College of the Gender War, Core Tenets
Ambition
The Party that Changed Things
Part 7 4-5-23
Harry Sr was pretty happy. In twenty years of service he’d never been invited to one of the boss’s parties but Mr. Charleymane had scored a big merger & was full of himself, feeling gregarious & invited Harry & Maude. {None of them knew Maude.}
It was held in his huge dining room – maids & butlers took wraps, waiters in tuxedoes were walking around with champagne on trays, people smartly dressed.
Harry was in his chauffer’s uniform as he had picked up the boss’s friend & would drive him home. He was standing in front of a partition, leaning on it, relaxing, having a good time with drink in hand hearing a couple matrons in front of him behind huge potted palms, chattering away.
Suddenly their mood & tone of voice changes, they’re laughing at someone.
“Oh my God, look at that dress! And the shoes are ghastly! Looks like she robbed a thrift store!”
one dowager snorted.
The other one tuned in with,
“Oh, her. She came up to me before & asked me what Church I belong to!”
This needed no further explanation, it was a subject none of their society would broach – it gave her away as ‘not of our class’ & they laughed in low tones, trying not to stare, looking around the room to see if anyone else was looking at what to them was a creature.
Harry’s wife had just walked in! And she did look out of place wearing her favorite Sunday dress, black with huge pink flowers, chunky thick 2” heels with straps in front, pot belly bulging, her hair no style, hanging thick & soft to the bottom of ears – salt & pepper grey, the glasses were ‘coke bottle’ thick, her eyes distorted in them. She was looking around, smiling, looking for someone to chat with.
Harry wasn’t listening to the women nor looking, he was day dreaming about some day he’d have a house like this or close & hold a party. He was imagining the beautiful guests in his house, himself the star, when suddenly his ears tweaked.
“Oh, I think she’s the wife of that chauffer guy. He’s not bad, you’d think he’d find someone better than that. She’s a maid, that’s why she looks this way. Maybe Charleymane needs his bathrooms cleaned.”
They laugh at their clever joke & walk away.
Breathing a sigh of relief they had not seen him, Harry quickly sidles up to Maude & in a feigned panic tells her,
“You’re wanted at the Church, they just called my cell. Some kind of emergency, someone collapsed. Grab a cab, I’ll see you later, I’m on call here.”
{Later when he gets home his wife will ask him what was it about – no one there had called. He says it must have been a prank.}
Now he’s rid of his wife but feels ashamed people saw her & knew who she was. How could he live it down? He never thought his wife was substandard, she looked fine. As the years rolled by her beauty faded, she got heavier, her eyes got worse from reading hours every night, she had to wear those glasses all the time, her hair turned grey, but in his mind she remained the pretty, shapely girl he married – the picture on the mantle was forever her.
He was baffled that people could be so cruel – it brought back PTSD from childhood when Dad was dissed, & he, an innocent boy, had to pay for Dad’s misery.
To his delight, no one ever mentioned his wife, like those two dames were the only ones who saw her – “thank you God” he said.
The Second Party
A second opportunity came up for party time & this was a game changer.
Helen was now eighteen years old, drop-dead gorgeous & Harry Jr was twenty.
We told you Helen’s tennis game had got perfected & she was making waves with the jet set.
But Harry made his moves too. At fourteen he worked at the Country Club, being a Caddy mostly & the idea was not to learn golf – which he did & got good at it – but to gain social skills, deportment/attitudes of the rich, speech, what they talked about, how they talked – their vocabulary & dress code. Oh yes, there is a dress code! The clothes have to look expensive & be expensive, & although there isn’t an absolute uniform, most of the Greenwich, Ct. people looked comfortable with Ralph Lauren. His tailored double breasted jackets look dashing.
But at age seventeen Harry joined the National Guard, & he remained connected to this service. {This was part time, he spent his other days no longer a caddy but a receptionist at the club, gaining more & more poise like the snobs, a sort of casual disdainful air.}
A Presidential election was coming up – men were chosen {there were like fifty of these, women as well as men} to guard the President & First Lady at the Inauguration Ball, & Harry was chosen as part of the Inner Guard, which meant he was as close to these celebrities as you can get. {Chosen because he was good with all sorts of martial arts & a perfect shot.}
And that is how Harry hit the front pages. He was so handsome in uniform – just like his Dad when he was young – that as he stood watching for malefactors, the big shots noticed Mrs. First Lady glancing at him.
They asked him if he knew how to dance – of course he did, his Dad made sure of that!
“Mr. President – is it alright for Harry to ask the First Lady for a dance?”
was the next question, & he consented.
So there was Harry. And now Harry is dancing with the First Lady of the United States & it hits all the front pages. She looks so beautiful in her white Cinderella dress, while he, the Patriot looking splendid in uniform, & he can dance! Everyone applauds soundly when they are done, & he kisses her hand adroitly – bowing gracefully & barely touching his lips to it!
That was the famous picture we will talk about in future, hanging on the wall of a certain place that will be notable.
Now a year after the Maude-to-party fiasco another deal came up – Mr. Charleymane’s
daughter’s engagement party. This time he told Harry to bring his celebrity children. He’d heard of Helen’s tennis & Harry Jr hobnobbing with Presidents & their wives, lol.
