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===================
Orange County Babylon
PART FOUR
by
Michael Dalton
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION
If you have received this work in your e-mail box and do not know
why, it is because your Internet service provider is forwarding posts
from Usenet newsgroups to your account. It has *NOT* been e-mailed to
you by the author. You must contact your ISP for help.
This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons
is unintentional and strictly coincidental. Although this story refers
to many real places and organizations, such mention should not be taken
to imply either a relationship or approval of any sort. This work
contains explicit descriptions of sexual activity, and anyone offended
by such things should read no further. If reception of this work is
illegal due to your age or other repressive local regulations,
liability for downloading it is your problem, not mine. This work is
intended solely for the quiet and private enjoyment of adults, and any
other use is a violation of the copyright.
This work is Copyright 1998 by Michael...@aol.com and is
protected by United States and other international copyright law.
Reposting and archiving is permitted, except where a fee of any sort is
required or earned for access, provided this disclaimer and note remain
attached to the story. All other rights, specifically rights of
commercial use, are reserved. Commercial use here is defined to
include membership web sites, banner-funded web sites, and those
protected by fee-based age validation methods (such as Adultcheck and
Adultsights). However, exception is specifically made for web sites
(such as DejaNews) that provide archiving and access to all Usenet
posts in a particular group without editing or selection for content.
No modifications may be made to this story without express permission
from the author. Any questions regarding use of this work can be
directed to the address above. Failure to contact the author prior to
use is presumptive evidence of bad faith and may expose you to
significant criminal and civil liability.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
This novel was first published in August, and has remained one of
the most popular and most requested works I have written. From the
vast amount of feedback I have gotten over it, I have been able to make
some revisions and corrections that warranted a repost. This is still
the same story, mind you--what I have changed were a number of factual
and grammatical errors pointed out to me by my readers. In particular,
I want to thank Neverless and Lee Vine for assistance in that regard.
With eight or nine months of hindsight (I wrote the first draft
of OCB in March), I have to say that I am not entirely happy with this
thing. Among other problems, I think it starts too quickly and the
behavior and personality of some of the characters in Part One are
inconsistent with what occurs later. None of this appears to have
dimmed the enthusiasm that has greeted the story, but it bears pointing
out.
If you haven't read this before, a few words of warning. This
novel (and it *is* a novel--it runs to over 98,000 words) should not be
taken too seriously. It is best described as a silly, sappy, high
school soap opera. The protagonist has more good fortune and more wild
experiences in one year than most people have in their entire lives. I
don't just mean the sex, either. Although there is plenty of sex in
this story, there are also long stretches of action where nothing
remotely sexual occurs. This is because the story is supposed to be a
full depiction of the protagonist's life, not simply a catalog of his
sexual behavior. As in the real world, sexual activity has certain
consequences, and that is what I have tried to accurately describe.
The reader will note fairly quickly that this story appears to
fall into one of the worst stereotypes of low-grade erotica: the
football player and the cheerleaders. To this appearance, I freely
confess--but there is a great deal else going on in here.
Nevertheless, should you have a congenital allergy to football, you may
want to skip this, as there is plenty of explicit sports to go with the
explicit sex.
Those of you familiar with Orange County, California, will note
that I have taken certain liberties in my descriptions, particularly
with the locations and athletic programs of area high schools. I did
this solely out of laziness--I wasn't interested in researching the
actual composition of the local high school football conferences.
This work is, in many ways, a satire. The views expressed herein
should not be taken as serious commentary on either the County of
Orange, the Roman Catholic Church, or the United States Marine Corps.
I make one exception to that disclaimer, however. My descriptions of
the Orange County foster care system do not in any way resemble
reality. The actual system is currently in very dire straits, and few,
if any, children who go through it have experiences as easy and
pleasant as the protagonist's. Sexual abuse of foster children is
unfortunately not uncommon, and in real life, the consequences are far
different from what I have described here.
One last note: Please do NOT e-mail me for missing pieces. This
is a very large file and mailing it is a pain. All the pieces of this
story should be available in the ASSM archive, the address for which
can be found in the header above.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XVIII.
Summer held his hand and leaned against his shoulder on the drive home.
"I don't know if I've ever been happier than I am now."
"Me neither."
"I want so bad for this to work. I couldn't stand losing you or Becky."
"I know."
"It's different than it was in the beginning. It's different when it's
someone you love."
"Yeah."
She was silent a moment. He pulled into her driveway.
"Jack?"
"Hmm?"
"I know this may be a lot to ask . . . and I don't know how we could make
this work, but . . ."
"What?"
"I want you to stop sleeping with Karen and Kisu. I don't know how to do
it, but it hurts knowing you are. It really hurts knowing she might want
you now, when you get home."
He sighed. They had just resolved one problem, and here she was creating
another. But she was right. He didn't know how he could go back to the
other girls after this night with her and Becky.
"I'll try. Think about it. I can't do this alone."
"I know. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do."
He thought for a moment.
"I don't know about Karen, but there's a way with Kisu."
"How?"
"You've been to her house?"
"Sure."
"Do you know a way in?"
"Yeah. They've got a spare key near the door in back, under a rock."
"If we can figure out a way so her mom finds out about the pillow book, I
bet she'll back off. She won't want to risk it again."
"I know where her mom keeps it. She showed me once. You want me to go in
and mess up her mom's closet? So she knows someone was in there?"
"That could be a way."
"Okay. I'll do it. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it."
"I'm supposed to see her tomorrow."
"Call her and tell her you can't. When she's at the library, I'll go over
there."
"I feel bad doing this to her. She may get in a lot of trouble."
"It's the only way. I can share you with Becky, but not anyone else. Kisu
doesn't love you. Neither does Karen. Becky and I do."
"I know."
"Should we tell Becky?"
"I will. She needs to know so she can be prepared."
"All right. Let's do it, then."
She leaned up and kissed him.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
He kissed her again, and then walked her to the door. On his walk home, he
thought of what they were about to start.
It might work. Maybe.
The next morning, Jack had his usual attack of guilt. He felt better
knowing they were trying to end it, but then felt worse thinking about how
they were going to do it. He dealt with it the only way he could,
flagellating himself during Confession.
