The Vicar of St. Dunstan's has what many men would call an ideal setup: a circle of women, called the Quilting Ladies, who attend to his needs in a--comprehensive manner, so to speak. The membership of this circle has shifted over the course of the larger story, but the overall relationship has remained fairly stable. This series has provided glimpses into the Vicar and his Quilting Ladies: since no story can tell a tale of every detail, many of the Vicar's ordinary carnal activities with them are unrecorded, but fairly regular, with one forty day exception.
The Vicar's parents are in town for a visit, and he is genuinely glad to see them, however his regular rotation is necessarily--impeded, but not interrupted.
I'm too old for this, I thought. Up and down my plastic steed went, as we traveled a circle to the traditionally raucous music that merry-go-rounds played. It was an historic landmark, this ride, yet its value as a cultural icon made it no less fun for Sheila Button's grandchildren Cecil and Clive. The frustration I was feeling wasn't due to having the boys, ages 10 and 8, out for the day.
The ride ended, and the boys chimed almost in unison: "Let's have another go, let's have another go."
"I don't see why not? How about it, Wilma?" My father replied.
My mother laughed. "Well, they say 'you only go around once', but we can prove that old saying wrong, can't we?"
My parents landed at Heathrow a week before, and after they recovered from jet lag, we took a leisurely drive through England down to the English Riviera. Sheila Button lived nearby with her son Clive and his three boys, and she gladly served as our social director while we were in town. Our lodgings weren't far from hers: Lucinda Parkhurst-Frazelton offered us a bungalow that had a stunning view of the Channel for our stay. The Button household was in a less glamorous neighborhood nearby without the dynamic view, but clean and neat. The weather was bright and sunny for July, warm without the scorching heat that western Kansas offered this time of year.
Our first night there was a festive occasion, Sheila fed us extremely well, and the boys adopted my folks as surrogate grandparents immediately, which Mom and Dad were happy to reciprocate. Into their third day together, I was starting to wear out, while the oldsters and youngsters were still going strong. The source of my frustration was our third different Merry-Go-Round, and I was getting a little dizzy.
My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. A glance showed a text message from Mother Mary Rufus:
07734 Hello
I responded in kind. She wrote back: <3 I love you
It had been a couple of weeks since I'd seen her; she was gone to a community meeting the weeks before my parents came to town. The Merry-Go-Round was making me a little dizzy as I tried to look at the screen. I ended up replying: ilyt I love you, too.
The next message came right away: iab iwfusb I am bored. I wanna fuck you so bad.
We'd gotten into text messaging around the time she left for her chapter meeting, but she hadn't been this direct with me before. This was usually the time of month we had our "spiritual direction" session in Plato's Cave on the grounds of St. George's Convent; although we usually had some early morning rendezvous at the Vicarage in the intervening weeks, she could be so horny that she almost ripped my clothes off before we had disappeared into the hideout.
m2 msh Me too, Me so horny
?u@ Where are you?
swgb Southwest Great Britian (I intended)
I didn't know if she would remember my trip with my folks, although I told her in my last email. Barbara (aka Mother Mary Rufus) could be very forgetful if things were busy around the Convent, and a huge pile was probably waiting on her desk after she got back from her trip.
??? She had forgotten. This was tough, for I didn't know enough cyberspeak to explain further. The plastic pony started again, and I was having trouble punching numbers.
"Wadd' ya doing, Alfie?" came my mother's sweet voice. She was looking back over her shoulder at me from her horse, which she was sharing with 8 year old Clive.
"Text messaging. Something's up back home."
A look of worry hit her face. "Is that Jonathan? What's happening?"
"No, no, Mother, not your home, my home."
The screen displayed: wtfaud What the fuck are you doing?
I tried to look down at the undulating screen and punched my next message with difficulty: w8 mos Wait. Mother over shoulder.
"But Alfred, our home is your home, it's always going to be your home."
"Mom, there's something up at St. Dunstan's. I've got to run back to the Button's and get online." She gave me a look of slight disbelief. The Merry-Go-Round went around again: the next group of little riders dancing in anticipation of their turn; Sheila's grandsons reveling in their circular gallop, shouting and stabbing with imaginary swords as the knights errant dispatched dragons and monsters; my father laughing from the bench behind me. The next message came: dltm wtfaud Don't lie to me. What the fuck are you doing?
Barbara was touchy sometimes, and I had to get to a better means of communication quickly.
I punched back a message in the clear: E mail me now
The reply came shortly: OK
The ride ended, and we got off. As we exited, I told my father what I intended. He nodded and said: "Okay, son. It's a nice morning and I think we'll head over to the beach for a nice, long while. The boys look like they could use some space, and I'm ready to lie in the sun. Be back for lunch?"
"I think so. If I'm not right back, go ahead without me."
"You're trusting there'll be leftovers."
"Call me a man of faith."
My Dad chuckled and waved me on. We had walked from Sheila's house, so I had to cover a lot of ground quickly on foot. My polo shirt and shorts were all right for the run, but I was wearing sandals, which made the pavement harder than usual as I sprinted through the streets. Sheila was dusting the front room as I puffed through the door, and a look of concern immediately crossed her face. "What's wrong, Father? Are the boys all right? Your parents?"