Chapter 4: Where the heck do I go from here?

I made myself a coffee for ‘brunch’ and, once again channeling my inner bastard, just because I knew she’d had a strenuous evening and a late night, I called Mom and chatted inanely for half an hour.

She must have listened to my voicemail message by now; she took the cue I’d given her and explained her tired voice by saying that they’d been out at a dinner party the night before, one of those boring but necessary ones, got home late, and that my Dad had been out playing golf since seven.

(Yeah, great story, Mom, NOT.)

“Have you heard from Sis at all?”

“No, not since you were both here at Easter. She’s working way too hard, but at least there are only a few weeks left of the semester.”

(No, Mom, that’s another straight lie. She was in the Great Room last night, seven down from you, and Dad and I both fucked her. You want to know something? I put my dick in you as well. It was just a shame that Mrs Van Allen was compering, otherwise I’d have tapped her pussy too.)

We talked on, neither of us volunteering anything, but my heart wasn’t really in it, and it was a relief when we hung up. It’s not a good thing when you want to call your mother out on repeatedly lying to you; it’s kinda against the job description for Motherhood and Apple Pie.

Then I had a drink of water and called Laura. I knew from the road noise immediately she picked up that she was in a car; she said they were driving to the mall, and she’d call me back just as soon as they got there.

My phone went 20 minutes later. She sounded tired.

“Sorry I didn’t have my phone with me last night, Mike, we were out at a party. I just heard your message. Hope your assignment went okay?”

Wow! Some honesty! At last!

“Great, thanks. Did you have a good time at your party?”

She laughed, a bit ruefully.

“It started off really well, we were both having an amazing time, best ever, and then it went on too long and got too hot and heavy.”

“Should have left while you were still ahead?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Take some Tylenol.”

“I’ve had four already!”

“You’d better have an early night then. How’s that hot roomie of yours? Give her my love?”

She giggled.

“Mike, she’s fine, thank you, she didn’t overdo it as much as I did. But I’ve got some bad news for you; she gave her number to a really cute guy last night, and she’s waiting for him to call.”

Interesting! I hadn’t been sure that Jessie would confide in her roomie that quickly, especially as they’d been staying over and Laura had been suffering; but that statement suggested that I almost certainly was going to get my date. That was great news for ‘Michael’, but in my ‘brother Mike’ persona I had to pretend otherwise.

“Jeez, too late again. It’s the story of my life. Did you get to give your number to anyone?”

“No, he was the cutest one there, by far. She saw him first, dammit!”

“Maybe next time you’ll be the lucky one, Sis. Anyway, I just called you for a chat last night before I got started on my assignment, I’m sorry to hear that you’re feeling low, and I’ll call you again soon. Sleep well tonight and don’t forget that I love you!”

“I love you too! Thanks for being so nice about it. It’s cheered me up talking to you. Speak soon!”

She hung up.

Now, that had been another fascinating conversation. Sis hadn’t actually outright lied to me this time; she just hadn’t told me all the details. I could live with that for the moment; it was certainly more honest than she’d been before. I guessed that they’d pulled over somewhere on the way back to college so that Laura could call me; even I recognized that a cell conversation had not been the occasion for her to tell me that the ‘party’ she had attended had actually been a sex party at my folks place.

It was great to hear that they both thought I was cute and that they’d had the best ever time with me, and even better knowing that Jessie was hoping that I would call.

I wondered when they’d left the house – before or after I’d talked to Mom. I’d been listening for signs of her talking to someone else in the background, but had spotted nothing. Even after talking to Sis just now, I guess I was still a little pissed at her for not telling me about the sex parties, but after the great fuck she’d unknowingly given me, I guessed I wanted to make up with her rather than fall out over something that I now realized might not entirely be her fault.

This was gonna be the next part of my plan, getting closer to her so that I could reveal my true identity without her wanting to kill me. At least I now knew that the incest wasn’t a complete no-no for her – she must have been aware that at some stage she’d be fucked by Dad, as had indeed happened during the ‘games’ event. Of course, I had no idea if she’d known at the time that it was him.

