Chapter 3

The next morning, I had just finished showering and was in the kitchen when everyone sat down at the table for breakfast. McKenna was grouchy, as always but Christina was certainly in rare form. At twelve years old she was usually a major handful but this morning she was all smiles. You could already tell that she was going to be just as heart stoppingly beautiful as her sister and mom. With red hair down to her shoulders and Hazel eyes she was destined to make my life trouble as her older brother.

After everyone finished eating I mentioned the girls asking me to the dance.

“Girls? As in more than one,” mom asked?

“Yeah. I was shocked too, but Erica asked first, and Valerie didn’t have a date, so Erica told her to come with us. I wasn’t given an option.”

Dad just sat there and laughed. Not loud, just a chuckle that never seemed to end. The accompanying smirk disappeared fast though when mom looked his way. Remind me to never make the same mistake, Jeeze that woman can be scary!

After taking a second, she looked at me and just said,” Ok. Make sure you buy them each a corsage that matches their dress. Find out what color they’re wearing, and I’ll pick something up.”

Talk about shocked! I figured I would not just get a no, but a Hell No! Shows how much my parents can still surprise me...

Once at school I told the girls that I would be pleased to escort them to the dance and asked what colors they were wearing. Their eyes lit up and man, I gotta tell you, I would pay to get smiles like that more often. Since both were brunettes I was told they would be wearing blue dresses to make it easier for mom to pick up something. Was I even needed for this? Seemed they already knew that mom would be the one picking out flowers. Stupid boy, remember?

The rest of the week passed as usual, with very little to discern one day from the next. The girls and I spoke every morning, and I occasionally helped them with some homework they had. The following week was unremarkable and before I knew, it was time for the dance.

Since Erica had asked me I was told that she would pick Valerie and me up at six-thirty since the dance was at seven. Apparently, our parents had spoken with each other because Dad was picking us up at ten. I had already showered and dressed in nice tan slacks and blue shirt with a black sport coat and just made it downstairs when Erica knocked on the door. Since I was closest I went and opened the door and just stood there. I was completely stunned looking at the image in front of me. Erica had pulled her hair back in a ponytail and was wearing this form fitting royal blue strapless dress that showed off all her young curves. She already had a respectable amount of cleavage for a fourteen-year-old and, with the help of what I considered to be the best butt in school, it held up her dress just fine! Next to her was Valerie, wearing a dark blue spaghetti strap summer dress. It too was made to show off her athletic figure. While her chest was not as pronounced as Erica’s the back of her dress had a VERY appealing curve at the bottom, showing that a little junk in the trunk was not a great thing, but an AWESOME thing! Her long Dark blonde hair had soft curls framing her face with the rest of her hair pulled back in a similar pony tail. I tell you, I needed the Marines! I would be fighting off half the school tonight!

I finally caught my breath and said hello and asked them to come in. The smirks I got said they were pleased with my response as they glided into the room and accepted hugs from mom and the girls. Of course, pictures were adamantly required and after I was blind from the flash going off so many times we finally made it out to the car. Erica introduced me to her father, Mr. Pazini, who turned around and shook my hand. The look I got from him said it all. If I wanted to make it through the weekend I’d better not hurt his little girl, and by extension Valerie. All this with a smile. I hope I can master that look before I have kids. Girls run in my family, so I knew I was bound to have a daughter.

We arrived at the dance few minutes later and while I did have fun, I felt more like a show piece than anything else. Mom had taught me to dance from a young age since she always felt that it was a great way to get to know someone and this was the night I could silently thank her for those lessons. They were playing a slow number, so I stood up and asked Erica if she would like to dance. While we were on the floor I caught Erica’s eyes and nodded my head towards the two. Valerie was sitting next to Glenn and I swear you could see the electricity between them from across the room. We sat down for a couple songs then got back up to dance so as I got up I nudged Glenn and nodded at Val to get him to ask Val to dance. We all stayed on the floor for quite a while. Before we sat back down I whispered to Erica and suggested that Glenn ride home with us. Yeah, I was playing match maker, but dude! They were obviously interested in each other, so I had to help my friend out. Besides, I was fourteen not twenty-three. No way was I gonna have two girlfriends at the same time! Huh, where did that thought come from? I didn’t even think about having one girlfriend before now. Was Erica even interested? Food for thought.

