Read Online The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry - Free Book Online Page A

recognize his great achievement. They should be interviewing her, the notable, and to her knowledge, the only Catholic schoolteacher, but no. And then, at noon, he looked forward again to Pesach at his old synagogue. But this year, not alone, he’d mentioned, rather offhandedly. His buddy Jerry from the old days who had married Marcia Golden would join him. He had bumped into Marcia and her little sister Penny, too, on one of his recent lunches at Morton’s Restaurant. Did he think Penny was as pretty as she was in high school? Marian had seen his yearbook. Short girl with flowing hair, thick and straight down her back, a headband framing her face. Penny reminded Ben of a pixie doll, no doubt. He’d taken her to the senior prom. Were they all giggling about that? Were they all having lunch after Shul ? How many years had it been that they’d had lunch at Morton’s? Fifteen? She wondered if he still felt the same way he did back then. Was he tempted? Now that he was married, nothing would happen. He would refuse her if she flirted, Marian was sure. She pictured his hand lingering on her knee and then moving along her smooth thigh, and she stopped this silly thought.
              Was he aware in upper school how bad a crush these girls had had on him? Why were children so secretive about their crushes? He’d told her he’d lost his virginity to “what’s-her-name”, who he couldn’t even stand to see after that one time. Did he wish he’d done it with Penny Golden? Or Marcia? Did he wonder if his marriage to Marian had noticeably altered him? Did he wonder what it would be like married and living in his old neighborhood? Did he feel different inside now? He was a husband and the father of a child, and she was sure he didn’t exude the lightheartedness that he once did. Penny wasn’t married yet. It was clear to Marian that if Ben wasn’t, pixie Penny would be on the to p of his list to ask on a date. Attraction is not something that human beings can hide.
              By now, Ben would have approached the Rathgar Road and jumped off the bus. We’re all just animals. He would be breathing in the smell of the hot bialys and bagels steaming in the bakeries. It had been way too long since he’d had an onion bialy with smoked salmon and cream cheese and raw onion and she was sure he’d invite Jerry and Marcia to lunch after service. Did he hope others would be there, too? Marian was pretty sure others would be. For a few seconds, she pictured Ben slow dancing with one of those girls. She put the thought out of her mind, feeling strange that she would fantasize such a thing, and then she pictured him dancing with her. Perhaps they would dance tonight. Ben would turn on the record player after dinner, and the three of them would dance. For now, though, he would eat until he couldn’t eat anymore. He was ravenous. He was starving, yes, but for what?
              Being alert to his wife’s moods, Ben must think that there was no need to upset her by describing his innocent romps around his old neighborhood, no need to bring up ancient wounds. (He shouldn’t have mentioned it this morning, then.) And he did not need to tell her about Penny certainly. There was something between them, but as long as he didn’t follow through, and she knew he would not, why mention it? But might he have begun to follow through already, she wondered. Wasn’t he getting in too deep, this being his second visit in only one month? And if he was honest, seeing Marcia and Penny wasn’t just a spontaneous visit with friends. Jesus, Ben probably daydreamed about Penny sometimes, maybe more often than sometimes. He thought about these “friends” in a way he shouldn’t. He had better cut it out.
              Marriage was certainly not easy, she considered. True, she was so unpredictable. One minute alive and smiling, and lots of other minutes dead to the world, a haunted mask