Chapter 15
Better and Better

Do you know the saying, when mamas not happy ain’t nobody happy? Well mama hasn’t got anything on a seven year old. What Sunny/Agnes had told her that afternoon was bad by any stretch of the imagination and, I thought, uncalled for; Even if it was true or not. I reasoned that Jennifer was just trying to do what she thought was best for me.  She thought Agnes was going to dump me because of her, or may be it was the other way around. I got both versions that afternoon. I guess that was almost half-right. There was what she did to my now ex-girlfriend. Sure, Agnes and I had been together only a few days but being almost eight, Jen, had no idea what kind of effect she was having on Agnes. MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction, as it was referred to later, reinforced what I already knew. Even at seven, my pint size girlfriend could stand her ground against almost anyone, come hell or high water. Especially were I was involved. You could tell that my not stepping in hurt Agnes even more. So it ended up my adult ex-girlfriend left crying and I took an upset junior sized girlfriend home from the airport.

That Sunday night was one of the worst nights we ever had at the house. Jen stayed mostly in her room. When she wasn’t there, she wandered aimlessly around the house sighing and mumbling to herself. I heard my name mentioned several times. Then came Agnes’s name as well as a few Sunny’s thrown in. Then of course, there were a couple of words, which, under different circumstances, I would wash her mouth out with soap for. As far as I could tell all the real good cussing was reserved for herself. Around eight Jen asked to go over to Marys’ house and sleep over.

After Jen left I ended doing pretty much the same thing she had done. However, my most colorful language was spread round to all concerned, including myself.  After my third trip to the refrigerator, to see if the grocery fairy had put anything interesting in it since the last time, I finally turned on the tube and sat down, drink in hand. 

Around ten that night Lois came over from across the street and wanted to talk about Jen and all the crying going on over there.  It seems that Mary, being her best friend, was a complete wreck. That, in turn, made the Kowalski house a very unhappy place.

“Gene, what in the world happened over here?” One of the things I liked about Lois was that she never swore. I guess it was her upbringing that stopped her from turning loose. Then again, going to Bethel Baptist Church for my first seventeen years of my life ever stopped me, as Ha’ng had told me more than once. The other thing that made her stand out was her hair. In true Baptist style she never had it cut. Trimmed, maybe, but never cut. When it was unbraided, it went down almost to her knees. I looked into eyes, as brown as her hair, as she settled into the other corner of the couch.

I was too tired to go through all this again. “Another potential girlfriend bit the dust, I guess. Want a tea, I just put some in the fridge?” When I joined the Navy, I got a culture shock. All ice tea is not sweet tea. It maybe in the south but then rest of the world hasn’t caught up yet.

“Sure why not.” She smiled at me. I could tell she was worried about her own kids. I also knew every time things got rough or she needed an escape from me Jennifer went across the street. 

Lois, bless her heart, had the patience I could only dream of. I trusted her instincts even though she came from, of all places, Vermont. As we made our way into the kitchen she told me about how Jennifer first came over eyes all streaked with tears. At first everyone thought I’d finally had my fill of a seven-year-old living with me. Finally it all came out that Agnes, and Lois used that name, was suppose to spend four days with us but she had driven her out of there after only two days. Lois said my Jen had told everyone she would have been the perfect girlfriend for me excerpt the seven year old started acting like a spoiled brat.

As we sat at the kitchen table nursing our respective drinks she told me then that it really hit the fan when Jen, Mary, and Davis went into Mary’s room. She wasn’t to sure what was going on in there but it all came to a head when Mary came out and told her parents that Jen couldn’t spend the night. When asked why, Mary told them that the two girls had caught Agnes and I making out in the kitchen that morning. 

Lois thought it was pretty cute how Mary tried to take it all in but Jennifer's reaction was a little different. She was pissed at both of us but me mostly for ‘doing it’ in the kitchen and not the bedroom.

I tried to tell Lois that doing it consisted of mostly a real deep kiss and forgetting there were pancakes burning on the stove. My neighbor smiled at me and said, “That’s what Mary said. It fact it reminded her of some Saturday mornings at our house.”

For me that was way too much information. I felt like the kid who was told there wasn’t any stork and how he actually came into the world. Parents have sex? Mary’s parents, gross. I wondered if Mary knew the stork had run away from home?

“So what happened? Jen didn’t come home so I guess she’s spending the night?”

“We talked Mary and Jen into it. Actually it wasn’t that hard to do. She said you were really mad about the whole thing and didn’t want to be around if you exploded.”

I looked at my neighbor. “She said that?”

“Yeah that was pretty much it. She hadn’t seen you like this since Alice left the last time.”

Now I started to worry. After Alice left I felt really good. I was lonely sure, but I wasn’t angry. I didn’t get angry after Alice or Agnes left. She must have it wrong.”

“No she had it right. You’re seven year old may have used the wrong words but you do get moody, Gene.” ‘Once a mother always a mother,’ I thought. ‘No way,’ I told myself. Then I told her as much. “Sure you do.” Lois replied. You get into these funks sometimes, we all do, but you have a child that worships you and she’s watching every move. Now she’s starting to imitating you.”

“Imitating me, how?”

Lois looked at me. “When she was in Mary’s room I could have sworn that it was you talking. The same words, no southern accent, and same speech pattern.” 

I’d forgotten that she was a teacher and counselor up north before moving here. “So?”

“Gene you don’t get it, most kids hem and haw, stutter, or something when getting involved in an adult conversation. Jen instead just looks at you like she’s thinking about what she’s going to say next. Or the classic is when she’s confused she’ll say something off the wall to try to change the conversation long enough to get her thoughts together.”

My first thought was that I was raising a seven-year-old clone. I looked at Lois, “Want another iced tea?”

Lois just smiled, “See!”

“See what? I just asked you if you wanted some ice tea, that’s all.” Now Lois was getting scary.

“I guess not. I have to get home and see what’s left of my house.

