Out of Peoria: A Story of Innocence lost.
Chapter I: California, here I come?
The first twenty two years of my life were so utterly conventional I am ashamed to own up to them. I grew up in a small town in the mid-west and partook of all the things one did when growing up in a small town in the mid-west. I lost my virginity at 18 --- to my future husband of course, my high-school sweet-heart, whom I married two years later when I was half way through college. Neither losing my virginity, nor the tepid sex-life that followed marriage made much of an impression on me. They were things girls did to catch, land and secure their man. It was not condoned to land a man by having sex before marriage, but it was accepted that this is what one did. Hypocrisy whichever way you twist and turn it. Likewise, the man who had ‘had his way with a girl’ was expected to play fair and marry her at the ‘appropriate time’, preferentially after he had a steady job and prospects consistent with supporting a family. Of course, he could disappear, and many did, but if they wanted to hang around and become ‘pillars’ of the local society, they had to play by the local rules.
It didn’t take me long, though, to come to wonder why I had bothered landing my man. Brad was in no way bad. In fact, in my town he was regarded as quite the catch. He had good looks, charm and by the time of our marriage was already a successful car salesman with a good income and even better prospects. There was talk of a new ‘Wunderkind’ at the franchise and even of taking him on as a partner. I was quite the object of envy amongst my peers and I blush to this day when I think of how much satisfaction this gave me. He was even a ‘nice guy’ and it all was not really his fault.
I can’t put a date on my awakening, or even isolate a specific event that triggered it. I had graduated and begun work at a local firm of accountants. Brad was always very busy, and when he was home it was almost always because of a ball game. I served him beer --- he was after all the bread-winner, responsible for our lovely home and my extensive collection of clothes and jewelry. And when the game was over I lay beneath him as he grunted his way to orgasm. This was what a wife did. And when he then rolled off me and went to sleep, I dutifully turned and slipped also into sleep. I can’t even remember sighing, or feeling frustration or lying awake nursing the feeling I was missing out on something. In all outward respects, Brad was considerate, a model husband. He even mowed the lawn! It was just…..
… Well I really cannot say what it was that moved me suddenly to leave. It just happened. A moment of madness, or divine intervention, perhaps. But leave I did. I emptied out our joint account in one fell swoop, cash of course, took everything of value that I owned including the car Brad had proudly presented me with on my birthday, a BMW convertible, which I drove out of town westward, choosing a weekend when Brad was at a convention so I could get away as far as possible before anyone thought to look for me. I left Brad a note which said:
“I can’t take any more. Please do not follow me. It’s not you, it’s me. I’m not right for you. If you want to divorce me, go ahead. I won’t contest as long as you leave me alone.”
I left a note for my parents which said:
“I know you will never understand this and you will never, ever forgive me for it, even though I beg you to do so. But I am not apologetic. I am being stifled and I have to be able to breathe.”
No-one saw me leave. No one followed me, and to this day I do not know what Brad, my parents or anyone else did when they realized I was gone. I heard nothing. From my perspective, no one seemed to care. I had decided to leave their town, and therefore also their universe. This was all they knew. They did not want to know anything else.
I headed south-west. And it did not take very long for me to discover that an attractive young female rarely was alone -- especially one driving an extremely expensive BMW convertible! The problem of Brad’s convertible I solved at a motel somewhere in Missouri. The guy was drop dead gorgeous, but when we got to it, his sexual technique so resembled Brad’s he could have been a twin! I lay beneath him and groaned inwardly. He drove a Chevy Blazer. Well, that’s what he had driven until he met me. In the morning he drove a BMW convertible. Well, I left him the keys and a note suggesting a straight swap, and I presumed he would not be stupid enough to pass up on such an opportunity! So thenceforth I drove the Chevy Blazer, with California plates. I had it my head that California was the place to be. Can’t think why!
Santa Monica was not exactly what I had in my mind’s eye, but it was certainly a lot closer to where I wanted to be than “Peoria”. I took a room in a cheap motel and, after a few days relaxing on the beach and roller-blading up and down the boardwalk, I started scouring the neighborhoods for somewhere more permanent to stay. It was on the third day that I came across the message, on a board in a local store:-
“Commune seeks fourth female. Reasonable rates. Must be broad-minded.”