dropped out altogether. “She just doesn’t want to go,” Stephanie’s mother told her.
That may have been true, notwithstanding the fact that Mrs. Wright had forbidden her to go. Sylvia had enough unhappy experiences at Tech High School to want to stay home.
One involved a remark she had made to a male classmate.
A stranger approached Stephanie in the hall at Tech one day to ask how much she took.
“What are you talking about?” Stephanie demanded.
“How much do you want to go to bed with me?” the boy specified.
“Who told you I’d do that?” Stephanie was indignant. She may have been the only virgin in the Baniszewski household.
“A friend of yours,” the boy laughed.
“Some friend,” Stephanie snorted.
“Her name is Sylvia,” the boy told her.
When Stephanie got home, she had it out with Sylvia. When Sylvia admitted planting the rumor, Stephanie slugged her in the chin. Sylvia, in tears, apologized. That brought tears to Stephanie’s eyes too. But it did not end there.
Sylvia, smarting from all the chiding she had suffered in regard to her own sexual experience, had spread rumors about Paula too. Johnny brought one of the rumors home.
When Coy Hubbard heard about the aspersions on his beloved’s purity, he flew into a rage. He slapped Sylvia, banged her head against the wall and gave her a flip, judo style, onto her back on the floor. He never forgave her.
Neither did Mrs. Wright. She gave Sylvia the board at the time, and grosser indignities were to follow.
But the incident that served as Mrs. Wright’s pretense for keeping Sylvia out of school was the alleged theft of another girl’s gym suit.
Sylvia needed a suit for her physical education class. One morning, before setting out for school, she asked Mrs. Wright for money to buy one, andwas refused. When she came home that evening, she had a gym suit.
“I bet she took it,” Gertrude mumbled to her children. Stephanie had not gone to school with Sylvia that day and could not help her. She lay half asleep in the front room, recovering from a poisonous spider bite that had kept her out of school for two days. She dozed off again but was soon awakened by loud bickering between Gertrude and Sylvia.
“You took it!” Gertrude accused.
“No,” Sylvia pleaded. “I found it, on the sidewalk.”
Gertrude slapped her on the face and arms and kicked her shins. “You took it!” she shouted, tousling Sylvia’s hair roughly.
“All right,” Sylvia cried, “I took it!” That was a mistake. The confession in, the punishment began. Sylvia was whipped with a three-inch-wide black police belt, which John Baniszewski Sr. had given his ex-wife a couple of years before to apply to their children when they got out of order. Mrs. Wright, remembering a mysteriously acquired tennis shoe, whipped Jenny too.
Then she sat Sylvia on the couch and began lecturing her again on the evils of premarital sex. Sylvia did not realize that “Mrs. Wright” had never been married to “Mr. Wright,” who had gotten her pregnant twice.
“You should never do anything with a boy until you’re married,” the woman lectured.
“I didn’t,” Sylvia whined.
Mrs. Wright kicked her in the vagina. “You should never, never, never, never, never…,” she repeated. Sylvia moaned. Stephanie jumped out of bed, screaming at her mother. “She didn’t do anything!”
Stephanie was crying when Coy Hubbard came over, and Mrs. Wright explained to him that Sylvia had upset her. So he helped the woman apply her macabre discipline.
To impress upon Sylvia the sin of sticky fingers, for stealing a gym suit, Mrs. Wright held a lighted match to Sylvia’s fingers. “I don’t want to ever catch you stealing anything again,” she said.
“I hate you!” the woman shouted, whipping Sylvia in the rear three times more. “You’re ruining my life!”
She told Sylvia and Jenny both, “Get your clothes. You’re going to the Juvenile Center.” She did not follow
That may have been true, notwithstanding the fact that Mrs. Wright had forbidden her to go. Sylvia had enough unhappy experiences at Tech High School to want to stay home.
One involved a remark she had made to a male classmate.
A stranger approached Stephanie in the hall at Tech one day to ask how much she took.
“What are you talking about?” Stephanie demanded.
“How much do you want to go to bed with me?” the boy specified.
“Who told you I’d do that?” Stephanie was indignant. She may have been the only virgin in the Baniszewski household.
“A friend of yours,” the boy laughed.
“Some friend,” Stephanie snorted.
“Her name is Sylvia,” the boy told her.
When Stephanie got home, she had it out with Sylvia. When Sylvia admitted planting the rumor, Stephanie slugged her in the chin. Sylvia, in tears, apologized. That brought tears to Stephanie’s eyes too. But it did not end there.
Sylvia, smarting from all the chiding she had suffered in regard to her own sexual experience, had spread rumors about Paula too. Johnny brought one of the rumors home.
When Coy Hubbard heard about the aspersions on his beloved’s purity, he flew into a rage. He slapped Sylvia, banged her head against the wall and gave her a flip, judo style, onto her back on the floor. He never forgave her.
Neither did Mrs. Wright. She gave Sylvia the board at the time, and grosser indignities were to follow.
But the incident that served as Mrs. Wright’s pretense for keeping Sylvia out of school was the alleged theft of another girl’s gym suit.
Sylvia needed a suit for her physical education class. One morning, before setting out for school, she asked Mrs. Wright for money to buy one, andwas refused. When she came home that evening, she had a gym suit.
“I bet she took it,” Gertrude mumbled to her children. Stephanie had not gone to school with Sylvia that day and could not help her. She lay half asleep in the front room, recovering from a poisonous spider bite that had kept her out of school for two days. She dozed off again but was soon awakened by loud bickering between Gertrude and Sylvia.
“You took it!” Gertrude accused.
“No,” Sylvia pleaded. “I found it, on the sidewalk.”
Gertrude slapped her on the face and arms and kicked her shins. “You took it!” she shouted, tousling Sylvia’s hair roughly.
“All right,” Sylvia cried, “I took it!” That was a mistake. The confession in, the punishment began. Sylvia was whipped with a three-inch-wide black police belt, which John Baniszewski Sr. had given his ex-wife a couple of years before to apply to their children when they got out of order. Mrs. Wright, remembering a mysteriously acquired tennis shoe, whipped Jenny too.
Then she sat Sylvia on the couch and began lecturing her again on the evils of premarital sex. Sylvia did not realize that “Mrs. Wright” had never been married to “Mr. Wright,” who had gotten her pregnant twice.
“You should never do anything with a boy until you’re married,” the woman lectured.
“I didn’t,” Sylvia whined.
Mrs. Wright kicked her in the vagina. “You should never, never, never, never, never…,” she repeated. Sylvia moaned. Stephanie jumped out of bed, screaming at her mother. “She didn’t do anything!”
Stephanie was crying when Coy Hubbard came over, and Mrs. Wright explained to him that Sylvia had upset her. So he helped the woman apply her macabre discipline.
To impress upon Sylvia the sin of sticky fingers, for stealing a gym suit, Mrs. Wright held a lighted match to Sylvia’s fingers. “I don’t want to ever catch you stealing anything again,” she said.
“I hate you!” the woman shouted, whipping Sylvia in the rear three times more. “You’re ruining my life!”
She told Sylvia and Jenny both, “Get your clothes. You’re going to the Juvenile Center.” She did not follow
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