Chapter 5

Friday, 22 Feb.

This morning dawned ominously. The temperature was 30 degrees and a high of only 38 was predicted. We were to expect either sleet or snow all day. It had not rained in a week, so if snow fell, it just might stick but would soon be gone, since there was a warm front coming up from the gulf that would hit us about Sunday morning. All of this bad weather, plus some misgivings on my part about going to supper with three certified geniuses, had me kind of on edge. What had I gotten myself into; why couldn't I just leave well enough alone? Sam being a friend and one of my entourage, I felt I owed her some personal time with me so she didn't feel I had taken advantage of her at school. But then, who was taking advantage of whom in that respect? I'm not sure which way it went; all I know is that I had fun and I think the girls did too.

I woke Suzie and we headed for the shower. Mom promised to be home early so she could take me to Sam's house in town. Mom would be bringing supper home after dropping me off. My ride with Brad today was all about baseball and how the coach was going to let him start the first home game as pitcher. We had two great starters last year who both graduated. Brad was a reliever and sometime starter last year. This year, Ted Cunningham and Sean Dorsey were starters, with Brad, Billy Franks, Jose Garcia, and Juan Guerra as relievers. With Juan and Jose only sophomores, and Billy a junior, we would still have a good pitching staff next year too. Juan's brother would also be joining us next year. He was an even better pitcher than Juan, and a great shortstop too. I asked about what Coach Rodriguez said about my recommendation of Henry for a new statistician. Brad said, "He was tickled pink about that one. He thought he would have to have one of us sit in the stands and take the stats when we weren't playing. Believe me; all of us guys are thrilled about Henry coming in to take care of the bookwork. That means we don't have to sit out a game we could be used in."

"I'm glad I could help. I talked to him about what I was doing for the football games, and to let the coach know if he comes up with something, to take it as gospel. Henry knows baseball, he just can't play it. I'll bet he knows the whole rule book before the first game, obscure rules and all. I knew he was good at math, but his baseball knowledge was a real plus."

We picked Kelly up, so baseball conversation waned and it became Kelly's turn to talk the whole way to school. Me, I just tuned it out and thought more about tonight's supper. I saw Sam when I got to school and she pulled me aside. "Bob, if you want to call off tonight's supper, please say so now. I can tell you have been nervous and withdrawn the last couple of days. I know part of that was the accident with Mrs. Simpson, but I'm sure some of it has to do with meeting my parents. They can be intimidating most of the time, but I told them last night that they had to be careful because I really like you. I have only had a couple of guys come to meet my parents; one was a jock, and the other was a regular guy. They tore into both of them and embarrassed me to no end. After that, I told them that I would never invite someone to the house again. It has been a over a year since I invited Frank Sanders to meet my parents, and he left crying after ten minutes with them. I'm not trying to scare you, but be prepared. However, if they get like last time, I'm going to tear into them. So help me if you can, but if you want to back out, please let me know now and I will let them know they intimidated another one."

"Sam, I admit I was apprehensive about tonight's supper, but I wouldn't miss this now for anything. Maybe the two of us can put this plan of theirs to keep you from getting interested in boys to rest. I think that's what they are doing. They don't want you to be distracted by boys until much later; after you are through college, or, more likely, once you have your doctorate. Now, if we work together, maybe we can break their habit. We can talk more at lunch, OK?"

"And they call me a genius. That should work. Thanks, Bob, I really hoped you could help me. See ya at lunch." Then we gathered the rest of my entourage and they all walked me to homeroom.

Classes this morning were kind of a blur for me, so I let Bob 2 take over while I pondered what Sam and I could come up with that would make her parents back off. I thought about telling them she was pregnant with my baby, but that would never work. They would have me arrested on statutory rape charges. What else could we pull? I could read their minds and see what they wanted for answers, but could I pull it off? Maybe if I did it right? No, Sam and her parents would then be very suspicious of me. That would not work to my advantage. Maybe Sam has some ideas.

