Chapter 9

The next morning my dad and I removed the solenoid and took it into the living room where he pulled out his testing equipment and checked it out. Sure enough, it was dead. He called a few places around town and soon we were in his car, driving to the local junkyard.

“We will order you a new one tomorrow, and you can keep it in the back with the tool kit as a replacement. But at least this way we can get you back on the road today.”

Once we got there we paid the admission and headed to the back, passing rows and rows of cars, stripped down to various degrees. Finally finding the AMC-IH row we went down it and checked out one car after another. Finally we spotted one a year newer. Pulling open the hood we saw the part we needed was already gone. Down a few more cars there was another. A few minutes checking it with the test kit showed it was good. A few minutes after that we had it removed and were ready to go.

We were about to head back when I looked down the line and one at the end caught my eye. She looked exactly like mine, except it had obviously been in a collision, the front driver fender and door were both crushed in. But I walked over and took a closer look anyways. Unlike mine, this one had a black convertible top.

Dad saw what had my attention, so we spent the next 15 minutes inspecting it. The windows were all foggy white, and one of the side windows had a large tear in it. But the rest of the top was in pretty good condition, and all of the support tubes looked perfect. We talked about it for a few minutes, and out came the tool kit again. We spent the next hour unbolting everything, stashing away all of the mounting hardware, and dad took some measurements and wrote them down as to where to place the new brackets in my car.

Finally we were heading to the front, having also added a set of fog lights to our haul. He told me that with winter coming on it would not be a good idea to put it all on now, but come spring we would have a nice weekend project. Between now and then he would send the top off to have all the windows replaced and have the seams checked over. Being a technician he told me to expect about 4 hours of work to actually install it. But once installed it was only about a half-hour to swap it for the hardtop or back when needed.

Getting home was almost anticlimactic. We installed the new solenoid and Scout started right up. We then stored everything away in the garage, dad writing out his notes in a more legible manner and placing the hardware in plastic containers as I carefully took the top and folded it up. I commented on how faded it was, and he said he would have them dye it black when they fixed the windows.

After washing up and changing out of my now dirty clothes I was in the backyard reading when I heard Holly call out to me. She had her window open and was waving at me. I motioned for her to come join me and she said she would be right there as she closed her window.

A few minutes later I heard her coming in the front gate and I started to stand as she came around the corner. She quickly motioned for me to sit back down, and plopped onto the patio loveseat next to me. She gave me a hug, then turned so she was laying half against me, with her head on my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around her as she thanked me for the night before.

“Linda and I spent about an hour walking around the neighborhood and talking last night,” she told me. “After the first time I went inside and told dad we were home and that we needed to talk for a bit. He said it was OK so we just walked around. I had no idea her dad was in jail, Pete.”

“Well, it’s not exactly something she’s proud of, or wants to talk about very much.”

“Yeah, I got that. What do you know? And before you say you can’t tell me, I probably got a lot more out of her last night than you have. And she said I could talk with you about it. So you can either trust me, or not that she said it is OK for us to talk about it.”

I kissed the top of her head and squeezed her, then told her what I knew. That her dad had off and on been a petty criminal for years. He would get caught as a kid stealing tires or joyriding in a stolen car, spend a few months in juvie, then be out again. His dad had died in Germany in WWII, and his mom was a hopeless alcoholic. He bounced between family for the most part otherwise, an uncle here, grandparents there.

He had settled down, met Mrs. Carol, gotten married, had kids. Then after getting laid off he tried to rob a liquor store. The owner tried to fight him and Mr. Carol shot him. The guy lived, which is why he was only doing 10 years.

Holly sighed, and said that is pretty much right. “Well, he actually got fired, not laid off. He was working over at the GM plant and got drunk during lunch, so they fired him. That was when her mom was just finishing her degree. She told him to get sober or get lost, and he decided to get lost. It was a month later when he had run out of money that he tried to rob the store.

“And he got 10 years for that. And another 4 for things he’s done in prison, like making moonshine and fighting. Linda really does not want to see him, but until the kids are 16 the court ordered that he gets visitation at least 4 times a year. So after this she has 4 more visits then she can write him out of her life for good. We did the math and he will not be up for parole again until 1988 unless he screws up again.”