I was ready for her to go. “Okay but just to let you know, it’s not a big secret, Lois. It’s been a rough forty-eight hours on everyone. I thought I could really be with Sunny but it fell apart really quick. Who knows, Jen’s wishes might have come true. I might have a real long-term girlfriend but it didn’t happen. I need some time to figure this all out.”

Lois half turned to me. “ Jen said something about marriage but little girls are like that. As far as Jen staying over, that’s not a problem Gene. Mi Casa, Su Casa, as they say.” With that, Lois walked out of the kitchen and out the front door.

I sat at the kitchen table for I don’t know how long. I finally got up and walked over to the phone hanging on the wall. I really didn’t want to do it but my fingers did the walking. I dialed her number, 305-885...Miami Springs, Florida.

It rang and rang. Then it rang some more. Agnes said she would be back by five. I wondered if something had happened to her. No, she flew in and out of airports all the time. She had co-workers or friends in almost every city if something happened. Then I wondered if her flight was delayed. Even if Agnes had missed her flight there was another one she could catch.

Then I wondered why in the hell I care at all. I tried to make it work but the more I thought about it the more I wondered what could have been. I finally hung up the phone and went to bed after the eleven PM news.

Just before I fell asleep, I sarcastically thought that my life was just getting better and better. 

There was a pounding in my head as I woke up. I opened my eyes and saw daylight. The pounding was Jennifer knocking on the door. Before I put my brain in gear, I panicked as I realized that it was Monday. I was supposed to be at work in, I glanced at the clock, double shit, thirty minutes ago. As my face hit the pillow, I realized that I’d taken the day off. This was supposed to be the last day Agnes and I were to be together. This afternoon was when she was supposed to leave and go home to Miami. “Jen, stop that!” I yelled through he closed door. “I thought you were over at Mary’s?”

“I was.” came the reply. Why was it a kid could yell through a solid door, fifteen feet away, and it still sounded like she was standing right next to you? “Max is here with my bed and he said he needs your frame, whatever that is.”

Something was wrong. The door was to my left but the voice was on my right. I turned my head and saw Jen looking at me. “What are you doing in my room?” I quick did a quick check to see if I was covered.  Jen looked like she always did, Basketball shorts and a t-shirt two sizes to big for her. Her face was clean, except for a little grape jelly on her cheek. “You know I don’t like you in here.”

“That’s my fault, Gene.” I turned to seeThree leaning against the dresser.   “I need to get the boys working and you’re the first stop of the day. I’ll be in the kitchen drinking another cup of your coffee.” 

Suddenly the fog cleared in my brain. Sunny had bought me a bed, a king size bed, and today was delivery day. The day just got better and better, and I just woke up. I saw Max’s back as he started walking out the door. “Wait a minute, Three. I don’t think this is such a good idea. Sunny took off yesterday and she wasn’t very happy with me. I don’t think she’d want me to have the bed.”

Max the Third turned around and smiled at me. “Yeah, she would. Trust me on this. Besides we’ve already taken Jennifer’s bed down while you were sawing logs and her new mattress is unwrapped in the living room.”

Suddenly my eardrums were almost shattered as Jennifer yelled at me from the other side. “You said I could have your bed, Gene! I really, really want it!”

I turned my head, “okay Jen, and calm down. You can have this frame and I’ll take the king. Just let me get some clothes on?” I saw nods all around as they started walking to the door. “Hold on a minute.” They both stopped. It was almost funny seeing Three, six foot, and two seventy-five or so, turning around with an all-most eighty pound, four foot Jen in his wake. “Who made the coffee?”

Max looked down at the top of Jen’s head. “She did, why?”

I looked at Jennifer with her hands behind her back looking like she was caught doing something she wasn’t suppose to. “You made coffee?” There was a smile on her face as she realized I wasn’t going to get mad at her, for the second time this morning. “What did it taste like,” I asked.

For some reason this seemed to annoy my niece as her smile turned into a little frown. Max Three came to her rescue. “It was pretty good, Gene. Better than most of the stuff I drink during the day.”

As Jen dashed out of the room I saw her stick her tongue out at me. It was so quick that I didn’t know if it was a reflex or she realized she had even done it. Max just smiled and followed her out.

As I got dressed and stripped the sheets of the bed I thought, Jen could make coffee? I wonder if she can make pancakes.  It was just a thought.

When I got to the kitchen four very big guys were sitting at the table. Jen sat in the middle munching away at her Captain Crunch. All had coffee and they seemed to like it. At least no one had fallen over yet. Three looked up and smiled. “Okay boy’s time to go to work. Set them up real nice. Seeing as how we ate them out’ a house and home.” Three looked at Jen. “Be a dear and show these boys where you want your bed. And show them where the new sheets and stuff are, okay?

Jen looked at Max and smiled. I finally found something amusing as I looked at Jen was trying stuff as much cereal in her mouth while saying, “Sure Max.” All that came out was “Zumph-h Maracks.”

As I poured myself a cup of Jennifer’s coffee Max leaned back and looked at me. “So what happened with Sunny?”

Max is a different kind of person. As long as I’ve known him I never had any trouble talking to him. We even went out drinking a few days after Alice left me years ago. We talked about what happened and the pain of the loss. Maybe shock would be a better word. By the time half of the bottle was gone I felt better.

“She wasn’t who I thought she was, Three.”

Three still had that smile on his face. “People seldom are, Gene. You just have to dig deep to find the real person and what they want.”

I looked at the guy sitting across from me and wondered how in the hell did he become an armchair philosopher. “When did you change professions, Three? I thought you sold beds and stuff?”

Instead of getting mad he just laughed. “When you’re selling you have to know your customer. Most of the time it’s real easy, we still live in a small town. You and I know just about everyone, the challenge is when someone new comes into the store. Sunny was one of those challenges. Just like you were years ago.” He leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. His eyes never left me.

Now my curiosity was raised. “What about me? I’m not new, Hell, you’ve known me since elementary school. I was a year behind your brother and two years in front of you.”

