Now & Forever 3 - Blind love (36 page)

“You served in Viet Nam? With what branch?” Danny asked.

“Army, of course.”

“Me too. In Iraq,” Danny said, extending his hand to Sam, who
shook it.

“Viet Nam too, but navy,” said Bill Jones, shaking hands with
Danny and Sam.

“So, who took your virginity, if it wasn’t Mom?” Peter asked,
his eyes glazing slightly, a sexy grin on his face.

“I’m not going to tell you that! Danny understands, don’t you,
Dan? In the military you have certain…opportunities you might not have
otherwise. Right, Dan?”

“Hell, yes! And I don’t mean prostitutes, either…except when
you’re deployed. But there are
so
many townies around…you can almost have your pick, right Sam?”

Sam blushed and nodded. He didn’t intend to explain anything
about his sexual experiences to his sons.

“Come on, Dad. Confess. This story sounds too good to pass
up,” Peter urged.

“No.”

“To be fair, you’re the one who brought it up, Dad,” Mac
said, hiding a smile.

“I was just answering the challenge. That’s all.”

“You were bragging, Dad,” Mac said.

“Now you have our attention. Give,” Peter chimed in.

Sam shook his head.

“Aw come on, Sam. Both boys are grown men with wives of their
own,” Bill said.

“I’m not married yet!” Peter exclaimed.

“They’re both over thirty, Sam. I doubt we have any virgins
here,” Jim coaxed.

“So, you all want to hear a juicy story, do you? I’m afraid
you’ll be disappointed.” Sam smiled.

The men took their drinks and sat down to listen to Sam. Sam
leaned against the arm of the sofa, cradling a glass of tonic.

“Okay, okay. I was eighteen and green as they come. I grew up
in a suburb of Philadelphia, with a sister and two brothers. My parents worked
hard but they didn’t have much money. My father was a postal worker and my
mother taught school. We had food and all, but there was no money for college.
So I took myself off to the recruiting station and joined the army.”

“Get to the good part, Dad,” Peter urged.

“I’m getting there. Don’t rush me. I had a girlfriend, Linda,
in high school. I kept trying to get her to sleep with me, but she refused.
After two years of begging that got me nowhere, I washed my hands of her when I
went to war. She cried and said she’d bake me cookies. Cookies! Hah! She still
wouldn’t give me what I wanted…which was a good roll in the hay. She had a
body…well, it was unbelievable…but you’ll just have to use your imagination,”
Sam said, color creeping into his cheeks.

“When I got to basic training camp in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, I
was a tall, skinny, horny kid who didn’t know much about anything, especially
women. But several nights a week, I tagged along to a bar with a bunch of guys
who went into Pine Bluff looking for a good time. For the first few nights, I
got drunk and sick because I wasn’t used to liquor. After a while, I understood
my limits.

“The guys kept getting…finding women. But not me. So they
were going to make me a cause célèbre, if you get my drift. The next Friday
night, we went to The Sunrise Bar, one of the favorites with the guys because
the woman who ran the place, Jeannie, was the widow of a Viet Nam vet. So the guys
figured drinking there was like keeping it in the family. Jeannie was a pretty
brunette who kept the guys in line by not falling for their crap. They teased
her and she teased them back. But no one got to first base with Jeannie.

“That Friday, they all kept an eye out for a girl for me at
The Sunrise. None of the girls there were interested in a tall, skinny kid who
didn’t know what he was doing when they could go off with one of the
experienced guys who had muscles and smooth talk. So it was another lonely
night for me,” Sam said, pausing to take a sip of his tonic.

“The next night, I got to The Sunrise earlier than the rest.
Jeannie was setting up. She was upset, but refused to talk about it. But I was
persistent. Jeannie had always been nice to me and I wanted to help her out if
I could. She finally opened up. She had a son, a boy of nine, who was having
trouble in school with math. I was a whiz at math, always have been. So I
agreed to sit with him and help him for an hour. Jeannie took me upstairs to the
apartment they had above the bar. Jeannie’s son, Tommy, was up there, sullen
and uncooperative until he saw me in my uniform. He sat up straight at
attention. I guess I reminded him of his dad.

