Chapter 7

Kathy and Billy walked to school together as usual, but Billy was strangely silent, refusing to discuss what had happened. Kathy was worried about him.

During the morning history class, which they shared, Billy didn't take part in the class discussion. He merely sat at his desk, staring straight ahead, and Kathy knew he was brooding about what he had done with her and Aunt Maude.

As soon as her last class was over, Kathy hurried to the corner of the campus where she ordinarily met Billy for their walk home together. The only person standing where she usually met Billy was a close friend of his. Kathy smiled at the boy and said, "Hello, Mark. You haven't seen Billy, have you?" "Yeah, I have. He asked me to give you this." The boy handed her a sheet of paper, which had been folded twice. "Don't worry," Mark said. "I didn't read it. Billy told me not to." "Thanks, Mark." Kathy's hand shook as she held the note.

She waited until the boy had turned to leave before she unfolded the paper. The message, which she read, was brief and shocking: Billy had left town.

Kathy wondered if she should go to the police and ask them to find her brother. She decided she had better not. They would ask her a lot of questions, and she might let something slip. Also, they would question Aunt Maude. That would be bad.

She considered calling her mother. Kathy knew where she and Ray were spending their honeymoon, but her mother would ask a lot of questions also, and she would be frantic.

The best thing, Kathy decided, would be to wait and hope Billy would come back on his own. He didn't have much money. And it would be hard for Billy to get a job because of his age.

On her way home, she considered what she was going to tell Aunt Maude. She would have to cover for Billy somehow or her aunt would get excited and call the police herself. She decided to say that Billy was spending the night with a friend. That way, if he showed up tomorrow, as she hoped he would, everything would be all right.

She paused outside the house, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Auntie?" she called, taking pains to make her tone as sweet as possible.

There was no answer. The teen girl checked the living room, then the kitchen, but found no trace of her aunt. She went upstairs and noticed that the door to the guestroom, which her aunt had been occupying, was open. She walked in and looked around. Everything was in perfect order, but her aunt wasn't there.

Then Kathy noticed the door of the closet was ajar. She walked over and looked inside. All her aunt's clothes were gone, and so was her luggage. Aunt Maude had taken off.

Kathy made a thorough search of the house, looking for a note, but there was none. The old girl had apparently gotten scared and had just split, without leaving so much as a word. Kathy wondered what her aunt expected her to tell her mother.

She sat down in the living room and listened to the ticking of the clock. She had never felt so alone. Every one had left her-first her mother, then Billy, now Aunt Maude.

Kathy made a sandwich for herself and ate that for dinner along with some potato chips and a glass of chocolate milk. Then she went into the living room and sat down to watch some TV. But she kept her ear tuned for the ringing of the telephone, which stood on a table in the hail. She was hoping Billy would get in touch with her.

As the evening wore on and no call came, she felt more and more lonely and abandoned. She had a tremendous desire to call her mother and blurt out everything that had happened, but she managed to retain enough coolness of mind to control the urge. She walked around the house turning on lights, because they made her feel more secure.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, and she jumped. Who could it be, coming to call at that hour? On her way to the door, she wondered if it was the police. What if Aunt Maude had gone for them, or if Billy had gotten into trouble? Apprehension gnawed at her as she turned on the porch light and opened the door.

When she saw the man in uniform standing outside, she feared for a moment that her suspicion was correct and that the police had indeed come for her. But then she realized the uniform wasn't that of a policeman. The young man was a soldier, about nineteen, and he had a duffel bag at his feet.

He smiled at Kathy. "Is this the Simpson residence?" he asked.

Kathy hesitated momentarily, because the name was still strange to her. However, she quickly recovered and said, "Yes, but my mother and Mr. Simpson aren't at home." The young man seemed surprised. "They aren't?" "No, they're away for a few days." "Oh, sure! They must be on their honeymoon." "That's right," Kathy replied. She had noticed how handsome the young man was, and she liked his quick smile. "Who shall I say called?" He grinned again. "I'm Mr. Simpson's son, Pete. He called me at camp and told me he had gotten married. He gave me this address and said I should drop around as soon as I could. Well, I've been on leave for the last couple of days, and I suppose Dad tried to phone me to tell me about the honeymoon but couldn't reach me." "Probably so," Kathy said, returning his smile. "But there's no reason for you to leave. Why don't you come in and we can get acquainted? I'm Kathy, Mrs. Simpson's daughter. I guess that makes me your stepsister, doesn't it? "Right!" He took off his cap and stepped into the house, carrying his bag. "Dad told me about you, and about Billy too. Is he around?" "Well, no. Not right now. He's spending the night with a friend." "Sounds like that leaves you all alone," Pete said, grinning in a very friendly way.

"Just me and the cat," Kathy replied. "You can leave your bag right here in the hall, and we can go into the living room." She led the way.

"Would you like a Coke?" she offered.

"Sounds good." "Why don't you take off your tie and sit down and relax? Take your shoes off, too, if you'd like to." "You really know how to make a guy feel at home," Pete said.

Kathy thought about his remark as she went to the kitchen to get the Cokes, and a strange little buzzing began in her cunt. He was very good-looking, big and muscular, with curly black hair. Now that she had found out what sex was all about, he was just the sort of guy she would like to get it on with.

But he was her stepbrother, and that meant she couldn't fool around with him. It would be almost as bad as fucking Billy, who she was ashamed of despite the pleasure it had given her.

This thought brought her fear that she might be pregnant, and suddenly she had a mental flash.

What if she were to make a play for Pete right now? He was in the Army, which meant he was away from girls most of the time and therefore probably very horny. If he were to break down and fuck her, she would have a handy person to blame for knocking her up. And it could even be true. How would she know later who was responsible-Pete or Billy? The more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed. It was nasty in a way. But if Pete responded to her invitation and fucked her, he would have only himself to blame.