And now the scene is set. The usual suspects, all in beautiful attire, champagne flowing, small talk. The average age person there is fifty, conservative people, not sexy or glamorous but stylish, the men grey haired, the women matronly –NOT overweight, & wearing diamonds.
Suddenly the room is hushed. In the doorway the most beautiful couple has entered. She’s six feet tall in her 4” heels, a svelte dark knitted magenta dress flows down her perfect figure, the face like an angel, dark brown hair framing it softly, her eyebrows arched, her makeup toned down movie star quality, a three-tier pearl choker adorns her neck. Her legs are thin & straight yet shapely – Dietrich legs. She carries a tiny dark beaded purse in her hand.
The male is just as striking. Six foot three, white double breasted Ralph Lauren jacket, white shirt & sky blue silk tie, black pants, soft dark hair, those softly arched eyebrows framing the grey-green eyes. His hand in one pants pocket as he looks around for people he knows.
Folks are asking who are they?
And someone says,
“Oh, it’s that tennis champ Helen & her brother Harry, the one who danced with the First Lady.”
Hearing that, one young man breathes a sigh of relief – her brother, not her boyfriend or husband! He plays tennis too – it’s Mr. Charleymane’s son, Ralph. He’s twenty five.
He bounces over to Harry & Helen introducing himself to both {not polite to speak to the lady first when she’s with a male!} & they’re impressed – He’s the son of their Dad’s boss, & not a bad looker, Helen thinks. He’s 6’2” dark blonde hair, hazel eyes, beautifully dressed.
When the young friends see the ice is broken & Mr. Big Shot is hob knobbing with them, they glide over & a party starts. Everyone chats about tennis & Harry’s escapade & what he does as a body guard.
On this night, Ralph & Helen begin their friendship. He asks her for a game, right on their own turf. She agrees & beats him. He’s a bit flustered because he’s good but takes it well as he’s falling in love with her & she seems to like his attention.
He then devises a plan, that on any Saturday Helen is available, he’ll get the tennis playing friends to challenge her. And after the game they will go out to dinner, & there it starts.
He challenges the friends, saying no one can beat her. I’ve mentioned this before. The guys start out with confidence, the females not as confident but willing to test their game & maybe get famous for winning. But no such luck. Each player eats crow, & Ralph is getting more & more puffed up as the lady he now loves is unbeaten & the most beautiful of them all. Wow, Ralph feels like a King.
And Harry Sr sees the writing on the wall. And it spells success. Wealth & prestige are coming closer.
From the forthcoming Novel by Rasa Von Werder, ‘Church of Women’ copyrighted 2023, all rights reserved
College of the Gender War, Core Tenets
Charities of the Rich & Helen’s Tennis
Part 6 Harry Hareston
The Charities of the Rich Women & Helen’s Tennis
Now as I said, Helen, the sister of Harry, was becoming quite a tennis player. In the future some interesting things would happen to her personally & with her game. But let me begin by describing some ventures that Helen will figure in later, the women of charities among the super rich.
Not all rich people are vain, shallow & greedy, there are some with hearts of gold, there are those who vacillate between being good & bad. Let me begin by an overview.
The people Harry Sr wanted to be a part of were not just well off, they had super abundance. Their homes were at lowest, two million dollars each up to 150 million! These were estates, American palaces, the royalty of our land. Some of the most impressive were Greenwich, Ct, right there where Harry lived & worked & saw the beauty/ luxury around him. People with several acre plots, right on the ocean, tennis courts, indoor & outdoor swimming pools, homes with six to ten bedrooms & even more baths, gardeners tending sculpted hedges & magnificent laws, flowers everywhere, a paradise. Harry had a goal in mind. He didn’t think he could strike the highest notes ever, but he aimed for a house, some day, that cost over one million bucks. Mind you, in the sixties a million bucks was a million bucks! Then he’d feel he’d ‘made it’ He’d be happy & people would show respect. Of course, the cars had to go with it – the most expensive ones on the market, albeit used.
As I said, some of these people were good souls. Not all – indeed there are even more shallow, materialistic folks from the rich than from the poor. But let me begin with a good one.
Maria Sandy Montbalm had married a tycoon. She belonged to that group of women who every year had a huge bash for charity – many families went all out for this, hundreds attended & good works were done. Maria was one of the ten females most active.
Her endeavor was a soup kitchen that she opened up in Bridgeport, Ct. She rented a hall there with a big room, kitchen, a couple rooms to the side & good bathrooms. All year, every day, meals were served. Much soup with good bread was given. They even made pizza! Those who were homeless & so dirty & smelly had to take their food from a window, so as not to offend the others, especially children.
People could sit or do takeout.
Maria put this affair onto Face Book with her own picture proudly standing next to the poor on the Christmas feast.
She went all out on Christmas, huge decorated tree inside & even one big one outside by the parking lot, all color baubles, tinsel, bit star on top, at bottom the statue of Jesus in the manger/stable with his family & beasts looking over him. This delighted the children, some of whom had no tree & no décor of this type.
