Chapter 41 Heather, Gina and Miss Baker

My mail was stacked at one end of the kitchen table where I studied. I shook the package from Ned then and set it aside, knowing it was the condoms he had promised to send me. There were letters from Alice, Jessica and Jeanie. I opened the one from Alice first.

Sunday Afternoon, September 21, 1986

Dear Sammy,

It was wonderful to hear news of your new life and how well you are adapting. I know you will find a way to make everything work.

Please remember, there is more to life than football. Play hard and do your best but don't break anything you need to play tennis and other games with me. Gina sounds like a fun girl. I'm happy that you've found an older "woman" to take care of you. Blondie hasn't shown up yet.

Brenda sends her love. We both miss you. Must go, Study, Study, Study.

Alice

~^~

Saturday, September 20, 1986

Dear Sammy,

Would you believe I'm going on my first date tonight since school started? He's a junior, majoring in Psychology, very smart, but I don't think he's been with a real woman before. Do you think I'm a real woman Sammy? If we were together right now I would prove it to you.

Have you been with anyone since our last night together? I know it's just a matter of time but I hope you don't do it until I do. Wouldn't it be something if we did it with someone else at the same time? We could compare notes.

Please write and tell me everything. Tell me things you don't tell my sisters. They are too young to appreciate your exploits. I can't wait until we meet at the bench and you take me to the cottage.

Your friend,

Jessica

~^~

Sunday, September 20, 1986

Dearest Sammy,

Speedwell is the Pitts. Cromwell is the Pitts too. The Cromwell football team lost the first game and not a single boy asked me to dance. Why did you have to go away? I wish you were here right now. We could go to the cottage and make out. Will you do more with me when I'm older?

Cindy says hi. She tells everyone you are her boyfriend.

Please write to your Cromwell friends and tell them to dance with me.

We all look forward to seeing you. Jeanie

Heather came out her room, told me that my dinner was in the warmer and said she was going out. I told her so long and decided to put the package of condoms in my footlocker before I ate dinner.

The corner of my cash envelope was showing, slightly out of place from where I kept it hidden beneath my underwear. Just as I suspected, the envelope was empty. I rushed to the front door but Heather was not in sight. I was still shaking from anger when the telephone rang.

"How much money was in the envelope?" Gina asked when I told her why I could not go to her house to study.

"I'm not sure. Sixty dollars I think." I remembered getting one hundred dollars from the automatic teller and putting it in the envelope. I also remembered loaning Heather twenty dollars on two separate occasions. Since I hadn't needed any of the cash for my own use there should have been sixty dollars in the envelope.

"Who else had the combination?" Gina asked. She was trying to be helpful and I had to admit she was much more level headed than I had given her credit for being. I, on the other hand, was seething with contempt for the person who took my money.

"My sister saw me open the lock at least twice. I didn't think she was paying that much attention at the time but I suppose she may have seen me turning the dial and remembered where the tumblers stopped."

"Sammy, I don't want you overreacting before you have time to think this through. You're just like my little brother, young and naïve. Come over and talk to my dad about it. He'll know what is best."

"I'm not going to involve your dad. Don't say anything to him. Do you understand?"

"Sammy, I'll pick you up in ten minutes," Gina said before the line went dead, pissing me off. Did she think she was going to monopolize my life?

I called the Avella house and Mrs. Avella answered. She reported that Gina had just left. "Thank you," I said, trying to make my voice sound carefree, like I wasn't going to strangle her daughter for hanging up on me.

I hadn't eaten yet and Gina was coming to pick me up. I got my evening meal out of the warmer and dialed Miss Baker's number. She seemed surprised but happy to hear from me.

"I'm glad you called, Sammy. There's something I need to talk to you about," she said and then I told her why I was calling. She gave me the same advice as Gina had given me, not to do anything until I calmed down.

"I don't know where my sister's boyfriend lives anyway. I don't even know his last name," I said, taking bites of food while she talked.

"Sammy, we need to talk about this and another matter, too. We may need to consult Judge Clausen. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Gina's on her way to pick me up. She wants me to speak to her father about it," I said, grabbing two more bites of food.

"Involving a stranger is not a good idea," Miss Baker said. We heard the car horn at the same time. "Is that Gina?" She asked.

"I told her not to come. She says I'm young and naïve," I said, hearing the car horn again.

"Have her bring you here," Miss Baker suggested.

"I really don't want to involve the Judge. He will make me live with strangers and that would hurt my mother. I've got to go. She's knocking on the front door," I said, hearing a fist banging on the door.

"Have Gina bring you here. What I need to speak to you about involves her," Miss Baker said.

"Yes ma'am," I answered.

"Please call me Priscilla. After what we've done together you can at least call me by my name."

"Yes, Priscilla," I said, thinking how she had just cheered me up.

I opened the door to see Gina ready to kick the door. She was wearing the jumpsuit from Sunday and my jacket. "Where's the footlocker?" She asked.

I opened it for her to look inside but she wasn't paying attention to the contents of the locker. She was looking around the small room, astonishment on her face. I knew what she was thinking, how could three people live in this small space? But she held her tongue.

"What's this," Gina asked, pointing to Ned's package.

I opened it and showed her the three packs of condoms, each containing six. She tore one of the packs open and stuffed three condoms in the pockets of my jacket, grinning at me.

"Let's go to my room and study," she said.

"I've got to go to Miss Baker's apartment," I said.

"You're not going back there. You promised not to," she said, angrily.

