Chapter 13

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

I awoke because Jenny was moving on top of me, sitting up when she saw my eyes open. "Again!" she said with firm determination.

So we made love again, this time I rubbed Jenny's breasts, and she thumbed her clit; she came twice in five minutes, then I came again.

Jenny leaned down and kissed me. "This morning, you and I get to shower together," she said with a big grin.

It was a pleasant shower; the first I'd ever had with a girl. She washed me, and I washed her. It was sexy, but not erotic sexy; for one thing, we had a deadline.

We dried off, and when we were done, went back to our bedrooms; standing nude in the hall, Jenny leaned up and kissed me. "Will you be jealous, Tom, if tonight I go with your dad?"

I shook my head; feeling bolder with Jenny than I'd ever felt, I ran my hand down her side, along her hip. "You know where to find me; you know I'll be there whenever you are ready."

She smiled prettily, kissed me, and then went into her room to dress.

It felt good seeing Shannon and Elizabeth when I picked them up for school; the three younger girls all sat in the back seat, chattering away, Jenny and JR got out of the Camry, still talking.

Walking into school, Elizabeth performed her ritual vanishing act, and Shannon and I walked slowly towards the building. "Poor Elizabeth is so confused. She likes Jennifer and Joanna; Joanna's not hit on her like Jennifer has, and Jennifer only did it the once. Elizabeth says it's pretty clear that Jennifer is still interested, and she thinks Joanna is too."

"Probably," I agreed. "But neither one is going to want to go any place they aren't wanted; unless Elizabeth changes her mind, they won't push it."

Shannon nodded. "I think that's what's confusing her. My problems, and other kids that she's heard about at school make her wary, and I think she's expecting you to make a pass at her, since you're sleeping with Mom and me."

I shook my head. "Maybe if she crawled into my bed and did lascivious things to my body," I said with a laugh.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Shannon laughed too.

"I would." I was silent for a second, and then I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. "Shannon, I know it probably sounds corny, but from my very first time ever, it was the girl who wanted it. Not that I didn't want it too, but until the girl said, 'Yes.' nothing happened. You are the closest I've ever come to trying to seduce a girl who didn't want to."

"Well, you didn't seduce a girl who didn't want to; my problem is with competition. I'm still not comfortable with it. The things you've said; they've made me think. Made my mom think; shucks, even Elizabeth is thinking about sex now." We laughed, but it was late, and we had to hurry. When it came time to part, Shannon said softly, "This afternoon, after school. You and me," Shannon murmured. "Please?"

I nodded and we parted quickly for our classes.

At lunch, my table was crowded; Shannon was there, so were Sue Ellen and Tony, although they weren't sitting together. Janey Sussman was there as well, plus Gloria Rodriquez.

Janey told us that she'd gone to visit Dawn the evening before, that she was doing fine and would probably be out of the hospital by the end of the day. "She has a broken nose and a broken arm," Janey told us. "Bunches of cuts and bruises." She looked at me.

"I told her what you said about our way of saying thanks." Janey's eyes flashed, and I could tell everyone at the table knew what she was talking about. "Dawn says thanks, too. And she thanks you again, because she would have been pissed if we'd done what we wanted to do." Janey grinned at me.

I shook my head. "I didn't even know I was saving anyone, much less who."

Janey, I thought to myself, not only would I have done it for anyone, I did it for anyone; I've never met Dawn Driscoll.

Janey give me the finger. "I know if the cops asked me the time of day, I'd tell them wrong," she said. "And probably give them the finger when I did."

Janey turned to Sue Ellen, "Sue Ellen and I had a long talk last night. I think I'm maybe growing up a little."

Sue Ellen giggled. "I know it's called intercourse, I didn't know it was called talking, too. If it is, I guess we did talk all night."

Janey stuck her tongue out at Sue Ellen and everyone laughed.

I could see a startled look on Tony's face.

What did you expect, Tony, when you decided to go your separate ways for a while? You aren't likely to be celibate; you must be crazy if you think Sue Ellen is going to be. And what part had I played in Sue Ellen and Janey getting together? I'd told Janey yesterday that Sue Ellen preferred guys. Evidently JR wasn't the only girl who could seduce Sue Ellen.

