Chapter 38

Iris Lezynski was having afternoon coffee with Noreen Travers. "Hey, I talked to some people at the club. They just opened a nice new building and said maybe you might want to come by and take a tour."

Noreen looked at her friend, surprised. "I thought the club was for kids?"

"No, there is more to it than that. Parents come all the time, and occasionally there are other adults. You really ought to get a briefing and a tour! Did you know that they're going to take a bunch of the girls out shopping at the mall tomorrow evening? They have a couple of vans..."

"Oh, that's nice! Does Donna know?" Noreen asked.

"It's a last-minute idea -- she'll probably hear today. We could do the tour thing while they're out at the mall. The club has some pretty interesting facilities -- it's got a lot of spa stuff, like massage tables and a Jacuzzi..."

"No kidding?"

"Yeah, I think they're putting in steam and a sauna. They have a swimming pool, too, but it's outdoors."

"No kidding?"

"The new place is quite a setup," Iris declared.

"It certainly sounds tempting," Noreen mused.

"C'mon! You'll love it! We'll put the girls on the van and have a good time while we wait for them to come back!" Iris cajoled.

"Okay. Sounds great!"

"Maybe we can get a massage..." Iris dangled the bait. "Get rid of all that tension..."

"Okay, let me know when and where..."

"I'll pick you and Donna up around five-thirty -- how's that?"

At the Beckwith home, a similar presentation was taking place. "Dear, we've been invited to join a social club," Robert Senior told Arlene. "The club has been hosting Bobby's after-football parties, which I'm told are well-supervised -- by parents -- and devoid of drugs or alcohol. They have just opened a brand-new facility and are conducting a membership drive."

"Really?" Arlene looked up, surprised.

"Yes," Robert replied. "I see this as an indication that things are finally going our way, don't you?" 'If that doesn't get her, NOTHING will... ' he added to himself.

Arlene took the low road. "Well, it's about time! When is this invitation for?"

"Tomorrow at six," Robert replied. "It was suggested that you might want to take advantage of some of the facilities, like the Jacuzzi or the sauna or maybe a massage, so formal dress isn't really required..."

"Really? All that? How interesting!" 'Massage?' Arlene was captivated!

"Yeah, you'll probably not want to get all tied up in nylons and such. I'm sure there will be other people touring the facility..."

"Well, don't you be late getting home tomorrow! I want to arrive on time and make a good impression!" Arlene admonished.

"I'll do my best..." Robert got out of the room while he could still control his features. In the den, he telephoned Candace, making formal noises in case Arlene was eavesdropping. "Candace? This is Robert Beckwith. My wife has agreed that it is a wonderful opportunity. We'll be there for six. Thank you very much..."

On the other end of the line, Candace was laughing. "We'll see you then, Honey. Bye, now!"

Toby's explanation of the plan for Arlene and Noreen -- and, incidentally, Iris, who would be instigating, got a chuckle from Damian. "Yeah, sure -- sounds like fun. Big Bro probably won't play, but I bet Randy will and I'll talk to Pete and Alonzo -- and maybe Isaiah. Sounds like a blast!"

"We're pretty sure she wants it," Toby noted, "but if there looks to be a problem, I'll cut it off. It'll probably crash long before we get to the gang-bang stage."

Toby went to Teela before going to Rick. "I need a male body for a couple of initiations of adult females tomorrow night -- is Rick available?"

"You're asking me?" Teela asked.

Toby shrugged. "He will."

Teela nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'm good with it -- I think he needs to get out from under some. I don't want to be in charge, anyway -- I want him to -- but I had to lean on him so hard over Sonya..."

"I understand. We'll bring him back in one piece," Toby chuckled.

"I know you will." Teela dimpled.

Rick vacillated as expected, but agreed when Teela declared her support for the idea -- and Toby pulled in Chuck to back him up.

Damian pulled in Pete Phifer, Isaiah Morse and Randy. Tabitha was all for Pete getting a little back -- she was nervous that he would get upset at all of the cock she was getting from the construction crew. Isaiah told Jasmine, "You do this shit when you get the call. If you want to be around..."

Jasmine's reply was, "No, I gotta go shopping for my dress. Ain't no old woman walkin' away with you..."

"Damn straight!" Isaiah agreed.

Randy looked right at Bernice and said, "Yeah, I can make it." Bernice didn't say a word. He didn't discuss it with her later, either, but he was unusually attentive while taking her home in 'his' van. They stopped off to neck for a while, and Bernice knew that it was to remind her that she had nothing to fear. She knew better than to worry about older women, anyway...

