Chapter 45 -- Jazzing Things Up

It's the terror of knowing,
What the world is about.
Watching some good friends,
Screaming "Let me out!"
Pray tomorrow... gets me higher!
Pressure on people--people on streets!

--Under Pressure (Queen and David Bowie)

There was a football game Friday evening, and it would be Merry's first as a cheerleader. When school let out, I found Kristen in the parking lot, ready to take me home.

"The game starts in just two hours," I said, protesting slightly.

"I know," Kristen answered. "I told Lynette that the two of us will pick up some pizzas for the cheerleaders. They have a special practice today, and the game follows right afterward. I figured that we could pick some up from Roman's."

This was an excellent idea! "Oh, yeah! Patty's working today! Are our bags packed?"

"I've already brought them to the air field and Uncle Jerry has them stowed."

"I thought we were driving."

"What's the use in having a pilot around if you don't use him?"

"He's not your personal pilot, Kris."

"Not yet."

I looked at Kristen and saw a sparkle in her eye. She was just kidding with me.

"Having Uncle Jerry take us gives us more time in Chicago, honey. Believe me, he really enjoys flying. I have a hard time paying him as it is--he just wants money for gas!"

"All right."

At Roman's, Kristen put in an order for ten pizzas. We figured that most of them would be eaten, and anything left over could be given to the concession stands to sell during the game.

Patty came over to where we were waiting from behind the counter. "So, Jim, how was the birthday?"

"It was nice. Kris and Lynette got me a couple of new hats."

Patty looked confused. "Hats?"

"Porkpie hats, right Kris?"

Kristen nodded. "We got them from Sky Catchers."

"I've never shopped there," Patty said. "The stuff in their windows looks weird."

"I'll say," I agreed. "They sell safari helmets, World War One fighter ace helmets, and everything."

"Sounds as if it would be useful if you were going on safari--or perhaps helping Snoopy shoot down the Red Baron, huh?"

I smiled.

Kristen got up to use the ladies' room.

When Kristen left, Patty looked at me seriously. "So, what's really up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something happened in the last couple of days."

Patty was about as close to a mind reader that I've ever met. "I've tackled some problems."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe some other time. I'm still working them out myself."

"Well, remember that you always have friends, Jim. You don't have to solve the entire world's problems, you know."

"Thanks, Patty. I'll remember that."

I realized that keeping secrets from Kristen was going to be hard, but keeping them from Patty would be next to impossible.

Before the game started, the cheerleaders came onto the field from both sides. Sherry took a running start and flipped end over end for about half the field, finishing on a flip that was a complete somersault in the air. After Sherry finished, two other cheerleaders did a double end over end, and I was surprised afterward when I realized that one of these was Merry.

Kristen, Lynette, and I sat in the stands with my parents. Roy Fennel was sitting next to me on the other side from Kristen.

"Merry seems quite good," I said, impressed.

"Your sister works hard," Lynette commented, watching the cheerleaders like a hawk. She had a little memo book and a pencil and it looked as if she was taking notes.

"I never knew she could do those flips," my step-father commented.

"Merry's almost got her aerial working," Lynette said without looking up from her memo book. "She's not ready to perform it, yet, but she's getting there."

I was confused. "What's an aerial?"

Lynette didn't move her eyes from the cheerleaders and her memo book, but continued to talk. "An aerial is what Sherry did at the end of her routine. That's the flip where she went completely around without her hands touching the ground. Merry is still working on that. Ms. D. doesn't allow any girls to perform such a move during a game until they show real proficiency. An aerial looks impressive, but if a girl misses it, it makes the whole team look silly. Merry's getting there, but she's not quite there yet."

"Ah," said my step-father.

The marching band played the national anthem, and then sat in the stands, occasionally playing some uncoordinated music. I wondered what I could do to help the band sound better. Despite the fact that I wasn't in the marching band, they were still representing my school, and anything I could do to help out would help out the school.

The cheerleaders did a pep number featuring a few girls--including Merry--ending up in a side-split, with the rest of the girls standing behind them. All the cheerleaders held their pom-poms in their hands. I was actually proud of my sister.