The food she had prepared was all out: Turkey/& or chicken with all the trimmings & sumptuous desserts. Each child got a bag of five candy bars to take home – the healthy kinds with coconut, peanut butter & nuts with the chocolate. And believe it or not, she got a large number of champagne bottles for the adults. This was a big hit! And she had a little band, a piano which was there all year & played during dinner – popular & classical – which was augmented by other instruments & a few singers who had all the carols ready for the people to join in.
There was more. Weeks before Christmas Maria asked all her friends to donate gifts they could hand out to the poor. Some of the gifts were exquisite – & Maria & here servants went personally to each house to collect. Kids were asked to sacrifice one of their toys – even if it was one which they favored the least or had gotten tired of. Girls gave dolls, the older ones gave new cosmetics & costume jewelry, boys gave replicas of trucks, & luxury cars. There were statues, paintings & some appliances like cd players & such.
{The other room housed, at all times, the used clothing of the rich, especially for children, & including beautiful blankets, sheets, kitchen appliances, dishes, silverware, cups, glasses & the like – even golf clubs & old tennis or badminton rackets!: almost everything you could want for your house & family. Everything was spotless – clothing laundered & washed clean with steam – Maria was meticulous. She wanted no dingy ‘thrift store’ scent.}
When Maria visited for Christmas, of course she had two body guards with her & did NOT use the Rolls, just an ordinary car from the servants. The pictures she took standing with the poor, featured on Face Book, showing her beaming with joy, proved to the world how much she cared & there was JOY in charity.
And it was important to put images of the folks having a good time, & the children beaming, holding the presents they had chosen from the collection – & those who donated could see their old toy or blanket happily in the arms of some poor tyke who really needed it!
And the poor were dressed to the hilt. They had gone earlier to the used store & picked out the best clothing they could find.
Now the husband of Maria, Henry, everyone thought was a tough guy & not soft. But deep inside he was proud of his wife although he said not much, but he was generous to the hilt & sometimes gave large bonuses for some poor family in need; for instance the Grandmother Bettina. She was caring for eight children! Both her daughters had come to a bad end, each had had four kids. One of them died of an overdose; her husband was in jail for violent crimes & drug dealing – a long sentence. The other daughter had died in a street shootout, her husband was nowhere to be found. The kids were orphans under Bettina’s care & yes, she did get benefits, but it wasn’t enough. Henry donated $800 a month or 100 to each child, to this family each year, until the kids would turn eighteen. And they did visit Maria’s center almost daily, receiving the gifts & food & this family was saved from the worst poverty. And besides receiving, they donated their time to work there, out of their own hearts of gratitude – it was not compulsory.
Other women in Maria’ bracket funded animal shelters or gave cash to a list of families in need – many were women with children, no man. Some gave large amounts to various Churches or battered women’s shelters.
Now as I said, not all were good souls. An example of a spiritually misguided woman was Annette Spellding. Her husband was a TV tycoon, so rich they built an estate worth 100 million. Annette had exquisite taste; she spent all her time designing the building, then furnishing it. Their status was so high that the Prince Charles, the Duke of Windsor, visited!
But Anna had no time for charities, she would do things like collect antique dolls & even had a room for them. What in tarnation could a grown woman do with hundreds of dolls? But there they were.
And when Anna died, she took nothing with her, surprise, surprise. She had all of eternity to think on what she could have done to help the poor, whom she ignored.
The Tennis Game of Helen
At first, Helen & Harry started as equals with Harry having the edge. But soon, Helen left him behind. Why? Because Harry was pursuing other goals & stopped practicing, his games were sporadic. But Helen was committed & faithfully followed her coach.
Bit by bit, game by game, she was becoming a legend. Pretty soon no one could beat her – neither male nor female. There came a cliché when someone was bragging a bit much, the retort was,
“But you can’t beat Helen.”
People became fascinated by her & why was she so good? They tried to spy out her secrets to no avail, so it was assumed it was her coach. Some of the toffs hired him also, but the results were mixed. Indeed he gave the same advise to all, but not all followed accurately nor did they practice enough, nor did they all have great talent. The downfall of the average guy was arrogance in not obeying the coach, the downfall of most women was envy of Helen but lack of confidence in themselves.
Then someone caught her, on her knees, in the dressing room, praying her Rosary to the Holy Mother. Then rumor went out it was God helping her smash her victims.
But this was not true. Helen had gone back to her childhood training by her Mom, who had the children on their knees, reciting the Holy Rosary every day.
After graduating her girl’s school she escaped their influence, her spirituality sprang back & she wanted to pray out of Love – no ulterior motives. It gave her peace of mind. She did not invoke the Supernatural to win games – it would not be the affair of God to defeat one person against another – God loves all. However, it did help her win because the Grace of God brought out the best in her. It was just a matter of obeying her coach & practicing, along with talent.
So let us have a look at what this coach taught Helen & some of us can gain insights to better our own game, lol.
Helen’s teacher saw her innate grace & worked at maximizing that. He focused on the fluidity of her moves, concentration on the ball and the correct preparation and swing pattern.
He told Helen that she must stay balanced and composed at all times even when the match was going against her.
