Chapter 3

Everything seemed pretty normal for the next couple of days so Randall stopped worrying about it. His Aunt Rita was just as sweet and witty as always. Whatever the problem was, it was probably none of his business anyway. Besides, the way those two went at it in bed, things couldn't be too awfully bad between them.

Janice Turley called from California to say hello and to ask him to stop by the apartment and make sure everything was OK if Jack or Rita had to go into town for some reason. They'd never had any problems with vandalism or burglaries but she worried about things like that when she was out of town. She was happy to hear that Randall was enjoying his stay, but then she knew he would, once he got over his huff.

At breakfast, Rita said she had an appointment with a doctor in Omaha and wondered if Randall wanted to ride into town with her. He could hang out at a nearby mall while she was at the doctor's office and they could drive over to Gino's for that pizza when she was done.

"You bet I do! What time are we leaving?" The spending money his mom left him was burning a hole in his pocket. Besides, the mall was near their apartment so he could check it out and maybe hang with some friends as well.

They stopped at the apartment first and verified everything was just fine. Randall took the opportunity to grab his backpack and stuff it with a few sleazy mags his mom (probably) knew nothing about. The doctor's office was right across the street from the mall so Rita dropped him at the mall entrance and asked him to meet her there at noon.

He was disappointed that he didn't find one single friend at the fountain in the center of the mall where they usually congregated. He walked around for an hour, poking in and out of stores but that got old so he headed across the street to the clinic to wait for his aunt to come out. He met her in the lobby.

Rita was surprise to see him. "Don't tell me the mall was too boring."

"Well, I didn't see any of my friends and I couldn't think of anything I really wanted to spend my money on so here I am. I still have a terrible craving for some Gino's pizza, though."

"Me too. Remind me that I need to stop at Wal-Mart on the way home and fill a prescription."

Outside, she handed him the keys to the Tacoma and said, "If you don't mind, Randall; the doctor gave me a shot and it's making me a little fuzzy in the brain. It's probably not a good idea for me to drive." Randall had only received his license six months earlier and he never passed up an opportunity to get behind the wheel. And he loved the Tacoma.

All in all, they had a fun afternoon even though Randall could tell his aunt's repartee wasn't up to her usual high standard. They ordered a medium pizza with the works and Randall ate all but two slices. The last stop on the way home was to pick up the prescription.

When he pulled up in front of the house, Rita said, "If you don't mind entertaining yourself for the rest of the afternoon, I'm going to lie down for a while. That shot really kicked my butt."

"What was it for, Aunt Rita? Are you sick with something?"

She smiled and patted his hand. "Nothing for you to be concerned about, sweetie. Just woman problems."

"Oh, OK, that's definitely more than I need to know. I think I'll do a little net surfing in my room. If you don't feel like cooking dinner, that'll be fine with me. I way overdid it on the pizza and I can make a sandwich or something if I get hungry later."

She kissed his cheek and headed up the stairs. "Thanks, Randall. I am feeling kind of beat."

He answered when the phone rang an hour later. "Hi, Jack! Where ya calling from?"

"Hi, buddy! I'm just leavin' Topeka so I should be home about six or so. Is Rita there?

"Yeah but she's sleeping because the doctor gave her some kind of shot. Do you want me to wake her up?"

"No, no, don't wake her. Uh, do you know what doctor she went to see?"

"I don't remember the name but it was some woman doctor near the mall. What do they call them, gyno-something? Anyhow, I had to drive home because the shot made her kind of woozy."

"Oh, you went with her! That's good." He sounded relieved.

"Yeah, I hung around the mall for a while and then we went to Gino's for pizza. I thought I'd just let her sleep and make a sandwich for dinner."

"Sounds like a plan. Hey, buddy, why don't you hold off on dinner 'til I get home and we can whip up somethin' together. And there's somethin' I need to talk to you about."

"Sure, Uncle Jack. I'll see ya when you get here!"

The rig rolled up to the house at a little after six. Randall had just checked on his Aunt and saw she was still zonked. He put his MacBook to sleep and headed downstairs to meet Jack coming in the back door.

"Hey, Uncle Jack! How was your trip?"

"Long but good. At least we'll be able to pay the bills this month. Rita still sleepin'?"

"She was when I checked a few minutes ago." In spite of his aunt's reassurance, Randall still had some concerns. "Um, is she all right, Uncle Jack? I mean, she said she was having woman problems but I was wondering why she had to be like, tranquilized."

Jack looked at his nephew like he was trying to make up his mind about something, then he said, "Let me get my stuff upstairs n' look in on the little lady, then we'll talk. Why don't you open us a couple of beers n' make some sandwiches."

They worked on cold roast beef sandwiches and leftover potato salad. "How old are you now, Randall, about seventeen?"

"Next month. You know I'll be a senior this fall."

"That's right, you told me." He took another bite and appeared lost in thought as he chewed. "Well what I wanted to ask was, what would you think about maybe spendin' the rest of the summer here with me n' Rita?"

That took Randall by surprise and he had to think about it for a bit. "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind. I kinda like it here and I really like riding Sparks. I don't know what Mom would think about it though."

"Fact is, I already asked her and she said it was up to you."

"She did? In that case, yeah, I'd be happy to. Does it have something to do with Aunt Rita being sick?"

Jack swallowed another bite of sandwich and took a gulp of his beer. "Well, she ain't really sick, son; at least not the way you're thinkin' but yeah, that's part of it. The other part is we just like havin' you around." He heaved a big sigh, leaned back in his chair and continued, "Look here, Randall, I'm gonna tell you some things that you need to keep under your hat, even from your mom. Can I trust you to do that?"

"Of course you can. I keep a lot of things secret form Mom!"

"OK, let's start with this: Your Aunt Rita has what's call a hyperactive libido. Now, over the last few years, she's taken half a dozen different kinds of pills tryin' to hold it in check but they haven't worked all that well. By that I mean they calm her down some but they don't really stop the problem. What this new doc gave her must've been plenty strong 'cause she's still wiped out. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but I know she can't live her life doped up all the time. I reckon we'll just have to wait n' see. Anyhow..."

Randall interrupted, "Excuse me, Uncle Jack, but what's this 'hyperactive' thing you said? I never heard of that."

"Hyperactive libido." Jack searched his brain for the best way to explain it and decided to go with what he'd read online. "Have you ever heard of a thing called nymphomania?"

The boy started to grin but checked himself when he saw Jack was dead serious. "Well, yeah, I've heard of it but I always thought it was just something guys joked about. Are you saying that's what Aunt Rita has?"

"Yeah, that's what she has n' believe me, it's no joke! She can't control her sexual urges. She tries though, lord knows she tries but there's somethin' goin' on inside her that just won't let her rest. I'm a little embarrassed to mention it but I'm sure you heard us goin' on n' on all night when I was home last week. Damn, Randall, she flat wears me out and she still ain't satisfied! The woman absolutely cannot get enough sex!"