The Freak - S01 E31

Story 2 months ago

The Freak - S01 E31

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 31

We fished again on Saturday, this time with my friends, but at night we took Carole to the drive-in movie in nearby Rocky Point. She played in the playground before the movie and enjoyed the cartoons, but lay down on the rear seat under a small blanket once they had ended.

We took Carole with us to the Lutheran church with Mom's blessing then fished all Sunday afternoon. Blackfish are funny. Sometimes you can fish all day and catch nothing, not even getting a single bite. Other times you can't reel the fish in fast enough. The afternoon was a washout, but after dinner it was hotter than I'd ever seen. I must have caught twenty fish and my buddies caught even more. Mrs. Mazzone was delighted with the fish we brought home to her, treating Barbara, Carole, and me to dinner the following evening.

And then, of course, was the wedding. Setting up the actual ceremony was a breeze, but the catering hall? Yeah...good luck with that. Everything that was worth anything had been booked six months or more in advance. So it was that we met with my parents after Sunday dinner in early April. "I can only see two alternatives, Jack, my dad explained. "Either we put up a big tent on the side lawn here at home or you book the fire department."

"Of course," I said as I began to explain to Barbara. "The upstairs at the fire department has a big open room with a commercial kitchen and they've held dozens of catered affairs there." Dad told us that he would make the booking then all we'd have to do was contract with a catering firm. I was on the phone less than five minutes later, striking gold with the first call to Keens Steakhouse In Manhattan.

Barbara and I handled the invitations and in addition to saying yes or no we asked each guest what they wanted to eat-grilled ten- ounce prime filet or steamed two-pound lobster. Then we had to deal with the florists and dresses for Barbara, Carole, and two of her closest friends-Marlene and Carolyn. Thank God all the guys had to do was rent a few tuxes, that was the easiest part of the planning. That we scheduled for Friday afternoon and evening the week before graduation was just about perfect.

Mom, Aunt Debble, and three of our neighbors managed all of the set-up that morning while Barbara and were in school taking final exams. Afternoon beauty salon appointments for the women and haircuts, shaves, and manicures for the guys gave us just forty-five minutes to dress and get to the church while Barbara and the other women piled into the limos.

I had given Barbara her own credit cards just in time to pay for the dresses and lunch in Manhattan. All told Barbara spent three days selecting and fitting although I suspected she was more interested in eating out in the city than the actual shopping.

The day of the wedding was perfect-sunny with temperatures in the low eighties as Ell and I stood near the altar of the Lutheran church with Pastor Moody. The hundred guests were all seated when the organist began the wedding march. Eli patted me on the back as the ushers and bridesmaids made their way up the aisle. Finally, saw Mr. Gleason and Barbara begin their slow way forward. She had refused to say a word about her dress and now I understood why. It was elegant-form-fitting in an oriental fashion with a long slit running up the left side. The dress itself learned later was sleeveless with a long-sleeved bolero jacket that ended at her waist

She joined me with a squeeze of my hand and a quick kiss. Unlike the Catholic Church where we would have endured an entire Mass, the ceremony was short and to the point, essentially the reading of a few bible passages, the exchange of vows, and a few words of advice before ending with a big kiss. We did exchange rings as we had in the Eastchester Town Hall, but this time surprised Barbara by placing her engagement ring onto her finger once her wedding ring was in place.

I had asked Lt. Flanagan about it almost a month ago and he told me it could be released. "There are so many charges here that nobody will miss this one." He had delivered the ring to the High School office almost a week before the ceremony where Mrs. Cecil held it for me until Friday afternoon just before we left school. That was the only way could keep the secret.

Eli had just given me Barbara's ring and I had placed it onto her

finger when I pulled the solitaire from my pocket. The expression on Barbara's face was priceless as slid the second ring up her finger-almost as priceless as the kiss she gave me a second later. Pastor Moody had to interrupt the ceremony to explain to the guests before Barbara returned my ring to my finger and we had the official end of ceremony kiss.

We had color-coded nametags on the tables-blue for lobster, red for beef-as well as an open bar even though most of the guests would be drinking Coke or Seven-Up. Barbara and did share a private toast in which I swore to love her until the end of time and she promised to love me even longer.

The reception began with a cocktail hour which for our classmates was just an opportunity to pig out on boiled shrimp and hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. I knew that I overate, but next to Ell I had eaten almost nothing. After the cocktail hour we did all the silly traditional things-the best man's toast, the first dance, Barbara's dance with her "father," Mr. Gleason and my dance with my mother. I did dance with Mrs. Gleason and with Mrs. Mazzone and, of course, with my favorite aunt. But every other dance went to my gorgeous wife.

