Drowning in Her Eyes (14 page)

When t
hey rolled to a stop alongside
her
house
, a
light was burning over the front door and there was a faint glow from the rear of the house.
“Mom
's waiting up,
”
s
he said
.
“She worries so.
”

God
, thought Jack,
if you were mine I
wouldn
'
t let you out of my bloody sight!

There was an awkward pause, then,
“Good night Jack, it
's been a swell evening.
” She leaned over and kissed him full on the lips. Her mouth open, her tongue seeking his. The taste and scent of her overcame him. It only lasted a moment
before
she slipped from the car
and disappeared into the house.

He had been about to ask if he could see her again, to say anything to keep her there, but he was so overcome by the taste, the scent, and the feel of her
he could not
.

Meanwhile, in a small o
f
fice in a large five-
sided building in Washington, D
.
C
.
, orders were being drafted to assign a substa
n
tial number of US combat aircraft to duty in a small country in Indochina
,
where two aircraft carriers were about to arrive off the coast. A short story about this a
p
peared in the Australian newspapers. No one took any
particular
notice. After all, what possible concern was this to Australia?

Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
—1964

“Who was that; who drove you home?
”
Susan
's
mother was sitting in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee. The house was still. Somewhere three people were sleeping.
“Oh, that was Jack, Bernadette
's cousin. He
's just arrived and is star
t
ing agriculture this year.
”

“Susan,
” said Marci,
“I don
't think it
's proper for you to be alone in a car with a boy you
've only just met. You don
't know what he is like.
”

“Mom, he was the perfect gentleman.
” More
's the pity, she thought.
“Anyway, I
'm almost eighteen years old. You do not have to worry about me. I am going to bed. Good night.
” Susan just wanted to be alone to enjoy the delicious sensations running like wildfire through her body. In her room, she lay in bed and re-
lived the evening, his handsome face, and her bold kiss.
He would not have kissed me
, she thought
.
H
e was so nervous. Oh my! He really is something
! She began to feel a tingle in her stomach and felt her nipples begin to harden, but she resisted the feeling.
Not now
, she thought.
Keep it for him
. She drifted off to sleep. In the night, her body gave little quivers of pleasure and she moaned softly as her dream took hold. In the morning, she
had
a smile on her face.

At breakfast, Susan tried to act as if nothing extraord
i
nary had happened. She fended off questions from her si
b
lings about the boy who had driven her home. Sarah had a knowing look on her face, and James Junior teased her.
“Ha, ha, Suzie
's got a boyfriend,
”
he chirped.

Finally, Marci shushed them from the table. Later in the bedroom, she said to Jimmy,
“I hope she does
n
'
t get serious with
him
. We
'll not be here long, and it will only be worse for her when we go.
”

Jimmy said,
‘Darling, Susan
's a woman now. You
can
't
hold back the tide. Let her be herself
;
she will find her own destiny. Meanwhile, if she
is
keen on this young guy, we should have him around for supper one night, so we can do a proper inspection of
him
.
” Marci was not completely sati
s
fied. She remembered her sister Sophie
and
the young M
a
rine who
'd died on Guadalcanal. S
he remembered the baby he had left in
Sophie
's
belly, the illegitimate Karl, and the shame and sorrow it had bought upon her entire family. She did not want her pretty
daughter
to suffer the same fate.

* *
*
*

Jack
drove back to college in a daze. Amy had been wonderful in a sexual sense, but he had felt nothing like this about
her
. She had been a good friend, a wonderful instru
c
tor in the gentle art of lovemaking, but she was no more than an outlet for long pent up emotions, for a bit of fun. This girl was very different.

He went to bed and lay there running the events of the evening through his head. She was so stunningly beautiful and so sweet and gentle, a softly spoken and exotic creature to this inexperienced young man. God, he thought, I must see her again. I don
't even know her phone number. I will have to see Bernadette tomorrow and get all the details I can. How can I see her again? I can hardly stroll up to her front door without an invitation! He closed his eyes and drank in her remembered scent. He could still feel her soft lips, the sweet taste of her. He drifted off to sleep grappling with a feeling he had never experienced.

In the morning, he showered, dressed and went to the r
e
fectory for breakfast. It was a new experience for Jack. At school, breakfast had been a bowl of lumpy porridge, half-
toasted bread with greasy margarine and jam with an unide
n
tifiable flavour. Here in the vaulted refectory of Robb Co
l
lege, he was amazed at the choices. There were cereals, b
a
con, eggs, tomatoes, rolls, toast and real butter, and many other tasty items. He helped himself and joined a group of students at a table. Like him, they had the bewildered look of freshmen. After introducing himself, he found a couple of agriculture students.

“We all have to go to an introductory lecture at the fa
c
ulty building
,
”
Bob O
'Connor said
. That is the big one across the road from the chemistry department
;
do you know it?
”

Jack didn
't know it, but he offered Bob a lift if he could show him where to go. The other agriculture student, Mike Barrat, asked if he could get a lift too.
“Ok,
” said Jack, that
's all I can take though, I
've only got a ute.
”

Mike and Bob were keen on getting into the
sports sc
e
ne and couldn
't wait until April
when the rugby season star
t
ed. Both had been top players at school. Jack
was
n
'
t much good at sports. He liked rugby and he was a handy cricketer, but the only real sporting skill he had was in shooting. For the rest of the morning it was a blur of instructions. They went to introductory lectures, were given book and statio
n
ery lists, and were dispatched to obtain those items. Just b
e
fore lunch, Jack managed to slip off to phone Bernadette. There was no one at home.

There was an introductory tour of the library, to show them how to find and borrow books, and how to use the va
r
ious study aids available to them. After that, it was off to the Student Union building, to register and receive student IDs. Jack registered his Ute, receiving a green sticker that permi
t
ted parking in certain areas allocated to students. They then entered the main Student Union hall. This was a large room with a cafeteria and many tables. Usually a social centre for students, today it was crowded with stalls displaying the wares of various c
l
ubs and societies. They did a quick circuit and Bob and Mike decided they wanted lunch. Jack decided to return to college for his lunch, and try to find Bernadette. The telephone
kept
stubbornly ringing out. There was
still
no one at home.

Desperately, Jack looked up the Bakers
' number and began to dial but he changed his mind at the last moment. He returned to the Student Union and checked out some more displays. Outside the hall, attracting little interest was an a
r
my Land Rover. Jack could see camouflage netting stretched out from its side. Under the netting was a sturdy fold-
up t
a
ble with information leaflets and a couple of bored looking soldiers alongside what appeared to be a machine gun. He wandered across to the Land Rover.
“G
'day mate,
” said one of the men,
“Are you interested in becoming a little soldier boy? I
'm CSM Neil Raymond.
” The speaker was an older man with greying hair. He wore a woven crown on his sleeve, below the Regimental colour flash. Jack had a
b
sorbed a lot of military history so he knew this man was a Warrant Officer, Second Class, or WO2. He wore ribbons for the Korean War and for Long Service and Good Co
n
duct.

"G
'day,
” said Jack.
“What are you doing here?
”

“We
're from the University Regiment, looking for r
e
cruits
.
”

“Is that so?
” replied Jack.
“What does a University Re
g
iment do?
”

“Well, we are a part of the CMF. That is the Citizens Military Forces. We are like a reserve for the regular army. This regiment does infantry training, but our main purpose is to train officers for the reserves. It is a lot of fun if you like that kind of thing and you get paid as well.
”