Month 6

Thirty-Nine

The vehicle that picked me up in the desert was a Hummer. A Sheriff's Deputy, my dad, Jenny girl, and Hal Williams occupied the awkward-looking but spacious and powerful SUV. When the Good Samaritan neighbor called my dad, Dad called Jenny, and after learning about the abduction, she sicced Dad on Hal Williams and Royce Edwards. Two hours later, Dad and the police found the drunken foursome together at Hal Williams' house. Hal caved first when told the police would give him a break if he showed them where they'd dumped me.

"The whole thing was just a joke, a way to take Paul down a peg or two," Hal told the police. "We were just about ready to go out and pick him up when you showed up. We do the same thing to initiate new letterman at school."

Joke or no joke, did I let them off the hook? Hell no, I pressed charges. Besides multiple contusions I had two cracked rips. My feet were cut and bleeding, and as feared, I was seriously dehydrated. I spent the night in the hospital.

While lying in the hospital bed, I was a captive audience, and that's when Jenny told me how things would be from now on.

"Okay, buddy boy, listen up and listen good," she said with her hands on her hips. "It's time for you to grow up and fly right, feel better about yourself, and stop doing things that come back to haunt you, like the beating and abuse you took today."

I nodded. I couldn't agree more.

"You asked if I was in love with you. Well, I am, I surely am. I loved you when you were short and skinny and I was big and fat. We were misfits together, you and I, and I figured when you were ready that we'd become lovers, get married, have some kids and live happily ever after, remaining misfits, but sharing a wonderful life, misfits or not. Then you started to grow, and I saw you slipping away from me. A pretty, slim girl paid attention to you, and you fell hard for her. I knew it wouldn't last, though. Why? Because you're decent and Claire isn't.

"I checked her out, buddy boy. I found out about Helen and her and how they were. Besides Helen, Claire cheated on you with another boy, and I'm not talking about Hal Williams, although I think she did him, too. I wanted to tell you what kind of girl you were in love with, but I knew you wouldn't listen, so I waited. I told myself that I'd be there for you when the doxy broke your heart, and I was, too.

"I also knew if you turned into a hunk, and it looked like that was exactly what was happening, that I'd better do something about the way I looked, so I started to run with you. You can't imagine how difficult and painful running was for me as fat as I was back then, but I endured both the physical and mental pain, and I ran. At first, my muscles were so sore I could barely get out of bed in the morning. And the charley horses! They woke me up in the night. I spent many nights in tears from the pain caused by muscles tied into intricate knots."

I chuckled. "What happened to your lazy diction, Jenny girl? You're actually sounding out the G's at the end of I-N-G words."

She laughed. "I'm speechifyin', buddy boy, not talkin' cute, girl trash. Hush now, I'm not finished, not by a long shot. After the Claire fiasco came to a head, you had the audacity to start running not only in the afternoon but also every goldurned morning! I wanted to strangle your no-longer scrawny neck. Oh, the torture you put me through! But I rolled from my bed every morning before the durned sun came up and ran with you. If I hadn't loved you so much, I would've hated you, and then a strange thing happened. I started to like running. Painful or not, I liked what running was doing for me. The pounds were falling off. The charley horses stopped waking me up in the night. I suddenly realized I had the means to stop being a misfit, and you did it for me. I started to feel good about myself. A first for me, Paul. Can you imagine? Of course you can. The same thing happened to you.

"Then I wanted to strangle you again. You came up with that cockamamie dating experiment of yours. Instead of wrapping my no-longer chubby fingers around your neck, I bit my tongue and waited — and ran and practiced Kung Fu. I thank you for Kung Fu, too, Paul.

"And the pounds kept coming off. You grew some more, shot up taller than me, filled out, became so sexy that just looking at you made my heart go pity-pat and my pussy tingle and get all wet. Don't looked so shocked, buddy boy. A girl has needs, too, as you durned well know."