Father Roberts had gotten used to it.
"Jack, God loves an honest man, but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself.
Humility is a virtue, to be sure, but it can be taken too far."
"I know, Father. I'm sorry."
"You have more strength of character than any of the other students in your
class. I want you to know I gave you the best recommendation I could for
the Academy. I think you'll make a fine officer. Your father would be very
proud of you."
He struggled with himself for a moment.
"Thank you, Father."
"All right, one Our Father and three Hail Marys, and remember what I said
about not overdoing it."
"Yes, Father."
When he got home, he called Kisu.
"Hello?" It sounded like her mother.
"Can I speak to Kisu, please?"
"Who is calling, please?"
"Um, Jack O'Leary, ma'am. I'm a classmate of hers."
"Why do you want to speak to her?"
"It's about the homework for Monday. We have English class together."
There was a moment of silence.
"All right. Just a moment."
Kisu came on the line a moment later.
"Jack?"
"Hi."
"Hi. What's up?"
"I don't think we can get together today. I was out kind of late last night
and I have some stuff to do today around the house. I'm sorry."
"Oh, that's okay. No problem."
"Your mom thinks I'm calling about the English homework. Is she standing
there?"
"Yes. Let me go upstairs and check. Hold on."
She put the phone down and returned a minute later.
"We're supposed to read Chapters 10-15. We might have a quiz on it."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye."
Summer drove by Kisu's house at three. No one seemed to be home. Both cars
were gone. She parked down the block and walked casually up to the house as
if she were visiting. If Kisu were home, she would just claim to have
dropped by to hang out. She had done it a few times in the past. No one
answered when she knocked on the back door. She pulled a pair of white
cotton gloves she sometimes wore to Mass out of her jeans and put them on.
Glancing around, she got the spare key from under the rock and let herself
in.
Knowing she had just committed a felony, she tried to work quickly. She
never got tired of looking around Kisu's house at all of the Asian art and
furnishings they had, but now was not the time for gawking. Kisu's parents'
room was upstairs in the back of the house, and she found her way to Kisu's
mother's closet. The pillow book was on a closet shelf, inside a shoebox
behind several jewelry boxes and other items. Summer reached in, pulling
the book out until just the edge of it was peeking out from under the lid.
Not too much--just enough to make it look like someone had been reading it,
then shoved it quickly back in the box while on the verge of discovery.
That would have to do.
She felt bad doing this to Kisu, but what choice did she have? Jack
belonged to her, her and Becky. Kisu would get over it.
She left the house quickly, locking up behind her and returning the key to
its hiding place. She removed her gloves and returned to her car as if she
had been unable to find her friend. She drove home, heart pounding in her
chest.
Karen stuck her head into Jack's room.
"You're not going to see Kisu?"
"I'm not in the mood. I had some stuff to do."
"Oh, well. More for me tonight, then."
At dinnertime, Jack professed to be feeling sick. Marcia felt his forehead,
then his cheek.
"I just feel sick to my stomach."
"It might be something you ate. Why don't you go lie down?"
He went back up to his room. Marcia entered a while later with some chicken
noodle soup and toast.
"This should help your stomach."
Then she gave him some Pepto-Bismol. When she was gone, he ate, and went
back to studying.
As he expected, Karen appeared in his room that night.
"Do you still feel sick?"
"Yeah. Sorry."
"Darn. I was horny. Oh well, I hope you feel better."
"Thanks."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XIX.
Monday morning before English class, when Kisu entered the room, he could
tell right away that something was wrong. She gave him a weary smile, but
otherwise avoided his gaze. He saw Becky glancing at him, and realized she
had seen it too.
After class, Kisu followed him out of the room.
"We have a little problem."
"What?"
"My mom found out I've been reading that book. I don't know how, but she
did."
He tried to act shocked.
"Oh, boy."
"Yeah. She went completely postal. She even wanted to take me to the doctor
to see if I was still a virgin."
"Uh-oh."
"My dad talked her out of it, thank God, but I'm still in deep shit. She
was giving me the third degree about why you called yesterday. I'm actually
glad I didn't see you. It would have been harder to lie."
"Yeah."
"Anyway, I'm grounded for the foreseeable future. So I think we have to
cool it for a while. Just to let my mom calm down. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I understand."
"Thanks. But the other girls should keep you company enough."
She smiled at him and walked off. Becky came up behind him a moment later.
"So?"
"It worked."
"God. I feel so bad doing that to her."
"She seemed okay. I guess she's used to her mom acting like that."
"I hope so. I hate doing stuff like this, even if it is for a good reason."
"She's not the problem. Karen will be."
"I know."
He found Summer after lunch.
"So it worked?"
"Yeah. Easier than I thought it would be."
She sighed.
"I hope to God she never finds out. She'd never forgive me."
"I don't see how she could find out."
"Okay. What next?"
"I feigned being sick with Karen last night, but I can't put her off
forever. And if we do anything this soon after Kisu, she'll get
suspicious."
"I know. It's okay."
"Besides which, I don't have a clue what to do."
"Me neither."
"I'll try to think of something."
She looked at him sadly.
"Me too. And do what you have to. Just think of me when you're doing it. Me
or Becky. Then it's not so bad."
"Okay."
She kissed him on the cheek and went off to class.
He tried thinking about Summer and Becky that night, but it was hard. Karen
just felt too different.
"Can you believe what happened to Kisu?" she asked afterward.
"Yeah. It was bound to happen eventually."
"I don't know. She's usually pretty smart. She told me she didn't know how
her mom figured it out."
"She must have done something to disturb her mom's closet. Something that
tipped her off."
"I guess so. Well, you'll have to make do with what she taught you
already."
She rolled over, propping her head up on her hand, smiling at him.
"Do you love Summer?"
He froze, not sure what to say.
"Why?"
"Because I'm asking. Do you?"
"Does it matter?"
"Answer me. Although I think I know the answer now."
He sighed.
"Yes."
"And Becky?"
"Yes."
"I know you don't much care about Kisu or Corinne or Michelle. What about
me?"
