Loud and Clear!

An LW story from a non-participant's viewpoint. Inspired by another LW storyline that was so distasteful that throwing on a subsequent chapter did not resolve it. Prevention is the best cure!

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"Oh mom, you gotta be kidding me! I just started my job, so this is no time for me to be asking for some vacation off! I need my job to get through college!"

"Well, Aunt Judy wants to have yard work done plus some tress planted. She specifically asked for you, her favorite nephew. She really has her heart set on your helping her out, so please do not let her down!"

That guilt trip was courtesy of my mother. Here I am some years ago, the July after I had turned 18, freshly graduated from a science high school and she has me farmed out. This, even though I was able to swing a nice tool & die apprenticeship at a jewelry factory in the diamond district of Manhattan. Actually, one reason why I got the job was to get out from under my parents' manipulations. Yep, there is a power play under way between us control freaks. All I can say is that I learned from the best. She is well aware of that fact and has to be quick on her toes to trip me up.

This trip-up was a good one, as I do like to visit my Aunt Judy and Uncle Horace. Not that they are related to me. They are good friends of my parents, where I was taught to call them Aunt and Uncle. Never saw any reason to stop calling them that.

"Judy is expecting you the week after, when Uncle Horace and your dad are on their fishing trip."

"Oh really, I can't go fishing or go to the beach because I got me a nice job doing things I have been wanting to do for years, and you just up and ship me off to Long Island just like that? What'll Mr. Bracchi think of me if I ask off a whole week so soon?"

Mr. Bracchi is my boss at the jewelry factory, where he runs the tool & die department. He is a down to earth Italian, short and single. He does a great job explaining what needs to be done, but takes no shit from anyone. Not looking forward to having to ask him for time off.

My mother is reading my mind: "Aunt Judy will cover any pay you would lose for time you are helping her."

Ehhh? Not exactly what I was worried about, but this is interesting. This apprenticeship pays much more than minimum wage, another reason I took the job over my parents' objections. Why were my parents objecting? Because I was working for free in their family business. I had enough of that, so when one of my shop teachers asked if I was interested in a summer job where I could keep on working part time while in college, there was no need to think, I just asked who do I call and thanked him for the lead. I was in good graces with all of the shop teachers in high school. Being the teacher's pet can have beneficial results!

"You know this makes no sense. Aunt Judy wants yard work done while Uncle Horace is off fishing? They have plenty of lawn guys out there in Glen Cove, plus Uncle Horace makes more than enough money as a lawyer to pay a service to do the work. Why me?"

"Well, we had this planned out before you went off and got your factory job. Now you are trying to wriggle out of helping your Aunt and work in the city instead?"

Hehe, my 'factory job', as if retail was any better? Good to see my holding a job outside of the family was having the desired effect on my parents.

"The time has come to stop including me in your scheduling. I am booked for the next four years with college or work and not available for your resource allocation needs. I still help you out with scheduling your work and workers, did not leave you high and dry there. That should help you adjust to my not being around much anymore."

Planning? Lots of that happens in controlling families, especially in our family business. I always did a better job of that than my parents. As I found out when I got to college, I possess a natural skill for operations research concepts, which explains why I can whip up the best schedules without a second thought.

"Now Rodger, be reasonable, we have this planned out and Judy is depending on you to help her out the week after."

Mom is really pushing on this, maybe a last gasp to rein me in before college?

"OK, I get the hint. If it was someone else, I would say no, I have a job, and I would not even consider taking off. However, I do not want to disappoint Aunt Judy, especially since the two of you worked something out that you failed to tell me about and include me in on it. Tell you what, I will ask Mr. Bracchi if I can have off the week after, and see what his take will be. If he balks, then I will speak to Aunt Judy and see if we can work out an alternative. Then again, Mr. Bracchi might be a nice guy and let me take that week off. We shall see."

"Well, that is so kind of you to try to stick to the original plan."

"Mom - you did not include me on that 'original plan', so you are now reaping the results of what you sowed. Other people are depending on me now."

