Episode 5

"Sure, come on in. Sit down. Are you and your aunt not getting along? You know that having somebody our age in the house can be trouble."

"It's not that."

Forgetting what I had promised Aunt Jane, I went ahead and told Ted the story about the photographs and our discussion about walking around in the nude. I told him that I had started things last night by stripping down in front of her and swimming nude in the pool, how she hadn't done anything to discourage me, how, this morning, she was nude around the house for breakfast and later for her cardio. I explained that thought I could handle that; she looked really good. But then, she said that she was having friends over for the afternoon for a naked pool party. "I just had to get out of there for a while. I wasn't exactly sure what to do."

"Follow me. I need to show you something."

I followed Ted through the kitchen and out the back door. There, sitting around the pool was Ted's mother, father and two teenage sisters. All nude.

"Mom, Dad, girls ... Joe is here; he came over to ask me what he could do about his Aunt Jane's having friends over for a skinnydip. I don't know what to tell him. Any of you have any ideas?"

I turned around and went back into Ted's house. I was furious and wanted to leave as fast as I could. Ted followed me only to see me heading toward the front door. "Wait, Joe" he cried.

"Wait for what?" said I as I turned around. "Just what do you want me to wait for?"

"I want to talk to you" replied Ted.

"You? You? You want to talk to me?"

"Yes, I do. What is your problem?"

"My problem? You don't see what the problem is? Well, I will tell you what the problem is. All these years, we have been friends; I thought you were my best friend. I told you everything about me and I thought you had told me everything about you. I trusted you and now I find out that I hardly know you at all. All the years I thought we were friends and you were probably laughing at me, knowing that you had a secret that I might never have known about. You never told me you and your family were nudists. I guess you felt I could not really be trusted."

"No, Joe, you have got it all wrong. Completely wrong."

"I've got it wrong? I imagined that you and your entire family were not sitting around stark naked in front of each other? You are all wearing bathing suits and I am just imagining that they are all naked?"

"No, you are right about that; we are all nude, but that isn't it. If you really thought of me as a friend, the way I have always considered you to be my friend, my best friend, you would at least give me five minutes to explain this to you before slamming the door in my face. Will you at least give me that?"

"Well," said I, sulking. "I guess I can at least give you that, but it better be good."