Helen had great confidence in her teacher – his words were sacred, but also, she believed in herself, a key element.
Coach Kellerman emphasized that Helen must meditate off the court, to send the power gained there while playing for the big points.
But here is the biggie – everyone listen. He taught her to hit a two-handed backhand. The other guys were using one arm with the backhand stroke but because Helen used two hands her backhand service return was lethal – it made that shot a weapon.
Her opponents were so afraid of hitting the serve to her backhand that they started to go to her forehand but her forehand was always a good shot so they had nowhere to go. Helen became a strong returner of serve regardless the side her opponent served her on (forehand or backhand.)
Helen was beating everyone. Her new fiancé {will explain later} challenged all his friends, male as well as female, to take her on. He tried one game with his beauty & it was curtains. He wanted to test her power & make sport of his friends – all of whom felt superior to her because of their status, arrogance & wealth. And some of them were really good, compared to average folks, but this Helen business was another dimension!
When she came upon one of these puffed-up types, Helen would pull this trick, which would afterward humiliate them. At the beginning of a tennis match they flip a coin to see who serves first …..whenever she would win the coin toss (although most people when they win
would elect to serve first (serving is advantageous) Helen would tell her opponent to serve first so she could break their serve the very first game of the match. (To break serve means the returner wins the game that the opponent is serving.)
Also Helen had such confidence in her service return that when her opponent missed their first serve she would move up in the court to intimidate them (by doing this she was sending them the message that she didn’t respect their second serve and was going to slam the serve back for a winner) and this so discombobulated her opponents that they would often double fault…. meaning they would miss their second serve and she would win the point.
The crowd loved watching Helen because she had variety and hit spectacular shots. At these times she would raise her hands in the air and wave to the crowd for applause. This love affair of crowd to Helen was great for her but demoralizing to the other guy.
All the things Helen does disrupts her opponents, especially the men. They can’t stand the fact that the crowd gets behind her spectacular shots, running around gracefully, hitting winners and humiliating them so they lose their concentration & their game goes downhill.
Also the audacity that a woman would move up in the court on a male second serve showing it total disrespect was unnerving for the men.
And then there was her beauty & style. As I said before, she looked like Gene Tierney. Her tennis garb was functional, tasteful and sexy. The males were attracted to her & wanted to impress her, not be beaten by her. Beautiful women they saw as sex objects, not competitors. If Helen was ugly they might have said,
“Oh well, beaten by a three bagger – she has nothing to do but practice so sure, she can beat me.”
The tennis set talked about Helen constantly, more & more people challenged her to no avail. She ruled supreme.
To be continued. This is from the forthcoming book, “Church of Women,” copyrighted Rasa Von Werder 2023, all rights reserved.
College of the Gender War, Core Tenets
Harry’s Life & Family
Harry Hareston’s Family & Their Lifestyle
The Hareston family lived in Greenwich, Ct, – but don’t get excited, their home was not a mansion or estate. They lived in the beautiful but relatively humble guest house or ‘gardener’s place’ behind the Big House.
Part 2 of (4) – Harry Hareston from the forthcoming novel by Rasa Von Werder: “Church of Women” copyrighted Rasa Von Werder, all rights reserved
And Maude Hareston was not an ‘elegant, refined snob’ like the Lady of the Manor but a housekeeper/maid who was on call 24/7, six days a week.
She begged off for Sunday as she was religious & wanted to spend the day with the Lord, Church, prayer & meditation. But they insisted that if they had an emergency, like one of the kids got sick, she had to help, & of course she agreed.
Maude worked hard. On record, her job was supposed to be eight hours a day but in reality she ended up working, most days, twelve hours a day. It wasn’t a hardship on her family as Harry Sr was also on call all week & gone except for meals & sleep, while the kids were either in school, playing sports or hanging with friends. She took care of her own family & the rich Narthers – a formidable task but she was strong as an ox & determined.
And what did she get for her efforts? It started in the 60’s when she was granted $250 a month. Sounds awful today but in 1965 this was for 2022 $2,309 a month & $27,708 a year. They got this lovely home to live in free {all utilities paid} & lots of perks. The perks were, for one thing, so much food from the house they scarcely had to buy groceries. Maude was the 2nd in Command cook, Mr. Franz was hired three days a week for the dinners, Maude was ‘Sous Chef’.
Maude’s duties were as follows: Make the Master’s beds {they had adjoining rooms}every day, hang up their clothes, dust & vacuum. Do all the food shopping daily, groceries & bakery. Any other basic items Boss Lady needed that day were purchased by her –Nancy Narther was busy with charity work, health spa & special purchases for the house, family & herself.
