© BY SW MO HERMIT
Cecil Rodgers and his new fiancee Penelope (when they first met she made it VERY clear she was Penelope, NOT Penny) Parsons burst into her parents large house laughing and hugging as they went. As soon as the door slammed open Penelope yelled, “Mother, Father, where are you?”
They heard a female voice say, “In the family room, Dear.”
Penelope quickly pulled Cecil along behind her as she burst into the family room where she heard the TV blaring. Her parents were sitting in their chairs sipping brandy while they listened to the late news. She almost ran to her mother and held her left hand out to show her the nice sized diamond engagement ring she’d accepted earlier that evening. She caroled, “Look Mother. I’m getting married.”
Her mother held her hand steady while she glanced at the ring. It was obvious she didn’t know just what to say and before she managed to say anything Jordan Parsons, her father, jerked his head around and almost glared at the young couple. He said, “What did you say sweetheart?”
Penelope pulled her hand away from her mother and headed for her father, holding it out toward him so he could see her ring. He glanced at it, then glared at Cecil before he said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea pumpkin? We hardly know anything at all about this young man.”
“Oh, Daddy. He’s kind and sweet and I love him. That’s enough. Besides, he’ll receive two degrees in May when he graduates from college.”
“Humpf, well, we’ll see,” Jordan said before he turned his attention back to the news.
Cecil and Penelope chatted a moment longer with her mother before they went into the living room so they could be alone longer. It was after midnight before Cecil grudgingly left for his small student apartment. He had tried mightily to get Penelope to come spend the night with him like she had many nights in the past but she refused. She said, “I know I’ve spent the night with you before but I just can’t tonight. What would Mother and Father think? I can’t just leave now that I’m home and not come back. I’ll come back to school early Sunday and we’ll spend Sunday night together honey.”
“Ok. I’ll miss you.”
Sunday morning the Parson’s family took brunch at the country club. During the meal Jordan asked question after question about Cecil. Finally, in exasperation, Penelope said, “Daddy, why are you getting so upset about Cecil all at once? You’ve seen him occasionally for over a year now.”
“Yes, but I had no idea you were going to go off the deep end and marry him. I thought you would just run around with him like you have so many of the other boys and eventually you’d find someone appropriate to marry. I know nothing about him or his family. How is he going to support you? What are his prospects?”
For the first time, her mother entered the conversation, saying, “Is he even suitable for you? Who is his family? How do we know he isn’t just interested in you for our money?”
Tears were beginning to leak from Penelope’s eyes by this time. She said, “I’ve only met his parents once but they seemed to be nice people. His father owns his own insurance business and has five offices. I know that. I think his mother teaches English in one of the high schools.”
DeDe, her mother, said, “Oh, dear. His father’s a salesman? And his mother teaches in a public school? Oh, dear. I suppose he’s saddled with all kinds of debt paying for his college. You’ll have to help pay it off I suppose.”
“No Mother. We were talking about finances a while back and he told me he doesn’t have any student loans. He always seems to have more than enough money.”
“Oh, dear. He doesn’t sell drugs or something does he? Or maybe he has a rich family member he’s getting help from?”
“MOTHER! NO, he isn’t selling OR using drugs. I don’t know about a rich relative though. maybe.”
Jordan spoke up then saying, “Well, we have to get to the bottom of this. I’ll have some people look into things for you pumpkin. You can’t be too careful you know.”
A very subdued Penelope left the country club just after 1:30 in the afternoon. She drove slowly back to the college on the other side of town and, instead of going to Cecil’s small apartment, she went to hers where she sat drinking wine and thinking about the conversation she’d had with her parents during brunch. ‘What did she know about Cecil? Sure, he seemed to be nice and he always had money but she’d never seen him work or heard him mention a job. He had mentioned royalties a time or two. Maybe he had something to do with oil?”
Later that evening Cecil called her. After their greeting he said, “Where are you honey? I thought you would be here by now.”
“I’m sorry honey. I’m not feeling well so I just went back to my place. I was going to call you but I hadn’t got around to it yet. Forgive me?”
“Sure. I was just worried. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Penelope’s parents comments made her think about Cecil and her relationship with him. Now she was worried about him. She spent that first night back in her apartment and the next week after the engagement thinking about past conversations with him and her parents. She didn’t spend nearly as much time with Cecil and he began to worry about their relationship.
