First Kiss

36. First Kiss

I was nine or ten years old before I kissed a girl other than my mother. The first time really wasn’t my idea but I guess I didn’t resist it either.

One of the routine pleasures of my childhood was going to a movie at the Temple Theatre. We went almost every Saturday afternoon. In those days you could get into the movie theater, see the newsreel, previews, something called the short subject, and the movie. Usually the theater owner, M. L. Dickson, scheduled movies suitable for kids on those Saturday afternoons. That was not always the case and Mom wouldn’t let me go to a movie if she didn’t think it was right for me.

The short subjects were serials. They were about 30 minutes long and were just a series of episodes of the Lone Ranger, Bat Man, or something else. They always ended with what was called a cliff hanger, a critical moment in the story that made you want to come back the next week to see what would happen.

If you had 30 or 40 cents you could go to the movie, get some pop, and still have some money for popcorn or Good and Plenty. Usually I went with some of the guys. We had our favorite spot in the theater. It was about half way down on the left and all the way over to the wall. It was our territory and no one else dared sit there…no one except the bigger kids whom fortunately weren’t often there on Saturday afternoon.

There was a girl who lived down the street from us about a block. I thought she was pretty and she was very nice to me so we became friends.

Vicki and her sister had a playhouse behind their house. It was all set up like a real house but very small. It had miniature tables and chairs, and wooden kitchen appliances that were painted to look like the real thing. They even had plates and silverware.

One summer day I was invited over to her house to play. There were several other kids there, too. We played house and I was the father. When I came home from work Vicki greeted me at the door and kissed me on the lips. All the other kids saw it and shouted, “Vicki kissed Perry on the LIPS!” Word spread like wildfire through our neighborhood.

So Vicki went from being a girl who was my friend to being my girl friend. One Saturday we decided to go to the movie together. Between us we had enough money and she told her Mom and I told mine that we were going to the movie. I don’t remember much about the movie. It was boring and they didn’t show any short subject. I do remember that we sat on the opposite side of the theater so the other kids wouldn’t see us. I think we must have talked some but I don’t remember. I know we didn’t kiss or anything like that. We probably didn’t even hold hands.

When I got home my mother said Vicki’s mother had called and she was upset that my mother had let us go to Peyton Place. It was considered to be a very risqué movie at that time. It was tamer that most TV shows we see now. My mother said she didn’t know what the movie was and if Mrs. XXXX had known she shouldn’t have let us go. Vicki and I had no idea what all of the fuss was about.

I don’t think we ever kissed again but Vicki and I continued to be friends throughout childhood. Even now when I see her we give each other a hug.