On Saturday afternoon, Rita Maude Fricke met with her friends Betty Lou and Ruth again. They met in Ruth's office at the library, because Ruth was once again filling in for an absent employee. Both Betty Lou and Rita were favorably impressed by Ruth's dedication to her library and her patrons.
Newly divorced Margie Wilcox was also at the meeting. Betty Lou had called her the previous evening, and asked her to join them at Rita's request. As soon as they all had a cup of tea in their hands, Rita went straight to the heart of the matter. She provided background information for Margie's benefit as she went.
"My husband Harold had a man to man talk with Tommy Thursday during lunch. We felt that it was time that someone had that talk with Tommy, because of how rapidly he is progressing. According to his tutor, Tommy is well on his way book learning-wise."
Everyone nodded in understanding, so Rita took a breath and continued.
"Harold said Tommy understood the mechanics of sex, although he has no experience, except for masturbation."
Rita and the other women couldn't help but smile at Betty Lou's gasp. Rita patted Betty Lou's hand reassuringly, and looked at each woman, letting her point sink in. She had every one of the women's complete attention, including the furiously blushing Betty Lou, so she resumed her narrative.
"So anyway, our boy knows the mechanics, now. What he doesn't understand, but wants to know, is how relationships between men and women work. Thankfully, Harold did not try to explain that. I mean, I love my husband to death, but like all men, he doesn't have a clue about relationships."
Rita paused again while her friends all nodded emphatically in agreement.
"So Tommy is making amazing progress. The Good Lord has seen fit to make things right by Tommy, I think. According to Becky, Tommy will be academically ready for college in less than a year. I think we need to make sure he is socially ready also.
"So that's where we are right now," she said as she ticked off her points with her fingers. "One, our wonderful Tommy is a blank canvass. Two, he professed his love for each of us to my husband, so I know he will listen to us. Three, we all love him in return. Four, Tommy is mature enough now to learn about women. And five, who is better equipped to teach him how to treat a woman than the four of us?"
The other women quickly signed onto Rita Fricke's innocent plan. They would take turns exposing Tommy to various social settings and teach him the proper way to respond in each situation. They would train him in how a woman should be treated when he took one out. Rita even had the first evening planned for that very night. She, Harold, Margie Wilcox and Tommy were going to the monthly first Saturday spaghetti dinner and dance down at the VFW hall. Tommy would be Margie's escort. Rita and Harold would be there for moral support.
When Tommy told Ruth Silverman about Doctor Giles's assessment of his ability to learn, he had told the absolute truth as it existed while he was in the hospital. The brain damage Tommy suffered was permanent and irrevocable. For a few months after his discharge, Giles's prognosis held true, as Tommy often had memory lapses. That was one reason the Frickies wrote his duties out for him each morning.
Tommy's brain however, did not sit idly by while all this was going on. Instead, it created new memory pathways and established easily accessible nexuses to store incoming data. His brain could not repair itself, but it could adapt to make up for what had been destroyed. Because it was playing catch up for areas of the brain that had taken over twenty years to develop, Tommy's brain housing group went overboard when it created the new memory network.
Madeline (Maddie) Dixon, the pianist and choir director for the First Baptist Church of Brantley, was the first person to notice the manifestation of Tommy's strange new talent. It happened the same day that Harold told Tommy the facts of life.
What Maddie noticed was that Tommy sang along with the choir during practice, even though he was not a member and didn't even have a hymnal. Tommy attended Thursday choir practice, because Betty Lou and Regina were in the choir, so he and Bucky had to tag along.
Madeline was always on the lookout for new choir members, especially males, so she called a ten minute break and talked to Tommy.
"How do you know all the words to the songs we were singing," she asked.
Tommy shrugged.
"I remember them from p-p-practice last week," Tommy stammered.
Madeline nodded and pressed on.
"You don't stutter when you sing, just like that singer Mel Tillis."
"I know," Tommy said brightly, "That's why I like to sing."
That was good news to Maddie Dixon.
"So sing with us, we could use a strong male voice."
Tommy was pleased as punch.
"Sure, who do you want me to sound like, Conway Twitty or Johnny Cash?"
Maddie grinned at his response; he had picked out a couple of tough acts to follow. Maddie decided to humor him.
"My husband Leo is the choir's basso, so why don't you try to be a tenor like Conway."
