Appetizer

It was the summer of 2007 when everything was turned upside down for me. I was 17, and still stuck at the kids' table. My twin sister, Jenna, was there as well. Really, it was more of a kids' basement, to be honest. There were 11 of us there-it was a dumping ground for anyone under 18, though I didn't realize the significance of that then.

We had pizza, video games and a widescreen, high-def TV, which were just starting to explode in popularity those days. Among the others were Darshana, who was 15, I think; and Damyanti, her 13 year-old sister. And they were the two closest to Jenna and I in age. It wasn't that we didn't like video games or TV-it's just odd to be stuck in a strange basement all day with no one else your own age.

Jenna and I had been dragged to two or three of these parties every year for the last 6 years. Our parents, back when they were still married, had decided to join some sort of group for food lovers called the Cuisine Club. It had been formed from people who worked at EnGENuTech, the software company that had poached Dad from his previous job.

At each party, every couple would bring some new dish, and everyone would spend all day eating and drinking. Sounded boring to us kids, but there were always some movies or a Nintendo to keep us occupied.

In addition to Jenna, I had three other siblings, all older. Matt was 22 and in his senior year of college. Jasmine was 21 and a junior at Altrion University, the same private institution as Matt. Kim, at 19, was just starting there. I had vowed to do whatever I could to avoid the same fate. Maybe it was because I was the youngest (Jenna had me by four whole minutes), but the thought of going to the same college as my older siblings just seemed so boring and trite to me. At any rate, they had lucked out-after each one turned 18, my parents didn't force them to attend any Cuisine Club gatherings any more.

My Mom had stopped coming as well, after the divorce two years ago. Jenna and I ended up living with my Dad, and he was remarried within two years. Where my mom had been a tall blond of 42, Dad's new wife, Catalina, was a 5'2," 28 year-old former intern (originally from Florida, I think) of Cuban descent. She had a Rosario Dawson thing going on, with jet black hair, brown eyes and a smile to die for. Her rack was average, I'd say, but her ass was tight enough to bounce change. Not that I would ever, um, check out my stepmom, or anything ... but damn. Still, it bothered me that she was just 6 years older than Matt. She seemed to make my Dad happy, though.

This particular basement just happened to belong to Dad's boss, Ross Gottweil. He was in his 50's-54, I think, which put him 6 years older than Dad. He didn't have any children, but his wife was an Italian import that could stop traffic on a dime. Her name was Maria, and she looked a bit like Monica Belluci, the Italian actress from the Matrix sequels.

(Now's as good a time as any to mention that I have a very bad habit of comparing every hot woman I meet with the actress or celebrity I think they most closely resemble. Even my own family-Mom was almost a dead ringer for Julie Bowen, from "Ed" and now "Lost." Jenna I could never place until I saw an ad for that show "Gossip Girl" on TV, where an actress named Blake Lively had legs that were even longer than Jenna's, which I didn't think was possible. They had the same blond hair, too. All the women in my family did, save Kim, who had a short brown mane that gave her a Tiffani Thiessen vibe.)

From the other kids in the basement, I knew I could probably guess some of the other adults at today's party. The presence of Darshana and Damyanti (Indian by descent only-they were English through and through, as their accents constantly affirmed) meant that at least one of their parents was here. Probably their mother, Divya. She was about 37, tall and slender. Dark hair, mocha skin. Her chest was on the smaller side, but it was hard to really tell since she was always wearing some sort of stuffy pantsuit every time I met her. I'd not met her husband, but he was definitely a lucky man. Unfortunately I'm not a Bollywood fan, so I hadn't really found a good actress to whom I could compare her.

Divya worked on my dad's floor and on the way home from these things, my parents would invariably comment on whatever exotic dish she had brought. Mom, in particular, always thought Divya's dishes were succulent. She'd use that word every year, which just made my dad giggle. Going home last year, Catalina referred to some confection Divya had brought as juicy, which my Dad just found hilarious for some reason.

I stretched my arms and yawned. Jenna and I were charged with looking after the other kids this year, since we were the oldest, which was yet another reason why I hated these parties. Matt, Jasmine and Kim had all had this "honor" before, so Jenna and I knew what was coming this year.

I got up from the couch I was sitting on and sighed. Then I looked over to Jenna, who was engaged in a crossword puzzle over on a nearby table.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and go for a walk. I'll be back in a bit."

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "We're not supposed to go up there, Jimmy. You know the rules."

"Doesn't that bother you, though? What's the big deal? It's just a food party!"

"I actually don't care. Do what you want." Her shoulders slumped, and she went back to her puzzle.

I turned and headed for the stairs. When I reached the top, I opened the door and looked around. There was no one there. This wasn't unusual, especially when the Gottweils hosted. They usually threw us kids in their basement and held their party in the Guesthouse down their driveway. After all, that's where their pool was located.

After a couple wrong turns, I remembered where the front door was and exited. The Gottweil house was rather large and secluded, sitting as it was at the end of a 500 yard driveway that was set way back from the main road. There was a small bit of forest between the house and its nearest neighbor, so I thought I'd take in a little nature. It was just before 7pm, and I thought the fresh air would do me good. But before I'd taken two steps, something caught my eye in the driveway.

There seemed to be over a dozen vehicles parked, which was not out of the ordinary. What was strange is that one of the cars was a small, burgundy sedan ... with an Altrion car flag perched on one of the rear windows. I recognized the car instantly as Kim's. It was the clunker my parents left her with on the day we moved her into her dorm.

Just behind it was my mother's Beamer, which she'd bought with some of her divorce money. But why both my mother and older sister were here, and why they hadn't even said so much as "hello" to me or Jenna ... that was strange.

I approached the guest house. Some sort of Top 40 dance/pop crap was blaring from somewhere near where the pool was, so I headed towards the back. When I rounded the corner, my jaw dropped.

My sister Kim was there all right, in a bikini, mingling with almost twenty other people. But right in the middle of talking to someone, she pulled her top above her breasts! She was topless! And drinking a beer! Two things I had never seen her do before. And then I noticed the rest of the party.

There was certainly a whole bunch of exotic food laid out on folding tables, but the entrees were not the focus of the party. Everyone was wearing a swimsuit-or less, and while some were just talking, others were making out. My Dad still had his trunks on, but he had his tongue halfway down Divya's throat!