I left Penny watching Dolores's indefatigable swimming while I went to the house for another beer and to get dinner under way. I started the charcoal burning and laid out a couple of steaks and washed some potatoes. While I was preparing the salad, Mark and Kate came downstairs (a bit wobbly in the knees, if you ask me). Kate was glowing and Mark looked content…for the time being.
"You guys get everything put where it belongs?"
Kate laughed easily and Mark grinned beneath his blush. He was wearing an incredibly, wonderfully tacky Hawaiian shirt and oversized shorts. Kate was wearing her little white lurex two piece with a matching wrap around the bottom. When she walked, her hips rolled. Her nipples were round, dark blotches inside the white top, which was stretched to bursting by her tits. Between her and the two flirting kids, I was going to be spending a lot of time choking the chicken this weekend, unless something wonderful happened with Irene.
"Anything we can do help?" Kate asked as I chopped lettuce.
I stared at her. "After that business with the seat belt? You could injure some valuable real estate. But I'd feel more at ease if you'd go keep an eyes on those two marathon swimmers."
Kate smiled warmly and winked at Mark, than glided out the door. She took off the wrap as she walked and that gorgeous, womanly ass was demonstrating many wonderful advantages of sheer, white lurex.
"She's a lot of woman, cousin."
Mark nodded. "Maybe too much."
"Huh?"
"Listen, I should be pretty safe wrapping the potatoes in foil, right?"
I nodded. As he mangled the aluminum foil, I said, "What did you mean – `Maybe too much'?"
"Shit, Dan, I'm almost 45. She's 30, just entering her sexual prime. She's almost insatiable."
"Looks sated to me. Could almost hear her slosh." I went to work on the radishes.
"She just turns me on so much, I always kind of rise to the occasion. How's this?" He held up the first successfully captured potato. It was a pretty miserable job of wrapping.
"Terrific. Listen – As long as she's happy, what're you worrying about?"
"Can I be blunt?"
"Hell, you can be the Easter Bunny. Shoot."
"Sometimes I think that no matter how much she cums, she's a little disappointed when I stop."
"Are you bullshitting me?"
He shook his head somberly while he struggled to wrap another elusive potato.
"Mark, you two were in the bedroom for 45 minutes. For two-thirds of that time, she was screaming. The look on her face and the way she was walking just now…That is one satisfied woman."
"I wonder… "
"Have you asked her about this?"
"Sure. She says I'm all the man she could ever wish for, that it's beautiful and ecstatic…the standard line."
I stabbed a green pepper. "Standard line? Are you nuts? Are you trying to imply that Kate -*Kate* – would hide something?"
"Well, yes – so she wouldn't hurt my feelings. I think she wants more than I can give her."
"Evidence?"
"Evi-? Oh." He deposited another pathetically wrapped potato and began assaulting a third. "Well, I was watching a porno tape. She usually doesn't bother with them – says they're not romantic – but she was walking through, during this one scene where a guy with a huge cock was giving a woman the business. Guy's dick must have been a foot long and thick as a sausage. Well, she stopped walking and that, she watched. Never took her eyes off the screen. And it turned her on so much, I thought I was going to need a mop."
I laughed. "Hey, man, I've seen you in the shower. You've got nothing to worry about."
"Dan, this guy had more soft than I have hard. Huge – the way her nipples got when she was watching him."
"Lot's of women fantasize about fucking a horse-cock, but most of them don't care for it unless it's attached to someone they really like."
"So I've read. So I've been told."
I went to work on a pair of perfect red peppers. "Why don't you believe it?"
He took a deep breath. "Well, after that film I thought maybe she was wishing for more. So I went out and bought something. A marital aid."
"A what?"
"You know…"
"A dildo?"
"Yeah." A kind of cough, under his breath.
"A great big one."
"Yeah."
"As big as the guy in the movie."
Another cough. I went to work on the carrots.
"And?"
"And, well, uh, one night when I ran out of gas, I got it out and lubed it up and started using it on her." He stopped wrapping and stared at me. "Mark, she came for almost another hour."
"Nonstop?"
He nodded. "My arms gave out before she did. She took that fucking thing inside to the hilt. I could see her tummy bulge when it was in. I did it hard, I did it easy, fast, slow, straight, circles. Didn't matter. By the time she was done, I was hard again. I rode her for another 15 minutes and she kept cumming. Used the dildo again for about a half-hour. She finally passed out with the dildo inside her. She was still cumming."
I emitted a low whistle.
"She came for more than two hours without a pause and was still cumming when she passed out," he repeated. "I think I've got a situation, here."
"All in your head, Mark." Carrots done, I went to work on a cucumber, peeling the skin.
"I think she wants more than just me."
"Even though she said the opposite."
"And I think she's going to go trolling."
"Now, Mark – "
"And I think she'd like you."
"What?"
"And I want you to go ahead – "
I spun on him, cucumber poised for attack. "Forget it! Out of the question!"
"Dan, she's going to go after somebody, sooner or later. She likes you – and I trust you. I know you'd never try to take her away from me, so I'd be grateful if you helped me keep her happy."
