Upon high school graduation most of my friends got to travel, and those that didn’t travel had jobs, and whoever was left, moved to a small town to live with their grandparents and get a summer job. As was the case with me. My parents believed that it would help to form me into a proper young man if I spent the last two months before college earning money and staying with my about to be senile grandparents. It did upset me a bit. I mean, not only did I have to move out to a place where the idea of boredom is actually something they think up when they have nothing else to do, but I also had to work. I couldn’t just sit on the couch and watch TV. Which is exactly what I wanted to do. Either that or be online.
I was packing up the rest of my bags reminiscing about the year gone by. Here I was now, almost 19, still a virgin. I had tried one night, I took a girl out for coffee and a movie. It was to no avail though, apparently she was on some kick trying to get her ex-boyfriend jealous and by the time I dropped her home they had made up via cell phone. Just a wonderful evening all around.
I pulled my two large black duffle bags together and walked them over to the front door. At this point it would be a relief just to get away from my nagging parents.
“Christopher!” I heard my mom yelling for me from the kitchen, then she appeared around the corner and stopped. She took her hand to her chest and gave me that sappy look. I knew she was gonna cry, in four, three, two…
“My baby is leaving now,” she crumbled before me and the tears began to flow.
“Ah ma, don’t worry about it okay, I will be seeing you guys in a couple of weeks.” It always made me sad when my mom got sad. She spent so much of her time trying to make things good for me. Being an only child I was spoiled, and my dad was away on business most of the time, so I really got showered with affection from her. She was a caring country woman, very petite, with a dark brown mass of curls that she usually pinned up. She was actually quite attractive. As a boy growing up through those tough years into the teens, on occasion I did sneak a little peek into her room when she was changing and the occasional glance when she would come from the shower and walk to her bedroom. Totally nude. It wasn’t that I wanted to have her for myself. It was just the sexy, curvy form of a woman that was so pleasing to the eye, no matter what woman it was.
So my day moved on. It was a series of good-byes and good lucks from my neighbors, mother and father, and finally I was able to dump my bags into the back of my beat up little Honda and take the dreaded drive to nowhere special about 4 hours away.
When I arrived at my grandparents house it was just like it had always been since I was a little boy. My grandma came out to the car to greet me, hugging and kissing, and telling me how big I was getting. My grandpa stood at the door with a sulk on his face waiting for me to go over and greet him.
“Hi grandpa,” I smiled at him and reached over to give him a hug. He stood rigid as always and nodded to me as I stepped back and looked me up and down.
“Your mother says you watch a lot of TV.” His tone seemed to be accusing as he looked down at me. He had his arms crossed and he was playing tough. I had to hold back a laugh, my grandpa had always been like that, there was no changing him.
“Yeah, I’m afraid so gramps, it’s terrible you know, they say TV is the root of all evil, but for some reason I just can’t get enough of it.” I turned and winked at my grandma and put my arm around grandpa and walked inside with him.
“Well we’ll put an end to that bad habit.” His voice was full of authority as he said it, even though he marched right into the living room once inside and plopped himself into his easy chair and grabbed for the remote control.
***
After a couple of days I was settled into my summer home. I had gone for a walk each evening and really got a feel for my surroundings. My grandma had taken me to the grocery store with her and now the locals all knew everything about me, where I was born, at what age I got my first tooth, and of course my relationship status. The condolences came pouring in. I think 3 or 4 ladies had made dates with their daughters for me.
After coming home from the store I went out for another walk. It was so quiet and peaceful, nothing like it would be in a busy city. It helped to overcome the boredom of sitting at home with the grandparents. It darkened quite a bit and I looked up and noticed that the sky had changed. It was now looking gray and heavy, and I saw lightening further away. I picked up my pace and walked back toward my grandparents home.
Just as I began to walk quicker the rain came down with a roar. It was full, the kind of rain that you could actually shower in if you wanted to. As I got closer to my grandparents house I saw their neighbor quickly rushing back and forth through her front door. She was carrying what looked like cupboard doors. She was flustered and mumbling to herself. I had overheard my grandmother talking about her with some of the other ladies. She had only moved into the house a month ago, and they had found out that she was divorced, so all the tongues in town were wagging over that one.
