CHAPTER IV

Oliver

There was a large ballroom was in the top floor of the post office building.  Immediately below it, on the second floor, was the workplace of dozens of women employed by the telephone company.  They wore headsets and spoke into a microphone asking unknown people what number they wanted to be connected to.  Receiving the information, they inserted a wide black wire with a copper tip into a large switchboard where dozens of other wires already connected people from near and far.
On most Saturday nights, the ballroom was a gathering and dancing spot for teenagers and a few older youth that had not yet found something better to do and weren’t old enough to get into the many bars throughout the riverside town.  Scot was there with his classmate Oliver, who had called him and invited him to accompany him to the event.  Oliver wasn’t a regular after school friend, although he and Scot were in the same grade and had been schoolmates since seventh grade.  Oliver was more traditional than Scot was.   Oliver knew exactly what he wanted out of life.  He wanted a wife and children.  There were prerequisites to his dream.  Most of all, he needed a job.  Jobs were not readily available to recent high school graduates.  Also, Oliver didn’t have a potential wife.  He didn’t even have a girl friend.  He was a bit overweight which was uncommon enough to put him into the “different” category.  Premature balding was another characteristic not appreciated at that time.  His father owned a grocery store and the readily available candy and other sweets were too tempting for Oliver to resist.
“Not very exciting here tonight,” Scot commented out of boredom.  Scot had hoped that one or two of his five favorite female school mates would be there.  None was.
“Everyone is away at school or studying, I guess,” responded Oliver.  “By the way, have you found any job possibilities?  It’s been one and one-half years since we graduated, and I haven’t been able to find anything except some part time work in my Dad’s store.  Usually that is sweeping and cleaning.  I’m desperate.”
“I haven’t had much better luck,” Scot said despondently.  “I helped out on a couple farms, but that job was available only for the Fall harvesting season and paid almost nothing.  It also was very hard work.  I have the lack of transportation handicap.  I was able to work at the pottery for a few months only because my cousin worked there and could give me a ride. “My friend Fred suggested I prepare a resume.  That took about a month.  I spent the first week finding out what a resume is.  It took another week to find a book on how to prepare a resume.  It was no help at all.  In fact, it seemed to get me turned down quicker than not using it.  I concluded that having a resume makes someone seem snobbish.”
Scot’s hardship stories only made Oliver more depressed.  He had chosen a night at the dance club to try to get away from those memories.  “I’m considering going to talk to the Air Force recruiter next Wednesday.  Can you go with me?  I don’t intend to enlist.  I’m just looking at my options.  I need someone there who is level headed and can tell me if I’m being suckered by a fast-talking recruiter.  I understand they’re allowed to lie to you and you have no recourse.  They might claim they need my signature that I was there, then later I find out I signed up to enlist.”
“They would never do that,” Scot exclaimed.  “They’re part of our government.  They would never deliberately deceive people.
“Let’s see.  Wednesday?  Wednesday?” Scot said.  He knew he had nothing planned for the entire week, but he needed time to think if he should get involved with Oliver or a recruiter.  Was it worth disrupting his eventless schedule just to drive 10 miles to watch a man in uniform coax a naive, impressionable young man into doing something he shouldn’t.  “Sure,” he responded with a pretended air of maturity.  “I’ll be glad to go with you and keep you from doing something really stupid.”
Any thought of recruiters was banished from his mind when Scot noticed a new arrival at the Ball Room.  She had long glistening black hair that cascaded down to the bottom of her shoulder blades.  She was not Italian, but had the olive colored skin that most Italian girls have.  She was trim and had perfect proportions as far as could be discerned through heavy winter clothing.
“Oliver,” he said in a hushed but exited voice, “Look who just walked in.  It’s Beth.”
“So?” responded Oliver.  He was aware of Scot’s fantasies about Beth.  He had heard them often, too often.  Oliver was more enamored with blonds.
“Are you going to ask her for a date?” Oliver asked teasingly.
“I know,” Oliver exclaimed, as if a flood light had ignited in his head.  “Tell her you are about to leave to become an Air Force pilot.  Tell her it’s very dangerous, and you want to have a memory of home, and there could be no greater memory than dinner with her. It’s purely Platonic, but you can think of no greater farewell treat.
“Here’s your chance,” Oliver prodded him.  “You’ve been drooling over her for years.  What do you have to lose?  You went to a dentist for the first time because of her, surely you have the nerve to ask her out even if the chances are small that she will accept.  This will be a test of how brave you really are.  It will indicate whether or not you are military quality--not that you would ever enlist.”
Oliver delighted in the confusion he knew he had stirred up in Scot’s mind.  Scot had worshipped Beth from the first time he saw her.  Scot and Oliver had left a small country elementary school to go to a large city high school.  It was overwhelming.  It took months to adjust.   The elementary school had been like an extended family farm.  The high school was like a small kingdom.  Beth was its queen in Scot’s mind.  There were numerous princes and princesses, but Beth reigned over them all.  Even her walk was unique and deliberate.  She definitely would be the queen in Susan’s ant colony, Scot had explained to Oliver.
