face and into her beautiful dark eyes and having to prove that this was real. That Marsha was ‘really’ here. ‘Really’ in his arms…Sensing the feel of his wife’s heart against his chest, holding her tighter…
Sensing the beat of her husband’s heart against her breast, holding him tighter.
As though from a prayer he had prayed..
As though from a dream he had dreamt…
“Mitchie, I love you, too!”
________________________________________________
Chicago, Illinois
June 29, 1957
In the Cook County Courthouse lobby…
“Mother, take care of Mikey a bit longer, will you? I, uh… guess I won’t be home for a while.”
“What do you mean ‘you guess you won’t be home for a while’?”
“The judge…” looking at Mitchell, who was three telephone booths down talking to his mother, “...talked to us and…”
“The judge talked to you? ‘And what’?”
“Mother, he said he thought Mitchell and me should try it again.”
In an accusatory tone. “I had a feeling this was going to happen, Marsha.”
“I don’t understand you, Mother! You should be happy for me! He’s my husband and Michael’s father, and if there’s any way for us to work it out, then ‘damn it’, we’re going to do it! What the hell do you have against Mitchell anyway?”
Silent a moment. ‘What the hell do I have against Mitchell’?
Really having no idea herself what she truly has against him. “For one thing, honey,” Rhea said sarcastically, “in case you forgot, he did hit you!”
Marsha sighed. “No, Mother, to be honest, I punched him in the face first then hit him on the head and was kind of hysterical when he slapped me back! But you were so anxious for me to leave him…”
Recalling Marsha’s reluctance to have Bruce Berman use the fact that he struck her, though not excusing Mitchell for slapping her daughter, for ‘any’ reason. “Yeah, well remember, with Mitchell comes his mother.”
Thinking, Yeah! And with me comes my mother! And you’re not such great shakes either.
“Maybe I’m at fault there, too… So, you’ll do it? You’ll watch Mikey till I get home?”
“Sure, I’ll watch my grandson! What do you think I’d do, put him out on the street? You planning on coming home tonight?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if he’s got enough money for a hotel, and I’d feel… I ‘don’t’ want to spend the night at my in-laws! Besides, I’m sure Mitchell is going to want to see his son, ‘soon’!
Hesitating a moment. “Okay...” Rhea said, “...you two come on back here. You can stay here if you want till you figure out what to do.”
“Thanks, Mother. Oh, by the way, when you see Mitchell ‘please’ don’t say anything to him about this! It’s going to be hard enough as it is for him to go there without you making him feel even more uncomfortable.”
“Marsha, I know what to do!”
“Thank you, Mother. See you later. Bye.”
****
“ ‘Walter Lewis Studio’.”
“Mom.”
He had hoped his father would answer the phone because he’d have rather broken the news to him than her.
“We’ve been expecting you. So, how’d it go?”
“Good, Mom. Real good!”
“Hold on, Mitch, your father’s in the studio; let me get him on the line and you can tell both of us at the same time.”
“No, I haven’t got time.”
He looked at Marsha, three telephone booths down.
“Listen, Mom, the judge took us into his quarters and talked to us privately and, uh, we’re going to try it again, Mom. Marsha’n’me, we’re getting back together.”
“This is what you ‘really’ want, Mitchell?”
“Yeah, Mom. You know how much I’ve missed her’n’Mikey.”
“I know you have, Mitchell.”
She had seen his love/hate vacillation regarding Marsha.
“And I’ve… your father and me…well, we’ve missed Mikey, too. And, believe it or not, your wife, too…”
Mitchell found that hard to believe.
“...and if this is what you really want, then congratulations. But, Mitchell, this is a good time for the two of you to settle things between yourselves! And if I were you…” the tone of her voice changing, “...there are ‘certain’ things I’d insist on straightening out! And I’m sure you know what I’m talking about!”
That’s just about why this whole thing happened! Yeah, he thought, that’s just what Marsha’n’me are going to do now: talk about her calling you ‘mom,’ You bet!
“Look, Mom...” he said. “...Marsha’s waiting for me and I’m not sure where we’ll be staying tonight, but when we decide I’ll let you know. Okay?” Not waiting for a response. “Bye, Mom.”
“So, how’d they take it?”
“Okay! Fine!” Taking her hand, “How’s ’bout your mother?”
“Yeah, her, too.” Putting her arm about his waist. “And she said that if you, uh, we want to stay there till we figure out where we’re going, it’s okay with her.”
“Hey, baby, what I really want to do is spend the night at a hotel making…” Remembering her accusation of, ‘is sex ‘all’ you ever think about’ “...uh, sorry, baby, that’s if you want to.”
“ ‘Want to’? God, Mitchie, I can’t wait till we’re in bed together! But a hotel? We got enough money for a hotel?”
