Lenny and I sat there in the hallway talking together so long that I lost track of time. By the time we finished, I felt a little better about what he had done.
“The hardest part of this is leaving you,” he said as he took my hand. “But think of it this way—I won’t be gone any longer than I would have been if I had gone away to college. I’ll get leaves when I can come visit, and there’s a chance I might be stationed close enough to come home on weekends. And think of all the advantages.”
“What advantages?” I felt tears building in my eyes and was afraid I would start to cry.
“Well, first of all I’ll be away from my mother and the daily fighting that messes up my head. I won’t be around negative influences like the racetrack. I’ll have a chance to really grow up and be on my own. And the navy will send me to school. I can get my high school diploma there and go on to college or one of the navy schools to train for something. When I get out of the navy, I’ll be able to find a decent job. I want you to be proud of me and what I do, not ashamed and embarrassed the way you have to be now.”
“I’m not ashamed of you, Lenny. I love you so much!” I burst in.
For the first time he was able to smile at me. “That’s good, because I love you, too. I know it’s been hard on you, Linda, and that no other girl would have stuck with me through all my ups and downs. I want to marry you someday. When I get out of the navy, you should be almost done with college. We can get married then and really have a chance for a wonderful life together.”
“Oh, Lenny. Do you really mean that?” My heart soared with new hope at his words.
“Of course I mean it. You’re the one I want to spend my life with. I could never love anyone else the way I love you.”
He kissed me then, and I returned his kiss with tremendous passion. I loved him so much, I thought my heart would burst. That’s when we heard the door to my apartment open, and my brother Ira called out, “If you’re out there, Linda, you’d better come inside right away. Dinner is on the table, and Ma is about to have a fit!”
I pulled away from Lenny and looked at my watch. It was five minutes past six, five minutes past the all-important supper hour.
“Wait here for a minute, Lenny,” I said. “I’m going to tell my parents what happened. Maybe, once they know you’re going to the navy, they’ll ease up and let you stay for supper.”
As I had hoped, the knowledge that Lenny would be going away for a long time softened my parents’ attitude. Not only did they let him stay for supper, they were actually nice to him as well. Since my mother traditionally made her biggest dinner on Friday nights, there was more than enough food for Lenny.
It had been so long since he had had a decent meal that he ate ravenously. My mother, who was a born food pusher and liked nothing better than seeing people enjoy her cooking, was in her glory.
“This is wonderful, Mrs. Berman,” Lenny said as he polished off his second helping of chicken.
“Thank you,” my mother said, beaming. “You might as well enjoy some good home-cooked food now. You won’t be getting it in the navy.”
“I know,” he said. “I’ll be giving up a lot, especially being with Linda. But I figure I’ll be gaining a lot, too. It’s a chance to get on my feet and get an education.”
“There’s nothing more important than a good education,” my father managed to comment.
“That’s right,” said my mother. “You were very wise to take this opportunity to straighten out your life, Leonard.”
Leonard. I had to laugh to myself. This was the first time I remember my mother’s calling Lenny anything other than “that boy.” Even my brothers were being nice to him tonight, dispensing with their usual wise-guy remarks. I watched my mother urge Lenny to take a king-size portion of her homemade apple pie. It was wonderful to have Lenny together with my family and have everyone getting along. It was too bad it took something drastic like having him join the navy for this to happen.
* * *
Not only did Lenny’s joining the navy create peace in my family, it seemed to have calmed things down in his family as well. Despite the fact she had wanted him out of the house, Lenny’s mother was horrified at the thought of his going into the navy, and she protested that it would be a terribly dangerous and risky thing to do. She cried and carried on for days before finally accepting his decision. After that she tried her hardest to be nice to him. Lenny only had two weeks before he was scheduled to leave for boot camp right after New Year’s. Everyone, including his mother, tried to make his time in New York as pleasant as possible.
She and Lenny’s father put aside their differences long enough to get together to take Lenny out to dinner, along with his closest aunt and uncle. They even invited me to come.
I felt very uncomfortable going out with them, but very important. For the first time I was being recognized as someone significant in Lenny’s life, not just as some “little girl” he had taken a passing fancy to.
I sat there stiffly at the table between Lenny and his father, afraid to say or do anything in case it came out wrong. I remembered to put my napkin on my lap, but which was the right fork to use for salad? I was careful to observe what everyone else was doing before I made a move of my own.
Mr. Lipoff looked at me and smiled. I had been so afraid of meeting him after all the bad things I had heard about him from Lenny’s mother, but he seemed perfectly nice and pleasant to me. He was neatly dressed and groomed, and like my own father, he didn’t talk much. He sat back and listened to the conversation between Lenny’s mother, aunt, and uncle.
I mostly listened, too. After all, I didn’t know most of the people they were talking about—other aunts, uncles, and cousins in the family. But if Lenny was serious about what he said about our getting married when he got out of the navy, it was important for me to get to know about them. After all, if things worked out the way I wanted them to, one day I would be part of the family, too.