I came back to myself during plane geometry, when Mr. Herbert called on me to come to the board and solve the problem he had written out for us. I looked at it and immediately knew the answer and how to work it out. Thank God for my memory, or rather B2's and mine. I took the marker and studied it a few seconds and then went to work solving the problem. First, I went to the bottom of the board and wrote an equal sign and the answer. Then I went back to the problem and solved it. When I had finished, Mr. Herbert asked, "Robert, why did you put the answer first and then solve the problem?"

"Well, Mr. Herbert, I worked the problem out in my head as I was coming up to the board. Once I had the answer I needed to write it out so I wouldn't forget and to make sure I did the problem right in my head. I then went about solving the problem and it matched with the first answer I came up with, so I knew I had it right. Was I wrong to do that, Mr. Herbert?"

"Not wrong exactly, but not totally right either. You should just solve the problem like you did, and only remember if you got the answer right the first time. Let's move on."

I think I screwed up again. I would have to watch this wool gathering and pay closer attention from now on. The bell rang for lunch a little later. I gathered up my books and headed for lunch. I tried to get a table by myself today, but I was steered to my normal table by several girls. Of course, the table topic was my upcoming execution at the hands of the Carters this evening.

Everyone had suggestions, some quite good, others were downright terrible. Some were even sneaky. But we had some options; Sam and I decided to play it by ear, and since we had so many options, we could keep trying one until we found one that worked. Someone had even mentioned the pregnancy one. Sam said that one couldn't work as she was still an intact virgin. Her mom wouldn't even let her use tampons. I held my hand up to that response and said, "TMI, please, Girls, TMI! I'm still a guy and that is waaay too much information for me."

The girls all laughed as I blushed a bright pink, with my ears turning crimson. Things settled down after that, and Sam and I worked out our strategy for tonight.

I watched another movie and took a written test to see if I could drive a real car next week while several others worked the simulator. My program worked like a charm in computer class and I got an 'A' for my grade on that test. We started on some more operations to be programmed right before the bell for last class.

I worked some more on my fender piece and got it all smoothed out for primer again. I shot it before we had to break up for final bell. I caught some of my entourage in the hall before it was time to make it to the bus. As I walked outside, I saw a glorious sight, snow. Almost two full inches of the stuff had fallen today, and it was still snowing pretty hard. I ran back inside to talk to Sam. Would this postpone the supper plans for this evening? Sam said she would call me at home once she knew the answers.

I trudged back to the bus and climbed aboard, dreading the call from Sam. Yeah, dreading; first, I really liked Sam, she was my age, she was fun to be with, and we somehow clicked mentally, so I wanted to be with her and didn't want to mess that up. Secondly, I dreaded the call because her parents might still want to get together, so I would be facing that dreary prospect too. This being of two minds ... ha, ha ... about Sam, I mean, was kind of worrying to me. I think I loved Brenda, I know I loved Suzie, but did I love Sam too? Talk about a complicated love life; was I trying to get myself a harem going or what? Not that that is necessarily a bad idea; I mean having a harem before I reach the age of consent or maturity. I think some of Bob 2's way of life was leaking over into my moral codes programming. I think I would have to adopt a wait and see attitude on this.

I arrived home, showered, and cleaned up for my dinner date, hoping it would be cancelled. In the meantime, I worked on my next program and homework after setting the table for four like always. Mom got home with two pizzas, and asked me, "Are you ready to go to town ... wait, has your supper been called off because of the snow?" she corrected, as she saw the four plates.

"Not yet, Mom, I'm expecting a call shortly to let me know, but with it still snowing outside I suspect it will be postponed. I'm not sure I was looking forward to this meal and the interrogation afterward."

"Interrogation; what interrogation? Spill it."

