Chapter 9: Dealing with Angie

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee woke me, or it may have been the emptiness I felt when I reached for Shirley and discovered she wasn't in the bed.

Glancing around the room, I saw her clothes scattered around on the floor where she had taken them off the night before. Her panties and bra were atop her jeans and T-shirt, with her socks and sneakers nearby.

I got out of bed, put on my shorts and headed to the bathroom, stopping at the door when I saw her seated at the computer, already working on the reports for Mr. Blakely, the V.P of sales at Oldham.

Frowning at the screen, the tip of her tongue suddenly appeared at the corner of her mouth and with a few fast clicks of the mouse she leaned back in the chair, a satisfied look on her face.

I could tell by her slight grin that she knew I was watching. Her hair was hanging down to her shoulders, straight and unbound; it bounced when she gave it a little shake. She was wearing my shirt from the party and based on her pile of clothes in the bedroom, nothing else. She pretended to concentrate on the screen until she couldn't resist turning to acknowledge my stare. Reaching for a coffee mug and bringing it to her lips, she turned her attention to me, looking surprised as if she hadn't known I had been watching her.

She gave me a sly wink, "How are you this morning, sweetheart? Not mad at me for waking you in the middle of the night, I hope?"

"You can wake me any time you want as long as you rock me back to sleep the same way you did this morning."

This brought a wide smile to her face. "That wasn't rocking. That was... bonking," she laughed, blushing.

I sprinted to the bathroom and when I returned to the front room she was deep in concentration so I didn't disturb her. I found Tammy in the kitchen, dressed in a long T-shirt.

She handed me a glass of orange juice and commenced filling me in on what happened at the party after Shirley and I left. The police had broken it up about twelve-thirty. She said they were very polite, saying there had been a complaint about the loud music. "They left as soon as the music was turned off but the party broke up soon after because the keg was empty anyway."

"Did you happen to notice if Kent and Skip were still talking to Amy and Laura?"

Tammy's eyes became large, like they were dilated.

"The girl that lives with them came outside and broke them up. This must have been about eleven-thirty. She was all over Kent for not helping her in the kitchen."

"That's Tracy. They've been having problems with assigned tasks in the apartment but she was probably justified to complain. Last night was Kent's party and he should have been a better host."

"He went inside with her and I didn't see him again until the police showed up. He came back outside and spoke to them. And then... ," Tammy grinned and put her hand to her mouth like she couldn't believe what she was about to say, "He went back to talking to Amy and Laura."

"My God!" I exclaimed before catching myself. The domino I had seen was coming true, only not the way I pictured. Kent must have become totally captivated by Amy while Skip and Laura were content to find each other, not the way I had pictured it happening.

I didn't dare tell Tammy she was one of the female pips on the domino. She wouldn't believe me and anyway, the other person was too blurred to recognize. Had I gotten that part wrong too?

Tammy collected Shirley's empty coffee mug and placed it next to the sink before remarking, "You look like you've seen a ghost, Sammy."

That was the same thing Kent had said about the way I looked when he first saw me the night before. I stalled by pouring two cups of coffee and handing one of them to her.

Tammy looked hesitant when I motioned for her to take a seat at the table. I realized it was because of the way she was dressed and assured her that I wouldn't peek at her shapely legs. She grinned sheepishly and joined me.

"The party was Kent's way of finding a girl for Skip," I began.

Tammy stirred her coffee and took a sip before observing. "He overdid it, didn't he? Was it necessary to invite fifty people just to find one girl?"

It was good to see her smile, straying from her ordinary serious demeanor. Her image in the domino haunted me. I looked beyond her left shoulder, straining to see who was behind the blur but the picture wouldn't focus.

"It got a little out of hand. Kent asked me to find an eligible girl for Skip and I invited ten people. Kent had invited his neighbors too so they wouldn't complain about the noise."

"It seems like everything worked out for the best. I'm glad you invited me; I had fun," she said, beaming.

"I'm glad you had a good time." It was good to see her loosen up. "Did you dance any more after we left?"

"I only danced one more time but I got to talk to several people I hadn't seen since we had classes together. Someone even brought me a beer."

I tried to picture Tammy dancing. Her figure wasn't her best feature. In addition to an oversized ass, her breasts didn't exactly lift the T-shirt off her chest. But her blue eyes and auburn hair gave her a soft and serious appearance, sincere to the core. I recalled how she clung to me when we danced together and I wondered who else had invited her to dance. I didn't ask.

We were discussing Tracy and the predicament she was in when Angie came into the kitchen and overheard me remark, "I wouldn't blame Tracy if she moved out."

"If she does it'll be your fault," Angie said, accusingly as she made her way to the refrigerator to pour herself a glass of orange juice.

A look of alarm came to Tammy's face but I gave her a reassuring smile. "Let's go to the bakery," I suggested, pushing my chair back and rising to my feet. I'd had more than enough of Angie and I wanted to get out of the house without responding to her accusation that I would be responsible if Tracy split up with Kent. But Tammy was reluctant to get up.

"Hi Tammy!" Charlie said, suddenly coming into the kitchen and speaking to Tammy as if Angie and I were not there.

"Good morning, Charlie," Tammy said, smiling at him but still not budging from her chair.

"Come on, Tammy, we're going to the bakery," I ordered, not acknowledging Charlie's presence because he had ignored me. He and Tammy were looking at each other like they were the only ones in the room. Angie took notice.

"Put some clothes on for fuck's sake, both of you," Angie shouted at us, having discovered that Tammy was dressed only in a T-shirt that, from Angie's view, may or may not have covered panties.

I heard Tammy apologize for the way she was dressed as I rushed to our bedroom to find short pants, a T-shirt and sneakers.

"We're going to the bakery, want to go?" I ask Shirley, knowing what she would say.

