Time Marching On: (TMO) 8
Westlake Village, California
May 14, 2021
4:05 AM
Becoming a bit chilly standing outside in these summer weight pajamas.
But anyway…
Within four months of the start of Lizzie’s and my affair, she’d announced that Myron and her were in the process of a divorce, that ultimately led to my, oh, let’s call it mental distress, that led to...
Before I go in to rejoin Marsha in bed, just a hint; If you ever plan on a long running affair, it would be best if the other person had the same name as your spouse. Because...
4:o8 AM
Going back into the bedroom and not wanting to wake my wife, but wanting the warmth of her body, moving slowly, I cuddle my backside, closely to Marsha’s hip.
Here, alongside this woman, this is where I belong.
Sleepily murmured. “Where you been?"
“Outside.”
Marsha’s hand lightly onto my knee. “Oh.”
Eyes closing.
Slumber…
Sleep.
Authors Notation:
The progression from 11/14/63, at 3:47 AM to November 22, 1963 at 12:28 PM
November, 1963
Marsha had been noticing something amiss regarding the affection and attention he’d usually shown her, and at times—although it could be her imagination—Mitchell seemed to ignore her.
Also, as a cuddly kind of person —when not angry at each other— he’d often take hold of her hand while in the car or when sitting side by side, but lately hadn’t, and Marsha sensed something was not quite right. That something had initially changed in their relationship. But unable to put her finger on it, and never one to go with the theory that ‘one can attract more bees with honey than vinegar’.
Marsha’s general temperament hadn’t changed and with each real or imagined slight her anger would flare and, as in the past, days might pass before she would allow a softening of her attitude, along with her anger.
And, very much out of character, Mitchell no longer seem to care.
Regarding Mitchell’s concern over Elizabeth’s divorce.
Having to hide it!
Forced to bury the stomach churning emotion he felt as, depressed over the fear of losing Elizabeth now that she was a single woman and, having no idea how to relight his love of Marsha along with the small niceties that had always been the earmark of the personality of Mitchell Lipensky towards his wife... along with his concern over Marsha’s anger.
You want to be mad? he thought. Well, screw you! So be mad!
As a matter of fact Mitchell rather looked forward to Marsha’s anger because at those times he no longer had the need to pretend what he felt for her, which at the time was nothing.
November 14, 1963
“Lizzy, I love you!”
3:47 AM
Her cramps coming on…
“Lizzy, I love you!”
…Unable to sleep, her eyes snapping open, staring into the darkness.
Chicago, Illinois
November 14, 1963
6:00 AM
At the sink brushing her teeth, Who could that be? Glancing at the Baby Ben on the shelf above the sink—‘6:02’ Thinking, Who’d call now? Spitting the foam in the sink, grabbing a towel, wiping her mouth on the way.
“Hello.”
“Elizabeth.”
Never hearing from him this early, “Mitchell?”
“Hi, baby. Hope I didn’t wake you.”
Hearing the tone of his voice, “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve, uh…”
“What’s wrong?” she repeated.
“I’m out of the house.”
Not sure she heard right, “What? And what’s that noise?”
“I’m calling from a phone booth in Skokie and it’s pouring like crazy, and I said that I left my house.”
“Of course you wouldn’t call from home.” Becoming slightly annoyed. “And why so early?”
“I told Marsha that I love you.”
Quiet, absorbing what he had said, “You told your wife that you love me?”
Without saying how it came about. “Yeah, baby. I told her that I love you and she told me to get out. So I packed a bag and I’m in Skokie, calling from outside the A&P.”
“My God, Mitchie!” Her heart jumping. “Where are you going to stay? Come here , why don’t you, and we can figure it out.”
“Thanks, baby. But I’m going to talk to my folks after we hang up… Look, I’ve a nine-thirty appointment with Sinclair that I can’t miss, but I’d love to see you when I’m done.”
“Mitchie!” Stretching the phone cord, walking to the window, she twisted the blinds open. “You really did it!”
Feeling no joy in this, “Yeah,” he said softly, “I really did it.”
“And you, baby? How are you taking this?”
“It happened so suddenly that I’m still a little numb. But, Liz, you know how much I love you and how much I’ve… we’ve prayed for a way for us to be together. So I guess now we can.”
“No guessing about it, mister!” Her hand flat upon her chest, feeling the beating of her heart. “We will be together… forever!”
“Know what? It’s starting to snow and I’ve nothing important to do downtown, so I think I’ll hang around home today. So, yeah, when you’re done with Sinclair, come right here!”
“Thanks, honey.” Opening the accordion door, looking skyward at the heavily falling snow, “I really need to be with you today!”
“I know, baby, and I want you with me today… Drive carefully, okay!”
“Yeah, I’ll take the El downtown…. Bye, Liz.”
Skokie, Illinois
6:14 AM
Though having a key, not wanting to walk in on his folks at 6:14 in the morning, ringing the bell…
Holding her robe closed, glancing skyward at the falling snow then at “Mitchell?” Taken back at seeing her son this early in the morning. “What are you doing here?”
