Chapter 12

We all knew Virginia Spelling, of course. Our next-door neighbor had found the going rough lately and we were sorry for her.

Virginia was in her early thirties and she had red hair and green eyes and skin that was so fair that she exploded into a mass of auburn freckles if she spent more than fifteen minutes in the sun.

She and Peggy were good friends and we had all been pretty close when Danny was around. The trouble was that Danny hadn't been around much lately. He'd run out on his wife and, for all we knew, he was off on another one of his toots. Oh, he'd come back. He always did. But in the meantime it was rough on Virginia.

When he was gone Virginia usually turned to the bottle for company and his was too bad, because she needed to put on some pounds where they'd do her some good. Peggy kept telling me that Virginia had a very stylish figure, but I think she was much too skinny for her six feet. Yes, Virginia is a six-footer and a sometimes fashion model, if the photographers want a bony, sophisticated look without much meat in the middle.

Anyhow, we were aware that Danny was gone again and we knew that Virginia was sitting home, red-eyed, having a few before dinner every night, if she ever got around to dinner at all.

So we, weren't really surprised at what happened.

We were still in the front room, sprawled all over the furniture and the floor. Peggy and Donna were still stark naked, John had lost his pants somewhere and Cherry was running around bare from the waist up. The way her jeans were clinging I was certain she'd be naked from the knees up at any moment.

I was tired, but somehow feeling great. Like a Boy Scout who's knocked himself out on an all-day hike, but earned himself a merit badge in the process. They looked at me and I realized I'd been mumbling something.

"What say, Dad?" Cherry asked. I looked at her bare boobs, but nothing perked up between my legs. Sure, she looked as great as ever, but I was after all only a man-and a man of forty at that

"I said I've had it. I want to climb into bed and ..."

"Yes?" Peggy asked in an eager voice.

I shook my head at her. "Sleep for a week. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but your old father has reached the end of his rope."

"Nonsense, darling," Peggy said and she crawled over to where I was sprawled on the couch. She was on her hands and knees and, I suppose, that made her feel more feline. At any rate, she rested her chin on my knees and looked up into my eyes. Slowly, her gaze drifted down my body until she was peering into my crotch. "Wake up, soldier." "Soldier has surrendered."

She ran her hand inside my right thigh, straight up to my crotch. My soft luggage fell into her palm and she began rolling my balls around. Now usually this sends me right through the ceiling, because I'm a ball man, but my sac was empty, and that was that.

Or was it?

She tweaked the end of my pecker and somewhere something deep inside my gut threw a little switch and a circuit closed. I felt the tingle and after a minute the power traveled down to my cock and, with agonizing slowness, it began to nod and stir, lifting its head.

There was scattered applause. "Don't be fooled," I moaned. "It isn't good for anything." "Bosh," said Peggy. "I'm telling you ..."

We froze at the sound. Somebody was at the front door. Peggy looked down at herself and then she looked around. "Cherry, get your T-shirt on and see who it is. Get rid of them."

Cherry threw out her hands and her knockers bobbed. Yes, my darling daughter, get rid of them. "But why don't we just sit tight? Maybe they'll just go away."

Peggy shook her golden head. "No, they know somebody's home. The place is lighted like a public square Christmas tree. Just be nice but send them away."

She pulled a long face but she caught the wrinkled T-shirt that John boy tossed across the room. She wiggled into it and my cock stirred again at the sight of that writhing young body. She got up and looked around.

"No fair starting anything new without me."

I shook my head. "I told you, I'm finished. As for the others ..."

"And I repeat, bosh," Peggy snapped at me. "I'll prove you've got some life left. Come over here."

While we were arguing the door opened and closed and in a second Cherry came racing back into the living room. "Mom, Dad, it's Mrs. Spelling."

"You've got your orders," I exclaimed. "Get rid of the lady, neighbor or not."

"Mom?" Cherry turned to her mother and a look passed between them. Nobody in the world is closer together than mother and daughter. Their minds work as one, they scheme together and they communicate without a word being spoken.

Peggy's eyes lighted up and she shot a glance at me. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Cherry nodded and her nipples shook inside the T-shirt "I sure am. A test for Daddy."

