Entry 19611127 — Backstory 13 — Fallout, Part II

_November 27, 1961, Milford, Ohio_

Fran had decided, on the walk home with Allison and Jennie, that she simply couldn't say anything to her mom about Elizabeth. Fortunately, Bev had a date right after school, so they didn't have to worry about either of their moms seeing them with Bev. Because Allison's mom was home on Mondays, she couldn't see Bobby, but seeing him four days a week kept them both very happy. Instead of walking with him so they could 'do homework' together, Allison had walked with Fran, and they had parted at Fran's house, with Allison continuing a block down the street.

Fran did her homework, and when she heard her dad come home, she waited a few minutes, then went to ask him about Sam coming to dinner on Sunday.

"I'll need to speak to both Sam and his father," Joshua Sorkin said.

"Sam is responsible, has a job, and always treats me properly," Fran stated firmly.

"Even so, I need to be sure he understands."

Fran made the mistake of sighing, drawing a stern look from her dad.

"Fran, as your father, I have a duty to keep you safe."

"Even if it ruins my social life, and no guy wants to see me because you treat them like criminals and subject them to interrogations? Did you stop at the Ace Hardware and buy blindingly bright lights?"

"Fran," Joshua pleaded. "ensuring you're safe is not interrogation by secret police!"

"What could possibly happen if Sam and I are sitting in the living room with you or Mom there, or we're at the dinner table with the family? You won't even let him take me to his dad's store for a soda or sundae! Just let me invite him to dinner without the third degree, please."

Joshua considered her request and realized that she was right. If Sam proved to be as polite and gentlemanly as he seemed, and as honest and trustworthy as his father, then a brief conversation before he was allowed to take Fran for a sundae would likely suffice.

"OK, Fran," he said. "You're right. But if Sam isn't what he seems to be, he won't be invited back."

"Thank you, Daddy. What happened today?"

"I'll tell everyone at dinner," he said. "Go help your mother."

"Yes, Daddy," Fran replied, banking her win.

She went to the kitchen and put on an apron. She let her mom know about Sam coming to dinner, then helped finish making dinner. They got everything on the table, then called her dad and Elizabeth to come eat.

"Two things," Joshua said after giving the blessing. "First, Kenny was released on $5000 bail and there's a court order saying he can have no contact with Elizabeth or he'll be arrested again. Second, tomorrow evening, Nora Krajick, an attorney, and Louise Schmidt, a matron from the Clermont County Jail, will visit to ask questions about what happened."

"Nothing I didn't want to happen!" Elizabeth declared.

"Elizabeth Marie!" Esther said sternly.

That effectively ended the conversation, and they ate quietly. When they finished eating, Elizabeth went to her room and Fran helped clean up.

"We discussed the situation today," Esther said to Fran. "You need to stay away from Bev Thompson."

"I see her in class," Fran said.

"Let me rephrase that. Outside of school, you're not to spend time with her."

"May I say something, please?"

"I think you said quite enough on Saturday."

"Mom, have I ever done anything to cause you not to trust me? I mean, besides being Elizabeth's sister?"

"I don't think that's the important question."

"Why not?" Fran asked. "Ben came to talk to Daddy, I was home before my curfew, I went to the drive-in and actually watched the movie!"

Esther tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help herself.

"And had I not gone to see the matinée?"

"I would still have watched the movie," Fran said.

"Are you being honest with me?" Esther asked lightly.

"Yes," Fran said. "I'm sure we would have kissed, but I'm sure you suspected that."

"I was young once," Esther said.

"I've seen you kiss Daddy, so it's not just young people!"

"Are you trying to say we're old?" Esther asked.

"Not compared to Grandma!"

Esther laughed again, "Thanks, I think. What did your father say about Sam coming to dinner? I mean, besides saying it was OK?"

"We discussed it, and he agreed not to give Sam the third degree. What's going to happen to Liza?"

"I think you understand why your father and I need to keep close watch on her."

"I suppose, but she's going to chafe."

"What would you do, Fran?"

Fran thought about it and thought about how she might help herself as well.

"I would, after a week or two, give her a chance to show she's trustworthy, and if she is, then allow her a bit more freedom."

"Which is what you want for yourself, isn't it?"

"I follow Daddy's rules," Fran said.

"But you don't agree with them."

"What teenager agrees with everything their parent says?" Fran asked.

Esther smiled, "That's the same thing Peggy Turner said this morning. May I make a suggestion?"

"Yes."

"Work with your father, similar to how you did today about Sam. Be patient, and I think you'll be OK."

"I will."

_November 28, 1961, Milford, Ohio_

Elizabeth waited nervously in what had once been the school nurses' office in the basement of Milford Main. The year before she'd started first grade, a new nurse's office had been set up on the first floor, near the main office, and the one in the basement converted to a storage room. She'd found the unlocked room one day while she and her friend Elaine were exploring the school in second grade. She stood in the shadows against the wall, behind an old file cabinet, so that if by some chance some teacher or custodian would look in, they wouldn't see her.