"Sort of keep it in the family, huh?"
"Yeah."
"No fucking way. End of discussion."
"But – "
"Mark, don't piss me off. I envy you Kate in your bed, I lust after her, but I am not – repeat, not – going to fuck your wife."
"What if she asked?"
"Same response."
His shoulders slumped and I returned to the cucumber. I realized that he'd actually convinced himself that he wanted this – to have me fuck his horny wife.
A few more silent minutes of devastating the potatoes and preparing the salad, and I said, "Better go get those water babies in here to change. We'll be ready to eat in a half hour."
"Sure." Dejected. He went out and summoned them. The two girls scampered in, with Kate languidly bringing up the rear (so to speak).
"Mosquitoes out there," she announced.
"No kidding." I handed her the salad bowl. "In the fridge, please?"
She smiled brightly and bent at the waist before the opened refrigerator. Her ass was a caution, outthrust like that.
Broing! Boner time.
"There're some bug whackers out there. Would you guys turn'em on for me? Just turn the switch till the nasty blue glow starts and watch the fun. And toss those taters down into the coals, please."
"I'll do it," Mark said. To Kate: "You're still damp."
From what he'd told me, she was always damp. He went out into the yard and began making the rounds in twilight.
"Kate, I've got to tell you something."
"Mmmmm?"
"Dolores is turning me on. She's working at it, but she doesn't have to."
She made a face. "So now she's picking on you. Mark had the same reaction and I told her it wasn't nice to go around teasing her dad."
"Or her Uncle Dan."
"I'll talk to her about it."
"Please. I don't want to be tempted by a kid. Get a couple of more brewskis in me and I might convince myself that she wants to do more than tease."
Kate chuckled. "She probably does. She really likes you, you know."
"She's 15. She's just a kid."
"Oh, she's grown up enough in some ways."
"Not between the ears, she's not. And how's Irene looking?"
"She's grown up enough, in all the ways. When I grow up, I want to look like Irene. Looking forward to her arrival?" She stared pointedly at my crotch.
"As if you and Lolita weren't enough to raise the flagpole."
"Why, thank you for the flattery!" She smiled. Dimples. Hadn't noticed those before.
"It's truth."
"Well, if you're already salivating, wait'll Bonita gets here."
"Oh? She's – what? Nineteen?"
"You haven't seen her in a while, have you?"
"No. Last couple of times, she's been away at school." Bonita was a sophomore at Smith, on a scholarship. She'd spent her previous summer in Italy, visiting ruins (presumably). This summer she was interning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was an Art History major.
"Bonita is gorgeous and hot and – remember young Raquel Welch?"
"Who could forget?"
"Okay – better. Sexier."
I whistled. "Maybe we better get some sheep in here before they arrive. I'm going to be drooling over a 19-year-old. If Irene shows signs of receptivity, warn her that I'm going to be, er, prominently energetic."
"The prominence is already evident." She glanced at my crotch.
"Cripes."
Dolores and Penny came out, wearing loose shorts and oversized shirts and thongs. Penny looked cute. Since Dolores's shirt was sufficiently oversized for her braless tits to bobble enticingly, she was again an ad for jailbait sex.
"Kate – Lolita?" I whispered.
"Right. Dolores, will you help me with something, please?" Kate strode toward the stairway to the upstairs bedroom, her daughter in tow.
Mark returned. "Mosquito heaven out there."
"We can't eat outside?" Penny asked.
"In a little while. Your dad has successfully engaged the nuclearpowered bug zappers. I will fire up the citronella blasters and in a brief time, the backyard will be safe for visiting humans."
"I'm still putting on jeans and a long sleeve," said Mark.
"Bug repellent's in the utility closet next to the bathroom down here."
Penny looked up at the closed bedroom door. "You told Mom about Dolores, right?"
"Right."
Penny looked at me, now. Her gaze was disconcertingly calm. "She really wants to do it with you, y'know."
"If she feels the same way in five years, I'll be delighted."
"I'm serious."
I was busy working a garlic clove around the steaks. I stopped and met her stare. "She told you?"
Penny nodded. "She's not a virgin, either. Hasn't been for a year. Why not?"
"She's too young – "
"She's big enough."
"And she's not big enough."
"You liked her body."
"Yes, but she's not big enough. In there."
"She's had – "
"Believe me, Penny. She's not."
"But – "
I reached into the vegetable bin and handed her a large cucumber. "No, she's not."
Her eyes widened and her mouth opened. A little "Oh!" came out.
I took back the vegetable and replaced it. "Put the plates out on the picnic table for me? They're in that cupboard." I nodded and resumed preparing the steaks. "How do you like yours?"
"Big and – uh, medium." She was blushing. She took a very long time to put the plates on the table. In the interim, Dolores and Kate came back downstairs. Both were dressed for outdoor dining, i.e., jeans and long-sleeved dark blouses. Dolores looked abashed. Kate was keeping her lovely lips pursed in a straight line, holding back a smile.
"Dolores?" I called.
