THE NEW JOB... & other things (Part 100c)

I guess I’d talked to enough people about my chance to be Rookie of the year because I ended up with a large group for my pit crew. Jay (and Jo) showed up as well as my brother. Jim and Cal were there as well and it really was a “stretch” for Cal as he was scheduled to be on duty that night. And, most important was my newest crew member, “Chucky”, the young lad from just down the road. What added to the excitement was that Rick, who’s car was literally destroyed the previous night of racing, had managed to put another car together. It seemed like there were a hundred people around his pit area. Among them was Jan, the nurse who stayed with my grandfather at night and her boyfriend, Buddah. That was a bit of a surprise as she’d expressed to me that she thought racing was a waste of time.

I qualified for the feature race with no problem. Having won the feature race just two weeks prior my starting position was mid field which wasn’t good but was better than starting in the back. As the race began there were five cars who could end up as high as seventh place in the points or as far back as eleventh. To be Rookie of the Year I had to beat my friend “Bags”. Buddah was one of his pit crew and before the race we talked some “trash”, as it’s called today. I had one other concern and that was the car I was buying was also in the race and I had to pray that it didn’t get wrecked.

Being the last night of the season and all Winter to repair any damage, drivers traditionally threw caution to the wind. I, because of monetary reason as well as the lack of a shop to work in, had driven very cautiously all season. Wrecks that I’d been involved in weren’t from my being reckless. But, I wanted that Rookie of the Year title so sat in the car waiting for the start and telling myself that if I saw an opening I had to go for it.

Once out on the track I wasn’t nervous at all. It had been that way all season. But, for the first time I was determined to be one of the aggressive ones. There were a number of accidents along the way that I, thankfully, wasn’t part of. As the two laps to go flags came out I knew I was in the top ten but the cars were all bunched up so didn’t know exactly what position I was in. When the white flag came out signifying the last lap I saw Bags’ car, the one I had to beat, ahead of me on the outside of another car. Going down the backstretch and heading for the third turn I made the decision that when I got to the turn I wasn’t going to lift my foot off the accelerator. Just as we reached the turn I saw Bag’s car bobble and separate from the car on his inside. It was the littlest of openings and I aimed right for it.

I have no memory of what happened until I saw the checkered flag waving ahead of me. Somehow I managed to get through the turn and to get ahead of both cars that had been leading me when we went into the turn. I really have no idea how I managed to do it. I may have even closed my eyes when I headed for that opening.

The overall result was a fifth place finish in the race and an eighth place in the points battle and the Rookie of the Year title. I remember Jay telling me that when he saw me go for the opening he thought I was "a goner" and that I was going to wreck the whole field of cars behind me. He called it the “move of the year”. Needless to say, Bags wasn’t all that thrilled with my move. He didn’t wreck but he was mad that I’d pushed him out of the way to get the rookie title. After we “discussed” it I went to check on the car that I was buying and found it to be in good shape. For me, it was a perfect night.

The last race of the night was for the faster cars and would determine the track champion. As I mentioned, somehow Rick had rallied his crew to put another car together so he could still try to become track champion. Almost everybody in the pits came up to watch the race. Rick started in front of the car he had to beat for the championship and we all cheered him on but by the end of the race he couldn’t hold off the other guy. It was disheartening especially knowing how hard he and his crew had worked to even get a car to the track.

Rick’s crew, in anticipation of winning, had brought all kinds of “refreshments” with which to celebrate with. Not wanting them to go to waste they broke them out anyway and I and my crew were invited to join in. I was in a celebratory mood, having exceed my racing goals for the year, but with “Chucky” along and having to get him home by midnight, reluctantly had to cut it short. After dropping Chucky off Jim said he had some beer and Cal and I went to his place to celebrate for a short while. Back home I was still too excited to sleep and eventually ended up lying in bed thinking about the next season with a new, better car.

I’d promised Elle that once school started that we’d return to going to church. When It was over I knew I needed to go to my grandfather’s as it had been a few weeks since I’d taken him to see my grandmother. Pulling into his driveway I was somewhat surprised to see Edith’s car. She’d asked for and received permission to have other nurses take her place on weekends. When I walked in she was quite upset. Her replacement hadn’t shown up but that wasn’t what she was most concerned about.

Jan had asked her to fill in for her so she could go to the races with her boyfriend, Buddah. I’d seen and talked, briefly, with her at the track and had been surprised that she'd gone. Edith told me that Jan had promised to be back no later than 11pm and she hadn’t shown up or called. She wanted to know if I had heard from her and I hadn’t. I tried to think back to when I’d left the track but I couldn’t remember seeing her or Buddah when I pulled out of the pits. Now it was me who was worried.

To be continued...

THE NEW JOB... & other things (Part 100b)

I was to find out a lot more about Inez from Inez herself. Alvin would start his day at 8am and only take a half hour lunch. He would then leave around 3:30pm figuring that he’d put in his eight hours. Inez, because she’d been relegated to being the “greeter” and did no work of a productive nature, really had nothing to do after the doors closed to the public at 3pm. She could’ve gone home at that time and no one would’ve minded. Actually, they wished she would leave as all she did was want to talk to those who were trying to be productive. So, as soon as Alvin left she “attacked” me. Trying to be polite I listened as she started giving me a history of the bank including the fact that she had, in her younger days, been “sweet” on the boy who lived in the house that used to be on the present site of the bank. She told me she lived just up the street in the same house where she was born and that it took her exactly seven minutes to walk home. She also told me about her son and grandson who were very successful businessmen in town. It was verbal diarrhea and I didn’t know how to turn it off. I had no time table to read the reports that Alvin had given me so wasn’t able to use them as an excuse. I secretly hoped that someone, anyone, would come and rescue me but that didn’t happen. In fact, after the original introductions no one other than Alvin and Inez had talked to me all day.

When I was finally able to get a word in I commented on that fact. She sort of brushed it off by saying that it was because I was an “outsider”. That term puzzled me because, as I mentioned earlier, my roots went back to the very first settlers of the town back in 1640. I already knew that her roots were the same so questioned her on it. She immediately went into another diatribe explaining what her definition of “outsider” was. Briefly, the majority of the people who worked at the bank lived in town and I remember her saying that most walked to work each day. She was very proud of the fact that she was one of them. The only people who didn’t live in town were Alvin, John (the president), Stasia and now, me. I remember thinking of how petty that was. But I’d heard a name that didn’t go with a face... Stasia. I interrupted her to ask who she was. She was “off and running“ again.

