Chapter 14: In Cabin Number Three

Young Nancy sat dejectedly in her cabin, working out the pieces of a difficult jig-saw puzzle. When they were in the city it was her favorite past time to do the hardest ones she could find. This one was all red, and she had brought it along to the country for just such an emergency. She found when she was particularly upset about something that working on the monotone pieces of a puzzle would help her get her thoughts together. There was a lot to think about too, since she had been with Gramps down at the old cabins, and afterward witnessed him naked with Aunt Tricia! Two days had elapsed and she hadn't seen anything of Gramps since then! He had gone off on what he told everyone was a fishing trip, but which Nancy suspected was just an attempt to get away from her! She fumed with jealousy over Aunt Tricia... If only she could have gotten him to feel that way about her! She would have to think of something to do about that when he returned the following day... There wasn't much time... it was already Wednesday and they were all due to go home on Sunday evening.

She would have to work fast if she wanted to accomplish her goal by Sunday!

She tried to put everything that had happened together in her head in much the same way she was working the puzzle... and suddenly she hit upon something that she thought could be of use to her.

When she had returned to her cabin after watching Tricia and Gramps the other night, she'd paused outside her parents cabin as she usually did to see if they were up to anything interesting. She was just in time to witness her father's ejaculation into her mother's wide stretched mouth. Afterward she had seen her mother crying as her daddy fell asleep. Her mother had lain on the floor sobbing before moving her hands down between her legs to assuage her own desires... much as Nancy herself had done in the woods! It didn't take much for Nancy to figure out that her mother was in a similar position. She wanted to be made love to! And Nancy knew why her daddy didn't feel like it... he was too busy thinking about fucking Grandma!

She remembered how she was to blame for that... having rigged Uncle Ike's video to see what would happen.

"Uncle Ike!" she exclaimed out loud.

She fitted the last piece in her puzzle together, and said, "THAT'S IT! HE OUGHT TO DO IT!"

John kissed Carrie lightly on the cheek. He had just returned from his sportfishing trip and be felt even worse than when he'd left. He avoided his wife's eyes, and she didn't press the issue. Both of them had a lot to hide... Carrie had been having a hard time not making suggestive remarks to Jamie and although nothing had happened as yet, she was hoping something would. She was so busy with these thoughts that she paid little attention to the fact that Tricia was acting strangely... Everyone was a little strange anyway, and she trusted John enough not to imagine that anything had happened between them. But what about herself? SHE COULDN'T EVEN TRUST HERSELF!

She had asked her son Jamie to meet her that very afternoon in her private sitting room, to "settle everything"... and she was hoping that she could get rid of John so he wouldn't find out.

"You're back earlier than I thought," she said. It was early afternoon, and she was still wearing her lounging robe. She was having trouble sleeping at nights, and consequently slept later and later each morning to compensate for it. Her blonde hair was pinned up in a becoming upsweep, and her silk robe clung to her, emphasizing all the right lines of her body.

"Yeah... no fun fishing alone!" he mumbled in reply. "Besides they're all full of mercury anyway... can't eat 'em!"

John was aware of the public broadcasts stating that most fish were safe to eat, but that some of the larger ones weren't. That just made him not trust any of them. If the big ones weren't safe, why should he take chances on eating the little ones?

"What's the world coming to?" Carrie said. They were sitting in the big livingroom, and Carrie looked out the window over the rolling hills that made up the grounds of "Livingstons."

"Well, at least we've got a little bit of land of our own, John... If we can just take care of it the right way... use natural fertilizers, even serve our own organic food without any chemical sprays on it... We'll make out OK..." Carrie was looking toward the future... if she could just persuade Jamie to give up that awful advertising job of his in New York and to come back home where he belonged... they would have the best resort in the country... and the best place to live too! She was planning to talk to him about this very thing that afternoon... and her talk with John was serving as a practice session.

"Yeah... but we can't educate the whole world, Carrie," John replied. He was tired. Everything looked bleak to him. If he couldn't control his own family situation, his own demanding sexual appetites... how could he hope to influence anyone else?

"How's it been while I've been gone?" he asked.

"Quiet," Carrie answered. "Too quiet if you ask me. John... I think this whole idea of a reunion was a big mistake... we should have just had each couple up here separately... no one's getting along and..."

"Well obviously it was a mistake!" John growled. "But you're the one who made them all stay the last week instead of leaving when they wanted to! Now we'll just have to get through the next few days as best we can... won't we?"

Carrie was silent. She hadn't meant to arouse her husband's anger, and now it was to her advantage to remain silent. What was he planning on doing that afternoon, she wondered!

As if in answer to her thoughts, John suddenly rose and declared, "I'm going down to the bar. Those workmen are going to be here next week and I want to get it all set for them. Get Bonnie to make me some sandwiches... think I'll spend most of the day down there."

"Oh, that's a good idea, honey!" Carrie said. They were planning to have a big discotheque the next season, and there was much to be done to the large building that presently served as primarily a bar and dining room. "Bonnie's not coming until the week-end... but I'll make them for you myself, darling!" Carrie said, starting out toward the kitchen. She had told the young girl who often worked as their maid to come that week-end only, when she was planning several sumptuous meals. Meanwhile, the family could manage on their own.

She prepared two hearty roastbeef sandwiches on rye bread for her husband... humming as she worked. She added mayonnaise, pickle and onions and wrapped them up in saran-wrap. She was sure that Jamie would see things her way this time... and then she would have him back... forever!

A few hours later, Carrie sat propped up on her chaise longue with big expensively embroidered pillows behind her. She was secure in the knowledge that she would be alone with her son long enough at least to convince him that she needed him at home more than he was needed in New York.

