A Weird One Ch 13

At work I was given something different. I was sent to see Hal Lebowitz who was the production line manager.

"We ere going to give you a taste of the regulatory part of the operation. We have to comply with the regulations put out by various state and federal regulatory agencies like OSHA, the EPA and local agencies like the fire department. Al Westin (assistant supervisor on day shift) and Jared Beals (assistant supervisor on the second shift) are the assigned safety inspectors and it is their responsibility to see that we stay in compliance with the appropriate regulations.

"Your father feels that it is time for you to see that part of the operation. I'm going to put you with Al and maybe a couple of evenings with Jared for the next two weeks. Have you met Jared yet?"

"No. I've never even heard the name before."

"He is one of the ones we picked up from Johnsons. He's good. We pissed off some of our people when we put him on as assistant supervisor instead of promoting one of our own, but your father felt that having one of their own in management would be good for the morale of the Johnson people and I agreed with him on that. With Jared's help the second shift was up and running trouble free from day one.

"For one thing if the new people see something wrong they aren't hesitant to bring it to Jared's attention where they might have been worried about their jobs if they took it to one of our people. You do know about the BTTW principal right?"

"Can't say as I've ever heard of it."

"Because that's the way we have always done it." New people are always leery about stepping on toes so they don't want to come to management and take a chance at getting labeled as trouble makers. Having one of their own in management takes that fear away. We have had a couple of the new people come forward and point out more efficient ways of doing some of the things we have always done and some of them are even more cost effective.

"I will tell you this young Robert; you talking your dad into using the out of work Johnson people to start a second shift was a stroke of genius."

I didn't bother telling Hal that I had done no such thing because everyone ignored my denials anyway. He put me with Al and Al filled me in on such things as MSDS data sheets and where to find the book that contained them and then he walked me through the plant and pointed out the areas that seemed to concern OSHA the most. Uncluttered walkways, shields on grinders, spills on floors, blocked exits and exit signs with burned out light bulbs.

"They are big on covers and guards on moving machinery and, believe it or not, extension cords. I've seen them come in here and unplug every electrical cord in the plant to make sure that the grounding lug is in place on every three prong plug in the place."

We spent the rest of the shift walking the plant while he pointed out areas that needed to be watched. When you come in tomorrow I'll sit you down with the OSHA file and you can familiarize yourself with past OSHA inspections. It will give you a better idea of what to look for."

I stopped by the office on my way out and Shelly and Andrea had already punched out and gone home. I stuck my head in Marge's office to say hi and I got a smile and a:

"Not tonight stud. I have family things to do tonight."

It dawned on me that unless I was free for the night I should stop dropping in on Marge. Otherwise I would be put in the position of saying no when she told me that she would meet me at her place. I wasn't sure how that would go over so best that I avoid the possibility.

As I drove over to pick up Nancy I did some serious thinking. I was going to have to give up some of my harem. Gail was already gone, but mom, Mary, Marge, Pam, Shelly, Andrea, Gloria, Nancy and Natasha all added up to more nights than there were in a week and Tasha got two of them so that left five to split between the other seven females. Mom I could handle in the mornings for the most part and Shelly, Andrea and Gloria could be handled – again, for the most part – at work. That still left four women and only five nights and Nancy was expecting to get at least two of them. Fuck! Thinking about that reminded me that Pam had asked me to call and I hadn't. Shit! Even if I had called her when could I have gotten free to go see her?

What to do? How weird was that? A nineteen year old having to decide what pussy to give up when most nineteen year olds were trying to figure out how to get some. Oh yeah. My life was definitely weird.

+++++++++++++++++++

When I picked Nancy up I asked her what she would like to do after we had dinner.

"Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On our talk over dinner."

"Why wait? We are talking now."

"Once I get started I'm not going to want to stop. I'm going to want to keep going until I get it all out. In three minutes or so we will get to the restaurant and then I'd have to stop until we got inside and were seated and then I'd have to start again. I'd rather wait until we are sitting down and won't be going anywhere for a half hour or so."