He was momentarily at a loss for words, and it was a moment too long.
Seeing his reaction, Karen's face dropped, and she rolled back onto the
bed, crossing her arms and staring at the ceiling.
"Karen--"
"Don't."
A second later she threw back the covers and grabbed her pajamas off the
floor. Not looking at him, she jerked them on, and stalked back to her
room. He lay there in a daze. What the hell had just happened?
Karen ran back to her room and threw herself into bed. She held back the
tears until she got under the covers, but then the dam burst, and she
sobbed into her pillow. She cried like she hadn't cried in years--seven
years, to be exact. Only one other event in her life had caused her to cry
as she did now, and she felt her heart breaking all over again, just as it
had all those years ago.
Kelly heard her, and had an idea about what was up. She wondered why it had
taken this long.
Karen completely ignored him the next morning, leaving for school on her
own before he did. Her eyes were red and it didn't look like she had slept
too well.
When she heard the door shut, Marcia turned to Jack.
"Was that Karen?"
"Yes, ma'am."
She glanced out the kitchen window.
"Why would she leave by herself?"
"I don't know."
She screwed up her face in concern.
"Hmm."
Karen favored him with only a few glares through the rest of the day and
otherwise refused to speak to him.
"What's up with Karen?" Summer asked that afternoon. "Did something
happen?"
He wasn't ready to explain the previous night, not sure himself what had
happened.
"I don't know."
Karen was shut up in her room when he got back from football practice. She
didn't come down until dinnertime. When she did, she glared at Jack once
and then ignored him.
"How was football today, Jack?" Marcia asked.
"Fine, ma'am. We're playing Newport Harbor this weekend. It's going to be a
very tough game. They're the defending conference champions. We're tied for
first place with them."
"How exciting. Sacred Heart lost to them last year, didn't they, Karen?"
Karen shrugged but said nothing. Marcia stared at her in displeasure for a
moment.
"Well, I think they did. I bet you must be excited."
"I am."
"Are you going to score another touchdown?" Kelly asked.
"Probably not. It's pretty unusual."
"I liked it when you scored last week. Everyone was cheering."
"They were, Jack," Marcia said. "Summer most of all, from what I saw."
"She was only cheering because she knew it got her more votes for
Homecoming Queen," Karen said.
Marcia gasped.
"Karen! That's a horrible thing to say. Apologize this instant."
"I'm sorry," she sneered.
Marcia slammed her hands down on the table.
"That's it. If you can't be civil at this table, you're not going to eat
with us. Get up to your room now."
Karen shoved her chair away from the table and marched up to her room. Jack
heard her door slam.
"Honestly. I don't know what is with her today."
Kelly giggled, obviously thrilled at seeing her big sister in trouble.
Marcia pointed her finger at her.
"Quiet. This isn't funny."
After dinner, Jack went up to his room to study, but Marcia was waiting at
the top of the stairs. She motioned for him to come into her room. He did,
and she shut the door. She had him sit in the chair by her bed, and she sat
on the end of the mattress.
"Jack, I'm sure you've noticed how Karen has been behaving. I want to tell
you a few things so you'll understand."
"Okay."
"Karen was very close to her father. She really was Daddy's Little Girl, so
much so that Kelly sometimes got jealous. She was only ten when he died,
and I don't think she's ever completely adjusted to it. She used to be a
very vivacious and outgoing child. Since her father died, she's withdrawn
into this shell. She keeps everyone at a distance, I think because she's
afraid of getting hurt again. She has these episodes of nastiness every now
and then, no matter how much I yell at her to behave. She pretends to be
very tough and mature, but I know deep inside there's a very hurt little
girl who still misses her father. Kelly has dealt with it much better than
she has.
"The reason I'm telling you this is because I think you may be
unintentionally making the situation worse."
He started.
"I am?"
"Relax. You're not doing anything wrong. It really isn't anything you can
control. It's just that you're very much like my husband. We met when he
was a second-year midshipman at Annapolis, and I was a senior in high
school. He was only a year or two older than you are now, and I can't tell
you how much you remind me of him. The same drive and ambition, the same
commitment to doing what's right. How polite you are, and how you care so
much about people's feelings. It startles me sometimes."
"Really?"
"Yes. So much so that it makes me a little sad every now and then. So I
know that Karen is going through the same thing, even if she doesn't
realize it. I'm sure you remind her of her father, and it's dragging up all
these feelings she's never really dealt with. And I hate to say this, but I
think she may be jealous of your relationship with Summer. Not in a
romantic way necessarily, but how it takes some of your attention away from
her. She really does like you, even if she doesn't know how to show it. I
know her well enough to know that."
"Wow."
"I'm sorry to dump all this on you at once, but I thought you should
understand. Karen isn't a bad person. She's just been hurt very badly."
"Okay."
She got up and kissed him on the cheek.
"You're released. Go study."
Karen didn't come into his room that night, but it took him a long time to
get to sleep anyway.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XX.
Of the six girls on the cheerleading squad, Corinne and Michelle were the
only ones who had known before the Spring Cheerleading Overnight that one
or more of the other members might be into girls-- specifically, each
other. They had become good friends about a year before, and bit by bit,
began to suspect that they, rather than any boy, were the one they wanted
to be with. Though no one else knew it, they had actually been sleeping
together for several months before the Overnight.
Oftentimes, when they got an itch for each other, they would tell their
parents they were going over to each other's houses to study, when in fact
they drove to a nearby park to make out in Corinne's car.
Wednesday night was one of those nights. After coordinating their stories,
Corinne went down to her car to go pick up Michelle.
Joe Dickson's obsession with Corinne's breasts had not come about by
accident. He and Corinne had grown up across the street from each other,
although they had never been particularly good friends. They had been less
friendly as her chest developed and Joe began obsessing over it. Corinne
wasn't stupid, and she knew when people were staring at her breasts. Like
most large-busted girls, she was quite self- conscious about it. Joe made
no secret about his desires--the locker room was hardly the only place he
talked about her--and that poisoned any chance he had with, even had she
not been a lesbian.