Second, she was responsible for the breakfast & lunch every day & on the days Chef Franz was there. Everyone ate breakfast. It was eggs, potatoes & pancakes, & sometimes the kids, when they were young, wanted corn flakes or oats with milk & bananas or strawberries. Lunch was sparse as the kids were in school, the Boss was at work & Nancy was on a diet or out. On weekends they were there for most meals, especially dinner, always breakfast, sometimes lunch. Dinner was formal, Maude made it: Meat {chicken, steak or prime rib, fish} & potatoes {baked, boiled or mashed} or rice or pasta, vegetables, various salads like Cesar Salad with anchovies & raw egg yolks, or Waldorf Salad (Romaine, walnuts, apples) or American Salad with tomatoes; always cake, pie or other desserts as the kids demanded it, the adults passed. {Rich people don’t get fat, their motto being, “You can’t be too thin or too rich.”}
When Mr. Franz was there Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday {he worked at a posh French bistro he owned Friday & Saturday, – his wife, also a French Chef, cooked the other days} he only made the dinner, for which he was paid $300 the month {this figures from 1965 to 2022 – $2771 per month for 12 days work, $33,252 a year – $231 per day he worked…his day also was not the full eight hours but five or six at the most} – way more than Maude but then, French Chefs don’t come cheap. He also prepared the parties or special meals they had – even his wife participated in some of these. They had dignitaries, politicians & tycoons at the table. At these times Maude helped & as usual did the ‘dirty work’ of washing, slicing, grating, prepping & then cleaned the kitchen & washed the dishes & pots & pans. She never complained. Mr & Mrs Franz treated her like an underling & she called them ‘Sir’ & ‘Ma’am’ just like she did all the others on top.
Also Mr. Franz made double the portions needed at each service, the second half being housed in their huge freezers, which were utilized by Mrs. Nather for Sundays, when Maude was off. Or else Maude, at their request would sometimes take out these dinners for weekends instead of the usual American fare. {Mrs Nather knew how to cook, just didn’t want to – unless you love it, it can be drudgery.}
When meals were finished Maude hit her bonanzas as she got all the leftovers she wanted – good stuff. Kids would take one bite from a croissant, leave the rest. Half a piece of cake, leave the rest. She could take these home, cut off the bitten piece & throw it to the birds & the rest was good. And a big salad, sometimes half was left behind. They didn’t want it on the table again, she could have it. Same with soup. Soup left over she could have. They rarely ate leftovers – usually on Sunday when no help was there. Then they only ate bread that was no more than two days old – past that time she could have it. She never stole or took anything not allowed her – she was as honest as a saint – {that’s why the owners trusted her} but with these handouts she saved half the money she would have for food.
This is a typical esoteric meal Mr. Franz would make:
*Leek and potato soup
*Grated beet salad {grated, boiled beets tossed with garlic, seasoning & wine, oil & vinegar – cooled. Then tossed with salad greens & endive}
*sautéed mushrooms: sautéed in butter, add tbs of chopped shallots
*Deviled game hens: ‘butterfly’ & broil hens, make a mayonnaise-like sauce, 1/3 cup mustard, minced shallot, pinches of dried tarragon or rosemary, drops of Tabasco sauce & 3 tbsp pan seasonings. Paint this on skin of hens, pat on a layer of white bread crumbs. Baste with remaining juices. Finish cooking in broiler.
*Caramel Custard for dessert
The most important aspect of Maude’s presence to the Nather family was care of their children, especially when they were small. Maude was reliable in all ways & good for emergencies, like when the kids got hurt. She knew how to tend a wound properly & bandage it, she knew how to bind up a sprain, & she would keep the children as safe as possible. At the time we are speaking of now, the kids went from 15, the female, to 18 & 20 for the boys – they didn’t need baby sitting but they sometimes needed help.
What did Harry Sr. think of all this? He hated it. He looked at the Big House with sad envy. He was ashamed his wife was their maid – he never told anyone. When he had to, he called her ‘housekeeper’ which was fairly accurate.
Being a ‘servant’ gave him bad memories of his childhood. His own Dad had been a truck driver, never graduating to a higher place. {His Mom was a waitress at a diner.}
Harry got a job as a janitor at the plant after school. He saw how his Dad was treated. When he went into the office, the Boss didn’t even raise his head to acknowledge
him, spoke to him looking at the desk, like he was irrelevant. When they passed each other in the plant Boss Man didn’t say hello, just acted like he was invisible – a typical trait of those who think they are above someone.
Harry was hurt. And although Dad never said anything about this, Harry noticed that when he came home from work at the plant he was grumpy & not only that, but cruel. He’d criticize Harry for the slightest things, yelling,
“Haven’t you learned anything about being a janitor? Clean this place up!”
Harry suffered & wished for kindness, but instead of being sensitive to his own son, he became just like his Dad. He infested his son with the same insecurity & low self esteem.
His ambition to lift their station in life rested on his kids. He put Helen in that posh girl’s school at twelve, & he began to work on Harry age 16. Harry would never be the same. He worked hard as a Caddy at the Country Club, he & sis both took tennis lessons & practiced a lot because the Nathers had a tennis court, & two sons that liked to play.
One of the sons, Jonathan, in time, developed a crush on Helen. He was twenty – Helen seventeen when it started, all on the tennis court.
He imagined he had a chance. His Mom had said he was handsome, people were nice to him but that’s because he was rich. Personally, he was not good looking, in fact, goofy. He had reddish hair, freckles & buck teeth. He was tall & gangly, not much muscle or sex appeal. His tennis was average, his golf worse, not like Harry Jr who excelled at all sports.