"Sounds serious."

"Not really. I just need to get some things out."

Once insides Duke's Steak House, seated and our orders given I reached across the table and took Nancy's hand and said:

"Okay sweetie, the floor is yours."

"Sunday I let my mouth run away with the neither one of us is virgins stuff. I came across as some slut willing to lie down and just get it on with you. I don't know why I was thinking that all I had to do to take you away from Natasha was screw your lights out, but that is what was going through my mind.

"There has to be more to a relationship than just sex and I know it. We have known each other since grade school, but only as friends. I've wanted to know you better, but it never seemed to happen. Make no mistake here Bobby; I fully intend to screw your lights out, but I have no expectations that the sex alone will make you mine. I was looking at myself in the mirror the other day and asking myself what was the best way to make myself look appealing to you when I realized I was being stupid. Looks and sex are only part of the equation.

"We need to get to know each other on a higher level than a grade and high school friendship. It is entirely possible that once we get to know each other a lot better we will decide that there is nothing there other than the friendship we had going in. Can you understand where I'm coming from?"

"Of course I can. But in the spirit of honesty I have to tell you that you have your work cut out for you if you intend to try and take me away from Natasha. To be brutally honest I don't believe that you can do it. Natasha is the only one that can put an end to us,"

I explained our instant connection the first time I laid eyes on Natasha and went on to explain what had driven us apart. I also explained the agreement that we had in place.

"That said you need to understand that just because I date a girl I expect sex as part of the date. I am perfectly content to just go out on dates and have a good time without even expecting a goodnight kiss when I take the date home."

"You feel that strongly about Natasha?"

"I do, but again, she can end things in a heartbeat by what she does with others. Love or not I will not allow myself to be shit on. I will not just automatically accept whatever she does. So. Does this change things where we are concerned?"

"I don't think so. I do want to get to know you better and who knows; we may just form a relationship strong enough that if Natasha does do something stupid I will be in place to step in."

Just then our order came and as soon as the waiter left she smiled at me and said:

"Just so you know. For dessert I still intend to screw your lights out."

Based on sex and appearance alone Nancy was everything that a guy could want in a girl. She had no trouble at all in screwing my lights out. It was going to be interesting to see just where our relationship would go.

++++++++++++++++++++++

I had just left the house for school when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Good morning lover. I missed you on Wednesday."

"Something came up and I couldn't make it."

"I know all about that 'something' and I want you to stop by tonight if you can."

"It may be late. We have a second shift running at the plant now so I might not get off work at my normal time."

"I'll wait lover."

School was school. Gail joined me at lunch and as was her style she started on me as soon as her butt settled onto her chair.

"I want my Thursday and Sunday back Bobby."

"We have already been over this Gail."

"No we haven't. You looked at it from the babysitter standpoint only, but there is a lot more to it than that. You were never just a babysitter to me Bobby. I admit that it started out that way, but if you will remember back to the very day that you met Nat I said then that if I hadn't already gotten Tom I would have gone after you.

"I knew, but didn't want to admit it to myself, that Tom and I were done when I came back from my visit to him. I was down, but not out because I had you. All I had to do was wait until the next time Nat did something stupid – and she will – and then I'd step in and make you mine. To do that I need to be close and to be close I need my Thursdays and Sundays."

"What makes you think that Natasha will do something stupid? You don't think that she has learned her lesson?"

"The only thing that Nat learned out of the Eddie mess is that no matter what she does you love her enough to eventually take her back. You will fight it, you will be pissed and you will ignore and avoid her, but you will eventually cave and take her back and she knows it. I don't doubt for a minute that she loves you, but she is willful and she is the perfect example of a "me first" person. What she wants is what she thinks she should have and she will go for it and worry about cleaning up the mess later. Trust me on this Bobby. I know her and I understand how she thinks.

