Chapter 27: New Tenants

I knew I was in trouble - knew it, knew it, knew it, knew it.

Christy and I were kidding ourselves. Well, I couldn't really speak for Christy, just for me, but the reality was clear. I still had feelings for Christy and adding sex into the equation wasn't going to help us become better friends while we dated other people. There's a point when you know you are just kidding yourself and I had passed that the moment we hopped into bed together after we broke up.

As if that wasn't enough, Sammie was moving in this weekend. I didn't really know her anymore, but felt like she could be a dividing presence in the house. If she figured out what I was realizing ... well, things were about to get ugly.

Instead of going with Mike, Sparks, Alice and Heather to the game, I begged off, claiming a bad headache and stayed home sulking. My bad habits weren't far off, so by the time the football game kicked off, I was buried in Call of Duty, taking out my frustration on bots.

It's easy to lose yourself in a game like CoD and just float with the time, so I had no idea what time it was when Mom cleared her throat as she leaned on my bedroom's door frame. It threw me off enough to allow one of the bots to frag me.

"You're really good at that game, you know?" she started.

"Yeah."

She walked into the room and sat on my bed, watching over my shoulder.

"The girls must go crazy watching you in action like this, huh?"

I grunted.

"I mean, this is how guys pick up girls these days, right? Call them up and have them come over for a nice little killing spree? How do they keep their hands off of you?" Yeah, she had a nice smirk going.

"Okay, I give. What's up with the sarcasm?"

"I'm just wondering why, on a Friday night, a nice looking, single young man like yourself isn't going out? I mean, are you telling me you couldn't find anyone to go out with?"

Well, that wasn't true. Suzanne had been dropping hints all week that she wanted to go out this weekend. She may not like some of her friends, so much, if she knew that a couple of them had dropped their own hints as well. And it's not like they were trolls, or anything, either. All of them had nice qualities about them, but they had one major drawback.

They weren't Christy.

I knew having sex might complicate things, but pretending it didn't made it worse. Christy was apparently moving on, so it was up to me to do the same. I felt like a car stuck in first gear. How do I figure out how to shift gears if I've never driven a clutch?

"No, I had some options, I'm just not ready, I guess."

Mom grabbed the TV remote and turned it off. "You're overthinking this, Phil."

I shook my head. "I don't think I am."

Mom sat down next to me on the floor in front of me, leaned towards me and give me a quick kiss.

"Yes, you are. I know you think I can't possibly know what's going on, but I wasn't born an adult, Phil. I had to learn just like you have to learn."

I leaned back on my hands, increasing the distance between us. "I made a mistake..."

" ... and had sex with Christy. Phil, there is nothing wrong with two people who love each other having sex, even if it's just casual. That wasn't your mistake, Phil."

"I think it was."

"No, the mistake is the same mistake the two of you kept making while you were dating. What we got here, is a failure to communicate! Some men just can't be reached!" she said in her best imitation of a gang boss. My Mom did love Cool Hand Luke.

"We're communicating better than ever, I thought."

"Well, that's perfectly clear. Christy has a date lined up for tonight and you have last year's video game. You tell me if it feels like you communicated adequately."

I dropped onto my back and stared at the ceiling. Thinking about Christy being out on a date was eating my insides.

"If it makes you feel any better, you aren't the only one making this mistake. Christy isn't being honest with you, either."

"What do you mean?" That got my attention.

"Phil, you know as well as I do Christy would rather be spending time with you. You are the one who wanted to break things off."

"I know. I just couldn't stand wondering if she was doing something with Steve Williams behind my back."

"Is she dating him?"

"Oh no. He made sure she lost interest in him pretty quick. He implied that Christy had ... done something with him. She and Jessica put him in his place."

"So, what's stopping you and Christy dating again?"

"You were there, you know. We figured we'd be better as friends; that a high school romance wasn't built to last."

"That's true. If the two of you had left it there, I don't think you'd be in here now."

"Okay, Mom, that may be true, but you also said it was up to us to decide how far to take our friendship."

"Yup, and now you know. Apparently, neither of you can handle the 'friends with benefits' approach, at least not the way things are now.

"I'm open to suggestions."

"You're going to have to talk again. Set the ground rules. Make sure neither one of you leaves until you are comfortable with the solution."

"You mean, drop the 'friends with benefits' routine."

"Not necessarily, but you have to find a good common ground and you aren't there yet. How about I give you a hint, okay? I won't reveal how I know this, but it could be that Christy is not so interested in having sex on her dates, at least not right now.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because she gets to come home to you."

I cracked my first smile of the night as I sat up again.

