american tragedy

Chapter 51

Chapter 217
It was dark on Wednesday night when Roberta went on a date with Clyde.Before that, she was willing on the one hand, but at the same time hesitated.Not only their own, but also the conservativeness of the Newtons.Later, she ran away from the Newtons under the pretext of learning to sew from Mrs. Braley, so that she could be with him again, and she was excited, full of passion, and of course, the worry that was always present. .However, she had made up her mind.If necessary, she could change jobs so that he would not be held responsible.

However, there is another thing that affects her psychologically and emotionally, and it has to do with her clothes.After she came here, she found that the girls here were better dressed than the girls in the two places before.Previously, she had been sending most of her money to her mother, but now that Clyde had won her heart, she took particular care of her clothes.On the day of the talk at the factory, she went out of her way to rummage through her closet and selected a light blue hat and a blue, white-striped, checked flannel skirt that she had bought at Beards last year.

At 08:30, it was very dark. She went east from Taylor Street to the middle of the road, then took a detour, and finally walked west to the date.Clyde was already there, leaning against the railing, looking at the small city and its thousands of lights in the night, the air was filled with fragrance.

How different it was from Kansas, he thought.There, he was nervous with every girl, including Hortense Briggs.Here the girls liked him too, and he wasn't afraid of them any more.Today Roberta's eyes clearly told him how much she liked him, she was his, and when she came, he wanted to hug her waist and kiss her, and she couldn't refuse.

He stood there listening to the sound, dreaming, hoping.At this time, he suddenly saw her.She was very lively and neatly dressed, but her expression was tense. She looked at the side of the road, stopped for a while, and Clyde walked over immediately and whispered: "Hello! You are really here, what's the problem?" She was better, he thought, than Hortense Briggs or Rita Dickman, the one too shrewd and the other too loose.

"It's nothing." Then, she immediately introduced the incident: not only the Newtons went to the church, but also Grace Marr insisted that she go together, otherwise she would not go.Also, how she lied.He didn't know yet that Richie wanted her to go to Braley, but it occurred to him at once that maybe Richie was going to transfer her, and he found out about it, and Roberta was glad to have noticed it.

"But I can't stay long." She had ventured to him at first, and Clyde took her on his arm, and walked toward the river, where there were no houses. "A date is never past ten or eleven."

She gave many reasons why she insisted on ten o'clock.This made Clyde both annoyed and convinced.He would have liked to have stayed longer, but, eager to make out with her, knowing that time was running out, he complimented her hat and shawl.He wanted to hug her waist, but she felt it was too fast and refused.But at the same time, she said coquettishly, "Isn't this bad? You should take my arm, or should I hold you?" He noticed that after she refused, she immediately took his arm and leaned close to him .He immediately felt how natural this was, the constraints in the middle no longer existed.

She talks a lot, she likes this place, but it's also the most religious city she's ever come across, which is worse than Beards and Tribez Mills.Then, she introduced the two cities and her hometown to Clyde, but she didn't want to talk about her hometown.Then there was the Newtons, and Grace Marr, and how they paid attention to her.When she talked, he really felt that she was more simple and sincere than any girl he knew, and she was also beautiful and gentle.He couldn't help thinking that she would be more beautiful if she dressed more beautifully.

"Listen," he said, seizing the opportunity, "I've been wanting to talk to you since you came to the factory, but, you know, a lot of people are looking at me, and when I first got here, I was told that anyone here Even a female worker can't be tempted. But this time, I really can't help it." He squeezed her arm, and then suddenly hugged her. "Roberta, I think I'm going crazy, I love you so much. I can't sleep at night after you came. Really, I think about you all night. I think about you. Tonight, you are so beautiful , I love you so much!" Suddenly, he put his arms around her face and kissed her, making her unable to dodge.He kissed her immediately, and she struggled helplessly, but in her heart, she seemed to want him to hug her tightly.She felt strange, a little terrified at the thought of him and of herself.Terrible! What would other people think and say when they knew? She wasn't an unruly girl, really; but that was all she wanted, snuggled up to him.

"Oh, please don't do that, Mr. Griffiths," she begged him. "Really, please don't. It might be seen. I heard someone approaching." She looked around Looking around, looking very scared, Clyde laughed happily. He finally met a lovely beauty in his life. "Listen, I've never been like this before," she went on, "I haven't been like this, well, just because you said-"

Clyde hugged her tightly without answering, his dark, hungry eyes fixed on her.He kissed her and kissed her, no matter how hard she struggled, her cherry mouth, her chin, her cheeks, everything about her was too beautiful and alluring.Then he whispered pleadingly, for he was too intoxicated to speak loudly.

"Oh, Roberta, darling, please, say you love me. I know you love me, Roberta. Tell me now, I'm going crazy for you, and time is so tight."

He kissed her face and lips again, and suddenly she felt her whole body go limp, and she stood silently, letting him hold her without any resistance.He felt very strange, but he could not give any reason.Suddenly he felt her weeping, her head resting on his shoulder, and he heard her say, "Oh, yes, I love you very much. Yes, I love you very much."

She whimpered, partly from sadness, partly from joy.Clyde also discovered this, and she was so sincere that he was so moved that he also shed tears. "Oh, it's nothing, Roberta, it's nothing. Don't cry, oh, you're lovely, really."

He raised his head, and to the east of him was a rising crescent moon.At this moment, he seemed to have fully realized his life wish.

(End of this chapter)