Chapter 10

I gave her the account of our afternoon and the reason Jenna might want to talk. I didn't mention the two- day party, and the other boys, not to lessen the deed but to protect Jenna's reputation.

I saw tears in her eyes when I finished telling about the afternoon, not having the nerve to look at her as I spoke. I expected her to comment but she said nothing. She was looking at me through teary eyes when she finally spoke.

"I love you," she said, and kissed me. The kiss was not a sisterly kiss, rather one a lover would expect. When she released my lips, I knew she hadn't kissed me to stir passion, but rather to show deep affection.

When she stood up and pulled my hand, I rose and followed her. She walked to the truck, her head lowered, and I knew she was still crying. She was silent on the drive to Gay's. She reached under the seat, and found the Kleenex, and was drying her face and eyes as, by the time I pulled into Gay's drive.

I spent about two hours catching up on homework, and listening to Nina and Gay laugh. They were in Nina's room and she left her door open, which she never usually did. My door was also open because I had hoped they would come into my room. My door was normally closed, like Nina's.

I finished my homework, wishing Mark was here to look it over. I could understand him not wanting to go over the ledgers; I hated them, but I didn't understand why he stopped coming to the farm. At least he was getting a stipend, and that was more than I seemed to be getting at times.

I went downstairs, glancing in Nina's room as I passed. They were lying across her bed, looking at a magazine while making inaudible comments and laughing.

I made a sandwich, grabbed a cola, and walked into the family room, where Rita was reading. I watched her as she read, her face changing expression as she did. I finished my sandwich and cola and went to the kitchen with my plate and empty can.

I returned to the room and sat on the opposite end of the sofa from Rita. She looked at me and smiled her eyes returning back to the magazine. I wondered what the fascination was about magazines today until I looked out and was reminded it was raining. What else was there to do?

I began watching Rita's expressions, as she read, and I could tell when she was enjoying the paragraph. I watched for a long while and was tempted to comment several times. Fortunately I didn't. Rita was reading along and her hand went to her breast. For several minutes I watched as she lightly caressed the mound, moving her hand from the blouse only long enough to turn the page, then the caressing started again.

I continued watching her and when her hand moved from one breast to the other, I could see the enlarged, hard nipple, pressing against her blouse. Her eyes closed and her hand slipped inside her blouse. She was unconscious as she loosened the button allowing her hand to reach inside and touch her skin.

She jumped, causing me to jump, when she opened her eyes and saw me watching her. She was embarrassed for a moment, realizing I had watched her as she read.

It suddenly dawned on me, I should be the one embarrassed, I was invading her privacy, her private moments. I was the one infringing on her. I spoke up. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have been watching you so closely. You have every right to be upset with me."

"I'm not upset with you," she said, "I am embarrassed because you saw me..." She was somewhat upset I could tell. "I was enjoying the story too much; unaware you were paying attention to me. I should have been considerate of you."

"Actually, it was a great turn-on for me. I was really enjoying watching you read, and act out the story. I didn't mean to insult you or embarrass you," I replied with conviction.

"It's embarrassing in a way, but again, it excites me at the same time, knowing I turn you on that easily." She was smiling now, so therefore I knew she was past the uncomfortable stage.

I slid over next to her, put my arm around her shoulder and hugged her tightly. "You turn any man on." I said to her.

"Why, thank you, kind sir, it's good to know this old woman hasn't lost all her charm," Rita said, pulling my head over and kissing me on the forehead.

I didn't hear the car, but Rita jumped up quickly, "Walter is here," she said excitedly. She pulled at her skirt, and straightened her blouse and then turned to me, "Do I look OK?"

I licked my lips and said, "You look good enough to eat."

"I hope so," she said as she stuck her tongue out at me, wiggling it, and then laughing lightly before she rushed to the back door.

I picked up the magazine she had been reading, and began reading.

He pushed me gently, my back making contact with the silk sheets sending an electrical charge through my body. The charge slowly crept through my body as his fingers began to caress my breast.

