John Adams High School - Clipper Yearbook (Ozone Park, NY)

Page 11 text:

Why, you don'l have lo slay home. l'm nol a guesl lo be pam- pered, remember. I lhink l'lI go lo bed early, anyhow, Lori assured her. You're sure you don'l mind being alone? Uncle lvlall asked. ll's nol loo imporlanl. ll you slarl pulling yourselves oul lor me, l'll leave now, Lori in- sisled. I know you wouldn'l go un- less il was prelly imporlanl, and I don'l mind being alone. Well, l'll lighl a lire in lhe lire- place lor you, Uncle lvlall sug- gesled. Wilh an open lire, a good book, and Tally here al my leel, whal more could I wanl? And il was lrue. she lhoughl laler when, aller lhey had gone she sel- lled down on lhe couch, lire belore her, book in hand. l-lere was a lile lhal ollered everylhing - love, heallhy living, pels, and lhe special conlenlmenl born ol being your own masler. All I need is someone like Uncle Mall, she said, aloud. Nol like Russ Milchellf' She lhrew lhe book down. There was no use lrying lo read now, and she knew il. She could only sil lhere, and lel il all come back . . . Il had been in lhe beginning ol Oclober lhal she mel Russ. I-le had iusl had an appendeclomy, and she was his nurse. While he was con- valescing, lhey had ollen lalked, and by lhe lime he was ready lo leave. lhey were good lriends. I-Ie had asked lor her phone number, and she had given il lo him. She wanled lo believe him when he said he'd call, bul she was alraid lo. So, when lhe call had come, she had been happily surprised, and surprisingly happy. I-low would you like lo go lo a play Salurday nighl? he had asked. l'd love lo, she replied, almosl singing. Fine. I'll pick you up al seven- lhirly. Okay, See you lhen. 'Bye. I-le called, he called, she sang. dancing aboul lhe room, hugging hersell. I-Ier large gray eyes danced, and her shorl, dark hair swung gaily againsl her cheeks. The resl ol lhe week dragged. unlil il seemed lhal Salurday nighl would never come. When il linally did come, she scurried aboul lhe aparlmenl, alraid she wouldn'l be ready on lime. She had iusl linished applying lipslick lo her lull, lrem- bling lips when lhe doorbell rang. I-ler molher answered. Lori, Russ is here, her molher called. Coming, Lori cried, and wilh a lasl look in lhe mirror, caughl up her coal and walked inlo lhe living room. I-li, Russ, she greeled him, lry- ing lo be casual. I-Iello, Lori, he said, his brown eyes lighling wilh approval. Aller lhe show, lhey slopped al a Japanese reslauranl. Belore she knew il, lhey had been silling in lhe small ealing comparlmenl lor al- mosl lwo hours. Funny how we have so much lo lalk aboul, she lhoughl, on lhe way home. ll seems like we've known each olher lorever. Al her aparlmenl lhey said good- nighl al lhe door. l'll call you, Lori, Russ said, his deep voice lowered lo a husky whis- per. Then he lowered his blond head and his lips brushed her cheek. G-good nighl, Russ, she slam- mered, and guickly lel hersell inlo lhe aparlmenl. Il was lhe lirsl lime a boy had kissed her on her cheek, yel il seemed suddenly as il il were lhe mosl nalural lhing in lhe world. Why is il, she gueslioned hersell, lhal everylhing aboul Russ seems so righl and nalural and special? All lhrough lhal glorious aulumn, everylhing conlinued lo be special. They daled ollen, and belore she knew il, she realized lhal she was very much in love. lConlinued on nexl pagel 7 N ...af

