Chapter 12: Tuesday

Becca spent the next couple of days stuck in the house, in the library, grounded. On the other hand, she hadn’t been feeling all that good to begin with, since she still suffered from the lingering effects of the hangover. She had been in the library almost all of Sunday and Monday going through the journals and diaries and didn’t think she had even looked at a tenth of them. It was utterly fascinating to the teen. She had found the story about Lizzie’s Sign, though she hadn’t run across the story of how Enoch had died. Still, as crazy as that sounded, she no longer doubted Jack’s story. The diaries and journals written by the Culverin ladies were both fascinating and titillating. The women had written about their sexual encounters with the Culverin men in the most explicit and graphic fashion. The possibility that Enoch Culverin had died in a barn while enjoying enthusiastic intercourse with a woman over fifty years younger no longer sounded ridiculous.

Also in the journals was the extent of the incest in the extended Culverin family. It may have started with Jacob and his various aunts and cousins, but it continued with the following generations. She had read in several passages how some of the women didn’t have any idea who was the father of their children, other than that it had been a male Culverin. They weren’t even sure whether the father had been from the generation before them, their generation, or even the generation after them!

Another thing apparent from the journals was the extent to which the women of the family led the incest. Unlike conventional incest, which was often forced by the older male members of a family upon the younger female members, in the Culverins it was the mothers, aunts, and sisters who were in charge. They were the ones who taught the young, both male and female. This resonated with Becca; while her first sexual partners were her father, brother, uncles, and grandfathers, she had been taught by her mother, her sister, and her aunts. They had been the ones who had taught her about sexual pleasure, and who had been with her for the first time with the men of the family.

Becca had briefly wondered whether DNA testing would determine specific ancestry, but then realized that with so many ancestors derived from the same individuals, consanguinity was hopelessly intermingled. She and Jack had managed to sort out their own consanguinity; their common ancestry divided at Becca’s great-grandparents, who were Jack’s great-great-grandparents. That made them second cousins once removed. That was only by marriage records, of course. It was entirely possible, and not at all unlikely, that there may have been additional ‘genetic exchanges’ since then.

Mid-morning Tuesday Jack found Becca in the library. “How are you feeling today?” he asked.

Becca smiled at him. “Better. I feel pretty good, in fact. I think I am over my hangover. Remind me never to do that again!”

“Put away the books. I have your pardon!” Jack announced.

“My pardon?”

Jack nodded. “Something like that. While the cat’s away, the mice will play. Come on.”

“What do you mean?”

He plopped down in an armchair and smiled. “You know the parental units are gone for a few days, right?”

Becca grimaced at that. Her parents and Jack’s parents had gone to the coast for a couple of days to meet up with some other Culverins at a beach near Jacksonville. That meant a lot of skinny-dipping in the ocean and a lot of sex, and Becca wasn’t going because she was grounded. They had left early that morning and wouldn’t be home until late Thursday. “Yeah, I know. I’m grounded, though.”

Jack had volunteered to stay home and act as warden. His idea of prison, however, was a bit more liberal. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them. Or you, for that matter. Let’s get out of here. Put away the book and let’s go!”

“You’re serious?”

Jack laid a hand on his heart and replied, “If I’m lying, I’m dying. What would you like to do? I think spending a couple of days at the beach might be a bit much, but how about a day at a water park?”

Becca sat upright at that. “Seriously?”

“Seriously!”

“Yeah, that’d be great! Is there a water park near here?”

Jack shrugged. “Not next door, but it’s only an hour’s drive, if that. Uh, do you have a swimsuit?”

“Sure!” Becca jumped up and almost forgot to put away the diary she had been reading.

Jack blushed and asked, “Anything family friendly?” Becca looked at him curiously. “I mean, you’re a Culverin woman, and that means your swimsuits usually start out on the skimpy side and get smaller from there. There’s probably going to be kids around, you know?”

Becca smiled at that. “So, the fishnet string bikini is out? Don’t worry. I always pack along something suitable for public. When do you want to leave?”

“Put this stuff away - carefully - and then go pack. No reason we can’t be on the road in ten or fifteen minutes.”

Jack watched as the teen carefully put away the journal and locked up the cabinet, and then checked the environmental controls and the nitrogen levels. He was quite impressed with her thoroughness and her interest in history. Finished, she turned to him and said, “Finished!”

He nodded. “You might as well put on your swimsuit and then some shorts and a t-shirt for the drive. Pack some clothing for later in a gym bag or something. There’s a locker room and we can put that stuff there, and then change into street clothes when we leave. Need a bag?”

Becca admitted she did, and Jack led her up the stairs to his room, where he rooted around in his closet for a couple of large gym bags. Then he sent her with one of them to change. He simply pulled on a pair of brightly colored trunks and a polo shirt. Becca returned a few minutes later in a red and green one-piece suit that was cut high on the legs but was otherwise quite acceptable. “Will this be okay?”

