Chapter 1: The Bailey Family

"Well kid," Crazy Charlie said, grinning at me with that cockeyed expression that had earned him his nickname, "I think you'll do okay. Just act ten years older, six inches taller, and thirty pounds heavier than you really are." He laughed at his own joke, clapped me on the back, and just that easily I became an employee of Crazy Charlie's Car Corral.

I had graduated from high school a year earlier, and my parents had been on my case ever since about getting a job. But in 1964 our small town didn't have that many employment opportunities. When it became obvious that I couldn't find anything on my own, my dad gave his old friend Charlie a call, and got him to hire me.

Charlie sold used cars; not 'quality, hand-picked pre-owned vehicles' as he claimed in his ads, but the cheapest cars he could find at the wholesale auctions. He gave them a quick wash and maybe a wax job, and sold them to people who were desperate for transportation. He kept his prices reasonable, and didn't try to gouge his customers. On the surface, Charlie almost looked like a Robin Hood kind of guy. Unfortunately, selling cars was just a front for his real business.

Because most of his customers could not qualify for loans from traditional sources, Charlie did most of his own financing. That's where he made his real money. He soon became a go-to source for people desperate for money to pay their bills. By the time I got involved, he was running a full-scale loan sharking operation. Of course, that's not what he called it, but everybody in town knew that going to Charlie for a loan was either an act of financial desperation or stupidity.

Charlie had quickly learned to not rely on his debtors to mail in their payments, or drop them off personally. It usually took knocking on doors and looking people in the eye to get them to pay He had a staff of three people that pounded the pavement and did door-to-door collections for him. That's what I was to become, one of Crazy Charlie's bad guys. I was nineteen, a shy, skinny kid who had no idea how to collect money from people who usually didn't have it to give. But Charlie was desperate, and hired me after a five minute interview, mostly as a favor to my dad, I'm sure.

I hated the job, and told myself every morning as I headed off to work that I was going to quit. But with no alternatives, and my parents still hounding me, I stuck it out for six miserable months. Then I met Amanda Bailey and her amazing daughters, and my life got a lot better.

I parked my car; made sure the doors were locked, and started walking toward the long line of dingy apartments stretching away from the cracked and steaming asphalt of the parking lot. I walked along the sidewalk that led between the four buildings that made up "Carlton Gardens". Whatever plants that may have once existed in that space to make it a "garden" had long ago died and been ground into the dust, like the hopes and dreams of the people living there.

I was trying to look inconspicuous, but the white shirt and tie the Charlie insisted on gave me away. In that neighborhood anyone dressed like I was had to be a cop, a salesman, or a bill collector. Nobody was going to believe someone with a baby face like I had could be a cop. I wasn't carrying a satchel full of samples, so I didn't look like a salesman. That only left one reason for me to be there, and it marked me as a very unpopular person. I felt like a spotlight was shining on me as I went down the walkway between the buildings. The expressions on the faces I saw peeking at me from behind curtains or darkened doorways seemed to be saying, "Good, he's after somebody else today".

I found Apartment 112, at the far end of the building, and knocked on the screen door. None of those units had air conditioning, so it was common for the residents to leave their doors open to try and stay cool. I tried not to stare into the dark interior behind the screen. It was bad enough that I was here to take money from them, I didn't want to intrude on their privacy too.

While I waited for someone to answer, I checked my collection book one more time, to make sure I had my facts straight. I was here to collect from Amanda Bailey, who was paying Charlie $80 every two weeks for a car she had bought four months earlier. This was the first time I had been to the Bailey apartment. She had been one of Tom Lansing's clients. Tom had resigned suddenly a few days earlier, and I had picked up half of his route until Charlie could find another goon.

I heard a noise from inside, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw a young girl come to the door. She looked to be twelve or thirteen, with long, tangled black hair, a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, cutoff jean shorts, and no shoes. "Is Mrs. Bailey here?" I asked.

The girl looked me over from head to toe. I was sure she knew that a well-dressed man standing at her door was not a good thing. There had been a few times when street-savvy kids like her had just slammed the door in my face. This time, I was lucky. "Yes sir," she said, with a cute grin. "I'll go get her."

I didn't get called 'sir' a lot on those days, especially from kids. She turned and ran around the corner and down a hallway. "Mom, there's somebody to see you. I think he wants money," I heard her holler. Yep, she had me pegged.

I girded myself as I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I never knew what kind of reception I would receive when I knocked on a door for the first time. Some people were calm and businesslike, just making their payment with no fuss or bother. Others, usually those who didn't have the money, and should have known better than to deal with Crazy Charlie in the first place, were more belligerent and defensive. It was like they blamed me for the bad judgment they had shown by getting trapped in such a usurious loan.

Then there was a third type; those who were 'a little short on cash', but were nice about it, hoping that I would be understanding and maybe give them a few more days to get the money. If it had been up to me, I usually would readily have agreed to some degree of leniency. But of course, Charlie would have fired me if I came back with empty pockets, so I had to act tougher than I really was. The standard rule was I could grant them an extra week, but it meant that the interest rate would be raised by two percent on the balance of the loan. Like I said, Charlie was a real champion of the less fortunate.

It turned out that Amanda Bailey was one of the third type. When she came to the door, she opened it and politely invited me in out of the heat. She had long black hair, like her daughter, and was wearing what looked like a waitress uniform; a white blouse and black skirt. It looked like she was about to leave for work.

She motioned for me to have a seat in a well-worn but clean easy chair, while she sat down on the couch next to her daughter. She appeared to be in her mid thirties, with a worn-out look that indicated that they hadn't been easy years. But hidden behind the tired eyes and crows feet, I could still see a young girl who had probably been very pretty as a teenager. With a little makeup, and a reason to smile, she might still have been considered an attractive woman.

There was a cartoon playing on the small black-and-white TV in the corner of the room. Amanda's daughter sat silently next to her, concentrating on Tom and Jerry, and not seeming to pay any attention to me. After taking a better look at her, I realized that she was more than just a cute young girl; she had one of those faces that make you wonder just how beautiful she would be in a few years. "That girl is going to break a lot of hearts' is an expression I had heard my grandfather use, and as I looked at the girl on the couch, I finally understood what it meant. I found it hard to turn my attention from that beautiful, innocent face and get back to business.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Mrs. Bailey asked.

Another 'sir'. It was obvious that the daughter had learned her manners from her mother. I took a quick glimpse around the room and noticed that everything was clean and organized. Amanda and her family might not have much, but they weren't living in squalor like a lot of other families that I dealt with. I hadn't seen anything about a Mr. Bailey in the file, and I started forming an opinion of Amanda Bailey based on the thirty seconds I had know her - a single mother, struggling with a low-paying job, but doing everything she could to bring her daughter up correctly. Somehow, I felt like she was a good person, and I wanted to help her even before she asked for it. Yeah, even as a young man, I was well on my way to becoming what the right-wingers today call a bleeding-heart liberal.

"I work for Crazy Charlie, and I'm here..."

She smiled and put a hand up to stop me. "Oh, the car payment. Yeah, I know it's due. Where's Tom, by the way?"

"Mr. Lansing's not with the company any more," I told her. "I'm taking care of some of his clients in the meantime."

She looked confused. "Oh, what happened? Mr. Lansing and I had an....an arrangement about my payments."

"Ma'am," I interrupted, trying to maintain the gruff exterior that went with the job, but was so out of character for me. "I don't know anything about that. I just know that I need to collect $80 today."

"What's your name?" she asked, smiling at me again. For the first time I realized that she might be flirting with me. Charlie had cautioned me that I might meet some women who would try to trade sex for a payment. "Be careful, kid," he had cautioned. "If you want to get your ashes hauled, that's your business, but remember it's gonna come out of your pocket."

"Jeffrey, ma'am, Jeffrey Thomas." To everyone else in the world I was Jeff, but for this job I used both syllables of my given name, in a vain hope that it would somehow make me seem more forceful.

"Well, Mr. Thomas, I'm havin' a little problem this week. Tips are kind of slow now that the tourist season is over, and I had to pay the power bill this week. Is there any way you can give me just a few more days? I should make enough over the weekend for me to pay you."

As she made her appeal, Amanda had crossed her legs. It was a very natural gesture, something that women do automatically, but her skirt was very short, and the effect was to give my horny young eyes a nice glimpse of thigh. By itself, I wouldn't have paid much attention to the leg show, but coming at the same time as her plea for an extension on her payment made me suspect that it was intentional.

Amanda patted her daughter on the head. "Lilly, why don't you get your sister and go outside for a little while. Mr. Thomas and I have some business to discuss."

The young girl got up reluctantly, gave me a dark look for taking her away from her cartoon, and headed down the hall. "Rose," I heard her yell, "come on, we gotta go out for awhile. Mama has to take care of some business."

The way she said "...take care of some business" made it obvious that she knew what that meant. There was a certain feeling of resentment in her tone that indicated this wasn't the first time the girls had been asked to leave the apartment while Mama took care of a debt. I may have been young and naïve, but it was easy to see that I had finally run across one of the sex-for-a-favor women that Charlie had warned me about. I also understood what she had meant about having an 'arrangement' with my predecessor. Now it looked like she was hoping that it would be business as usual with the new guy, and I have to admit I was intrigued by the idea.

Lilly and her sister came down the hall and flew out the door, chattering together in that special way siblings have. Lilly's sister appeared to be a couple of years older than her, but they were cut from the same mold. They both had the same shiny, black hair as their mother, but Rose's was cut shorter. There was no doubt they were sisters, their faces were so similar that if they had been closer in age they could have been twins. The older girl glanced at me briefly and smiled. I wasn't expecting that, and it only lasted a second before her expression changed as she glared at her mother. It was clear that both of the girls were unhappy about being sent out, and the reason why.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Thomas. My girls are usually a little more polite. But you know how kids are."

