It had become the highlight of my day, sitting out on the bench in front of the apartment complex I called home, waiting for the school bus to drop the students off. This gives you an idea of how exciting retirement was for me, but at 65 you take your thrills anyway you can.
Each day at 3:35 or so, the Catholic school girls go by, dressed in identical outfits that were as stereotypical as they come. White short sleeved blouses, red and white plaid skirts and white knee-high socks. I rented a porn movie that had girls dressed almost the same way, so maybe that's why the outfits put a little lead in my pencil.
There's four of them that go by usually, three of them walk together and go past my bench first. I say something pleasant like, "Good afternoon ladies," and they giggle among themselves without responding.
That hasn't stopped me from continuing to speak to them all year, but the year is almost over so I guess time is running out. The fourth girl is different though. She walks alone, behind the others, trudging very slowly with her books clutched to her chest. Her I like.
She's a loner, much like I was back then. Not as pretty as the others, but she has a nice smile. Nicer now since she had the braces taken off, and I've managed to make her smile recently when she started responding to my greeting.
And here they come. Only two of them in the main pack today, and they giggle when I wish them a nice day, probably thinking that I'm an old pervert wanting to get into their britches. Perceptive little snots.
Then comes Madison. I found out her name last week, and I thought that she was giving me her last name when she said it.
"No, that's my first name. Madison. Madison Moore," she told me, blushing as she spoke. "Dumb name, huh?"
"Not at all," I assured her. "It's nice. Different. Bob. Now that's a dumb name. There's a billion Bobs, but not many Madisons. You're unique."
"I guess," Madison said with a shrug before continuing home that day.
"Good afternoon, beautiful," I proclaimed as Madison approached. You're even prettier than this beautiful sunny day."
"Hi Mister - Bob," Madison said, correcting herself after recalling that I had insisted that she call me by my first name.
"Tough day at school?" I asked, and she nodded.
"They all are."
"Well, in a few weeks you'll be done for the summer," I reminded her.
"Boy, those are pretty," Madison said, referring to the lilac bush in front of the building.
"Lilacs? Yeah, they are something. Too bad they don't last long," I said. "Have you ever been back there? There's a whole lot of them."
I gestured across the way at the patch of woods about the size of a football field. There had been a FOR SALE sign in front of it for about a year, and I was always afraid that somebody would buy it and level the only thing resembling nature around there.
"Really?" Madison asked. "I would like to see that someday. Maybe I could take some home. I know they would get mad if I took them off of this bush here."
"I could take you back there now, if you like," I offered. "Unless you have to get home that is."
"No. Mom doesn't get home until after 5," Madison offered.
"Then let's go!" I said, jumping to my feet and leading the way, hoping that nobody was watching me bring this schoolgirl into the woods.
How old was Madison, I wondered as I led her to the path that led to the lilacs. She looked about 16. What was that old saying? Old enough to pee, old enough for me? Well, having managed to avoid anything more than a parking ticket over 65 years, I had no interest in going to jail for a little piece of tail, no matter how tempting the prospect.
"So Madison, what grade are you going into next year?" I asked, trying to figure out her age from that.
"Freshman," she said. "College, I mean. I graduate next month."
"Really?" I said. "I had no idea. How old are you?"
"Eighteen," Madison said. "Last month."
"Oh. Happy belated birthday," I said.
"I know I don't look it," Madison complained.
"It's not that," I said, but she was right.
Madison was about 5'6" or so, but was skinny, without much of a figure as far as I could see. She always had her books clamped to her chest, but the peeks I had managed to get didn't show much. That was fine by me. My wife was an A cup and I loved those little titties of hers until the day she died.
"You're very mature," I said. "Much more so than your friends seem to be."
"They aren't my friends," Madison said as she stepped over a fallen branch, referring to the other girls that rode the bus with her. "I'm not very popular."
"Bet you're a good student," I suggested, and she nodded. "Jealous of you because you've got beauty and brains."
Madison shook her head, but while she knew she wasn't pretty in a classical sense, she liked being told that, even by an old fart like me. And to me she was cute.
"Oh wow!" Madison said as we reached the lilacs, which were just hitting their prime. The aroma was strong and the purples were brilliant under the filtered sun that lit them up.
I helped Madison pick some flowers to take home, and after we got done I suggested that we sit on the stump of a tree before heading back. I didn't need the rest so much wanting to stretch these moments out as long as I could.
"You live alone with your Mom?" I asked. "No sisters or brothers?"
No. I have an older sister, but she's married."
"Your father?" I asked, and Madison shook her head no briskly.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked, and Madison shook her head again, but not briskly and with a little smile.
"Me? Omigod no."
"Oh. Are you a - you know?"
"A lesbian?" Madison said, and burst out with a laugh, a bright and happy laugh that was so melodic that I joined in. "No, but maybe I should try that. Maybe they aren't as particular as boys are."
"I don't know why you say that, because I think you're a lovely young woman," I assured her. "If I were your age I'd love to be with you."
"Boys like girls than are more, you know, like girls should be," Madison said, and when I told her I didn't understand, she explained.
"I've got a big nose and a flat chest, for starters," Madison said. "Hairy as a bear too."
I had noticed the hair on Madison's arms, but the long downy fur didn't repel me like it may her generation. I adored it, alone with the faint down that circled in front of her ears, and it made me wonder if she was also hairy down below.
"You know, a lot of men find this attractive," I said as I reached my hand over to touch her forearm, finding the hair just as soft and fluffy as I had expected.