MICHAEL AND LISA DECIDED TO LIVE TOGETHER
“If you continue this discussion, you must go because I do not deserve to be treated this way,” said Jeff.
“If you continue, I must divorce,” said Lisa.
“You are miserable. Try to correct your behavior. I don’t believe that the divorce is a solution,” said Jeff.
“I think you have a lot of emotional and spiritual issues, “said Lisa.
“It’s a tense situation and we begin to live in a toxic relationship. Be careful,” said Jeff.
“Staying together in these conditions is a very bad idea,” said Lisa.
“You’re right. Just go, I wish you good luck! If you return tomorrow, you will not find me here because I intend to leave the town for a week.”
“I will never return,” said Lisa.
Then, he pushed her onto the bed and forced her to make love with him.
“Tell me, he said softly, what do you want from me?” He was no longer teasing her. Earnestly, he forced her to choose.
He rubbed his chin back and forth over her sensitive skin, while he was waiting for her response.
“I want to divorce, Jeff. I’m pregnant,” said Lisa.
“This is a stupidity!” Jeff exclaimed, looking into her eyes.
“I’m not pregnant with your baby,” said Lisa.
“Just go,” said Jeff, having tears in his eyes. He was exhausted.” Who’s the father?”
“Michael,” said Lisa.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Jeff.
Nora went to Ella’s house and knocked on the door. Alexander opened the door, invited her inside and offered her cookies and lemonade. Ella was sitting on the sofa, with the baby in her arms, feeding him.
“I love and understand my baby as he loves and understands me,” said Ella.
“Look at his hair! It grew very well. You look very nice,” said Nora.
“Yes, but I feel my bones tired,” said Ella.
“Maybe you don’t hold your baby in a way that is comfortable for you,” said Nora.
“I am fatigue, but I am very happy at the same time, Nora.”
“Of course.Can I hold him?” Nora wanted so much to hold the little baby.
“Yes.”
Nora took the kid, kissing him.
“I have to do laundry, vacuuming and other tasks, which require bending and lifting. So, I understand that I’m a father. Moreover, I feel this,” said Alexander, smiling.
“Sometimes, he cries too much. I don’t know the cause,” said Ella.
“Healthy babies can cry for a couple of hours each day, Ella, don’t worry.”
“Why did you come alone? Where is Michael?”
“I wanted to discuss with you. I want to divorce,” said Nora.
“Why do you want to do this?”
“My marriage used to make me happy, but now, it just makes me to be sad. My marriage just doesn’t work for me, anymore. I realized that I became very sarcastic and miserable. We had the same goals, at the beginning. Now, we want completely different things. I’ve been thinking that divorce can be a solution for our problems. I’ve been married for ten years.Now, I am contemplating the divorce,” said Nora.
“When you had been married to Theodore, you worked in a village. After that, you married Michael and you came here in the town. Now, you’re working with another kind of people. Michael changed you for the better,” said Ella.
“You embraced this change in your life style. What’s wrong now?” Alexander wanted to help her.
“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman. He has a love affair. He is very changed. Our relationship is almost nonexistent,” said Nora. She stopped talking because she couldn’t continue her conversation. She had tears in her eyes. Nora wasn’t a very sensible person, but she suffered quite badly because she loved Michael. Nora has become very vulnerable.
“Didn’t you try to change the things, did you make the things to work again?” Ella asked her, taking Emanuel in her arms.
“It would be a waste of time,” said Nora.
“Why do you say this?”
“I can tell you that my husband doesn’t understand the situation as clearly as I do.”
Emanuel began to cry. Ella slowly scooped up the baby into her arms and began to cradle him, but the child continued to cry.
”He begin to cry again.”
“He cries because this is the only way he can tell you something. He may be hungry, tired, he can have colic. Maybe he needs his diaper to be changed,” said Nora.
“You’re right, I must change his diaper.” While changing her child’s diaper, Ella was wondering to know how she could be able to understand her baby’s needs. She felt helpless without her mother.
”Look at him.He is so cute now. He smiles.” Nora has significantly looked into the eyes of Ella.
“Nora, I didn’t know that having a kid involves so much attention,” said Ella.
“It involves a lot of attention,” said Alexander.
She went to the child’s room with the baby in her arms. The baby was sleeping and he was breathing slowly. Ella began to smile. He truly was a child like no other. She knelt down to the sleeping baby and kissed him. When she returned back, Nora was talking with Alexander about the house.
“Maybe you should reconcile Theodore,” said Ella, interrupting their discussion.
“I met him at Victor’s house. We talked to each other,”said Nora.
“And what did he say?”
“We danced around the subject, rather than address it directly.”