"Of course," I lied. Actually I didn't have a clue how kids were. I was an only child, and hadn't like kids much even when I was one. It dawned on me that I was a lot closer in age to Amanda's girls than I was to her. "How old are your daughters?" I asked, trying to make small talk, something that has never been easy for me.

"Rose just turned fifteen, and Lilly is thirteen."

"Oh, you like flowers?" I asked. Dumb question, but like I said, inane chatting is not one of my life skills.

Amanda smiled. "Well, yeah, that's kind of a joke between my husband and me. He used to call my womb his garden, and when he came in me, he was fertilizing the soil. So it was his dumb idea to name our kids after flowers. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

I could tell from the heat in my cheeks that I was blushing brightly, not uncommon for me at that age, and I certainly wasn't used to a woman describing her sex life in such detail to me. "Oh, that's all right. You just surprised me, talking about your...your...".

"Yeah, my kids get on my case sometimes for my toilet mouth. I guess it's just the way I was brought up. I heard a lot worse than that from my parents. But I'm tryin' not to raise my girls like that. They're really good kids, but when their daddy ran off a few years ago, it made it hard on all of us, and sometimes they take it out on me."

Now that we were alone, Amanda didn't give me a chance to give her my standard "no leniency" speech before she took her appeal to the next level. "Mr. Thomas, you look like a nice young man, and I know that men like yourself, so young and full of life, have needs, needs that a girlfriend can help with. Do you have a girlfriend, Mr. Thomas?"

I shook my head no, wondering why she would even ask that. If she was trying to derail my train of thought, her questions, and the delightful expanse of firm thigh that she was flashing were working like boulders on the track. My sex life wasn't exactly action packed in those days.

"Would you like one," she whispered, her voice suddenly lower and sexier. "Someone who can take care of your needs, say right now?"

I had been trying not to look at her as we were talking. That was one of the tricks Charlie had taught me, it's a lot harder for the beggers to get to you if you make eye contact, was the way he put it. But in that small room it was impossible to ignore her presence totally. She had uncrossed her legs, and even though I was trying to burn holes in the carpet with my eyes, I couldn't help noticing that her thighs were now spread slightly apart, and she was pushing her skirt further up her legs, dangerously close to her crotch.

At nineteen the only thing worse than looking an attractive woman in the eye while she is trying to seduce you is looking at her white cotton panties, and the outline of pussy lips within. I felt myself starting to stiffen, another common reaction for me at that age, but not something that usually occurred while I was working.

"So Jeffrey, can we take care of each others needs?" She was practically whispering now.

I noticed that I was Jeffrey now, not Mr. Thomas. There was no doubt that we had gone from talking Charlie business to funny business. "What did you have in mind?" I squeaked, nervousness showing in my voice.

"All I need is a few days. I'm not asking for a loan or anything. Tom used to be able to find a way to give me some time when I needed it."

I knew what she was going to ask, and I had already worked out the details while we had been chatting. This was Thursday. I would tell Charlie that no one had been home when I came to collect. Friday was the day I worked the north side of town. That meant that Monday would be the next day I could come back. "Would Monday be okay?"

She smiled at me. "That'll be fine, sugar. Now, what can I do to thank you?"

God, did she really need to ask? It felt like my dick was going to poke a hole in my best pair of dress pants. I could feel the stickiness of a little precum leaking out of me, and knew I was leaving pecker tracks in my underwear just from the show she was giving me, the sultry tone of her voice, and the implied treats that might await me.

"What do you have to offer?" I mumbled. Yeah, that's the best I could come up with. Another dumb remark, but she didn't laugh at me.

"Come with me," she said, standing up and taking my hand. I followed her down the short hall, past what must have been the girl's room, to the larger bedroom next to it. She was still holding my hand, and I felt like a kid being walked to school. That was probably appropriate, I was sure there was a lot she could teach me.

"Why don't you take your clothes off," she suggested, as she began unbuttoning her blouse. Her breasts weren't very large, but that's never been a big deal for me anyway. I think that if she had had large tits it would have just been another unpleasant reminder of how much older than me she was. I quickly kicked off my shoes, and managed to slip out of my pants without looking too clumsy.

She didn't unhook her bra, and didn't wait for me to take off my shirt and tie. Instead she got on her knees in front of me, and started jacking me off. As I said, I was already hard as a rock, and her first strokes squeezed out more of the liquid that had been staining my pants. I knew from the way my balls were tightening that this wasn't going to take long. She bent forward and licked a few slimy drops off the tip of my cock. A second later, she had her lips wrapped around me, and I realized I was getting my first blow job.

Amanda pumped my cock with her hand while her mouth continued to suck the end. It was really more of a hand job than a blow job, but I didn't care. She kept lapping up the drops of precum she was milking out of me, and when it changed to ejaculate a few seconds later, she didn't stop. Her hand kept stroking me until I was done, and she took it all in her mouth. She hadn't even needed to take her blouse off, she didn't spill a drop. It wasn't the most intense orgasm I had ever had, probably because it happened so fast, but it seemed to go on for minutes instead of the seconds I usually experienced when jacking off.

Amanda handed me some tissue to clean myself, and started putting her uniform back on, suddenly very businesslike again. "I've gotta run, my boss throws a fit if I'm late," she explained as she buttoned up her blouse. "So, are we okay here sweetie?"

"We're okay," I assured her, my voice now back to normal. "I'll take care of Charlie, but I really need the money by Monday".

"I understand, sugar. It shouldn't be a problem."

Chapter 2: A Matinee With Amanda

And much to my disappointment, it wasn't a problem. Amanda had the money when I came back, as she did for the next two payments also. I had been hoping that she would need to rely on my good nature more often. In my imagination, I had pictured myself having sex with Amanda in exchange for my "assistance" as something that would happen regularly. But it was beginning to look like that one day had been the exception rather than the rule. I began to wonder if it was me; maybe she had found me so unattractive that she would do anything to avoid having to prostitute herself with me again.

But just when I was about to resign myself to accepting the fact that Amanda Bailey was really a Type 1 payee, things changed. I showed up at my regular collection time and I knew something was different right away. Amanda answered the door instead of Lilly, and she wasn't dressed for work. Instead, she was wearing a pair of very tight, bright red shorts, and a low-cut, tight-fitting top. Her pants were so tight that I could clearly see the outline of her femininity. That afternoon, Amanda didn't look like a young mother struggling to raise two kids; she looked more like she was ready to go stand on a street corner. In a way, that was true.

"Come in, Jeff," she smiled at me. I had gone from Mr. Thomas to Jeffery to Jeff. I liked what that implied. She asked me if I wanted something to drink, and when I said yes I followed her into her tiny kitchen. We exchanged more pointless small talk for a minute or so, while she opened a soda and poured it into an ice-filled glass. I had just taken the first sip when she got down to business.

"I have a problem," she said, looking very serious. "I got fired last week, and I haven't found another job yet. Money is really tight right now."

Unfortunately that was the kind of story that I heard a lot, and I had learned that it didn't make my job any easier to show compassion. My sole focus was supposed to be on collecting Charlie's money. But it wasn't that easy for me to be cold and harsh with Amanda. I really liked her.

"I'm sorry," I started. "If you need a few days I can try to stall again, but only...."

She put a hand out, fingers lightly touching my lips to silence me. "Jeff, I need more than that this time. I need for you to make this payment for me. It would just be a loan, of course, and I'll pay you back as soon as I can, but it might be a few weeks. Please, Jeff. I'll make it worth your while," she purred.

Her other hand was caressing the bulge in the front of my pants. It didn't take me long to react to her charms, I think I had started getting erect the moment I saw her in that outfit. With a practiced ease, she unzipped my pants, and before I knew it, her warm hand was cupping my balls. This was getting very interesting, but if I was going to make the payment for her, I wanted to be sure just exactly what "making it worth my while" meant. Being serviced by her hands and mouth wouldn't be enough this time.

"Um, usually there is interest involved in a loan," I stammered nervously. I was trying desperately to appear older and more sophisticated, but when you're nineteen, inexperienced, and an attractive woman has your balls in her hand, it's hard to not act and sound like a teenager.

Amanda smiled. "Oh, interest is no problem. In fact, why don't we take care of that right now." She took my hand and guided it to the mound at the bottom of her belly. I had been openly staring at the way her mons was outlined in the red fabric, and I know she had seen me looking. I stroked her there, letting my fingers glide across the slick satin surface of her hooker-like pants. I thought I felt some dampness seeping through, but that may have been my fervid imagination.

"The girls have gone to stay with my sister for a few days," she whispered, bringing her body even closer to me. "So we have all the time we need. What are you thinking, Jeff?"

I wanted to say I'm thinking about screwing you silly, but that seemed kind of blunt. Instead, I increased the pressure my fingers were putting on her, and said, "This is what I want."

She pressed her body up against me, and gave me a long, sensuous kiss. This promised to be more than just a businesslike quickie, and it seemed like she was actually looking forward to getting me into her bed. If she wanted to make love, and not just have sex, I was ready for that.

I eagerly followed her down the hall to her bedroom. When we got there we kissed again. She took my hands and put them on her butt, inviting me to play there. I squeezed and stroked her ass as while we played tonsil hockey, somewhat surprised by the firmness of her butt.

When we came up for air I wanted to peel those damn shorts off her immediately. I hooked my fingers in the waistband and tried to pull them down, but they were too tight for that to be easy, and Amanda had to help. It was a little awkward, but with three hands working, we finally peeled them down past her ass. I wasn't surprised to see she wasn't wearing any panties. I don't think there would have been room for them anyway; those were some damned tight shorts. She quickly stripped off her top. She wasn't wearing a bra. As I said, her breasts weren't that big, but they stood out from her chest proudly, with no sign of sag. She may have had the face of a woman in her thirties, but from the waist down she looked like an eighteen-year-old.

