Chapter 8: Dear Ole Dad

9th Grade: December 9th - December 13th, 1985

I said, “My father was a slave of my mother’s. He didn’t have any powers like ... this,” indicating his backrest.

“Your mother didn’t tell you I had the gift?”

His surprise was genuine, and it seemed to confuse him for a moment.

But then he looked at me and said with a surprising amount of fondness, “Yes, your mother did make me her slave. It was possibly the happiest time of my life. But this isn’t about your mother and I. This is about you. You are my son, and I felt I should pass this on to you.”

As I reached out to take the box, Suzi asked, “How do you know he is your son?”

“Besides the obvious family resemblance? I check on some of my future girls from time to time. Katie is one of my ... early recruits. Over Thanksgiving, I discovered her thoughts had been altered slightly to cover up Tim and yourself kissing during a class period. It was a simple matter of checking school and state records to find out who he was. When I realized who his mother was, I found the son I never knew I had.”

I had opened the box and was staring at a red transparent coin. When I reached in to take it, I was startled to find it ... alive.

As I picked it out of the box, I exclaimed, “What IS this?”

He said with a grin, “It’s a family heirloom. Do you sense something while you touch it?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “Here, feel this Suz,” I said, handing it to her.

Suzi turned it over in her hand and said, “I don’t feel anything.”

Joey asked, “May I try?”

Suzi passed to him, and after he held it a moment, he gave it a flip. “I can’t really feel anything, either.” But as he started handing it back to me, he hesitated, frowned and said, “I guess it does kind of make my fingers tingle a little.”

The man said, “That might indicate you have a slight touch of the gift. Timothy, I’m curious to know how it makes you feel.”

My attention was already focused on the coin, so I said, “It feels like ... like ... I don’t know. It’s alive sort of. It makes me feel like I’m not alone. Or like ... Like it’s rubbing my chest like my mom does when I’m sick or something. And there’s ... there’s something else...”

He waited patiently as I reached out with my mind to touch it. There was something being emitted from the strange red coin. Something which had a physical shape to it. Then I realized there was not one, but many different feeling shapes, almost like...

“Symbols! It’s shouting symbols at me!” I exclaimed excitedly.

“Can you see them?”

“No, more like I can feel them. Feel their shapes. They’re not like anything I’ve ever seen written either.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. There are people with the gift who can also see streams of symbols within people’s minds and can manipulate them using their gift. I’ve seen drawings of a few of those symbols. They’re quite unique. My understanding is the symbols the coin emits are different from those we have in our minds, but they are easier to feel out for some reason. I personally have never sensed any those supposedly within a person’s mind.”

“And you’re giving this to me? Why?”

“You’re my only son, and you have the gift. My father gave it to me when I was your age before sending me away to ... a sort of boarding school for people like us. I didn’t have a very good relationship with my father. I hoped you might like to get to know each other a little. But even if we don’t, the coin is now yours.”

I looked up at him and asked, “Thank you, but ... how do you know I’m your son and not from one of my mother’s other lovers?”

“Most women with the gift learn early on how to manage their fertility cycle. Your mother could have never become pregnant while she was in control without deliberately allowing it, which she hadn’t. It could have only happened while I was ... in control. I had overlooked that possibility, probably because she had always taken care of it herself. I suppose it was sheer carelessness on my part since her gift had been disabled. But you wouldn’t be here now with me if I hadn’t been so careless.”

“Um, thanks, I think.”

My ... father chuckled and said, “You’re welcome.”

At that point, I took more notice of the two women in the vehicle with us. The blonde woman who had handed me the box with the coin was older, appearing close to his and my mom’s age. Her large breasts were barely contained in the thin, revealing one-piece dress, the bottom of which barely covered her crotch. Her long hairless legs were on full display, and her light brown eyes spoke her pleasure I had noticed them when I looked in them.

The other woman was dark brown-haired and couldn’t have been much older than eighteen if that. Her breasts, while very sexily framed by her thin blouse, were not as meaty as the other’s, but they were very pert and firm looking. Her blouse ended above her navel and below that she wore a skirt that ended just above the knee. I couldn’t see it, but I was pretty sure she wasn’t wearing anything else under there.