Joe spent many nights staring out his window, trying to get a glimpse of
Corinne across the street. Not once was she ever careless enough to undress
with the blinds open--she suspected Joe might be watching--but now and
then, though she was unaware of it, she managed to backlight herself,
throwing her voluptuous silhouette against the window shade. Joe noticed it
one night, and thereafter rarely missed a chance to spy on her. He became
very sensitive to her comings and goings, lest he miss a chance to see her.
He was on the phone with Randy when he saw her going down to her car.
"Huh. Corinne is going somewhere."
"Now?"
"Yeah. I wonder where."
"Maybe over to Michelle's."
"Oh, shit. You think so?"
"Where would she be going on a Wednesday night?"
"I don't know. Sometimes I see her going out like this at night. Not any
particular day, though."
"Oh, man. I bet she is."
"Should I follow her?"
"You got anything else to do?"
"No."
"Then, go, man. You got everything together like we talked about?"
"Yeah. I'd just have to grab my dad's camcorder."
"Then do it before she gets away."
"Okay. Bye."
He hung up and grabbed a black sweatshirt out of his closet. He pulled it
on rapidly, then grabbed a black ski cap that was next to it. He shoved it
in his back pocket and went down to the den. He got the camcorder and set
it by the back door. Then he found his father.
"Dad? Can I borrow the car? I'm going over to Randy's."
"Sure. Don't be out late, though. It's a school night."
"I know."
He grabbed the car keys from the kitchen and then got the camcorder. He
backed rapidly out into the street and drove off. Corinne was gone, but if
she was heading to Michelle's, he should be able to catch her. He knew
where Michelle lived, having been there once while double-dating with
another guy on the team who had dated her briefly.
He pulled around the corner to Michelle's house. Still not really believing
this could be happening, he saw Corinne's car pulling away. As they passed,
he saw that Michelle was in the passenger seat, and he ducked down lest
they see him. It was true!
He spun around in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street and followed
them. He kept his distance, quickly thinking he knew where they were going.
They got to the bottom of the hill, and sure enough, turned into the big
park behind the shopping center. He shut off his lights and pulled in,
parking as far away from them as he could. Feeling like a character in a
movie, he pulled on his ski mask and called Randy on his father's car
phone.
"They're here, man! They're here!"
"Where?"
"The park behind Pacific Park shopping center. They parked way over in a
dark corner by some trees. I'm parked at the other end."
"Oh, shit, I knew it! Are you filming them?"
"Not yet. Get your butt over here."
"I'm there. Get over and start. I'll find you."
Joe hung up and slipped out of the car with the camcorder. Very carefully,
he worked his way around the park, trying to get up behind the cluster of
trees they had parked next to. He got about as close as he dared, about
thirty feet away behind a trash can. Still in a daze that this was actually
happening, he could see that the two girls were locked in a serious grope.
He realized as his eyes got used to the light that both of them were, at
the very least, topless.
Finally, after all his years of work, he got a good look at Corinne's naked
breasts. She was sitting on Michelle's lap, and Michelle was sucking on
Corinne's nipples. Hands shaking and dick stiff, he turned on the
camcorder. No matter what he and Randy did with this tape, this was
beat-off material for the ages.
He watched for about five minutes as they kissed and fondled each other.
Then he saw Randy sneaking across the park toward him. Randy was too big to
hide, and Joe waved his arm at him violently to get down. Randy dropped to
the ground and crawled the rest of the way.
He got up next to Joe about a minute later and looked toward the car.
"Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck! They're doing it!"
Joe smacked him.
"Shh! They'll fucking hear you."
"Give me that thing."
Joe handed him the camera. Randy fiddled with the controls a second.
"Leave it alone. It's already zoomed in."
A moment later, Joe realized Corinne had dropped out of sight. From
Michelle's behavior, it was obvious what she was doing.
"Did you get that?"
"Oh, God, yes. She went straight down on her."
From then on, there wasn't much to see beyond Michelle's slow writhing
around. A few minutes later, Corinne rose back into view and kissed her.
They embraced, kissing deeply. Then they switched positions, and Michelle
dropped to the floor.
"Oh, Jesus, oh Jesus," Randy said. "I wish we could get closer."
"Don't fucking move. They'd see you."
"Then you do it."
"No."
"Sneak around behind the car. Just stick the camera up to the window.
They're too busy to notice."
Joe fidgeted. He was terrified of being discovered, but he also desperately
wanted to see what they were doing.
Randy nudged him, handing him the camera.
"Come on, just do it."
Joe took the camera, crawling around behind the trees, then behind the car.
Heart thumping in his chest, he twisted the viewscreen down so he could see
where he was aiming. Very slowly and carefully, he moved around to the
driver's side window and held the camera up to the very edge of the lower
corner.
On the screen, he could see them. Both were naked. Michelle's head was
buried between Corinne's thighs, and Corinne was holding her breasts,
playing with her nipples. Neither of them seemed to notice the camera. He
zoomed in on Michelle, not getting much of a view because of the low light,
but he could see her tongue moving around. He moved up, getting a close-up
of those breasts he had long lusted after. At that point, his courage
failed, and he pulled down the camera. As carefully as he could, he
returned to where Randy was hidden.
"Did you get them?"
"Yes, oh, God, I got a fucking close-up. Michelle with her face right in
Corinne's snatch."
Randy fought his desire to squeal in delight, pounding the dirt beside him.
Joe repositioned the camera, watching the end of the encounter. Michelle
reappeared, kissing Corinne. A few minutes later, they dressed and drove
home.
When they were out of sight, the two boys exploded in laughter, rolling
around on the ground for a good five minutes at what they had done.
"Fuck, man," Randy said when they had recovered. "What do we do now?"
"I don't know."
"Ten kinds of shit will hit the fan if this gets out."
"I still can't believe it. Two of the cheerleaders getting it on in a car."
"I know. Back the tape up and let me see what happened before I got here."
Joe rewound the tape and started it from the beginning. Randy watched,
moaning in amazement.
"I'm wondering if we can really tell anyone," Joe said.
"I know. They'd know we were spying on them. How could we explain being
down here like this with a camera? It would look like we were stalking them
or something."