“I spent an hour with him. Jeannie was grateful and gave me a
couple of free drinks. Before long, it became a regular thing. Every night I
showed up an hour early and went to work with Tommy, then I’d go downstairs and
get drunk for free. It seemed like a good arrangement.”

“When did you get laid and with who, Dad?” Peter asked,
impatiently.

“I’m getting there, Pete. Just hold on. So one night, I
stayed until closing. I had missed my ride back to the base and was swearing
because I’d have to walk. Jeannie said she’d drive me. Tommy was asleep and
Arnie, her helper, had cleaned up already. I met her upstairs where she was
tucking in the blankets around Tommy.

“Jeannie turned and looked at me in the moonlight coming in
the window. ‘You’re a good man, Sam,’ she said to me. The moonlight was shining
on her dark hair and for the first time, I noticed how beautiful she was. She
just stood there, looking at me. She knew I was a virgin because the guys weren’t
shy about teasing me about it in front of her, or anyone else. She stepped up
close and put her arms around me, pulling me right up against her. I can still
remember the smell of her perfume when she kissed me.”

“It gets very lonely here, sometimes,” she whispered in my
ear. I didn’t really know what she meant, because I was so incredibly stupid
and naïve. Then she took my hand and led me into her bedroom, which she kept
locked to keep the GIs out. It was a small, simple but beautiful room, very feminine
with heart-shaped pillows, a collection of fancy dolls sitting on a bookshelf
and pink walls. Jeannie took off her blouse and skirt and pulled me down on the
bed with her. I began to get the idea my ship had come in and I was going to
learn all about love from someone who actually knew a lot more about it than I
did. I was right too. I was in Pine Bluff for only three more weeks, but every
night I went to The Sunrise, tutored Tommy and spent several hours learning
about love from Jeannie in that back bedroom.

“The guys kept teasing me because they hadn’t figured out
what was going on. After all, what would a beautiful, worldly woman like
Jeannie want with a skinny inexperienced kid like me? I let them think what
they wanted. What Jeannie and I had together was special, so I kept it to
myself.

“I was sorry to leave her, not only because I’d miss the sex,
but because I was going overseas and I was scared to death. Jeannie refused to
say goodbye. She shut down, realizing she had gotten attached to someone else
who’d be going to Viet Nam and maybe not coming back. I think it was more than
she could handle.

“I liked and respected Jeannie, maybe even loved her, and it
hurt when she refused to see me off. I never forgot the things she taught me
about how to make love to a woman. I’m not going into any of that here, so
before you ask the answer is no. She was some woman,” Sam said, sighing at the
memory of her body and her sweet soul.

“What a story, Dad,” Peter said.

The men all agreed Sam had had the most meaningful first
experience of anyone. It sure beat a too-quick first time in the backseat of a
car leaving a young woman frustrated. Sam felt closer to his sons, man to man,
after sharing his story.

“Are you sure you won’t share any of what you learned from
Jeannie with us?” Peter prompted.

“Peter, I doubt you or Mac need to learn anything from me
about how to make love to a woman. You both seem to be doing very…no…extremely
well on your own. You both could probably teach me something.” Sam shook his
head and laughed.

While the men were digging into the cookies and popping open
more beer, the doorbell rang. Danny ran up to answer the door before another
ring woke Casey up. He pulled open the door to see a busty blonde with a big
package in her arms smile at him and push her way into the house.

“Delivery for Peter Caldwell,” she said, smiling.

“Downstairs,” Danny said, motioning toward the stairs. The
young woman marched down the stairs with Danny right behind her and asked who
Peter was. Peter came forward and looked her over, grinning. He was drunk. The
young woman opened the package and pulled out a CD player. She hit the play
button and the song, “The Stripper” came on. Instantly, the young woman began
to peel off her clothes to the music.

The rest of the men came over to watch.

“Who’s the birthday boy?”

“No, no, the groom, the groom,” Bill Jones said.

“Whose idea was this?” Sam looked at the men, who shrugged
their shoulders.

“Here’s a card. There is no message. It’s signed Fran,” the
young woman said.

“Fran? That bitch!” Jim sputtered. “I never should’ve told
her about the party. She called with her forwarding address and I guess I
wanted to rub it in a little about Pete and Lara. Had no idea she’d do this.”

“Bitch is right,” Sam said.

The stripper was down to a skimpy bra and panties. Her big
breasts were spilling over and Peter could not take his eyes off them.

