Dorm Discipline: Butch Returns

The mythical Butch shows, shares her main squeeze

My house duties done I retired to my room to complete washing up, dressed (again) and tried to get some work done.

I kept one ear open for any sound of Kitty stirring.

But what did I expect to hear? She was nearly silent on bare feet. Unless she dressed up in full-on waif cosplay with those vinyl platform shoes, I had little chance of detecting her.

Going through my lab notes, I got most of the way caught up when I heard the front door bang. Peering out my window I saw a Harley pulling away, driven by a guy in worn leathers and a German-style half-helmet.

Butch home? Maybe. I gave it a minute to let whoever it was, settle in.

No clumping on the stairs, but some banging in the kitchen. It would be fair to go in there after something ... a banana? Then I could snoop.

Padding in bare feet down the hall I got there just as a crew-cut stocky woman in a flannel shirt and jeans was coming out. With one of my bananas in her hand.

She stopped, glared at me.

"Who're you?"

A little blunt, but a stranger in the house deserved no less.

"Hi! I'm RA... uh, Dick now I guess. You must be Butch?"

She didn't answer right away, just stood aside to let me in the kitchen.

I pretended to browse as Butch(?) leaned in the doorframe with her banana. She did it the 'monkey way', pinching off the navel end and holding it by the handle, peeling and breaking off chunks.

When she finished, which didn't take long, she pitched the peel perfectly into the bin on the other side of the kitchen, wiped her hands on her pants and spoke.

"So, 'Dick'? Let me guess. Kitty named you."

I smiled. These folks really knew each other. That was a sign of a strong house.

"She's kind of dick-obsessed. Girly-girl and all that."

I nodded, that jibed with what I'd learned.

"Anybody home?" Butch asked in an offhand way, like she didn't care but I could see nervousness.

"Just Kitty. Napping upstairs."

Butch nodded, took in my wet hair, barefoot feet, and I could tell she knew I'd just fucked Kitty. None of these women were dumb.

She let that lie there for a few beats, wondering how she felt about it I guess, then heaved herself off the doorframe, crossed the hall and pounded up the stairs.

I wandered into the living room, perched on the couch nibbling my banana.

Butch was down in a jiffy. Gym bag over one shoulder, stuffed with whatever physio students need. Stopped in the living room, paused, seemingly wanting to say something.

"Hey, did you happen to check on Kitty? She ok?"

Butch nodded. "Sleeping."

She looked at me hard. Decided to speak.

"You hurt her, you'll answer to me." Matter-of-fact, no malice.

I knew better than to protest. I just nodded curtly, accepted that at face value.

"Gonna be back for supper? GG talked about cooking something."

Furtive look. "Nah, I don't think so."

I decided to butt in.

"GG is worried about you. Says she doesn't care where you are, but really she does care. It's getting her a little bummed."

Guilty look at that. Defensive, "What's it to you?"

"Nothing!" I shrugged. "Well, something. GG is good people. I'm hoping it works out for her. For you."

Silence again. I decide to change the subject.

"She has a nice bike, that Indian."

Butch brightened. "Sweet ride. You been on it?"

"Not yet. It's not a Scout. Chieftain I think?"

Butch nodded. "She added some trim. Had a wad to spend, that bastard that knocked her down paid in the end."

News to me! Couldn't have been very long ago; the bike was nearly new.

Butch decided something. "Come out and look at it?"

"I'd love to!"

We went out front, crossed the lawn to the bike. GG left it inside the hedge, not visible from the street.

We just stood and admired for a bit, two people appreciating a fine motor.

"V-twin, 6-speed."

I nodded.

"The Springfield is more my style, but this is nice."

I hazarded a guess. "Dark horse?"

"Hell yeah! Same torque, and better storage. Better passing. Less farkle."

"What was that you came in on? The hog?"

Perked up. "An old flathead hard-tail. Beats your butt, hard to ride for more than short hops. Not my style."

I agreed.

Butch got antsy, made to leave. Looked me up and down, then reached out.

Took me a second, then I woke up, shook her hand.

"You sure you won't come for supper? Be good to have the whole crew together."

Butch swallowed, then nodded decisively. "Sure. I can do that."

I smiled big, gave a wave as Butch hared off across the street, j-walking, cutting across some neighbor's yard, heading for the physio building in that direction I figured.

That was brave of her. Facing GG was going to cost her. Being reminded that GG was "good people" was enough guilt to make her decide to man up.