Shortly before ten we gathered our things and headed outside. Glenn had already called his parents and asked if he could come home with me so as soon as Dad got there we all piled into the back seat of his SUV and took off for Valerie’s place first. Dad wasn’t even a little surprised when Glenn got out and walked Valerie to her door. They spoke for a few minutes then Valerie gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before running inside. Man, I think Glenn almost floated back to the car. He was caught, hook, line and sinker. At Erica’s I did my duty and took her hand to help her out of the back seat and as we walked to her door she refused to let go of my hand. I turned to face her and took her other hand as well and said,” Erica, I had an amazing night. I hope you did too.”

She looked up and you could see her blush a little as she said,” Oh David, I had a wonderful time. I can’t wait to do this again.”

Again? Was this wonder of wonders saying she wanted to go out again? Would her parents even let her date at fourteen? Would mine? And did I want to? I was already extremely busy but damn; I just didn’t want to be away from this girl!

“Erica, I’m busy a lot during the week and on Saturdays, but if your parents let you I would love to do this again with you.”

Between the squeal and the smile and the bouncing there was no doubt she was happy. I got a rib crushing hug and then she reached up and grabbed me by the ears, pulled my head down and laid one right on my lips. Oh man, I was a goner. I’d gotten quick kisses from mom and my sisters but nothing like this. About the time I almost ran out of breath the porch light started flashing and she quickly released me. Her cheeks were flushed and I’m not sure if it was from me or the embarrassment of her mom flicking the lights. She gave me another quick hug and said she’d see me at school on Monday before rushing into the house yelling “Mooooommmm, how could you!” Guess it was the lights and not me after all...

Back in the car Glenn had this silly look on his face all the way home.

“Hey man, you better wipe that lipstick off your face or your moms gonna slaughter you,” I said.

Man, he went from hero to zero in about two seconds. I was laughing so hard I was crying when he turned to look at me and said,” Uh, Pot, meet kettle.” Oh shit. I pulled down the visor and while I cleaned up noticed Dad shaking in the driver’s seat. Thank God we came to a red light, because as soon as we did he busted out laughing so long that the guy behind us honked his horn. I knew I wasn’t going to live this one down and was gonna hear about it for a while.

We walked in the door and I hadn’t even seen mom yet when I heard,” David, you need to clean your face. You seem to have something red on it.” Really? What did Dad do, send her a text on the way home? Ok old man, just remember what they say about revenge...

The next morning, I got up and was working out after forms when Dad came in. He sat down and said,” David, your instructor called and said you needed to bring in fifteen hundred dollars this morning. Said it was for some training supplies you needed. Must be some high-quality stuff.” Huh, no one had said anything to me about it, but hey, I’m just a kid so whatever. “We’ll swing by the bank on the way and pick it up. I’ve got to fly out of town for the week, so mom will pick you up.” It’s weird, but I still didn’t know what Dad did for a living. He and mom both said they were contract consultants but never really said what they consulted on.

There were a few times over the last seven years that I’d had to bring in money to pay for things like sparring pads and such, but I never had to spend more than a hundred. What could possibly cost that much?

After the bank we arrived with about twenty minutes to spare before class, and this time Dad got out and came in. It kind of shocked me since he hadn’t come in since the day I started classes. As soon as we were inside An-Shu Nakamura came up and shook Dads hand and said, “Hello Mr. Smith, nice to see you again. Would you care to step in my office, so we can talk for a minute? David, take this new uniform and go change out and stretch. I’ll be out in a minute.” This new uniform was an odd combination of dark camouflage colors, greys, blacks and browns and had a few extra pieces along with some calf high rubber soled shoes that looked weird but familiar.

That was weird, but ok. “Yes Sensei.”

About five minutes before class started we began to line up when Sensei Stevens looked at me and said, “David, please go stand by the door behind me. You’re joining the advanced students so will no longer going to be a part of this class.”

I’ve been going to this dojo for ten years and never noticed the door behind An-Shu Stevens! I’d never seen it open and had to look very closely to even see it.

As I was standing there the office door opened and Dad shook hands with sensei. He looked at me with what could only be pride, then turned and walked out the door. Since nothing was said I figured that I was on my own for getting home. Not unusual since I typically rode my bike to and from class.