This is my second Jamesons story, 'Meet the Jamesons' was the first, and I think it's best to read that one first, but for those attached to chronological order this one is chronologically first. I just write them, I do not judge.
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Being a work of fiction, everything in this story is made up, even the stuff that bears the same names as stuff that existed before (Hurricane) Andrew.
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That includes the sexual activity all of which occurs between characters at least 18 fictional years of age.
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My birthday had been on Thursday but both Jeff and I had classes on that day so as a present to me he flew me up to Stuart on Saturday. The beach there was an easy walk for us from the airport where Jeff showed me the proper knots used to tie down the little Cessna and keep it safe for our return to Tamiami. We walked along the semi-deserted beach and watched the breakers roll in.
"Jeff, do you ever think about going back home?" I asked while throwing a shell or something like a shell out into the waves.
"Yeah, a lot."
"I mean it's kinda crazy, more and more people are moving to South Florida every day, other people seem to love it here. But I don't."
"Yeah, it will get better after you are released from the insane asylum."
I smiled at Jeff's euphemism for Miami Sunset High School. It was a totally different world for us. 1600 students, a great many of which had just come in the last few years to this country, with it seemed like 1600 particular issues and needs. There were as many social workers, psychiatrists, politicians, lawyers and interpreters as teachers milling around it seemed. Since the two of us hadn't set the library on fire or assaulted anybody we were pretty much ignored by the faculty and administration.
1600 students, there had been like 2000 souls in all of Freedom Corners, Texas, our home.
Ignored we were, except for when we were the unwilling protagonists in a previously undiscovered novel by Franz Kafka.
"Oh, you loved it there, especially Senorita R.," I said.
"Yeah, illiterate in two languages."
"That's jus' 'cause you speak 'Mexican Spanish.'"
"And 'Texican English' too."
I laughed. It felt so good to laugh and in a flash I suddenly realized how long it had been since I had last laughed and who it was that made me laugh like this before, and then the time before that. I reached out and held his hand in mine.
"I love you Jeff."
"Me too sis."
"You're just saying that."
"Nope, I really do love me."
I turned and punched my big brother on the shoulder as he just grinned like the darned Cheshire cat.
"And I love you too Janet... Even though you punch like a girl."
I shoved him hard with both hands and took off running down the beach yelling, "tag, you're it," over my shoulder.
We had both run cross-country in high school and while I had a good jump on him, his legs were longer than mine and he eventually caught up with me and tagged me.
"No tag backs," I triumphantly stated.
Jeff was right I had less than a semester to go. As hard as it was for him he did his final year of penance in the insane asylum. It was harder for him in that he just had that one year. At least I had two to check all of the arbitrary and ridiculous bureaucratic boxes and so fulfill the State of Florida's requirements for granting a high school diploma.
"I wish you weren't so unhappy," he said.
"It just that I have nobody."
"Jan, you have it all, you could get somebody."
"Yeah, I misspoke I don't want just anybody. Do you?"
"Noticed my love life lately, sis?"
"You have one?"
"No, and that's exactly what I meant."
"Me neither, It's kinda boring."
"I'm pretty busy logging hours."
"Yeah... You know that could help fix that boredom thing."
"Janet, would you like to fly with me to Marco Island tomorrow? See the Gulf Coast, decide if it is really any better?"