Eventually the bell rang, and the rest of the school day ran its course. We drove to the junior high, picked up the other two, and I told them that I wanted to study at Shannon's. JR and Jenny wanted to go over there too, so we went to Shannon's.

Shannon called her mom, and then I called mine. I was a little surprised again. "You're at Mary's? Good! Don't go home! The neighbors called earlier, it's a zoo, reporters everywhere. You were on the twelve o'clock news."

I blinked. "I didn't think they were going to use it." That and I'd prayed they wouldn't; I'd said too many things wrong.

"Welcome to the world of film editing, Tom. They only used parts of it, with parts of other people talking as well. It makes you sound like a big hero."

"I'm not a big hero. I wasn't any kind of a hero."

Mom agreed, "I know, but they are making out like you are. You did the right thing, we all admire that. But they are blowing it seriously out of shape."

I nodded like I understood, but I didn't. "Stay at Mary's, we'll come there tonight after work. Dave convinced Mary that we can afford to go out to eat, we'll go home much later," Mom told me.

I told the others what was going on, JR and Jenny thought it was cool that I'd been on TV; I wasn't so sure. The three younger girls then went to Elizabeth's bedroom, leaving Shannon and I to ourselves. She took my hand and we went to her room and shut the door.

We stood for a while, kissing each other; the passion of the kissing slowly rising. I reached down and undid her jeans, then pushed them down, along with her panties. I gently moved Shannon back, until she was sitting on the edge of her bed, then I knelt in front of her and started kissing her inner thighs, starting halfway to her knees, working my way up one leg, then down the other.

Shannon undid her blouse, tossed it away, then her bra; by the time I reached the apex of her legs the second time, she was rubbing her breasts with both hands. I contemplated her pussy, and then licked it with my tongue, as if I was eating an ice cream cone.

She murmured with pleasure, and I focused on her clit, licking it with my tongue as I'd been doing before. "Oh God, Tom! You are so different than any other guy I've been with!" She giggled softly, "Mom says that when girls do it, it's all they do. I can't hardly imagine what that's like."

I licked her clit again, then this time lightly applied suction to the area. "Mom or JR or Jenny would love showing you what it's like," I told her.

"I still can't believe everyone is sleeping with everyone else," Shannon whispered. "Except you and Jennifer."

"Everyone is sleeping with everyone," I confessed, sure it was going to hurt. But I wasn't going to lie.

"You and Jennifer?" Shannon asked, obviously surprised.

I nodded, and spread her pussy lips, and used my tongue to moisten the entrance to her pussy hole. I felt Shannon quiver; at first I thought it was excitement, but she whispered, "God! I can't get the image out of my head! A girl doing to me what you're doing!"

I lightly blew on her pussy hair, Shannon trembled again, this time I was sure, from excitement. "It would take just a second, JR would love to do this to you," I told Shannon, looking up at her. I saw her pull on her nipples, and then I felt her tremble again.

"God, am I a pervert?" Shannon asked, talking to herself. "I just want sex, sex with whoever." She looked down at me. "You'd just get up, go fetch your sister, and then what? Watch?"

"I've never watched," I told her, "But yes, if you'd like it, I know JR would like to kiss you like this." I put my tongue more fully into her hole, and Shannon trembled.

"Tom, oh Tom! I'm so confused!" Shannon said, and then she giggled. "God, I want to try it!"

There was a quiet knock on the bedroom door, and I blinked; I'd been a half second from standing up and going to get JR. "Go away!" Shannon called out, but the knock came again.

"Please, Shannon, I need to talk to Tom," that was Elizabeth.

Shannon opened her mouth to say something, and I reached up and lightly laid my finger on her lips. Shannon blinked, looking daggers at me now. I got up and went towards the door; Shannon pulled the covers up on the bed, and crawled under them. At a guess, Shannon hadn't liked the weekend nudist binge as much as Mom thought everyone had.