“If you don’t give him the opportunity to know what you want, so in truth, he will have no idea about your feelings,” said Ella.
“I think you’re right. I must tell you that the house looks amazing. It is excellent repainted and redesigned,” said Nora.
“We completely renovated both the interior and the exterior,” said Alexander.
“I added more windows to change it into a bright airy home,” said Ella.
“Indeed, it is a great amount of natural light, cast from the oversized windows.It looks nice.The new rooms look amazing,” said Nora.
“I worked a lot for those columns that flank the entrance to the kitchen. It was her wish to have those columns,” said Alexander.
“Well, I must go.See you both soon. Bye.”
“You’re always welcomed here. Bye.”
Nora was staring at the window of her home. It was almost evening. She could hear the birds chirping. She closed her eyes to enjoy the peaceful sound of the nature. Suddenly, she heard a car coming. She opened her eyes to see who had arrived home. It was her husband, Michael. She asked herself why she didn’t run up to her husband to embrace him and to welcome him home. She remembered that the first year of marriage was a total bliss. After that, the things turned horribly wrong.
“I came to get my things. I live with Lisa. She is pregnant, carrying my child. I’m going to divorce,” said Michael.
“Anyway, you have not come home for three weeks. I was expecting you to leave me. I still don’t know how the hell she seduced you once more,” said Nora.
“She didn’t seduce me.I love her. Anyway, this house is a real hell. Stay with your daughter. I think that she is all you want,” said Michael.
“What would you say, if I was pregnant with Theodore’s baby and I would tell you that I was pregnant with your child? What would you think about me?”
“Lisa is pregnant with my baby,” Michael said, having a harshly look.
Nora looked at him with a smile on her lips. She was thinking of Jeff. Her eyes sparkled ironically, though no irony could be felt in her voice.
“You’ll be back to me, but you will never find me again. I’m going to marry Theodore. He’s the father of my child,” said Nora.
“I don’t think that you’re able to go back to the same mud hole,” said Michael.
“Now, I really understand the real mud of my life.”
Michael laughed nervously, unzipping his pants and saying,”Get your goodbye to the mud. I need new pants.”
Nora was thoroughly annoyed and shouted,”Get out of my house and all I want is never to see you again.”
“That’s only a reaction,” said Michael. “I’m not coming back to be your husband. I’m sure.”
Michael kissed her possessively on the lips, biting them until bleeding. Nora began to hit his shoulders and his face with her hands.
“Come on! Beat me powerfully as if for the last time.”
Mary entered the house and she looked at both of them, visibly surprised.
“What happened?”
“Your mother is crazy. I am leaving her,” said Michael.
Then, he turned to Nora and said,”When you need me, call me.”
Young men in tuxedos stepped out of their limousines. Groups of girls, with tans as fake as their false nails, exchanged greetings in the glare of flash bulbs. They were together to celebrate the end of their exams. The students invested in new jeans and hair gel, wasting a lot of money on evening outfits, especially for the matching accessories. The girls spent their time to their hairdressers for doing their hair dos and the manicures.They went to some special shops for buying long gloves, matching handbags and ball gowns. Most girls had bought new outfits. The student committee spent all the year planning the proms, which were staged in the school gym. Some of them began to drink champagne. Others discreetly topped up their cola or orange juice with a dash of vodka.
Tom wore a black shirt and a white bow tie. He chomped on a Cuban cigar and he surveyed the scene. “It’s something to celebrate,” he said.
“We’ve finished school – no more being bossed around by teachers. This gives us something to remember.”
“The dances have strict rules. For example, you must remain twelve inches from your partner,” said Dusty.
“Damn, people, just let the kids to be kids! When I remember that all the good moments in the high school were spoiled by the control freaks, I cannot believe that I’m here now,” said Ben.
“Some teachers would have boycotted this party, if they had been here,” said Roxanne.
“Are you really going to dance, Roxanne?” Dusty asked her.
“What do you think?”
Dusty was a very charming young tall man, having amazing round blue eyes, a blond hair and an athletic allure. He was the son of Victor and Marie. Roxanne was his girlfriend. She had big black eyes and a long black hair.
Their relationship began as an adventure, but sooner than they expected, this relationship became very serious. At the beginning, Roxanne had been extremely scared about it because she had thought of losing her freedom. After that, she saw the potential for a good marriage with Dusty, but she was very frightened to make that commitment with him and she tried to understand why. She was wary of telling her mother. She knew that her mother would disapprove this relationship because they were poor people. She felt like she wasn’t entitled to her own happiness.
Danielle was the daughter of John and Samantha. She was a very enthusiastic person, having always a good idea in her mind. With her blond hair and brown eyes, she looked much more like a fairy.
