Chapter 2

At breakfast the following morning, I got my new marching orders. The night before, my father had told me how disappointed he was with me and how careless I had been to allow the ladder to break the window. He reiterated that the replacement would come out of my allowance until such time as the window was paid for and that I would do extra chores. I simply agreed.

My new chores included scrubbing the bathrooms each morning until they gleamed, not that they did not already gleam. My parents had their own bathroom, and my sister got to use theirs since mine did not have a door. Something about ensuring I did not spend all day hiding in the bathroom. That seemed to be the rational around my shower as well. I was permitted six minutes to bathe every day. I could do it in five-forty flat. So cleaning my bathroom was not that big a deal, but I had to wait for my sister to finish before I could do my parents, and she often did not get up before nine, while I was required to be up at seven.

My other chores involved washing my mother’s car, yard work, including mowing the lawn at least once a week and rearranging the garage. If it rained, I had to rearrange the attic. I was not doing anything productive, just moving the boxes from one side of the attic to the other until it was time for dinner. I was up in the attic over the garage when my mother came looking for me.

“Why aren’t you dressed?”

It was over 90, and I was drenched in sweat. Why was I not dressed for what?

“Sorry?”

“I told you at breakfast we were invited to the Hardwick’s, and we would be leaving promptly at 4:30.”

She may have told my sister, but she had not told me.

“Must have slipped my mind. I will be ready in ten minutes.”

“You have five.”

She was already dressed.

I hurried down to take a quick shower and pull on my clothes. I made it in four minutes. My mother gave me a dirty look, and we walked around the corner.

“Come in, come in,” Mr. Hardwick said.

I had not seen him in a while. He ran some conglomerate and spent as much time on an airplane as he did at home. We shook hands, and then I got out of the way. My mother swanned in and became the center of attention as my sister went off to play with Alex and Suze. Hardwick got my attention and waved for me to follow her. She had on a t-shirt and shorts while I had on dress pants and a button-up shirt.

“Why all dressed up?” she asked.

“Because we were invited, apparently.”

“What do you mean, apparently?”

“I was only told about it eight minutes ago. I was told nothing else.”

“Shit, you’re kidding? My mother invited you guys over last week!”

“I did not get the memo.”

“Sit, sit,” she said. “We’re having dinner.”

“I doubt it.”

I sat down, and she sat down next to me.

“Well, that is why we invited you over, silly,” she said.

“What did your mom think about the bras,” I asked, changing the subject.

“She likes them. She thought I made good choices.”

“Good. I was afraid she would explode over the price.”

“Nah, we had talked about it, remember? And she really liked the blouse, as long as I wear a t-shirt under it.”

“Probably a good idea. I wasn’t sure I could keep control when I saw you in it.”

“Did you play with yourself when you got home?” she asked with a shy smile.

“After I went to bed, yes.”

“Me too.”

She leaned in and kissed me gently, and I kissed her back, only to hear my mother yelling for us.

“Let’s go, kids.”

“Now what?” Hardwick asked.

“Beats me.”

“Really, we would love to stay, but Ron is just back off the road and has to head out early next week, and he hasn’t had a chance to see the kids,” my mother was saying.

Someone forgot to tell her that dad would not be home until the following Tuesday, but it was not my place to correct her. She ushered us out the door, and we were home in less than twenty minutes after we had left.

My only refuge, beyond sleep, was no chores after dinner. Of course, if my sister decided she wanted to watch television, then she owned the tv, even if she was not actively watching it. I had long since given up and usually retreated to my bedroom and listened to the ballgame in the summer, and hockey in the winter, at a low volume, from a beat-up radio I had found somewhere. And that is how the next several weeks went.

It was one of those stinking hot days outside, which meant that it was fifteen degrees hotter in the garage attic. I was in the process of moving boxes from the left side to the right side or the right side to the left, not that it mattered when I heard a noise. I looked over the edge and saw Hardwick at the base of the ladder.

“Permission to come aboard?” she asked with a laugh.

I waved her up while I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my t-shirt.

“Welcome back. How was art camp?” I asked as I took her hand.

“It was great. I worked on my drawing and sculpture and learned how to take and develop photos. It was a blast. You have to come over and see some of my stuff!”

“I would love to see them.”

“What are you doing?”

“Penance.”

“What?”

“For breaking the window. I have to move boxes when I am not washing the car or mowing the lawn. Penance, not to mention no allowance.”

She had walked to the back of the attic and slunk down onto the chair that was there. I had moved it there and behind a stack of boxes so I could hide if necessary, but still look like I was working out of sight.

“What’s this,” she asked, pulling one of my Penthouse magazines from a box.

“Literature,” I said blushing.

“You only read it for the articles?”

“No, the stories,” I said as I picked up another box.

“Jay, are you out here?” I heard my mother’s shrill voice call.

Hardwick quickly put the magazine back in the box and moved forward enough not to give away my chair.

“Attic, mom.”

“Is Jane with you?”

“Yes, she’s up here,” I said, before turning to Jane and indicating she should start down.

“Jane? Oh, come down from there, girl, it’s filthy. Jay, you know better. Those beams will only support one person.”

And the weight of several hundred pounds of junk.

“Yes, mother.”