Three put the cup down and the grin got even bigger. “I really didn’t know you at all until the sixth grade. Before then you were just someone who played baseball with my brother, remember?”

Now I was confused. That would have put me in eighth grade. What happened back in the eighth grade to make Three know who I was? “Okay, I’ll bite, what happened in sixth grade?”

“Do you remember a fight after school? A bunch of kids from school were beating on me and you jumped in the middle of it.” Three reached over to the stove and grabbed the coffee pot.

“Yeah I remembered it.” I smiled back at Three. “I tore a brand new pair of pants in that fight and my Dad beat on me till his arm got tired. I didn’t walk right for a month.” ‘Sure,’ I thought that was the good old days. I smiled at Three. “Back then you were what, eighty pounds? I couldn’t let Two’s baby brother get his skinny ass kicked.” I looked over at the ‘kid’ now. We’d all changed over the years. 

Three nodded, “Yeah, but before that you were my brother's friend and that was all. After you saved my ass...” He saw me about to object ...”and don’t give me that crap about I just held them off till Two showed up stuff. You really did save me from a beating.” He looked at me as I gave up trying to get out of being his rescuer. “Anyway, since then I thought of you as another brother. So as your little brother I want to help you get Sunny back.”

I looked at Three and saw he was dead serious. “To be honest I don’t know if I want her back. Don’t get me wrong. When I first saw Agnes at the airport there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t have done to be her boyfriend.”

“Agnes? I thought we were talking about Sunny?”

I looked at Three and shook my head. “Her real name is Agnes Davenport. She’s a stewardess for National Airlines. They’re the ones that gave her that fake name. It’s kind’ a nickname like Three is.”

Three just stared at me. “She’s a stewardess? You know a real fucking, breathing, stewardess? And you want to call it quits?” Three leaned back in the chair. It looked like he wanted to laugh at me. Instead, he shouted at me, “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?” Then he started to laugh.

“Wait a minute Three it’s more complicated than that.”

He just would not stop laughing. “The only way it could get complicated is if someone had welded her legs shut and glued her lips together.” He started in on me. He was crying so hard tears were starting to gather in the corners of his eyes. “Besides my wife, this Agnes of yours is the best looking woman to come in my store since...well forever!” I really wished he would stop laughing. “From what I saw she has all of her pieces and parts. So what the hell was it? I can’t believe someone that gorgeous was a cold fish in bed.”

I don’t know why but when Three asked a question you wanted to answer truthfully.  “She was the best. As good as she looked she was even better on the horizontal, vertical or hanging from the chandelier. Anything I wanted to do, any position I wanted she did. Hell she gave me a blowjob that took...”

“Okay I get the picture,” Three interrupted. “Damn keep that up and I’ll have to call the bank and make a deposit in the bank manager over lunch. So tell me what the hell went wrong?”

I looked at the person across the table from me and shook my head. His whole life revolved around his wife, Mary Beth. It wasn’t just the sex, which he bragged about all the time but everything about their life. She had climbed the ladder in the banking world and was now managing all of the banks in the area for her company. Most guys I knew wouldn’t brag about their spouse’s jobs. That was especially true if they made two or three times what the guy did. 

“She wanted something from me that I didn’t want to give,” I told him.

Three leaned forward and looked at me. “I told Mary Beth that I saw your new girlfriend and for the first time in my life got jealous.”

Now it was my turn to lean forward. “You’re jealous of me? You have the best damn wife in the county, hell maybe even the state. What Agnes and I had was nothing compared to what you guys have.”

Three started smiling again. “The difference is Mary Beth and I have been together since High School and you guys haven’t. You two are the same way we used to be back then. You’re going to enjoy and hate the next couple of years just learning about each other. That Gene is what I mean about digging deep.” He looked at me and suddenly the smile was gone. “Sunny...I mean Agnes talked to me at the store and said she was afraid she was going to loose you.”

I looked at Three as if she had cheated on me with him. She had told Three, someone she never met before; in a few minutes what it took us two days to get around to. Suddenly I realized how stupid that was. “So what did she say?” 

“She said pretty much what you said. Sex was great. I think she even used the words ‘scary good’ once or twice. Then she said you’d never accept her because of the way she was. So what was it about her that you didn’t like, Gene?” The smile was still gone.

I know he was a friend but I knew he wouldn’t understand. “Her head wasn’t screwed on straight, if you know what I mean.”

“No I don’t. Sometimes I think the same about Mary Beth but I wait awhile and it all works out. Was there any weird sex with animal sacrifices or something?”

“I don’t know, Three. As I said she let me do just about anything to her. Hell I could have been the first to have anal sex with her.” Now why the hell did I tell him that?

Three never flinched, “And?” 

What the hell did he mean by that? “And?” Now he was the one who looked like the one whose head wasn’t screwed on straight. “Didn’t you hear me? She said I could use her like some cheap whore I met overseas. She even said because she would be gone so much she’d get some of her friends to come by to keep me company. Can you imagine that?  What woman in her right mind would offer her friends as fuck dolls, just because she couldn’t be there? That’s what I mean by her head not screwed on straight.”

“Mary Beth.” He said it so calmly I doubted I heard him right.

“Mary Beth? That same one you’ve been married to for, well forever?”

“If you tell anyone what I’m going to tell you I’ll drive you into the ground like a fucking tent stake, okay?” 

I just nodded.

“When Mary Beth became area manager at the bank she had to go to Charlotte for six months. The orientation and training was brutal and it was eight days a week twenty-five hours a day. Before she left she arranged for a friend of hers to stay with me.”

This had to be a joke. Maybe it was someone to take care of the house. Kind of like a live in maid. “What do you mean stay with you? She slept in a spare bedroom right?”

“Nope, she arrived the day Mary Beth was to leave. She knocked on the front door, gave me a kiss on the cheek and moved her stuff in the dresser drawers that my wife had cleaned out for her. The day Mary Beth came back her bags were packed and they talked for about an hour and she left. I haven’t seen her since. But she was a great companion and pretty good in bed. Not anything like Mary Beth, mind you, but it was damn close.”