To what, I didn't know. Could be any number of things. At this age, anything from money to friends, from work to sex. It was all fixable, but you had to start talking.

Back in the house, to the kitchen to toss the banana peel I'd been dangling in my left hand.

Kitty was in there. Had put on a brief t-shirt, a wife-beater, several sizes too big. It didn't do much to cover anything, but gave the impression of wanting to be decent.

She looked up, smiled. No affect for now; just a young woman in the kitchen scrounging for some lunch.

"Gonna be home for supper? GG talked about cooking. Be nice to have a family dinner."

She considered. "Got to visit the studio this afternoon. Then a study group 'til 6. Is that too late?"

I realized I didn't know what Kitty studied. Involved a studio apparently. Art student? Media? Anyway.

"I think that'd be fine. Can't imagine it'll be ready 'til then." I went all in. "Butch is coming."

She lit up again, and I saw some of that childlike joy in her. "I'm glad. GG and Butch need to talk. Was that your doing?"

I nodded. She took a half-sandwich she'd built, and on her way out of the kitchen gave me a half-hug with her free arm.

"What's that for?" I was pleased but surprised.

"For everything. For getting Butch to come tonight. For keeping things civil around here. For helping Slut concentrate."

I blushed at that last; I really did. I don't know why, this girl and I had just screwed our brains out. But somehow coming from her it pleased me tremendously.

She breezed on out, pattered up the stairs on bare feet.

Well, I had test prep to finish. Those midterms didn't write themselves. My professor was supposed to do it, but these tenured profs usually offload routine work like that.

Getting some shoes on, I headed out. As I was pulling the front door shut, I paused, dithered. Left it open a crack, that was the house tradition like it or not. Fish or cut bait I guess.

Knocked off at 5, dropped by the bodega on the way home, picked up two bottles of 6-buck chuck for dinner.

Couldn't come empty-handed!

Home. I guess it was home, at least for now. What'd that poet say, home is the place that, when you go there, they have to let you in?

Added some snack foods at the last minute - cheezy poufs, chips and dip. They go with most anything. I didn't know what GG was planning.

The bike was moved when I walked up the drive - a slightly different spot. GG must have gone out. Of course - had to shop for dinner!

I heard some voices in the kitchen. GG and somebody, not a member of the house. I knew all those voices.

Through the living room - Slut was sacked out on the couch, notes spread on the floor, shoes still on. Long nights, long days, took their toll. I let her be.

Rolling into the kitchen and there was GG at the counter chopping green stuff. Sitting on a spindly kitchen chair, some skinny gay dude.

"Hey! I brought wine, hope you don't mind!"

GG glanced over her shoulder, smiled. "That'd be great! Thanks!"

The skinny dude took the brown paper sack from me, pulled out the bottles, lined them up on the counter with some sparkling water bottles and glasses.

"Hey, I'm ... Dick!" I didn't know how the house names worked with strangers, but figured 'Dick' was safe either way.

GG spoke without stopping her work, "Adam - Dick. Dick - Adam"

I shook his limp wrist, with a genuine smile. Hazarding a guess, "Adam Rippon?"

He beamed. "GG's idea."

"I think it fits! You are a dead ringer."

"Dick is our new RA. Been here just a couple days, things are back on track."

I appreciated that. So easy to be resented. But these women were smart, real smart. They could see past the usual bullshit to the real stuff underneath.

"Adam is pre-med, heading toward Emergency Medicine."

I nodded, impressed. Took a special person to face routine panic and pain like that. Folks came in to an ER in pretty bad shape sometimes.

Adam added "Just driving an ambulance now. Years to go before I choose a specialty. But never too early to start!"

Yeah, pre-med folks had academics galore, also were expected to join some medical-related job for experience. It was a hard road.

"What can I do, GG? Chopping is right up my line, if you have better things to do."

She smiled her gratitude, handed me the knife. "Just small enough to fit on a fork!"

It was salad then. I am a salad master. Flipping the knife in the air and catching it by the handle, I started rapid-fire decimation of a head of romaine.

GG headed down the hall to the back door. I heard the screen door slam.

"Hey Adam. I'm new here. Is there a grill or something out there?"

"Yeah, they share it with the house behind. A gate in the fence, they wheel it back and forth."

Made sense. Students saved a dime wherever they could.

Adam sized me up. "You gonna work out here?"

"Why do you ask?" I put on an innocent face. Because this was a house of sex-mad geniuses maybe? But let Adam say it.

