Music Teacher Blues

Is there ever a good time to clean out a garage? Not as far as I was concerned. The temperature was in the upper eighties and my shirt was so full of sweat it clung to my body like a second skin. Unfortunately, time was getting short. In another couple of weeks, I'd be back in the classroom explaining the difference between a quarter note and a half note for the next generation of Mozarts, and if I didn't get the garage straightened out, I'd have to leave my car in the driveway all winter. That wouldn't be a problem if we lived in Arizona, but in Chicago, it wasn't a lot of fun.

It's amazing how much junk two people can accumulate after only six years of marriage. No, that's not fair; a lot of the stuff I was going through predated Julie and I becoming a couple. For instance, I found Julie's old Dell laptop computer in one of the boxes. I knew it was the one she used in college and it was old back then. I dug around and found the charger so I plugged it in to see if it would fire up—nothing. I left it plugged in while I continued to clean and checked it again after a couple of hours, still nothing. Since it wasn't mine, I knew I'd better ask before just tossing it, so I set it off to the side.

Julie was amazed when she got home from work. She walked in and looked around. "Wow, you've been a busy little bee. It looks great, honey. You think we'll be able to squeeze both cars in here this winter?"

"Not yet, but I still have this whole section to go through tomorrow," I said, pointing to some boxes in the far corner. "I know there's stuff in there I can throw out and I'm still not quite done organizing the rest. We'll have plenty of room when I'm done."

"I'm impressed," Julie commented. "I don't imagine you've started anything for dinner?"

I just stared at her with sweat pouring down my face.

"Never mind," she said with a chuckle, "I'll start dinner, you need a shower."

Truer words were never spoken. I'd been at it since eight-thirty that morning and hadn't even stopped for lunch. I took my time in the shower. While I was in there, I heard Julie changing her clothes in the bedroom. I was hoping she'd come in and scrub my back, but no such luck. She was cutting up some potatoes when I grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Can I help?"

"No, I think you've done enough work for the day," she replied. "I've got pork chops in the oven. Dinner will be a little while, so just go sit and relax."

"Your wish is my command," I joked. I took my beer in the living room and stretched out in my recliner. As soon as she got the potatoes boiling, Julie joined me with a glass of wine. "I know you told me already, but I forgot where you're playing this Friday."

"Plato's Place, on Oakton," I responded. "Why, thinking of coming along? You haven't been to a show in a while."

"Actually, some of the girls at the office were talking about getting together for a ladies night out. I thought maybe I'd show them I'm not only married to the best music teacher in the world but one who's a hell of a guitar player, as well. What time do you guys start?" She asked.

"Nine o'clock."

"Oh, that's getting a little late. They'll probably want to start heading home around that time."

"Maybe I can talk the guys into starting a little early. I don't imagine Plato's manager would have any objections to an extra half hour of free entertainment."

"That would be great, hon. Would you be able to play "Guitar Man" right away?

I chuckled. It really was great to have a wife who was so proud of her husband. "Guitar Man," is a song that, of course, features the guitar player in the band. I always got to rock the house down when we'd played it.

"Well, I'll have to check with the guys and make sure they can get there early, but if that's not a problem, yeah, we'll make it the fifth or sixth song into the first set." I needed a little time to loosen up before playing that one.

A little later, while eating dinner, I happened to think about the computer. "Hey, hon, I found that old Dell laptop of yours in the garage. It doesn't work anymore, can I toss it?"

"Oh, dang, I forgot all about it. No, no, don't throw it out yet. There's still a bunch of pictures on there from college. When it stopped working, somebody told me they can still be saved. I forget what all is on there, but I know I have pictures of the girls at the sorority and a bunch of us all partying and acting silly together. I'll never see most of those girls again, so I'd like to try and salvage the photos if it's possible. I have to take it into one of those computer repair places, I guess."

I was certainly no computer genius but I knew it wasn't that hard to retrieve things from a hard drive. Bob Kramer, our computer science teacher, did it all the time when school computers would crash.

