It was the last day of our service. After our shower, I snuck into Arnold’s room and got one of his shirts to wear to breakfast. Yeah, it was goofy. It was a girl thing. But it was one of those things that my flowering girl instinct told me was right. Somehow, the feel of his fabric on my skin added sweetness to the morning, so why not? Not to mention the feel of his hands on my skin when he walked into the kitchen, kissed me, and said, “I don’t have to ask how you’re feeling!”
We all got our exams, and we were all happy to hear we’d lost between five and seven pounds during our community service. Arnold added, “Besides that, you all look better.”
True or not, it was a nice thing to say. And … you know, I thought it was true. I didn’t think it was weight as much as it was relaxed faces and confident postures. We were all feeling good, and our bodies reflected that.
“Okay, I have to take you all in front of the judge at 1:00 p.m. sharp. But our time until then is open. Is there anything you would like to cover before we suit up to see the judge? We should start that about 11:00.”
“I have a question,” said Maria. “Will we see you again when this is all over?”
“I hope so! We've all been through a lot together.”
“Yeah … but will we see you like this? Like we are now?”
“Sometime after 1:00 p.m., I will report to the judge that you have completed your community service satisfactorily. At that point, she should declare your debt to society as paid off, and you become totally free women. Well, at least as free as you were before this whole nonsense started. After that, I have no legal hold over you. The question then becomes … do you want me to have a social hold over you? And do I want to maintain one over you? What’s your answer to that?”
She snuggled up to Arnold, melted in his arms, and whispered, “Hold me, daddy!”
He held her, but there was some hesitation. He looked at me with a question on his face and said, “You know I’m a committed man.”
Maria looked at me, too. I was about to object to all this; however, they both recognized my prior claim, and what the heck? This was where prosperity got to help instinct flower. This was a twist we could afford in modern times.
I nodded and said, “Okay.”
Arnold pulled her to him, and they both gave up on breathing while they engaged in some serious mouth-wrestling.
“Okay, okay!” said Jenny. “I have a question. Why isn’t this a Mazola Party yet? Sheesh!”
She was right, and we all laughed and headed for the water bed. If this was our last few hours together, we wanted to slide through them with Mazola.
<<<*>>>
At last, we were walking through the courthouse again. We had on full-length, summer dresses of that same diaphanous material that our work dresses had been made of. These were modestly cut, except for short sleeves and a plunging neckline. We also had on slippers that let us glide over the polished floor without a sound. Once again, we were ducklings behind the professor but proud ducklings this time. Our wrists were bound behind us with a cloth strip rather than rope and tied to our waists with a belt of the same material. We looked very demure in our little parade, and Arnold did not pull any cheap shots. Well, only one.
We waited patiently in the courtroom while other cases from that day were conducted. I gathered that about half had not gone smoothly, and there were appeals and reports of poorly done community service.
I noticed something else as I watched the cases progress. The people who were being brought before the judge—these people whom I had admired for their antiwar convictions a week ago—now looked different. They looked scruffy and spiteful to me. When they had their time before the judge, they whined and complained to the judge about trivia, and they had not been able to get along with their community service people. I was getting very uncomfortable, watching them. Then suddenly, I realized what the heart of my discomfort was. “They are losers!”
I thought I was thinking that to myself, but I must have said that out loud because Jenny and Maria looked at me, looked at them, and nodded their heads in agreement. My goodness, this instinct’s effect on my thinking was pervasive!
When we filed before Judge Jones, she looked unhappy and stern. I thought I would feel worried facing her in that sourpuss mood, but something was different this time as I faced her. This time, I felt that having on this modest dress and having my arms tied behind me was a shield that would deflect that sternness. I felt immune to it.
“What is your report, Professor Oswald?”
“These ladies have performed their community service in satisfactory fashion. I recommend their release from that obligation to the court.”
The judge looked at us with a withering eye. “So, you ladies have completed your community service. What have you learned from it?”
The alarm bells went off in my head just as they had when my mother had asked Maria this question. But I didn’t hesitate.
“We have learned about an instinct we didn’t know we had—one that we had been suppressing. It’s been a wonderful instinct to allow to unfold, and now that we have begun to experience it, we plan to nurture it.”
Judge Jones grunted. It sounded like a warning. She was not satisfied.
“So, you seemed to have helped yourself. How has this community service helped the community?”
“Ah! Good point!” I thought.
I said out loud, “This is helping the community because we have learned how to bring great joy to the community. We see that there is a lot we can do to make the people of this community feel better about themselves and live more satisfying lives.”
As I finished saying that, I had an inspiration and added, “That’s how we will help the community. The war we were protesting before is far away. There really isn’t much we can do about that. But helping people of our own community live better lives, happier lives, that’s something real and close and something I know will make a good difference.”
Judge Jones actually smiled for a moment after I said that. Then she got stern again and said, “I’m satisfied. Your obligation to this court has been fulfilled. Professor Oswald, you may release the plaintiffs.”
He did. And immediately after he did, the three of us gave the judge a curtsey. This was nothing we had planned on doing. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. This instinct was kind of freaky at times. And when we finished our curtsey, that was it. We had had our day in court, and now it was over.