I really had to get a grip. “So what your saying is Agnes left because I couldn’t accept the way she was?” Three nodded as I continued. “What she said was the truth? She said she was willing to give me everything, even her friends and all I had to do was say yes?”

Three nodded again. “It’s like this. You pushed away a woman so damn beautiful it made my eyes hurt. She was willing to worship every word you uttered as if it came out of the Bible. Everything you did was perfect in her eyes and if something didn’t work out it would have been her fault, some how, some way. I’ll bet you a hundred dollars at this moment she’s beating herself up saying this weekend was all her fault. That she failed you. Nothing would ever be your fault even if it really was. But that wouldn’t have mattered to her. Hell you could have moved out of this house to a overpass in Raleigh and start taking drugs and she would have been happy to be with you.”

I looked at Three and realized he knew. “You know she’s part of that weird Master/slave thing?”

Three shook his head. “It’s Master/submissive or M/s for short, not Master /slave. On the other hand, it could be D/s, Dominate and submissive.  And yes she did tell me she wanted to be your submissive.” Three leaned in again. “And yes you did crap on the best thing that will ever happen to you in this life or any other fucking life.”

“How do you know about this stuff?” An hour ago I wouldn’t have given a Confederate Dollar for any of this. Now I needed to know.

Three leaned back and smiled. “I’ve been around the block a few times. Remember we lived in Wilmington for a bunch of years before coming back home. They do a lot of strange shit there, believe me.”

I just looked at him. He was the same old Three I’ve always known. But now he was different somehow. In the short time we talked he seemed more, well confident and something else. He looked at his watch. “We have to get going pretty soon. They have five more stops and I have to get to the store. Tell you what, how about you come over, without Jen, to the house. Say Thursday night and I’ll grill some steaks, okay?”

That sounded good to me. “Can I bring anything?”

“Nope, Mary Beth makes a mean potato salad. Seven okay?”

“Sure,” I knew I could get the Kowalski’s to watch Jennifer. “See you then.”

“Cool.” With that he was out of the chair and went into the bedrooms to see what his boys had done.

As Jen and I watched Max’s delivery truck pull away, she took my hand. I looked down at my niece and wondered how she would have turned out if I were married. I shook my head at the stupidity of it all. I was going to be forty next February. No woman in her right mind would want to marry a forty-year-old guy. Especially with a seven-year-old niece, not even Agnes.

“Thanks for the bed, Gene,” Jen said as she squeezed my hand. 

“So how do you like it?” 

She looked up at me. Her hazel eyes were glowed for the first time in a while. “It’s great, Gene. I love it. Can I have Mary, Ruthie, Betty and Alisa come for a sleep over on Saturday? The bed’s plenty big.”

I knew the sleep over was coming, just not this soon. That was all of the Gardenia Rd. gang. During the summer, they’d have sleepovers at each other’s house. What they talked about was a mystery to me but from the giggling I heard from behind her door I’d guess it was boys. All the girls lived in the neighborhood and really enjoyed each other’s company.  “Sounds like you guys are getting ready for basketball season already. Sure, I guess so.

This seemed like a good time to tell her about Three’s offer. “By the way,” I added. “Three invited me over to his house on Thursday night. I don’t know what time I’ll be back so I’ll ask Mrs. Kowalski to watch you, okay?”

Jen looked back up at me, “So I’m going to miss pizza night?”

“It looks that way, sorry.”

“Can we have it delivered for the sleep over?” Jennifer was getting good at getting what she wanted, but then again most preteen's are.

“Sure.”

With that settled we sort of went our own way. Jennifer went to the park and in the afternoon I stopped by work just to hang out and finish some paperwork I’d left hanging on Friday.

After an early supper Jen and I were on the couch when the phone rang. This time it took Jen two rings to answer. I didn’t even try to get it. If you have children in your house you know why. Ninety percent of the time it’s for them and eight percent are salesmen. For the two per cent it really wasn’t worth it. I sat watching commercials as Jen answered the phone, wondering who in their right mind would pay almost four grand for a new car. 

Suddenly I heard Jen yelling at who ever it was. “It wasn’t my fault, damn it!” That got my attention and my butt off the couch. As I approached, Jennifer was red in the face screaming at the calendar on the wall in the kitchen. The phone was jammed in her ear. “I don’t care who you are! You can’t say that stuff about us. We didn’t do anything, it was all her fault!” I tried to take the receiver from her hand but she grabbed it with both hands and yanked it away from me. “She’s the one that ran away.” Now I had a suspicion of who it was.

Suddenly her eyes got big as she listened to the person on the other end. “The hell with you,” was the last thing Jen said to the caller. She lifted the phone away from her ear and held it out to me. “It’s for you,” Jen mumbled under her breath.

I looked at Jen all red faced. She suddenly turned and walked to her room. As I lifted the receiver her door slammed hard. I really didn’t need this.

“Hello? Who is this?”

The Spanish accented voice yelled at me through the receiver. “Who is this? You know damn well who this is you Anglo prick. How in the hell could you do this to her? Isn’t it bad enough she opened her heart to you? With all that testosterone floating around between your legs you just had to rip her heart out and just stomp all over it, didn’t you?”

I’d had enough shit from women to last a lifetime. I shouted back into the receiver, “Well if it isn’t the wicked dyke of the south. Why in the hell are you bitching to me for? What did I do to you? You should be thanking me not bitching at me? ”

If I thought that would slow her down I was wrong. “Thank you? That will be the fucking day I thank any man for anything. I thought I could trust you but no-o-o-o. Sunny trusted you and you fucked her body real good and then you fucked over her head. You’re a real piece of work, McGuire.”

“Screw you, Donna. I didn’t do...”

