Chapter 1

“What’re you doing, Bobby Joe, with your money all laid out on your bed like that? Are you counting your riches? You just counted it all the other day. What’s up?” Korian Mason asked her seventeen year old brother, as she flounced down on the side of his bed where he sat cross-legged, counting his dollars, quarters, nickels, and dimes, and the thousands of pennies.

Korian had always come to her brother’s room, flouncing down on his bed, as if bored, never mindful of the fact that sometimes her skirt flounced a little too high. Bobby Joe usually caught a flash of thigh, and sometimes her panties before his face turned red and he looked away.

He had all his change counted out in piles of five dollars, so when he got through, he could count the piles and get a quick total. She was right though, he already knew how much was here.

He knew also that his Mom would buy him a camera ... but he was determined to do this himself. He was the man of the house now and he needed to show it.

“I’ve decided to go ahead and buy a cheap camera, Korian. I can’t wait any longer. Mr. Grafton told me yesterday that I couldn’t expect another student to keep loaning me their camera to complete my assignments.

“He really told me off in front of the class, saying that if I were as serious about the photography class as I said I was, I’d find a way to get a camera of my own.”

“I really believe Ricky Belden complained to him about me getting a higher mark on my feature photo’s for the week than he did, since I was using his camera to do it with.” Bobby Joe told his sister as she pushed a pile of coins back that had slid down too close to another.

“How much do you need to buy a camera to make do with, until you can find the one you really want?”

“I’m not even close, Kori. The one I really want would cost at least a thousand dollars. I was thinking of going down to the pawn shops again. I’ve haven’t been to that one over on Walnut Street in about two months now. That old man gives me the creeps the way he looks up through his bushy eyebrows with his eyes pulled into tight slits. He gives me the impression he thinks I’m in his shop to steal something.”

“Be right back, Bobby,” Korian said, and leaped from the bed, nearly causing his piles of coins to completely get all out of whack as the bed shook. She came back in a matter of seconds with a cigar box in her hands and laid it in Bobby’s lap.

“Korian, we’ve had this discussion before. I’m not taking your money. I’d never be able to sleep at night if I let myself be that selfish.”

“I’m not giving it to you, I want to make you a loan. When you get out of school next year you can pay me back, with interest. Better yet, let me buy into your business now, and we’ll start a photo studio.”

“Are you sure about this Korian?”

“I’m sure, Bobby Joe, there’s over three hundred in here, not counting the coins. I want to go in with you, and I want to be there with you when you buy your first camera, Bobby.” Korian knew how much this meant to him, she had seen him look at all the ads in the magazines and she had even bought him a subscription for two of his favorite photography magazines for Christmas last year.

“Three hundred! Korian, I could never take this money and feel right about it.”

“With this three hundred, how much will we have, Bobby?”

“We’ll have over seven hundred, Korian, and you’ll never be sorry either. I’ll pay you back double for this, you’ll see.”

“No you won’t, either. When we open your shop, this three hundred will buy my half of the business, and we’ll run it ourselves.”

“Now you’re dreaming. I’m just a junior, and you’re the one who graduates next spring.”

“We can still do it, Bobby Joe. I’ve got it all figured out, we’ll rent an old store building downtown and fix it up for a small studio, we will put our sign out front and people will come by the hundreds to have their pictures made at BJ’s Photography Studios, you’ll see.”

“I got to hand it to you, Korian, you sure have a vivid imagination. I like that part about the old downtown building. I saw in the paper where the city was funding some of the rent on those old buildings that had been renovated with grant money from the State Downtown Development Relief Funds.”

“See, Bobby, I knew we could do it, and with you doing the photography, and me doing the dark room, we’ll make it, I just know we will.” Korian was bouncing her butt on the bed and all the piles of coins were mixing together. Bobby looked at his sister and she was smiling. She lunged at him, grabbing him in a big hug as they fell over, side by side on his bed.

He felt her hard body press into his and he turned red. They hugged, until Korian felt his erection press against her belly, then she backed away, looking down at his crotch and smiling.

