It was a long weekend. Memorial day weekend. My parents had planned a private getaway seeing as their 20th anniversary coincided with the holiday. It also coincided with my 18th birthday, which fell the Thursday before the holiday weekend. A quick and quiet celebration for me, and a nice long private vacation for them. I could be bitter about my lack of celebration, but I wasn't. No, I was bitter about the idea that at the age of 18 they still didn't trust me.
Instead of letting me stay in the house for the weekend, they insisted I stay at my friend Jeffrey's all weekend. You throw one party at the age of 16, and the parents end up eternally locking you out of the house when they're not there. It was fine, though. Jeffery and I had grown close over the last year or so, taking many of the same classes in school. We even got into the same technical school, both planning our careers in the gaming industry. This weekend should be nothing less than getting high, playing games, tinkering with our frankenstein PCs, and maybe sneaking some of his parent's liquor.
Having just turned 18, you think I'd be excited about finally being an adult. Truth was I still felt like a kid. The video games and lack of sex with girls didn't help. There was my girlfriend when I was 16, of course. She gave me a few blowjobs, and I got to play with her tits and finger her every know and then, but she wasn't ready to go any further, and I didn't want to push her. We broke up in sophomore year. She started dating some joke, and I started gaining weight. I'm wasn't FAT fat, but could definitely lose about 20 lbs. And I had lost about 12 of those pounds in the last half of senior year. But still, not luck with the ladies.
When I arrived at Jeffery's, his house was in utter chaos. Jeffery's father, Jack, opened the door. He was still yelling back over his shoulder as he did so. His eyes found mine and the awkward look on my face was apparent. He flinched somewhat, but then started casually trying to mask his embarrassment.
"Hey Greg, sorry. We're having some technical difficulties over here." He smiled. Then his eyes dropped, scanning me up and down. His head titled ever so slightly. "You lose weight?"
"Um, yea. Maybe a few pounds." I replied, confusion and discomfort clear in my voice.
"Good for you. Come on in." He walked away leaving me to enter and close the door behind myself. The sound of Jeffery's mother Valerie and sister Allison arguing grew as I walked into the house, through the living room and into the kitchen area.
"That's bullshit!" Allison cried.
"Watch your mouth!" Jack responded sharply.
"Jeff gets to have his friend stay here all weekend and I can't hang out with my friend for one night?!" She complained with an every increasing pitch to her voice.
"They're sleeping here where we can see them, you're talking about going to a party at your friends house, where there will be boys, booze, and god knows what." Valerie responded. "I'm not stupid. I saw your IMs. You're trying to go to a party, not a sleepover." Allison screamed.
"You went through my messages! You're a total nazi! I get no privacy!" She kept going on her temper-tantrum as Jack turned to me. The shock and awe was impossible to hide.
"Jeff's upstairs." He gestured to the staircase with his head. Not wanting to spend another second in this mess of a situation, I hopped up the stairway quickly. As I made to turn on the first landing and make my way up the return flight I was able to catch a smile on Jack's face as he watched me. A sudden odd sensation struck me, a rush of excitement. But as I left his gaze it quickly subsided.
"Go away!" was the call that greeted me as I knocked on Jeff's door. I entered quickly and jumped into the room.
"You jacking off?! Caught you!"
Jeffrey laughed but barely looked away from his computer screen. He was entrenched in a game, one of our favorite's. An online shooter that had just come out about two months ago. Luckily the bags I brought contained my laptop, because as close as we were in our friendship, Jeffery wasn't one for sharing his computer. I connected to his internet, joined his game, and our night was off and running.
It might not sound like a whole lot of fun to many of you, but this was our weekend nightly routine. We met tons of people online, and frequently played with many of them. We talked in recent months about going to some gamer meet-ups and conventions. But, most of us lacked the finances to do so.
After a few hours I got thirsty, and a little hungry. As a frequent guest in the house I felt fairly comfortable raiding the kitchen pantry and fridge. "Hey, I'm grabbing a snack. Need anything?"
"There's like a half a pizza leftover in the fridge. Grab that and some pops." Pops. Jeffrey and his family had recently moved from the Chicago area. Having grown up in California, I never got used to him saying "pop" instead of "soda".
Jack was in the kitchen when I entered, but thankfully the scene was now quiet. He was alone, pouring himself a scotch. He didn't notice me until I opened the refrigerator. He wasn't startled, but took notice.
"Hey there. Guys have been at it a while up there." He took a sip and turned to watch me raid the fridge. I uttered a simple 'yea' in response. "You're looking good. I imagine you're not just playing games all day. You been working out or what?"
I turned to him holding a pizza box topped with a six pack of small coke bottles. "Not really. Just been, you know, watching what I eat." The irony became palpable.
"Not tonight of course." He said with a small laugh. He took a sip of his scotch. I laughed back, mostly out of politeness. "You want some?"
"Sorry?" I replied. He raised his glass slightly.
"Scotch. You boys want some?" His face was frank, and unwavering. He wasn't joking.
"Um-" was all I could muster.
"You're both eighteen. You're men, right? Old enough to be drafted and die in a war. Old enough to vote. Old enough to get married. Old enough to have sex freely," his eyes made a relaxed gesture. Almost a trick of the light, as if it didn't actually happen. But then he continued, "Way I see it, you boys are old enough for a drink."
He turned around and picked up the bottle. He reached over to the cupboard above the sink and pulled out a pint glass. He began to pour his scotch into the glass, nearly filling it completely. He raised it and examined it, as if measuring it with his eyes.
"That otta' be enough for the two of you." He said. He turned and handed me the glass. I wasn't sure if it was the balancing act I had to do with the cokes on the pizza box in one hand, or the shock of the moment that made accepting the drink tricky to accomplish, but I was able to manage. "This should loosen you up a bit."
Another trick of the eye. Was it a wink? No. He didn't wink. And if he did, it wasn't THAT kind of wink. He was enjoying giving alcohol to underaged teens, that was all. Being the "cool dad".
"Just, don't tell Jeffrey. I don't want him taking liberties with my liquor cabinet." He smiled. "Just, say you swiped it or something. " He nodded at me, and I returned it with a nod and smile of my own. "Our little secret." It was said as I turned away, so at the time I couldn't be sure it's intent since I didn't see his face. But the tone was suggestive to say the least.
Jeffrey was both excited and shocked when I showed up in his room with a pint of scotch in addition to the soda and snacks he was expecting. "You swiped it from my dad's liquor cabinet? He's gonna freak!"