Chapter 3: Interrupted

May 30, 1984, Goshen and Milford, Ohio

"Do you have a habit of asking random guys you meet in barns to kiss you?" I inquired with a sly smile.

"You're the first random guy I've met in a barn, so the answer is 'yes'," Piper replied mirthfully.

"Technically true," I chuckled.

"It's just a kiss! It's not like I asked you to have sex with me!"

"But you have asked a random guy in a barn to have sex?" I teased.

"Not yet!" Piper said, laughing softly. "I'm just asking for a kiss."

"I have to warn you that the last time a girl and I had our first kiss in this hayloft, it immediately led to a roll in the hay!"

Piper laughed again, "I suppose I'll just have to take my chances."

I wondered how much of what she had said was teasing and what I would do if it wasn't teasing. Piper had just graduated High School, which meant she cleared the first hurdle, so to speak. I found her attractive, she was over the age of consent, and she had a good sense of humor. All of which pushed me towards taking things as far as she wanted to take them.

On the other side of the coin, there was the question of her wanting to see me in the Fall. By then, Teri and Taya would be back in school, but I had agreed with Krissy that we'd get together when she returned from Oregon. I had to take into account the situation with Violet, and there was my current emotional state to consider as well.

Sex with Piper would be just for fun, I was sure, despite asking if we could see each other in Chicago. And as Bianca and Violet had said, sex for fun was something I could do, whereas making love was not something for which I was ready, except in the very limited, special cases of Deanna and CeCi. But this wouldn't be about making love; it would be fucking. In the end, I decided to leave it up to her.

"If it's what you want, I would love to kiss you," I said.

I was sitting cross-legged, and Piper moved to sit in my lap, though she surprised me by sitting facing me with her legs loosely around me rather than sideways as I'd expected. She smiled, then leaned forward so that our lips touched. Hers parted, and I sought her tongue with mine. I knew instantly, as our tongues touched, where things were going to end, and Piper reinforced that when she squeezed her arms and legs around me and wriggled in my lap.

To confirm my belief, I moved my hand to Piper's breast, discovering she was not wearing a bra under her T-shirt. Her nipple hardened under my palm, and she moaned into my mouth. After a minute, she broke the kiss, and I lowered my hand to her hip.

"You wouldn't want to have sex with me, would you?" she asked impishly.

"If it's what you want, I would love to have sex with you," I replied.

Piper laughed and quickly stripped off her T-shirt, revealing her firm, conical breasts capped with small pink nipples. I lowered my head and took the peak of one of her breasts into my mouth, sucking gently and teasing her nipple with the tip of my tongue. Piper moaned softly, and she began tugging on my T-shirt, pulling it from my jeans and putting one hand on the bare skin of my back.

I released Piper's nipple and allowed her to pull my T-shirt over my head. She tossed it on top of hers, then lowered her head and sucked on one of my nipples, causing me to groan and causing my erection to strain against my jeans. Suddenly, I had a clear thought despite the intense pleasure.

"Birth control?" I asked.

Piper released my nipple and raised her head.

"I'm on the Pill!" she panted.

Her hands went to my waist, and she loosened my belt and unbuttoned my jeans.

"PIPER?!" I heard a shrill female voice call out.

"My mom!" Piper whispered.

She grabbed her T-shirt, pulled it on, carefully tucked it in, then got up and walked over to the ladder.

"I'm up here!" Piper called out.

"Come down from there this instant!" the shrill voice demanded. "We're leaving in about twenty minutes!"

Piper turned and frowned, then climbed down the ladder.

"What were you doing up there?" her mom asked.

"I just wanted a place to hang out alone," I heard Piper answer.

Her mother said something else, but it was muffled, and I heard the door to the barn open and close. I put on my shirt, buttoned my jeans, refastened my belt, then lay back down. I realized that we hadn't exchanged numbers or any other information, and I didn't even know her last name. I decided to wait another ten minutes just to make sure I didn't give away Piper's intended tryst.