I frowned and waited. Thus far, all of the testing had been loads of fun and I wasn't going to knock whatever they had on their evil little minds until I'd heard them out.

Peggy tapped me on the knee. "Jack, let's see if you're really the man you once were. See if you can make it with Virginia. God, if you can go one more time you'll be the most virile middle-aged man on the block."

I jerked a thumb toward my chest. "Me and Virginia?" I shook my head. "That's crazy. She never played around before."

"All the more reason for you to win a gold star if you can make out. She's a dear person and she deserves some love right now. You know, with Danny off somewhere and all."

"And all," I repeated. "She's probably plastered."

Cherry was shaking her head. "Keep your voices down. I left her in the entry and she looks terrific. Sober and all gussied up."

Peggy turned to John and Donna. "All right, children, let's go get some clothing on. Cherry, show the lady in and, Jack, let's see if you're as powerful as you once were."

I was weary, but I was also anxious to accept the challenge. What the hell, Virginia deserved a good time, if I could take care of her. Besides, maybe she wasn't really all that skinny. Six feet of redhead sounded interesting, especially with the green eyes. Sober green eyes.

The others fled upstairs with their ragged clothes to straighten themselves up and Cherry vanished into the entry hall. I sat up straight and looked down at myself. All in order.

Then Virginia Spelling walked in and something hit me. She looked gorgeous, all pretty in a sparkling green dress crusted with some sort of fake stones that matched her eyes. And her eyes were clear. God damn, if she didn't have a figure, too. I guess she usually dressed like a floppy tramp around the house.

I staggered to my feet. "Virginia, you look wonderful We thought that, with Danny gone ..."

She nodded and her copper hair brushed over her cheek like very old gold. "That I would be halfway through a bottle before the sun got over the yardarm. Not today, thank goodness. I had a job all day." She gestured towards her gleaming party dress mid long string of beads. "Selling furniture for a special color magazine spread. The only trouble was that the photographer wore me out. He kept chasing me around the studio. He wanted more from me than my picture."

I only stared, wondering what the hell to say. "I'm sorry, but I'm also glad you're busy. Best medicine in the world."

Virginia smiled at me and something began to melt in my chest. At the same time something hardened in my groin. "Where's Peggy and the kids? I thought we might have a real family-style chat. Somehow I don't feel like going over to an empty house. You know what I mean."

I went to her and, in a brotherly way, put my arm around her shoulder. "Sure I do. Wonderful that you came over. Peggy and the kids will be down in a minute. They're upstairs changing. Been working in the yard ever since dinner. Messy things like pulling weeds and transplanting."

Cherry meanwhile was in the room and I looked around Virginia-I couldn't look over that six feet-at my daughter. "Go tell your mother to hurry." Silently I moved my lips at her so that Virginia couldn't see. Fifteen minutes, I mouthed.

Cherry grinned. "Okay, Dad. Sure glad you came by, Mrs. Spelling."

Virginia smiled after her and then she looked at me, deftly easing herself out from my protective arm. "Lovely girl, Jack. She's growing up and what a figure she's going to have. Soon she'll start getting interested in boys-if she isn't already.''

I nodded. "I suspect she may already be interested. She's beginning to ask about, well ... sex and stuff like that. You know how teen-aged girls are."

She smiled at me and I felt myself drowning in those eyes. But I had to be tough romantic, not merely romantic. The others were depending on me to make Virginia come across. If I couldn't they might toss me out of the club. Hm. How the hell was I going to start?

"Virginia, that's a wonderful dress. If you don't mind my saying so, it really makes you look as though you have a terrific figure." A wild shot in the dark, but it had an outside chance. Virginia, being a fashion model, had to be more vain about her looks than most women.

I must say I stopped her in mid-smile. It froze on her face and then faded to an uncertain twitch. "Why, thanks, Jack, but I'm not sure what you mean."

I led her to the couch and we sat as though to wait for the rest of the family. "You know, I've seen you around for months now and you never looked like this. You've got to admit that a T-shirt and jeans show off a woman's figure pretty good and, well ... you just haven't had before what you've got tonight."

I gave her a knowing wink and she puffed up pretty good. Those knockers came alive and pressed toward me. "You mean you think I'm wearing ... padding? Falsies and things like that?"

