Chapter 2

Specialist Four Janus P. Pulaski (that’s me!) (didn’t I tell you, I made Spec Four in August) went home on Christmas leave on December nineteenth after thirteen months in the Army. I still had at least three more months before graduation from the SOCoM Course. It was not lost on me that I’d completed more schooling than my genius girlfriends because I had been in school throughout the summer while they were lounging around on the beach. Well not for the whole summer because my girlfriends each spent a week in North Carolina with me, one at a time. Elaine and Cindi were impressed by the specific medical training I was receiving because they were still slogging through their general education requirements. Ellen, not so much. I think she would have been more impressed if I’d been at the Navy’s Nuclear Reactor School.

All three of my girlfriends picked me up at the airport in Orlando. For once I caught an early morning direct flight that took off and landed on time. I drew some admiring looks when they swarmed me at the baggage claim. The twins looked even less identical because Ellen had her hair straightened, dyed blond, and cut in a short shag much like Katrina. In contrast, Elaine’s riotous curly red locks were haphazardly corralled by a green polka dot headband. All three of them were wearing skirts with tights and sweaters because it was a chilly fifty-five degrees in Central Florida.

We stopped at the Cavanaugh’s even before I went home. Thomas and Donna greeted me graciously and seemed genuinely glad to see me. I think Mister and Missus Cavanaugh probably suspected that hanky-panky went on between me and the twins, but they didn’t say anything about it. Elaine and Ellen would soon be eighteen and were doing well at the community college with perfect 4.0 GPAs. Furthermore, both girls had been accepted to the University of Florida. They were well protected birth control wise, I was the only boy they dated, and their parents were the ones who had pushed us together. And finally, I think the Cavanaugh parents knew that I would always keep the twins safe.

We stayed in the family room making polite conversation until Elaine decided we’d spent enough time with her folks. She tugged on my hand to get me off the couch.

“We’re taking Johnny upstairs to talk, we have a lot of catching up to do,” she said breezily.

Indeed, we did, because except for an occasional hand-job, Kong and I had been celibate since July. And I wasn’t the only needy person in the room. I was very happy that my connection to them was as strong as ever. With Elaine it was maybe even stronger. It was like Christmas came early as they let me undress them. I took my time unwrapping my presents!

Cindi was first, her tight little oriental body so different from all the other women in my life. Waifish, Cindi topped out at five feet, and a hundred pounds ... on her tiptoes, soaking wet, and with a pocket full of rocks. Her skin was smooth, and she looked as if she had a light all over tan. Her hair was long and silky black. Ellen and Elaine had effectively identical, very nice bodies. They were both a tad over five-nine, weighing about one-thirty. Their skin was very pale, and they had a million freckles to go with their red hair. Anyway, it took a few minutes for us to be naked and less than another minute until Ellen was waxing the moustache I couldn’t grow, and Cindi was bouncing on the Mighty Kong.

As always, Elaine waited to be last so I would be slower on the trigger, and we could take our time. According to Elaine, she and I were attuned to each other down to the molecular level, that’s why we were so good together. We were soulmates she said. I didn’t know about all that, but I did know that only Katrina came close to being as perfect for me as Elaine. Elaine wrapped her arms and legs around me as if I were trying to escape. We made slow gentle love as Ellen and Cindi put on their clothes. Now that I’d taken the edge off, they had other business to which they needed to attend. I think the other girls made sure Elaine and I spent alone time together because of how Elaine felt about me.

I was on my elbows looking down at her as I beamed how much I loved her through our connection. She looked back at me, her eyes hooded, a small smile on her lips. She pulled my head down and glued her lips to mine as she shivered through an orgasm. This time she was the one pouring love into me. She broke the kiss and fell back on the bed with a cute little moan.

“I love you, Johnny Pulaski, and I probably always will,” she whispered sweetly.

“Back at you,” I replied.

I had a nice homecoming with Mom, Dad, Papa, and Nana. I hadn’t been home since last Christmas, so we were happy to see each other. Nana and Mom hugged me, Dad and Papa shook my hand and Jethro licked my face. It was just the right greeting. My family was the best. As a bonus, my parents and grandparents were all doing well, health-wise.

My sister came home for five days on the twenty-second while I was doing some, for me, early Christmas shopping. She had kept the visit a secret and she brought a friend along, a young woman from her academy class named Faith Hammond. Faith was on the volleyball team with Katrina, and she was another tall Amazon with a short haircut. In fact, she was probably an inch taller than Katrina. I liked Faith right away, even when it was obvious that she played for the other team. She didn’t announce her preference, but as soon as we touched hands I knew. When Katrina and I had a minute alone I asked her if Faith was her friend with benefits despite ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’

“Nope,” she chuckled, “even a hint of that would ruin our nascent careers. Don’t ask, don’t tell is just lip service. Faith is the best athlete in the Academy and in the top ten percent academically, yet they would bounce her out on her ass if they found out she was gay.”

I didn’t see much of either of them as Katrina dragged Faith around to meet her friends and hung out with my grandparents, while I was busy spreading Christmas cheer among mine. My grandparents treated Faith as if she were another granddaughter and Faith ate it up. I guessed her family wasn’t all that close or affectionate.

So I made my usual rounds on the twenty-fourth, and what a difference a year made. It amazed me how much everyone had changed. JJ Hernandez was a senior in high school now and a big man on campus. Everyone expected him to get drafted to play professional baseball. He was the pride of the family. JJ’s sister Karla was breaking hearts as a Junior at Palmdale High. His older sister Caroline completed her Registered Nursing Degree at Palmdale Community College and was working at the VA Clinic over by the stadium. Amazingly, Caroline joined the Florida National Guard and was a Second Lieutenant Nurse in the 256th Medical Company. She joined the National Guard because they were paying her way through the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the University of Central Florida. Smart girl, eh?

