Chapter 11

“I’m sorry.”

Hannah’s arm brushed mine as she reached for the bowl. She glanced up at me then tilted her head towards her mother and said softly, “This really isn’t the time to talk about it.”

“But...”

“Hey Joe”, my aunt called out.

I turned my attention towards her and replied, “Yeah, you need something?”

“I got some subs from the corner store. Can you cut them up for me?”

“Each one into four?”

“That’ll be fine, thanks.”

As I cut each sub in half and then each half in half again, Hannah was getting bowls from the cupboard that she’d fill from bags of potato chips and Doritos that were on the counter. I caught her looking at me but then she quickly glanced away. Once more she looked up, squinting, so I stuck my tongue out. She stuck hers out at me and giggled. Progress.

I was carrying one plate full of five-inch sections of sub to the far counter when Dave came in from the garage carrying a pair of grocery bags. “I’m back mom, got the meat.” Susie came in right behind him.

“What did you get?” I asked.

“Two four-packs of rib eyes, a couple pounds of ground beef and two packs of hot dogs.”

Aunt Janet asked, “Did you get the ‘all beef’”?

“Yes, mom.”

Susie was wearing a red dress, down to just below her knees, with a tasteful amount of cleavage. Stunning. She held up her bag and said, “And I got the buns!”

My aunt replied, “Okay, just set those down on the counter and I’ll put them in the fridge and put the buns over there.”

She was giving Susie a hug as Dave placed his bags next to my plates of subs. I smiled and said, “Happy birthday cuz!”

He glanced at Susie then leaned in and whispered, “You gotta hear what happened last night.”

“Your birthday present?”

“Oh my God, yes. But not here – let’s go out back.”

Out by the pool I asked, “So what did she give you that’s got you so worked up?”

“Debbie.”

“Huh?”

“Okay. There’s this freshman cheerleader that lives down the street from Susie, and I’ve told her I think Debbie is hot and...”

“Whoah...”

“So last night her parents were out and I went over to the house and ... guess who’s there?”

“Debbie?”

“Yup. She was Susie’s present.”

“Am I understanding you correctly?”

“A threesome.”

“Because you talked about this other girl?”

“I guess because she wanted to give me something memorable for my birthday, that I’d never forget.”

“And she was cool with it?”

“Dude, it was her idea. There was Susie riding my cock and Debbie sitting on my face. Then they switched.”

“Oh. My. God.”

“They even made out with each other to get me stimulated. Not that it took much.”

I shook my head. “It’s just ... hard to comprehend.”

“I came so many times they wore me out.”

I chuckled, looked down at the stone patio and said softly, “I have a fantasy like that, where I’m taking one girl from behind while she’s going down on the other.”

“Whoa! Joe’s going crazy here.”

I frowned. “But I don’t picture your sister doing the lezzie thing.”

“Unless you do it with someone else.”

I stuck my finger in his face. “Listen bud - I waited too damn long to get what I have with her. I’m not going to give it up for anything.”

Dave leaned in and grabbed my hand. “I still can’t picture you fucking my little sister. Your own cousin.”

I pulled my hand away. “Well, deal with it. It’s what two people in love do. Be happy for her.”

“Yes, I want her to be happy.”

“Good. Now I have to scrub that mental image of you last night.”

He lowered his voice. “You can’t tell anyone. Nobody. Just our little, private, secret.”

“Sure. Not that anyone would believe me ... but then again, it is you two.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just shut up ... and ... Shut. Up. Let’s go inside.”

Hannah looked my way from the couch where she was munching on some chips. We made eye contact but she didn’t say anything and went back to watching the pre-game show.

I went over to Susie who was getting herself a glass of pop. My eyes traveled over her boobs down to her butt then back up again.

She whispered to me, “Like what you see?”

“Um, yeah ... hi. Pretty dressed up to see the game.”

She smiled and tugged her dress away from her legs. “Just got back from church.”

“You wore that to church? Isn’t that a little distracting, um, for the men?”