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PRO I E PRING PEGGIANN KARPF The Train ierked To an abrupT halr. l.ori Baker, TwenTy-Two years old, iumped To The plaTTorm. I-ler anxious gray eyes scanned The Throng oT waiTing people unTil They came To resT on a graying, middle-aged man aT The Tar end. Uncle lvlaThew, she called. l-le Turned, a smile breaking over his weaTher-beaTen TeaTures, as he hur- ried Towards her. Why, Lori, how you've grown, he laughed, as he planTed a lighT kiss on her cheek. Lori laughed Too. IT was a privaTe ioke oT Theirs. l have grown, Though, she ThoughT To herselT. Older, sadder, and I hope a Iirrle wiser. I-laven'T you anyThing To say ThaT would brighTen The day Tor an old man? Uncle lVIaTT inquired, as Tive minuTes laTer he drove The beaT-up Ford along The well-paved road. Qld man? Why, I don'T know any old men, l.ori declared sTouTly. Lori smiled, buT her gaze was Tixed on The VermonT counTryside ThaT was slipping by. I-lere and There paTches oT brown showed Through The Thin layer oT snow. Bleak mounTains rose To meeT The darkening sky oT Twi- lighT. There was someThing wisTTul abouT Those mounTains. Lori TelT close To Tears. Luckily, They reached The Tarm Then, and in The exciTemenT oT greeTing AunT MarTy her spiriTs rose. Well, iT sure does seem like ages since you were here lasT, her aunT said, when halT an hour laTer They were seaTed abouT The round dining room Table, helping Themselves To 6 , ' Z? ai rr Zi S iw! generous servings oT The delicious New England cooking. I wanTed To come aT ChrisTmas. buT I had To work. l'm glad I was able To Take Two weeks oT my vacaTion now, she explained. I don'T Think l could have waiTed unTil This sum- mer To geT away. We couldn'T have waiTed 'Til summer, eiTher, AunT MarTy smiled. Lori looked graTeTully aT her plump, gray eyed aunT. ShorT, premaTurely whiTe hair Tramed The happy, pink- cheeked Tace, in which smile lines were eTched deeply. She knew They loved her as much as she loved Them, and ThaT They looked Torward To her visiTs as much as she did. They had no children oT Their own, Their only son having been killed in The Korean War, and ever since her own TaTher had died when she was a baby. she had spend almosT all oT her vacaTions on Their Tarm. lT was VermonT ThaT she had come To look upon as her home, iusT as she had come To con- Tide in AunT lVlarTy and look To her and Uncle IVlaTT Tor advice. IT was To Them ThaT she had come wiTh her childhood ioys and sorrows. IT wasn'T ThaT her moTher didn'T care abouT her: iT was iusT ThaT she had had To work so hard To geT herselT The high posiTion in The company Tor which she worked, ThaT she had sorT oT become more oT an execuTive Than a moTher, even aT home. l-ori, l almosT TorgoT, buT There's a Grange meeTing TonighT. Would you like To come? OTherwise, l'll sTay home wiTh you, AunT MarTy inTerrupTed her ThoughTs.

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Ig' 'ii iff? of rw N . mlrfjl S 5 i 4vs-M141 For The firsT few weeks. everyThing was perfecT. Then small, Troubling doubTs began To appear. There was somefhing-she didn'T c1uiTe know whaT-ThaT nagged aT The back of her mind. Alfhough Russ would usu- ally Talk so freely, There were Times when he seemed evasive. Lori knew ThaT one Thing ThaT boThered her was The facT ThaT he didn'T go To church, and always evaded any Talk on The maTTer. Then, in November, when everyone was Talking poliTics, he clammed up again. Lori didn'T even know wheTher or noT he voTed, and if he did, which parTy he was for. And so The doubTs seemed To grow, unTil finally she found herself analyzing everyThing he said, To see if iT mighT have some sinisTer mean- ing. ln December, he avoided Talking abouT ChrisTmas. WhaT was ChrisTmas like, when you were a kid? she asked him once. We didn'T have much of any- Thing in The home, was all he would reply. Lori knew he had been raised in an orphanage, and ThoughT ThaT perhaps The memory of his childhood was unhappy, and ThaT was why he refused To Talk abouT iT. One nighT, in The middle of De- cember, she decided iT was Time To have iT ouT wiTh him. Russ, she said suddenly, aT din- ner, l won'T go on like This any longer. I-Ie sTared aT her, dumbfounded. Go on like whaT? WhaT are you Talking abouT? You.l wanT To know somefhing, Russ. She sTopped, To give herself a chance To gaTher her courage. Do 8 you believe in God, Russ? Whil parTy are you for? Did yOU GVGV voTe? She paused, falfernng. -Then wenT on. Are you an American. Russ? I mean really, inside? she de- manded. WhaT are you Talking abouT? OT course l'm an American: I was born here. -I'haT's noT whaT I mean, and you know iT. You're iusT being evasive again. I-ler hearT was beaTing wild- ly, and There was a dry, Thick TasTe in her mouTh. She wanTed To cry, Say iT's noT True, Russ. Say l'm Talking nonsense. I don'T Think iT would be wise To discuss The maTTer furTher, he said sTiffly. No, of course noT. JusT like iT's noT wise To Talk abouT poliTics, or re- ligion. Please, God, she prayed, make him say iT's noT True. I always ThoughT I would know a CommunisT if I meT one. I ThoughT They were cold and hard. I wouldn'T have be- lieved I could ever love one. IT Took a Tremendous efforT To keep her voice low, so oTher people in The resTauranT wouldn'T hear her. Lori, he said, and The coldness in his voice and face chilled and frighTened her, whaT I believe in is my business. I refuse To discuss iT furTher wiTh you. IT I believe in Com- munism, iT is because l wanT To, and noThing-noT you, or This Thing you call love-will ever change me. Good-bye, Russ, she whispered, and grabbing her coaT and pockeT- book somehow found her way To The sTreeT, Tears blinding her so ThaT she could hardly see. She wouldn'T have believed ThaT anyThing could hurT as much as losing Russ. The days dragged by, and The pain inside sTayed. She would wake up in The nighT wiTh his face before her. She remembered The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, and The way his nose sorT of bumped in The middle, because iT had been broken once, when he was liTTle. lConTinued on Page 92l