Washington

There was a drunken couple that lived downstairs. They continuously argued, cursed and screamed at each other, which we could hear through the heater grate in the floor. When we would yell down the heater vent for them to quiet down, they would only cuss us back. She got another place from the same land lady. This was better but had a guy living next door, who never made a sound and who was reputedly, according to MaryJ who had met him, a writer of pornographic novels. The trouble was I thought he was able to hear us in the next room and possibly even our love making, so I couldn't help thinking of myself as the subject of some cheap pornographic literature.

MaryJ was my first real girlfriend so it was all new to me. I met her in maybe in May and we lived together for the summer. DC is hot and muggy in the summer. In those days there was no air-conditioning. It was so hot we didn't even think of going to bed until after one A.M. in July at least. We spent many nights 'till midnight outside. Did a lot of making-out. We might go down to a park along the Potomac River with wide and deep lawns stretching from the river bank, and neck laying on the grass, where congregations of people would lounge until all hours of the evening. Or we might sit on the iron stair leading into our building and talk and kiss.

We went to movies of which she was familiar with the happening thing. My first subtitle was Jules and Jim. It gave me a headache. I still just like to watch the movie and not have to read it, but what are you going to do?

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