{"id":7469,"date":"2022-10-13T13:28:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T20:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/?p=7469"},"modified":"2022-10-14T10:31:37","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T17:31:37","slug":"clubius-incarnate-part-41-naked-august-1960-final-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/13\/clubius-incarnate-part-41-naked-august-1960-final-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Clubius Incarnate Part 41 – Naked (August 1960) FINAL CHAPTER!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Molly was \u201cmoving\u201d. That meant that she and her mom were going to live in a different house and not their house across the street anymore. It would be \u201csold\u201d so other people could live in it. Molly\u2019s mom had told us when mom and I had gone over to Molly\u2019s house with David too. Her mom did all the talking because Molly was sad and mad and didn\u2019t want to say anything. I tried to look at Molly but she just looked down at the floor. I couldn\u2019t feel anything, though I figured I must be sad too.\u201cOh dear\u201d, mom said, \u201cThat is such big news!\u201d But it felt like mom was only pretending to be surprised and already knew this was going to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mom and Molly\u2019s mom were always telling each other secret things. They used to tell those things in our kitchen when I was playing in the basement, but I would sneak up the stairs near the top where they couldn\u2019t see me but I could hear them even when they were talking really quiet. Molly would do the same kind of thing in her house when mom and her mom talked there. Marybeth and the other older girls in the park had told us that it was called \u201cspying\u201d, and \u201cbeing a detective\u201d, and said it was really fun and you learned lots of interesting stuff.<\/p>\n

But I think mom and Molly\u2019s mom had figured out we were spying, because they didn\u2019t do that kind of talking in the house anymore. They would take \u201cwalks\u201d together down the street, so they could tell Molly and I weren\u2019t around listening.<\/p>\n

Molly\u2019s mom looked at me and said, \u201cI know it\u2019s not the same as living right across the street, but you will always be welcome at our new house young man, whether you bring your parents along or not.\u201d I was going to nod, but I looked at Molly and she was still sad and looking at the floor so I just nodded a little bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd certainly the same for Molly here\u201d, mom said, looking at Molly, \u201cYou have an open invitation to come over here anytime.\u201d She pushed her lips together and looked sad and worried as she looked at Molly and then at her mom. \u201cAnd your mom and I will work it out so you two can visit each other often. Right Joan?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course Jane\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom said nodding, \u201cThere\u2019ll be school starting in September on weekdays, but every weekend, we\u2019ll make a plan to get them together at your place or ours.\u201d Mom nodded with her lips pushed together. She did that when she heard something that she didn\u2019t like but wasn\u2019t going to get mad about.<\/p>\n

Molly and I had been best friends for as long as I could even remember. I couldn\u2019t remember the first time we were together, we just always had been. Whenever we wanted to be together, I just had to go over to her house or she would come over to mine. But now the grownups were going to be in charge of when we could play with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh oh\u201d, David said, pulling on mom\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh dear\u201d, mom said, wrinkling her nose, \u201cDavid needs a diaper change. I need to take him back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom said, \u201cBut Cooper is welcome to stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom looked at me. \u201cYou want to stay here with Molly?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Without even looking up at us Molly nodded even before I did and said, \u201cHe does. I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom saw Molly do that and said, \u201cOkay then.\u201d She stood up, took David\u2019s hand and looked at Molly\u2019s mom with a worried look on her face. \u201cWell Joan. A new chapter for all of us\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

Molly\u2019s mom nodded and then shook her head, like she was saying yes and then no at the same time. She stood up too and said, \u201cI\u2019m hoping it will work out for the best, but life gets so darned complicated, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d Grownups said \u201cdarned\u201d when they wanted to really say \u201cdamned\u201d, but they didn\u2019t want to do it with kids around.<\/p>\n

Mom closed her eyes, nodded and moved her hand through her hair. \u201cIt does indeed Joan\u201d, she said, \u201cSo do you have a move date?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably Labor Day weekend\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom said, \u201cI still have to settle on the date with the movers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, mom said to Molly\u2019s mom, David pulling on her arm, \u201cLet\u2019s take a walk later. Hang in there lady. Things will all work out. I\u2019ll be there for you, whatever I can do, you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks Jane\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom said, nodding with her lips pushed together, \u201cYou\u2019re a good friend, and I REALLY appreciate your understanding of all this. I would never have thought things would turn out this way, but maybe somehow it will be for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom nodded, and she and David went out the front door to walk home.<\/p>\n

