Chapter 12

The last full week before Christmas break was filled with reviews for midterm exams, the exams themselves and football practice. I had a full plate that left little time for my social life. My only break came Tuesday night when I went to Amanda’s to study for our Chemistry exam. We sat down at her dining room table at six and for an hour and a half quizzed each other off the tests we’d taken during the semester. We were both confident we were ready when we closed our books at seven-thirty. I packed up my books and notes in preparation to leave when Amanda stopped me.

“Johnny, I need to run over to the library for an hour or so. Why don’t you keep Mom company while I’m gone, she’s missed you.”

I told her no problem and got a kiss for my troubles. Amanda took me to the living room where Jane was curled up on the couch reading a book. One of the Brandenburg Concertos was playing at low volume on the stereo. When I had arrived at six Jane was dressed in her usual sharp looking work clothes, but now she was in a coffee colored silk bathrobe.

“Mom, I’m heading to the library. It closes at nine, so I’ll be home around nine-thirty, okay?”

“Sure, Honey. Is Johnny going with you?”

“No, Janie,” I answered. “I thought I’d hang out with you for a while if that’s okay.”

“Sure, you can help me solve this weeks case on NCIS,” she said.

Amanda kissed her mother on the cheek and departed. As soon as the door closed behind Amanda, Jane uncurled herself and stood up. She stepped up to me and pulled my head down for one of her searing kisses. She broke the kiss without a word, took my hand and led me to her bedroom. When we walked into the bedroom, only a few scented candles lighted it. Her fancy clock radio was tuned to the same classical music station as the stereo had been.

“Romantic enough for you?” she asked.

“Perfect,” I replied.

Jane stepped between the bed and me and turned to face me. She united her robe and shrugged it off her shoulders. Under the robe she was wearing a matching negligee that trailed to the floor. I could go on for a paragraph about how good she looked artfully posed in the flickering candlelight. When I started to get undressed she stepped forward and batted my hands away.

“Let me do that,” she said huskily.

And that’s the way it went all evening. Jane was a woman who loved taking care of her man. She denied me nothing and gave me everything. I wanted her naked so she stripped off the gown. I wanted to taste her, so she laid on the edge of the bed and let me kneel on the floor between her long legs. I took an exploratory lick of her neatly trimmed slit and tasted heaven. She rested her hands on my head and squirmed as I tongued her to a roaring climax. When she had calmed down some she scooted back onto the bed and I crawled up after her. I levered myself up into a pushup position and she reached down and seated me at her entrance. We were looking into each other’s eyes as I slowly sank into her steaming depth.

Jane was built for comfort not for speed, so our lovemaking was unhurried and sweet. Jane loved to kiss and she loved me paying attention to her large breasts. Her breasts sagged to the side some but were amazingly firm for her age and their size. The second time I came Jane orgasmed with me. When I tried to get my weight off her she held me in place.

“Stay right there Johnny, you have no idea how good you feel to me and how much I’ve missed this.”

We lay like that for a few minutes then Jane rolled me off and went into the bathroom. When she came back she had a warm washcloth she used to lovingly bathe Kong. Her tender loving touch caused him to twitch back to life. To speed his recovery up Jane took him gently into her mouth. As she ministered to my dick I tugged her hips a little. She let go of Kong and looked at me quizzically.

“Sixty-nine with me, Janie.”

She smiled, threw one of those impossibly long legs over my head and went back to work on my shaft. Once again, because of how tall she was, we fit together perfectly. Jane’s had douched while she was in the bathroom, she smelled like strawberries and was clean as a whistle. I started to lick and kiss around her clit when I felt this indescribable feeling grip my cock. I glanced down my body just in time to see her lips reach my pubic hair, Kong wedged in her throat. What a woman!

Jane showed me out at nine-fifteen dressed in just the loosely belted, coffee colored robe. It took all my will power to leave. She gave me a sweet kiss at the door and gave me something to ponder on the trip home.

“Johnny, thank you for tonight, and thank you for being you. Before I met you my soul was a hard lump of coal. Now I see that it was too soon for me to be that way. I see now I can miss Walter, and still have happiness for myself without feeling guilty. I know you and I aren’t anything permanent, and I’m not going to demand anything from you. But right now, you are my man, and I will do absolutely anything for you, that’s my nature. Whatever, whenever, however and wherever, you tell me, and I’ll make it happen.”

I thought about Jane’s little speech until I feel asleep that night. My thoughts weren’t all salacious either. I was happy that she had regained her passion for life. It would only be a matter of time before she found someone worthy of her, someone who would be around her all the time so she could dote on them. Whoever he was he was going to be one lucky S.O.B. But until she found Mr. Right, I was more than happy to let Jane practice her doting on me. Every girl or woman I met taught me something, some of the lessons were unpleasant, but in the main, I was a fortunate young man just for having had them in my life.

Amanda was waiting by my locker the next morning. As soon as I walked up she grabbed me in a bear hug and gave me a kiss that broke every Public Display of Affection rule in the school’s code of conduct.

“Pulaski,” she said, “thank you for giving me my mother back. When I came home last night she was acting just like she did before Dad died. I almost cried when I saw her with that contented little smile and her hair all mussed up. We sat up and talked until midnight. She talked about you and she talked about getting on with her personal life. I could even open up to her about my feelings. It was wonderful, Johnny.”

Now that’s the way to start a day. I was incredibly happy for Amanda and for Jane. It sure makes you feel good when you do something for someone else, doesn’t it? I took my last midterm Friday morning; my trigonometry teacher let me take the exam in the library early so I could catch the team bus to Gainesville. All five divisional championship games were being held in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home field of the Florida Gators, was affectionately known as the Swamp because only Gators thrived there. The Swamp was a huge stadium, seating almost ninety thousand.