Her name was really Anastasia. She was the granddaughter of a Board member who had gotten her the job and she did the typing and filing for the officers of the bank. The reason she wasn’t there was that she was on vacation. But that was only the beginning. Inez proceeded to tell me that she had a seven year old son ”and she isn’t even married“. The look on this woman’s face when she told me that was straight out of a terrible horror movie... complete with hand motions to her face like she'd seen some horrible sight. The rest of the story was that she was still in high school when she got pregnant and was sent by her parents to live with relatives in another town where she wasn't known and still lived with them. There was a lot more but I’ll spare you the details. However, mentioning Stasia gave Inez more ”fuel“ to continue on.

Evidently, Stasia was hired to replace Mona who had been the combination receptionist, secretary and file clerk for over 20 years. I was a bit puzzled as Mona was still employed. It didn’t take long for Inez to explain. The bank knew it needed to expand their space but the only way they could was to buy the property to the West. It was owned by Mona’s family and they weren’t interested in selling. Someone on the Board came up with the idea of making her an officer and that way they (the Board) would have some leverage in getting the family to relent. They didn’t and now Mona was a ”self important“ problem for everyone. That explained the attitude that Mona had displayed when I was introduced to her.

By then it was 5pm and time to go home... thankfully. It really bothered me that I was almost totally ignored. I was especially surprised that John, who had always been so friendly in the sailing atmosphere where I’d first met him, had ”abandoned“ me after the introductions when I first arrived. Since he was the one who had hired me I fully expected that he’d stop by at the end of the day to see how I’d fared. He didn’t. I truly was confused.

At home I found Elle to be less stressed than she’d been the day before. She’d spent the day ”selling" Jean on how much fun school was going to be. The item that got her attention was the new dress that my mother had bought for her first day. Elle allowed her to get dressed up in it and kept telling her how pretty she looked and how the other girls in the class would like it (and her). She was still wearing it when I walked in the door.

I was really looking for someone to talk to about my day but knew it wasn’t the time to do that with Elle. I thought about calling Mrs K, the head of the Civil Service department, to see if my job was still vacant. However, overriding that was what my father had ingrained in me and that was not to quit something I’d started. Basically, I took a few deep breaths and tried to give some attention to my family.

The rest of the week at work was basically the same. Ignored by just about everybody but Alvin, who didn’t have a choice, and Inez, who I couldn’t escape. I got more “dirt” from Alvin and more history from Inez. The one promising thing was that Alvin had promised that I’d actually have some “real, productive work” to do. As Friday progressed I found myself almost counting the minutes until I was able to leave. I couldn’t remember having a job that I wasn’t totally committed to and it was an uncomfortable feeling. The one thing I had to look forward to was Saturday and closing night at the stock car races. I was in position to end up as Rookie of the year and also had a chance to end up in the top ten in points, something I never gave a thought to when the season started. As I got in my car I pushed all thoughts of the bank out of my mind.

To be continued...

THE NEW JOB... & other things (Part 100a)

The word of the day for Labor Day was apprehension. Mine was due to not really knowing what was expected of me at my new job which was to start the next day. I’d been told I was to be responsible for bringing new technology to the bank. However, I’d been thinking about it and my data processing experience had been as a machine operator and I really wasn’t sure just what they expected me to do. I did know I was to be sent to school to learn about the new equipment they were buying. For Elle, it was the fact that our youngest, Jean, was going to start school on Wednesday. The fear was that she’d not had a lot of exposure to groups of other children and didn't really have good social skills. Sunday school was where she’d been exposed to up to maybe six of seven kids at the most. But I was the first one to face the challenge.

It was about a half hour drive. I was fortunate in that most of the traffic was headed the other direction. Arriving in town I drove to the bank and parked across the street just to take in the sight. I’d driven through the town many times and I honestly didn’t remember ever even noticing the building. Actually, that was pretty hard to do as it was a stately edifice with two massive columns in front and two large brass doors. I decided that it was because I’d had no need for a bank in the past. It was located on the corner of the main street and the only north bound street so it was prominently placed. I drove around to the back and saw some people entering though a back door. I was to meet JR’s father, John the president, at 9am so decided I’d go to the front door to enter. I walked in and, to be honest, was shocked.

Not that I’d been inside many banks in my life but I’d never been in one quite like this one before. To the left there were four large and very old desks with strange green shaded lamps on each one. On the right were four of what could best be described as “cages”. There was a counter that ran from just inside the front door to the back where it met a low partition. On top of the counter were metal grilles. This is where people deposited their money. To me it just looked weird. Standing in between the two areas I looked up and the ceiling which was very high. It reminded me of some of the museums that my mother had taken me to when I was young with all kinds of ornamentation. The windows went from floor to ceiling and the drapes were dark and further added to the “museum look”. It was about then when I began wondering what I’d agreed to.

John saw me standing in the middle of the floor and came over and then proceeded to introduce me to all the officers of the bank. Monte was the Chairman of the Board and about 70 years old. Artie was the vice president and treasurer and appeared to be in his 40’s. Mona was introduced as the secretary and she made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t a secretary... she was an officer of the bank.  To say the least she made her position clear. Over on the other side I was introduced to the four women who were the tellers who took in the deposits and paid out the withdrawals. Actually, there were three tellers and Inez. Inez looked like she was 90 and had the title of head teller. The rest of them were all middle aged. Rich was introduced as a “jack of all trades” doing a myriad of things, as needed. Of people I’d met he was, by far, the youngest and he looked to be in his mid 30’s.

The introductions weren't over yet. The three women who worked in the mortgage department actually worked upstairs in the room that served as the Board room. The youngest of the three was easily in her 50’s. By then I was really wondering just what I’d walked into. But there was more. John told me that it had been decided to have me work with the auditor. The auditor, although an officer of the bank, actually reported to the Board of Trustees. His job was to make sure all the numbers added up and had the power to go into any department at any time to see just what was being done. Since I had no banking experience the idea was that by working with him I’d get the feel of the whole banking experience. What I really wasn’t prepared for was that he was, to use the term in vogue at the time, a “fairy”.

I’d never seen a more effeminate male in my life than Alvin. He literally “swished” as he walked. On top of the “old” look of the bank itself, the “old” look of the staff and now Alvin. He was around 50 years old and was impeccably dressed. I had serious doubts but I was already there and didn't have much of a choice. I don’t remember when it came to me that this was the second time that I’d been “sold” on a job without doing any investigating before accepting it. I’d been sold on the concept (and more money) when I left AJ back when I was training horses to go to work for Dan. I’d not seen his farm and it wasn’t anything like what he’d told me. This was deja vu only in a banking context. I was mad at myself for not taking the time to at least make a visit.

