Roy and Joni (Chapter 15)

                                              (Please previous chapters first)

 

While Roy’s Sunday was filled with poetry, Larry’s was filled with panic.

 

“I wonder what Joni may have told Roy about our motel saga?”

 

Larry soon started to rationalize in high gear: “That was some time ago---I was young and foolish—I was letting hormones rule my brain---Besides she initially agreed to do it---I had already paid for the motel room---Joni is messed up because of the wild life of her crazy mother---Any boy would get mad if a girl changed her mind at the last minute---Maybe she didn’t tell Roy all of the details---Maybe I am just letting my mind get out of control---After all, I did sorta tell her I was sorry, sorta. I did call her and read Roy’s “Love at first sight letter.””

 

It is strange how the mind works. Larry suddenly decided he needed to take a Sunday afternoon nap, only his parents did stuff like that. When he awoke, he stopped making excuses and started to think of how to make his guilt and shame go away. This not knowing was driving him nuts.

 

“I guess  I could just tell Roy the whole story.Or maybe I should just nibble around the edges and stop when Roy has heard enough. Maybe I shouldn’t mention it unless Roy brings it up.”

 

Meanwhile, back on the Wilson farm, Roy had the strongest of desires to just hold Joni and he also wanted to have his friend Larry do some confessing.

 

Roy went to Sunday evening services with his family per normal; however, Larry did not come. Roy had no way of knowing that at the start of Sunday night worship, Larry was on the telephone talking to Joni.

 

                               To be continued…….

Roy and Joni (Chapter 14)

                                       Please read previous chapters first

Love can do strange things to a man. It can inspire ordinary men to do extraordinary feats. Roy, not known for poetry, book reports or FFA essays wrote the following Sunday afternoon after he came home from church:

                                            Captivating Beauty

                             (Written for Joni after our first date)

Her incomparable beauty redirected swarms of honey bees toward her

Forget ‘launching a thousand ships, her smile caused ten times that many to remain in port in  hopes of just getting a glimpse of her smile

Sun flowers preferred her radiance rather than timeless old Sol

Zephyrs and wisps serve as anointed messengers of her alluring scent

Teenage boys ceased dreaming of homers and touchdowns and wondered if she had any head-turning sisters at home

The faltering eyes of old men rapidly flipped old calendars when she passed

Moms worried their sons would think of her as an angel that fell from heaven

Her hypnotic beautiful essence made dictionaries and thesauruses obsolete

Greeks never met her yet fashioned her perfectly in smooth Aegean marble

Bible scholars reexamined re-incarnation when they saw her---Eve alive again

To see her arresting summation of all things perfect brought a serene peace

She was indeed the model of all things profoundly heart-stopping in the flesh

Some women start fights, her beauty sheathed the swords of all combatants

                                     ---An Unapologetic Smitten Roy Wilson

He read and re-read his poem about Joni. He said out loud, "Did I really write that?"

Now, he had to figure out the time and place to give it to the most wonderful woman in all of the world.

Roy and Joni (Chapter 13)

                               

Please Read Previous Chapters First (Especially Chapters 10, 11, &12

                Sharing a common stressful event serves to strengthen the bond between the participants. Not much was said on the way to Joni’s house. As the car stopped, Roy said, “Miss Joni, I sure would like to see you again next Friday night.”

               Joni immediately, with a joyful voice replied, “I’ll be ready and waiting Mr. Roy.”

               The good night kiss at the door was filled with an extra measure of tenderness and understanding. Their prolonged hug said what words and even kisses could not utter. The hug is the most underrated expression of human love. Roy and Joni both appreciated it---a whole lot.

               Driving home, Roy started thinking about his relationship with Larry. Should he stop talking to him? If Larry asked about Joni should he lie? What was the Christian way to handle this?

               On Saturday, Roy and his Dad had an extra-heavy duty amount of farm work that had to be done. After showering that late afternoon and eating his mother’s blue ribbon winning chicken and noodles he lay on his bed thinking of Joni and how he would respond to Larry. Just before the last sprinkle of sand from the man carrying a sack of it, he felt the best answer would be to see how Larry would approach him. Roy said a quick “Thank You Lord” for the answer and he feel asleep remembering a girl named Joni.

