by Jim Ody
Giles got it straightaway. The guy was looking at the rowboat filled with three girls.
“Nice views,” Helena said with sarcasm, but Keith was zoned out. Giles felt sorry for his mum. If this was her knight in shining armour then she was well out of luck.
“Hey!” Giles shouted at him.
“Huh?” Keith ask, suddenly turning to them.
“Come on mum, let’s leave this pervert here!” Giles said.
Keith looked at Helena apologetically and then suddenly he was falling with a huge splash into the water.
“Giles!” Helena said, but there was a hint of amusement at her son pushing the man she’d slept with into the water.
“We don’t need anyone else, do we?” she added, and off they went.
Mother and son.
Both against the world.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 43 - Jenny
I t wasn’t the safest Jenny had ever felt. She sat with one oar and Meg was with another.
Originally, the couples were going to go together, but then Jenny and Max would have to decide who to go with. As usual, Meg was quick to say that the girls would take one boat, and the lads the other.
“It’s like Swallows & Amazons!” Meg had grinned, but Brett had quickly turned the innocent comment into something crude and suggestive. Jenny had screwed up her face in disgust, whilst Meg had laughed hard at that and winked.
“Nat, you need to take over,” Meg said. “My arms are hurting!”
“I can’t. My boobs are too big. I’d hit them with each stroke.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Meg laughed.
“It’s a lot harder than you think, isn’t it?” Jenny said. She suddenly wondered whether it had been such a good idea to not have one of the men with them. Sometimes trying to be feminists was hard work!
“Look at the boys!” Nat said. They were a little way ahead, although like most men they’d set off at a really quick pace and were now visibly slowing down.
“I think they’ve burnt themselves out!” Meg laughed. “Whoops, some of that might’ve been my fault!”
“Slut!” Nat grinned.
“Says her, walking around with her boobs swinging in the breeze.”
“There was no breeze in the cabin,” Nat responded.
Jenny kept quiet. She wondered whether there would ever be a time in her life when she’d be confident enough to be walking around in front of a man with her boobs out. It seemed unlikely, but then she’d never really been in love.
The thought of that made her want to kick herself. Meg and Nat weren’t in love. In fact, it was nothing to do with love, and everything to do with lust. She was just too shy. It was such a big move. To almost offer yourself up to a man seemed a step to huge for her to contemplate.
“Jen, you’re slowing down! Come on, Land ahoy!” Meg said.
“She was daydreaming!” Nat said.
“Probably your boobs!” Meg grinned.
“No, I wasn’t!” Jenny said much too quickly, realising too late that Meg was only teasing.
“No shame in it,” Meg added. “I’ve thought about them.”
“Shut up!” Nat said, grinning.
“I’m just saying. Nothing wrong with that! If we hadn’t met the boys yesterday, then I was gonna get me a handful of them!”
“You’re silly,” Nat laughed. Jenny couldn’t tell whether Meg was trying to shock her. It was the sort of thing she’d do. She was very vocal in what she claimed to do, or want to do, but Jenny had no idea what she was really like. Maybe deep down she was shy and self-conscious too, and all of the talk was just an act.
“We’re gaining!” Nat then said. The boys were getting close to the shore now, so they knew they would come in second, but they were pleased with how they’d done.
“Afternoon, ladies!” Brett grinned as the boys jumped into the water which went up to their knees. “Nice of you to join us!”
“You look out of breath,” Meg said, and it was true, whilst Max looked fine, and Adam hadn’t rowed, Brett had a red face.
“Just excited to see you, I guess.”
“Charmer!”
Brett came towards them and grabbed the boat. He pulled it as close to the shore as it would go before they heard and felt it scrap the few stones on the edge of the lake.
They headed a little way down from the small lake cabin. Here was a large tree with a tyre and even a picnic bench, although for six of them it would be cosy.
“This is a beautiful little place,” Meg said. Nat was already docking herself onto Adam.
“Get them beers out, Max!” Brett said, and out came another box of beer.
“How much did you guys bring?”
“Just enough!” Max said. “For a few days anyway!”
It wasn’t long before the boats were laid out on the side of the grassy-edge, the beers had been cracked open, and each of them had swung on the tyre and at its furthest swing, jumped into the water. It was a juvenile act, but they were all enjoying it.
Jenny was tentative with the swing, and screamed the first time. She’d refused a beer, and was pleased to see Nat had done the same. Neither fancied it and had brought water to sip on instead.
It was funny how they’d all regressed. A simple act of swinging and splashing was enough for quite a while. And what was wrong with that? They were forced to move away from childhood in so many aspects of their lives that it was a relief to just enjoy being young and free.
Then they sat around eating cold sausage rolls and pies.
“How come you have all of this food?” Meg asked, ever the one full of questions.
“Max’s dad,” Brett simply said.
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “My old man is in charge of a distribution centre.”
Brett laughed. “When he says he’s in charge, what Max actually means is that he owns it.”
Max shrugged like he couldn’t see the difference. “We get loads of free or cheap food. We got a whole freezer bag of it!”
