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Show 32 afternoon movies on television. He was, in a way, a child really. Still, she liked him. She enjoyed being with him. And when he was in her arms, he was exciting to her. Inexperienced, perhaps, but a mystery nevertheless. The mystery of another person. A man. His physical being. At times he seemed to sense that feeling of superiority in her. Although she took care to conceal it, great care. But sometimes, like a moment ago, it surfaced, found its way out. She did not want that. She did not want to have it out in the open. She always maneuvered the conversation so that it did not escalate into a confrontation. She did not want to hurt him, to lose him. She did not want to take any chances: Saturday nights at home was too compelling a threat. So they continued to go to the walk-ins. But they began to skip the cokes afterwards, and park for.awhile on the drive home. Several blocks away, out from under Katie's bedroom window. At a few minutes to midnight-never earlier than ten minutes to-they would pull up in front of the house. Katie told Mrs. Green-who passed it on to Roger, who in turn of course told Sharon-that on those Saturday nights when she, Katie, was still awake, she could almost set her wristwatch by the sound of the Impala pulling up at the curb. Roger mentioned that the next Saturday night, on the drive home. Did she think they should, indeed, stop? "The hell with her," Sharon said. "Just like that?" "Just like that. The hell with her." So it was settled: they continued to park on the drive home. |