Chapter 17: Jonathon

Why did things have to be so difficult I thought as I went into the gym? After checking with the teacher, I headed to the weights. I needed to think about the things Jackie had said to me, as well as how I responded. I wondered if I told Jackie what did to please her, or if I really meant it. Seeing Ted between Jackie's legs was exciting because she seemed to really enjoy it. I didn't think about the fact Jackie and Ted had been dating, not at the time. My only goal was to see her have as much fun as I was having.

"What me to spot for you?" Ted asked me while I was stretched out on the weight bench.

I sat up, looking up at him. "In a minute, I was just thinking about a few things."

"Is everything okay? I saw what happened in the lunchroom," Ted said. "I hope I didn't fuck things up."

"No, but I think I might have, I don't know yet. When I asked you to give Jackie relief this morning, I wasn't thinking about the fact you and her were together before."

Ted nodded. "I kind of thought that's what it was about, JR. Hey, man, I'm really sorry if I caused trouble for you and Jackie."

"It didn't cause me any trouble, but I think it has affected Jackie. She really cares for you," I told Ted.

"I care for Jackie, but not like that. She's a great girl, but I don't have those feelings for her, not anymore. Jackie is a great friend, my buddy, but I don't think of her in terms of being a girlfriend. When you asked me to join you two, I almost didn't do it."

I didn't ask Ted why, I didn't really need to know. I stretched out on the bench, grabbed the bar, and began doing bench presses. After doing my set, I switched with Ted. We did curls, military presses, and a few other things before we finally stopped.

After class, I went to the girls' locker room to shower. I managed to get my shower with a minimum of fondling. Finished, I went out to wait for Jackie.

"Ready for art class?" I asked Jackie when she came out of the locker room.

Jackie giggled, gave me a kiss, and then took my hand. "I'm as ready as I going to be."

Our art teacher wasn't a fan of The Program and had made her feelings well known. However, she did take the opportunity to use Jackie and me as live models for the charcoal drawings the class was working on. The class was pretty boring because Jackie and I spent the entire period sitting in straight-back chairs so our classmates could sketch us. After art, we headed to the pool for practice.

Mr. Rosin had us warm up and begin swimming laps. After that, he worked with me on getting off the block. I made dive after dive, improving my reaction time. He told me I was doing very well and went to work with a few of the other members of the team. I went to sit in the bleachers to rest.

"Honey, a few of the team members are going to TJ's after practice, want to go?"

TJ's was a small place owned by Terry Jackson and his wife. They served burgers, fries, sodas, ice cream, and a few other things. Mostly, it was a place to hang around and meet friends.

"Sure, sounds like fun," I said. "What about Mo, are we going to take her with us?"

"If she wants to go," Jackie said.

The coach reminded us of the upcoming meet. He told us we should plan to get to the pool at six o'clock, an hour early. After asking for questions, he dismissed us.

Mo was waiting in the hallway. She and her program partner, Billy, were chatting about a concert they would be playing in on Sunday. Jackie told her sister we were going to TJ's and asked if Mo wanted to come with us.

"Sure, if you guys want me to," Mo said.

"If we didn't want you to go, we wouldn't have asked you," I said.

Mo giggled and nodded her head. We went to get our clothes so we could get dressed. Mo hadn't worn her clothes to school so she watched as Jackie, Billy and I dressed.

Cindy and Suzie, two of our team members asked for a ride to TJ's. Mo sat up front with Jackie and me to make room for the two girls. I saw Ted and asked if he wanted a ride. Ted got into the backseat and we were off.

At TJ's, we ordered sodas. We gathered around a large table and began talking about the meet. While chatting and having fun, Cindy said, "Oh shit!"

"What's wrong?" Ted asked her.

Suzie pointed at the parking lot. "Look, it's the Baxters."

I asked who the Baxters were.

"They're brothers, Brad and Billy are twins, and they're like twenty or something. The bigger one is Bryan, their older brother. He goes by Bubba. They were in prison for the last three and a half years," Ted said.

"What were they in prison for?" I asked.

"For raping my sister," Cindy replied, her voice showing her fear. "My older sister used to date Brad. Lorie was at their house one weekend with Brad and the other two came home drunk. They all raped her!"

"Wow, that's horrible!" I said. "How come they're out of prison?"

"Their lawyer got them off with a reduced charge because Lorie had been having sex with Brad. He tried to convince the jury it was consensual. In the end, the jury found them guilty of a lesser charge. They got six years, but I guess they made parole," Cindy said.

While Cindy told me about what happened, I watched the three brothers. They were standing by their car, drinking out of a bottle of whisky. A few minutes later, the three of then came into the building.

I listened to them swearing and laughing. They pushed their way to the front of the line, ordered sodas, and yelled at the young girl behind the counter to hurry. While they waited, they looked around. When Bubba saw Cindy, he nudged his brother Brad.

"Hey, isn't that your slut's little sister?" Bubba said loudly. "Shit, she looks almost as good as the whore."

I saw the color drain from Cindy's face. It was clear she was scared half to death. I knew about guys like the Baxter brothers, I used to be a lot like them. While the crew and I never raped anyone, we did use intimidation to get what we wanted. The Baxter brothers got their sodas and headed our way.

"Oh shit, here comes trouble," Ted said.

"Hey cutie, how's your sister doing?" Bubba said as he grabbed his crotch. "Tell her we want to see her again."

"She doesn't want to see you assholes!" Cindy spat.

"That's okay, we'll just show you a good time. Your slut sister loved it when we fucked her brains out!" Bobby said.

Brad spotted Mo and said, "What the fuck is this? Do the whores around here just run around naked now?"

I looked up at Bubba. It was easy to see he was the leader of the trio. "Please leave us alone, punk! If I want any shit from you, I'll kick it out of you—got it?" He slapped the back of my head.

"We don't want any trouble. Just leave us alone, okay?" I said.

"What if we don't want to leave you alone? What if we want to take these little sluts out side and fuck them? What are you going to do about it?" Bubba said.

I heard Mo scream. Looking at her, I saw Brad was squeezing her breasts with both hands. He was laughing at Mo as she tried to get away.

Jumping to my feet, I pushed Bobby out of the way so I could get to Brad. I pulled him away from Mo, pushing him into his twin brother. I knew things were going to get ugly after I did it.

"You fucking punk! I eat candy-ass punks like you for breakfast!" Bubba said as he came at me.

"Look, I'm sure you do, but I have to tell you I'm straight," I said.

That got a chuckle out of the twins. They stood next to their big brother and flexed their fingers into fists.

"I'm going to kick the shit out of you!" Bubba said.

I had to think quickly. I didn't want to fight with the brothers, but I decided that wasn't a choice. I had embarrassed them and they wanted revenge. The most important thing was to get the confrontation out of the building. Looking around, I saw how the other patrons, were acting. It was easy to see they were scared.

"If you think you can, let's go outside!" I said moving closer to Bubba. Grinning at him, I said, "Bring your sisters."