by Amy Brent
“OKAY…OKAY…I’m just finishing up some homework. Give me about 5 minutes and I’ll be happy to come down and face the music.” He had always considered my homework to be the one thing that I could not slack off on. He expected nothing but the best. I had an IQ that was the equivalent of Einstein himself. I didn’t have the social skills and only one real friend of the gothic persuasion. Helena was a Greek transplant to the school and we had become fast friends, despite the fact that she wore dark makeup and clothing that made her look like she was in mourning 24 hours a day.
I looked out the window and I saw his black jeep. Anthony was quite the ladies’ man and his idea of making a commitment was paying for dinner and expecting something in return. I didn’t think much of him when he first got here, but I did notice that I had those butterflies whenever he was around. I was constantly looking in his direction and biting my bottom lip with the anticipation of seeing him without his clothes on one day. He had the football player body and the gym in the basement was now getting used too. It was pretty much a second thought, but then he came along and brought with him those muscles that probably could easily carry me all over the house.
I stood at my mirror looking at my body and knowing that calisthenics and Yoga had made me the vivacious woman that I see looking back at me. My lips were adorned with the slightest bit of makeup. It was just enough to enhance my already natural beauty. I was at the perfect height at 5’8 and was carrying 160 pounds in all the right places. I had the kind of ass every woman was jealous of with more junk in the trunk. A modest pair of C cup breasts rounded off my figure. I had been told by several boyfriends that I had the most amazing green eyes that they had ever seen in their lives.
I was getting ready for bed and was wearing nothing, but a pair of very sheer panties and a white man’s shirt. It made me feel like I was closer to my father by wearing his stuff. It seemed a little silly and maybe a little creepy to some, but this was something that was between me and my father. There was nothing unsavory about our relationship. I wouldn’t consider wearing his shirt to be that strange.
I came out into the hall and I bounded down the stairs. Anthony was standing there in a pair of black chinos with a silver belt. His shirt consisted of a pullover blue Henley. His dark hair was combed straight back and that clean shaven look was only making it the much more difficult to be around him without wanting to do something.
“I don’t know what this is about, but I do hope that we can dispense with pleasantries.” Anthony had his keys in his hands and I could tell that he had found that small tiny little dent in the back of his bumper. It was so small that you would have to literally be looking right at it to see it. “If I didn’t put the dishes away, then I apologize. I’m sure that I can get to them later.” I was showing a bit of attitude, but it was mostly for Anthony’s benefit.
“Anthony has told me that you took his jeep for a joy ride. I told him that there was no possible way that you would do something like that, but then I thought about Helena. She’s always over here and to be honest I find her to be a little off putting. I believe that she might be a bad influence on you, but I would never tell you who you can be friends with. Before you say that you didn’t do it, remember that we have cameras outside in the yard.” I’d almost forgotten about that and there was virtually nothing I could do that my father wouldn’t find out about.
“We didn’t go very far. We went down to the lake to watch the fireworks the other night. It wasn’t even my fault. Some drunken jock bumped into it with his jaguar. I was only told this after the fact, but it was so small that I didn’t really concern myself.”
“You’re going to have to work it off. I suggest that you give your brother your expertise with organization. I walk by his room several times and it looks like a tornado went through it. Your punishment is one week cleaning up after him.” I didn’t enjoy being made into his personal maid, but it did offer me a unique opportunity that I never expected. I would be able to go into the inner sanctum of his bedroom. It was always off limits before, but now my father had given me the perfect way to take a look around.
“I’m going to be out until curfew anyway. By all means, you can tidy up. Just don’t come crying to me when you find some old pieces of pizza or dirty underwear.” He patted me on the head like I was some tiny little pet. “Just make sure that you’re done before I get home.” What he didn’t want to mention was that he usually came home, but not by himself. He was always sneaking young impressionable girls up to his room. In the last year, I counted at least 30 different partners and all of them left with a smile on their face. Our bedroom was right beside one another with a connecting bathroom. You can imagine that their screams to God were not exactly in a religious way.
“I’ll spend an hour in there and whatever I don’t get done today, I’ll finish up during the week. I apologize for what happened to your jeep, but it isn’t anything more than a nuisance. You could probably have it hammered out very quickly. You really didn’t have to squeal to my father.” I made him look like he was some kind of snitch.
It was only lucky that Allison wasn’t around or I would have gotten one of those stern expressions.
I went down the hall with my heart thumping in my chest. I put my hand on the doorknob to his bedroom and took a deep breath to ready myself for the manly essence that was going to strike me when I opened the door. It was exactly like what my father said it was. It was a war zone and it really looked like somebody had ransacked the place.
I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. I couldn’t believe that I was actually here. It was one thing to hear what was going on inside the room, but to see where the magic happened was a revelation onto itself. I stepped over a few discarded pieces of football equipment.
