Gennie graduated from college in May 1973. Her family and Rory’s celebrated by throwing her a party at Michele’s. She chatted with people about her new job. It was entry level, and not exactly what she wanted to do, but at least it involved drafting and not fetching coffee.
She moved to Los Angeles on May 25 and started her new job at Premanco Construction Equipment, Inc. on June 1. Every drafter in the company except for her was male. They looked at her as if she was an alien from outer space when the boss introduced her. When she settled in and started working, she heard all sorts of things whispered behind her back, like ‘The only reason they brought this chick in was to fill the quota’, ‘Doesn’t her husband have any balls? I’d be embarrassed if my wife had to work’ or ‘She’ll never make it around here’. Those comments made her determined to prove them wrong. The only things she liked about her job were that the project she was working on was interesting and the pay was excellent. She couldn’t think of anywhere else where the starting pay was fifteen thousand a year plus benefits. In a year, she would singlehandedly be able to put a very nice down payment on a house.
She worked during the day while Rory went to casting calls at night. If there was a good part being cast during the day, he would leave Michele with the next door neighbor, who also had two young kids of her own.
At first Rory was uneasy about Gennie being the breadwinner, but he didn’t mind as much once the paychecks started rolling in. To Gennie’s relief, he enjoyed being home during the day and taking care of their little girl. Even though many people disapproved of their unusual situation, it worked for them.
Within a year, they were able to buy their own home, a modest two bedroom, one bath bungalow surrounded by a white picket fence in the Eagle Rock neighborhood for seventy thousand dollars. The only joy both of them had was decorating their new home and taking their daughter out on weekends. They were both miserable when it came to their careers. Rory was only able to get occasional bit parts in commercials and it seemed like he played either the anonymous college party boy or the anonymous high school jock that was clueless about everything. It was not the direction he wanted to go in. Gennie was unhappy because the harassment at work was getting worse. She couldn’t leave her cubicle without getting her behind patted or pinched. Her co-workers had taken to the habit of tearing out Playboy centerfolds and replacing the playmate’s head with her own. Many of their jokes centered on her and she overheard them once taking bets on who would sleep with her first. It bothered her a lot, but she never told anyone about it. What good would it do? They’d all probably suggest to her that she quit her job, stay home and be a good little wife. She didn’t think conditions at a different workplace would be any better either. At least they were paying her well for her misery, though she found out she made five thousand less than a male employee hired around the same time she was when she saw his pay stub in a wastebasket. She didn’t dare complain, though. She wasn’t about to put herself in a position to be fired. Then she’d never find another job.
When the secretary passed around invitations to the annual Christmas party, Gennie crumbled it up and threw it in the wastebasket under her drafting table. She had to deal with these assholes five days a week; she wasn’t about to have them screw up her weekend too.
Gennie usually avoided going to the bathroom at work, but the urge to do so was getting overwhelming. She looked at the clock across her desk. It was quarter of nine. That’s when most of the guys went to the break room for cigarettes and coffee. It should be safe.
She walked down a line of cubicles and entered the bathroom. It was pitch black in there and it took her a few seconds to feel for the light switch. She cursed herself for having closed the door first. Just as she found the switch, someone grabbed both of her hands and twisted them behind her back. She let out a yelp when she was thrown on the hard tile floor.
“Nice of you to wear a skirt today,” a gruff voice she didn’t recognize said. “It makes my job a whole lot easier.”
“Don’t,” Gennie whispered.
“It’ll only take a minute,” he said, “and the more straight forward it is for me, the less painful it’ll be for you.”
He chuckled, and then continued.
“I can’t wait to claim my money.”
She tried to wrestle free from his grasp but his entire weight on was her body and she couldn’t get away. Eventually she gave up and cried silently as he ripped her panty hose and underwear off. Though it couldn’t have been more than a minute, in her mind, it seemed to last for hours. He moaned and it was over. Then she felt something cold between her legs and heard a quick snip.
“I need proof, you know,” he said, as if she had asked him a question.
She continued lying on the floor crying while he stood up and zipped his pants.