Everyone had a wonderful time, but there was almost a nasty incident thanks to my bigoted asshole uncle. Eli had asked Carole to dance and he had lifted her bodily, holding her with his forearm under her legs. Ell was smiling and Carole was laughing, but Uncle Arthur was red-faced and livid that a Negro would handle his niece in such a fashion. Apparently, he had forgotten that Carole's parents were seated less than ten feet away and were laughing along with Carole.

I excused myself quickly and intercepted my irate relative before he was half-way across the dance floor. "Let it go, Uncle, it's none of your business. Eli is my best friend and Carole knows him well. What you see as taking liberties is nothing more than being friendly."

"But, he's a." He shut up then because I had my hand over his neck and I was sure he was in a lot of pain. "Feel free to leave if your racist ideals have been offended. I'm

sure you won't be missed. I'm also sure that Eli could crush you with only one hand since his other is occupied with Carole. Oops, too late..the song is over. Incidentally, if you think you're going to ruin the party for Barbara you're delusional. I'll crush you first. Keep that in mind as you return to your table or just leave...your choice." I released him then, shoving him back to his table. He turned once, rubbing his neck with his hands as he trudged away. The party broke up at midnight with most of my relatives returning to my parents' place. Barbara and got into the limo for a short drive to The Plaza in Manhattan.

We spent our wedding night making the most incredible love all night before ordering room service for a late breakfast. We spent a good part of Saturday at the Bronx Zoo before returning around five for an early dinner and a trip to Broadway to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." We stayed overnight at The Plaza before taking the limo back to Mrs. Mazzone's in the late afternoon. We brought in sandwiches from the deli, eating while studying the rest of the evening.

We had studied for weeks to prepare for final exams and the State Regents' exams. Barbara had Chemistry and Advanced Algebra while I had French Three even though I had never attended even a single class of French. I had learned years ago that state law permitted a student to take any Regents Exam even without taking the course. I had met with the French teacher several times to learn pronunciation and some idioms, but-other than that-I had learned everything on my own, buying the textbooks and some books on French culture at a major bookstore in Manhattan. I had spent at least an hour a day over junior and senior years and it paid off with a grade of 98 on the exam. I laughed, it was my lowest score on the dozen or so state exams I had taken, not that I cared at all.

I had taken the SAT four times-once in each grade, receiving the same score each time-1590 out of 1600. As a freshman missed one question in the English section. The next year it was in math then I repeated the sequence again just to prove I could do it. I knew that I would receive a lot of notoriety by scoring 1600, but I had received so much already that I felt I didn't need any more. Had that hurt me? Not at all every college interviewer had asked about it and every one had laughed at my answer. was also accepted at every school where had applied.

We had most of the week before graduation off from school which proved fortunate, I had bought a lot near my parents' bungalow- Just down the road and on the opposite side of the street-a lot on the bluff with a beautiful panoramic view of Long Island Sound and Connecticut roughly twenty miles away. I considered it a bargain at $18,000. The closing was the Saturday before exams. We also closed on our new house in Somerville, flying into Boston In the morning and flying back at night.

Barbara and had spent every Friday and Saturday night during those months at Yonkers Raceway, winning more than three million dollars betting obscene sums on what amounted to sure things. I requested and received a security guard virtually every night until leamed that I could have the money wired directly into my account. Of course, our successes raised all kinds of questions, but the racing authorities could find nothing illegal in what we were doing. In fact, they used our winning as part of an advertising campaign for which we were handsomely paid.

We practiced for graduation on Friday morning, finding our places and marching slowly into the auditorium to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance, courtesy of the high school orchestra. As valedictorian I was first while Barbara was number 13 alphabetically. That placed her at the opposite end of the first row.

The mood was solemn Friday night when led the class in, following only the superintendent and principal. I knew they would have short speeches before introducing me then Jimmy Piersall for our speeches. I was bored stiff listening to Mr. Wickers telling everyone all about my accomplishments-academic and athletic. His introduction was longer than my speech by several minutes. I knew he'd do this, or at least a much shorter version, for every student in what had always thought of as a feeble attempt to show the entire community how close he was to the students. I knew otherwise; he got all of his information from Mrs. Costello.

I'd been in her office last June and I had seen her memo on the desk. It listed every student and his/her post high school plans-a list of college acceptances, or work plans, or enlistment in the armed forces and it was in large capitals that would make it easy for our principal to read. He continued for ten minutes before finally making his introduction.

I had stepped to the podium to the expected applause and was just about to begin when Tony rose from his seat about halfway down the first row and placed a Campbell soup can on the floor where all could see it. I looked that way and as I did I heard a low rumbling from my classmates- "Freak. Freak. Freak. Freak.....

"No way; I'm giving my speech." Then I looked past Tony to see Barbara and I could see her pleading with me. I left the podium, no doubt to the confusion of almost everyone in the audience. Stopping when I reached Barbara, asked, "You, too?"