There was something else I didn’t get – the contrast at both parties between the happy caring sharing girl at the beginning of the evening, and the cock-hungry slut I’d seen almost begging for it at the end. It almost seemed that she sub-consciously wanted to be punished for attending the parties – or was I reading too much into it? It was good that she knew she’d gone too far last night. Jeez, just re-living the sight and sounds of Sis getting the shit fucked out of her made me feel nauseous again. I hoped that Jessie had bawled her out good; it had been a real dumb thing for her to do.

Something else was bugging me. Mom’s friend Mrs Van Allen. What was her role in the parties? She was certainly an organizer rather than just a guest; she’d been wearing the pink number 2 wristband at both parties, with Mom having number 1. That made her Mom’s sidekick in my book. Now, from what I’d read in my online research into swinging, she was that rare animal, a divorcee who was welcome in a swinging group. Swinging was about sharing new experiences and then returning to your partner, not giving someone a chance to get to know them before stealing them away. I’d heard stories of friend’s divorced parents who suddenly weren’t welcomed by couples they’d known for years, just in case they made a move on the husband or wife.

I’d known since the summer before last that Mrs Van Allen had great legs; now I knew that she was a total fox. I’d seen her wipe a streak of cum off of her belly that first party, but I’d never actually seen or heard her having sex. But what else would she be there for? To be fair, I’d spent most of my time up in the bedrooms, and she could have been getting banged like an old Western saloon door in the Great Room for all I knew. She just didn’t look the type. That lady was pure class; like Carol and Mrs Powell, I’d have laid a month’s spending money on her not rutting on a mattress like a piece of meat. I’d love to have nailed her; with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight, I guessed I probably could have made a move on her. I’d been confident enough in my misdirection that I was the last person on earth that Sis would have expected to be at the party, but I’d also been with Mrs Powell and my disguise and fake accent had held up. I cursed as I realized that I’d probably missed an opportunity – but then, I had been forced to bail out of the Great Room after the games and snacks, rather than risk being talked to by Dad, so it might not have happened anyway. It wasn’t as if I’d gone without...

Well, that gave me a new priority for the 5/4 party – tapping Mrs Van Allen. I’d promised Laura and Jessie first fuck again, because I just loved eating their fresh juicy pussies, but I now knew where I was headed after that. And if I got away with screwing her, then I might just try and bag Mom, and to hell with the consequences if I got found out.

Now, the next item on the plan was to call Jessie tomorrow at six to close that request for a date. After some thinking, I’d decided that although Sis probably had no idea of my cell number because she simply clicked on my name whenever we talked, it was a risk that wasn’t worth taking and was better avoided. If by some mischance Sis picked up Jessie’s cell and recognized my number, questions would be asked. A burner phone was the answer, so I went out and bought myself one with ten hours of inclusive calls already loaded on it.

I had a wicked thought when I walked back to the residence with the burner in my pocket – I could call my parents’ secretaries at work, refuse to give my name, but leave a message saying that I’d been to one of their sex parties, become infected with a STI, and that they needed to get down to the STI clinic to get tested and have treatment. I’d spoken to both the ladies in question in the past; they would never breathe a word to anyone else, but they might form a different opinion of their boss! That was an idea to bear in mind but not yet execute – it would depend on how ‘scorched earth’ I finally went.

Revenge may be a dish best eaten cold, but I’d been feeling betrayed and excluded for a month now, and baiting Mom and Laura some that morning hadn’t really satisfied my need to make them squirm. It was time that Dad got something to worry about, and there were a couple of possibilities to mull over.

I split the six-pack of beer with my roomie that evening; it wasn’t enough to get us buzzed, but it sure helped me get to sleep.

Sunday after breakfast, I went and sat in the residence atrium for a while, rethinking things. I couldn’t quite make up my mind on the wisdom of the next step, so I took a quarter out of my pocket and decided to let Fate decide.

George Washington told me that I was indeed going to weaponize Gran and Gramps.

