Chapter 5: Trip to Bear Mountain

I never officially quit the Scouts. My troop simply ceased to exist and it was merged into another one nearby. I don’t know if any of my colleagues – there were less than ten by that point – made the transfer. I simply never went to any meetings of the other outfit, which I assumed must have started that fall. I was just gone, and nobody called to ask about what had happened to me.

Molly was a different story, and of course she continued to hold my interest. I was back from Alpine on a Sunday, and by that Thursday I had an arrangement to be with her in New Jersey again. She was kind enough to pick me up in Fort Lee, which saved me a considerable amount of time.

We were going to Bear Mountain, a state park on the west bank of the Hudson River. It was quite a bit over the state line into New York, but we just had to drive up Route 9 from Alpine to get there. We were going to have a picnic up there and then go swimming in the pool. She bypassed her house and went directly to the park.

I had been there several times with my family. In the early 1960s, we would take a bus up there, the same Red and Tan Route that passed through Alpine. Later, my dad got a car, and we then drove up to the place.

When we were parked in the car at Bear Mountain, Molly looked at me sharply from her seat behind the wheel and said, “You know, I look old enough to be your mother or your aunt. In other words, when we’re up here, we have to be – call it discreet.”

“That’s okay, I’ll play it cool.”

“Just be aware, as I said before, that I could get into trouble for fooling around with a guy as young as you are.”

“Don’t worry Molly. And I won’t drop a dime on you, as I’ve said before.”

She found that amusing. “You can talk to me all you want, but don’t get – well, you know, touchy-feely with me. Just imagine that I really am your aunt and behave accordingly. As I also said once, we’re not in Samoa.”

“Margaret Meade, right?”

“Yep, that was her. Sometimes I wonder if she joined in the fun and games herself. I know I would have!”

We had our picnic on a grassy spot near the lake, which was about the same place my family had once used. Molly was wearing a sleeveless blouse, green shorts, and sandals. I was aware that passerby must have indeed assumed that she was my mother or aunt, but of course to me, she was my lover. Despite her warning, she frequently smiled at me as we chatted.

Later I was sitting on the steps next to the pool. It was in an unusual location in that it was set in the bottom of a deep ravine or gulch.

Molly came out of the bathhouse wearing an ample two-piece bathing suit. It was blue with white dots on it. She came right over and sat next to me. She quietly said, “I bet you didn’t think your Aunt Molly would have a two-piece suit, did you?”

“Actually, I thought it would be a bikini.”

“Oh, you’re so rude to your auntie! I’ve never been a skinny girl, not since I was about eleven years old. I’ve always had some meat on me.”

I whispered to her, “Molly, I love your tits and ass. They’re so big and beautiful.” I was too young to avoid praising her, and besides, maybe it was okay in that kind of relationship. I wasn’t expected to know all the protocols a mature man would have been aware of.

She replied, “Oh wow, I’m going to have to jump in the pool to cool off after hearing that! Now remember what I said, you can look but you can’t touch.”

She could swim pretty well, but I was about a year away from swimming in deep water myself. Nevertheless, we had a good time splashing around in the pool.

Later, we sat again on the steps, and Molly’s wet bathing suit clung to her ripe body. Despite her cautioning me, she seemed to be showing herself off and she was pleased that I was noticing her. Her breasts and hips seemed luscious inside her tight garments. I tried to avoid ogling her, but I wasn’t doing very well with that. My body was responding as it was designed to do, and I tried to hide the erection sticking up inside my own bathing suit.

Molly noticed and smiled at me. “You bad boy, you’re doing exactly what I told you not to do. I can plainly see the stiffie you’re sporting right now.”

Even though I knew she was joshing with me, I was still embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Molly, I can’t do anything about it. Maybe we should go inside and get dressed now.”

I was surprised at how relaxed she was with the situation; maybe she was getting used to being in public with me. “Don’t worry about it; I understand. By the way, do you have any real aunts?”

“Not a real one; I have only one uncle, my father’s brother, and he never got married. My mother does have two male cousins, and I call their wives ‘aunts.’ That would be my Aunt Sally and Aunt Ruthie.”

“How old are they?”

“In their forties, I think. And, no, I’ve never had fantasies about them.”

“But you’ve definitely had fantasies about your zaftig Aunt Molly, haven’t you?”

I was a bit annoyed. “Come on, Molly, please don’t toy with me like this.”

She leaned back on the step and trust her big breasts forward. “I know, I’ve always been such a naughty girl, even at the age I am now. By the way, why didn’t your uncle ever get married?”