By the time football practice was over, Toby had plenty of staff for the game they were going to run the next evening -- including Brie. Randy agreed to extract her and deal with flack from Adele, as necessary. It occurred to Toby that an initiation for Mark Torres was outstanding, but given the situation between Mark and Janice and the fact that they already REALLY had him under control, Toby shelved the whole thing.

Mark and Janice had had an important discussion before lunch. "I'm not pregnant," Janice related, leaning against him outside the cafeteria.

"But?" Mark picked up the undercurrent.

"I may have miscarried. I'm on birth control now, but we have to use rubbers while it gets going."

"Honey, are you all right?" Mark turned her around to look into her eyes.

"Yes. I'm relieved, actually, but it scared me."

Mark nodded and tucked her against him.

Toby, Amy, and Candace walked the ground after football practice, going through the house. Master carpenters took one look at things like suck booths and turned out something better, fast -- and made sure that if they had to suffer through inspections, they could be quickly disassembled and stored. Tabitha and Abigail did demonstrations, which the crew working on them had gotten a kick out of. Then Abigail went out to the grocery store to pick up Ron Parker's dinner...

Cheerleading practice was over, but football practice wasn't yet when Nicky settled beside Lucy O'Donnell. "Who are you watching?"

"Eddie Ray."

"Yeah, he's hot."

Lucy threw Nicky a glance. "Ya think?"

"Do a lot of girls want to hang with him?"

"Well..." Lucy shrugged. "He's been pretty unapproachable. He hung out with Vince all the time until recently..."

"I don't think Vince has any use for girls at all," Nicky opined, then cocked his head and added, "You know?"

"Oh?" Lucy's eyes widened. "Ogod! Eddie Ray isn't... ?"

"What if he was?" Nicky asked.

"That'd suck!"

"Why? If all you want to do is hang with him..."

"He thinks that, I guess," Lucy sighed, "but I don't want to just hang -- I want to hook up, you know? But it's hard -- I mean, you don't just tell a guy you want to fuck his brains out, do you? Won't he get the wrong idea? Of course, if he's gay, it won't matter..."

"What if he swings both ways?" Nicky asked.

"Like, maybe he has a boyfriend, but he likes girls, too? That'd be cool. That's kinda kinky." Lucy pinked up a little.

"You like kinky?"

"Sure..."

"You'd have to get along with the boyfriend..."

"Yeah. Well, if the guy wasn't real jealous, it'd probably be all right. I can share. Hey, who knows? Maybe I'll like him, too!" Lucy frowned. "Maybe that's what's all complicated..."

"Huh?"

"Eddie Ray says he can't take me to Homecoming. He says it's complicated. He says it'd hurt somebody -- somebody he can't take."

Suddenly, Nicky couldn't breathe. His eyes filled. "H--he said that?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"Nicky?" Lucy eyed him oddly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm ... fine..." Nicky choked out. 'Omigod! That's so sweet!' "What else did he say?" Nicky croaked.

"Well, I suggested that maybe we could all go, and he seemed interested in that ... Hey, you know? Maybe if Eddie Ray had a boyfriend ... Yeah. Then he couldn't take him to Homecoming, huh?"

"No," Nicky gasped, "he couldn't..." Nicky broke down totally at that point, sobbing.

"Oh. OH! Holy Shit!" Lucy eyed Nicky in surprise. "I'm pretty slow, huh? Come here..." She tucked the slight boy against her and let him cry. "So you're the boyfriend?" Nicky nodded into her shoulder. "Well, that's not so bad. Eddie Ray likes girls, too?" Nicky nodded again. Lucy sat rubbing his back, thinking. "Does he like me?"

"Well, he's not sure, you know?" Nicky backed off to look up at her, wiping at his eyes. "Vince had him all against girls in general, and since you were kinda chasing him..."

"Vince is gay, huh?"

"Don't tell anybody! He'd KILL me!"

"And you're gay..."

"Well, Eddie Ray thinks I should at least try out girls..."

"Okay."

Nicky frowned. "Okay?"

"Yeah. I mean, if I get a chance to share you with Eddie Ray, we can do it," Lucy said simply, shrugging. "Why not?" She sat there, thinking.

Nicky got over his surprise while watching her -- there seemed to be smoke coming out of her ears. Eddie Ray was right -- Lucy was kinda slow. But how bad was that?

"So I'm in the doghouse because Vince had Eddie Ray convinced that girls were poison and I've been a pest..."

Nicky nodded. "More or less. But Eddie Ray asked me to come up here and check you out. I WASN'T supposed to spill the beans, but when you said that about Eddie Ray trying not to hurt me..."

