Chapter 2

!!Warning! Mentions of minor violence and attempted assult!!

When Valerie came home there was her mother, sitting on her armchair and listening to the radio. "Hey, Ma, where is Dad?" Valerie asked while kissing her mother's cheek.

When she looked at her mother, she saw an older woman sitting in her home dress and her yellow polka-dot apron, which she must've forgot to put away after cooking dinner. She had curly brown hair, always pinned up and she wore no make-up, as per her father's request.

Well, more like order, since he found no beauty in make-up but only in "naturally given beauty", as he said. That's why Valerie and Susie never wore it either, even when they went out to dance, they had to leave the house in the perfect state and return the same way. What's funny is, when Susie got married to Lawson two years prior, at the age of twenty-one, she tried to wear make-up and her hair pinned in a different way for her wedding day, which sparked a huge quarrel between her and father.

That's when Lawson showed just how much of a good man he was, when he stood by Susie and confronted her father and by some miracle won his way. All in all, Susie looked beautiful on her wedding day, all dolled up.

"Your father will be late today." she said getting up from her red tattered armchair. "Let's eat, we'll reheat his dinner later." The meal was just a simple meatloaf with green beans on the side.

It could've been said that Valerie's family was well off, even though they worked normal jobs, her father was an accountant, who was well paid. They lived in an apartment building with many neighbours, such as Ms. Williams.

They ate in silence, until Valerie spoke up. "So, today I learnt something new about motor engines." she said in a timid voice.

"Valerie, for God' sake, you're not thinking about that mechanics studies again?!" her mother suddenly yelled and got up from the table.

"It's a good thing your father didn't hear you speak about that nonsense again." she looked at Valerie with restless eyes.

"Why are you doing this to us, dear? Isn't it enough your father allowed you have a job and buy those useless books, you like reading so much? Why must you insist on being, that, that..." she got frustrated. "FEMINIST!"

Again, with the bad connotations to that word, a word representing a free woman. "Why is being a feminist, such a bad thing? Ma, didn't you ever want to life than serving dad his dinner and beer? Well, maybe if you did, you wouldn't look like common housewife and baby raising machine!" in that moment Valerie realised that raising her voice at her mother had been a bad idea.

The slap didn't sting her cheek as much as it used to, like when she was in her teens. She quickly sat down and held back tears.

"You, young lady, are acting very ungrateful right now." her mother sat next to her.

"I will speak to your father when he comes home tonight. You are better to get married before this whole thing spirals out of control." As she said that, she got up to clean the table, dinner completely forgotten. Valerie knew what she had to do. She decided in that moment.

Valerie took that chance to go to her room and pack a few things, among which were her clothes and couple of her books, along with the money she earned that week. She didn't want to wait for her father to get home.

She had friends, the ones that didn't live with their parents, she could stay at theirs for now. She could always stay at one of those women shelters that started to appear. She had a few ideas running through her head, she just knew she couldn't stay with her parents anymore. If she went to Susie, she would just give her back when her father came to collect her.

Not because she was mean person, but because she wouldn't go against father's word, unlike Valerie. When her bag was ready, Valerie peered through ajar doors to locate her mother. She was standing in the kitchen doing the dishes, her back turned towards the front doors. A perfect chance to leave.

Valerie snuck past her mother and grabbed her coat. She walked down the street as fast as she could. As she was leaving the street she lived on, she could hear her mother's angry yelling. She started walking faster, almost as she was running. The sky was dark by now and streetlights didn't give her much comfort. Valerie walked to the first telephone far enough from her house and dialled the number for her best friend and colleague Emma.

Emma lived in a two-bedroom apartment that was paid by her father, who was living in Manchester, England. As she was waiting for Emma to pick up, she realised she was still wearing her waitressing uniform. Even though it was July, the night felt a bit chilly. She was grateful she remembered to take her coat.

"Hello." said a British female voice from the other side of the line.

"Hi, Emma, it's Valerie." she looked around her. "I finally did it. I left them." As she expected from Emma, she heard a squeal of joy on the line. "I'm so happy for you, Valerie. Now you are a free woman, just as we talked about."

