Chapter 3
Christine's arms were beginning to ache as she reached the final stages of the last swimming class in the first day. Wisely, she had divided the children into groups, of four for each class. And at the rather pointed suggestion from Mrs. Carstairs, Christine had also divided the classes by sex.
This last class was for a group of four young girls, ranging in age between fourteen and eighteen. Christine exercised great care when she made body contact with the youngsters, especially the girls. She remembered from her own youth how sensitive girls were about their bodies!
"That's it, Linda," she said encouragingly as the pretty young blonde finally managed to float. Christine and her husband had always referred to Linda as the "all American, cute as apple pie, girl-next-door," She had long pale blonde hair and a creamy complexion. No one would challenge the fact that Linda was very pretty. And her body seemed almost overripe, very full blown and mature. Her breasts, slender waist and firm hips were those of a mature young lady of eighteen, which she had just become this Spring.
"Is that all?" Linda asked.
"For today," Christine sighed. "Tomorrow, we'll learn how to breathe with our faces in the water."
"It's so nice for an older woman like you to teach us," Linda remarked with an acid tone in her voice.
Christine didn't bother to reply. She couldn't understand why Linda had been so sour and cool all afternoon! Normally, Linda was one of the warmest, most pleasant girls on the block. And Christine had always believed that she and Linda were really good friends. But there was certainly no evidence of it today! She has a burr up her ass about something, Christine told herself as she watched the four girls leave.
Christine walked into the kitchen after her hot shower and poured herself a generous slug of rum and soda. She needed it after teaching five classes today. Taking a long, cooling, relaxing sip of her drink, Christine reached down and switched the dishwasher on. She had meant to turn it on this morning but had forgotten.
She was looking in the freezer, wondering what she would prepare for her dinner, when she heard the water gushing out of the dishwasher onto the kitchen floor.
"Shit!" she said, rushing over and quickly flipping the dishwasher control to the off position. In their first several years in the house they had never experienced a plumbing problem. But in the past three years it had been one damned thing after another! From experience, Christine knew that the disposal unit had somehow managed to back up into the dishwasher again, and she also knew it was beyond her ability to repair it.
Christine was reaching for the mop to clean up the water when she heard the doorbell ring. Sighing, she went to answer the door.
"Hi, Christine," Bobby Wilson greeted her. "Is it okay to clean the pool now?"
"Oh, hi, Bobby" Christine sighed. "Sure. The girls left a little while ago. Bobby, is your father home?"
"Oh sure. He came home about fifteen minutes ago. Why?" the boy asked curiously. "Oh, my damned dishwasher is stopped up again!" Christine replied. "I'll call your father. You go on out and clean the pool."
"Okay," the boy responded disappointedly. If his father came over, Bobby wouldn't be able to make love to Christine! "Maybe I could fix the dishwasher," he offered.
"Not this time, Bobby," Christine said with a warm smile. "The last time this happened, your father told us we had to into install a new pipe. I should have listened then."
Christine walked into the den and picked up the phone to dial the Wilson home. Through the den window she could see Bobby attaching the vacuum hose and preparing to clean the pool. Mrs. Wilson answered the phone and Christine explained what had happened. Mrs. Wilson said that her husband, Carter, was in the back yard and that she'd send him right over.
Christine wondered if she should change out of the loose fitting terry cloth robe she was wearing, but before she could make up her mind the front doorbell rang.
"Hi, Christine!"
"Oh, Carter. I'm so glad you were home!"
Carter walked into the house carrying his tool box. Christine felt a flush cover her skin when he gave her a long, smiling appraisal with his almost lewd eyes. She wished she had changed. It felt like he was looking right through the terry cloth robe!
"Dishwasher backed up again?" he asked as she led him to the kitchen.
"Same as last time," she sighed. " I should have had you install that pipe."
"You're lucky it happened today," he remarked as he bent down and began examining the pipes below the sink. "I've got a contract over in the western part of the state that'll keep me over there for at least thirty days."
"When do you leave?" Christine asked, trying to sound interested.
"In the morning," he replied. "Say, hand me that wrench in my kit, will you?"
Christine opened his tool kit and found a large wrench on top of the other tools.
"Thanks," he said, taking the wrench from her and moving up under the sink. "I landed the plumbing contract on a new development. Ten new houses to start."
"That sounds wonderful!" Christine re-marked. Carter Wilson was a hard-working man who was just beginning after fourteen years in business to make a real success of his plumbing contracting firm. Christine knew Mrs. Wilson worked with her husband, keeping the books, answering the phone and typing up all of his bids. She was glad to hear they were finally doing well.
"Yeah," he grunted, banging the wrench against the pipes as he loosened a connection. "Things are starting to pan out pretty good."
"I'm glad," Christine said sincerely. She liked Carter Wilson. He was a giant of a man, and he towered over everybody in the neighborhood. Christine knew that some of the wives didn't like Carter because he had a tendency to be a little crude in his language and because he was anything but suave in his appearance and manners.