By the time I stepped out of my BVDs, she was sitting on the bed, watching me. She looked at my dick and smiled. I don't like to brag, but I am fairly well endowed, and in those younger days my erection stood out from my body at a jaunty ninety degree angle, like a soldier at attention.

Amanda pulled the blanket down, lay back on the crisp white sheet, and patted the bed next to her. I stretched out alongside her, and we kissed again. Six months earlier if you had told me I would be kissing a woman in her mid-thirties and enjoying it, I would have said you were crazy. But with Amanda, every time our lips met it felt like I got a little harder. She took my hand and put it on her breasts, and I began gently massaging one of her pointy breasts. She pushed my head down a little, and I took the hint and started sucking one of her small, firm mounds. I couldn't find a nipple at first, it was so small, but after I sucked and licked the areole for a few seconds, I felt it pop out and my lips fastened on it.

Amanda moaned softly, and that one simple sound was reassuring. She was enjoying what I was doing, and that made it seem a little less nasty. It was important to me that she not just feel like she was using her body to pay off a debt. Silly and irrational, I know, but I was a bit of a romantic in my younger days. I played the same game with her other pale white breast, and got the same result.

I swung myself into a kneeling position between her legs. Her pussy lips were already slightly parted, and I caught a glimpse of pink inside as I pointed my cock at her opening. As I pressed myself against her slick inner lips, she pulled her knees up a little, which changed the angle of her love canal just enough so that with one easy push, I watched my cock disappear almost completely into her warm cunt.

Youth and innocence is fun, but experience can be a wonderful asset. I had made love to two other women, girls actually, but both times it had been furtive, lovers lane, backseat kinds of teenage experiences. Those times had been exciting and memorable, no doubt, but I had been longing for a chance to make love, unhurried and comfortable, like an adult. Finally I was bringing that dream to life. I moved slowly in and out, trying to make the act last as long as I could. Amanda had said that we had all the time we needed, and I was determined to make this wonderful moment last as long as I could.

At least, that was my plan. My body had different ideas. After what seemed like only a few seconds, I felt myself building toward a climax. Amanda must have sensed what was happening. She wrapped her legs around my hips and began thrusting her pelvis up at me with each stroke. She was grunting loudly with each push, and I wasn't sure if it was from pleasure or the effort she was putting into the act. But by then, I didn't care. I felt myself spurting deep inside her, as I wrapped her in my arms and rained kisses down on her face. I've heard it said somewhere that every man falls in love with his partner for at least a few seconds when he feels himself cumming inside her, and I know that was true with Amanda that day.

But a moment later reality came crashing back into that tiny bedroom. We were just two sweaty people, a nineteen-year-old boy and a mother of two, who had just had quick, somewhat impersonal sex. Love had nothing to do with it. It was just a business deal, I reminded myself. I felt my wilting penis drop out of her, and I rolled over to lie next to her, catching my breath. I felt like I should say something, but couldn't think of anything that didn't sound trite or foolish. Instead, we lay there, lost in our own thoughts, until she got up a few minutes later to go to the bathroom and clean up.

I was still lying on the bed when she came back out. I was sort of hoping that maybe she would let me hang around long enough to work up enough energy for an encore, but that wasn't going to happen. "I need a beer," she mumbled as she threw on a robe, leaving the hooker clothes on the floor. She headed back to the kitchen while I slowly got dressed.

When I finally got myself together and walked back to the kitchen, she handed me a cold can. "Here," she said, "if you're old enough to fuck, you're old enough to drink." As she sat there in her cheap cotton robe, sweaty hair plastered against her forehead, she didn't look as enticing as she had a few minutes before. If anything, now she looked her age, and I felt a little uneasy about what had just happened.

I chugged the beer down, now anxious to make my exit. "I'll be back in two weeks," I reminded her. "Can you have both payments by then?" I didn't really mean to be that cold, but I was going to be out eighty bucks, which was more than half a weeks salary for me.

"Sure, hon, I'll get it somewhere," she sighed. I tried not to think about what that meant.

Chapter 3: The Girls Help Out

Two weeks later when I showed up to collect, the money was there, but Amanda wasn't. Lilly answered the door as usual, and greeted me with a big smile. She seemed full of enthusiasm, and it was obvious she wanted to tell me something. "Hi, Mr. Thomas. Guess what, Mama found a new job! Her hours have changed, so she's still at work, but she knew you were coming. She left the money with us. Come on in."

Rose was sitting on the couch, watching TV. This was the first time I had gotten a good look at her. All I had seen of her before were a few quick glimpses. And in those first few seconds, I fell in love. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration; but I couldn't take my eyes off her, and I had one of those dopey adolescent moments, dreaming about having a girl like her as a girlfriend, and hoping that she was as drawn to me as I was to her. In addition to my other shortcomings at that age, I also had the annoying character flaw of being hopelessly attracted to pretty young girls, and I constantly found myself fantasizing about them. Up until that moment, that's all they had been, teenage fantasies about lovely girls that I didn't even have the courage to talk to. But now one of my dream girls was sitting right in front of me, very real, and very vulnerable.

I think the thing that grabbed my soul in that first moment were her eyes. Yes, she was pretty, in a way that many almost-teenage girls are, but it was her large grey eyes, staring from below her neatly cut black bangs that made my heart thump. She was tall for her age, maybe five seven or eight, with slim, tanned legs. She had a way of looking at me that stirred animal-like feelings of desire within me. In some way, she had the same I've-seen-too-much-in-my-life expression that her mother had, but in a gentler, more innocent way.

"Hi," I said, breaking out my best banter. "how are you?"

She looked at me like I was some lovesick schoolboy who had asked if he could sit with her at lunch. Whatever imagined hopes I might have had for some kind of instant magic connection between us seemed to be dying a quick death. "I'm okay," she finally responded, after keeping me dangling like an idiot for several seconds.

"So, do you take care of Lilly when your mom is working?" I was just coming up with one bon mot after another.

"We pretty much take care of each other," Rose replied. "We're not exactly kids, you know."

"Yeah, we can take care of ourselves, but why is it your business anyway?" That question had come from Lilly. She had come back into the living room, holding an envelope. "Oh my god," she exclaimed. "Rose, he likes you. Look, he's almost drooling!"

"Shut up, Lilly." Rose threw a pillow at her bratty little sister.

It didn't stop her. "How come all the guys think you're so hot, huh? What's wrong with me?"

"What's wrong with you is that your only thirteen, dimwit. I'm sure the little boys chase you around the playground all the time." Like most big sisters, Rose seemed to enjoy taunting her younger sibling.

"Here," Lilly said, handing me the envelope. I opened it and quickly checked. It looked like two payments worth of twenties, so I stuck it in my folder.

"Thanks," I smiled at her. I was desperately trying to think of something else to say to prolong my visit. Lilly was right; I couldn't take my eyes away from Rose, even though she was doing a pretty good job of ignoring me. "So, do you girls cook your own dinner?" I asked.

Rose finally turned her attention to me. "Usually we just heat up something that Mom fixes before she leaves. But why do you care anyway? Is my annoying little sister right, are you gettin' a hardon over me?"

"I think he is!" Lilly piped in. She was still standing right next to me, and before I knew it, she reached out and rubbed her hand over the bump in the front of my pants. "Yeah," she grinned at her sister, "he's got a boner all right." This was like being back in high school and getting an erection just from watching a pretty girl across the classroom, but this time it had happened before I even knew it.

I felt myself blushing at their boldness, but even then I wasn't ready to leave just yet. "Geez, Lilly, what are you doing?"

"Uh, checking you out, dummy. You don't have a lot of girlfriends, do you Jeff? Sheesh, I think you need to jack off more often, unless you like walking around all the time with that thing stickin' out like a tent pole." She was rubbing her hand over my erection, whether to try and embarrass me or just out of curiosity I wasn't sure, but I wasn't trying to stop her.

"Goddamnit, Lilly, stop that!" Rose barked at her sister. "You're embarrassing the poor guy. Now look at him, he's gonna have a heck of a time gettin' back to his car with his thing stickin' out like that." Now she couldn't help herself, her stern face gave way to laughter. She and Lilly both started giggling as they pictured me walking back to the parking lot fully aroused.

"Yeah," Lilly finally managed to say between giggles, "maybe you better give him a hand job before he leaves. That should take care of it, and I'll bet he'd love it."

Now both girls were laughing and pointing at me. The only thing I could do was turn and get out of that apartment as fast as I could. The only good thing about them making fun of me was that it caused my problem to go away quickly. I felt my penis wilting back to normal before I got out of earshot of their girlish laughter. The thing I was more worried about was that being the object of their ridicule certainly lessened any chance I had of Rose seeing me as anything but a buffoon.

During the next two weeks my thoughts kept turning to the beautiful, mysterious Rose. Sure, she was much too young for me, but I couldn't stop thinking about her; building fantasies around the life we could, but probably never would, have together. I eagerly waited for the next collection day at the Bailey apartment. I was hoping that Amanda would be working again, and I would get to spend a little more time with the girls, especially Rose, my new obsession. And that's just what happened, but in a way I could never have imagined.

------

It was the first really cool day of Fall after another stifling summer. For the first time the inner door to Apt. 112 was closed when I knocked. Lilly answered, not as politely as she did when her mother was around, more like a typical thirteen-year-old. "You're early," she grinned, "bet you want to see Rose again, don't ya? Well, come on in."

"Is your mom working?"

"Yeah, it's pretty much every afternoon and evening now. But she likes her new job, so it's okay. Come on." Lilly turned and headed down the hall toward the bedrooms.

"Where are you going?"

"Your payment is back here."

"That's okay, I'll wait here." She was acting a little weird, even for Lilly. "Is Rose here?"

