Chapter 13: Parental Promises

The ground under the treehouse was hard and my right ankle protested the abrupt landing. I fell forward, putting my hands on the dirt, and dropping the bag containing the washcloths. A small cloud of dust billowed up.

I inhaled some of the dirt and started coughing. Above me I could hear Ashley laughing. She waited for me to stop coughing and then shouted. "I'll take stupid human tricks for fifty."

"It was fun!" I protested as I stood up and began brushing dirt from my shirt and pants.

"Mark, look up," Ashley called out. I glanced up to see her holding her hand out over the trapdoor opening. When she was sure I was paying attention, she opened her hand and something small and black started to drop. I reached out and caught it as it fell.

The object was one of the remotes for the tree house. "You left it on the floor," Ashley told me. She then sat down on the side of the opening and swung her feet onto the second rung of the rope ladder.

I slid the key fob into my right pocket. Ashley was starting to descend the ladder. The short skirt allowed me to see her toned ass as she moved her legs from rung to rung. She glanced behind her and could see me looking up at her.

I thought she might be upset, but she smirked and kept moving down the ladder. She was three rungs above the ground when she leapt into my arms. I ended up taking a step back to cushion my body, but managed to stay on my feet as I put my arms around her. Ashley purred into my ear as I spun her around a couple of times.

She said nothing as we broke the embrace. I got the remote out of my pocket long enough to press the red button. We stood there for a moment watching the ladder ascend back into the cylinder that concealed it. The motors were powerful and it took no more than a minute before the tree house was closed up. I held my arm out to Ashley. "Shall we go?"

Ashley giggled and put her arm through mine. "Why kind sir," she said in a faux-southern accent. "I have always depended on the kindness of my lover."

"Just don't depend on the kindness of strangers," I said as we began to walk to the southwest and the line of houses that included the Roberts's residence.

"Why not?" Ashley chirped. "I don't think they come any stranger than you."

Her comment sounded so innocent, despite the cheeky grin on her face, that I burst out laughing. Ashley joined me as we made our way through the trees. We had walked about a third of a mile when the trees thinned rapidly, leaving a wide open track before we reached the houses we had been heading towards. Ashley looked at the wooden fence border of the track in confusion. "Where do we go?" she asked.

I was trying to look over the fence to identify at least one of the houses. This was my first time looking at them from the back, and I was struggling to identify any house, when a gate opened about eighty yards to our right. Jason stepped out and started to wave.

"Over here!" he shouted.

Ashley and I hurried across and down the track to arrive at the open gate. Jason immediately held his hands out. I responded in kind and he slapped his left hand into mine. "Your phone," he said. "I forgot to give it to you at the tree house."

I used my free hand to smack my face. "Did Julio call again?" I asked.

"Not yet," Jason said as he handed Ashley her own phone.

I nodded and started leafing through my contact list. It took a moment before I found the entry for Julio Agosto and was able to initiate a call. I turned my phone's speaker feature on when I heard the other phone's ringing.

"Mark!" Julio's voice called out when he answered. I had the phone in my hand at about waist level and the shout was thunderous. "Where have you been?"

"I got a ride home with Jason and his mother," I said. "When we arrived I had something I wanted to complete, and I forgot to bring my phone with me. Jason just handed it back to me."

"You heard what happened right?" Julio asked.

"Partially. I never met Bart, but I saw how much he bulked up this year. Those drugs can mess up your mind. Sadly, when he snapped he was on the campus and had access to weapons," I replied.

"Oh come on!" Julio said. "It's not just that. The bastard had a two point zero. Weren't you paying attention at break yesterday? If you have a high CAP you can practically demand that a girl give you a blowjob and at worst she shakes her head. He snapped because of his score!"

"So soon?" I asked. "Julio, let's use a bit of common sense."

"It's not that common," Jason muttered low enough that my phone would not pick it up.

"Bart was angry long before the announcement. I know you won't go to the high school football games, but I did last fall. Every game Bart got at least one penalty for continuing to play after the whistle blew. He screamed at coaches and teammates. That was clear long before today. I even heard a rumor that he threw a table through a window at his house, because not one college was interested in offering him a scholarship," I said.

"But he hurt Letty. He's ruined her face!" Julio sobbed.

"How bad is she hurt?" I asked.

There was another sob on the other end of the call. "He cut her starting above her right eyebrow and slashed all the way to her left ear. The cut went through her eye. He also knocked out four of Letty's teeth."

"What do the doctors say?" I asked.

"She's not even in surgery yet," Julio continued sobbing. "The doctors say that her injuries aren't life-threatening, so they have only bandaged everything. Right now they are saying she'll probably be operated on tomorrow morning."