Nah, not the nuclear option. You know what they called the Cold War nuclear stand-off with the Russians? Mutual Assured Destruction. MAD. If one side tried to nuke the other back into the Stone Age, everybody who survived ended up living in a cave. So dumb an option that nobody was stupid enough to push the button. The version of MAD that had occurred to me was to tell Gramps that I wanted to surprise Mom and Dad with a thank-you party for them, and that I’d drive him and Gran up for a weekend, but he was to keep it a secret. The date? Why, Friday 5/4, of course! I’d act real surprised that so many other cars were there, we’d go in the house, and guess what we’d find going on? Yeah, that would be real revenge on my parents; BUT the downside was that I might lose my grandparents as well – and the shock of walking in on a sex party might mean lose them that way – and I wasn’t yet prepared to take that big a risk. Depending on what happened with my parents and Laura, I might really need to keep Gran and Gramps in my life.

I called them at ten, knowing that they’d have eaten their breakfast and taken their medication. They’re in their early seventies, in pretty good health, but I still didn’t want to catch them at a bad time. Gran picked up, and I chatted to her for a while; she was understanding about the forty-five hour academic workload I was carrying, but she knew the value of a good college education – heck, she and Gramps were paying a pretty good chunk of the cost – so I didn’t whine about it. Then I got to talk to Gramps. We visited for a while and he happened to ask when I’d last been home.

“Easter, and before that New Year. Gramps, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Mike, what is it?”

“It’s kind of personal. I’m getting worried about Mom and Dad. Is their marriage okay? I was home at Easter, and they were acting real weird, like they didn’t really want us to be there. I tried talking to Laura, but she’s being odd too. You don’t think Dad’s having a mid-life crisis, do you? You know, wanting a change of lifestyle? I’d hate it if they got divorced now that Sis and I are at college.”

There was a pause as he digested what I’d said.

“I doubt that very much, Mike, we’ve never had any concerns; as far as we know, your parents have got a real strong marriage. I’m sorry to hear that you’re worried. Anything in particular you heard?”

“No, they weren’t hostile or arguing or anything; they just didn’t seem to have a lot to say to each other. I don’t think they spend much time together these days, and they always used to when we were home. Just didn’t seem right.”

“Perhaps one of them’s got some big business deal coming up? That would account for them being distracted.”

“I’ve no idea, Gramps, they didn’t say anything at Easter about work; actually they didn’t say a whole lot of anything. I don’t think that I imagined it, I just didn’t feel comfortable round them.”

“If it’s any help, I think you’re mistaken. As far as we know, everything is just rosy, so I suggest you quit worrying about it.”

“Okay, Gramps; you’ve probably talked to them much more than I have since September, so you know best. Is Dad coming over to help you put your dock in the water again? I’ve got exams so I may not get over myself.”

“Yeah, he’s promised to come over. It’ll be a shame not to see you as well, but hopefully later in the summer?”

“Of course, Gramps. It wouldn’t be summer without seeing you!”

We finished our conversation and hung up. I looked at my watch, it was now twenty past ten, and the bait was in the water. Would the sharks scent it?

Oh boy, that call sure did stir up the shit.

Fifty minutes later, I had ‘missed’ calls from both Mom and Dad; I didn’t bother listening to the voice mails. Then Laura called, and I did pick that one up.

“Hey, Sis, feeling better? Did the Tylenol work?”

“I was, Mike, right up until you overturned the hornets’ nest at home. What the fuck were you doing asking Gramps if Mom and Dad were splitting up?”

She sounded pissed. That was okay, that was exactly why I’d called Gramps, to piss off my family and make them have a bad day. I’d had a straight thirty shitty days and nights since I’d walked in on the sex party, and it was time they suffered a bit.

“I just wondered if he had heard anything I hadn’t, as I almost seem to have lost touch with them. I told him that they didn’t seem to be getting on like they used to; he seemed to think they were okay. Did he call you?”

She sighed, as if she had suddenly realized that she was dealing with a registered moron. Hey, I was acting dumb rather than malicious, and it seemed to have worked.