"Well, Sam says that her parents have sabotaged the other two times she has invited guys to her house to meet them. Both guys were in her classes; one was a regular guy, and one was a jock. Her parents humiliated the guys to the point they both left early, one in tears, and the other running down the street screaming. Sam and I think they are trying to make sure she is not distracted from their goal of her getting a doctorate before she is 20. They have some really aggressive plans for her since she is another genius in the family." I explained what I had found out about her parents, what I guessed their motives were, and also some of what Sam and I had discussed about what they have done to the unsuspecting possible suitors.

Then the phone rang. I answered: "Roberts residence, whom may I say is calling?"

"Bob, it's Sam. The supper is called off for tonight. Mom's stuck on the 95 bridge at Little River. A truck skidded on the bridge and took out part of the guard rail so they closed the road. She was on the bridge when it happened and is stuck on the bridge until they can get the traffic behind her off. She's going to be real late, so we called it off for today. They wanted to make it for Sunday afternoon; that is if it's OK with you?"

"Let me check for sure, but I think I can make it. We go to church on Sundays, so it will have to be after that."

"We go too, which church?"

"First Methodist on West Lake Drive, how about you?"

"Christ Fellowship on McLain, it's just a few blocks away; we could pick you up there. We live on Wallace, so it's not far. When it's nice we walk the five blocks to church."

"What's your address so I can have my dad come get me afterward?"

"It's 1422, but my dad will take you home. So we can do this, right?"

"You bet, Sam, I look forward to it; just like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick," I said, laughingly.

"Oh, I like that, see ya Sunday. We'll pick you up at your church, probably about 12:15."

"Yeah, I should be out by then. See ya soon, bye."

"Bye, Bob."

Well, I got a slight reprieve. Now it won't ruin my whole weekend, just the last part of it. Maybe I can turn this all around; hum ... I will have to think on this. Well, it's pizza time now.

I explained that I didn't have a supper date tonight, but a Sunday dinner date instead. The Carters would be picking me up after church and taking me to their home a few blocks away. I gave Mom the address and phone number so they would have it. I also explained that her dad would bring me home, but I wanted them to know where I would be, just in case something came up or I needed a ride home.

Mom questioned me some more about the elder Carters, but I didn't have much more information. About then, Dad came in the back door, stomping snow from his boots. I sure was glad I had stocked more firewood in the woodshed. I really didn't want to be out trying to chop more wood in that mess.

Supper talk was light, mostly about the snow, until Mom mentioned my apprehension about my Sunday dinner with the Carters.

"Bob, if you don't think this will go well with Sam's parents, then why are you still going? This would have been the perfect time to postpone or cancel completely?"

"Dad, I am doing this for Sam. She deserves to have a life too, besides studying, I mean. I talked to her, and although most things come easy for her, she, like me, reads all her text books cover to cover as soon as she gets them issued in August. She also gets on the internet and reads everything she can about the related subjects of that particular class. She is like me and retains anything she reads. She has an eidetic memory, or total recall is what it's called. She is so smart that she sees things that are out of the ordinary regarding the books and articles she reads, and can correlate a number of things together to make new assumptions. Her mind is always churning things over and then something totally new, but still related, pops out. That is where her genius lies. She would be a very good theorist in just about any subject she would care to study. Her parents, on the other hand, want her to get her doctorate in at least one field, then teach or be a researcher in that field.

"Sam is finally getting tired of all this accelerated learning; she wants to have some fun while she is still young. She sees me as her ticket to having that fun. I am smart, I am easy to talk to, and she likes me for who I am, not what I can do to make her smarter. Her parents want no distractions until their goal for her is met, but she feels that she will be too burned out to enjoy the fruits of her labors by then. I mean she is only sixteen, a senior, and taking three junior level college courses online, to boot. She wants what the other sixteen years old girls want, she wants a boyfriend; she wants to experience all the things her parents are denying her right now. That is why she came to me to see if we could sidetrack her parents, for a little while, anyway."

"Wow, Son; that is some real heavy stuff they are pushing off on Samantha. How are you two going to try to derail their plans, and are you sure you want to do this to them?"