But Helen had turned into a Gene Tierney, even better some said. She was 5’8” with a perfect figure, 34-24-36. She carried herself well, spoke with polish, laughed easily & radiated charm, played great tennis & danced gracefully. She was all things to all men, a centerpiece.
During the hottest days of summer the Nather boys invited her & Harry to their pool, & then invited their friends for a party. Pizza & ice cream were served. Here Jonathan reveled in Helen’s beauty & all the guys stealing glances at her, while the other females felt envy & gossiped about her in a catty fashion,
“Oh, look at her putting on airs. Her Dad is the chauffer & her Mom is the maid, haha! Shell never be anybody.”
But oh, how wrong they were.
One day Jonathan decided to make a serious pass at Helen, in fact, his imagination was so strong that because Helen was nice to him, he thought she had feelings. He took her to the side by a bench she was on & said,
“Helen, I am mad abut you. How’s the two of us dating & maybe getting engaged?”
She was taken aback but her composure & rebound was quick,
“Well, John, I must confess. I am already spoken for to another. We haven’t made an announcement yet.”
She was lying, but it was the only retort that would work. Anything else, like,
“Let’s just be friends,”
would have been, to him, an insult. Can’t insult the employer of your Mom.
Downhearted, he walked away & pretended to be happy but he was as sullen as could be inside.
Strangely enough, this statement of hers was soon to come true.
College of the Gender War, Core Tenets
NOVEL: HARRY HARESTON
Novel – 4 – Harry Hareston
For the forthcoming novel “Church of Women” 3-29-23
Harry Hareston led an interesting life. He will be featured strongly in a chapter that describes the ordeal little Stevie went through with three men. These men were supposed to teach him ‘masculine traits’, as described by a fake Member of the Community who would later be ousted – a female named Cassandra Cunningham. Two of the men that were to be his ‘examples’ were tycoons. Harry was the third man, rich but no tycoon, & not ‘to the manor born,’ – the other guys viewed him as a servant although he had good qualities to recommend him, an impressive background & was their body guard.
Harry’s parents were sort of opposites. His Mom Maude had started out as a beautiful girl, but as the years rolled on she gained weight, her eyes got bad from being a book worm so thick glasses did not add to her appeal. She was happy with her married life & two children, Harry & Helen & her religious life was basic to her, she practiced it assiduously, going to Church & praying the rosary EVERY DAY. She’d speak of God a lot to the children – not to Harry Sr. as he wasn’t interested – read to them from the Children’s Bible from an early age – had them go to Catechism, Holy Communion & Mass every Sunday. She felt she was leading the perfect life & never complained.
But Harry Sr. was a chauffer with a plan – & that was to become a respected member of the elite community. It was far fetched but his hopes were strong. He started out as a truck driver for a large company & was so good at all he did – driving, repairing, managing & reliability, that the owner of the company appointed him Chief of the truck pool & for a while he worked a lot at a desk.
After a couple years he was awarded a different job – personal chauffer to the owner with his Rolls Royce & other cars, & this carried privileges. Here the designs of Harry Sr. looked like they could be fulfilled, as he now rubbed shoulders with elites, going to all the affairs the Boss went to, sometimes even being invited to their gatherings or shindigs not necessarily as an equal, but as another man they respected, & he got to know the ways of the ‘elites’, how they think, how they talk, act, dress & so on. This went on for many years & when he heard the guys speaking of certain stocks he put his relatively meager savings into them & made some pretty good profits.
He also got perks like being friendly with some of the guys, – who he’d go get from bars when they were drinking to drive them home – or from their mistresses, same thing, & some of the guys gave him designer clothing like super expensive jackets they didn’t need any more or tuxedoes when they had gained weight & no longer fit. But the big perk was the cars.
Super rich guys would buy new cars constantly & sell their old ones. This way he got to own three luxury cars instead of one – the guys would sell these cars much cheaper to him, in part to insure he’d keep his mouth shut about the drunken times, mistresses & ‘whores.’ He got a white Cadillac, a red Corvette & a frost-violet Lamborghini Diablo which the dealer called ‘purple’. Yes, they were all at least ten years old, but people didn’t know how long he’d had them.
Harry Sr. felt his children would be tickets to the life of luxury. If he set them up with society – he had the connections – they would marry “well”, gain all the perks including money – & some of this would include him & his wife. His mind was on this constantly as he watched them grow up & they were extremely good looking – taking after him & his wife when she was young. And with their looks, he thought, & his connections, how could they fail? Time would prove him right.
But he had to begin training the kids to prepare them for the ‘high life.’ And so he found an exclusive, very posh school for Helen, which she entered at twelve. This would change her ways forever as the girls were not religious & laughed at her devotion. This dampened her ardor for God as she was no saint, just doing what her Mom taught her, so she stopped some of the things that gave her away as ‘religious fanatic.’ She adopted the ways of the other girls – which is what Dad wanted – affecting a sort of aloof, disdainful attitude of privilege, not taking anything seriously, not giving away her soft emotions. She learned how to sit, eat, dress, talk & gossip like the other girls – it would serve her well.