"Well, we were."
Randy laughed.
"Yeah. Let's just wait and see. Maybe they'll come out of the closet at the
Prom."
"I don't know if I can sit on this for six months."
"Me neither."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXI.
Thursday morning Becky and Summer grabbed Jack during their free period.
They sat down in a quiet corner of the quad.
"Okay," Summer said, "what the hell is going on with Karen? Something must
have happened."
"She's stopped speaking to both of us. I haven't seen her in lunch since
Monday. I don't think she's even eating lunch."
Jack sighed.
"I'm not sure what it is."
Becky cocked her eyebrows at him.
"But something did happen?"
"Sort of."
"What?" Summer asked.
"Monday night, we were in bed together." He watched for the hurt in their
eyes, and it came. He looked away. "We were talking about Kisu, and all of
a sudden, she asks, 'Do you love Summer?'"
"Oh, no," Summer said.
"Yeah. I didn't know what to tell her, but she insisted I answer her. So I
said 'yes.' Then she says 'And Becky?' I said 'yes' again. Then she says,
'I know you don't care about Kisu, Corinne, and Michelle. What about me?'"
"What did you say?" Becky asked.
"I didn't know what to say. Then she just jumped out of bed and ran back to
her room. She hasn't said a word to me since then, except for a nasty
remark she made about you at dinner the other night."
"What was it?" Summer asked.
"Something about your only caring about my scoring on Friday because it got
votes for you."
Becky leaned back, breathing heavily.
"Oh, my God."
Summer looked back and forth between him and Becky, forehead creased in
distress.
"This is bad."
Jack looked at then in confusion.
"What?"
Becky's eyes widened, and she punched him in the arm.
"Don't you see? Karen is in love with you. I admit she's hidden it pretty
well, but here she finally opens up to you and you blow her off."
"I didn't blow her off."
"Yes, you did. You tell her you love me and Summer, and when she asks about
her, you go, 'Uh.' You might as well have stabbed her through the heart."
Summer put her hand to her forehead.
"What are we going to do?"
"What can we do?" Becky asked. "It's not like we can make her stop loving
him."
Summer looked hard at Jack.
"Do you love her?"
Becky stared at him as well. He would have given anything to be a million
miles away at that moment. He had no idea what the right answer would be.
He closed his eyes. The truth was probably the best.
"I don't know."
Becky pulled his head up.
"Look at me. I know we put you in this position, so we're to blame for it.
We'll figure out what to do with Karen. You have to figure out what's going
on inside your head."
Summer took his hand.
"Jack, you know we love you."
"Yeah."
"Things like this may hurt, but they don't change how we feel about you."
"Yeah," Becky said. "We still love you no matter what happens with Karen."
"Okay."
"Just stay out of her way. We'll handle this."
Jack was so distracted during football practice that the coach finally
pulled him aside.
"Jack, what's the problem? We've got to have you at 100%. This is the
biggest game of the season."
"I'm sorry, coach. I was sick earlier this week."
"With what? The flu?"
"No, something I ate just didn't agree with me." In the back of Jack's
mind, he suddenly thought how accurate that statement was, although not the
way the coach understood it.
"Well, let's get it in gear. I can't have you playing like this on Friday."
"I will, coach."
"All right. Get back to work."
Jack had Biology with Kisu, and she was usually his lab partner (they had
often joked in private how apt that was). The next day, while they were
dissecting a fetal pig, she leaned over and whispered to him.
"Karen is pissed at you, huh?"
"Yeah."
"I noticed. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later."
"You did?"
She snorted.
"I swear, guys are so clueless. You realize she's nuts about you, however
she acts?"
"I don't know."
"Trust me. She'd walk over hot coals for you if you asked her to."
"Huh."
"I realize she gets very witchy at times, but believe me, she loves you."
"Okay. I'm sorry what happened with your mom. I kind of miss studying with
you."
She tried not to grin too hard, and looked away.
"It's cool. Don't worry about it."
She didn't want to hurt Jack's feelings, so she didn't say anything else.
The truth was, she had been about to call things off when her mother
discovered the thing with the pillow book.
Two weeks before that incident, Kisu's period had been four days late, and
she nearly had a heart attack thinking she was pregnant. It had been, of
course, an enormous relief when she found out she wasn't, but it had made
her realize what a risk she was taking. She had her own ambitions for her
life, no matter what her mother harped about, and getting pregnant was the
last thing she needed. Kisu had also begun to realize what was going on
between Jack and the three other girls, and she thought it was probably
time to ease herself out of the picture. She liked Jack, they were good
friends, and she had enjoyed their afternoons together, but that was really
as far as it was ever likely to go. Her mother's spaz attack had simply
given her a good excuse to end it.
She watched him picking at the miniature pig in front of them and shook her
head. If he could just get a clue about Karen, everything would be fine.
Karen was her usual silent self that night, and disappeared into her room
after dinner. Marcia seemed to accept it, thinking it was just a phase.
"Jack, would you mind helping Kelly with her homework tonight?" she asked
while he was doing the dishes.
"Sure."
"I got a call from her teacher. She's having trouble in Math."
"Okay."
"Thanks."
Jack had never given much thought to Kelly, what with all the other
concerns he had to deal with. They were friendly to some extent, but he
didn't spend a lot of time with her. She tended to play the baby of the
family, although she would be fifteen in March. He sensed a certain amount
of rivalry between her and Karen, and Kelly seemed to go out of her way to
be the things Karen wasn't. Where Karen was serious and sharp-tongued,
Kelly was impetuous and giggly. She didn't much like to be serious about
anything, so he wasn't surprised that she was having some trouble with
school.
Kelly appeared in his room around eight.
"Hi."
She wore only a T-shirt and boxer shorts, and carried her books with her.
"So what's the problem?"
"Algebra. I hate it."
"So did I. But it's not that difficult once you get used to it."
Kelly pulled in a chair and sat next to him at his desk. For two hours,
they worked over her Math homework.
