Chapter 8

Friday night came, and with it, Mr. Parsons. He sat down to dinner with us and that was supposed to be all I saw of him for the whole weekend. Mrs. Parsons made a comment that he was under enormous pressure because of the pending merger, and she told me not to bother him during his stay. As if I would seek him out for anything. I went up to my bedroom after dinner, and sat on my bed, listening to my radio, and thinking about my next idea for "accidentally" running into Brenda.

It had been nine whole days since our argument in the bleachers. How long was she going to hold a grudge? Worse, suppose she wasn't holding a grudge against me? Suppose instead, she had simply lost any interest she might have had in me? That wasn't a very pleasant thought.

Saturday morning, Mrs. Parsons was staying in her bedroom. It was Mr. Parsons who came to my bedroom door to tell me that she wouldn't be going out to the country club to play golf with me. When he told me about it, he actually seemed as disappointed as I was.

"How did your tennis date with Brenda go, Kenny?" It was surprising to me that he would ask me a question that was not strictly necessary for him to be asking. That wasn't the kind of relationship we had formed thus far. I might have hesitated too long in answering, because he started to turn away to head to the staircase.

"She got mad at me, and I haven't seen her for nine days now." He paused, then turned back to stand in my doorway, the way he had been shortly before.

"Why was she mad at you? Were you not being a gentleman?" The way he phrased the question sounded to me like he already had decided that the answer would be no. For some reason, I didn't want Mr. Parsons to think he had been right about me all along. His earlier comments, that night he tried to get me to leave after the incident with Bea, had shown me that he held a poor opinion of the kind of person that I was.

"It wasn't anything I did, it was what I wouldn't do, that's what made her angry." I heard a whine in my voice as I said that to him. I was reminded of the many times I'd been sent to Mother Superior's office, to explain my reasons for one failure or another of mine to comply with a sister's demand. With Mother Superior, I'd always known that what I said wouldn't matter to her. She never sided with a kid over a sister. There was still something in my nature that demanded that I try to make her understand why I had acted as I had. I had automatically assumed that Mr. Parsons would treat me the same way as Mother Superior always had.

"Tell me about what happened, Kenny." He said it in an anxious tone of voice. My first thought was that he was afraid I might have done something that would reflect badly on him with Mr. Connor. I already knew, from earlier conversations with both Brenda and Mrs. Parsons, that Mr. Connor did business with the Parsons' family company, and that he was dependent on the family's continued good will towards him. I went ahead and told him everything that happened, from the first, aborted tennis practice, to our later practice, and our subsequent conversation about Richard and Claudia being caught in a "compromising embrace". Apparently, judging by his next series of questions, Mr. Parsons was as curious as Brenda and Bea had been about the exact nature of what Richard and Claudia had been up to. "Why didn't you just go ahead and do what she wanted you to? It seems to me that one or two questions, discreetly asked, wouldn't have been taking advantage of anything."

"I was a guest, and I didn't want to get Mr. Chalmers or your wife in trouble because I did something wrong."

"I see your point, but I think you might have still made a few discreet inquiries on Brenda's behalf. Now tell me what plan you've come up with to re-insert yourself into her good favor?"

"I tried to run into her at the pool, but she wasn't there. I go to the club almost every day, but I haven't seen her there. I don't know what to do."

"I wish I'd had your kind of problems when I was your age. You can't just sit back and hope that she eventually forgives you. You need to show some spine. Get on the phone and call her. Don't be afraid to grovel if you have to. You have to understand the way all women think, Kenny. If she's mad at you, in her mind, that automatically means that you were in the wrong. It is therefore up to you to apologize to her. Whether or not you think you were wrong, matters to them not one whit. The problem with this is that you've waited too long to simply apologize to her. Now, you also have to bring her tribute. Some symbolic gesture, an offering to show your sincere repentance. Is there any way you can perform the task that she asked of you? Probably not. Too much time has passed. Is there something else that she requested from you, something that you also refused?"

"She wanted me to be her partner in the mixed doubles tournament, but I told her I wanted to wait until I could play well enough to not embarrass myself."

"Good. Call her straight away. Apologize to her, and offer to be her partner later today, at the weekly tournament."

"I don't have her phone number."

"I have it in my study. Come with me, and we'll call her from there. Kenny, you really have to be more assertive, if you are to enjoy any success with the ladies, or with anything in life. If you just sit back, someone else will succeed where you've failed."