‘We’! The simple connotation was not lost on him. ‘We’! Meaning they were now a single unit again.
Looking at her, “Nah, I’ve only got about twelve bucks on me.”
“And I’ve got three.”
“Doesn’t matter too much, ‘cause I couldn’t wait till tomorrow to see Mikey anyway.”
“Yeah, and it’s not like we have to rush to my mother’s.”
“Yeah… Remember where we went last time we left city hall?”
“Yeah, the ‘planetarium’.”
Mitchell had always been a ‘touching’ kind of person and, unless angry at each other, whenever he was near Marsha he felt compelled to hold her hand or to touch her in some way. And now, as it had been in the days before and just after their marriage...
Marsha, also, seemingly could not get enough of her feel of him, nor the feel of his touch on her.
As though virginal newlyweds, the touch of each sending sensations of warm comfort and carnal desire to the other.
Crossing ‘La Salle Street’, holding hands, their arms held tightly about each others waists, were it not for the very distinct possibility that they’d be arrested or, more the likely, killed by the onslaught of rush hour traffic, they would surely had lain down and made love in the middle of the street.
The Ford travelled east to ‘Lake Shore Drive’ then about two miles south to the jog of ‘U.S. 41’ and Lake Shore. Turning left they drove along ‘Solidarity Drive’, through the thin peninsula of land that juts into Lake Michigan to the ‘Adler Planetarium’.
****
On October 17, 1955, two days after Marsha’s nineteenth birthday, it was here they came after the civil ceremony of their first marriage, the marriage that was—according to Rhea ‘not’ in ‘the eyes of God’.
It was here, at that time—because Marsha had promised their mothers— actually ‘her’ mother that they would not have intercourse until after the religious ceremony two months hence, until after the—according to Rhea, ‘in the eyes of God’ ceremony.
It was here, at that time…
At that time, though, it was cold and windy and, being Monday, the planetarium was closed and the parking lot deserted.
It was here, then, that Mitchell was first allowed to see the beauty and taste the wonder of his new wife’s breasts.
It was here, then, that Marsha had evoked the courage to see and touch the wonder of her new husband’s penis—the only penis, by the way, that Marsha had ever seen let alone touched. It was here, then, when worked into a state of heretofore unparalleled passion that she— for the first time in her life, allowed the touch of another’s hand on her vulva, and the first time she’d felt the parting of her labia and the caress of a finger, other than her own.
It was here—also on that day that she instinctively masturbated her new husband to ejaculation and it was here, then, for the first time in her nineteen years that she witnessed, to her ‘amazement’, the explosive expulsion of her new husband’s wondrous fluid that eight months later fertilised her egg—that nine months later produced their Michael.
****
Less than one hour before Marsha and Mitchell Lipensky had been on the brink of separation and divorce.
Now they were together with their love not only miraculously intact, but swollen to beyond containment.
As though this time was the time of physical discovery and sensual intimacy. Remembering the excitement of this place and that time the memory brought forth a wetness to Marsha and a hardness to Mitchell and each wanted—desperately wanted—to touch the other in ‘that way’ and be touched by the other in ‘that way’…
But most of all both wanted to go beyond ‘merely’ touching in any way way.
Only problem was…
This day was not a Monday and the Adler Planetarium parking lot was packed with people and cars that were coming and going constantly.
“Where can we go to be alone?”
“We can’t go to Skokie! The kids are probably home and by the time we’d get there my parents‘ll be there, too.”
Not quite ready to see her mother-in-law anyway. “We can’t go h… to Pratt, because as soon as my mother sees us, she’ll wash her hands of Mikey.”
“Yeah. And knowing her, she’ll stay up till Kate Smith sings ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ and…
****
On that first night of their ‘not in the eyes of God’ marriage—the only night they could be together before Mitchell had to return to New York and the Halfmoon—Marsha issued the ultimatum that unless they were allowed to spend the night together, one atop the blanket and... —Oh, yeah, you ‘bet’ they would— one atop the blanket and one beneath the blanket, they would go to a hotel.
Reluctantly consenting, Rhea did indeed stay up until Kate Smith sang ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. Then...
About a half hour later at, coincidentally, precisely the time Marsha had agreed to and was prepared for intercourse and—‘You bet’! Mitchell, too…
Rhea left her bedroom, went noisily into the bathroom and— with the newlyweds just on the other side of the door on the sofa bed in the living room of the one bedroom apartment, Marsha cooled off, changed her mind and did retain her virginity… for longer than she could have imagined.
