Chapter 2

We refrained from any further voyeurism for a whole week. I had Ron’s graduation ceremony to prepare for and the family graduation party we planned to hold in his grandmother’s backyard. It was a Thursday around 9:15 pm, and I was on the couch double-checking the guest list when Ron came into the living room, picked up the remote, and turned on the TV as he complained. “Jeez, mom, they are at it almost every night.”

“You’re not spying on them again, are you?”

“No, not really, but twice this week when I opened the window to get some cooler air in the room, I caught an eye-full of them doing it. Tonight was just too much. I thought I better stay out here until they are done.”

“What do you mean by ‘too much’?” I asked.

Ron shrugged as he ran his hand through his hair and said, “It’s just too damn tempting not to look. You know, it’s like when you’re ten years old and have a bowl of candy sitting beside your bed on Halloween night, and then they tell you, you can’t have any.”

I put the guest list I was reviewing down. I turned toward Ron and put my hand on his arm, “I understand, Honey, and I know you are trying very hard to do the right thing.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “I know how easily I got caught up in it the other day when you caught me doing exactly what I told you not to do.”

Sounding exasperated as he expressed his frustration, “It’s killing me, Ma. I don’t want to sleep on the couch or move my computer out here to get away from it. I like my room.”

He must have gotten a good eye-full tonight because I could tell he had an erection by the way he had his legs crossed trying to hide it. I was a little perturbed that they were so inconsiderate that Ron felt he might have to move out of his room to give them some privacy. I thought about calling them or going over and saying something but quickly discarded that idea. What was I going to say? ‘Hi, I’m Helen Murphy. It’s good to have you as a neighbor. I just wanted to congratulate you on catching such a nice-looking guy. Oh, by the way, Brenda, for the last couple of weeks, my son and I have been watching you get fucked. How about putting up some curtains if you’re going to do it with the light on.’ I figured she would put them up soon anyway, so why embarrass her or myself?

I made a decision for good or ill. “It’s your room, Ron. If they are not going to put curtains up or turn the lights out, I guess it’s just their tough luck if you get an eye-full every once in a while. Just don’t be obvious about it. Do what you need to do if it gets to be too much.”

“Just what are you saying, Mom?”

“I’m saying go ahead and watch if you want to. Whatever else you do in the privacy of your room is your own business. If they are so oblivious that they are putting on a free show for the neighbors, I can’t think of any reason you shouldn’t take advantage of it. Just don’t get caught. Keep the window shut, your room’s lights out, and stand back from the window.” I shooed him away with my hand, “Now go, have some fun.”