Besides providing my father with a backrest, both women were continually touching him in various loving ways. Those actions and their eyes spoke of their love and adoration for my father. They loved him and were completely comfortable with sharing him like that.

My father’s own body language spoke of his own tenderness towards them. He didn’t necessarily take notice of every caress, but he was very soft-spoken with them and smiled with a twinkle in his eye whenever they had his attention.

While I could tell he cared for the two women, the degree that they loved him was obviously that of a love slave very similar to what I had experienced in my dream. This upset me, but the love they expressed felt genuine. And they were happy. Very happy.

I asked, “You said Katie was a recruit?”

My father smiled and said, “I’m a bit of a collector. While my father had left me a small fortune when he died, I have been somewhat a success in the world of business and finance. I’ve spent most of the past decade and a half collecting women to help secure, expand and share in my wealth. Thanks to the brilliance of those women, I’m a far wealthier man than I could have been on my own.”

Suzi said, “So Katie will become like these two?”

He turned to the dark-haired woman and said, “Vicki here is my latest girl, aren’t you, my dear?”

Vicki smiled adoringly and said, “And I’m so lucky you chose me out of all those other girls.”

He leaned forward and exchanged a short but deep kiss with her before smiling and saying, “Go ahead and tell them how we met.”

Vicki smiled and said, “When I was a freshman in high school, I received an application for a scholarship for promising young women. One of my teachers had sent in my name in recommending me based on my grades. After taking an IQ test, I attended a workshop over spring break where I met Carol and a couple of his other girls. I attended another workshop over the summer where I met Charles and fell in love. I dated a few boys in high school, but they just ... weren’t mature enough for me. Not after meeting the most perfect man I’ve ever met.”

My father said, “As I said, I’m a collector. After experiencing what it was like to truly love someone with your mother, I found myself wanting more than just a fuck and suck girl. I wanted intelligent, independent, like-minded women. Women who know no limits to what they could achieve. I’ve built a financial empire of loyal, beautiful, intelligent women managing men of similar qualities.”

Suzi asked, “And all these women were your ... lovers?”

Carol said, “Oh, yes. We wouldn’t allow anyone to work for us who didn’t go through the program. They wouldn’t fit our corporate lifestyle.”

I said, “But you have men working there too?”

My father said, “As part of their scholarship, my girls must find men who would be assets to my business while they are attending graduate school. I’m not a greedy man. I couldn’t possibly keep all my girls happy by myself. I’d like to think I build families as much as I help the smartest and most beautiful young women become something more than just ... someone’s housewife.”

Suzi said, “Sounds more like enslavement to me.”

My father looked at her with a frown and asked, “I’ll have you know, my mother who has no gift whatsoever and who was raised and sold as a personal sex slave helped me build this program from the start. She knows how terrible being a slave can be, and I personally make sure every girl is happy, fulfilled and has a life of their own independent of what they do for me. I am an employer, and all my employees are happy, productive, and loyal because I don’t abuse them like many others do.”

He looked at me and said, “I’ve read your therapist’s notes on you. I understand how you are worried about how your gift could ruin you. I’ve seen it happen to many who didn’t have someone to help guide them. I’m sure your mother is doing a fine job in that respect. I’m only here to offer you a look at how you can use your gift productively without becoming a selfish power-hungry monster.”

Joey said, “I think that would help a lot.”

Suzi and I looked at Joey, Suzi frowning at him while I felt ... saddened by his excitement.

Joey said, “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t want Tim going off the deep end again, that’s all. If ... um, excuse me, sir. What is your last name?”

My father smiled and said, “Charles Grodmen.”

Suzi gasped and said, “As in the Grodmen Academic Foundation? And Grodman Financials?”

My father nodded.

Joey frowned and said, “I’ve never heard of them.” Then Joey looked up at my father and said, “No offense.”

My father said, “That’s understandable.” He asked Suzi, “Would you care to tell the boys how you know of my foundation?”