At half time, the marching band did their show. I saw most of the band's moves that one time I was hanging out in the stands, and once again, I noticed that the balance of the music, as heard in the stands, could be improved. The patterns they did were slightly different from when I saw them before, though, and the effect was a bit better in terms of hearing the band, but I still thought something could be done to improve them. Unfortunately, I wasn't an expert on marching bands--we'd probably have to rely on Roger Harris' expertise.

The football team won, which brought up our spirits at the end of the game. The cheerleaders performed their drills pretty nicely as well.

Merry came running out to where all of us were standing after the game carrying her athletic bag. She was now wearing her "street clothes." Sherry wasn't far behind her.

After the game, we met at Vaughn's for the second night in a row, except that Roy Fennel and Sherry Jordan accompanied us.

"Well, if it isn't the birthday boy!" the waitress said, smiling as she recognized me from the previous night.

I reddened in response, and most everybody laughed, with the exception of Roy and Sherry. Merry delighted in telling them about how everybody in Vaughn's surprised me last night.

Sherry smiled. "The cheerleaders did something similar to that to Oogie yesterday as well." She went on to describe to my parents what happened yesterday, and even admitted to setting the whole thing up.

"It seems my boy is quite popular at school," my mother said proudly.

"Jim's a wonderful person, Mrs. Cummings," Sherry said, smiling at me. "In the last year or so, he's reached out and helped quite a lot of people. He's kind and caring, and seems to be willing to help out anybody who has a problem. He has the music department put on some really great shows, and he's right now assisting people who want to perform in the talent show."

Mom turned to Roy and said, "Jim said you'd be doing a duet of a Chopin piece with Amy Grant."

Roy didn't realize it was a Chopin song, actually. He looked at me, and I nodded slightly. "Yes, ma'am. Amy Grant and I will be doing a number together."

I think my mother caught the look between the two of us, but didn't press the issue. Instead she steered the conversation away from me and toward Roy and then Merry.

It was Merry who first spoke up. "Mom, Roy and I have just been talking to one another at school. It's not as if we're going out on dates."

Merry's father picked up on that. "My dear, you're only fifteen years old!"

"I'm going to be sixteen in a couple of weeks!"

The conversation turned uncomfortable, but the waitress showed up with the food at that moment.

We ate in an uneasy silence.

After about five minutes, Lynette broke the silence. "Merry, did Mrs. D. tell you when you'd be able to do the aerial during a performance?"

Merry shrugged. "Maybe in a couple of weeks."

"The weekend after this, let's work on them together at the park, if the weather permits. Sherry, would you be able to help out? It would be best if there was more than one spotter."

Sherry nodded, happy that there was conversation once again. "Sure, Lynette. Merry's pretty close to getting it."

The conversation now turned toward the cheerleaders' performance and other things.

When the meal was done, Kristen picked up the tab. My parents were used to her doing this and didn't make a big fuss. I knew that Merry was going to have to have a long conversation with our parents. I only wished I could be around to give her some support. However, my behavior at her age was bound to come up during these conversations, and it would probably be for the best if I wasn't there. If she needed any help, I knew that she'd find me in school and talk to me on Monday.

Lynette drove Roy and Sherry home, and then met Kristen and me at the air field. Uncle Jerry picked us up and we took our first night flight into Chicago.

The trip was quiet, and it was obvious that Kristen, Lynette, and I were all thinking about Merry and my parents. Uncle Jerry noticed our mood and we traveled in peace.

We stayed at the same hotel we did last year on my sixteenth birthday. However, this year, we got a different room which was a two bedroom suite, rather than the one bedroom suite we used last year.

It was nearly midnight when we got to the hotel. Lynette emptied our suitcases, and Kristen took a hot bath. I debated my options, and when Lynette finished unpacking, I suggested that she keep Kristen company.

Lynette asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm tired. I've got a lot on my mind, and we have a game to go to tomorrow."