Susie put her hands on her hips. “I hope so. That, and my parents were heading out to the country club afterwards. I could’ve gone but wanted to come here instead. Dave was already at the house so I didn’t want to take time to change.”

“Country club? They’re members?

She nodded. “Yep. Maybe I didn’t tell you, but my dad’s a big shot down at the mill.”

“Oh yeah?”

She nodded. “Assistant manager. Started up in Lackawanna, near Buffalo, before he got promoted and transferred here.”

“That’s cool. What’s it like going to the country club?”

She rolled her eyes. “Bunch of stuck-up assholes. Kids are just the same. Phonies who think their shit don’t stink.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Sure is. They look down their noses at him because he worked his way up from the floor to plant management, but Dad ignores them.”

“Oh, wow.”

She nodded again. “Yeah, he worked his ass off. Went in straight out of high school then took engineering classes at SUNY at night.”

“I’m impressed. He should be proud.”

“He lets their attitudes bounce off, but I don’t put up with shit from the other kids.”

“Like what?”

She snickered. “Well, there’s this one cock-tease, Megan. She likes to shove her tits in all the men’s faces.”

I grinned. “Uh huh.”

“Well, I see her dad’s checking me out and I figure two can play that game. The look on her face when I told her how hard he came when I screamed out, ‘Yes, Daddy, yes!’”

“Oh my God, you didn’t!”

“Damn right I did. Fucked him and told her about it. On the other hand, she should’ve thanked me as I bet those two are doing it like rabbits now.”

I was gazing at the floor, frowning and shaking my head slightly. Chuckling, I looked back up at her. “I ... um...”

“Something else you want to know?”

“Yeah, I mean ... I was just, um ... talking to Dave, and ... he told me about last night...”

She grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me into the foyer. “God dammit. Why doesn’t that kid keep his mouth shut?”

I held up my hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you angry!”

She ran a hand through her hair. “Okay, well, not at you ... what’s your question?”

I looked down before speaking. “So he told me what you did, but, um ... Hannah ... she’s mad at me because she caught me looking at the waitress...”

“What? Are you a fucking idiot?”

“No! I...”

Susie leaned close to me. “Listen here. What I did last night was totally my idea. I wanted to, to make him happy. That’s not even in the same ballpark as you trying to sneak a peek while you’re right there with your goddamn girlfriend!”

“I didn’t mean...”

“You didn’t think...” she blurted, finger in my face.

I exhaled loudly and ran my fingers through my hair. “Yeah, I know.”

Susie pointed to the family room. “Now, go treat that girl right.”

As I walked back into the kitchen Hannah looked over from the couch. “Where have you been?” She patted the empty spot beside her. “Get over here, the game has already started.”

“Let me grab some sub.”

With her mom in the room as well I had to be content with rubbing of knees and elbows but it was enough, as I felt movement.

Philadelphia was in Pittsburgh and both teams had started the season with four wins without a loss. Sidney Thornton was having a good day running the ball for the Steelers and scored in the second quarter to give them a seven-nothing lead, but the Eagles tied it up before the half.

When the game went to the break I headed for the kitchen to see if there was any sub left. Aunt Janet said, “Don’t fill yourself up now, we’re doing the grill later.”

I frowned. “Just nervous, this and the Pirates game.”

She held out a bowl. “How about more Doritos?”

The Eagles scored twice in the third and were up seventeen to seven. That was bad enough, but I kept glancing at the clock.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I asked Hannah, “Do you have a transistor, or any radio, here in the house? I have to check out how the Pirates are doing.”

She did this thing where she pushed out her upper lip with her tongue, looking me over and looking frustrated until she said, “Yeah, there’s a clock radio in my room – but don’t spend all day in there.”

I jumped up and said, “I’ll be back!”

I quickly found the radio on her nightstand and stretched out on her bed as I concentrated on Milo Hamilton’s accounting of the play by play. It was the top of the fourth and the Pirates were up on the Cubs one to nothing. They added another in the bottom half of the inning and Stargell homered in the fifth to make it three zip.

