Chapter 3: Electric

The girls finally left at nearly ten, after putting themselves on my internet and showing me their various sports and accounts, and telling me I should be more active. Then the next morning I discovered they’d taken a spare key from the drawer: they let themselves in and strolled fluidly into the kitchen on their bare legs and no doubt stolen trainers.

“Morning Colin!” my tranquillity vanished in a puff of girlie giggling.

“Morning girls,” I couldn’t quite help a smile back, as they came and gratuitously touched my arms and shoulders.

“It’s going to be sunny again,” Thea caressed my neck with inappropriate fingertips.

“You have something in mind?” I enquired. I knew it was purely a question of what.

“You could take us to the beach,” Nancy ran fingers through my grey hair. “In your car. What is it anyway?”

“It’s an electric one, called Tesla. Named after a famous inventor. Quite futuristic.” I didn’t mind them knowing I can be up to date with the modern world, when it’s appropriate.

“Oh wow! Which one?”

“It’s one they recommended: a Model Three. It’s one with longer range than the base model, and four wheel drive, for if it snows, with all these extreme weather events these days.”

“You are kidding! Oh my god wow.” Thea was keen. “Go on, let’s go. You need some sun. And a swim’ll be good for you too.”

So an hour later I was on the beach, with the two adolescents in their immodest and probably purloined bikinis. Hopefully everyone was thinking of me as their grandfather, rather than an old pervert. But every male, of every age, was casting more or less discreet glances in their direction as they passed.

“Come on Colin,” Thea was tugging me towards the sea. “It can’t be that cold, lots of people are in.”

“Guys’ll leave us alone if you’re with us,” Nancy blackmailed me. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t swim.”

“I’m quite a good swimmer, thanks very much. I used to swim for my school.”

“Well then. Swim. See if you can keep up.”

“Alright,” I gave in. I even ran into the waves with them. Got splashed, splashed them back, and chased them. The fresh, cold water flowed over my hot skin, then floated me, with no pressure. The girls could swim pretty well, and do crawl as well as breast stroke, but I was gratified to find I was still a bit faster, at least over a short distance. So I caught them, they ganged up on me, and I surrendered and got dunked.

Back on the towels, it was the sunscreen.

Thea had to make a performance of slowly spreading it all over Nancy, making everyone within fifty yards stare. Then Nancy was doing Thea. I hastily started spraying myself, but was too slow, and in any case I couldn’t reach my shoulder blades.

They arranged themselves one either side, and pushed me down. I managed to at least make sure it was my front I ended up on, so that when four soft girlie hands began caressing oil over my skin the natural reaction was reasonably discreet.

“Ivor,” giggled Nancy.

I supposed it wasn’t entirely discreet, close up, in my tight trunks.

“You can still get it up!” Thea informed everyone around.

“Roll over let’s see!” urged Nancy. “How big is it?”

“Not here,” I said foolishly, before coming to my senses. “I mean: absolutely not!”

“Promise you’ll show us when we get back,” Thea demanded. “Otherwise we’ll pull your trunks down here.” She slid thumbs threateningly into the waistband on my back.

“Alright,” I could only accede, even though they could easily be underage. Here on the beach they held all the cards: one photo and any number of nightmare headlines would erupt, emblazoned with my ass and their bikini-clad bodies that any - in fact all - of today’s dubious media would latch onto in a moment.

“Oh I must’ve dropped my buds in the car!” Nancy exclaimed as they finished... “Where’s the key?” She was ferreting about in my jacket, that she’d pulled out of my reach “ ... oh here, it’s a card. Back in a sec.”

“Buds?” I asked.

“Earbuds,” Thea explained, “for music, or video or calls. I think I know where they must be...” and she jumped up and jogged effortlessly after her friend, leaving me stranded, trying to think my erection into subsiding.

The sun’s warming rays were feeling good on my back, so quite a few minutes passed before I began to wonder why I was still on my own. How long had they been? It was hard to be sure, but easily long enough for them to get to the car, search it and get back. What was going wrong?

Fortunately my erection was beginning to subside, so now I could get to my jacket for my phone. On it, is an ‘app’ - which is short for ‘application’, which means a program. Buying the Tesla had involved putting it on, and I’d spent some time with it because it is quite remarkable what it can do. Among other things, it can show me the inside of the car on my phone, and even let me talk to anyone inside it, or outside it.

I started the ‘app’, but it wouldn’t let me have that ‘mode’. Instead, it was showing a speed. Had it gone wrong? - probably that wild young Elon Musk had been too clever again ... but it was looking rather real, somehow, as a map loaded, showing ... the car heading north on the bypass?? Doing 105! 124! 70, 50 ... roundabout... 75, 92, 108...

Well for goodness’ sake! I take girls to the beach, so they can have a nice time, and how do they thank me? They steal my car! Young people today! Yes I know there are a lot of perfectly well-behaved youngsters too, but this is all too typical. I watched in disbelief as the car raced round the dual carriageway and its roundabouts... 125 now! 85, 65, 60 ... how they were doing that speed in that roundabout I didn’t know.

How did the girls know how to drive it? I could imagine them treating it like one of their smartphones, with the big screen, one of them dabbing and scrolling on it while the other tried racing lines and who knew what, laughing and giggling together... 127!!

I watched hypnotised, anxious that at any moment they’d crash. At those speeds, they’d be badly injured at best. Or all too likely, killed. So inexperienced...

They weren’t such bad girls really, were they? Victims of their family circumstances, as much as anything. Domestic abuse, single parent, poverty ... but loyal to each other, and in many ways having to resort to stealing to have clothing and even food. Though then it was a question of limits, and they were going a long long way beyond them!