* * *
"So you're heading down to the house after work on Friday?" Mom
asked.
She and Maddy were standing at the counter in their ceramic tiled
kitchen, preparing a dinner of chicken cutlets, tomato salad and broccoli.
As had been her "job" with this particular menu since she was a little girl,
Maddy carefully dipped each chicken breast in egg before submerging it in
Italian breadcrumbs, and then adding it to the Pyrex dish that would then
go into the oven after the cutlets had made a short stopover in the frying
pan. Her mom had the more difficult task of slicing away any unwanted
fat and pounding them to the desired thinness, before moving them along
in the assembly line.
"Yes, Kenny was able to get most of the weekend off, so we're going
to go to the beach if it's still warm enough, then maybe walk on the
boards, go to dinner….I'm not really sure yet." Monica Rose looked a bit
concerned as she opened the oven door and slid the Pyrex dish inside.
"Maddy, I don't think your father is going to be too happy with the
idea of you being there alone. I mean, Ken's a nice guy and everything,
but it doesn't look right."
Here we go, Maddy thought to herself. My God, hadn't she already proven her
loyalty to her upbringing? At 25, most girls her age had already discovered what life
was about. Here she was, still innocent in the ways of the world, fully on-board with the
concept of waiting until marriage before giving herself completely to a man, ever mindful
of her own dignity and her parents' wishes and reputation.
"Mom, my God," she protested, "All of the times I've been out on
dates with Jake, we were alone plenty of times. What difference does it
make if I am somewhere in Pennsylvania or at the Jersey Shore? If I
wanted to do something wrong, I sure don't have to drive over the Walt
Whitman Bridge! And what do you mean, it doesn't look right? Look right
to whom?"
She fought to keep the emotion out of her voice, but conversations
such as these could be so exhausting. She knew her mother meant well,
but sometimes she wondered if the overriding consideration was for what
other people might think, rather than for Maddy's safety, although she
never doubted her parents' love for her.
"Honey, I know," Mom's voice softened. "I know you and I know
you're a good kid. It's just that you two are still getting to know each
other and your father and I don't really know Kenny yet. What I've seen
so far I really like. I mean, he's very respectful, courteous…and it's
obvious how much he likes you. But I still don't like the idea of you being
there alone. Why doesn't he come here?"
"Well, for one thing, he has to work part of the weekend, and for
another, I really want to go to the beach while I still can, before it gets too
cold." Then after an inspired thought, she asked, "Why don't you and
Daddy come down this weekend, too?"
"I think your father's on call," she explained.
"Oh, well do you think he'd mind if you and Aunt Maria came down
without him?" Her father was so good about those things, never resenting
anyone else for having the freedom to enjoy the fruits of his labor; on the
contrary, it gave him such joy to know that those he loved were happy.
And quite honestly, he wasn't much of a beach person to begin with.
While his wife and children were content to play in the sand and surf
for hours, Joseph Rose would become restless and agitated after what
seemed like only moments. Maddy and her siblings would crack up as
he'd rise up out of his chair and announce with firm conviction, "I
CANNOT sit!" Then, he'd head back to the house before venturing to
the Ocean City Municipal Golf Course or the small airport, where he'd
begun taking flying lessons.
Much to her mother's chagrin, the latter hobby had led to the
purchase of a low-wing Piper Cub, a money-sucking toy whose significant
burden on their finances was evident every month when she did the
books. She certainly didn't begrudge her hard-working husband an outlet;
but after years of funding college educations, such an unnecessary bigticket
item was beginning to prove just too much of a strain. And now,
Lori's wedding loomed on the horizon. It was all a bit overwhelming.
"I don't know, I guess I can ask him. Your father's so good that way."
Maddy nodded in agreement. "I can just leave him with some food he can
heat up. You know your Dad; he's happy with a sandwich, but I can leave
some eggplant parmesan and some other stuff in the freezer. He certainly
won't starve!"
Visions of the casino danced in Monica's head as she went over to the
phone to call her sister.