I spent the rest of the morning looking over some reports that Alvin had prepared for the Board. After lunch I found out something else about Alvin... he was an alcoholic. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew his field, accounting. However, the further the day went the more it became obvious the he was imbibing. The more it showed the more he talked... about everything and everybody. He had “something” on just about everybody in the place but he started in on Inez, the so called head teller.

I hadn’t been far off when I figured her to be around 90. She’d just celebrated her 89th birthday. She’d worked at the bank since she was 18 years old. I did the calculation and she’d been there for 74 years. Alvin said they couldn’t trust her with money but, because she’d been there so long and knew just about everybody in town, they let her stay on. The one thing that caught my attention was that she could trace her lineage back to the first settlers as could I. I hoped that information might be of some help to me in the future because I was sure that I’d need it.

To be continued...

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99k)

He came back to me and we shook hands. Before any conversation could take place he said he’d be back in about a half hour with the check. I stood there for a minute or two and wondered what had just happened. The $1200 figure I threw at him came right out of the blue. It was what I’d paid for the boat ten years before. Even after he’d offered to buy it earlier in the month I’d not put any thought into a price. The last figure I’d heard for the sale of a Comet class sailboat was back the previous Summer when Cat had told me that she and her husband had paid a little under a thousand dollars. It didn’t take me long to shift my thinking to what I was going to do with the money. I knew the first thing was to finish paying for ”Pop’s“ race car. The rest of it would go in the bank.

It took a few minutes to realize that if Herb was going to bring a check back to me he’d want the rest of the equipment that went with the boat. My parents house was less than ten minutes away so I headed there to get the sails, rudder, tiller and other miscellaneous parts. I pulled up to the garage and saw no one. In a way that was good. On the way I got to thinking about what my father would say but I rationalized that it was my boat and had paid for it with my own money. Even with that I just knew he wouldn’t be happy.

Herb was waiting when I got back to the club. I showed him some of the enhancements I’d made to the boat and then left. It was hard driving away even with the check in my hand. There were a lot of really good memories that went with it. I was almost back when I started thinking of just how I’d feel in the morning and then looked at the check folded it into my shirt pocket.

When I got out to the beach I saw a bunch of people all along the water’s edge looking out on the water. The wind was out of the North and blowing off shore. I quickly scanned the horizon and as I did i realized that my father’s power boat wasn’t at it’s mooring. Then I saw it out in the bay and towing something with a blue and white sail behind it. I found Elle and asked what was happening. She didn’t really know the whole story but knew my father had gone out to rescue some people who lived down the beach. I remember thinking that I’d missed the excitement.

My mother filled in more of the story. It was that two of the people who had just bought the house two houses to the East had set out on a Sailfish (like a surfboard with a sail) and it was readily obvious they didn’t know what they were doing. The wind kept pushing them further and further away from shore. When the people who were still on the shore saw what was happening they came running down to my parents beach looking for help. My father had gotten in his boat and had gone out after them.

With everybody safely back on shore and all introductions made and thanks given we started to get the whole story. The people who had bought the cottage were city dwellers and had absolutely no experience on or near the water. But, with a beach house felt compelled to get a boat and someone had persuaded them to get a sailboat. This had been the ”maiden voyage“ with the owners kids on board. The boy was introduced as being 16 but he looked more like 12. We were told the girl was 23 and in law school but she looked more like a teenager. It didn’t take long for my mother to volunteer me to show them the basic rudiments of sailing. Upon hearing that the boy backed away saying that he wasn’t going out again and actually went up the steps and onto the lawn. My first reaction was to think ”Thanks, Mom!“ with a negative connotation.

Before the girl could answer the mother stated that she didn’t think it was a good idea and then started in on the father saying that she’d told him not to buy the boat. By then there were at least a dozen adults standing around with the neighbors, Jeanette, Karen and their husbands wanting to know what was going on. Not really dressed for sailing on this type of boat I did say I’d go out with anyone interested. The mother was still ”ragging“ on her husband and he finally spoke telling me to go try it out.

I’d seen some of the same type boats at the sailing club and they were used to teach the younger sailors. In looking at it the one thing that bothered me was that I’d have to sit with my legs straight out as there was no cockpit to put them in. It looked uncomfortable. With no one volunteering to go out with me I took off. Once out away from the shore where there was some breeze it was pretty exhilarating. I wasn’t out for long and when I returned I tried to get the girl to give it a try with me but the mother told her ”No“ and there was no doubt she was the ”boss“. Both Jeanette and Karen’s husbands gave it a go and seemed to enjoy it. I decided to ask Elle since she was in her bathing suit. The baby was asleep and my mother said she’d watch to see if she awoke so, with much prodding she joined me. I was kind of surprised that she liked it as it really was a bit uncomfortable to sit. By the time we got back to shore the family who owned the boat had gone back to their house.

I walked it down the beach to their house and the man came out and asked if I wanted to buy it. Before I could answer he went on to say that he was willing to ”give it away“. That wasn’t the exact truth but he offered to sell it for half of what he’d paid for it. I certainly wasn’t interested right at that moment even though I had Herb’s check for my boat. I thanked him for the use of it but said ”no“ to the offer and headed back to my parents house to get cleaned up for the party and pretty much forgot about it. I was more concerned about what my father’s reaction to the sale of my sailboat would be. Surprisingly, I didn’t even think about what Elle’s would be.

Not surprisingly, my father’s wasn’t good... but in the end he recognized that I was an adult and had the right to make my own decisions. Elle’s was just the opposite and it just added to the mystique of the female mind as far as I was concerned. We didn’t talk about it until we headed for home. In retrospect she was upset that I hadn’t discussed it with her. I, on the other hand, had looked at the offer as cash in the bank for us for the first time. In any case it was too late to go back on the deal. 
   
To be continued...

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99j)

Returning home I saw that Marge’s car was parked next door. It was the first time since the ”incident“ and I was curious to know the status. It didn’t take long to find out as she was inside with Elle. Although nothing more had happened she and her husband had made the decision to leave the area. The company the husband worked for had no problem with the decision so now all they had to do was to gather up their belongings and be on their way. Marge indicated that her husband was up at the office arranging for the ”boys“ to sell their unit. When she saw her husband return she left to join him and I was left with an upset wife. As she walked down the path it came to me that it was just a year ago that Lil, the previous tenant on that pad, had left.