We went down to his study as soon as I was dressed. I was surprised that he didn't go on ahead, instead of waiting in the doorway for me. His desk in the study was filled up with all kinds of paperwork. It was more reading than I could do in a year. He saw me looking at everything on his desk. He sat down and reached into the top drawer and pulled out a thin, black notebook. He searched through it for a minute, and then put it away and picked up his phone. After dialing, he surprised me by not passing the phone receiver over to me.

"Georgia, this is Tom Parsons, is Walt available for a minute or two?" There was a short wait, maybe fifteen or twenty seconds, while Mrs. Connor went to get Mr. Connor. "Walt, I was just sitting at my desk trying to figure out a few things for next year, when Kenny came into my study, all upset about his little row with Brenda. Do you know what's going on with them? He seems to think she might be mad at him, and it's left him upset." Mr. Parsons winked over at me, listening to whatever Mr. Connor was telling him. "No, he didn't say why she might be mad, only that she was." I could hear Mr. Connor talking through the receiver. He seemed to be talking very fast. "That's good of you Walt. You ask her, and if it isn't that serious, have her call over here so that Kenny will calm down enough to let me get back to my work." I heard Mr. Connor talking again, this time slower, more like normal conversation. "Of course, Walt, I wouldn't let something like this have any effect on any of my supplier decisions. This was purely a personal call for help." He hung up the phone a little while later, and then turned his attention back to me.

"Kenny, I just greased the rails for you there. It's still up to you to apologize and to ask her if she'll let you partner her in the tennis tourney today. I only spoke with Mr. Connor in order to let him know that I have taken a personal interest in this matter. That was just in case Walt or Georgia had a hand in her not contacting you. I trust you'll remember that Brenda is a nice young lady, from a good family, and I hope you won't attempt to take advantage of her, as you did with Beatrice."

"Do you think she'll call me?"

"I'm certain that she will. Give it half an hour. Use that time to think about what you wish to say to her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot to get accomplished today. Let me know how your day goes at dinner tonight. If Mrs. Parsons should join us for dinner, I'd expect you to keep mum about my part in any of this. If you are wondering why I'm using my valuable time to help you with this, it is because of Bertie. Your being here with us has helped her. She seems more focused and energetic now, and she is getting out and about more often. As long as she continues showing signs of getting stronger, I will continue to view you in this more favorable light. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Please shut my door on your way out. Good luck with Brenda, and with your tennis tourney."

I knew he wanted me to get out of there and leave him alone. After I went out, I went in the kitchen and had my breakfast. I told Gerta that I was hoping for a phone call from a girl. When I was telling her that, Bea walked into the kitchen.

"Is it Miss Brenda, Kenny? Did you find a way to get her back?" Bea's eyes looked excited. She liked hearing about everybody's private business. I kept her company while Gerta made her breakfast, filling her in about the surprising help I received from Mr. Parsons. She listened carefully, asking questions when she wanted me to explain better about the things that Mr. Parsons had said, both to me, and to Mr. Connor. When I finished, Gerta was bringing Bea her breakfast, two sunny side up eggs and one piece of unbuttered toast. She already had a cup of coffee in front of her. "This doesn't surprise me that much. Tommy doesn't like being left out of anything. He thinks he's a great General or something. Maybe he is. One thing I'm sure of, from what you've told me, he has Mr. Connor under his thumb because of business, and he'll probably do almost anything not to have Tommy squish him. When it comes to persuasion, Tommy is real good. He talks good, but talk isn't everything."

Gerta had sat down with us, and was eating a sweet roll with her coffee. I thought she'd be upset to hear Bea using Mr. Parsons first name that way, and for the things she said about him. If she was, her laughter didn't demonstrate that too well. Bea was giving me ideas about what to say to Brenda when she called. I was surprised that she agreed completely with Mr. Parsons about how I should apologize and offer to play in the tournament with her.

"Bea, I can't play very well. We're going to get creamed if we try to play."

"Kenny, that isn't important. In fact, the worse you play, and the more embarrassed you are about it, the more she'll appreciate you doing this for her. She'll understand that you are only doing this for her. I bet it makes her wet too. This might be her first real taste of having the power. I was twelve years old when I first experienced the power. It changed my whole way of looking at things."

"Suppose we play better than I think, suppose we win a match? It could happen, Brenda's pretty good."

"It won't matter that much. The important thing was that you acted to get her back, you apologized, and offered to do something she knew you didn't want to do. She's going to be impressed that you got Tommy to talk to her father and help plead your case. Even if you do win, she will know that she made you sacrifice something to get back into her presence. The power is in making men do what they normally wouldn't do, would never do, not if they weren't wanting something from you. She will know she is important to you, and that you couldn't stop thinking about her. That's the power."

"Suppose she still wants me to ask some of the club employees about what happened with Richard and Claudia?"