Tommy's new memory processing apparatus not only allowed him to easily remember songs, it also internalized musical styles. As a result, Tommy became an amazingly accurate mimic. It was amazing, because using his real voice, Tommy could not sing a lick. His natural singing voice was horrible, it was raspy and nasal, and when he used it, folks cringed.
It was fortunate for Maddie Dixon that Conway Twitty had released a couple of gospel albums that Tommy could draw on as a reference. In fact, two of the songs the choir rehearsed were on the Twitty records. When Tommy did Conway's version of Precious Memories, the rest of the choir fell silent in awe. Even Regina was impressed. Madeline moved Tommy to the front of the choir so he could sing the song solo, with the choir backing him. Of course, as soon as Tommy was by himself, he had stage fright so bad he couldn't make a sound. Finally, Maddie put Tommy back in the choir right next to Betty Lou. With his eyes closed and Betty Lou holding his hand, Tommy made it sound as if Conway was actually a member of the First Baptist Church of Brantley's choir.
It was exactly noon on Saturday, when Tommy locked up the feed and seed warehouse and trudged home. His step was slow, because his mind was working on a problem that came to his attention right before he left the store. It had started with a casual remark Rita made.
"I expect to dance the first slow song with you tonight," she'd said.
That simple little statement threw Tommy into a near panic, because he could not dance a step. He desperately dredged his mind for even a hint about dancing and could not find the slightest clue. He was still furiously thinking about that when he pulled open the front door and almost ran over Regina.
Tommy backed up a step and started to stammer an apology when Regina smiled at him.
"My fault Tommy," she said sweetly.
Regina treated Tommy much better now for a few reasons. One reason was because Tommy no longer felt inclined to take any crap from her. Another was because Tommy no longer seemed such a moron to her. As a matter of fact, the guy she had called a drooling idiot was now helping her with her eleventh grade Algebra II homework. Finally, Tommy's singing in the choir Thursday night had impressed the hell out of her. Tommy had slowly changed from her little brother's retarded pal to a slightly goofy, handsome young man.
"Uh, thanks, Reggie," Tommy said as he slipped past her.
Regina shot him a smile at the use of her nickname and headed out. He was a couple of steps into the room and Regina was just out the door, when he had an idea. Tommy spun around and jerked open the door.
"Regina," he called to her retreating back.
Regina turned around and looked at him inquisitively. Tommy blushed crimson, but gathered up enough nerve to spit out what he needed to say.
"Ah, do you know anyone I can hire this afternoon to teach me to dance? I'll pay them twenty dollars."
Turns out Regina knew just the person he was looking for. She walked back into the house, called the friend she had been about to visit, and cancelled the trip. Then she ran up to her room and gathered up her Philco Hi-Fi portable record player and a stack of forty-five rpm singles. Regina was about the best dancer at Brantley High, and twenty bucks would buy her a very nice outfit. She moved the dining room table into the corner, pushed the chairs out of the way and set up her record player with six forty-fives on the spindle.
Tommy had his doubts about the lessons at first, because the music Regina listened to was rock and roll, while the VFW crowd was into traditional country. Tommy told her that, but she dismissed his concerns.
"Slow dancing is slow dancing, Tommy. Doesn't matter if it's Merle Haggard or the Beatles. Here, give me your hand and I'll show you."
As in most things, Tommy was a quick study when it came to learning to dance. He was well coordinated and surprisingly light on his feet. Regina taught Tommy how to dance the way she knew old people liked, her left hand in his right, her right hand on his shoulder and his left hand slightly around her waist.
Midway through the second stack, Tommy was moving smoothly enough that he actually took to leading her. It was about then that it stopped being a lesson and started being fun for Regina. When the next song started, Regina showed Tommy how to dance really close, putting her arms around his neck, placing both his arms around her waist, and snuggling up against him.
"You need to learn to dance like this too, Tommy. If a woman likes you enough, this is how she'll want you to hold her," she said softly, her head resting on his muscular upper chest.
Tommy felt the benefits of dancing like that immediately, as Regina's nice medium sized breasts pressed into his chest, and her coconut scented hair was right under his nose. Unfortunately, he also experienced the pitfall of such intimate contact, as his dick sprang to its full hardness in about five beats of his heart. He gasped in embarrassment and tried to step back from his partner. Regina, however, was into the dance and stepped forward, reestablishing contact. That's when she discovered what was going on. Tommy was mortified by his unwanted boner, but Regina took it in stride. It was a point of pride for her that she could make a boy pop one of those things any time she felt like it. And Tommy had the biggest she'd ever had rubbed against her. The only problem was that it tented out his jeans a good three or four inches down his left leg.