When the time had passed, I folded the blankets and put them on the shelf. After a moment's consideration, I took them off the shelf because Bev had brought them, and the barn would be torn down once the farmer sold the land. I had a brief thought that I might buy the land, but I knew nothing about development and had no idea how to evaluate the possible profit I might make.

I carefully climbed down the ladder, left the barn, and walked along the dirt path, which led to the edge of the field, then through the grass separating my mom's house from Bev's. I walked into the house, where I took off my shoes.

"Have a nice walk?" Mom asked.

"I did. At the end of my walk, I went to the barn where Bev and I used to hang out."

"That explains the blankets!"

"They were the ones Bev brought to the barn ten years or so ago. I should probably wash them, given I don't know the last time they were washed. OK to do that?"

"Yes."

I went to the small laundry room, put the blankets in the washer, set the controls, added Tide powder, then started the machine. Once it was running, I went back to the living room to sit with Mom. We chatted until the washing machine finished, then I moved the blankets to the dryer and said 'good night' to Mom.

May 31, 1984, Greater Cincinnati, Ohio

Mom and I had breakfast together on Thursday morning, and then I showered and dressed in my suit. Mitchell had a trial scheduled to start, which meant he'd miss the funeral, as he couldn't simply cancel or delay the proceedings for someone who wasn't a very close relative.

"Who's driving?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter to me," Mom replied. "Your car is probably more comfortable for you."

"That makes sense. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

We went out to my car, and once we were buckled in, I headed for Saint Mark's Lutheran Church, which was on Buckwheat Road in Milford. Bev's family had gone to church occasionally, usually on Easter, so it didn't surprise me that they'd have a religious ceremony for her. I felt the same way about that I had felt about the ceremonies for Keiko — it honored her family tradition.

The drive took just over ten minutes, and when I pulled into the parking lot of the church, I parked in the closest spot I could find. Mom and I got out of the car, and after locking the doors, we headed into the church. We were handed a folded piece of paper that I would call a program, but which was titled 'Order of Service'. I let Mom choose where we sat, about six pews back from the platform where an altar, mostly enclosed by a railing, stood.

About ten minutes after we arrived, everyone stood, and a small choir began singing Amazing Grace as six men carried Bev's coffin into the church. They placed it on a stand in front of the platform, and some women arranged flowers around it. A few minutes later, a man clad in clerical robes moved to the front of the church to begin the service.

The priest or pastor — I wasn't sure what they called him — offered a prayer. After the prayer, there were readings from the Bible, which, according to the Order of Service, were from Isaiah, Psalm 23, Timothy, and the Gospel of John. Following that, the assembled mourners recited the Apostle's Creed and then sang A Mighty Fortress, though I was silent for all of those. The clergyman then led everyone in a series of prayer requests, to which the people responded, 'Lord, hear our prayer', though I once again remained silent.

Next was a joint recitation of The Lord's Prayer, and I continued my practice of remaining silent. After the prayer, the clergyman prayed, and then Anna gave a slightly different eulogy. I wondered how she had been chosen and thought perhaps it had somehow been Bev's wishes.

Before I had wrecked what was left of our relationship by the way I'd handled the situation with Heather, I suspected Bev would have wanted me to do it. It was just another sign of the complete sundering of what had been a deep, lifelong friendship. Of course, I thought, with more than a small amount of remorse, had the relationship not been sundered, I very likely wouldn't be sitting in a church for Bev's funeral.

Following the eulogy, a final song — How Great Thou Art — was sung, and then the same men who had carried in Bev's coffin carried it out. As everyone followed, we were handed a purple flag to clip on our car windows and asked to turn on our headlights. About ten minutes later, the hearse began moving, and we followed the other cars out of the parking lot, taking our place in the cortege.

The cortege moved slowly, and it took about twenty minutes to arrive at Goshen Cemetery. As the seventy or so people gathered, the same six men carried Bev's coffin from the hearse to the gravesite. There was a brief prayer service, then workmen lowered the coffin into the grave. The thought that formed in my mind was that this shouldn't have happened. I still felt there might have been something more I could have done, but I had no idea what it might have been.