The First Love Of Alipang Havens

" Everyone sitting, please form a circle around Alipang and me, no more than ten feet wide....and I need a timekeeper with a watch." When this was done, with one of her own students as timekeeper, Curving Breeze addressed her volunteer:

" This is a safe, penalty-free contest. Neither of us is to strike or grapple the other in any way. You will try to do just one thing: you will try to touch me on either of my shoulders with the fingertips of either of your hands. That part of you, and no other part, going after that part of me, and no other part. We will stay inside this circle, and my spirit power will anticipate your moves and keep my shoulders untouched. Because I have such a confined space in which to evade you, and because I'm not fighting back in any way, you have a time limit for your efforts to reach your target. If you have not touched one of my shoulders within thirty seconds, I win."

" Teacher," Alipang replied, "if I can't touch you as you say in _twenty_ seconds, I'll concede defeat."

Curving Breeze gave him an unreadable stare while she tied back her light-brown hair, then said, "Very well, twenty seconds. I was going to have us begin on opposite edges of the circle, but since you gave up ten seconds I'll give up six feet. We'll start by facing each other two feet apart, with our hands at our sides." She moved accordingly, and Alipang followed suit. "If you're ready, the timekeeper will count to three, with the action beginning ON the count of three."

The call was given. Alipang's first move was a straight lunge with both his hands reaching for the shoulders opposite them; his real intent was to see which way she evaded. Her first evasion was indeed impressive: with her torso leaning like Neo in the rooftop scene in The Matrix, she moved in a right-oblique direction almost _toward_ Alipang, never losing her balance, and getting behind him so as to force him to expend one of his seconds turning.

Now Alipang launched a flurry of alternating left-and-right touching attempts. After several minimal dodges, Curving Breeze found her opening to pass behind him again, meaning to burn up another second for him. This time, however, Alipang turned only his head, his arms darting behind himself as he crowded her with a backward step which wasted no time.

She still evaded him, though she had to lean out _over_ some of the seated onlookers. Her feet were still inside the circle, so no one regarded her as cheating.

Alipang had eleven seconds left.

Calling up all his reserves of speed, reserves he had not tapped since the last time he had fought for his life, he advanced upon Curving Breeze with rapid sidesteps to both sides, to put her in doubt of which way to dodge as he sought to close off half or more of the circle against her. She looked surprised that a crude primitive hard-stylist _could_ move so fast and with such agility. For a moment, she did seem to have less than half the circle remaining to use.

With four seconds left, Alipang made a left-hand lunge which feinted at her right shoulder but shifted to her left instead. Her lateral space down to nearly nothing, Curving Breeze dropped straight down; then she flung herself across the circle, needing only to avoid him for three more seconds--

But Alipang threw himself downward after her, and before she could rise from her own dive....the fingertips of his right hand very visibly touched her left shoulder.

Deathly silence gripped everyone in that basement.

The contestants rose to their feet, both looking at the girl with the watch. The timekeeper squeaked out, "Nineteen seconds. He did it in nineteen seconds." Wilson Kramer's watch made it eighteen seconds; but he said nothing. Nineteen seconds was good enough.

All eyes were on Curving Breeze now, none more intently than Kim's. Kim's mind was soberly reflecting: If I were in her place, and if I were as I was two years ago, I would throw a tantrum and claim that the dirty inferior male cheated somehow. I'm better than that now; is SHE better?

Curving Breeze was better. She reached out a hand to shake Alipang's.

"Young man, I never had a male opponent as fast as you are. Master Pitik, I apologize for my condescending attitude. I hope I'm adult enough to learn something."

" That's a gracious apology," replied Pitik, "and we all accept it."

"You did set yourself a hard task, ma'am, dodging in such a small space," added Alipang, tactfully not mentioning that the contest had severely limited his actions too. "Your evasion skills are still awesome."

Curving Breeze favored him with the most sincere-looking smile she had yet shown in this visit. "If you think so, Alipang, then what would you think of creating a _mixed_ martial-arts club on the campus, where _both_ of our styles would be taught?"

Alipang gave his own beaming smile. "Miss Breeze, I think that would be a wicked-cool idea! But what do you say, Master Pitik?"

The smiling contagion overtook Pitik as well. "I'm for it."

" There was much rejoicing," Kim suddenly said aloud on impulse. She was perfectly right about that.

 
After congratulating Alipang, Wilson Kramer quietly watched the anticlimactic remainder of the class session. When it ended, he took advantage of the Tai Chi lady's teachable moment. Introducing himself as a sheriff's deputy, he offered, once the martial-arts club was formed, to arrange for himself or other deputies to visit there and offer police-type self-defense instruction. She was amenable, and they exchanged cards.

Wilson genuinely had only public safety in mind. Curving Breeze wasn't bad-looking, and he was not at all intimidated by her; with what the SEALS had taught him, he could intercept all her maneuvers with ease in any real fight. But the amount of Taoist talk she had uttered when explaining Tai Chi Chuan proclaimed her NOT a believer in Wilson's Lord and Savior. So even if she were interested in him, and he did not assume her to be, he would be just as happy to let some other deputy do the guest instructing.

Besides, a very different possibility had been hovering at the edge of his awareness for many days now: a possibility which existed, which was conceivable, only because of his awareness that the grace of Jesus had done in a certain person's heart what no amount of Taoism could hope to do. And he was about to discover that his Savior had not overlooked this possibility for him either.

