Cousin Mark was six years older than me, but it was a long six years because he'd done four in county lockup. I'd always been half impressed with him and half scared of him.
Mamma Billie had me make spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread for the guests. I was getting the meat cooked when cousin Mark and his new girlfriend came up the driveway in his truck. A guy on a motorcycle with a girl riding on the back rolled up behind them. Cousin Mark's girlfriend looked like she was a few years older than him, she was a blonde in a purple leather jacket. The other couple looked like bikers, all in leather and denim and wearing black boots.
"Hey JJ, what are you doin' here?" Cousin Mark asked as he opened the kitchen door.
"I'm staying with Mamma Billie for awhile." I said, stirring the meat.
"Your mom throw you out?"
"Nah," I said, "I'm just helping Mamma Billie keep this place up."
"Shit, she got you cookin'? You better watch out or she'll put you in an apron!" He laughed and gestured to his friends. "This my new piece, Debra, and this is Chooch and Kenzie."
"Hey," I said, nodding at the surly bunch, "Mamma's out back on the patio, smokin'."
Cousin Mark slapped my shoulder and led the pack out to the patio. I put the spaghetti into the boiling water and checked the garlic bread to make sure it wasn't burning. "Hey!" Mamma Billie yelled. "Bring out some glasses!"
I brought five glasses out to the patio. They were sitting around the table, and Mamma Billie was counting out Zani-bars. "60 dollars for ten, or 100 dollars for twenty." She was saying.
Of course cousin Mark wanted to buy fifteen for 75 dollars, and they were dickering about it for a while. Chooch finally stepped in and said he'd throw in the extra 25 dollars. "Bring us the big bottle of Jack that's on top of the fridge." Mamma Billie told me as Mark and Chooch counted money and pills.
I brought the bottle out as Mark and Chooch and Kenzie were taking the pills. Debra had moved next to Mamma Billie and she was hitting Mamma's glass pipe, smoking crank. Mamma took the bottle from me and poured drinks.
Mark was looking at me, and I could tell he was trying to figure out what I was doing there. "Get the weed outta my dresser and roll us up some joints." Mamma Billie said.
"Ok," I said, "I gotta check on the garlic bread first."
"Do what the fuck I say an' don't talk back." She said.
"But..."
She raised an eyebrow at me and I stopped talking. I felt my face go red as everyone watched my reaction. Debra let out a little giggle. I turned and walked toward Mamma Billie's bedroom.
I sat in the living room and started rolling joints. By the time I'd finished rolling three joints, I could smell the garlic bread burning. Good, I thought, that's what you get. I went to the patio and tossed the joints on the table. Mark was in the middle of a story, but he stopped talking and looked at me. "Dinner will be ready in a minute." I said.
As I finished getting the meal ready I kept thinking about how Mamma Billie was treating me like I was a woman and she was a man. She was ordering me around like I was her wife or something. I brought the food out as everyone was laughing at something cousin Mark said.
"Get the pitcher of iced tea and some more glasses." Mamma Billie said, still laughing.
"You better do it quick," Mark said, "or she'll take away your X-Box privileges."
They all laughed as I went to get the iced tea. Everyone put some pasta on their plates, but Chooch was the only one really eating. His girlfriend Kenzie was nodding off and Mark was pounding Jack Daniels. Debra was trying to make small-talk in her tweaked out way, and everything was okay until Mamma Billie noticed the garlic bread. "JJ goddamn it, how're we supposed to eat this?" She held up a particularly burnt piece of garlic bread.
Debra shut her motor-mouth and smirked at me. Mark and Chooch looked to see how I'd react. The only person not looking at me was Kenzie, who'd fallen asleep with her head on the table next to her uneaten spaghetti. "Sorry about that." I said.
Mamma Billie hurled the burnt bread at me and it bounced off my head. Everyone laughed. I acted like I didn't care and took a big bite of spaghetti.
"Make yerself useful an' drag this passed-out slut to the couch." Mamma Billie told me.
I put my fork down and went over and shook her, but she didn't wake up. "She's in lala land," Chooch said, "you're gonna hafta carry her ass."
She wasn't very big, so I put one of her arms around my shoulder and lifted her up. "Wait," cousin Mark said, "bring her over here, I wanna show Mamma Billie somethin'." I brought the unconscious girl over and Mark hauled her top up, exposing her tits. "Check out Debra's work," Mark said, "Chooch had her do it last month."
I looked and saw that both of the girl's nipples were pierced and had hoops through them. "You do piercings?" Mamma Billie asked Debra.
"Yeah, I keep my piercing kit with me wherever I go." Debra said.
Mamma Billie reached over and tugged on one of Kenzie's hoops. The girl stirred. "That'll make her horny as hell if you do that." Chooch said.
"The cool thing about nipple piercings is they keep your nipples hard all the time." Debra said. "Her titty-tips are in a constant state of arousal now. We're gonna do her clit next week."
"See Mamma?" Mark said. "I told you my girl was kinky."
It seemed like they were done messing with Kenzie's tits, and she was getting heavy, so I carried her into the house and dumped her on the couch.
When I came back out Debra was sitting on Mark's lap, whispering to him. Mamma Billie was eating big bites of spaghetti. Mark laughed at something Debra whispered as I sat down. He looked at me while I ate. "I think it's real nice, you stayin' here an' helping Mamma Billie out." He said to me. "You got a good thing going, free room and board, and all you gotta do is a little cooking and cleaning.
I noticed Debra smiled when he said the word 'cleaning.'
"Oh he might not be a good cook," Mamma Billie said, "but he's a real good cleaner, aren't you JJ?"
I shrugged.