SERIES: Woman 'Cross The River

PART: 5 of ??

RATING: PG (Adult thematic material, language, adult content)

PAIRING(s): L/L

DISTRIBUTION: To LW, Myself and FG so far; any other archives are welcome to ask, but disclaimers must be included, my email left intact. send a URL, and provide full disclaimers as well as credit me fully. Please inform me if you are going to submit my work to any sort of search engine.  Please do not submit my work to a search engine that picks out random sets of words and uses them as key words, such as "Google"

 

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CATEGORY: Drama

FEEDBACK: PLEASE?!

SETTING IN TIMELINE: Includes canon up to "The Cruise" - roughly six years later.  This fic is set in 1965.

SPOILLER/SUMMARY: Laverne meets an unforgiving ghost on her summer vacation.

 

***

 

 

1959

 

"Okay, all you gotta do is tell the truth," Lenny coaxed.  "You tell the truth, and no one can say nothing about you."

 

Laverne, dressed in the closest thing she could find to formal wear - a navy-colored suit - nodded.  "C'mere and sit down."

 

He had been pacing the floor like a madman.  He looked to where she pointed.  "You sure?  Right next to you?"

 

"Uh huh."

 

"You won't yell at me?"

 

"No!"

 

Lenny gingerly sat down beside Laverne.  "I'm real proud of you.  You ain't hiding what happened."

 

"I wasn't gonna let Rick get away with it.  I have my rights and he has his," Laverne pointed out.   "But will Ensign Benson believe me?"

 

"He's gotta.  You're a good girl, and I'll stand up for you."

 

Laverne eyed the bloody carpet that no one had bothered to clean.  Lenny understood that her mind was elsewhere and said nothing. 

 

At that moment, Ensign Benson.  "Miss DeFazio," he said primly.  "I understand that there's some kind of problem?  I had to leave an hysterical Miss Feeney with her shuffle board group."

 

"You're kiddin, right pal?" Lenny blurted.

 

"Len!" Laverne scolded.  "Last night, one of the midshipmen - Rick Donaldson -"

 

"I know Rick.  He's a good guy - I saw you dancing last night!"

 

"Good guy?" Lenny squalled.

 

"He's not much of a good guy," Laverne said calmly.  "He tried to rape me last night."

 

Ensign Benson cleared his throat and shuffled his feet.  Laverne felt an odd sense of doom.  "Something will have to be done about this."

 

"I can give you my dress, times - I think he slipped me something..."

 

"Quietly.  We'll have to settle it quietly."  Ensign Benson clarified.  "I'll privately reprimand him.  There will be punitive actions..."

 

"But he ain't gonna be discharged?" Laverne queried.

 

"We'll have to work something out.  Don't worry, Laverne - I'll get to the bottom of this." 

 

"Thanks," Laverne breathed. 

 

"Would you and your friend be interested in attending tonight's shuffleboard tournament?  The Aggies have victory in the bag today!"

 

"Nah..." Laverne said.  "Thanks for keeping Len's presence under wraps."

 

"I'd do anything for Shirley - you know that, don't you?" Laverne nodded.  "Good.  I will see you at brunch."

 

Laverne nodded.  When they were alone, she found herself wrapped in Lenny's arms.

 

"How you wanna spend the day?" Lenny wondered.

 

"Well..." Laverne considered.

 

***

 

"This is crazy!"

 

Lenny was laughing at himself from his perch at the prow of the ship.  "You gonna push me off?"

 

Laverne had her face in the wind.  "Nah," she was on the prow behind him.  "It's so quiet out here - nice and breezy."

 

"Yeah," Lenny chuckled.  "Better watch out, our you'll get a face full of salmon."

 

Laverne chuckled.  "Len, you're something else..."

 

"Really?"

 

"Really."

 

He leaned over and kissed her.  Her expected resistance did not come.  A breeze ruffled over them, approvingly.

 

They came apart panting.  "Do you wanna go get something to eat?"

 

She shook her head.  She wanted him to show her that she was alive, that not all men were like Rick, that they could be good to one another...

 

Instead, they went to get drunk.

 

***

 

"Do you think Shirl'll catch us?"

 

"Nope - she's with Ensign Benson.  Didn't you see them dancing around?"