Wilson would have used the outside exit to leave Master Pitik's basement gym, but just then Dolores Pitik entered the basement from the interior of the home, singled him out and asked him to come up to the living room. So he did.

In the living room he encountered Amy Gordon, the local Christian radio host. He instantly shook her hand, saying warmly, "Did I ever thank you for helping to make the media liars back off from their lies about me?"

Amy laughed. "A time or two, yes. But until now, you haven't been aware of who helped ME to help you."

"I knew you had facts leaked from W.A.L.N.U.T. about their illegal activities. I understand that state authorities are going after them now, even though the federal government refuses to take any action."

"That's right, Mr. Kramer. But right now, I want to introduce you to the person who found the crucial source, and brought to me what the source had provided. The actual source wants to stay anonymous, but the vital go-between is with Dolores in the kitchen right now."

Dolores Imada, who had gone into the kitchen, emerged again on cue, to say to Wilson, "That's right. Please come into the kitchen, and please allow the person who helped you to have a word with you." Once Wilson had replied, "Of course, it's the least I can do for someone who did me such a good turn," Dolores and Amy hastened straight out of the house as if they suddenly didn't belong there.

Wilson Kramer didn't have long to wonder who his benefactor was. Reaching the kitchen, he saw only one person, a woman in a conservative but not mannish suit, standing to meet him with a timid look on a regally beautiful face.

It was Lorraine.
 
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Dolores and Amy, joined by Alipang, Kim and Chilena as soon as they learned what was going on indoors, were storming the heavens with quiet but urgent prayers for the former married couple.

Dawning realization had enough influence on Wilson's face to nudge it into a faint smile. This in turn allowed Lorraine to dare to show an even fainter smile.

"You helped me get out of the trial by media?" he marvelled. "Thank you....but how did you do it?"

She lowered her eyes, then met his gaze again; she could meet his gaze, because even before this, in brief meetings with witnesses present, there had been no hatred in his eyes. But apart from gladness that she had found salvation through faith in Christ, this was the first time Wilson had seemed to display any positive pleasure at the sight of her. She knew more clearly now that she wished for him to be pleased to see her. But she dared not act as if she expected him to shower her with kisses just like that; so she retreated to a kitchen chair, vaguely gesturing toward the empty chairs.

Wilson sat directly opposite her and repeated: "How did you do it?"

She unconsciously felt over her hair with her fingertips--a gesture she would not have made if she had been paying more attention to her gestures; the last thing she wanted Wilson to think was that she was preening herself in the belief that her mere looks could ever move him again. "Probably the only good thing about having chosen to live in the muck was that I could find what was hidden under the muck. I knew someone who knew something, so I was able to bring a lot of facts to Amy. Will you be upset if I don't say my source's name for now?"

"No, I won't be upset. I understand confidentiality and the need to avoid compromising intel sources."

He fell silent, his glance washing over Lorraine like the spray from a lawn sprinkler, seeming to offer the same potential of refreshing what was dry, of restoring life. But he wasn't asking the question she wanted him to ask: why she had helped him. She would have to volunteer something.

"I know that this....that getting the libellers off your back....doesn't make everything right, it doesn't change....what I did to you and to our son. But I'm sorry for what I did before. You can hardly imagine how much I regret it, when you've lived a life of duty and honor. Nothing good came from it for me, though maybe it was good for you to discover what kind of bimbo you had really married." She fought to prevent herself from shedding tears; she had used those as manipulation with Wilson in the past, and she feared losing all the ground she was gaining if she struck a false note.

"It was a lesson I could have lived without, and Quinn still more so." The mere truth of these words, without any malice in the voice that said them, struck hard; but Wilson cushioned the blow by instantly adding, "But you no longer are that bimbo. Jesus dwells in your heart now."

Lorraine started to extend a hand across the table, but stopped it halfway. "Do you really believe that He's in my heart? Do you really believe that I'm not that spoiled, selfish creature anymore?"

Now it was his eyes which looked away from her for a moment, but only for a moment. "Yes, I believe it."

It was poignantly visible how hope fought with fear on the wayward wife's face. "Then, do you suppose....could you and I....talk more often? See each other more often?"

Now their eyes were locked in a deep mutual gaze: the nearest thing to an embrace between them since she had abandoned him years ago. Neither of them was sure how long this went on before Wilson broke the silence. "Yeah, we could. In fact....maybe I could, I don't know, take you to lunch soon."

Lorraine's breathing was coming just a bit harder--still another thing that she would have suppressed, for fear of seeming fake, if she had been conscious of it. But God was merciful, and nothing was coming across to Wilson as fake. "What if--I were to come over and cook a meal for you and Quinn?"

At last he smiled more distinctly. "I think that would be a good thing."

When Wilson and Lorraine came out the front door of the house--where the praying quintet feebly tried to act as if they hadn't had their minds full of this encounter--they were not physically touching each other in any way. They were, however, looking at each other, both appearing happy that they had talked. They had separate cars to get into, and separate destinations for the present; but they would be meeting again very soon.
 
On the Thursday night after Alipang's encounter with Curving Breeze, he and Kim, with Dan and Chilena, were all babysitting Terrance, to allow the rest of the Havens family to get away from the house. Eric and Cecilia were taking Melody and Harmony to see a family-friendly movie at the Better Late Than Never Cinema, so that the two Chinese members of the family would not feel forgotten by their parents.