Then Kelly leaned back to stretch, arching her back. Jack suddenly realized
that she was no longer the prepubescent girl he had seen with Karen that
August. Though he hadn't been paying attention, she had started to develop
that fall. Her breasts, if anything, were slightly bigger than Karen's, and
she wasn't wearing a bra under her T- shirt. He looked away in
embarrassment at having noticed.
Kelly didn't seem to have seen him looking, and she flipped her long hair
around behind her back. He didn't think she had gotten a haircut that Fall,
because her hair was even longer now, almost down to her lower back.
"Is this making any more sense now?" he asked.
"A little. I really appreciate all this help."
"No problem."
She smiled at him.
"I know why Karen is mad at you."
His blood went to ice in a split-second.
"What do you mean?"
"She thinks I don't know about all the times she comes in here at night,
but I do."
"It's not what you think," he spluttered.
Kelly glanced at the bathroom door.
"Really? What do I think it is?"
"I don't know."
She giggled.
"Don't worry. I won't tell Mom. But I know Karen is jealous of you and
Summer. I hear you guys talking. Sometimes I sneak into the bathroom and
listen."
"Oh, God."
Kelly laughed again and lowered her voice.
"Do you know she was crying the other night?"
"She was?"
"Yeah. For like twenty minutes after she came back to bed. She almost never
cries, too. Did you guys have a fight or something?"
"Something like that."
She looked at him a second.
"So you really do have something going with both of them? Karen and
Summer?"
"It's not like that."
"But she is jealous of Summer. I can tell that much."
"Yeah."
She narrowed her eyes.
"There's something you aren't telling me. I can tell when people aren't
being straight with me. Everyone says I always know when they're lying."
Jack leaned back, sighing, and rubbed his temples.
"Kelly, do you believe in God?"
She sat back in her chair, startled.
"Of course."
"Do you believe in the sanctity of Confession?"
Her eyes got wide.
"Yeah. It's between you and God, right? The priest is only like a conduit,
or that's what Sister Catherine tells us."
"But without the priest, you can't make that contact with God."
"Well, I don't know. I've never understood that. Doesn't God know
everything anyway?"
"He does. But I think He wants us to go through the ritual, as a way of
demonstrating our commitment to Him."
"I guess. What does that have to do with Karen?"
"I can't tell you this unless you swear before God you won't tell anyone.
You have to treat it like Confession. I haven't told Father Roberts about
this. I've been taking Communion without being absolved. But I have to tell
someone, someone who isn't involved in this. But I can only do it if I can
confess to you like I should have to Father Roberts."
Kelly's face had gone white.
"But I'm not a priest."
"If you can promise me to treat it like Confession, I think God would
understand just this once."
"Did you kill someone?"
"No. It's not like that. But it's serious."
She seemed to shrink in the chair, reverting to the young girl he had met
that summer.
"Okay." Her voice was very faint. "I promise."
So he told her everything, almost every detail, keeping his voice as low as
possible. He watched her eyes getting like dinner plates, watched her
running her hands through her hair, breathing heavily. Yet as his story
went on, she settled down, getting more and more into it. When he finished,
she was almost smiling.
"I knew it. Well, not knew exactly, but I knew something was up. I could
hear stuff sometimes, things that sounded like you guys were doing it, but
I couldn't believe it could really be happening."
"It was."
"Wow."
She stared at the wall.
"And now you think Karen might tell everyone, because she loves you and you
don't love her?"
"I didn't say I didn't."
"Well, she sure as hell loves you. I could tell that much from how she was
crying. At first, I thought she was laughing about something, but then I
realized what it was. I can't remember the last time I heard her really
cry. Not since our dad died."
"Your mom thinks it's because I remind her of your dad."
"Really?" She stared at him a moment, then looked away. "I was only seven
then. You do sort of look like him. Or what I can remember. I know Karen
was his favorite."
She looked down at the floor sadly. Jack put a hand on her shoulder to
comfort her before he knew he was doing it.
"I don't think that's what it was. Parents don't always think about the
things they do. I know he loved you as much as he loved her. If he was
anything like my father, I know he did."
She leaned into him, and he hugged her.
"It's okay. I just miss him."
She lay against his chest for a minute or two.
"I used to sit in his lap like this sometimes. I remember when he died. One
of the guys from the air base came to the door and Mom started shrieking
and screaming. Karen and I started crying. We didn't even know what was
going on, just that Mom was really upset. Then she told us. The chaplain
was there. He spent the night on the couch. Karen and I slept with Mom, and
she cried all night long. She held us so tightly she left marks on my arm.
I cried every day for a month, I think. But Karen just went into this box.
She hasn't been very nice to anyone since then. So maybe Mom is right."
There was a knock on the door, and Marcia peeked in.
"How's it going?" Then she saw Kelly in Jack's arms, and her eyebrows went
up slightly.
Kelly leaned back away from him.
"We were just talking about Dad."
Marcia's face melted, and she came over to hug Kelly.
"Oh, honey, it's all right. I still miss him too."
"I know. It's okay."
Marcia reached out and hugged Jack to them as well.
"How is the math coming?"
"Good. Jack really helped me."
"All right, don't keep him up too late."
"I won't."
Marcia hugged Jack again.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm fine."
"Kelly, why don't you just come to bed. It's getting late."
"Okay."
The two women got up and left him alone. He worked on some of his own
homework for a little while, then got in bed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXII.
About eleven forty-five, he heard the bathroom door open. He froze,
wondering what in God's name Karen was up to now. A body slid into bed with
him. He tried push her away, but got a handful of hair instead. With a
shock, he realized who it was.
"I'm not coming in here like Karen does. I just liked having you hug me
before."
Kelly squirmed next to him, and he put his arm around him. She rolled over
until her head was on his chest.
"What about Karen?"
"She's asleep. I know because she snores sometimes."
"She does?"
"Not loud. Just sometimes she makes these squeaking noises."
They lay together for a few minutes.
"I miss my dad."
"So do I."
"It must be so hard for you. At least I still have my Mom. I don't know how
I could have survived with just me and Karen."
He swallowed hard, and she hugged him tighter.
"This is nice," she said a while later.
"Yeah."
Jack had gotten an erection. He prayed she wouldn't notice. He could sense
the firm pressure of her breasts against him, but tried not to think about
it.