“Marsha and me,” coming right to the point, “we’ve broken up.”
Chicago, Illinois
10:45 PM
Aware that Mitchell liked seeing her without makeup, deciding to pass on all makeup, Elizabeth choose a pair of loose fitting blue jeans. Also aware that he liked her going bra-less while at home, but uncomfortable when not wearing a one, fitting her heavy breasts into a bra, she then slipped into a light blue cardigan.
1:20 PM
“Hi, baby.”
Her honey coloured hair tied in a ponytail, Mitchell’s dark mood somewhat brightened by the mere sight of Elizabeth standing barefooted within her doorway.
Coming into each others arms, “Oh, baby,” both held tightly, his face within the warm, soft crook of her neck and shoulder, smelling the combined clean scent of Elizabeth’s flesh and hair, his voice catching, “I love you,” he whispered.
Hearing the sadness in his voice, “I love you, too, Mitchie.”
“I hope so, baby, ’cause I’m really committed now.”
Looking into his eyes, “I know you are,” she said sincerely. “And I promise I’ll do everything I can to help make this easier for you, Mitch.”
Looking back into those large green eyes, feeling absolute love for this woman.
Yet…
Yet there was a hollow ache in Mitchell Lipensky’s stomach and heart for the life altering change he was in the process of bringing about that would take him from his home, and from a woman that for better or worse he’d always loved.
Yet…
Yet what was done was done, and knowing the stubborn, unforgiving temperament of his wife, knowing what was done was done!” And as much love as Mitchell felt for the young woman he held in his arms, deep down, below the hollow ache in his stomach and heart, deep down below the sadness at the thought of his wife in the arms of another man.
Mitchell was not sure his resolve was strong enough to actually go through with it… with a divorce.
Confusion reining…
Looking into Mitchell’s eyes, feeling absolute love for this man, sensing his sadness, rather sure she knew his thoughts, not sure that he could… would actually go through with it.
Confusion reining…
“You hungry, baby? Want me to make you something to eat?”
Having had only coffee at his parents. Realising, “Yeah, I’m starved.”
Other than their early on lunches at Harding’s, never having eaten together, realising they had so much to learn about each other.
“How do you like your eggs?”
This simple question as a catalyst, his emotional dam bursting, within each other’s arms again, holding Elizabeth tightly, his head against her shoulder, Mitchell Lipensky cried.
Holding this man, “Shhh,” patting his back as one would an infant. “Shhh, baby.” Feeling his pain, truly feeling his pain, “I know, baby,” she said. “I know.”
Releasing Elizabeth, catching his breath. “Over easy,” forcing a weak smile. “I like my eggs over easy.”
Realisation...
Well aware that other than the few bedroom bound hours spent together making love… having sex once or twice a month…
Beyond the sex. Beyond the physical attraction, neither Elizabeth Herzon nor Mitchell Lipensky knew anything about the other.
“Okay.” Elizabeth said, “that’s good to know.”
Chicago, Illinois
Friday, November 22, 1963
12:06 PM
It Was a Sunny Day
Elizabeth having three appointments on this cold, damply overcast, gloomy Friday, and as Mitchell had none and was extremely nervous over his appointment with the lawyer, each had taken their own transportation downtown.
Running a few minutes late, at 12:06, “Mister Leonard can see you now.”
Elizabeth waited in the reception room as…
at 12:06, “Mister Leonard can see you now.”
Elizabeth waited in the reception room as…
Address, phone numbers, names, ages and preliminary information being written onto the yellow pad:
“When did Mrs Lipensky cause you to leave your home?”
“The first time?”
“Yes, the first time.”
“Uh,” thinking, “1957, sometime in May, I came home from work and all my stuff was packed in cardboard boxes in the middle of the room with a note telling me to get out.”
“To your knowledge, Mister Lipensky, there was no reason for this?”
The manner in which the question was put causing him to think for a moment. “We’d been arguing about money and things were rough, but no, sir! No real reason. Nothing that we couldn’t work out.”
“Did you strike her?” Writing on the yellow legal pad. “Have you ever struck your wife?”
Remembering the slap in Seagate and Marsha’s retaliatory slap on this occasion; passing on the Seagate slap. “On the night before this…”
“The night before?” The attorney questioned. “In May of ’57, the night before your wife told you to leave your domicile?”
“Domicile?”
“Your home.”
“On the night before, Marsha, uh, my wife left me the note telling me to get out?”
“Yes.”
On the night before, she became hysterical and she, uh, hit me, twice, and I slapped her back.”
“You say,” writing on the pad, “your wife struck you first?”
“Yes. Twice.”
“Was her hand closed? When your wife struck you was it with a fist?”
“Yes, sir, twice.”
“And you slapped her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your hand was open?”
“Yes, sir. She punched me and I slapped her back.”
“Afterwards? After you slapped your wife?”
“She calmed down and I thought it best to just leave her alone and went back to bed.”
“You had no further words that night?”
“No, sir.”
“There was no further physical contact that night?”
“No, sir.”