                The next morning, Roy rode with his family to church. Between the Sunday School and worship service, Larry placed an arm around Roy and asked in a low manly voice, “How was the date with Joni?”

                “Larry, it was great. Joni is a very special young woman.”

                “I agree Roy. I dated her for a while. Did you know that?”

                “Yes, she mentioned that."

                "What did she tell you about me?”

                Thankfully, the music for worship service started and Roy and Larry found their regular seats toward the back. After the morning worship, Larry suggested to Roy that they catch a sandwich and talk some more. Roy said, “No can do, Mom is cooking a big lunch and it is an all hands, make that mouths, on deck.”

                “One quick question Roy; are you going to go out with her again?”

                “Larry, yes sir: Same time, same girl and same station next Friday night.”

                 Roy left a somewhat puzzled Larry standing at the edge of the church parking lot.

                                                    To Be Continued…..

Roy and Joni (Chapter 12)

Please Read Previous Chapters First (Especially Chapter 10 & 11)

Sometimes eyes and touch are all the words that need be spoken. Roy and Joni clutched both their hands tightly together. Their eyes reflected the different types of pain---Joni for reliving the nightmare and Roy because of his hurt for Joni and his explosive anger toward Larry.

Roy broke his clasp of Joni’s hands to take a quick sip of root beer, “I am absolutely shocked that Larry would do that to you. That is not the Larry I’ve known for several years. But I know you are telling me the truth. Joni, I don’t think less of you; but I sure think a lot less of Larry.”

Roy stopped talking, took another long sip of his root beer, and restarted, “Joni, your story about the horrible time with Larry made me very, very mad, at Larry that is. I sensed in your voice and eyes it was difficult for you to revisit that painful part of your life. You may have felt like it scrapped the scab off of your emotional wound. I wonder how many couples with such a limited knowledge of each other could do what you did. “

“Thanks Roy, I sure needed to hear that from you.”

Roy sought to refocus Joni’s pain and his anger back to their date by shifting to a brief statement about his life.

“Joni,“Your courage inspires me to say some things about relationships in my life. Want to hear them?”

“Sure,” as she wiped her eyes with the “Drink Coca Cola napkin.

“As I told you, and you probably guessed, I am something of an amateur kisser. Is kisser really a word? I played Spin the Bottle at a birthday party when I was 16. One of the girls wanted me to stay with her in the hallway after our mandatory kiss was complete. I walked pretty fast back into the living room. Why are you smiling?

“I am smiling because of your innocence and open air honesty, that’s all.”

“If you thought that account was humorous, get a load of this.”

“My Senior Prom date was like somebody in the movies with a split personality. At school, on the way to the Prom, and while we were at the Prom, she was mild mannered and soft-spoken. Because the gravel road to her house was at the bottom of her front yard, we actually parked within maybe a hundred feet of her front door; however, because of the up and down landscape of her front yard, a car parked in front of her house could not be seen from the first floor of her house. When I turned the car off, she came at me like a tiger set free. She proceeded to put her hands on each side of my face and literally pull my head to her lips. She started kissing me like a long-lost rich uncle with a suitcase of money to save the family farm.”

“Roy, what happened next?”

“I finally broke her grasp on my head and got out of the car and walked her to the door and kissed her on the cheek, quickly said good night and drove home. How many seniors get home from their Senior Prom at 11:30pm? You are talking to one right now.”

Joni sought to lighten the conversation by saying, “You will probably hate me forever for this; but, I have to ask you a question. OK?”

“Go right ahead.”

Joni started to smile, then laugh, then laugh some more and finally with a straight face asked Roy, “Do you believe 7-Up is green?”

“Of course not!”

Before Roy continued, the full meaning of Joni’s question hit him head-on and at full speed. His face became very red and his cheeks felt like they did when he had the mumps.

Joni bowed her head and felt a shame that nearly produced tears. “Roy, I’m so, so sorry. Will you please, please forgive me?”

“Joni, I am just a plain vanilla country boy that has not had much experience with girls. You told me the truth about your painful experience with Larry and I told you the truth about my limited, maybe not so exciting, experience with girls.”

“Roy, what I said was mean and out of place. I would take it all back if I could. Are we still friends?”

“Joni, I would like to be more than just a friend. As a matter of fact, I am proud of my so-so dating track record,” referring again to his lack of experience with girls.

“Roy, I like you all the more because of it. What I’d give to have your record.”