Lynette simply nodded and went into the bathroom. I heard the two girls whispering, but I ignored them. There was a late movie showing on one of the television stations, and I turned off the lights in the bedroom.

I was still awake when the girls came out of the bathroom, both wearing towels. I pretended to be asleep, and neither girl bothered me.

I was in a better mood when I woke up the next morning. Kristen and Lynette were still asleep on either side of me. I needed to go to the bathroom, so I slipped out of the bed as carefully as I could so as not to wake up the two of them. As I moved out of the bed, the two girls seemed to roll toward one another, as if to make up for my now-empty spot.

At the foot of the bed, I stared at the two ladies. They looked so peaceful as they slept. I realized that the reason we were here in Chicago was to celebrate my birthday, and that I did the two women a disservice by being moody all night.

"I love you," I murmured to the two of them, meaning it to both of them.

Kristen's eyes opened quickly, and she mouthed the same words back to me before moving even closer to Lynette.

Satisfied, I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and got cleaned up for a day in Chicago.

As I walked out of the bathroom, I saw a naked Kristen standing outside the door. Without a word, she descended to her knees, took my dick in her mouth, and started sucking.

I've had my dick sucked in many ways by a few girls. The last person to suck me on her knees was June, who likes doing it that particular way. However, this was one of the first times Kristen ever sucked me like this. It was totally unlike her, as if she thought being on her knees made her somehow subservient to me. The fact that she did so this morning was quite noticeable, and my dick reacted by swelling even more than normal in her warm, moist cavity.

Kristen's hands held my ass cheeks, and she would pull me closer and push me away from her mouth. Inside her mouth, her tongue was moving all over the tip and the shaft, sending waves of pleasure through my body.

When I felt two lips on my mouth, I opened my eyes in surprise. Lynette was standing alongside Kristen, and she kissed me. I returned her kiss as Kristen kept up her relentless stimulation.

Lynette moved down until she was on her knees to the left of Kristen. As if on cue, Kristen moved her mouth off my erection and started kissing the side closest to her. Lynette kissed the other side, and soon I was getting a double blow job from the two blondes.

Every thirty seconds or so, one of the girls would move from the side and start sucking lightly on the tip, adding to my excitement.

I put a hand around each girl's head as they continued alternating their sucking on me. When I could take no more, the girls seemed to sense it and Lynette positioned herself on the end and started sucking harder than ever. I erupted about three times into Lynette's mouth, and she continued sucking as my dick continued to spasm afterward.

When my dick started to soften, Lynette turned to Kristen, and pulled her up as Lynette started to stand. The two girls kissed right in front of me, sharing my seed between them.

Once the girls' erotic display finished, they each kissed me on the cheek and left for the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

I went to the bed and found that the girls (Kristen, most likely) picked out an outfit for me to wear.

The girls came out of the bathroom about ten minutes later, both of them still nude, and went into one of the dresser drawers to pick out their outfits. Kristen picked out a purple sun dress and a matching pair of panties, and pulled them on her quickly. Lynette wore the exact same dress and panties, except hers were pink. Neither girl wore a bra. In the closet, Lynette took out two pairs of sandals, one purple and one pink.

"Time to eat breakfast, Jim!" Kristen said.

"Like that?" I said. If you looked, you could clearly see Kristen's dark aureoles through the light purple material of her sun dress.

"Of course."

I shrugged, and the three of us left the room and took the elevator to the lobby.

We ate breakfast at the dining room at the hotel. We all ordered omelets, and the two girls ordered Champagne and orange juice (mimosas), while I drank sweet tea.

At around noon, Kristen took us for a tour of Chicago in her rental car. She pointed out the Berghoff restaurant, where we ate last January.

Lynette smiled. "My Nana took me there a long time ago. The food is great there."

Eventually, we ended up at the world-famous Wrigley Field. I wasn't a big Cubs fan, but Kristen and her father definitely were. In fact, if you were to ask me to name a current Chicago player, I would name Bucky Dent, who played at Commiskey Field for the White Sox!

