Chapter 33

During school the next day, Denise and Karen were back to being best friends again. They didn't ignore me, but they weren't overly lovey dovey with me either. Karen and I had lunch together, and we talked about school problems for the whole lunch period. After school, I walked Denise part of the way to her house, before I had to turn right, and head over to my mom's studio. My mother wanted me to move some mats outside so they would get the benefit of some cold, fresh air. I went up to Aunt Agnes' apartment and changed into my work clothes. She was up in her apartment, having some hot tea and taking a rest between classes. At four o'clock she was teaching a small class of advanced ballet students.

I stripped down to my underwear, and put on the old shirt and jeans I was going to wear while I did the work for my mom. I was a little nervous about seeing Agnes. I hoped she wasn't going to be mad at me about the smell we left in her bedroom.

"Did you have a pleasant afternoon yesterday, Larry?"

"I guess. Some friends came by and we mostly talked."

"Friends? Larry, this was to be just you and a friend. I don't want other boys bringing girls here too." Agnes sounded upset and worried.

"No, there weren't any other boys. I wouldn't do that. I know better. Two of my friends came over, and one of them brought her sister too. We talked, and then we did other stuff."

"Not all together, Larry?" This was going to be the tricky part. I didn't want to lie to her, but I wasn't comfortable telling her the truth either. Why was she even asking me this?

"One at a time."

"Not all three of them?" The way she asked me that question made me feel like I was some kind of a sex fiend. When we did it, it hadn't seemed like it was that much. I knew it wasn't the usual sort of thing. Now, I felt I had already said too much to back away and start trying to lie. It would only confuse things, and make it worse.

"One at a time. I didn't know there were going to be so many."

"These girls permitted this, Larry? What kind of girl allows this sort of behavior? In front of the other girls too?"

"They are close friends. That's how they wanted to do it. They did it to each other too."

"You had an orgy, Larry? On my bed? This is what you thought I would find acceptable behavior from you? This isn't what your mother and I had in mind. You should be ashamed!"

As soon as she said that to me, I was ashamed. I was ashamed that I'd allowed myself to tell her the truth. I'd broken my own first rule for survival with adults. With anyone really. I had talked about things that I shouldn't have.

"I can't believe you fell for that, Aunt Agnes. You should have seen the look on your face when I said that to you. I thought you were going to explode."

"You were joking?"

"About the orgy? Yeah! I'm fourteen years old. But there were three girls here for real. My girlfriend and one of her friends and the friend's sister. The friend and her sister were coming back from church, so they all walked over here together. The sister needed to use the toilet, so I let her, and then they left. All except for my girlfriend. I can't believe you really thought I would do anything like that. Wait until I tell my mom."

"That was not a funny joke, Larry. Why would you want to tease your own aunt that way? I do not want you to talk of any of this with your mother. She isn't like me, Larry. She wouldn't accept from you that it was merely a joke you were playing. Not when I mention to her about the condition of my apartment when you left it."

"I tried to pick everything up so it looked like I found it. We didn't leave it messy."

"Larry, I'm not speaking of a mess. When I got home last night, I had to leave my coat on for another hour. Do you know why?"

"The smell?"

I had to leave the front door open, plus the windows in the kitchen, and in the bathroom. Still, even after I put on fresh linens, I could smell a faint residue. Now, I understand why. It will not happen again though, am I right? One guest, Larry, no more!"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Agnes. I understand there are rules now. One girl on a Sunday."

"Larry, your mama is so afraid that you might be growing up too fast. I've said nothing to her about last night. A girl and a boy, that is a romantic thing, a natural part of growing up. For you, at fourteen, a little early perhaps, but still natural and understandable to a mother. Multiple partners, there is no romance in that, only Hedonism. There is sharing, and then there is using. Make sure that you understand the difference. I would not want you growing up to be someone who uses women only for your own pleasure."

"It wasn't like that, but I understand what you're saying. For your apartment, you have standards which you want honored."

"For my nephew, I have standards. The apartment is only a place where I sleep and store my clothes and other things. It means nothing more than that to me. You mean so much more. Don't debase yourself, and your friends, in order for you all to enjoy a few moment of physical pleasure. Sex, without intimacy, is only a complex form of masturbation. You don't need a crowd of people to do that."

"It is also a matter of time and opportunity. If you have so little time, you have to make the best use of it that you can. We would have preferred to do it separately, but there wasn't the time for it."

"You are still thinking only of the physical, Larry. Maybe that is usual for one so young. I forget you are so new to this, and it is all just experimenting to you. You are not seriously involved with any of these girls then?"

"I like them. One of them, I like a lot. But, I'm only serious about Clara. She wasn't here yesterday."

"That is good, Larry. If she had been, you wouldn't be as serious about her today. We protect and shelter those we love. Yesterday you didn't protect or shelter anyone. No more of that in my apartment, like yesterday. Understood?"

"Yes, no more, I understand. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, hurry down to help your mama, and let me rest up for my next class."

I ran down and got started on dragging those heavy mats outside. I set each one up on its side against the building's wall. It took me thirty minutes to get them all outside and set up. I went back inside to get warm again, and to wait for the mats to have a chance to get aired out. I looked over at the girls waiting for my aunt to come down to teach them. There were four of them. Two of the girls were college girls that I didn't know, Freida Muller was a senior at my high school. She was my mother's first star pupil. She had been taking lessons at a different studio for about ten years. She had taken one class from my mom before Agnes saw her, and brought her into her advanced dance program. Trudie was the fourth girl. Next to the other three girls, she looked very young. She noticed me looking at her while the girls were warming up, and she waved to me. I waved back.

My aunt came down and started assigning the different girls things to work on. She never had any of her students doing the same thing in her advanced classes. Agnes preferred to work on individual small components of dance, putting it all together only after months of working on each separate component. I don't know if that was a good way to do it or not. She hadn't been coaching the advanced dancers long enough yet for any of them to have gotten close to the point of being a professional. That was her goal. She wanted to train someone to have a career much better than what she had. For Agnes, that was the reason she began teaching the advanced students. I knew she was very excited over Trudie's chances, because she was still so young and yet, so advanced.

I watched my aunt working, admiring her efficiency, as she divided her time with each of the four girls. She kept each one busy working on their individual dance component. Often the component was only one single move, but sometimes, the component was a series of connected moves.

Trudie was working on a turn and deep bend with her arm, then lifting the arm back up until she did the final turn. In all, it didn't take seven seconds to complete. Trudie repeated it many times, but she looked like she was struggling with it. Agnes noticed, and went over to her, first walking her through each part. Trudie tried it several more times, with Agnes close by, looking on. It was better, but still not quite right to my untrained eye.

Finally, Agnes handed Trudie the clipboard full of her notes. Then, she performed the component in front of Trudie. Her moves were all done just a little slower than Trudie had done hers. When Agnes did them, it was done as one continuously flowing and connected motion. Watching as Agnes did the move, I began to understand for the first time what it was Trudie had been attempting. I've never studied ballet, and yet, after watching Agnes do it, I believed that I understood that move. Trudie gave Agnes back her clipboard. She seemed excited, and anxious to try it again herself. I watched closely as she performed the component. She was much improved over all her earlier efforts. Not as good as Agnes, but still, a lot improved. I could see, by the smile on Trudie's face, that she had a much better understanding of the component now. Agnes said something to her, probably an encouragement, and then went over and began helping one of the college girls with a stretch.