Chapter 5

Friday night was date night. All of the usual hangouts for the teens had about normal traffic. The difference was that, for places that served alcohol, the opportunity to be served and to drink in public was irresistible for most of the kids. Pizza and beer was a lot more fun than pizza and cola. The restaurants also saw an uptick in their business, mainly families who wanted to celebrate with their newly-minted adult children. These guests showed grace, dignity and restraint.

Bob Minter made a show of holding the chair, helping first Sandy and then Kathy to be seated comfortably. Travis and Becky bounded into their chairs unaided. The restaurant was busy, mainly with families including their youngest adult members. When the waitress arrived, Bob made a point of asking both Sandy and Kathy their choice of beverage. When Kathy realized Sandy did not know how to reply, she told her husband she would like a glass of white wine. With obvious relief, Sandy asked for the same. The younger kids each wanted a Shirley Temple, with extra maraschino cherries. Bob ordered a beer for himself.

Sandy reveled in her new-found status. She was delighted and proud of the respect and deference afforded her by her parents. Soon, two distinct conversation threads were underway simultaneously at the Minter table. The oblivious younger children happily chattered about kid stuff with their parents. The three adults explored the fringes of topics normally never spoken between parent and child, much less in a public place. Oblique references to the potential pitfalls inherent in adulthood went right over the heads of the younger children, but some of them brought a blush to Sandy's face.

The dinner progressed smoothly. When they had finished their meal, Bob ordered dessert for the two youngsters and, for the three adults, three different liqueurs served in pony glasses: Crème de Menthe, Gran Marnier and Amaretto. When these arrived, Bob instructed that all three be served to Sandy. He asked her to taste each and decide which one she preferred. The tastes of these three were very distinctive. The three talked about the flavors as Sandy explored them. Sandy happily settled on the Crème de Menthe. Kathy chose Amaretto. They enjoyed their choices and chatted.

When they had finished, Bob settled the bill and they made their way out the door. All agreed that a fine time had been had by all.

Elsewhere on that Friday night, some of the young people could not wait for their first opportunity to warm a barstool. The tavern was unusually busy. Thanks in large part to the visit from the Mayor, the owners did not hesitate to serve the new adults, unescorted by their parents. In most places, the first round was 'on the house', delivered with the caveat that the town expected the youngsters to demonstrate the responsibility that went along with adulthood.

Of course, a number of the kids -- especially the jocks -- could not resist the temptation to overindulge. As suggested by the Mayor, the owners wound up having to encourage some of the parents to intervene. Sadly, some parents were not willing to reel in their children. These were politely but firmly shown the door. Fortunately, there was no trouble in any of the public places.

The package liquor stores were also busy. A number of private parties had sprung up on short notice. Most of the jocks and their ilk who had been ejected from the bars and restaurants managed to find their way to one or the other of these parties. Some of these private parties got pretty well out of hand.

This being a very small town, the constabulary was tiny. It was very much in the interest of the entire community that the county sheriff not become involved in a town-wide flaunting of the state liquor laws. Mayor John Davis, Rev. Andy Evans, Fr. Frank Murray and a number of others patrolled the town until the not-so-wee hours of Saturday morning. Toning down the party was invariably preferred over having your minister invite himself to your party.

The mayor's team of 'enforcers' had a short debriefing before they retired for the night. While the night had passed without serious problems, it was apparent that Saturday night would be an even bigger event. Some discussion of a supervised keg party, in a controlled setting, suggested that it might be a wise investment.

Ellen Waters did a land-office business on Saturday, almost all of which was walk-in. A lot of girls took her up on her offer of birth control. Ellen was pleasantly surprised to encounter no resistance from parents. She learned that a lot of heart-to-heart talks had taken place in the past twenty-four hours. The virgins were put on the Pill, and the rest were allowed to choose between the Pill and an IUD.

Jenny and Stacy Martin went together, and Ellen saw them both at the same time. Jenny had not had a lover for six years. She had stopped using birth control over four years earlier. Stacy had never used contraception. Both women bashfully requested a morning-after pill. Ellen could not resist a gibe, and the previous night's antics were revealed. Michael's invitation for them both was discussed. Ellen was very supportive of the idea. Stacy mentioned that she was not sure that she should go through with the Program. Ellen countered that, if nothing else, Stacy ought to do her very best for herself and for her entire team. Stacy agreed to work hard in the Program. A brief examination showed them both in good health. Both were fitted with an IUD and each received a morning-after pill.

Amy Rogers was another patient that day. Amy had not found a steady beau in the year or so she had been in town. Visits with her college boyfriend had trailed off, the physical distance taking some of the toll, and their diverging interests the rest. Amy had relied on condoms for her all-too-infrequent trysts. She had had no intention of sullying her reputation in her new hometown by making herself too available.