"Not many do. Three in three months. These gals can be a handful."

"I love a handful. I spend my days with bubbling beakers. Nice to have real human interaction again."

"Well, you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm up to it."

Adam grinned, and I grinned back. Never went that way before, but who knows?

I heard a motorcycle out on the highway downshifting, and I remembered Butch.

"Hey, Adam. You think GG knows Butch is coming home for supper?"

Adam shook his head. "No, she's still angsting about Butch. Probably should warn her."

I nodded, thought how to do it.

Dumping my salad wreckage into the wooden bowl that was there, I washed the knife, rinsed the cutting board.

Opened a screw-top and poured out a half-glass of cheap wine. Adam grinned. "Go armed, good thinking!"

Out the back door, and there was GG in front of an enormous ancient beast of a grille, four-burner, side-table, rusty everywhere.

She had it lit, the top up, fiddling with the shelves. Saw me with the wine offering, took it with a smile.

"Cook needs lubrication!"

She took a long draw, swished it around in her mouth, swallowed, sighed.

"Hey, Butch came by this morning."

She alerted like a retriever after the gunshot, but didn't ask.

"She says she'll come to supper. If that's ok with you." I embellished that last part, sounded better than "Butch is crashing your party."

"Sure! Its ok. I guess." She seem a little divided.

"If it gets too hard, I'll come rescue you. Tell Butch a Bugatti 100M just pulled up."

She laughed despite herself. "That would do it!" More soberly, "It'll be fine. We have to talk. Could you send her back here when she arrives, and run interference?"

"Can do! Anything I should know? Is it a good idea to offer her some wine?" Some folks were on the wagon and whatnot; didn't want to screw that up for anybody.

"Sure. She's more of a beer person. I think there's some in the drawer in the fridge."

"Then we have a plan. Hey, what else for that salad?"

"Some carrots would be nice. And..." she scanned the yard, hared over to the fence, pulled up some week, brought it back.

"Dice the leaves up, mix it in."

I raised my eyebrow, and she laughed. "It's lemon balm. There used to be a garden back here, and some of it escaped, survived."

"You're the chef!"

Back in the house, I finished the salad, ears open for Butch's arrival.

"How are we doing?" I asked Adam, who now held a spritzer. He'd mixed the wine with bubbly water, made his own mixed drink.

"Half past. Want it all on the table in 45 minutes!"

"That works for Kitty too. She'll be here at 6."

"Perfect!

Spying my shopping bag, I remembered the snacks.

"Where do snacks go? Got a tray?"

Adam rooted around under the counter, came out with a tarnished silver platter, clearly a thrift-store find. It used to be fine, but was now missing plate here and there.

Perfect.

Take the lid off the dip, put the pot in the center of the tray. Dump the chips on one side, the cheese poufs on the other.

There was no table in the living room. Slut was snoozing in there anyway.

I parked it on the end of the counter. Folks could pop in the kitchen, grab a handful without disrupting the cooks.

Checking the fridge, there was a couple pounds of hamburger, some sauce bottles, some breadcrumbs from the bakery. Fancy!

I popped out the back door. GG had the grill closed, heating it up. Her wine glass was empty.

"Can I mix the meat up? Breadcrumbs, right?"

"Yup, there's a mixing bowl under the counter; ask Adam. Put an egg in it too, and half the bottle of Worcestershire sauce."

"Any salt and pepper?"

"Whatever you think is good."

Simple enough.

Adam hauled the bowl out, while I opened the meat. Adam dumped the breadcrumbs in, I broke up the meat with my hands and started mixing.

"What next?" Adam was not a grillmaster.

"An egg. That bottle of sauce in the fridge. Salt and pepper."

He collected all that.

While I got elbow deep in animal flesh he added the ingredients judiciously. Soon we had a nice sticky mess.

Getting a cutting board, I scooped up reasonable chunks, mashed them into burger shape with my hands, plopped them down.

When it was full I sent Adam out with the burgers plus the open wine bottle. For refilling the cook.

The sound of a hog got loud on the street, stopped.

Showtime!

Quickly washing my arms with soap and water, I fished a beer from the fridge, hared out the front door, greeted Butch.

She looked nervous as a cat in a rocking chair factory. Took the beer gratefully, popped it, took a long pull. That settled her some.

"In the back yard, when you're ready. I'll be running interference, so take your time."

A grateful look. Butch squared her shoulders, marched in the house. I followed a little behind.