"Just shut up and come back here," Lilly said as she entered the bedroom she shared with her sister. I hadn't seen this sassy attitude when her mother was around. I followed her down the hall, still puzzled by her strange behavior. Why was she having me follow her instead of just bringing me the envelope?

When I got to the doorway of the girls room, I suddenly stopped, even more confused than before. Rose was lying in bed, with the covers pulled up to her chin. "Are you sick?" I asked.

She sat up, letting the sheet fall to her waist. She was nude beneath it. "I'm fine. Come on in, Mr. Thomas," she said softly.

I stood in the doorway, unable to move, mesmerized by the sight of her young breasts. They were bite-sized morsels, still a long way from full-sized even if small breasts did run in the family. But they were tipped with large, brown, protruding nipples. That part of her genetic makeup definitely had not come from her mother.

I was still unsure what was going on, until Lilly spoke up from behind me. I had almost forgotten that she was there. "I told you he wouldn't know what's goin' on," she said to her sister. "Don't you get it, dimwit? We're taking Mom's place today. She doesn't have the money to pay you, but she thought you might be a nice guy again and make the payment for her, if you spent some time with us."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Lilly was right, I had been a little slow to comprehend the situation. And even then, I found it hard to accept that Amanda would prostitute her own daughters.

Rose must have seen the doubt on my face, and tried to explain. "Look Mr. Thomas, things have been really tough since our dad took off. Mom is trying as hard as she can, but she didn't even finish high school, so there aren't too many jobs she can get. We know what she has been doing to pay some of the bills, so a few months ago we told her we wanted to help. She didn't want us to do anything at first, but after we told her what happened with Mr. Gilbert, she realized that we could help, and were probably going to do it whether she wanted us to or not."

"Who's Mr. Gilbert?"

"He's our landlord. Lilly and I knew he'd been watching us for awhile, when he thought we weren't looking. Then we caught him peeking in our window one day when he was supposed to be trimming the bushes, and that's when I got an idea. We knew Mom was worried about us getting kicked out of the apartment because she was late with the rent, and we wanted to help. We tricked Mr. Gilbert into coming inside to take a look at a dripping faucet. Once he was inside, we started teasing him, lifting our shirts a little and pulling each others shorts down like it was a game. Then when he was staring at us all hot and creepy looking, we asked him if he would give us a free month's rent if we let him see us naked."

"Yeah," Lilly chimed in. "But he wanted a little more than that. He wanted to touch our privates, and then have us touch his. I didn't want to at first, but Rose showed me what to do. She grabbed him and started pumpin' away like milking a cow. Then his stuff....."

"Lilly!" Rose barked. "You don't have to tell him everything."

"Sorry, Rose. But anyway, it worked great. 'Course, Mom found out, and she was really pissed, but then she realized that it probably kept us from ending up out on the street."

"So, did you do...things like that with Mr. Lansing too?"

"You mean the other guy from Crazy Charlie?" Lilly asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess there might have been a couple times we helped with the car payments too," she grinned.

"How many guys do you....have you...?" I stammered. I wasn't even sure I wanted to know the answer.

"You mean how many men have we been naughty with?" Lilly laughed. "Just those two, which ain't that bad, is it?" That question was addressed to Rose more than to me.

"I guess," Rose said, casting her eyes down. It looked like she felt a little more regret about what they had been doing than her more adventurous sister.

"Why don't you go play with her titties?" Lilly egged me on. "You know you want to, and she doesn't bite."

Rose looked up, a slight smile on her lips suggesting that she was agreeable to Lilly's suggestion. I was still in shock from all that had transpired in the last few moments, and not at all sure if I could, or even wanted, to take advantage of Rose. But as I looked at the delicate beauty on the bed in front of me, looking like a figure from a renaissance painting with a blanket draped around her waist, all my uncertainty about the legal and moral implications of what was happening vanished. From that point on I lost contact with my conscience; regrets would come later. My head was spinning out of control. All I wanted to do was experience everything that I had been dreaming about for the last two weeks. I wanted to touch, kiss, and explore every inch of the enchanting creature who had captured my heart and soul so easily.

I sat down on the bed next to her, still unsure of myself. Rose reached out and took my hand, leading it under the blanket and straight to the soft spot between her legs. Not surprisingly, I found that she was nude from the waist down also, and my fingers were soon entwined in a sparse patch of soft pubic hair. I let myself gently rub the tight slit tucked between her clenched thighs, staring into her eyes the whole time, anxious to see her reaction. Her expression revealed nothing, but a slight dampness on the tip of my intruding finger indicated that she was reacting to my crude attempt at foreplay.

"Geez, are you guys just gonna sit there makin' goo-goo eyes at each other?" Lilly complained. My attention had been so focused on Rose that I had almost forgotten about her little sister. I turned, surprised to see that she had slipped out of her clothes also. She pressed her warm chest against my arm. Understandably, she was even less developed than Rose. Her breasts were not much more than swellings, sneak previews of the woman she would become someday. They might have been fun for a boy her age to play with, but I was still drawn to Rose's more well-defined mounds. Lilly had tiny nipples, like her mother, and I could feel one of them, hard and erect, poking into my arm.

"Are you just gonna sit there with your clothes on?" Lilly teased. She was not at all bashful.

I stood up, and the girls help me get undressed. When Lilly finally pulled down my boxers, releasing my cock to their sight for the first time, I felt one more brief flash of embarrassment, but with both girls already nude it seemed like a natural state, and I quickly grew comfortable with being nude in front of them. Rose slid over to the far side of the bed, and I got in next to her, lying on my back. Lilly slipped into the bed next to me, putting me in a delightful Bailey-girl sandwich. I would have been quite happy to just be alone there with Rose, but apparently they worked as a team. I wanted to roll over and begin giving Rose my full attention, but Lilly prevented that; she was holding my cock and looking at it as if inspecting it for defects.

"Boy, Rose," she finally declared, after finishing her examination. "He's got a nice one. It's bigger than Mr. Lansing's, and a lot prettier than Mr. Gilbert's. I don't even think I'd mind putting this one in my mouth."

Putting action to her words, Lilly bent over my lap, and I felt her small lips wrapping around my erection. I looked down at the top of her head and watched her black hair bouncing as she bobbed, struggling to get more than just the tip of my cock into her mouth. She was scraping me a little with her teeth, which led me to believe that despite their unabashed talk, giving oral sex was still something new for the Bailey girls. She opened her mouth a little wider, and finally managed to get the head of my cock past her sharp, little teeth. Now that I was comfortably in her warm mouth, my excitement grew quickly, and I feared that I would cum in just a few seconds, even with such an inexperienced fellatrice working over me.

I turned my head and found Rose's face right next to me, watching intently as her sister struggled to give me her version of a grown-up blow job. We kissed, gently and tentatively at first, then harder and with more confidence. My hand massaged one of her breasts, which just barely filled my palm, while my tongue explored her mouth. She tasted of licorice and peppermint, a reminder I really didn't need of just how young she was.

Our lips parted at last, slowly and reluctantly, and we lay there for a few seconds just staring into each other's eyes. If it hadn't been for the fact that Lilly was still working on my cock like a girl with an all-day sucker, it would have been a very romantic moment.

"Stop, Lilly," Rose whispered. "It's my turn now."

This time Lilly didn't have a sassy teenage comeback. She sat up next to me and watched closely as Rose and I hugged and kissed again. Now that Lilly had released me, I rolled on my side, so we were lying face-to-face. I slid a hand slowly down Rose's back, letting it come to rest on her butt. I cupped one of her firm ass cheeks in my palm. It didn't feel much bigger than her breast.

My prick, still slick with Lilly's spit, was poking between Rose's thighs. She reached down between our bodies and grasped me. "That's very hard," she whispered. "Please don't hurt me."

"I would never do that," I reassured her.

She gave me anther shy smile as she rolled onto her back. I got on top of her, my twitching cock pressed between our stomachs. I reached down and quickly repositioned it, pressing the head against her slightly damp labia. I hesitated, knowing of course that she wasn't a virgin, but still mindful of her warning to not hurt her. I worried that I hadn't done enough to prepare her, but as I rubbed my cock in her crack, I could feel more lubrication gathering on her inner lips. Regardless, I couldn't restrain myself any more.

I pushed forward, and felt myself entering her tight young pussy. I started thrusting; rapid, full length strokes. She gave a little cry and I stopped. Rose's eyes were tightly shut, and she looked like she was in pain. But a moment later she opened her eyes, smiled at me, and said, "It's OK. It's just....you're my first. I'm not used to being so....so full. I had to get used to the feeling."

"You're a virgin?" I gasped. "But you told me that...."

"Actually, she kind of tricked you," Lilly interjected. Once again, I had forgotten she was even there. "We never said we actually screwed anybody, did we? We just do other...things."

"Things?"

"Yeah, like a hand job, or a blow job. Sometimes Mr. Gilbert likes to put his fingers in our cracks, and one time he tried to put his thumb in my butt. That was really gross, but I let him anyway. But we've never actually done it with a guy. Rose wanted you to be her first."

"Lilly!" Rose snapped at her talkative little sister again. "Shut your trap. You talk too much. You weren't supposed to tell Jeff that."

This whole discussion had taken place with my hard cock still buried about two inches inside Rose's pussy. Once again, the Bailey family females had managed to make my head spin. But one thing I was sure of, I had taken Rose's cherry, and there wasn't any going back now. Besides, from the way her arms were gripping my waist, I got the idea that she wasn't ready for me to stop yet. I got on my knees, lifting her hips a little off the bed and resting them on my thighs as I started gently sliding just a few inches of my shaft in and out. That seemed to be more enjoyable for her than my harder thrusting had been. That position also allowed me to play with her breasts, something that she also seemed to enjoy.

I was lost in the wonder of the moment, enjoying every inch of Rose's body, when I heard Lilly's insistent voice in my ear again. "Rose, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, hon, I'm fine. In fact I think I'm more than fine. This might be the best feeling I've ever had," Rose purred.