Now Harry Jr. was an excellent sportsman from the time of childhood, well developed, tall, with dark curly hair, beautifully shaped lips, grey-green eyes with soft thick eyebrows, a perfectly even & harmonious face – a chip off the old block.
Harry Sr was never nice to Jr, he picked on him from the beginning, thinking the more he corrected the boy the quicker he’d become ‘a man.’ But he was cruel.
Little Harry’s job was the wash the cars from the age of ten – all four of them, including the Rolls Royce which was parked at their house as the owner didn’t drive it.
When he washed the Caddy – which was the car Mom preferred & drove – she always praised & thanked him.
But when he washed Dad’s cars he’d keep yelling at him to hurry up & would find something wrong with each job – like the spokes on the wheels were not polished enough, the inside was not perfect, all the soap was not rinsed off. He’d say things like,
“Can’t you do anything right? Even a moron can wash a car so you’re less than a moron.”
One day when Harry was washing the Rolls {all the cars had to be washed every other day & spruced up inside, especially the Rolls} – Sr got a call from the boss to pick him up right now. This put Dad on edge, as he was known for his punctuality & reliability.
He went out & seeing the boy wasn’t finished, he grabbed him & pushed him so hard he fell on the lawn, Dad calling him ‘idiot’, quickly took the power wash, finished the job & sped off.
When Jr got less than a B on any subject He’d say,
“Why a C here? This is easy stuff. What’s the matter with you?”
Harry was a terrific sportsman & chosen co-captain of the High School football team. He was now sixteen. His Dad’s response was,
“So you couldn’t even make Captain? You had to share the spotlight with another guy?”
He didn’t praise him for all the A’s & B’s he got, just picked on him for less than that. Maude did damage control, took the poor boy aside & spoke to him gently,
“Your Dad doesn’t mean to be like that. He’s under pressure. The guys he works for are pushing him all the time, they intimidate him & he’s afraid to let them down. But he really loves you.
I appreciate all the good that you do.”
And she would hug her son tenderly.
Junior was afraid to say the rosary with Mom any more as Dad would give them dirty looks, saying,
“Can’t the boy do something more constructive? The rosary won’t help him get by in life – he needs to work on getting ahead….I’m going to get him a job as a golf Caddy, then he won’t have so much time to waste.”
When he ranted like this Mom would hush the boy not to answer. She tolerated Dad as that’s all she could do, she made excuses for him with her mind as she knew he was ambitious & this need was driving him crazy. Success was his God, he’d get there any way he could & time was of the essence. He intended to be rich, set for the good life, by the time he was fifty, 60 at the absolute latest, & he was now 45.
And so he set off, that next day, to talk to the owner of the local Golf Course to give his boy a job, which he got easily, as they were friends, & on his way home he drove by a park.
There he sees his son playing basketball with two black guys & one white. He drives toward some thick pine trees where he parks the Rolls, not wanting the guys to see it, gets out & stands where Harry can see him by a black iron gate. When Harry notices Dad standing there he’s summoned.
Then Dad says accusingly,
“What are you doing?”
The boy is puzzled,
“Playing basketball.”
“Basketball is a nigger game! It’ll never get you anywhere. I just got you a job as a golf Caddy, you start tomorrow. And I’ll buy you tennis lessons. The class people play tennis.”
He tells him to get in the car. But the boy protests,
“I have to get the ball – it’s mine.”
“Forget the ball – you won’t need it. Let it be a parting gift to them as they won’t see you any more.”
Jr almost gets tears in his eyes – he can’t even say good bye to his friends.
By now the other guys have made it to the gate, carrying his ball, & they spot the Rolls with astonishment.
But Father & son are already in the car & when Dad sees the other guys, he speeds off.
They look at Jr sadly, one saying,
“I don’t think he’s coming back.”
They had some idea what was going on – two worlds, the world of poverty & the world of the rich, & never the twain shall meet.
Core Tenets
New Honor
New DooWop Mix 4 Rasa
His name is DJ Tony Torres
Friends, just awoke to find this honor made for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaOMfhu35w0&t=1433s
So please take a look & tank the DJ for producing it! He’s grateful for the kudos. DooWop brings back bittersweet memories of my childhood
My stage name was Kellie Everts, now Rasa Von Werder
Some pics for your pleasure:
College of Matriarchal Love, College of the Gender War, Core Tenets, Uncategorized
Stevie’s Big Challenge
Stevie’s Big Challenge 2-5-23
Stevie was considered a prodigy within the
Convent {a venue is called a Convent within the Order when it’s a separate homestead with a variety of uses. It has a Temple & education facilities as well as all the amenities a home should have.}
This article is copyrighted Rasa Von Werder, 2023. It is to be part of the book ‘Church of Women’
As explained before, he was a whiz at learning & to the grownups, declared ‘best dancer.’ But the kids – mostly girls – preferred Marjorie. She was their Hera who could dethrone Stevie to be #1.
Conflicts broke out. There were arguments, disputations, declarations of this or that. Why Marjorie was better, why Stevie was, on & on. Finally one day it came to a head.