Kim, accustomed to cleaning up after horses, volunteered to change Terrance's diapers when this became necessary early in the evening.

"How does the employment scene look for you?" Dan asked Alipang. "Is Uncle Rafael getting anywhere starting his catering service?"

"Not yet," Alipang sighed. "Puff, the Magic Stimulus, hasn't helped the economy enough so far. Maybe we can get the federal government to assume ownership of The Pansit Paradise, and start telling the customers that they're only allowed to eat steamed rice and organic lettuce."

Dan laughed. "From what I hear, that IS the diet of your new girlfriend, the Tai Chi teacher."

This brought Kim to attention; but she was secure enough in Alipang's devotion to her that she could recognize the joke as a joke. She stressed her Georgia-peach accent as she reacted: "Really, Dan, what ever made you think that Al could be interested in an older woman?"

Chilena, who by now had emotionally accepted Kim's established presence in her adored brother's life, took this more seriously than Kim herself did. "You know, she HAS begun e-mailing Al. Do you think she IS interested in him that way?"

"It's all right, Chil," said Kim. "Betsy already looked into that for me; Curving Breeze has a boyfriend her own age. So Al still is all mine."

Alipang decided he was flattered, in a way, that Kim would think highly enough of his potential attractiveness to women, that she would want to make sure of the honorable intentions of a woman at least half again his age.
 
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On that Friday afternoon, with Dr. Quintero covering the paying-patient schedule at their practice, Eric Havens performed free dentistry once again at the Free Clinic. He pulled two teeth, capped three, filled five, and gave one general-purpose cleaning. The clinic was even busier than usual this time, with many of the patients being unmistakably illegal aliens--by the Consular Matricula cards in their pockets, and in many cases by the chips on their shoulders. Eric didn't get thanked very often on this volunteer shift.

The doors didn't close until after six-thirty. The security guard closing them, a hefty black man named Rhett Samuelson, noted that Eric was one of the last volunteers leaving, and so signed to him to linger. Once everyone else was out, Rhett asked him: "Am I the only one who feels as if we've all been under surveillance today?"

"No, you're not; and yes, we have been," Eric sighed.

"What makes you sure of that?"

"You know about my missionary experience overseas. In the Philippines, Cecilia and I had dealings with Tagalog speakers who knew no English, English speakers who knew no Tagalog, and persons who knew both. I became pretty good at judging by someone's face whether he understood words which were being said..."

"Including words not addressed to him?"

Eric smiled mirthlessly. "You're catching the drift. Among patients I treated myself, and those I happened to see coming for different needs, there were at least four persons who used only Spanish in all conversations--BUT who seemed to understand _very_ well whatever was being said in English within their hearing."

"It often happens that way: a way of thumbing their nose at the gringos."

"True...but with these patients, I had the gut feeling that there was more going on. They seemed to be trying _too_ hard to seem as if they _didn't_ understand English."

Now Rhett smiled. "You like detective stories?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. And sometimes, the criminal gives himself away by trying too hard to seem casual, or to seem indifferent to something. This is all subjective; but in view of _objective_ events this year, I think there IS something to it."

"You mean that the people who tried to hang a placard around your neck saying 'RACIST' aren't giving up? That they're trying more subtle ways to catch you in something?"

Eric looked at the closed doors before continuing. "Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

"Then I can tell you that Dr. Kuwahara and Dr. Fleming both have the same feeling. They were here in the morning, and they both got a feeling that patients were looking for something to happen, _fishing_ for something that maybe someone sent them to fish for. They each told me, privately. So you make three. But what can their motive be? Well, for them it could be money. But if so, what's the motive of those who are paying them to spy on you?"

"Not a noble aim of racial justice, I guarantee you," said the adoptive father of nonwhite children, who attended an integrated church, to the nonwhite security guard who also did. "I believe that they want to discredit this clinic, as part of a larger move to discredit _private_ medical charity. If they find something bad here, or feel confident that they can fabricate something, doubtless they'll _say_ that their grievance is about racism; but that will be a fake-out, a misdirection. What they're against is the very _fact_ of someone helping the poor in ways that _aren't_ controlled by the government."

"Like a Chesapeake Bay crab," Rhett mused, "facing in one direction, but walking sideways in a different direction."

"Yeah. And people like us will need to give thought to our own moves...."
 
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Kim Tisdale's distaste for social dancing produced the nearest thing to a quarrel--still not _really_ a quarrel--that she and Alipang had had since the first time they had seriously kissed. Being himself a proficient ballroom dancer thanks to his sister, Alipang had implored Kim to let him coach her, so he could be her escort to the one and only Senior Prom of her graduating class. She had stubbornly refused, and ended up owing him an apology for sharply raising her voice to him. The apology she owed him was delivered far more promptly than the apology she had owed him last September for arrogantly condemning his standing up to school bullies; and this new apology, unlike the earlier one, was accompanied by kissing Alipang a time or three.

Then, as with Homecoming, Kim offered a substitute for dancing: "Since our restaurant work is suspended, we can be on the Prom Committee, and work on the decorations and the bulletins. That will total more together time for us than one evening of dancing anyway, and we won't have to spend money on formal wear. Wouldn't you rather be saving your money for a car of your own?"