Molly\u2019s mom looked at Molly and me and said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry things are turning out this way. I know Molly that you\u2019re still upset about this, and Cooper, I imagine this is difficult news for you too.\u201d Then she tried to make a smile and said, \u201cThings change in life and we have to roll with the punches and make the best of it. We\u2019ll just have to keep talking to each other and share our feelings, even if they are sad feelings. Okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019re supposed to say something when people ask you a question, or at least nod or shake your head. But Molly didn\u2019t do either and I just nodded a very little bit.<\/p>\n

Molly\u2019s mom clapped her hands together and blew air out of her mouth. \u201cYou two going to play in your room?\u201d she asked. Molly still didn\u2019t say anything or look at her mom, but she nodded just a little bit and then ran to the stairs and then up them, like she wanted to get out of the living room as fast as she could.<\/p>\n

I felt strange still and looked at Molly\u2019s mom, who looked back at me with a sad face and nodded, like I should follow Molly up to her room. That\u2019s what I did, but I walked instead of running. It felt like it wouldn\u2019t be nice to Molly\u2019s mom if I ran upstairs too, like I didn\u2019t want to be with her.<\/p>\n

When I got up to Molly\u2019s room she was sitting in one of the two puffy chairs, so I sat in the other one that was across from her. When I did she looked down at the floor instead of looking at me. I wasn\u2019t sure what to do so I just sat there and didn\u2019t say anything, and looked down at the floor too, which was a rug like the downstairs of her house instead of that wood floor like my house. We both just sat there for a while not talking. I figured I\u2019d just wait until she said something, and when she did, I would say something back.<\/p>\n

While I waited I would peek up at her, but the way she was looking down it was hard to tell what she was thinking. One time when I was peeking up at her she also peeked up at me. We saw each other’s eyes but both quickly looked down. Finally she said something.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom is STUPID!\u201d she said, still looking down at the floor. I nodded but didn\u2019t say anything, but I think she saw me nodding.<\/p>\n

Still looking at the floor she said, \u201cShe says we\u2019re going to live in this different house because now is the time to move before I go to regular school. But I want to stay HERE. It\u2019s NOT FAIR!\u201d She finally looked at me after she said that, like she wanted me to say that it wasn\u2019t fair too.<\/p>\n

So I shook my head and said, \u201cIt\u2019s not.\u201d She liked it when I did that.<\/p>\n

Still looking at me she said, \u201cJill says you’re my boyfriend\u201d, like she was wondering if I thought so too.<\/p>\n

I had heard older boys in the park talking about how, when you were older and you had a girlfriend, you showed her you \u201cloved\u201d her by taking off your clothes in front of her. I don\u2019t think any of them had done anything like that for real, but they liked telling that to their friends because it sounded kind of exciting, and like they knew a lot of important stuff that all of us needed to know too.<\/p>\n

I had been thinking for a while what Molly would look like if she took off all her clothes, would she look the same as me or not. I was thinking that now, and though she couldn\u2019t tell I was thinking exactly that, she could tell I was thinking something about her that was different somehow.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what are you thinking about?\u201d she asked. She had never asked me that question before, that was a question that I had heard grownups ask each other. Molly either knew what I was thinking already or she would just say what she was thinking and wait for me to do the same.<\/p>\n

I wanted to tell her what I was thinking, but I was worried that she might think I was bad or even naughty. I wasn\u2019t sure if saying something to another kid could be naughty, or if it was only when you said it to a grownup. I didn\u2019t want to say anything to Molly so she wouldn\u2019t want to be my friend anymore. But then her eyes looked into mine like I had to tell her the real answer. I felt like if I said anything else, she would know that wasn\u2019t what I was really thinking and would be mad at me, and she wouldn\u2019t feel the same as me anymore.<\/p>\n

So I just said it. \u201cSome of the older boys in the park say that when you have a girlfriend you show her you like her by taking off your clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked at my eyes with a flash of fierceness in hers while she thought about what I said. I could tell she was thinking that grownups would think it was bad that I said that to her. That I was being \u201cnaughty\u201d. I could tell she was trying to figure out if it was okay that I said that, and I hoped it was okay. I was just telling her what older boys really said, and we always told each other the real stuff.<\/p>\n

