MARRIED... Spring(ing) into the future (Part 50f)

Coming home to Elle every night was both good and bad. It was good in that I loved being with her and that she was totally focused on her studies. The latter part made me do the same. However, that part was boring. Living with the T’s there was always conversation with someone but after we ate supper and finished the chores then it was right to the books. What saved me was in reading An American Tragedy. I found myself so engrossed in it that I’d still be reading at 2am even though I had to be up at 6am and on the road by 6:30am. As promised I called Babs when I reached what I considered a critical point.

In my minds eye there were three critical parts to the book. The first was when the main character was introduced and then his assimilation into society. After I’d finished that part I called Babs and Elle and I were invited over to the house. Babs had told me to bring the book with me and after some chit chat she took the book and found a few passages that she read to us. The first was a description of a house that figured prominently in the book. After reading it she asked if it sounded familiar. It certainly didn’t to me but Elle’s face had one of those “maybe” looks to it. She then announced that it was now one of the prominent fraternities on campus. She flipped a few more pages and then read some more. The description was of one of the sororities. She did the same thing a third time and it was of another fraternity. I was amazed as was Elle. I vaguely remembered reading about the houses but now wanted to take Elle down town to see them and to see if we could find some more. When we left I could see that Babs was pleased.

After getting through the next critical part (a murder) I again contacted Babs. She was tied up at the time but gave me one very interesting tidbit... on my way both to and from school each day I would go right past the house where the murdered girl had been raised in.

We were baby sitting at Dr Johns when I was reading the third critical part. Before Dr John and Babs left she promised that when they returned that she’d have something really special for me. That third part was the murder trial itself. I remember Elle and I were eating lunch with the boys when Babs returned. She was carrying this approximately 2’x2’ scrapbook. We finished up and then she put the book on the kitchen table. She explained that her mother loved to clip and save things from the newspaper and that the trial had been the most sensational thing that had happened in this town in her life. The scrapbook held every article that had been written on subject from start to finish.

Babs then told us that after the book had been published that there had been some vague charges that some of the book had been plagiarized. She pointed to the scrapbook and told me that I could borrow it and that I should do some careful study of what was written in the newspaper and what was written in the book. I tried to press her for more but all she did was smile.

That night, back at the trailer, I stayed up until around 3am. I couldn’t believe what I found. There were pages and pages where the book had the exact same words as the newspaper. I couldn’t wait to get to class the next day.

The class was right after chapel break and I, as usual, skipped chapel but didn’t go to the “coop“ for coffee with my friends either. I headed right for the ”Hook’s“ office. He was one of those people who rarely smiled and often had the look of someone who was totally bored with what he was doing. I went in and was greeted with one word... ”What?“ I refused to be intimidated and walked over to his desk with the scrap book. I’d put markers in it to mark the passages that I wanted to show him in both the book as well as the scrapbook. I quickly flipped to them and stood back as he poured over the material. It didn’t take long for him to look up at me and ask where I’d gotten the newspaper clippings. I told him and he responded with a comment that I’d never expected from him. ”Good job!“

In class he had them turn to a page in the book and then he had me read from the scrap book. I only read for a few minutes when I could hear a ”buzz“ and the guys were shaking their heads when they realized what they were seeing. Long story short... Over the next week the class discussion took on a whole new direction and the ”Hook“ looked at me with a whole new perspective. I couldn’t wait to finish the book and to see if I could find any more examples of possible plagiarism. It was actually exciting.

I continued to work for Harry on Saturdays. His nephew, Levi, and I became good friends especially after Harry allowed him to work with the horses. His mother, Stephanie, was doing more and more work for Harry and Vi including being the one to pay me. I’d go to her trailer before I left to get my money. On one Saturday she’d stopped by the barn to tell me that my money was on the kitchen counter and if she wasn’t back by the time I was ready to leave I was to just walk in and take it. I really didn’t like the idea but she’d given me permission. I actually hoped that Levi would be at the trailer but he wasn’t. When I walked in I saw her laundry basket on the counter but didn’t see my money. I picked the basket up and saw the money right under it. As I manipulated the basket and tried to put it under my arm I managed to knock some of the laundry onto the floor. When I put the basket back and bent over to pick the stuff up I saw a pair of rosy pink panties. I can’t tell you how tempted I was to just stick them in my pocket but, because I respected her so much I didn’t. I'm pretty sure I felt that if she missed them that she'd know where they were. On my trip home, I was kicking myself for not checking the label. I actually couldn’t believe that I hadn’t done that as it was usually the first thing I did when I’d get my hands on a pair of panties.

To be continued...