“How the heck do you work that one out?”

“It seemed to me that they were like totally off over Easter; not at all friendly, and you weren’t talking to me neither. I’ve been worrying about it, and I was almost convinced that you’re all mushrooming me, you know, keeping me in the dark and feeding me shit. I wondered if they were going to separate but didn’t dare tell me quite yet. I got talking to Gramps, he asked when I’d last been home, and so I asked him if he’d heard anything. Looks to me like the only time our parents are together as a couple is at dinner parties; the rest of the time they’re at work or Dad’s out golfing. You can’t tell me that you didn’t notice something was wrong when we were at home?”

A pause before she answered.

“I... , yeah, I didn’t enjoy Easter, but it was you who seemed antsy. Mom and Dad were just fine together.”

“Me? That’s probably because the three of you are almost strangers as far as I’m concerned. I’ve hardly been home since September – I don’t ever get calls from Mom saying she’s cooking a roast this Sunday and would I like some, nor from Dad asking what I’m doing this weekend and do I want to watch the game with him. Jeez, Sis, Mom told me yesterday that Easter was the only time you’ve been home since New Year. Don’t you feel that they’re cutting us loose? When did Mom last call you up, tell you they’d love to see you, and why don’t you come home for the weekend? It’s never happened to me since I started at college. I’ve gotten the impression that they don’t actually want me at home.”

There was a longer silence while she digested that. That didn’t surprise me. Sis was going to have to do some fast thinking if she wasn’t to tie herself in knots. I hassled her, just to stir the shit and see if I could force her to make an error.

“So, Sis, have they called you up and invited you home since the start of the semester, other than Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, and Easter, or not? Yes or no?”

There was a slight choke in her voice.

“No, Mike, they haven’t, and with averaging nearly forty-six hours a week here at college, I haven’t had a lot of time to go home. Yeah, I see where you’re coming from, but loads of people hardly go home from college at weekends.”

“Not even Spring Break?”

Another pause.

Gotcha, Sis. You were home at Spring Break, attending a sex party. And your roomie has been to six parties at our house since October, and I doubt very much that she came without you. I wonder how long you were home that week?

“Yeah, but you’re not being fair there. You were headed for Florida with that tramp until you broke up with her.”

I verbally held my hands up.

“Okay, I’ll give you that one, even though you didn’t go home either. But Mom never called me, never asked me if I was coming home that week, or said that they’d love to see us. That’s why when the Spring Break Florida trip was suggested, I signed up. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I didn’t feel comfortable having to ask if I could use my bedroom at home for a week. That’s my point; I feel that they don’t actually want me at home, that they’re enjoying the empty nest and don’t want me around cramping their style. Half the time when I call I get voicemail, and they always seem to be out at parties. Heck, I tried to phone them on Friday, Mom never got back to me, and when I finally get hold of her yesterday lunchtime, she says that they had been holding ANOTHER fricking dinner party, and that Dad is now out playing golf again. In Massachusetts, in April, even with a neon yellow ball? Is it that they’ve hit the Big Four Oh and are having their mid-life crisis early? What if Dad buys himself a German convertible and a trophy girlfriend? I presume he has actually been playing golf all summer and not tapping his secretary or some other bit of strange?”

She let out a forced laugh. It sounded real nervous. It should have done, I was getting close to the truth. Laura knew full well that Dad was indeed getting some strange; heck, not only did she also know that Mom was too, but she and her roomie were also involved with the sex parties, right up to the tops of their beautiful little necks. She just didn’t know that one of the bits of strange she’d tapped was her own brother.

She pulled herself together and went onto the offensive.

“Mike, you’re completely fucking nuts. You CANNOT build a story like that just because Mom didn’t call you straight back or Dad hasn’t invited you to play golf for a while. I’m sure there’s an explanation for them being a bit pre-occupied, something you just haven’t realized. They’re both bucking for Vice-President positions, so maybe they’re both working a mite too hard and having trouble relaxing at the moment?”

I had the answer to that one.