Yeah, that was a little more than I had gotten out of Linda, but not much. One thing I did not know about was that apparently her father and grandmother had both been alcoholics. And while I knew that Mrs. Carol worked in an office, I did not know she had a degree. I would have to ask her about this the next chance I got.

“Pete, about last night.” She placed her fingers on my lips so I took the hint and stayed quiet. “That was, like, totally radical!” she gushed out. “We both know you had been watching us. And yes, we had been watching you guys as well. Knowing you were sneaking peeks at me was exciting, and trying to be quiet when, I, well, you know. It just made it all better. And Linda! When I saw you sitting up and I could not see her, I had an idea what was going on. But then when I heard it, I knew. I just knew. And I was actually a bit jealous.”

“Jealous? Why?”

“Shush, this is my time to talk. I was jealous because there she was at 14, doing something I still had not done yet and I was 16. Sure, I’d had sex before, but I had never gone down on a boy. I think that as much as anything helped push me over. And even though it was faster than I intended, I had to try it myself.” She looked into my eyes and smiled.

“And knowing you two were in the front also helped me feel safer. I knew you would never say anything. And Linda would never say anything either. And at the end of the night I had done things I had never done before, and it felt liberating. Like I knew we could get a bit carried away, but not get too carried away, ya know?” I simply nodded and squeezed Holly again.

“And last night when she flashed us her boobs. It was exciting, and also I realized you were a moron.”

“What? Why would you think that!”

“Come on Pete, you’ve seen her boobs.”

“Yeah, and they are actually very nice ones. I’m rather fond of them to be honest, as well as the rest of her.”

“That’s not what I mean! You saw them the first night you were with her, right?” I nodded. “And you still had no idea how old she was?”

“Nope, she had boobs, even if they were small ones. We both know plenty of girls in school with boobs even smaller than Linda’s.”

She pulled away and looked into my eyes, then sighed. “Oh, that’s right. I guess I’m not really thinking. Let me guess, your experience with boobs comes from Playboy, right?”

“Hey!” I exclaimed. “If you mean as in the most boobs I have seen, yeah. But it is not exactly the first time I had actually seen them, ya know.”

“And how old was the youngest pair you had seen before Linda?”

I paused to think for a minute, and told her the girl had been 6. Holly then giggled, and asked the first I had seen after the girl had reached puberty, and I admitted 15. “That’s what I thought. Probably more developed, a C maybe?” I nodded again, and said B.

“OK. Well, let’s just say that if I didn’t know how old Linda was and the first time I had seen her was topless like last night, I would have thought she was 12.”

I had been taking a sip of my soda and actually spit a bit out. Choking, I gasped out “12?”

“12, a very young barely 13 at the absolute oldest. Trust me, I have seen dozens and dozens of boobs in my life, lots of them at that age. Showering after gym in PE gives us girls lots of chances ya know. When a girl first hits puberty, that is how they tend to start. Poking straight out like rockets, no real need of support at all. And maybe a third to half the time, our nipples perk out like that, the areola almost growing faster and puffing up like a big pimple. That’s what I saw last night, and they looked like those of a 12-year-old.

“Do you know the real reason most girls hitting puberty tend to wear training bras?” I shook my head no. “Well, the reason is two-fold. There is not enough to support yet, so part is to get them used to wearing them under their clothes for later. Secondly, they help disguise those that have either really puffy nipples, or for the girls that seem to have almost constant titty-hardons so they can hide them.” I could not help to giggle at that. Holly grinned and continued.

“But now I realize that you likely have never really seen the breasts of a girl that young, so you’d have no idea. I had changed around her before, but that was the first time I had seen her without a bra on. And my immediate thought was ‘She looks like a girl I knew in seventh grade’. But you would not have known that, how could you? And yes, I know you want to ask, mine were a bit like that as well when I was 11 or 12. I was just not as, ah, puffy. But here Pete, want to know the good news?”

I simply smiled and nodded.