She looked my way and shook her head, smiling. "You can get me another mug of coffee though, please?"

Tammy came out of the bathroom, wearing shorts and sneakers, ready to go with me.

Seeing that Tammy was going, Charlie spoke up. "I'd like to go to the bakery with you, Sammy."

"Good, the more the merrier," I answered him as I delivered Shirley's coffee to her. She turned her head and lifted her lips, begging for a goodbye kiss.

I sucked her lower lip into my mouth and heard her moan.

"You taste like coffee."

"You taste like pussy juice," she teased.

"I didn't eat your pussy last night."

"Give me another taste," she said, pulling my head down. This time it was her turn to draw my lower lip into her mouth. "You're right, that pussy juice is two days old. I think you need a fresh serving."

I walked away from her, shaking my head but when I turned she was blushing. I mouthed, "I love you," and was rewarded with a smiling, "I love you," in return.

Charlie and Tammy were waiting by the door, ready to go but we were forced to endure five minutes of Angie ranting against each of us.

First, Angie berated me for inviting Tammy to spend the entire weekend with us and for letting her go around half-naked.

I stood there with my mouth open, thinking of the things I could say in retort, really concentrating on not laughing.

Next, Angie tore into Tammy, accusing her of flaunting her sex appeal in front of Charlie.

Again, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Tammy, while her face, hair and eyes were sensuous, and her legs were shapely, she was a very nice girl but not what I would call sexy.

Tammy followed my lead and didn't respond to the girl's rage.

Charlie had his hand on the doorknob but didn't turn it before Angie attacked him too.

"You danced with her last night, I saw you rubbing yourself against her, and now you're going with her to the bakery?" she asked, like he was committing a mortal sin.

"It's nothing..." Charlie started to get confrontational before I pulled the door open, shoved him through it and encircled Tammy's waist with my left arm. She giggled as I swept her off her feet and deposited her outside next to Charlie.

"Shirley, we'll get you a raspberry tart," I called out, just for something to say as I closed the door behind me.

What just happened? Things were changing before my eyes. I had been able to shrug off Angie's attempt to start an argument, Charlie had danced with Tammy at the party and Shirley probably thought I was crazy. Did she even like raspberry tarts? This was something else I didn't know about her. I couldn't wait to be alone with her so I could find out. I didn't know it then but it would be four days before I was able to relax enough to even think of personal trivia.

I was seeing a different side of Tammy. She was in a playful mood, walking between us arm-in-arm and bumping her ass into Charlie and then me and then Charlie again. She hadn't mentioned Jason all morning.

We were half way to the bakery before I broke the silence.

"You're going to do that one time too many," I warned her when she tried to push me off the sidewalk with her ass.

"What are you going to do about it, commander?" she asked, jetting her ass into me before jumping into Charlie's arms for protection.

I laughed at her. It was nice to see color come to her cheeks and excitement in her eyes as she clung to Charlie. We resumed walking but I was alert now, just waiting for her to swing her ass against my leg again.

It wasn't long before I got my chance. Her ass barely touched my leg when I encircled her waist for the second time that day. Only this time I pulled her to me and held her. She resisted a little but when she saw it was impossible to get free she looked up at me with laughing eyes, daringly. Her lips were parted, curled into a semi-smile, waiting to see what I was going to do.

Charlie was off to the side, watching, his presence forgotten.

"You danced with Charlie last night?"

She nodded her head, still smiling.

"How many times?"

"Only two times," she answered eyes downcast now.

"Did you like dancing with Charlie?"

She raised her eyes to mine, nodded, smiling again.

"Was the dance floor crowded?"

Tammy nodded, blushing now.

"Did you like dancing close?"

Alarm flooded her face. "Sammy," she whined, "let me go."

"You like dancing close, didn't you?"

"Let me go, please," she pleaded.

"Tell me."

Tammy was a senior in college and two years older than me but for that moment I was talking to her like it was Brenda, age eight, in my arms. She looked up and whispered, "Yes."

"Did you like dancing with me?"

Again, she gave me a little-girl stare and again, I mistook her for Brenda as she whispered, "Yes."

I said, 'that's good," kissed her forehead and loosened my hold on her but for a moment she remained close, like she wasn't sure if I had released her.

Tammy bumped into each of us once more as we walked the rest of the way to the bakery but these were gentle bumps, just hard enough to show she was in a good mood and having fun.

I left them at the bakery with instructions to order a selection of pastries while I went to the convenience story to pick up a gallon of milk. When I returned they were waiting, involved in a discussion. From the few words I picked up it was serious. They were talking about Angie.

"I only took the required Psyche One-O-One so I'm not qualified to analyze what's bothering her, but real life experience tells me it's a case of insecurity," Tammy was saying.

"What would make her insecure?" Charlie asked.

We started walking back to the apartment and Tammy fell into step between us.

"I've had some experience with a psychiatrist and I can tell you they wouldn't be able to help Angie," I volunteered.

"You saw a psychiatrist? Not you, Sammy. I don't believe you." Tammy was disbelieving but curious. Charlie's ears perked up too.

"Yeah, I got into a little trouble in my younger days."

"What kind of trouble?"

I looked at Tammy and then at Charlie. I certainly wasn't going to relate the incident with the apple-coring tool to them.

"Charlie, you remember the Pinehurst game when we were in our third year? The running back punctured my cheek with his long finger nails and I retaliated. I squeezed the kid's hand and his neck a little too hard and caused him to pass out. My dad made me see a lady psychiatrist every Friday night for twelve weeks. We worked on controlling my anger."

"Her treatment must have been effective. You've always seemed gentle to me," Tammy said, playfully slamming her ass into my leg.

"You haven't roomed with him. He pops tennis balls just for the hell of it," Charlie put in.