My reading was interrupted when Rita spoke, "Dan, there is someone here to see you."

I looked up and Jenna was standing behind Rita. She was partially hidden, apparently by her choice.

I stood and walked towards the two, asking Rita if she knew Jenna. She shook her head in the negative and I said, "Jenna, this is Rita, my aunt, and Rita, this is Jenna. Jenna is a classmate and a cheerleader." I said, directing my words to Rita.

Rita turned to leave the room but Jenna spoke, "No, please don't go. I could lose my nerve if you leave me alone with him."

I pointed to a chair and asked Jenna, "Would you like to sit?"

She sat where I pointed and I sat on the sofa, Rita sitting beside me. I looked at Jenna and she looked distraught. She had red eyes and a puffy face, evidence she had recently been crying.

She spoke slowly, almost as though she had memorized what she was to say, being very deliberate as the words came from her pale lips. "I'm sorry; I know you didn't want to see me. I have called four times in the last two days and I was told you weren't home. I don't blame you for not taking my calls."

"I haven't been here for two days; I have been out of town. I was at an auction." My words seemed to have an effect on her because it appeared some of the tension left her face, especially around her mouth.

"I just thought you didn't want to speak to me after talking to Carl," she said as she twisted her fingers, one hand over the other. "He said he was going to call you and tell you about me. Dan, I could have..." Her speech became inaudible and she paused a few moments before she started speaking again.

"I could have a sexually transmitted disease," she admitted in a soft voice, "but the doctor told me it is highly improbable. He is the reason I am here. He told me to tell everyone I engaged in sex with to come in and be tested."

"Dan, I'm sorry, I just left the doctor's office the afternoon you took me home. I was upset with myself. I saw you, teased and tempted you, and asked you to take me home. I acted spitefully because I despised all men at the time, and you just happened to be the one to come along; -- at the wrong time, I regret to say. Dan, when I left the doctor's office, I hoped I had contacted something because I wanted to hurt every man I knew. I wanted to inflict pain, which I realized was impossible, but I could possibly do something to shame them, possibly equal to the shame I felt."

"Why would Carl call me?" I asked.

"He said he was going to tell you about--," she stopped in mid-sentence and asked, "are you saying Carl didn't call you?"

"No, why would he?" I asked again.

"He was going... , " she stopped again, her face becoming pale, as she realized she was about to tell me something about herself, that I assumed she didn't want me to know.

"Did he threaten to tell me about your two- day party?" I asked her, wanting her to know I knew about her sluttish behavior.

She gasped and said, "That's not what happened," tears started forming in her eyes.

"That's what I heard. Tell me what actually went on at your house," I said, and then added, "... for two days?"

Rita touched my leg and nodded slightly as she stood. Rita left the room and returned with a box of tissues, which she gave to Jenna. Rita sat on the arm of the chair, placing an arm around her shoulders, and said, "You don't have to tell us anything. We understand it is personal."

Jenna wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She looked up at Rita and said, "It wasn't a party. Mom and Dad were arguing. Dad was going to a convention and Mom said he was going to chase whores." Her last words were spoken very low. "Mom said she was going with him and they were shouting. I left them arguing and drove around for an hour. I was on my way home and stopped at the beer barn to get a six- pack of sodas. This good looking guy, from Ridgedale, was in the store. He works there but he wasn't working when we were talking."

She was speaking at and talking to Rita, leaving me out of her story.

"He always flirts with me and one thing led to another and I let him follow me home. I didn't expect my parents to be gone, and I tried to keep him from coming in but he grabbed my arm and pushed me back when I tried to close the door. He came in, and he was very polite, after he had pushed his way in. He asked for a soda and I got one for each of us." She had stopped crying but she was still looking up at Rita.