Bobby felt real bad, but she just smiled and continued with her enthusiasm, as they put all their paper money in her cigar box, and all the coins in his metal ammo box.

They took the bills and counted them into bundles of one hundred, there were a lot of twenties, some ten’s and fives, but mostly ones. They now had seven hundred and seventy nine dollars.

Bobby handed the money to Korian, “You carry it in your purse, you’re my partner now, and financial manager. Let’s go see if we can find a camera.”

“I know we will Bobby Joe. Today will be the day, I just feel it,” she said, as she hugged her pert breasts to his upper arm.

They walked toward the downtown section of their little town of sixty five hundred. Korian kept up a steady chatter as they walked. She even had Bobby Joe, the ultra-conservative one, all excited about her ideas and plans for their new business venture.

They stopped at Glenn’s Pawn shop, and Mr. Glenn told them he didn’t have the first camera, that he had, just yesterday, sold a small 35mm point and shoot Canon to a high school kid in Mr. Grafton’s photography class.

Outside again, Korian told Bobby that she didn’t want him to waste his money on a point and shoot anyway, he needed a real camera.

Korian never let up, she pointed out the old stores that had been renovated, and stood like new again ... empty and ready to help revive the older, downtown part of town as soon as someone opened a shop here.

They stopped and cupped their hands on the sides of their faces, as they looked into the big glass window of the smallest store, this one would be perfect for what they wanted.

110, Leitz South Street ... now that had a ring to it they both liked.

Bobby caught her enthusiasm now and she had him seeing their sign over the brick facade of the store front.

It was five blocks over to the pawn shop on Walnut Street, and Korian hooked her arm over Bobby’s elbow as they walked with a new purpose now.

Korian was only two inches shorter than her brother. She’s tall and slender with small but prominent breasts. She’s built like her Mom, only her tits weren’t as big. At eighteen she’s exploring her sexuality with every look and every step she makes.

She loves walking like this with her brother, pretending they weren’t brother and sister.

Every now and then, as she walked with a bounce to her step and turned to talk to him, Bobby felt her breast press into his arm where her arms were wrapped tightly to his.

His face felt like it was glowing, it was so hot when he blushed.

Muller’s Pawn shop was old and rundown. The windows were painted over and there were iron bars on the doors and windows.

Bobby and his sister, Korian walked into the almost darkened store and smelled the smell of old things. Everything in the store, on the shelves and on the tables had the smell.

“May I help you?” Mr. Muller seemed to suddenly appear from wherever he had been in the recesses of the store, to stand beside them.

“I’m looking for a camera. I need one for a school photography class. Do you have anything at all?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” the old man spoke in a heavy German accent as he looked them over through his thick glasses with his eyes drawn into slits. Bobby was getting irritated the way he kept looking Korian up and down, then staring at her face.

“Sorry to bother you then.” Bobby took Korian’s hand and started to the door.

“Young man, wait!”

Bobby turned, and Mr. Muller waved them back.

“Is this your wife?” He asked as he once again looked Korian over much too closely.

“Yes, I’m his wife, Mr. Muller. How did you know?” Korian spoke before Bobby could even answer.

“Come, let me show you something.”

Bobby and Korian looked at the old man who stood stooped and bent, his arms seemed longer than normal and he walked with a shuffle instead of steps.

He turned and waved at them to follow him through a split in the soiled drapes over a doorway, into the back of the store.

“This was my sister. She was a beautiful young woman, ja?” The old man picked up a framed black and white 8X10 photograph of a young woman leaning against a tree in a park. She was smiling and her eyes seemed to sparkle in the old faded black and white photo.

She was leaning back against a huge tree trunk, standing on one leg, the other leg bent back with the sole of her foot pressed flat against the tree. Her back was pressed back against the tree, her large breasts pushed out to tighten her white peasant blouse, scooped low off her shoulders, and showing the tops of her swollen breasts with plenty of cleavage. Her skirt and petticoats were up over her raised knee protruding outwards toward the camera.

“She is very pretty. Does she live here, or is she still in Germany?” Bobby Joe asked.