“Suddenly she started laughing this crazy kind of laugh. “Screw you? Hell no I ain’t going to screw you, not now, not ever. Beside, thanks a bunch dick head. Not only are you never, ever going to fuck her again but neither am I.” I heard Donna take a deep breath. A very subdued Donna came back on the line. “She won’t let me touch her, Gene. I tried holding her and telling her it would be all right but she just kept on crying. I don’t think she’s hasn’t had anything to eat since coming home and she doesn’t want to. What happened up there?”

I didn’t want to get into it again so I said, “Agnes made an offer and I said no.”

There was a hesitation in her voice, “She told you her real name?”

I hadn’t even realized I’d said it, “Yeah she did, why?”

“Only a few people know her real name. I’ve known her before we started flying so I know it. It’s just her really close friends and well, her Masters know her by that name. 

“What the hell is going on, Donna?”

“She’s lost Gene. She thought she knew who she was. She’s a submissive and you wanted to make her into your damn girlfriend. Now she doesn’t know what she should be and she really, really doesn’t care. I’m scared for her.”

I looked at the same spot Jen looked at when she was on the phone. “Would you tell her I still Iove her even though we can’t be together. It’s kind of like oil and water, you know?”

I could feel the tension and anger rising in Donna’s voice, again. “Damn it Gene, don’t you get it? Your words aren’t enough.”

I finally had it. “Damn it Donna, you don’t get it. Tell her I said it and quit bitching at me. You don’t have cause too.” I was totally loosing it now. “She’ll come around soon enough and then you’ll have the lover you always wanted. She wanted to be my submissive, my bitch, but it didn’t work out. She’s the only one who has the right to bitch about me and to me. I hurt her and I wish I could have done it differently but I can’t. Just tell her everything I’ve said.”

The anger in her voice was falling again. “What if I can’t or won’t.”

I needed to end this. “Then I’ll come down there and beat you like a fucking drum!”

There was a little longer hesitation on the line. Finally Donna said, “Better men and women have tried that. Something tells me you’re not into abusing women, if they need it or not, not physically anyway.” Donna almost made it sound like a challenge. 

I tried to put more bravado in my reply than I felt, “Try me and find out.”

I think she was wondering if I was serious or not. “Not today, Gene. I’ll tell her what you said. Tell your niece that I’m sorry I unloaded on her but she was the one who answered.”

With that said, Donna Maria hung up the phone.

I tried to talk to Jen but she didn’t want to hear anything about it. All I heard was how unfair it all was. I couldn’t disagree about that.

I called it a night. Tomorrow I would go into work and try to forget all of this.

Tuesday was a reprieve from all of the things that were happening in my life. Work was good for me. I could concentrate, most of the time, on everything around me and not about Agnes or Donna. At night, Jennifer tried to keep me focused on her first sleep over with the new bed. Jen put in her order for drinks and snacks. What furniture we could put in the now crowded room was moved. Even Mary and David came over to help.

I only got one call about the sleep over. It was from Betty’s mother. Betty was new to the group. The family just moved in after school let out. Everyone else I knew, more or less. The girls went from seven to ten years in age. Jen was the youngest and Betty the oldest. The Gardenia Gang had stayed overnight at Ruthie’s the week before and I guess the Moms all got together. The Dads didn’t much care, I guess, so when Jen’s turn came for a sleep over everyone knew it was ok, except for Betty’s mom, Lisa. She was more than a little unsure about her daughter staying alone in our house with no female supervision. Lois talked to her and she was better when she dropped Betty off. To reassure her a little I invited Lisa in on Wednesday night. In true preteen style Betty rolled her eyes and started whining about her mom spoiling everything as they both got out of the car. 

I gave them the nickel tour of the house. Seeing as they lived three blocks away in the same subdivision, my house was laid out just like theirs. When Betty saw my niece’s queen size bed her eyes got big and she started tugging on her mothers sleeve. “Mom can I have a big bed too? This is so neat!” With that the girl sat down and did a few tentative bounces. Finally, Jen dragged her off to the kitchen.

Lisa looked at me. “So your niece has a queen?  Do you have matching beds?” Why was she smiling at me?

I looked her over and she really wasn’t bad looking. She didn’t compare to Agnes or even Donna but for a married woman, almost my age, with at least one kid she looked pretty good. “No this was my old bed. I gave Jen my old frame and we bought everything else new.”

“So what do you have, Gene?” Yeah she was looking at me. Suddenly I felt like the main course at dinnertime.

“I bought a king,” pointing down the hall to the master bedroom.

“I didn’t think a king would fit in any of these rooms.” I was getting strange vibes from the brunette standing next to me. “Could I see yours?”

I wasn’t paying attention when I replied, “My what?”

“God, you are so funny, Gene. I was talking about your bed of course. What did you think I meant?” Suddenly I knew what she meant and now I had swerved into something else, again.

“Sure, I guess.”

When she o-o-o’d and ah-h-h’d over how it just fit I felt pretty proud of myself. Actually it was Agnes’s idea to get the bed and Three’s people set it up. “Not much room to move around but I think it’ll work over at my house.” Her hands roamed over the wooden footboard and ran her fingers through the slats holding up the top piece. Finally, she looked at me, “This is one sturdy piece of furniture. I bet the springs don’t even squeak. So how is it? It looks really comfy in almost any position, is it?” 

“I guess it is.” I didn’t want this conversation with a married woman. Especially seeing as her ten-year-old daughter was in the kitchen with Jen. It was time to steer this somewhere else. “Once I hit the pillow I’m sound asleep.”

Her eyes were fixed on the bed. “I could think of a lot of things to do in this bad old...” Suddenly she looked up. The red was starting to rise from her neck and ears to her cheeks. “Sorry, I was day dreaming. Well I got ‘a go.” With that she held out her hand and I took it. As we shook hands I noticed it was sweaty.

I must admit that she covered her retreat pretty well. She yelled good-bye to her daughter as she turned the corner to the front door. Before I could say anything she was headed out to her car. I guess she was a little too quick even for her daughter because I saw Betty poke her head around the corner. “Where’d she go?”