I said a bit stonily, “Because she applied for the program.”

Joey asked, “How do you know about that, and I don’t?”

Suzi said, “Because you weren’t paying attention while we talked about it. It was right before Timmy had the dream.”

My father said, “Up to five freshmen girls are submitted by their principals, counselors, and teachers at each high school participating in the program. Your Dr. Higgs highly recommended you, Suzi. He said your strength of character and integrity were your greatest assets. I can see why that would be attractive to someone like Tim who fears losing themselves to the temptations of his gift.”

Suzi looked ill, and Joey wasn’t exactly happy with the idea Suzi could have become one of my father’s “girls”.

My father cleared his throat and said, “I see you’re uncomfortable. I very much doubt Suzi would have been selected simply because she doesn’t need the foundation’s help to become successful. I prefer girls who have greater needs.”

That seemed to satisfy Joey, but it didn’t make me feel much better. And Suzi was still upset.

Just to divert the subject, I asked, “Where are you taking us?”

“To my father’s mansion where I spent most of my childhood. It’s about a half-hour drive south of here and...”

A phone rang, startling the three of us. None of us had ever been in a car that had a phone in it before. The sound of it was not something any of us had expected to hear.

As Carol unclasped the receiver from the odd-looking phone’s base, my father said, “That will be your mother.”

He gave Carol an appreciative smile as he took the receiver from her, then gently stroked her cheek as he said, “Hello Samantha. It’s been a few years.”

I didn’t hear what my mom said, but I was a little startled when my father broke into a grin and said, “I’ve missed you too. And I have to say I’ve been impressed how well you’ve done raising our son. He seems fairly well adjusted despite the troubles he’s recently had.”

What she said after that made his earlier amusement disappear, and his face turned into a slight frown.

After a minute, he said frustratedly, “How about I just put him on. You can ask him yourself.”

Carol took it from him and passed the receiver to me

I said into the receiver, “Hello?”

“Are you all right?” my mother’s voice asked anxiously.

I could feel her mind trying to touch mine. I permitted her to access and felt her search for any meddling.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I said to confirm her own conclusions.

“Is Suzi okay?” my mother asked, implying the worse.

“She and Joey are fine. He hasn’t done anything but talk.”

“Do you know where he’s taking you?”

“To some mansion where he grew up.”

My father said, “Let me speak to her, Timothy.”

Carol happily took the receiver back and handed it to him.

He said, “We are on our way to my south mansion down in Hamilton off of highway H. Yes, that’s the one. I only wish to spend some time with Timothy and his two friends before I leave for Europe for a few weeks ... Sam, I sorry I didn’t contact you beforehand. I didn’t intend to even see him today, but he detected us and was trying to leave. I didn’t want him running off like that.”

My father frowned and said gruffly, “I won’t change a single thought in their heads.” He then relaxed and said, slightly amused, “Not that I could. Would you believe he is actually shielding their minds as well as his?”

His smile widened as he listened to her a few moments and then said, “Yes, I remember ... I think so too ... Yes ... I’m not sure either, but let me ask him.”

He lowered the mouthpiece slightly and bluntly said to me, “We were wondering if you had fucked Suzi in the ass yet.”

He had to hold the earpiece away from his ear due to my mother’s loud protests.

All three of us started turning red. I looked down at the floor and said, “I haven’t ... err, that is, I’m still a...”

I couldn’t say it. My father put the receiver up to his ear again and said, “He seems a bit shy.”

I looked up at him right at the moment my mother explained why. I saw his expression change from amusement to startlement.

He stammered, “I ... I meant no ... I’m sorry. I just assumed.”

“We were going too,” I weakly added. “We just got ... distracted from it today.”

Joey said, “If you hadn’t played that trick, we probably would have been done by now.”

Suzi swatted Joey on the shoulder and said, “You and I might have only taken a few minutes, but that’s not what we were working up to today.”

I felt suddenly overwhelmed and feeling guilty. I wanted my first time to be special. I wanted to make love for love’s sake, not have sex because I was horny. Not for my first time.