Many times Penelope wondered what, exactly she actually knew about Cecil? She was sitting in her apartment alone, trying to study, when her father opened the door and walked in. She jumped when she heard the door open and turned to see who came in. She relaxed when she saw her father and said, “Daddy. You scared me. What’re you doing here in the middle of the day?”
“Honey I received the Investigator’s report on Cecil today and wanted to talk to you about it as soon as I could. Pumpkin, you’ve made a big mistake with that boy.”
“What? What’s wrong? He’s not a criminal is he?”
“No, but it’s almost as bad. He writes smut, pornography.”
“What?”
“He uses two pen names we’ve found so far. Under the name C C Rod he writes adult stories, mostly westerns and under the name Ceece Love he writes romance novels. He has 37 books published. Can you imagine what our friends would say if they found out something like that? On top of his parent’s occupations, did you know his Uncle operates a junk yard and he spends a lot of his free time there helping him? You couldn’t have found a much more unsuitable boy if you’d tried.”
Penelope was crying by that time. She sniffled and asked through her sobs, “Oh, Daddy. What’ll I do?”
“All you can do sweetheart is distance yourself from him as quickly as you can and hope no one finds out. I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you this but better now than later.”
Through her sniffles she said, “Yes, you’re right Daddy. Will you stay while I talk to him?”
Jordan nodded his head and watched Penelope call Cecil. When he answered she said, “Cecil. I’ve just received some devastating news. Is it true you write pornography and romance novels and your uncle operates a junk yard?”
Cecil sighed and said, “Yes, I write. I told you I received royalties. And yes, Uncle Randy operates a junkyard. What does that have to do with anything?”
“You know very well what that has to do with things. How could you hide something like that from me? What would people think if they found out I was marrying a pornographer, or marrying into a family like yours? I’d never live it down. My family and I would be the laughingstock of the country club. Your parents occupations were bad enough but your uncle’s and your occupations are just too much. I’m breaking our engagement. I’ll put your things outside my door. Please bring anything of mine you find in your apartment over when you come get your belongings. I just can’t marry someone who does what you do and has a family like yours.”
“You’re fucking kidding me! You’re breaking our engagement because of the honest work my family and I do? FUCK! I’m glad this came up now instead of after the marriage. I knew you were high maintenance, but I didn’t have any idea you and your family were such snobs or looked down on honest working people. You know your father is just a working stiff too don’t you? Do you look down on him also?”
“How DARE you! Daddy is President of his bank and majority stockholder. He’s a highly regarded executive, not some working stiff as you put it.” Almost before she finished her last statement Penelope broke the connection and turned to her father in tears. She cuddled into his chest as he enveloped her in his arms to comfort her.
Jordan cradled the back of Penelope’s head as he softly said, “There, there, sweetheart. I knew there was just something unwholesome about Cecil and his family. Relax now. You’ll find someone more suitable soon.”
Cecil put his phone back into his pocket after Penelope disconnected and sat in shock. Soon the feeling in the pit of his stomach began changing from sickness to boiling anger. How dare that bitch! He and his family worked hard, supported themselves and were productive members of society. Sure, his ‘dirty westerns’ weren’t fine prose and would never be classics, but he liked to think they weren’t pure smut either. None of his characters were rabid killers, rapists or monsters, they were just free with their sexual favors as were the characters in his ‘bodice rippers’ (romance novels).
He rose from his seat, grabbed a large trash bag and went from room to room in his apartment searching for and bagging everything of Penelope’s as well as the items she’d given him over the course of their relationship. He really didn’t want anything left to remind him of her. While searching for her belongings Cecil wondered how he’d misjudged Penelope so badly. Was he that enamored by her looks? He knew she desired the better things in life and admired flash but, somehow, he’d failed to see how shallow she was. He decided he was definitely better off without her and hoped the hurt of losing her would disappear quickly.
As soon as her possessions were collected and bagged Cecil threw them, none too gently, into his car and drove, somewhat recklessly, to Penelope’s apartment, parked and carried the two bags of belongings into the building. He quickly made his way to her apartment and carelessly dropped the bags directly in front of her door, then picked up the bag he assumed contained his belongings and made his way back to his car without even trying to talk to her.