“If you ever saw that guy, you would instantly know why.” She laughed at that.

Later, as we sat in the car getting ready to leave, she did lean forward to give me a little kiss. “You should know that I put my clothes back on over my bathing suit. Here, take a look.” For a moment she pulled her regular bra and panties out of her bag and showed them to me.

“Why did you do that, I mean, why are you still wearing your bathing suit?”

“It just feels sexy somehow to have the damp cloth against my body. You’ll find out more when we get home.”

She looked around to make sure that no one was nearby, then she kissed me harder than before. I could taste the chlorine of the pool on her lips. As we drove out of the lot and onto southbound Route 9, she said, “Does going swimming make you horny? I know it does for me.”

“Yeah, I suppose it does.”

“You told me you go to Jones Beach with your family. Don’t you look at all the girls in their bikinis and then save up the memories for later?”

I don’t know what expression I had, but it was as if she could read my mind. “Don’t look so surprised. I’ve been around the block a few times; I know what guys think and do.” She glanced at me and winked. “It’s not just the young chicks; we older gals have desires too.”

For the first time, I did the math in my head and I realized that she was about a year older than my mother. But while fantasizing about my mother was unthinkable – I don’t care what the Oedipal Complex theory says – I found Molly sexy and exciting. She obviously knew what I thought of her.

I said, “I hope I did act like a gentleman up here.”

“Hank, you did fine. No one would have suspected anything.” She laughed, “I mean suspected that you have been banging my brains out. By the way, you did an admirable job of hiding your erection!”

I was chagrined again. “I did the best I could.”

Then I was quiet for a moment, and I wondered what Molly thought about the nature of our relationship. I pondered once again the legal complications we had to consider. Technically, I was well beneath the age of consent, so I guessed that Molly could be charged with statuary rape.

Except it didn’t feel like there was a lack of consent; I believed that I could make my own decisions on the matter. I felt compelled to ask her about it indirectly. “Molly, do you think I’m mature enough to handle my own life?”

“I’ll be honest with you; you’re learning, but you still have a ways to go. But don’t worry about it; it will get better for you” She hesitated for a moment. “You’ve probably wondered why I don’t find somebody my own age.”

“I’ve never said that.”

“But you’ve thought it, I bet. I’m sure I could find somebody for a fling. Females can always find somebody; women are the sexual gatekeepers, for sure. If I dressed up and went to a club or bar, and shook my ass at some guy, I’m sure I could land him. Maybe even a younger guy, although of course not as young as you are.”

I didn’t want to admit that I had already considered those facts days ago. Instead, I asked, “Would there be something wrong with that, I mean being with younger guys?”

“Well honey, you’re really young!” We both laughed at that.

She went on, “In all seriousness, I know I’m not the greatest catch, and men know it too. I’m a divorced, single mom. I’m not a super-cute little teen or twenty-year-old. Many men – they’d bang me but if they have options they are going for the younger girls in the long haul. Men are still on their way up at my age, while we women are going downhill fast.”

I felt like telling her, you’ll find someone who loves you Molly, but I knew it would sound wrong. Perhaps she had an inkling of what was on my mind, because she said, “Please don’t take this personally, but what am I doing with you? You might get into that new school and meet a girl in the first month.”

“I thought you said I wouldn’t.”

“I don’t know, I teach in a high school, I’ve seen what it’s like. Unlike adults, who can be smooth and hide their true feelings, with kids everything is out in the open, and it can be quite cruel for both the boys and the girls. I could give you bits of advice.”

“All right, what have you got for me?”

“Jesus, now I have to come up with something! All right, when you’re first at your school, take it easy, get a feel for the – what, the lay of the land? – before you make any rash decisions. Definitely don’t get obsessed with any one girl; I’ve seen a lot of that. But even so, be careful, don’t believe everything girls are going to tell you. Some of them are very good at playing with a guy’s head.”

“You’ve seen that too?”

“Oh yeah, I certainly have. Be a bit distrustful, a bit distant at the beginning with any of them. Don’t be pulled into her agenda – let’s call it that – even when you think you know who you’re dealing with.”

“How will I know?”

“You won’t, not at the beginning for sure. You don’t have enough experience yet. It’s not like it was when I was young. Nowadays girls are very sexualized; some of them give away blowjobs like they were candy bars.”

“That seems to bother you.”

“Just don’t read more into a particular girl then is really there. They may tease you and suggest things they’re not actually going to do.” She laughed, “If they flash their panties or their boobs at you – and a few of them are that bold – try to keep it in context if that makes any sense. They may be playing games with you, trying to get your goat if you know what means.