EVENING WITH JULIE
by Chelsea Brown
David Phillips got off the bus and stepped straight into a puddle of water. Wearily, he shook his leg to get the worst off and began to trudge up the hill.
As he walked, he tried to put all thoughts of school behind him and concentrate, instead, on thoughts of an evening with Julie. They had planned to go out that night for a meal and then on to a theater. He was glad he could spend his weekends with Julie, even if it meant he didn't get his papers marked until Monday morning.
He turned off the sidewalk, and climbed the several steps to his front door. He stood inside, on the mat, and took his damp shoes off. He placed them by the radiator to dry out, hung up his coat, and dropped his briefcase on the dining-room table.
He climbed the stairs and stopped outside the bathroom, listening. Vague splashing noises came from within.
"Julie, I'm home!" he yelled, to be heard through the old oak door.
A voice answered back. "Hi, hon. I'll be a few minutes yet. Why don't you have a drink while you're waiting?"
"Don't steal all the hot water" he replied, and set off back down the stairs again.
He took his scotch into the dining-room, deciding to do a spot of marking while he waited. He had done no more than open his brief-case and extract a handful of papers when the door bell rang. He peered out of the dining room window. His visitor was male, about 50, with a red face and a white, nicotine-stained moustache. He wore an green plaid sportsjacket and a mustard cardigan, both elderly and threadbare. On his head was a felt hat and on his feet a pair of brogues.
David let his visitor in, and showed him into the living room. "And what can I do for you, Mr ....?" he asked, half-expecting to be roped into some committee or the other.
"Bankroft, Colonel Bankroft" the other barked.
David hoped he didn't look as nervous as he suddenly felt. He searched for something to say, something natural. "I used to teach your son Brian" he said. "Is this about Brian? You know he's left school?"
"Of course I know, I'm his father, dammit!" There was a pause, then the parade-ground manner gave way to a softer, gentler tone. It was as if the Colonel had been deflated. "I used to know everything about my son," he said. "Where he was, what he was doing, who his friends were. But recently......."
David felt sorry for the old man. "Can I get you a drink?" he asked. "Scotch and soda all right?" Bankroft looked up, gratefully. "Easy on the soda."
David mixed the drink and passed it across to his visitor. "You were saying that recently....?"
The Colonel took a sip of his drink and continued. "About two years ago, he began mixing with a different crowd. He started staying out later and later. And he wouldn't tell us where he was going. I tried to apply a curfew, but he just ignored me and slipped off when no-one was looking."
David sat down on the sofa, opposite the Colonel. "Did you talk to him about it?" he asked.
"I tried, but he just refused to speak to me. Dumb Insolence, d'you see? I don't think I've said more than a word or two to him ever since ... "
"Ever since ... " David prompted.
"Well, when he told us that he was going to leave school early, there was the dickens of a row. Since then, we've hardly spoken."
"I understand he's got himself a job." David was unsure how much to give away.
"A job? Bloody hairdresser?" The parade-ground manner had come back. "Hanging around with a load of poofters, being arty-farty with somebody's hair? Unisex salons and perms? I ask you - what is the world coming to? Tell me that? A military cut was good enough for my father and it's good enough for me!"
"Times change, sir." David wondered what point the old man was trying to make. "Does he help with the housekeeping money?"
"We never asked him to help! We love him, don't you see? All we wanted was for him to get through school and then on to university. I wanted to send him to a military acadamy, but Doris was adamant - she'd had enough of packing up and moving on every three years, and didn't wish that sort of life on Brian. All she wanted was for him to do well at school, get a good job, get married and settle down with some nice, well-bred gal. Instead, he's prancing around in a hair-dressing salon, and mixing with God knows what kind of crowd."
David asked "Well, I'm sorry that there is this communication problem between the two of you, but I'm not sure where I come in."
"You were his poetry teacher, weren't you?"
"Yes. So...?"
"Well, look, I don't know how to put this. I mean, you saw a lot of it in the Army. Arabs, they used to do it a lot. Not my thing, who am I to judge, eh? See what I mean?"
David saw, only too clearly. He was trying to formulate a reply when the door opened.
The Colonel looked up. He saw, framed in the doorway, a young lady. Tall and greyhound-slim, like a model; she was wrapped in a black evening dress with a plunging vee-neckline and a hem that stopped short of her knees. Her legs were encased in the sheerest nylon hose, and her feet were hidden by a pair of black patent court shoes. She grasped an evening-bag in a delicately long hand. Light-brown hair tumbled round her shoulders, and a wistful smile played upon her lips. Her makeup was too heavy to be decent, but the Colonel had to admit to himself that she was, as he put it, a bit of a looker. Ever the gentleman, he rose to his feet and watched as the newcomer walked to the back of the settee and leant over to give David a kiss on his lips, thus offering him a glimpse of two mounds of flesh that disappeared beneath the raven material. When she spoke, her voice was low and husky.
"Don't forget we have reservations for 8 p.m."
"No, I won't." David was glad of the interuption. He noticed the Colonel brushing his moustache with his knuckle and announced, with some amusement, "Colonel, may I present my girlfriend, Julie Smith. Darling, this is Colonel Bankroft, the father of an ex-pupil of mine."
The Colonel took Julie's proffered hand and bowed stiffly over it. "Charmed, I'm sure," he muttered.
Julie turned to David and said "I'll be in the bedroom." then turning to the other man, added "It was nice to have met you, Colonel." She left as gracefully as she had entered.
David turned to the Colonel. "I'm afraid she's right, sir. We do have dinner and theater reservations, and I have to take a shower and change yet. Perhaps we could continue this another day?"
Bankroft seemed embarrassed. "Hmph..." he coughed. "I appear to have made a mistake, what? I mean, your young lady, do you see? Not what I thought at all. Frightful bloomer. Do hope you'll forgive me."
David smiled, as he ushered his guest out to the front door. "Nothing to forgive, Colonel. A natural mistake, from your point of view. But remember, not all poetry teachers are raving fairies."
The Colonel coughed again. "Yes, See your point. Well, sorry to have disturbed... Good night." "Good night, Colonel." David waited until his visitor had rounded the corner out of sight, then ran upstairs and into the bedroom, where Julie was sitting in front of the dresser, making some microscopic cosmetic repair.
"Darling, I'm SO glad you turned up when you did! Otherwise I don't know WHAT I'd have said to the silly old fool."
Julie stood up, placed a pair of long smooth arms around David's neck, pulling him close and with a smile said "Oh, I KNEW Daddy wouldn't recognize me, dressed like this!"