In real life, Beth lived in disguise as a mild-mannered dental hygienist.  She graduated the year Scot and Oliver entered High School as freshmen.  Scot finally had forgotten about her when he heard she was back from school and had been employed as a dental hygienist with one of the four dentists in town.  Scot didn’t know what a dental hygienist was.  In fact, he believed a dentist was someone who treated kids who got their teeth knocked out or damaged in a fight or accident.  Neither of those ever had happen to him, so a dentist’s office was the next thing to a torture chamber in his mind.
After numerous inquiries, he uncovered the practice of teeth cleaning and preventive care.  After years of mulling it over and repeated reassurance that it didn’t involve torture, and in fact was painless, he finally got the nerve to make an appointment.  For someone who had a nail driven up through his foot about an inch deep, a home made spear lodged in his left arm and nearly every bone in his body sprained, Scot had a mysterious fear of dentists.
At the dentist’s office, several people sat around reading magazines or talking to what seemed to be family members.  Periodically, a door would open, a head would peer out and call out a name.  Scot had several chances to back out and escape the ordeal, but before he could carry it out, he heard his name called.
Beth introduced herself.  To Scot’s great disappointment, she didn’t recognize him or know who he was.  How could she?  She asked several questions about his dental history.  The answer always was “no” including: “Have you ever been to a dentist before?”
Beth appeared to be alarmed by that answer and stood back when she asked him to open his mouth as if all kinds of disgusting creatures would fly out and erosions would cover every surface.
After nothing flew out, she got a tray of the sharpest, most diabolical torture tools Scot ever had seen, including the Saturday night monsters movies.  Every muscle in his body said: “Bolt!  It’s a trap!”
Then Beth leaned across him.  Her body touched his.  Every gland in his body erupted.  There was a  serotonin, endorphin, norepinephrine and dopamine deluge.  They could have rolled rack and pillory torture machines into the room and he would have refused to leave.  His mind and muscles relaxed, except for one which began to act like a co-pilot taking control of the plane in a state of emergency.  He must appear macho and brave in every respect. Then her left breast touched his right arm as she stretched to probe into the back of his mouth.  For several minutes she scraped and chiseled decades of plaque buildup.  All he noticed was which part of her body was touching him now.
The process ended far too quickly.  As Beth put away her tools, she discussed the condition of his mouth.
“The gums are amazingly healthy considering all the neglect,” she chastised and praised him.  But there are areas of decay beginning to appear  You’ll need filings to stop the decay and save the teeth.  I suggest you go on a regular dental cleaning routine.”
She had praised him for his healthy gums.  The sacrifices and deprivations had paid off.  The family got pop once a year at Christmas time when the parents went to a local bottling company and purchased a case of 24 bottles.  Desserts, mainly cakes and pies, were served no more than once each week.  Kids like Oliver got those things daily.  That was extremely unfair Scot and his brother had concluded.
Scot was ready to sign up for a monthly cleaning program.  Beth suggested every six months, or at least yearly.   Scot opted for the six month plan.
Intimate as they had been for three sessions now, Scot still lacked the courage to  try to date her.  What if she became offended and said she never wanted to see him again, anywhere?
Scot devised a plan.  He would take Oliver’s suggestion and tell her he was going into the Air Force.  Then he could ask her about what he could expect there for dental care.  Should he refuse it and limit care to his personal dentist.  Then he would let the conversation go wherever it naturally flowed.
Scot acted as if he were rambling around the dance hall as he worked his way closer and closer to her.  Their meeting had to seem accidental.
“Hi Beth,” he said as he finally came within talking distance
“Hi,” she responded seemingly surprised to see him there.
Scot could sense her trying to glance furtively at his teeth to see if he was giving them proper care.  It made him very self-conscious.  “I’ve decided to go into the Air Force and become a jet pilot,” he said very seriously.  The jet pilot part had been added at the last minute.  It seemed to stir her interest.   “I was wondering what I should do about my dental care.  Should I use the military’s or should I wait until I come home to get it done.  I understand I’ll be able to get leave about every six months.”  That last part was made up on the spot too.  He had no idea what leave and vacation policies were in the military.
Beth stood there as if awestruck.  She had not anticipated that kind of question.
“Would you like to meet for lunch to discuss this?” he blurted out, surprising himself and her as well it seemed.
After a long pause, Beth responded in a measured tone:  “We’re forbidden to associate with patients outside the office,” she said.  “Also, if someone saw us, no matter how harmless it was, and told my fiancé, I’m not sure he would understand.”
“Fiancé?” he thought to himself.  “Why would I assume she did not have a fiancé  or other committed relationship?” he chastised himself.  The most beautiful woman in the world, in his opinion, and she would not be committed to someone?  Was he completely oblivious?  This was embarrassing.  He needed to get himself out of this fix.
“What do you know about military dental care?”  he said, floundering in his confusion.  Will it be adequate for my needs?  After all, my service will be up in four years.  I’ve gone without dental care for 19 years.  Will another four matter that much?”