She sighed, but when I opened my mouth to speak, she placed a finger over her lips to shush me and said, "I'm not done yet. One day I realized that you and I, buddy boy, weren't misfits anymore. Being a female, I'm sneaky. Sneakiness comes natural to us girls."

I huffed a laugh. "I know."

"Hush! One night I surreptitiously timed your run, timed it from beginning to end, and figured you could compete in middle-distant running events, not only complete but also win if you started training properly instead of just running down a street somewhere when the urge struck you. I also realized I could compete, too, in the 3K, at least, but I figured I could move up to the 5K without a lot of extra effort."

She paused and a mischievous look entered her pretty, slim face. Her green eyes filled with mirth and with a laugh, she pulled the drapery hanging from the track around the hospital bed, pulled it completely around us, creating a private cocoon.

"Grand unveiling indeed!" she exclaimed with a huff and proceeded to remove her baggy clothes until she stood before me naked, hip cocked, proud, unashamed.

"My God, Jenny girl! You're svelte!" I gushed. Picture a svelte Xena, the warrior princess, and you'll see what I saw. "Beautiful!" She was, too, as beautiful as Danielle, as graceful as Eve, and sexier than both of them put together.

She giggled nervously. "Yeah, I am. What I've got, buddy boy, is a body that doesn't quit. I'm a babe! And you're a hunk. I love you and whether you believe it or even know it, you love me, too. So, here's what we're going to do. You're going to stop fucking Eve and whatever you're doing with Danielle. On Valentine's Day, I'm going to give myself to you, and after that I'll give you so much loving you won't want another girl — ever. I've never wanted another boy but you, and never will, so you won't need to worry about me either. We're going to keep on running and doing our Kung Fu thing. By the way, I really enjoy Kung Fu, actually prefer it to running, and it truly has helped me to become more graceful."

"I noticed."

"Thought so. Anyway, you're going to get so many trophies and medals you won't know what to do with all of them, and I'll win a bunch of them, too. In a few years, Sifu will tie black belts around our waists, and we'll refuse harm from anyone. This spring, we're going to graduate from high school and enjoy each other over the summer - in bed and out. This fall we'll enroll in the same college. Within reason, I'll even let you select the college. While we're on the subject, have you decided what you want to be when you grow up, that is, besides being my husband and the father of our children?"

"I've been thinking about sport's medicine."

"Good choice. I've almost decided to become a coach. I say almost because I haven't ruled out becoming a dietician. Maybe I'll do both. They're related. I want to coach high school girls. Many of them need a lot of compassionate attention."

"Jenny girl, whatever you decide to do, you'll do it and do it well."

"I know."

I heard noises outside the curtain, as did Jenny. In seconds, her sweats covered her astonishing body. She stuffed her bra and panties in her purse.

"I'll accept and follow your plan under one condition," I said.

"And your condition is... ?"

"No more baggy clothes."

"Deal."

Forty

Danielle wasn't a problem. I broke up with her over the telephone. Informing Eve that I couldn't be with her anymore required a face-to-face meeting. I took her for a drive. She knew something was up. When she gets nervous, her speech patterns speed up, and she was talking lickety-split, rambling mostly, so I pulled into a park, and suggested a walk.

Before I could exit the car, her chin started to quiver and tears welled in her eyes. "Are you planning to tell me you can't see me anymore, Paul?"

"Yes," I said simply, dreading the upcoming emotion-ladened scene.

"Why? Did I do something wrong. If I did, I..."

"You've done nothing wrong, Eve."

She looked at me, I mean really looked. "You finally figured it out, didn't you? You finally realized how much you love her."

"Yes."

"Will she share? Never mind. Of course, she won't. Fuck!" She wrung her hands and sniffed. "I knew this day would come, and I promised myself that I wouldn't cry, that I'd comport myself with dignity, but it's difficult, Paul, really, really hard. I love you. I love you so much it hurts. Just think how you'd feel if you loved Jenny, and she didn't love you, and then multiply the hurting by ten. That's how much I'm hurting. Still, I love you, and I want you to be happy, and you'll be happy with your Jenny. She's clean and fresh — unused." Her voice cracked and she swallowed a sob, but she squared her shoulders and gave me a smile.