She finally looked over at me and continued, "I went to the kitchen to get him a glass of ice, for his drink, and I guess that is when he did it. He put something in my drink because we talked a few minutes and I don't remember anything for a long time. I woke and he was lying on top of me, and I was naked. I knew I had been raped, but I couldn't get up. He gave me some more soda and when I woke again, there were two boys standing beside me, and one boy was doing it to me." I saw the tears form in her eyes again but she wasn't crying.

Rita passed her the tissue box again and Jenna took more and wiped her eyes before she resumed her story.

I don't remember anything specific after that, except every time I woke, one of the boys was on me, and every time they gave me more soda. The next time I remember anything was when the two girls were pushing this boy off me, and telling him he had no right to fuck me when he had the clap. I didn't know what they were talking about but they got in a big fight and the boys got pissed and left without the girls.

They called a friend and she came for them. While they were waiting for her they helped me in the shower. My face was filthy, as was my body, and my hair was a sticky mess. The girls told me the boys masturbated on me before they left." She looked up at Rita and I could see pain and sympathy, for Jenna, in Rita's face as she slipped into the chair, pulling Jenna's head to her shoulder. Jenna was then crying.

Rita made a drinking motion, and I went for a glass of water for Jenna. I returned and handed it to Rita, and watched as she held it to Jenna's lips. Jenna was hesitant at first, but Rita said, "It's water, that's all." Jenna drank almost the entire glass of water. Rita released her grip on Jenna's shoulders and stood, pulling the girl up to a standing position, and then walked her down the hall, presumably to the bathroom.

Jenna's story didn't quite match the story Walter heard but I tended to believe hers. I wanted to know who the boy was and I knew Walter could tell me. I still wanted to know what Carl was doing at her house.

Rita and Jenna had been together for over fifteen minutes when Gay and Nina came downstairs. Nina asked, "Where's mom?"

"She is in her room with Jenna. I guess they are talking since they have been there over fifteen minutes," I responded to her question.

Both girls spoke at once, "Jenna's here?"

"Yes," I replied. "She needed to explain a few things."

"Did she say why?" Nina asked, as Gay had a rather odd look on her face, since she wasn't aware of our little episode.

"Gay, I'll tell you about it later."

She looked from me to Nina, and then back at me. She started to ask another question but Nina pulled her, by the hand, saying she needed help with supper.

Walter and I were talking about football when Rita and Jenna came back, from Rita's bedroom, or where ever they had been. Rita ran to Walter and Jenna came over to me.

"Dan, I hope you accept my apology? I'm sorry for what I did." She was asking and I saw Rita had allowed her to primp, her face was now fresh and the little makeup she had applied made a major change in her appearance from an hour earlier.

"I accept, but I would like to ask a couple of questions," I said as we both turned to Walter and Rita when Rita squealed.

Jenna looked back at me, grinning at Rita's outburst, and said, "I explained everything to Rita and asked her to tell you. You have a nice aunt. I need to go now but thank you for listening to me, and thank you for being a friend."

I knew Gay was mad because she got out of the truck as soon as I stopped at her house. She hadn't even said good night, but she had been told everything about the previous week.

After supper Rita told us, Walter, Nina, Gay, and myself, what she had been told. Sonny, a boy who worked part time for Walter had dropped a pill in Jenna's drink. He was also the one who told Carl about the sex party and Carl came over to see Jenna. He had raped her, Sonny telling him how easy she was. Carl had pushed past her when she tried to close the door on him and he tore her robe off and threw her on the sofa. Jenna told Rita she just lay on the sofa and let him use her.

Rita told us Carl had come to her house after he had been drinking and that is when Nina spoke up. "Carl was suspended from school last week for drinking on school grounds. He was caught after lunch because they were looking for him the period after. They found him sitting in his truck with a beer in his hand."

After I left school on Monday I went to the bank and made arrangements for the necessary transfer of funds and then drove to Eddie's shop. I gave him the list of auctioned items and, as Frank asked me to do, work up a rough estimate for labor and repair parts with what he had to work with. I asked him to meet with us that evening so we could discuss moving the items and prepare some sort of a schedule, again following Frank's recommendation.