"Yeah, I get that." 'There's a lot of girl in Nicky, ' Lucy mused. "So he's thinking about it..."

"Yes."

"And you're SURE he likes girls..."

"Older women, anyway. I KNOW he likes older women."

Lucy eyed him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Nicky colored and looked away. "I've ... watched."

Lucy nudged him, grinning. "Maybe helped a little?"

"Maybe."

"That's SOOO hot! I get wet thinking about it!" Lucy husked.

"No kidding?"

"Uh uh!"

"Hey, shit -- maybe this is gonna work!" Nicky exclaimed.

"Hold that thought..." The team was headed for the lockers. Eddie Ray broke from the pack and climbed the bleachers.

"What's going on?" Eddie Ray asked.

"I blew it, Eddie Ray!" Nicky apologized. "I was doing fine, but when Lucy said you told her you couldn't take her because it would hurt me..."

"Oh. Oh, shit. How bad is it?" Eddie Ray stood looking from face to face.

"It isn't," Lucy replied. "It's all cool."

"She wants to hook up, Eddie Ray -- not just hang out. And she's good with ... sharing..." Nicky explained.

Lucy scooted over a bit from Nicky and patted the seat between them. Eddie Ray diffidently settled there. "I was trying to figure out how to tell you without seeming like a total slut." Leaning up to talk to Nicky, she asked, "Wow! Does he always smell this good sweaty?"

"Yeah." Nicky grinned back. "It gets better, too!"

"So, uh, this is going well..." Eddie Ray ventured.

"Yes," Lucy nodded. "Nicky and I are cool with one another. I want to play. Can I?" She reached out with her left hand and clutched his while her eyes bored into his. Her other hand met Nicky's on Eddie Ray's back and gripped it.

"Yeah, I guess." Eddie Ray had reservations -- but Lucy had him over a barrel. He would want to fix that, for his own safety and Nicky's -- but Lucy didn't seem to even realize that she was in the driver's seat.

"What's wrong? Am I that awful?" Lucy asked.

"No, not at all -- I'm just ... nervous..."

"It's gonna be good -- promise! I can't WAIT for the three of us to get together!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Lucy likes kinky stuff," Nicky related.

"Well, THAT's good!" Eddie Ray grinned. "We're all about kinky, I guess..."

"Okay, then!" Lucy grinned from ear to ear. She laced her fingers in Nicky's and the pair of them rubbed Eddie Ray's back. "Let's go clean up."

"Cool." Eddie Ray got up.

Lucy followed, then headed off down the bleachers. Eddie Ray waited a moment in order to talk privately with Nicky. "How bad is this?"

"I think it's gonna be fine," Nicky opined. "Lucy is kinda slow, but she gets there. She seems happy to share with me and she's been real nice. She even offered to try me out..."

"Hey, no kidding?" Eddie Ray pursed his lips. "So, she's cool?"

"Very. She seems to get off on kinky stuff -- maybe she won't freak over Mama."

"You think?"

"I told her I'd watched you with an older woman -- it got her all hot and bothered."

"I'm gonna shower. If she comes back, maybe we'll go somewhere," Eddie Ray mused. "She knows WAY too much..."

"I think we're safe."

"Only if it works out." Eddie Ray thought about it. "Toby's a fixer -- I think I'll talk to him about it."

"Yeah, definitely." Nicky nodded. Eddie Ray headed off down the bleachers, headed for the locker room.

Toby was handing out towels, under the impression that all of the disasters to be expected during the school day had been handled, when Eddie Ray sidled up. "Got a problem."

Toby sighed. "Does this problem have a name?"

"Lucy O'Donnell."

"That thing at lunch?" Toby asked. "You know, I think she genuinely likes you."

"Yeah, actually, we've moved on some. The problem now is that she knows too much."

"What happened?"

"I sent Nicky to feel her out -- and he tripped over something and spilled his guts. She seems cool with it, but if things don't work out, it's a gun she's holding to our heads, you know?" Eddie Ray said quietly.

Toby nodded, pursing his lips. Casting about, he found Lucy in the girls' locker room. She was elated that Eddie Ray was letting her in and had bonded some with Nicky on the bleachers and wasn't even really aware that she was holding anything over the boys. "You know, I really don't think she's the type..."

"Yeah." Eddie Ray looked hangdog. "She seems to be pretty game, too. But it bothers me, you know? It's a danger to me and to Nicky." He looked up and locked eyes with Toby. "I know you've locked down girls before, although I don't know the details. I don't know if I can go all out with her unless I know I'm safe -- it's gonna get in the way, you know?"