I didn’t even realize that I was doing it, but my hand had now made its way into the waistband of my panties. I found my wetness and I traced it with my finger, but didn’t attempt any kind of penetration. There was a part of me that thought it was wrong to even consider doing anything like this in his room, but it was also such delicious thought that it was almost too tempting to pass up.
I looked towards the bed with the sheets hanging off the side. The blue comforter was on the floor and I spied a pair of red lace panties sticking out from underneath his pillow. I surveyed the work that I had to do and there was no way that I was going to finish in an hour. There was no point in procrastinating and I went ahead and started with the small stuff. I cut it into quadrants leaving the bed to be the last thing that I would touch. He had no idea how to live. This was like looking at a perpetual bachelor that had no idea how to take care of himself.
I had noticed that Allison doted on him hand and foot. His laundry was done and she had even given him an allowance. I didn’t want to know how much he got, but it was always a stack of bills rolled up and put into his pocket.
I had noticed that his taste in women were mostly dark haired beauties with a large endowment.
I picked up a few of his rolled up socks and stuffed them into my bra. I stood in profile at his mirror on the back of his door. I couldn’t understand how any woman could carry around balloons on their chest. It couldn’t be good for their posture and would put a strain on their back. I was happy with what I had and they were more than a mouthful. They probably wouldn’t sag to my knees when I got to be old enough not to care about my appearance.
I opened his closet and had to jump back with several things falling at my feet. I took everything out of his closet and there was this box in the back. I put it on his bed and I went about to reorganize his closet. I made sure that his summer stuff was right where he would want it and his winter stuff was stuffed back for use in the next few months. Living in Connecticut was great for a ski bunny like me. I loved the feeling of moving down and feeling the crisp cool air on my cheeks. I was alive with nature and not a care in the world.
An hour had elapsed. I didn’t realize that I was sweating so much that the white shi
rt I was wearing had become somewhat see through. My hair was matted and I really did look like I’d just finished with a marathon sex session.
I unbuttoned the first couple of buttons to see the swell of my bosom. My nipples were hard enough to cut through glass. I turned abruptly and I saw that box mocking me on top of his bed. I was about to put it back where I found it, but my curiosity got the best of me.
There was a lock on it, but he had mistakenly left it open. He was a little forgetful. Most times he would always have to go back out after supper to lock his car. This worked out in my favor and I turned the lock and pulled it off. I left it beside the box on the bed. I couldn’t breathe and I kept looking toward the door to make sure that nobody was going to interrupt this.
I tiptoed over to the door, opening it a crack to see that the coast was clear. I went to the window and it was overlooking the driveway. I could easily see the bright headlights upon his return. The worst thing would be to get caught invading his personal space.
I had my hands on that box and I wanted to open it, but I was thinking maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. I could be asking for trouble and maybe it would be best not to know some of his dirty little secrets. I picked it up and it was like the Holy Grail, but I just couldn’t bring myself to open it. I placed it exactly in the same spot in the back of his closet. He would know from looking at his closet and how organized it was that somebody had been in there. He would know that it was me, but the box would stay his secret.
“I can’t believe that you did this.” The female voice was familiar and I knew Allison had returned home from some Gala or function concerning one of her many charities. “Your father told me what you had to do to make up for taking my son’s jeep for a joy ride. I didn’t think that it was a good idea, but now I’m beginning to see that you might be good for him. I might have to consider paying you to do this all the time.” She was standing there in this black chiffon dress with a plunging back and a very high hemline. I had to admit that she had gorgeous legs and the kind of body that would probably make my father or any man happy for hours on end.
“I’m doing this under protest. I don’t think the punishment fits the crime. If anything, I would assume that washing his car or detailing it from top to bottom would be good enough. I think we both know that Anthony is not exactly a clean freak. He throws things anywhere. He thinks he can find them later. I have to assume that there’s a method to this chaos, but I don’t see it.” This was the first real conversation that I had with my stepmother.
“I have to say that I’m impressed.” I could hear her slurred words. It most likely came from an abundance of champagne that was flowing. “Don’t be too much longer. His curfew will be done in the next 2 hours. I’m going to bed. I believe that I’m going to grab your father.” She didn’t come out and say the word sex, but I had a feeling that a game of mattress tag was in my father’s future. She was flushed and it was obvious from the way that she was swaying that she was in an inebriated state of euphoria.
“I really don’t need to know these things. I don’t know why you can’t seem to keep it in your pants.” I knew that it was a stupid thing to say. It most likely came from my own sexual frustration. The boys in my school were horn dogs. I really didn’t feel that there was anything there to pursue other than physical pleasure. I wanted something more than that, but there were times when I was this close to letting some pubescent boy take advantage of me.
“You are 18 years old and you should know by now about the birds and bees. You see, Jessica when a mommy and daddy loves each other very much they express it in a certain way. When you have a boyfriend you’ll need to know these things.” It was a condescending tone and one that made me look at her like she was crazy. “Maybe you don’t know this, but I don’t think that it’s my place to tell you where all the parts go. Perhaps, you should use the Internet and find out what you need to know.” If looks could kill, she would be writhing on the floor gasping for breath. At that moment, if she was drowning, I would probably offer her a drink of water.
