Chapter 18

It was ten o'clock by the time Emily and I left my bedroom. We had enjoyed another, slower and more relaxing fuck, then, in the shower after, our fooling around had led to the two of us rolling around on the bathroom floor, locked in an energetic sixty nine. Once more back into the shower, before we finally got around to dressing, and making our way out of my bedroom.

Mama and Joyce were sitting in the library when we came down to the first floor. Mama pretended that nothing unusual had happened upstairs, and that she hadn't noticed any of the loud screams that Emily had issued. Instead, she inquired about Emily's parents and even asked how her school studies were going. Joyce was sitting next to Mama on the small settee, and she was scowling at Emily and I, not speaking, but registering her disapproval with her expressions.

I drove Emily home, with her asking me if we could get together over the coming weekend. She said she definitely wanted me to escort her to the dance at the club on Saturday. We spoke quietly, with me being less inclined to commit spending too much time to furthering her desire that we be perceived as being a couple.

"Em, I told you that I'm not that interested in having another girlfriend. I've made that clear to you, haven't I?"

"Don't be silly, Kenny. What else would you call it? We're a couple now."

"No, we're not. I told you that I was too busy to get involved like that. I'm lonely, but not for a girlfriend. I like what we've been doing, but I'm not going to let myself spend most of my free time and energy playing the couples game with you. You're using me for some things, and I'm using you for some things, but that's it. We're going to be friends, and that's all."

I saw her face get red and blotchy with her anger. I had figured this was going to happen. I had decided to try to nip it in the bud. It was one thing for me to go along with a little of her play acting for the kids at the diner, but I wasn't interested in becoming the focus of her social life. I'd told her as much when we first started talking, and nothing we'd done had changed that for me.

"No one will believe you're my boyfriend, if you aren't around all the time acting like it. I'm doing everything your other girlfriends did for you, why won't you treat me the same way you treated them?"

"I can't really explain the difference, but I'm just busier now than I was back then. I've made other commitments, and they're taking a lot of my free time. For right now, these things are more important to me than having a girlfriend could be."

"You only said you weren't ready for a girlfriend, not that you didn't have the time. Can't you make enough time, and still do the other things?"

No, I really can't. Even in the time we've spent together, I've been putting off getting things done that need doing. I need to study more for school, and I have to stay on top of those other projects I'm working on. They're important, and I've already committed myself to doing what I can to help them succeed."

"It doesn't have to be every night, and it wouldn't take three or four hours for us to be together. All I'd expect would be a few phone calls, and for us to do things once or twice a week."

"We've already done things for this week then, and I'm going to be busy all this weekend, trying to get things done that I've been putting off so we could do these things. I usually have time for a quick phone call, so that's no problem, but, what I have in mind for us, what my preference would be, is the two of us being friends who like to fuck sometimes. Like what I had with Bea, no emotional entanglements, or any of the obligations of being your boyfriend."

"Even Brenda offered me a better deal than that, when we were friends."

"Well, part of the reason I'm bringing this up now is because I didn't want us to be arguing about what each of us expects from the other. I don't want a girlfriend right now, and I'm not going to do all the things a boyfriend needs to do."

"I'm supposed to do all the things a girlfriend does, but only because we're friends?"

"Have I asked you to do anything you didn't want to do? I didn't ask to fuck you, you said you wanted to. We were talking about helping each other out, as friends, but now you're trying to move things up past what we talked about."

"I really thought tonight was different for us, Kenny. It was more like we were really a couple. Didn't you feel like we were?"

A couple, sure, I guess so. Not boyfriend and girlfriend though. Just two friends, a boy and a girl, who felt like getting together to give each other pleasure. Maybe I didn't say it right to you earlier, but I just can't handle any emotional involvement now. I need to keep my head clear right now, and I have to make sure nothing comes between me and what I need to do. I like you, Em, really, and I'm glad we're friends again. I just can't get emotionally involved with you, and I can't devote a lot of time to being with you."

Emily looked a bit angry still, but it seemed a more a resigned anger, or maybe, just a disappointed feeling. She wasn't still all blotchy, and didn't seem ready to yell at me, like she had been earlier. She took her time before responding to me. I could sense her wanting to choose the right words to say to me.

"I understand now, Kenny. This is different than I'd led myself to think it was. You always did talk about us just being friends before. I'm not sure if that is going to be enough for me. You're right about us not doing anything I haven't wanted to do. Where you are wrong is in believing I gave myself to you in friendship, or just because we were both horny. At least, that isn't how it was for me tonight. I thought about you all day today, from the second I woke up, until you finally called me. That's a lot different than just having a friend. If we continue now, it will be an unequal friendship, just like what I had with Brenda. I'm not sure I can go through another friendship like that."

"I don't think I'm at all like Brenda, Em. For one thing, I don't feel like I'm better than you, and I don't expect you to get less pleasure than I do whenever we're together. You have to make the decision about if you see enough differences that you want to continue with me. We can be friends without the sex, and I don't want you to think that's the only reason I want to be friends with you. I don't know if I'll be caught up by Saturday night or not, but, if I am, I'll probably see you out at the club, at the dance. If I do see you there, I'll stop off to say hello. Maybe we can have a dance or two?"

