By the end of June Bill and his wife had a pretty good inclination as to where they were going. She was talking with several dance organizations up in Cleveland where she could both choreograph and dance. They would pay her a small stipend, not much, not enough to support a family or even herself. But she would be working as a dancer and working toward credentials with which to move to New York which was her overall goal.
She went up by herself several times to start considering places for them to live. It was decided that since they didn’t have a lot of things, they could stay with her parents until they found a place. Bill would have to find a job, but being an experienced broiler cook and meat cutter he sensed that that would not be a big problem for him. This would prove to be correct even though he tried a few places before he found the one where he stayed.
While she was away, several times he slept with Arlene, or at least he stayed at her house. The first time, when they got there, they popped Quaaludes got naked and went into the shower. They had discovered many ways to please each other without going all the way and quickly did so in the shower. Then, it being summertime, they slept naked in her bed.
Arlene was happy to snuggle up to him. Arlene was always happy to snuggle up to him. She was happy to please him in any way he wanted to be pleased, and there were many ways he liked to be pleased. Similarly, he could please her in a flash and there were many things she asked of him he gladly did.
Once, not that first night that they slept together but once in the beginning of July, she let slip that she, well, she started to say love but caught herself midstream and stopped herself, completed the sentence with much more than liked him. He said he knew, but there was nothing he could do about it. He said, on some level, he felt the same way.
And he did.
Bea was distant and Mary grew more and more distant the longer Bill was married and still there.
“It ain’t easy,” Mary said once when they were doing some prep work and were not particularly busy. She was alluding to the feelings she had for Bill, for the feelings she knew Bill had for her, if Bill had been telling the truth. But she knew he was because she asked him once if he were telling her the truth. She asked him if he would lie about something like that. He said of course not. He said he would never lie to her.
Lorraine proved herself to be a true friend. Soon as Bill got married, soon as she and he had talked about it, about ending their fooling around, she had gone into pal mode. So they talked and fooled around and joked and laughed together.
Victoria was ever herself. She was someone who had worked her way into being a sounding board for Bill. Bill could tell her anything and as long as he told her to keep it between them, she did. She always did. So anything and everything, that’s what he told her.
Lilly and Brooklyn gave up their bet. Or they said they did and Arlene reported that to Bill. Bill had taken a feel of Lilly’s privates that one time and he had kissed Brooklyn a few times. Once he had copped a feel of her tits too. But all in all, that was it.
So summer had started and the first two weeks had raced by. Life, for whatever it was, went on. Bill’s wife looked like she was finalizing a position up in Cleveland and Bill, for what it was worth, was going to have to leave the one place of comfort he had been able to find post being busted.