Amy was uncertain which method of contraception she should choose. When she asked Ellen which method she used, Ellen had answered with a wry smile that she did not need contraception. Amy's quizzical look prompted Ellen to assure her that, without putting too fine a point on it, she was not celibate. Ellen was not certain that the naïve Amy had made the proper connection, but she was not going to be explicit, either. On Ellen's recommendation, Amy chose to use an IUD. Amy blushed crimson and declined a dose of the morning-after pill.

Being popular meant cultivating her friendships. Stacy parted company with her mother and went in search of her gaggle of girlfriends. She found them at the burger joint, finishing their lunch. She slid into the booth and ordered her very first glass of wine in public.

The girls never tired of gossip. They went over all the events of yesterday's orientation and the exciting night last night. They were scandalized at having to strip and swim in the pool with the boys and, even worse, the adults. Catty comments on the revealed physical attributes of a lot of the boys, and some of the girls, were a source of much mirth. They felt fear and excitement at the prospect of sharing locker rooms, and showers, with the boys. This and much more kept them laughing and chattering for a long time.

"I got an IUD today," Stacy announced when the conversation hit a lull.

A shocked Alexis blurted out, "I thought you were a virgin?"

"I got an IUD today," Stacy repeated.

Her announcement caused chaos to erupt. All of the girls started talking at once. "All right," Lauren said, "spill!"

"I will, I will," smiled Stacy. "First, I want to ask you something. Chelsea, will you tell us what it was like to lose your cherry?"

"I'm not sure I want to do that. Why do you ask?" said Chelsea.

"How about I say how I think it went, and you tell me if I'm wrong?" asked Stacy. Several of the girls murmured their assent.

"Here it goes," said Stacy. "It was in the back seat of a car, or on a blanket in the park, or at the movies, or some other semi-public place. You were sure you'd have a flashlight shining in your eyes at any moment, held by a cop or a creep. You didn't even get fully undressed. You couldn't see worth a damn. It hurt like blazes, it lasted about 30 seconds, you didn't get off, the blood stained your clothes, and you were back in the front seat three minutes later. He probably didn't even say thank you. How far off am I?"

"Well," Chelsea allowed, "some of the details aren't quite right, but you got the general idea pretty well." A couple of the other girls shame-facedly agreed.

"How many of you haven't done it again since? How many got dumped by the guy right after that?" asked Stacy. Again, several of the girls admitted she was right.

"I think a girl's first time should be special, even magical. We all know we're going to be picked up by the Confederacy in a few months. If you thought your first time was awful, imagine being in that circus with your hymen intact. I, for one, think that is about my worst nightmare.

"Now, my brother invited my mother to come along with him as his concubine. She was unbelievably excited, and said 'yes, ' but she needed some time. He agreed to give her all the time she needed. He invited me to join them, but he asked me to hold my decision in case The Man of My Dreams appears. I told him I would decide later.

"My mother hasn't had sex since my dad left, six years ago. My brother kept his promise to let Mom have the time she needs. But he has been flirting with her outrageously. She got all hot and bothered. I decided to help him tease her. I asked her to help my brother break my hymen."

"Your little brother?" squeaked Lauren.

"My younger brother isn't so little anymore," Stacy blushed. "So, anyways, one thing led to another, and Mom guided Michael and me through it. It was everything I had ever hoped for. I'm so glad it happened that way."

"Didn't it hurt?" asked Chelsea.

"It stung for a bit," answered Stacy. "That's all. I waited until I was used to him being inside me before I started moving. I felt so full! It felt so right! I've never had such a powerful orgasm, ever."

"Stacy, that's awesome!" tittered Kayla.

They gabbed for another hour. Finally, their chatter wound down and it was time to go. They paid their checks and walked out together. They made their goodbyes and left, walking in three different directions. Kayla walked with Stacy.

"Stacy," she said, "what you said about being a virgin during the pickup scares me. I don't want that to happen to me. No way am I gonna let Justin take my cherry. The whole school would know about it the next day. I don't want my dad to do it, either. What am I going to do?" she pleaded.

"Kayla, we've been friends since kindergarten. Did you just ask me if it's OK to borrow my brother?"

Kayla blushed crimson. She hid her face, but did not answer.

"I'll ask him, Kayla," said Stacy. "I don't know what he'll say. If he will, I know you won't hear about it at school, unless you tell anyone. Michael won't, and I won't."

"I'm so freakin' embarrassed!" hissed Kayla. "Would you do that for me? Please?"

"I will," she answered. "I gotta tell ya, I'm kinda sore down there today. You might not want to do it on a school night. Are you on any birth control?"

"Yes," said Kayla, "my mother put me on the Pill last year because of my period."

"Speaking of which," said Stacy, "when does it start?"

Kayla answered, "It starts this Thursday."

"Well, do you want to do the deed tonight, or do you want to wait until the weekend after next?"