“You getting married, buddy?”

Peter nodded.

“You better look at ’em now, because this will be your last
chance…ever!”

Peter looked at her body with a hungry expression in his
eyes. Sam stepped between the girl and Peter and put his hand in his pocket,
pulling out a wad of bills.

“Young lady, I think this is enough. My son is about to get
married to a wonderful young woman and we don’t need this performance to screw
things up. Here.” He handed her a couple of twenty dollar bills.

“Why don’t you go on home? I think Pete has seen enough,” Sam
said, taking Peter by the arm, leading him toward the pizza and away from the
stripper.

“Okay, buddy. If that’s what you want. But you’re all missing
a great pair.”

“We’re all married here except Jim, so if you want to take
him upstairs and show them to him, go ahead. I don’t want anyone’s family life
wrecked over a…over…you all get it, right?” Sam asked.

Jim Caterson flushed and backed away. The young woman took
her money, her clothes, her CD player and the fake package and went upstairs to
dress. Danny walked with her at a respectable distance. When she left, he
locked the door.

* * * *

Up in the mountains, the women had finished several bottles
of champagne and were feeling no pain. They were all wearing towels as they
moved from the sauna to the massage table to the facial chair. Lara had her
manicure and pedicure and was lying, naked, on the massage table when the
doorbell rang. Lynn, the proprietor of the spa, answered the door and brought a
young police officer to where the women were.

He walked in and turned on his radio, which was really a CD
player. The
policeman
began to take
his clothes off to the music, much to the delight of the drunken women. Lara
was lying face down with her bare behind visible. Being a ballet dancer, she
was not at all modest as there were always people, often male people, coming
through the dressing rooms, costume fittings and it didn’t pay to worry about
showing your body to anyone. She lay there while the woman who was doing the
massage stood in awe, her mouth open, as the handsome young man took off his
shirt and pants.

His name tag said his name was Ray. He had black hair, like
Mac’s, straight and thick and the most beautiful, clear gray eyes. A little
five o’clock shadow gave his handsome face shading. When his shirt hit the
floor, the women could see a ripped chest, with black hair emphasizing the
shape of the pecs, a six-pack and arms with enough muscle to be sexy but not
enough to look like a self-absorbed muscle man. He was staring at Lara’s
luscious behind.

Lara was mesmerized. She sat up, barely holding the sheet
over one breast and staring boldly back at Ray. The other women were
speechless.

“Who is the bride?” he asked, and Jonesy pointed to Lara.

Ray sauntered over to her, raking his eyes over her body with
appreciation.

“This is my lucky day.” He wore a sexy grin.

“Who sent you?” Eliza asked.

Ray ripped open a card and read it to Lara, standing about
two feet away from her, staring into her eyes.

“No reason the fun shouldn’t start tonight, love, Jonesy,”
Ray read, then looked at Lara’s exposed breast.

“Jonesy! What were you thinking? Don’t you remember my
party?” Eliza said.

“I thought…well…you know how you girls are…we don’t want the
men outdoing us, do we?” she stammered.

“That’s the best card I’ve ever read. That’s right, Lara. No
reason the fun shouldn’t start tonight,” Ray said and almost before he was
finished, he was kissing her.

Lara sat motionless on the massage table and let him kiss
her, his hands resting on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and put her hand
on his chest.

“No, no, no. This’ll never do,” Callie said.

Eliza handed Callie two twenty dollar bills and Callie went
over to Ray. She tucked her towel in tighter and put the money in his hand that
was sliding down toward Lara’s breast. Eliza scooted over to pull the sheet up.

“You’re very hunky and if I wasn’t married…I, too, would
consider starting some fun here with you tonight, but I think this is enough.
Lara’s getting married to a wonderful and extremely jealous man in a few days.
We don’t want to mess this up, so Ray, I think it’s time for you to go,” Callie
said.

He took the money reluctantly, but before he turned to go he
said to Lara, “This is the best job I’ve had. You are the most beautiful bride
I’ve ever seen. I hope your fiancé knows how lucky he is. If he doesn’t, please
look me up.” He handed his card to a speechless Lara. After he left, the women burst
out laughing. They all made lascivious comments about his body and his face,
lusting after him in one breath and laughing at him in the next.