"First, Dad, we are working together on this, I like Sam as a friend and as a girl. She is pretty, smart, and is really hurting inside because she is so confused. She sees the other girls; mainly seniors like herself, having all this fun, going to dances, parties, chatting with girlfriends, and other things. She is jealous of the fun they are having and she is getting none. About the middle of October last year, she suddenly decided she had enough loneliness and decided to join the other girls in our biology class to get to know people better. She was a little shy at first, but then joined right in. This was about the time I started getting a group of girls that followed me around between classes. I call them my entourage. There are about five of them in the core group, but several others come and go as their class schedules permit.

"At lunch, I have about fifteen to twenty girls that congregate at two tables in the lunchroom. We talk, laugh, and we just have a great time there. Since Sam joined the group, she has become more outgoing, not so introverted, her studies have not suffered, but her parents still don't like the distractions. The group, as a whole, decided that Sam deserved a break; she needed to know what life was like as a teenager. So they talked me into asking Sam out for a date; I did and she was told to say no. So we came up with the idea to have me meet the parents and see if I could be accepted as a possible distraction. The girls at lunch think that if anyone can get through to her parents, I can. Why, I'm not sure, but that is what they think. I'm sure part of this stems from my mental powers, of which they have no idea. I have suddenly become a girl magnet since I started getting them. I'm not sure if it is pheromones, or just that I don't seem to be a threat to them, but they seem to congregate around me."

Mom asked, "You mean all this has happened because of your powers, or at least since your powers came to the forefront?"

"Yes, Mom, I was not that popular with anyone until that happened. Sure I talked to a few girls, but it was mostly saying 'Hi' in the halls and maybe talking when we were paired up for an assignment. It happened after that day I woke up talking to you and Suzie. I think within a week of me discovering what I could do, I was suddenly surrounded by girls at my lunch table. I usually ate alone and studied. Then it became me and another girl, then me and two girls, and then it was one table full and now two, sometimes three. And they are sophomore, junior, and senior girls, so there is a strong mix of classes, races, and creeds as well as ages. All of these girls treat me as though I was their boy friend, but not their boyfriend, although a few have thoughts along those lines. The core group is mainly five girls, Brenda Leroy, Samantha Carter, Kathy Fletcher, Gail Porter, and Sandy Gardner. There are others that float in and out of that group like Ashley Conner, LaShanda White, Louisa Hernandez, and Kamari Moutolknda. Kamari just joined the group shortly after we met in Driver's Ed. So you see; I don't know why all this is happening and the only thing I can blame it on is the powers. I mean Kamari has been in 'B' Lunch all school year, but it was not until we met in class that she suddenly started showing up at our table."

"Bob, it sure seems like that is the reason, but there is another reason too," said Suzie. "You now treat everyone a little differently. You have a confidence and a mystique about you that attracts people to you. I think that the powers allow you to be this confident and capable young man. If the powers somehow left you tomorrow, you will still be the same man you are today, just not quite so awesome."

"Suzie, I agree with you. Just take the other day when Bob streaked us at breakfast. When he came back into the kitchen with all three of us women sitting there, he did so with dignity and grace. Although he could very easily have made us forget the incident or use his powers to make certain that we would not reveal it to anyone, he didn't do that. Instead he strongly requested that we keep it private, but I didn't get the impression he used his powers to make it a command."

"No, Mom, I did not. Yes, I was pissed, not so much for the fact that you saw me naked, but for the giggling afterward. That is what made me so mad that I threatened you with harm if the incident was made public. I was in a very urgent state when I woke up, I was tied in knots within my own bed clothes, and by the time I got untangled, I really needed to go. Then the bathroom door was locked, so I had two alternatives. One, open my window and let it all hang out in the cold. I'm sure that would not go over well for our reputation in the neighborhood. The other was to run downstairs and use the lavatory or your bathroom. Since the lavatory was closer, I ran there. You all know I sleep au natural, so what was I supposed to do? Then I get this giggling from you two and Ronnie when I walked back upstairs. How was I supposed to act after that?

