The Kiss

The kiss was not supposed to happen. Lori had a boyfriend. But Marlon was awfully handsome in his uniform, his muscles still pumped from the game that had finished a few minutes ago. High school lust being what it is, and high school kids being who they are, the kiss happened, and later that night, a whole lot more happened. The late sixties promised sexual freedom, but they hadn’t added much more sense or education to the sexual repression of the fifties.

John and Paula were wracking their brains for new ideas about what they might be able to do about their incredibly frustrating problem. Despite having jobs lined up, admissions in hand to two graduate programs, and a big cashier’s check representing the entirety of their accumulated savings weighing down Paula’s purse, they had been unable to open a bank account after arriving in Los Angeles. The 3000 mile cross country drive, leaving behind every friend and family member they had, had been grueling but exciting. However, the campground in a state park right outside the Valley was fast becoming very un-romantic. Their mounting panic about not having access to their money, and thus no way to get an apartment – or pay for anything else once their traveler’s checks ran out in about a week – was taking a toll.

The only reasonable play left that John could think of was to call back home and talk to his uncle, who had played surrogate father to him when his own dad became too ill to remain present in his life. Uncle Marlon owned a thriving business, so John had some hope he would know enough about navigating the weirdly unwelcoming California banking system to get them to a place where they could stop worrying about having to live in a tent instead of an actual home. Showing up to the first class of their respective graduate programs in dirty and unkempt clothes, with all their possessions still stuffed into a Uhaul, was not the adventure they had planned.

“So, did he have any ideas?” Paula asked as John squeezed out of the phone booth and walked back over to where she was leaning against the car.

“He said call back in an hour. He knows a woman who lives in the Valley. He hasn’t spoken to her in ten years, but he said they were close in high school. He’s going to call her and see if he can work something out. He didn’t say this, but I think this is the girl he got pregnant.”

“Pregnant? You never told me about that.”

“They didn’t keep the baby. I don’t know if this is the girl, but I do know he got a girl pregnant in high school and his dad paid for her to go to one of those teenage pregnancy homes. They gave the baby up for adoption. But it seems like I heard one time she had moved to California.”

An hour passed, and John called his uncle again. When he returned, his step was lighter and his face was smiling. “He said his friend was delighted to help us out. Apparently she sells real estate and has a big house in one of the canyons, but she’s recently divorced so she said we can stay there for as long as we need, and she’s going to call her bank and vouch for us. She told Marlon she’d threaten to switch all her money to another bank if they didn’t agree to open an account for us!” His laugh was happy and relieved. “I think we’re okay now. Come on, Paula, let’s go meet Lori.”