"I really wouldn't know, would I? But I've heard of not only falsies but stuff like hip padding and even fanny pads. Naturally Peggy doesn't need any of those things, but I always figured you could use help. The designer of that dress deserves a medal."

She puffed up even more, but then she tried to return to being the sweet neighbor she was. "Jack, I didn't know I was being watched so closely, but I assure you that this dress isn't padded. You simply never saw me in anything decent. You also haven't seen me since I've added fifteen pounds. I went on a crash weight-gaining diet: milk shakes and avocados every day for two weeks. All of the pounds showed up right on schedule and, according to my photographer friend, in all the right places."

I had her on the defensive and so I had to keep on the attack. "It makes a good story, anyhow."

She shrugged and some of the extra fifteen pounds jiggled into action. "What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

My slow smile gave her the answer and Virginia flushed like a schoolgirl. For a model she really was Victorian and nobody-including her photographer-had ever caught her in a weak moment. A blush like that had to be for real.

"Jack! I declare, I hope Peggy gets down here soon. You're really playing tricks on me."

I shrugged and looked at my fingernails. "Okay, but seeing is believing."

She sat in silence for a couple of minutes and I could feel the heat from her slow burn. She clenched her fingers and stared somewhere toward the far wall, her eyes just below the ceiling. She chewed her lower lip and her cheeks got more and more pink. A little vein began throbbing on the side of her throat.

At last she looked straight in my face, her eyes full of challenge. "What about Peggy and the children?"

"Frankly, Peggy was still in the tub when you got here and the kids were upstairs studying. I told them not to come down until their mother was ready, and you know Peggy. She'll be at her dressing table for at least thirty minutes. Even for a neighbor who has seen her in good times and bad."

"So nobody will walk in on us?"

I shook my head. "Would I be suggesting this if I thought there was a chance? After all, I'd be the one to catch hell, Virginia. Peggy and I have a good marriage, remember."

She nodded, but suspicion lurked in her eyes. "I still wonder if it's a trick."

"All right," I exclaimed, getting up. "Forget it. I just happen to believe they've gotten you up like a trickily wrapped box of fancy candy, that's all. You can't tell what's inside until you remove the wrapper. But don't let me embarrass you, string bean."

Christ but that frosted her and her vanity came charging to the rescue. "All right, Jack White, I'm not going to sit here and be insulted. I certainly don't want to expose myself to you but I have a professional reputation to uphold and prove. If I thought for one minute you'd be running around town saying fashion model Virginia Spelling wore falsies I'd be ruined."

I smiled like a choir boy. "I just might. All the guys at work keep asking about you. So far, I've had to tell them' I've seen no evidence of a real figure."

I sat down as she got up and she towered over me. God but I love tall women and she was the tallest on the block. She put her hands on her hips as she leaned way over. The beads were dangling in my lap and the V neck of gown was gaping open.

"All right, take a look," she demanded.

I swallowed and looked. I could see the swelling tops of her breasts and by putting two together I could figure what had to come below. Yes, she'd used her fifteen pounds with the skill of an expert. I could imagine her doing those knocker-expanding exercises in her bedroom every morning and night. The white tops were lovely curves and I could make them out halfway down to her nipples.

"Well?" She straightened and kept her fists on her hips.

"Well, what? What the hell was that? I didn't see a thing except the very tops. They probably put you in one of those wired things that pushes everything you've got-or haven't got-all the way up to your chin. Suppose to make a ninety-seven-pound weakling look stacked. I'll bet those bra wires are uncomfortable as the devil."

I was talking like a prick and hurting her feelings, calling her a liar and shooting down her self-confidence, but I intended to prop her up again. When she got through with the White family orgy Virginia would know she was one of the neighborhood's Beautiful People.

"Exactly what must I do to prove myself? she snapped, flushing like a two-bit toilet. She knew, all right, but she wanted me to tell her.

"Give me a good look," I demanded. "Get those clothes away from your body. I want proof."

She turned her back to me and for an instant my heart sank. From the distant top of the stairs I heard a murmur and I knew we had a hidden but tough panel of judges. But Virginia saved my life.

She murmured, her voice very soft, "You'll have to unzip me."