Elle liked and got along well with Marge. She’d gotten a commitment from her to look after the kids a couple of days a week when she was ready to return to substitute teaching, Now Marge was leaving and Elle had no one but her mother who had told her she would only do it one day a week. It was ”back to the drawing board“ for her/us on that subject. With school opening the following Wednesday Elle was fearful that most babysitters would now all be taken.

I kept a low profile the rest of the day as well as Friday. Elle’s mood improved substantially by Saturday so my going off racing didn’t bring on a batch of snide comments. But there was one and I immediately shot back that she’d gotten her wish. She didn’t know what I meant and I told her that I wasn’t planning on racing the sailboat on Sunday. That did make her smile but she tried to hide it. Having told her my decision I now had my excuse for Bobbi. I’d continued to be conflicted about having taken her panties and I was sure my guilt would show through if I were to see her. The only thing was that I would still have to go get the boat from the sailing club and bring it to my parents garage to store for the Winter.

By winning the feature race the previous Saturday night a number of people I didn’t know became interested in me and the race car. One was a young boy (about 13 or 14) who lived just down the road. He’d come around on the nights I’d be working on it. When I was hitching the tow bar to my car he appeared and asked if he could go to the races with me. I told him it was OK with me if his parents would let him. He was gone in a flash and within 10 minutes he was back with his mother. ”Chucky“ wanted to be part of my pit crew and after his mother talked with me he became my first official one. I remember him telling his mother that he was going to drive a race car someday as she walked away.

At the track I’d completely forgotten about my winnings from the week before. Week to week we never knew how much we’d won because it depended upon how many people were in the grandstands watching. As I signed in I was given a little brown envelope with the money in it. On the outside was the number $71. That, together with the money from my grandfather and father, was the $150 that I’d wanted to give to ”Pop” as down payment on his race car. When I handed it to him I immediately started to worry about that car getting wrecked before I took complete ownership of it. I began to doubt the wisdom of my decision to buy it before the end of the racing season.

Because I’d won the last feature race my starting position was somewhere in the middle of the field. As soon as the race started I got hit from behind. It wasn’t enough to spin me off the track but I remember my head snapping back and forth. At each end of the track I’d get hit. I couldn’t make out who was behind me but it was getting me mad. The cars in front of me were all bunched together so I couldn’t pass anyone but this guy was impatient and continued to beat on my back bumper. It was as if he didn’t have any brakes and was using me to slow down for the turns. It ended up being one of those races in which the really good cars that started in the back never got to the front. A guy who’d never won before finished first and I ended up 10th... and my back bumper had a big bow in the middle of it from being hit so many times. Chucky told me that I should go over to the guy who’d been beating on me and “punch him out”, or words to that effect. At 6’ 1“ and about 155 pounds I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and stayed put but appreciated the support (verbal) that I got from Chucky. I did go check on the condition of the car I was buying and it was fine. Whew!


We went on to watch the main event for the fast cars and ended up seeing one of the most violent crashes I’d ever seen. What made it even worse was that it was my friend Rick. He was in a ”dog fight” for the track championship and had been leading in the points up to that time. He wasn’t hurt but his car was pretty much destroyed. I felt really bad for him but didn’t know what, if anything, I could do to help him. I didn’t get much sleep that night.

The party for our fathers was scheduled for 6pm. Elle’s period had let up some and she was feeling much better. The girls were still pestering to be able to go to the beach so we left early so they’d have some time before the party. It was perfect for me because while they were doing that I could go pick up the sailboat and get it put away for the Winter. Arriving at the sailing club after all the boats had been launched for racing meant there weren’t as many people around to ask why I wasn’t sailing. The annual meeting where the prizes for the season were handed out was scheduled for that night. I had no reason to go so I made a point of saying good bye to those who I knew that were there. When I went into the clubhouse I found Herb, the guy who’d asked if I was going to sell my boat.

After the usual pleasantries he wasted no time in asking if I’d put any thought into the possible sale of my boat. He pointed to it and asked why I wasn’t sailing. I was totally unprepared for this conversation. I don’t remember what I said but cut the talk off fairly quickly. As I readied the boat for trailing I got to thinking about how the Summer and sailing had gone. I was really disturbed about the new class of sailboat (Windmill) that had been introduced and the fact that there was now a dearth of crew people available. Elle had pretty much let it be known that with the new baby she wouldn’t be crewing anymore and I’d struggled to find a replacement for her. Just about the time I was ready to hitch the boat to the car Herb walked by on the way to his car. I looked at him and yelled out $1200. He stopped and yelled back “You’ve got a deal! 

To be continued...

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99i)

I’m sure you’ve heard of or have actually experienced buyer’s or seller’s remorse. What I was feeling was remorse for having taken the panties. There was a bit of paranoia built in there as well, worried that someone might have seen me taking them. Driving on my way home I even thought of taking the panties and putting them in the trash. However, I didn’t get a chance as upon making the last turn to home I was greeted with the flashing red lights of a couple of patrol cars stopped in front of both my unit and that of the neighbor.

As you can imagine, Elle was beside herself, all upset. Once I got the kids inside I set out to calm her down. She, of course, was concerned about the neighbors, Marge and her husband. I agreed to stay on top of the situation and went back outside to talk with one of the patrolmen. Long story short... Back when the the neighbors moved in I’d found out that the husband was in charge of building a very controversial petroleum tank farm. There had been a lot of local opposition to it and when construction began there was a group of protestors constantly out at the site. As construction escalated some of the protestors started making real trouble and evidently some had threatened Marge’s husband that day. The police thought it best to come to their home to short circuit anything they might’ve planned. After being assured that her husband was OK, to be on the safe side, Marge was going to leave to join him at a motel about 30 miles to the West. But, that didn’t end it for us. The police advised me that the Sheriff’s department was going to maintain a presence there for 24 hours just to be sure that the ”nuts“ didn’t do anything to Marge’s mobile home as they’d written all sorts of things on the heavy equipment out at the site. That made both of us feel better but it was still very disconcerting.

After getting a bite to eat Elle and I had our hands full trying to explain to the girls what was going on outside without frightening them. We kept them occupied way past their bed time and by the time we headed for our bedroom I was exhausted. It had been an incredibly stressful day. It wasn’t until I was lying on my back in the dark that I actually reviewed my experiences. When I got to the situation with Bobbi’s panties I realized they were still in my pants pocket. I’d just dropped my pants on the floor and collapsed into bed. Realizing that, it was more stress. I started thinking ahead to the next day and sailing with Bobbi. I immediately decided that it wasn’t a good idea. I lay there trying to come up with an excuse to give to Bobbi and fell asleep while doing that.