“The next day?”
“I had a part time job and left the apartment very early, before she woke up because I wanted Marsha… I hoped that by the time I got home that afternoon she’d have calmed down.”
“And…”
“When I got home she wasn’t there and all my stuff was packed in cardboard cartons and there was a note… A terrible note telling me to get out.”
“Did you try speaking to her?”
“Yes. Her mother lives in the same building and I went there but she, Marsha’s mother, wouldn’t let me in to talk to my wife.”
“How far did this separation go?”
“In ’57?”
“Yes.”
“We were in court for a, uh, preliminary legal separation.”
“And you reconciled at that time.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Remembering with a bit of a jolt, Marsha in the arms of another man. “The judge, he talked to Marsha’n’me in private and we changed our minds and left together.”
“And there was a second separation? When?”
“Yes, sir. When I came home from work in, uh, late in April in 1958…”
Holding his hand up, consulting the yellow pad. “This was less than a year later?”
“Yes, sir. When I got home all of our furniture and everything had been moved out of the apartment and she, uh, Marsha had disappeared and no one that knew us would tell me where they’d gone.”
“Did anything happen the night before to cause this? Did you have words with your wife the night before?”
“Marsha went to a movie with her cousin and a friend and… We were having some problems again and I had a little too much to drink.”
“You were drinking that night?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you drink much, Mister Lipensky?”
“No, sir. Not at all! Well, socially now and then.”
“You were drunk when she returned home?”
“Yes, sir. As a matter of fact, I was in the bathroom puking when she got home.”
“Did you and your wife have words then?”
No, not really. She refused to sleep in the same bed with me so she slept, uh, someplace else.”
“The next morning, did you have words then?”
“No, sir… I wasn’t feeling very well then and thought it best if I just left.”
“Later that day, when you returned home, everything was moved out of your home. Your things? Did she leave your property?”
“Only my clothes and some…”
His eyes shifting from the pad, the attorney looked at Mitchell, “Some what?”
Remembering that sad day, a lump of bitterness coming to his throat, “Whatever was mine in the dresser she dumped on the floor and what was hanging of mine she left hanging. And I had a… Before I left the service, uh, the Coast Guard, I bought a large box of rubbers, uh, prophylactics and she dumped them all over the floor.”
“And the reason for this? For her abandoning you….”
For her abandoning you. Seeing the possibility of a defence of sorts, remembering Marsha’s desertion grounds that first time, thinking, Marsha deserted me!
“…You have any idea why she did that?”
“No, sir! I don’t know of any reason for her to do this.”
“And when you came home from work the next day,” writing, “ everything was gone.”
“Yes, sir. I’d even bought some flowers… You know, to try to make up. But when I got home I found my clothes, and all my other stuff and the rubbers thrown all over the floor.”
“How long until you saw your wife again?”
His stomach quaking, “Two and a half months.”
“And all this time you had no idea where your wife was?”
“I thought they might have been in the country.”
“The country?”
“In Michigan.” Feeling ill. “Lakeside.”
Nodding his head, “And were they?”
His mind in turmoil. I love Liz, he thought, but the thought of divorce, the actual thought of divorce and the thought of Marsha in the arms of another man!
“Mister Lipensky?”
Attempting to focus his attention, “Yes, sir.”
“I asked if your wife was in Lakeside.”
“As it turned out, yes, sir. But I had no idea how to find her and no one would tell me for sure.”
“That doesn’t matter. Your wife abandoned you.
12:20 PM
The intercom on his desk buzzing. As though asking for one minute, holding a finger forward, “Yes, Ida?” Looking at Mitchell, “This’ll take a couple of minutes, but I’ve got to take this call.”
“That’s okay…” Mitchell said…What do I do? I love Elizabeth! “I’ve got to use the bathroom anyway.”
Nodding his head, Leonard motioned for Mitchell to go ahead.
Authors Notation:
In the week between 11/14/63 and 11/ 22/63, having to answer to no one— other than time spent at work, Elizabeth and Mitchell had spent the days and nights together…
Actually learning something about each other.
Eating and food always a problem as Mitchell learned that Elizabeth ate only what was necessary to remain alive, whereas Mitchell ate because… Well, Mitchell Lipensky loved sex and loved eating and spats of tension would arise between the two whenever it came time to eat; when he would either run to his parents home for dinner or to eat out, by himself.
Also, in all truth, when life is so shallow, when having no past history together, when other than work, the two had very little in common to speak of so much of…
Actually most of their time together was spent in bed. So much so that Elizabeth’s vagina was becoming chafed and Mitchell was finding it difficult to create an erection and what had been a clandestine pleasure for both, was becoming somewhat of a chore.
12;21 PM
His mind in a state of turmoil, coming from the attorney’s office, hesitating a moment, looking at Elizabeth, “I need the toilet,” he said, thinking, What do I do?
Rushing from the lawyer’s office into the hallway and catching a down heading elevator as the door was about to glide shut. “Lobby,” he said impatiently to the elevator operator.
Next: TMO 9: Faces 1