Elizabeth fidgeted, wondering if Jim would actually show up. Her note had been very clear — _Meet me in Room 008 tomorrow at the start of lunch period_ — but after five minutes, she was afraid he wasn't going to show up. She wondered if she should have been more explicit in her note, but she'd been concerned that a teacher might see the note and tell her mom.

After ten minutes, Elizabeth gave up and went to the cafeteria to have lunch. She saw Jim Henderson with his friends and some Senior girls and was annoyed because she'd do anything they would! She got into the lunch line, bought her lunch, and then went to sit with her friend Elaine.

"Where were you?" Elaine asked.

"I had something to do," Elizabeth replied.

"Jim Henderson is bad news," Elaine said quietly.

'Good!' was how Elizabeth wanted to reply, but she knew Elaine would likely tattle. Elizabeth needed a new friend who wasn't a 'goody two shoes'. The problem was, her mom was watching her like a hawk, and was walking her to school like…well, like nobody! Her mom was treating her like a baby, because even first graders walked to school by themselves. Elizabeth was determined to prove she was no baby, but doing that meant finding a way to get out from under the controls her mom and dad had imposed.

Maybe the solution was Bev Thompson. She knew plenty of guys and was considered to be the worst of the 'bad' girls at school. Of course, if she was seen talking to Bev, that could cause all kinds of trouble at home, and make things worse, if they could even get worse! She ate her lunch, then she and Elaine went outside to meet their other friends. Elizabeth saw Bev standing with her sister, which only served to make her angrier because Fran was going against their parents and appeared to be getting away with it.

Later that afternoon, when school let out, Esther Sorkin was waiting for her daughter just outside the door to the school. When Elizabeth came out, they began walking home.

"You're to be on your best behavior tonight when the attorney and matron come to interview you," Esther said to Elizabeth.

"Fine," Elizabeth said flatly.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady. You will answer the questions truthfully and politely, and you will be respectful. Do you hear me?"

"Yes," Elizabeth replied, fuming. "Fran is hanging out with Bev Thompson at school."

"Let your father and me worry about Fran," Esther replied. "You worry about you."

"She gets away with murder!" Elizabeth protested. "It's not fair!"

"You mind your own business, young lady," Esther said. "Your behavior has been completely inappropriate. You worry about that first."

"I told you I wanted to do it!" Elizabeth protested. "Why does nobody listen to me?"

"We do, honey," Esther said, "but we also have an obligation as parents to keep you safe. You're too young to do what you were doing."

"I am not! I'm a woman!"

"A _young_ woman," Esther corrected. "A sign of maturity is acting responsibly and treating yourself and others with respect. Doing what you were doing is not treating yourself with respect, and Kenny Burnside certainly wasn't respecting you as a young lady."

"Come off it!" Elizabeth retorted. "Don't be so square! It's my decision, not yours, and absolutely not Daddy's!"

"I know you think so, but until you're eighteen, you're our responsibility. We don't want you to ruin your life."

"Me ruin my life? That's a laugh! Daddy ruined it by having my boyfriend arrested and grounding me for life!"

"What if you were to get pregnant?" Esther asked.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, then said, "I told you we had rubbers!"

"They aren't perfect, honey. And kids sometimes get careless. And then there are social diseases."

"Same answer! Rubbers!"

"And if they fail? Because they do, and then where would you be, unmarried and pregnant at fourteen?"

Elizabeth didn't answer because she felt it was futile. Her mother was never going to see things her way. When they walked into the house, Elizabeth went right to her room and started on her homework. One thing was certain — she was going to graduate and get out of the house as quickly as possible after that.

That evening, after dinner, the attorney and jail matron arrived to interview Elizabeth. She told them the exact same things she'd told her mom about wanting to do it and repeatedly said that Kenny hadn't done anything wrong. The stupid women simply kept repeating that she was 'under age' and that 'oral sodomy on a minor' was a criminal act. When the evil women finally left, Elizabeth locked herself in her room and stayed there until morning.

_November 29, 1961, Milford, Ohio_

"Your sister said she saw you eating lunch with Beverly Thompson," Esther said to Fran on Wednesday morning.

"Liza is a tattletale!" Fran complained.

"So it's true, then?"

"Yes, it's true, Liza is a tattletale!" Fran declared.

Nora once again couldn't help but laugh.

"We agree. What about Beverly Thompson?"

"She sits with us at lunch and she stood with our group when we went outside after we ate. I can't make her move and if I move, I can't sit with my group of friends. I promised not to see her outside of school and she doesn't even walk with us now, even though her house is on the way to school from here."

"You do understand our concern, though, right?"

"She's not contagious!"

Esther smiled, "Bad ideas are infectious, something I know you've heard Rabbi Goldfeder say."

"So you believe that because Bev thinks it's OK to go to bed with lots of boys, all of us will just automatically do it if we hang around her?"

"I think she could put ideas in your head," Esther said.

"Nancy has the completely opposite view and always tells us we should wait until our wedding night. That should cancel it out!"

Esther laughed, "You're a very logical girl, but the messages don't carry equal weight, at least with teenagers. The contrary message is always stronger!"

"Experience?" Fran asked.