Julie had a birthday coming up in six weeks. I already had a nice pendant on lay-a-way and taking her out for a nice dinner was expected, but I could really surprise her with those pictures and it wouldn't even cost me anything. I could visualize her face as she unwrapped a small box containing the thumb drive.

The next morning, after Julie left for work, I stuck the computer and charger in the trunk of my car where it would reside until I saw Bob when school started.

By two o'clock that afternoon, I was done with the garage. It was a lot of work, but I now had ample room for both cars. I drove mine inside and closed the overhead door, knowing Julie would be stunned when she pulled in. I took a shower then started calling the other guys in the band to see if they could start early on Friday night. Once I got an okay from each of them, I called the manager of Plato's just to make sure it was all right with him.

It turned out to be a really fun night. Julie and her cohorts were already there when we started to set up. By eight-fifteen we'd finished our sound checks, so the guys and I walked over to their table to say hello. Julie introduced everyone. One of the ladies said she expected us to be really great because of the way Julie had been bragging all night.

I glanced at my watch. "Well, I guess we'd better get up there and see if we can meet your expectations." I gave Julie a kiss and headed for the stage while the other guys walked over to kiss their wives who were sitting at another table.

We had people on the dance floor already by the time we started our second song. I noticed a couple of the women from Julie's group cutting a rug and looked over toward their table just in time to see a guy who was obviously asking my wife to dance.

Julie loves to dance and I have no problem with her dancing with guys when I'm on stage. Rarely does she accept a slow dance, and if she does there's always a respectable distance between her and her partner. I've been told by friends who would sometimes come to a show and sit with Julie, that when she accepts a dance invitation from a stranger, she warns them that her husband is a member of the band and will be watching, just in case her dance partner had any ideas.

I felt a little bad asking the guys to start early because everyone from Julie's group was still there at ten o'clock when we took our first intermission. One woman even called her husband and asked him to come and join them. They didn't start wandering out until we were well into our second set. Julie and one other woman were the only ones left at the table by the time we took our second break. I ordered a beer and joined them.

"Julie wasn't wrong when she bragged about you guys, you're really good."

"Thank you... Carol was it?" The last of Julie's group nodded in confirmation with a smile. "Aaron, the keyboard player is another music teacher. It's just a hobby for the rest of the guys but everyone takes it seriously and works hard to do their best."

"Well, it shows," Carol replied. "I wish I could stay for the rest of the show, but I've got to get going. It was really nice to meet you, Dane."

"Same here," I said as I stood when she got up to leave.

"Honey, I'm going to join the catty table, but I probably won't stay the whole night." The wives of the other musicians were sitting at a table front and center of the stage. Julie wasn't real crazy about a couple of the ladies. She says they love to talk about other people, and not in a good way; hence, the "catty table" remark. Even so, she was always sociable and sat at their table unless she came with friends of ours.

"Okay, hon, we're about to go back on anyway. Give me a little wave when you leave and drive carefully."

"I will, honey. Now, get up there and show 'em what a band would sound like with a swingin' little guitar man," she said, stealing a lyric from her favorite song.

It was after two in the morning by the time I got home. I was still pumped and hoping Julie would be awake, but no such luck. She had fallen asleep on top of the covers in her sexiest negligee. It was obvious that she had the same idea as me but the late hour was just a little too much for her.

The next morning I was dreaming that my wife was giving me head with all the expertise and enthusiasm for which she was known... but only by me, of course. I could hear myself moaning and thought how real it sounded for a dream. Just then, I felt a warm sense of euphoria wash over me like a big wave. I opened my eyes and looked down my chest to see my loving wife looking back with a smile on her face and my cock in her mouth. Her eyes never left mine as she slowly took all of me down her throat then back out to the very tip when her tongue played.

"Don't you come yet," she said in her most sensual voice. "I want a horsey ride."

My dick was so hard it hurt. "Now would be a good time to climb on, honey."

She wasted no time in moving into position and throwing a leg over my body. She looked at me with a big grin as she reached back, took my throbbing cock, and guided it into the gates of heaven.