"You're right, Kim, I would." Alipang didn't need to add aloud that, once Kim was at the community college instead of at Smoky Lake East, it would not help his prestige in the eyes of college kids if he had to be driven by someone else whenever he had occasion to come on that campus.

So it was that Alipang and Kim became volunteers for the 2009 Senior Prom--in which, happily, they were joined by Brendan and Jennifer. The two young couples, as far as possible, shared jobs as a foursome, catching up on simple friendship chat which had slacked off because of the solemn events of this year. On several evenings, apart from a faculty supervisor, these four were the _only_ volunteers working, especially during the hardest phases of building and painting theater-like background pieces for the dance.

The prom theme, dictated unilaterally by Principal Flora Lewiston, was "The Beauty of Hope and Change." The students could do nothing about this. It was rumored, however, that Vice-Principal Warner had managed at least to dissuade Mrs. Lewiston from requiring that the decorations consist entirely of leftover campaign posters for her socialist idol.

Jennifer, in a bit of benign passive-aggressive rebellion, had an inspiration on one of the nights when only the foursome were working. At her instigation, they all included some small, barely-detectable Christian-fish symbols in their paint job on the scenery. "THAT'S the 'change' Mrs. Lewiston needs," she asserted. Brendan, Kim and Alipang all heartily, if covertly, seconded the motion.
 
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On the evening of the Smoky Lake East Senior Prom, the first three persons to enter the remodelled gymnasium were none of them wearing standard prom attire. Alipang Havens was wearing a dark green three-piece suit like something out of Guys and Dolls; Kim Tisdale was wearing a floor-length dress, but in Gothic black, relieved by strings of brightly-colored beads. This attire was dignified enough for Alipang and Kim to serve their purpose of serving; tonight they would be taking the tickets, passing out refreshments, and rendering miscellaneous assistance to the musicians and sound crew.

The person actually unlocking the doors was Deputy Sheriff Wilson Kramer, for whom the sheriff's police had winked at his performing security duty while wearing his full-dress Naval officer's uniform. His pistol was out of sight, but his dress sword (full-tang blade, not a breakaway toy) was plain to be seen. His very presence for the prom was a triumph in which his many friends (including Alipang and Kim) rejoiced. Mrs. Lewiston, willingly swayed by four East High families whose breadwinners were union fanatics and W.A.L.N.U.T. backers, had tried to bar Wilson from being the guardian of the prom; but almost every student in the whole school _other_ than the children of the union fanatics had retaliated by threatening to boycott the dance if "Deputy Dawg" _wasn't_ allowed to assume the duty. Since Mrs. Lewiston usually pretended to believe that teenagers were full of profound wisdom, she had been forced to yield the point. So she herself was boycotting the prom, but Vice-Principal Fred Warner and his wife Connie would be putting in an appearance.

The custodial staff had already done all the major physical setup inside the gym, but a folding table with chairs had to be placed outside the cafeteria entrance, where Alipang and Kim would be greeting their incoming friends. While Kim was checking on the huge cake that waited in the cafeteria kitchen, Wilson and Alipang brought out the table and chairs.

Initial trivial chatter gave way to a question. "Mr. Kramer, forgive me if I'm bursting to know--but how _have_ things been going with, um, with Mrs., I mean with Lorraine, since you, uh, met with her at Master Pitik's house?"

"At ease, sailor!" Wilson laughed, patting the younger man's shoulder (for he thought of Alipang as a man already). "Things have been going well, in fact they've been going the way they _should_ have been when Lorraine and I first met. Back then, she was SO gorgeous--not that she isn't still gorgeous--that I _wanted_ to believe she was sincere in her claims to be a follower of Jesus. Now, she's unmistakably striving to become in reality everything she formerly pretended to be in order to catch me."

Alipang averted his gaze from this man whom he admired next after his father and his Escrima teacher. "So in the past, she wanted to catch you. What's her aim now?"

Wilson laughed again. "Al, it's safe to look at me! I've seen Lorraine almost every day since that morning at your master's house; but not one time have I been entirely alone with her, and she has yet to walk in on me wearing a bikini, though I can tell that she still _could_ wear one to good effect. She always dresses conservatively these days, as if to reassure me that she _isn't_ trying to be manipulative. Some of our meetings have been at House on Rock, in the pastor's office. He's been around, and seen every kind of hypocrite and fake; but he's totally convinced that Lorraine's conversion is genuine, and she's a new creature in Christ."

Kim returned just in time to hear Wilson's last two sentences, and unwittingly swiped Alipang's next words out of his mouth. "Mr. Kramer! Does this mean you're taking her back?"

Wilson didn't laugh this time, but neither did he frown. "As I was just telling your boyfriend, Lorraine has been demonstrating her newfound priorities. Quinn and I, and others, have been watching her bearing the fruits that befit repentance....especially in the way she does NOT make lying excuses for her unfaithfulness. She openly confesses, to more people than I would have asked her to confess it to, that she had NO legitimate complaint against me, that in her old self she was a spoiled, selfish would-be princess who valued other people _only_ to the extent that she gained some benefit from them."

"That's not answering the question," Kim persisted.

"It's making sure that the answer will be meaningful."

"We'll understand, we promise!" exclaimed Alipang. "I have no doubt that she wants you back; she'd be an idiot not to want you back now. But do you want her back?"