Dave Kingman had just homered in the sixth to give the Cubs their first run. Right after muttering “Damn it! C’mon, just ten more outs.” I was startled by the sound of the door and opened my eyes to see Hannah standing over me. Hands on her hips, she asked, “Having fun?”

Pulling her pillow to my nose, I replied, “Well yeah, your pillow smells just like you!”

“I should feel lucky you still have it in your pants!” I reached for my zipper but she held her hand out, pleading, “No, no – not here. I came up to see why you’ve been ignoring the rest of us.”

“I’m sorry, I was listening to the Pirates, it’s the last game of the season.”

“I’m aware. What’s the score?”

“Three-one Pirates, bottom of the sixth. Stargell homered.”

“Well, that sounds like they’ve got it.”

My hands waved in the air. “Yeah, but – they still haven’t clinched the division.”

“Seriously? Okay, Spock, what are the odds?”

“Well, let’s see, uh ... fifteen percent chance the Pirates lose today, times fifty-five percent chance the Expos win their game, then fifty-fifty for the Expos winning a tie-breaker tomorrow, so...” I muttered numbers to myself as my fingers twirled in the air, “The Pirates have about a four percent chance of not winning the division.”

Hannah pointed to the door. “So get your ass out to the living room!”

“But you don’t understand, this is really important!”

She had her hand on her hip, shaking her head slowly. “Oh, really?”

“They haven’t been in the playoffs for four years. It’s ... it’s just, I mean, you know ... the thrill of experiencing it as it happens!”

Hannah sat beside me on the bed and took my hand. “Look, I love you, and please hear me out. So - they didn’t make the playoffs in seventy-six, did they?”

I shook my head. “Nope, they finished second.”

“And how did you feel about that?”

“It sucked. Very disappointing. I listened all year, but they failed in the end.”

“Did you enjoy the games, the anticipation, as the time went by?”

“Well, of course, that’s being a fan.”

“And the same thing in seventy-seven? But you enjoyed the experience?”

“Yeah, but in August I got depressed and stopped keeping score of every game – but I still listened to all of them.”

“I won’t bother asking you about last year – but have you ever wondered why you didn’t have a girlfriend?”

I shrugged. “I was shy, and I didn’t have a car, and I...”

Wagging her finger, Hannah said, “and baseball always seemed to be your number one priority.”

“Well...”

“Well anyway, you’re a fan, you listened to all the games, and experienced all the ups and downs, and you enjoyed the experience, right?”

“Right...”

“and life went on, even when they failed in the end. Wait until next year?”

“Right...”

“So even, if somehow, that fifteen percent bites them...”

“Four percent.”

“That four percent bites them in the ass and they don’t go to the playoffs, it’ll be like the last time - you enjoyed it, but it’s over, you move on, you wait ‘til next year, right?”

I looked down and emptied my lungs. “I guess so...”

She looked at the door again and said, “So let’s get back to the living room before they think we’re having sex up here.”

“You mean we’re not?” She slowly shook her head ‘no’. “Well, that’s just mean - you gonna make me go home and, you know?”

“I thought you quit.”

I tilted my head. “Well, not as often as I used to.”

“You’re a sick puppy – get out of my room!”

“One condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Kiss me.”

“Why?”

“So I know you still love you.”

She poked me in the chest and raised herself up to give me a peck on the lips. “I still love you.”

“No – like you mean it!”

“If I did that you’d have to explain the lump in your pants.”

When Hannah got to the living room, she announced, “I found him. Had to convince him family was more important than the Pirates!”

Dave asked, “How are they doing?”

I replied, “Up three-one in the sixth, but she made me leave!”

Hannah took her place on the right of the couch, again leaving me the spot to her left. Susie was now between me and Dave, and once I plopped down between the girls. I felt Susie squeezing my thigh as she beamed, “Hi Joe, how are you doing?” I could also feel the heat from the laser beams shooting out of Hannah’s eyes, aimed at Susie, who then removed her hand and started clapping for the Steelers.

