Chapter 8

We broke up into the two vehicles in a small caravan as we went to the grocery store down the street. Natty asked to ride with Katy and Suzie was happy to be promoted to the front seat of the Explorer. She was quiet and didn't say a word during the trip to the grocers. We made quick work at the grocers with Katy and Natty picking up the produce, Suzie and I picking up the meat and then joining forces to pick up the other items that we needed.

I purchased two Jack Daniel's marinade pouches when I first entered and took them to the butcher. He fitted each of the pouches with the required steaks so they could be marinating on our way home. I found out this cuts down on both the waiting time and cooking time for the meat.

With the receipts and our other purchases we headed to the checkout. I was surprised when Katy led us to a slightly longer line and said hello to another young girl whom she obviously knew. It was obvious that Katy was no loner and had friends in many locations. The friend raised an eyebrow at Katy when she saw Suzie and I put our items together with those placed on the conveyer by Katy and Natty.

Katy said, "Later," and winked at her friend, forestalling any further questions.

Natty and Katy were obviously becoming friends despite their age difference and again rode together as we headed to my house. Suzie was silent for a few moments and then said, "Jeff, Natty really likes Katy."

I said, "We all do Suzie."

"No, you don't understand. Natty doesn't have any friends. The only other girl I have ever seen her talk to at all is Julia from the trailer park."

"Surely she has had other friends at school, Suzie. You probably didn't see them or know about them because you went to different schools."

Suzie thought about it and then said, "No, Jeff. It's not that Natty isn't friendly; it's that she has been scared of people treating her bad. People always ended up making fun of her, except for Julia."

I glanced over at her and said, "How about you?"

She said, "I'm not scared of people, well most people, but I never had many friends either, but I had more than Natty. Natty and I have always been each other's best friend."

I replied, "Does it bother you then, that Natty likes Katy so much?"

She didn't hesitate before answering, "No, it's not like that. I always wanted Natty to make other friends. I'm happy for her. I just wanted to explain..." And she trailed off.

She stopped and so I asked, "Explain what?"

"Never mind, it isn't important."

"Suzie, I think I know what you mean but you need to trust me enough to say what you feel. I love you and Natty. You understand that, right?"

"I know you do and I love you too Jeff. Natty loves you too."

As we reached the house, the conversation ended without me really finding out what was making Suzie uncomfortable. In silence we took the groceries into the house.

Once we were inside the houses and in the kitchen. Katy exclaimed, "You seem to have quite a bit of land here Jeff, do you farm any of it?"

"I only have 10 acres and other than the backyard, my rose garden and the pool, most of those 10 acres are still wooded. I lost a parcel of pine trees during Ivan and Dennis (Hurricanes in 2004 & 2005 ed.) and have been slowly cutting those and dragging them out with my old tractor."

"I just wondered because we passed several small farms on the way here."

"You know anything about farming, Katy?"

"No, my dad was raised on a farm and he told me it was a lot of hard work for very little money."

"Your dad was right, and most people farm for other reasons. I think we can get changed and continue this on the pool deck. I have a small outdoor kitchen where we can make the salad, grill the steaks and swim a bit."

Then to everyone I said, "Does that sound okay?"

I got a rousing, "Yeahhhhh, let's go" from Suzie, and nods from both Natty and Katy.

There was some confusion about where to change because both Natty and Suzie headed for my bedroom while I showed Katy to the guest bedroom to change. I made a mental note to make sure to give Katy a reasonable explanation for this. Of course, I would have to think one up first. I directed the girls to the other empty bedroom to change, telling them it wouldn't look right to Katy for them to change in my bedroom. Natty started to say something but then thought better of it.

I finished changing into my swim trunks first, then gathered up the cooking utensils that we would need for the grill. I was keeping it simple. We would have steaks, roasted corn on the cob, a tossed salad and rolls. I grabbed the items and put them in a large basket to carry to the pool area along with paper plates and cutlery. The small refrigerator in the pool's 'summer kitchen' was stocked with beer, soft drinks and wine coolers.

It was a good thing I managed to get everything together before the girls finished changing because I wasn't worth much after seeing the sheer beauty of the three girls as they proudly marched into the kitchen. All three were obviously pleased with my reaction and did little pirouettes for me. I was certainly glad that I had the basket to carry in front of me as we moved out to the pool area.

All three of the girls were enamored with my pool. I had the screen enclosed pool built in the center of my rose garden. The pool was surrounded by approximately 70 mature rose bushes that were in full bloom. Some of the roses were selected for scent and that perfume like fragrance was sweet in the air. The pool itself was Kidney shaped with a small outdoor kitchen area at one end.

The kitchen area contained the grill, the refrigerator and some weatherproof storage. Along side the kitchen was a patio table surrounded by six chairs. The diving board was at the other end of the pool to keep the splashing away from those trying to eat.

Immediately upon entering the pool enclosure I was pulled in two different directions. Suzie wanted to swim right away while I thought that I needed to get the meat and corn on the grill if we were going to eat in the next hour. We compromised and I started the grill to let it heat up, putting the steaks and salad into the refrigerator. We then all went swimming.

