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Message-ID: <51104asstr$1115259001@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Russell Hoisington" <hoisingr@hushmail.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Wynter and Jimmy: Part One 03/03 {Hoisington} (Mg rom ped inc pett)
Lines: 1457
Date: Wed,  4 May 2005 22:10:01 -0400
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

 
                         WYNTER AND JIMMY
 
This is an erotic fantasy.  It is the sequel to "Wynter".  The
characters and the situation are purely imaginary, and this story
is *NOT* intended to be a guide for actual behavior.  Any
similarities between this story and actual people or actual
events you should be ashamed of are purely coincidental.  If it
is illegal in your part of the world to access and read erotic
fiction, or if you are underage, or if you don't like underage
sex stories, then you should stop now.
 
This story is copyright 2005 by Russell Hoisington.  Please do
not remove the author information or make any changes to this
story.  You may post freely to non-commercial (free) sites, or in
the "free" area of commercial sites.  That does *not* mean that
these stories are in the public domain, nor does it mean that I
give permission for you to use them in spam advertising.  I
reserve the right to determine what is "spam advertising" by *my*
definition, not yours or anyone else's.
 
Thank you for your consideration.
 
My sincerest thanks to Denny Wheeler for editing this story and
for his contributions.  Thanks also to Uncle Sky, the Night Hawk,
and Old Man Ted for their input and for keeping the characters in
character.
 
   ************************************************************
 
                        WYNTER AND JIMMY
                    Part One:  Just Friends
                                
                       Russell Hoisington
 
                             Seven
 
     Wynter was alone in bed.  She opened her eyes.  Yep.  It was
morning, and Daddy wasn't there.  As she stretched and sat up, he
walked in the door and seemed surprised to find her awake.
 
     "I was just about to wake you up to tell you goodbye," he
said with a big smile  While she yawned he sat on the bed beside
her.
 
     "What's that in your hand?"
 
     He pretended to be innocent.  "What hand?  Oh, this one? 
Just a feather I found lying there on your desk.  It looked
lonely, so I took it for a walk.  We had a nice conversation
while I shaved."
 
     "You were going to tickle my nose with it." She made a stern
face to go with the accusation.
 
     His eyes got really big.  He ogled her exposed torso, then
lifted the sheet to look at the rest of her naked body, lowered
the sheet, and put a hand to his mouth.  "I never thought about
your nose!"
 
     She made the crossest look she could make without laughing. 
"Smarty pants!  Just for that you have to suffer a dragon-breath
kiss."
 
     He sighed deeply, as if she'd told him he had to drink all
the ocean in one gulp.  "Okay."  He turned his head toward the
door.  "Here, boy!"
 
     Dragon leapt to his feet, came over, and licked him on the
cheek.  When he turned back to her she was struggling to keep her
cross look in place.  "Can I have one from you, too?"
 
     She tried to make a comment about "can" and "may," but she
felt the giggles about to break loose.  "No!"  She pounced on
him, forced his back to the mattress, and planted twelve quick
pecks on his lips.  She sat back and grinned.  "But you _may_
have a dozen."
 
     He pulled her down for a quick hug that felt warm and
special.  "I'm sorry I have to go out today, but they changed
their minds and want my report this week.  I had thought we might
do something together while Jimmy was at the movies."
 
     She thought it was awfully nice of him not to add "with
Suzie" to what he said.  "Well, when we go get Mother from the
airport Wednesday, we'll just be the two of us and we can do
something together then.  I won't ask Jimmy to go this time." 
She was about to say more when she saw the look on his face. 
_Has he already asked Jimmy?  Or someone else?_
 
     "Um....  We aren't picking your mother up Wednesday."
 
     She was sure that Mother was supposed to return Wednesday. 
"She's been extended?"
 
     "Oh, no, she's coming back then.  It's just that, well,
we... um...."  His eyes went to the ceiling, then to the
headboard of the bed, then somewhere else.
 
     _Anxiety disorder._  Thanks to Jimmy she'd had a lot of
practice at diagnosing it.
 
     "What?"
 
     "Well, she's, um, catching a ride with someone else."
 
     Wynter breathed a sigh of relief.  "Oh, that's all?  Well,
we can do something...."  The lights came on.  "Oh, no!"
 
     He nodded.  "I didn't want to tell you until tomorrow night
at the earliest.  I didn't want you to be distracted by it during
our times together."
 
     She pressed her forehead down on his shoulder and took a
deep breath.  "Thank you for trying to watch out for me," she
said.  "How long?"
 
     "Aunt Diane said they'd probably go home Sunday."
 
     _Drat!_  "Can Dragon and I run away from home?"
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     "Daddy, I'm not a baby any more.  I know to call you if I
need to."  She winced and took her fists off her hips.  She
didn't mean to sound so upset with him.  She knew he was in a
hurry and was speaking from years of habit.  And it was her fault
he was in a hurry.  She twisted the toe of one slipper into the
front porch.  "I'm sorry.  I just miss you already."
 
     He stood on the steps and gave her that warm smile that told
her he loved her with all his heart.  "It's nice to be loved," he
said.  "And I know you're not a baby.  They don't have tits like
those.  Are you going to put a bra on before Kenny comes over for
lunch?"
 
     She glanced down at the sweatshirt she'd thrown on.  "I
guess I'd better, but it won't stop him from trying to look.  I
think he's a tit man, too."
 
     He shook his head. "He has hormones.  He'll like everything
he can see.  Just don't go playing doctor."
 
     She gasped and felt her face heat.  She almost ducked her
head down.  "Daddy!  We don't...."
 
     "Honey, I'm teasing.  You know...."  He took a breath.  "You
know how to take care of yourself.  I'm not worried about you."
 
     She thought he sounded a little worried when he said that. 
She knew from experience that it sure wasn't easy being a
grownup, having to worry about so many things all the time.
 
     "You're the _only_ man in my life," she said with a bright
smile, trying to reassure him.
 
     "Maybe for the time being I'm the top one, but 'only' one?" 
He tilted his head to the right, down the street toward Jimmy's
house.
 
     She stopped the blush in time.  "You're teasing again,
aren't you?"
 
     There was another weird look that went away as fast as it
arrived.  "Probably.  I gotta go.  I have to pick up Mr. Chang on
the way."
 
     She put her fists back on her hips.  "Well, _don't rush!_ 
I'm going to _medical_ school and don't need more practice being
your _nurse_."
 
     When he hung his head and said, "Yes, dear," she broke out
laughing.  After a father-daughter kiss she waved as he drove
down the street and then went back inside for a quick breakfast. 
She wanted to paint the new doors on her bookcase before her
morning shower.
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     "More soup or some more juice?" Wynter asked when Kenny
leaned back from the table.
 
     Kenny opened his mouth to say something but made a loud burp
instead.  She knew some boys liked to burp real loud just to be
gross, but Kenny wasn't like that.  She guessed it was because he
was going to be a doctor like his dad.  Like her.  "Sorry," he
said, looking like an old sheep.  "No, thanks."
 