"Now, before that big head starts growing, you need to understand why. She does love you, but you both know it's too soon. You do offer her the one thing that other people your age dating can't always guarantee. You're safe."

"Oh, that doesn't sound so good."

Mom rolled her eyes. I couldn't remember the last time she had done that. "You're taking it wrong. You're safe because she knows you will never put her in a bad position. You're going to be available when she has an itch that needs scratching and, if you are willing, she can try new things with you. No one else can offer that, right now."

"The same could be said for me."

"Yes it could! Because she has that security, she is free to go on dates and have fun, just as you are, but she doesn't have to bend to the pressure to have sex with her date."

"I never thought about it like that."

"But, beware, Phil. Just because the pressure is off doesn't mean she will abstain completely. She might still have sex, but she is not interested in developing any kind of commitment until she goes to college."

"You talked to her, didn't you?"

"Mmm, hmm. And let me tell you, she went through a lot of Kleenex. She's worried you are going to find someone else and forget all about her."

"So, what happens if I meet someone I want to date for awhile?"

"Well, that's the risk you both face, isn't it? But you don't have to commit to someone just to have sex. Think about what that does for you and then you'll figure out what a good opportunity this is."

With that, Mom gave me a hug and a kiss and left me to my thoughts.

Once again, she was right. I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around just dating. I didn't have any experience with anyone but Christy; had never been on a real date before. It wasn't like a few weeks with Christy had turned me into an expert. My newfound confidence had gotten me far, but I felt closer to my geeky, unpopular self than anything else.

I considered asking Christy to be exclusive again, but quickly ruled that out. Mom was right – the deeper we committed to a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, the tougher the separation was going to be. I had to find my balance. And I needed experience.

I turned off the TV, grabbed a candle and spent some time meditating. I concentrated on the movements of the flame and was finally successful in pushing some of the noise from my mind. From there, I was able to ask myself some questions and formulate a plan of action.

The first question I had to ask myself was, what would make me happy? The short answer was, having sex. I was a newbie, but that blew everything else away. But sex was pretty much covered with Christy being around, at least for now. Believing I had my sexual needs covered, as much as I understood them, the next thing that would make me happy is meeting new people and gaining experience. This is where Mom was pushing me and I understood why. There is no replacement for experience and NOW was the time to get those experiences. I wouldn't be desperate for sex, although I wouldn't shy away from it. I could just go out and have fun!

The problem was, who would I go with? How would I tell them that Christy was living with me? In the end, that was going to be their problem, not mine. I couldn't change the situation with Christy and wouldn't want to even if I could. If they didn't want to go out with me because of that, I would have to keep searching. The Halloween party and Homecoming were right around the corner. It would be nice to have a date to take.

The next question was, who? Suzanne was nice, but so were several of the other girls who had been friendly to me, recently. What they all had in common was a lack of real interest on my part. In the end, I decided to ask Suzanne out. It was just after nine-thirty when I texted her. A few minutes later, we were on the phone.

"Hi, Phil! Good to hear from you. What are you up to tonight?"

"Not much, really. I decided to stay home and relax for the evening. What are you doing?" I could hear some giggling and voices in the background.

"My friends and I are at the game. Why aren't you here?"

"I didn't really feel up to it."

"Yeah, I know. Christy is cheering, but I hear she's going out with Jeremy Taylor after the game."

"It's not really like that, Suzanne. Christy and I are still good friends. She's going to go out on dates, just like I am."

"So, you're ready to go out?"

"Yeah. That's a good part of the reason I called. I was hoping I could talk you into a date tomorrow night." I was nervous and my voice was cracking a little as I asked her out. I was okay with rejection, if that happened, but I was worried about the inevitable questions I was more than likely to receive.

"I would like to go out, Phil, but I don't want a repeat of our last date. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but you weren't really there."

"I had just broken up..."

" ... and I knew what to expect. But for our second date, I'll need to know that you are thinking about me, not missing Christy or wondering what she and Jeremy or anyone else is up to."

That could be difficult, but I owed it to her to make sure she had a good time. "I believe I can do that, Suzanne, and I apologize for last time."

She giggled into the phone. "That's okay, Phil. It ended well."

I was smiling now, too. "I still have no idea what happened."

"Well, I'm not promising a follow-up, but I would like to go out. When?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"Sure. I get to pick this time. How about dinner and a movie. Since you don't have your license yet, how about I pick you up at six?"

"Sounds good." We talked for a little while longer before calling it a night. I was happy with the outcome. I would date, but knew it wouldn't necessarily turn into anything serious.