That evening, Eddie and Valerie came over, and also Susan brought her baby, too. Nathan and Ida played with the baby until she was worn out and went to sleep. Nathan was like no other when it came to kids, and I saw him smiling all evening. He was beginning to have more bad days than good ones, spending much more time in bed or in the recliner. I could see his condition was beginning to take its toll on Ida too. She was beginning to look her age.

Frank and Eddie were at the table working on a schedule, and Walter and I just sat and listened. Eddie asked if he could have a beer and I brought four to the table. I passed Eddie and Frank each a can and when I started to pass one to Walter I pulled it back when I saw his face. I returned two beers to the fridge and brought back two sodas. The look on Walter's face was much different; he wasn't smiling, but his frown had disappeared.

Wednesday morning, I saw Ben walking to the barn and I dressed hurriedly. I heard Frank and Eddie talking about him having a girlfriend and I wanted to ask him about her. I saw him walking around with Pam Anderson at school and I wanted to see if she was his steady. I had never seen him with a girl at school until then.

Ben was filling the water trough when he saw me walking toward him. I saw the big grin break out on his face and I was expecting him to tell me about his new girlfriend. I walked up to him and spoke, "Morning, Ben. That's about the biggest grin I have ever seen. What makes you so happy?"

"Mom said you fucked a snake," he said happily.

"What! Donna said what?" I exclaimed. That remark caught me completely off guard.

"Yep, Mom said you fucked a snake. Gay and Mom were talking last night and Gay was crying. It didn't bite you did it? Is that why Gay was crying, you got bit? Did someone let go of his head?" He was serious.

A year earlier I would have stormed off mad, but I knew Ben was only repeating what he heard, and he'd get things mixed up fairly regularly. I asked him, wanting to get the story straight, "Ben, just exactly what did Donna say? And no, I didn't get bit."

"If you didn't get bit, then why was Gay crying? And who held the snake's head?" His smile hadn't changed; he was really enjoying this.

"NO, NO, NO, I didn't fuck a snake. Just tell me what Donna said, and please use her exact words. Do you understand? Her exact words." He was nodding but the smile came off his face when he heard me say I didn't fuck the snake.

"Wellllllll, she said some men, and she named you, your name too, Dan," he was nodding, his smile beaming, and he pointed to me as he spoke. "Mom told Gay some men would fuck the snake if they could get someone to hold its head."

"What else did she say, Ben?" I thought I understood what he was trying to say.

"Did she say anything else?" I asked again, after a long silent spell and getting no response from him.

I waited for the reply I knew was coming because he was nodding and looking at me. He was thinking about his answer. "Dan, I don't think Gay liked the choice mom said she had, because Gay said she didn't want you like other men. Mom told Gay she could always look in another pasture."

Ben stepped past me and broke open the bale of hay he had previously tossed from the loft, and appeared to be talking to the hay. "I have got to finish my chores because I have to hurry for breakfast."

I nodded, as I walked back towards the house. I walked slowly, wondering if Gay was going to look for another boyfriend. I knew I should talk to her but I decided to wait until she wasn't mad at me. As I reached the door, I realized I hadn't asked Ben about his girlfriend.

I parked in the school lot on Wednesday remembering I had to see the doctor after school for another blood test. I was pretty certain I hadn't contracted a sexual disease but I still had to make the appointment. I looked at the groups of people standing around and one person in particular caught my eye.

Gay was walking toward a group of cheer leaders. I saw Lisa, with Mark's arm on her shoulder, talking to Shauna, Jo Ann, Shauna, and Jenna. Gay made a beeline straight for them. It appeared as though Gay called Jenna out because they moved away from the group about twenty feet. I could see they were serious as both were almost touching noses, by leaning toward the other when they spoke. I expected to see a fight but they surprised me, -- shocked me would be a better phrase.