Chapter 3

The dawning of Saturday marked one week that the mind of Jay Reynolds occupied the physical body of Jacob Turner. Yet, in only seven days Jay had total control of his new environment. He was Jacob Elliot Turner. Surprisingly, he did not miss his old life that much. He had been a widower, and his grown children now had families of their own. About the only regret he had was that he would not get to see his grandchildren grow up. Oh, and maybe computers and the Internet. Jake thought about his situation during his early morning run. His old body had not been built for running. That he had completed some of the toughest schools the Army had was more a testament to his tenacity than to his physical prowess. He had always been a bulldog, refusing to quit regardless of the odds. Sometimes his tenaciousness bit him in the ass, but mostly he succeeded through sheer force of will.

This new body though, was a marvel of nature! It was highly efficient, with excellent underling muscles wrapped in sleek, handsome skin. Jake could feel the improvement with each day’s exercise. Five days out of a coma and he was already running seven-minute miles. Four days of lifting weights and he had already increased his poundage by ten percent. Who wouldn’t be happy with those results? Gleefully, Jake sped up, heading for the garage and a half hour of lifting weights.

Jake was in front of the mirror he had borrowed from the guestroom, concentrating on his bicep curls, when his oldest sister Debbie walked up behind him.

“Admiring yourself in the mirror, little brother?” she teased.

“No, just keeping a check on my technique to make sure I isolate my bicep muscles,” Jake replied. “But I can certainly admire you! You look stunning this morning.”

Debbie blushed prettily and headed back into the house.

“We’re leaving in half an hour, so hurry up,” she shouted over her shoulder.

Jake hustled through his workout routine and took a quick shower. He was downstairs with five minutes to spare so he made himself a bowl of cereal and poured a cup of coffee. Fifteen minutes later, he had finished his cereal and was on his second, more leisurely cup of coffee when his sisters finally bounded down the stairs. So much for Debbie’s timetable.

As they headed out the front door, Jake asked, “Are we taking mom’s car? It’s perfect for the beach.”

His sisters looked at him as if he were an idiot.

“Mom doesn’t let us use her car,” said Angie.

“Why not? Can’t either of you drive a stick shift?”

“Of course we can drive a stick. Mom just loves that car, and even Dad doesn’t drive it,” Debbie answered.

“I am going to ask anyway,” said Jake.

He found his mom in the kitchen filling her cup with the coffee he had made earlier.

“Mom?”

“Yes, Jacob.”

“Can we use you car to go to the beach? I know it’s your baby, but it is the ultimate car for cruising on the beach. We’ll put gas in it and wash it for you when we get home.”

Helen was about to automatically say no. Then she reconsidered, it was a hopeful sign that her children were doing something together besides fighting and she did not want to discourage them.

“You’ll be careful?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Have it back by four this afternoon?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Wash and wax it?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Helen smiled at Jake’s earnest expression and tossed him the keys.

Jake picked her up and swung her around.

“You are the greatest, Mom,” he said.

Helen laughed and kissed his cheek.

“Get out of here before I change my mind. I don’t know how you talked me it this.”

“YES, MA’AM!”

Jake strolled out onto the porch nonchalantly dangling the keys in his hand. He flipped the keys to Debbie and said, “Let’s roll.”

Debbie and Angie were thunder struck. “How did you get those?” Angie asked incredulously.

Jake related his conversation with Mom as they loaded their beach gear into the Mustang’s trunk. Jake put down the top and fastened down the convertible top’s vinyl cover. In minutes, they were headed north towards Daytona and the world’s most famous beach.

Debbie drove down the beach approach ramp and onto the hard-packed sand. About half a mile from the Main Street Pier, she found a good spot and carefully backed the Mustang into it. The sand was firm enough not to get them stuck so they piled out, spread the blanket Angie brought, and unloaded the cooler, towels, and beach gear. Jake flopped onto the blanket between his sisters. Angie still wore her beach cover-up and a big floppy straw hat. Jake looked at her quizzically.