"Find out for her, if you can. You better tell me about it too, if you do find out. If you apologize and then still refuse to look into it, she will know your apology was a bunch of bologna. Don't let her think that, or else you will lose her. An insincere apology is far worse than no apology. You should also find some way to kiss her after the tennis is all done. You deserve one for giving in to her. If you don't take one, she'll think you are too weak. Don't let her think that. If she kisses you before you take a kiss from her, then you have to do something more to show that you're strong. Either touch her tits, or rub her ass, but make sure you do something."

"She's only fourteen, Bea, plus she's a nice girl. I don't think she'd appreciate me taking liberties like that."

"So now you think you know more about women than I do? I'm giving you gold here, kid and you're treating it like it was dog shit. The sooner you get rid of the notion that little rich girls are different than people like Gerta and me, the better off you're going to be. When it comes to boys and girls, we're all built the same. The game is the same too. The rules might vary some, but the goal is just the same. If you want to score in the game, you have to know how to play. Do you think she is going to be that surprised if you cop a little feel? Especially if she starts it off by giving you the first kiss? You better pay attention and listen to me, Kenny. If she gives you that strong of a go ahead signal, and you don't act on it, you just might find yourself out of the game with her, out without ever having had the slightest chance to score."

I got up and went out to the living room. I thought about what Bea had said. With Bea, I hadn't felt shy about any of the sex things. Of course, she was bold enough for both of us. I had already found out from her that she liked teaching me new things. Bea wasn't a normal girl though. What worked with her, probably wouldn't work on a girl like Brenda. I could argue with myself all day about that, but the truth was that Bea knew so much more about men and women than I did. I would be foolish to think that my ideas on what to do would be better than her advice. I was saved from having to do further thinking by the sound of the telephone ringing. Gerta came into the living room to tell me the phone call was for me. My stomach got tight and seemed to clench up. I was suddenly afraid to talk to her. Having Bea come into the living room to watch and listen didn't help things either.

"Hello?"

"Kenny, it's Brenda. My dad said you wanted me to call you?"

"Hi Brenda. Yes, thanks for calling me. I would have called you, but I didn't have your number. Brenda, I'm sorry about not doing that thing you asked me to. I should have done what you asked, and I'm sorry that I didn't."

"I thought you were mad at me, Kenny. I got over being mad at you right after. I was hoping you'd come to the tennis courts, but when you didn't, I thought you were still mad at me."

"No, I wasn't ever mad at you. I went to the pool, but you didn't show up. I waited there until after six."

"I heard that you had been there. Diana Trask told me. She said you were looking all around at everyone, but you didn't come over to talk with anyone. She thinks you're too shy."

"I was there mostly hoping to see you again. I was wondering if you still wanted me to be your partner at the mixed doubles tournament? Mr. Parsons told me there is one going on this afternoon at the club."

"Do you mean it? I wasn't going to go, because I'd only get stuck with someone too old to really play tennis. All of the good men or boy players already have partners. If you'd come and play, I bet we can do better than losing in the first round. At least, you can get to some of the balls. Most of the old guys can only hit it back if it gets hit right where they are standing. I thought you wanted more practice before playing in the tourneys?"

"I do, but I wanted to offer, so you knew how sorry I was about that other thing."

"Well, I probably should be nice, and let you off the hook, but I'm not going to be. I'll meet you at the courts at around noon. Maybe we can get some time to work out a playing strategy, once we know who our first opponents are. The matches begin at two o'clock. I could kiss you for doing this for me, Kenny. I really appreciate it. I've missed you ever since we had our stupid fight. I need to go now to make sure all of my things are ready. I'll see you at twelve?"

"I'll see you then. I'm going to hold you to that promised kiss too."

"I never promised. That's only an expression."

"Oh, that's disappointing."

"Don't try to make me feel sorry for you. It isn't going to work. I'll tell you this though, if we win our first match, I will kiss you, right out there on the court too.

"I'd rather it was right on the lips, not on the court."

"We'll just have to wait and see. Bye."

After I put the phone down. Bea made me tell her every word that Brenda had spoken to me. She asked about Brenda's tone of voice, and how she spoke several key sentences to me. I felt like I was being interrogated by one of the sister's at the orphanage. Being asked about something that I'd done wrong. Bea whispered to me that her pussy was soaked from thinking about what was going to be happening with Brenda and me soon. She told me that I would probably be screwing Brenda, her words, not mine, before she even got her release from the court. I told her that I didn't want to do that with Brenda. That wasn't entirely true, but I wasn't really feeling like doing it so quickly with her. I wanted Bea all the time, and that girl at the pool who showed me her pussy, I wanted her even more than I did Bea.

