The Prodigal Daughter (13 page)

“
It’s
last year’s, I’m afraid,” said Florentyna, looking down
at her slim legs. “It’s awful, isn’t it?”

“No, I think
it’s
swell. Come on, I’ve reserved a court for three-thirty
and someone else will grab it if we’re a minute late.”

“Good heavens,”
said Florentyna as she closed the front door. “Is that yours?”

“Yes. Don’t you
think it’s fantastic?”

“I would say
,
if asked to venture an opinion, that it had seen better
days.”

“Oh, really?”
said Jason. A thought it was rather snazzy.”

“If I knew what
the word meant I might be able to agree with you. Pray, sir,” she said
mockingly, “am I expected to ride in that machine or help push it?”

“That is a
genuine pre-war Packard.”

“Then it
deserves an early burial,” said Florentyna as she took her seat in the front,
suddenly realizing how much of her legs were showing.

“Has anyone
taught you how to propel this Jump of metal in a forward direction?” she
inquired sweetly.

“No, not
exactly,” said Jason.

“What?” said
Florentyna in
disbelief.

“I’m told
driving is mostly common sense.”

Florentyria
pushed down the handle of her door, opening it slightly, as if to get out.
Jason put his hand on her thigh.

“Don’t
bc
silly Tyna. I was taught by my father and I’ve been
driving for nearly a year.”

Florentyna
blushed, closed the door again and had to admit to herself that he drove rather
well all the way to the tennis club even if the car did rattle and bump as it
went over the holes in the road.

The tennis match
was a desperate affair with Florentyna trying hard to win a point while Jason
tried hard to lose one. Somehow Jason managed to win by only 6-2, 6- 1.

“What I need is
a Coke,” he said at the end of the match.

“What I need is
a coach,” said Florentyna.

He laughed and
took her hand as they left the court, and even though she felt sweaty and hot,
he did not let her hand go until they reached the bar at the back of the
clubhouse. He bought one Coke and they sat drinking it from two straws in the
comer
ol .
the
room. When
they had finished, Jason drove her home. On reaching Rigg Street, he leaned
over and kissed her on the lips. Florentyna did not re-spond, more out of shock
than for any other reason.

“Why don’t you
come to the movies with me tonight?” he said. “On the Town is showing at the
United Artists.”

“Well, I
normally... Yes, I’d like that,” said Florentyna.

“Good, then I’ll
pick you tip at seven.”

Florentyna
watched the car as it chugged away, and tried to think of some reason that
would persuade her mother she had to be out that evening. She found Miss
Tredgold preparing tea in the kitchen.

“A good izarne,
chiid?” asked Miss Tredgold.

“Not for Fiim,
I’m afraid. By the way, he wants to take me to” –she hesitated
– ”
to Orchestra Hall for a concert this evening so I won’t
need any dinner.”

“How nice,” said
Miss
Tredgold.
“Be sure you’re back before eleven or
your mother will worry.”

Florentyna ran
upstairs, sat on the end of the bed and started to think about what she could
possibly wear that evening, how awful her hair looked and whether she could
steal some of her mother’s makeup. She stood in front of the mirror wondering
how she could make her breasts look bigger without holding her breath all
night.

At scven o’clock
Jason returned dressed in a red sloppy Joe sweater and khakis anti was met at
the door by Miss Tredgold.

“How & you
do, young man.”

“How do you do,
ma’am,” said Jason.

“Would you like
to come into the drawing room?”

“Thank you,”
said Jason.

“And what is the
concert you’re taking Florentyna to?”

“The
concert?”

“Yes, I wondered
who was playing,” said Miss Tredgold. I read a good review of Beethoven’s Third
in the morning paper. “

“Oh, yeah,
Beethoven’s Third,” said Jason, as Florentyna appeared on the stairs. Both Miss
Tredgold and Jason were stunned. One approved while the other didn’t.
Florentyna was wearing a green dress that fell just below the knee and revealed
the sheerest nylon stockings with dark seams down the back. She walked slowly
down the stairs, her long legs unsteady in high-heeled shoes, her small breasts
looking larger than usual,
her
shining dark hair
hanging down to her shouilders, reminiscent of Jerinifer Jones, and making
Florentyna appear a lot older than her fifteen years. The only item she wore to
which Miss Tredgold could take no exception was the watch she herself had ~Jven
to Florentyna on her thirteenth birthday.

“Come on, Jason,
or we’ll be late,” said Florentyna, wanting to avoid any conversation with Miss
Tredgold.

“Sure thing,”
said Jason. Florentyna did not look back once for fear of being turned into a
pillar of salt.

“Be sure she’s
home before eleven, young man,” commanded Misi Tredgold.

“Sure thing,”
repeated Jason as he closed the front door. “Where did you find her?”

“Miss
Tretigold?”

“Yes, she’s
straight out of a Victorian novel. ‘Be sure she’s home before eleven.
young
man,”‘ he mimicked as he opened the car door for her.

“Don’t bc rude,”
said Florentyna, and smiled at him coquettishly.

There wai a long
line outside the theater, and Florentyna spent most of the time standing beside
Jason facing the wall in case someone might recognize her. Once inside, Jason
quickly guided her to the back row with an air of having been there before.

She took her seat
and when the lights went down she began 87 to relax for the first time-but not
for long. Jason leaned over, put his hand around her shoulder and started
kissing her. She began to en
‘ joy
the sensation as he
forced her lips open and their tongues touched for the first time. Then he
broke away and they watched the titles go up on the screen. Florentyna liked
Gene Kelly. Jason leaned over again and pressed his mouth against hers. Her
lips parted. Almost immediately she felt a hand on her breast. She tried to
remove his fingers, but once again his backhand was too strong for her. After a
few seconds she came up for air and took a quick look at the Statue of Liberty
betore Jason returned with his other hand and fondled her other breast. This
time she managed to push him away but only for a few moments. Annoyed, he took
out a package of Carnels and ht one. Florentyna couldn’t believe what was
happening. After a few puffs he stubbed the cigarette out and placed a hand
between her legs. In near panic, she stopped any further advance by squeezing
her thighs closely together.