     "It's not your fault," she said.  "It's that medicine you
have to take.  But that's only for a couple of more days."
 
     "Yeah.  Fortunately, 'cause it tastes like skunk-smell.  So
they didn't have any dissected mummies?  Man, that's the pits. 
Maybe next time they get an Egyptian exhibition in, it'll have
some and we can go check out the procedure.  That'd be so cool!" 
He removed his black-framed glasses, looked at the kitchen light
through them, and began cleaning the rectangular lenses with his
handkerchief.
 
     "Yeah!  That's what Jimmy wants to do, too."  As she said
his name she looked at the clock.
 
     "Hey, it doesn't start until one o'clock," Kenny said.
 
     She turned back to him.  Kenny often removed his glasses at
the table, but now he was putting them back on.  He had a serious
look on his face.  "What?"
 
     "The matinee.  It doesn't start until one.  Can I ask you a
question and you won't get mad?"
 
     She shrugged.  "You know it's okay to ask me anything you
want as long as it's okay for me not to answer.  I won't get
mad."
 
     His eyes didn't leave hers, even while he put on his glasses
and tucked his handkerchief in a hip pocket.  Kenny didn't look
away like she did, or like Jimmy did, when the question might be
trouble.  "This time you might."
 
     _Uh oh._  "I promise I won't get mad.  Or if I do I won't
mean it, and we'll still be friends and Future MDs together. 
Okay?  Promise."
 
     He nodded.  "Are you and Suzie fighting?"
 
     She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath.  She let
it out as she shook her head.  "Unh uh.  Why?"
 
     He pulled his left foot up over his right thigh.  When he
did that it was a signal that the conversation was going to get
very heavy.  "I dunno.  Just--just the way she's been acting. 
The things she's been saying."
 
     Wynter had no idea that Suzie had been saying anything
different.  "Like what?"
 
     Kenny's brown eyes grew wider and he shrugged.  "I dunno. 
Just--things.  Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up."
 
     "Grownups don't avoid issues," she said.  "Bad news doesn't
get better if you make it wait."  She tugged at her watchband
with the tip of her index finger and waited for him to explain. 
He finally sighed.
 
     "She calls you smart-ass names sometimes."
 
     Wynter nodded.  "That's okay.  I understand.  I pi....  Um,
I made her mad at me.  It's my fault."
 
     Kenny's eyes still hadn't moved from hers.  "How'd you piss
her off?"
 
     "I didn't mean to.  Honest.  I didn't know that she and
Jimmy had been doing stuff together before I moved to town.  Then
Jimmy and I started doing stuff together and he paid less
attention to her.  I caused attention deficit syndrome."
 
     The look Kenny gave her made her wonder if she'd just said
the cure for anemia was bloodletting.
 
     "Honest!  It's my fault, not hers."
 
     "Wynter, until just before school was out and Chipper.... 
His dad had...."  He couldn't go on.
 
     Wynter leaned forward and placed a hand on Kenny's forearm
in sympathy.  Kenny and Chipper had been best friends.  "I
understand," she said in a soft voice.  Chipper's dad had been
driving, and the accident was very much like her father's last
one, but her dad survived.  Nobody in Chipper's family did.
 
     Kenny sniffed once.  She looked at the clock again so that
she wouldn't notice any tears, the way Jimmy would do.
 
     "Until then her eyes were on Chipper.  She barely knew Jimmy
existed.  But she's always complaining that Jimmy 'doesn't do
anything normal' and that he's 'weird' and that he's 'always
interested in goofy nonsense' and that he needs 'training' or
'straightening out.'  She just wants whatever he can do for her. 
You care more about that Spinderella than she really cares about
Jimmy.  She just wants somebody good looking to show off so the
other girls will envy her."
 
     Wynter sat back on the breakfast nook bench.  She couldn't
look at Kenny as she spoke, focusing instead on a drop of soup on
the table.  "Well, she just doesn't know him, that's all.  I
guess she didn't get a chance to because of me.  Suzie is my
friend, but I butted in and messed things up for her."  She
thought her face would be burning hot with the admission of what
she'd done wrong, but it stayed cool.  She guessed it was because
she was talking medically, colleague to colleague.  "That's why I
thought Jimmy should take her to the movies--so they can be
friends and share stuff, too."
 
     Kenny's brow wrinkled with a big frown, drawing her gaze
back to his face.  "That was your idea?"
 
     "Well, Jimmy would have thought of it if I hadn't
mono--mon-op-o-lized his time so much."
 
     He gave her a weird look that pulled one side of his upper
lip higher, showing his teeth.  "Are you sure?"
 
     "Of course," she said with a nod.  "Hey, Jimmy's really
polite and nice to everybody when I don't distract him by taking
up too much of his time.  Why are you looking at me like that?"
 
     "Cause I used to think you were the smartest girl I knew. 
You weren't like the jokes, where pretty blondes were always
dumb.  Maybe the jokes are right."
 
     Wynter sat up straight.  Kenny had never told her she was
pretty before, even when he wanted something.  She guessed he was
describing the girls in those dumb old blonde jokes and really
was just saying she was dumb.  _But for what?  Thinking Jimmy was
polite and nice to everybody?  Why would Kenny suddenly attack
Jimmy?_  "He is, too, polite and nice to everyone!"
 
     "Well, duh!  Of course he is.  That's why he took Suzie to
the movies when he didn't want to."
 
     If her jaw had dropped any farther it would have bounced off
her lap and landed on Dragon.  "He didn't want to?"  She winced,
afraid she'd sounded like she was whining.
 
     He leaned forward and lightly rapped his knuckles on her
head.  "_Hey!  Earth to Wynter!  Hello!?  Is anybody home besides
a blonde joke?  We're saying dumb things again!_" he said in a
weird voice.  "Whatever happened to attention to detail?  He
spends as much time with you as he can because he _wants_ to, not
because you 'monopolize' him.  You know every other sentence
outta him has 'Wynter' in it these days?  Maybe not when he's
talking to you, but when you're not around and he's talking to
the rest of us.  Chuck said Jimmy talks about you so much that
you must be doing him."
 
     "_What!?_"
 
     "Don't worry.  I told him you were still a virgin."
 
     "_What!?_"
 
     He grinned.  "Hey, I figure you must be or you'd let me do
you.  But I'm gonna be a gynecologist, so I could give you an
exam for proof.  It's only fair, since Jimmy told me Suzie let
him examine her yesterday afternoon."  He shook his head as his
grin twisted and his brows peaked.  "Man, I'm never around when
I'm needed."
 
     Wynter snorted.  She was sure that Jimmy's words had been
anything but that.  "Last week you wanted to specialize in breast
cancer exams.  And an exam wouldn't prove anything because I
ruptured my hymen in an accident when I was young.  I fell
straddling a tree branch."  Just thinking about that pain made
her vaginal region hurt again and she squirmed in her seat.
 