With even less free space on the couch than before, it appeared quite natural for Hannah and I to be pressed together, even as I tried to ignore Susie squeezed against my other side.

Unfortunately, the Steelers didn’t do much to grab my attention away from the Pirates’ game, with Bradshaw throwing incompletions and interceptions late in the fourth quarter.

Hannah whispered, “Calm down, it’ll be okay” as she put her hand on my knee in an attempt to stop the nervous shaking of my leg.

There were only a couple minutes left in the Steelers’ loss when my parents arrived. I couldn’t sit still any longer, rushing to the kitchen to give my mother a hug and whisper in her ear, “What’s the score?”

“Three-two Pirates, in the seventh.”

I cocked my head, wrung my hands and slowly exhaled a deep breath. “Almost there!”

Then Mom called out, “Hey Dave, happy birthday!” as she waved a small box in the air.

He jumped off the couch, Susie in tow, on his way to claim his present. As my mother handed him the box, Dave leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, “Thank you, Aunt Meredith. Oh, and this is my girlfriend, Susie Carruthers.”

“Pleased to meet you Susie, Joe’s said good things about you – and that’s a nice Scottish name.”

She grinned. “Same here and thank you Mrs. Long, although I can’t take credit for the name as I kind of inherited it!”

As soon as the game was officially over the TV was off and we all gathered round to sing, “Happy birthday to you...”

I grabbed a rather large piece of cake with the white icing and an equally large scoop of vanilla and strawberry ice cream, taking care to not get any bits of chocolate from the bucket of Neapolitan. I just don’t like chocolate ice cream, or chocolate icing, or chocolate anything, except for real chocolate itself. That stuff is great.

I was carrying my plate back to the couch when I heard my aunt call, “Hey Joe!”

I turned and replied, “Yeah?”

“Thought you’d like to know, Pirates won, five to three.”

I threw my right fist in the air and yelled, “Yessss!!” Only problem was, my energetic reaction tilted my plate and that large piece of cake and ice cream was then on the floor, despite my gymnastics in trying to snatch it out of the air.

I dropped my head then looked back up at Aunt Janet. “Can I get some more cake?”

“Once you clean your mess.”

Thirty minutes later the presents were opened and everyone’s blood sugar was way too high. Dad had already spent enough time away from home and said to me, “You are going to grace us with your presence at home? Your mom and I are ready to go.”

“Yeah, sure Dad, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Would have been less gas to take one car.”

I went back around to give my goodbyes to Dave and Susie, then made sure I gave my aunt a kiss on the cheek before I pulled Hannah into a tight hug and whispered, “Playoffs, baby!”

As I stepped back, she smiled and said, “See? I had faith.”

I chuckled and turned quickly towards my folks, just in time to see a scowl on mom’s face. I asked myself, ‘What’s that about?’

Not long after I arrived home the phone rang and it was Paul, at school in Pittsburgh. “Hey Petey, I got four tickets for the game on Friday, you in?”

Be there in person for a playoff game? It took about half of a second to say, “Hell yeah!”

Barely half an hour after that, it was Hannah on the phone. I was curious why she would be calling so soon, and greeted her with “Hey, what’s up?”

“Are your parents around?”

I glanced towards the living room and waited a few seconds to hear anybody on the stairs before I said, “No, coast clear.”

“Well, mine aren’t going to be either. Mickey’s going to a conference in Miami all week and mom’s working the evening shift, so after school hours are adult free.”

“So, are you inviting me over?”

“Uh – can I be any more obvious?”

“Anything planned?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“How about Wednesday? It’ll be game two of the playoffs with the Reds. I can pick you up from school and then all of us can watch at your house.”

The clock ticked slowly on Wednesday. Class at ten-thirty and eleven-thirty, lunch, then another at one-thirty. As soon as we were excused, I was out the door, down the stairs and into the parking lot. Screw the two-thirty class. It only took two turns over a couple hundred yards to pull in behind the buses waiting to take the Pineland High students home.

