This pretty much sucked, since I wanted to get both sections in the morning, along with the lectures, so I could do my other classes at Towson High in the afternoon. I argued a bit and was directed to a third table and yet another line. Here was a higher ranking professor type, who heard my story and nodded in understanding. He signed a slip giving me permission to take the class and sent me back to the second table and line again. It was after noon before I was out of there, and I considered myself lucky.
I also registered for the SAT test. I would take it in March. I had done well the last time around, and I expected to do even better this time.
What with college starting, high school continuing, and Jeana occupying all my free time, I decided to quit at Pot Springs Pizza. Yes, I was losing maybe $40 a week (don’t forget, the minimum wage at the time was only $1.60 an hour) but I surprised myself in the stock market. 1972 was going to be the end of a great bull market. I was going to need to hire a tax accountant this year, for sure, and at the end of the year, sell almost everything and hunker down for a bit. My next major gambit was going to be when oil prices spiked next year, when the Arabs and Israelis went at it again, just like I told Dad once. As it was, if I didn’t get stupid, I would make enough in the market to pay for my independent lifestyle, make up what I had forked out, and still turn a tidy profit for the year.
I stayed away from the house. I simply had no interest in dealing with all the drama. Suzie called me about once a week. She told me that Dad had read the letter I gave her, but only after she had given it to him. He hadn’t wanted to, but he went out and bought her a foot locker and replaced the door knob on her bedroom door. It didn’t seem, however, that Hamilton was focusing any attention on her whatsoever. His hatred was aimed only at me.
Nana was moved into a nursing home on Charles Street. I visited her once, but she didn’t really know who I was, so I didn’t go back. Suzie moved into her room, as planned all along, and Dad moved her new door knob.
When it was Mom’s birthday, I got her a present and wrapped it, and then drove around the Hutzlers parking lot until I spotted her car. I still had my keys to the old Dodge Dart, so I unlocked it and placed it and a card on the passenger seat. She called me later, and while I was still screening all my calls, left me a thank you message. A few weeks later, for Dad’s birthday, I had Tusker pick me up a gift bottle of a very expensive bourbon, and I repeated the same procedure, leaving a note to Mom to give it to Dad. If I had taken either gift home, Ham would have chucked it.
Again, I found myself settling into an interesting rut through the spring. Monday through Friday I went to school, both schools, studied, did homework, and otherwise did the scholarship routine. Friday night through Sunday afternoon was Jeana’s time. We would always go out, bowling or a movie or a party or something else she would pick out, and then spend time back at the apartment.
She already knew she was leaving the school at the end of the year. Towson High was severely overcrowded, so they had built a new school to the east and were moving about half of the tenth graders over there. Only the juniors and seniors were staying in Towson. Jeana was scheduled to move to Loch Raven, and was very worried we would be apart. I promised her that I would still be around, would still have a car, and would still be in love with her. While I couldn’t be with her in school, this semester we weren’t together all that much anyway, and we seemed to be doing all right. She was still worried, but I assured her we would make it work.
Jeana was constantly full of surprises for me, pleasant surprises. In early February, when we were in my apartment one afternoon, I had just gotten her naked on the couch, and had fingered her and eaten her to a mindblowing orgasm. I was still dressed, and I began to pull my own clothing off, so that I could have some fun, too. Jeana stopped me, however, and said, “The girls all said you were incredible at eating pussy, and boy were they right!”
“Well, if I die tonight, you and your friends can all chip in and have that chiseled on my tombstone. Good Lord! What else do you girls talk about?” Jesus Christ! Those girls chattered like magpies about shit that if they caught a bunch of guys talking about would get the guys killed!
Jeana laughed nervously. “Well, they wanted to know how I liked sucking your cock.”
“Oh, really?” That was something we hadn’t done yet. “And you said?”
“I told them I liked it, and most of them said it was a lot of fun with you,” she blurted out in a rush.
I know I had a wicked grin on my face as she told me this and she couldn’t have looked more guilty than if she had been caught red-handed with the Hope diamond. “Well, I’m certainly glad you’re such a truthful young lady,” I commented.
“Carl!” she protested. “You’re not being very helpful.”
I laughed loudly at that. “And just how should I be more helpful? Hmmm? I’m not the one telling falsehoods and untruths, am I?”
“Carl!”
I finished undressing and sat next to her on the couch. Little Carl hadn’t diminished any, and was standing at attention. “Well, why did you tell them that?”
She looked very sheepish. “I didn’t want anyone to think I was a little girl.”
I just rolled my eyes. “Trust me, you’re not a little girl.”
“Do you like, uh, blowjobs?” she asked.
I had to grin at that. “Jeana, every man ever born likes blowjobs.”
“So how come you never asked me for one?” she asked.
That was actually a good question. “Well, for one thing, all the other girls I have ever been with, and I will neither confirm nor deny any names, were all much more experienced than you. Like, they weren’t virgins, and they all had sucked a cock or two before me. And besides, it’s considered a little rude — ‘hey, baby, how about sucking down a heavy load’ isn’t the politest thing a guy can ask a girl.”
“Ooooh, yuck!”
“See?” I had to smile at her reaction.
“Well, that’s pretty crude, but I bet you could have asked me nicer,” she replied.
I shrugged. “Would you like to find out?” I glanced meaningfully at my erection.
Jeana’s eyes followed mine, and she blushed, but she also nodded. “What do I do?”
I have to admit, I had never been asked for lessons on this subject before, but I thought I just might enjoy the idea. I tossed a couple of throw pillows on the floor at my feet. “Well, I would suggest that you get on your knees between my legs for starters.”
Jeana grinned, and scooted her pretty little ass off the couch on knelt on the pillows. I spread my legs, and she was up close and personal with Little Carl. She looked up at me expectantly.
“I guess a little anatomy lesson is in order.” I pointed out most of the major features using the most common names. I never learned the medical terms. “Now, very important. Down below everything are my nuts, or balls.” Jeana nodded and reached out and touched them, a little more forcefully than I like. I practically jumped off the couch. “Jesus! Be careful!”
She looked stricken. “Sorry.”
I calmed down and sat back in front of her. “What I was going to say is that they are very, very sensitive! Some guys like a girl to play with them, but some don’t, and I am definitely in that group. Before you ever touch them, ask permission.”
“What!?”
“Ask!” I mimicked a low and sultry voice. “Oh, baby, I want to kiss and lick your balls! Do you want me to play with your balls while I suck your cock?” She looked shocked at me. “Get the idea?”
“Carling! I’ll never do that! I’m with you!”