“She said she had to go. I guess she had something to do?” I looked at the daughter and saw a much younger version of her mother.

I saw the same strange look in her eyes, “Nah, she doesn’t have any place to go”, Betty told me. Then she ducked her head back into the kitchen as I wondered what was going on?

I didn’t have long to wonder as Mary and the remaining two walked through the garage door. I guess it was the squealing and rapid fire talking that gave it away. After all the probably hadn’t see each other in at least four or five hours. Finally, the five girls came out of the kitchen and made their way down the hall to Jen’s room.  As they walked by I could see why, despite a two or three year age difference, all five girls were tall for their age. At ten years old Betty was the tallest at around five foot. From there the height went down to Mary and Jennifer. Other kids had probably teased them as kids do. If you were too tall or to short it made you stand out. This wasn’t a nice way to live your life.

As they walked down the hall, I said. “The TV is all yours tonight. I have paperwork to do from the office.” Everyone but Jen stopped and turned to look at me. “When you want the pizza let me know, okay?”

Jen finally turned and smiled. “Okay Gene we will.” 

With that they closed the door to my niece’s room.

A couple of hours later I was trying to figure out how Elliot had worked thirty-six hours in two days with zero overtime.  Something was wrong and it wasn’t his addition. I looked over my shoulder and saw Betty looking at me. She had the same short shorts and UVA t-shirt on. Her hands were behind her back as she looked at me. “I didn’t mean to scare you but could I sit down?”

“Sure Betty.”

“What did my mom say before she left?”

“Not much I guess. It was just small talk, why?”

The girl looked at me with the same eyes that her mother had. The only difference between mother and daughter, besides age, was that Betty always came straight to the point. That was something I’d gotten use to with Jen and Mary. Saying what was on her mind wasn’t a problem. Then again, it wasn’t a problem for Jen or Mary. “Did she ask you to sleep with her?”

Even the bluntness of it set me back. “”I don’t think I should answer that. That’s a conversation you should have with your mother.”

Betty sat back in the chair and looked at me. “Mom doesn’t tell me anything. Dad left us last year and every time I asked she said he’d be home soon. When daddy didn’t come home for my birthday I knew something terrible had happened.”

I was hearing something I’d experienced first hand for the last three years. Jen use to ask about her parents but she finally stopped asking. When one or the other did show up, it was like they were the aunt and uncle and I was the parent. She was polite but Jen stayed close to me. 

“During Easter break,” Betty continued, “I saw papers on moms’ desk. They had gotten a divorce and didn’t even tell me. I’m not a little girl any more but she still treats me like one. We use to live in Winchester, Virginia but after school let out we moved here. I wish I could have stayed there.”

“So you guys moved here after the divorce?”

“Yeah we did.” Betty nodded her mop of brown hair bounced a long. The young woman looked at me. “So did she make a move or what?” Persistence was another trait of the kids I knew all too well.

I looked at her. “What do you mean make a move?”

“You know, ask you out or something?”

“No she didn’t. Are you satisfied?”

“No not really, she must’ a chickened out.” Betty looked at me with those brown eyes. “She said she was going to do it.”

Now I was curious. “If she doesn’t talk to you how do you know?” 

“She didn’t exactly.” I could see Betty trying to come up with the right words. “She does this thing, when she’s worked up over something. She kind’a talks to herself. My dad said she was trying to find the right answer or something like that.”

I knew exactly what she meant. I did that a lot. I’d argue with myself over something trying to find the answer. The problem was someone had to loose that discussion and it was always me.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a grownup thing. I think we all do it.”

Betty sat there looking down at all of the papers on the table. “I guess so. I just wanted to find out if mom was going to start dating again.”

“I guess she will,” I replied. I just hoped it wasn’t me.

Jen finally came out of her bedroom and announced that everyone was hungry. The girls gathered around the TV drinking Pepsi’s while they waited for the pizza. Things even became civilized as the two large pies disappeared in mere moments.

The Gardenia Street gang was watching TV when the phone rang. I was in the dining room paying the bills and wondering how much Jennifer was going to spend on new clothes for our vacation. She had outgrown almost half of the new stuff Alice bought her back in May. What bothered me was some of the new clothes were never worn. I was thinking about different ways to stunt her growth when the telephone rang.

To understand what happened next you have to know the layout of our house. It was the typical massed produced tract ranch style. Once you go in the front door there is a short hall that leads into the living room. Off to the right is the hall that leads to the bedrooms and Jennifer’s bathroom. If you go straight through you get to the dining room. On the other hand, as Jennifer puts it, the junk table. That’s were she studies, mail is dumped and eventually the bills are paid. What about meals, you ask? You have to remember that I-do-not-cook. Once past the ‘junk table’ to the right is the kitchen where the only phone Jen is allowed to use is hung. Finally, there is the door to the garage.

Now that you understand the layout, here it comes the question. Jen and company are sprawled out all over the living room, as in the front of the house. I’m in the dining room, about twenty feet from the phone. Pop quiz: Who answers the phone? Buz-z-z, times up! If you answered me, you haven’t been listening or you don’t have children of your own. If you answered Jennifer, go to the head of the class.

I know I got up and was walking the half dozen steps to the phone but when I got there Jen already had it in her hand. “Oh, hi Aunt Alice!” 

That made me stop for a second. When did my ex-girlfriend become Aunt Alice? Instead of taking the phone away from her, I waited to see what would happen. 

“Uh-huh, sure.” Then there was a long pause. “Yeah she was really mad.” Shorter pause as Alice grilled Jen. “Nah, he was pretty cool...No not really.” Jen listened for a few minutes. “He did say bitch a few times though.” Jen stuck her tongue out at me. I reached for the phone but she stretched it, with both hands in a death grip. “I got to go now but could you tell me why Gene would call her a bad dam? Uh-huh, that’s what he called her.” I really need to get the phone away from her. “No it wasn’t a swear word. That’s what he said. Well he actually said “The wicked dike of the south. It’s the same thing isn’t it?” Jens eyes got big as she stared at me. “No shit, she is?”