I closed my eyes and moaned with pleasure as her vaginal walls nestled my manhood into its warm home. I let my head settle back into the pillow as I felt Julie's hands run from my stomach to my chest as she slowly rocked back and forth. "Oh, God, honey, I'm afraid I'm not going to last very long."

"Don't hold back, babe, I'm almost there myself," she sighed.

As our pace quickened, I brought my hips up to meet Julie's bounce. I watched as her eyes snapped tightly shut and she threw her head back. I was holding off as long as I could but I was entering the land of no return when I heard Julie's cry; her pussy clamped forcefully around my stretched flesh and my whole body tensed. I almost bucked her off as my hips uncontrollably spasmed upward, but Julie was locked on, her back arched, her beautiful breast riding high on her frame.

"Oh, God," she cried out as my guttural grunts joined in sweet, amatory harmony. For just a moment, the world stopped, leaving only our passion to exist. I felt my lover's pussy muscles shudder just before she fell forward, onto my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her as we struggled for control of our breathing.

"That's sure a better way to start the day than having Folger's," I chuckled, making fun of the TV commercial.

I heard her laugh and felt her bare breast jiggling on my chest. She playfully pounded her fists on my chest. "Now you did it," she said, trying to sound serious. "You ruined the mood. Now we have to do it all over again."

As it turned out, we did it two more times, not counting me getting her off with my fingers as we showered. It was almost noon by the time we actually got our first morning cup of Folger's.

*****

Starting a new school year was always a bitter-sweet experience. As I sat at my desk and looked over the various classes, some students I recognized, some I didn't. Some kids I liked and some I didn't. I'm always reminded of last year's seniors who graduated, most of whom I'd never see again, and wondered how they're doing. For better or for worse, I always do my very best to mentor and nurture their talents. To each and every one of them, I try to impart my knowledge of music and sometimes a little wisdom from life's experiences.

I saw Tommy Benton raising his hand. It was his third year in my class. At best he was a "C" student and most likely would never make it as a musician; however, I always thought he had a good shot as a stand-up comedian. He was the class clown and I knew we were about to start the year with a laugh. "Yes, Tommy?"

I had forgotten all about Julie's computer until I saw Bob Kramer eating lunch in the teacher's lounge. I went over to the fridge, removed my own sack lunch, poured myself a cup of coffee, and joined him. "Hi, Bob, how was your summer?"

"Hi, Dane, not bad. Jan was able to get three weeks' vacation this year, so we took the kids to a beautiful little lake in Michigan. We all had a great time. How about you?"

We talked back and forth about what we did over the prior three months before I came to my original point. "Hey, Bob, my wife has an old Dell laptop that doesn't work anymore. I was going to throw it out but there are a bunch of pictures on it that she wants to try and save. Would you be able to take a look at it?"

"Sure, no problem, got it with you?"

"Yeah, it's in the trunk of my car."

"Okay, let's finish lunch and I'll walk out there with you. I'll stick it in my car and look at it tonight for you."

The next day we didn't see each other until after school and I was getting ready to leave for home. He called to me from the hallway as I was walking out of my classroom. "Dane, got a minute?"

I turned and saw him approaching. "Sure."

"I've got those pictures you wanted," he told me as got alongside. "Follow me to my car and I'll give them to you."

He had everything in his trunk. He first handed me a thumb drive. "Here're all the pictures I could find. She had them scattered all over the place. She had several files, but then she had a bunch in her email, and more in a general Window's picture file. I think I got them all. There's about three hundred in all."

Next, he reached down and took out the hard drive. He had it in a nice storage case. "Here's her hard drive," he said, handing it to me. "There's nothing wrong with it, so if she needs anything else, just let me know."

The only thing remaining was the computer itself. "Do you want the rest of it back? If not I'd like to keep it. I can scavenge it for parts."

"Yeah, no problem, keep it," I told him. "Julie just wanted the pictures. I don't think she harbors any sentimental feelings for the case," I joked.

"Okay, thanks. I got a look at some of the pictures when I was transferring them to the thumb drive. Some of them are hysterical," he said.

