In Their Own
Words – Memories
This week,
on In Their Own Words, we revisit some more stories of when young ones are
caught in unfortunate situations with older relatives, and again we focus on
that wonderful time in the Seventies.
For our first story, Daisy recalls a day at the Indy circuit she would
never forget…
My dad was a
car driver, so me, Mom and Aunt Peggy could often be seen there at the
weekends, supporting him. Mom and Aunt
Peggy always dressed in a certain way, and one of the best days of my life was
when Mom finally agreed I could dress just like her.
IT was a Spring
Day, and – well, it was the Seventies, so when Mom came out into the main part
of the RV in her black and white checked bikini, I thought she looked
amazing. The bikini top was tight, the
ends knotted between her breasts, and the briefs were just that – brief. She was also wearing a pair of knee length
white leather boots that laced up the front, and a tiara on her long blonde
hair.
Like I said, it
was the Seventies – so I was wearing an identical outfit, except my bikini top
was one piece. I even had my own knee
length white boots, and my own tiara. I
was only ten, but I was so proud…
As for Aunt Peggy,
she was wearing a crimson backless play suit, with a halter neck and short
shorts that had 7Up on the front, but she was wearing a paint of white sandals.
Anyway – I went
to get a Coke from the icebox, but it turned out we were out, so Mom gave me a
Ten and told me to and get some from the concession stand. I went out and walked across the lanes,
wondering why some men were looking at me – but I got the Cokes, went back to
the RV – and walked into something unexpected.
Mom and Aunt Polly
were sitting on the plush seats – but they both had their hands behind their
back, and I could see they both had white tape over their mouths. They both looked at me, before Mom said
“RHHNNNN”
“Now that’s
nice – you brought a drink.”
I turned to see
a tall man behind me, wearing a denim shirt that was open at the chest, and
jeans – but he smiled nicely as he said “don’t worry kid – give me one, and
then put them in the icebox.”
I handed him a
bottle, and then put the rest in as Mom and Aunt Polly watched, before I said
“why are Mom and Aunt Polly like that?”
“Oh – I just
needed to get something here, and they said they wanted to watch. Say – you’re dressed like your Mom, want to
be like her as well?”
“sure,” I said
as both Mom and Aunt Polly shook their heads, but the man smiled as he took out
of his pocket a length of white cord, and said “okay then – turn round, and put
your hands behind your back.”
Well, I did
what he said, and I was surprised when he used the cord to tie my wrists
together – surprised, but it did not hurt, and when he said to sit next to Mom
I walked over and pushed myself up. I
could see now they both had some cord round their ankles as well, so I watched
as the man knelt down and used another length of cord to tie my ankles together
as well.
“Now, if you’re
really going to be like your Mom, I need to put some tape over your mouth, so
can you purse your lips for me?” I
looked at Mom, who nodded as I did what he said, and then felt he press a
length of white tape down over my mouth before he ruffled my hair, and left us
there. I tried to move, and to speak,
but it was difficult to do either as Mom looked at me.
It was Pops who
found us later, and when Mom could speak she told him how the man had made Aunt
Polly tie and gag her, then he did the same to both of us. I just didn’t understand why he would do
that…
For our
second tale, Jenny remembers a summer afternoon with her mother in bed…
My mum was a
model, and I remember this particular day with great detail. I was five, and was wearing a short top with
short sleeves. It was made from a soft
brown fabric, and looked a lot like the miniskirts Mum used to wear, so I
thought I was like her – even if I was wearing white ankles socks and shoes.
Mum was wearing
a black sleeveless cardigan, fastened at the front with one button, over a
black and white striped minidress, as well as a pair of over the knee white PVC
boots. She had been at a shoot all
morning, with her long blonde hair, and I had been with her because it was a school
holiday.
So when we got
back to our Chelsea flat, the last thing I was expecting was to find someone in
our front room. He was a tall man,
wearing a black jumper and pants, and he had something over his head which made
it difficult to see what he looked like.
I know Mum was surprised, because she asked him what he was doing there,
but then he pointed something at Mum that made her go very quiet.
She then took
me by the hand as the man told us both to go to her bedroom – and my eyes
opened wide. I normally only went in if
I woke up early, so as we both walked to the bed and he told us to lie down on
it, I wondered what was going to happen.
He smiled at me
and told me not to be afraid, as he took out of a pocket of the jacket he was wearing
a ball of twine, and told Mum to put her hands together in prayer. I watched as he wrapped the twine round her
wrists, holding them together, and then took her arms above her head. Mum’s bed had a very ornate metal headboard,
and I looked up as he used the twine to make sure her wrists stayed up there.
Cutting the
twine with a penknife, he then put Mum’s legs together and bent them slightly,
before he tied the thin cords round her legs below her knees and then between
them. He then straightened them out and
used the twine to make sure she could not move her ankles apart - and I
wondered what he was going to do to me.
Well, he cut
the twine free, and as Mum moved her legs around he came round and told me to
out my hands together in prayer as well.
I did as I was told to, and watched hm make sure I could not move my
wrists apart – but then he laid them down on my tummy, and took the twine down before
he wound it round my legs below my knees, and then round my ankles. I could not really move, as Mum looked at me
and smiled as I pushed myself up and put my head on her chest.
