That evening Matthew left Poseidon with a better haul than he ever got as a busboy. He waited for the Q12 bus for the two mile ride home. While standing in an industrial strength pool of light from a streetlamp, a champagne sedan pulled up; the window rolling down on the passenger side and a cacophony of female laughter bubbling out. Vicky yelled out the window, "Get your fine ass in here." Shrieks of laughter burst from the car.
Matthew bent down to look into the car. It was the women from the table he waited earlier. He spotted Leslie in the far side back seat. Leslie yelled while stifling giggles, "Can we give you a lift?"
Matthew couldn't help laughing along, but he was in his work clothes. He smelled like fish and cooking grease. On the heels of that thought, he remembered what Janine said to him, "They'll eat you alive." Anxiety flared; it would be easier and safer to beg off. LEAP! Matthew said, "I'd be grateful." The women cheered.
Leaping out of the car, Tanya, the young blond, ushered Matthew to sit between her and Leslie. Noreen the older brunette was driving and Vicky rode shotgun. Matthew jumped into the happy car and Tanya followed.
Noreen asked, "Matthew where can we drop you?"
Matthew, wanting to keep Leslie in sight for as long as possible, looked at Leslie and asked, "Where am I going?"
"Girls, shall we take him home?" asked Leslie. The women cheered.
Matthew wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into, but the company sure was happy.
Tanya ran her hand up and down Matthew's thigh while smiling at him. He was here for Leslie! What was Tanya doing? He looked to Leslie for guidance, raising his eyebrows silently questioning. Leslie put her hand on his other thigh, patted it, smiled, and said, "It's okay, if it's okay with you."
Tanya demanded, "You have to get her permission?"
He stifled his urge to dissemble and retreat, and instead, LEAP! He shrugged and replied, "I am hers."
"Why? You could be mine," Tanya challenged and stuck out her chin.
Anxiety twisted, LEAP! He explained, "Leslie kissed my soul... she gave me a soul kiss while I was working in a crowded restaurant; I forgot where I was," he shrugged.
Leslie beamed a smile at Matthew, "I like that, a soul kiss."
Anxiety returned, he needed to put himself out there for Tanya, again he silently commanded LEAP! He asked Tanya, "Do you still want to play with me?" He shocked himself with the question. He absently wondered if he'd been possessed. Leslie, Janine, and now Tanya, these women may actually believe he was a man, not a frightened meek little mouse.
"Is it okay with Leslie?" Tanya challenged sarcastically.
Matthew pondered the decision to embrace socialization. Mustering courage for a death-defying climb certainly required more effort, but the need for courage in social situations was constant: comparatively tiny, but constant. No, the effort wasn't tiny, the ramifications were tiny. One resulted in death, or the end of his travels, the other resulted in embarrassment or, maybe, outrage on their part, but the effort was the same. One he did all the time, the other: unfamiliar. Regardless, like doing the dishes or laundry, it had to be maintained regularly or the system broke down.
In social situations, setting expectations, enforcing boundaries, responding to challenges, establishing hierarchy, were frequently confrontational and required some courage and willingness to expend the effort to maintain. Dealing with people was one confrontation after another. Matthew doubted socialization's worth, but buoyed by his experience with Mrs. Ruben, LEAP! He smiled and said, "Yes,"
Tanya had too much to drink and felt a bit anxious; her free time was quickly running out. Tanya turned towards Matthew and put her leg up on the car seat and faced him. She leaned towards him sliding her left hand along his shoulder and slid her right hand all the way up his thigh to his crotch and squeezed. Matthew's hands balled into straining fists and his eyes went wide.
"Slowly Tanya, he's a virgin," Leslie said.
Tanya laughed, "He is not!" Then she looked at Matthew's reddening face. "Really?" She pouted and said, "You make me wanna cry."
Vicky looked back through the front seats with an amused smile and said, "Well we'll just have to fix that tonight. Would you like that?" Vicky's flawless ebony skin over delicate features made fascinating shadows that changed as they drove from streetlight to streetlight. Her warm brown mirthful eyes mesmerized him. Her smile widened upon seeing her affect on him.
Matthew's mouth felt dry; he swallowed. Not sure of his voice, he nodded and kept his mouth shut about not being a virgin. For all intents and purposes, his fumbling with long-suffering, well, truth be told, short-suffering Mrs. Ruben hardly counted.
Vicky looked at her girlfriends and challenged, "Pick any one of us to be your first."