I thanked him again before we left. On the way home, I thought about the thumb drive. I'd seen some that were really pretty with hearts of rhinestones all over them. You can even get them with a person's initials engraved into them. The one Bob gave me was just plain. I still had a month before Julie's birthday, so I thought I'd check out Amazon and a couple other places to see what I could get. At least that was the plan.

Julie had picked out a couple romantic comedies on Netflix and we cuddled on the couch until it was time to go to bed. I certainly wasn't going to pass up another night of lovemaking so the fancy thumb drive would have to wait.

The next day, I saw Bob again and I wondered if he knew where I could get a fancy thumb drive. I stopped him in the hall. I knew he had to get to class but it was just a quick question. "Hey, Bob... "

"Hi, Dane, something else you need?"

"I was just wondering if you know of any place where I can get a fancy flash drive, something a little more fitting for a birthday present?"

He chuckled. "You have come to the right place, my friend, but I've got to get to class right now. See me after school," and with that, he turned and continued down the hall.

I was still packing up at the end of the day when he stopped by my room on the way out. "So, you want to transfer those pictures to a fancier flash drive?"

"Hi, Bob, yeah, something pretty."

"Like I said, you came to the right person. I have a friend who's a photographer. He has a studio on the north shore. He's expensive as hell, but up there people couldn't give a shit. He does nice work, so he charges accordingly and people pay it. Anyway, he does a lot of high-end boudoir stuff."

Just the thought got Bob sidetracked and he laughed, "Not a bad job, huh; they pay him big bucks to shoot gorgeous women in sexy underwear. Of course, like he says, they're not all gorgeous, but that whole area up there is filled with trophy wives, a lot of whom were models in their former life.

"Anyway, he's the one to see about fancy flash drives. He includes them in his boudoir packages. He can even have it engraved for you. The name of the studio is Hanson's Photography. It's in Wilmette. You can look up the number online. His name's Carl. Give him a call and tell him what you want. Tell him you're a friend of mine and that I told you to call him. I'm sure he'll have some you'll like and will probably let you have one for wholesale."

"Bob, once again, I'm in your debt."

"Don't mention it, Dane, always glad to help."

I wrote the name of the studio on a piece of paper before I forgot it and stuck it in my briefcase. I called him the next day during my lunch hour and made an appointment to see him at his studio that Saturday. Then I had to come up with a believable excuse for Julie as to where I was going. It was almost an hour's drive, one way, from our house. I figured two and half hours up and back. I hated lying to her but I knew she'd already forgotten about the pictures again and I really wanted it to be a complete surprise. I finally told her I was going to the driving range to hit balls with a buddy of mine.

Bob was right about it being a high-end photography studio. The place was gorgeous, inside and out. Carl met me at the door and invited me inside. The first thing I noticed were the large photos he had mounted on the walls of the outer office. Most of them were really nice portraits, some I recognized as politicians and celebrities from the area, but he also had a few of beautiful women, scantily dressed in expensive lingerie.

"Bob was right," I said while staring at one of the boudoir photos, "you have a job that most men would die for."

He laughed, "Yeah, I guess I do."

"This is somebody's wife?" I asked while still staring.

"No, I'd never display a boudoir shot of a client, not even with their permission. No, she's a professional model."

"She is one beautiful lady," I commented.

"That she is," he replied. "Okay, you said on the phone you were looking for a pretty thumb drive for your wife. Come on with me and I'll show you what I have."

He led me to another room he called the reveal room. He said it was where they brought clients to show them the pictures they'd taken and sell all the amenities that went with the various packages. He had leather-bound, hard-cover books he could have printed with their photos and a bunch of others, depending on how much the client had to spend. I was getting nervous. Everything looked very expensive. He took out all the flash drives he had. They were all mounted on black velvet. One caught my eye immediately.

"Damn, that's gorgeous!"

"You have good taste, Dane. That's my most expensive one."

"How much?"

"Two thousand dollars."

At first, I didn't think I heard him right. I stopped for a second to try and think of what he could have said that sounded like two thousand dollars. I couldn't think of anything. "Did you say two grand?"

"That's what my clients pay for it, yeah. It's twenty-four karat gold plated and those are real diamonds."