To the readers: I have intentionally omitted physical descriptions of the characters in this story, other than as necessary to illustrate a particular aspect of the storyline. I think that gives the reader greater freedom of imagination and identification with the characters. It's a rather long story, but I hope you enjoy it. I know I did writing it.
I arrived home from work about the usual time, finding Cindy in the kitchen,
as usual
, preparing dinner. I walked up behind her as she was mixing something on the counter and gave her a kiss on the side of her neck.
"Hi hon," she said without turning around, "So how was your day?"
"Fine. Nothing all that newsworthy. How 'bout you?"
"Oh, same as usual. The idiot next door, Mr. Bailey, came over again to complain about Roach digging under the fence and getting into his yard. I told him we had tried to reinforce the dirt with wire so he couldn't dig through, but Roach apparently found another spot to dig. I told him we'd work on it this weekend, and in the meantime I'd keep Roach tied up. Honey, we've got to do something about it. If that idiot comes over one more time, I'll . . ."
"I'll get on it Saturday." I looked out the window into the backyard and could see Roach, our Jack Russell terrier, tethered by a ten-foot rope, which allowed him access to his food and water dishes, and shade, with plenty of lawn to do his business. He was just laying there with his chin on his forepaws, obviously unhappy with his restraint. "You'd think a three-year-old dog would have learned by now. As if we haven't chewed him out enough about the digging. Well, he can just suffer until I can get the chicken wire laid down."
She shook her head. "And . . . Tommy got his report card today. He got another D in math. I really thought he'd improved over the past couple of months, but he says he just doesn't get it. I actually do feel sorry for him. I know my first year of algebra was one of the worst times of my life."
"I'll have a talk with him after dinner. Maybe we need to think about a tutor if his teacher can't bring him around, just to get the basics down. From there, I don't see why you or I can't help him the rest of the way. Geez, it's not
that
hard, once you learn the basics."
"Okay. We'll talk about it later. I need to concentrate on what I'm doing, or this damn soufflé will be more like a pancake again."
"What else's on the menu? Smells good, whatever it is."
"Stuffed pork chops. I told you last night that's what we're having."
"Oops, I forgot. Oh, by the way, Friday night's rapidly approaching and we haven't made any plans. Tommy'll be sleeping over at Rick's, as you know. Hate to waste the evening."
"I know. I've been thinking about it, but I haven't been able to decide between John and Larry."
"Well, let's not wait until the last minute." I had to raise my voice when she turned on the electric mixer. "It'd be a bitch if we called John, or Larry, and find out they're busy Friday. You remember the last time we called Larry at the last minute, said he had a date lined up that he couldn't break."
"Bill, that was the night before. We've still got three days."
"Fine. When you decide,
you
call this time. But when one or the other of them tell you
Sorry
, don't blame me if you get stuck with little old me Friday night."
"If neither of them can make it, I'll just call someone else. It's not like John and Larry are the only ones we can call."
"Hey, you're the one who said you were trying to decide between them. You wanna call someone else, that's fine with me. It's not me they'll be fucking." As I said this she turned the mixer off, my voice not immediately adjusting to the sudden silence.
"Shh! Tommy's in his room studying—keep your voice down."
"Sorry." I turned down the volume on my voice box accordingly. "But honey, seriously, I want you to have a good time, and I don't want you to have to settle for one of the other guys just because John or Larry isn't available. Call tonight, okay?"
"Promise. Do you want me to invite him over—whomever I decide to call—for dinner, or would you prefer we just make it cocktails and sex?"
"Mom! What time's dinner?" Tommy called out from his room.
"About thirty minutes. Make sure you wash up before you come out. Don't make me have to send you back."
"All right," he muttered in barely audible tones.
"So, which will it be? Dinner or . . .?"
"Depends on who it is." I didn't have that much of a preference as to who was between my wife's legs—with minor exceptions—but some of the guys were lousy dinner companions, and I didn't relish having to sit there making small talk while we ate supper. With them, I'd just as soon have them get down to business as quickly as possible with a minimum of social banter. I had to go easy on this, knowing that Cindy enjoyed a more gradual seduction before she jumped into bed. I didn't want to spoil her fun just because I wasn't all that good at small talk. "A couple of the guys have never eaten here before—dinner that is (I chuckled a little)—hard to know what kinda food they like."
"I caught that," she said with a sneer that morphed into a grin. "Tell you what, let me give John a call as soon as I put this in the oven. If he's available, we'll have spaghetti. He likes that. And if he can't make it, I'll call Larry, which means making my mom's fried chicken. Give me a few minutes."
I pulled a tumbler out of the cupboard and grabbed some ice from the fridge, to which I then added a couple fingers of Crown Royal. I sipped the drink and looked through the mail that was sitting on the counter next to the phone. I grimaced. Bills, ads . . . more bills. Since Cindy had stopped working last year, I was a little more sensitive to our expenses. The looming likelihood that Tommy was going to need braces certainly added to the concern.