Camille hadn’t told anybody until she was ready to leave that she got a scholarship to Brown University, which is in Providence, an hour’s drive from Boston. She intended to get a medial degree. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination that the proximity to Will Swift may have had something to do with her decision of where she would attend. However, Camille actually received scholarship offers to a lot of places, including the esteemed Harvard, which would have been closer to Will’s Cambridge apartment. Camille investigated the two schools and thought that Brown would be a better place for her to go.
A lot of my friends were leaving, and thinking about that sometimes made me feel a bit sad. I knew that I still had an “instant in” with the cheerleaders that remained at the high school; for that matter, I was already starting to get quite popular with most of the people in my grade and the new senior class. Still, I felt a sense of loss, and wondered why things couldn’t stay the same way forever.
One thing that I was dreading was meeting with Marla LaGruzio, a girl I mistreated last year.
The word “mistreat” wasn’t that accurate a word, but it was the way I felt about my behavior toward Marla.
I used a Lucky Ticket to have Marla perform oral sex on me. It was only one occasion, and she didn’t seem to have any resentment over it. In fact, she asked to see me again on her own before she needed to head back to California, where she lived.
Marla’s cousin, Doreen, was in my school and was also in my grade, although we didn’t share any classes together. Doreen gave me Marla’s phone number and address. I was too timid to call Marla, because I didn’t know if I’d freeze up when I tried to say something.
I felt quite guilty over my actions with Marla, and she wrote to tell me when she would be visiting her Aunt Gin, Doreen’s mother. Marla and Doreen were about the same age as I was, give or take six months, and at sixteen, Marla expected to be able to have some freedom to go out on dates.
I already wrote to Marla about Kristen, and Marla seemed to be interested in the woman who actually managed to snag me. At our age, relationships that lasted nearly a year weren’t particularly common.
Kristen, of course, knew about Marla. I was quite truthful to Kristen about everything I ever did with another woman, and also just about everything that I ever did with the tickets.
I thought back to that day in the park when my friend Jack and I met Marla and Doreen. I just figured out some interesting uses for the tickets, and as such, I oozed a lot more confidence than I normally did at that time.
You would think that a guy who participated in orgies and had a steady girlfriend as well as two “slaves” would be immune to shyness. That wasn’t the case with me, however. Put me in a concert hall with a conductor’s stick, a trumpet, or a piano, and I have no problems taking control. Put me face to face with a girl who thinks I’m “interesting” and it is quite another thing.
The weird exception to this was how I handled June’s mother, Mrs. Rodgers. Instead of being timid, I seemed to sense that I was the one in charge despite her bluster and bluff.
My summer class schedule kept most days busy for me, but a lot of my nights were available. Even so, I made my date with Marla for Wednesday, since I only had one class on Thursday afternoon, which would allow me to do any homework that needed to be done the next morning.
Kristen noticed my nervousness. Her idea was for us to take Marla to Vaughn’s, and afterward take her back to our apartment and just talk. When Kristen suggested June and Lynette be around as well, I vetoed that idea: Marla might be scandalized by their costumes at the apartment.
“That’s silly, Jim. They’re here just about every day. Marla should see the real you.”
“Please, Kristen. Let me do things my way. I haven’t told Marla too much about my personal life with you. I really don’t want to shock her.”
“You’re not even going to tell her tonight?” Kristen asked, surprised.
“I didn’t think it might come up, actually.”
“Let me feel her out. We girls can usually figure out how another one of us would react. Is that all right?”
“Fine,” I said, sighing.
Kristen gave Lynette some money for June and her to have a night out on the town. They were to come back home no earlier than ten.
After the two girls left, I asked Kristen why we couldn’t go out on a night on the town.
Kristen had an immediate answer. “You’re meeting a girl with whom you had a sexual relationship, albeit a short one, and you’re bringing your current steady along. Dinner and talking is best.”
Kristen and I picked up Marla at Doreen’s house.
When Doreen’s mom answered the door, she smiled at me. “The world famous Oogie Woogie!” She turned to Kristen and said, “You must be Kristen Swift.”
I smiled. “Yeah, that’s us.”
Marla looked pretty and just a little older than I remembered her. We made small talk before we left. I noticed that Mrs. Peterson—Marla’s aunt—didn’t give any time limit for this date.
Marla was quiet in the car, and I helped her out of the back seat when we got to Vaughn’s.
“Hi, Kristen; hi, Jim. Who’s your guest?” the manager said as he greeted us.
“This is Marla LaGruzio, from California.”
“Pleased to meet you, Marla.”
The manager took us to our secluded table and handed us our menus.
“So, Marla, what do you think of our town?” Kristen asked.
“It’s interesting. I was really most interested in seeing Jim again. Doreen has been keeping me up with all the gossip.”
“Gossip?” I asked. Doreen and I hardly interacted.
“Doreen calls them ‘Oogie Stories,’” Marla said.
Kristen laughed while I groaned.
“Is it true that you have two slaves and throw orgies at your house and at expensive villas on the lake?”
Oh, dear.
Kristen liked Marla immediately. She was herself and very secure in unfamiliar surroundings.
It was natural for anybody to like Kristen, and I wondered how I could have hated her so much just a year ago. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any jealousy exhibited by either girl.
I don’t remember what I had, probably my usual, which is one of the burgers the place specializes in.
Marla and Kristen refused the Belly Buster dessert, and we ended up back in the apartment. The two girls chatted all during dinner and the trip back as if they were old friends.
When we got to the apartment, Marla gulped. “This is the Den of Iniquity?”
Kristen laughed. “Is that what people are calling it?”
Marla blushed and nodded.
“We should get a sign, Jim.”
I spoke for the first time since we left Vaughn’s. “Knowing you, Goddess, you’ll make it a neon one!”
“Ooh!” Kristen sighed.
Maybe my attempt at humor was going to backfire.
We went into the apartment.
Marla seemed genuinely surprised and just a bit disappointed that our place was just a regular apartment.
“What were you expecting, Marla?” Kristen asked. “Torture chambers, whips on the walls?”
Marla laughed. “Well, not really.”
“Do you want to see our dungeon?” Kristen asked.
“Huh?”
“Kris is talking about the downstairs,” I said. “We have three rooms set up. We also have space that used to be a garage, but we haven’t figured out what we’re going to do with it.”
Marla said, “I’d love to see your dungeon!”
Kristen took the two of us downstairs. We went into the first room, which was my practice room.