“Jane, your mother just called. Seem’s Alex’s been in an accident. She’s taken him to hospital and wanted you to get home to look after Suze.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Dickson. I will head home immediately. See you later, Jay!”

She was not gone five minutes before my mother laid into me about being reckless and endangering her life, and I had better get to work. I still had to wax the cabinet. The cabinet was an old, oak armoire that sat in the back corner. It would take a dozen people to move it down, but it was one of those busy tasks. Every time it was exposed, I had to wax it. Not that it would ever see use again. If I did not finish it in time, I did not get dinner. I was down three over the past week. Tonight would be number four. I finished moving boxes, then set to work on the wax. After I finished, I went to bed. Tomorrow was a mowing day, and I was already tired.

The next day I mowed the backyard when I saw Hardwick come out her back door. She waved and walked over to the fence between our yards.

“How’s your brother?”

“Hard to kill that guy. Ran out into the street after a ball and got clipped by a bicycle. Broke his arm and scrapped up his legs. Nothing too serious.”

“That’s good. How’s the cyclist?”

“Hardly a scratch, although I think his bike was a mess. I didn’t get all the details.”

“You look good this afternoon, Hardwick,” I said.

And she did. Shorts, crop top. If I did not have to mow the lawn, I would have loved to kiss her. She smiled.

“You can call me Jane when we’re alone,” she said quietly.

“And run the risk of being pile-driven into the ground? No way. Jane.”

She smiled, and I smiled.

“I have to get back to work, or there will be hell to pay.”

“Talk later?”

“Sure.”

I fired up the mower and continued my chores, knowing that at any moment, my mother would look out the window and yell at me.

With no allowance, I had no spare money. And no spare cash meant I could not escape the endless litany of chores.

It was mowing day again when my mother and sister marched out of the house, all dressed up, walked down the driveway and around the corner. I thought it odd, but since no one had told me they were going out, I thought nothing more of it as I moved to the back yard. I had just turned the mower off to empty the grass when Jane called me from her room.

“Jay? Aren’t you coming?”

“Coming where?”

“My birthday party.”

I am sure I had a dumb look on my face. I knew today was her birthday, and I had a card and a small gift for her, but I had planned to go around after dinner.

“No one told me.”

“Are you shitting me? Get your ass over here. And don’t you dare wear shorts.”

“I will be there in a few.”

I knew better than to leave without finishing the lawn. It took another half-hour to complete, and thirty-six minutes later, I knocked on the Hardwick’s door.

“Jay, I had all but given up hope,” her mother said.

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“Come in, come in.”

I got nasty looks from my mother, either because I was late, or because I was there, I don’t know which. I complimented Jane on her dress, which was quite lovely, and handed her the card and gift.

“I am wearing the black bra,” she whispered as she kissed my cheek.

I smiled back at her and wished her a happy birthday before getting out of the way for other guests. As I expected, we were being marched out the door before the party really got going. At least I did not get chewed out for the lawn. It was done.

Jane came by the next day as I washed the car for the second time that week. It had not left the garage. My mother only drove it on Fridays to do the grocery shopping.

“Can you come over tonight after dinner?”

“Sure, that’s about the only time I can.”

“Great. Seven? We can watch the game.”

“See you then,” I said as I put more soap on the fender.

After dinner, I announced I was going over to Hardwick’s.

“What are you bothering them for,” my mother snapped.

“Jane invited me to come over and watch the game.”

“I did not get a call.”

“She came by this afternoon while I washed the car.”

She harrumphed but said I was free to do what I liked but had to be home by nine. I walked around the corner and rang the bell. Jane let me in, and we went down to their TV room. She already had the pre-game show on as we settled into the couch.

“I have to be home by nine,” I said.

“It’s not a school night.”

“Penance.”

“Oh, for pete sake,” she swore. “Be right back.”

She ran upstairs, and I bumped up the volume slightly to hear the announcer. She came back a few minutes later with a small portable clock that she set and put on the coffee table in front of us. I also noticed that she had changed her shirt. This one was loose.

“If we only have two hours, then kiss me,” she said as she moved to sit astride my hips.

“Your parents?”

“Have taken Alex and Suze out.”

She did not have to tell me again. She had her arms around my neck, and I held her close against me as we kissed. Unlike our time in the bookstore, our kisses kept getting longer and longer as we learned what the other liked and did not like. It was not long before Jane’s pelvis ground against my throbbing erection. Finally, we had to come up for air, and she collapsed against me.

“Jay, you are a great kisser, and you have got me worked up.”

“You are pretty good yourself, and if you haven’t noticed, I am pretty excited too.”

“I noticed,” she said shyly. “I want to notice a lot more, but we don’t have any time tonight. Take off your shirt?”

I did and laid it aside.

“Are you feeling all right?” she asked as she drew a finger over one of my ribs.

It tickled, and she moved to the next one. I must have squirmed because so did one more.

“Cut it out. Yes, I’m fine, why?”

“You’re awfully thin.”

“Growth spurt, I guess.”

“I guess.”

She moved her finger to trace the outline of my nipple. It stiffened under her attention.

“I wondered what would happen,” she said.

She spent several minutes playing with my nipples, which only make the ache in my crotch that much harder to bear, even with her occasional shifts. She paused and looked over her shoulder at the clock. It was already past eight.