That was all I needed to hear. I lowered her hips back down on the bed. I stretched out full length on top of her again, and increased the length and rapidity of my motions. As I began to feel myself nearing a climax, I was shocked to feel Lilly's hand grasping my balls. "I want to feel you cum," she said. It wasn't a statement you expect to hear from a thirteen-year-old, but as I was now very much aware, the Bailey girls weren't your average teenagers.

True to her word, she kept a firm hold on my testicles as I felt my seed spilling into my young lover's waiting womb. I think the fact that Lilly was applying a little pressure there added to the intensity of my orgasm. I held myself up by my arms, not wanting to crush Rose under my weight, even though what I really wanted was to touch every inch of her body with mine. As I held myself up, feeling my erection beginning to lessen, I felt her begin to move against me. At first I thought she was just uncomfortable and was trying to get out from under me, but then I realized that she was grinding her hips against me in a very erotic motion. She hadn't had enough yet. Her instinctive movements, and guttural moaning served to stimulate me again, and I soon found myself fully erect again, still buried deep within her. A few seconds later, she pulled me down onto her and wrapped her arms around me. I felt her biting into my shoulder as her body shuddered under me, making a liar out of Lilly's claim that she didn't bite. But I didn't mind, it was like being nipped by an angel.

It was a perfect moment, one to remember for the rest of my life. I had just had first-time sex with the girl I loved (yes at that moment I was sure), and she seemed to have derived as much delight from the act as I had. I could have stayed with her on that lumpy bed in that hot, tiny bedroom for the rest of my life. Of course, it was Lilly who broke the mood.

"Darn, that felt weird. When you came, your balls were squirming around in my hand. Hey Rose, what happened to you? I thought you were going crazy for a while there."

Rose pushed her sweaty hair out of her face and looked at her sister. "That's what sex is all about, Rose, going a little crazy."

"Is it my turn now?" Lilly asked, looking at both of us.

"No!" Rose snapped. "I keep telling you, you're still too young. And besides, this guy is all mine."

I was hers! Yes! My fantasy was complete. She liked me, maybe as much as I liked her. But I was a little upset that she had lied to me about her experience, or lack of. She was my first virgin, and if I had known that, my approach to the act would have been very different. For one thing, Lilly would have been kicked out of the room.

For years, one of my favorite fantasies had been how I would go about deflowering my first love. I had built up a very detailed idea of how I would go about it, if and when the opportunity ever arose, but because of her lie, I hadn't had a chance to use any of my ideas. It had just been wham, bam, ouch, thank you ma'am.

When I had entered Apartment 112 that day I was only about five feet seven, but when I left I felt like I was ten feet tall. The circumstances may have been strange, even wrong by most standards, but all I knew was that I was in love. The fact that my lover was four years younger than I, and jailbait too, didn't even seem like an issue. I wasn't thinking very far ahead, probably no farther than my erect penis could stretch.

Chapter 4: A Relationship Grows

The next two weeks seemed like two years. I didn't have the courage to call Rose, or just drop by to see her because I didn't think Amanda would be happy about the idea of me courting her daughter. So I bided my time, dreaming of Rose's tight young body every night. When the day finally arrived for me to make my scheduled visit to Apt. 112, the always perky Lilly answered my knock as usual, and invited me in. Rose was sitting on the sofa, but Lilly announced my arrival anyway. "Your boyfriend's here," she said in a mocking tone.

Rose wouldn't even look at me, pretending to be absorbed by a game show on TV. I panicked, wondering if she was mad at me for not calling. She almost acted like she was embarrassed about what had happened between us. But if that were true, why was she sitting in the living room instead of cowering in her bedroom when she knew it was time for me to show up?

Lilly sat down next to her sister, and pretended to ignore me also. I decided, they must be teasing me. They obviously were leaving it up to me to break the ice. "Well, ladies," I drawled in what I hoped was my sexy voice, "did your mom leave anything for me?"

"Bet you hope she didn't," the precocious Lilly piped up. "Sorry to pop your balloon, but here it is," she added, handing me one of the familiar envelopes.

My heart sank, and my frustration level rose. I had been looking forward to spending more quality time in Rose's bed, even if it meant keeping Lilly busy also, but it looked like it was back to business as usual in the Bailey household. Still, something felt a little strange about the way the girls were acting, so I opened the envelope to check the contents. I smiled when I saw that instead of regular currency it was stuffed with Monopoly money.

"What's this," I growled, waving the funny money and trying to act the part of an angry bill collector.

"Gee, mister, I don't know how that happened." Rose said, trying unsuccessfully to act innocent. The big grin on her face gave her away. "I guess when Lilly and I were playing we must have mixed up the envelopes. I think I know where the real money is though. Come on, you can help me look for it."

She got up, took my hand, and led me down the hallway that I was beginning to think of as the entrance to heaven. Lilly was prancing along behind us, but when we got to their room, Rose turned to her and said, "Not this time, Lilly. I want to spend some time with Jeff alone. Okay?"

The expression on the younger girls face indicated that it really wasn't okay, but she had enough respect for her sister to honor her request. She headed back down the hall, head down, muttering to herself. I followed Rose into the bedroom, and she closed the door behind us. I took her in my arms, and we embraced. It was a long, gentle, series of kisses and caresses, the kind of moment that comes naturally to lovers. When we parted, I raised her shirt over her head, bringing her small, but beautifully shaped breasts into my view once again. The combination of her almost little-girl like swellings, incongruously topped with those large, mature-looking nipples was fascinating. She helped me slip her shorts and panties down, and stood before me in all her natural beauty. If someone had held a gun to my head and asked me to find a flaw in her body, I would have failed.

Neither of us had said a word; and none were needed. Rose stretched out on her bed while I took my clothes off. I sat on the edge of the mattress, while she curled herself around me, resting her head in my lap. She looked up at me, smiling, as she toyed with my erect cock. When she took me into her mouth, I was almost glad to feel her teeth rubbing against my tender skin, much like Lilly's had. It was nice to know that she wasn't very experienced at oral sex either. It reaffirmed my belief that neither of them was as slutty as they made themselves out to be.

I stopped her after a few seconds, anxious to pay tribute to all of her body, and not just her mouth. I motioned for her to lie back. I got on my knees, straddling her hips, and leaned forward to rain more kisses on her lips and throat. I worked my way slowly down to her chest, savoring every inch of her pubescent body. I gradually pulled one of her breasts into my mouth. I flicked her large nipple with my tongue while I continued to apply suction. She held my head in her hands, and guided me to her other eraser-tipped young mound. I gladly suckled on her, like a hungry puppy, for several minutes before turning my attention elsewhere.

I slid further down on the bed, still kissing my way down her body, savoring the taste and feel of her ribs, her stomach, her cute navel, and her lower belly. At last my lips were tickled by the tiny patch of pubic hair. She grabbed my head again, as if to stop me from going further. I looked up at her. "It's all right," I said, "trust me."

I didn't really have much more experience giving oral sex than she did, but I was determined to bring as much pleasure to Rose as I could. I settled into a more comfortable position, lying between her thighs, with my mouth poised just above her labia. I licked the inside of her slim, tanned thighs, before planting my tongue between her puffy labia. I opened her up a little with my fingers, and let my tongue probe further into her, exploring the tight opening that my cock had invaded a fortnight ago. I heard her gasp a little, but I couldn't tell if it was from surprise, or delight at my lingual caresses. I soon found her tiny clitoris, hidden among the folds at the top of her slit. I tried sucking on it a little, but that seemed to be more than she could take. She began twisting and writhing as if she wanted to get away.

"Stop, Jeff, that tickles," she protested.

I was tempted to try and pull her tiny button out of hiding, but decided that it was just too sensitive. Instead, I pushed my tongue back into her delicate entrance. It was still so tight that I felt it gripping even something as small as my tongue. I could taste and smell her tart, sweet response to my attentions, and knew that this time she would be better prepared for lovemaking. This was how I would have approached her defloration, had I known of her innocence before. I licked up and down the length of her pussy, from her opening to her hypersensitive clit a few more times, teasingly, just to make sure she was as prepared and ready as I was.

This time I wanted to emphasize gentleness and care, as I should have the first time. I lay down on my side next to her. Rose turned to bring herself in full contact with my body. We kissed again, and our tongues mingled, and she experienced a sample of her own sweet taste. I slid one arm under her head, as she watched me, putting her total trust in me. I tried to hide my uncertainty, just caressing her body as I held her tight against me, in no hurry to go to the inevitable next step in our lovemaking.

Rose made the next move, letting her instincts take over. She threw her leg over mine, and reached down between our bodies to guide my straining erection to her pussy. For a moment, she just rubbed it along the slit, then with one confident move, she pressed herself closer to me and I felt myself entering her warmth again. It was hard to push myself very far into her from that side-by-side position, but I didn't really need to. Rose was moving her hips in a very natural, sensual rocking motion, letting the tip of my cock slip easily in and out of her entrance, as if she were again getting used to the idea of being penetrated. While she controlled the depth and speed of my penetration, I continued to kiss her and run my hand up and down her back, finally letting it settle on her tiny, tight bottom. Something about gripping her ass while she was moving against me seemed to make me even more aroused. It seemed like I was harder than I had ever been.

I felt a shudder pass through her body, and she nipped at my shoulder again. She moaned, deep in her throat, almost animal-like. I was a little surprised that she had managed to have an orgasm with no more than the head of my cock entering her. In a way, it was more like she had masturbated, using my erection as a tool, rather than us having intercourse. But I didn't mind, bringing my lover to a peak of enjoyment, however it was attained, caused me to feel a rush of pride and accomplishment. After she stopped moving and relaxed against me, I let her rest for a moment, then rolled onto my back and pulled her on top of me.