“What she has now, she will grow into them. When our breasts grow hers are, generally they grow straight out of our body, at first like two cones. Then later the rest fills in around that cone. It looks like she is already starting to round out underneath, and as more fat and flesh fills in they will expand to fill in around them. Her nipples are much more puffy than most I have seen, and she may retain a bit of that. But if I had to guess, she will eventually have a very nice set of B cups, in another year or two.”

“Fat? Why do you say that, you think she’s going to get fat?”

Holly actually threw up her hands into the air and loudly said “Boys! No silly, didn’t you know? Breasts are mostly fat. Not quite the same as you get on your belly, but fat none the less. Next time you see Bobby at school doing his pogo stick routine, look at the way his belly wobbles. Then compare it to how Lotta jiggles when she walks.”

I started laughing again and nodded. Bobby was the class clown, and weighed almost 300 pounds if not more. He was a great guy, but his fat rolls were a legend. And Lotta was actually Elaine. Nowhere near as fat as Bobby, but her jugs were enormous. I had absolutely no idea what her bra size would be, but they probably were made out of tents. Lotta was a nickname, generally for “Lotta Boobs.” And in my mind I compared the two, and indeed the way Lotta’s boobs quivered when she moved was a lot like Bobby’s belly.

“OK, now this is like right outta the Twilight Zone. If somebody had told me four months ago we would be talking about what happened last night, and then you would be giving me a lecture on the development of teenage breasts, I would have thought they were outta their minds! But yeah, I actually get what you are saying. When I was 12 or 13 I was just starting to notice breasts. As the girls and I got older I guess I just never realized in what ways they filled out. It just seemed that the girl I had known since Kindergarten was at the end of school the same skinny girl I had known for most of my life, then when we came back in the fall she had these nice ornaments I couldn’t stop looking at.”

“Ornaments? Oh Jesus Pete! Although I guess it is an apt analogy. I guess I can say the same thing though. Keeping with the season, I guess it was about at that time we girls started to notice that the guys had Jingle Balls.”

We both pretty much lost it at that and ended up in a tickle fight. I guess we made too much noise as my dad came out back to see what was going on. When he found us, I had Holly pinned on the ground on her belly, I was sitting on her bottom and tickling up and down her side as she tried to squirm away. I got off of Holly and helped her get to her feet, and my dad was staring at us with a look of puzzlement and maybe concern on his face.

I gave Holly a hug and said “Don’t worry dad, we’re just playing around. I guess you never realized when we stopped dating in August, because Holly and I are always together. But she is not only my best girl friend, she is also my best friend, period. We’re not fooling around, we’re just having fun playing. I’m not gonna dump Linda for Holly.”

“Besides,” Holly chimed in. “I think if Linda or Keith ever found out we had actually fooled around with each other, you would probably have to give up on ever having grandkids. Each of them would hang his ornaments on a tree.”

We burst out into fits of laughter at that and my dad just shook his head and went back into the house. A bit later we exchanged hugs and Holly went home. After dinner I called Linda and we chatted for a bit. She sounded really down, so I asked her if she still wanted me to come over. It took a little pushing, but she finally agreed.

When I pulled in front of her place she was already waiting outside. She climbed in and I just held her as she cried on my shoulder. So for the next 45 minutes I simply held her and caressed her back and ran my fingers through her hair. I gave her soft kisses on top of her head as she told me what the visit had been like.

She told me about the metal detectors, having to walk past dogs that sniffed everybody and everything for drugs. The agreement they had to sign saying that they knew everything was being recorded. That bringing in drugs, weapons, or other contraband could put them in jail, and all the other horrors of visiting a prison.

I was holding her when I noticed Mrs. Carol come out. She saw that I was simply holding her crying daughter, and got a sad look on her face. I glanced at my watch and saw it was almost 8. But instead of coming over she just gave me a half-smile, made the motion of hugging herself, then waved at me like she wanted me to stay put, then pointed at her wrist and shrugged.

