Chapter 6
The next morning I woke up when I heard the refrigerator door close. Peggy was getting a glass of orange juice. She saw me watching her and grinned self-consciously.
"I'm sorry. I guess that I should have waited for you to get up. I was trying to get out of here before you woke up. I've got to find a place to stay."
I threw the covers back, "I've got to get up. Turn away; all I have on is my shorts."
She smiled, "I don't care. I realized this morning that I gave you quite a show last night. Do you want any thing for breakfast?"
I shook my head and got up and walked quickly to the bathroom. I left the light off so that it would be just a little harder for her to see me piss. I splashed some water on my face and grabbed the robe that she had worn the night before and put it on. When I left the bathroom she was rolling up her sleeping bag.
"Look, why don't you leave your stuff here today," I said, "You can stay here until you find a place to stay. I get home about six thirty. I think that I have a spare key so that you can let yourself in. You don't want to be lugging that sleeping bag all over campus. Is this all of your stuff?"
She shook her head, "I have things stashed all over campus. I've got six lockers and some things, like books are in friend's apartments."
I went to the desk and found the spare key to the front door, "This will let you in. There's some food in the refrigerator but not much. I usually eat in the cafeteria. I might stop on the way home and pick up something. I'm big on OJ so you'll have to let me know when we're almost out."
She stared at me for a minute and tried to hand the key back, "I don't know..."
"Look Peggy, I didn't try anything last night did I? I'm just trying to help you out a bit. I'm sure that you'll find a place soon. Look, I've got to go. Make sure that you lock up."
I dashed out of the door jogging to my first class. I scooted in my seat just as the professor's aid walked into the room. The lecture was boring as usual. I was learning a lot but I found that the business course was strongly focused on managing international companies. I had always had plans to start my own business locally. I was determined not to churn water like my father had done all of his life. I wanted to have enough money to live comfortably and raise a family.
As I rushed from class to class I saw Peggy a couple of times. Only once was she close enough to wave to. When I was between my second class and lunch I called Abby to find out how Dan was doing. I had gotten into the habit of calling once or twice a week to check up on him. Abby told me that the experimental drug seemed be helping a bit and he told her that he had more good days than bad ones. She was worried because he wasn't putting on the weight that he had lost with the chemo.
After football practice I jogged home with my knapsack slung over my arm. As I walked into the apartment I smelled some good cooking. Peggy was in the kitchen and yelled to me to stay out of the kitchen. I yelled back that I was going to take a shower.
I grabbed a clean sweat suit and went into the shower. After I was in the shower I suddenly realized that I was giving Peggy a show like she had given me the night before. Nothing I could do about it now.
As I walked back into the large room that served as the living room, study hall, rec room and whatever, I saw that the kitchen table, which was really in the living room, was set. Peggy came out of the kitchen with a plate of salmon fillets steaming away. A couple of trips back to the kitchen and the table held salmon, Irish potatoes and lima beans. She had also fixed a package of brown and serve rolls. It had been a long time since I had a real home cooked meal. Most of my meals were salads that I picked up from the supermarket or takeout from the restaurants around campus. I am definitely no cook.
"I stopped on the way back from campus and picked up stuff for dinner. My thanks for letting me stay last night. I had visions of having to sleep in the park last night."
The meal was simple but it tasted like heaven to me. This was the first real meal that I had eaten since returning to college. By the time dinner was finished I had polished off all of the rolls and there was very little left of the salmon.
When Dan had put in the kitchen he had put a dishwasher in. I had only used it a couple of times. I usually washed my glasses and the few bowls that I dirtied in the sink. Tonight we packed all of the dishes in the dish washer. While the dish washer ran we sat at the table and talked, just small talk.
After a while we ran out of small talk, "Peggy, I'm sure that you have some dirty clothes, the way that you've been living. I'm sure that you noticed the washer-dryer in the kitchen. It's small so you'll have to do smaller loads but you're welcome to use it."
Her face brightened a little, "I was trying to get into one of the dorms to use the coin-operated ones there but every time that I found a laundry room that I could get in the washer was in use."
There was a heavy silence after that and finally I broke the silence, "Peggy what is going on in your life? I don't mean to pry but you're not going to finish college the way that you're living now."