When he entered her sitting room, Jamie once more felt himself getting annoyed, just by looking around at the way his mother had decorated. He hated her pretensions to glamour, and the large airy room reeked of it!

"Jamie!" she said, reaching her arms out toward him as she had seen so many movie heroines do before her! "Darling... come in... sit down!"

"Hello mother..." Jamie said. He carefully took the seat across from his mother, rather than the one directly next to the chaise.

"What am I doing here anyway?" he asked himself.

Before him on the low cocktail table were placed the makings for his favorite kind of martinis. A full bottle of Beefeater's Gin gleamed in the afternoon light, and the mixing pitcher stood ready.

Carrie leaned forward and began to prepare them. As she did, the slightly elasticized neckline of her pheasant blouse expanded enough so that it was clear to her son that she was not wearing a bra. He found himself bridling and sitting back stiffly in his seat.

Would he never get used to her? His mind reached back to all the times when as a boy, his mother had shocked him... fascinated him... taunted him with her strange attitudes, so much unlike other mothers.

Carrie handed him the frosty drink she'd prepared, and noticing her son's reaction, sat back demurely so that her breasts would not show.

"Oh, Jamie..." she began breathlessly. "I'm so glad you agreed to have this little chat..."

"Oh, Christ!" Jamie thought.

"Darling... I'll get right to the point. I know you like that..." Carrie was trying to use all her feminine intuition to win her son over. "I want to make you a proposition. I think we've all been under considerable strain recently... and I'd like to offer you my thoughts on at least one of the reasons why..."

Jamie knocked back the first martini. He maintained a neutral expression and purposefully said nothing, waiting for her to continue speaking. Meanwhile he looked her over carefully. Why did he have to be the one stuck with a mother like her... why couldn't he have had just a simple little old lady in a rocking chair? She was still beautiful, he thought... more beautiful than ever if anything! He was plunged into despair by her continuing youth. An ageless quality surrounded her that made him suspect that she was something kin to a witch.

He poured himself another stiff martini and cursed under his breath when he realized what his mother was getting at.

"And we need you..." she was saying. "This place is much too big for just the two of us to handle... and you know you can't trust anyone who works for you... its got to be someone in the family! You don't look happy, Jamie... I know you're not happy living there in New York... It's dog eat dog all the way... why you ever chose the advertising business I'll never know... and it's hurting Susan and poor little Nancy... Jamie, you've got to think of your family." She took a dainty sip of her martini and continued, her pearly lips glistening with the alcoholic liquid. "Now you and I both know that the only reason we had that little... uh, occurrence... the other day... was because we're not really ourselves... We've got to get ourselves together Jamie... and this is the way to do it. You can have your own house... John and I won't interfere with your family in any way... but Jamie... for heavens sake come back to "Livingston's!"

"Fuck off, Mom!" Jamie glared angrily at his mother.

Carrie sat up abruptly. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT!" Carrie exclaimed, the tendons of her neck standing out from the strain.

"Don't tell me you've never heard the word, 'fuck' before!" Jamie continued. His brain was whirring, he'd downed those drinks too fast. He'd intended to keep cool, and now it was too late... they were smack in the midst of a lulu of a fight!

Carrie jumped from her chaise and landed a resounding smack on Jamie's cheek. Jamie responded by grabbing hold of her hand and holding it so hard that Carrie began to shake.

"You bitch!" he yelled, stepping around the table and grabbing her by the arms. "You have the nerve to sit there like some prim little school girl and pretend that nothing much really happened between us... Well damn it, let me remind you... that you were fucked by your little baby boy... That's right, Mom... Not content with your own daughter's husband, you added me to your list!" Jamie was livid, his face had turned a deep scarlet and his eyes were mere slits of passion.

"And let me remind you my dear..." Carrie said levelly, staring up into her son's angry face. "That you crawled up and... as you so lewdly put it, fucked me from behind. I didn't ask you to after all!"

"SAME ASS!" Jamie yelled, pulling her closer to him.

"YOU SCREWING THAT CREEP IKE RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME... AND THAT OBSCENE TAPE OF YOU TWO RIGHT THERE ON THE TV SCREEN! WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M MADE OF!"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" Carrie said defiantly, even though Jamie's fingers were hurting her arms... holding her so tightly she could feel the blood circulation being cut off. "I'M YOUR MOTHER REMEMBER?"

"You... !" Jamie's words were stopped by his mother's lips. Almost without thinking she kissed the taut lips that were about to curse her.

While it was happening, Jamie knew that he had lost again. His mother was too strong for him, and he was weak... much too weak!

John got thirsty and decided to go up to the house and get a beer to have with his sandwiches. He was pleased to have been able to spend the day alone, even though he knew that the various members of his family were about somewhere. He had spied Ike down by the swimming pool with Tricia and had steered clear of them. He had already messed with his daughter's life quite enough... and besides, he just couldn't stand the sight of her with her husband. It was much too painful.

He was just hoping that he could coast on in without further incidents until Sunday when they would all be gone.

The big house was quiet when he entered the kitchen. He was sweating from the effort of moving tables and chairs about in the bar, and cold can of Bud tasted just right to him. He stood in the bright sunny kitchen, gulping down the cold liquid. For the first time in several days, he was beginning to feel in control of himself. It felt good to be wearing his old overalls again, and he realized that he was really most comfortable wearing work clothes. He decided that he wouldn't wear anything else for the duration of his families stay, no matter what Carrie said. She could dress however she wanted, but he was going to stick with his plain old clothes. The frosty can made his hand cool, and John looked down at it. It was a strong, working man's hand... a good hand, he thought.