The inevitable questions didn't come up during the phone call, but I knew they were coming. I could approach it several ways, but in the end, decided to just be honest. As my Grandfather had pointed out, being honest just takes less work.

I have no idea what time it was when Christy got home, but I could see the alarm clock when she crawled into bed. It was just after eleven-thirty. Mom had set the curfew and I was glad to know that she wasn't testing Mom's boundaries. I rolled over to face Christy and was greeted with a nice kiss.

"How was your date?" I asked.

"It was fun. We went over to the Malloy's after the game and hung out for awhile."

"Any sparks?"

"Not really. I think we can be good friends, but I don't see it going much beyond that. Jeremy's coming off a tough breakup, so I don't think he's ready for anything serious, either, which is perfect for me. What about you? What did you do tonight?"

"Stayed home and killed bots."

Christy frowned. "I shouldn't have gone out so soon."

"Well, I'll admit, I was wallowing in self-pity for a couple of hours. Then Mom gave me a beat down and told me to stop sulking. I called Suzanne and asked her out for tomorrow."

There was some sadness in Christy's eyes. I knew she was going through the same set of emotions I had gone through earlier.

"Christy, Mom was right. We need to get out and have some fun. And it doesn't mean I'm going to get serious with Suzanne any more than you are going to get serious with Jeremy. You and I can still go out and have fun, too."

"But just as friends, right?"

"Well, let's see how we feel. We just need to be honest about it. I know if I take you out, I'll feel the same way about you I have from day one. But as long as we have fun and don't take it too seriously, I think it will work out."

I could tell Christy was processing this. I knew we both had our doubts, but the one thing I was determined NOT to do was to lose Christy forever. Her parents breaking up was surely a nightmare for Christy, but I got the feeling that she could be a permanent fixture in our lives from this point forward. I couldn't say she was my long lost sister, because you should never want to do with your sister what I wanted to do with her.

She seemed to reach an agreeable conclusion when she said, "we'll figure it out. In the meantime, can we snuggle?"

I nodded and Christy rolled over. She pulled my arm over her and placed my hand on her breast. I was really beginning to like this spooning concept.

Today was the day Maria and Sammie were moving in. I was up and moving before six, planning to have my morning routine completed by eight. Carlos had his truck and a trailer set to pack their stuff, depositing the necessities at our house while storing most of the furniture in his garage behind his house. I had asked Mike to give me a hand and Tom was nice enough to tag along. Sparks and Heather were going to drop by around lunch time to see how things were going and, maybe, help us unpack. If things didn't last too long, Mike, Sparks and I were going to hang out for the afternoon. Heather, Alice and Christy were going to go to the mall.

The house Maria and Sammie had been living was, well, a shit hole. Don't get me wrong; the place was immaculate. There wasn't a speck of dust or dirt to be found, anywhere, but the place was falling apart. It was easy to see that Maria, Carlos and Sammie had made the house as livable as they could, but the paint was peeling on the walls and the ceiling. None of the doors to any of the rooms closed properly and there were obvious cracks in the walls from the foundation shifting. There were dark spots around many of the outlets and what looked to be mold growing in a couple places in the bathroom.

"Welcome to the fuckin' Taj Mahal, Phil." Sammie commented. I know my jaw was resting on my chin as I took it all in.

"Well, we'll be damn sure your next place isn't like this."

"Oh? And just exactly how will you do that?"

I had no answer and she knew it. Sammie was keeping score, but I had no idea what her game was or what the winner – or loser – would get in the end. In any event, it was her game, so let her play it. Right now, I just wanted to get out of here as quickly as I could. By ten o'clock, we were finished loading the truck and trailer while the ladies cleaned up after us. The landlord was scheduled to be over by eleven to inspect the place and give Maria her five-hundred dollar security deposit back. Maria had told us she didn't think she would get a dime back from the cheap bastard, which was part of the reason Tom came along for the trip.

"Hey White Bread! What the fuck you doin' here?"

I didn't have to see to know it was Tony. Once again, he wasn't alone, bringing alone a couple of knuckle-draggers with him. I thought of a few smartass things to say, but Mike and Tom looked at me and quickly shook their heads, so I tried to ignore him.

"Oh, that's about right. You uppity assholes can't seem to hear us from this part of town, but that shit don't matter. You ain't needin' to talk any, I'll do all of it for you." Tony approached and stood next to the trailer as I worked with Tom and Mike to secure the load with a couple of straps. "Don't think that taking Sammie to your house to stay is going to keep me away from her." He chuckled. "You might as well set aside a space for me as well, 'cause in a couple of weeks, you'll think I'm living there, anyhow."