I guess she was okay with me saying that because she asked, \u201cYou want to do that with me?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was a different thing to answer because it wasn\u2019t about other boys, it was about me. I wanted to nod because that was how I really felt, but I knew my mom, my dad, her mom and other grownups would think I shouldn\u2019t feel that way. I could tell Molly could see my worried look and all the thinking I was doing.<\/p>\n

She was quiet for a moment, thinking too, but still looking at me really hard. \u201cOkay\u201d, she finally said, \u201cThat would be neat.\u201d Then thinking some more she said, \u201cBut no kissyface stuff and I have to take my clothes off too.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded. I wasn\u2019t worried anymore that she thought I was bad. I WAS still worried that we BOTH were bad, at least that grownups and other kids would think we were. But they weren\u2019t really in charge of us, though grownups thought they were. I knew mom and dad figured that I would only do good stuff, and that\u2019s why they let me do so much by myself.<\/p>\n

But I wanted to do this and Molly did too, so that was what was important right now. I wanted to see what all the parts of her body looked like and she I guess felt the same way. She was a girl after all, not a boy like me, whatever that really meant. I really wanted to know how we might be different, even though we always liked being the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo who goes first?\u201d she asked, like the older boys must have told me how it was supposed to work.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know. I lifted my shoulders and let them go down again. She put her thumb in her mouth and bit down on it thinking. I hadn\u2019t seen her do that in a long time.<\/p>\n

She took it out. \u201cLet\u2019s do it at the same time, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, I said. That made sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to hide behind this chair and take my clothes off\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, I said, \u201cI\u2019ll go behind the other chair. Then when we are both ready\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll show each other\u201d, she said, finishing what I was going to say. But then after thinking some more she said, \u201cBut we can\u2019t tell anyone at all, especially not our moms and dads!\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded and said, \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to promise\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise\u201d, I said nodding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do too\u201d, she said, also nodding.<\/p>\n

She got down behind the blue chair. I sat down behind the red chair, my back against it. I had a moment where I wasn\u2019t sure, and looked at my shoes and socks, still on my feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, I\u2019m ready\u201d, I heard her voice behind her chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a minute\u201d, I said and quickly took off my clothes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ready?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh hunh\u201d, I said, looking at my naked body.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould we do one, two, three?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, I said, crouching naked now behind the red chair, getting very excited at what was about to happen.<\/p>\n

She started counting, \u201cOne\u2026 two\u2026 three!\u201d<\/p>\n

I stood up, still behind my chair, and she did the same thing, so we could only see the naked top parts of each other’s bodies. They looked completely the same.<\/p>\n

She looked at me and asked, \u201cBut we\u2019re going to show the bottom part too, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I count to three again?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, I said. It felt like electricity was running through every inch of my body. Before she had a chance to count I stepped out from behind my chair so she could see all of me.<\/p>\n

She looked at me and her eyes were drawn down to my penis. I liked that she was looking at my naked body, and especially that part. It felt wonderful, like nothing I had ever felt before. I felt shivers and goosebumps on my arms and my thighs. I could see in her eyes her seeing my excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, my turn\u201d, she said, stepping out from behind her chair. Where I had the little penis thing sticking out and the tiny thing underneath, she just had a little slit. I looked at that part of her that was different from me. It didn\u2019t seem like it was that big of a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour pee pee is different than mine\u201d, she said. \u201cThat\u2019s because you’re a boy and I\u2019m a girl\u201d.<\/p>\n

I nodded. I wondered if that was the only real thing that made us different. Those grownup women like mom and those older girl kids like Margie also had that \u201cfigure\u201d part too on their chest that stuck out. Some of the older boys in the park called that \u201cboobs\u201d or \u201ctits\u201d, but that sounded pretty silly. The grownup men would say that a woman had a \u201cnice figure\u201d.<\/p>\n

So was that why grownup women were \u201cmoms\u201d and grownup men were \u201cdads\u201d? Why grownup men went to other places each day to do \u201cjobs\u201d while women stayed at home to do \u201cchores\u201d. Why boys and men were supposed to have short hair and women were supposed to have long hair and wear different clothes. It didn\u2019t really make sense, and I wondered if that was why a lot of the other stuff that grownups did didn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n