As I said, Kristen was a Cubs fan, and she explained her interest much the same way a Boston fan would explain their fondness for the Red Sox. The big difference was that the Red Sox wasn't an underdog team this year.

"Despite the fact that we're over six games behind the Phillies," Kristen explained, "we've been winning against them this year. I don't think we have a chance in hell to catch Cincinnati for the playoffs, especially this late in the season, but just think: The Red Sox are leading their division, so I think they're four games behind Oakland in their League. They have Fisk and Yaz, and they look good to win the AL series. If Cincinnati doesn't break down, it will be the Reds against the Sox, and the Reds have Rose, Bench, Morgan, and Griffey. Despite the fact that I love Pete Rose, my prediction is that the Sox will take the AL series and finally win the world series this year for the first time in nearly sixty years!"

I could tell that Kristen really loved the game, and despite the fact that I didn't follow the game very much, I can remember some times when my father would take me to a game. He was a Cubs fan, too, although I was very young when he took me and my mom. I think that was before he grew mean, because I have nothing but fond memories of being at Wrigley field.

Lynette knew nothing about professional baseball, but I knew that she spent the last week or so reading the sports section and talking to Kristen's father so that she could follow along and offer intelligent conversation.

It was about an hour and a half before the game, and we had some great seats from a friend of Kristen's father who was a season ticket holder. Our lunch would consist of hot dogs, sausages, and other ball park food from the concession stands or from the people walking through the stands.

Kristen seemed to know a few of the people sitting nearby, and everybody was very polite to us. There were a few people with baseball mitts, hoping for the opportunity to catch a ball coming their way.

The game started with the Phillies batting. Burris was pitching for the Cubs, and the Phillies' first four players made three quick outs, leaving a man on second and allowing the Cubs to get their first chance at bat. At the end of the inning, the Cubs left two on base, and the score was nothing-nothing.

"This is going to be a great game," Kristen said, feeding me some roasted peanuts, and explaining the game to Lynette and me.

The game continued in a similar vein until the fourth inning, when the Cubs drew first blood as Morales scored on a single by Thornton.

After that first run, Kristen turned to Lynette and said, "Pay up!"

Lynette simply nodded and wiggled until she was able to remove her panties from underneath her sun dress. She gave the garment to Kristen, who simply put them in her purse. This action did not go unnoticed by the other fans around us.

The Phillies came back in the seventh inning with Allen scoring on a single by Schmidt, tying the score. Lynette gave Kristen an evil grin, and although Kristen was more discreet as she pulled down her panties, there were fans nearby watching. They apparently saw Lynette before and were probably wondering what would happen when the next run was scored.

The Cubs came back at the bottom of that same inning. Thornton scored a run on a single by Rosello. A few plays later, Harris ran home to put the Cubs two points ahead. Each time the Cubs scored, Kristen placed her hand underneath Lynette's dress. Apparently, the penalty was an orgasm--not much of a penalty except it was in public, and I saw Lynette biting her lip to keep from getting too vocal in the stands.

When the Cubs scored again in the eighth inning, Kristen swapped her seat with mine, and she told me to bring Lynette off for her. Lynette smiled at me, so I did my best. I felt Lynette's pussy clamp down on my fingers as I teased all around her clit without touching it directly. I knew that this tended to drive Lynette wild, and it took a few minutes before I felt the contractions that signaled her ecstasy.

The Cubs won the game four to one, but I think that Lynette (and possibly her few observant fans) had the most fun at the game.

Afterward, Kristen drove us back to the hotel, where Lynette paid her ultimate punishment for losing.

As soon as the door to our room was closed, Kristen ordered, "Pussy slave, I want you to bring Jim to an orgasm using only your tongue. No fingers and no lips. Just your tongue."

"Yes, Mistress," Lynette said, as she stripped off her dress before pulling my pants down.

Lynette didn't seem to mind her punishment, and after about ten minutes, I moved toward one of the chairs so I could sit down, since I was starting to get tired (of standing--not Lynette's actions!).

Meanwhile, Kristen was laying out on the floor, and she pulled her dress up to reveal her naked crotch. Kristen played with herself as Lynette stimulated my cock with her warm and wiggly tongue.