Jen finally let go of the phone and handed it to me. In the sweetest innocent voice Jen said, “It’s Alice for you.”

I looked at my niece and tried to give her the bad uncle scowl. “We are definitely going to have a talk about using the phone, your cussing and family business. Now get back to your friends now and stay there or they can go home.”

It didn’t work. Jen just shook her head, “You shouldn’t call people dykes or what ever, and it’s not nice.”

“And it’s not right for a seven year old to swear, for any reason.” I added.

Jen stopped and looked at me. I could see the wheels starting to turn in her head. “Well she made me mad when she called and I...”

“I know Jen,” I interrupted, “it happens to everyone, but that doesn’t make it right.”

“Jennifer took it in and finally put two plus two together and got four.

“Now go and watch TV.” I knew I dodged a thousand questions for now. That’s all that mattered.

I put the phone to my ear. “Thanks a pant load, Aunt Alice.”

I heard her chuckling on the other end. “No problem Sailor. Glad I could bring a little excitement to your boring life in suburbia.”

“Thanks to you and Jen my life has been anything but boring the past couple of days. You have no idea.”

“Wait a minute Gene I didn’t have anything to do with any of this. I mentioned to Sunny one day that I knew this guy in North Carolina who was pretty good in and out of bed, that’s all.” Suddenly she didn’t sound as happy as before.

I noticed Alice used Agnes’s nickname. “Who suggested that Sunny and I should get married?”

“Hey it wasn’t me. I never said any thing about you getting married. I...OH Shit...I really didn’t mean it like that! Really Gene, She stayed at the house when she took Jen home from Chicago and we were what if’ing. I never ever thought in a million years Jen would take it seriously.”

“It wasn’t just Jennifer, Alice. Sunny took your what if to heart too.”

“She wanted to marry you after one night? Damn you’re something else. I never thought it would happen.” I heard her voice go a lot higher than before. What in the hell was wrong with me getting married?

Something told me she didn’t know all there was to know about Agnes. “How well do you know Sunny?”

“I met her back when she was a new hire with National. She was flying the local routes. Later she used to stay at daddy’s house in Chicago when she had to layover. Daddy really liked her. It seemed like he had her eating out of his hand from the get-go. It almost made me jealous to see her hanging on every word. With mom or other women she’s just a good friend. She’d do just about anything for you. Why?”

She didn’t know. I guess she was in the right business to hide her submissiveness. She was seeing to the needs of hundreds of passenger’s everyday.

“She’s not your usual Flight Attendant, Alice.” I tried to dance around Agnes’s behavior, or was it a life style?

“Of course she isn’t. I don’t have ordinary friends, female or male.” Sunny wants to be a commercial pilot. I think that’s a great goal for her. The problem is now she may quit flying all together. It’s all because of you.” There wasn’t any anger of recrimination in her voice.  “As long as I’ve known her she’s the sweetest and gentlest person I know. But she has this single mindedness. She was always focused on the job in front of her. I don’t know what happened down there this weekend but when she walked in tonight...”

Suddenly I could feel a change come over me. “Sunny’s in LA? When...How? Let me talk to her?”

“Take a breath Sailor, she’s asleep.” I could tell from her tone that she was going to protect Agnes from me. I wouldn’t get to talk to her. I never thought about ex-girlfriends getting together as friends. “She just walked in from her flight and collapsed in my arms and cried. She said it was the worst flight ever.”

Before I said anything Alice finally said something that scared me. “Before she fell asleep she said I’d have to fly commercial to Myrtle Beach.  “She doesn’t want to fly me to Myrtle Beach. In fact she said she was going to give up getting her commercial ticket.”

“She can’t do that, Alice!” I yelled. I didn’t care what I sounded like, what Agnes suggested would destroy her. “She’s just talking crazy. She promised she would be there.”

“I can fly into Myrtle Beach commercial if I have to. Jen will still go back with me to LA. What is so important about Sunny going to South Carolina?” Alice sounded a little confused over the situation.

She wasn’t the only one. Why the hell did I care anyway? Maybe if I tried to explain to Alice she could figure it out. “Alice honey, Sunny and I had a major blow up over the way things were going. But she promised she would come one last time.” It wasn’t a good start.

“Was it about my mentioning marriage?”

“No it wasn’t that.” I took a deep breath, “Do you know what a submissive is?”

“Sure I do, Gene. That’s someone that’s really passive, I guess. Why...Oh my god, are you saying Sunny’s submissive?

“Yeah she is but not like you mean it. It wasn’t all about the sex. She had plans for her life before me. She came here and at first I saw a brilliant woman that had all sorts of energy. When she told me she was a submissive I kind of freaked out. I still don’t understand it but if she gives up her dream of being a pilot it’ll be my fault.”

The voice on the other end was almost a whisper. “You still care for her?”

“I’m not going to be responsible for her quitting on her dream.” I know she noticed I didn’t answer the question. “And would you please not tell her about what I said about her being a submissive?”

Then Alice hit me hard from behind. “She isn’t like your girlfriend in Vietnam, Gene. This is different.”

Suddenly I remembered the feeling of fingernails on the chalkboard. “What in the hell do you know about Vietnam?”

Before when we would start getting into a fight she’d match me cuss word for cuss word. This time it was very different. “I was your girlfriend for years. I even cleaned your house, remember?”

I remembered that picture I found upside down. “You went into the box in the closet?”

Alice came back with more confidence, “I was your girlfriend, remember? I was curious so I opened it. I looked at everything even the love letters she wrote you. I take it you didn’t let her read them?”

I looked at the wall wondering what was going on. “I know she isn’t Ha’ng, Alice. First, there’s about sixteen years difference. And the circumstances are different.”

I know that Gene.” The softness in my ex-girlfriend’s voice was almost motherly. All of the years we lived together it was a side I’d never seen and I liked it a lot. “I read all the reports remember?”

“I don’t want to hurt her Alice but she kind of gets inside of you, ya’ know?”