“You’re a better lay than I thought,” he said, a smile in his voice. “See you at the Christmas party.”
She didn’t get off the floor for at least another five minutes. She felt around for her underwear and panty hose. When she found them, she stood up unsteadily and turned on the light switch. She saw blood and urine on the brown and yellow tile floor. She thought about her unfinished blueprint waiting for her back in her cubicle. There was no way she could go back to it now. Without getting any of her personal items, she walked out of the building, got into her car and drove away. She thought about going home, but she couldn’t. Rory and Michele were there and she couldn’t let them see her like this. She drove down the Santa Ana Freeway much faster than usual, tears blurring her vision. A few minutes later, she spotted a rest area, pulled into it and parked under a large palm tree. There she cried until she was too tired to cry anymore, then leaned her head on the steering wheel and fell asleep.
When she woke up it was seven o’ clock at night. She was supposed to be home hours ago! She wanted Rory to think that everything was normal and this wasn’t going to help. She pulled out of the parking spot and headed for her house.
When she arrived home forty-five minutes later, Michele was playing with wooden blocks in the middle of the kitchen floor.
“Mommy!” she cried. “Where were you?”
“I had to work late, hon,” Gennie said and gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“We were worried about you,” she replied.
“I know, but the boss didn’t give me a chance to call home.”
“He’s a meanie, that guy.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Rory came into the kitchen.
“Mommy’s home!” Michele called.
Rory gave her a smile.
“I’m sorry,” Gennie said. “I had to attend this last minute meeting and I didn’t get a chance to call and tell you that I was going to be late.”
She expected Rory to chew her out but he didn’t.
“That’s okay,” he said calmly. “Why don’t we go in the living room?”
“Daddy has something to tell you!” Michele said joyfully.
“Really?” Gennie replied, trying to summon up some enthusiasm. “What could it be?”
“Hold your horses.” He put one of his arms around her and led her to the living room.
They sat down on their new green floral pattern couch.
“I’m going to be on TV,” he said.
“You’re always on TV.”
“Yeah, but Daddy’s going to be on TV lots more,” Michele replied.
“You finally got a recurring role? Which one is it this time? Jock or party boy?”
“Neither. I’m going to be a secret agent.”
“No way! Like James Bond?”
“Not quite, but close. You know who Serena Smith is?”
“Yeah, does she play a prostitute in some new movie that just came out?”
“Well, she plays a prostitute in every movie, but I guess she just got married to some TV producer. He developed this whole series where she’s a secret agent
who poses as a fashion model and she got to pick her co-star. Guess who got chosen?”
“You?”
“Yes!”
“That’s wonderful, Rory!”
“I thought we might want to celebrate a little, so I got some take-out from Red Panda and bought a bottle of champagne. I can heat it up in the oven if you like.”
“Sure,” Gennie said, though the thought of eating at that moment made her stomach turn. “That would be great.”
“Is something wrong?” Rory asked her.
Oh god, he knows, she thought. “N-No, not at all.”
“You don’t seem like yourself today.”
“I’m just tired, that’s all.”
“Come on, Mommy,” Michele said, pulling her arm. “Let’s go eat. I’m hungry!”
Gennie forced herself to eat, but she was only able to manage to have one chicken wing and half of a crab Rangoon before she gave up.
“I’m going to bed,” she said. “I’m exhausted.”
Rory looked at her with concern.
“Are you coming down with something?”
“I don’t know,” Gennie said. “I just want to sleep, that’s all.”
“Can I have the rest of your food, Mommy?” Michele asked.
“Of course,” Gennie replied. She gave Michele a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight, Sweetie.”
“Don’t forget about your dearly beloved husband,” Rory said.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Gennie replied, “especially now that he’s a TV star.”
She gave him a kiss on the lips.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, grateful to be going to bed so she could be alone.
Before she could make it into the bedroom, she dashed into the bathroom. What little she had of supper ended up in the toilet. She wiped her mouth, flushed the toilet and went to bed. She was relieved this day was finally over.
Chapter 48: December 6, 1975
What They Left Behind Page 47