Chapter 6

"Bobby, please put some charcoal in the grill, and light it," Christine asked as she headed for the shower. "We'll barbecue our hamburgers outside - it's so nice out."

"Okay," Bobby said, his usual enthusiasm definitely lacking in his voice.

Christine slipped out of her bathing suit and stood under the hot spray in the shower. She turned the water full up, hoping the heat and water pressure would help relax her tired muscles. This had been one of the longest days in her life! She felt fatigued from the hours in the pool with the raucous youngsters. Finally her tense muscles began to loosen, and she sighed as she climbed out of the shower and dried her body briskly with a large towel.

She had given up trying to plan how she would handle the talk with the two guys. She decided she'd just play it as it came. Both Bobby and Ronnie Anderson had been very subdued in the swimming class, and she imagined they were suffering their own private hells as a result of their "prank" this morning.

Christine slipped into a pair of shorts and a tight cotton pullover. It was too warm outside to wear a dress or slacks. She brushed her hair and headed for the kitchen.

"You guys each want a cola?" she called out the den door on her way to the kitchen.

Both boys followed her into the kitchen.

"I ... guess ... so," Bobby said slowly.

"Would you rather have something else?" Christine asked.

"Well," Bobby said softly, "what I'd really like right now is a beer ..." "Do your parents let you drink beer?" Christine asked. "You know the legal age for beer in this state is twenty-one."

"Aw, they don't!" he said in a disgusted tone. "I guess all adults are alike. But all the guys our age get some, one way or another." "Look, Bobby," Christine said in a calm, matter-of-fact voice, "I don't give a damn if you have a beer. There's plenty in the ice box. But I won't be responsible for what your parents say and feel about it."

"Gee, they wouldn't know!" Bobby said with his first enthusiasm of the afternoon.

"Then help yourself," Christine commented. "You too, Ronnie. But just remember, you didn't get it here."

"You bet!" Ronnie said as Bobby handed him a frosted can of beer.

"Is the fire going?" she asked.

"Sure is," Bobby replied.

"Okay, I'll get things ready. You two stay in the house with those beers," Christine warned. "I don't want anybody to see you drinking in my back yard."

She began preparing the hamburger patties and the boys walked into the den. Christine knew that if her talk with the two boys was going to be effective, they had to feel she was on their side and understood them. If she was "just another adult", she would be wasting her time. The beer wouldn't hurt them, and hell, they were practically grown men! She'd be sure they chewed some mints before she let them go home.

Christine finished her fourth rum and coke as she grilled the hamburgers. She was relaxed now, maybe even a little too relaxed, but she felt better able to cope with the situation.

The boys ate two hamburgers apiece and somehow managed to polish off a giant twin-pack of potato chips. For dessert, she gave them hot fudge sundaes. And while they were finishing the sundaes, Christine had another stiff drink to steel herself for the talk. She joined them in the den and sat on the couch.

"By the way, I heard about your little adventure this morning," she commented to open the talk.

"Damn!" Ronnie Anderson exclaimed. "Has everybody in town heard about it?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Christine responded with a laugh. "Stealing a car is pretty serious."

"Aw, we didn't steal it, Christine," Bobby said.

"That's right," Ronnie added. "We just sort of borrowed it."

"Oh, I know you didn't really steal the car," Christine said. "You just wanted to take it for a drive, right?"

"That's right," Ronnie said. "Man, you're alright!" he said, turning to Bobby. "She's not like the rest of them!"

"I told you!" Bobby said triumphantly.

"I guess Bobby told you that I understand young men like you," Christine remarked.

"Yeah."

"Well, I do, Ronnie. I think I know exactly what you two thought this morning when you took Mr. Conright's car. It was a fun idea and nobody would be hurt, right?"

"Yeah," Ronnie replied. "And then everybody got their balls in an uproar and made a big thing out of it!"

"Well, have you considered their point of view?" Christine asked.