“Freckles,” was all she said.

Jake nodded his understanding and cleared his throat.

“I need to ask you both what I’ve done to drive us apart. Then I want to do whatever it takes to make us close like we should be,” he said. “So let’s get everything out in the open and deal with it.”

Both girls looked at him sharply.

Debbie started talking, “Are you sure you don’t remember anything? How do we know this amnesia isn’t a clever way to avoid the consequences of the things you’ve done? I’m really suspicious of the complete turn-around in your behavior.”

Angie chimed in, “You may have Mom and Dad fooled, but not us.”

Jake responded, “I can see your point and I guess I would be suspicious too. Nonetheless, it’s true. I have no memories of myself before I woke up, not a single one. Maybe my subconscious mind has blanked them out because of the harm I’ve done. I don’t know why I can’t remember anything but it is still a fact. The weird thing is that I know and can do things that seem kind of advanced for a person my age.”

Jake hoped that the admission of knowing things he should not know would throw his sisters off track. The women in his new family were extremely observant and bright. He would have to be careful to keep his cover story watertight.

“We’ve noticed and wondered about that also,” said Debbie. “But to tell the truth, we like this new you much better. Things were fine until you started ninth grade, we used to fight and argue, but it was normal brother-sister stuff. It seems that any two of us would always be at odds with the third one. One day it was you and I against Angie, the next day she and I would be against you. Then you met Richie Collins and started to change. When you weren’t ignoring us, you were mean and nasty to us. We knew you and Richie used to try to spy on us when you weren’t getting stoned. So, we avoided you and hoped you’d grow out of it. Then, when you overdosed, we felt really guilty because we never told Mom or Dad what you were up to.”

Both girls were close to tears. Jake took one of their hands in his and looked them in the eye.

“Let’s try this, let’s put all that behind us, and start fresh. If, after a month you still think I’m faking or trying something devious you tell Mom and Dad. I’ll do anything to make it up to you,” Jake said.

“Anything?” Debbie asked teasingly.

“Anything,” Jake answered.

“Okay, then go get us a Coke while Angie and I talk about it.”

Jake walked to the beach concession and bought three frosty bottles of soda. The beach was filing up. Everywhere he looked there were girls in bikinis. Now he remembered why he loved it here. He handed his sisters their Cokes and sat down.

“We agree,” said Angie, “But if this is some kind of trick there will be hell to pay.”

Jake broke out with a shit-eating grin and hugged them both.

“You won’t regret this, I swear. Now all you have to do is act like you are with me but are not my sisters,” he said.

“Whatever for?” asked Debbie.

“Because it’s got to be good for my reputation to be seen with the two prettiest girls here,” he said.

Both girls laughed and Angie punched him on the arm.

Debbie wiggled out of her cut offs and shucked her tee-shirt. She looked terrific in an orange two-piece. She was slender and curvy at the same time. Angie shrugged off her wrap to reveal a green one-piece. Angie was slimmer, with narrow hips and smaller breasts. Both were lovely young women. Jake gave an appreciative whistle and was punched by both for his trouble. They slathered themselves and each other with Copper Tone and lay on the blanket with Jake pleasantly ensconced in the middle. They soaked up some sun, then ran down to the water. As they splashed, Jake noticed a pretty girl about Debbie’s age looking at him. He made eye contact and she smiled and gave him a half wave. His sisters noticed and Debbie put her arm around him then Angie did the same.

“Go away,” Debbie said, “he belongs to us.”

The girl flushed and quickly walked away. When she was out of earshot, his sisters cracked up. With their arms still around him, they went back to the blanket and dug into the food they had brought. Jake thought it had been about the best beach day of either of his lives. His sisters had been attentive and, true to his request, flirtatious. He was half hard all day, as they touched and rubbed against him. Horsing around in the water, he had gotten more than a few inadvertent feels of their nubile bodies. He was a little surprised that Debbie copped a few feels of her own, and not by accident. Jake thought that the guys they dated were lucky bastards.