Truth to be told, she was thinking about leaving her parents for some time now and Emma was the only person she confided in, a friend she had known for four years now. To hear that her friend was supportive of her decision made Valerie happy and less guilty for making that decision.

"Yes, a free woman, with no place to stay and probably no job to return to since my father knows where to find me." Valerie sounded dejected.

"Well, you can always stay with me. My father won't mind. You know how he is always supporting our movement." Valerie was always happy to hear that. Mr. Thornbridge was always pro their cause, which is why he let Emma go to Washington and pursue her dreams, fighting for equal rights of every gender and race.

He also let her study what she wanted and that was History and Literature, which she had to study in England. When he visited his daughter in September of 1963, he was all smiles and witty humour. He was a funny looking man, Valerie always thought. He was short, but thin, and he always wore big rounded glasses, which only added to his years.

"Okay, I will take the next bus to your place." Valerie was grateful for her friend. She looked around once again, trying to hide in the crowd, which wasn't very big that Friday night. She was very scared that maybe her father would spot her somehow, even though she wasn't anywhere near his office or home.

While she was getting the address from Emma a guy came up to her. She thought he wanted to use the telephone, but soon she figured out he had other ideas. He started to undress her with his eyes, and she decided it was time to go.

She hung up the phone and walked down the street towards the bus station. From time to time she would look behind her and see that the guy was still following her, then she would hasten her pace. Because she wasn't looking, she encountered someone, more precisely somebody's bulky chest.

"Hello, doll." she looked up only to find the same smirk that she saw on the way back from her work. "We really need to stop meeting this way, don't you think?" the man smiled at her.

Valerie hurriedly looked behind her and saw that the guy was still following her, when she noticed that the Smug Man from earlier also saw the guy following behind her and quickly realised his intentions.

"C'mon, doll. We are already late for our reservations." he said and put an arm around her shoulder to pull her closer to him. He stirred them towards a small, well light restaurant near the bus station, "Sal's" it read. She went with it, seeing that the guy behind her stopped following them. As they rounded the corner towards the restaurant, Valerie moved away from the Smug Man.

"Well, thank you again." she said and chuckled. "This time, maybe I didn't have it under control."

The man smiled at her, his smug grin from earlier appearing once more. "No problem, doll." He moved to stand before her. "Although I would very much like a reward for saving a damsel again."

Valerie was taken a back. "What would he want in return?" she wondered and looked for an easy escape route. "Don't be afraid." He said in somewhat broken English that didn't sound anything like what she heard him speak earlier.

She realised his English was always accented when he spoke, but in this sentence, it was a bit more noticeable, not a lot though. She couldn't really tell anything by it, since she met the man only twice and for a short while too.

She frowned while he continued to speak. "I only wish to know the name of the damsel I saved, twice, if I may add."

He smiled at her, looking a bit silly in his business suit with that smug grin. "Well, sir. I do thank you for your help. For second situation, that is. Since the first situation I could've easily handled on my own, if I may add." she said with newfound confidence.

When the Smug Man tried to say something in return, she saw her bus arriving at the station. She hid a smile behind her hand, knowing she is interrupting his speaking. "It appears I simply have no time for introductions, sir."

With that she ran for the bus but not before yelling to the man, "Well, better luck next time!" she wondered why she said that, since she didn't really know the man and she was already hoping to see him again.

"So, there will be a next time I have to save you?" the man said. "You should really be more careful, Miss, whose name I still don't know."

As Valerie go on the bus, she called out one last thing at the man. "You know what they say, third time's a chance."

"Then, I'll be counting on that, Miss." The man yelled back, his hidden accent appearing on the word 'miss'.

She got on the bus with a smile on her face, completely unknown to her, as she watched the man smile and wave back at her. It was a weird feeling she never felt before. She was used to flirting, yes, it happened a lot in the dinner, but this way different. The man was kind of a mystery and she wanted to find out more about him. For what it was worth, because of their brief conversation she completely forgot about her problems. At least until she remembered where she was going and why.