Chapter 18 -- Rescue

Hold me closer tiny dancer.
Count the headlights on the highway.
Lay me down in sheets of linen,
You had a busy day today!

--Tiny Dancer (Elton John)

I woke up feeling my dick being suckled in a warm mouth. There were no hands touching it, so I realized that it was one of Kristen's lovely sucks.

Before I could open my eyes, however, a pair of lips met mine. My eyes closed and I reveled in the mind blowing sensation of kissing a woman while another one sucked me.

It didn't take long for my dick to erupt.

I grunted in release, and Kristen continued sucking me until I was completely spent.

The lips I was kissing moved away, and I opened my eyes to see Kristen and Camille sharing a wet kiss between each other. I realized that Kristen was also sharing my essence between them.

While Kristen made breakfast, I asked Camille if she knew any of the larger athletes at the school.

"Of course," Camille answered sweetly. "I know all of them."

"Who would be willing to do you a favor?"

"All of them." Camille said it as if it were a given.

"Who do you know that can put the fear of God into Tim Hawking and make him reconsider going after the cheerleaders?"

Camille thought for a moment. "TB... um... Tiny."

Now that was a great idea. Tiny Jonas was a line backer and star of the wrestling team. He was so large that people described his muscles as having muscles. He was big, black, and nobody, and I mean nobody, fucked with him.

"Tiny will do anything you ask?" I asked.

"Of course," Camille said. "I introduced him to June."

June was a black cheerleader, and was known to call Tiny "her snugly Teddy Bear."

I laughed. Tiny would be perfect. "Do you think he's coming?"

"June doesn't do parties," Camille said.

"Oh," I said, my spirits lowering.

"Let me see if I can have Tiny come over anyway. The entire squad loves him."

"Are you sure June won't be jealous?" I asked.

Camille laughed. "June will tear the eyes out of any girl who even looks at Tiny funny. They all know that his dance card is full."

I smiled. "Can you have him arrive at Jackie's about an hour early?"

Camille moved over to the phone. She didn't know Tiny's number, but she knew June's.

"This is Camille Lombardi, from the cheerleading squad. I'd like to speak to June, please."

There was a pause. "Hi, June. Cammy... Yeah... Doing fine, actually... That's nice... Listen, June, the reason I'm calling is that I wanted to know if we could borrow TB today... Yeah, the party... There's been some strange... yeah... Anyway, a friend of mine thought that having TB around... Yeah! Think he would do it?" Camille grinned and gave me an OK sign. "Thanks a million, June... Of course... You're welcome, too... Bye!" Camille hung up the phone.

"What is TB?" I asked.

"It's short for 'Teddy Bear, '" Camille explained. "Only June calls him by that name, so Lynette and I use the initials instead. Anyway, June's going to call Tiny, but she tells me he's free until five and they have a date at six."

"That only gives us a couple of hours," I said. "That should be enough."

Camille took me to her cousin's house at noon. A few minutes later, June arrived with Tiny. I watched the two of them lock lips for a couple of minutes before Tiny got out of June's car. June waved to all of us and left.

"Hey, Tiny!" Camille said.

"Yeah, Camille. What's up? June said something about some trouble?"

"I want you to meet two of my friends. This is..."

"Kristen Swift," Tiny finished. "Archy Jonas," Tiny introduced himself, extending Kristen a large paw.

"Pleased to meet you," Kristen said, taking Tiny's hand.

"And you're the guy they call 'Oogie, '" Tiny said, turning to me. "Jim something?"

"Jim Crittenhouse," I said, offering my hand to Tiny.

"You are a mean mother on the horn," Tiny said, smiling.

"I've heard you called the same on the wrestling mat," I said with a laugh.

Tiny had a deep laugh that shook his entire body.

"Now, who is this problem that you want me to take care of?" Tiny asked, getting right to the point.

Since only the four of us were around, I decided to cut right to the chase. "His name is Tim Hawking."

"The tenth grade nerd? He can't hurt a fly."

"He's raped a couple of cheerleaders already," I corrected Tiny.

Tiny's eyes widened. "I'll take care of that..."

"Wait, Tiny," I called, seeing murder in Tiny's eyes. Tiny was sort of a mascot to the cheerleaders. "Here, have a ticket."

"You have one wish," Tiny intoned.

It was weird hearing that from the two hundred fifty pound behemoth.

"Answer the next set of questions truthfully until I say 'Truth Serum Off.' You will not remember me asking them."

"Your wish is my command."

