“We’d better go back in,” I said.
“Sure.”
He followed me back. Ava saw us and looked suspicious.
“What went on out there?”
“Just talked,” I said. “He talked. I didn’t say anything.”
“I hope not. I think it’s time to leave.”
When the boys who had been hovering around us saw we were going, they protested. They still knew only our first names. Buddy practically begged me to give him my phone number, give him something. Of course, I didn’t. Two things began to happen even before we started out. Most of the boys simply gave up and moved on to approach other girls. The ones who had tried hardest to get to first base became belligerent as we gathered up our purses. Their remarks were nasty, crude.
“What, do you have some tricks to throw on the street?”
“Going to the dyke club?”
“Last chance to experience a real man, girls, or are you really both virgins and saving it for marriage?”
“Leave them be,” Buddy said. He nearly got into a fight with one boy mouthing off, but I could see the frustration was defeating him as well.
“Let’s go,” Ava whispered.
“Hey,” the big young man who had been with us from the beginning called out. “Your car turning into a pumpkin?”
There was lots of laughter trailing behind us.
“I’d love to bring him home to Daddy,” she muttered, but we continued out.
“Hope I see you again,” Buddy called.
I smiled back at him. I would never tell Ava, but I hoped I’d see him again, too.
“How do you feel?” she asked me when we got back into her car.
“Like I could go on and on for hours.”
She laughed. “That’s good. We have the energy,” she said. “You did well. You had that one hooked and could have reeled him in anytime you wanted. And he knows nothing about you, right? You didn’t talk too much out there on that patio?”
“No. Nothing but the name you invented,” I told her. But in my heart, I thought, He knows my smile. He’ll see me in his dreams. Actually, I thought I would see him in mine.
As soon as we were home, Ava went to speak with Daddy. I knew she was giving him a report about me. I was nervous, of course. I couldn’t help worrying that despite what she had told me, she was going to tell him I hadn’t done well. It was the old sibling rivalry at work.
I didn’t know it then, but Ava was more concerned now about her own future than she was about my rising above her in Daddy’s eyes. Her destiny was calling.
Before I went to sleep, Daddy came to my room. I didn’t hear him come in. I was in the bathroom washing off my makeup. When I stepped into the bedroom, he was standing there, smiling.
“Ava tells me you passed your first test with flying colors,” he said.
What test? I wondered. All I did was go to a dance club and flirt with some young college men, maybe one in particular.
“You followed your orders well,” he added, perhaps seeing my thoughts on my face. “You understand how you must behave. That’s important, Lorelei. You understand restraint and the importance of guarding our personal lives.”
“I’m glad you’re happy, Daddy.”
“Oh, I’m happy, but I always knew I would be,” he said. He embraced me, kissed me at the top of my head, stroked my hair, and then held me out at arm’s length. I could feel the power in his arms, but also I could see the love in his eyes. He looked at me with such intensity I felt as though he really could look into my thoughts. I couldn’t help wondering if he could see how much I had been attracted to Buddy. “I can see how alive this has made you. You can feel the power inside you.”
I hadn’t thought about it as being a power, but I knew what he meant. I nodded. “I do feel different, Daddy, older.”