Wilson rested a hand pensively on his sword hilt. "The grand-prize question. I certainly _don't_ want anything to do, ever again, with the two-faced tramp who neglected my son and made a sucker of me. Of course, Lorraine _isn't_ that woman anymore; but forgiveness does not require me to go around marrying, let alone remarrying, every offender I forgive. Lorraine understands that there is absolutely _zero_ residual desire in my heart for her, no nostalgia, no positive memories of my past with her that weren't irrevocably killed by her treachery."

Kim spread her hands, exasperated with his longwindedness. "Are you saying you _won't_ take her back?"

"What I'm saying is that a new thing is happening. Lorraine waited until just last Monday, our latest time at my pastor's office, to come right out and say it: that whether I want her or not, she loves me now the way she should have loved me before, that she'll wait for any amount of time, and do anything she can, to prove her sincerity and convince me that now she's _worth_ having. I promised her I would pray about it, and I have been."

Alipang's eyes were fixed on his family's friend as intently as they would be on an antagonist in combat. "So has God told you anything about her?"

"My own mind has told me that this woman I've been cautiously seeing _isn't_ the shallow tramp I foolishly married while I was in the Navy. This is a new person I'm getting to know, and taken as she is NOW, she frankly is very appealing. God's part, logically enough I suppose, has been to keep drawing my attention back to the Book of Hosea. So I'm giving her a chance to convince me; and between us, I think she's doing well."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Kramer; I'll keep on trying."

The three persons discussing Lorraine had by this point moved back inside the gym, just a short distance. Thus the very subject of their discussion took them completely by surprise as she came in behind Wilson, placed her smooth hands on his mighty arms, and said her quiet yet startling words.
 
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Wilson, Alipang and Kim all took in the sight of Lorraine.

She had clearly decided that enough was enough of being prudish in her attire. She had on a deep turquoise-colored sequined dress, long-sleeved but not excessively long-skirted. Whether the granny-pleasing director of Fireproof liked it or not, HER hem was NOT stapled to her knees, but hung at least three inches above them as she stood upright. Her neckline, while not wildly plunging, definitely went lower than her collarbone. And the beholders would eventually see that she had a fair amount of healthy-skinned back exposed as well. The matching shoes were open-toed, and her nail polish exactly matched her russet hair.

Only Wilson could tell that Lorraine was wearing a garnet necklace HE had given her before Quinn was born. Seeing her expectant eyes, and feeling the eyes of his young friends at his back, he smiled and told her, "I did hear some rumor that this year they were allowing an adult woman to be prom queen, and now I see it's true."

Wilson couldn't recall if he had ever seen her blush before.

Lorraine was just rallying with some reply about being given a higher honor than being prom queen, when Head Coach Tito Escobar came in, accompanied by his wife Astrud. "Ah, Wilson, I see you've had our surprise sprung on you," said Astrud. "We talked the Prom Committee into letting Lorraine be one of our chaperones for tonight."

"Thanks," replied Wilson, his eyes never leaving Lorraine. "This is the nicest surprise I've had in days, and the last wonderful surprise ALSO involved this beautiful chaperone."

Lorraine wasn't finding any more words for the moment, but her eyes were locked with Wilson's. If there was one thing the two of them had NOT done since she had come to Jesus, it was rushing into a renewed relationship without thought and prayer. But by now, there was a good heap of thought and prayer stored up; and tonight, there was no way that she and Wilson were NOT going to dance together.

Including the slow numbers.

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Alipang and Kim, with plenty of helping still to do, left Wilson and Lorraine unbothered from that point on. The mostly-familiar crowd of revellers showed up, the Vice-Principal gave a formal welcome, and Kim Tisdale was at her Senior Prom, sort of.

Alipang did persuade Kim to join him on the floor one time, when--by his conniving--the band played a Tori Amos tune. During this, they noticed Wilson whirling Lorraine around in a remarkable fashion, which Lorraine seemed to be handling just fine. That was the only dancing Alipang got out of Kim that night; and indeed Wilson didn't dance every dance either, since he did have to do his share of prowling to prevent any serious misbehavior. But Alipang did notice that any time Wilson and Lorraine weren't dancing together, they were still right next to each other--except, of course, when he checked the boys' restrooms or she the girls' restrooms.

Only once did an idiot attempt to grab Wilson's sword out of its scabbard; this was a boy from Shilohsville who had a Smoky Lake East girlfriend. He was caught instantly. Wilson made a joke out of it--in a way he had actually prepared for ahead of time. Hauling the ill-mannered boy onto the stage, Wilson borrowed a microphone, introduced "the master swordsman of the prom" to everyone, and had a band member hand the boy a plastic toy sword. He ended by telling the boy more privately, "You can stay as long as you don't make any more trouble. Enjoy the rest of the evening."

The boy accepted his lesson, and stayed. He would later tell his parents that the toy sword had been a gag prize for being "the most swashbuckling boy at the prom."

About half an hour after the sword incident, Alipang and Kim were wheeling the giant cake from the cafeteria kitchen to the gymnasium...when a thunderous roaring noise erupted from the dancefloor. It was a joyful torrent of cheering and clapping and stomping and whistling, as loud as it would have been if the East Falcons had just won world championships in all of their sports at the same time. And it was not just one quick hurrah, it went on and on. Picking up their pace as much as protecting the cake would allow, Alipang and Kim hurried to find out what had pleased everyone so mightily.