"Both having been a teenager and parenting two of them! I know it's a confusing time because you feel as if you're an adult in many ways, but you lack the experience to make good decisions. Part of being a parent is helping your children learn to make good decisions and to teach them to be responsible citizens."

"And grounding Liza to her room does that?"

"Bad decisions in life can have serious consequences, honey. Kenny Burnside is facing the possibility of thirty years in prison for what he did to your sister."

"With her, Mom," Fran corrected. "WITH her."

"Neither the law nor your father see it that way."

"Which doesn't change the facts," Fran observed. "It only means that Kenny can be punished for doing it."

"And you don't have a problem with the perverted things they did?"

Fran wasn't sure those things were perverted, but she knew her father thought so, and so did many other people. Fran wondered if she could actually let a guy put his manhood in her mouth, but the idea of him licking her made her tingle. And that forced her to consider what a guy might feel if she did allow him in her mouth.

"I know what they say about 'good girls' and 'sluts' or 'whores'," Fran replied. "But shouldn't each person decide for themselves?"

"You approve of those things?" Esther gasped.

"I think it's better to say I don't disapprove," Fran said. "I think everyone is different, and we should celebrate those differences, not punish them."

"Don't let your father hear you say that!"

"What do you think, Mom?"

"I think no girl of fourteen, or even sixteen, should even be thinking about those things!"

"Did you?" Fran asked. "Be honest, please."

"I had no idea about those things until after I married, and please do NOT read anything into that other than I heard about them."

"But sex?"

"Every boy and girl who goes through puberty thinks about it," Esther replied. "I'm sure you have."

"Yes," Fran admitted.

"And have you acted on those thoughts?" Esther asked.

"That," Fran said firmly, "is nobody's business except mine."

"You said that the other day, and it's not an answer."

Fran smiled, "It's an answer, just not the one you want! May I explain?"

"Yes."

"If I answer 'no', you'll continue to ask until I say 'yes' or I'm married. If I say 'yes', you'll put me under house arrest. I could lie to you, of course, but I don't want to, so the only reasonable thing to do is to not answer. I need to leave for school, so we can talk later."

"Go ahead," Esther said. "Elizabeth and I will leave a few minutes after you. We can't have anyone thinking I'm walking you to school, now can we?"

"I'd die of embarrassment!" Fran declared.

She got her things and met Allison at the corner, and later Jennie joined them, but Bev made a point of walking far enough in front of them to keep their mothers happy.

"I can't believe my mom talked to me about boys!" Jennie said. "Like I'm going to do anything like that!"

"Kent McGrath?" Allison asked.

Jennie giggled, "I'll kiss him when I'm old enough!"

"Mom talked to be about Bobby and not letting him 'have his way with me'," Allison said. "But she didn't say anything about ME having MY way with HIM!"

"Are you going to marry him?" Jennie asked.

"When he asks," Allison said. "That's why I needed to make sure Bev didn't get her claws into him! But, oh boy, was it worth it!"

"When will he ask?"

"Probably next year," Allison said. "He's going to UC."

"And you?"

"I'll get a job, of course. I'm not going to stay around the house like my mom does, cleaning, cooking, and watching _As the World Turns_ or _Guiding Light_!"

"I'm going to college," Fran said.

"What will you study?" Allison asked.

"Psychology," Fran replied. "All the talking I've done with my mom and others convinced me that's the right choice."

"And what would you do?"

"Be a psychologist," Fran said. "Family counseling, I think, but maybe I'll focus on teenagers like us to help them cope with the adult world."

"I'm not a teenager yet," Jennie said. "I'm only seven!"

"I know," Fran said. "But what if we had someone to talk to who wasn't a parent or teacher and who we could talk to without the risk of them telling anyone?"

"That's a great idea, Fran!" Allison said. "How long does it take?"

"I think six years, but I'll need to check. I have to talk to someone at UC, but that's over a year away."

They arrived at school and went to their homeroom classes. A few minutes later, Esther walked Elizabeth to the door of the school, and once Elizabeth was inside, turned to walk back home. Elizabeth waited in the main hallway until Bev came in.

"Can I talk to you a sec?" she said to Bev.

"Your mom will flip," Bev said.

"So don't tell her!" Elizabeth said.

"What do you want?" Bev asked, looking around for teachers, but not seeing any.

"To meet an older guy."

"Tough to do when you're locked in your room, Rapunzel!"

"Promise not to tell?"

"Tell what?"

"I know how to sneak out," Elizabeth said. "Could you get Jim Henderson to give me a ride on his motorcycle?"

Bev laughed, "It's not his motorcycle you want to ride, but he's not right for you!"

"Why?"

The last thing Bev wanted to do was get dragged into the problems at the Sorkin household, and even asking Jim to talk to Elizabeth would get her involved.

"Never mind," Bev said. "Just forget it."

"Argh!" Elizabeth growled.

"Just go to class," Bev said.

Elizabeth stormed off and headed for her locker. She was tempted to leave the school building and run away from home, but she didn't have enough money to get anywhere except maybe downtown Cincinnati, which wouldn't help. She wondered if there was a way to get to California and find a dreamy surfer. Resigned to her situation, at least for the moment, Elizabeth put her things in her locker and went to her homeroom.