She quickly adjusted to the new position, and I soon felt her hips rocking on me in that same familiar rhythm. This time the weight of her body was causing my entire shaft to slide into her now very slippery tunnel. I held her against my chest in a tight embrace, as she continued to move her pelvis. We must have gone on this way for ten minutes or so when I felt the intensity of her motions pick up, and she bit into my shoulder again. It appeared that I was going to have to get used to having teeth marks on my body if I was going to keep making love to Rose. I didn't mind.

She sat up, looking down at me with a big grin. "I liked that. Did you?"

She apparently didn't realize I hadn't cum yet. I would have thought my still rock-hard cock buried in her pussy would have been a clue, but I had forgotten her lack of experience. I had been trying very hard not to climax too soon, and now I found myself in the predicament of maybe not getting off at all. Rose rolled off me, my prick emerging from her with an audible pop.

"Oh," she said. "You're still...you didn't....."

"It's all right," I told her. "I really enjoyed seeing you enjoy yourself so much. Don't worry about me."

"No, that's not right," she objected. "Here, let me do this."

She wrapped her hand around my dick and started rubbing. "Ick," she complained, as her hand slid through her own fluids, "that feels gross."

"Then don't worry about it," I laughed.

"No, you were good to me, I owe it to you."

It soon became clear that she had more experience with hand jobs than blow jobs. Even though the expression on her face showed that she still felt uncomfortable with playing with my cock when it was covered with her pussy juice, she moved her hand around my shaft with a lot of skill, giving a little twist with her wrist at the end of each upward stroke. I wondered who had taught her that trick, but quickly pushed that thought out of my mind. I wasn't as far from finishing as I had thought, and it only took her a few strokes to have my cream spurting out over her hand.

"Wow," I heard Lilly say. "I thought you guys would never finish."

I looked up and saw her peeking in the partially opened door. "How long have you been there?" I asked.

"Just a few minutes. I was getting worried. Come on Rose, you know Mom's gonna be home in a little while."

"Oh crap," Rose yelled, looking at my watch. "I didn't know we'd been in here so long. Come on Jeff, you need to get out of here."

As Rose ran to the bathroom to clean up, I threw my clothes back on. Lilly helped by making the bed. I didn't know exactly how close we came to being caught, but the girls seemed to be in a state of panic, so I rushed as much as I could and headed out the door.

I left the Bailey apartment that day feeling better than I ever had in my life. I hadn't realized how easy falling in love could be when you found the right person. The fact that I was in love with a fifteen-year-old girl didn't even seem important. I knew that our love would somehow see us through the difficulties of such a relationship. I was hopelessly naïve, of course, as I soon found out.

Rose had warned me that we had to keep our involvement a secret from her mother. I knew she was right, and we decided that the only way we could see each other was away from the apartment. I started hurrying through my collections each day so I could pick up Rose as she left school. Lilly helped us, agreeing to stay home alone each afternoon for a few hours while Rose and I spent time together, and covering for her sister if Amanda did happen to call to check up on her daughters.

In the timeless tradition of young lovers, we couldn't keep our hands off each other. Some days we would go to an afternoon movie, cuddling together in mostly empty theaters. It didn't matter what the movie was, we were more interested in making out than what was on the screen. Other days, we would just go to a quiet place I knew about, an isolated spot in a small clump of woods not too far away from where I lived. We would talk for awhile, trying to get to know each other better, but inevitably we would end up all over each other like ants on sugar. There was an air of danger about it, knowing we could easily be discovered in the daylight, but that didn't stop us from making love several times in the cramped back seat of my car.

We crammed as much living and loving as we could into those few precious hours each afternoon. For a few weeks, we drifted along, just enjoying each others company. We were taking things one day at a time, with no long range plan. I didn't even mind my crappy job anymore; after all it had brought me to Rose.

What I didn't see coming was the ambush from Lilly.

Chapter 5: Lilly Demands Attention

For years I've tried to find an excuse for my weakness at resisting what happened the next time I went to the Bailey home; blaming it on raging hormones, youthful lack of judgment, or even the sexually charged atmosphere that seemed to always be present in that apartment. But I haven't been able to come up with anything that honestly explains my actions, other than a total lack of self-control.

Even at nineteen I was aware that I was developing an unhealthy interest in young girls. I often let my eyes linger just a little too long on some lovely little girl on the street, or on a playground. I was a budding pedophile, long before I even knew what that word meant. But my thoughts when watching those nymphets had never turned overtly sexual or aggressive, until I met Lilly.

It was a cold mid-November day, and I huddled against the wind as I knocked on the door of Apt. 112. Lilly opened the door, as a cold blast seemed to push me through the doorway. She closed the door quickly behind me. Even though I was seeing Rose almost every weekday after school, on collection days we acted as if nothing unusual was going on. I would show up, Lilly or Rose would give me the envelope, and I might steal a quick kiss and hug from my love, then I would leave.

That day, I looked around, but didn't see Rose.

"Rose isn't here," Lilly said, reading my thoughts. "She's on a school field trip, and they won't be back for another couple of hours."

"Oh, yeah, she told me, but I thought they would be back for now."

"Sorry," Lilly smiled at me, "but it looks like you're gonna have to settle for me today." I didn't even catch the flirting tone of her voice until I noticed that she was wearing a cotton nightshirt, something with Winnie-The-Pooh characters on it. That seemed strange, on such a cold day when jeans and sweatshirts would have been more appropriate. She looked like she was ready for bed. She also had lipstick on. I had never seen either of the girls use any kind of makeup before.

"And," she continued, "my mom doesn't have money for you today either. Business is really slow at the restaurant lately, and she's not getting many tips. Sooo," she drawled, "like I said, you're stuck with me." She paused, putting a hand on her hips and assuming what she probably thought of as a sexy pose. "Jeff, are you ready to make a woman out of me?" Suddenly I understood her attire, and the lipstick. She was trying to look seductive.

But I had already made up my mind that the days of me accepting sexual favors from the Bailey women in exchange for covering payments had to end. In addition to being wrong, I just couldn't afford it any more. "Lilly, you're a very pretty young lady, and some day soon you will have lots of boys competing for your attention. But right now you're too young to be sexually active. Slow down, and just enjoy being a kid while you still can."

It was a great speech, but I wasn't sure even I believed it. I knew it wouldn't take much effort on her part to convince me to stay, so I tried to make a quick exit. "This time, I've really got to have the money. I can give your mom two more days. I'll be back on Thursday."

I turned to leave, and had my hand on the doorknob when I heard Lilly say, "Are you sure?"

I looked back at her. She had stripped off her nightshirt, and was just stepping out of the matching panties. "Don't worry," she sighed, "I won't tell Rose. This is just between you and me. And it's not about the money anyway. It's just something I really want to do. You're kinda good looking, and I've been jealous of Rose having you all to herself."

I ignored the 'kinda good looking' comment and tried to put my foot down one last time. "No, Lilly, I'm not going to have sex with you. I still feel bad about what happened before, and it won't make me feel any better if we take things any further. You're just too young."

"But sex with Rose is okay? She's only twenty months older than I am. Does that make that much difference? Come on, Jeff, just stay with me for a little while today, and make me feel good, like you do to Rose."

That's when my resistance crumpled. While we had been debating, my eyes had been devouring her slim, immature young body. And I have to admit, I was getting excited. The only other time I had seen her naked had been when the three of us were in bed together, and my attention had been focused more on her sister. Now I had a chance to study Lilly without distraction.

There may have been less than two years difference in age between the girls, but that is a big gap at that point in their development. Rose's body was well along toward being fully developed. Her breasts were nicely formed and lacked only another couple years of filling out to reach full potential. Lilly's tiny nubs were much less pronounced. If Rose's breasts were tennis-ball sized, Lilly's were more like golf balls. But her tiny nipples were standing out, whether from the cold or my presence I wasn't sure. I remembered how exciting those nubbins had felt against my arm the day I had taken Rose's virginity.

Where Rose had a definably narrowed waist, and a slight flare of womanly hips, Lilly's lower body was almost straight. Rose's legs were a delight to me, slim, but with a well-defined shape and solid feel. Lilly's legs were still girlishly thin, with knobby knees. There was nothing about the younger girl's body that should have attracted me, and yet I could feel myself becoming aroused. The appeal had to be psychological; the idea of introducing a young girl to the delights of sex was pulling at me like the nectar of a freshly opened blossom attracts a bee. Knowing that she wasn't totally innocent, and was practically throwing herself at me seemed to ease my conscience a little also.

"Come on, you're cold." I took Lilly's hand and this time I took the lead down the hallway. A few moments later, we were both nude and snuggling under the covers. I had her wrapped in my arms, trying to warm her up. Her head was tucked up under my chin as our body heat gradually made the cool sheets feel a little more comfortable. She hadn't said anything or moved since we had slid into our little cocoon. I almost thought she was asleep when I heard her say "Do you want me to suck your cock?"

I was still not used to hearing that kind of language from such a young girl. "No," I whispered, kissing the top of her head. "Don't worry about me. Let me take care of you."

I had been holding her tightly against my body, now I eased my grip and let her roll onto her back. I kissed her tiny mouth, not in the loving, sensual way that I did with her sister, but gently and carefully, lips on soft lips only. I was treating her like a frightened bird that might fly away at my next touch, almost forgetting that she was the one who had invited me into her bed, and that she had already had experienced the feel of my cock in her mouth. Something in me wanted her to suddenly be innocent and chaste again.

I slid further down, bringing my head even with her chest. I kissed one tiny breast, briefly flicking the tiny pink nipple atop it. Lilly giggled, and I made a game of it, going back and forth, my tongue paying quick tribute to each of her small buds in turn. Her giggling stopped, and she moaned, "Oh, Jeff, that feels good. I didn't think my titties were even big enough to interest a man."