 

Laverne nodded smartly.  "You got a?"

 

"I got a..."

 

"Then what are you doing up there?"

 

He sunk over her on the bunk.

 

***

 

"All of this is good stuff, Vernie.  What's wrong with it?"

 

"That's only the tip of the ice berg.  Don't you remember what things were like when we got back to Milwaukee?"

 

***

 

1959

 

"Honestly, Laverne - you're going out on ANOTHER date with Leonard?"

 

Laverne stopped touching up her pulse-points with perfume.  "And why not?  You're going out again with Ensign Benson!"

 

Shirley sighed, sitting down beside her girlfriend.  "I think he really could be the one."

 

"What about Carmine?  Poor, patient Carmine?"

 

"He's seeing Lucille again," Shirley said crisply.  "I never thought I would marry Carmine..."

 

"Really?  You used to write Shirley Ragusa over and over in your notebook when we were in seventh grade..."

 

"We were children then!" Shirley protested hotly.  "I'm a grown woman now, and I'm proud to be in love with a man who's...."

 

A knock at the door.  "Can you get it?"

 

Shirley went to do so.  From the sound of her squealing, it was definitely Mark.  Laverne finished primping and grabbed her purse.  

 

"Hello, Laverne," he said quietly.

 

"Hey," Laverne returned crisply, sitting on the sofa. 

 

"Shirley, would you mind if I talked to Laverne alone for a moment?"

 

"I suppose it would be okay," she said.  "I'll go put on some more witch-hazel," she flitted across the room, giving Mark a soulful look and shuffling her shoulders seductively. 

 

Laverne smiled.  "She's really nuts for you."

 

"I know," he sighed.  "Laverne, I have news about your case."

 

She sat up straighter.  "He's not gonna be ke-hauled, is he?"

 

"No, we don't do that any more.  We had a private discussion, and he agreed not to contact you again or to mention this incident to anyone else - if you're willing to do the same."

 

"Sure - when's the court-martial start?"

 

"There isn't going to be one."

 

Laverne's mouth dropped open.  She felt her cheeks pale.  "You mean he's just gonna get a little slap on the wrist?"

 

"In the navy, we have a certain protocol to maintain.  Midshipman Donaldson will be reprimanded, but..."

 

"But you don't believe me," she said curtly.  "You think I made it up."

 

"It's your word against his."

 

"What?  I got all of this evidence!  You saw how messed up my face was!"

 

"And you could have done that to yourself.  Some women will do anything to trap a serviceman..."

 

Laverne's eyes went frosty.  "You started it, didn't you?"

 

"What?"

 

"You started that rumor that I was easy.  You were mad that  I wouldn't let you grab me, so you told everyone I was easy!"

 

"Miss DeFazio, that's nothing but heresy.  I don't believe that..."

 

"Mark would never do that," Shirley said from the doorway.  "He's honest and brave.  He would never make up lies like that, Vernie.  ou must have misunderstood..."

 

"Shirl," Laverne said.  "You know what kinda girl I am.  You know I would never..."

 

"But maybe you misinterpreted his signals!  You've been with so many men before, Laverne, how can I..."

 

"You're my best friend!  Or you were!"  The door opened.  Lenny waited for her.  She grabbed her jacket.  "I'm never gonna speak to you again!"

 

Shirley's pleading was lost behind the closed door.

 

***

 

Lenny was clearly stunned by Laverne's revelation.  "But she was maid of honor at your wedding!" Lenny sputtered.

 

"All for show.  The two months between us coming home and you proposing to me were hell.  We put up a good show but it was never the same again," Laverne closed her eyes.  "After we got married, you know what happened - she and Rick got engaged, he got reassigned to California, she moved in with her mother to be closer to him. 

 

Lenny shook his head.  "I'm sorry I tried to make you say you were sorry," he hugged her.  "Geez, no wonder you don't want her kid playing with Emmy!"

 

"Emmy is always welcome at our cabin," Shirley Benson's calm voice disrupted their quiet domestic scene.  "And so are her parents."

 

Lenny jumped to Laverne's defense.  "How could you..."

 

Shirley set pleading eyes on Laverne.  "Please.  We need to talk."

 

 

To Part 4
To Part 6