"What?" she snapped. Then: "Sorry."
"It's okay."
Kate was stifling a laugh.
"Would you help set the table, please? Silverware and glasses." I nodded toward the appropriate cupboard and drawers.
When she was outside, Kate said, "She really wants to do it with you."
"If she feels the same way in five years, I'll be delighted."
"I'm serious."
I was cutting the steaks into New York strips. I stopped and turned to her, with an intense feeling of deja vu. "She told you?"
"She's not a virgin, either. Hasn't been for a year."
"She told you?" This is a recording – a recording – a recording…
"Sure. We have a good relationship."
"And what do you think of this desire?"
"I guess every young woman has a phase when she gets the hots for an older, male relative. Especially a good-looking one who has a romantic lifestyle."
"Oh, yeah. real romantic. Cooped up ten hours a day in front of a CRT, trying to turn obscure bits of fact into a coherent story. Dragging around the SEC or libraries. Hanging out for hours in some waiting room while the guy who won't return my calls ducks down the service elevator. About as romantic as driving a cab."
"She just sees the byline on a New York Magazine cover or a book in the stores. She remembers the name on the Times list or a Tonight Show bit – she taped it, you know." Kate smiled. "Yes – romantic. Handsome. Single."
"You still haven't told me what you think of this."
She took a deep breath. I was glad she was dressed. "Well, if she's going to get it on with an older male, I think I'd prefer it be you. I know you, I like you and I trust you with her emotions."
"She's too young – "
"She's mature enough."
"And she's not big enough."
"She turned you on."
"Very much." I was about to say "But she's not big enough, in there" and do the cucumber routine again – but then I remembered what Mark had told me. No, that was not the approach to take in this case. I just said, "I don't think it would be a great idea, Kate, and I'd prefer that it be discouraged."
She nodded thoughtfully. "And that's one of the reasons why I'd trust you with her. Thank you."
"Think nothing of it. Let's go grill some steaks."
By the time the salad was dispensed, the steaks were done and it was full dark. I switched on some of the low-wattage electric lanterns so we could see what we were eating. The night was filled with stars, the steaks were juicy, the potatoes sizzling, the salad crunchy, the beer was cold, good company abounded – heaven. We topped it off with the traditional toasted marshmallows (for the "kids," which included Kate) and some coffee cake for Mark and me. His spirits, which had been good during the meal, were sinking again. While Kate and the "kids" went into the house to play Scrabble, he started talking about looking for work. There were hints of the recession ending, but -
"In my field, you work for a loser, you're marked as a loser."
He went downhill from there. Through three more beers, he got progressively more morose. And less coherent. Never could hold his booze.
The womenfolk came out to help clear the table. Kate looked at Mark, sitting stuporous across from me, and rolled her eyes. I gave her a little shake of my head.
"It's almost nine," she said. "Their train comes in at nine thirty." The two girls helped me clear the table while Kate helped Mark clear the doorway and the Alpine climb to the bedroom.
"Gonna be quiet tonight," Penny said.
"For a change," Dolores said.
We were carrying our loads into the kitchen. "Who won the game?" I was trying to change the subject.
"The shrimp."
"Oh?" Penny was sticking her tongue out at Dolores.
"Yep. Turned 'or' into 'fornicate.'"
I stopped in my tracks and stared as they went to the counter. Penny glanced back at me and grinned impishly. "I read a lot," she said.
I got the dishes loaded into the dishwasher machine, fueled it with soap and started the Infernal Machine. It always sounds more like a trash compactor, but it definitely does the dirty work. "I'm going to the station, now. There's cable on the TV in your room."
Dolores made a face. "TV. Yuck."
"Can I come with you?" Penny asked.
"He doesn't want you going with him, you dope. He's going to be picking up Irene."
"Who's a dope? Bonnie's going to be there, anyhow. Besides, how's he going to know who they are?"
"Good point," I said. "Okay."
"I'm coming, too, then," Dolores said. Penny flashed her a murderous look. Dolores glared back. What the hell as going on?
"Keep that up and you ride in the trunk. Go brush teeth and be out here in five minutes, ready to move out."
I took the time to wash my face and change. Wanted to look good for Irene, heh-heh. Stripped off the shorts, swimsuit and jock, pulled on a pair of old Levi's and a clean shirt that emphasized my shoulders. Sneakers, no socks. The casual, self-assured, successful writer look. Irresistible, I hoped. Prayed.
Some night creatures scattered into the bushes as we walked out to the driveway and somewhere over the Bay, on the other side of the road, an owl was hoo-hoo-hooooting. Penny was gawking at the stars.
I got into the van and asked her, "Coming?"
"I never saw this many stars anywhere but at the Planetarium." She was awestruck. I liked that, a lot.
Dolores scrambled into the back passenger-side seat – the van has four buckets – and buckled herself in while Penny did the same in the front. We pulled out of the driveway and started through dark, twisty Eastern Long Island roads. No street lights and only two stoplights for the six miles to the station. At the first stop sign, I glanced into the rearview and saw what Dolores was doing to herself for my benefit.