"What do you mean?"

Christine quietly began explaining why the police and their parents were justifiably upset about the incident. She told them about gangs that specialized in stealing cars, and how a number of local area men were in prison right this minute for a rash of car thefts lately.

"Let's say it was your car, Ronnie," she continued. "And let's say a man came and took it from your driveway. Then, when the police caught him an hour or so later, he told them that he took your car just to have some fun. Honestly, how would you feel?"

"Mad!" Ronnie responded quickly. "Why?"

"Well, he had no right to take my car!" Ronnie replied.

"Would you want the police to put him in jail?" Christine asked.

"Damn right!" the boy replied. "Why?"

"Because he ripped off my ... Oh!"

"That's right, Ronnie," Christine said with a warm laugh. "It's the same thing you did this morning. To use your own words, you ripped off a car you had no right to take."

"Aw, it wasn't going to hurt old man Conright any," the boy protested weakly.

"What if the guy who ripped off your car said the same thing - that it wasn't going to hurt Ronnie Anderson any?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," the boy said meekly.

Although she was enveloped in a warm haze as a result of the alcohol in her system, Christine watched the two boys carefully while she talked to them. She felt she had made excellent progress, yet at the same time it was almost too easy! There was something they weren't telling her - something they were holding back. She decided to try a frontal attack.

"Okay, boys," she said sternly, "that's enough of that bullshit! Now tell me where you were really going with that car!" ' She knew she had struck a bell when both boys blushed. She trained her eyes on Ronnie first. He was taller than Bobby, and quite a bit heavier, husky. He was also a good looking boy. His wavy black hair framed an angular face and his eyes were almost dark blue. Christine knew he played football in school and was considered, in local circles at least, to be a promising prospect for the pros.

Ronnie stared back into her inquiring eyes, then dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. Christine turned her attention to Bobby and immediately saw that he would break and tell all.

"All right, Bobby!" she said firmly. "You and I are good friends - at least, I think we are. So tell me where you were going with that car. And don't try to lie to me. I'm not going to say a word to anybody. This is just between the three of us."

"Hey ..." Ronnie shot a warning look at Bobby.

"It's all right, I tell ya!" Bobby countered. "She's cool, man."

"Bobby's right, Ronnie," Christine said. "I'm not going to tell anybody."

"We - well - we were on our way to see a girl Ronnie knows," Bobby admitted.

"A girl?"

"She lives on a farm outside of town and she puts out," Bobby said rapidly.

"For shit's sake!" Ronnie groaned.

"Knock it off, Ronnie," Christine said. "What do I care if you know a girl who'll put out? That's your business, and nobody else's. But why the car?"

"It takes over an hour by bus to get out there," Ronnie said quietly. "You have to transfer twice." So we thought we'd borrow old man Conright's car to "Get laid?" Christine asked, laughing in spite of herself.

"Something like that," Ronnie replied uncomfortably.

"Have you ever laid the girl" Christine asked, turning to Ronnie.

"Well ..." the boy blustered weekly.

"He hasn't laid her," Bobby said quietly. "Paul at school told him about her."

"Crap, Bobby!" Ronnie groaned. "How much are you going to tell her, for shit's sake!" "Don't be ashamed that you haven't laid the girl," Christine said in a soft voice.

The entire situation was so hilariously ridiculous to her she could hardly keep a straight face.

Imagine these two young guys driving out to a farm in the hopes of getting laid by a girl they didn't even know - and so early in the morning! But she knew how serious this was for the boys, and she didn't want to shame Ronnie or she would defeat the purpose of her talk with them.

"Bobby, why don't you mix me a rum and coke?"

"Sure," Bobby replied. "How much rum do I put in it?"

"This much," she said, handing him her glass and measuring off the portion of rum with her finger.

"Could ... could I have one?" Bobby asked hesitantly.

"All right," Christine said with a smile. "Make one for each of you, but only half as much rum ~ hear me?"