     Kenny snapped his fingers and shook his head.  "Darn!"  His
eyes widened.  "Hey, I didn't know you'd inherited your dad's
accident-proneness."
 
     "Smarty pants."  Wynter stuck out her tongue at him.
 
     He stared at her tongue.  "Hey, that reminds me.  Do you
know what 'muff diving' is?"
 
     Did she ever!  "It's oral sex, where the woman is the
recipe--the recipr...." She gave up.  "The receiver."
 
     "Recipient," he said.  She mouthed the word to herself a few
times while he continued.  "Yeah.  It's also called 'eating
pussy.'  Suzie didn't want me to tell you so she'd know something
you didn't."
 
     "Huh?  Why?"
 
     "Well, I don't know for sure, you understand, but I think
she means to have Jimmy 'eat' her to try and get him away from
you."
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     _Why can't the dolt find his own stupid seats instead of
asking me to pick them?_ she wondered.  She looked down at the
two seats next to them.  "Here," she said.  "These are fine." 
_Caroline said the back row is good because nobody behind you can
see you making out.  Maybe Jimmy will get lucky._  "You take the
aisle seat."  Suzie dropped onto the edge of the second seat and
scooted forward a little, letting her weight pivot it down into
place.  She put her drink in the cup holder and placed her
popcorn on her left leg.
 
     After thinking for a moment, she moved her popcorn to her
right leg.  After his having massaged her thigh at the docks,
Jimmy might be all turned on and want to touch her leg again. 
She had worn the shortest, loosest-legged shorts that she thought
wouldn't raise any stupid objections from her mother.  And the
elastic in her panty legs was loose, too, so his fingers could
slide in if they needed to after he was overcome by his lust for
her.  If he'd touch her leg as often as he touched that stupid
arrowhead hanging inside his shirt from that stupid thong around
his stupid neck, she'd have him engaged before the movie was over
and married by the end of the week.  If they could marry at
eleven, of course.
 
     Jimmy, however, had put his drink in the cup holder and used
his free hand to pull the seat down before sitting on it. 
Obviously she needed to teach him how to sit down in a theater
seat.  One more item on the long list of things that needed
correcting.  Well, two.  If he wanted to wear something around
his neck, he'd have to get a proper medallion and not some stupid
arrowhead on a leather thong.  She sighed. _ It's not easy being
in love with a dolt_.
 
     And he put his popcorn on his right leg, next to her. 
Obviously he couldn't plan ahead like she could or he'd have his
leg where she could play with it.  Of course he _had_ come to the
theater with Miss Professional Virgin yesterday and wasn't aware
of what it was like to be with a _real_ woman.
 
     Okay, so she was a virgin, too.  But while she certainly
wasn't a slut like Caroline, she also wasn't a virginity fanatic. 
She'd let the right guy do her, especially if it was the guy who
was going to marry her and do her every night for the rest of her
life.
 
     He was awfully quiet, and had been ever since he'd started
telling her about some stupid deer and her stupid baby getting a
drink of water.  He wouldn't shut up about it until she told him
she didn't give a shit about it.  She knew now that she'd made a
mistake.  She should have told him she didn't give a "crap" about
it.  Or maybe she didn't give a "theses" about it--or whatever
that stupid medical word for shit was that Little Miss Future MD
used because she was too embarrassed to say "shit."  Hah!  Jimmy
was such a weirdo he'd probably say he didn't give a "doody"
about it.
 
     She supposed she'd better get him talking about things men
were supposed to care about.  "I'll sure be glad when it snows. 
Then you can take me to Wizard Basin and we can go skiing."
 
     He blinked at her.  "Sure.  I guess.  But I'm not very good
at downhill, you know."
 
     Well, remind her to look surprised next Tuesday.  In PE
Jimmy was always the last one to be picked for any team.  He
couldn't play baseball or basketball or volleyball.  He could
swim, but he wasn't her equal, of course.  Nobody else in the
school was.  Well, she'd just have to teach him to ski better. 
He was lucky she loved him enough to do so, and he was going to
appreciate that fact or else.
 
     _Swimming?  In clingy wet bathing suits and with your bodies
underwater where people can't see what you're doing much of the
time?_
 
     "You know, I've not been getting enough practice swimming
this summer."
 
     He swallowed a bite of popcorn before replying, "Maybe you
should go swimming more often.  If your leg is up to it and
you're feeling better, of course.  I'd like to see you take the
200 meter gold at State next year.  I thought you should have had
it this year."
 
     Well, _of course_ she should have had it this year!  The
stupid judges gave it to that little witch from Alamosa instead,
saying she was a hundredth of a second faster.  The real reason
was probably the fact that most of the judges were men, the other
girl had bigger boobies, and she also had a couple of pieces of
her cunny hair poking out.  You could just bet that Suzie
Middleton wouldn't be trimming her bikini line before next year's
match, no way!
 
     _Wait a minute!  The dolt can't take a hint.  Or maybe he's
just playing hard to get._
 
     "You could take me to Barber Beach.  Or to Otter Park Pool
if you'd rather.  I might need you in case I have another leg
cramp."  She made big eyes and stuck out her lower lip just _so_
as she rubbed her fingertips up and down her thigh.  _The dolt
isn't even looking_, she realized.
 
     The screen lit up and music drowned out his words.  She
didn't really care what they were.  It didn't matter what he
said.  He _was_ going to take her, and that was final.
 
     She finished her small popcorn and tossed the container to
the floor.  Jimmy was still munching away on his because it was
bigger.  She wished he'd eat faster so his arm would be free. 
She had plans, and a movie was only so long.  She hoped the
previews would last until he finished.  She didn't care all that
much for popcorn, and besides, it gave her gas.  It wouldn't be
very romantic if she farted while he was muff diving her.
 
     She was seriously thinking about screaming the "F" word when
he finally finished his popcorn.  He took a sip of his drink and
then leaned toward her.  She couldn't believe he was going to
kiss her, and she was right.
 
     "This next part's a little scary," he said as some weird
woman cut a hole in a window and dropped in a pair of fat white
worms with lots of tiny legs.
 
     Maybe if those bugs--or worms, or whatever the heck they
were--were in her bedroom she might be scared.  But this was the
first break she'd had all afternoon.  "It is scary," she said,
trying to sound like she meant it.  "Maybe you better hold me."
 
     Before he could say anything she grabbed his right arm and
pulled it around her.  He tensed but didn't pull away.  She
couldn't afford to rush and ruin things, so she watched him,
waiting for him to get absorbed in the movie again.  When
everything was as right as possible she slowly, gently moved his
hand against the side of her right boobie.  She hoped he'd be so
excited to discover that only one thin layer of cloth was between
his hand and the object of his desire that he'd get an immediate
stiffy.
 