It took Lynette about fifteen or twenty minutes, but finally, I felt myself getting close to orgasm.

Lynette seemed to sense this, and shifted her position so that her face was straight on to the head of my cock. She teased underneath the head of my cock with her tongue as I started to thrust a bit, trying to increase the stimulation on my dick.

When I erupted, Lynette was perfectly positioned so that my first jet hit mostly on top of her tongue, although a bit landed on her upper lip and into one of her nostrils. Lynette continued licking me, and I continued to spurt and spurt until I didn't have any more to give.

Most of my semen was coating Lynette's tongue like a white gooey paste, although some was starting to slip down in a big drip at the tip of her tongue.

Kristen saw that some of her precious seed was about to drip off, and she stopped playing with herself and moved quickly over to where Lynette was and threw herself on top of the cheerleader. The two girls locked their lips in a lovely embrace as Kristen took my sperm from Lynette's mouth.

My erection didn't die down. As the two girls continued kissing, I got up and moved behind Kristen and pointed my cock between Kristen's legs. I quickly located Kristen's cunt hole and eased myself inside Kristen. It went in smoothly and I got into my own rhythm as my dick moved in and out of Kristen's warm chamber.

It took me longer to reach orgasm this time, but Kristen and Lynette kept each other on edge by slowly teasing each other. Kristen received the most orgasms, mostly because Lynette's teasing of Kristen's clitoris was enhanced by my continued thrusting into Kristen.

We got back from Chicago Sunday afternoon. Almost immediately, I headed into the music studio.

There was this bass line repeating in my head for a few days now.

"Dum dum dum da-da dum dum..."

Seven notes in three beats with a one beat rest.

I tried playing the beat on the upright, and it didn't sound right.

The organ sounded the best with a deep bass. All D's and ending on a lower A.

I was playing it over and over when Kristen walked in. "You didn't have the DND light on."

"Yeah. I've got this beat in my head. Listen."

I played the bass line again, three times before dropping to an A7 bass line for the next time...

"That's a standard bass riff," Kristen said. She walked over to the stand where her bass guitar was. She quickly hooked it up to the mini-amplifier.

Dum dum dum da-da dum dum.

Kristen played that effortlessly.

"You've got it, Kris," I said. "Is that from a song?"

"If so, it's generic. It could be the bass line to anything."

"Not rock," I said. "This is just two chords. The D and then the A-A7."

"That's not the way you played it," Kristen said. She started the bass line again. She started to shift to the A and I told her to wait, and she continued until I told her to change chords.

"Weird," Kristen said. "No song that I can think of."

"I wrote some music a couple of months ago for a band piece, but I'm thinking it should be a rock thing. It's the same chord progression, except it was G and D7."

Kristen looked at me. "A band piece?"

"Well, the bass line fits, but not the same key. I was thinking of a wind-horn thing, like Phil Spector's wall of sound."

"Do you have anything recorded?"

"Not yet. Just an idea right now. The rhythm is in my head. Then today, that bass line seemed natural to add."

"I heard you doing the 'dum dum' thing last night."

That embarrassed me. "Um, sorry, Kris..."

"Oh, don't be worried. I knew what was going on in your head. Your music is how you relate to everything. I considered myself lucky to be thought of that way by you."

"That's not true!" I protested.

Kristen looked skeptical. "You don't equate everything to music?"

"Not everything."

Kristen changed the subject back. "OK. You have this bass line, and this horn backup. Do you have words?"

I shook my head. "The words are out of reach for me until I hear the music. The meter would be 'dum dum da-da dum' which would make a good counterpoint against the bass line."

Kristen closed her eyes. "Dum dum da-da dum. There's my Lynette doll!"

I laughed. "That fits, but it's more like, 'She's a movie star... '"

We played together for hours trying to get the melody out of my head and into something tangible. Luckily, Kristen recorded a couple of our sessions so we would have something to work with later. I didn't tell Kristen that once there was a song in my head, I could reproduce it at any time at will, since taping was always a good idea.