"I've got to get inside now, Kenny. I was really late last night. Whatever tonight was to you, I really had a good time. I'm sorry it wasn't what I thought it was." With that, Emily opened the car door and ran off before I had a chance to say anything more to her. I stayed to watch her reach her front door, then I started my car and drove back home.

I got home, and Mama and Joyce were still up, and still sitting on the settee in the library. I could see that Joyce had been crying, and knew it must have started since Em and I'd been gone. Mama had her arm around her, and she was comforting her.

"Kenny, you've upset Joyce. Please come here, and let me see your arms and back. Take off that shirt."

I looked over at Joyce, a little surprised that she had mentioned my scratches to Mama. I peeled off my shirt and turned my back to them. I saw my father coming out of his study. When he noticed all of us in the library, and me with my shirt off, he came in to see what was happening. The front and sides of my arms had long, ugly looking, scratches on them too, so he got a look at some of the wounds Emily had given me.

"Is that from tonight, Kenny?" My father pointed at my arms as he came nearer. He had a concerned look on his face.

"No, it happened last night. It isn't anything, just a few scratches."

"Turn around, Kenny, and show your father your back. Thomas look at what that girl has done to his back." Mama had gotten up from the settee, but Joyce was still sitting down. I turned and looked directly at Joyce, but she didn't return my gaze. Her face was flushed with embarrassment. I don't think she expected Mama to confront me about my injuries, at least not while she was still there. I wasn't angry with her, although I was somewhat disappointed.

"Damn, that girl needs to get her nails trimmed. She sure did a number on you. How come there are no fresh scratches on you now? From the noises coming from your room tonight, she sounded worked up enough to be scratching you again."

"Tonight, I made sure she couldn't do that again. Last night, I didn't know that she reacts this way when she's having some really good orgasms."

"I don't doubt that a bit, Kenny. Who would have expected something like that? Why didn't you stop her when she started doing that?"

"I was pretty busy doing something else, and it really didn't hurt that much at first. It kept getting more serious as time passed."

"Yes, well that's another point in favor of being gentle and civilized in your lovemaking, isn't it?" My father seldom missed an opportunity to note any fact that pointed out how right he was with some earlier assertion. This comment was aimed at Mama.

"Perhaps you have a point this time, Thomas. I wonder if Kenny is going to suffer permanent scarring from these wounds?" Mama seemed more upset by these scratches than they deserved. It wasn't as if Emily had inflicted them on purpose.

"I can assure you, Mama, it won't happen again." Mama looked up at my face when I said that.

"Did something take place after you left to take her home, Kenny? She seems like such a nice girl."

"We talked, but that wasn't what I meant. I meant that I've found a way to make sure her hands aren't free to scratch me, or her legs either, to beat my thighs and bottom. I keep her immobilized."

"Immobilized?" Mama looked worried.

"Yes, so she can't move and do that anymore. It works too. She kept trying to get free tonight, but I was able to restrain her easily. I think she liked it too."

"Kenny, I don't like the sounds of what I'm hearing. You weren't ah, restraining her against her will were you?" My Dad sounded very nervous when he asked me that.

"No, of course not. I mean, she wanted me to let her arms go, and she tried her hardest to escape, but I think she really wanted me to hold her that way. I'm sure it was a fantasy of hers or something, and it sure made her get a lot hotter faster."

"This isn't something you want to play with, Kenny. It's awfully easy to have a misunderstanding about these kinds of things. You might take it farther than she wanted you to." My Dad looked even more uncomfortable. Then, my mother jumped in again.

"Nonsense. I'm much more worried about Kenny's back. I'm sure she enjoyed being immobilized tonight. You heard her, we all did, Thomas. Did that sound like she was being mistreated to you? It didn't sound like that to me."

"Bertie, you're deliberately missing my point. Sometimes these things can get out of hand, and people can be injured badly."

"Thomas, Kenny has already indicated that he has matters under control. I personally spoke with her afterwards, and she seemed perfectly content with Kenny, perfectly content. Wouldn't you say so, Joyce?"

"I was too busy looking to see if she had any new blood under her nails. Kenny, why would you want to give her another chance to hurt you like that? I think she's terrible. You can do a lot better than her." Joyce was clearly upset. Was it because she thought Emily had hurt me on purpose, or because she was jealous of Emily? I had already known that Joyce had some sort of a crush on me, going back to the first week I hired her. For some reason, she thought I was responsible for all the good changes in her life.

She was like a sister to me now, and I didn't have any sexual interest in her at all. I should have been more circumspect with her, and not brought Emily home to spend time with me in my bedroom. I didn't want to hurt Joyce, but I needed to let her know that the love I had for her was purely a platonic love.

"Joyce, people react differently to pleasure. I told you that Emily did this without even realizing she did it. She wasn't thinking about what her hands or feet were doing. When you get a boyfriend, you'll understand what I mean."