"Let's face it, Jack, graduations are boring. Here's your chance to make this one unforgettable. Please?" I removed my cap and leaned in for a quick kiss. My classmates had resumed their chant before I even had a chance to replace the cap onto my head.

"Okay, folks-it looks like I spent weeks on my speech for nothing. There is only one person who could convince me to do this. That person is my wife, Barbara; the only woman I kiss other than my mom, sisters, aunt, and grandmothers. I'm doing this for her and when I do you're all going to have a ton of questions. Everyone on the stage and most of the other students and teachers know about this. I know that Mr. Wickers knows. I'm not so sure about Mr. Whiteman, but here goes. Watch carefully."

I leaned over the podium, extending my hand. Less than ten seconds later it held the soup can to the amazement and exclamations of the audience. I waited for quiet then I read the label. "Tomato-that figures; I hate tomato. And then I told an abridged story of my life. I told about being struck and learning how to fix my body. I told them that my IQ had jumped more than 70 points. "That only means that have a high ability to learn. It doesn't mean that will. I'll bet that work harder than anyone else In the class. Then I told them how I structured my body to be an athlete. "But, just having ability is meaningless if you don't work hard. Every one of my teammates will tell you that I work harder in practice than anyone else. When Coach Darling tells us to do fifteen pushups I do thirty. Instead of fifty sit-ups I do eighty. I do more and faster on everything except squat-thrusts and that's only because I jump higher and each one takes longer.

"Now I'll tell you something that none of my classmates know. sometimes get what amount to coming attractions in which can see small snippets of the future. I know it sounds incredible, but that lightning bolt really did a number on my brain. That's how I first met Barbara, my wife. We were in church and I had just given her my seat when saw her future-slipping and falling on the icy sidewalk outside, striking her head on the concrete and bleeding out before an ambulance could reach her. Instead, I caught her and we began our relationship. When people our age get married in a hurry everyone always thinks the worst. That was true in our case, but it's not the worst you think it was. It was another worst entirely. We-Barbara much more than I have been intimately involved in the scandal at St. Claudia's School in Yonkers. She went through the worst torture I could ever imagine, suffering incredible pain in her back for almost two weeks. I married Barbara so she wouldn't have to return to that school. Of course, it helped immensely that I was in love with her and that I'd had about three hundred of those coming attractions of our future life together.

"So, there you have it-the story of my life. I should have died that day in Florida, Instead I've been blessed intellectually and athletically, but mostly I've been blessed with a strong work ethic. Without that desire to succeed everything else would be wasted." stepped back from the podium and returned to my seat, but not before holding the soup can out and returning it to Tony the same way I had retrieved it. My classmates erupted in applause and cheering. It was the first time they'd seen that little trick because it was also the first time I'd ever tried it

The rest of the ceremony was predictable...and boring, exactly as Barbara had predicted. After receiving my diploma walked around the rear of the risers as we had rehearsed to find myself standing next to my bride. She removed my cap and pulled me down for a brief kiss, one that hadn't gone unnoticed by my family and especially by my littlest sister who cheered mightily just as she did when Barbara and Ell received their diplomas.

Once the program was over we walked down the steps from the stage to the auditorium and out into the hallway where we returned our caps and gowns and where we congratulated each other with hugs and handshakes. Of course, I received a long congratulatory kiss from my beautiful wife.

We went to the party held by our class president, but only for an hour then we visited with my folks and my aunt and uncle before returning to Mrs. Mazzone's for our last night. I had already packed up a lot of our stuff into the Jeep and the Olds' trunk. We had some clothes and toiletries and a couple of bags of food plus the sheets and blankets. The phone had been disconnected. We had showered and were in bed and now we were each ready to receive our mutual reward.

"I never knew you could make things go away from your hand, Jack," she whispered.

"To tell the whole truth, neither did I. That was the first time I even tried it. If that hadn't worked I was just going to walk over to Tony and hand it back to him. I guess you were right, though-it was an unforgettable graduation. How Wickers allowed it to happen I'll never understand."

Barbara leaned over to kiss me. "I have a small confession to make. Tony, Richie, Marlene and went to see him last week. It was a struggle, but in time we were able to convince him to coerce you to show off your skills. We spoke to the entire class Monday when you were called to the office to review your speech. I'm sorry I deceived you. I'll never do it again. I promise."

"Too bad we're not practicing Catholics now. I could make you do penance.

"I'll do penance for you any day. How's this for a beginning?"

With that she slipped between my legs. I was hard before her sweet lips had wrapped themselves around my cock's head. She teased me at first, working my shaft with her tongue then slowly taking me deeply into her mouth, stopping only when her lips touched my pubic hair. The sensation was heavenly, but it wasn't what I wanted now. waited until Barbara had allowed my cock to escape her hot mouth then I pulled her up and into a long seriously hot kiss. I could taste my cock on her tongue, but that didn't stop me from showing my love for my bride.