“Hey, Benny?”
“Mmm?”
“I hate to spoil the moment, but do you have to check with anyone? The cops, your lawyer?”
“Nah, all sorted. They know I’m here.”
“That’s good. Ben…why are you here?”
“Can’t I just visit an old family friend?”
“Who’re you calling ‘old’?”
Harley backed his friend up. “It‘s true, ma’am. They know. We’re goin’ to see Dr.
Perkins.”
“Are you crazy?”
Ben shook his head. “I owe him.”
I felt like slapping him sideways. “No you don’t! You got community service.
You’re paying your debt.”
“To society. Perkins is still drinking his meals, Aunt Nicole.”
“So what, you’re going to say ’sorry’? You already said that, the day after the accident, and in court!”
“No, ma’am.” Harley squeezed timidly into our spat. “We’re doin’ his garden.”
I looked from one to the other. “His garden?”
Ben smirked and slapped Harley on the back of the head. “Yup. When he’s not in the reserves, Softly here is studying landscaping. I’m his hard-working lackey.”
“And what does that do?”
Ben stood and gathered some plates, took them out to the kitchen. “How ‘bout I make some coffee?”
I showed him where everything was, waited while he brewed up a jug. A couple months before, Ben’s mother had finally succumbed to breast cancer. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was still a shock. Ben took it harder than anyone, and he headed straight from the funeral to the local bar.
His real mistake had been driving home. He’d gone onto the wrong side of the road and hit another car. Nothing serious, but Ben had still been cut up inside and he flew out of his car and attacked the other driver, a Dr. Richard Perkins, in front of his wife and daughter.
Dr. Perkins ended up with a broken jaw. Ben got off lightly, the judge taking into account his good employment record and the circumstances regarding his mother’s death.
Finally, I could wait no more. “You gonna tell me about it?”
Ben sighed. “It’s a guy thing.”
“Try me.”
“I just needed to make things right.”
“The powers that be gave you 200 hours.”
Ben shook his head. “And I shoulda got more. But even then it still wouldn‘t make things right. Just even.”
“What else matters?”
“What about Jessica Perkins? She saw some wild-eyed fuckwit smash her father’s jaw…dethrone her king in a couple seconds.”
“So?”
“So I’m giving back what I took. He gets to have me say ‘yes, sir, Dr. Perkins, sir’ in front of his family.”
“Yeah, that just sounds like crap. Little girls don’t respect their dads for winning fights. You’re poking the hornet’s nest, Benny.”
“It’s all supervised, Aunt Nicole. I’m not asking him to like me. I’d prefer he gave me no thought at all.” He rubbed idly at his chest. “In the end, I guess I’m doing it for mom. She didn’t raise a thug.”
I held up my hands and shook my head. If that’s how guys think it’s no wonder I’m single.
Harley brought in the rest of the plates and cutlery. “You gonna ask her, Ben?”
“Ask me what?”
“Oh, yeah.” Ben loosed his smile again. “Don’t suppose you’d have room for a couple stragglers to stay for a night or two? Only you live pretty close to Casa Perkins.”
“All depends. You’re not planning on bringing anyone home with you?”
Ben curled his muscular arm around my shoulders. “What, like girls?”
“I was thinking angry cops. With their sirens calling out your name.”
“Well, I‘ll see what I can do. You do like a man in uniform, don’t you?”
I dug my fingers into his ribs. “Idiot. Let me show you the spare room.”
I threw some sheets on the two single beds while the boys brought in their bags.
Once they’d unpacked they made a quick exit to see Dr. Perkins. I got ready quickly and walked to the local bakery, the only job I could stand since my business went under. At least I’m still working with food, and sometimes I got the leftover pastries.
The boys were wrestling lightly outside my door when I arrived home.
“You two…cut that out.”
They separated and flashed twin smiles at me. Ben pointed to Harley.
“Hey, he started it.”
“But I’ll finish it.”
They trotted in behind me and helped me make a simple meal. Ben in particular showed great interest in preparing the food.
It was so nice to have company over dinner, especially when I didn‘t have to get gussied up before or give anyone head after. Harley still kept mostly to himself, seemed happy to let Ben, and a bottle of red wine, drive the conversation.
It was almost ten when I finally had to admit defeat. “Well, boys, I’m afraid not all of us are twenty-two years old. Some of us need our beauty sleep.”
“Aunt Nicole, you’re even more beautiful now than you were ten years ago. And that’s saying something.”
“Oh, Benny. You’re a terrible liar and I’ll give you ten bucks to say it again.”
They both laughed at my lame joke and I bid them good night.
I went out like a geriatric hip, but my sleep was very disturbed. Kurt was back, once again shirtless in a cloud of smoke, but it was different this time. It was the Kurt I fell in love with, the young version who was sweet and clumsy when it came to romance. I even began to wonder if it really was Kurt, or whether maybe it was…
Again, the dream was pulled from me, this time by a screaming need to pee.
Damn that red wine. Straight to my head, then straight to my bladder. I hadn’t even put any jammies on, I’d been so tipsy.
I ran naked to the bathroom as if my knees were glued together, burst straight through the door and scared the shit out of Harley, who was already in there.
Masturbating.
“Oh! Sorry, Harley. I kinda forgot I had you guys here.”
“Uh…”
“I’ll, um…leave you to it.”
My back teeth were swimming, so I used the laundry tub instead, then grabbed my robe from the wash pile and threw it on. After the surprise of seeing Harley’s penis I didn’t think I’d get back to sleep in a hurry, so I went to the kitchen and brewed up a jug of coffee.
Harley crept out of the bathroom, his face now as red as his impressive young cock had been.
“Hey, hon?” I called to him. “C’mere.”
He crept over and joined me, inspecting the floor closely.
“Look, ma’am, I’m sorry-”
“Forget it, Harley. Really. You’re a young man. You have all this…potency…to deal with.”
“I just…sometimes…”
“Hey, I get it. I just didn’t want it to fester, grow into some kinda big wall between us.” I jumped up onto the bench and sat there. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been going solo, too, for the last four months.”
“Uh…ma’am, your…um…”
He waved his hand aimlessly in my direction. I glanced down to see that one of my breasts had poked out of my robe.
“Oops. Sorry, Harley. You don’t wanna see an old lady’s boobies on an empty stomach.”
He squirmed, obviously uncomfortable, and I began to wonder. I mean, he had been jerking off. Was that because of me?
“Do you, Harley?”
“Uh…”
Fuck, I’m an idiot. How’s he supposed to answer that? “I’m sorry. I was joking.
It’s just, you’re with Ben so I kinda…treat you like family.”
“I’m not with-oh…I see.”
I let the moment pass. “Coffee?”
“Please, ma’am.”
We drank in silence for a moment, leaning towards each other, separated by the kitchen bench.
“How old are you, Harley?”
“Same as Ben. Twenty-two.”
“Really?”
“I’m…almost twenty-one.”
“You had much experience with girls?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t mean …uh, you’re real beautiful and all-”