Did I mention that my mom was selfish? That trait was one that I disliked and made all effort not to emulate. Not that it was hard for me to avoid, I never had a desire to keep all for myself. This guilt trip was a tried and true tool of her trade.

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So we left it at that. Now I had to come up with a way to approach Mr. Bracchi and ask off without getting fired. Mr. Bracchi normally brings a lunch bucket and eats at his desk. He has offered to chat with me during lunch if he is not otherwise engaged and I have taken him up on it.

I wanted to get the vacation quandary quickly out of the way and not evade the topic, so I asked Mr. Bracchi early in the shift the next morning if he was going to be eating at his desk. He said sure and I could join him if I wished. So far, so good. We eat at his desk and after we are done chowing down our sandwiches, Mr. Bracchi remarks:

"So Rodger, I see you are a bit antsy today. Something on your mind?"

So transparent am I?

"Mr. Bracchi, I hope you do not think I am a bum or something, but I am in a bind and I have to find out if it is possible for me to take off the week after next?

Mr. Bracchi looks at me, raising his eyelid.

"This is not my doing. My mom made arrangements for me to help my Aunt out on Long Island, and she just told me last night about it. If you say I must work and need to provide more notice before taking a vacation, I will tell my aunt and mom that I cannot take off. They will have to live without my assistance.

"I have a feeling that you would like me to say that officially, so you can get out of helping your aunt?"

"To tell you the truth, I enjoy trips to my aunt's house. But having started this job now, I really do not feel that staying in Long Island is better than working here."

"Let's hear you say that a year from now!"

"So far I have enjoyed working here, would hate to think that something could come up to make me not want to work here anymore."

"That is why I am grateful Mr. Rubenstein sent me your name as a candidate. I see you as a valuable employee, even when you shift into a part time schedule as you head off to school in the fall. I will give you the week after off as vacation. I realize you are reluctant to help your aunt out, which means you are not trying to pull my leg and blow off a week at the beach."

"Yeah, and she has yard work planned for me, so this is not much of a vacation in my mind!"

"A word of advice. I know you do not think much of your family, but they are the first ones that will have any concern for you. After them, there will be few people around that will care for you. It gets real hard to replace such people, so it is in your interest not to irritate your relatives."

"Of course, since you have not accumulated any vacation time, therefore the week off is without pay."

"I fully expected not to be paid. This should be the only time my parents will interfere with my schedule and have me take off for a family event"

"OK" says Mr. Bracchi as he gave me a look that said "yeah, right". "You know I am going to have to get Hector in here to clean and grease the machines while you are away."

Mr. Bracchi smiled at that one. Yep, Mr. Apprentice, that's me, starts from the bottom and works his way up. Not that I minded. The machines got a really thorough going over from me, at least in the beginning of my employment, as I used the task to see what parts they had and how they all ran. I took way longer than Hector to do the cleaning, but Mr. Bracchi has not complained about that yet.

So that was my lunchtime talk. Got the week off, kept my job, plus got some advice to boot. That went better than I expected!

During lunch later that week I asked Mr. Bracchi why he was not married. He told me that he was once but is now divorced. No kids, but I could tell from talking with him, and the unspoken words, that this topic was painful for him. He did allude to the fact that the lack of kids was part of it and his wife strayed on him. There's a factoid to file away for future use, marriage vows can be ignored if the spouse can somehow justify it.

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One skill I possess is the ability to tell when things are not what they seem. In other words, I can tell when people are not telling the truth, or at least withholding information. This is an aggravating gift, in that it is useful only to me, since I have nothing more to draw my conclusions from. The first few times I used these findings in a public manner terribly backfired on me, so I keep my mouth shut when I realize that I have a liar in front of me, or I walked into a situation that was not as expected. This gift is also not consistent. Some people can still pull the wool over eyes, at least not for too long a time.

