Chapter 7

It was almost Christmas before we had any more problems at school. We only had two more days of school before Christmas break, when Becky didn't show up for lunch. We waited for her for a few minutes, and then I told Karen I was going to look for her.

I found her easily enough. Unfortunately she wasn't alone. Bobby Joe Watson was the ring leader of the group that had her surrounded. As I came up behind him, I heard him say, "Look, bitch, I know you're a lezzie, but if you go out with me, I guarantee I'll make you forget all about lapping cunts."

"Let me go, asshole," Becky told him.

As he drew back like he was going to slap her, I clawed my fingers into the ridge of muscle that goes between his shoulder and his neck. I dug my fingers in with all of the strength that working on the farm all of those years had given me.

"Let her go, shit head. If you EVER touch my sister again, I'll break you up into little pieces and feed you to the hogs," I threatened.

Bobby Joe let go immediately. I think I had caused his whole arm to go numb. As Becky stepped back from him, she dug her elbow into Ray Thornton's belly. He let out an oof, and moved out of her way.

Becky has never been a violent person, but she stepped up beside me; drew back her fist; and hit Watson right on his left kidney, with all of her strength. "I'll cut your balls off before Jed breaks you up," she told him in a low, menacing voice.

When I let him go, all three of the delinquents took off like they'd just broken open a hornets' nest. They were out of sight before Becky broke down.

I put my arms around her and held her as she cried her tears of fear, anger, and frustration. I stroked her back and kissed the top of her head as I told her how brave she is; how proud I am of her; how much I love her; and how safe she was.

Becky is a very brave young woman, so her tears didn't last more than a couple of minutes. When they had stopped, I led her to the cafeteria, where Karen was waiting for us.

Becky had managed to compose herself by the time we got to the cafeteria. She told Karen what had happened without shedding another tear. All of us were a little concerned that this wasn't the end of it. There wasn't much we could do about it, so we tried to go on as if nothing had happened.

Christmas with the girls was wonderful. I'm sure that it was the best Christmas any of us had ever experienced. The three of us decided to exchange our presents on Christmas Eve. We exchanged presents with our parents on Christmas Day.

We didn't have to go back to school until after New Year's. The three of us spent almost all of our time together while we were on vacation. I had thought that my first time with Karen, and a my first time with Becky, were the best that sex could ever be. I was wrong. It seemed to get better every time.

We celebrated New Year's eve together and Karen spent the night with us. Neither family seemed to think this was anything strange. All of us wondered about that, but none of us wanted to question it.

The first few days of school after New Year's went very well. We were beginning to think that the incident with Bobby Joe Watson might be an isolated incident after all.

It was on the first Monday after New Year's when we again started having problems. This time, they were with Bobby Joe's friend Ray Thornton. Ray didn't pick on Becky, instead, he asked Karen to go on a date with him. She turned him down, and he seemed to accept it.

The next day, he again asked Karen to go to the movies with him. Again, she turned him down, and explained to him that she and I were going steady. Thornton grumbled a little, but allowed Karen to go on her way.

The next time, he waited two days. He managed to corner Karen in the hall, and asked her to go bowling with him. "Ray, I told you I am going steady with Jed. There's no way I'm going to go out with anyone else. You might as well quit asking."

"I don't believe you, Karen. I think you're just using Delany as a cover up, because you're going with his sister. If you started dating me, I wouldn't mind if you still had sex with Becky. In fact, it might be interesting if all three of us were together. Doesn't that sound better than pretending you're going out with that wimp?" Thornton asked.

"For your information, Jed is not a wimp. You should know that. You witnessed what he did with your pal Bobby Joe. You should also know that Jed is the best lover a woman could ever have. There's no way I would give up Jed for a looser like you."

"Delany is the looser. The only reason Bobby Joe didn't beat the crap out of him is because he sneaked up behind Bobby Joe so he couldn't protect himself. If Bobby Joe gets a chance he's going to put your boyfriend in the hospital."

"Thanks for the warning, looser. Now we know to be on the lookout for your anthropoid friend. You might want to tell him, if he comes after Jed, if Jed doesn't bust him up, Becky or I will. He would never be safe again."

Thornton laughed. "You talk big, little girl. I tried to be nice to you. You wouldn't have me. Maybe I'll just take what I want."

"If you want to keep your gonads, you'll leave me alone. Jed is my boyfriend. Becky is my best friend. Either one of them will cut your balls off if you do anything to hurt me. I'm going to tell my father tonight that you threatened me. He may report you to the police, then again he may decide to come after you himself. Think about it. Fathers and boyfriends are dangerous people."

"You think about it, honey. Would you rather go out with me, willingly, or would you rather be raped?" Thornton asked as he turned and walked away.

This last incident was related to me by Karen. Neither Jed nor Becky were there when it happened. If they had been, Thornton wouldn't have left there with his manhood intact.

Karen told us about what had happened, and it scared the crap out of us.

"I don't think that threatening Thornton will do a bit of good," I said. "He may be all talk, but he might be dangerous. We just don't know. The fact that he was by himself was actually a little more frightening than if he had been with his gang."

"So, what do we do about him?" Karen asked.

"Well, I think the first thing would be for me to have a talk with Bobby Joe. If I can have a reasonable talk with him away from his gang, I think we may be able to work that part of it out. As for Thornton, I'm not sure. I may have to hurt him. I don't want to do that, but it may be the only way," I said.

"Do you think Bobby Joe was just showing off for his friends?" Becky asked.

"I hope that might be what it was. I'm not sure, and if I talk to him in front of his friends, I'm afraid he'll react with bravado, rather than with logic."

"You know," Karen said, "I got the feeling that Thornton was really interested in me, and that he really wanted to date me. Then, when I turned him down, he started to get nasty. I think he has this big fantasy of having sex with me and Becky at the same time."

"Yuck!" Becky said. "Is he just getting nasty because you turned him down, or does he feel like his manhood has been questioned?"

"I think he feels like his manhood has been questioned," Karen said.

"He may also think that he was going to save you from your sordid life as a lesbian. He probably thinks that if he could have sex with you just one time, he could convert you," I said.

Both girls giggled. "Little does he know," Karen said. "Yeah, Karen is good, but I still prefer you," Becky said.

I got a chance to talk with Bobby Joe the next afternoon. I saw him going from one class to another, and for some reason his posse was not with him. I walked up beside him, and I asked, "Could I talk to you for a few minutes, Bobby Joe?"

"I've got to get to class, fuck head."

"I think it would be beneficial to both of us to skip this class," I said. "If you and I keep going at each other, one or both of us are going to end up in the hospital, or worse. I'd like to work it out so that both of us can save face and neither of us gets hurt."

"Yeah, it'd be you that ended up in the hospital," he said.

"Be that as it may, why take the chance that you would be embarrassed in front of your friends?"

Bobby Joe thought for a minute, and then said, "Come with me."

We walked out into the student parking lot, and Bobby Joe leaned up against a car. "Okay, dude, what's on your mind?"