We arrived in Gainesville at four in the afternoon. Coach had the bus take us directly to the stadium so we could walk around on the field. We all gaped in awe at the cavernous stadium then Coach Boyette held an impromptu team meeting on the fifty-yard line. We all knelt down as Coach stood in front of us, in his ‘Knute Rockne’ mode.

“Look around all you want today, boys, because tomorrow I want you to focus just on the playing field. It’s nicer grass, and better maintained, but it is the same size and shape as what we practice and play on at home.”

There was more, but you get the drift. Coach Boyette wanted us motivated for the game, not awed by the venue. We went directly from the stadium to the Best Western. The other busses with our band, cheerleaders and chaperones were already there. An assistant coach handed out room assignments; I was in room 214 with the defensive end that played on my side. His name was Creole Sipes. I was playing on Creole’s side because he was the anchor of our defensive line, and I was the less skilled of the outside linebackers.

Creole was six feet, seven inches tall and weighed around two-sixty. He was a quiet, introspective man and a student of the game. Next year he would be playing on this very field having already signed a letter of intent to play for the Gators. I liked the hell out of Creole and for some reason he had taken me under his wing. My play improved every week because of his guidance and advice. And by now he and I worked well enough that running plays were generally away from us. Creole and I sat together with a couple of other defensive players for a huge spaghetti dinner. After we stuffed ourselves to the gills we went back to our room.

I flipped on the television but I was too keyed up to watch it. Creole was as calm as an undertaker as he sat on his bed reading the Reed Arvin novel I had loaned him after I finished it. I grabbed the phone when it rang, happy having something to do. It was Shelia Cavanaugh asking if I wanted to join her and some other people sight-seeing. The motel was only a block from the university so we could walk and see some of the campus. I jumped at the chance. I asked Creole if he wanted to go.

“Naw, been there, done that,” he drawled. Then the big man added, “Don’t miss curfew Pulaski, I’m used to your smelly Polack butt behind me.”

I told him I’d be back by ten, no sweat, then grabbed my jacket and bolted. Shelia was waiting in the lobby with two of her teammates and two of mine. The six of us set off, me smiling like a donkey because Shelia took my hand as we walked. Shelia’s teammates were two other seniors, Heather Thorpe and Miranda something or other. My teammates were also seniors, Troy Vining, a halfback, and Chazz Reynolds our quarterback. (Have you ever noticed that rich kids all have cool names? I mean there is not a Homer or a Clyde amongst them.) As we walked and looked at buildings, everyone but me talked about their plans for college. It was all pre-law this and business management that. It sure was a conversation I couldn’t participate in, I didn’t even have plans for next week, let alone the rest of my life.

“So, Pulaski, I’m guessing you are going to be a scientist or something geeky like that,” Chazz said.

Shelia tried to come to my defense. ‘There’s nothing wrong with getting good grades Chazz, I do.”

Chazz shrugged, “I guess not. Sorry, Pulaski, no offense.”

“None taken, Chazz.” I said evenly. “If it wasn’t for us nerds, nothing would work.”

That remark drew a laugh from everyone. This was exactly the conversation I expected, hanging with Shelia’s friends. I looked at Shelia and she dropped her eyes in embarrassment. I squeezed her hand and winked at her. Suffering Reynolds’ condescending ignorance wasn’t that big a price to pay for being with her. Chazz was one of those people my grandfather said weren’t worth the effort to get mad at.

We made it back to the motel in plenty of time. Shelia and I went out by the pool and stood in an alcove out of the chilly breeze. She tried to apologize for Chazz’s remarks but I wouldn’t let her. I told her I considered the source and automatically dismissed anything he said.

“The only person who I care about liking me is you,” I said.

She smiled at that and when I kissed her she kissed me back. As we kissed I tried to send her a little of the arousal I used on her sister. I didn’t get any sensations from her but she upped the steaminess of the kiss. I sent her another little packet, this one stronger. She shivered and whimpered into my mouth as she rubbed her crotch against me. I broke the kiss and hugged her to me as I concentrated on sending her feelings of contentment and trust.

“Wow, Johnny, that’s the best kiss I ever had,” she said.

“You inspire me,” I replied.

I walked Shelia to her room before heading back to mine. When I opened the door to our room, Creole was just coming out of the bathroom. I stood in the doorway, mouth agape, as he strolled to his bed wearing maroon silk pajamas with a gold paisley design. He caught my look and did a pirouette.

“Nice, huh, my mama bought them for me. If I ever get a job as a bouncer in a bordello, I’m all set.”

I swear I had to hold onto the door handle to keep from falling down. His looked as if he were a circus hippopotamus dressed up for a parade. Otis, the Mayberry town drunk, couldn’t have hallucinated anything weirder. And the pirouette was killer as he stood on his tiptoes and spun around. I went into the bathroom to wash and brush then dived into bed in my boxer briefs. I politely declined Creole’s offer to see if his mom could find a pair of the pajamas for me.

I stayed awake a few minutes thinking about Shelia and our kisses down by the pool. How was I to know if me sending her arousal was really responsible for her enjoying the kiss so much? If I had managed to heighten her arousal was I taking advantage of her, or was I just adding to her natural enjoyment? I was no closer to having an answer about relationships than I was a year and a half ago. But maybe that was the way it was supposed to be. Maybe it was life’s big mystery, and we were just along for the ride.