This time Regina stepped back at the same time Tommy did. She glanced down and confirmed it was the largest bulge she'd ever seem.
"I think you're ready, Tommy, but you better wear a jock tonight," Regina said straight-faced.
Tommy gulped and nodded, his face the same color as the McCulloch County Volunteer Fire Department's new pumper, his hands fluttering uselessly down by his crotch. Regina smiled and patted his cheek.
"Relax about that, Tommy," she said. "It happens to every guy I've ever danced with, and it will probably happen during your date tonight. Just don't grind it against her, and let her decide how to handle the situation. Okay?"
Tommy bobbed his head up and down and dug a twenty out of his wallet. Regina declined the money with a wave of her hand.
"No charge, Tommy, but tomorrow after church, you have to sing a song for Melody Graham and me."
Tommy grunted and sped down to the basement, his face redder than ever. Regina smiled at his antics as he hustled away. "When," she asked herself, "did I start thinking of his shyness as cute?" She was still grinning as she collected up her records and her phonograph and headed upstairs. Melody was going to pee her pants when she heard Tommy sing tomorrow after church. Melody was Catholic, so she attended Mass at Sacred Hearts. Regina and Melody had been best friends since the first day of kindergarten. Because their last names, Grimes and Graham, were alphabetically close together, the girls ended up partners in everything.
Regina kicked her bedroom door shut and put her record player on her dresser in its usual spot. She plugged it in and stacked the feed mechanism with the same songs to which she and Tommy had danced. While the record player was dropping the first disc, she locked her door and flopped down on her bed. She could not believe the tingles she was getting "down there," nor could she believe she was actually going to do something about it in broad daylight.
Tommy was as nervous as a gun shy dog at a turkey shoot by the time six o'clock rolled around. Betty Lou tried to calm him down, but he just couldn't sit still, and he had about a thousand questions. To make matters worse, Bucky was spending a couple of days at his grandparents' ranch, and Regina had already departed for her own date. At her wits end, she finally ordered Tommy to dust and vacuum the parlor in case someone came to visit.
The clock had just crawled past six-fifty when Harold knocked on the door and dragged a suddenly very shy Tommy out to Rita's car. The Falcon was all shined up and the top was down. Rita was sitting in the passenger seat and Margie was seated directly behind her. Harold held the driver's seat forward and Tommy climbed in the back. Tommy said hello to Rita and Margie and slid onto the slick vinyl upholstery. Once he was seated, Tommy took a good look at Margie. As soon as he did, he was thankful that he'd worn his jock strap and a pair of Jockeys, because she looked really, really pretty.
Margie Wilcox had invested some time in her appearance and outfit for their 'date'. Not only was it Tommy's first date since his return from Vietnam, it was also the first time she'd spent any time off-duty time with a man since she'd caught her two bit cheating husband using his dick to clear the airway of a young male medic. So Margie had a couple of items on her agenda tonight. Her primary mission was helping Tommy in his socialization skills, and the secondary was to validate that she could still capture men's attention. To make the second one a reality, she had traded her glasses for contact lenses and had worn her long, thick, chestnut hair hanging loose down her back. She wore a modest knee-length black skirt with a royal blue blouse and three inch heels. Her plan seemed to be working, because Tommy was looking at her in awe.
"Gosh, you look beautiful tonight, Margie," Tommy said sincerely.
Margie shot him a smile, took his hand and squeezed it.
"Thank you, Tommy, you look very handsome too," she replied.
Margie wasn't even aware that she never let go of Tommy's hand for the rest of the ride. Nor did it cause her any pause when Tommy took her hand as they walked to the door, letting go of her only to open the door for Rita and her.
There was a good sized crowd already at the hall, but Harold led them to a nice table for eight near the dance floor, which had a reserved sign on it. Harold pocketed the card and he and Tommy seated the ladies. So far, Tommy's good manners were standing him in good stead. The other chairs at the table were for Ben Crawford, Ramon Salazar and their wives, all of whom showed up about ten minutes later. Ben Crawford's wife's name was Shirley, but everyone called her Cricket. She was all of five feet tall if she stretched, and probably weighed a hundred pounds. By contrast, Ramon Salazar was married to a good sized woman named Teresa.