“I don’t know why you constantly get on my case, Allison.” I didn’t give her the courtesy or the satisfaction of calling her anything other than her first name. She was definitely not my mother, no matter how much she tried to force herself into that role. She thought when she said jump that I should ask how high.
“You just bring it out in me, little girl. Now, if you’ll excuse me, your father is waiting for me naked in our bedroom.” It made me cringe to think that my father even had sex. “I suggest that you put on some noise canceling headphones, because TODAAAY…it’s going to get loud.” She knew as well as I did that the wing of the estate that they were in was practically sound proof. She was just needling me for the sake of trying to get underneath my skin.
“You’re disgusting, but you are good for my father. I know that you love him and that’s pretty obvious from the way that you look at him. I’m sure that you never imagined that you were going to have a stepdaughter. All we can do is try to coexist and get along for his sake. We don’t have to like each other, but we can learn to live with each other. It’s been a year. I’m doing what I can to stay out of your way and I suggest that you do the same thing for me. If we continue to go at it like this, eventually one of us is going to get hurt and it’s not gonna be me.” She shook her hand at me like she was scared and she whistled a happy tune going down the hallway with her purse swinging back and forth.
I was not much for social interactions and my best friend Helena was exactly the same way. I could make friends and I could fake it with the best of them, but I didn’t have to put on airs when I was around Helena.
I picked up his dirty underwear and I could smell his manly musk. I was tempted to move it closer to my nose, but that would have been taking things a little bit too far. I tossed them into laundry basket along with other pieces of clothing that probably could’ve stood up on their own.
I found a pile of clean clothes and I put them back where they were supposed to be. I couldn’t understand how anybody could live like this. I did find a couple of pieces of old discarded pizza underneath the bed and the dresser. It was a wonder they didn’t attract small wildlife or ants. This would’ve been a great breeding ground for cockroaches. The very idea of anything creepy and crawly made me tremble and not in a good way.
I found his collection of memorabilia from Michael Jackson. It made me smile to think that he was actually into the most charismatic man that had put on a white glove. His death hit me hard and I could tell that we had at least one thing in common. I looked around and found an honest to goodness record player. I slipped the LP of thriller out of its jacket and put it on. I could hear his voice ring out like he was still alive.
I continued cleaning, but there were times I stopped to immerse myself into the words of Beat It and Billie Jean. I caught myself in the world of a lost legend that had left us all too soon.
I finally noticed that it was 11:15PM and he was already 15 minutes past his curfew. It didn’t matter. He could do practically anything he wanted. He could walk on water in the eyes of his mother and my stepmother Allison. My father wanted desperately to forge of relationship with Anthony, but it was still a work in progress. I had this funny feeling that he wanted the son that he never had. He might’ve been trying a little bit too hard and maybe backing off and letting Anthony come to him would be more his speed.
I saw an old sweater with his school mascot on the front. I had no idea where to put it, so I had to search the dresser. I opened one and I gasped at seeing a pile of panties. At first, I thought that he was a kinky little pervert that liked to wear women’s clothing. Then it dawned on me that these were trophies from past conquests. I couldn’t believe that he had the gall to keep their underwear, as some personal souvenir. It was most likely his way of looking at each individual one and putting a name to who wore them.
I couldn’t even bear to touch any one of them and I closed it gently and walked back out into t
he hallway. I was going into my room, when I heard laughter. I closed my door, but not far enough that I couldn’t see through a crack. This blond with the kind of rack that looked fake was all over him. She was pulling at the button to his pants. I knew that his night had just gotten a whole lot better.
I heard them stumbling around. “Come on, Serena. You and I both know that this is what you wanted. This is what all you girls want from me and how am I supposed to refuse.” Amazingly, the walls were paper thin. The one place that made it easy to hear everything was lying on my floor right by the ventilation system to the air conditioning. “I know that you’ve been asking around about me. There’s no reason to deny it. I’m a little flattered that you would go to all this trouble to get me into bed.”
“I’m a little embarrassed, but I’m also too fucking horny to lie about anything. I know what you’re packing and the girls talk. I need to see it.” I heard the desperation in her voice. It kind of reminded me of myself. “Just let me look at it and maybe touch it a little. I don’t know if I want anything more than that, but I’m sure that you can convince me otherwise. I know that you’re excited and the bulge in your pants tells me everything that I need to know and more. I’m just not sure how it’s possible that you could possess something like that. It has to be an allusion, but the proof is in the stories that I have been told over and over again.”
I grabbed two of my pillows and the Scooby Doo stuffed animal. I lie back against the wall with my hands traveling up and down my body. This wasn’t the first time that I had done something like this and it wouldn’t be the last. There were too many times that I had awakened in the morning for school looking like some kind of zombie from the apocalypse. I’d stayed up most of those nights listening to him carousing with one female or another. There wasn’t much said, but this time a conversation was needed to push things along.