"Did you say anything about this to your father?" I asked. She had rushed out of the house without saying where she was going.

Telling her the truth about Miss Baker's role in my life was the only way I could make Gina understand why I had to talk to Priscilla. "I got into a little trouble when I was fourteen," I began. By the time we reached the apartment complex Gina was sympathizing with me, telling me she knew I came from a broken home and that I had seen some hard times but she had no idea that I was the apple-corer boy as the newspapers called me. "Just think, my boyfriend is a hero," she announced proudly.

Miss Baker was a little surprised that I had told my story to Gina. She was more surprised that Gina had warmed up to the idea that I had a vicious streak in me. "You did?" She asked when I told her how I had to hurry to drive the apple-coring tool into Dick's back and how I had twisted it. "That must have been hard to do, knowing that you were inflicting that kind of pain on a man who would have knocked you across the room if you didn't make him pass out first," she said as she looked my way, adoringly.

We took seats in the living room, me in the easy chair with Priscilla and Gina across from me on the couch. Priscilla was wearing pants and a shirt, probably the clothes she had worn to work that day. This was where Aaron was sitting when I screwed both of them two nights ago on that couch, I thought. I had trouble picturing what he saw because it had been dark in the room, except for the few seconds when Gina turned on the kitchen light so we could catch Aaron playing with his cock. It was easy to picture what Gina looked like but I had not seen Priscilla naked.

"Does anyone else know about your missing cash?" Priscilla asked.

I shook my head and looked at Gina for conformation. "No, we haven't told anyone."

We talked about the various options we had to get help in retrieving my money. Priscilla thought that involving the local police might call attention to me and my previous choice of weapons, the apple-coring tool. Besides, I had no proof that my sister's boyfriend was the culprit. Telling my mother about the missing cash would not be prudent. There was nothing she could do. I didn't mention Ned or Mr. Oldham, not wanting to admit to them that I was living with a thief. The judge might take corrective action, such as finding a suitable home for me. Priscilla said that I could come live with her but Gina vetoed that idea before it was fully explored. Gina offered her father's help but Priscilla said that would be a bad idea because Mr. Avella's solution would probably be to report the theft to the police. They both urged me to forget about following through with my first instincts, to beat the sixty bucks out of my sister's boyfriend. In the end we decided that taking precautions to prevent it from happening again was the best action for now. Priscilla offered for me to leave my ATM card in her spare bedroom but Gina said I could leave it in her room. They got into a mini argument about where the card would be most accessible, Priscilla saying I could pick it up any time I needed it, day or nighttime, Gina countering with an offer that she would bring the card to me, day or nighttime. Priscilla yielded, wanting to discuss something more pressing.

"Does anyone else know about the other night?" Priscilla asked and I saw how anxious she was for us to tell her no.

"We haven't said anything to anyone else. We hardly talked about it between ourselves," I said.

"What do you mean? Did you talk about what we did or not?" Priscilla voice cut the air like a dull knife, leaving ragged edges in its path.

I looked to Gina for guidance. She spoke up. "Sammy agreed not to do it with you again. Didn't you Sammy?"

"That's all that was said about it. We didn't really discuss it," I said. Priscilla looked satisfied with our disclosure but only for a moment.

"Who else knows you came here? Did you tell anyone about Aaron being here?"

Gina and I counted the people we had told that we were having dinner with Priscilla and her boyfriend. My mother knew I was going to have dinner with Priscilla and Gina's parents knew Aaron was going to be there. Priscilla took this in before exclaiming.

"What did people say about the bruise on your cheek?" She asked. I had forgotten about Aaron's fist striking me. The bruise was hardly visible and everyone must have assumed it was from football practice. Gina had treated me like a wounded soldier the night before. But now she had trouble seeing the bruise. She pushed forward, looked closely and moved closer. She kept moving closer until she was sitting in my lap.

"I kissed it and made it go away," she said, kissing my cheek where the bruise had been. "That's how I got in his pants last night," she said, reaching for my cock.

"That's enough of that. I have some bad news," Priscilla said, halting Gina's advances but she remained sitting in my lap. We looked at Priscilla, awaiting her news.

"Aaron is blackmailing me. He saw me having sex with a minor and he wants the same or he's going to report me to the authorities. I could lose my job. I could even go to prison," she said, bursting into tears.

"What's the problem? Do it with him. That's what you wanted all along isn't it?" Gina asked.

"Not with me. He wants to have sex with you," Priscilla said, tears running down her cheeks.

"What!" I exclaimed and I felt Gina shake with fright.

"That's what he said. Either he has sex with Gina or he rats me out. He's quite adamant about his demands," she said, drying her eyes, having stopped crying.

"He's weird. We saw him playing with his cock. Can't we use that against him?" Gina said, scoffing.

"It would be our word against his. I don't think it equates to my having sex with a fifteen year old boy," Priscilla said, sounding discouraged.

"We can't have him turn you in to the authorities," I said, feeling pity toward Priscilla and rage toward Aaron.

"You can't be thinking that I would go through with it?" Gina asked, speaking softly, demurely. Actually, I wasn't thinking anything of the sort. What I was thinking was beating the shit out of Aaron, making him apologize to Priscilla and to Gina for suggesting such a thing. But she misunderstood my delay in answering her.

"Do you want me to?" Gina asked, hesitantly. I was overcome by the way she posed the question. I hugged her and kissed her, making her believe that I was accepting her offer.