Marilyn giggled. “I think you’re right. She’s so sweet. Pretty, too. I think your father is really going to have problems when she starts dating.”
“Like you won’t believe!” Thank God I was away from home by then, because Dad really didn’t handle his baby dating all that well. “She’ll be alright. She’s the normal one of the family. She’s got him wrapped around her little finger. When we were growing up, if Hamilton and I even looked funny at each other, Dad would start swinging. Suzie, on the other hand, could bring home a severed head in one hand and a bloody axe in the other, and he’d say ‘Isn’t that special! Let’s put that up on the refrigerator!’ It’s disgusting how she can manipulate him!” I laughed as I said this, but God knows it was true.
Marilyn laughed, too. “What about Hamilton? He seems a little, I don’t know, odd. He doesn’t say anything to me, and seems sort of cold.”
I sighed at that. We were about as far around the block as we could go before heading back, at a small bridge over a creek that eventually fed into Loch Raven. I stopped and leaned back against the railing on the bridge. “Hamilton has some problems, but they aren’t about you, not really. They’re about me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know as I really do, either. I can’t explain why, but Hamilton hates me with every fiber of his being. It’s not that he doesn’t like you; it’s that you like me and therefore must be hated in return. I know this is going to sound strange, but don’t take it personally. If you were Jesus Christ back from the dead and decided to be my friend, he’d still hate you.”
Marilyn looked really shocked at that. “That’s crazy!”
“And that’s my point. I don’t know all that much about this sort of thing, but he might actually be crazy. Just stay away from him. He’s nuts, but he’s also scared of me. You’ll be fine.” Somehow I didn’t think my words of encouragement were all that encouraging.
“Can’t your parents do something about him? I mean, can’t they take him to a doctor or something?”
“The only time he becomes a problem is when I’m around. He’s the reason I never go home. This is the first time I’ve been home since last August, right before I went to college. It might easily be another year or two before I make another visit.” I stood upright from where I had leaned against the bridge. I whistled and Daisy came up from the creek where she had been romping. I wrapped my arms around Marilyn. “Forget about my brother. Let’s go get some dessert!”
At the mention of dessert, Daisy barked happily and trotted on out. “Daisy likes that idea,” said Marilyn with a smile.
“She’s sort of a canine garbage disposal. She also does the pre-clean on the dishes before they go in the dishwasher.” Daisy scampered ahead about twenty feet and then circled back towards us before scampering off again, a routine she kept up as we moved along. “Yes, Daisy, we’re coming,” I assured her. Marilyn giggled and slipped my hand. She ran forward with the dog and then circled back a few times. Eventually she got within arm’s reach of me and I grabbed her. Despite her protests, I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder.
“Put me down!” she yelled, even as she laughed at me.
I carried her along until we got to a small bridge over the creek that was near the house. “You sure you want me to put you down here? That’s a long drop!” I turned around so that she could see the water.
“You beast!”
“Yes, that’s me!” Daisy found this all quite amusing and barked at both of us. I set Marilyn down and she tried to punch me in the arm, but I gave her a menacing look and she took off running. I chased her the rest of the way home, and cornered her in the back yard behind the shed. We made out for several minutes and came up for air breathing hard.
I looked around and found Suzie watching us intently. She had let Daisy inside and decided to spy on us. She blushed and took off inside. Marilyn and I just grinned at each other. “I think I’ll let you talk to her about this,” I commented.
“Not in a million years!” she replied.
Marilyn slept in Suzie’s old room that night and I bunked in the family room. I made sure that I locked Hamilton in his room. Monday we dressed casually and I drove Marilyn in the Galaxie down the Jones Falls into Baltimore, and we did some sightseeing. We spent part of the day wandering around the Inner Harbor. I showed her the Constellation and the Torsk, we had lunch over at Lexington Market, and I drove her up around Federal Hill, “Where you Yankees put your guns to keep the city from going over to the South during the War.”
“The Civil War?” she asked.
“No, the War of Northern Aggression!” I replied.
“That was just to keep you rebels in your proper place!”
I laughed at that. “Yeah, why don’t you try running that one past my father, see what he says about it.”
“You southerners really are crazy!”
I just kept laughing. “I was fourteen before I learned that damn and Yankee were two separate words!”
Marilyn stuck her tongue out at me.
Dinner was fine, though not anything elaborate. Monday nights are usually leftovers night, so we cleaned out the fridge and warmed up a lot of stuff. Hamilton was starting to get over his fear induced quiet; as the swelling on his lip subsided, so did his fear. Dad had to tell him to behave twice, once when he cussed at me, and once when he was rude to Marilyn. The last remark almost got him a mouthful of loose teeth, but Marilyn was in the way and I just let it go. My parents apologized for him after they sent him to his room, but Mom made it come out as if it was really my fault anyway. Marilyn eyed me curiously. After dinner we left to go to the movies. I wasn’t in a good mood. I wasn’t sure if introducing Marilyn to my family was a good move. Maybe I should have lied all along and told her I was an orphan.
Tuesday started off better. Hamilton had a list of errands to run from Mom, so he got on his bike and went shopping. Both Mom and Dad went off to work like normal, but they announced they would be back by lunchtime. That gave Marilyn and I some quiet time, and we fooled around down in the family room. We still hadn’t gone all the way, but Marilyn certainly seemed to enjoy the liberties I was taking with her. She no longer complained when my hands roamed around her body and she had a very pleasant moan when I felt up her breasts through her shirt. She hadn’t kept her cherry until marriage the first time around, and I didn’t think she would this time either!
We heard Hamilton coming through the back door and straightened up some, at least to the extent of stopping our makeout session. I was sitting in an armchair and Marilyn was sitting in my lap, with our arms around each other. Hamilton gave us a disgusted look but kept his mouth shut and put away the groceries.
Marilyn grabbed the remote and flicked the channels until the noon news came on WBAL. She stayed seated on my lap with my arms around her, and set the remote back down. As soon as Hamilton came in, he picked up the remote and began flipping channels. “Hamilton, we were watching that!” I protested.
He looked over at us and sneered. “If you don’t like it, leave. You don’t live here, so you don’t get to watch TV.”
Marilyn gasped, but I just shook my head. “This whole week was a mistake.” I said quietly. To my brother, I said, “You’re right. Let’s go.” I pushed Marilyn upright and stood up. “Go upstairs and pack your bag,” I said quietly.
“What? We’re leaving?”