Amazed, Matthew said, "
I
pick one of
you
? Anyone?" Heads bobbed. "You would do that for me?"
The women burst out laughing while Matthew frowned in confusion. Leslie smiled warmly, patted his thigh and said, "Yes, we would do that for you."
Matthew tried to take his eyes from Vicky's warm brown gaze, but failed. Tanya squeezed his hardening bulge to pry his adoring gaze from Vicky. He turned to Tanya. Vicky chuckled and said, "Tanya, you're as subtle as a bowling ball."
Tanya glared at Vicky and sniffed, but before she could retort, gentle fingertips touched her face. She turned to see Matthew smiling warmly at her. With just his finger tips, he traced her eyebrow. His eyes were wide with fascination. Tanya considered herself almost pretty when she dolled up, but she wasn't dolled up now, yet Matthew stared at her with such intensity, grinning while he explored.
His finger tips traced her lips. It tickled; his fingers were calloused and scratchy. Tanya chuckled and Matthew mimicked her, chuckling also. He was responding to her. The thought made her blush. She removed her hand from his crotch and touched his face. She softly pressed her lips to his. They were still kissing, parting, grinning and blushing at each other when they arrived at the apartments.
The car pulled round back of a brick, two storey, eight unit apartment building in which the women lived. They exited the car and Matthew walked behind the laughing women clutching Tanya's warm hand. They entered Leslie's apartment on the first floor.
Matthew was conscious of his smelly work clothes. Leslie showed him the bathroom, gave him towels and a washcloth. His clothes were whisked away. While he was showering the ladies checked on their children. Five single mothers lived in the one building. They rotated who watched the children while the rest went out for a night of fun.
While the arrangement was nearly optimal, in that the child rearing was communal and they each had backup, it also made him sad there were so many single mothers and being with mothers, particularly single mothers, gave him pause; it changed the dynamic. Mothers command respect and reverence that seemed contrary to his quest for sexual experience. Tanya seemed too young to have such a huge responsibility.
He was contemplating the disturbing conundrum while shampooing when the bathroom door burst open. The shower curtain was ripped open, disconnecting it from two of its rings. Tanya gazed at his privates hungrily. Fully clothed, she stumbled into the tiny tub, such that Matthew had to catch her.
Matthew shouted, "Get out, you maniac!" He laughed, his former concern blasted apart.
Tanya started unbuttoning her shirt. Matthew yelled, "You're getting soaked... outside the tub... and for chrissake take off your god-damned shoes..." She pouted so he softened his tone, "Get naked, I'll soap you up." He held her arm as she stepped out of the tub.
"You're bothy," Tanya slurred the accusation while kicking off her shoes. Apparently, they didn't just check on the kids.
Matthew went to close the damaged curtain, but Tanya blocked him while unabashedly staring at his penis. "It's cold!" Matthew complained, but Tanya cared not. She disrobed while watching him.
Leslie demanded, "What the hell?" She stood in the bathroom doorway and started to laugh. The other two peeked over her shoulder. "What the hell," she said again with different inflection. She kicked off her shoes.
Four women stared at his nudity, focusing between his legs. He wasn't shy about his physical appearance, and was proud of his package, but this was daunting. They stared like famine victims thrown to feast. Tanya threw her shower spattered blouse on the floor, while the others took a moment to gape.
"My, my," Vicky said grinning in appreciation.
The spell broken, Leslie lit a candle on the back of the commode and turned off the harsh overhead light. They disrobed in the near darkness that made thrilling hints and accentuated their feminine curves.
Matthew wore a silly grin surrounded by wet naked women in the tiny tub. Tanya, Leslie and Vicky joined him standing in the tub. Noreen sat on the commode adjacent to the tub, drinking wine trying to catch up as she was the designated driver. They left the shower curtain partially open so she could watch. She watched the antics with a vacant grin.
Matthew worried. He was dealing with older experienced women... plural. It is anathema for a man to admit sexual inexperience, but his worry became distracting. Matthew knew voicing the deficiency would relieve the pressure; the concern would somehow be shared with the women. He'd be freed of the worry. LEAP! "Ladies forgive me, I don't have much experience."
"Perfect start! That is the number one, most important rule to being a good lover. Communicate!" Cried Leslie.
Vicky said, "...and she'd know. She's a sex therapist."
Matthew turned to Leslie grinning, "Really?"
