Passion in James County XV: Ben and Nancy
Chapter seven
"You want to come over to my place for dinner tonight?" Tosha asked Ben when they ran into each other in the hall between classes one day a few weeks after the night she'd invited him over for dinner. She grinned. "Maybe we'll even get to eat this time."
"I'm sorry, Tosha, I can't tonight," Ben replied. "Even though I'd really like to." He really was disappointed. He hadn't gotten a chance to get back together with the lovely black woman, and really did want to. "I'm supposed to go over to my aunt and uncle's place for dinner tonight." He smiled. "I'm available most any other night, though."
"Oh," Tosha said. She smiled. "Well, why don't we make it tomorrow night, then?"
"Sounds good to me," Ben said. He started down the hall toward his classroom. Just before he walked inside, Evelyn appeared.
"I was wondering if you might be interested in coming over to my place for dinner tonight," she said, smiling seductively.
"Ah...I...I'd really like to, Evelyn," Ben said, "but..."
Evelyn's face clouded with anger. "I suppose you have a date with Tosha," she said.
"Well, no I don't. Actually, I have a date with my uncle and aunt," Ben said. "They invited me over for dinner."
"Oh," Evelyn replied, looking a little ashamed.
Ben figured he better do something before Evelyn found out the was going to Tosha's house tomorrow night. "Look, Evelyn, I'm free day after tomorrow, why don't we go out to dinner and a movie or something?" he suggested.
Evelyn smiled brightly. "I'd love that, Ben," she said.
"Good," Ben said. "I'll pick you up about five, OK?"
"I can't wait. See you then," Evelyn said. Smiling, she moved off down the hall.
"This is getting kind of tricky," Ben thought as he walked into his classroom. "I'm going to have to get things straightened out with both Evelyn and Tosha, or I'm liable to cause a cat fight here in school."
After school, Ben drove to the house where his aunt and uncle lived. He knew he was early, but he thought he might be able to give his aunt a hand making dinner.
Barbara Farwell, Ben's aunt, was full-bodied, had shoulder-length black hair, and was strikingly beautiful, but was also one of those women who didn't seem to have any idea how lovely she was. She was quite a bit younger than her husband, Dewey, a pudgy, balding man who headed up a large accounting firm in Jamestown. Ben liked his uncle, but found him terribly stuffy and boring. He had never been able to understand why a woman as good-looking and full of fun as his aunt had married his dull uncle.
There was a time, when he was younger, that Ben had a secret crush on his mother's brother's wife. He had long since gotten over the crush, and was sure his aunt never knew about it. In the years since, they'd become close, and he was happy to accept when she called and invited him to dinner.
He walked onto the Farwell's back porch and knocked on the door. His aunt answered the door dressed in a plain button-front blouse and slacks. Her brown eyes were red and tear-filled and her dark hair was disheveled. She looked as if she'd been crying.
Ben was very concerned about his aunt's appearance. "Aunt Barb, is something wrong?" he asked.
"I...I'm just having a bad day," his aunt replied, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "I'm sorry you found me this way. I...I forgot you were coming over."
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Ben asked.
"I...I guess not. It...it's something I...I guess I...I have to work out myself," Barbara replied. She sniffled, took a tissue out of a box on the kitchen table, and blew her nose. Then a shocked look appeared on her pretty face. "Oh, Ben, I'm sorry. I...I forgot you were coming over for dinner, I..."
"Hey, no problem, Aunt Barb," Ben said, "I'm here anyhow, I've got all night, and I'm a good listener. You want to talk about what's got you so upset?" He hated to see his aunt so distraught.
"I...I don't know," Barbara sniffled. "It...it isn't fair for me to be bothering you with my problems."
"Come on, Aunt Barb. We're family, that's what family is for," Ben said. "Sit down. I'll make coffee, and you can tell me your troubles."
"All...all right," Barbara said. She walked over and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs.