Mom is always worried that I did not have a girlfriend and rarely went on dates. This is an outcome of my interaction with girls earlier in my youth, especially those my age and younger. I have a couple of traits that other people like about me, such as having intelligence and being able to fix stuff. When it came time in class for group projects, the girls all wanted me to join their group. Also, knowing all about things and that I could fix them, even at a young age, got me many opportunities to be friendly. Being able to deliver the goods has its benefits, but when it came time for extracurricular activities, then I found out I was being used. The word selfish comes to mind when dealing with girls.

So mom was on my case to spend more time with girls. She also wondered aloud whether I was a happy guy. After that remark I made it quite clear that such abdominal behavior was anathema to me, so she had nothing to worry about in that department.

"I was not worried honey, some guys like other guys, nothing wrong with that. Just that if you wanted to live that way you would need lots of support, as society does what it can to make the lives of gays miserable. And there is nothing wrong with guys loving each other."

"Really? Well this guy ain't loving any other guys, that's for sure!"

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The Sunday start to my adventure finally arrives. That morning Uncle Horace shows up at our apartment to collect my dad. Here I find out that the two of them are heading up to the Catskills, something new, at least for me.

"So how come it is only you two guys, leaving Aunt Judy and mom behind? I thought the Catskills had more than fishing? Nice hotels, entertainment, dancing, you know, the stuff that couples like to do?"

"Our usual campground is being renovated this summer, so we had to find an alternative, and Uncle Horace was thinking this year about adding to the list of things we do. Plus he is covering the bigger hotel bill."

"Wow, awful nice of Uncle Horace. Still, without your wives? They are OK with being left behind from a fun vacation week?"

"Yes Rodger, without our wives. We planned this out together awhile back, and they are fully aware of what we are doing."

That word again, planning. There is way too much of it for a simple fishing trip. Who in their right mind would shut down a business in prime moneymaking time? And this trip was planned well in advance, leaving me out of the loop, especially after I told them about my full time "factory job"? This situation is sounding weirder the further into it we go. Going without your wife. I have to wonder what happens after you get married that you would even consider going to a nice hotel without your wife?

"Now Rodger, I am sure that Judy will be happy with your company while I am away from my house. Just do a good job in the yard and she will make sure you have a good vacation too."

Weirder is the keyword now. I never considered manual labor as a vacation. Then there was a tit for tat just expressed. So if I do a bad job I will have a lousy vacation?

"Sure Uncle Horace, if you say so."

"Well you behave son and make sure Judy's garden is well fertilized."

"OK dad, you and Uncle Horace have a relaxing time at the Catskills too!"

Guess I just found out I will be doing more than mowing and planting trees. This conversation with the adults had to be the most weirdest yet. Dad and Uncle Horace head out, looking chummy with each other.

That leaves me now to pack my bag for Glen Cove. Do not need much, all fits into a backpack that I will take onto the train with me. Last chance to get out of the manual yard job.

"So mom, as I mentioned before, this makes no sense to me, doing yard work for Aunt Judy. The only thing I ever planted was flower seeds into Dixie cups full of dirt when I was in elementary school."

"Do not worry son, Judy will be more than happy to show you how to take care of her garden and how to fertilize it. It is something men have done all these years, and I am sure that even you can do it too."

I give up, looks like I am going to Long Island.

"Mom, will you be OK by yourself this week?"

"You do not have to worry about me Rodger, I have a few things planned for myself to keep me occupied. You just run along and catch the train. Remember Judy will be waiting for you at the station, so please do not miss the train."

"Alright, I am off. Bye mom, enjoy yourself!"

"You too!"

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I head out the door with my backpack for a week of digging fun. I walk the four miles to the LIRR Jamaica station to get the train to Glen Cove. I could have taken a couple of busses, but would need to transfer, so walking was the most expedient way to get there. Plus having been raised in NYC, walking was second nature to me, something you just did. Then again I have a feeling I walk way more than most people, even those living in NYC. That was driven by my meager allowance. I would walk and skip bus trips in order to keep money in my pocket for important things, like candy and replacing lost Spaulding balls. By the time I was 18 I probably could have entered the Olympics as a walker. Shame I never knew of that sport until I was much older.