“Perfect. It’s more cute than sexy.”

“I have sexy, too, if you ever want to see that.”

Jack grinned. “Hold that thought! Maybe later in the week, here, in our swimming pool.”

“What kind of clothing for after? What should I pack?”

“Pack something nice. We can find a place in Greensboro or come back here to Springwater. I know a few places here we can have a drink if you want.”

Becca rolled her eyes. “I think I need to behave for a bit. Another hangover would have me in jail for real!”

“You just need a few lessons. Anyway, that’s later. Go pack some stuff and get ready. I’ll be along in a minute or two.” He shooed the girl out of his room and put some clothing and a pair of dressier shoes in his bag. He also went down to his parent’s room and found a couple of pair of flip-flops. Finished, he went down the hallway to Becca’s room and chivvied her into finishing her packing, nodding approval when she held up a short sundress for later.

Becca enjoyed her day out of jail. Just as important, though, she enjoyed Jack Culverin’s attention to her. She had begun to wonder if he was even attracted to her, but that worry was laid to rest after her first dunking. While not transparent, her swimsuit was thin and form-fitting, and it was obvious that Jack appreciated her form. He whistled appropriately when she climbed out of the water, and she caught him eyeing her more than once. At the end of the day, when she came out of the locker room in her sundress and heels, Jack had stared hungrily before composing himself. He grabbed their bags with his right hand and took her hand with his left. When they got to his car, he threw the bags into the trunk and let her in. “Dinner?” he asked.

“Sure,” she replied.

Jack closed her door and went around to the driver’s side, but by the time he got into the car and started it up, Becca had fallen asleep. Jack rolled his eyes and put it into gear. He decided to head back to Springwater and let his prisoner get some sleep.

Becca woke when the car hit a pothole as they neared Springwater. “Wha ... where are we?” she asked.

“Just outside Springwater. You fell asleep on me.”

“Oh, jeez! I am so sorry! We were going to have dinner, weren’t we?”

Jack shrugged. “We still can. There are places in Springwater, too, if you want.”

In answer, Becca’s stomach gave a low growl. She blushed and said, “I am hungry. Can we stop somewhere, or do you want to go home?”

He smiled and nodded. “It’d be a shame to go home. I mean, you got all dressed up and I’d be pretty rude if I took you home.”

Becca blushed again. “Thank you, but this isn’t all that fancy. I mean, if you didn’t want to eat out...”

“Let’s eat out. I know a place where we can even get you a drink without having the sheriff take you away.”

“Jack! I think I am going to tell your mother on you.”

“Please, she thinks the worst of me already. You’ll need a better threat than that.”

Jack pulled off the road into a long driveway, but Becca missed the sign at the gate. “Where are we?”

“Culverin Meadows. It’s a country club. They have a nice restaurant.”

“Culverin Meadows. Your family owns it?”

He shook his head. “Only partly. The family helped found it and we are part owners, but that’s all. It’s not on family property or anything. Still, it gets us a lifetime membership. If you want to play golf or tennis or whatever, this is the place. It’s got a swimming pool, too, but so do we, and ours is a whole lot more private.”

“I am guessing we need to be family friendly here.”

“Basically.” Jack parked near the entrance, and then got out and stretched.

He also looked over at Becca as she got out and stretched, which did some wonderful things for the dress she was wearing. The sundress had a halter top which tied behind her neck but stretching made the thin fabric tighten across her full bosom. Likewise, it raised the hem from mid-thigh to just below her delightful rear. The heels she was wearing simply accentuated everything. Once again, he was struck by how beautiful and sensual the teen was. She looked over at him as he watched her, and she asked, “Is there a problem?”

“Nope.”

“It’s the dress, right? It’s too informal for here? Do we need to go back and change?”

He laughed. “You’re fine! Trust me, you’re fine! Unless somebody is using one of the banquet rooms for a wedding or something, half the people inside will be wearing silly golf outfits. Come on, let’s go in.”

“You’re sure?” she pressed. For some reason, she didn’t want to do anything that might reflect badly on Jack. That wouldn’t be right, it seemed to her.

“I’m sure. The only reason anybody will be looking at us will be to wonder who the beautiful girl is with the big ugly guy.” He took her hand and tugged her towards the club.

Becca giggled but followed along. Once inside, Jack led them directly to the restaurant, only stopping when they were intercepted by a slim man in a suit. “Welcome back, Mister Culverin.”

“Thank you, Mister Jordan. Just got back a few days ago, in fact.”

“It’s good to see you back. I saw your parents just last week, but they forgot to mention it. Never mind, though. Are you back for the summer?”