Brenda, the way I felt with her, it was more of a friends first kind of thing. I wanted to eventually have her for a girlfriend, and I got excited thinking about doing some sex things with her, but it was more complicated than just sex. With Bea, she was my friend, and sex was something that was a large part of our friendship.

That black haired girl at the pool, that was strictly animal lust. Bea had told me that. She said it would be better for me if I got to fuck her once without even knowing her name, or even talking to her at all. Bea had been after me to go back to the pool on Friday too. She said the girl would get even bolder the next time. I believed everything Bea said about that girl. I could easily picture Bea doing the same thing as the girl had, and I knew that it would get her so excited if she did it.

I had gotten a hard on from thinking about Bea and that other girl. I saw Bea looking at my crotch. When I caught her eye, she laughed and shook her body from side to side, making her breasts jiggle.

"Come home tonight and tell me that you touched her tits. If you do, I promise I'll find a way to get up to your room, and be real nice to you."

"I wasn't thinking about Brenda then. I was thinking about having you at the pool with me, if that girl came back. I bet you'd get really hot if you saw her doing that again to me."

"I'd get hot all right, but maybe not just for you. Girls can do things together too, you know? It isn't always necessary to have a man near by. There are other ways for a girl to get some pleasure."

I looked at her, not understanding what she meant. I got up and walked over to the staircase. I was in my room, putting on my tennis shorts and a nice shirt, when it struck me that Bea was talking about doing sex things herself with that black haired girl. After I started thinking about it, I could picture her doing that. I knew how much Bea liked it when I licked her. I took my tennis shorts off and went into my bathroom, carefully locking the door behind me. It didn't take me very long, not with that image of those two girls in my mind. When I was done, and finished with washing my hands, I had this wild thought about sister Clara and sister Karen. They were the youngest of the orphanage sisters. I remembered a time when Marie sent me over to the sister's dorm to find sister Clara because Marie needed someone to order up some food for her. When I got to sister Clara's room I heard some funny noises inside, and I also heard sister Karen laughing, and then telling someone to stop it. At the time, I didn't think anything about it, but, now, I wondered if they had been doing something like I'd been imagining Bea and the girl at the pool doing.

One thought like that just naturally led to another, so, before I thought too much about what I was doing, I was grunting and splashing more of my semen into the sink. I needed to wash my hands again, and rinse all the semen down the drain. After, I decided I better wash my face and comb my hair again too. I hoped I hadn't done it too much. I knew I needed my strength to play tennis later. I knew that I could tell Bea the story about sister Clara and sister Karen. She would probably want to be nice to me after I told her about what I now thought had been going on.

After I got ready, I went to Mr. Parsons study and knocked on his door. He told me to come in, so I did, thanking him again for helping me, then I told him I was going to the club to meet Brenda to work on our tennis strategy. He laughed.

"I've never heard it called that before. Tennis strategy. Remember what I told you, Brenda is a nice girl. I expect you to do your best, Kenny. Winning is important in life, and you can never start too early. Tell Hans to drive you to the club. Call when you're finished, and we'll send the car back out for you. Are you fixed all right for money?" He stood up, reached in his pocket, and handed me two twenty dollar bills. "Take Brenda into the club house and buy her some lunch. Sign for it if you can, otherwise the money I gave you ought to cover it. Have them call me from the club if there's a problem with you signing." I thanked him and excused myself. I went in the kitchen, and Hans was sitting at the table drinking some coffee. It was after eleven. I asked Hans to drive me out to the country club, but he looked like Gerta had already told him I'd be going.

When we got to the parking lot at the club, I told Hans that Mr. Parsons had told me to call home when I needed another ride. I walked over to the tennis courts, but Brenda hadn't arrived there yet. I sat down in the bleachers, and watched a couple playing singles together. The man was about seventy years old, and the woman was about forty. The way they were calling each other 'dear' and 'honey', I figured they were married to each other. I kept watching them play, trying to learn something from them. That's what I was doing when a pair of lips kissed me on the back of my neck. Brenda had crawled under the bleachers and snuck up on me. She laughed when I jumped up in surprise.

"Did I surprise you, Kenny? You sure jumped high enough." Without waiting for my answer, she climbed through the opening between the wooden boards that served as seats, dragging her racquet bag behind her. She plopped down next to me, sitting a lot closer than she had been the last time we sat there. "There's two open courts, do you want to hit some balls, or do you want to discuss how we're going to be able to beat Mr. and Mrs. Lowenstein?"

"Is that who we're playing? Do you know how they play?"