Their answer was provided by Jason Katon and Erin Conrad, who were just now excitedly emerging from the gym on purpose to tell them. "He did it!" shouted Jason. "Everyone who knew anything was hoping he would, and he did! That's what they're cheering about!"

"Who did what?" Kim demanded.

"Mr. Kramer, Deputy Dawg!" Erin whooped. "He kissed his ex-wife, kissed her in plain sight on the dance floor!"

"In fact, I think they still ARE kissing," Jason added.

Alipang found no words to say how happy he was for his adult friend, so he simply joined in the cheering. Inside the gym, that cheering was already turning into a unison chant of "DEP-uty DAWG! DEP-uty DAWG!"
 
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The feeling of a female mouth, of this _particular_ female mouth, molded against his mouth, was indescribable to the long-cheated abandoned husband who was now being humbly offered restitution. He would have known Lorraine's kiss instantly if he had kissed a thousand other women since she had left him, though he had not kissed any; at the very same time, this was completely new.

A corner had been turned, and Wilson Kramer could hardly say how he had turned it. He wasn't sure which of them had begun the kiss; yet he and Lorraine, without saying so, had both known it was coming as soon as he had laid eyes on her at the start of the evening. All his assurances to others that Lorraine could never again affect his judgment by mere feminine attraction had not been false; but something _other_ than her visual beauty had worked its way past his reservations. It was the work of the Spirit of God in her heart, made perceptible to Wilson's heart through her every word and action tonight. It was a new attitude, a new orientation, a new course charted.

He could not say that Lorraine had found any new techniques for looking at him or touching him; she had already possessed an awesome arsenal from their earliest romancing, so many years ago. But her _intent_ was as tangibly different as if all the physical actions had been brand new, and the things she had been saying throughout the prom _were_ brand new. She was no longer scheming, deceiving, manipulating, entrapping; she was a meek, chastened supplicant. She was making no demands, nor taking anything for granted; she was yielding and offering, guilelessly grateful for being _permitted_ to plead for the love she had forfeited by her own fault. Her soul was liberated and expanded--yet with _less_ room, not more, for phony excuses and blame-shifting. And where so many of her female contemporaries would cling to their pride, admit no fault, go on trying to _defeat_ the whole male sex, and then wonder why no one wanted them...Lorraine, by humbling herself, confessing the truth and surrendering to her former victim, was triumphing and conquering.

For Wilson Kramer was now utterly conquered, by the very fact of being invited--sincerely invited, with no hypocrisy--to become Lorraine's lord and master, whom she would follow and obey willingly, however much the sisterhood would screech at her for being so supposedly weak.

The unbelievably long, inexpressibly rapturous kiss finally broke off, except that "broke" is much too harsh a word. Wilson and Lorraine finally acknowledged their well-wishers by waving all around; then, as the dance music resumed and the crowd obligingly parted for them, they walked with arms around each other toward the main exit from the gym. No one followed them; Wilson was too popular for anyone here to spoil his moment. Even Alipang and Kim, looking on at the doorway, only smiled at them.

Wilson looked Alipang in the eye in passing, and said, "The answer is yes."

Out of sight around a corner, Wilson and Lorraine poured into each other's arms again like two oceans meeting, never to be unmingled again. There was much more kissing before Lorraine pulled away only long enough to whisper, "My answer is yes, too. You don't even have to ask; after all, I've _been_ asking for weeks. Yes, Wilson darling, yes yes YES!"

"In that case," Wilson told her, "MY answer is also yes. You're a new woman, and I'll say to the new woman....I love you. I love you, Lorraine."

"Don't ever stop saying that," Lorraine begged; "that is, when I let you talk." And she immediately resumed preventing Wilson from talking.
 
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The next persons after Erin and Jason with whom Alipang and Kim got to speak about the happy surprise were Summer Heron and her boyfriend Evan Rand, who had not been deterred from coming to the prom by the fact of not yet being seniors. Wilson Kramer had never been a major topic of conversation between Summer and Evan, so Alipang filled them in on Lorraine's past abandonment of Wilson while he had been fighting terrorists, and on her dramatic redemption in which Isobel Stetzer had played a part.

Dan Salisbury and Chilena Havens were also at the dance. Much of their conversation that evening was with Kaitlyn and Brickpile, who were also here as a couple. All four were enthusiastic joiners in the cheering when Mr. Kramer and Lorraine were discovered to be kissing on the dance floor. Some while after this, the lavender-gowned Chilena borrowed her brother back from Kim so that she would be able to say she had danced one dance with him. It was a fast number, so as not to deprive Dan of any slow ones; but the siblings nonetheless managed some talk as they burned up the floor--when Alipang wasn't tossing Chilena in the air and catching her.

It was at the moment of securing her descent from a lift that Alipang said, "Sweets, are you and Dan feeling more sure of each other?"

"As sure as we can be at our age. But Mr. Kramer and Lorraine sure seem sure, and so fast!"

"It isn't really so fast. Even with all the damage and isolation she caused, now that she's truly repented, there is at least _something_ of an existing foundation for them to build on. They're not complete strangers."

Pause for various twirls, and a backflip by Alipang; then Chilena resumed: "But didn't Jesus say someplace that if a man remarries a woman he was divorced from, he's committing adultery?"