     When the weird woman in the movie died and her face rotted,
Jimmy seemed to come to his senses.  He relaxed his arm that was
squeezing her shoulders.  A few seconds later his hand tried to
jerk away from her boobie.  She'd expected that and was braced. 
It pulled away for an instant before she pressed it back in
place.
 
     "Suzie!" he whispered.
 
     "It's okay," she whispered with the most sincere smile she
could make.  "I like it.  It felt good the way you were playing
with it, and you don't have to stop."  Her free hand dropped to
his bare leg and stroked toward his crotch in a slow, gentle
motion.
 
     Jimmy jerked his hand away from her boobie and removed his
arm from her shoulders.
 
     _Fuck!_ screamed through her thoughts.  _I was too subtle!_
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     When Jimmy reached the Ninth Street bridge across Porcupine
Creek he was surprised to find Kenny Taylor sitting on his bike
and waiting for him.  He hoped it was prurient interest on
Kenny's part and not some kind of bad news from lunch with
Wynter.  Kenny straightened at his approach and pushed the
kickstand up into place.  Kenny didn't attempt any small talk,
cutting straight through like an obsidian scalpel.
 
     "Hey, how'd it go?"
 
     "Hey."  He didn't try to keep the feelings off his face. 
"You'd have loved it.  How was lunch?"
 
     Kenny grinned up at him.  "Much better than your day.  She
was wearing a seamless light cotton training bra, and I think she
got cold once or twice.  Her cotton panties...."
 
     "_KENNY!_"  Jimmy relaxed a little.  As upset as he was that
Kenny was talking about Wynter that way, he was relieved to learn
that it wasn't bad news.
 
     "It was still much better.  You two really need to talk. 
Did Suzie try anything?"
 
     "Yeah."  He had Kenny ride along with him as he related the
afternoon's events, interrupting the tale to speak to or wave at
people they passed.
 
     "Holy shit!" Kenny said.  "Hey, how come she never wants
_me_ to squeeze her tits for her? Or never wants to play with my
tool?"
 
     "Maybe," Jimmy said as he returned Mrs. Johnson's wave and
then looked straight ahead, "it's because she has some taste
after all."
 
     "Cocksucker."
 
     Jimmy gave a sly sideways glance.  "I think that was what
she had in mind."  When Kenny moaned he looked aside and pedaled
faster to keep his friend from seeing the smirk on his face.
 
     "Hey, hold up," Kenny said as Ninth Street ended at
Seabridge Trail.  There were no houses on the north side so that
the street could be extended some day.  They rode onto the empty
lot and stopped facing each other.  "So did anything happened
after you stopped playing with her tit?"
 
     Jimmy felt his face grow hot.  "_I wasn't playing with it!_ 
That was just her imagination talking.  Probably part of whatever
her plan was."  He was immediately sorry for his harsh tone.  He
knew Kenny was trying to get him to take the bait, and he had
bitten.  He didn't apologize, though, as much as he wanted to do
so, because he knew from experience that would only encourage
Kenny.
 
     Kenny smirked.  "And did you let her pull your pecker?"
 
     "Kenny!"  He made himself relax his muscles and take a deep
breath.  "I told her that if she couldn't be nice, I'd sit in
another seat across the aisle and would take her home when it was
over."
 
     Kenny tipped his bike sideways, rolled on the ground, and
clutched his chest.  "Cardiac arrest!  Cardiac arrest!" he yelled
and began jerking his arms and legs around.
 
     Jimmy rolled his eyes as Kenny kicked twice and lay still. 
"Get up, you dwarf dick."
 
     Kenny spoke without moving.  "Half the boys in school would
give up their allowances for a year to have Suzie pull their
peckers or to play with her tits.  Why wouldn't you?  Are you
nuts, or just a fag?"
 
     Jimmy had been afraid that he would ask that.  He looked
around as his hand closed around the arrowhead inside his shirt. 
"I dunno.  I mean....  Well, you know why."
 
     Kenny lifted his head and squinted because of the sun.  "You
mean you're saving yourself for Wynter?"
 
     "_No!_  Well, sorta.  I mean...."  He wished Kenny would
drop it.  His mind raced to think of some way to change the
subject.  "I....  Well, Wynter wouldn't like it if I did that
with Suzie.  If I let Suzie do that to me.  If--well, she
wouldn't like it.  That's all."
 
     "You think she'd be jealous, don't you!"
 
     It sounded like a taunting accusation, and he guessed it
was.  He sighed.  "I think it would hurt her feelings.  I don't
want to hurt her feelings.  She's nice, and I don't like to hurt
people's feelings.  Especially nice people's.  Okay?"
 
     Kenny raised up on his elbows.  "It doesn't hurt her
feelings when I try to get into Suzie's pants.  Or hers."
 
     Jimmy started to rise off the bicycle seat but forced
himself to take a deep breath and relax.  "Of course not.  She
knows you're just pathetic and horny and desperate."
 
     "Hey!  Who's pathetic?"
 
     "You are, you... you... you putz."
 
     Kenny's brow wrinkled.  "What's a putz?"
 
     _One point, Jimmy_.  "It's a Jewish dick."
 
     "Hey!  I'm not Jewish."
 
     "No, but you're a dick!"
 
     Kenny grabbed his collar and tugged upward.  It stayed
around his neck.  "Look!  I'm circumcised!"
 
     "That's what I said.  You're a putz."  He mentally patted
himself on the back for having changed the subject away from
Wynter.
 
     "Do you want to get into Wynter's pants?"
 
     Kenny had known what he was doing!  He could tell by the
smirk crawling across Kenny's face that he had known.  Kenny had
just been playing along.  "That's not a nice question."
 
     A big grin spread across the boy's tanned face.  "So the
answer is yes?"
 
     Jimmy's mind raced for an answer that would satisfy his
inquisitor.  "I wanna be best friends with her and I don't wanna
piss her off.  Okay?  I don't want to do anything that would hurt
her feelings.  The difference between her 'n' you is that I
_like_ her."  Too late he realized that Kenny would take the
other meaning of that pronouncement and run with it.
 
     Kenny sprang to his feet and cupped his hands to his mouth. 
"_Hey!  Kenny to Earth!  Kenny to Earth!  News flash!  Attention
everybody!  Jimmy McCauley likes Wynter King!  Big surprise! 
World astonished!  President to hold emergency cabinet meeting! 
Film at ten!_"
 
     "You putz."
 
     Kenny's head snapped around with a jerk, one of his
"patented shit-eating grins" smeared across his face.  "Hey,
let's go back to Wynter's.  I'll ask her to rub my head, and
after she does I'll tell her she just jacked off a putz!"
 
     Jimmy clenched his fists and threw back his head. 
"_AARGH!_"  Jimmy didn't much care for violence, but he certainly
could see how it could be justified under the right
circumstances.
 
     "Hey, you think Wynter jerks off?"
 
