T4A+ Marcy: Spring Cleaning
Note: This story is not about characters from the T4A series. However, I consider these characters to be of the same reality. It's possible they may cross paths.
Marcy: Book One
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I: A box of porn.
Late Spring 2022
Thursday afternoon, 19-year-old college sophomore Evan Sullivan sees his mother's SUV parked at the end of the driveway as he approaches their house. He instantly knows this is a sign she has actually begun cleaning out the garage. His mother had talked about the task so often and never followed through that he paid it no mind when she announced, last night, her intention to complete the long-delayed project this weekend.
Evan parks next to his mom's car and observes the seriousness of her efforts. 'Stuff' is scattered all over the driveway. Evan resignedly texts his friend Blake, telling him he won't be online to game as planned, and his whole three-day weekend was now likely taken. Evan receives the expected rude, but good-natured, texts in reply, before informing his friend of the torture that awaits him, sending him a picture of the mess as proof. Thinking he'd get a sympathetic response, instead his friend asks Evan what his mom is wearing and can he get a picture of her. After texting his friend "you wish," he receives the reply: "yeah i do" - "dude youre so lucky." - "fuck man i'll come help." Evan replies with the "middle finger emoji" as he sees his mom step out of the garage into the bright Florida sun and wave.
Even dirty, make-up-free, sweaty from exertion, her long locks pulled back in a ponytail and hidden under a baseball cap, 39-year-old Marcy Sullivan still can't help but look cute. Her big, green eyes and thick, full lips smile in unison at the sight of her son. "I told you I was going to do it," she says, waving her hands at her progress.
"I never doubted you," Evan smiles, clearly fibbing.
"Uh huh, well I scheduled a junk man to come Monday. So we're on a schedule. Janel's going to come by Sunday to look at the furniture and lamps and see if she thinks anything else might be worth something. I called Re-Play Sports about that stuff," the mother says pointing at a pile of sports and camping equipment, "Nathan says he doesn't want any of it, so make sure there's nothing you want. Then, we really just need to go through my parent's stuff," she offers an obviously over-optimistic smile.
"Oh, is that all," Evan chuckles, surveying the walls of shelves of boxes and small mountain on the floor, filling up most of one side of the garage. "Nathan doesn't want anything?" he asks, referencing his, recently officially divorced from his mom, now ex, step-dad.
"No, he says you can have whatever and sell or trash the rest. C'mon, it won't be that bad. One weekend out of your life," Marcy pouts, rubbing her son's shoulder. She knows, like all the men in her life, her son can't resist her pout.
Evan laughs, "Okay, let me go get changed and I'll give you a hand." His concession wins him a kiss on the cheek and a thank you.
Changed, Evan checkes his phone before heading back to the garage, two more texts from Blake: "duuude just one pic" - "ok at least tell me what your mom is wearing." Evan shakes his head, deciding to mess with his friend he replies: "dude shes wearing this tiny little g-string bikini" - "its fucking unreal" Knowing the truth would have been enough to excite his friend, he can't help lying, imagining his friend's reaction, knowing his infatuation with his mother. Most of Evan's friends acknowledge his mom's looks but Blake is the only one who openly horn-dogs her.
Entering the garage from the house, Evan is greeted by the sight of his mom bent over opening a box. He takes a beat to admire her from the rear. Her black yoga pants stretched impossibly tight, covering everything, but hiding little. Her tiny feet stuffed in black sneakers. Gray sports bra slung over her shoulders, supporting her more than ample bosom. Evan quickly sneaks a picture and sends it to Blake, feeling the usual slight pang of guilt. "So what's the plan?" he asks approaching his mother.
Evan begins to move boxes into rows on the garage floor while Marcy opens them and decides if they're worth going through or re-sealing them for the junk men to take. Evan manages to put a dent in the mountain, lining up several rows. He noticed his mom had barely made it through two boxes. "You okay," he asks, afraid his fear of it being too soon is coming true. "If it's too soon it's okay, you know. The stuff isn't going anywhere," he offers walking over to place a hand on his mother's shoulder.
"Oh, no really, it's fine sweetie, it needs to be done. He wanted us to do it, so..." Marcy offers, thinking once again of the letter her father wrote from the hospital two years ago. He didn't actually write it, the hospital provided someone to write down what he had said, as he lay gasping for air, about to be put on a ventilator.
Going through her deceased father's belongings wasn't something Marcy had envisioned having to do for a long time, if ever. But then most of Marcy's life seemed determined by a fate she had little influence on. Pregnant at 19, she left home after falling out with her parents. She struggled to get by, doing things she never imagined. But she powered through, finding a reserve of perseverance she hadn't realized she possessed in order to provide for Evan and herself.
Those first few years as a single mom were rough. With only a high school diploma, her job prospects were limited to minimum wage and it quickly became clear that would not suffice if she was to provide any meaningful level of quality of life for her son. A high school friend told her she was working as an exotic dancer and making over $1500 a week working only four nights. Marcy never imagined she'd be in such a desperate situation and would have previously looked down on such a job, but desperate times called for desperate measures, she ultimately resigned herself. After all, her mother had called her a whore and worse when she announced she was pregnant and keeping her baby, setting a rather low bar for the teenager.
Marcy worked as a stripper for five years and if she was being honest, they were the most fun years of her life. She managed to avoid the pitfalls befallen by most of her coworkers; partying, drugs, fancy cars, shitty boyfriends and husbands. She credited Evan with that. Her love for her son kept her focused on what was important. There were exceptions of course. No young person goes through life without taking risks and making mistakes. And Marcy had always been highly sexed and working as a stripper certainly exposed her to a side of life she found exciting. Thankfully, despite brief forays into other aspects of sex work, namely escorting and porn, she had avoided any life-altering trouble or consequences. And she had successfully managed to keep those things a secret from her son. Mostly. A few years ago her brother came to town for Marcy's annual Christmas party and after getting drunk, he let slip that Marcy had been a stripper. It wasn't the end of the world, none of her friends really batted an eye and she got to tease her son that all his first babysitters had been exotic dancers. But she was grateful that was the 'only' disreputable part of her past that her brother was aware of.
Her marriage to Nathan Johnson had been more a business arrangement than a romantic partnership. He traveled the world opening casinos, spending two to three years in one location before moving on to the next. He wanted to present the stability of a family to his employers while being free to live as he chose. They met when she was stripping, she thought he was a dashing older businessman, they dated some and fucked a lot over several months before he made her a proposition. If she would marry him and play the dutiful wife once or twice a year at work functions, he would provide for her and Evan in every way possible, but he would not be an everyday part of their lives and what either of them did when apart was none of the other's business. Marcy was happy to accept the offer and over the past 14 years, Nathan had been good to his word taking care of both her and Evan financially, and making time to visit when he could or flying them to him at least once a year. There were real feelings between them but never quite became truly romantic. Nathan genuinely cared for Evan and Marcy was grateful for her son to have a stable, successful, male presence in his life, even if it was sporadic. Nathan had been working in China when Covid started and she remained worried about him for the 18 months they were unable to travel to see one another.