I found Elle upset when I awoke in the morning. My first thought was that she’d seen my pants on the floor and in picking them up discovered the panties. That wasn’t it at all. Her period had started during the night. Ever since the birth of the baby she’d been very irregular and the discovery of it when she awoke had just made her mad. But, thinking of the panties reminded me that I had to do something with them and very quickly. I used the excuse of checking with the Sheriff’s deputy to go outside. While there I managed to stuff them under the front seat of the car where I’d put Edith’s panties. I knew I had to get them all into my ”stash” soon and figured I could do it later when we took the kids to my parents for the day... or so I thought.

As soon as I brought that subject up Elle “went off“ on me. Not feeling well she went on a rant about the fact that my mother had spent the previous day with them and that we were going to be there on Sunday anyway to celebrate our father’s combined birthdays. I knew from experience not to argue when she was like this but by the time she shut up I knew I had my excuse for not sailing with Bobbi. However, I didn’t relish the thought of calling my mother to tell her we wouldn’t be coming.

The guys from the Sheriff’s department left about mid afternoon and told me that there had been about a half dozen arrests in conjunction with both the damage and the threats. Just to be sure they made sure I had the department telephone number before they left. I remember wondering how something like this could happen in such a rural area.

One of the things I wanted to do when we were at my parents was to get the panties out from under the seat of my car and put them into my "stash" but it wasn't to be.

Bobbi's Lollipop panties

I survived the day in spite of my mother’s verbal barrage expressing her disappointment, Elle’s foul mood and kids who really wanted to go to the beach. When I called Bobbi to tell her we wouldn’t be sailing, thankfully, I got her mother. The aftermath of the call was more remorse for having taken the panties. The more I thought about it the less I wanted to see and sail with her on Sunday.

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that I realized that by not going to my parents I wouldn’t get paid for the work I’d done on the windows before the races on Saturday night. I wanted it to give to Pop as a down payment for the race car. I had to come up with some reason to go there before Saturday night if I wanted to get the money and it took until Friday afternoon to come up with one.

It wasn’t 100% true but on Friday I told Elle that I’d left some of my tools at my parents while helping my father and needed them to finish the project I was working on. The money was the reason for going but it was also to ditch the panties before Elle found them. As I made the last turn to my parents I stopped and pulled them out. Even though I'd had them for a couple of days it was the first time I took a good look at Bobbi’s panties. I spread them out on the seat and saw that they were, naturally, Lollipops, but well worn. Because of how I still felt about having taken them I wasn’t ”stirred“ if you know what I mean. I folded them all back up and then concentrated on getting them stored away with my ”stash“ that was hidden in my parents garage. It had been quite a while since I had my hands on it and as I made the turn into their driveway I hoped I could still find it.

After a few minutes of mild panic I located the cardboard box I thought I’d hidden it in. I struggled a bit to recognize it plus my father had moved it. (It had to have been him as my mother refused to even go in the garage because of all the ”stuff“) Finally getting my hands on my "treasures" I wanted to see and remember some of the panties within it and had spread some of them out. I thought I was safe but not 5 minutes into my ”review“ I heard my mother’s voice. Now that called for real panic! But, as I said, she wouldn’t come inside and I was able to sweep them all back into the box. As I did it I vowed to find a new hiding place.

To be continued...              
         

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99h)

There was no house to the West and from where I was sitting I couldn’t see the house to the East. I was almost positive that there was no one home but, to be sure, felt that I should check by knocking on the door. My heart was pounding as I walked up the steps. As I approached the item on the floor I was sure that it was the same panties as I could see a bit of lace. I walked past them and knocked... and knocked again. With no answer I turned and then stood there staring at the panties, debating with myself weather I should pick them up. I remember still being unsure as I started back to the steps. I was almost past them when I stopped, bent over and snatched them up. There was no ”bulge“ as I was actually scared that, with broad daylight, someone might have seen me do it. I still held them in my hand as I put the car in gear and drove out of the yard. XX

I was trying to drive while trying to look at the panties but without much success. I finally pulled onto the road to my parents and stopped. It only took a few seconds to pretty much determine that they were, indeed, the same panties I’d peeked at the day before. I still couldn’t get over the fact that Carter’s made nylon panties and, behind that, why I’d never seen any in any of the stores I'd been in over the years. As I continued on I determined that it didn’t make any difference as I now had a pair of them.

It didn’t take long to install the new glass. As much as it would hurt monetarily not to continue with the window project my wrist pretty much told me it was impossible. No matter which way I turned it, it hurt. I figured I’d made $40 which was better than nothing and putting it together with the $40 my grandfather had given me I felt it was enough of a down payment on the race car to show I was sincere in my desire to purchase it.

I had no intention of going swimming when I left home but with nothing to do until my mother returned with the girls I sure wished I’d brought it along. Jeanette was no where to be seen so I didn't have anything to occupy my mind. It was about mid afternoon when I had everything picked up and really didn’t know what to do with myself. As far as I was concerned bringing Elle and the kids back the next day was still on. I still wanted to get Bobbi out in the boat for a little practice before the Sunday races and possibly Elle as well. Thinking about it I decided to walk down the beach to Peggy’s house to confirm it with Bobbi. Walking up the steps from the beach I could see the curtains blowing in the front windows but there wasn’t a car in the driveway. No one answered when I knocked. Looking back towards Ali’s cottage I could see the windows open and the curtains blowing there as well. It seemed strange as I had assumed that she was at work at her store. I walked back and knocked on her door as well with the same result. I started back towards the beach when it dawned on me to go take a peek at the clothes line out behind the cottage as I had the time. I chose to go around the East end of the building as the hedge shielded me from the adjacent property. When I first made the turn I was disappointed as it appeared that there were no clothes on the line at all. I almost stopped and retreated but as I was turning around my eye caught something fluttering at the end closest to the building. Turning back and taking a few steps in the direction I could see there were two bikini panties clothes pinned to the line. With the sun behind them they looked white. I knew they had to belong to Bobbi.

I remember taking deep breaths as I continued to walk toward the line making sure I stayed as close to the building as possible. I knew from past peeking excursions that the neighbors to the West could see the clothes line from the back of their house. Standing at the corner of the cottage I could now see that there was a pink pair and a light blue pair. At that point I was about ten feet away from them. It was just like back at Edith’s house when I had the debate with myself as to weather I should or shouldn’t attempt to take them. The difference here was the proximity of the neighbor. It took me a few minutes before I finally decided to make a pass for them. I turned so my back was to their house and backed up to the clothes line. With just one hand I grabbed both pulling on them hard so that the clothes pins just snapped off the line. Back behind the building I found I was wet with perspiration. I stuffed them both into my pocket and tried to catch my breath.