     The question startled him.  He wasn't about to answer it
because he didn't dare tell the truth.  "I don't think girls do
it that way.  Their bush beans aren't big enough."  _Bush bean_
was a local slang term for a clitoris.  Nobody outside of town
ever understood the term and always had to have it explained.
 
     "Well, you would know," said Kenny.  "I haven't seen one,
but you got to examine Suzie's."
 
     "_I didn't examine it!_"  The return smirk told him he'd
lost a point for having lost his temper.  But he had diverted the
topic away from Wynter.  If he had to, he'd stay with it until
Kenny lost interest.  If he ever did.  Kenny hadn't lost it since
puberty had set in.
 
     "But you saw it.  What did it look like?"
 
     Jimmy shrugged.  "Sorta like the one in that anatomy book."
 
     "Sorta?"
 
     "Well, it was a lighter pink than the rest of her.  The rest
of it was kinda reddish."
 
     Kenny's eyebrows shot up.  "And wet?"
 
     Jimmy thought for a second. "Yeah, sorta wet all over. 
Glisteny."
 
     Kenny frowned, pursed his lips, and nodded.  "I'll bet she'd
been bangin' her bush bean."
 
     "Maybe.  There was a smell in the air when she took off the
sheet."
 
     "Yeah?  Hey, what'd it smell like?"
 
     "Sorta like...." He shrugged.  "I dunno how to explain it. 
Not bad.  Why don't you go ask her if she'll let you sniff it. 
She's probably horny enough."
 
     Kenny's eyes widened and the patented shit-eating grin
returned.  "Hey!  You think so?"
 
     Jimmy rolled his blue eyes and shook his head.  "If not,
maybe Caroline would let you smell hers.  Let's go."
 
     "Um...."  Kenny threw a leg over his bike and thought for a
second.  "You better stop by Wynter's.  She's got some bad news. 
She might want to move in with you for a few days."
 
     _Bad news?_  "What's wrong?"
 
     "Her aunt and uncle are visiting.  The two creepos from
Nebraska.  Maybe you can cheer her up.  I tried, but, I'm not her
_lover-boy_."  He stressed the last in his high-pitched imitation
of a girl's voice.
 
     Jimmy refused to bite.  "You headed back home?"
 
     "Later.  I thought I better see how Suzie is doing first. 
She might need a friend."
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     Wynter pushed the pencil behind her ear and caught it in her
drawn-back hair.  She could tell by the way Dragon had rushed out
of the room that Jimmy was the one who had rung the doorbell. 
She raced to the stairs but went down them carefully.  Rushing
causes accidents.  At the bottom of the stairs she saw Jimmy
through the storm door, but no Dragon on this side.  The dog
suddenly appeared as he raced around the corner of the house and
up the steps.  Jimmy leaned over to give him a dog biscuit and
scratch his ears.  She couldn't understand the words he was
saying, but Dragon sure did seem to understand.
 
     He looked up when she unlatched the storm door lock.  The
wide-eyed happy look that sprang onto his face made her heart
suddenly feel too big for her chest.  She pushed open the door. 
"Hi."
 
     "Hi," he said, suddenly looking self-conscious.  "I heard
you had some bad news."
 
     "You saw Kenny, huh?  Yeah.  They're bringing Mother home
from the airport and staying until Sunday.  I asked Daddy if I
could run away from home."
 
     "I'm, uh, I'm sorry."
 
     Wynter suddenly remembered her manners.  She couldn't
believe she'd forgotten them, especially with someone as polite
as Jimmy.  "C'mon in.  Want some soda or some juice?"
 
     "Sure," he said, taking the door and letting her back away. 
"You got any of your mom's lemonade?"  Jimmy always said that her
mom was the only one who made better lemonade than Mrs.
Middleton.
 
     "No, but I made some."
 
     "Really?  I'd like to try it."
 
     She suddenly felt worried that her lemonade might not be
good enough for Jimmy.  "Okay, but you have to promise not to
spit it out if you don't like it."
 
     He shook his head.  "I'd never do that."  His voice said he
meant that with all his heart.  She almost blushed.
 
     He got the glasses from the cabinet while she got the
pitcher from the fridge and some ice from the freezer.  Dragon
sat where they couldn't get past him to either the hall or the
family room without awakening him, ate his dog biscuit, and dozed
off.
 
     "Thanks," he said and took a sip.  "It's good!"
 
     "Thanks.  You didn't have to sound so surprised."
 
     His face reddened and she laughed.  He waited for her to sit
on the breakfast nook bench before pulling out a chair.
 
     "Would you, um...."  She was afraid she would sound silly,
but she decided to ask anyway.  Jimmy was so polite he wouldn't
make an issue out of it and embarrass her further.  "Would you
like to sit beside me?"
 
     He looked like she'd told him that the museum had some
dissected mummies and that they were going to see them.  "Sure! 
I mean, if it's okay with you.  I don't, um, have to if you...
um, don't really want me to.  I mean... you know."
 
     "I know," she mumbled.  "Um, maybe I could use some moral
support since Aunt Dumb and Uncle Boob are coming."  She gasped. 
She had meant to say "Uncle Bozo."  But "boob" also mean a
"bozo," sort of.  Maybe Jimmy would take it that way.
 
     If he didn't, he sure did a good job of faking it.  "Sure. 
Anything to, um, help you feel better."
 
     "Thanks."
 
     She gave him room to sit as far away as he wanted.  He
scooted to within an inch of her.  They sat quietly for several
seconds, and then she slid sideways that last inch.  She heard
that same soft, contented sigh that she thought she'd heard at
Porcupine Creek.
 
     "Have you been drawing?"
 
     The question startled her and she realized that she'd gone
someplace else for a moment.  "Yeah."  She didn't say what, and
he didn't ask.  He knew that she'd tell him if she wanted him to
know.  She sure _didn't_ want him to know this time. 
Fortunately, Jimmy was a gentleman and he didn't pry.  Like Suzie
did.  Kenny would ask, and he might tease her, but he wouldn't
pry, either.  Jimmy wouldn't even tease her.  He was the most
thoughtful person she could think of.  She gasped as she realized
that wasn't true.  How could she have possibly forgotten her
father, who loved her with all his heart?
 
     Worry clouded his face.  "Is something wrong?"
 
     "No.  I just thought of something.  It's okay, though."  How
could she possibly tell him?
 
     He relaxed.  "Okay.  Are you going to run away from home?"
 
     She arched her eyebrows.  "You think that deer might let me
live with her for the rest of the week?"
 
     He laughed, took a sip of his lemonade, set the glass back
on the table, and stared at it.
 
     She waited.  He didn't say anything.  "That bad, huh?"
 
     He knew what she meant.  "If I tell you, will you get mad?"
 
     "Wasn't your fault, was it?"
 
     "Well, no."
 
     "Then why would I get mad at you?"
 