Margie thought that Rita had done very well in picking out the venue and table mates for Tommy's first date. The spaghetti dinner was only so-so, but the band was excellent, and the other couples at the table were a hoot. Tommy fit in, even though he didn't say much. With Cricket and Teresa at the table, the conversation never lagged. One thing that Tommy did to make the evening better was to honor Rita's request for the first slow dance. The band was still playing the song's intro, when Tommy stood up and extended his hand down to Rita. When Rita took his hand and looked up, Tommy regurgitated a line from a movie that was tucked in some cranial crevasse.
"Missus Rita, may I have the please of this dance with you?"
Rita's smile was Texas sized as she stood up.
"You most certainly may, Mister Bledsoe," Rita answered.
From that first song on, Tommy's dance card stayed filled. Rita went back to the table, bragging on Tommy's dancing skills, so Tommy had to demonstrate them to both Cricket and Teresa. Then it was Margie's turn, and she kept him on the dance floor for the rest of the set. Margie was from San Antonio, so she knew her way around a dance hall. Tommy's brain could mimic the rhythm of a dance as well as it could a song, so to Margie's delight, Tommy was soon doing the Texas Two-Step with her.
Tommy had a great time that evening. Although he was slightly intimidated by the conversation that swirled around him, he remained polite and cordial. Rita was so proud she was about to burst. Margie felt the same way until the last set of the evening. Towards the end of that last set, the lights dimmed and the band strung together about five slow romantic songs. By the second of those five songs, Margie had unconsciously put both arms around Tommy's neck and draped her body on his. Since Margie was about five nine and only a few pounds short of being voluptuous, she fit against him perfectly.
For some unknown reason, Tommy did not put both of his hands on Margie's waist as they swayed together. Instead, he reached across her back and played with her hair while her head was tucked into his shoulder. Margie actually purred when he did that. Tommy became erect just as quickly with Margie as he had with Regina, only this time, he did not call any attention to it. Margie held out for an entire song before she pushed her center against him so she could stay in contact with the large lump. She situated herself, sighed and kissed Tommy on the corner of his mouth.
"This is perfect Thomas. It has been the best date I've been on in years and years."
Tommy gave her a squeeze. Tommy had discovered earlier that he had no speech problems when he was dancing.
"That's nothing," he quipped, "because it's the best date I remember ever having."
Margie actually giggled at that statement.
"It's the only date you've ever had that you remember, so it is by definition also the worst you've ever been on."
It took Tommy a few seconds to figure out what she'd said. When he did, he laughed and squeezed her again, so that her surprisingly heavy bosom flattened against his chest.
At eleven thirty, the last song faded away and the house lights grew brighter. The waitresses and bartender were sing-songing "last call for alcohol" when Margie reluctantly pulled away from Tommy. Between the dancing and the four or five cocktails she'd quaffed, Margie was flushed and breathing hard. She led Tommy back to the table, scooped up her purse and made a bee line for the bathroom with Rita in tow.
After visiting the stalls, the women shared a mirror to fix their make up. Rita asked Margie how the evening was going from her perspective. Margie had to think for a minute to formulate her reply.
"If how that man makes me feel is any indication, we can stop his training right this minute. Any woman would have a hard time saying no to anything he wanted tonight."
Rita smiled and patted Margie's hand.
"That's why we are doing this, Honey. Our Tommy deserves better than just any woman."
The VFW hall shut and locked its doors at midnight, in accordance with the Texas Blue Law. So at five after midnight, Tommy and Margie were snuggled up in the back seat of Rita's 64 Falcon convertible, headed towards Spring Street to drop Tommy off. Margie glanced up front to make sure Rita and Harold were looking forward, then she turned Tommy's face towards hers and kissed him softly on the lips. Margie's plan was a short sweet kiss to show Tommy her appreciation for the wonderful date, but as soon as their lips met, that idea went out the window.
Tommy was tentative in returning her kiss at first, but his lips seemed to remember what they should be doing, even if the rest of him was clueless. Margie reluctantly broke the kiss when she heard the steady click of the turn signal as Harold eased onto Spring Street. When they passed under a street light and she saw the look of adoration in Tommy's eyes, Margie suppressed a moan of frustration that they weren't alone.
There were a few new faces in the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Brantley that next Sunday morning. Two of the new faces were sitting with the Frickies. One of them was Margie Wilcox, and the other was Ruth Silverman. Both women were there because Betty Lou had invited them.
"It concerns Tommy," she'd said mysteriously. "And you'll be glad you came."