“What? Sausage rolls, pasties and steak and kidney pies?”
“Yep. We love them!” Adam and Brett nodded.
“You don’t think you’ll get bored of them?” Meg pushed.
All three lads looked at each other like she’d asked them whether they’d consider becoming celibate.
Brett frowned when he replied, “Why would we go off them? We have a fried breakfast, and burgers at night, so we only have them for one meal a day?” This seemed completely logical in his mind.
“What about fruit?” Nat asked. The lads glanced at each other again like she might be trying to trick them.
“I guess we didn’t have room for fruit,” Max said.
After that, they talked openly and freely about themselves. Jenny found it interesting and quite surprising. The lads didn’t appear to be boasting, but were refreshingly honest. They were first year medical students, and Max was the brains of the bunch, but the other two were pretty switched on too.
Jenny tried to stay out of the conversation for as long as she could, and did her best to give vague answers. She didn’t want to admit who she was, or rather who her father was. Meg and Nat didn’t understand, they knew he was in sales, but the world of sales was easy to gloss over. It was targets this, and profits that. They didn’t know about the lawsuit he was involved in, and that was a blessing.
“That bunker is just up there,” Max said pointing through the trees up a steep embankment.
“That looks quite a climb!” Nat observed.
“I think there’s a path with steps a little way along,” Brett said. “We’ll take a look and if not, we’ll just come back.
So, they packed up the rubbish, and together they walked along the side of the lake until they saw a sign. It gave the option to either continue along the path around the lake, or to go up another path with some staggered steps leading towards the top.
“Shall we?” Brett asked, but Max was already heading up.
“Looks lik
e we’re already going up then!”
And up they went.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 44 - Jenny
I t was a more tiring climb than Jenny realised, especially on top of the rowing, and the larking around with the rubber-tyre. She’d not had this much physical exertion since physical education at school―or the one Zumba class she attended and thought she was going to have heart failure by the end.
They joined another path which had large fields on the other side, either full of corn ready to be harvested, lush green grass ready to be mowed, or a smaller field with horses roaming around in.
“It’s nice to have a break from uni,” Adam said. He definitely spoke less out of the lads, although some of this was due to being so obsessed with Nat, and her with him.
“I thought uni was all about getting pissed and partying!” Meg said.
Brett nodded, grinned and then shook his head. “Nah… well, it is for some but not really for medical students. When we’re not studying, we are working at the hospital―”
“Volunteering, he means!” Max added.
“Wow.” Jenny was impressed.
Then Max suddenly got animated. “There it is,” he grinned.
“He loves true crime,” Brett added. “This is porn to him.”
The bunker was concrete and had bushes all around it. They were probably not there when it was erected for the war, but in time nature had built them.
One by one they went towards the dip that led down towards the doorway, and then once inside a deathly silence fell upon them. The life was slowly being extracted from inside.
It was larger than Jenny had expected. She’d seen a couple similar whilst on holiday with her parents, and they had all been quite small. She almost said as much but was suddenly too scared to break the silence.
She looked at the wall. Someone had spray-painted RIP, but it seemed in poor taste. It was rough and the paint had run before drying.
Her head began to ache, and the air became thick. There was a horrible and rancid smell, and she began to feel nauseous and unwell. Without a word, she excused herself and left to the fresh air outside.
Slowly, one by one the others followed.
“Jesus,” Brett said. Nat was bent over coughing with Adam rubbing her back. Jenny cleared her throat.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Meg said rubbing her arms at the shoulders.
Jenny also felt pain in her shoulders. She thought about the innocent little girl being taken there and having her arms removed. It was an awful and senseless act.
“Where’s Max?” Brett said suddenly. “Max?”
Heads turned around but he could only be in one place.
Brett looked at the others who silently ushered him forward. He walked to the open doorway; Jenny stood behind him.
Max was standing still, staring at something on the wall.
“Max?” Brett hissed. Slowly, Brett walked in and grabbed the larger guy’s arm. Max turned his head around but he looked vacant.
“Come on, mate,” Brett said, and there was genuine worry in his voice. Gently, he grabbed Max’s arm some more and used a little force to pull him away.
Once outside, Max dropped to his knees and gasped for air. The others took a step backwards, which to Jenny seemed a strange act for medical students. She bent down next to him.
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “I was a bit like that too.”
Max nodded, and slowly got back to his feet.
“Let’s head back, yeah?” Brett said doing his best to make everything seem normal again.
Heads nodded and fake smiling masks were strapped on their heads. Nobody said anymore about what had happened in the bunker. Brett did his best to whistle a Prodigy tune, but their songs were not intended to be whistled, and recreating heavy drumbeats with a whistle was a skill in itself.
“I think I need a beer,” Max said as the boats came into sight.
“Me too,” Brett and Meg said at the same time, and a ripple of voices were in agreement.