"What do you think is going to happen in the Program?" asked Kayla. "I know we have to locker, shower and swim naked with the boys. I just know that half the boys in sight will have hard-ons. Oh, God, Stacy, what if Justin or somebody sneaks up to me and just jams his cock into me? Stacy, I'm scared. I can't take that risk. Please, please, please, can we do it tonight?"

"I'll ask him for you. You don't have a date tonight?"

"Justin kinda sorta thought we should go out. He might not even show up, the creep. I can cancel it."

"Let me talk to Michael," said Stacy. "If I ask him as a favor to me, he'll probably do it. If he tries to squirm out of it, I'll tell him why he has to. I'll call you later. Why don't you plan on coming over at about eight o'clock? Tell your parents you're having a sleepover with me. For your first time, you deserve all the attention you can tolerate."

"Thank you so much Stacy. I'll find a way to pay you back, big time." Kayla hugged Stacy fiercely. Then, with a wave, Kayla turned and headed for her home.

Stacy headed for her own home. She knew Michael could not turn down sex with Kayla. She would talk him into it. She knew she wanted to get her own, first. She would tell Jenny to get some, too.

Michael was again hard at work on the database. He was meeting with Jean. "After we completed our interviews with the five mail carriers, we had identified 1,187 people in or near town," he said. Of those, there are 385 children younger than eighth grade. As you know, there are 144 kids from eighth through twelfth grades. There are 317 adult men and 341 adult women, a total of 658. We don't know yet how many of the women are above childbearing age.

"So, 658 adults and 144 students means there are 802 prospective volunteers. As of Thursday night, there were 438 cards scanned. As of now, we're up to 589 cards scanned. We now have self-serve scanning equipment in John's bakery and the two churches."

"Let's see how many more cards are scanned by Monday afternoon," said Jean. "We have the equipment well-placed all over town, and I have seen the fliers displayed in the businesses I've been in over the last few days. We should have captured scans for all of the Program participants when they check in on Monday morning. It was a good idea to use the database as an attendance and truancy report."

"Jean," said Michael, "we still haven't done anything for the eighth graders who have never had a CAP test. Do you have any ideas?"

"Did you capture the student ID number when you downloaded the school data?" asked Jean. Michael nodded his head. "If the ID number was entered, would it serve to identify the student?" Again he nodded. "Then how can we get a plastic card and encode the student ID?" she asked.

"There are web sites that will generate bar codes," said Michael. "I can sort out of the database all of the eighth graders, have bar codes generated, print them onto labels, paste the labels onto card stock and have the cards laminated at the office supply store," he grinned.

"Do it," she said with glee. "The next thing we need is an analysis of CAP sub-scores to help us identify adults who have a good chance of improving their CAP scores."

"Let me research the database," said Michael, and see if I can find any useful patterns or other clues. I'll come back to see you when I think I have something to show you."

John Davis had had a rough night on Friday. He thought a repeat performance was inevitable unless the adults did something. He was working on arrangements for an enormous party for the kids that night. He had firmly in his mind's eye the passage in Walt Disney's film 'Pinocchio' where the bad boys were lured with cigars and drink. They wound up on the Island of Donkeys, or some such, being changed into donkeys. If his plan worked, the rowdy kids would get so drunk they'd still be hung over on Monday.

John had drafted Steve Carpenter and Sarah Edwards to make arrangements for the actual party. He wanted Sarah involved to ensure that the fly trap he was setting would be irresistible, especially to the jocks. He had turned them loose with a generous budget for beer kegs, boxes of wine, bottles of whiskey and other spirits, cups, food, and supplies. He had asked them to enlist as much help as they needed, both for hauling, set-up and decoration as well as for scavenging music systems, tables and chairs, and the like.

Once that element was well under way, he arranged to meet with Jean Stevens, the principal, and Jim Beatty, the attorney. When they had gathered, he described the previous night from his point of view. He then candidly described the party he was pulling together.

"I'm planning on giving them enough rope to hang themselves," he told them. "I don't want them to know in advance. I'm thinking of it as a sort of aversion therapy. I hope they get so drunk, they won't want to drink again anytime soon. The kids won't be able to blame us -- it'll be self-inflicted injury. My concern is, how much trouble will the parents give us?"

"I think you have a good idea," said Jean. "The problem, as I see it, is what happens to them when the party is over?"

"To me," said Jim, "this entire extraction plan opens up an astonishing number of paradoxes. At the community meeting, we told the town that these kids should be made adults. We had a spirited discussion about whether we should do that. We made it abundantly clear that there is a reason that adulthood has long been withheld until age 21. Everyone knew that not all of the children had the maturity and self-control necessary to act like adults all the time. Everyone knew that some of the children would stumble, some more than others. In the end, the decision was overwhelmingly approved. So be it. Adults are responsible for their own actions."