When Mary called us to dinner we sat down at the table, Nina seated next to me. We dug into delicately basted and roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, and homemade biscuits. It was all as wonderful as I remembered it. Many boys, when taking dinner with their girlfriend's family for the first time make the mistake of only eating one helping for fear of looking like a pig. I did no such thing. I ate until I was stuffed, refilling my plate three times. It wasn't hard to do. I knew I'd earned some brownie points with Mary for doing so.
We pushed away our plates at last and Jack stifled a burp, an action that earned him a sharp look from his wife but no verbalization.
"Great dinner Mare," He told her affectionately, patting his stomach. "Up to your usual standards."
"I agree." I put in. "Your chicken was divine."
"I'm glad you liked it." She said tonelessly, though obviously pleased with the praise. She stood up. "Let me start clearing the table."
While she began picking up the dishes Jack turned to me. "Chicken is good." He told me. "Especially the way Mary does it, but there's nothing like fresh meat you've brought down yourself. You like venison?"
"I don't know." I told him. "I've never had it."
He looked at me in disbelief for a moment. "You've never had venison?"
"Never." I told him. "My dad doesn't hunt."
"So you've never had elk either?" He asked next.
"Never."
"Boy," He said. "You've lived in Spokane all of your life and you've never had venison or elk?"
I shook my head.
"Amazing." He said, staring. "So you don't have a hunting rifle then?"
"I've never fired a gun in my life." I told him.
"Bill." He said seriously. "You and I are going to have to take a little trip one of these Octobers over to the panhandle. You're not one of those goddamn animal rights activists are you?"
"Jack." Mary warned from the sink.
"No." I told him, wondering if he was really offering to take me hunting. Was this the same man who had stormed my house on New Years Day? "I suppose I've never been hunting before because my Dad has never been hunting before.
There was nobody to show me how to do it. I'd really like to learn how if you'd teach me." I told him.
He nodded, smiling. "The first October you have free, you come see me." He said. "We'll get you a rifle and a license and we'll head up. I'll show you what it's really all about."
"That'll be cool." I answered truthfully. "I'll be looking forward to it."
"I think Mom and Dad are actually starting to like you." Nina told me as we drove towards downtown and the theater building.
"Yeah." I agreed, resting my hand on her nyloned knee. "Weird, isn't it?"
"They're starting to see you as I do Bill." She told me. "Especially Daddy."
I looked over at her. "I'm not gonna have to kiss him, am I?" I asked.
She chuckled. "Who knows?" She asked. "Maybe he's a good kisser. He's certainly done it more than I have."
"Well maybe we'll play a little catch-up tonight." I suggested slyly.
"Maybe we will." She answered back, just as slyly.
We both enjoyed the play immensely. Nina because it was the first time she'd seen a live play and because the story was both romantic and tragic, elements she loved in her art. Me because it was one of my favorite productions and because I was seeing it with Topal, the Russian Jew who played the part in the movie, cast as the lead character, something I'd never been able to see in my previous life. The acting and singing were magnificent and by the end Nina had tears streaming down her cheeks as the Jews were forced from their village. I myself had to stifle tears despite having seen the play and the movie multiple times before.
We joined the throngs exiting the theater and made our way to my car, walking hand in hand, talking about what we'd just seen as we went. Nina went on and on about the story, the plot, the acting, the thrill of seeing it live. I was glad that I was there to share this first experience with her, to hear her reactions to it.
When we reached my Datsun I opened the door for her and she sat down. Her skirt rode up again as she did this, reaching well above mid-thigh. This time there was no father to think about and my eyes drank in the sight of her legs, clad in dark nylon and spread just a tad. I felt warmth spreading to various parts of my body as I witnessed this.
Nina saw where my eyes were glued and she smiled, pulling down her skirt demurely. "What were YOU looking at?" She asked teasingly.
"A work of art." I told her, making her blush.
I got into my side of the car and started it up, heading for the freeway. My hand dropped to her left knee, leaving it only to shift gears.
"It's still early." Nina told me, glancing at her watch.
I looked at mine, seeing it was shortly after ten o'clock. "Kind of." I agreed.
"It's a nice night." She said next, looking at me, her own hand dropping to my thigh.
"That it is." I answered, suppressing a smile.
Silence developed. Finally she said, "So why don't we go find a nice place to sit for a while and just look at the stars and the moon?"
"The stars and the moon?" I asked lightly.
"Yes." She said firmly. "They're very pretty tonight. I'd like to look at them. Surely you know a place where we can look at them alone."
I grinned, nodding slowly. "I think I know such a place." I said, putting on the gas a little.
"I thought you might." She said.
The place was a little used park near the falls, almost directly across the river from the larger park where the high school students liked to have their keggers. As a matter of fact we could hear the faint hoots and howls and drunken laughter mixed with the indecipherable sounds of car stereos drifting over the roar of the falls towards us. A kegger was going on as we sat there.
I had long since removed my tie and unbuttoned the collar of my shirt. I'd also thrown my jacket in the back of the car. We walked over to a picnic table and sat on the surface of it, our feet resting on the wooden seat, looking out at the falling water, smelling the mist. Our hands intertwined gently and we simply looked for a while, not speaking. There was a light breeze, warm enough to keep us from shivering and the sound of thousands of crickets chirping came from behind us. The stars and the moon were shining in the sky.
"It really is a beautiful night." I offered, edging a little closer to her.
"Yes." She agreed, letting her head fall to my shoulder. "It's too bad we don't have a blanket or something so we could lie on the ground and really look at the stars. Wouldn't that be nice?"
"I have the blanket in my trunk from when we went on the picnic last month." I offered, thanking whatever gods there was that I was a lousy housekeeper.
Nina gulped and then raised her head back up. "Really?" She asked.
"Really." I said seriously.
"Break it out." She told me.
We spread it about fifty yards away from the car, near the cliff that led to the river below the falls. When the wind blew right a fine spray of mist would hit us delicately. We lay down on our backs, about a foot apart, our hands together, our heads looking upwards.
"Do you like astronomy?" She asked me, her thumb tracing circles around the back of my hand.
I shrugged. "I've read a little on it." I told her, only semi-lying. In my previous life I'd taken an astronomy course in college as a science elective. That had been in my pot-smoking days. There's nothing like getting stoned and heading up to the college's observatory in the middle of the night. I got an A in the class.
"So have I." She told me. "I bet I can name more stars than you."
"Oh yeah?" I asked. "What's the bet?"
"Loser has to kiss the winner until they say to stop." She offered.
I nodded, feeling my penis stir in my suit pants. "You've got yourself a bet."