Suzi asked, “If you knew what Timmy’s problems were from his therapist, how did you not know he hadn’t done it?”

My father said, “That subject wasn’t mentioned. Only the contents of the dream and the ... incident between the two of you that upset him.”

I sighed and said, “You don’t have to walk on eggshells. I’m a virgin and they had sex without me. They wanted to make it up to me and I was probably going to try Suzi’s butt, if not today, soon. Now can we talk about something else? Like why my mom didn’t tell me why my father had the gift or why you had the coin wrapped to give me if you didn’t expect to see me today?”

My father cleared his throat and said, “You’ll have to ask your mother on that first point. I had the coin wrapped weeks ago planning to drop it off when your mother was home alone. I was going to leave it up to her whether or not we met.”

Suzi asked, “And this was the first chance you had to drop it off?”

My father cleared his throat again and looked a little uncomfortable as he said, “No ... I just...”

Joey said with a smirk, “He was chicken.”

My father opened his mouth to object, but then his frustration melted into a shrug and a nod.

He looked at me and said, “Your mother is an incredible woman, Timothy. I’ve never met a more intelligent, driven and ... sexy woman. And I’ve looked. I’ve been looking for over fifteen years.”

Into the phone, he said, “So how about it, Sam? Can we see if we have anything in common? I’ve done what you asked. I stayed away. But he knows now. I don’t see any reason...”

The look of frustration came back, and after a moment, I sensed him issuing an order to the driver telepathically.

“I’m taking them back now. I’ll have Tim call you from the school after I leave. Goodbye Samantha. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

Seeing the disappointment on his face, I felt bad. I looked at Suzi and seeing her worried frown told me she wasn’t feeling any sympathy for him. Not from the way the two women were lovingly consoling him.

Joey, too, had a frown on his face, but this was from his frustration at how my mom had treated my father.

My father recovered from his disappointment quickly enough and asked some general questions an adult asked a teen. How do you like school, how are your grades, what interests did you have, that sort of thing. I answered as truthfully as I could, as did Joey and Suzi, but as we approached the school, I suddenly felt like I was losing an opportunity to ask some of the questions I had always wanted answers to. This was my father. I might not have another chance to ask them.

But I knew who he was now. I realized that was the biggest question I had wanted to be answered, and having that answer meant I’d be able to ask the others another time after my mom explained herself.

When the limo pulled back up to the school, the buses were also arriving to line up. We ended up getting out down by the gymnasium instead of near the front doors.

After we said our goodbyes, I started following Joey and Suzi out, but when I reached the door, I paused, then turned and said, “I’ll talk to her. She’s just trying to protect me.”

My father said, “I know, but I think you should leave things be. You’re her son. I’m ... not a part of your lives. I would like to be, but I don’t...”

Suzi called my name. I turned and said to her, “Just a second.”

I turned to my father, offered my hand, and said, “Until we meet again?”

He smiled, nodded, and extended his hand.

Shaking the hand of my father was surreal to me. I didn’t believe he was really my father until I felt his skin touching mine. There was no magical spark or glow of light that surrounded us, yet I felt like there should have been. I was in a bit of an emotional stupor when we ended the shake and we repeated our goodbyes. The next thing I knew I was standing there watching as the limo pulled away.

I felt different. Not changed, not like my father had done something to my head or something. But I did feel like my whole world had just been turned on its side. I also felt different physically in a way I couldn’t define. I attributed it to the stress of the day as the feeling dissipated after a few hours.

I called my mom’s work from the office, and after she touched my mind again to check for tampering, I let her know she was going to have to explain herself when she got home.

After getting off the phone with her, I did something I had never done before. I had Suzi’s brother Jason take his friends home before coming back for us to pick us up.

Jason said, “I still don’t know how you talked me into this Suz. Mom’s not going to like it.”

Suzi gave me an irritated look before saying, “I’ll handle mom.”

“She’s never going to let you go over to a boy’s house without talking to his mom. You know that.”