Marjorie’s Mom was an English teacher & pubic speaker. She’d been published & once toured the country promoting her novel. {It was a young lady tale about her years at Vassar.}
All the kids were encouraged to speak publicly – part of the comprehensive education set up by the Foundress. They were asked from the age six to speak on stage or in front of the class – little things at first, like what they liked to eat, what kind animals they loved, what they did today & what they planned to do tomorrow. This graduated to what they thought about subjects they were studying, how they thought they could become good at their sport or dance, then higher subjects that touched upon the meaning of life & remarks about the doctrine & practices of the Order.
Marjorie’s Mom was especially eager for her to be highly respected & loved. She felt Marge was being
somewhat cheated out of ‘first place’ in the Convent & on her next opportunity to recite, she should pipe up about that. The Mom coached Marge on the important principles to be voiced & rehearsed her over & over. Now the chance came.
All had gathered for a dance class, the Elders were there as there were some demonstrations the teacher wanted them to see how the students had progressed. After that was the ‘sit down’ dancing everyone liked so many came early. Most of the fifty inhabitants of the Convent were there.
Before class started the teacher asked if anyone wished to speak nor make an announcement. Marjorie raised her hand & was given the stage.
She walked up confidently, even defiantly & began,
“Our religion is one of female supremacy. Women are loved & respected as superior to men, with good reason.
And so now, I cannot understand why I must be measured against a male, who in our religion is an inferior, & he is treated as if he is equal to me or even better & I resent being compared to him.
I want this settled once & for all, that I am better than Stevie, & that is it. I don’t want to be in a contest with him every day.”
The Members were shocked – this is an eleven-year old girl who had never spoken like this. They had not known she felt this way.
The C.O. stepped forward & spoke,
“Stevie, have you anything to say?”
Stevie was as shocked as anyone but as we said, a prodigy. He pulled himself together & said,
“I agree with all the beliefs of our religion including that females are superior to males because of their two X chromosomes. We all accept that.
But it doesn’t mean that all females are better than all males in all things.
Even though Marjorie has two X chromosomes & I only have one, I’m not sure if Marjorie is a better dancer than me.
We’re both good & to end this conflict, can we have a dance off & whoever wins, wins, & whoever loses takes it in a sportsmanlike fashion? I am ready for the challenge.”
The C.O. came forward & said,
“Clear the stage. I declare a contest to see who is #1 – Stevie or Marjorie. I will play the music, which will be unknown to them ahead of time. There will be between two to four minutes each composition & may the best woman or man win.”
“And whoever wins, wins, & no more disputes. Everyone take your places,”
& she goes to the computer. The challenger, Marjorie, takes her place. She moans inside when she hears, from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet, a dreary strain called ‘Dance of the Knights.’
It’s like a drone, you have to be inventive, imaginative to make it interesting. It’s a piece that drags on without
highlights. Stevie does equal time & also strains to make it lively, with great effort. The best part is when she ended it after two minutes – no one knows who won.
Once again, Marge takes her place. Ah, it’s a thumbs up, from John Strauss II, a type of dance called Czardas, Ritter Pazman, Opus 441. The first half is lyrical, slow, the second half strong & rousing. Teacher plays the entire piece which is over four minutes, so they are both out of breath when finished.
Marge is exquisite, so graceful, like an angel wafting on clouds in part one, but part two, Stevie begins his leaps & he can jump much higher than her, so it’s apples & oranges.
Teacher knows they must now recoup, as when people dance on stage, it looks easy to an audience, but they are emoting with every ounce of breath & ballet stars sometimes when leaving the stage, fall to the floor exhausted. She holds off from starting the music for a minute.
Now the climax. Everyone gasps. It’s the marvelous ‘can can’ from Offenbach’s ‘Orpheus in the Underworld.’
Both performers know this is short but faster than hell & must pull out all the stops.
The audience even jumps to the tune, everyone is excited.
Marjorie begins & she knows there isn’t much time, she starts showing off right away, jumping high in the air & landing in a split! Then she does some wide circle twirls, like big circles that end in fancy leg lifts, & she does her best leap again, & again, & again, always falling into a split, then wide circle leaps, even backward & lifts one leg back & bends it to her head for the exit! The audience cheers & cheers, this is spectacular.
Can Stevie match or top this? He also puts his best foot forward, running into leaps like Baryshnikov, higher & higher, then stops for the amazing twirls called pirouettes, it seems the twirls will never end & the audience begins to fear for him like he might never stop & get dizzy-sick at the end, but he breaks out of it & does a couple of wild leaps where he does a split in mid air, end of story. Has he won?
The C.O. comes forward now & says it will be decided by applause. She calls Marjorie forward & there’s wild screams & yells & frantic clapping.
Then Stevie, the same thing & he gets a reaction just as loud, although, as was said before, the kids prefer Marge, the adults like Stevie.
Both the Teacher & C.O. can’t figure whose applause was greater.
They call forward the Chief, who’s sitting in the middle, away from the crowd. They ask for the applause again, she’s listening.
She comes up on the stage & says,
“The answer is obvious. From where I sat I could hear a balance from both sides. Neither one is preferred to the other, they are both appreciated equally. It’s a tie.”
The audience approves, they are satisfied. Both sides did not want to lose, but this is OK, both are winners, neither one loses. Everyone is happy.