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Chapter 3
Billie sighed, feeling as though she had a long evening ahead of her. Really she was slightly giddy at the fact of being around this enigmatic force. It was new. Nothing before had ever drawn such feelings from her body; she wanted to explore them further, to be near the thing that tantalized her. However, she feared doing so being surrounded by family and how acutely she would give herself away. While she and Mary remained at the table in the kitchen he in question began to approach them, commenting that if Billie left every time a family member walked in they would never see each other. For barely a second she raised her eyes to the mans face.
Sitting the glass down onto the table, John departed from the kitchen, entering the living room to sit down on the couch. In a moment the girls were left alone in the kitchen. It soon became another busy room in the house, Audrey beginning to prepare dinner and Mary not wishing to remain a fixture in the place. As soon as he was about to take his seat, a voice called from in the kitchen. "Jimmy Herbert, you get into this kitchen right now and help me with dinner," Audrey called, John letting out a sigh before doing as he was told. When she used his middle name it usually meant business. John disappeared into the kitchen, Mary quick to lead Billie into the living room where John had just been.
She guided her friend and ushered her to take a seat on the sofa. Mary grabbed a large book, dusting it off with her hands before she sat down on the couch. The next thing Billie knew she was being presented a photo album, they sitting together and peeling back the pages. Mary looked upward toward her companion. "My Uncle Jimmy is quite a card, I guess that's why I always liked him," she commented, opening the album for the two of them to view.
In particular, Mary was attempting to spot pictures of her uncle, figuring Billie had already seen enough of the others around the house to get a feel of them. There was a photo of Audrey holding a three year old boy, who could look like her son, though that was not the cause; it was a three year old John Dillinger. There was another picture of "Jimmy" at about nine years old, sitting on a board fence, his hat pulled down over one eyes as he looked in the direction of the camera. There was a picture of a teenage boy on a baseball team, close to the young girls ages, dressed completely in a baseball uniform. Another photo showed the same figure in a Navy uniform, in his early twenties. The photographs went on, Mary describing each photo, the individual in each frame as her Uncle Jimmy.
Billie starred at a boy, one who grew in age with the ascending photographs. It was Mary's uncle Jimmy and unmistakably the man in the other room. Billie couldn't help but hold her mouth agape, witnessing him around their age in a baseball and than Navy uniform. "That's him?" she gestured toward the next room.
He looked virtually unaged. Aside from likely getting a little taller and his build growing more muscular his face remained the same through each photograph and to this very day. Little did her friend know seeing these pictures was just fueling the frenzy within her. After some time, John was soon to appear in the doorway.
"Hey you two, it's time to eat," he said to them, calling out to the rest of the house to come to dinner as well. With her thoughts already consumed with the man his deep drawl emitted, startling Billie. For the time being the album was put aside and the house became abuzz as everyone appeared from the woodwork to surround the dinner table. There was the initial chaos and confusion to get the table set and drinks and all the babies in their proper seating, Mary more concerned about her friend getting a place next to her.
They were settled, back to giggling about something. Billie knew better than to begin eating right away and patiently waited in her seat for the others to settle as well. She knew here at the Hancock house they often led meals with a prayer. Seated in the last place Billie glanced to her side just as Jimmy took his at the head of the table. Her heart rate started to increase. Audrey asked that they all join hands and she felt Mary grasp her palm, she quickly looking from their grasp to the other direction where a bigger, more masculine hand was outstretched and waiting. Observing it a moment she finally let her delicate hand rest into his.
In the background someone said Grace and Billie, feeling highly sacrilegious, hardly heard a word. She feared her fingers were shaking in his palm, against his surprisingly smooth skin, the skin she felt she wanted to hold longer and sweep against her finger tips... Everyone broke apart. Lifting her head the eating had commenced, plates and silverware tinkling as well as a low hum of voices filling the room. Avoiding looking at the man next to her Billie reached forward to fill her plate when an anxious tremble in her hand knocked over a glass, sending ice cold liquid right into Jimmy's lap. Billie gasped and stood, mortified.
"Nice one!" Mary laughed boisterously, having to cover to her face from the hysterics she felt.
"I am so, so sorry!" Billie apologized, her face burning crimson. Audrey had risen to retrieve a cloth but Billie stopped her before she could bend to the floor, not wanting the woman to fuss over something that was her doing. "No, please, let me. I did it," and she knelt to the ground, sopping up the liquid.