I was pacing on the sidewalk beside my car when finally some kids started coming out the door of the school. I kept my eyes peeled and when I saw Hannah I started waving and jumping up and down, attracting stares and scowls from the students nearest me.

Hannah broke into a light run and was in front of me in no time. With both her arms holding her books against her chest, I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Hey beautiful, ready for some baseball?”

As I opened the passenger door for her, she smiled. “My, aren’t we in a cheery mood today?”

I slid into the driver’s seat and closed my door. “Why not? I’m with the girl I love and we’re about to watch the Pirates kick some ass!”

“Hey, I know! I stayed up late last night to see the whole game. We were all screaming when Stargell crushed that homer in the eleventh.”

I carefully pulled around the buses and was down the road to Hannah’s house. “That was huge taking the first game. Only need two more, this game today and then on Friday when they’ll be back in Pittsburgh.”

Less than five minutes later I pulled into her driveway and we were bounding into the kitchen. I saw that Dave and Susie were already on the couch while Aunt Janet was at the fridge. She came over and opened her arms wide to engulf me in a hug.

Pulling back, she said, “Great game last night!” She reached into her purse and pulled out some money. “Okay Joe, I start my shift at four. Here’s ten dollars so you can run over to D’Arc’s and get a couple pizzas.”

I looked at the money then glanced at the clock. My heart was pounding. “Aunt Janet, it’s only twenty minutes until the game starts. I don’t think I can make it back in time.”

She frowned then put the bills back in her purse. “Okay. I’ll call in the order and pick it up. I should still be able to get to work.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.” Hannah grabbed my arm and was pulling me towards the couch when I felt the ‘thwap’ of my aunt hitting me upside the head. “Ouch!”

“You deserved that!” My aunt was grinning and Hannah giggling as she shoved me on the couch then dropped into the space beside me.

First pitch was at three-fifteen. There was still no score going to the second when Aunt Janet got back with the pizzas.

“I got two – one with pepperoni and the other with ham, onions and green peppers. Don’t forget to leave some for Donna.”

Hannah got up to grab some plates and said, “Thanks mom.”

Aunt Janet replied, “See you guys later. I have to hurry to get down to the Brethren Home on time. Don’t burn down the house before I get back.”

I yelled, “Hey Hannah, can you get me three slices of ham?”

“I got the plates out. You can get off your ass and get your own pizza!”

“Yes, dear.” I felt Susie punch me in the arm and looked over to see her grinning and shaking her head slowly.

The first two Reds batters singled in the bottom of the second, putting runners at first and third with no one out. Susie asked, “My God, does this pitcher always sweat so much?”

“Bibby? Yeah, all the time. It can be freezing out and the sweat’ll be just dripping off the bill of his cap.” He struck out the number eight hitter for the first out but then the Reds pitcher lifted the ball to center for a sacrifice fly and a one-nothing Cincinnati lead.

I’d finished two pieces of pizza by the fourth when the first three Pirates singled but somehow Stargell managed to get trapped off first base for an out. Two batters later a ground ball out scored a run and the game was tied. In the fifth, a two out double put the Pirates up two to one as Bibby was mowing down the Reds.

I went back for a fourth piece of pizza but there was only pepperoni left. At that point I didn’t care, I just needed to be chewing on something to calm my nerves. When I started bouncing my knee up and down Hannah clamped her hand on it. “Stop it!”

“I can’t help it.” I got up and paced around the side of the couch.

Bottom of the ninth. Still two-one Pirates. Tekulve struck out the first batter but then the pinch-hitter doubled. Back to the top of the order, Collins laced another double down the right-field line to tie it. “Fuck!”

Dave looked over and said, “Chill, dude.”

Tekulve was lifted for Dave Roberts and I shook my head. “Oh God, he sucks!” After a four-pitch walk he was gone as well. The big flame-thrower Don Robinson was called in. My heart was pounding. A strikeout and a ground out ended the inning as the game moved to extras, just like the day before.