Betty Jane slept with California and Texas, Oklahoma and most of Chicago.
*
I first met Betty Jane the first day of school in 4th grade. Dad had just bought our farm that spring, Mom and we children stayed behind to finish the school year in our old school. We had been living on Grandpap Harley's farm; where Dad had grown up.
Grandpap had died the fall before. Grandmom Irene did not want to stay on the farm. There were escalating problems with crop and property vandalism over the last few years and she was afraid.
Harley and Irene had 2 sons, My Dad, Terry, and my uncle Howard. Howard decided to open his own business installing and repairing machinery; he was very good at it. Dad worked the farm with Grandpap for many years before Grandpap got sick and eventually died.
Grandmom worked alongside the 2 of them; doing whatever she could do to help. You could see her eyes shining every time she and Harley were together. After he died she got the same shine when his memory crosses her mind. His death broke her heart; she swore that the farm killed him. "It was his life and his dream to run this place. He is gone and I need to be somewhere else." was all she said after the funeral.
The county bought 100 acres of the farm to make a park, the remaining 530 acres was sold in varying size parcels to developers for homes and a large industrial park.
Grandpap's will specified that Mom, Dad and Uncle Howard were to each get 1/3 of the money. Dad was to be allowed to take any of the equipment from the farm if he wanted to start his own. It was all older, but it ran well; Dad was grateful to get it.
Howard agreed to keep doing the equipment maintenance for Dad, just like he did for Grandpap. We paid for parts and fed him meals while he was there.
As the construction progressed the vandalism got worse and worse. One night the old house was torched, the fire spread to the barns and grain storage areas. The fire department managed to keep the fire from reaching the trailer we lived in. We were lucky Grandmom had moved in with Howard a week or two before. She told us that "...she was too old to uproot herself and move half way across the country." All her friends were here in town and she hated to leave them. She did promise to visit us each time Howard came to do maintenance.
The next day Dad and Howard were there to move the family's belongings to the new farm. Mom and we 3 children stayed in a motel for the last 2 weeks of school and then we moved 100 miles south to the new farm.
Betty Jane saw me the first day of school and laughed, then walked away. Her family lived in town; I was a scrawny farm boy who dressed and acted the part.
She was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. The red curls flowed down her back, her skin was as white as snow and her hazel eyes sparkled and shone like the stars in the heavens. I was dumbstruck. I was also devastated when she laughed and walked away.
I went home that night and prayed that I should spend the rest of my life with her. I was head over heals in love.
By the end of 5th grade we had both begun to mature slightly. The work on the farm helped my muscles to develop; I was starting to become less of a walking stick and she started to look more like a young woman.
By the last few months of 6th grade I was filling out nicely; she was gorgeous. She became the queen of the playground; she always had her court following her around to do her bidding. About 3 weeks before school ended for the year I was talking with some friends when I heard a sharp scream, then a slap. I sent a friend to get the teacher and went around to the back of the auditorium to investigate the sounds. Betty Jean was surrounded by many of the boys in her following. Tommy Powers, one of the more aggressive boys in the school, had his hand on one of her breasts. He was offering each of the other boys a chance to feel her up for a quarter, her face was red from crying and there was blood on the corner of her mouth.
I walked over and told Tommy to leave her alone. He turned and glared at me; then he hit her in the mouth with his fist. The look on his face as I launched myself at him was priceless. I was thoroughly pounding the hell out of him, lecturing him about hitting girls and generally making him look bad when a large pair of hands lifted me off of him. As I was being hauled away he got in a lucky, well placed, kick to my balls.
I was dragged into the office and Mom was called in to get me. She was told that I was suspended for the rest of the year and would be held back the next year for not completing the grade. Mom did not allow me to say anything in my defense at the school or on the entire ride home. That afternoon as I did my chores Dad came to see me.
"I have heard the report from the school; I understand you hurt that boy pretty bad. What do you have to say for yourself?"
I was just about to begin the story when we heard a car flying up our lane. Dad went to see who came in at that rate of speed. I heard a voice saying "I am here to investigate an assault at the school today; I understand your boy was involved in it."
All Dad said was "This way."
The Sheriff followed Dad into the barn.
"Stop your chores, you have company." Dad said.
"Can you tell me what happened today at school?" the Sheriff asked.
I explained what we had heard and what I had seen. I told them about her bleeding mouth and Tommy hitting her for what I knew to be at least the second time. "The part that bothered me the most was the smile on his face as he did it again. He was trying to get the others to pay him to touch her body. That just isn't right!" I was almost shouting the last line.
"Now just calm down a bit there, son." He said. "We had a call from Betty Jane's father this evening. I just need to investigate. Your story agrees with hers. Can you tell me who was there with you?"