     He shrugged.  "I dunno.  Sometimes guys do.  Girls
are--different.  I'm not sure how you think sometimes."
 
     "You wouldn't get mad at me if it wasn't my fault, so I
won't get mad at you."
 
     He gave her a shy smile and then it faded.  His eyes
returned to the glass.  She gently pressed his upper arm with
hers.  Just for moral support, of course.
 
     "When I told her the killer millipedes in Senator Amidala's
bedroom were going to be a little scary, she grabbed my arm and
pulled it around her."
 
     Her stomach felt hollow, like everything in it had been
teleported out.  "Oh.  Well, she just needed support so she
wouldn't be afraid.  It's natural for people to turn to each
other in moments of crisis."  The words sounded hollow this time.
 
     "It's not just that. Um...."  He sipped lemonade and stared
at the glass again.  She watched his eyes and knew he was
deliberately fighting to keep from looking at her.  "She, um, she
wasn't, um....  Well, she wasn't wearing, um...."
 
     "Oh."
 
     Startled, she jumped when he spun to look at her.  "But I
didn't keep my hand there, I promise!  I took my arm back as soon
as I realized what she was doing!  I'm sorry."
 
     She knew he had no reason to apologize to her because it was
all Suzie's doing.  But it did make her heart feel good, for some
weird reason.  "I told you I wouldn't get mad.  I'm not.  Honest. 
You aren't responsible for Suzie."
 
     "Thanks."  He relaxed a little, but not much.
 
     She didn't really want to ask but she knew Jimmy wanted to
get it out.  Repressed anxieties caused elevated blood pressure
and pulse rates, and that wasn't good.  "So was that all?"
 
     "No."  He looked at the glass again and straightened until
he was barely touching her arm with his.
 
     She applied gentle pressure and he pressed back, harder. 
_He was checking to see if I really wasn't mad at him._
 
     "Remember when you showed me how to find her rotator muscle
and to rub the cramp out of it?"
 
     "Uh huh."
 
     "Well, that's what she did to me."
 
     When he said nothing more she said, "Okay."
 
     He sighed.  "But I told her to stop or I'd sit across the
aisle until the movie was over.  She knew I meant it, so she
quit.  She didn't say a word for the rest of the movie, except
for when Anakin kissed Senator Amidala just before the arena."
 
     She couldn't believe it!  Jimmy must have been really
_pissed off_ if he was _that_ discourteous.  He must be feeling
really bad because he had to be so impolite.  "What did she say?"
 
     "She said Senator Amidala was lucky to have a real man who
was so good looking, too.  She said she'd like to find a real man
who knew how to kiss."
 
     "Oh.  Um, she was hinting?"
 
     He shook his head.  "I think it was supposed to be an
insult, saying I didn't know how to kiss a girl."
 
     She was quiet for a moment.  "Do you?"  She felt her face
redden.  She couldn't believe she'd asked that question.  "I'm
sorry.  That's personal and I shouldn't have asked."
 
     He looked at her and smiled.  "The rules say you can ask
anything as long as I can say I don't want to answer."
 
     She smiled back and nodded.  She was glad he hadn't answered
her.  But then he said, "No.  I've never kissed a girl.  Well, my
cousin Amy kissed me last year when I gave her a Christmas
present, but she's only five.  Have you... um, have you ever, um,
kissed a boy?"
 
     She shook her head.  Fortunately he had worded the question
so that she could answer it truthfully.  "I don't even have
cousins to kiss except for Baby Christopher.  He's barely one."
 
     He seemed to realize she was embarrassed by the question and
tried to change the subject.  "Well, it's too bad he's Aunt Diane
and Uncle Bob's kid.  After what you've told me about them, I can
imagine what he will be like when he's older.  The world isn't
ready for that."
 
     "Yuck!"
 
     Dragon sprang up.  "I think your dad's home."  He seemed to
press against her just a little bit harder before sliding off the
bench and holding out his hand for her.  She took it and pulled,
scooting out to the edge.  He was such a gentleman with her.
 
     "Um...."  He looked at his feet.
 
     _Anxiety disorder again._
 
     "Um, thanks for understanding.  And for not being mad at me. 
I wouldn't want you mad at me too."  He seemed to emphasize the
"you" more than the "too."
 
     She felt her own anxiety disorder awaken.  Her ponytail lay
over her left shoulder, and she closed her hand around it.  "Um,
sure.  You're my friend.  Friends care, um, about each other."
 
     He grinned at her from under his eyebrows.  "Yeah."
 
     The hallway dimmed as her father blocked the light coming
through the storm door window.  Dragon's tail lashed as he bolted
the ten feet to greet him.  Wynter suddenly remembered that she
was supposed to be glad to see him, too.  _No!_  She _was_ glad
to see him.
 
     "Daddy!"  She ran to him, and he grabbed her under her arms
and lifted her into a hug.  She started to give him a
daughter-type kiss but he jerked his head back.  "Hey!  Watch out
for that pencil.  You could put an eye out."
 
     She gasped and pulled it from over her ear, then quickly
kissed him.
 
     "Hey, Jimmy!"
 
     "Hello, Mr. King.  "How was it?"
 
     "Pain in the butt," Richard replied.
 
     "Daddy," she said, trying to sound like Mother in her
"reproachful tone."
 
     "I'm serious!  I sat down on this rock to take a note, and,
well, I didn't see this piece of a broken branch sticking up from
the other side...."
 
     She giggled at the face he made.  "I thought I told you to
be careful.  How many stitches?"
 
     He put her down.  "Oh, it's not that bad.  Just a little
sore is all.  But the way the mine foreman was acting I thought
about asking him to kiss it and make it better."
 
     That got giggles from both Wynter and Jimmy.  Then Jimmy
said, "I guess I'd better get back home.  Mom said supper would
be early."
 
     Wynter thought her father was awfully nice the way he said
goodbye and then went up to his office to put his things away.
 
     Jimmy stopped at the storm door.  "Are you doing anything
tomorrow?"
 
     "I think Daddy wants to sleep late, so I will too," she
said.  "We'll probably run some errands late in the morning and
then I'll be free in the afternoon.  You have anything in mind?"
 
     "No.  Maybe check the bird nests?  Or maybe... I dunno."  He
studied his shoes.  "Anything special you want to do?"
 
     She examined her own shoes.  "Um, no.  Maybe, um, just
decide then?"
 
     "Okay."  After an awkward silence he said, "Well, I gotta
go.  Um, see you tomorrow."
 
     "Okay."
 
     He pushed the storm door latch and swung the door open. 
"Bye."
 
     "Yeah.  Um, bye."  She reached for the latch, and her hand
touched his.  He held the storm door with his free hand, cupped
his other hand around hers, squeezed, and then was down the steps
before she could think.  "See you tomorrow afternoon."
 
     "Yeah.  See ya!"
 
