Chapter 31: Another Surprise

I took Penny’s arm and gently led over beside Kim and Bob, who were dancing and kissing. I gestured to Kim, “9-1-1, Foyer. Right now!” That was our code for we need to talk immediately. Penny was still in my arms and had started laughing.

Kim looked somewhat puzzled but started to follow us. Bob went to the two women that were dancing together.

Kim, Penny, and I went to the large welcome foyer. I sputtered, “Your mom has us figured out, completely it appears, and...”

Penny interrupted, “And, I want to be part of it all – tonight – the sex. I even want your fiancé as my first partner, with your permission, of course. I need some serious and sexual loving. God, I’ve gone without for so long. I hope I haven’t forgotten what to do.”

The silence was ear-shattering. Kim silently sized up her mother and then said, “Wait a minute.” She went back to the living room and reappeared less than a minute later with June in tow. The two daughters faced off with their mother.

Kim stated to her sister, “Mom wants in on the sex – the group lovemaking. She apparently wants to be a full member of the Circle, although we need to talk about that.” Penny kept nodding in agreement. “Lastly, she wants to be with Ron to start with.”

There was more silence as the two daughters looked to see whether their mother was yanking their chain. She wasn’t. Penny nodded that what had been said was exactly what she wanted. She did maintain her smile. I was glad the daughters were both present.

I suggested, “Penny, tell them why you want this.”

Penny nodded and began. “I have been in a loveless marriage for almost twenty years. Bart turned out to be a huge disappointment on all counts, except he was providing me food, shelter, clothing, and a few other nice things I couldn’t have had otherwise. I suppose you could say that I prostituted myself to keep that lifestyle. Just to be blunt, he was and is a terrible lover. Early on, I was in survival mode and too proud to say anything to anybody else, and then I couldn’t see a way out. I didn’t want to call on you because of ... pride, the burden I’d be, and my inability to return your kindness.

“A week ago, on their overnight visit, Kim promised me an out from the ogre if I needed it. I knew she could help me financially because I have figured out that she is beyond rich. I took that as a sincere sign that I really had a way out although I’m not happy about taking the charity. Bart was so rude to the two of you. I popped or whatever you say. I just knew that I couldn’t last any longer. Lord knows, I’ve tried. I wanted a good marriage with a loving husband, but with THAT MAN, I just couldn’t do it. I don’t think anybody could. My mind is made up; I’ll file for divorce. I want him out of my life.

“Those were the huge reasons for pushing me out of the marriage and into something else. But then there was something else pulling me towards all of you. The ‘something else’ I pieced together from bits and snippets of what the two of you told me about your lives over the last few years and months, how you talk about your husband and fiancé, and the Circle. What you cut yourself off from saying – uncompleted sentences and such when you’d catch yourselves.

“You were never explicit about the sex, but you may as well as written it across the sky. I know what the two of you are like, especially when you were younger. You think I didn’t know about what you were doing growing up and in college. Guess what? I did. Also, just to set the record straight and so you don’t feel alone, you were just like me. You both were wild about sex and variety; well, me, too. Sometime soon, I’ll tell you about what your two fathers were like when we were together. The short-hand version is that we were wild, highly sexed, and had a lot of variety in our sex lives. Their deaths made me have to give all that up.” I’m so sorry I took a third marriage and made you Bart’s step-children.

“You’ve basically told me that you share yourselves with the other men, and also that they’re wonderful lovers, partners, and the best of friends. I want that. I need that. The only friends I had in Denver were the few wives of Bart’s associates. He had to approve them and then manage any interaction that I had with them. I stopped trying after a while and focused on being in shape, my dental work, and such.