"And I know you too. I know how much you love her, but I also know that your capacity for forgiveness is not infinite. Sooner or later she is going to go that half-step too far and when that happens I need to be where I can pick up the pieces."

I wasn't sure about her being where she could pick up the pieces, but she was pretty close with the rest of it. I did have my concerns and worries where Tasha was concerned, but I did love her. Gail was wrong about my capacity for forgiveness though. I took Tasha back once, but I wasn't at all sure that I would do it twice.

"And don't be holding the gangbang and Terrell against me" Gail said, "You are the one who planted the idea in my head when I told you that I needed more than I was getting from you. As far as Thursdays and Sundays go they are all that I had because they were all that you would give me. I would have taken all seven days if you would have given them to me.

"My God Bobby, at least be a little fair about it. You had Mary, Nat and your mother and all I had was you. With the string you have you know you didn't even miss what you didn't get from me that night. And how many of those times that you broke a date with me were because you needed to see one of your other ladies? So cut me a little slack okay?"

"What you are saying is that you see yourself as Mrs. Robert Marchant at some time in the future?"

"Say the word Bobby and it could be as soon as next week."

"You can put Tom behind you that quick?"

"Tom put me behind him. I have just finally accepted it. That first gangbang was Tom's goodbye kiss. How about it Bobby; do I get my days back?"

"No; at least not for a while. Nancy feels the same way about Natasha as you do and she says she is going to take me away from her. I told her I'd give her a chance and to take her best shot. As close as we are Gail you could have let me know how you felt a lot sooner and it probably would have made a difference. I can't give you your days back, at least just not yet, but I will find a way to make some time for you while waiting to see how things pan out with Nancy."

"That's it? That's the best you can do for me? After all we have been to each other that's all I can get? An "I'll find a way to make some time for you?"

"Don't get snippy with me Gail. You more than anyone should know what promises mean to me. It was my promise to Tom that got us to where we are right now. I promised Nancy that I'd give her a fair shot and so I will. She gets Thursday and Sunday and Natasha gets Friday and Saturday and that leaves three days. Mary and mom get two of them and that leaves me one night a week when I can do something besides fuck. Add to that my job is stretching into the evenings since we added the second shift and then there is homework, reading assignments and papers to prepare. I do not have a surfeit of free time Gail and do not forget that I did not take your nights away from you. You gave them up when you broke our standing Thursday night date to go play with an asshole. If you aren't interested in taking what I can give you when I can give it tough shit!"

I got up and left.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

At work Al sat me down with the file that contained copies of all of the OSHA inspections that the business had undergone. As I read through them I gained a good deal of insight into the governmental mindset. What came through was that most of the people doing the inspections were nit picking idiots.

Most of what was written up was nonsensical bullshit. On one inspection they had written us up because the left shoe of an employee working on a piece of machinery that had moving parts had a lace that had become untied. According to the OSHA inspector it was an unsafe condition because the lace could possibly have been caught in the machinery. It was ludicrous. The moving parts were at waist level, the employees feet were on the floor, the untied lace was maybe three or four inches long and it was going to get caught in moving parts at least three feet away?

By the time I had finished the file I had a firm picture in my mind of what an OSHA inspector was. He was some one who had never worked a day at a real job in his life. He had gone to school, earned a degree and had gone straight to work for the government when he graduated. Once hired he was indoctrinated by a chair-bound bureaucrat who had also never worked a day in his life and whose sole purpose in life was to perpetuate his job security.

Then the new hire was given a book of regulations that were written by another clown who had never worked a day in his life and had no idea how things were out in the real world. Once the new hire had read the book he was told to write up as much as he could.

"The more paperwork we generate the more higher up believes we are needed" or something along those lines.

Then he was turned loose to wreak havoc on people whose only crime was that they had to work for a living.