"How can you love two people at once?"
"I don't know. I just do. Didn't you love both your parents?"
"Yeah."
"Different people you love in different ways."
"Do you love Karen?"
"I don't know."
"Please don't hurt her. I know she loves you, even if she doesn't act like
it. I can tell. I've found a few little things around our room, notes with
stuff like "Jack and Karen" inside a heart, doodles and stuff like that.
Things she probably meant to hide but didn't do it well enough."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. So I knew something was up. Please don't make her cry again like she
did the other night. It really scared me."
"I'm sorry."
"If Summer and Becky understood about each other, couldn't they understand
about Karen? You said they said things were different because you loved
them, and they loved you. If Karen loves you too, shouldn't that make it
the same?"
"I don't know what they're going to do."
"You know what I think is making this so hard? You're letting them make all
the decisions. You have to take some initiative or something. Sister
Catherine is always telling us that God helps those who help themselves.
You haven't been helping yourself. Maybe that's why you're in so much
trouble. If you really did confess to me, that's the Penance I'm giving
you. Don't let them handle everything."
"Maybe you're right."
"Things could get worse if you don't. Karen might do something crazy if you
don't fix this somehow. Then you'd probably have to leave, and I don't want
you to leave."
He lay there thinking for a long time. He had often wondered if there was
someone under that shell Karen wore, if that brief connection they had made
when they first met hadn't been an aberration. It wasn't that he didn't
like her--he just didn't like the way she often acted. Was anything there
between them? He certainly had strong feelings for her--they argued too
often to deny it--but were those feelings love?
At two a.m., he woke up and realized he and Kelly had fallen asleep
together. He woke her, and she went back to her room.
Karen disappeared the next morning before he could say anything-- not that
he knew what to say to her--and he walked to school with Kelly. When he got
there, he gave Kelly a brief one-armed hug and went to his locker. He found
Becky waiting for him.
"No good. She just told me to 'fuck off' when I tried to talk to her.
Summer didn't have any better luck."
"Well at least we know what the problem is now."
"Yeah. No mystery."
"I think I'm going to have a talk with her."
"No. It's better if we handle it. It's really between the three of us."
"I don't think so anymore. This is something I have to deal with."
Her eyebrows creased.
"Jack, you've already gotten her upset. What are you going to do?"
"Fix this. I'm not letting it go on any longer."
He gave her a hug and went to class.
But despite his newfound resolve, Karen was nowhere to be found. She
skipped the classes she had with Jack the rest of the day, and neither
Becky nor Summer had seen her. She wasn't at the house when he got home
that afternoon, and she didn't show up before he had to leave for the game.
Through warm-ups and the coach's pre-game talk, Jack was thoroughly
distracted. When they ran out onto the field, he went straight to the
sidelines. He looked around for a minute before seeing Marcia and Kelly in
the stands. He ran up the bleachers to where they were sitting.
"Mrs. Lynch, have you seen Karen?"
"Why, yes. She got home late, but she came with us now. What's wrong?"
He glanced around at the field where the other cheerleaders were standing.
He didn't see her.
"I didn't see her today. I thought maybe she got sick."
"She wasn't at school?"
"I didn't see her in class."
"How odd. She came home around six. She's still in a bad mood, but she
didn't seem ill."
"Okay. I'm sure she's all right. I have to go play."
"All right. Good luck."
The game started on a bad note. Sacred Heart got the first ball, but
fumbled on the fifty-yard line. Newport Harbor got the ball and drove
straight down the field to score. They had apparently designed several of
their plays around Jack, double-teaming him every time they ran up the
middle, and it worked. Jack would have had trouble on a good day, but with
his worrying about Karen, his game was seriously off.
By halftime, Sacred Heart was down 14-0, and the coach was having a fit.
Jack followed his dejected teammates back to the locker room. On a glance
upward, he saw a flash of yellow near the edge of the roof. He realized it
was someone standing up there--someone in a yellow and green Sacred Heart
cheerleading outfit.
Jack bolted away from the team, running into the school building. He ran
down the hall, trying to remember where the stairs to the roof were. He had
never been up there, no one was supposed to be, but the door to the roof
was near his English class.
He almost slipped on his cleats rounding a corner, but he found the door.
He tore it open and thudded up the stairs, crashing through onto the roof.
Karen was by the edge, looking out at the field.
She turned and saw him.
"Stay away from me."
"Karen, don't do this."
"What the fuck do you care? You have Summer and Becky now. I should just
throw myself off the roof and the three of you could be happy together
without me."
"I care about you."
"Bullshit. I saw the look in your eye other night when I asked you if you
loved me. Like you were horrified at the very idea of it."
"Karen, I didn't understand. You just took me by surprise. I didn't think
you cared a thing about me. You've never acted like you did."
"Yeah, well, I'm good at that. You don't let people close to you, you don't
get hurt."
"I've been talking to Kelly and your mom. I didn't understand a lot of
this. I see now what was going on."
"Fuck them! They don't know anything about me. Neither do you."
"Karen, I just didn't know."
She turned away from him, wiping the tears out of her eyes.
"Stay where you are. Don't come any closer."
"Karen, I know about your dad. I know you still hurt because of him. God
knows I'm going to miss my dad forever."
"Shut up!" she sobbed. "Don't talk about him. Don't talk about my dad."
She held herself tightly, wiping at her tears, shaking as she cried.
"It's not an excuse to hurt yourself. People do care about you. I care
about you. I was telling Becky and Summer that they have to understand that
you can love more than one person, you just love them in different ways. I
didn't realize until I saw you up here how I really felt. I love you,
Karen. I don't want you to hurt yourself. I can't be a replacement for your
father, but we can help each other deal with it. I can't get that from
Becky or Summer. They don't understand; they never will. But you can.
You're the only one who can help me deal with this. We need each other too
much."
Karen broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, and Jack approached her slowly.
She let him take her in his arms, and she collapsed against him.
"I miss my dad," she sobbed. "I miss him so goddamned much."
"I know," he said, feeling the tears rising in his own eyes. "But it will
be all right. We have each other."
