CHAPTER FOURTEEN: GLORIA
Cindy was walking
with Gloria on the State Capitol grounds. A man happened along and
greeted them.
“We’re free
tonight.” Gloria said. She was carrying a cane and wearing dark
glasses.
The man paused.
“Umm…” was all he could say.
“You don’t have to
if you don’t want to. There are other volunteers on tour.” Cindy
mentioned. “You wouldn’t be the first one to reject me just because I’m
blind.”
“Oh, it’s not
that, it’s just that I don’t know much about blind people, and I’m
worried I’ll mess up.” the man explained.
Gloria asked, “You
mean like when I ask for directions and they point to where it is?”
The man laughed.
“Do you get that?” he asked.
“All the time.”
Gloria lamented.
“Well, I don’t
think I’m that stupid, but I don’t know, like, what blind women enjoy.”
the man explained.
Gloria said, “You
just did mess up, but that’s okay. You implied that all blind women
would enjoy the same things.”
“That’s right!”
the man realized. “You might like French kisses, but that doesn’t mean
another blind woman would like French kisses. Sorry, I didn’t realize,
because, like I say, I don’t know much about blind people. Can you
pardon my ignorance?”
Gloria said,
“That’s fine with me. I don’t mind if you’re a dummy, as long as you
try to learn. It’s the dummies who act like they know what’s best for
us, who bother me.”
The man introduced himself. “My name is Phillip.”
“Let’s go to the
hotel.” Cindy said, leading Phillip.
“The three of us?
That’s a good deal, two for the price of one, and the price of one is
free.” Phillip said.
“We’ll explain it
to you in the hotel room. Out here, we ususally just introduce
ourselves.” Gloria explained.
As the three were
waiting to cross North First Street, Phillip said, “Did you see that
big trophy Stevie Wonder got?”
“No, and neither
did he.” Gloria replied.
“I guess you heard
that one.” Phillip said.
“I think I’ve
heard them all.” Gloria replied.
“Like, how did
Helen Keller burn her fingers?” Phillip asked.
“I know, trying to
read the waffle iron.” Gloria answered.
Once in the hotel
room, Cindy calmly explained, “Gloria is a virgin. Since this is her
first time, she might feel very uncomfortable. If she changes her mind,
I’ll take care of you. Is that okay?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
Phillip agreed. “She said something about other guys rejecting her,
what’s up with that?”
Gloria explained,
“Some guys don’t want me because I’m blind. Let me guess, you’re just
doing this because you feel sorry for me?”
“Not exactly.”
Phillip said. “If you need me, if I can fix your broken heart, you
know, that’s the kind of thing that can turn me on.”
“I understand.”
Gloria said.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!”
Phillip exclaimed. “Like, um, definitely don’t get the silly idea that
you’re imposing on me any. Just in case you got that notion, you know.”
Gloria
smiled.
“I see that
smile.” Phillip said. “Listen, your friend just told me that you might
get scared and want to back out, which is your right, but I figure the
best way to try to avoid that is to please you the best I can. Maybe
it’s not always easy to tell me what you want, but I do want you to
smile when I do please you.”
HOME PAGE
CHAPTER ONE:
THE PARKING LOT
CHAPTER TWO:
THE COMPUTER
CHAPTER THREE:
THE LOUNGE
CHAPTER FOUR:
THE CAFETERIA
CHAPTER FIVE:
THE PARTY
CHAPTER SIX:
LUNCH
CHAPTER
SEVEN:
MELISSA
WORRIES
CHAPTER EIGHT:
MELISSA’S PROJECT
CHAPTER NINE:
THE TEMPLE
CHAPTER TEN:
RECRUITMENT
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
THE PLANNING
CHAPTER TWELVE:
OPERATION UNDERWAY
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN: OPERATION MOVED
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN: THE DISCUSSION
GLOSSARY
Copyright
2007 Tom Alciere