I woke up the next morning with Lynette in my arms. She was awake and hugging me.

"Good morning, Lynette!" I said, very tired and groggy.

"Kristen and you were in the studio all night," Lynette said. "Kris said to make sure you got up in time for June to pick you up. Kris is going to skip one of her classes today at the community college to make sure she's with you after school."

"No! I want her to do her courses!"

"Relax, Oogie," Lynette said, kissing me softly. "I have the same class and I'll take notes. She says you're working on a song, and you're going to work with the people for your band you're going to use at Puppy Dawg's."

I nodded, and remembered the marathon music session that the two of us did the night before. We tried variations on things, but I really needed a bunch of other players to get the right feel for the song.

Lynette physically dragged me out of bed and into the kitchen, where she fed me something that she whipped up specially for me that day: French toast wrapped around breakfast sausages.

I looked at the sandwich doubtfully, and shook my head. Somehow the sweetness of the French toast and the spiciness of the sausage didn't seem as if it would be a combination that appealed to me.

Finally, Lynette shoved the package into my mouth, forcing me to bite down. The taste was actually quite good, so I made short work of the first one when Lynette brought me a second.

"No thirds, Oogie," Lynette said, laughing. "Kristen's orders."

I was stuffed from the first two, and Lynette gave me an orange just as June arrived to pick me up so I would have something healthy to eat on my way in with June.

"You look like shit!" June said when she saw me.

"Late night."

June gave a belly laugh. "I don't know why I stick with you, Jim. You have two of the prettiest girls I know sleeping with you, and Sherry ready to rape you any day now."

I gave a harrumph to June and said, a bit testily, "I'll have you know I was working on a song last night."

June nodded her head. "Did it involve two blonde girls screaming?"

I didn't dignify that with an answer. I knew that June was just kidding with me. She didn't have any jealousy over me for the simple reason that I wasn't the main focus in her love life.

I got permission from Mr. Proilet to practice for our upcoming audition at Puppy Dawg's with the people who were going to be in that band after school.

Kristen was there, and she brought most of her guitars with her, and so was Gerry. In fact, the two of them were hooking their guitars into a mixer that looked a bit familiar.

"Is that the mixer from the studio?" I asked.

Kristen shook her head. "No, I bought two of them. It saves having to lug a bunch of amps everywhere."

I handed out my music to everybody, and explained about the "wall of sound" type of style that I was envisioning. I explained, "This is a basic beat, and once we get it down, we can improvise off it a whole bunch of ways."

It took nearly forty-five minutes to get the wind and horn parts down. As I did that, Kristen was working with Gerry and Amy to get the guitars and piano parts going.

Finally, I decided to put the thing together. I gave Roy the "She's a movie star" line, and told him to use it or scat sing to the same meter for the melody.

"You don't have words for this?" Roy asked.

"Not yet. This song has been going through my head for a while, though."

Roy shrugged.

I tapped my baton, and got everybody ready and started with the bass line played by Kristen and Amy with her left hand. After four bars, the horns came in with the winds, and they all sounded pretty good.

Finally, I signaled to Roy. He sang his lines, but surprised me by doing it in a falsetto about an octave above what I told him. I didn't stop the song... jazz is about improvisation, of course, and if this didn't work out, well, at least Roy gave it a shot.

The interesting point is that Roy had great judgment: the falsetto worked.

The song sounded great, even though every line was "She's a movie star!" and tended to get boring.

After that, we did a couple of standard jazz tunes, and then another song that I thought would make a great feature.

We didn't let out until about 4pm.

"I don't think the next rehearsal will go this long," I assured everybody. "I really wanted to get through the basics before working on an actual repertoire."

As Kristen and I were walking out to the parking lot, a fellow junior named James Zane approached me. Nobody called him that name, but instead referred to him as "Zaniac," a nickname he earned as the class clown in elementary school, a reputation that he maintained into high school.

"Jim? I've been waiting to talk to you."

"What's up, Zaniac?"

"I've been talking to some people, and they said you were helping with the talent show."