"Bob, we giggled, it was funny at the time and I want to apologize for laughing at your predicament, I'm sure you sister apologizes for her reaction too."

Suzie ran to me, hugged me, and said, "Bob, I never meant to hurt you, I just thought it was funny that you ran into the lav., but just strolled out like you did. We really expected you to cover up with something on the way back out."

"With what, dear sister of mine? There is a washcloth, a hand towel, and that worn out threadbare grease towel Dad and I use when we come in from getting dirty working in the barn or outside. Would you have used any of those items if it had been you, or would you have tried to recapture some of your dignity and walk out like I did?"

Mom spoke this time. "Bob, you're right, there really isn't anything in the lav. that could be used to cover you should the need arise. Please accept my deepest apology for laughing at you the other morning. I should know better, but I just didn't think it through."

I opened my arms to Mom, and Suzie also opened hers for a group hug from the two women in my life that I unconditionally love.

"Now, ladies and Dad, I just had a thought about Sunday's roast of me. Suzie, you know I can talk to you in your head anytime I want. Well, I think I may have a plan that will backfire on the Carters. I will 'call' you when they start the inquisition and I want you to be on the internet and when they ask a question I don't know, you can look up the answer and send it to me. We have to be fast, though. I suspect it will be questions about their fields, but it may also be general questions. If I don't know the answer, I will stall saying, 'Let me think a minute ... or, it seems to me that I read somewhere that' ... and I will try to get the information from reading through your eyes, or from hearing you read it. Do you think that would work? I can also try to get any information I can about their questions from their minds too."

"Son; that just might work. We'll make sure Suzie, or at least one of us, is on the computer the whole time we are home. Now I think it's time for bed; you and I have to work tomorrow and the women get to do what they do best."

I noticed that Dad did not qualify that last statement as if it could be any one of several things. I went upstairs, did a quick sponge bath in case Suzie was in the mood, and headed for bed. Suzie came in a little later and snuggled up to me and said, "I am so sorry about the other day, please forgive me."

I turned over and hugged her and kissed her, trying to curl her toes. My floppy appendage had hardened and was poking my sister in the stomach as we kissed, and before I knew it Squirt was on top of me and had slid it home. I encased us in my "cage," then let her do all the work while I enjoyed the results. After several orgasms for her and two for me, we drifted off to sleep with Suzie on my chest and my shrunken appendage lying along my thigh. Suzie was gone shortly after her last orgasm as my rod became a worm. I was not far behind her. Sometime in the night, my shielded cage was lowered.

Saturday, 23 Feb.

I woke up a little early, moved Suzie to her side of the bed, and shut off the alarm. I then headed for the bathroom, cleaned up, and came back into my room to get dressed for work. Once I finished, I went downstairs and fixed myself some hot cereal. I noticed no dishes in the sink and assumed my dad was not up yet. I had to start the coffee pot, so I knew for sure Dad hadn't come out to go to work yet.

I was just putting my bowl in the dishwasher when my parents' bedroom door opened and Dad came tiptoeing out with his shoes in his hand. I whispered, "I made the coffee for you."

"Thanks, Son, your mother is not feeling too well today."

"Not a problem, I'll get ready for Sam to pick me up outside so he doesn't wake the women. Bye, Dad, have a good day."

"Yeah, Son, see you tonight."

I put my winter coat and my older boots on, and went outside to wait for Sam Simpson.

The ride in this morning was kind of quiet at first. Sam asked if I was OK. I said I had to meet some very picky parents after church tomorrow.

"Bob, just be yourself, you'll have no problems. Everyone who meets you suddenly wants to garner your favor, so go easy on the parents; they are just trying to look out for their daughter. I'm sure that if we hadn't had that dinner at your house, we may have been kind of picky too."

"Yeah, I guess so, Sam, but Samantha's parents have purposely taunted and humiliated the two guys Sam has brought home and each left early, one in tears and the other one running down the street screaming."