"Sure!"

Bobby almost ran toward the kitchen and Christine saw Ronnie begin squirming in his seat.

"Look, Ronnie, it doesn't embarrass me to talk about sex," she said softly. "I can understand you driving out there to try to lay the girl ..."

"We weren't going to lay her," Ronnie replied defensively.

"Well, what were you going to do?"

"Her family is pretty hard up, and the girl doesn't get hardly any spending money for herself Ronnie said slowly. "She gives some guys - can I say it - blow jobs for five bucks a pop. Bobby and me were just going to get a blow job, that's all."

"She must do a big business!" Christine said with a smile. "At only five bucks a trick, she should be busy all the time."

"She can't leave the farm, and it's a long way out there," Ronnie remarked.

"Ronnie, have you ever had a blow job?" Christine asked.

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Here ... I mean ... well, Linda blew me twice," he said, his young cheeks turning beet red.

"So what's wrong with Linda?" Christine asked. "I mean, why take somebody's car and drive all the way out of town if you can get the same thing here?"

"Aw, Linda's no good. She acts like a kid. Besides, she's now got a big crush on Bobby, and she won't touch anybody else. All the guys say she's lousy, anyway."

The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle began to fall into place in Christine's mind. Now she understood why Linda had been acting so very strangely lately. She has a crush on Bobby Wilson and she must suspect something is going on between Bobby and me, Christine told herself. And that's why she wanted to change into the boys' class in swimming, to keep an eye on Bobby and me!

"Here's your rum and coke," Bobby announced, handing Christine her glass. "Yours is in the kitchen, Ronnie. I couldn't carry three glasses."

"Okay," Ronnie said, glad for the opportunity to get out of this uncomfortable situation.

"So Linda has a crush on you," Christine remarked to Bobby as she took a long sip of her drink.

"Yeah," the boy said with a small blush. "That's what Ronnie and Paul say."

"Don't you like her?" Christine asked, her head now drifting on the light, swirling, clouds of rum in her veins.

"Not much."

"Why not? She's a pretty girl. And she certainly has a good figure. She's got the biggest tits of any girl on this block!" Christine added with a laugh.

"Yeah," Bobby replied, "but she's too possessive. You know what I mean? And she is real ... well, clumsy."

"Ronnie says Linda doesn't mind blowing boys," Christine said, feeling more and more wicked by the moment. "You don't want her to suck your cock?"

"The guys say she's a lousy performer," Bobby explained. "And she wants to make a big deal of it. Wow, just talking like this turns me on!"

"Me, too," Christine replied under her breath as Ronnie walked in and rejoined them. "Maybe Ronnie can tell us why Linda isn't good at giving blow jobs?" she said with a challenging smile, eyebrow arched.

The boy blushed and swallowed almost half his drink in one gulp.

"Or maybe it embarrasses him too much to talk about sex," Christine teased.

"Linda gets you all hot and then stops," he blurted out. "She won't let you pop off in her mouth!"

"Silly girl," Christine giggled, "that's the best part!"

"You should teach Linda that instead of swimming!" Bobby said and they all laughed heartily.

Christine knew she was getting high and she could hardly believe it was only seven o'clock when she looked at her watch. Sitting up straight and taking a deep breath to clear her mind, she talked seriously with the two boys once again about the incident involving the car. She reasoned with them and made them promise her that they would never do anything like that again.

"I'm serious now!" she added.

"Me, too," Ronnie responded. "It was a crazy idea anyway."

"Yeah, and I'm sure not going to get a police record like you said, Christine," Bobby added. "Something like that screwing up a guy's future is really stupid."

"I never thought about it that way until you explained it," Ronnie agreed. "That would be a bad trip!"

"I'm glad you both understand," Christine commented, relaxing once again. "What would you like to do now? Watch TV, play a video game or something?"

"Hey!" Bobby exclaimed. "How about strip poker?"