Chapter 19

The next day I was listening to music in my room when there was a knock on the door. I looked up to see Pete and gave him a hug. He told me my parents talked to him already about college, and sighed.

“George, if I have to guess dad is right. If you are not in college, the voting will revert back to your mom.”

“But that’s not fair! What if I had joined the military and had to get out?”

He looked up for a moment, and nodded. “Well, I will bring that up. But you deserve to know my feelings. If it was from misconduct, then I would agree they should be lost. If it was because say they got hurt and had to get out like I did, they should keep them. Because they would be getting out because of injury, not something they themselves did.”

“Pete, that’s not right! You know that, you only feel that way because that is what happened to you!”

He actually nodded. “Yes, that is true. I got hurt, and had no choice but to get out. But it was also nothing I did wrong. I did not get kicked out because I got caught smoking grass, or decided to take off and go UA.” And at my blank expression, he said “AWOL. Same things, but in the Marines we use another term. Unauthorized Absence, not Absent Without Official Leave. Because any of those, like this would show you might not be ready to handle the responsibility.”

He then sighed, and asked what the problem I had was when we were on the phone. I told him about Shawna breaking up with me, and he just sighed. “George, unlike you she does not have a lot of options. You can drop college tomorrow and still get by just fine. Her, from what you both said she can’t do that. If she drops out, that means working dead-end jobs and never really getting ahead.”

“But she would not have to do that! Hell, say if someday we get married, I could support her.”

“And what if that never happened? Or the two of you break up. She would be right back to where she started.”

“But look at mom and Mandy. They have good jobs, because of you.”

“No, they do not George. They have good jobs because of themselves. Your mom has a degree, two of them now in fact. She has one in Journalism, and after moving back up here she went back and got a second one in Accounting as well as becoming a CPA. Mandy has a degree in Marketing. They have their jobs because they have degrees, and are damned good at what they do. Jeff has a degree in Theology and runs Gem, but Kim does not and is only his executive assistant and helps your mom run things.”

“Because of you!” I said, shaking my head.

“No, because of themselves. When I hired your mom when you were a baby, it was I thought as a receptionist and sales clerk. Somebody to run the shop in case I needed to go to the hospital for therapy. She is the one that set up most of the administrative stuff on her own. And the accounting, and all of the other things that followed. Things I never even knew I needed. In fact, she is probably more responsible for where we are today than I am.”

I looked at him, and he nodded. “Without Dee, I could not have done what I did. Hell, I graduated in the middle of my class in High School. Just a few college classes I took for fun. English, Literature, and Psychology. Not trying for any kind of degree, I took them to help me write better games. That was back on Okinawa, it also gave me something to do other than miss Linda. You have a chance to get a degree, something I never did. And you are pissing it away.”

“It’s my life, Peter Culver! Not yours!” I yelled, and he shook his head.

“Yes, that it is, George. I’m going to go now. I don’t want us to fight, but if you want to talk just give me a call and we can talk.” He then just gave a wave and headed off.

Why in the hell was everybody ganging up on me? I expected that from Pete, the prig seems to think ne never did anything wrong. But Grace surprised me. She was far too young to be getting involved in sex, and too innocent. I even felt some revulsion at imagining her off somewhere with Xavier and him pawing at her breasts.

I did borrow the ranch truck and went up skiing half way through my trip, but Grace said she did not want to go. Pete was busy and said he could not take the time, in fact nobody would join me. And two days before I was to leave, my mom came into my room.

“George, we had a meeting last night. Until you return to a full class load, your voting rights in the company are suspended. We agreed to spread your shares among all of us, so it will have no impact on the votes.”

“But I assigned you as my proxy, they should be going to you.”

She sighed, and shook her head. “That was only as you held voting rights, and could tell me how you wanted your vote cast. As they are suspended, those should revert back to all of us. Not that it matters, it would not be enough to change any votes I made even if we were split.”

I sighed, and knew it would be a while before I had any rights in the company again. “Oh, and I am going to drive you to the airport when you go back. We already have you booked on a flight to Salt Lake, then to LAX.”

“But my car’s at Whitman, in Pacoima. How am I going to get there?”

“George, you should be able to figure that out on your own. You can take a bus or the train back to the Valley from LAX, then a taxi or have somebody give you a ride to get your car.” She looked at me with that “Mom Stare”, so I knew better than to say anything else.

I noticed at dinner the night before we left that Grace was not there. She was out on a date with Xavier, and I tried to not think about what they might be doing. And the flight home was mostly just dull.

At least all I had was a duffel, and called Keith. It took three trains and a bus to get to Encino, then just walked to Keith’s place. Thankfully he had some grass and we toked up for a bit as I told him about my trip. And he did not seem real surprised at what my family had done to me. Thankfully he drove me to get my car, and after giving me a hug I headed home.

And with more days off as I was only at school two days a week, it gave me more time to attend the protests. I was at one in Los Angeles that soon was out of control when somebody threw a garbage can into a window. And as some were trying to run away, others were grabbing things from inside the store.

I heard the sirens and ran also, but as I was making my way to a subway station I saw several putting things into their backpack. I was standing next to one on the train, and he admitted he had grabbed two cell phones. The other had grabbed a handful of chargers and headphones. And when the subway got to Hollywood I saw more get in, some also bragging about what they had gotten. One even laughed as he said he had a dozen bottles of booze in his backpack.

I headed over to the game shop after I took a shower and got changed, but Shawna was not there for the game. I just hoped it was not because of me.

And that weekend, I mostly stayed at home and messed around with some new covers. Other than masturbating several times, as it felt like I was starting to back up. After regular sex with Shawna, it kinda sucked suddenly having to go without.