I said, “She can call my mom at work.”

Jason laughed and said, “Your mom isn’t home? That’ll stop it right there.”

I said, “Jason, I’m not going to make love to your sister for the first time lying on a comforter in a storeroom at school. I want to do this right.”

Suzi groaned, “Timmy.”

Jason silently pulled the car to a halt at a red light, turned and growled, “You’re going to do what?”

I looked him in the eyes and said, “I’m going to make love your sister. You know. Sex?”

Jason’s eyes flared with anger, which only made me grin and said, “You’re too easy. What do you think we’re going to do? Have a threesome or something? We’re going to Joey’s house, and his mom is there.”

Suzi said, “Jason, the light just turned green. Just ignore Timmy. He’s had a complicated day.”

I said, “Shit Suz. I just met my father for the first time. Complicated is a bit of an understatement.”

Jason asked, “You never met your father? Shit.”

I said, “Yeah, I’m a bastard.”

Joey said, “You’re not anymore. Shit, Tim. You know what this means, right? If he’s a rich as it sounds...”

I looked at Joey and said, “I don’t care if he’s a billionaire. My mom has given me everything I need. I don’t need his money. Don’t you see how ... Shit, I guess complicated is the right word.”

Joey asked, “Why is it complicated? You saw how he reacted when your mom shot him down. He really was looking forward to seeing her again. He still has a thing for her.”

I groaned and said, “And what if he does? Joey, how many women do you think he has? You heard him. He collects them. My mom would just be his prized collector’s piece. I don’t want that for my mom. She deserves someone dedicated to her and her alone.”

Suzi said, “And I’m not sure he would be a good example for Timmy.”

Joey shook his head and said, “From what I saw, he’s nothing but a nice guy who loves women.”

I said, “I’m sure that’s how he perceives it too. But look at Katie. That could have been Suzi.”

Joey frowned then nodded, seeing he wasn’t going to win that argument. It wasn’t that Joey didn’t understand what we were saying. But he felt empathy for my dad, and my dad’s money spoke to him too.

We ended up staying at Suzi’s instead of going over to Joey’s. In fact, Suzi’s mom insisted we stay for dinner and talked my mom into joining us. That wasn’t the first time my mom had been to Suzi’s, and, unknown to me, my mom had been keeping Suzi’s mom updated with my condition.

Joey and I got a bit of a kick out of seeing her home with our own eyes. While we didn’t get to mess around, that was okay. We did get about an hour’s worth of private time before Suzi’s dad came home, and we ended up talking with Suzi’s parents a while.

That wasn’t as awkward as you would think. It was much worse than that. Suzi adored her father, but he still saw her as his little girl. Walking in finding her laying against Joey while I gave her feet a rub seemed to confuse the man. He treated Joey and I like we were little boys playing house with his daughter. Jason sat in on that conversation too, but to my surprise, he didn’t say or do anything other than smirk whenever something Suzi’s dad said made us squirm.

My mom was a very beautiful woman. I never really looked at her like that before. I mean, she was my mom. I had acknowledged a long time ago that she had a lot of curves and men found her attractive. Hell, her bras were custom made to give them maximum support. But seeing both Jason and his father appreciating my mom’s figure in her sharp business suit made me look at her with the same perspective they did. She wasn’t just beautiful. She was fucking hot!

And she not only knew it but loved the attention it gave her. But she was also very careful not to flaunt it around other women.

I suddenly understood at least one of the reasons why she had turned my dad down so quickly. Just how I had told Joey, my mom would be the prize to my father’s collection. The very top prize. She was thirty-five and looked amazing.

After leaving the Aster’s, my mom stopped in to talk with Joey’s mom when we dropped him off before finally getting back to our house a little after nine. I had waited for us to be alone, and it almost seemed like she was purposely finding things to delay the conversation she knew we’d have to have.

Once we got into our house, she said, “Let’s take our showers first, and then we can talk in bed, alright?”

I said, “In bed?”

“Are you now too old to snuggle with your mother?”

“Mom...”

“We can do it on the couch if you...”