But also other boys worried about girls a lot. Boys thought girls had \u201ccooties\u201d, and worried that if boys got cooties too, they would turn into \u201csissies\u201d, and none of the other boys would like them. I remembered Kenny saying that being a sissy was the worst possible thing that could happen to you. But that was all strange because the really older boys, some of them REALLY liked girls and got kissyface with them, but no one called them sissies. And most grownup men liked grownup women a LOT, and would get silly with them at those parties, and even sleep in the same bed together like mom and dad did.<\/p>\n

So Molly and I just stood there looking at each other. I figured Molly must be thinking the same kind of things I was about girls and boys. Then I wondered if we should put our clothes back on and I could tell Molly was thinking the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe better put our clothes back on or we\u2019ll get in trouble\u201d, she said, \u201cbut that was neat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was\u201d, I said nodding.<\/p>\n

Still standing across from me naked, she said, \u201cAfter we move to that new house you\u2019ll still be my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded again. But then I thought that wasn\u2019t enough to just do that, so I said, \u201cGood. You\u2019ll still be my best friend too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good\u201d, she said, and her eyes got fierce, \u201cMake sure you come over a lot. And I\u2019ll come over to your house too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, I said, \u201cBring your dinosaurs and Tinker Toys when you come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will\u201d, she said, \u201cThe more dinosaurs and Tinker Toys, the more you can do.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n

She looked at me, thinking, then said, \u201cMaybe when we\u2019re older you can be my boyfriend too. If you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, I said. I wasn\u2019t sure what that really meant, and if she was thinking about kissyface stuff. But I didn\u2019t want to ask her, because I just liked being her best friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe better put our clothes back on\u201d, she said again. \u201cI\u2019m going to do it right now and you should too.\u201d So we both went behind our chairs and put our clothes back on.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s do Sky King and Tom Swift with Tinker Toys\u201d, she said, coming out from behind her chair. \u201cWe could do dinosaurs too but mine are all over in your backyard.\u201d She went over to the shelves in her wall and took her two big cans of Tinker Toys and dumped them on the floor. Then she sat down and started putting them together to build a Sky King plane. So I sat down across from her and started building a rocketship.<\/p>\n

As I put the pieces together, I wondered if I\u2019d ever figure out why most kids and grownups thought boys and girls were really so different. But for now, I was glad Molly and I were only just a very little bit different. I felt sad that Molly and I weren\u2019t going to live next to each other anymore, and that if we both had to go to school, we couldn\u2019t do it together. But I was happy that we would still be best friends. It was good to have a best friend, even if you didn\u2019t see them all the time.<\/p>\n

I felt really good that we had talked about taking our clothes off, and then both wanted to and had really done it. Even though other people would say it was bad, it didn\u2019t FEEL bad, so I didn\u2019t worry about it too much. And since we both had promised not to tell our moms and dads or anyone else, it was something that THEY didn\u2019t need to worry about. Molly and I could do all the worrying about it, if we wanted to.<\/p>\n

I also figured I could do other stuff now that maybe mom or dad or other grownups didn\u2019t think I should do. If it was fun or interesting and other kids thought it was good, then I could do it, if I wanted to. Kids did lots of stuff in the park that grownups didn\u2019t know about, and maybe wouldn\u2019t like, because the kids were in charge there. If those grownup \u201ccoaches\u201d were around, they only were in charge of the baseball diamonds, and kids were still in charge of the rest of the park. And if kids were in charge, if you didn\u2019t like what they told you to do, you didn\u2019t have to do it. That was the best way. People should only be in charge of you if you wanted them to.<\/p>\n

I still didn\u2019t know about going to regular school, because the older kids said that grownups were always in charge there. But I really wanted to finish figuring out how to read, and mom and dad were doing too many other things to help me very much, and mom said the teacher at school would help me. I didn\u2019t like grownups to be in charge of me, but at least that teacher would only be in charge of me at school, but not the rest of the time. Maybe once I learned how to read I wouldn\u2019t have to go to school anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Molly was \u201cmoving\u201d. That meant that she and her mom were going to live in a different house and not their house across the street anymore. It would be \u201csold\u201d so other people could live in it. Molly\u2019s mom had told us when mom and I had gone over to Molly\u2019s house with David too. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13,1773,515,1775],"class_list":["post-7469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-ann-arbor","tag-childhood","tag-human-development","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7478,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7469\/revisions\/7478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}