     She watched him pedal down the street and then found herself
in the bathroom by the den.  For a moment she wondered why she
was there.  _Distended bladder_, she diagnosed.
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     Richard heard the toilet flush as he stepped down into the
hallway.  He glanced at the breakfast nook table and noted the
position of the two glasses.  He felt a tiny pang in his heart. 
But, he reminded himself, Jimmy was a first-class individual.  He
could do much, much worse for a son-in-law.
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     Kenny Taylor closed his door and threw himself on his bed. 
His ears still rang from standing on Suzie's porch and listening
to her scream, "_FUCK OFF AND DIE, ASSHOLE!_" right in his face. 
Mrs. Middleton had no trouble hearing it from the kitchen.  He
guessed Suzie wouldn't be leaving the house for a day or two.
 
     He tugged down the zipper of his fly.  Suzie had leaned
forward when she screamed at him.  He had never seen her
birthmark before.



                              Eight
 
     As Daddy's slow, even breathing stirred the long blonde hair
near her neck, Wynter opened her left eye and peered at the
window.  The morning sky promised another nice day.  Well, it
would be a nice day.  She was going to spend most of the morning
with her father, and then some of the day with Jimmy and Kenny
and Suzie, and then the evening and night with Daddy again.  It
would be the last night with Daddy before Mother returned.  She
sure did want Mother home, but she didn't want to give up her
special times with her father.  Not just the sexual activities. 
Oh, no.  She didn't want to give up their other special times
together, even if it were only dinner together or watching
television together or his listening to her play the piano just
for him alone.
 
     She immediately regretted that thought.  Mother also wanted
to have special times together with him, but she didn't even have
shared times when she was out of town.  Wynter was disappointed
with herself for being selfish and not at all as thoughtful as
Jimmy was.  She hoped her parents couldn't guess her thoughts
sometimes.  She didn't want them to realize that she was so
thoughtless.  They might not love her as much if they knew she
was so self-centered.  They might think she was a big
disappointment.
 
     She closed her eye and tried to go back to sleep, but
something began nagging at her, as insistent as a mosquito
buzzing around in her mind.  She was overlooking something
important.  But what?
 
     Her father stirred slightly.  His breathing changed, the way
it did when he was waking up.  Then his hand found her right
breast and closed around it.  He made a contented sigh, the way
Jimmy did when she sat next to him, and his breath resumed its
normal sleep rhythm.  It made her heart feel too big for her
chest.
 
     _Jimmy_.  She was going to spend part of the day with Jimmy. 
It was her father's last full day with her, too, and maybe he
wanted some special times with just her.
 
     She had never been more disappointed with herself in her
whole life.  Here she was, selfishly complaining to herself that
she was going to be denied some special "just the two of us" time
with her father, yet she was going to leave him, the man who
loved her with all his heart, alone to go adventuring with Jimmy. 
School would start in exactly two weeks.  She would be leaving
him and Mother alone in the house--when they worked from their
home offices, which was most of the day for five days a week.  As
much as she disliked hypocrites, just the same as her father did,
she was one.  She wondered how her father could love her at all.
 
     But she'd already planned to go adventuring with Jimmy
today.  Daddy and Mother both said if she made plans to do things
with someone else, she had to follow through.  And she'd told her
father last night that she had plans to spend part of the day
with Jimmy as if it were a good thing.  He'd said nothing to
indicate his feelings, but clearly, she now realized, she'd
broken his heart.  What would Mother say when she found out?  It
was bad enough that Aunt Dumb and Uncle Bozo were going to come
home with her, but she would be returning to a home that also had
such a huge disappointment living there.
 
     As if she weren't already ashamed of herself for what she'd
done last night.  Once again, just before she'd had a really big
orgasm, she let her mind wander away from her father, who was
trying with all his heart to make love to her in a way that was
the best for her needs.  Just before she came she let her mind
wander, and she found herself thinking about Jimmy's having to
lie there in his bed all alone and masturbate to relieve his
sexual tension because he didn't have anyone to make love with
the way she did.  And just as she felt the throbbing wave of
pleasure begin she was thinking about him lying there stroking
his... his... his penis.
 
     She just couldn't make herself think of it as Jimmy's
_dick_.  Not as nice and polite as he was.  She sighed and rubbed
her nose with the back of her wrist.  She pushed it aside the
strand of hair that was tickling it.
 
     She would have to apologize to her father when he woke up. 
She sure hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed in her, but if it
made him so upset that he didn't want to make love to her on
their last night together, she couldn't blame him.
 
     A noise in front of her face caused her eyes to open. 
Dragon was looking at her with a worried expression.  He knew
something was bothering her, and that bothered her more.  Even a
Dragon had more consideration for other's people's feelings than
she had.  What would her father say to that?
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     "I'd say Dragon's doing his job and you're doing yours," he
said with a gentle smile that made her feel warm all over despite
her disappointment with herself.  He lifted his head from the
pillow and moved his arm so that he could use his hand and
forearm as a support.  His other large, warm hand gently closed
around her slender one.  "Dogs are supposed to be sensitive to
human emotions, and he obviously is.  You're supposed to be
enjoying your summer vacation with your friends.  I get my share
of time with you.  They get their share.  It's time management,
remember?  If you don't do different things, then you have
nothing to manage."
 
     She shrugged her right shoulder.  "I guess.  But I feel
guilty...."
 
     "Don't.  Honey, you grew up isolated from what it's like in
the real world.  Well, this is what it's like.  I know that I
have to share you with your friends.  I don't mind that.  If I
did, then I would be the one who's being selfish.  Think about
it.  You're trying to make me be what you're afraid that you are. 
By your reasoning, I'd be somebody not worth loving.  But it sure
seemed to me last night that you loved me."
 
     She felt her eyes grow really big.  "I did, and I still do! 
Except that I, well, um...."
 
     When the pause to collect her thoughts grew too long he
said, "Just tell me and I'll sort it out with you.  Okay?"
 
     She did.
 
     He laughed and gave her that warm smile again.  "I guess I
haven't been a very good teacher.  All this time and I've never
told you about sexual fantasies?  Maybe you should be
disappointed in me."
 
     "Never!  You said there was always something new to learn if
I was lucky.  I guess this means I'm lucky."
 
     He blinked at her.  "When we're done, remind me to check
your birth certificate.  I think your assumed age is off by a
couple of decades."
 
     That made her feel so good that she gave him the best kiss
she could, dragon breath or not.  Then she waited for her lesson. 
And did she ever learn a lot from it, though some of it seemed to
be too weird to be true.
 
     "You sometimes think of other women when you're with
Mother?"
 
     He shrugged.  "Sometimes.  And sometimes she thinks of other
men.  But that doesn't mean I don't love her or she doesn't love
me.  It's like....  Hmmm.  Well, it's like a putting yourself in
as the main character in a movie you're watching or a book you're
reading.  It's part of being a little selfish."
 
     She thought she understood.  "So it's more like fucking than
making love."
 