Speaking of Caroline, she was with Amanda Pullman at her house in the Palmdale Landing gated community. I still had my resident sticker on my truck, so I breezed through the gate that Alan Jerdin used to man. I couldn’t visit Alan and his fiancée Shelia Cavanaugh, because they were spending Christmas with his family, up in Jacksonville. So anyway, newlyweds Jane and Ralph Dabney were also home, so I got to see everyone at once. It was a nice visit because everyone was doing so well. Amanda was a second-year student at UCF with a declared major of Chemical Engineering. Jane and Ralph were happily married, and lucky old Ralphie wore a perpetual smile, thanks to Jane.

Emma and Kayla Thorpe were next on my list. Emma was a first grader now, and she no longer lisped. She was a bubbly little cutie. I always bought a nice present for Emma as did my parents and grandparents. It was my pleasant duty to deliver the loot to my little sweety. I sat on the couch and talked with Emma while her mother went to Walgreen’s for some stocking stuffers. Emma talked the entire time her mother was gone. She covered everything from life in the first grade to her plans for our future wedding. Emma had decided that when she was sixteen she would marry me and we would adopt Jethro.

I paid a visit to Nina Murphy and her daughter Isabella, who everyone called Bella. Bella was a twenty-month-old toddler now. She had been walking for almost a year and she talked a blue streak. She was very bright, and I figured she would be one of Becky Jordan’s MENSA chums for sure. She was inquisitive, and prone to getting into everything. Nina had to hire a nanny to help her and her housekeeper, Missus Napier, corral the little terror. Well, maybe not terror, but seriously overactive. Bella had dark red, slightly curly hair and sparkling blue eyes. It was going to be impossible to deny her Irish heritage. But she was also tall for her age so maybe a few Pulaski genes slipped in there. Bella would be a heartbreaker if she resembled Katrina with red hair.

I was stopped at a red light on my way home when my cell phone rang.

“Hey, I’m driving can I call you right back?” I asked.

“Sure, Johnny. It’s Marcella ... Mikayla Delong,” she said, and she hung up.

I pulled into an Exxon station with a Dunkin Donuts attached and parked. Then I redialed the last number that called me.

“Thanks for calling me back,” Mikayla said.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, then followed up with, “What can I do for you?”

“Can you meet me for dinner, my treat?” she asked.

“Sure ... When? ... Where?”

I left out the why.

“Seven and you pick the place,” she replied.

It was five when she called so I drove home. I called Elaine and postponed meeting up that night. She had no idea why her cousin wanted to see me.

“I don’t know what she wants, Honey; but be yourself, and give her what she needs. Okay?” she asked sweetly.

When she called me Honey and used that voice, I would walk in front of a truck for her, and she knew it.

“Yes, Dear,” I replied, like any good hen-pecked husband.

I showered, shaved, and put on Levi’s with a Ranger Regiment hoodie. At six-forty-five I drove over to Beachcomber’s Seafood Shack.

When I pulled up Mikayla/Marcella was standing by a silver Jag. I chuckled when I saw she was dressed almost the same as me: snug jeans, a sweatshirt, and a Yankees baseball cap. She was also wearing glasses. She looked like a cute, casually dressed, slender but stacked, teenage girl.

“Hi, Johnny,” she said shyly as I walked up.

“Hey, yourself,” I replied. “What am I calling you, today?”

She actually giggled, “I prefer Mikayla when I’m not working.”

“Okay, Mikayla it is. I like it and I like your outfit.”

She giggled again. I loved it when she did that.

“Camouflage. You never know when some paparazzi might jump out of the bushes.”

I gestured toward the restaurant, took her hand, and sent her a gentle feeling of calm and safety.

“Shall we?” I asked. (Smooth, eh?)

She nodded and we walked into Beachcomber’s hand and hand. It was midweek and right before Christmas, so the restaurant was not packed. I snagged us a seat at the long bar overlooking the ocean. Once we were seated, a waitress dropped off a menu and took our drink order. When we were alone again, I asked the obvious question.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mikayla, but I’m curious as to why we are here,” I said.

She gave a little shrug.

“I was in town for the holidays and Mom said you were, too. I remember how good I felt when we had dinner together. I wanted to see if it was a fluke.”

I took her hand again and sent her good feelings ... and I couldn’t help it, I threw in a little tad bit of horny super model. She looked at me and squeezed my hand. Her unusual light green eyes looked huge on her elfin face. She looked even sexier than my former neighbor, Rachael Scofield (remember her?).

“I like it when you do that, Johnny. For some reason no one else can connect with me like that. I thought I was too broken even to enjoy something all my female cousins take for granted,” she said softly.

I nodded, smiled, sent her some more trust, and let her hand go.

“Cool,” I said, “I’m hungry let’s order. Would you like a cocktail? I’m not old enough but I don’t mind if you have one.”

She shook her head and looked me in the eye.

“I am a drug addict, Johnny, and an alcoholic. It’s a struggle for me trying to stay straight ... so, no thank you.”

I nodded my understanding. We ordered Beachcomber’s special half pound bacon cheeseburgers with curly fries and got to know each other as if we were two regular people, which on reflection I guess we were. Mikayla was reticent but as I kept beaming her peacefulness, she loosened up a little as she demolished her burger.

“I was a willful young woman as a teen, Johnny. I did some things that hurt a lot of people, myself included. I’ve been trying to live that down for ten years. Last time you saw me was the first time I’d been home since I was sixteen,” she said.