I didn't know if many men would find her small body appealing, or if I was just a freak. At that age I thought that my interest in prepubescent girls was unique. Sadly, as I learned later in life, that is not true, there are many of us with hidden desires focused on those too small to even be considered as sexual partners. I burrowed further down into the cave the bedclothes were making. I kissed and licked her flat stomach, and her giggles returned.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as she pulled the sheets up to see what I was up to.

"Shh, just trust me. Rose like's this, and you will too."

I could fee her tense a little at the mention of her sister's name. I teased her navel with my tongue, while my finger traced the outline of her small mound. I felt a few wisps of kitten-like hair emerging from the area at the top of her crease, but the rest of her pubic area was still smooth. I licked my finger and let it slide up and down between the soft puffiness of her pudenda. I pushed a little further into her barely blossoming womanhood, and slowly moved upward until I thought I felt her clit. I wasn't sure, it was so small, but Lilly let out a little "ohhh", so I felt like I must have found the right place.

I slid down further, bringing my mouth down to a position where I could tease Lilly's femininity with my tongue and lips. I began licking her slit, marveling at how easily her pink lips opened to my lingual attentions. Lilly's fresh, unexplored pussy was a delight, smooth and fragrant free. I pushed my tongue a little further in, and felt her inner lips beginning to moisten. I moved up to the top of that lovely valley, and went looking for her clit again. Now I could clearly feel it, still small but now swollen and erect.

When I began sucking on her love button, she began panting and writhing. "Geez," she gasped, "I don't know what you're doing, but it really feels weird, kinda like the best tickling I've ever had, except I don't feel like laughing."

"Do you want me to stop," I asked from under to covers.

She threw back the sheet, letting me get a little fresh air. "No, not yet. But, you are going to do it to me, right? I mean, more that just kissing my pussy?"

My rock-hard penis would have said yes right away, but there was still some doubt in my mind, some last twinge of conscience. I was a little afraid of the consequences if I actually made love to Lilly and her sister found out. Strangely, I didn't even consider what Amanda might think. Somehow, since it had been their mother who had allowed and encouraged her daughters to use their bodies in this way, I didn't think she had a right to complain. I finally decided that it was only a small step from licking her pussy to actual penetration, so I pushed my doubts aside and moved on.

Now that her labia were damp with her moisture and my saliva, I pushed my tongue into her tiny opening. I thought I felt the flap of tissue protecting her entrance, but it might have been my imagination. I licked up as much of her secretion as I could. It had a salty sweet taste that I have found is unique with young girls. The stronger tastes and odors tend to develop as a young girl matures. I turned my attention back to sucking her clit, since she seemed to enjoy that so much. I wanted to see if I could bring her to an orgasm before I entered her, so as she continued to moan and wriggle beneath my mouth, I kept alternating licks between her inner lips with quick sucks on her most sensitive spot. It only took a few seconds of that to bring her to a new level of excitement.

She started pulling on my hair, as if to pull my mouth away from her, but at the same time her thighs were clamping down on the side of my head, holding me there.

I was on my knees now, not the most comfortable position, but it freed my hands. I reached under her as her hips arched upward, and grasped her tiny bottom in my hands. I gently squeezed her soft, pliable cheeks as I continued to both suck and lick her clit at the same time. I ignored her fingers pulling at my hair, she really wasn't pulling that hard anyway, and massaged her ass as I sucked even harder.

"Ohhh gosh Jeff," she cried. "What's happening to me? I feel so funny all over. Is that an orgasm?"

I finally allowed myself to take a break. "Yeah, I think so. Did it feel good?"

She had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling at me. No words were necessary. She pulled me back up toward her and we kissed. This time it was open-mouthed, and I felt her tongue playing in my mouth. "Is that what I taste like," she asked, "kind of like Sweet-Tarts?"

"Well, that's one way to put it."

"Do you want to let me suck you off now?" she asked. She seemed very anxious to attempt oral sex on me again, but I wanted to finish what I had brought her into the bedroom for.

"I thought there was something else you wanted to try," I said, forcing her thighs wider my pressing my body between them.

Lilly smiled, and stopped talking. I reached down between our bodies and adjusted the position of my cock so that the head was pressing against her mound. I rubbed it in her tight slit, from top to bottom, expecting to feel her outer lips opening naturally to allow entrance, but they stayed shut. I used two fingers to pull them apart slightly, just enough for my erection to rub against her clit. A little bit of that quickly brought her back to the same state of damp arousal I had achieved with my mouth. I lowered my point of attack, now aiming directly at her small opening. I looked up at her. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her mouth was grimacing like a she was bracing for an unpleasant experience.

"Lilly, just relax. I promise, I will try not to hurt you. But if I do, all you have to do is say stop, and I will. This should be one of the best moments of your life, not one of the worst. So...are you sure?"

She opened her eyes, and gave me a little grin. The look in her eye indicated that she still wasn't quite sure if I was telling her the truth, but she was determined to let me bring her a little bit closer to womanhood any way. While I had been reassuring her, my hips had been moving a little without me even thinking about it, and I was already pushing against her cherry. I had intended to go very slowly, but much to my surprise, even though Lilly's small pussy was very tight, I slid past the last protector of her innocence easily. I felt myself lodged well within in her before I knew it. I stopped myself, and looked down at her face again.

A few tears were rolling out of the corners of her tightly closed eyes, but the expression on her face was not of someone in pain. She wasn't exactly smiling, but she didn't seem to be in any discomfort either. "Is that it?" she whispered.

"Yeah, not so bad, huh?"

"I don't know yet," she answered. "Aren't you supposed to be moving or something? I mean, it looked like you were trying to push Rose through the mattress when you did it to her."

"You're a lot smaller there," I warned her. "So I'm trying to be careful. Let's see what happens."

I pulled my cock almost all the way out, then pressed forward again, a little further this time. Lilly didn't say anything, but she did put her hands on my chest as if to hold me off. "Still OK?" I prompted.

She kept pushing against me for a few more seconds, then let her arms fall to her sides. "Yeah, it feels a little weird, like you are stretching me wide open, but I think I'm okay now. Keep going."

"Let's try something," I said. I put my arm under her slim body, and carefully rolled our bodies over so that she was now on top. My prick had slipped out of her as we repositioned ourselves, and I could see just a few drops of blood on it. Neither of the Bailey girls had very tough hymens, which I was thankful for. "Now," I told her, "sit on me. You're in control now."

"Like this?" she asked, positioning her slim body over my hips. My phallus looked ridiculously large as she perched atop it, trying to put it back between her pussy lips.

"That's right. Just take your time. Here, let me help you." I massaged her clit with my thumb. It was easier to find now, coming out of hiding like a shy child finally getting up enough courage to talk in a roomful of adults. As I had hoped, a little bit of stimulation there caused her opening to relax and dilate again. I watched as the head of my prick disappeared back into her waiting pussy. It looked like there was no way an object that large could penetrate her without pain, but the smile on her face showed no sign of discomfort.

"Oh Jeff," she moaned, "now I know why Rose likes you so much. Am I doing it right?"

She was wriggling her little hips in a parody of sexual wantonness. I put my hands on her ass to slow her wriggling, and direct her efforts. "Slower, girl," I whispered, using the pressure of my hands on her bottom for emphasis. "That's better, just a nice, easy back and forth motion. There you go. How does that feel?"

"Ummm, that's nice. But I still can't get very much of your thing in me. Is that okay?"

"That's fine," I smiled at her. "Most of the sensation is in the top part of the man's penis anyway. Don't worry about pushing down any harder, just keep rocking your hips like that."

I remembered that Rose had been in that same position, and moving in much the same way, just a few months earlier. I couldn't help comparing the sisters. The grip of Lilly's pussy on my shaft was much tighter, of course, but the look on her face was very similar to her sister. That didn't really make me feel very good about what I was doing. I knew I was being unfaithful in the worst possible way to my new-found love.

Lilly stretched her body out on my chest, but kept up the delightful movements my hands had guided her into trying. She began to groan deep in her throat, sounding disturbingly like her sister in her passion. In her excitement, she sat back up, and I felt her sliding down all the way, until her mound was being tickled by my pubic hair. Her eyes flew open, I think partly in shock at having taken all of my length into her small body, and partly in response to the feeling of release that was rippling through her.

"Oh, God, Jeff!" she yelled, tears rolling down her cheeks from the intensity of her feelings. "I feel like you're splitting me in half, but I don't care! What's happening to me?"

In answer, I put my arms around her, and pulled her slowly back down on my chest. I held her there in my embrace while the last waves of her climax subsided. When her breathing went back to normal, she pushed herself up a little and kissed me. Strange as it might sound, I still felt uneasy about kissing her. Her mouth was just too small, and a painful reminder of just how young she was. Yeah, in my mind I had justified screwing her, but kissing just seemed wrong.

I glanced over her shoulder at the clock on the wall. I was surprised to see that only a few minutes had passed since I had turned and seen Lilly stripping off her clothes in the living room. So much had changed in such a short time. My relationship with Rose, which was complicated enough already, was now going to be even more difficult. And what if Lilly was falling in love with me too? I didn't even know if a girl her age could have those kinds of emotions toward an adult. I was probably being unrealistic in even considering myself to be adult, after what had just happened.

I put aside my illogical unease at kissing her, and gave her one last open-mouthed, tongue-probing kiss before we began the uneasy task of cleaning up. As I mentioned, she hadn't bled much, but there were a couple of red spots on the sheet that needed to be removed. Lilly quickly reverted to her normal role of Mommy's helper, got a damp rag from the bathroom, and started cleaning them up even before she got dressed. I was putting my clothes on as fast as I could, suddenly paranoid that her mother or sister would somehow catch us.