Ben found the fixings for coffee and started the pot going, then he sat down at the kitchen table next to his aunt and put his hand on her shoulder. It was intended as a gesture of consolation, so he was totally unprepared for the sensations that shot up his arm when his hand came in contact with his aunt's shoulder.
"Damn, what the hell is happening to me?" he mused, feeling his penis twitch and begin to stiffen. If this kept up, he'd have a hard time standing up to pour the coffee when it was ready. On the other hand, touching Aunt Barb's shoulder did feel nice, so he left his hand where it was. "What's wrong, Aunt Barb?" he asked.
"Your Uncle Dewey left me!" his aunt exclaimed. She began sobbing again. "For...for some...some skinny young blonde slut from his office!"
Ben was stunned by what his aunt said. "Uncle Dewey left you?" he exclaimed. "For...for another woman?" He was stunned. First of all, he couldn't understand why another woman would want his uncle and second, he couldn't understand why his uncle would want to leave a woman as gorgeous as his aunt. And he had a hard time imagining why anyone would want his uncle, anyhow, other than the fact that he did make a pretty good living.
Barbara nodded and her tears splashed onto her slacks. Her body shook.
Ben began rubbing his aunt's back and as he did, his hand slid over her bra where it crossed her back. He realized he was supposed to be comforting her - and maybe he was - but he sure wasn't doing much to comfort himself.
He looked over at the kitchen counter and saw that the coffee was done, so he got up and went to pour them each a cup. He was careful to keep his back to his aunt so she wouldn't see the bulge in his slacks.
"Go on, Aunt Barb," he said as he poured coffee into two mugs he took out of the cupboard. "I'm listening."
"He...he said he...he didn't love me any...any more," Barbara sobbed, "I...I begged him to stay, to go to counseling with me, but...but he said...he said he was...was leaving and wouldn't be back." She dissolved into sobs.
Ben carried the two cups filled with coffee to the table, set them down, and sat down again, adjusting his legs so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable.
"I don't know what to say," he said. "Except that I'm really sorry."
"Ben, what...what am I going to do?" she said. "I...I guess it's my fault. I...I'm not much of a woman. That's...that's what Dewey said. He...he said if I'd been more of a woman, he wouldn't have been so frustrated all the time and he wouldn't have had to find someone who...who was a real...a real woman."
"Aunt Barb, you can't let Uncle Dewey do that to you," Ben said. "He was just trying to justify what he's doing. He's the one who's wrong, not you."
"What...what if it's true?" Barbara stammered. "I...I've never really liked sex all that much. I mean, it's not that I find it repulsive, or anything, but I...I guess I've always been able to...to take it or...or leave it. Maybe...maybe if...if I'd been better in bed, Dewey wouldn't have...have...left me."
Ben was stunned. He found it hard to believe that a woman as beautiful as Aunt Barbara was could be frigid. He continued rubbing her back and it continued to have an extremely pleasurable effect on him. And it seemed to be helping his aunt, too. She seemed to be calming down and wasn't sobbing as hard as she had been.
"Ben do...do you think Dewey might be right? Do you think it's possible I'm...I'm...ah...frigid?" his aunt asked.
Startled Ben, wasn't exactly sure how to reply to her question. This was way outside any knowledge he had. "Ah...no...I, ah, I...I really don't know what that means," he stammered. "I've always thought you were, you know, attractive, though, Aunt Barb." He realized his voice sounded funny and hoped his aunt didn't notice.
"Really?" Barbara said. "You do? You think I'm attractive?" She turned and looked at him with interest.
His aunt's movement caught Ben off guard. When she turned, it his hand wound up resting on the side of one of her breasts. He pulled his hand away quickly and, along with his aunt, turned bright red.
"I...I'm sorry, Aunt Barb," he stammered, "I...I didn't mean to...to do that." "Damn, her breasts are pretty firm!" he found himself thinking.
"Oh, Ben, I know you didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident," his aunt said softly, "You don't have to be embarrassed. What...what you're doing, it...it feels nice." She blushed again and smiled wanly. "Rubbing my back, I mean."