Near the end of the shift Al asked if I could stay a little late and spend some time with Jared Beals on the second shift. I'd been expecting it which is why I told Mary that I might be a little late in getting over to see her.

When I was introduced to Jared I recognized him right away. He was the man who told me that he and his friends had my back the night Eddie and his three buddies had planned to stomp my ass. After we had shaken hands I said:

"I never got a chance to thank you for your help that night."

"No thanks necessary. We take care of our own and you became one of us when you talked your dad into starting a second shift to take advantage of all the skilled people that Jonhsons put out of work. You save a lot of people from some serious financial hardship son and we won't forget it."

"I keep telling people that I didn't have anything to do with it. My dad said we needed to expand the plant because of all the new business we had gotten and all I said was that it would be cheaper and quicker to just add a second shift."

"That is not the way your father tells it. He puts it all on you and me and the boys believe him. Get used to it son. When you get to be old enough to drink you will never have to pay for even a sip if one of us is around. Now let's walk the plant."

I can't say that Jared showed me much as far as what OSHA expected, but I was introduced to a lot of people and I shook a lot of hands. I also decided not to waste my breath any more in denying that I had anything to do with "saving" all the Johnson people.

Just before I left to go punch out Jared did give me a piece of information that went a long way toward explaining the idiocy that I had seen in the OSHA file.

"Congress does not fund OSHA or the EPA with near enough for them to operate properly so they are basically self-funded. The fines that are generated by their inspections are what keeps them in business so they WILL find something every time that they stop in. It doesn't matter how safe we are they will find something they can fine us for just to keep their paychecks coming."

++++++++++++++++++++++++

I called Mary and told her that I was on my way and she told me to come right in when I got there.

"You know where to find me lover."

And I did. Up the stairs and first door on the left. I found her just as I expected. Naked and waiting. She smiled at me and spread her legs wide in invitation. I knew when she called am and said that she wanted to talk that there would be some rather strenuous activity taking place before the talking began so I had been undoing buttons and pulling down zippers as I made my way up the stairs and in less than ten seconds from when I entered the room I was naked and on the bed with her.

She wanted oral to start. Check! Missionary. Check! Sixty-nine. Check! And then anal. Check and double check!

As she was washing off my cock with a wash rag she asked, "Now what is all this nonsense about that you couldn't be here Wednesday? I know what I was told, but I'm having trouble believing it."

"I don't know what you were told, but..." and I explained the situation as I saw it.

"So what? Gail is a big girl now. If she wants to have fun so what? Up until she showed up here two weeks ago her sexual experience was limited to you and Tom. You on the other hand have been involved sexually with at least five others besides her and your involvement with the others short changed her so why are you upset that the poor girl wanted to have some fun?"

"That isn't what I am upset about. You were there when Terrell offered to take her home with him and call some friends to keep her busy right?"

"So?"

"Did I not say in front of everyone there that she couldn't because we had plans for Thursday, but as soon as I left Terrell talked her into stiffing me on Thursday and go with him and she did it. I was not here Wednesday because I would have called him on it and ruined the night for you and everyone else. I'm pretty damned sure would have gotten you severally pissed at me."

"Nonsense. If he has it coming it wouldn't have bothered me a bit."

"Maybe. But what about mom? She is back into her college days with her basketball team and my getting into it with Terrell could screw it up for her."

"How do you figure that?"

"What happens when I'm getting the best of Terrell and his teammates all jump in to help him? You think mom is just going to stand there and let three or four guys pile onto her baby? I'm pretty sure that she doesn't want anyone at the party knowing that I am her son. It is just better that I don't be here."

"Are you sure that it was all Terrell's fault?"

"The only things that I am sure of are that Terrell heard me say that Gail and I had a date for Thursday and that at noon on Thursday Gail told me our date was off because she was going to get together with Terrell and some of his friends. Doesn't matter how it happened Terrell knew he was poaching when he got with Gail on Thursday.