****
Spending the balance of the day and evening out as though it were a prolonged date appealing to Marsha. “Hey, I’ve an idea! We’ve got fifteen bucks, so how’s ‘bout we get something to eat, go to a movie and then, by the time we get out it’ll be dark and, kind’a like we’re on a date, what if we find someplace to park and, uh, you know, ‘fool around’.” The idea of a date—knowing what the outcome would be—very ‘’definitely’ appealing to Mitchell. “Yeah, good idea! How’s ‘bout... If you’d like, how’s ‘bout, ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’?”
“Yes! I ‘love’ William Holden!” Poking him in the ribs. “I I love you better!” Marsha corrected.
Easily falling back into their old playful mode.
“Well I ‘love’ Liz Taylor...” poking her back. “...but I love you better, too.”
“What do you feel like?”
Knowing what she meant. “Hamburger’s fine with me...” smiling, “...hold the onion.”.
“Yeah, me, too.”
Turning back towards the ‘Loop’. Knowing of a ‘Wimpy’s’ on south Wabash…
...Sitting on either side of a booth, munching on hamburgers— “Hold the onion!” Marsha sipping a cherry Coke and Mitchell sucking a thick chocolate milk shake through a straw.
Noticing for the first time... Lifting his left hand. “Your wedding band? Where is it?”
Putting the hamburger onto it’s paper wrapper, taking a deep breath. “You know…” carefully formulating his words, “...I ‘never’ stopped hoping that maybe things would work their way out and that we’d get together again.
“You don’t know this, but a couple of times I drove to Pratt and parked...”—he hadn’t—“...and just looked at the building thinking about you and Mikey in there.
“On this one night…”—not wanting her angry at Rosalie and Marty, he did not want to tell her it was Marty that had told him she’d moved— “...I worked up the nerve to ring the bell to see if I could see Mikey, and… ‘God’, Marcie, you don’t know how much I missed both of you! Anyway, when I saw you’d moved out of our place and in with your folks it seemed ‘completely’ hopeless and I guess I just kind’a went nuts, and…”
“It ‘was’ you! ‘You’ rang the bell! Mother said it was you.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry! I hope I didn’t wake Mikey, but when I saw you’d given up the apartment…”
“It’s okay, Mitchie. I ‘knew’ I should have kept our place.”
...“That’s when it seemed to me like there really wasn’t any hope for us. So I rang the bell then got back in the car and took a long ride and… Marcie, you have no idea how bad I felt! Then I got angry and figured if you don’t want to be married to me then…” lowering his voice, whispering, “...I said, ‘Fuck it’! Why keep the ring!’ So… I’m sorry, baby, but I threw it away.”
Remembering her pain. Imagining his pain, looking away. “I’m sorry, too.” Marsha said softly.
By that time knowing his wife… ‘Thinking’ he knew his wife. Thinking of Marsha as a person whom— to say the least found it difficult to admit error. Unable to catch her true meaning—whether she felt remorse for, in his opinion, causing their separation, or because he’d thrown his wedding band away…
He didn’t ask and she didn’t say.
Slurping the thick shake through a straw, washing the last of his hamburger down…
“Oh, by the way...” he said, “...things are going much better at the studio and I signed a ‘tremendous’ customer that we don’t even know what the total billing will be, and they’ve called it even for my draw and I…’we’ve’ even gotten another five buck a week raise.”
“Mitchie...” taking his hand, “...that’s ‘wonderful, baby!’. I ‘knew’ you could do it!”
“Yeah, and my mom got a really nice set of pots and pans.”
Thinking, I would have taken them.“You going to be looking for another ‘part time’?”
“Don’t know yet, I’ve got a couple other customers that might be ready any time now...
“By the way...” sweeping a french fry through a blob of catsup on the edge of the paper wrapper, “...has Berman said anything about the accident?”
“I asked him about it...” taking one of Mitchell’s french fries and doing the same, “...and he said that dealing with three insurance companies that are each trying to minimise their liability will take some time, but he said that we’re, uh, primarily the least, uh...” looking for the word ‘culpable’ .
“At fault.”
“Yeah. And Berman thinks we’ll get enough to ‘at least’ pay our bills.”
“The hospital, too?”
“Yeah, and maybe still have some left over.”
“That would be nice… And you, baby...” genuinely concerned, “...how have you been feeling?”
Reaching across the table, taking her husband’s hand. “Now that we’re back together, ‘fine’! Just ‘fine’.”
****
Marsha had been correct.
It was dark when they came out of the theatre and— “buh-ba-baba-ba-ba-buming” the ‘Colonel Bogie March’. the theme from ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’— Mitchell anxiously drove to the closest, and first place either he or she could think of where it would be dark and they could be alone: The ‘Montrose Beach’ parking lot.
On the way, “Mitchie...” 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’, Mitchie.”
Next FBOW excerpt in sequence: Officer John Mahoney