     "Yes."  He took a deep breath and stretched.  "But you can
do it while you're making love, too, you know."
 
     "Does everything have to be so complicated?"
 
     "Of course."
 
     She giggled, but then a thought struck her.  "Do you think
of someone else when you're making love to me?"
 
     "No.  I'm too busy enjoying watching you learn.  Remember, I
said fantasizing was a way to avoid boredom through repetition. 
It's never repetition with you.  It's always something new.  I'm
sure I will eventually, and it will probably be Alice DeClerk
because she was the first girl I had sex with."
 
     She thought she would be upset to hear him say that, but she
wasn't.  Maybe telling her that meant he really and truly wasn't
mad at her for letting her mind wander.  She suddenly grew angry
with herself because that thought implied that her father might
have lied to her, and she knew he hadn't.  He said he would
always tell her the truth.
 
     "Well, I'm glad you're not mad at me."  She started to say
more, but he cut her off.
 
     "Honey, even if it weren't 'normal,' I'd not be mad at you. 
You're learning.  This is all new to you.  It's a lot to absorb
and to deal with.  Don't you ever worry about it again.  Okay? 
Look, I know I'll have to give you up some day because you'll
find someone, if you haven't already, and--yes, I know you're
'just friends' now.  But eventually you'll want to make your own
life with somebody.  You'll have children and you'll have to give
them up for the same reason.  It's what life is all about. 
That's the difference between living and existing."
 
     That didn't sound fair to her.  "But I don't _want_ to give
you up."
 
     "You will.  But that won't mean you don't love me.  It will
just mean that you love someone else, too.  Just the way loving
your mother and Dragon doesn't keep you from loving me."  He
hesitated and frowned in thought.  "Maybe I'm wrong for thinking
of it in terms of giving you up.  I should be thinking of it in
terms of sharing you."
 
     She gave him a daughter-type kiss.  "Thank you for
explaining.  I hope I didn't get your day off to a bad start."
 
     He gave her a strange smile, but one that also said he loved
her with all his heart.  "Any day that starts with my daughter
cannot, by definition, be a bad one.  And, actually, I think you
were the teacher and I was the student.  What you really did was
turn the lights on for me.  Now, if class is over, I really,
really need to go to the bathroom."
 
     She noticed for the first time that she did, too.
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     Wynter was placing the last of the lunch dishes in the
dishwasher when Dragon sprang to his feet and assumed his
"Jimmy's here" pose.  Her father noticed and said, "We're done. 
You go on with your friends.  And don't worry about me.  I'm big
enough to take care of myself."
 
     She pulled him down for the best lover's kiss she could
manage in the seconds available.  When she pulled back he gasped
for air and said, "But another one of those and I may end up in
the hospital.  I love you."
 
     "I love you, too, Daddy, with all my heart."  She traced an
"X" over her heart with a fingertip.
 
     The light coming through the storm door dimmed and the
doorbell rang.  The doorbell was unnecessary.  Dragon was
whimpering loudly with excitement and dancing in circles.  Wynter
had to tell him to move so that she could unlatch the door.  Then
she had to wait while Jimmy greeted Dragon first and gave him a
dog biscuit.
 
     "Hi," he said with that warm smile as he stepped through the
door.  "Is Dragon going with us today?"
 
     "Hi."  Not even Aunt Dumb and Uncle Bozo could have erased
her own smile.  "No, he's staying here to keep Daddy out of
trouble.  My bike's in the garage.  Hi, Kenny."
 
     "Hey." He frowned and eyed her carefully, up and down.  "I
hope you didn't get all dressed up on my account."
 
     She looked down at her blouse.  It was the nicest forest
green one she had for adventuring in the park.  Her jersey shorts
were new and matched the blouse, as did the elastic ponytail
holder.  She had changed her white ankle socks for clean ones
before coming down for lunch.
 
     "No," she said.  When he smirked and started to say
something to Jimmy she said, "I wore this for Daddy.  I didn't
want him to think I was you."
 
     Jimmy lifted his hand and turned his body just enough to
keep Kenny from seeing a thumbs-up sign.
 
     "Where's Suzie?" she asked.  "You didn't wait for her?"
 
     "Oh, Suzie won't be along," Kenny announced in his tone that
said he had a secret and wasn't going to reveal it.  And he
wouldn't, either, until he was ready.  "She's been grounded
again."
 
     She was surprised to discover that she was relieved by that
news.
 
                              ~ ~ ~
 
     Wynter was disappointed that the deer and her baby hadn't
come back for another drink.  She wanted Kenny to see it, too,
but he had said that it was too early in the day.  Jimmy had
agreed with him.  They lay on the sandstone and watched the pool
for a while, but no trout appeared, either.  Kenny had flopped
down on the other side of Jimmy.  Wynter had wanted to scoot up
next to Jimmy again, but she knew that doing so would cause Kenny
to taunt Jimmy.  She didn't want that, and Jimmy's look,
interrupted by a glance at the space between them, said that he
understood and agreed.
 
     On their way back to the bikes Kenny said they should check
on Suzie.  He wouldn't say why, but Wynter thought she could
guess.  Jimmy didn't seem to comfortable with the idea but he'd
agreed out of his natural politeness.  Kenny did have a really
odd look on his face, not like the times when he was trying to
get Suzie and her to play show-and-tell with him, or something
similar.  It had something to do with his secret, and he wasn't
going reveal it.  She worried that it might be some joke at
Jimmy's expense.
 
     They rode south at a moderate pace, three abreast except
when they met other people on the trail.   Kenny had suggested
they ride in a triangle, with her in front.  Suspicious about the
tone of his voice, she asked why, and he said that it was so
Jimmy could admire her butt.  Jimmy called him a putz, a term she
didn't recognize.  Jimmy looked embarrassed as Kenny explained
it, and he tried to apologize to her afterward.  She'd told him
never to apologize for the truth.  She almost didn't know which
thrilled her more:  Jimmy's smile of appreciation or Kenny's open
mouth and goggling eyes.
 
     They rode in a column around some Canada geese waddling down
the trail.  They were moving back into line when Jimmy and Kenny
skidded to a halt on the asphalt.  Wynter stopped her bike
between theirs.  A dozen feet ahead, where the north trail opened
into the ball field area of Otter Park, two large and very
unclean boys, maybe two or three years older than her, had
stopped their bicycles with the front wheels touching and the
back wheels near the edges of the trail, blocking the paved path
with a "V" pointed at them.
 
     She heard Jimmy whisper, "Uh oh," and Kenny mutter,
"Crapola!"
 
     She kept her eyes on the two in front of them and whispered,
"What is it?"
 
     "Trouble," Jimmy whispered.
 
     "First-class trouble," Kenny said.  "And me without my
guardian Angel."
 
Copyright 2005 Russell Hoisington
 
 
   ************************************************************
 
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--
Russell Hoisington
State of Confusion

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