Slut was up, had intercepted her, was giving her a big hug. Well, that would help too. Nothing like a happy homecoming to take the edge off.

Adam was back from the yard, bottle in hand, a glass in another. Handed the glass to Slut, shook Butch's hand, shared a few words.

I waited them out, then when Butch disentangled herself to go out back I collared the other two.

"Lets give them a minute." They both nodded, all of the same mind. Good.

I stood in the hall, not eavesdropping, just standing guard. Or so I told myself.

There was nothing to hear anyway. Butch had gone out, and nothing. No loud happy greetings; no yelling; no screams of wild passion.

It was actually a relief for once. This house was full of noise, as a rule. Quiet was a welcome change.

Then voices picked up in the living room. Adam, Slut, and now Preppy! She was chirpy about something.

I waited another minute, impatient to know what was transpiring out back, then had a flash. I fished another beer from the fridge, and headed for the back door.

As I got there, GG was coming in! Smiling. A good sign.

"Butch need a refill?" I displayed the can.

"Sure! She puts them down like water. Must be part Irish."

That I could believe. As I put a hand on the screen door, GG called back to me.

"Dick? Thank you. That was sweet of you."

I turned, gave her a sweeping bow, smiled my appreciation.

Butch was poking at the burgers. They didn't need poking, but Butch needed something to burn off nervous energy.

"Thanks bud!" She crushed her empty, sat it on the side-table, took the offered can.

Closing the grill, we just appreciated the evening air for a while. Chilly this time of year, and getting chillier as the days go by.

"She is good people." That from Butch.

"Yes. Livens up the place too!"

Butch toasted that, drained half her beer, belched.

Inside, the dinner party was well underway. The snack tray had been discovered, pillaged. Somebody had set out a card table, some folding chairs. From where I have no idea.

The wine, meant for dinner, was in glasses now, lubricating the mood nicely. A good cause; I approved.

GG was laughing at Preppy's story, something about turmoil in the Quant department over some missing briefs. Not sure if that was the legal kind or what.

Adam was gushing over Kitty's attire (when did she arrive!), which I noticed seemed a little worse for wear. The top button of her three-button shorts was missing, leaving them to hang open. Looked naughty as shit, but I think it was unintentional. Torn threads were visible where the button used to be.

Also her makeup was smudged here and there, and there was a dark streak on one clodhopper.

Nobody else seemed to think anything of it. Some backstory I didn't know, which was ok, I'm the new guy, I'd find out if anybody wanted to share.

Butch came in smiling with a clean platter full of steaming burgers, smelled like heaven.

"Alright! Grab a plate, and load up!" Butch's announcement quieted the hubbub, and folks headed for the kitchen.

I took last in line. Observe house traditions, didn't want to violate any norms if I could. Some places had a cash jar to help pay for dinner; some had servers to ration out grub, and so on.

Here it was the scramble system. Folks rooted around in grocery bags for paper plates, grabbed a fork from a drawer, snagged a bun and a burger. Condiments were available, first-come opened the fresh bottles and removed the paper seal.

Family-style, friendly and happy! I'm liking this house better and better.

Still, I'd hit up GG about contributing later. I knew for a fact I hadn't paid anything toward food yet, and that could not stand.

Four people settled around the card table at random. Being seven now that Butch was back, that left three of us to park on the couch.

It was silent for a time - one of those coincidental everybody-quiet-at-the-same-time things that sometimes happened at get-togethers.

I filled the silence.

"As the new guy here, I'd like to say how happy I am to be included in some of your house life."

Folks raised a glass, made some happy noise.

"And I'm especially glad to see the whole house quorum tonight, residents and friends, making time for each other, taking care of each other!"

Butch turned a little red but we all let that go without teasing, just cheers.

"And thanks to GG and Butch for this excellent supper!"

Now it was GG's turn to go red. Each expressed appreciation in their own way, Butch with a loud "Hell yeah!", Slut taking a huge slobbery bite of her burger and making moaning noises, Preppy raising her glass.

Kitty piped up, "To the house!", raising her glass.

We all drank to that, and conversation resumed.

Eating was followed by informal conversational groups. But it wasn't long before Adam made his excuses - a pre-med student had many obligation.

GG gave him a big inappropriate smooch and squeezed his ass on the way out, and he made some catty remark about her grabby hands. All good fun.

Butch and GG spent time on the couch, side-by-side, holding hands for an hour before GG announced it was cleanup time, went into the kitchen with Preppy close behind.