The man then
asked Mum where she kept her rings and things, and we watched as he took them –
before he took from a drawer a handkerchief and folded it. I watched as he pushed it into Mum’s mouth,
the edges sticking out between her lips, and told her to keep that in there –
before he pushed a second handkerchief into my mouth.
IT felt funny, and
my mouth soon became dry, but Mum rubbed her cheek on my head and said as I
looked up “whllbhlrht.” I nodded – I
felt safe even if I could not move or talk very much, because Mum was looking
after me.
I didn’t even
hear the man leave…
Next for
today, Maria tells of how one day in Italy, she had to spend the day cuddling
in with her mother…
I was about six
at the time, but with my hair cut in a short pixie cut I could look like a boy
– the fact I was wearing a pink jumper and a grey skirt, with blue ankle socks
and black Mary Jane shoes, made it clear I was a little girl however.
Mummy was very fashionably
dressed – a red wool dress with a wide white belt round her waist, and long
white boots that almost came up to the hem of her dress. We were on holiday in Rome with Daddy, and we
had just had some lunch at a café when a man and a woman came over and talked
to Mummy and Daddy.
I wasn’t paying
much attention, given I was watching the birds, but then Mummy took my hand and
said we were going to wait at the hotel for Daddy. The woman came with us, while the man sat
down and talked to Daddy. I saw the
woman had a large bag over her shoulder, but didn’t think much about it.
When we got
back to the hotel, the woman looked round and smiled as she put her bag on the
bed – she was wearing a yellow top which came off her shoulders, blue Capri
pants and flat shoes. She then said that
Mummy and I were going to have to sit nice and still and quiet, as she told me
to sit on the bed and Mummy to sit on a high backed chair.
I watched as
she took out of the bag two lengths of white rope, fascinated as she knelt by
Mummy’s feet and crossed her ankles, then used one of the lengths of rope to
make sure she could not move them apart.
The rope went round and between her legs, before she used the second
rope to make sure her legs were held together below her knees.
I asked Mummy
if it hurt, but she shook her head as the woman looked at me – and then said
she was going to do the same thing to me.
So I watched as she crossed my ankles, the rope sitting on the blue
socks I was wearing as they were made to stay together. The second rope ribbed on my legs a little
bit, but it wasn’t so bad – and when she had finished, I swung my legs up and
down and smiled.
The lady then
took another length of cord out of her bag, and told me to put my hands behind my
back. I looked at Mummy, but she said it
was all right for me to do this, and she’d be giving me big hugs very soon, so
I did as I was told.
It really felt funny
to have my hands held together behind my back, but I smiled as the woman lifted
me up in her arms, and then sat me on my mother’s lap so that my legs hung over
the side of the chair. Mummy then
wrapped her arms round me and kissed my forehead, before the woman used another
rope to tie Mummy’s wrists together at my side, then tied them down to the rope
below her knees.
She then took
out a longer length of rope, before she wrapped it round both of us and the
chairback so that we were held completely in place, then wrapped it round Mummy’s
upper arms as I looked up and watched.
Mummy kept
hugging me as she took out of the bag a roll of brown sticking plaster, and
tore a strip off before she pressed it down over her mouth. She then tore a second strip off, and pressed
it down over my mouth so that I wasn’t able to say anything, before she sat and
watched us.
An hour or so
later, the telephone in the room rang twice, then three times, before the lady
got up and walked out. I rested my head
on Mummy’s chest after that, and fell asleep – until Daddy came in with two
policemen…
Tommy tells
the story of an afternoon playing worms with his grandmother…
I would have
been eleven, my sister Dottie nine and our younger bother Stevie seven. We were spending the summer at Grandma’s
house, and most of the time we just played in the yard and had fun.
This one day,
Dottie and ‘I were wearing t-shirts with Goofy on the front – mine was dark
blue with a white trim, and Dottie’s red with a white trim, while Stevie was
wearing a white t-shirt with baby animals on the front. We were also wearing shorts – red, blue and
white respectively.
Grandma was a
little taller than me, and while we all had blonde hair she had short dark
brown hair. She was wearing a pink and
beige floral top and shorts, with brown glasses over her eyes and white sandals
on her feet, but as we went out into the yard she was busy baking cakes for
later.
We were playing
happily when Grandma came to the door, and called to Stevie to come in for a
minute. Dottie and I looked at each other,
but thought nothing of it as we kept trying to build a fort with some wood.
A few minutes
later, Grandma called to Dottie to come in.
There was no sign of Stevie coming out, but I kept playing while she
went in – and then ~I heard Grandma calling my name out.
As I came in, I
could see she was worried about something. but she closed the door and told me
that there was a man in the house who was insisting we all had to stay quietly
in the same room. she told me Stevie and
Dottie were already there – and it was my turn now, as she picked up a roll of
the silver tape she sometimes used for repairs.
She peeled the
end free, then stuck it to my wrist before she wrapped it round and up my body,
keeping my arms against my sides. She
then tore the tape free and patted it down, before she wrapped it round my legs
so that I could only waddle. Finally,
she tore a strip off and pressed it down over my mouth, before she took me to
the front room – where Stevie and Dottie were sitting on the couch, looking just
like me.
She helped me
to sit down and then said “Wait there” before she eft the room and walked to
her bedroom. We could hear talking, and
then nothing as a man walked past and left.
A little while later, Grandma jumped it- looking just like us, as she
said “bhbhrrff” and jumped to try and use the telephone…
That’s all
we have time for this week – until next time…
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