“She died years ago.” Mr. Muller looked at the photo, wistfully, and then back at Korian.

“Do you see why I was staring at you so much now?”

“I do,” Bobby said. “My wife looks almost identical to your sister.”

“YES, I was close to speechless when you walked into my store. I was afraid I was losing my mind, or that Karolin had been re-incarnated.”

“Look at her eyes and face, Korian. She looks exactly like you do today,” Bobby said, as he studied the photo portrait, and his sister closer.

“She does, doesn’t she. This is unreal, Mr. Muller,” Korian said.

“Ja, very unreal to me, also. Tell me young man, what do you plan to do with your education, when you have studied photography?”

“We want to open a photography studio in the new downtown area and take family portraits and wedding pictures.” Korian jumped in again with her usual enthusiasm.

“I have something I want to show you. It belonged to my brother who was also killed in the accident that took my sister.”

“We’re very sorry, Mr. Muller, that you lost your brother and sister.”

“It is alright now, it was long ago. I still miss them, she was beautiful just as you, Missy. She was full of laughter and her eyes were always dancing with mischief, just as I see your eyes dance when you speak of you and your brother opening the shop together.”

“How did you know we were brother and sister?” Korian was shocked.

“I loved my sister the same as you love your brother. She loved me the same way. I know the look, it shows.”

“I don’t understand, Mr. Muller ... of course I love my brother.”

“You will soon understand, Missy, ja soon you will. Now come with me back to the living quarters. I have something that you will be very interested in.”

Korian looked at Bobby as if seeing him for the first time. He noticed her look and blushed as they walked hand in hand behind Mr. Muller.

Mr. Muller moved some boxes and took a heavily constructed wooden box out of an even bigger cardboard box that had old German newspapers packed around it.

Bobby felt a shiver go through him and saw Korian shiver too as Mr. Muller pulled out a worn, smooth, leather camera case and lay it on a small table. He took another box and opened it to reveal what must have been a dozen different camera lenses.

“Open the case.” Mr. Muller looked Bobby in the eye, smiling for the first time since they had entered his store.

Bobby twisted the metal fastener, so the little catch would pass back through the keyhole in the flap, and opened the case. He was frozen, as if suddenly cast of stone as he looked down at the camera.

“It’s an M3 Leica. A very old Leica at that, it says 1955. Look at this, Korian it is all manual. No automatic settings no digital light meters or shutter speed adjustments. It even has the hot-shoe flash adapter and flash ... very rare back then. This is worth thousands of dollars as an antique, Mr. Muller.”

“It was my brother’s camera. He had a portrait studio, much as you plan to have. His favorite model was our sister, Karolin. She was born to be photographed; her pictures were in all the papers. My brother, Hans made her famous. She became a movie actress even. She was very adventurous and pleaded with Hans to photograph her nude. She became even more famous and even notoriously so, when she posed for the German version of Playboy ... before there was a Playboy. She was so impetuous and she loved to be naked in front of the camera. My sister Karolin wasn’t a bad girl, she just loved life too much to be good.”

“That’s a fantastic story, Mr. Muller. I feel like I know her and when you were describing her being so adventurous, I felt as if I were being photographed for the magazines,” Korian said and felt her face turn red.

Korian wanted to tell this man that she actually felt like she was his sister, as he described her. She felt her panties become wet, as he told of his sister wanting to be photographed nude by her brother.

“I could see the difference come to you. She would have loved to know you both and you would have loved her enthusiasm for life. She is the one who persuaded Hans to open the photo shop, and she did all the developing for him in the darkroom.”

Bobby and Korian looked at one another again and felt goose-bumps on their arms and the hair stand up on their bodies and the skin on their necks seemed to crawl.

“We really appreciate you taking the time to show us this, Mr. Muller. I’m sure it brings back memories of your family and living in Germany.” Bobby said as he took Korian’s hand once again. He felt her warm damp palm as she grasped his hand tight.

“Put the camera back in the case, Bobby. Korian, you help your brother pack the camera and lenses so you can both carry them.” Bobby was looking at all the extras, there must be hundreds of flash bulbs here.