Ben belonged to a farmer family. He was living in a village, which was situated near our little town. He was a very nice young man with a remarkable contrast between his very black hair and his deep green eyes.
Many times, Ben had the feeling of being alone, while he was struggling through his life without any result and he was fading into the mist of vacuity. He met Danielle. At the beginning, she was like a sister to him. He began to have a new feeling of belonging to someone. Being a very rational woman, Danielle stimulated in him the desire to awake spiritually. The more they learned to be together, the more powerfully they felt that spiritual awakening like a deep love.
“Well, despite what the teachers say, I think that it’s nothing wrong with this dance as long as you’re not doing it affectionately!” Roxanne suggested.
“Some dances are forbidden,” said Susan.
“I don’t know why the parents are so scared. They always try to remember what happened when they were younger and they imitate their parents’behavior. Sometimes, we have to deal with the constant parental worries,” said Tom.
“A parent really must know what to worry about. They don’t have to worry about the parties.It is more important what it is happening after those parties. Sometimes, the students go elsewhere to do less decent activities. These types of activities make the life much more attractive for some of them. I like to tell my mother everything. She’s a very good friend,” said Susan.
“Some of them think that being damned to hell by religion is not considered harmful. I have always listened to the priest. I want to do this.I think it’s important for living honestly. I simply cannot lie my parents,” said Dan.
“Sometimes, people want to get something more. If they can’t dance it out, they want it even more. Tell me that is not true,” said Ben.
“Look at them! I can say that the party is not so attractive and alluring for them,” said Danielle.
“Surely you’re not suggesting that grinding their opportunities makes them to resign,” Dan replied, looking to Ben.
“So dancing is okay as long as we keep the rules,” concluded Ben, looking to Dan.
“Look at them!” Danielle said again. ” I’m not a prude and I don’t really consider that to be obscene,” said Danielle.
“They can sensually dance all night, but it’s better for them to choose the back seat of their dad’s car,” said Susan.
“Usually, the people don’t come to the high school dances,” said Roxanne.
“The obnoxious people should show some common courtesy,” said Mary.
“Look at those parents watching their precious innocent daughters,” laughed Roxanne.
“What are they doing here? It’s our school prom!” Danielle became ironically intrigued.
“They clearly have no idea about what the lyric means, but they sing along with us,” said Susan.
“Maybe they need to understand the new generation,” said Mary.
“To be fair, Ben, you dance like a penguin,” said Danielle.
“And how am I supposed to move, while you are forcing me to keep the feet on the floor?”
“It takes some experience to feel relaxed while dancing,” said Dan, smiling.
“I was excited, confused and wary about physical proximity with girls, at the beginning. Now, I do it and I enjoy it,” said Dusty.
“A prom marks the end of the high school. When we cannot conform to the values, the school fails in its mission and the teachers must admit it,” said Mary.
“I think that some schools are getting out of hand with the rules, which are enforcing us,” said Tom.
“When they require us to sign the contracts and they deny the access to certain things, they have two opposite attitudes. They convey the idea of authority for us and the open contempt, at the same time,” said Dan.
“They think that their attitude towards us is the proper way to make us to act as they wish, but they know less than nothing about us,” said Susan.
“They treat us like we are babies,” said Ben.
”I find it to be so ironical. The people enacting these rules are the same people, who were teenagers once,” said Danielle.
“If I had been forced to sign a contract, I would have come up with a hundred different ways to be lewd without breaking the rules,” said Dan.
“They have a dictating behavior and they’re not expecting people to follow the common sense,” said Mary.
“They are not tolerating the inevitable maturity process of the younger people,” said Danielle.
“Do you dare to disagree to their particular methods? Some teachers have instituted a rule based policy, which prohibits certain behaviors,” said Dan.
Mary came closer to Dan and kissed him tenderly.
“Didn’t you tell them, darling?”
“Yes, of course. We will be engaged in August and we invite you all to the party. It will be a very special party because Tom and Susan will be engaged at the same time, in the same place,” said Dan.
“Really?” asked Roxanne.
“Congratulation!” Dusty held Dan.
“Hey, man, it’s a great moment,” said Ben, holding Dan.
“Tom,” said Dusty, holding him, “What are you doing, man?”
“You look as lovely as a future bride, Susan,” said Danielle, holding her.
“Tell me that you will be always my closest friend,” said Roxanne, holding Mary.
“I can promise that. Anyway, it will be surely your turn in the next future. Dusty loves you so much.”
“Let’s drink for this,” said Dan. “I invite you all at my parents’ house.”
“There is enough space in your enormous house for two engagement parties,” said Ben.
“It will be something special in a very special place. I will tell you at the right moment,” said Dan.