I had to decide if I was going to return to my parents house via the beach or take the long way around using the road. I quickly decided against that for if Peggy were to return she would surely see me and wonder why I was there. No matter what I'd say, I was sure that once she (or Bobbi) found the panties missing she'd associate it with me. I was still perspiring profusely.  As to the beach way, it offered up the possibility of the neighbors observing me (if they hadn’t already done so) and then if Peggy (or Bobbi) asked questions about the missing panties I’d be identified. This quandary had me wishing I hadn’t taken them

I was still by the back of Ali's cottage and ended up looking sort of wistfully at the clothes line. I was really contemplating putting them back on the line when I heard the sound of a car. With a quick peek I determined that it was Peggy. I couldn't tell if Bobbi was with her and that made for more worry. If she wasn't then where was she... especially while I was taking the panties. At that point I really, really wished I hadn't taken them.

I knew I had to do something and finally decided that heading back using the road was my only choice. I was able to make my way to the Easterly neighbors driveway which afforded me the protection I desperately needed. It took about ten minutes to make it back to my parents and when I got there my mother and my kids were there. They had been promised a swim so we headed for the beach. I was still shaking a bit and, strange as it may sound, I had no desire to look at the panties. I was just glad to be there.

To be continued...

This is the pair of Carter's nylon panties that belonged to Edith...    

         

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99g)


That was my only thought as I drove home. Elle had been hinting that she was ready to take up tennis again but I’d kind of rebuffed the idea not wanting to get involved. Even though I had some pleasant memories I had enough to do at the time. When I walked in that was the first thing she hit me with. She seemed to be in a better mood than when I left and, not wanting it to revert back, made the decision to appease her. Even though it meant getting into the dumb white shorts I figured I might get lucky and get a panty peek or two as an ultimate reward.

After eating we loaded up the kids and headed for the high school courts. Elle, still leery of her ability to go more than an hour without a toilet visit, chose to wear the dark plaid skirt/shorts/ combination outfit. I was pleased in that she, on her own, didn’t put on even a partial ”package“ but wore just a pair of her new Lollipop panties. I decided to not push my luck by asking her to wear a pair of the Plymouth nylon panties with them.

All in all, it went well. Elle was happy and I got a couple of peeks from an older woman in the court next to us. We hit balls for almost an hour before the baby started fussing. Elle was still dry when we loaded up the station wagon so she was pleased. We were unloading at home when the first dribble started. I checked my watch and found it’d been almost two hours since she’d last used the toilet. When I told her she was surprised. I decided to push my luck. Knowing that she was a bit wet I asked if she’d ”indulge“ me. I really didn’t think she’d say yes but she ”bartered“ with me. If I’d wash the dishes that we’d left from supper she would. It didn’t take me but a second to agree. I was back in her good graces... at least for the moment.

The next morning I heard the phone ring but saw Elle was already up. By the time I got to the kitchen I could see she was agitated. The call had been from my mother. She wanted to know if I could bring Jean, our oldest, when I came to work on the windows. She wanted to take her shopping to get her a new dress for her very first day of school. I’d not yet mentioned my plans to go back to my parents house to work on the windows wanting to wait to see how the morning played out. I was hoping that there would be some ”opening“ to state my case as to why. After admitting that I was and then getting an ”ear full“, Elle said that she had no problem with me taking Jean but Anne had to go as well. The baby had a check up scheduled with the doctor and she’d planned on me watching the kids while she was there. She still wasn’t too pleased but the fact that she didn’t have to worry about the kids eased some of her ire.

We didn’t tell the girls about the shopping trip as they were totally focused on going to the beach. I was hoping that Edith and her daughter, Sally, would stop by at some time during the day as the daughter had expressed a desire to see and play with the girls. It would be a diversion for the girls and take the pressure off my mother. I was somewhat taken aback to see Sally once inside the house. My mother explained that the nurse who was supposed to take over for Edith that day didn’t show up. She didn’t want my grandfather to be alone so agreed to stay on but asked my mother to look after Sally. Normally Edith's mother, who lived with them, would do it. With Edith planning on being home during for the week she’d gone to visit with friends and that meant Sally would be alone. My mother, who liked both Edith and Sally, had agreed. Sally, upon hearing that my girls would be there was pleased. I just wondered what would happen when my mother got ready to take them all shopping.

After having spent three plus days of scraping the old putty from the windows I could see why my father’s wrist gave out. My right one was very sore so I tried doing it with my left hand. Mistake! I’ve always been spastic when having to use my left hand and this was no different. On about the third or fourth pane I was working on I managed to break it. I continued on and after breaking another one decided I’d have to endure the pain. I was annoyed as it meant I’d have to go to the hardware store for the replacement glass, a waste of precious time.

My mother, to butter up my girls about having to leave the beach, had them help her make cookies for their lunch time dessert. They left right after that, a bit disappointed, but with a promise they would come back for a swim. I managed to get the window finished with the exception of the broken panes of glass. My wrist was too sore to even think of starting on another window so headed for town to get the replacements. I had to go right past Edith’s house both going and coming. As I’d mentioned in an earlier post, it was an older house that had been unoccupied for quite a while before Edith and her husband bought it. The hedge along the street had gone untended and had grown so high that people passing by in their cars could barely see it. I’d overheard Edith talking to my mother about the work they'd done and the plans she and her husband had for it. On a whim I turned into the driveway on my return trip home. I vaguely remembered the house from when I was a boy and it had what I’m going to call a ”turret“ on one end of the front of the house attached to a screened porch that had a lot of fancy trim. It was obvious that the house had been neglected but it still had an elegance about it. There was a big barn at the end of the driveway and when I got to the back of the house I found a circular driveway. At one point in time there had been some sort of garden in the center but now it was just a pile of dirt. I pulled up right behind the house and found another porch although only half the size of the one in the front of the house. This one was open and what immediately caught my eye was that there was a rope strung between the posts and there were some clothes hanging on it. I thought I recognized one of the items as being the brown shorts that Edith had worn the day before. They were not attached by clothes pins but were just draped over the line. There appeared to be some small towels hung in the same fashion. As I sat in the car contemplating why the shorts were there I noticed something white on the floor of the porch right under the towels. It only took a few seconds for me to come up with the idea that it might be the panties that had been with the shorts when I got a look at them.

To be continued...