"Has anybody ever handed you any one of these tickets before?"

"No."

I felt a surge of relief. I handed Tiny another ticket.

"You have one wish."

"You will not accept another ticket like this from anyone ever again."

"I cannot grant that wish."

Huh? It worked before.

"Why not?" I asked.

Luckily, the "truth serum" wish was still in effect.

"You cannot wish that I cannot accept a ticket from you."

That was weird. "All right, then. You will not accept another ticket like this from anybody other than me."

"Your wish is my command."

"Truth serum off."

Tiny looked a bit disoriented. "Listen, Tiny. We just want to keep Tim Hawking from disturbing the party."

"If he's raped some cheerleaders, they should call the police."

"It's not black and white like that, Tiny. The girls just found themselves... trapped by him. It's difficult and the girls find it difficult..."

"My mama's a rape counselor," Tiny said.

"Shit," Camille said, suddenly remembering that little fact.

"Huh?" Tiny asked, totally confused.

I handed Tiny another ticket.

"You have one wish."

"Forget about rape. Tim Hawking is just a nuisance, and we'd like you to help us keep him from the party."

"Your wish is my command."

One again, Tiny looked disoriented.

"Tiny?" I asked.

"Yeah?" Tiny said, shaking his head.

"Your mother is a rape counselor, right?"

"Yeah."

"I have a friend, Patty Nadal..."

"The red head?" Tiny asked.

"Yeah. She had a problem a couple of years ago."

"Who's the dead mother that did it?"

Oh, shit. Tiny was back in "knight in shining armor" mode. I could see why the cheerleaders loved him.

"It was years ago, Tiny. The guy graduated. She's only now getting her life back together. Do you think your mom..."

"She works at the precinct," Tiny said, frowning a bit. "She'll be happy to talk with your friend. But you should never allow a rapist to walk away. There will always be another victim, sure as shit."

I nodded. I found myself actually warming to this big lug. It was strange that I never considered him as possible friend material.

"Mind if I ask a question?" Tiny asked.

"I don't mind. What's up?"

"You're a tenth grader," Tiny said. "You're dating Ms. Swift."

That wasn't a question. "Would you believe that I love this Goddess?"

Tiny looked at Kristen and then back at me. After a few moments, he said, "Yeah. I really believe that. I'm sorry to bring it up. It just seemed strange to me."

"It was strange to me, Tiny. Can you believe that I once disliked her? I thought she was responsible for me losing a friend. In fact, I misjudged her, but we discovered that we really love one another."

Tiny smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I once thought that June was stuck up. Then Cammy here introduced us. She wasn't what I thought at all. June's going to be a nurse."

Tiny's story was similar to mine, without the tickets, of course. We actually managed to start to develop a friendship that day.

"This guy, Tim Hawking, has a similar dislike for the cheerleaders," I said.

Tiny nodded. "I'll help him adjust his attitude."

"You're not going to hurt him, are you?" Camille asked.

Tiny turned to Camille. "I'd never hurt anybody, Cammy."

I thought about the hundreds of opponents in football and wrestling that would take issue with Tiny's statement, but wisely didn't say anything. There was a big difference between a monitored athletic event and a big kid bullying a smaller and younger one.

Camille invited everybody in. Camille's aunt looked a little nervous at Tiny, but was immediately enamored of Tiny when he introduced himself quite formally.

After Jackie's mom went in to fix the refreshments, Camille said, "See, Tiny. A little manners go a long way."

"Yeah, Cammy. I'm glad I'll be able to at least pay you back a little bit for all the help you've been over the years."

Camille nodded. "Thanks, TB."

Jackie was assembling some albums for her record changer. Camille went to the kitchen to help her aunt fix up some snacks.

I felt in my pockets and realized that I had used up all the tickets that I had on my person on Tiny. I used more than I had thought I would need to handle him, and I hoped that I wouldn't be caught short when Tim showed up. I did have others nearby in a safe place, though.

"Where did you learn to play the horn, Oogie?" Tiny asked.

"Fifth grade. I knew piano before that. I play other instruments as well."

We made small talk for a few minutes before the doorbell rang. Tiny and I walked to the door to answer it.

It was Lynette Robbins, the head cheerleader. She looked a bit nervous. "Is that asshole here?"

I was about to answer when Tiny said, "Not yet, and he won't be here if I have something to say about it."

Lynette looked relieved. We invited her in, and we saw another car pull up with Maria Wilson.