I admired her courage.

"Paul, I'll get over you somehow, but knowing you, loving you has been a revelation for me, an epiphany, if you will. I'm going to college this fall, and not a local community college, either. I've already been accepted at one good school, and I have applications out to others. I'll take modeling jobs for extra cash and get a good business education, because I plan to run my own business some day, a boutique probably, maybe a chain of them if I'm lucky. My parents have promised to love and support me whatever I decide." She smiled broadly. "Frankly, they're quite proud of me, happy with the direction I've been taking lately. They like you, even attribute some of the new me to you. They'll be upset when I tell them we've broken up."

"I dated the new you, Eve, and like your parents, I'm proud of you. More importantly, you have every right to be proud of yourself. I worried how you'd take my announcement, worried you'd become seriously depressed and backslide, maybe even take up with another loser. Don't do it, Eve! Don't let anyone demean you, including yourself. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're unworthy in any way."

She gave me another smile that lightened my heart.

"I won't, and that's a promise from me to you, a promise from me to me, too. Paul, although you might be rare you're not unique. You've shown me that there are some good men out there, men like you, and I'm going to find me one, and I'm going to love him as deeply as I love you, and unlike you, he'll love me right back. This lucky man and me, we'll make a life together, create a family and raise happy, healthy children. We'll grow prosperous and old together. That's my plan, my goal, now."

"Jenny and I have a similar plan."

"I'll harbor a secret, though. As I'm growing old with my man, I'll still think of you sometimes, and that's a promise, too." She faced me. "Paul, I know we need to make a clean break, but this fall when I'm far away, may I let you know where I am? And I'd like to know where you and Jenny are, and what's happening in your life. What I'm saying is I'd like to stay in touch, that's all, sort of like Christmas cards or letters, but a little more."

"I'd like that."

She sighed. "Take me home now. You can kiss me goodbye after you open the passenger door and help me from the car because I want you to kiss me while we're standing up, not here in a cramped car. After you drive away, I'll have me a good cry, and tomorrow I'll start the rest of my life."

Amazing!

Forty-One

One more relationship needed closure. My break-up with Claire was so abrupt and painful for me I wondered if she felt the same way. Besides, I needed to know if she was behind the assaults perpetrated against me.

I didn't want my meeting with her witnessed by anyone, principally because I had no intention of telling Jenny about it, and catching Claire alone wasn't easy. Then I got lucky. One day she didn't show up at school, and if she were skipping, she was alone because I noted Helen, Hal (out on bail) and Phoebe in school.

I skipped lunch. When she answered the door, I said, "We need to talk."

With a shrug, she turned and walked back into the house. I followed her. She sat in a large chair and curled her feet under her, motioning for me to sit on the sofa.

"I didn't spread the rumors that floated around about you and Helen," I said.

"I know. Chuck did that, but you gave him the information that gave the rumors an element of truth, but even the truth was exaggerated. It took me a while, but I finally figured out that you must have looked in my bedroom window the day we broke up. That's the only way Chuck could've known all he knew."

"Why me at the window instead of Chuck?" I asked.

She snorted. "Chuck would've joined us. He isn't a boy scout like you."

"I'm ashamed to say that your conclusion was correct. I sensed something wrong that day and returned to your house."

Tears welled in her eyes, and she sniffed. She pulled some tissues from a box on the table next to her and blew her nose. "I've got a cold."

I ignored her attempt for sympathy. "What I saw through the gap in your shade devastated me, Claire."

"I figured." She hesitated and added, "I'm sorry you had to find out about me, how I am period, let alone the way you did. I told everybody that I broke up with you, telling them you were too serious about me, because that's just what I'd planned to do anyway. I should've ended us sooner, but... why now, Paul? Why do you want to talk about all of this now instead of right after everything happened?"

"I didn't realize that you and I, what we had together, needed closure until recently."