“But…”
“But nothing, Jim. Look at the women in this pool. Just about every one of them would gladly… and I mean gladly… take you aside for a quickie or maybe even want to start a long term relationship with you. Do you want to know why? I’ve been talking with them all, you know. They see you as a jock! A fucking jock, just like Tiny!”
“A jock?” I asked. I was about the least athletic person I knew.
“A jock. Maybe not in sports, but the cheerleaders have already adopted you as their friend. It wasn’t just Camille, it was Sherry. Lynette wants to be your slave! You put on two awesome concerts in the high school, a birthday party with a band that sounded as if it cost a fortune to put together, and even made Kristen’s mother sound like Bette Midler! You almost single-handedly directed the school musical and I heard people compare the music to a Broadway performance! Your name was on the program, Jim. You were the musical director. Mr. Proilet listed himself as assistant director.”
“He did?” I said. I hadn’t seen the program, since they were handing them out in the hallways while I was backstage fixing last minute disasters.
“Have you ever heard of a teacher taking second fiddle to a student? You are that fucking good. Do you notice how Mr. Proilet has attended every one of your practices this semester? He’s trying to learn from you! He’s probably the smartest teacher I know, if he’s smart enough to take free lessons from a student!”
I knew that Mr. Proilet said that he thought highly of me, but I really thought he was just pumping up my confidence. Patty’s observation put it into perspective.
“Jim, in two years, maybe even next year, you will be Prom King. You will be the big man on campus, and every girl—every heterosexual one, and probably some of the lezzies for life—will want to do anything to have your baby. Do you want to know how you’ll react to that? You won’t notice it! You’ll only have eyes for Kristen and the girls will fucking love you even more for that! When Lynette leaves for college, you’ll have every cheerleader begging to replace her as Pussy Slave, and it won’t be because they love Kristen. It will be you!”
I looked at Kristen, and saw her nodding.
Patty wasn’t finished. “Tim Hawking may be the valedictorian of your class, but when you receive your diploma when you graduate, you will get the standing ovation. He cannot hope to aspire to what you’ve already achieved. Sure, you have made mistakes. You’re a fucking human. People forgive mistakes when they feel that the person deserves it. Who hasn’t forgiven you?”
“Patrice and Marla,” I answered, softly.
“Patrice forgave you,” Kristen said.
“Sometimes, I can see a fear of me in her eyes,” I said, sadly.
Patty shook her head. “She was at both of your concerts, and I heard her yelling ‘Oogie’ just as loud as anybody else. She’s proud of you.”
“OK,” I said, not wishing to belabor the point. “Marla.”
“He writes to her,” Kristen said.
“You know about the letters?” I asked.
Kristen nodded. “I opened the first one. I didn’t know who she was, but the first words in your letter were ‘I’m sorry.’”
“Did she write back?” Patty asked.
I nodded.
“What did she say?”
“She wants to see me this summer. I told her about Kristen, but she still wants to see me.”
“Did she say, ‘I forgive you?’” Patty asked.
I nodded.
“I see that Patrice and Marla aren’t an issue.”
“Merry, then.”
Kristen winced at that one.
“I’ve talked to Merry a couple of months ago, Jim,” Patty said.
“Oh?” I said.
“She confided something to me, Jim.” Patty looked as if she were trying to decide whether to say something or not, and then seemed to make a decision. “She saw you outside her room on New Year’s Eve.”
My eyes widened. “She what?”
“Merry wanted to invite you in, but she was afraid you would think that she was a kid and reject her.”
“What happened outside her room?” Kristen asked.
“You’ll have to ask Jim.”
“I allowed Merry to kiss me at midnight, as I promised her. It was a real kiss, not a sister kiss. She asked me specifically not to treat her like a kid. Afterward, outside her room, I could hear her masturbating and she called out my name when she…” I couldn’t go any further.
Kristen smiled, and tried not to laugh.
Patty said, “Does that sound as if she were somebody who minds if you take a peek at her?”
“No,” I said.
“The people you think you have wronged have all forgiven you, Jim. You are no Tim Hawking.”
Camille swam over and Toby was with Lynette. From the movements of Lynette’s hands, it was obvious he was getting a hand job.
“What’s up, kids?” Camille asked.
“Jim is having an attack of conscience,” Patty said. “I was trying to tell him that everybody he thinks he has wronged has forgiven him.”
“And Patty is right,” Kristen added.
“Jim, you’re the only one that hasn’t asked anything from the Pussy Slave, and the hour is almost up.”
“How much more time?” I asked.
Camille said, “No clock, but I’d say about five minutes. From your workout last night, I’d say you will have a problem if you want to reach… completion… quickly.”
Kristen and Patty laughed, but the laughter quieted when they looked at me.
“I’ll visit her when Toby leaves.”
“Toby?” Patty said. She turned to look where Lynette and Toby were. She broke out in laughter again. “It’s been his fantasy, you know. A hand job from a naked cheerleader! This is classic!”
I finally found something to laugh at, and I found that Patty’s pep talk actually made me feel better.
Everybody really forgave me. Why couldn’t I see that? Maybe there was something deep inside me that wanted to feel guilty. I don’t know, but I realized that Patty was right, even if I’m not really a “jock.”
Toby swam away from Lynette, and I started swimming over to her.
“Hello, Lynette!” I said.
“The name is Pussy Slave, Mr. Big,” Lynette answered.
I laughed at Kristen’s name for me. I turned around and called Kristen over.
“Lynette, you told me that you have a crush on Kristen. Is that the truth?”
“Yes, Mr. Big.”
“Do you love her, I mean, really love her?”
Lynette paused for a few moments. Kristen reached us, but she hadn’t heard the question. Lynette stared at Kristen and finally nodded.
“Thank you, Pussy Slave,” I said, reverting to that name in front of Kristen.
“Do you have a request for me, Mr. Big?”
“Yes, Lynette. I want you to love Kristen. I want you to love her with all your heart. I want you to make her feel loved. You do that, and you’ve fulfilled my request for the party.”
I swam away, leaving two completely stunned blondes in my wake.
I hoped Kristen liked my present.
Chapter 21—Senior Weekend III