“Oh, come on,”
said Jason. “
Don’t
he such a prude or you’ll end up
like Miss Tredgold,” and he bent over to kiss her once again.

“For heaven’s
sake, Jason, let’s watch the movie.”

“Don’t be silly.
No one goes to a movie house to watch a film.” He put his hand back on her leg.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t done this before.

Hell, you’re
sixteen. What are you hoping to be?
The oldest virgin in
Chicago’?”

Florentyna
jumped up and pushed her way out, stumbling over several pairs of feet before
she reached the aisle. Without straightening her dress, she ran out of the
theater as fast as she could. Once outside, she attempted to run, but couldn’t
manage much more than a walking pace in her mother’s high heels, so she took
the shoes off and ran in her stocking feet. When she reached the front door of
her house she tried to compose herself, hoping she could get up to her room
without bumping into Miss Treelgold, but she failed. Miss Tredgold’s bedroom door
was ajar and as Florentyna tiptoed past, she said, “Concert over early, my
dear9”

“Yes... no... I
mean, I didn’t feel very well,” said Florentyna, and she ran into her own room
before Miss Tredgold could ask any more questions. She went to bed that night still
trembling.

She woke early
the next morning and although still angry with Jason, she found herself
laughing at what had taken place and even determined to go and see the film
again, on her own this time. She liked Gene Kelly, but it was the first time
she had seen hcr real idol on the screen, and she couldn’t get over how skinn)
and vulnerable he looked.

At Student
Council the next day, Florentyna could not make herself look at Jason while he
was stating in a quiet, firm voice that some senior boys who were not members
of the Council were becoming casual about their dress. He also added that the
next person caught smoking would have to be reported to the headmaster or his
own reputation as president would be undermined. Everyone except Florentyna
nodded in agreement.

“Good, then I’ll
put a notice on the bulletin board to that effect. “

As soon as the
meeting was over, Florentyna slipped off to class before anyone could speak to
her. She finished study hall late that evening and did not set off for Rigg Street
until a few minutes after six o’clock.

As she reached
the main school door, it started to rain and she remained under the archway,
hoping the storm would bliow over quickly. As she stood there, Jason walked
straight past her with a girf from the twelfth grade. She watched them climb
into his car and she bit her lip,
The
rain came down
harder, so she decided to return to her classroom and type up the minutes of
the Student Council meeting. On her way back into school she passed a small
crowd studying a notice on the board tha confirmed the Council’s attitude
toward sloppy dres~ and smoking.

Florentyna took
about an hour to complete the minutes of the Council meeting, partly because
her mind wandered continually.back- to Jason’s double standards. The rain had
stopped by the time she finished her typing and she closed her typewriter case
and placed the minutes in her desk. As she walked back down the corridor, she
thought she heard a noise coming from the boys’ locker room. No one except
members of the Student Council was allowed to remain in school after seven
o’clock without special permission, so she turned back to see who it was. When
she was a few yards away from the locker room, the light under the door went
off.

She walked over
and opened the door and switched the light back on. It was a few seconds before
Florentynafocused on him standing in the comer, trying to hide a cigarette
behind his back, but he knew she had seen it.

“Pete,” she said
in surprise.

“Well, Miss
Student Councillor, you’ve caught me once and for all.
Two
major offenses in one day.
In school after 89 hours,
and smoking.
Bang goes my chance of making Harvard,” Pete Welling said
as he ground out the cigarette on the stone floor. The vision of the Student
Council president stubbing out his cigarette at the movie on Saturday night
came back to her.

“Jason Morton is
hoping to go to Harvard, isn’t he?”

“Yes. What’s
that got to do with it?” said Pete. “Nothing will stop him making the Ivy
League.”

“I just
remembered. No girt is allowed in the boys’ locker room at any time.”

“Yes, but you’re
a member of-”

“Good night,
Pete.”

Florenlyna began
to enjoy the new authority and took her duties an~ responsibilities on the
Student Council very seriously, so much so that as the year passed, Miss Tredgold
feared that Florentyna’s academic work was suffering because of it. She did not
comment on the matter to Mrs. Rosnovski; rather, she considered it her duty to
find a solution. She hoped that Florentyna’s attitude might be nothing more
than an adolescent phase of misplaced enthusiasm. Even Miss Trecigold, despite
past experience of such problems, was surprised by how quickly Florentyna had
changed since being entrusted with a little power.

By the middle of
the second term Miss Tredgold realized that the problem was past that stage and
fast becoming out of control. Florentyna was beginning to take herself, and not
her work, far too s~eriously. Her end-of-term report was far from good by her
normal high standards, and Florentyna’s homeroom teacher more than hinted that
she was becoming highhanded with some of the other students and giving out
demerits a little too freely.

Miss Tredgold
could not help noticing that Florentyna had not been receiving as many
invitations to parties as she had in the past and her friends did not seem to
drop by Rigg Street quite so frequently, except for the loyal Edward
Winchester.... Miss Tredgold liked that boy.

Matters did not
improve during the spring term and Florentyna began to be evasive when Miss
Tredgold broached the subject of uncompleted homework. Zaphia, who had
compensated for the loss of a husband by gaining ten pounds, was uncooperative.
“I haven’t noticed anything unusual” was her only comment when Miss Tredgold
tried to discuss the probtem.