They sat around again, and told some funny stories. Each one doing their best to keep things positive and upbeat. Brett told of a time he’d turned up at a fancy dress party as a hooker, only to be told the fancy dress was the next night, so he was forced to walk around for the rest of the night looking like a transvestite.
“I got chatted up by a drunk guy who thought I was ugly enough to want him!” Brett laughed. “He actually thought I was a woman!”
“You still pulled though, didn’t you?” Max added, and a couple of glances found their way to Meg.
“Did they know you were a guy?” she continued appearing amused by the story.
He nodded. “Well by the end of the night she did!”
Then Max chimed in, “Wasn’t that the party that Adam threw up in the houseplant?”
Adam looked a little ashamed. “It was. We don’t need to talk about that.”
Nat pulled a face, clearly playing with him. “What? Into the pot?”
“Not exactly,” Adam said. “It was a bonsai!”
“It went everywhere!” Brett said, exploding into laughter.
Another twenty minutes and the stories dried up. They cleared away and found themselves back on the water, all doing their best to get to the other side without falling in.
“That was spooky,” Nat said suddenly. She was reluctantly rowing and proving that her boobs didn’t get in the way of doing it.
“I’ve never really believed in atmospheres and stuff, but that was…I don’t know…”
“Evil,” Jenny finished. “It’s like the act was still encapsulated there.”
The boys were first back again, but this time they weren’t gloating. They pulled out their boat, then Max and Brett carried it back to where they came from whilst Adam helped pull the girls’ boat to shore.
“Thank you, kind sir!” Nat said to him, as he helped her out first.
“What shall we do now?” Meg asked as they came together again.
Jenny was suddenly feeling tired. She’d enjoyed the day but it had been exhausting both physically and mentally.
“How’s supplies looking, Maxy-boy?”
Max puffed out his cheeks. “Low,” he said.
“I thought you had loads of food?” Meg jumped in.
“Food is okay, alcohol is what we’re talking about!”
“You girls are quite thirsty!” Max grinned. Jenny thought it was nice that the day before he wouldn’t have made that comment but just looked shy, now he was accepting them.
“Right, why don’t Max and I go off and get some more beer. You girls want anything else?” Jenny didn’t really care. She didn’t mind the beer and was hardly knocking them back. They still had some vodka in their cabin anyway.
“Nah, we’re good,” Nat said before Meg jumped in with a huge list. “You want some cash?”
Brett gave them another sly grin. “You can pay us in other ways!”
Meg raised her eyebrows, and replied, “It’s a two-way street, buddy, so you’d better start bringing your A-game in that department!”
Max and Adam in unison responded with, “Whhoooaa!!” and playfully patted Brett on the arm.
“She’s harsh,” he said. “Very harsh.”
“Okay,” Max said, when he stopped laughing. “We’ll go off, and why don’t we all meet up later?”
Meg nodded, and looked at Nat and Jenny. “Why don’t we go back to our cabin and chill out for a while?”
“Yeah, I could do with a nap,” Jenny said. “Especially with the Treasure Hunt later on.”
“I’ll go and have a lie down too,” Adam said, then he looked a little coy as he glanced at Nat. “Wanna join me?”
“I guess I could keep you company,” she purred, and Meg and Jenny rolled their eyes.
“Meet back up about 6?” Brett suggested.
And that was that.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 45 - Keith
> H e wasn’t sure how it had happened. He’d really blown it that morning. Helena was a wonderful woman. Sure, she was a little rough around the edges, but she was still well out of his league. But then instead of giving her all of his attention, he’d become distracted with Jenny.
He sighed. Life was never easy. He was some contemporary John Hughes movie. Stuck between the MILF and the teenager. He was a guy in his prime. He’d been given this opportunity, but he was blowing it all.
Earlier, he’d had to walk around the back of the building back to his house so as to stop the stares from everyone. They knew who he was, so to be seen soaking wet did nothing for his reputation. They’d all know there was a story, and he couldn’t muster a smile enough to make them think it was deliberate, or him having a laugh.
He definitely couldn’t let mother see him like that.
He switched off the monitors when he got in. Well all but one. There, once dry, he scanned the cameras over the other side of the lake to see what he could find.
The jetty had a camera high up on the pole that housed the light. Technically, of course this wasn’t his land, but he had an agreement to maintain the jetties and the lights, in return for his guests having access. There was a boathouse over there owned by a grumpy old man who wanted them shut down, but apart from that there were only public pathways until you got to the top of the hill.
He watched them strip down to their swimming suits, and lark around on the tyre. Then later on, he sat and ate a sandwich at the same time as they were all eating.
There was no sound, but he made up stories of things they might be saying.
“I wish Keith was here,” Jenny would be saying. “Stripped down to his underwear. He’s so handsome!”
Then Nat would chime in, “God, I’d love to put my large breasts on his face!” Of course, Adam would then say, “Hey, what about me!”, and she’d grin at him. “I’d see you after… if I still had the energy!”
Keith grinned. Brett and Max were handing out beers. Keith reached down to a small fridge and pulled out a beer himself. “Cheers guys!” he said, believing he was there with them.