I named my friends who were there and then told who in her court was there, before I arrived on the scene. Well, I did it to the best of my ability, it all happened so fast.
"I hear you were suspended; my deputy will be here for you at 10 tomorrow morning."
Dad worked along side me to finish my chores that evening.
The next morning, one by one, all the children were interviewed to hear what they could add to the investigation. Children who were not involved and my friends were called out first. Those who had already been interviewed were sent to the auditorium to await the rest of the class. They were admonished not to talk.
At 10:30 I was marched into the office to find Betty Jane and her parents there. The sheriff and the principal soon arrived. We all went into the inner office where the principal apologized for her error the day before, I got hugs and kisses on the cheek from Betty Jane and her mother, her father shook my hand and said "Thank you for defending my Daughter."
I returned to class that day and completed the year.
Tommy was sent to juvenile hall.
We were in Junior High the next year. Betty Jane and I were becoming good friends. Her court was gone. We both still dated others.
By 11th grade we were a couple. Some said we were joined at the hip. We did all the usual junior and senior things together. Other guys asked her out but she always said "No."
After graduation she was going to attend beauty school 10 miles over in the next town. I went north to our old home town to get a certificate in Farm Management at the local junior college. A certificate is like getting a 2 year Associates degree without all the general study classes, like math and English.
One day after being there for a few months I got a letter with a picture of Betty Jane hugging and kissing Tommy Powers.
We had been talking on the phone every Friday evening since I had been gone; she seemed to be doing fine and professed her love for me over and over.
That Friday was my turn to call her. I called from the pay phone at the garage down the street from her parents' house. We talked for the usual 45 minutes. 5 minutes after we hung-up a brand new Corvette convertible pulled up and she ran out to get in. Her favorite place to date was the drive-in movie at the edge of town. I knew all the openings in the fence and found one close to the area where we liked to park. The movie started at 8:10.
After stepping through the fence I headed for our spot; there was the car. I was able to stand against the fence in the shadows and watch most of the evening's activities. After an hour of necking and petting he tried to get her to screw.
I heard her voice as plain as day. "You know I love you and I want sex so bad I can taste it, but you need to wear a rubber if we do it."
"Aww, baby you know I don't like them. I would have to go to the restroom and get one and you might not want to by the time I get back. I'll pull out, honest."
"I don't want to loose my cherry here. But you have me so worked up that I'll do it. But you need to have the rubber or the deal is off."
I followed him at a distance. It was about 9:45 when he stepped out of the bright lights of the men's room he was temporarily blinded by the surrounding darkness and had to stop until his night vision returned.
As he stalled I walked up right next to him, acting like I was heading to the restroom. When I reached him I hit him as hard as I could, he went down fast. I guess the brass knuckles I had were a little much; ahhh, who gives a shit. The gloves cushioned the impact on my hand from the blows. It took me less than a minute to empty his pockets to make it look like a robbery and mugging. I was not happy to find her favorite panties hanging out of his back pocket, under his jacket. Then I proceeded to stomp on him with the heavy work boots I had on. I broke both arms and smashed his nuts so hard that I figured he would be sterile if he was able to keep them. I grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him off the path and into a patch of poison ivy. As I left he was groaning and trying to get up.
I then walked back to my car and drove back to Howard's place where I was staying while in school. I stopped on the way there and dropped a large envelope addressed to Betty Jane's father in the box at the post office as I left town. In it were Tommy's driver's license, Betty Jane's panties and the rubber. I had taken the time to address the envelope before my trip, making sure the writing looked nothing like mine. Finger printing was available so I wore gloves every time I handled anything the police might be given.
At 11:30 when the movies were over Betty Jane had to call her father to come to the drive-in and get her. He was pissed. By the time Tommy was found it was almost dawn. He died the next day, they were not sure if it was the beating or being allowed to fall off the stretcher on his head that killed him. The story made the local paper. 3 friends sent me copies of the article.
Later the next week a detective came around to speak to me about the assault. They placed the time of death at about midnight.
I had walked to the local drive-in restaurant as soon as I got back to town, and stayed until after midnight. I made sure I spoke to everyone I passed and the crowd of college students who were there. Just to be sure I was noticed I ordered a burger with extra mustard and sent it back with the comment that "...I did not want ANY mustard on it." I did give the girl a nice tip to make sure she remembered me too. It was Tommy's money I was spending. I got over $400 from his wallet.
I had thrown the wallet and all the other items of Tommy's, as well as the brass knuckles, into the river as I crossed it on the way out of town. I tied the wallet to a brick to be sure it did not show up for a while. The work boots I wore when I kicked him were purchased from a second hand store; they were donated to a drop box before I got home.
