Chapter 4

My house is typical for coastal Louisiana, it's built on pilings and the floor is about nine feet off the ground. So all the underside is covered and used for parking and play when the weather is not cooperating. When I turned in under the house, I saw Kalla staring as she pulled Jackie's car into the spot next to mine. She sat looking above her and around the property, then gazed at me when I opened the car door.

"How many people live here?" she asked me as I motioned for her to get out.

"Just me... and of course Boo Boo here, and now you. " I answered her as Boo proceeded to climb in the car and her lap, and several dog kisses got both of them moving out of the car. Grabbing several handfuls of bags and things, I lead her towards the stairs and pointed out some of the things around the canal and some of my neighbors places. When I opened the front door and stepped in, Kalla stood outside looking in, her mouth open and her eyes almost as big as her mouth. I left her standing there to put the stuff down and turned up the a/c, turn on the TV, and checked my answering machine. She was still on the deck/porch when I was finished, checking out the view up and down the canal, still clutching her bag, she turned to look at me when I approached.

"This is all yours?"

"Yep, built it last year when I sold my house up near the city. Too many people and way too much house for just me." I told her.

"And what do you call this?", she gazed around the front room, which is large, and tried to take it all in.

A brief description of the house might be in order here. As I said earlier, it is built on pilings and the surface of the first floor is about 10 feet above the road out front. The reason for this being that there has been as much as 4 feet of water over the bulkhead in the past. It is a 3 bedroom home with 2 full bathes and has a covered porch/deck on 3 sides. The deck is 6 feet wide on the front and down one side, and 16 feet wide on the end near the canal, with another 12 feet of open deck over the boat slip. The house has almost 3000 square feet under roof but only 1800 of that is living area and the front room has over 700 feet in it. The front room has the kitchen, a dining area, and family room all combined and open. I like to cook and have family and friends over, and the way the house is built, you are always a part of the conversation or activity thats going on. 2 of the bedrooms and the dining area open onto the deck through french doors, and big full windows provide alot of natural light throughout.

I grabbed Kalla's arm and led her down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. I showed her the spare bedroom and told her she could put her stuff away and I was going to try and put something together for dinner. As I was walking out she asked if this was where I slept, and I shook my head no and indicated my bedroom door.

Since I wasn't in the cooking mood, dinner was simple, some italian sausage links browned and simmered, smothered potatoes and onion, and some steamed veggies. The entire time, Boo was running back and forth from me to the back, he had made a new friend and was making sure she knew it. hahahaha Pet owners know that of all the animals they may have, one of them is going to be exceptional. Boo Boo was that one for me. About the only time I thought of him as a dog was when he would find something dead in the yard and roll over and woller in it. I heard the water running in the back so assumed Kalla was making herself at home and gettiing a shower. I went over and sat to watch the news as I called my sons to let them know that I was back home. Just as I was hanging up, Boo jumped up, barked, and headed for the door, tail wagging, I knew it was Steph and/or the boys. I hollered for her to come in before she knocked.

"Well, I don't guess I can sneak up here and surprise you." as she and the boys came in.

"Not with the little black boy on gaurd." I told her as she gave me a hug. The boys were next, they were the same age as my oldest grandsons and treated me like I was theirs also. They call me "PeePaw" as my grandkids and all their friends do. Squeezing me in big hugs that I always refered to as "PeePaw medicine", the youngest, Darren, backed up and ran his hands on my throat under my jaw and said, "No more mumpsess, PeePaw!" And I agreed with his diagnosis, "No more mumpsess, Darren, and hopefully no more ever again." I could only assume that the lumps I had found there and at some point shown him, he was confusing with the mumps he had had a few monthes ago.

I had invited Stephanie down to introduce her to Kalla since she was going to be staying here awhile. I told her that I thought Kalla was cleaning up, but then proceeded to fill her in on part of the story. I figured it best to leave out certain parts of our brief history. Just about the time I finished, Kalla came from the back carrying some wet clothes, but still dressed as she was before. She kind of halted when she saw the kids and Steph, "Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't realize you had someone here.", she was trying to hold the clothes down or take them to the back when I stopped her.

"Kalla... this is Stephanie Harlan and her 2 boys, Paul and Darren. They live at the house we stopped at on the way in and picked up Boo. Steph is a really good neighbor and I asked her to come down and meet you."

"uhhhh, nice to meet you! Let me set these..." she started.

"Why don't you put those in here for the time. " I indicated the laundry room door and she handed me the clothes to set on the washer.