Buying the ticket I was tempted to take the train all the way to Oyster Bay and get off at Glen Cove on the return leg. I love trains and would make up any excuse to take a trip, not to reach a particular destination, rather for just the experience of the train ride. That includes the subway too. Problem is that the extra ride to Oyster Bay would cost me over an hour on a Sunday schedule, keeping Aunt Judy waiting and worrying. So I just bought the direct trip to Glen Cove.

The train ride was pleasant and uneventful on a hot, sunny day. Shame they run diesels to Glen Cove and not electric trains that one could stand behind the front door and look out the window.

I am standing in the vestibule of the train car as we pull into Glen Cove station, holding on tight as the engineer lazily stops the train, allowing the couplers to jerk the cars around. A good or caring engineer could avoid the coupler slop, but not a bored engineer looking for excitement.

I see Aunt Judy standing by her car in the parking lot. I wave and walk over, where Aunt Judy gives me a squishy hug.

"Glad to see you again Rodger."

"Nice to meet up with you again Aunt Judy. Cannot wait until we get to your house."

One thing I can count on when visiting Aunt Judy is a fresh pot of coffee in the afternoon with a dessert. Supposedly that is what they do in Europe where she is from, and I always enjoyed taking part in that. So we are sitting in her doing room talking.

"You have grown into a fine young man. How tall are you nowadays?"

"I am just under six foot, pretty much done growing now Aunt Judy."

"You are the same height as Horace. You can stop calling me 'Aunt' now Rodger. You are an adult, and there is no reason for you to call me that anymore."

"That is going to be hard for me Aunt Judy. That is a term of respect, and not many people get that level of respect from me."

After chatting we go into the garage to make sure we have all of the equipment to do the yard work. They have a nice garage with lots of shelves, plus a drop down stairway to the garage attic. Aunt Judy says there are some items she needs to get down from the shelf above the workbench. She asks me to hold onto her as she clambers up the bench and reaches for the highest shelf. At this point I notice that she is wearing a short sundress. As I hold onto her calves and as she reaches up I see that she has nothing on underneath! This is an utter surprise to me and I have no choice but to let go of her legs. Consequently, she starts to tumble down. Luckily I kept a few wits about and was able to keep her from falling off the workbench, but in doing so, her butt lands in my face as I grab her thighs. I finally get myself in position to lift her and push her back onto the bench top.

"What happened Rodger? Why did you let go of me?"

"You have no underwear on!"

"That is no reason to let go of someone you were supposed to keep from falling!"

"Looks like my mind thought different and I lost control. Not everyday I look up a woman's dress and see stuff I should not be seeing. I did not let go on purpose, women normally do not show me their undersides. I was in an unfamiliar situation and did not know what to do!"

"Instead of letting me go you could have said 'the scenery is great from down here' and kept holding on!"

"Really? You would want me to let you know I saw your bottom? Are you saying that you did that on purpose?"

"Yes Rodger, girls do not mind if sometimes a guy sees their 'bottoms'. The smart man will know when to make a comment. You need to realize that situations will come up where you will be close to a woman and see or feel things that are private, whether on purpose or not. For your information, it is hot today and I did not want to burden myself with extra clothes, so I did not put on any underwear, as you saw. Nothing wrong with that!"

"Except I got to see the lack of underwear, and there is nothing wrong with that? All the time we are taught 'Modesty is the best policy'. So what changed now?"

"That was when you were a kid. Now you are an adult, so the rules are not the same."

Ow, my brain hurts! Equivocallity strikes again, but why is it coming from my aunt of all people? She says it's now OK to let people see your private parts? It used to be so simple and relaxing when I visited Glen Cove, now I have some doubts.

"Well, are you able to help me get these things down or not?

"Maybe I should be the one up there, but if you insist, I can hold you. I promise not to let go of you this time."

I was careful and made sure I kept supporting my aunt. There was one heck of a lot of body contact as we collected the garden paraphernalia and got them to the garage floor. Once done, Aunt Judy explained what the items were to be used for in the garden. After that we went into the house to cool off from being in the hot garage. After a cool drink I went outside to look around the yard. Aunt Judy joined me shortly.