There are two different thoughts as to entering a pool. Some, like me, enjoy a gradual immersion so as not to shock their system when the water is cooler. Others, like Suzie, Natty and Katy must enjoy the shock because they headed straight for the diving board on the other end of the pool. The little minxes were making clucking chicken sounds at me as I moved cautiously down the steps into the water.

Each of the three girl's entry into the pool off the diving board was spectacular. Suzie was first to enter and hollered 'cannonball' as she balled up after bouncing in the air. Katy was next and did an impressive 'jack knife' dive off of the board that barely rippled the water. Natty was last and tried to emulate Katy, but obviously had no experience diving. Her 'knife' came apart and she hit the water flat on her stomach with a loud 'splat.' I swam over to her to make sure she was alright and found that the only thing bruised was her pride and even that wasn't seriously hurt.

They heckled me, calling me chicken until I had to salvage my pride by diving in from the diving board. My dive made the biggest splash of them all. My 'cannonball' had a lot more weight than Suzie's and the wake nearly slopped over the side of the pool.

I found that each of the girls was a competent swimmer. Suzie decided that the most fun could be had dunking me under the water. After she tried and failed at that, she dragooned the other two girls to help. Finally, under attack from three beautiful and determined female assailants, I went under. After that Natty and Katy decided Suzie was their next target and managed to get her dunked after a long chase. She pleaded with me for help, but since she had been the instigator of my submergence I stayed above the fray.

I finally decided to begin cooking and left them playing in the deep end of the pool to start the steaks and corn. I had just gotten it on the grill and opened a beer when I felt a wet hand on my back. Katy laughed when I jumped and asked if she could help cook. I outlined my theory about grilling being man's work and then told her that there was really nothing to be done until the steaks needed turning. The salad was a mix that we would just dump out of the bag, the rolls were bakery rolls that had already been cooked and the steak and corn were already on the grill.

I offered her a beverage and she settled on a wine cooler. I asked her if we had time for her to finish her story before supper and she said it would probably take a lot longer than that. In the end we just sat and enjoyed each other's company. I asked her why she dived so well and learned she had been on the swim team in high school.

Finally, supper was ready, she helped me prepare the plates and we called Natty and Suzie from the pool.

As we ate I had a warm feeling, seeing the girls happy and safe. The only visible marks of their previous existence were the angry red welts on the backs and legs of both girls and even these seemed subdued in the fading twilight. Both Suzie and Natty were animated about their fun time in the pool and I could tell this was going to be one of our favorite places together. Both Natty and Suzie were impressed with Katy's diving and wanted to learn from the older girl how to do something other than a cannonball.

After the meal we pitched in and cleaned up and then spent another hour in the pool. Katy let it slip that she was off work the next day and Natty and Suzie both approached me to ask if they could invite her to spend the night. I told both girls that it was fine with me. Later that evening Katy checked with me to make sure it was okay for her to stay over.

It was also later that evening, when I finally heard Katy's story. I had tried to find some private time but there was no way the girls were going to let us have time away from them. While the girls were taking their showers I told her that I supposed we were going to have to stay up late in order for me to hear her story. She replied that she didn't mind the girls hearing the story but that it wasn't exactly 'G' rated. I decided to allow the girls to hear Katy's story based upon their maturity and close friendship the girls were developing. It was hard not to pay attention to Katy as she began her story dressed in panties and one of my old oversized T-shirts. This is her story so I will let her tell it:

Katy's Story

"I don't mean for this to sound so sad, but if I start crying please bear with me. It is a hard story for me to tell and you are the first people I've wanted to tell it to."

"I had a normal and fairly happy childhood. I loved my mom and dad and I knew they loved me. I had friends, and although most of my relatives lived fairly far away, I was happy. All that changed when my mother died. I was 11 at the time and hadn't even known she was sick. I found out later that she had a rare form of Ovarian Cancer that was only detected when she only had weeks to live with no hope of cure, or even treatment."

"Things changed at home after my mom died. My dad and I were both sad for a while but gradually got through the depression and went on with our lives. I thought I still had my dad and as long as we were together, I would try to be happy and cheerful for him. I loved my dad, he was all I had. Dad was lonely and at first we spent most all of our time together when he wasn't at work. I went to school and had some friends there who tried to help so I muddled along. What I didn't see, or was too young to understand, was that dad had no friends and his only interest other than me was work."

"I think dad tried to keep himself busy at work so that he wouldn't have to think about what he had lost. He worked longer and longer hours. Even when he was home he would often be preparing some presentation for work. Even after a year had passed he didn't date or have any social life outside of me or work. At first I understood, I really missed mom too. But after a while I stopped mourning but I don't think dad ever did. Finally, it seemed as if he was even ignoring me. I found out later that I was growing up and, at 13, I was beginning to look too much like mom."

"I wasn't sure what to do about dad but I wanted to bring him back into my life. I loved him more than anything and I felt like he was slipping away from me, despite anything I could do."

"One night dad came home from dinner with a client and was a little tipsy. I had noticed that he was friendlier towards me when he was drinking. Sometimes it would be just like things had been before and sometimes he treated me almost as if I were a grown woman. I delighted in those times even though I didn't understand why."

Katy looked up at me and then at Natty and Suzie and said, "Are you sure you want to hear all of this, this isn't G-rated."