It suddenly occurred to him that she might be uncomfortable discussing dentistry.  She might not like talking shop outside the office.  Scot felt as if he were making a greater fool of himself with each attempt to redeem himself.
“Some of my dental technician school classmates went into the military.  They claim the military provides a minimum of care, limited to halting the progression of problems and emergencies.  They claim the dentists too often are recent graduates that can’t get a business started or partner with an existing dentist, so they join the military for experience.  Often, they do procedures needed in their training but not necessarily what is best for the patient.  We get a lot of veterans who used military dental care, but need extensive care that the military could have done.  So I would recommend that you be sure to get regular cleaning, there, or at home, but don’t expect to get adequate care.”
“So, do you have a girlfriend you’re leaving behind?”  she asked flirtatiously, but getting herself out of a topic with which she was not really comfortable.
“I don’t have a steady girlfriend,”  Scot responded trying to build the negative impression, he was sure he had left, into something more gallant.  “There are so many beautiful, bright young women in my school.  It’s practically impossible to settle on any one.  I need to know where I’m going first before I can decide who best could accompany me on my road of life.  I look beyond the outer beauty of a woman.  I also look for the inner spirit for the maximum compatibility.  I think most people never go below the superficial level and end up unhappy or in a broken marriage.  That’s not worth experiencing especially if children are involved.”
Scot didn’t believe a word of what he was saying.  External appearances always had been everything to him.  He was not a big fan of commitment.  He was trying to pass himself off as what he thought Beth would admire most.   Even if she were unavailable, he still felt a need to try to impress her.  There always was the remote chance that their lives would converge someday.
“Just what do you plan to do when you get out of the military?” Beth asked.  Her attitude was more like an adult counseling an aimless youth.  “Maybe you’ll make the army a career?  Doesn’t pay as much as a steel mill job, but it’s a dependable occupation.  There are a lot of good, useful careers there also.  You could retire after 20 years, get that same job in civilian life for a lot more pay and be secure at least.”
Scot was flattered that Beth genuinely seemed concerned about his life.  Is that the result of her occupation he wondered.  Dental care seemed to be viewed from a long range perspective as much as short term.  Whatever her motive, he was determined to enjoy as much of her company as he could.
“Care to dance?” he ventured testing the limits of her association with him.
“Sure,“ she responded to his surprise.
It was a slow dance, fortunately, since he was clumsy at most physical endeavors that could not be relegated to the subconscious.  He was in heaven as they moved around the floor to the tune and beat of Earth Angel, by the Penguins.  How appropriate, Scot thought to himself.
“Have you set a wedding date?” Scot asked.
“Not exactly,” Beth responded.  “We will wait until he finishes his internship.  He needs to concentrate fully on his career.  Getting married would be too big a disruption with the wedding, finding a new home, moving, shopping for furnishings.  Being engaged seems to be the ideal relationship for us at this time.”
Scot felt her cling just a little tighter.  Could she be becoming a little attracted to him?  Or was she just imagining he was her fiancé?  Either way, he felt a lot of warmth that he was going to enjoy no matter what generated it.  He was in heaven.  He was where he had thought only dreams could take him.
“Promise never to mention this to my boss!  He’s a stickler about any associations with patients outside the office,” she warned.
The music stopped and she pulled away from him.  He would not have let her go otherwise.
“I’m meeting a friend here,” she said.  “Nice talking to you.  Good luck in your military career.  Take advantage of any training opportunities and, by all means, any travel opportunities.  The military can be a major stepping stone to your future.”
She said that with the same authoritarian tone that she had commanded him to take better care of his teeth.  A bossy woman did not appeal to Scot.  It wasn’t supposed to be that way in a relationship.  So she had one fault.  She had numerous positive traits that would more than compensate for that one deficiency.
Her parting words seemed closer to advice from one of his aunts than someone who cared about him in a potential paramour way.  He gladly would be her backup fiancé, just as a person usually has a second pair of shoes in case something happens to the first one.  He could die happily right there, he though to himself.  He accomplished what, four years ago, he thought was impossible.  He had hugged Beth and touched her repeatedly.  The most beautiful woman in the world had coupled with him for several minutes.  Scot couldn’t believe he good fortune.
His eyes followed her as she seemed to float across the room.  She greeted some lady Scot had never seen before.  He was relieved, for some reason, that it was not another man.
Suddenly Scot remember Oliver.  Oliver was his ride home.  He hoped he hadn’t forgotten and abandoned him.  Then he spotted his friend by the snack bar, sipping on a soda.  Everything returned to normal again.
Oliver had a devilish smirk on his face as Scot approached him.  Some teasing was inevitable.
“Getting married soon?” Oliver said.  “She must be one of those girls that’s attracted to uniforms.  You can thank me anytime.”
The teasing didn’t offend Scot.  The most wonderful woman in the world could not be that superficial.  In fact, he was proud that there was a witness to his conquest, and his face beamed with satisfaction.
“Shall we go home now?” Scot inquired.  His evening had been successful beyond imagination.  He just wanted solitude where he could reflect and relive the night’s experience.
“I’m ready anytime you are,” Oliver responded.