Chapter 21
Nancy (1952)
...
When she was a teenager, Nancy would pick fights. She hated when boys would give her certain looks, eyeing her like she was a piece of candy. They didn't know that Nancy could snap in an instant and defend herself from those with preying eyes. It would happen at school often and it would also happen when she would be out with her friends. Nancy was a very popular girl, even though she hated the attention. She hated how the other kids talked. She especially hated how the boys talked about her. She knew exactly what they were saying and it was all repugnant things. They had an idea of her in their minds that was far from the real Nancy but the boys preferred to keep this version of her at the forefront. She hated the talks and rumors with a passion.
"What did you say?" Nancy yelled at a boy who was staring at her and whispering to his friends. She was walking in the park with two of her friends and the group had decided to picnic by a pond. That's when the boy that Nancy recognized from school began to stare at her.
"Nothing. I didn't say anything."
"Bullshit!" Nancy stood up from the blanket that was sprawled out for the picnic.
Her friends tried to calm her down. "Nan, it's okay. Forget him," her friend Susie grabbed her hand to try to keep her at the picnic.
"He's just a dumb boy," Donna reassured her.
The boy continued to whisper and stare at Nancy. His friends began to laugh and that set her off. Nancy pulled free from Susie's grip and marched over to the group of boys who were sitting on a short stone wall and smoking cigarettes. The group of boys went quiet when Nancy stormed over.
"You got something to say to me?" Nancy crossed her arms.
"Nope! Nothing at all, Nan."
"You don't get to call me that. I don't know you."
"Well lots and lots of people know you!" the boy laughed.
"What the hell does that mean?" she asked and the group of boys began to giggle.
"I heard from Fred Robinson what you did."
"And what exactly did I do?"
The boys snickered and continued to laugh. Nancy was fed up.
"Whatever nonsense you've heard, it isn't true."
"Sure it's not true," another boy said.
"It isn't," Nancy said firmly. "You want to say terribly bad things about me and laugh about it? You guys are cads."
The third boy hopped off the wall and met Nancy face to face. "At least we're not whores like yo—"
Nancy didn't let the boy finish his sentence. She balled up her fist and punched the boy right in the face. His nose gushed blood as he held his face in his hands. He couldn't open his eyes and when he finally did, tears overflowed. "What the hell?! You dumb bitch!" Nancy was about to walk away but upon hearing the new insults spewing from the boy's mouth, she turned around and pushed him to the ground. His nose was still bleeding and he was crying as she kicked him repeatedly.
"Okay, okay!" the boy screamed. "Stop! I'm sorry!" The boy begged for Nancy to stop as his friends stayed seated on the wall and watched in horror. Nancy thought they had probably never seen a girl beat up a boy before. She was happy to be their first encounter with a girl standing up for herself. The boy rolled in the grass in pain and was sobbing. Nancy stepped over him and walked over to the other two boys who remained fixed on the stone wall. They flinched when she grew closer. She looked at both of them and looked at the cigarette one of the boys was holding.
"Got another?" she asked and pointed to the lit cigarette. Her voice was unwavering like she didn't even break a sweat after teaching the rude boy a lesson. The boy with the cigarette stared at the blood on her knuckles.
He nodded and fumbled for the pack in his back pocket. He gave her one and lit it for her and Nancy inhaled deeply. Then she exhaled the smoke in a glorious puff right in their faces.
"Thank you," she smiled. Then she walked away to rejoin her friends back at the picnic. Susie was mortified but Donna laughed and laughed. The two boys picked up their friend with the busted nose and they ran away as fast as they could.
"Why did you do that?" Susie asked. She was shocked that Nancy had displayed violence so easily.
"He called me a whore," Nancy said as she sat back down on the picnic blanket. She picked up a baby carrot and munched on it. "Someone has been spreading rumors about me. None of them are true."
"We know they're not true," Donna said and placed her hand on Nancy's shoulder.
"I wanted to teach that little cad a lesson," Nancy said.
"Well, you most certainly did," Susie said in a disapproving tone.
"We can't let people like that boy further rumors as if they are true," Nancy said. "I've never done any of the things they have been saying and I'm tired of getting the looks and stares. They see me as if I'm some object for their amusement."
"It's not fair," Donna added.
"No, it really isn't."
After the picnic, Nancy said goodbye to her friends and they went their separate ways. Nancy was headed home for the day and she wanted to get back before it got close to sunset. She walked down the sidewalk and looked at the houses in the neighborhood as she walked by. Every house in Nancy's neighborhood was a big house; complete with white picket fences and large yards. The perfect suburbs. She looked down at her knuckles that she had cleaned the blood off of in the pond. Her skin was a bit scraped up as well. Nancy sighed.
"Hey Nancy!" a voice called out to her. Nancy turned to see a small boy sitting on the front porch of his house. She believed his name was Neil.
"What, Neil?" she said to him. She got his name right.
"I heard you beat up Steve Harlow."
"I did."
"You're gonna get it!"
"Probably."
"I bet your dad already knows!"
"Probably," Nancy said. "He has a telephone right in his office."
"You ain't scared?"
"No. Not at all."
"Well, I'm glad you beat up Steve Harlow. He's a bully."
"Has he bullied you?"
"Yes, almost every day."
"Well, I'm glad I beat him up."
Nancy waved goodbye to little Neil and continued her walk home. When she had arrived at her house, she noticed the front door was open and Willard stood in the doorframe waiting for her.
"Hi, Willard," she said to the butler.
"Miss Nancy," he said, "your father would like to see you in his office."
"Of course he does."