When Christine had briefly considered relieving her sexual tension with an affair, she had even considered Carter Wilson, but not because she found him attractive! He was available, and his desire for her had never been disguised. She thought he had the most lewd eyes she had ever seen! But he was so lewd, so huge, and so coarse, he frightened her, and her first impulse had ended as no more than a passing thought.
"Yep," Carter said, pulling a long, curved piece of pipe out and holding it in his huge, paw-like hands, "here's the problem."
"What is it?" Christine asked.
"Whoever installed this thing in the first place," Carter replied, "didn't meet code. You see, this should have an S bend. And there should be a trap here. The way it is now, the water has to work against gravity. This spot here has to be lower than the inlet to the dishwasher."
"Can you fix it?" Christine asked.
"Oh, sure! Matter of fact, I've got a piece of pipe already made up that ought to fit this perfectly! I think it's in the back of my pickup."
Before she could say anything, Carter rose from the kitchen floor with catlike grace and walked quickly out the front door. Christine was going to grab this opportunity to change into a dress, but he came walking back in the living room carrying a length of pipe and some fittings before she could get back to the bedroom. Sighing, she turned and walked back into the kitchen.
"Will it be expensive?" Christine asked quietly as she watched him get on the floor and scoot his body up into the space beneath the sink.
"Don't worry that pretty head of yours about cost, Christine," he laughed. "Hell we're friends, ain't we?"
"But this is your business," she protest-ed.
"We'll forget business today and call this pleasure, baby!" Carter commented. "I appreciate that, Carter," Christine responded. She knew Larry wouldn't approve. Being in the service business himself, Larry was always insistent that a man be paid for any services he rendered.
"How about a drink?"
"Wouldn't mind at all," Carter replied.
"Rum?"
"Anything is fine. Shit, I can drink paint thinner when I'm of a mo(r)d! Especially with a sexy gal like you, Christine."
Christine laughed lightly. It was the only response she could think of that wouldn't serve to encourage him further. She poured him a stiff rum and water, adding a squirt of concentrated lime juice. Then she knelt on the floor, careful to keep the folds of her robe tightly closed, and handed him the drink.
Carter took a long swallow and then placed the glass near him as he went back to work.
"See if you can find a hacksaw in my tool box," he said. "I've got to cut this drain pipe off about two inches."
Christine searched through the tool box and finally found the hacksaw and handed it to him. She heard a knocking on the sliding glass door in the den and arose to go see what Bobby wanted.
"All done," Bobby announced, walking into the den. "I put a cup of chemical in the pool, and the water turned the test kit purple. Did you get Dad?"
"He's in the kitchen working on it now," Christine replied, leading the way back to the kitchen.
"Can you fix it, Dad?" Bobby asked, bending over to see what his father was doing.
"What do you mean, can I fix it?" Carter roared. "There ain't a fuckin' piece of plumbing in this state I can't fix! You get the pool clean?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, Son, you go home and help your mother dig up that flower bed. I was doing it when I had to come help Mrs. Gorman, so it still needs doin'."
"Aw, can't I stay and watch?"
"Now you get on home, Boy!" Carter said firmly. "That flower bed needs doing, and I've gotta leave tomorrow. If you're gonna be the man around the house, you better show your old man you can hack it. Understand?"
"Okay, Dad," Bobby replied. He straightened up, winked at Christine, and trotted through the living room.
"He's a good boy," Christine ventured when they heard the front door slam behind the boy.
"Yep," Carter replied with a cryptic note in his voice, "he's quickly become quite a young man! Sure has changed even in the last day."
Christine was glad he couldn't see the flush that filled her cheeks! Did he know something? Had Bobby told him?
"There," Carter sighed, "we've got that grooved! Now all we've got to do is put a union between these two and tighten it up. I'll need your help, if you don't mind."
"Of course!" Christine replied, glad the subject had changed. "What do you want me to do?"
"First, hand me that union over there. That's it! Okay, get a wrench out of the box and climb in here with me."
Christine tightened her robe, picked a wrench out of his tool box, and got down next to him. There was no way to avoid body contact as she wormed her way into the opening beside him. After all, she thought, he was doing this for free, so the least she could do was help him. She felt her breasts rub firmly against his belly as she slid under the sink and the contact made her tremble.
"Put that wrench on this pipe here," he said. "Here, let me tighten it for you. There! Now I want you to hold that really tight while I tighten this one down here. Okay?"
"Sure," Christine replied.
"Just keep it from turning," he grunted as he applied pressure to the union below.
Christine quickly realized that it would require all her strength to keep the pipe from twisting as he leaned heavily on his wrench below. She struggled to hold it firm and she could feel the muscles in his legs straining against her body. Her knuckles were beginning to turn white when she heard him give the wrench one last turn.
"There!" he grunted. "You can let go now. Why don't you slide out and turn on the water?"
"I'm stuck," Christine laughed, as she tried to wiggle free of his body and the confining door.
"Yeah, this is kind of cozy, ain't it?" he replied with an almost obscene laugh.