I went to the door and opened it, just a bit. Elizabeth looked at me, a pale and drawn expression on her face. "Jennifer says if I have a problem, I should talk to you. If anyone can help, you can."

I nodded, and Elizabeth looked past me, to Shannon. "I'm so sorry, Shannon."

Shannon raised her bird finger, and as I had a second before, I realized that Shannon and her sister were nowhere as close as JR and I were, even before last week. I wanted to run back and hug Shannon and tell her I loved her, but I needed to see what was bothering Elizabeth.

Another epiphany. I was one person; keeping one other person happy and satisfied was nearly a full time task. How many women/girls was I dealing with now? Almost ten? How do you spell prescription for failure?

"Please talk to me," Elizabeth pleaded.

I consigned myself to the fates, and stepped through the door, closing it behind me. Why on earth would Shannon give me the time of day after this? What would happen if I sent JR in there to cheer her up? I saw JR standing a few feet away in the living room. I could do that; Shannon had all but said that's what she wanted. But the fact was, she hadn't said it.

"What do you want, Elizabeth?" I asked softly, not really wanting to think about what would happen if I talked to JR about Shannon.

"Could we walk? I feel odd, weird, antsy," she said softly.

I resisted the temptation to smile. Two walks with my dad, one with Sue Ellen. Why not another? Odds were, Elizabeth wasn't going to threaten to tear my clothes off and do it there in the street.

"Sure." I could see that something was upsetting Elizabeth; I hoped it wasn't Jenny.

We went outside, and Elizabeth stood for a second on their porch, looking around. "I know you're going to think I'm strange, weird," Elizabeth said, "but I'm not."

"I don't think you're strange or weird," I told her.

"I've come out this door ever since I can remember when I was little." She looked around as if seeing it for the last time; at that thought, it was me who shivered. "I can't ever remember feeling like this." She started walking and I followed along.

"From when I was little, I knew when Dad was going to come home. I'd be standing at the door, just before he'd pull up in the driveway. If he came to my room, I'd be at the door, waiting for him. I knew. I always knew."

She turned towards the main street ahead. "The other day," she continued, walking briskly, "you asked us if any of us knew why Dad left. I didn't answer because I didn't know why Dad left, but yet... " She shook her head.

"Last year, the phone started ringing off the hook. Boys calling Shannon, after she'd been out with Roger."

"She told me about that."

"She didn't tell you about Dad, I bet," Elizabeth said, but without heat. "He got mad; not just a little mad, but storming, raging mad. He would yell and scream at the boys, and still the phone calls came. He changed our phone number and for a few weeks the calls stopped, then they started up again.

"Shannon had given our phone number to a girl in one of her classes, they had a project they had to work on together. That girl gave it to someone else, pretty soon everyone had it again.

"I didn't know when Dad was coming home any more. It was like a blank wall where before, there had been something I knew. It frustrated me; I got angry with Shannon too, it all seemed like her fault. Mom tried to keep everyone from killing each other. I love my Mom more than anyone else in the world." She stopped talking and looked at me. "Weird, huh?"

"Well, weird in the sense it's not something I've heard a real live person talk about; read it sometimes in books, though."

She smiled slightly. "This afternoon; it's like I can feel something from Dad again. Except," she frowned, "it doesn't make sense."

She was silent for a few moments; we had reached the main street, and she turned right on it and we walked along the busy street. "Now I feel like there's someplace I have to go, someplace I have to be. I feel scared, I feel like I'm constricted; I feel all hot and sweaty, even sitting down at home, where it's cool." She shook her head. "I think I'm going crazy."

"I think maybe you've had too much, too fast." I waved behind us, towards her house. "I think I've done too much, too fast. I don't think any of us, particularly me, has thought enough lately about what we're doing."

Elizabeth made a frustrated sound. "I really don't think this has anything to do with that. This is about my dad and me. Dad wasn't the nicest or easiest person to get along with. He and Mom had been drifting apart for as long as I can remember. He and Shannon never liked each other, and after last fall, he was just plain mean to her; screaming and shouting at her, for anything wrong, anything at all.