I gave her a hug and said, “I’m not falling apart about this. You only want to snuggle and talk when you think I’ll get upset. I’m not upset. I’m just ... confused.”

She gave me a squeeze and said, “Then you won’t mind if we do this in the bed? I might need the comforting this time.”

That surprised me. When I looked at her in the eyes, she smiled at me, but I saw the look of fear in her eyes too.

I didn’t say anything and just nodded.

After I showered, I got a bottle of wine out and took the opener and two glasses into her bedroom. I knew my mom. She was stressed and drinking wine always helped her relax. I wasn’t exactly a big fan of wine, but my mom had been giving me sips ever since I was ten and when I turned eleven and she had it with a meal, she usually gave me a half a glass. She did it saying she wanted me to be cultured, but I think it was mostly because her parents had done the same with her.

John had snuck one of his dad’s beer over to Brad’s house a few times and the four of us had shared it. None of us thought it tasted good, but we all took our fair share of the sips. I never noticed any of us getting a buzz off of it, but then a twelve-ounce can of beer split four ways wasn’t that much alcohol.

I was waiting in her bed when my mom came out. I was disturbed at how conscious I was of her womanly curves. It was like the filter that had prevented me from seeing her like that was broken and I had a hard time keeping my eyes on neutral territory.

I was blushing when she obviously noticed it too, but luckily she was then distracted by the wine sitting on her nightstand.

She asked, “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were trying to seduce me.”

The expression on my face made her laugh, and then she asked, “You didn’t try your luck at opening it?”

I said, “I wasn’t sure you’d want it. I only brought it because...”

I shrugged.

She said with a sigh, “I know. Timmy, I’m sorry. I wish there had been a better way to introduce him to you.”

When she didn’t finish her sentence and just moved towards the wine, I asked, “Does he scare you that much?”

My mom picked up the opener, but then fiddled with it a few moments before attaching it to the bottle and began twisting. After it popped, she poured herself a glass and quickly downed it.

She then poured herself another and then poured about a third into the other glass. My mom then handed me my glass with a pensive but thoughtful frown.

My mom said, “He doesn’t have the strength to get through another’s mental barriers, but he is very good at making the changes he makes to people feel natural. They can be very difficult to detect. But that’s not what I’m worried about. It’s the temptation his lifestyle represents.”

“Mom, I’m not interested in ... in ... collecting love slaves. That’s exactly what upset me about that dream.”

My mom sighed again, took a deep sip of her wine before setting it down on the nightstand and climbing into the bed. She then emulated me by laying against the extra pillows I had placed such that we were sitting up.

She said, “Drink some of that, then we can talk.”

So I drank about half of it before setting it on the other nightstand. We then scooted down, and she took me in her arms like she always did.

But then she moved away slightly and repositioned herself so she could look at me. My mom stroked my left cheek a few times smiling at me before saying, “The older you get, the more you look like him. He was a broken man when I first met him. His father had messed with his perception and personality so badly he was a walking talking Don Juan with a daddy complex. He seemed to think women were merely objects to possess and discard. He had a heart, but he couldn’t use it. The only person he was allowed to love was his mother. Everyone else was just ... cattle.”

She smiled and said, “But he was incredibly gifted in bed. In a way, that was the only outlet he had to express his heart, and he did it a lot. He’s not an evil man, Tim. He’s just...”

Tears bloomed in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away and said, “After we had our first night together, I cleared his father’s tampering and made him love me like I did all my boys. But he was different. He was special. And his mother approved of what I had done.”

I suddenly realized I possibly had a grandmother. A living grandmother. I spent a good five or ten minutes silently contemplating that. That was one of the things I had always wanted. But then I remembered...

“Wasn’t she raised as a ... a...”

“Sex slave? Yes. And she didn’t have any commands making her that way. She was your father’s and I ... I allowed him to be with her when she wished. She was a very wise woman, though in a perverse way.”

I sighed and said, “So I guess I shouldn’t hope to make cookies with her someday.”

My mom looked at me and with a compassionate frown, shook her head.