A few minutes later, I saw Tiny stiffen. I looked outside, and saw Tim Hawking striding purposely up the sidewalk.

"I'll handle this..." Tiny said, springing into action.

Tim looked stunned as he saw the huge line backer approach him. He froze, and Tiny took advantage of the situation.

"Excuse me, asshole. This event is for cheerleaders and their dates and guests. I've been told you're persona non grata. That's French and means that you are not wanted here."

Tim hurriedly reached into his jacket pocket, but Tiny thought that he might be going for a weapon. Like lightning, Tiny pulled Tim's hand out of his parka. As this happened, a whole roll of tickets flew out of his pocket. Tim looked at his precious tickets, and in a panic, started to dive for it. It wasn't a brilliant move, since Tiny still had a firm grip on his right hand, which was now behind Tim's back.

When I saw the tickets, I made a dash for them. Tiny didn't expect me to move behind him, and he lowered his guard. Nevertheless, I still managed to get to the roll of tickets before Tim did.

I saw Tim start to fall down toward me, his right arm in pain, and I briefly wished that these tickets had never been around.

Before I knew it, the roll of tickets, which I had just managed to grab, disappeared. I just felt them just vanish, no longer there.

Was it that simple? Just wish them to disappear and they will? There was one way to test my theory out, but then I'd be damning Merry or somebody else with their possession. If Camille and Debbie were any indication, then I'd not be able to help my sister and who knows how she'd be tempted with them? Then another, darker thought came to me.

"Get off Oogie," Tiny said, pulling Tim up by his left hand.

I felt Tim's weight suddenly leave mine, and I pulled myself up. Tim's attention was riveted to where I fell on the tickets, which were no longer there.

Tim saw the tickets vanish into thin air. "He stole them!" Tim cried.

"Stole what?" Tiny demanded.

Tim found that he couldn't say what I stole. "Um... my things. They disappeared into thin air!"

"If it was a weapon, then I'd feel safer with it being disappeared forever, you little twerp."

"No... I mean it..."

"I've already told you. You're French for 'get out of here.'"

Tiny had an interesting way with words.

Tim Hawking got the message and left slowly, his eyes constantly looking on the ground where he last saw his precious roll of tickets.

Disaster had been averted. I'm not sure how many people Tim Hawking destroyed, but his ability to magically do so was now significantly reduced.

A few minutes after Tim left, I excused myself from the party to take a quick jog to Kristen's Camaro. The doors were unlocked, and I opened the door and looked underneath the passenger seat. I was afraid that I would find nothing there, and my heart hung quite heavy.

I found the purple roll of tickets underneath the seat, right where I had stashed them before leaving for the party. I had found out soon after I moved in with Kristen that she was never able to pick up my ticket roll. I had never discussed this oddity with Camille, since she claimed that she never had them, but I figured that storing them in Kristen's Camaro would allow me quick access to them if I needed them, and was a relatively safe place when I didn't have my attach case with me.

For a few minutes after I saw Tim's tickets disappear, I had the awful feeling that my wish to make his tickets disappear might have the side effect of making mine go away as well. As I have mentioned, I was not exactly sure how they worked, and in the moment that I had seen his tickets vanish, I was even willing to give mine up in order to save other potential victims from Tim. The fact that my tickets were still safe where I left them made me feel better.

I came back inside Jackie's house and smiled at Kristen.

"I saw what happened outside," Kristen said when we had a moment alone together.

"What?"

"Tim lost his tickets. You touched them and they disappeared. How come it doesn't happen when you hand me the roll?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know."

"I'm glad he's rid of them. It's bad enough that you have them. I mean... I mean that in a nice way, Jim..."

I nodded. "I know, but if I make mine disappear, somebody else will find them. Kristen, I keep hoping that there is a way to fix what I have done to you!"

Camille walked over to the two of us. "Are you talking about what I think you are talking about?"

I nodded, sadly.

"You did a good thing outside. I hope the next person is more like you and less like that asshole."

We ended up in a three way hug.

It was an enjoyable party. Even Tiny had fun.

Tiny had to leave early. Kristen, Camille, and I went outside with him when June pulled up.

"Hey, June!" Camille said, cheerily.

"Was my Teddy Bear a good bodyguard?" June asked.

"He was perfect," I assured June.

"The creep that they thought would crash the party actually showed up. I managed to show him the error of his ways."

"I hope this doesn't become a habit," June said.

"It won't," I said with some assurance.

June and Tiny looked at me strangely.

Before Tiny could get into June's car, both Kristen and Camille gave Tiny a kiss on his cheek.