"But he and I..." She shook her head. "I think I was the only one he liked, and then not a lot. I feel so strange right now."

Elizabeth stopped walking, had a very odd expression on her face. "I'm so scared." Her voice was low, almost inaudible. "I want to run, and I can't. Oh God! Oh no! Please, no! Don't! Please! I'm sorry!" She screamed then, grabbing her chest with both hands.

The scream was loud enough to hurt my ears; I caught the motion as she simply crumpled. I tried to catch her, but Elizabeth went straight down to the sidewalk, moaning. "Oh God! It hurts! It hurts! Please God! I don't want it to hurt! Oh God! What..."

I was leaning over Elizabeth, heard her breathing catch. Then her chest stopped moving, her body wilted like I'd never seen before except in a cartoon.

I had no idea where they came from, but tears were streaming down my face, as I leaned over, trying to remember the CPR lessons from last year. I pressed down on her chest; felt nothing, no pulse. No lift of her chest. I pressed down, again, hard. Again. Harder, frantic. I leaned down, breathing into her. More chest presses; breath, press, breath, press.

The only thing in my universe was Elizabeth, lying there on the sidewalk. It took one of the firemen physically pulling me away, before I could stop. Even then, I wanted to go to her. "You did good, son!" a voice told me. "Now let us take over. Please, relax. Take a breather."

I tried to focus, but all I saw was Elizabeth, pale, limp and unmoving on the sidewalk, a ghastly blue pallor to her skin. Two men and a woman were attaching things to her, working swiftly, efficiently. I felt a hand touch my sleeve, and I turned to look.

My breath was racing, I felt like I'd run a million miles.

An older woman, in her sixties or maybe even older, stood a few feet away from us, staring at me as if I was a ghost. "Ten years ago, I was walking with my husband on the beach," she told me. "He died of a heart attack, one second alive; the next... well, maybe if I'd known CPR he wouldn't have died. But he did." Her eyes went to Elizabeth. "I saw her, it was just like Ralph. I called 911." She leaned close, kissed me on the cheek.

"I wish you'd have been there, when it happened to my Ralph. There's no quit in you, none."

A policeman came up to me. "Are you her brother?" I shook my head.

"She lives just down there." I said pointing; praying that someone was still dressed to answer the knock on the door. I saw the woman who'd spoken to me had a cell phone in her hand.

"Please," I said to her, "let me call her mom, her sister."

The woman nodded, so did the policeman. I called Dad's number; I told him, and he said he'd tell Mary. "What hospital?" He asked, so I asked it myself.

"St Joe's." One of the EMTs told me.

I repeated that, then called Shannon. It took forever for someone to come to the phone, but finally it was Shannon. "Shannon, Elizabeth collapsed. They think it's a heart attack. Have JR call Mom, she'll come and get you. They are going to take her to St. Joseph's." I hung up before Shannon had time to do more than sputter in shock.

I handed the phone back to the woman, and thanked her. She smiled at me. "What's your name, young man?"

"Tom Ferguson, ma'am. Thanks for helping, for calling 911."

She smiled at me. "You don't have to thank me, Tom Ferguson." She waved at Elizabeth, who was no longer blue, but pink again. They had her on oxygen; I could see Elizabeth's chest rise and fall. When I saw that, I felt like I was floating. "She needs to thank you, her parents need to thank you."

I nodded, simply mesmerized by the vision of Elizabeth breathing. I took a deep breath, held it. Swallowed.

I turned to the policeman. "Can I ride with her to the hospital?"

"If you were family, no," one of the firemen standing next to me said. "If you were the President of the United States -- still wouldn't happen." He was different than the others, black pants, white shirt and tie.

One of the policemen smiled. "I'm going that way." There were chuckles from the assembled emergency workers.

I looked the boss fireman right in the eye. "Thanks, thanks for coming, for helping."

"Our job." He nodded to Elizabeth, now being loaded on a flat board, lifted up to a stretcher. "You did your job, too." I saw him look at me closer. "Saw you on TV earlier." The policeman sharpened his interest in me. "You're having a good week."