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Peanuts
zprymantis@smilingwithteeth.com
Elizabeth was four when her mother died; she barely remembered
her now. She did remember the sugar, how she had dumped the sugar
out of the bowl onto the table in a big pile just to see what
that would be like. She remembered that her mother had frowned
for a moment, her usual smile changed to disappointment. She matter-of-factly
scooped the sugar back into the bowl and told her it was a very
naughty thing to do, then her smile returned to light up the kitchen
and her little girls heart.
That was the single memory she held of her mother, strict yet
fair, understanding for childish whims. It was the moment of childhood
that meant 'mother's love' to her.
Elizabeth was ten now, and it was 1913. She was riding a trolley
car with her father home from the Eastern Market. Their father
had offered each of the girls a treat before leaving for the trip
back to South Baltimore. Her younger sister Mamie had bought a
pickle, mostly because she wanted to watch the man open the barrel
and fish one out. Elizabeth picked peanuts as her treat and was
entertained with reaching in the bag with both hands, breaking
one open, leaving the shell inside the bag, then slipping the
smooth oily peanut into her mouth. As she sat kicking her feet
and watching passengers board the trolley she noticed the trolley
driver turning his head sideways and winking at her.
Elizabeth smiled at the man and noticed that when she chewed a
peanut, he would chew too! She blushed and looked down at her
shoes swinging, slipped another peanut into her mouth and couldn't
help but look up again. She found the trolley driver chewing and
smiling at her once more.
Elizabeth smiled again and looked toward her father to see if
he had seen. Her father never smiled, he expected children to
do as they were told and act like small adults. "Seen but not
heard" he often said. Elizabeth's father was busy frowning out
the window of the trolley with little Mamie sucking on her pickle
sitting next to him.
Elizabeth held her bag out to the driver and asked if he would
like some peanuts. The man smiled broadly and reached over from
his seat and grabbed a handful. Elizabeth watched as he opened
the peanut with just one hand and slipped the peanut in his mouth.
Then he did something totally unexpected, he tossed the empty
shell at her!
Elizabeth wasn't sure what to do, she looked at her father and
saw he was still looking out the window, then she looked back
at the trolley driver. He smiled and chewed another peanut then
tossed the shell at her again.
Elizabeth made an angry face at the trolley driver and he made
an angry little boy face back at her and tossed another peanut
shell at her. Then his face quickly turned into a smile as he
greeted another passenger.
Before Elizabeth knew what she was doing, she found herself standing
next to the trolley driver and emptying her entire bag of peanuts
over his head.
This her father did see.
Her father yelled fiercely - "Elizabeth Anna -----, how dare you
do such a thing!" as the driver tried quickly to explain that
they had been playing a game and that there was no harm done.
Elizabeth's father ignored the trolley driver, grabbed her by
the arm, sat down on the seat she had once occupied pulled her
over his knee and quickly raised her dress.
The Trolley continued on its way as Elizabeth got spanked right
on her white undergarmets. Elizabeth felt her ears burning with
the sounds, and her bottom burning, and her eyes burning with
hot frustrated tears. She could see the mess of the peanut shells
sliding past her on the floor, and feel the silence of the other
passengers as they waited to see what would happen next.
The trolley driver tried again to explain that it was in fact
his fault, he had been teasing her, she was just a little girl.
This was when Elizabeth's father lowered her panties on the trolley
for the rest of her spanking, talking to no one and everyone he
said - "My daughters know how to behave and exactly what happens
when they don't. No one interferes with the way I raise my daughters"
At the trolley's next stop Elizabeth was put off crying. Her father
told her she was to walk the rest of the way home alone and in
shame. As the trolley pulled away she looked up at the trolley
driver, he looked as hurt and punished as she felt.
Elizabeth knew the way home and walked it. She walked around the
harbor and past Federal Hill, she walked past the South Baltimore
ship repair yards and as she walked she thought about the Trolley
Man who had flirted with her and his boyish grin. She thought
about her father and the peanut shells. She thought about her
mother and the spilled sugar. She knew this was an important day
for her, she just didn't know why.
_______
This is a true story told to me every time my maternal grandmother
Elizabeth and I shared peanuts together - which amazingly was
quite often.
:)
z
© 2000 by zprymantis@smilingwithteeth.com, not to be reposted or distributed
without permission
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