She then smiled again and walked back into the apartment complex. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out what she had meant. Keep holding Linda, stay there, and do not worry about the time. Linda finally calmed down. The front of my shirt was drenched in tears, but I didn’t care. Finally Linda was calming back down to her usual self. “Oh Pete, we were going out tonight weren’t we? Oh I’m sorry, I ruined everything.”

At that I gave her a long but tender kiss. “Shush, you ruined nothing. I’m here, I’m holding you, that is enough.”

“But I thought that we would go somewhere.”

“Baby, it’s alright. I’m here for you. Tonight you needed somebody to cry on and help you feel better, and I’m glad I was here for you.” I lightly caressed her cheek, then ran my fingers down under her chin and lifted it up so I could look into her eyes.

“You should know by now, it is not about sex. Even if you decided you didn’t want to do anything with me until you turned 18, I would still be here for you. Even if we broke up, I would like to think I would still be there for you if you needed me. Look at Holly and me, We dated, it didn’t work out, and she’s still my best friend.

“If you want somebody to hold you when you cry, I’ll be there for you. If you want somebody to laugh at your jokes, I’ll be there for you. If you want somebody to tell you that your hair smells great, I’ll gladly do it for you.” And with that I buried my face in her hair and squeezed her tighter. “You are here with me, in my arms, and that is enough.”

At that she pulled back and after looking up into my eyes, she pulled me in and gave me a long tender kiss. After breaking off she looked at her watch, and saw it was after 9. “Oh God!” she exclaimed. “I told mom I would only be out for a little bit, she’s gonna kill me!”

“Don’t worry, she knows where you are. She came out and checked on us and I think she understands. But it’s a bit late to go out, so how about we kiss for a few minutes, then I can take you inside so you can get cleaned up, OK baby?”

She nodded and we spent the next 15 minutes just kissing. Not passionate, simply kissing, holding each other, and enjoying being with each other. Then I helped her out of the car and walked her to her apartment.

Once inside Mandy came over and they hugged, then went with each other to clean up. From her eyes and the front of my shirt it had been obvious she had been crying. Mrs. Carol came and gave me a big hug, and thanked me for what I had done. “Mrs. Carol, I did what anybody would have done. She needed to be held, so I held her. She needed somebody to cry on, so I was there for her. That is something I would have done as a friend, even if she was not my girlfriend.”

“Pete, I think you might as well stop calling me Mrs. Carol. Just call me Rosie, OK? I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

Linda and her sister came back out and I gave each of them a hug, and Linda walked me out to my car, giving me a big hug before I headed on home.

Monday during lunch I asked Holly if she could come over to my house after school. She said of course, and only then did she ask me what for.

That I have learned over the years is what a real friend does. A lot of people will ask what for, and only then decide if they are going to come over. A real friend will agree to come over, and only after ask what it is you need.

I told her that since we were starting a new campaign this week, Linda would need some new characters. So we could spend some time helping her make up several, and even give her a few mini-dungeons to try them out. She thought that sounded great.

After school I went ahead and drove over to Linda’s, and she was somewhat surprised since I knew I was not really allowed over there when their mom was not at home. We exchanged a brief kiss and she brought me into the kitchen where Mandy and her had obviously been doing their homework. Mandy stood up to leave and I smiled and asked her to stay. I was only going to be there a few minutes and was not going to say anything personal.

I asked Linda if she would be able to come over to my house for a few hours after school, so we could make up some characters, with Holly’s help of course and, she smiled. “Sure, I’ll have to ask my mom but I think as long as Holly’s there she won’t have a problem. She really liked her when she stayed over on Halloween.”

We chatted for a few more minutes, and Mandy asked if she could come. Linda looked at me and shrugged, so I nodded and smiled. “Sure. Now we already have a full group so I would have to ask if you would be allowed to come on game nights to watch. There are eight of us, so that has to be a group decision. But I don’t see why not, but it might bore you. But if your mom is OK with it, you can come tomorrow to see what it’s like.”

Linda gave me a big grin at that, and Mandy jumped into my arms and gave me a big hug, thanking me over and over. It was nice to see that the sisters were not in any way possessive or jealous of each other. There had simply been no real opportunity to involve her in our activities before this.