"I was in a Bible study that talked about that; the teacher had researched the marriage and divorce customs of Bible times, and he explained that a lot of the Scriptural instruction really had to do with stuff about the presence or absence of written divorce decrees...." Another high lift. "More importantly, when Jesus talked about divorce, everyone still was under law, grace hadn't come yet...." A triple turn by Chilena under her brother's arm. "And even in the Old Testament, grace was being gradually introduced, like with Ezekiel saying that _none_ of a repenting sinner's wrong deeds will be held against him anymore."

"So if Lorraine's sins aren't held against her anymore, she's allowed a second chance."

"I'd say she is. And Mr. Kramer obviously thinks so."

Wilson and Lorraine were out on the floor again when the last dance came, a slow dance, and they were kissing continuously from its beginning until half a minute after it ended. Then, however, Wilson made a startling gesture; at least, it would have startled the students coming from another man in his position, but perhaps was not strange when coming from Deputy Dawg, the embodiment of responsibility and integrity.

Commandeering a microphone one more time, he looked at the throng of young faces who mostly thought very highly of him, and said in a military voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, in case anyone hasn't figured it out, Lorraine and I _will_ be getting married again, ASAP." More applause. "But since we are not yet _actually_ remarried, she and I will be sleeping in two different places tonight. As you young men and young women go to the places you'll go to for after-prom partying, I ask you to remember that marriage is not 'just a piece of paper;' it's a promise to keep, and a sturdy house to live in. Certain things belong _inside_ that house, kept between those who _have_ sealed that promise. A certain Person Whom the school board doesn't want you to hear about said that no one should ever separate the bond of that promise; yet that same Person has ways to bring healing even where it was broken. He was alongside me in every battle I fought, and I know how He cares for me. Still, it's better if you _avoid_ wrong situations in the first place, and don't force His hand about healing things. Young men, you carry a great responsibility here; if you respect what I say, you will remember that the young women with you are not toys that exist only for your pleasure. They are living spirits, who deserve to be treated with courtesy and kindness. That's all I have to say; thanks for listening."

Not every male present joined in the final cheer for Wilson that ensued, but every female did. And of course, one female, the most beautiful in his eyes, had her arms around his neck again seconds later.

When the promgoers had dispersed--which in the case of Dan and Chilena meant going to his house for some G-rated relaxation in his mother's hospitable presence--Alipang and Kim remained behind with the Escobars to do some cleanup. During this procedure, the Escobars looked the other way when the younger couple slipped in a few kisses of their own.
 
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In order to keep Melody and Harmony from feeling too bad about not being able to go to the prom, Eric Havens had spent a good part of the evening after supper playing dance music in the living room and dancing alternately with each of his Chinese daughters. Once a contented pair of youngsters had finally been put to bed, Eric and Cecilia--trusting in the good judgment of their older children--retired to their own room, with the baby. There they lay in each other's embrace, and began conferring about something which affected little Terrance more crucially than it affected his four siblings.

"Eric, do you think it'll still be _possible_ to homeschool Terrance by the time he's old enough to start learning formally?"

"I hope to God it will be." Both spouses were well informed about the "progressive" curricula being forced upon early-primary schoolchildren in such states as California. "You remember how they tried to make homeschooling illegal in the Nineties, but enough Americans protested that the Congress was forced to back down."

Cecilia was not reassured. "Praise God for that; but look at how _much_ stupider people have gotten since then. If Washington can start owning manufacturing companies, and the public accepts it as normal, what's to stop them from demanding ownership of our kids' brains?"

"Again, us, God willing. We're not giving up the fight. But in case we lose....it may not be too soon to start thinking of what we can do at least to _limit_ the damage to Terrance's mind."

"Go back to the Philippines?" Cecilia wasn't joking at all.

"I've given thought to that." Eric wasn't joking either. "But if we did that, Al and Chil would be forced to live either apart from us, or apart from Kim and Dan. So what do you think is possible _within_ the United States?"

"I've been thinking, too. If we can't win head-on, there must be end runs we can make. Maybe we could reorganize the homeschoolers' association into independent clubs, which would provide recreation, but still also feed some true information into children's heads. Maybe create a juvenile theatre troupe, which would produce Christian plays."

"Or even dead-white-guy plays; those are already almost as politically incorrect as evangelistic works...."

Dr. and Mrs. Havens kept up this conference almost until Alipang and Chilena returned home. Rhoda Gardner, Flora Lewiston and their like had made it abundantly clear in recent years that the secular inquisition here on the Atlantic Seaboard _wasn't_ going to live and let live with Christians, any more than their heroes like Fidel Castro ever had.


~ ~ END OF PART TWENTY-FOUR ~~ ​
 
Wilson and Lorraine's part was fantastic! The best thing about this story is that it's all Biblically based. It's so uplifting. So many people begin to forget God who they say they've made the ruler of their life. God can't be ruling your life unless you make wise choices and give everything to him. The way that Wilson waited to (re)start anything with Lorraine until she became a believer (and the beginning of a devout one) shows so much strength. I have a friend who is head over heels for a man that is basically an atheist. She's so far into it now and loves him so much that she's losing the will (that she once had) to say no to him if he happens to propose. It's a scary thing what can happen when we stop making God number one, even just a little bit.
 

