Lolita's Perception

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎

Sunday: June 15th |1947|
Today, Mother finally took me to the movies—Humbert included. As always. Come to think of it, he always seems to be hanging around nowadays. Not that I necessarily mind...

Early on in the afternoon, the three of us all went together to see a matinee of 'The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer.'I thought it was terrific, Mother thought it was terrible.

"I simply can't understand why they're allowed to show that sort of thing in the theaters!" she exclaimed, exaggeratively holding her hand over her chest as the three of us walked out onto the sunlit sidewalk. "It was filth. Pure filth."

"Come on, Mother, it wasn't that bad!" I said with a roll of my eyes, flashing a quick smile up at Humbert.

"Wasn't that bad?" she scoffed, glancing back at me as we strolled down Main Street. "It was perverse, to say the least!"

I felt Humbert's hand quickly tense up as it lingered at my side, pulling away the very second Mother's eyes scanned downwards.

"Well I don't think so!" I added, trying to get under her skin.

"Of course you don't." she remarked, her eyes narrowing.

I only shrugged back in response, not even caring enough to glare back at her. She was hardly worth my time anymore.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Humbert's fingers grew closer to mine. "Say, wouldn't you like some ice cream?" he asked, pointing to the 'Dairy Queen' across the street.

"You know I do!" I exclaimed, grabbing onto his arm with excitement.

"Well, don't you think that's rather expensi—" my mother began, before Humbert quickly cut in. "Nonsense; it would be my treat."

"Well, alright...I suppose we can make a quick stop." she remarked, with more than a tinge of resentment lingering in her voice.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you—" I exclaimed, hugging him as tight as I could. "You really are the best!"

Humbert softly laughed, giving my shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

"That's enough of that," Mother remarked, glaring at the two of us. "You wanted ice cream, didn't you?"

Of course I began to nod, still lingering beside Humbert.

"Then come on," she said with a sigh, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me to the back of the line—which was practically snaking around the small, white bricked building.

"For goodness sake, Charlotte, be careful! You'll end up hurting the child's if you keep that up," Humbert exclaimed, gently caressing the curve of my shoulder as he stared at her in surprise and disappointment.

"That would teach her, wouldn't it?" she said with an eerily sincere smile, before turning and lighting a cigarette.

That's when I realized that none other than Kenny Knight was standing right in front of us in line. He'd probably heard everything, 'cause he was staring right at us sorta wide-eyes. All the while kicking the ground, trying to look like he was minding his own business.

"Hey, Dolly." he said with a smile, once he noticed I was looking.

"Hey Kenny," I replied, rubbing the sore spot my shoulder. "You got any extra comics for me?"