my mother told my sister and me. “The first time I met your father at our apartment, I didn’t say a word. Mummy spoke to him all evening, but she let us go alone to the door to say goodbye.
“When I came back she said, Why were you so long? Did he touch you? Did he kiss you? Protecting my virginity was her primary concern.
“I didn’t know what she meant. I thought you’d have a baby if a man kissed you. She always reminded me, Keep your legs crossed when you go out with a man, and though I didn’t understand why, I kept my legs crossed on every date.
“I wasn’t keen on Maishie at first. He was foreign and so different from the other boys at the tennis club—didn’t play tennis, wasn’t tall or handsome, and oh dear he was so hairy. I never liked hairy men. Once at a picnic he wore shorts and had all this hair on his arms and legs, and even on his chest, which turned me off, but he slowly won my love.
“Luckily he was rich—that’s all Mummy cared about.
“She showed everyone my diamond ring. Look how beautiful. It cost one hundred dollars, she’d say and then show off that my fiancé had his own car. Not many people owned a car during the Second World War.
“After our engagement,
I recklessly hugged him, kissed him,
but kept my legs crossed.”
Bio: Roseanne Freed