PART TWENTY-FIVE:
THE WORLD WIDENS, THE NOOSE NARROWS

​

"Ernie Teller....Veronica Tippett....Luigi Tiroleo....Kimberly Tisdale."

Alipang, and Kim's sisters, uttered mighty whoops of triumph as Kim strode across the stage in her blue-trimmed gray robe to receive her diploma from Flora Lewiston. (Alipang had also yelled exuberantly when his buddy Brendan had been called, about half the alphabet ago.) Kim had been letting her dark straight hair grow since she had first met Alipang; it no longer formed the tasteful helmet-shag that had been part of her initial visual appeal for the young man who was now her steady. Hanging far below her shoulders now, it joined with her solemn expression to give her a kind of Native American look.

When all members of the Smoky Lake East class of 2009 had received their diplomas, the class valedictorian gave her speech: a girl named Savanna Kleinvelt, who like the Havens children had once been a homeschooler. Her words about initiative, self-reliance, and NOT depending on government for everything, set Mrs. Lewiston's teeth on edge....but made Alipang wish he had gotten to know her better. This fall, she would be at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Chemistry.

Soon enough, though, the ceremony was over, and Kim was once again filling Alipang's thoughts, and filling his arms. "Did I ever thank you for helping me with Trigonometry?" These words were scarcely past her lips, before her lips were putting Alipang's to work. After a short talk with Brendan about his impending enlistment in the Marine Corps, Alipang and Kim were off in her old white sedan.

"Where are you taking me?" Alipang asked.

"To where you and I can do some erasing."

Kim was remembering an incident which Alipang had not thought about recently: the incident at the city Labor Day picnic, when she had coped as well as she could with Chilena's blurting out the fact of Alipang's infatuation. Parking near where the entertainment stage had been, Kim led her sweetheart by the hand almost to the exact spot where they had stood on that day at that time.

"Now do you know why we're here, Al?"

"Afraid not."

Kim laughed. "It isn't your fault; you can't see your invisible sister standing right THERE." She began speaking to the space of empty air she had just indicated:

"Oh, Chilena, you're right." Kim's voice, perfectly capable of bottomless sarcasm, contained no trace of that now. "I don't know which is more stupid of me--not to have realized sooner how Al felt about me, or not to have gotten interested in him sooner myself. It's just obvious that he's the boy I've been wishing for; no one else comes close! Al has the strength and wits and willpower to be a winner and a leader wherever he goes, but also the humility never to get stuck up. He has a heart full of love and affection ready to be given to one fortunate girl, and in the same heart he has the Holy Spirit to give his feelings discipline. Thank you, Chilena!" Kim fervently hugged the air which for the moment was Alipang's sister, then added, "You gave me the wake-up call I needed; your brother IS the boy for me!"

When she looked him in the eyes after this performance, Alipang superfluously responded, "Okay, I get it." Then he did something more constructive, enfolding Kim in a long, gentle hug.

"A lot of things will be changing now, even before the fall semester begins," she told him. "I need you to know that WE don't have to change. Adjusting isn't the same thing as changing. We're still a couple."

"Amen," said Alipang, claiming a kiss of reasonable duration.
 
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On the Sunday after Kim's graduation, Alipang was serving as a greeter at Redemption Church, when he saw Elizabeth Tisdale coming in, but not Kim or any of the daughters. She sought him out of her own accord.

"Good morning, Al. Kim and Baeline insisted that I come today, because of how many times I've missed worship this year. We could only spare one of us away from the house this weekend."

Slightly worried, Alipang asked, "Is something wrong with some of your animals?"

"Not at all; but the number of _other_ people's animals _boarding_ with us has shot up. We've been soliciting business more aggressively, and it seems to be working. And, um, Al..."

"Are you saying that Kim will be missing church a lot this summer?"

Mrs. Tisdale squeezed his arm. "Oh, I'll see to it that she makes it here for God and you most of the Sundays. But what she _will_ be missing, is going back to work for the Imadas. We just can't wait for the Pansit business to recover from that Rafferty's incident, not when Kim can be helping our family to make money right now by our animal-boarding business."

Alipang averted his eyes. "They're about to start, Mrs. Tisdale; you'd better take a seat."

She leaned close. "Please sit beside me when you're done greeting latecomers."

Alipang did as she asked; and when it could be done without creating a disruption, she whispered into his ear: "Kim feels bad about this. She had been hoping as much as you were for the Imadas to be able to start up that proposed catering business, which you and she would run. But union-uber-alles characters have been able to turn enough customers away from Pansit Paradise that, although not forced out of business, it isn't making enough money to enable any expansion of operations. Now Kim's afraid that _you'll_ be afraid that she'll drift away from you."

"You can tell Kim that I trust her commitment to me. Did she ask you to talk to me about this?"

"No, but she didn't ask me NOT to, either. I'm glad you have confidence in Kim, because I think you two are a real meant-to-be couple. Not like Harvey and me."

"Harvey, that's your ex-husband, right?"

"Right. No danger of him trying to come back to me the way Lorraine Kramer came back to Mr. Kramer. I have friends of friends of friends, who pick up news from Argentina now and then; I hear that Harvey left his tango teacher for a _still_ younger woman. Don't know how he does it."

"Then leave it to God to deal with Harvey, ma'am. Keep your own mind where it has been, on the welfare of your daughters. I'll come over to your place later today, and try to put Kim at ease about her and me."
 
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