I made the introductions again and turned to the kitchen to check on dinner while the girls talked and began to exchange some information.

The girls began to walk towards the back and the boys grabbed Boo and headed outside. I checked on the food and was checking out the weather when the phone rang. It was one of my potential customers letting me know that my bid was the one he accepted and that his insurance company had approved the start on the rebuild of his house. Finally! It had only been 2 years since Katrina had hit and they had finally gotten around to settling with the man. We made arrangements to meet the following day and get the contracts signed so that we could get started. I made a few notes of things I needed to do, printing out the contract, getting some equipment rented and lining up some trucks. The first thing that had to be done was tearing down the old house and raising the foundation at least 4 to 5 feet for the rebuild. Such was the way it was in the new New Orleans.

The girls came from the back chattering and went into the laundry room. I heard them go in and in a few minutes the dryer start. The room also had my freezer and cabinets I used for a food pantry. When they came out, they were going on like old friends. Stephanie stopped long enough to write down her cell and home phone numbers for Kalla in case she needed anything when I wasn't around. With that, she announced that she and the boys were leaving, but would see us tomorrow night and not to be late. Hmmmm...

"Not to be late for what?" I asked.

"Not to be late for dinner, I'm cooking, and you all are coming over. Oh, and bring Boo, I'm cooking spare ribs and there will be plenty of bones for him." Steph said.

Kalla was stammering that she had said she would have to check with me, that she hadn't said definitely. She was looking back and forth between myself and Steph and was actually a little flustered when Steph laughed and told her it was alright, that she did it to me all the time. She never asked, just told me when to be there. I told her we would be there as I had to get a contract signed tomorrow in New Orleans and really wouldn't have time to get to dinner and that Kalla would more than likely want to ride down and spend some time at the hospital. So, things were set for dinner the next night at Steph and Danny's place. I also noticed the edge in her voice when she said she hoped that Danny could find the time to make it home so he could meet Kalla. With that, she walked out on the porch and called to the boys to bring Boo back up and then turned to me and gave me a hug and a little peck on the cheek. The hug was held a little long as she leaned in and whispered,

" I didn't take care of you for 6 monthes so some little tart you picked up could get it all, you better save some of that for me!", as she leaned back, her big grin set me a little at ease because I know my mouth was opening, but all I could do was stutter something that made no sense. She laughed out loud as she was going down the stairs saying something about leaving me speechless. She had that part right. Paul set Boo on the deck and waved a hasty goodbye and was gone.

"I didn't tell her that we would be there tomorrow... I wouldn't speak for you like that." Kalla started as I walked back in. I just laughed and told her to sit down and we would talk while dinner finished. We sat on the couch for a few minutes and I told her more about Steph and Danny and the boys, and how Steph had made it her mission to check on me and take care of me while I was taking my treatments. I had been tolerant of the treatments until the last 3 or 4, then they had made me deathly sick and very weak. I honestly think if it had not have been for her I might have just died for not having the strength to get up and feed myself. So when it came to Steph and her 'orders', I usually complied.

I noticed that Kalla had changed into a tank top and runners shorts when she and Steph had walked to the back and the way that she was sitting, cross-legged on the couch facing me, was having an effect on me. The wide open neck and arm holes of the top bared alot of skin to the eye and the deep dark brown of her nipples and areola contrasted against the light color and thin material. Her nipples were 2 broad points pushing the loose material. Her shorts were the stretch type, elastic at the waist, tight across the hips, and the crotch was pulled very tightly forming a beautiful camel toe. As we talked, I became more concious of how she was affecting me also.

In our conversation over dinner, I learned why she had seemed so overwhelmed when we first arrived and why she had the wet clothes. She also kept flashing me glimpses of those amazing tits when she motioned with her hands and arms as she talked. I got the impression that if I tied her hands behind her that she wouldn't be able to say a word, but then the hand tying thought took another turn. She did, however, manage to get alot of her story across. When they moved to the States, her father had found a small mobile home just off base for them to rent since base residences were few and the waiting list very long. Her family of four had lived for so many years in less room than the area we were sitting in right then. They also didn't have a washer and dryer in their home, they had to go to a washerteria in order to do laundry, so Kalla was used to washing her clothes in the tub or sink. I tried to let her know where everything was and what my schedule usually looked like. I also went over what I had to do the next day and suggested, if she wanted, she could spend most of the day at the hospital which she readily agreed to do. Twice, she caught me staring at her tits, and twice, she smiled at me and held her pose.