John was in his room doing basically nothing. His parents were packing for vacation. They had been planning this trip for months. It was their first cruise. John was going to have a quiet week at home before returning to college next month. He thought about spending some time with his friends or going to the beach.
The phone rang. He could hear his mother talking to Aunt Helen. She always seemed excited when she talked with her sister. His mother was explaining their preparations for the trip. He was not paying close attention but he did hear her say she was sorry they would be away that weekend. She then said, "I will talk with John". He wondered what she needed to discuss with him.
His mother came to his room. "Your cousin Corrine has graduated from high school. She has planned a trip to visit her friends before college starts. She was hoping to come here for a day. She already has her tickets. I reminded Helen that we would be gone but thought that maybe you could pick her up from the airport."
Cori was two years younger than John. When the kids were growing up they lived nearby. The families did things together. John had a big sister and Cori's sister was the same age. When they all got together the older girls would go off on their own leaving Cori and John to play by themselves.
When they went to the beach John would bring a large inner tube. He would paddle the tube out to the middle of the lake with Cori tagging along. Late in the summer when the water was warm he floated on the tube basking in the sun. She would swim around and crawl up his back and put her arms around his neck. They lay there on the inner tube listening to the voices back on shore. John's father said they looked like a couple of tadpoles.
One day John and Cori went to the swamp to get pussy willows. They came back muddy and wet. John's mother was angry. "You know you're not supposed to go to the swamp."
"It was Cori's idea," said John.
"That's no excuse," she answered. "You're older. When you two are together you are responsible." John did not think that was fair but he could see it was going to be a rule.
Sometimes their parents went out together. When they did the kids would all stay at one house or the other. One evening the parents were out and the older girls also had plans. John and Cori were left alone together.
Around nine in the evening Cori asked John, "Can I stay up to watch TV?"
John answered, "Do what you want. I'm not your baby sitter."
"Yes you are," she said. She liked to tease him. He tried to look annoyed but he liked it.
The kids sometimes slept over. The two older sisters would go off to their room to listen to music and gossip.
Cori would stay in John's room. There were two beds in his room. Cori liked to read his comics. He had a stack of them and she didn't have any at her home. He would let her read them only if she would read aloud to him.
They would put on their pajamas and get in his bed. She held the comic up to read while he lay beside her close enough to see the pictures.
One evening when he was 12 years old Cori was reading comics to him. She was holding up the comic. He saw small mounds under her pajamas rising and falling as she read. He put his hand on her breast. His fingers explored one and then the other. He could not stop. Her little buds excited him. Cori continued reading. She did not seem to notice his new interest.
John's mother called up, "It's time to go to bed."
Cori left his bed and got into her own. He turned off the light. "Goodnight," she said in a soft voice. John pondered his new feelings toward his cousin.
They did not have any sleepovers after that night. It may have been a coincidence but John wondered. The next year Cori's father got a job in Iowa and their family moved away. Aunt Helen would sometimes come to visit her sister but the families never had a chance to get together.
John answered his mother, "I guess, if she's only staying one day, I could pick her up." His mother's voice told him that she had mixed feelings. On the one hand, they were almost like a single family but on the other hand it was not clear to her that two young adults should be alone in the house.
John's sister was away for the summer. John could sense that his mother was concerned so he tried to sound disinterested. She seemed relieved. He could read her like a book.
John waited at the terminal. He recognized Cori instantly. She hadn't changed much since she was 11. She only looked a little more grown-up. She seemed pleased to see him.
Cori put her things in his sister's room. They decided to go out to the lake for a swim. This trip was for his cousin to relive her childhood before she went to college. They took the inner tube. It was late in the summer and the water was warm. Cori remarked at how nothing had changed.
The pushed the tube out into the lake. John rested his arms on the tube and felt the water lapping his back. Cori swam around behind him. She put her hands on his shoulders and pressed her body against his. He could sense that she liked the muscles he had developed in the last seven years.
They went to the Dairy Queen for dinner. Cori seemed happy to be back in the town where she grew up. He asked her, "What do you do in Iowa?".