NEW GROUND...  with some shocks (Part 99f)


By the time I got back to Elle's mother's house it was late afternoon. Elle's mother had persuaded he to stay and have supper so her father could see the kids. I wasn't particularly pleased with that but I knew I had to "give" some because my mother had been all over me about seeing the kids as well and Elle would have to "give" some as well. Before we headed home I got her to commit to Thursday and passed it on to my mother. Of course I didn't mention anything about sailing with Bobbi that day.

On our way home Elle questioned me about what it was that I'd been doing all afternoon. I didn't want to mention anything about the money my father had agreed to pay me as I wanted it to help pay for the new race car that I hadn't yet told her about. I'd told her about my father's wrist way back on Saturday so when I said I was helping him finish the job up I wasn't lying. But, when I said I'd committed to doing more she gave me one of "those" looks. It became pretty quiet the rest of the way home. Neither of us mentioned it the rest of the night. It became painfully clear that she was upset when it came time for bed. As warm and cuddly as she'd been when we got up in the morning she was as cold as ice in bed even though it was still quite warm outside.

By the next morning she'd calmed down a bit and I offered to do the grocery shopping for her to help the situation. I'd wanted to get to my parents house early enough to be able to finish two windows but knew that wouldn't be possible and still be home for in time for supper. When I arrived I was greeted by Edith, my grandfather's daytime nurse/caregiver who was out on the beach with her daughter Sally. She quickly explained that my parents had told her she was welcome to use the beach whenever she could. Seldom having time off during the day she hadn’t been there but with the switch she’d made to cover for Jan giving her the day time free decided to take advantage of it. Sally immediately asked where my girls were. I felt badly that they weren’t with me as she seemed sincere in her disappointment.

Starting in on the windows I kept glancing at the visitors on the beach. Sally was in a bathing suit and it was obvious to me that in just a short time she'd be filling it out nicely. Edith was still in her clothes and I wondered why. About noon time my mother appeared and offered to make lunch for all of us. Edith started to decline saying that it wasn’t necessary since she only lived minutes away and that she wanted to go home to change into her bathing suit. My mother insisted and eventually gleaned the fact that Edith actually had her suit in her beach bag. In earlier posts I explained that houses built near the water in the 30’s had ”changing rooms“ built into their exterior. After lunch my mother showed her where they were. As they walked away my devious mind went to work.

I figured it was an even chance that Edith would leave her clothes in one of those rooms and I needed to manufacture a reason to go back there before she decided to leave. I didn’t have to worry about my father as he was working but my mother was always flitting about, going from place to place so I had to be concerned about her. I was almost through with the window I was working on and was planning on leaving when I was done. Just as I was picking up my mother came outside and went down to the beach and sat down with Edith. I remember looking skyward and thinking ”Thank you, Lord!“.

My father kept a box with all the components for doing the window work on the back porch where the changing rooms were located. It took me less than a minute to get from the front of the house to the porch and the changing rooms. It took less than 15 second for me to be peeking inside. One of the rooms was used for all the beach gear like folding chairs, beach umbrellas and toys for the kids so I opened the door for the other. The rooms were tiny, no more than 4’ x 4’ with a small bench and some hooks to hang clothes. Right in front of me were Edith’s neatly folded brown shorts with her panties resting on top of them. I knew I didn’t have much time but I also knew I had to be careful to fold and put the panties back exactly as I found them. As I reached for them I could see they were nylon and had a wisp of lace showing. I picked them up and flipped them open to see that they were fancy panties with lace inserts down the sides. Excited, I quickly peered inside to find the label. I didn’t believe my eyes when I saw a very familiar name... Carter’s. Over the many years I’d been interested in panties and had seen, handled or purchased them I’d  never seen Carter’s in anything but cotton. This truly was a ”find“. I can tell you that I really, really wanted to know where she’d gotten them... but quickly realized it was hardly possible. As I folded them up and put them back on top of her shorts my thoughts quickly shifted to how I could get a pair of hers.

To be continued...

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99e)

Monday got off to a great start. The baby had woken up earlier than usual so after Elle changed and fed her she returned to bed. The older kids were still asleep and when I started “making advances” Elle did not resist. It seemed like old times with her straddling me and feeling the warmth of her just wet panties on my penis. The resulting “action” was far better than that of the night before. I wasn’t near as “rusty” and held on for a lot longer. As we lay there, recovering, I envisioned a wonderful week with much more of the same.

The phone broke the euphoria of what had just experienced and I rushed down the hall to answer it. It was my grandfather asking if I could come over to take him to see my grandmother. I was a bit puzzled by the request as I knew that his daytime nurse, Edith, would usually take him a couple of times a week. I didn’t say ask about it but told him I’d be over in a short while.

Pulling into his driveway I didn’t see Edith’s car and inside the house ran into a woman I’d never seen before. Wally, the handy,man/cook saw the puzzled look on my face and told me that Jan, the girl/woman who stayed at night was on vacation. Edith had volunteered to stay over and had arranged for a daytime substitute. Older and quite heavy, she offered nothing in the way of VPL’s.

The visit to the hospital was much shorter than usual as my grandfather had more on his agenda than that. He wanted me to take him to his nephew’s farm. I hadn’t counted on that hoping to be home by noon but kept my mouth shut. After a rather extended visit we headed back. In the course of general conversation my grandfather asked if I needed a little “help” to time me over since I was technically not employed. I could’ve explained that I was actually using vacation time but didn’t. However, by my not answering his question directly I must’ve given the impression that, yes, things were a bit tight. Even before we pulled into his driveway he had his wallet out and had two twenty dollar bills in his hand. I made a mild protest but he insisted that I take them “as payment for being his chauffeur”. It didn’t dawn on me until I was assisting him back into his house that this money could go towards the down payment I wanted to make on Pop’s race car. That got me to thinking about the offer my father had made to do more glazing repairs on the front windows of my parents house. By the time I was home I had hypothesized that I could make somewhere between $60 and $75 and working on that project. Added to the $40 I’d just received I’d have around $100 to give to Pop on Saturday night. I was excited!

The problem was going to be Elle. I’d “primed” her to thinking I’d be around to do things with her and the kids during the week. If I took off to work at my father’s place I wouldn’t be around and she'd be unhappy. In the back of my mind was the plea my mother had made about bringing the kids so she could see them and have a chance to interact with them. When I walked in Elle knew something was up.