She wailed in despair, going completely limp. He picked her up, and for the
first time noticed people down on the ground watching them, players,
students, and parents. When they saw him pick her up and carry her away
from the edge, they began cheering and applauding.
Karen hugged him tightly, sobbing against his shoulder. When he got down
into the school, he saw Marcia, Kelly, and several teachers running up.
Marcia tried to take Karen, but she held onto Jack with a vise-grip.
"Is she all right? Is she all right?"
"She'll be okay. It was about her father, like you said."
"Oh, God, oh, honey, I'm sorry."
She pulled at Karen, hugging her. Karen gradually let go of Jack, and
dropped her feet to the floor, grabbing at her mother.
"Mom!" she wailed.
"I'm here, honey, I'm here."
Someone pulled up a chair, and Marcia sat down, holding Karen. Karen got
into her lap, and continued sobbing against Marcia's shoulder. Kelly looked
at them, then at Jack, in distress. Jack put his arm around her, and she
hugged him, watching them.
"Should we call an ambulance?" one of the teachers asked. Karen shook her
head violently.
"No, it's all right," Marcia said. "Just let me sit with her for a while."
Jack stood with them, not sure what to do. After ten or fifteen minutes,
Karen's tears dried up. Marcia kept rocking her as if she were five years
old.
"Why don't you guys go back to the game," Marcia said. "We'll be all
right."
"Are you sure?" Jack said.
"Yes. Thank you, Jack. You don't know how much it means to me that you
helped her. You're going to be a wonderful officer. There's no one I know
who deserves it more than you."
He swallowed.
"Thank you. I'm sorry this happened."
"It's all right. Don't miss the second half. You still have a game to win."
The second half started late, and somewhat tentatively after the
disruption. Newport Harbor's rhythm appeared to have been thrown off, and
after getting the opening kickoff, they punted after three ineffective
plays.
Sacred Heart drove down the field, but the drive stalled at the Newport
Harbor twenty-yard line. Their kicker missed a field goal, and Newport
Harbor got the ball back.
Jack returned the to the field, determined to make something happen. On
third down and eight yards to go, Newport Harbor set up in an obvious
passing formation. Jack dropped back when the ball was snapped, watching
the quarterback. Their tight end crossed in front of him, and Jack picked
him up. Randy had broken through the line, and threatened to get at the
quarterback. He tossed up a wobbly pass in the tight end's direction.
The pass was somewhat behind, and the tight end had to slow down to get it.
Jack saw his opportunity and stepped in front of him as the ball came down.
He grabbed the pass out of the air and raced around the corner of the line.
He was through before the other players realized what had happened, and by
then, there were only twenty-five yards of grass between him and the end
zone. He scored, spiking it hard, and the Sacred Heart stands went berserk.
On his way back to the sidelines, both Summer and Becky ran out to hug him.
"Is Karen all right?" Summer asked.
"She'll be okay. But things are going to be different. It wasn't just me.
It was also about her father."
"We'll do whatever we have to."
"I feel so bad for her," Becky said.
They hugged him again and returned to the other cheerleaders. The coach
pulled him aside, slapping his back.
"Do you know you just set a conference record?"
"I did?"
"For defensive touchdowns by one player in a single season. The old record
was four. You just scored number five, and we've got four more games to
play."
"Wow."
"Celebrate after we win. But great work."
Newport Harbor took the kickoff, but again could do nothing with it. They
punted after just three plays, and Sacred Heart took over on their
forty-yard line. Jack's touchdown seemed to have revitalized Sacred Heart's
offense, and Billy was back in his zone. He directed a quick, sharp drive
to the opposite end, tossing up a five-yard pass to tie the score. The fans
again went nuts as the third period ended.
Newport Harbor was not ready to give up. They took the ensuing kickoff to
midfield, and then almost scored on a long pass that their receiver dropped
on the ten-yard line. Second down brought another incomplete pass, leaving
them at third and ten.
The coach called for a blitz, knowing they were going to pass. When Newport
Harbor lined up for the play, Jack sensed something was off. The
quarterback dropped back, and Sacred Heart's defense rushed in, but he
handed off to the fullback on his way backwards, and the back squirted
through a hole in the line.
Jack had expected this somehow and had held back out of caution. The
fullback got five yards before Jack caught him, bringing him down and
ending the drive.
For another ten minutes, the two teams traded ineffectual drives, and when
the two-minute warning sounded, it seemed as if the game would end in a
tie. Sacred Heart had the ball, but had to punt.
Jack was normally not on the punting team, but the coach grabbed him as
they set up.
"I want you to get in there for Ramirez. Try to see if you can make
something happen."
"Yes, sir."
Jack ran in, slapping hands with the player he replaced. He lined up on the
line, and when the ball was snapped, took off toward the other end. The
ball came down about fifteen yards away, but he was blocked away from it.
He scrambled around just in time to see the ball pop out of the carrier's
hands as he tried a tricky move around a Sacred Heart player. No one had
hit him--he had just gone one way while the ball went the other. Toward
Jack.
Jack dove in, scooping up the ball, but got only five yards before he was
tackled. He got up when he was free, screaming and jumping around in
triumph. Sacred Heart got the ball back on the Newport Harbor fifteen-yard
line.
Two plays later, with thirty seconds left on the clock, Billy dropped a
pass into the corner of the end zone, putting Sacred Heart up 21-14.
Newport Harbor tried three wild passes when they got the ball back, but
nothing happened. As time expired, Jack ran across the field toward the
stands, cheering his lungs out. He ran into Billy, and they embraced.
"Great game, man!" Jack yelled.
"You, too. You're all right, O'Leary."
They hugged again, and then broke loose, jumping around the field. He
turned toward the sideline to see someone running toward him. It was Karen.
She jumped into his arms, wrapping herself around him. He hugged her
tightly.
"I love you, Jack!"
"I love you, too."
She laughed.
"I love you! I love you so much."
He hugged her again, seeing Becky and Summer circling around them, smiles
on their faces. Marcia and Kelly were approaching too, and Jack leaned his
head back, laughing at his good fortune.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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