Love,
Carl
PS: Take care of Daisy. I miss her, but I know you love her and will take good care of her. Thanks.
I pulled my letter out of the typewriter, read it several times, and edited a line or two, and then retyped it. I enclosed some of my cards and sealed it in an envelope, which then went inside a larger envelope with the cover letter. This I mailed to Dad at his office, marked ‘Personal.’ I would give Suzie about a week before I called her and made sure she got it.
By that time my headache was mostly gone, although I had a very sad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I was abandoning Suzie to her fate. Hamilton had never before shown any hostility towards our sister, but with me out of the way, would he settle down, or turn his anger towards her? I just didn’t know. Back on my first trip through, he had always been good towards her and her boys, and was the favorite uncle, which my mother proudly proclaimed. He was always taking the boys to the movies or down to see the Orioles play. One time she even told Marilyn that he would have made a great father. Marilyn had stared at her in disbelief, and then said no, he would have been a lousy father. A good father is somebody who is there at the bad times, not just the good times. Mom didn’t have much to say in response to that.
I had a late breakfast of some more juice and a big piece of fruit cake. Yes, I know all the jokes, but we actually like fruit cake at the Buckman house. I had even picked up one at the store for myself. I am sure that my mother had gotten me one for Christmas, and it was now at the dump. Afterwards, I got dressed and drove over to Jeana’s for Sunday dinner.
Jeana’s parents welcomed me warmly. I dodged the inevitable questions about what I had gotten for Christmas, by simply going with an innocuous ‘clothes and stuff for school’. Jeana was wearing the necklace I had given her. I don’t think I had seen her since the night of the dance without it! We had talked in school since the dance, but her parents wouldn’t allow us to go out on school nights. I know I was feeling rather horny, and she had whispered to me several times in school that she wanted to be alone with me again.
Mind you, I simply smiled at that. Whispering back, I said, “Tonight, when you’re in bed, take off all your clothes and touch yourself.”
Jeana had given me a very shocked look. “I can’t do that!”
I just grinned at her. “What? Take off your clothes? Why, do you wear pajamas?” She had blushed and simply nodded. “So, take them off. Who’s going to see?”
“Oh my God!”
“And then touch yourself in all the places you want me to touch you,” I told her.
“Oh my God, you’re so bad!” Jeana had scurried off at that, and refused to tell me later if she had done what I told her to do. I just laughed at this. I knew she would, but I also knew she would never tell me, not unless I got her alone, and started doing those things to her again.
Today was no different. There were a few minutes when her father was out of the room and her mother was in the kitchen, and I whispered in her ear, “So, still wearing your pajamas to bed?” Jeana had turned beet red and jumped up, to go help her mother. I laughed and trailed along.
Unlike the Buckman house, where WASP tradition ruled, there was no turkey for Christmas dinner. Christmas was an all Italian feast, and we had lasagna leftovers. We also had an antipasto with meats and anchovies, fresh garlic bread, hot peppers and greens, and some Chianti. Mr. Colosimo gave me the eye before pouring me a glass, and I promised to behave. It was a very nice meal.
Afterwards, as stuffed as if we had been eating turkey leftovers, we all lazed around the family room in the basement, until the early evening, at which point I took my leave. Jeana walked me to the door, while her parents stayed downstairs. It gave us a little privacy.
She looked at me hopefully as I bundled up. “You’ll be coming over tomorrow, right?”
Oh, yes, I was coming over! The cats were going to be away, and the mice wanted to play! “Absolutely! When should I come over?”
“They’ll be gone by eight.”
“I’ll be here by nine, just in case they get delayed,” I said.
She nodded. “If you see the car in the driveway, don’t even stop. Just keep going and call me.”
I kissed her quick and opened the door. Turning back, I grinned. “Do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Wear those pajamas I keep hearing about.”
That earned me a squeal of outrage, and a swat on the arm, and I went out into the cold. I laughed all the way down the driveway to my car.
I was outside of Jeana’s house promptly at nine the next morning, and there was no car in sight. I parked and walked up the driveway, and then up to the front door. I knocked and the door opened immediately. Jeana must have been waiting for me, but I didn’t see her as the door opened. “Jeana?”
“Hurry up! Come in!” came a muffled voice from behind the door.
Curious, I stepped inside. Jeana was hiding behind the door, She was barefoot and wearing a bathrobe. “What are you up to?”
“I can’t just open the door up in my bathrobe! Definitely not if somebody sees you coming in! Now hurry up and get inside!”
I laughed. As soon as I was inside, Jeana slammed the door shut. She nervously looked at the picture window facing the front yard, and then skedaddled off into the kitchen on the backside of the house. The window in the kitchen was much smaller and you couldn’t see anything out there expect the back yard. Once there she relaxed some. I could see an empty cereal bowl and a juice glass in the sink. She saw me looking at her and quickly turned away and rinsed the dishes off and put them in the dishwasher.
“What has got you so jumpy?” I asked. I turned her back to me and gave her a hug.
“You. I mean, you being here. My parents would kill me if they knew you were here,” she answered.
I had to chuckle at that. “I don’t think they’d kill you. Now me, me they’d kill, but not you.”
“You’re not being very reassuring.”
“So, are you wearing your pajamas?” I quizzed.
Jeana’s face went beet red. “Yes.”
“Show me.”
“I can’t show you my pajamas!”
I laughed louder at this. “Baby, I’ve already seen you out of your pajamas.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, and then backed away. She fumbled the sash holding her robe closed and then pulled it open. Underneath she had a simple cotton baby doll top and matching calf length bottoms. “Satisfied?” she asked.
I smiled and looked at her. “Do you always wear a bra and panties to bed under your pajamas?” I asked.
Shocked, Jeana whirled away and tied her robe shut, and then turned back to face me. “How did… you can’t see… how did you know I had on a bra and panties?” she demanded.
I shrugged. “I didn’t. You just told me.”
The look on her face was priceless. “That’s cheating!”
“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.”
“Ooooh, I hate you!” Jeana came closer and balled up her hands and tried beating my chest.
I laughed and wrapped her in my arms, and then lowered my face to hers. For somebody who hated me, she sure kissed me back like she loved me. After a few minutes of heavy breathing and tongue swapping, we came up for air, and she said, “It’s still cheating.”
“So, sue me. All’s fair in love and war.” She hit me again, and I said, “Maybe I should tell your parents about how you keep trying to hit me. I wonder what I should tell them when they ask me what happened.”
“That’s not funny.” She took my hand and led me to the basement door. “Let’s talk downstairs.”
I followed Jeana down the stairs to the finished basement. At the bottom of the stairs she looked at me a little hesitantly, so I took the lead and led her over to a large armchair. I sat down in it and then pulled her sideways onto my lap. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she settled onto me. It was time for a little more kissing.