Joyce started crying again and ran out of the library and up the stairs. Mama glared at me. I knew I was going to get a lecture about being insensitive to Joyce's feelings again. Several times in the past, I'd said things, or made a joking comment, and Joyce had reacted to it in this same way. Sometimes, I thought it was more a case of Joyce being too sensitive, rather than any of us being insensitive. Dad had gotten the same response from some of his comments. Mama always spoke down to Joyce, treating her like a very young girl, acting as if her appearance predicted her age, rather than the birth certificate she had shown us. Joyce seemed to relish Mama talking to her this way. Our family was wonderful in many ways, but we were also a little bit abnormal in some ways.

I went up and went to bed. When I woke up at six o'clock the next morning, Joyce was in bed with me, sleeping. I got out of bed and went and showered, getting ready for my final day of school before the weekend. My back felt well enough that I didn't put any ointment on it. I did my arms though, because I could reach them myself. When I came out of the bathroom, Joyce was sitting up in bed.

"I'm sorry, Kenny. I shouldn't have told her about your scratches, but, when I started crying, right after you left with Emily, she asked me why, and your scratches were all I could come up with to tell her."

"That wasn't why you were really crying?"

"No."

"Were you upset because Emily and I were up in my room having sex?"

She nodded, starting to cry again. "I know that's just stupid, but I can't help it if I feel that way."

"Emily and I are just friends, Joyce. I don't love her or anything. Sometimes, when two friends get horny, they help each other out that way. It doesn't mean that much."

"We're friends, and I'm horny, Kenny. Are you going to help me out too?" Joyce lifted her head to watch my face, wanting to see my reaction when she asked her question.

"We're much more than just friends now, Joyce. You know I love you, but you're my sister now. I need to have someone around I can turn to when things get too hard for me, and that's you. Sex would spoil what we have, and you know that. We'll both have lots of sex partners, but you're my only sister. We can't have sex, but if it bothers you too much, I won't bring girls home anymore to have sex with them."

"I knew you were going to say that. I didn't really want to have sex either. I get worried though sometimes, that you'll find someone, and then you won't have any more time for me."

"Joyce, I promise that won't ever happen. You're part of my family, and I could never not have time for you. Speaking of time, young lady, isn't it about time you got off your little butt and went to get ready for work? Somebody's got to make sure that things keep going well for all of us."

"I had to sneak into your room last night, Kenny. I was going to apologize to you, but you were already asleep. I got the idea to climb into bed with you, but then I chickened out, and all I did was peek at you, under your sheets. Are you mad at me for doing that?"

"I'm not mad. I was tired last night, and I must have forgotten to lock my door. I usually lock it at night."

"I know. I was surprised when your door opened up. I've tried it a couple of other times, and it was always locked."

"Joyce, if you're so curious, all you have to do is ask me. You don't have to sneak around."

"I'd like to see your dick when it gets hard. When I saw it before, it was soft. Did Emily take all your hardness away yesterday?"

"I wouldn't say all of it. Too bad you were still asleep when I got up this morning. It was really hard then."

"From seeing me sleeping in your bed?" Joyce had an anxious and hopeful smile when she asked me that. I didn't want her thinking that way either though.

"No, I always get a hard on when I first wake up, because I need to go pee. It's called a piss hard on, and that's about as hard as it gets."

"Tomorrow, when you wake up can you come over to my room and show it to me? I'd like to see yours when it's hard."

"Just mine or anyone's?"

"Just yours for right now. Maybe later, I'll try to see others though."

I was running late, so I walked her out of my room and hurried down to my car, without breakfast. In the parking lot at the academy, I went over my notes before my first class. We were having a big test, and I hadn't studied as diligently as I normally would. I got lucky though, and the answers came to me very easily. In fourth period, a class I hadn't prepared for the night before, my teacher called on me twice, both times with questions I knew the answers to. On one, dealing with the play, Richard the Third, I was able to answer all three of his follow up questions about Josephine Tey's book 'The Daughter of Time', dealing with the War of the Roses, Richard III, and with the drowning of the Duke of Clarence in a butt of Malmsley. Each of the follow up questions were for extra credit. I was fortunate that I'd read the book and the information was still fresh in my mind.

At home Friday, I got caught up with some group homes business, then I went over the first hastily prepared monthly profit and loss statement from the operation of the restaurant. The gross receipts were good, but the expenses were higher than we'd anticipated. It looked like it would take some time for the restaurant to operate at a profit. Marie's sister had taken over the breakfast duties, was helping at lunch, with Marie handling the dinner cooking alone. So far, lunch was the busiest time for the restaurant. Breakfast was the least busy meal for us. Grace had appointed her experienced waitress to run the restaurant in the mornings, then help the other waitresses learn waitressing before the lunch crowd started. Grace was coming in at around ten thirty, and handling duties until the close at nine o'clock. Jane was coming in after she was done with her studies and homework, to spend time with Grace, and help out wherever she could.