That Sunday morning, Tommy sat in the back row of the choir loft next to Leo Dixon, and dutifully added his voice to the regular hymns. When Brother Johnson reached the point in the service where a prayer was offered for departed loved ones, Maddie signal Tommy. Tommy nodded, moved forward to stand between Regina and Betty Lou, and held one of their hands. Maddie thumped out the intro to Precious Memories, Tommy closed his eyes and Conway Twitty took over his voice.
One hundred and forty-seven sets of eyes swiveled to stare at Tommy in disbelief. One set of those eyes belonged to Rita Fricke. Around the third sentence Tommy sang, those eyes rolled up into her head and she swayed woozily. Thankfully, Harold caught her before she hit the floor.
Rita almost fainted from the joy she felt when those beautiful sounds flowed from the young man she considered her son. She had a deep and abiding faith in her God, and every good thing that happened to Tommy renewed that faith. To Rita, Tommy was a miracle dropped into her life by a loving Savior.
When Tommy started singing, Margie and Ruth looked at each other in disbelief. Not sharing Rita's faith, the two women were trying to come to terms with this newest amazing facet of Tommy. Nothing in Margaret Wilcox's medical experience could account for Tommy, nor could any of the Psych courses Ruth took as an undergrad at Vassar.
The four women met up again in the library at two on Sunday afternoon. They were all smiles because of the progress that Tommy had made in just three days. Margie and Rita described in glowing terms Tommy's conduct during his 'date' with Margie. Margie kept the part about the slow dancing and wonderful kisses to herself. Betty Lou told them all about the choir practice and apologized for keeping it a secret.
"I wanted it to be a surprise for you, because I knew it would make you all feel good," she said.
Ruth Silverman volunteered her services for the next 'date'. She had tickets for a production of Death of a Salesman for next Saturday night at the Brownwood dinner theater.
The group went their separate ways after agreeing to meet next Sunday.
Margie Wilcox drove back to Fort Sam Houston with much on her mind. The four days she spent in Brantley made her surer than ever that she wanted out of the Army. The people in Brantley and the tempo of life there called out to her. To top it off, the position of McCulloch County Public Health Nurse was open and waiting for her if she wanted it. She let those thoughts all run around the edges of her mind while she thought about the icing on the Brantley cake ... Tommy Bledsoe. She smiled to herself as she stared through the windshield and absent mindedly touched her lips. She was thirty-two years old and far on the other side of being a virgin, yet no one, male or female, had ever taken her breath away with a kiss as Tommy had.
While the women were meeting in the library, Regina Grimes and Melody Graham were providing another dancing lesson for Tommy. Melody talked Regina into the dancing, after Regina described the lesson the day before. Melody was the prototypical Catholic girl from a strict family. She was curious and awash with raging hormones. Melody's very devout Hispanic mother forbade dating, or even attending school dances, so she jumped at the chance to be held in the arms of her best friend's handsome boarder.
Tommy thought it was a great idea too. He had loved dancing with Margie the evening before, and he thought the practice would do him good. He also liked the idea of having two cute girls to dance with. Melody was about the same five foot six as Regina. She had black hair and big brown eyes. She carried a bit more weight than was trendy, but those extra pounds were firmly packed and carried in all the right places. He dashed down to the basement, strapped on his jock and hustled back to the dining room.
Regina was happy with the idea of dancing with Tommy again; it had felt very good being in his arms yesterday. She danced with Tommy first. They danced in the proper traditional way she taught him yesterday. When Melody took her turn, she surprised Regina by immediately throwing her arms around Tommy's neck and plastering her overripe body against his tall muscular one.
When the song was over, Melody shocked Regina even more by grabbing her and dancing with her the same way. It was only natural for Melody to do that, because up until Tommy, Regina was the only person she'd ever danced with. Tommy watched the two young women dance with much interest. He noticed what each seemed to like. When it was his turn to dance with Regina, he put his hands on the swell of her hips and positioned her slightly to his right so she could move against his thigh. Regina's eyes popped open when he did that, then she sighed and adjusted herself so she could press against his hardness. By the end of the song, she was panting.
Melody took Regina's place before the record had even dropped onto the turntable. Before they had taken two steps, Melody had her lips mashed against his as she swayed in his arms.
For the next thirty minutes, the three of them changed partners and made out. Melody was indiscriminant with her kisses, and planted as many on Regina as she did Tommy. Once Melody broke the ice, Regina participated whole-heartedly. Who knows what might have happened if Regina hadn't heard the parlor clock strike the three quarter hour and broke up the make-out session before her mother caught them?