The Lesson_(3)

The Lesson

Part one. ( The train)


God! But she was beautiful in those days. Not that Jenni is any less beautiful now, but she was unbelievably stunning back then. Since though, time and the bearing and rearing of children have taken their toll. Jenni still is a very good looking woman, a little thicker than she would like, but all in all, very pretty for a fifty something year old woman. Her beauty goes further than the depth of her skin. Jenni is one of those people who is just naturally lovely, without a mean bone in her and very few times has an unkind thought for anyone. Her integrity is beyond question, her faithfulness is unusual in the singular way it rules her life. It makes her popular and sought after as a friend.

Back in those days of our early marriage, when we didn’t have the encumbrance of children or a mortgage or money worries, we just enjoyed ourselves, discovering each other and growing up. Halcyon days they were indeed and in truth, somewhat missed now.

Back in those days, Jenni’s figure was 34” 22” 36”. Her hair was, and still is, dark blonde. Her skin was flawless and glowed with vigour. Dark blonde lashes and a ready smile framed blue eyes that seemed to see beyond the norm. She was slender with medium sized breasts high on her chest. One has always been slightly larger and higher than the other. It is her deformity, as she laughingly puts it. She has and had what are called child bearing hips. She proved that to be wrong, never able to carry to full term. It proved fatal to our child on one occasion, but the other two have survived to be parents themselves. Jenni’s hips were a feature of her figure and, given the overall package, in no way detrimental to the vision she was then, but they might be considered out of proportion, Jenni is only five feet tall. Although her hips are a feature, it is her smile that I find so devastating; being self conscious, she rarely laughs out loud, but her smile can carry so many meanings, but there is one special smile that melts my heart. It carries a promise of delights, of knowing exactly what it is that I want, knowing that she can provide exactly that.

It took me some time, years perhaps, to learn how, but I have and still do, love that woman more than words could ever justify. In those days, we were just getting to know one another and fancied each others bodies to distraction, and why not? Screwing like the proverbial rabbits and discovering our bodies and what they were capable of.

We didn’t have the encumbrance of children as I said earlier, neither did we have a car or very much money, but it was enough. Our weekends were spent going out, anywhere that took our fancy. Just pack some food in a rucksack, buy a couple of train tickets and disappear for the weekend.

This particular weekend was just one of those times when we left the rigours of work behind and explored the freedom of the country. I still have some old instamatic photos of our trip to Dorking in Surrey, my birth place. Occasionally, I look at the old and curled pictures and remember the day. One of the pictures is of her crossing a style into a cow field. The River Mole in the background. She was laughing her head off because she couldn’t work out how to get her leg over. It is a great shot. She had a red and black collared top on that was closely fitted and accentuated her wonderful form. Her dark blue corduroy shorts showed her fantastic legs off to the full, but the smile radiates from the acetate and glows. It is a treasured photo.

We laughed all through the day. She got scared by the size of the Friesian cows that looked disinterestedly in our direction while we crossed their field. We made love on the bank of the river and as usual, it was over before it began. I suffered badly with premature ejaculation. It was a real problem then and very frustrating, fortunately, and filled with the clamour of youth, I was able to reload and the second time was far more gratifying, but hardly rocked her boat. Jenni admitted years later that she often wondered if that was all sex was about and wondered why she had been so scared as a girl.

We were still laughing on the train home, sitting in a musty carriage that smelled of British Rail’s very own brand of staleness. It was one of those carriages that were connected with a side corridor and had separate booths along the length with blinds on the window. It is a shame that modernisation has caught up with us, those carriages had real potential, the new open plan things are no fun at all.

I remember the conversation. I don’t have a naturally retentive mind, but some things stick out through association. We laid a stupid bet, one that neither of us had any real intention of wanting to win or even try out, but as an argument will escalate to spiral out of control, so this bet gathered pace and fed on its own velocity. I bet Jenni that I could get the phone number of a complete stranger of the opposite sex before she could. It had to be a member of the opposite sex and a five pound wager was placed between us. Five pounds was half of my weekly wage in those days.

The train stopped at East Croydon which was a terminus then. Long seconds turned into even longer minutes and it looked as if we were to sit on the train for some time. The bet was set during that wait and opportunity being the mother of invention, was immediately taken up by both of us.

I admit to leering at the young girls who patiently waited for our train to pull out so they could catch a later one. I leered, cajoled and tried my best to attract any girl to become even remotely interested in me. My failure was spectacular especially when two girls openly pointed at me and laughed derisively. I even resorted to whistling at some ugly girl, desperate to win the bet. Her scorn was palpable and hit me hard. A man’s ego is a fragile thing and so easily dented or even mortally wounded. I was wounded by the failure and gave up on the venture.

Jenni on the other hand, not only had a guy’s phone number, but was entertaining another guy in the carriage. She told me later that all she did was flash her eyes at him and that was all she needed. My deflated ego had a hard time digesting that.

I really don’t remember him too much. Probably, he was covered in spots with badly fitting clothes and halitosis. See, even now I am jealous.

They were deep in conversation, facing each other on opposite bench seating. She was leaning back with her arms crossed over her breasts; he was leaning forward and sat on the edge of the musty seat. If I knew then what I know of body language, I would have recognised her withdrawal from him, while he was exuding his willingness to get to know her rather more closely.

I slid the door open and in the split second it takes to assess the scene, smiled at her. Jenni smiled back and flashed her eyes in triumph. She had won the bet in spades and knew it, but wanted this guy gone.

I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulders. He got the message when she leaned into me and kissed my mouth. With no further word, he left us to the relative peace of the carriage and its eddying dust motes that swirled in the shafts of sunlight coming through the brown stained windows.

Unforgivably, I challenged her to double or nothing. I mean; how stupid can a bloke be? The answer is right here on the other side of the keypad of my laptop.