“You really would?”

“Absolutely, cross my heart and hope to die if I’m lying.”

“I forgive you—sure—I forgive you. We need to start home.”

“OK, let’s go my very, very special friend,” as she firmly placed her arm under the elbow angle of the Roy’s arm.   

                                        To be continued…….

Roy and Joni (Chapter 11)

                      NOTICE: Mild Sexual Reference in This Chapter                       

                              Please Read Previous Chapters First

When their order came, Joni picked at her food and thought and rethought how to best tell some very personal and unpleasant things to Roy. Joni didn’t know exactly how to tell Roy about her painful past experiences. Besides, no one on the first date ever does that---but she felt she had to make sure Roy knew some very important things about her. She really liked this country bumpkin.

“Roy, I must tell you some things about my background and what I have experienced.”

“Sure, I’ll just be a good listener.”

Joni thought to herself how naive Roy was. He might stop her before she finished. He might just take her home and never date her again. He might do a lot of things; however, she felt compelled to tell him the truth.

“My mother is on husband number four and she has had more “uncles” spend a night or two with us than I care to remember. I don’t like the things my mother has done; but I still love her and guess I will always love her.”

“Joni, how does that affect us?”

“Well, most of the boys I grew up with knew about my home life and figured ‘like mother, like daughter’ and some tried to push me to do things I didn’t want to do.”

“What do mean Joni?”

“I have had many dates and a few of the boys wanted me to go all the way with them. I swear Roy I never did. I must be honest and tell you I was close, very close on one occasion. This is hard for me tell you about it and maybe even harder for you to hear.”

“I promise not to interrupt, go on Joni.”

“After high school, a very close classmate married and moved away and a year later had a baby and she invited me to come visit her and see her baby. I was dating a boy then who was more than just a friend. I thought I really loved him. Anyway, I told him about the trip and he and I cooked up a plan to make the trip a very, very special trip.”

“How?”

“I told my mother and he told his parents I would stay overnight at my classmate’s home and my boyfriend would stay at a nearby motel. It was a big lie. We planned to spend the night together at the motel. Please Roy, you’ve got to hear the rest.”

“Go on, I guess.”

“We stayed the afternoon at my friend’s home, had supper, and started for the motel he had earlier arranged while I went shopping for a baby gift with my friend. On the way to the motel, I just couldn’t go through with it and told my boyfriend I did not want to turn out like my mother. He became very mad and called me some very bad names. I asked him to loan me some money to rent a separate room because I had spent all of my money on a nice gift for the baby. He refused and said I could sleep in the car or in his motel room. It was very cold and I asked if his room had two beds. He said it did. Once in the room, he tried again to convince me to stick with our original plan. I refused. I slept in one of the beds by myself with my clothes on. He got super mad because I cried for a long, long time. The next morning we drove home without saying a word to each other. We never dated again.  Roy, I saved the worst for the last. Sure you want to hear it?”

“How could it be any worse? Go ahead.”

“The boyfriend was your close friend, Larry.”

Silence comes in various types and sizes. There is a temporary silence experienced by a child who discovers his favorite toy has been left in the backyard overnight and mom was certain to get mad. There is silence produced when a high school teenager is asked to name three of our country’s major Founders. There is special silence when a new father holds his infant son for the first time.

The silence that followed Joni’s painful account was filled with Roy’s non-verbal shock, anger and disbelief. Joni’s silence was a mixture of fear for what Roy might think and do; however, there was a certain relief because her emotional cyst had been finally lanced. She had never told anyone about her nightmare before tonight.

Roy started slowly shaking his head and opened his mouth and nothing came out. Joni grabbed his right hand and squeezed it like she was about to fall from the roof of a very tall building.

Roy started, “I…. I…. I’m not… I’m not sure what I am supposed to say.”

“Roy, just say something, anything, just say something, please!”

“I feel like I’ve been…. I’ve been shot in my guts with a shotgun, a double barrel shotgun!”

“Roy, I’m so sorry. Please believe me, I’m very, very sorry,” cried the sobbing Joni.

“I’ll worry about Larry later; right now I’m hurting for you,” as Roy squeezed Joni’s hand to emphasize the depth of his concern.

More silence followed---a meditative kind of silence engulfed both of these hurting young adults.

                                            To be continued………