I did attend a big protest in Long Beach, but other than marching around and chanting nothing else happened. Then again, this time as soon as the cans of spraypaint came out I headed home. On game night I again went to the game, and no Shawna. I gave her a call to see if she was alright, and she sighed when she got on the phone.

“George, I’m not going to that game anymore. I am studying a lot for finals, and it’s just too complex having you there also.” We talked for a bit longer, but she was not interested in getting together to talk. So I wished her a good night and hung up.

On Saturday I met some others at New Dawn that had a band, and they offered to let me sit in with them as they jammed that night. And since neither Crystal or Kris showed up, I decided to go ahead and join them. They were more emo and goth than grunge, but it was a lot of fun. And their regular keyboardist was a kinda chubby but cute gal named Jen. It was a lot of fun afterwards, smoking a few bowls as they passed around a big jug of orange juice and vodka. And after I noticed the room was spinning as I walked to the bathroom, I asked if I could stay there for the night. And after that, things got a bit hazy.

I had a headache when I woke up the next morning, and my mouth tasted like something had died in it. And I had no idea where I was, and laid there wondering what had happened. Then I remembered the party, but not how it ended.

But I realized it must have ended good, as I was naked. And an equally naked Jen was snoring next to me. I went to the bathroom, and it was obvious from the tackiness on my cock that it had been used the night before for something other than pissing. And once I was done I went back to bed and lay down again.

Only to wake up a few hours later with Jen’s head on my chest, and her hand stroking my cock. She raised her head and looked at me when I reached down and caressed her back, and said “Oh good, you’re awake again.” And after saying that she simply hiked her leg over my hips, and sank down onto my cock. Now Jen was definitely more than a few pounds overweight, and had some huge boobs to prove it. They bounced up and down like they were full of jelly as she rode my cock, and she was wet and sloppy inside. Not the kind of girl I would have hit on normally. But seeing as I had beer goggles the night before, even she was better than no pussy at all.

Finally I was able to bust a nut in her, and even that took a bit of work and keeping my eyes closed. Her cunt felt fucking huge, fucking her was unlike the tight snugness I was used to. And after I popped my nut she smiled at me, and just got up and headed to the bathroom. Not even a kiss or anything.

I got dressed and left the bedroom we had used, and I could hear the shower going. Everybody else was still zonked out, so I just grabbed one of the joints on the table and headed on home. Once there I took a shower, drank what felt like half a gallon of water, and went back to bed.

It was almost two weeks later when I was heading in for my last final exam when I knew that had been a mistake. I was taking a piss, and it felt like needles were being jabbed into my dick. I moaned as I leaned against the wall, and swore softly until it was done. I finished the exam, and after another painful piss headed over to the clinic.

Thankfully it was not busy, and it was rather tough having to admit to the gal at the front counter that I thought I had VD. I had to wait an hour until I finally saw the doctor. Where he asked me my symptoms, who any potential partners were in the last month, and several other questions. Then came an inspection of my genitals, where he said it appeared that I gonorrhea. And I assumed it would just be a shot or some pills and I would be fine.

And I am sure I turned white when he pulled out some cotton swabs on what looked to be six inch long handles. “Doctor, what are you going to do with those?”

He looked at me, and I swear he was grinning inside. “Oh, I gotta swab you down first. You likely have unbroken pustules inside, and they gotta be broken and drained out or the penicillin will not do its job.” And talk about agony! Over five inches of q-tip jammed up the pee hole. Not just once, but six times!

Finally he seemed satisfied as it was coming out clean, and he told me to go ahead and get dressed. He left the exam room as I did, and when he came back he said to pull my pants down and bend over. And the shot hurt like a motherfucker, but nowhere near as much as the swab up my cock had.

“Now it will still burn for a day or so, but that is from my bursting the last of the pustules. If it still burns after a week, come right back. And wait at least two weeks before having sex again. And come back next week, you can have a copy of your bloodwork.”

Well, it did hurt for another two days, but then the burning stopped. And when I dropped back to the clinic they gave me the results. Thankfully, it was negative for HIV and any other diseases. I thought of going back to the place we had partied at, but decided fuck it. The girl was a real skank, proven both by how sloppy her cunt was, and that she gave me a disease.

I went ahead and got enrolled for a full course load at Glendale, and other than the Ground School I was not looking forward to a full load again. During the first class, the instructor asked if any of us had any experience in flying.

Turns out that several of us did. One was in the Air Force and had been a crewman on a C-130. And that sometimes the pilot would let him fly for a bit. Another had a father that was a pilot and had a plane, and she had been flying since she was twelve.

When she asked me my experience, I said I had 12 hours total, most of that in a Cessna 172. After class she had those of us that admitted to having experience remain behind, and asked us if we had any documentation to support that. Neither of them did, but I smiled as I took out my flight log and handed it to her. She looked it over, and asked who the ones were that signed after my two entries.

“Well, Harve is my brother’s chief pilot, and a flight instructor. Tina is the number two person, and when we flew to Idaho last month she let me take the controls for most of the flight. Even the landing at Soda Springs.”

She looked at me sharply at that, and I then added “Her hands were on the controls the entire time for the landing, but she said she did not have to take over and I did fine.” Ahe smiled at me, and said that was not common procedure, but would let it count.

“Alright, other than the dozen hours that George has, I’m afraid none of the rest will count. You will still need to log in forty hours to get your license, but think of it like this. Most students need twice that much flight time to pass, so you should still see that reduced by quite a lot.”

I had bought my textbooks the week before, and had already been reading through them. The one for the ground school was thick, and full of forms. Load charts, weight distribution charts, calculations for fuel and fuel usage.