A few moments later, the bed was clean, if still a little damp, and we were both dressed again. Leaving was awkward. I wasn't sure what to say, and I don't think Lilly knew what she wanted to hear either. We ended up just looking at each other, smiling and feeling a little foolish perhaps. When it became obvious that I wasn't going to come up with a dramatic exit line, I just headed for the door, sounding ridiculous as I mumbled, "See you later."

Leave it to the thirteen-year-old to find the right thing to say. "I really don't think so, Jeff. I wanted to see what I was missing, and you showed me. But we both know that you are in love with Rose, and I don't want to get between you guys. This was great, but I think from now on we should try to avoid each other."

Nimble of tongue as always, I said nothing, just turned and walked out the door.

Chapter 6: Things Get Complicated

For the next few days I met Rose after school as usual. I tried to not act differently, but every time we kissed or embraced, images of Lilly's young face and body arose from my memory and bored into my conscience. Rose sensed that something was wrong, but couldn't get me to tell her what it was. I was also living in fear that Lilly might feel remorseful about what had happened, and confess everything to her mother or her sister.

Rose wasn't her usual ebullient self either. I could tell something was bothering her, but she wouldn't tell me what, she just said she hadn't been feeling well for awhile. It got to the point where she asked me not to pick her up for a few days, she just wanted to go home and sleep, until the flu or whatever she had ran its course.

A week later I was still waiting for Rose to call, when the bottom fell out of my life. Charlie called me into his office one morning as I was about to start my rounds. "Kid," he growled in his least-friendly voice, not sounding at all like the 'Crazy Charlie' character in his radio and TV ads, "I don't know what's going on, but Mrs. Bailey says she wants to see you today. She sounded pretty upset. You got any idea what that's about?"

"Uh, no Charlie. I know she's only got three more payments, so maybe she found enough money to pay off her loan."

Charlie frowned at me, not buying my story. "Sure, kid, that happens all the time around here. Look, if you've been trading a roll in the hay with that little waitress for some favors, that's your business. But when she calls me, it becomes my business. So, whatever it is, get over there and straighten it out. She wants to see you this morning, before she leaves for work."

I drove over to the Carlton Gardens, stomach writhing and palms sweating. Had Amanda found out about Rose and I sneaking around behind her back? Or, God forbid, had she found out about Lilly and me. When I finally got there, I hesitated outside the door before knocking, trying to brace myself for what was about to occur. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened when Amanda opened the door.

"You son of a bitch," Amanda screamed at me, "you got my daughter pregnant."

There were several responses I could have made to that statement, and of course I picked the worst of the choices. "Which one?" I shouted back at her.

For a moment Amanda went pale and looked like she might faint. But she quickly recovered, and charged at me, totally enraged now. "Goddamn it, you've been fucking both my girls? I swear, I'll call the cops, I'll call Charlie, I'll call your parents, and tell them all what you've been doing, and get your ass thrown in jail."

I had to defend myself, so I took the initiative. "I don't think you're going to call anybody, Mrs. Bailey. After all, you're the one who gave them the example of how to use sex to solve your financial problems, and you didn't seem to try to hard to stop them from helping out. I might be going to jail, but if all that comes out, you could lose your kids."

"What are you talking about?" she screamed. "I may have been foolish enough to use my body to get out of a couple of tight situations, but you must be crazy if you think I'd ask my girls to do anything like that."

"Oh yeah, like you didn't know they were doing Tom Lansing and Mr. Gilbert?"

"Who the hell is Mr. Gilbert?" Amanda's face was turning red and I could see the cords in her neck standing out as she yelled at me.

"Your landlord."

"Our landlord is a cranky old woman named Thompson. Who told you .....oh, wait a minute. Now I'm beginning to see what's been going on. Girls," she bellowed, "get out here now!"

Rose and Lilly must have been listening from the hallway. They quietly walked back to the living room, heads hung low, like prisoners on the way to the gallows.

Amanda waited until they looked up at her. "Tell me the truth now, Rose. Where did you get the money to buy those new clothes I found in your closet?"

"Ma, I told you, from babysitting....," Rose tried to explain.

"I said don't lie to me. I know how much babysitting you've been doing, and I have a pretty good idea how much those clothes cost. I want to believe you, but something just doesn't add up. But now I think I know what's going on. Did you tell Mr. Thomas that you would have sex with him if he would make car payments for us?"

"Yes ma'am," Rose muttered, staring at the carpet.

"So you just pocketed the money I've been leaving, and let this idiot make the payment, right?" Amanda was glaring at me now, the idiot.

"Yes ma'am."

"And what about you?" Amanda was glaring at Lilly now. "When did you become a slut like your sister?"

Lilly eyes were overflowing with tears, as she bore the brunt of her mother's anger. "I'm sorry, Mama, I'm not a slut. I just wanted to see if I could be a grown-up woman, like you and Rose. It was just one time, and I'll never...."

"Quiet!" Amanda yelled at her. "I'll deal with you later. Now go back to your room."

Rose looked at Amanda, no tears in her eyes, just the look of a rebellious teenager not ashamed at being caught misbehaving.

"So, what's your story," Amanda asked her.

"I really liked Jeff from the first time I saw him. I've been wanting to have sex for awhile anyway, and he looked like a good guy to start with. So Lilly and I came up with the idea of telling him that we were taking your place for awhile. We had to tell him that we had been doing it with other men already, to convince him it was all right. Then when you started leaving the money, I thought we could take advantage of that too. I wanted to just do it all myself, but Lilly wanted to be part of it too." Rose paused, finally looking at me. "But I guess my plan worked a little too well, because we've been seeing each other almost every day, and we're in love."

Amanda looked at her daughter, no longer angry, but knowing that something irreparable had happened to her family. After several awkward, silent seconds, she said, "Okay, go back to your room. Make sure Lilly is all right. Right now I have a few things to say to Mr. Thomas."

"So, thanks to you," Amanda said, looking at me like a pit viper about to strike, "not only are my daughters sluts, they're thieves too. Ain't that just dandy. I don't know what I'm gonna do with them, I don't think I can trust them to be by themselves any more, but I have to work."

"Mrs. Bailey, Rose was right something special has developed between Rose and myself over the last few months. We love each other, and if she's...."

Amanda didn't let me finish. "If you loved her so much, couldn't you at least have been careful enough to not knock her up? I mean, you're the adult in that relationship."

I didn't have an answer to that. I had used condoms most of the times Rose and I were together, but there were a few times, including the first two times in her bed, that I had not. Obviously, not a good birth control method.

"Tell your boss that I'll be making the rest of my payments in person." Amanda's voice was cold and brittle now. "I never want to see you around her again, and I never want you anywhere close to Rose."

To drive home her point, she threw the coffee cup she had been holding at me. It bounced off my forehead and left a bruise that was still visible a week later. I didn't stick around to discuss the situation any further. I thought she would calm down eventually, and we could figure out what to do. I was ready to do anything to take care of Rose, even marry her if it came to that.

For the next few days I tried calling Rose after she got home from school, but nobody answered, which scared me. About a week after the big blowup, I parked just down the street from the place where Lilly got off the school bus. When she got off, I stepped out of my car and waved to her. She acted like she didn't see me, and when I stepped in front of her, she tried to push by me. She looked as sad and depressed as I was.

"Lilly, please, I have to know what's going on with Rose. Why don't you guys answer the phone? Is she all right? Has your mom calmed down? Please tell her I want to help." Everything I had been worrying about for the last week came tumbling out.

"Rose is gone," she said quietly. "Mom sent her to live with our aunt in Atlanta until after...you know."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I'm great," she said, letting a little bit of the sassy Lilly slip out again. "Mom has one of our neighbors come over and stay me every day, which we can't afford, of course. That makes her even madder. And I'm not going to be allowed to date until I'm at least eighteen, at least that what Mom says now. Jeff, why did you have to be so stupid? You ruined everything. Didn't your parents ever tell you where babies come from?"

Once again I had no answer. Yeah, I had been incredibly stupid, thinking with my penis, from the very first day when I let Amanda seduce me. Falling in love with Rose, as wrong as it may have been, was the best thing that had happened to me in my life. But I had been irresponsible, immature, and selfish, and I had ruined her life, and destroyed whatever small chance we may have had to build something together.

The next day I quit my job, and a week later I enlisted in the Army. I figured that getting away from that town, as soon as possible, was the only thing I could do. About a year after I enlisted, while I was serving on a moutaintop in Korea, I was surprised to get a letter from Rose.

Dear Jeff,

It took some work, but I managed to get your address from your parents. They were a little curious about who I was, so I told them I was a friend from school. They bought it. Maybe I look older now that I've had a baby. We had a son, who was adopted as soon as he was born. I'm living back home with Mama and Lilly, trying to catch up on the half year of school I missed.

I want you to know that I don't hold you responsible for what happened. I was just as guilty as you were, throwing myself at you like some tramp, and I got what I deserved. What we had for those few months was something special, and I will never forget you. You were my first lover, and first love. You were my Romeo, and I was too caught up in romantic fantasies to see how wrong our relationship was.

As hard as it is for me to say this, I think it would be best if you never tried to contact me again. I don't think there is any way we could go back to the days when we were just two dumb kids in a hurry to experience life, and I'm pretty sure Mama would try to kill you if she ever saw you again.

Rose

p.s. Lilly says to say hello.

About six months later I came back home on leave. I borrowed my parent's car, and headed out to see what had changed since I had left. At least that's what I told myself I was doing. But instead I found myself heading straight toward Carlton Gardens. I drove by the complex a couple of times before working up enough courage to pull into the parking lot. I slid into a space at the far end of the lot, far away from the other cars. I turned off the engine, and just sat there, sweltering in the heat of that hot, humid August evening.

After half an hour of staring down that familiar walkway, halfway expecting Rose to come striding down it, and back into my life, I realized that she was right. We had no future. I started the car, pulled back onto the street, and went on with the rest of my life.