I offered my hand to June, and after a moment, she shook it.

As Tiny got into the passenger side, June said, "Did you know that Tiny plays the trumpet?"

"Really?" I asked. I never saw Tiny play an instrument before.

"His Uncle Jake was a jazz musician in Chicago."

I hadn't known this. "You play?" I asked Tiny.

"A bit," Tiny admitted.

That was interesting. And then, suddenly, I made a shocking realization. "Jake Jonas? The legendary blues musician?"

"Yeah," Tiny said, smiling slightly. "You've heard of him?"

"My... um... dad... once took me to see him in Chicago."

I was always uncomfortable about talking about my real father. Also, despite the fact that I truly enjoyed watching the blues musicians play, my father got drunk and rowdy and we were asked to leave the pub where we listened to him play. He also beat me up when we were outside, and then begged forgiveness. I really hate my father.

"He died of a heart attack two years ago," Tiny said, a bit sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I felt a bit awkward. Then, I realized that if Jake Jonas taught Tiny to play the trumpet, Tiny might have some talent. "Would you be interested in the jazz band? We have a Spring Concert coming up..."

Tiny looked at June, who smiled at Tiny. "You practice on Thursdays, right?" Tiny asked.

"Yeah..."

Tiny said, "I'm free on Thursdays. I'm usually hanging around doing homework in the library while June practices with the cheerleaders. I'll show up for your next rehearsal and you can give me an audition."

The next Thursday, the entire music room became quiet when Tiny Jonas entered the room with an instrument case.

There were a few fingers pointing, and I motioned for Tiny to sit at the seat next to Toby.

Toby saw Tiny open his case and pull out an old trumpet. Tiny oiled the valves and ran his fingers over them. His eyes opened wide as he realized that Tiny's trumpet looked nearly identical to the one that I presented to Toby, although it wasn't as polished as Toby's was. (For that matter, when I had that trumpet, it was never as polished as it was after I gave it to Toby. He really seemed to cherish that gift.)

After hearing Tiny practice with a chromatic scale that ran two octaves in an equal number of seconds, I realized that Tiny's playing "a bit" was an understatement.

I told Tiny earlier that if he could just play the arrangements, that would be enough of an audition for me, since none of the other musicians had actually auditioned for the jazz band.

I noticed Tiny was hesitant during the first run through of a song, but on his next attempt he played his part nearly perfect.

During this particular rehearsal, I handed out some new music that I had written myself. I told Tiny to take the first eight bar solo to see how he'd do.

When Tiny took his solo, he floored me with the soulful notes he could get from the simple chord progression that I set up.

At the end of the rehearsal, Tiny graduated from being a curiosity, as it was very clear to everybody that he was a much better player than Toby. People called me a virtuoso, and I could actually say that his playing was as good as mine. I was lucky to have a bunch of other instruments in my repertoire, just in case I was underestimating his talent!

Tiny just smiled at me as he left. I saw Toby running up to catch up with him.

The next week during jazz band rehearsal, when the first solo was to occur, I was surprised to see both Toby and Tiny get up. Instead of a solo, they played a well-orchestrated duet.

I broke up the rehearsal at that. "What the fuck was that?"

Tiny grinned. "I think, in Italian, they call that a 'duet.'"

"Did you guys rehearse that? That was perfect!"

Toby nodded. "You told me to practice. You are usually busy on weekends, and I asked Archy last week if I could practice with him. We played at his house."

I shook my head. "You owe me a dozen sets of ear plugs!"

The entire band, except Tiny, laughed at that. One of the saxophonists whispered something to Tiny and Tiny burst out with his loud, booming, laughter. "A dozen! Man, Oogie, you're cruel!"

From the way that Tiny said it, I knew that he said that with admiration.

Mr. Proilet was sitting near the back of the room. He moved up to me and whispered something to me. I nodded sagely.

I started the song up again, and was prepared for that duet, which they repeated with a slight variation. I saw Mr. Proilet's eyes widen a bit at this.

I was watching for the duet, and I noticed that the variation was mostly due to modifications done by Tiny rather than Toby.

I continued to direct the song, and it seemed that everybody was keyed up. The solos were just a little more polished, apparently everybody was trying to live up to the high standards that Tiny and Toby, who I were now thinking of as "the two T's."

Kristen and I had plans for the next weekend, which were subsequently scrapped when June drove up to Kristen's gate with Tiny.

"Hey, June," I said over the intercom. "What's up?"