It was several minutes before she spoke, "I know that better than you. I got a small scholarship to Arizona but it doesn't amount to much. I thought that I could find a job but the jobs that aren't taken by the other students require a car. I have a little money but it won't go very far if I have to get a car. I thought that I could crash in a dorm room and use my sleeping bag but I guess that I wasn't thinking too clearly. People like they're privacy and they don't take kindly to freeloaders."
Again there was a heavy pause and I said, "I'd like to know more about you. I suspect that you've been abused. Can you open up a bit? I might help to talk to someone about it."
Tears came to her eyes and, for a minute I thought that I had blown it, "After my father died my uncle came to the farm. He said that it would be easier on my sister and me if we could stay in our home. My uncle is an alcoholic. Oh, he goes to meetings regularly but he falls off the wagon several times a year. That's when he decides that he needs some young stuff. It only happens when he's been drinking. He raped me three times. I know that he raped my sister a lot more. I guess that I was too young for him until my sister wasn't available any longer. He told me once that he raped my mother until she couldn't take it anymore and she left."
I didn't notice that my fist was so tight that my finger nails were digging into my hand.
"After he raped me on the night that I graduated from high school, I waited until he left for town the next day and I went to the barn. My father didn't have much money and he liked having it where he could get his hands on it when he needed for few dollars. He kept his money hidden in the barn. My uncle didn't know about the money. There was about eighteen thousand dollars in the barn. I took it and got away from my uncle. I made my way here and that's it."
She tried to smile through her tears and waited to see what my reaction would be. She jumped up from the table and went into the kitchen and started wiping the counter tops.
I sat at the table thinking. When I had made my decision I called for her to come back to the table.
When she sat down opposite me I started, "Peggy, Your money isn't going to last. You need a place to stay but you can't afford to pay anything. Do you think that you could put up living with a jock? This place isn't costing me anything and if we watch our finances I think we might be able to squeak through."
I held up my hand when she started to talk, "Wait, before you answer you have to remember what this place is. As you can see the privacy is almost non-existent. This place was built for one person. There's going to be times when you are going to get on my nerves and I'm going to get on yours. Our schedules are going to clash and it is going to make one or the other of us mad. I'm going to insist that there be no dates brought here and I won't bring any dates here. It has to be clear to both of us; I'm not going to be your slave and you won't be mine. I don't expect dinner waiting for me when I get home and don't you expect me to cook dinner on you. Anything that grates on your nerves we will talk about it and visa-versa. I've got a queen sized bed and I need it because of my size. You'll have to take some of your money and get a bed or cot to sleep on. Basically what I'm saying is... you take care of yourself and I'll take care of me. I don't expect you to pay for your rent with sex, as you said last night."
She lowered her eyes, "Damaged goods, huh?"
The blood rushed to my head and for a second I was afraid I would hit her, "Peggy you should look at yourself in the mirror. You are the most beautiful woman at Arizona State. Most women would sell they're souls to have the build that you do and be as beautiful as you. Don't let some asshole that couldn't even claim to be a human defeat you. I can see that you're a fighter; do it, fight back."
She sat for a long time with tears streaming down her face. Finally she nodded her head. She got up and rushed into the bathroom.
That was the start of my relationship with my future wife. Neither of us knew that we would get married; in fact if you have mentioned it that year we would have punched you.
See? I told you that I'd get around to telling you about my family. Bear with me for a minute.
As the year progressed Peggy and I lived a hectic life; although the words separate and equal keep coming to mind. There was no romantic relationship going on. There were some hassles, like whenever two people live together in a small apartment. We worked them out and I liked having someone to talk to and I think she did too. There were times when one of us was walking out of the bathroom naked, because we thought that the other wouldn't be home for hours, and we had to make a mad dash for something to cover up with. Peggy never dated that entire year and she often talked about her sister and wondered where she was.
I managed to get Peggy a job at the pizza place that I was working for. It worked out great. I would take her to work with me and while she worked behind the counter I delivered pizzas. When she got off of work I would take her back to the apartment. This eased, but did not solve her money problems.
Since Peggy was taking the Accounting Course I asked Abby, during
one of my phone calls to check up on Dan, if she could use Peggy during
the summer. Abby was happy to have someone that knew a little about
accounting to help her; taking Dan to get his treatments and watching
out for him when he was so sick that he couldn't come to work was
draining her Dan's condition had not gotten any better and he was just
barely holding on. It seemed that the experimental drug was only
prolonging the status quo.