As I’ve written, things between Elle and her mother had been rather “chilly” between them since Dolly had started helping Elle. Now, with Dolly gone and the specter of the joint birthday party coming up I knew Elle needed to “make nice” with her mother so I suggested that we go spend some with her. Long story short Elle agreed. A long phone call that evening got things rolling and with good weather predicted for the next few days we set it up to spend some time with both mother’s. I neglected to mention to Elle that I’d be spending time working on windows but by the time we went to bed at least there was a plan in place.

Even though both Elle’s and my mother got along on the surface, there was always an undercurrent of jealousy on the part of Elle’s mother. Whenever we came to visit her she would get upset if we would leave to go over to my parent’s house. We arrived just before lunch and, while eating, Elle’s mother made it very clear that Elle and the kids were there to visit her... period. I kept my mouth shut and used her pronouncement as an excuse to go over to my parents. As soon as I got there I started in on a window. My father had agreed to pay me $2.50 and hour or $10 a window, whichever was less. The $10 a window sounded good to me so getting one window done was my goal. I deliberately started in on the side window closest to the house where Jeanette and Karen were staying hoping to get a “treat’ from Jeanette as she walked by. When she did she was in her dark blue bikini bathing suit but there was nothing to see. She had a nice body from just underneath her breasts right to her ankles but she was just so very tiny on top. It just didn’t make sense to me.

I finished the window in just over four hours and was cleaning up when Jeanette’s father, Big Al, came up to me. He asked if I could take a look at the small boat he’d purchased for his grandson, Danny. He told me it leaked so bad that it really wasn’t useable. I went over and looked at it and could tell that it was homemade. The builder had used common plywood (something that should never be used in boats) to build it and it was delaminating where the bottom met the side. I still had the putty knife in my hand and got the idea to push some putty into the opening and then try to re-nail it. Once I started in I had quite an audience. I got Big Al and little Danny involved with his mother, Jeanette and his Aunt Karen cheering us on. Of course they wanted to try the boat in the water when I’d finished and I needed the two of them to help get it down the stairs. Handling the boat was a bit awkward as there were no handles for them to grab. I directed them to get a hold of it by sliding their hands under the bottom right at the back. As I watched to make sure they were doing it right I saw a sliver of white appear at the back of Jeanette’s bikini bottom as she squatted down. From the front of the boat I was too far away to be sure but I thought it was the waist elastic of a pair panties. That confused me for a second but I had to get back to concentrating on moving the boat. Once in the water it still leaked but, according to Jeanette, no where near as bad as before. She assured me that it would be fine as it only had to stay afloat for short periods of time. As I walked back out of the water I took one last look at both the boat and Jeanette and this time I saw a small sliver of white peeking out from the leg openings. Interesting... and food for thought


To be continued... 

NEW GROUND... with some shocks (Part 99d)

My mind was like a mixing bowl when I tried to go to sleep. Excited about winning... excited about the possibility of buying the champions race car... anxious about how to pay for it... anxious about my new job... etc, etc. There was just a lot of ”stuff“ going on up there. I heard it start to rain before I finally fell asleep and I remember thinking that my father, the amateur weather forecaster, had been right again.

The rain was a blessing of sorts. My grandfather didn’t like going to the hospital when it rained so I was freed from that detail. A chance happening got me to focus on Elle’s panties. We’d fed the girls their breakfast and Elle, as a reward to me for having won the night before, was mixing batter for waffles, my favorite for breakfast. She stopped and headed down the hall for the bathroom. I chastised her a bit about not trying to ”hold“ as I followed her. When she got to the bathroom door it was closed. I grabbed her and put my hand between her legs and found she was wet. She kind of spit back at me ”Satisfied?“ as her pee filtered through my fingers. She pushed the door open and rushed to the side of the tub. My daughter, now five, was upset that we’d barged in on her so I turned and left. I was waiting outside for Elle knowing she’d have to put on clean, dry panties. I quickly darted into the bedroom and went for her panty drawer. I knew the new Lollipop panties were stuffed to the rear and grabbed one of them. I also saw a few pair of the nylon satin Plymouth panties and grabbed one. I was sitting on the edge of the bed when she walked in. I held up a pair of the Lollipops and after pausing a few seconds walked up to me and then stepped into them. I debated with myself a second as to whether to push my luck and do the same with the Plymouth panties but she’d already seen them. Making a bit of a ‘face” she indicated that she’d wear them. It had been a while since she’d acquiesced to my whims and it felt good. I just knew the upcoming week was going to be extra good.

Even though we were going to a “party” Elle dressed the girls in shorts and I persuaded Elle to do the same. She’d not worn them all Summer due to her “problem” but with her improvement and the end of Summer coming up there wasn’t going to be much more time to wear them. I picked out a couple of combinations and she actually picked out the white knit shorts I bought for her the previous Summer. I loved them because they fit so snug and gave off a nice VPL. I was pleasantly surprised.

Dolly’s father had come out from the city to get her and, of course, was invited to the party as well. It was very nice and my parents had bought her a nice leather folio to start off college with. My mother, always thinking, had bought a pendant for Elle and I to give her as a thank you for helping us out. As we said our good byes Dolly bent over to give the girls a hug and the only thing that saved me was that Elle and my parents were talking with her father. It was a “two cheek“ peek. It was a fitting way to end the Summer with Dolly.

With them gone, my mother started in on both Elle and me about bringing the kids down during the week. There was no way to escape it so we said OK. My father even sweetened the deal by saying that he’d pay me to work on the front windows for him. Talk to me about money and I’ll listen. I needed to come up with at least enough money to make it clear to Pop that I was serious about buying his race car and this was a start.

I’d managed to find a few minutes to call down to Peggy’s house and talk with Bobbi. I apologized for not getting back earlier about sailing that day but did manage to get her to commit to the following Sunday. She volunteered that she would be there the whole week and asked if there was some way we could get in a sail just so she could get re-acclimated to the boat. With the whole week off I told her I thought it would be possible and asked what day would work for her. She suggested Thursday and I made a mental note of it.

Because of the rain we’d left the windows shut when we left for the party. Upon arriving home we found that the temperature had climbed to almost 80 degrees and with the high humidity it was uncomfortable. We put the older kids to bed in just their panties. I set the fan up in the living room so we could watch TV and persuaded Elle to put on one of her baby doll pajama tops and just her panties. There was enough light from the TV screen for me to see what I wanted. By the time the shows we liked to watch were over I was ”ready”. Elle was complaining about how uncomfortable the humidity was. I didn't want to plead so I offered her a "deal". If she'd let me take her picture I'd be satisfied. But I won again as I got my picture and Elle too. By the time we fell asleep I was sure that the week was going to be just great with things going back to way they’d been in the past.