"The doctors have experience in judging these things," I replied cautiously. "Perhaps they are hoping that they can save her eye if they take their time rather than rush the surgery because others are also injured."

"It's my sister!" Julio screamed. "What if it was your sister?"

"I'd spend all the time I was allowed comforting her in the hospital," I said sadly. "Julio, where is your sister? Is she at Memorial?"

"Yeah, good old Black Knights Memorial," Julio moaned. "They have her in the emergency room now and only allow family to visit."

"Could you call me once she's out of surgery and give me her room number?" I asked.

Julio snorted. "If you make sure to let your father know I want to participate in any protests against the CAP system. It caused that rampage. I know it. And I'm going to fight against it."

"I can do that," I said with a sigh. "I'm going to be stopping by my house, and if Father is there I'll tell him immediately. Are you still going to take your test on Tuesday?"

"It's the law. Mother might think it's stupid, but we are going to obey the law. I'll be going there right after school," Julio said. We could hear something over the phone, it sounded like someone was shouting at Julio. "I've got to go. Mother wants to visit some of the other girls who were hurt. Charity she says."

The screen on my phone showed the call terminated. I cleared the screen and turned to look at Jason, who stared at me. "You offered to visit Leticia?" he asked.

I smiled. "Jason, she used to come to all of our soccer games right?"

"Yes?" Jason responded uncertainly.

"I know you've seen her. Was she pretty?" I asked as I put an arm around Ashley. Jason closed his eyes so I turned to whisper in her ear. "By your brother's standard."

Jason opened his eyes. "Fuck, you know I thought she was a hottie. She's got those massive tits. Even with the uncool sixties era blouses and skirts she always wore, she was damn beautiful."

"She lost that today," I said sadly. "I can't say for sure, but I expect she's going to need to hear some people say that they will remain her friends."

Ashley hugged me and started covering my face with kisses. "Oh, that's so you! I knew there was a reason my panties are instantly wet when I look at you."

"You still wear them?" I asked. Ashley paused in her kissing to blush.

"No," she whispered. "But if I had any they'd be soaked. Can I run inside to clean up a little?"

"Go," I said with a laugh. Ashley giggled and ran towards the patio and the door into the house. Jason openly stared at her ass as she ran away.

"That is your sister you are staring at," I reminded him, throwing an elbow into his midsection.

"Is Ashley a go'er?" Jason said in a mock British accent.

I slapped him across the back of the head. "Let's head to the front of the house. We need to visit my house for some stuff. After that we can get to the arcade."

"Shall we go without Ashley?" Jason said seriously.

I thought for a moment as we walked to the patio door. "You know, if you keep showing that you can think, I'm going to have to reassess this entire friendship."

Jason laughed as we entered the house. Mrs. Roberts was standing just inside the door. She glared at me as Jason and I set foot inside.

"Well..." She said. "I'm surprised you were willing to return. After what you'd done to my daughter."

I gulped. "Mrs. Roberts, I have tried to ensure that your daughter is the happiest woman in town. She has not voiced a single complaint to me."

"Well she did to me," Mrs. Roberts replied fiercely. I took a step back.

Mrs. Roberts stood there for a moment longer, her crossed arms and stern expression seemed determined to cut through me. I could see Jason step forward, but he shrank back when Mrs. Roberts raised her right hand.

"She told me that you are making her wait until you do it again," Mrs. Roberts said gently as she winked at me.

"Mom!" Jason cried.

She smiled. "Mark, I'm sorry if I scared you. Ashley didn't say much, only that she hopes you can do it again. I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to neglect her."

"She's very important to me," I replied. "I can't promise that I'll never hurt her, but I hope that sixty years from now we are still in love and still together."

"We will be," Ashley said as she dashed into the room and threw her arms around me. "Oh Mark, I love you."

Jason groaned. I hugged Ashley back for a moment and then slowly broke the embrace. "Ash, can you wait here with your mother while Jason and I visit my house so I can get clothing? We'll make it quick."

"You expect problems?" Mrs. Roberts asked.

"Not from my brother, he probably won't realize that there is anything going on. My parents are the ones who might figure it out. They aren't stupid," I said.

Mrs. Roberts nodded. "If you run you can be back by three. I'll drive you to the mall and you can call me for pickup or walk back."

Jason took off running for the front door. "Race you to your house!" he shouted as he left the room.

I gave Ashley a quick kiss. "Back soon," I said. Jason was opening the front door as I started running after him. I could hear him laugh as he left the house.

I slowed down at the front door, taking time to close it without slamming it. Jason had crossed the street and was two houses up the block when I jumped off his front porch and accelerated to full speed in pursuit.