Sure, I know Gene. How does her being a wreck have anything with getting married?” Yeah, I liked this new Alice. 

“I’m not sure it does, baby. It’s just that Jen thought it could happen and Sunny had other ideas for us.”

“So the seven year old couldn’t take a joke, again?”

I decided to leave it at that. If Agnes hadn’t told Alice about her submissiveness I sure wasn’t going to let Alice tell her I spilled the beans. “I guess it was something like that. Try to talk to her when she gets up and tell her she promised that she would fly you to Myrtle Beach. And please don’t tell her that I told her about that submissive thing, okay?”

“I don’t know how to break it to you but people break they’re promises all the time. And they break them for a lot less than this.” I knew what she was getting at but she didn’t know her friend like I did. 

“She will Alice, believe me. So when are you flying in?”

“One way or the other I’ll be there on Wednesday. My reservation at the Blue Dolphin is for Wednesday through Sunday. I’ll have to check for flights but I’ll let you know, ok? 

“Could you tell her I’d like to talk to her while she’s there?”

“Can do Sailor. I don’t know if it’ll work out but, what the hell are ex’s for but set up ex’s with new women. See you in South Carolina, Sailor. By the way are you planning on coming in on Wednesday, like we use to?”

“Yeah, I’ve got the room reserved for Jen and I just like we used to. Ten whole days of sun and roller coasters.” I wondered were all the time went. We had this plan for going to the beach. Alice would cut a class or cancel some office visits from the undergrad’s. I’d work my lunch and get off an hour or two early. The car was already packed and we’d head out to the Interstate and Myrtle Beach. I don’t know how many times we’d drive back to North Carolina on two hours sleep and full of Wild Turkey. It was funny now how we’d be in the Blue Dolphin’s parking lot at one AM trying to convince the other that the other had to drive because we were too drunk.

I could almost hear Alice smiling over the phone. “Did you get a Queen size like we used to?”

I finally had something to laugh about. “Sorry Alice, my roommate is seven years old. All we have are two full size beds. How about you?”

She was enjoying this conversation as much as I was. “I was kind’a hoping that maybe we could double bunk. By the time I made the reservation all the Olafson’s had left was a couple of twin beds. Do you think we could get Jen and Sunny to bunk together and we could slip between the sheets; you know just for old time’s sake?”

Now there was an idea. It didn’t seem like Agnes and I were going to get back together. At least I had an offer with no strings. That was if Agnes actually did fly Alice from Miami to Myrtle Beach. “I guess that depends on what happens.”

Mr.Olafson told me not to expect things at the motel to be the way I remembered. It seems that they haven’t done much maintenance over the winter so things are pretty shabby. Don’t worry though; I have a couple of calls in for places if the bugs get too bad.”

I knew I was in safe hands. Alice knew more people than a baby-kissing politician. The first time we went to the Blue Dolphin the owners, namely Mr. and Mrs. Olafson idly mentioned that she had lived in Chicago all her life. Next thing I know their talking about someone they both knew who lived down near Wrigley Field. That of course led to both of they’re favorite team, the Cubs. After that we got post cards and special deals from the elderly couple. “Well, we’ll see what happens.”

There were a few more words but they were just the long way to say goodbye. 

I finally found the error on Elliot’s time sheet. Six entries didn’t make sense. It looked like he signed off on work that he really didn’t do.  I finally had it so I decided on a little TV. I was trying to get into a program when I heard Jen’s door open. I’d heard her door open and close but that wasn’t anything new around here. With five preteens in one room and the bathroom across the hall, it seemed that that happened every ten minutes or so.

I was just starting to fall asleep when Betty walked up. ‘Now what does she want,’ I thought. “Hi Betty, what’s up?”

She was wringing her hands as she looked at me. “Can we talk?” 

“I guess so. What do you want to talk about?”

Betty took my agreeing to talk as permission to sit on the couch.  She still had on the UVA jersey. Her basketball shorts were replaced by PJ bottoms.

After Betty settled down and gave me that look. The one that says this is serious. Well was as serious as a ten year old can make it. “So what’s on your mind?”

“Jennifer said that your girlfriend is a lesbian.” I guess she was expecting me to confirm or deny but when I didn’t do either she started to play with her fingers.

I looked at Betty and wondered what Jen would look like in two years. If the girl sitting beside me was any indication I might have to buy a shotgun to keep the boys away. “What did Jen actually tell you?” I’d have to have another talk about family business is nobody’s business.

Now Betty was fidgeting on the couch. “Well, she really didn’t say too much. She was just really mad at the person on the phone and she said it was about your girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend.” I slipped in as Betty took a well-deserved breath.

I guess I caught her off balance because she said, “Huh? What was that?”

“She isn’t my girlfriend. The person Jen talked to is a friend of my ex-girlfriend.”

“Oh, so you didn’t call your girlfriend...I mean your ex-girlfriend a dyke.”

“No.” Wasn’t it time for them to go to bed or something?

Betty thought it over for a while. She didn’t look at me but fidgeted on the couch next to me.

“Is there anything else?”

“I guess not.” The girl sounded disappointed. “So you don’t have a girlfriend now?”

I wondered when would someone say no and mean it? “I thought you said no?” I was really getting tired of everyone getting into my business. Betty looked a little stricken that I’d tell her no. I wondered what this country was coming to. Here it was almost nineteen seventy and the kids now a days seemed so disrespectful. Then I had to smile as that was probably what my own father thought as Gary and I were growing up.

I looked at the girl next to me. Yeah I could see Jen sitting here in a couple of years. “I think it’s time for you to join the rest of the girls in Jennifer’s room.”

Betty got up and looked at me. Her brown eyes looking into mine.
 
Later that night I was sitting on the couch and trying to shut down the past couple of days. Yeah, it was getting better and better all the time. If things got any better, someone was going to have to commit me to the nut house. I was really looking forward to going over to Three’s house and having steak and potato salad. At least there, I knew things would be more normal.