Too Young

          ©  Elliot Richard Dorfman

        

 

It was a Saturday evening in the Spring of nineteen-eighty-six. In a small New York town, seventeen-year-old Esther Clinton glanced at her watch, then nervously looked out of the livingroom window.

 

“Darn,” she said out loud.

 

Her twin brother, Denny, who had come from the den, noticed her frustration.

 

“What's up, Sis?”

 

“Against my better judgement, I asked Loraine to meet me here and then go to the movies. What a mistake that was. She's a total air-head,” Esther sneered.

 

“Loraine is in my Science class, she's not a bad looker,” Denny replied.

 

“Is that all you guys think about?” his sister asked, going to the front door. “Well, I'm leaving. The film starts in fifteen minutes. If Loraine shows up, tell her I waited as long as I could.”

 

Denny, who was one of the rare teenagers who liked old time singers, went over to the phonograph and put on a Johnny Matthes record. Making himself comfortable in an armchair, he began to doze off when the doorbell rang. It was Loraine.

 

“ Sorry, but my sister took off,” Denny said

 

Loraine was obviously embarrassed. About to leave, she became aware of the music.

 

“Are you playing a Johnny Matthes record?”

 

Dennis was impressed.

 

“That's right I don't think many kids our age would know him.”

 

“Oh, he's one of my favorite singers,” she enthusiastically replied. “But then, to be honest, most of the things I enjoy aren't exactly 'with it'. I'm a throw-back to the nineteen sixties.”

 

“Same here,” the young man said. “Lots of people think I was born twenty years too late. How about coming in and listening to the rest of the album with me?”

 

She nodded. “Okay, Joel” she said. “But I can't stay too long. My parents are kind of strict about being alone with guys.”

 

“Denny,” he corrected. “What made you call me Joel?”

 

“I don't know. It just slipped out.”

 

The two sat and enjoyed the recording. Afterward, Denny gave her a coke and the two talked a while. There was definitely some kind of physical chemistry between them. About an hour later, Denny got the impulse to walk her home. Outside, he met his parents, Helen and Abe, coming out of the car. He self-consciously introduced Loraine to them and then the teenagers rushed away.

 

It was nearly 1:00 A.M. when Denny returned home. Helen was waiting up for him.

 

“Sorry I'm home so late, Mom, but I forgot the time,” her son explained. “Loraine is really nice. We sat on her front steps and just kept on talking. We have so much in common! I think her parents liked me too. They invited me for dinner tomorrow. ”

 

Helen smiled. “I'm glad things are working out, but don't get carried away. Now, go to bed.”

 

That night, Denny had a strange dream. He was standing near the candy store on Main Street - only it wasn't the familiar Main Street . In the store window, he saw his reflection. A strange blond haired youth stared back at him.

 

A teenager about his own age came from around the corner wearing an outfit that was defiantly a throwback to the nineteen sixties, but then he became aware so was his.

 

“Hi, Joel,” the boy greeted him. That was the same name Loraine had mistakenly called him that evening!

 

“I can't talk right now, Gene. I'm expecting someone.”

 

“I bet its Rhoda, replied the disgruntled teenager. Everyone in school calls you two Romeo and Juliet of nineteen-sixty-six.”

 

“Why doesn't everyone mind their business?” Joel lashed out.

 

“Okay, okay, don't get stressed out," his friend said, putting his hands in his pockets. “I'll talk to you some other time when you're not so busy.”

 

A few minutes later Rhoda showed up and the couple went into the candy store where they sat in a booth sipping Colas.

 

Rhoda had tears in her eyes. “Joel, I've just had a terrible argument with my parents. They feel we're too young to be getting so serious.”

 

Angrily, Joel banged the table, almost spilling the sodas. “Tough! It's our lives. They'll have to accept it.”

 

“But they' won't," she lamented. “They have such nasty minds. They're threatening to move out of town if I don't comply with their wishes.”

 

“They're bluffing.”

 

She shook her head. “My parents don't bluff. In any case, I think we should cool our relationship for a while until I can convince them there's nothing to fear.”

 

Joel was flabbergasted. “Are you saying we should split?”

 

Rhoda took his hands. “No, just lay low for a while.”

 

Joel sighed.

 

Just at that moment Rhoda's parents, the Parsons, barged into the store. The young couple quickly got up from the booth.

 

“Rhoda,” her mother screamed out, not aware of what she a spectacle she was making of herself, “you came here and met this boy after all we said?”

 

“Rhoda, this is the last straw,” her father interjected. “I‘m going to call my firm and accept a position in the California branch. I refuse to let my only daughter make a fool of herself.”

 

“That won't work. I'll run away,” Rhoda defiantly told him.

 

Mrs. Parsons, no longer able to contain herself, slapped her daughter. “You're sixteen, a minor. You'll do as you're told.”

 

She grabbed her protesting daughter's hand and left. Poor Joel tried to follow her, but Mr. Parson blocked him.

 

“Don't try any funny business or I'll get you thrown in jail, punk!”

 

The man stormed out of the candy store leaving Joel totally humiliated and brokenhearted. The dream ended and Dennis woke up with a start.

 

* * *

 

Within months, Denny and Loraine were constantly together. Helen and Abe were getting worried about this intense relationship. When they tried discussing it with their son, he angrily walked away from them. Even the strict McLeans had lost control over their daughter, Loraine.

 

On a weekday morning in July, Denny sat in the local library looking over old articles and photos of the town. An hour later, his girlfriend joined him. He excitedly showed her a book.

 

“This is a picture of Main Street from nineteen sixty-six. It's the way I remember it in my dream. I also found a high school year book of that year. In it was a graduation photo of someone who looked like the reflection I saw of myself in the store window. His name was JOEL Sacks.”

 

“Find anything about Rhoda or her family?” Loraine inquisitively asked.

 

“There was a Parsons family living in town. They were listed in the local phone book until nineteen-sixty-seven. All this is making me believe we might have been Joel and Rhoda in a former life.”

 

Loraine shook her head. “That's unlikely. After all, they would only be in their mid thirties now.”

 

“Not if they both died,” surmised Denny. “I'm going to find out some more information. There's got to be some people in town who once knew them.”

 

That night, Denny had another dream of becoming Joel. He had just signed up for the army. His friend who had tagged along was upset.

 

“I don't understand why you did this, Joel. Just when most guys are thinking of ways to get out of the draft, you decide to enlist on your eighteenth birthday. Things are getting worse in Vietnam . You could possibly die there.”

 

Joel looked down at the sidewalk. “So what? Life means nothing to me anymore. I just was informed yesterday that the police found Rhoda's lifeless body lying on the side of a deserted road. She was trying to hitchhike from California back here to me.”