© 2019, All rights reserved -- mimaster
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Betsy was still on her couch, staring out the front windows behind it. The beige curtains were pulled wide open, the sheer white panels behind them pulled halfway. She was looking down the street, waiting... hoping.
She'd been there for over an hour, her thoughts scattered and random. The breeze felt good on her bare skin. It was like she'd gone back in time, recalling the days she when was a much younger mother with only one child. It felt good to be naked in the middle of the day. Especially with the curtains pulled wide and the front door open. She knew she couldn't be seen; not with the couch in the way. With it being so bright outside, she could walk around the house without a care. She knew because she'd gone outside to confirm it before she took off her silky robe.
She'd taking things a step further, deciding to wear a pair of heels. It was so unlike her to walk around the house in shoes. That was one of her strictest rules with her family. If you came into the house, the shoes had to come off. She tired of cleaning floors and carpets and with it being a new home, she was setting a new code to follow.
That rule had been in existence for a while, though. She'd put it in place in their
first
new home. But with the red clay in the area of where they lived now, it was even more important to reinforce it, daily if she had to.
It wasn't as hard as she made it out to be. After all, there was one less person in the house, Gene having left for college two years before and not returning home during his sophomore summer because he'd gotten a job on campus. There wasn't much she could say about it since she'd done the same thing, doing it her
freshman
year.
Darren was once again on the road, although not as much as he used to be. It was one of the weeks he was gone, though. She was hoping he'd be arriving back soon, long before Neil came home on the school bus in a few hours.
Her light silk robe was the only escape if someone came by but it was across the room, draped over the back of a chair deliberately. She'd done things differently than when she'd practiced this ritual before Neil was born. It had been over twelve years since she'd masturbated in the middle of the day. It felt like she was practicing a lost art, and the resulting orgasm seemed like a long-lost friend coming to visit. It was good. It was something she needed to take the edge off what had been bothering her. Now she was basking in the rays of the sun that shining through the window, the afterglow of that orgasm bringing her some peace.
She'd just flipped over the album she was listening to,
Here Comes the Sun
playing through the stereo speakers. A big burst of wind came through the screens covering the open windows, blowing the sheer panels like sails on a boat. With the stiff breeze came more of that now familiar scent, the blooming honeysuckle making her sigh. It was one of the things she loved about her new house and the area they'd moved to.
"Moving," she laughed; thinking of the most recent one, and how it appeared so much easier. It was a strange thought, since they had so much more stuff; the accumulation of possessions over her length of her marriage seemed enormous. It was a long way from the meager beginnings when she and Darren were first starting out together.
Indeed, this move, from house to house across town had been relatively easy. It was similar to when the moved from the first house they ever rented to the new home they'd had built so many years before. They barely seemed like moves at all. Not when compared to what she referred to as
the move
.
The move
was a testament to the American way, and how hard work, sacrifice and perseverance could be rewarded. The circumstances of success can show up at your doorstep in various ways, however. Sometimes, as hard as it was to believe, those circumstances could be tragic.
Like a trigger, just thinking of
the move
brought her mind to another time and place. Lost on the plush cushion she began to daydream again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Betsy could remember it like it just happened. She'd just finished clearing the table after dinner. It was a Friday evening and she'd expected Darren home to eat. That he hadn't shown up wasn't all that unusual. Because of his traveling, there never seemed to be a set schedule when it came to him. But for her and the kids, it was set in stone. Dinner was at 6:00 PM sharp. Gene could recite his mother's mantra as if it were etched on the kitchen wall.
If you're late, there's no plate.
It was Betsy's way of letting her kids know there was no excuse to be late for dinner. If they were one-minute past six, they didn't get to eat that night. And she was serious about it. It might have been harsh but it set the tone. It happened to Gene only the one time, and he was quick to point out to his younger brother not to make the same mistake, because she meant what she said. The only one that was exempt from the rule was their Dad, for obvious reasons.
So it was that when he showed up at seven, Betsy gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "There's a plate for you on the stove. It's still warm."
She knew right away when he said he wasn't hungry that something was wrong. Seriously wrong. The ashen look on his face gave it away.
"Darren, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Not now Betsy. We'll talk later, away from the kids."
She'd never heard him say anything like that before, at least not in the way that he had said it. Certainly, there were things they didn't share around their children, but this seemed different. He was cordial to the boys when they greeted him, but she knew right away he was in no mood to socialize with them. That was the sign that she needed to step in, because it was so out of character for him.
"Gene, why don't you take your brother down to the park for a while?" she asked.
"Aw, Mom... I was going to go over to Mike's and play ball."
"Well, I need you to do this for me please." He was a sharp kid, and when her eyes darted quickly toward his father, seeing him stare blankly at the window, he knew he needed to do as he was told.
