Chapter 2: Eleven, Part 2

After breakfast, we drove the half-block to my house. Nobody was there, and the note Dave left was still on the door. I asked, “What if they never come back? What would I do? I’ll be all alone!” I felt helpless and afraid, and there were tears in the corners of my eyes. “Mom and Dad never have time for me, even when we’re home together. And now they’re gone!”

Dave hugged and assured me, “Relax, Luci. I like you a lot and I enjoy taking care of you.” He kissed my forehead and hugged me again. “You’re such a sweet girl. I wish you were mine.”

I looked in his eyes and smiled. “Can I call you ‘Daddy’?”

He thought a moment. “I’d like that, but it needs to stay a secret. Only when it’s just you and me. I’ll love you and be your Secret Daddy.” He gave me my first-ever kiss on the lips, then hugged me again.

I felt weird about the kiss, but said, “I love you too, Daddy.”

“If your family didn’t say anything about leaving or moving, I’m sure they’ll be back today. If not, I guess you can stay at my place again. My nieces are spending the weekend with me. Julie is in high school. I think Renee is ten, so she would be in fifth grade, like you.”

I hoped and asked, “Renee Solomon?”

“Yes, Julie and Renee Solomon. My sister Becky married their Dad, Jim Solomon. They’re my step-nieces.”

“Cool! Renee is my friend!”

“It’s almost eight o’clock. Let’s get you to school. I need to take pictures of some houses for a real estate company today, but I should be done by two. I’ll meet you and Renee in the parking lot when school’s over.”

Dave picked my redheaded friend Renee and me up after school. She gave him a happy hug, like I did. It was a big relief that he said, “Your family is fine, Luci. Your mother had twins early this morning, a pair of baby girls. Your brothers are staying with friends for a few days. When I told your parents my nieces will be at my place over the weekend, they asked if you could stay over too. I can drive you to your grandmother’s house instead, if you want. It’s about a hundred miles, though. What do you think?”

“I’d LOVE to stay with you and Renee! You’re so nice and your house is AWESOME!”

“I hoped you’d say that. Let’s go pick up Julie.”

At the high school, Julie was all smiles. I liked her long red hair and wished mine was curly, like hers. She told us, “I passed the test and got my license today! I can finally drive! Wooo!”

Dave smiled and gave her a hug. “That’s great!” They kissed on the mouth a long time. I thought it was strange she licked his lips when they finished.

Unlike my friend and I, from the shape of her t-shirt, I could tell Julie had boobs the size of oranges. She eagerly asked, “Can I drive home? Please? Can I?”

“Sure, but we need to pick up a few things. Take us to that big new store by the highway. I think it’s called Waldens, or Walnuts, something like that.”

I helpfully suggested, “Walmart?”

“That’s the one. Walmart.”

Julie got in the driver’s seat and lowered her window. I didn’t like that she lit a cigarette before starting the car. It smelled bad, but Dave stared at her face while she drove and smoked.

As we walked in the huge store, Dave mentioned, “I owe somebody a birthday present. Do you have a purse, Luci?”

Julie had a pretty little white handbag and my friend Renee’s mid-sized purse was shiny black, probably fake leather. “I had a little toy one, but the zipper broke.” I picked up some I liked and looked them over. I decided on a large pink one.

“Let’s get you an address book, too, so you can write down phone numbers and things.” He quietly added, “And some pads, so you’re ready when Aunt Flo visits.”

The other girls giggled, but I didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

He gulped and looked embarrassed. “Your Mom never told you about puberty? The birds and the bees? The facts of life?”

I was totally confused. “Huh? What?”

“Um ... I’ll buy you a purse, and maybe Julie can you tell you about periods.”

Julie rested a hand on my shoulder. “Sure. I’ll explain it tonight.”

We walked around the huge store getting groceries and a few other things. When Julie put a small package in the cart later I asked, “What’s that?”

She blushed. “Trojans. Condoms. You won’t use ‘em for a long time, but I need a 12-pack. Hehehe!”

Later we passed a banana display and Dave picked up a small bunch. He whispered something to Julie, and I overheard her reply. “They’re just little girls!”

“There’s nothing illegal about it, and it won’t hurt them. Just a little friendly contest.” I wondered what they were talking about, until he told me, “You’re getting a nice purse, but that isn’t really a fun birthday present. Get a doll or something else fun, too.”

“Cool! Thanks, Dave! Thanks so much!”

A little later Renee and I were looking at the dolls and doll clothes in the toy section. I picked a purple remote-control car my dolls could ride around in.

Dave asked, “Would you like to cook something, Julie? Or is dinner Chinese or Pizza again?”

She giggled and said, “You know how to cook.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a food artist, like you.” He hugged her from behind and kissed her neck.

Her cheeks turned pink as she replied, “I learned how to make ratatouille. It’s all veggies, but we can have it with linguini and meatballs.”

He said, “Sounds good! I think there’s a kid movie called Ratatouille, too?”

I wasn’t eager to see something about rats in a kitchen, but Renee was. “I saw some ads and I want to watch it. Can we get it, please, Uncle Dave?”

“For one of my pretty ladies, sure.” He smiled and played with her hair a bit.

When we got to Dave’s place I wanted to try out my new car right away, but he had other ideas. “Let’s put away groceries, then we can help Julie cook. Luci and Renee, the cans and boxes go in the pantry. Julie can put the cold stuff in the fridge or freezer. I need to go set something up.”

Once everything was put away, he called us to the living room. There were three lights and a big video camera pointing at the couch, and a bunch of bananas on the coffee table. He said, “Since everybody’s hungry and it takes a while for veggies to cook, let have a little snack contest. Have a seat and take a banana, but don’t eat it yet.”

Renee sat between Julie and I. He continued, “This is a tasting contest. The two girls who can lick and taste their banana the longest get ice cream bars before bedtime. There are only two left. Open up your bananas and when I say ‘Go’, start tasting them. The first one to close her mouth loses.” He paused a moment then asked, “Everybody ready?” We all nodded. “Good. GO!”

Dave took lots and lots of pictures with a handheld camera while the big one on a tripod recorded video. He said, “Good, very good.” I tried hard and kept licking, but my mouth was dry and my tongue was getting tired. I licked as long as I could. Just before I gave up, Renee closed her mouth. Dave announced, “Congratulations! Julie and Luci win!”