“Since last summer? Seriously? I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t remember having a real conversation with them since before I graduated high school. The last enjoyable ‘father and son’ thing I remember doing with Dad was stacking the firewood in the basement; since then it’s been almost a business relationship. Do you know, Sis, last year I spent more weekends away at sports camps or with Gramps than I played golf with Dad on a Saturday like we used to do? It’s like they don’t have the time for me any longer; I’m certainly not feeling the love.”

“You’re not feeling depressed, are you, bro? Didn’t the break up get you down? Could it be that?”

“I don’t think so, Sis, I was more angry than upset. But it did make me think about relationships and where they were going, and I worked out that I’ve been a stranger at home since, oh, last Spring. I’d hate it if Mom and Dad got divorced and had to sell the house; I know that we’re both adults so it wouldn’t be a case of child custody, but we’d have to decided how to split our time between them. Oh, and I’d hate it even more if they don’t tell us until the lawyers are involved.”

“MIKE! Mom and Dad are NOT getting divorced! How many fricking times do I have to say that?”

I reckoned I had made my point. There was no gain in winding up my sister any more, so I conceded.

“Okay, I hope to goodness that you’re right. Whatever happens, at the moment I feel that I’ve Iost that family closeness we used to have, and I guess I feel kind lonesome right now. Mom and Dad just don’t seem to be there for me any longer.”

“That’s not true, and you know it, but in any case, you’ve still got me, Mike!”

“Thanks, Laura. And I hope you realize that I’ll always be here for you. But sometime in the future, maybe soon, you’re going to have your own life to lead – what if you’d got to the cute guy before your roomie did? What if she decides to share him with you? I know I neglected you when I was going out with Amy, and if you do meet Mr. Right, then I’m bound to get cut out of things. That’s only natural; you’ve got to go into a relationship whole-heartedly. You’re only a couple of years off the age Mom was when she married Dad; I can’t expect you to stay single much longer.”

She’d giggled while I was still talking; I guessed that she hadn’t really heard the last part of my comment.

“Thank you for that idea! I wonder if she might share? He is really cute.”

I laughed, and decided to cut the moaning. Always try and end a call on a positive.

“Okay, Sis, I know that you’re teasing me. Just remember if he goes for you instead and you’re still on speaking terms with your roomie, I’d be happy to try and console her!”

That made her chuckle.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not going to pimp for you – you’re old and ugly enough to find your own girls; just don’t go for another tramp like Amy!”

“But I already know that your roomie is awesome because you keep telling me; it would save me wasting a lot of time sifting through a whole load girls who are less than awesome? It’s not only you girls who have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find Prince Charming, you know!”

She laughed at me.

“Okay, now I know precisely what’s wrong with you. You aren’t getting laid. That’s why you’re feeling lonesome and left out. Maybe you do need to find a girl who will put out within ten minutes of meeting you; just remember the condoms!”

The giggle took the sting out of the words. I chuckled to myself; a month earlier I had met a girl who’d put out for me exactly that quickly, and less than forty hours ago, Sis had done exactly the same!

“Thanks, Sis, I love you too.”

“Do me a favor, Mike, call the folks, willya? They’re pretty upset that you might think their marriage is in trouble.”

“Okay, Laura, I will. Please keep in touch. I do love you, you know.”

“I love you even when you’re being a real dumb schmuck! Call me again real soon!”

“Sure. Look after that roomie of yours, and good luck with the cute guy!”

She made the sound of air-kissing me, and we hung up.

That had gone okay, I reckoned.

I’d put a few markers out there, and I was sure that she was already dialing Mom to pass on what she’d learned. I decided to give them time to work out what they were going to do, and called Gramps to reassure him and tell him that I’d now had a heart-to-heart with my sister, and she’d assured me that I was imagining things. I thanked Gramps for listening, said again that I was sorry if I’d worried him, promised to call again soon, and hung up.

Then I opened up the missed calls and messages log. Yeah, two each from Mom and Dad. I listened to them. In hindsight, a real dumb thing to do. They just riled me up.