"Well, I wish you luck, Bob. How's the CAD work coming?"

"It's going good; Felix is picking it up pretty fast and Glenn is doing well too. I think Glinda is going to be a big help. She can help all three of us get a little more proficient in the software. With all her experience, she probably knows a lot of shortcuts and other commands that we kind of struggle with or have to work around. But we are learning.

"How is Fred doing? He said before the meeting last weekend that he had done some work on an older version."

"When I talked with Fred yesterday, he said it was all coming back and some of the new features were great as they made things much easier than he remembered them."

"Yeah, Sam, I sure am glad Fred is doing so well. Maybe he can assist Glinda with training Felix and Glenn."

"Yeah, Bob, that might work as well, and when Fred has some trouble, Glinda can help him too. You know her name rings a bell for me, but I just can't place where I heard that name before. Do you remember anything like that?"

"I think it is her whole name, Glinda Goodrich that rings a bell with me too." I paused and really thought about that and suddenly it hit me, "Glinda the good witch of the South from 'The Wizard of Oz'. She was the good witch that waved her wand and the ruby slippers were transferred to Dorothy after the house landed on the other bad witch. I think she was the wicked witch of the east, and the wicked witch of the west was the one the scarecrow threw water on and melted. So there must have been four witches in the movie or at least in the books. The north and south ones were the good witches; and the bad ones were in the east and west. How about that? But let me tell you, I'm not going to bring up the similarity of her name to the witches in the Oz books or the movie. I think she may have had a lot of teasing over that already."

"So right you are, Bob, we have to try to keep this under our hats. Most of the people are too young to remember that movie and I know not many people have read the book. How did you remember that, Bob? Was the part of your insight again?"

"No, Sam, I remember seeing the movie a few years ago and I really loved it, so my dad found a DVD of the movie. Actually, he found one of the limited edition collector's editions. It is a 4 disc set that has lots of extras all about the movie and much more. The movie fascinated me as it started in black and white, and as soon as Dorothy opened the door, everything outside the door was in color, but inside the house was still black and white. That intrigued me as to how it was accomplished, especially in 1939. Well, I think it actually was shot in late 1938. Can you imagine the changes that have taken place from then until now, just in the film industry?"

"You're right, Bob, the changes we have made even since I was born are great, but my grandmother, who was born in 1932 and the things she has seen in her lifetime are incredible. Her mother was born in 1897, before cars, airplanes, electronics, and electricity in every home. I remember my grandmother telling me that her mother was born on a farm and died there, never traveling more than about 20 miles from where she was born. Now we travel all over. Even you have been to California and back, and you're only 16. Can you even begin to imagine what your children will accomplish in their lifetimes? It really blows your mind, huh?"

"Well, time to make some money." Sam and I trudged through the snow and cold winds to get to work.

Things went well today; the staff meeting was interesting, but about normal. Felix, Glenn, and I all worked on getting a couple of updates done on one drawing that needed changes. It looked like it was right now, and I learned some more about the jobs of support services. All in all, it was a very good, productive day. Glenn and Felix both had the basics of how to work the CAD and could open drawings and make some minor changes. I explained that we needed to have a master file, and that when we opened a drawing we have to save it with a new name, so if we goofed up, we didn't change the master drawing.

I asked Glenn if they assigned project numbers to any of the changes that they did. "Of course, we do, Bob; very similar to the project numbers for these drawings ... Of course, we can use the project numbers for the new drawing numbers."

"Exactly, that way you can reference a project by the same number and also reference the drawing for that project. Like that drawing we were working on now for the security department, where you added the new computer equipment for the badges. We can take that project number and use it for the drawing showing what you changed over there and where the new equipment is located now. Once that drawing is complete, you take the changed portion and update the master file on the server. Then the server has the latest drawing."

Felix said, "That makes a lot of sense, that way we can have a small drawing of the project along with the project paperwork. But how are we going to print out big copies of the drawings once we get done so we can follow them when we do the work?"