A few months prior, Nathan was reading a tabloid magazine at the library when Mrs. Buchanan, his eighty-two year old friend who he spent time with at the library, came up to him to teach him one of her life lessons. While Nathan was embarrassed that another person had caught him reading something generally reserved only for women, Mrs. Buchanan paid no attention to that or other social taboos. Instead, she tried to teach him the art of reading people based on their expressions. Nathan didn’t fully understand her logic, but Mrs. Buchanan had lived for many years and had a lot of wisdom. He also understood that this wasn’t a trick one learned in one day from a single tabloid.
Mrs. Buchanan was originally from Scotland, but she had lived in America for over fifty years, having moved along with her husband, Mr. Buchanan, when he took a teaching job at New York University. Mr. Buchanan had died in the 1980s, but Mrs. Buchanan stayed in the suburbs of New York City. The Buchanans never had any children for reasons they never tried to find out. According to Mrs. Buchanan, “The cards were not in our deck for that one.”
Nathan came to make the acquaintance of Mrs. Buchanan in the local library. While he went there to get of his relatives’ house, Mrs. Buchanan went there out of habit. Mr. Buchanan had always said that a library was supposed to serve as the center of a community so she went there almost every day.
What started off as friendly chitchat between two people who frequented the same establishment had blossomed into a budding and important friendship. Nathan and Mrs. Buchanan watched films together in the library’s viewing room and he often told her about his adventures as a high school student. She was fascinated by the difference that a few decades and a large ocean had made in the education process. Nathan thought of Mrs. Buchanan as a friend just as he felt about all his friends who were his age.
Mrs. Buchanan’s advice about reading people, in this case women, resonated with him far more than anything Griffin had told him. He watched as a woman took a seat along with her three children. Nathan couldn’t put names to their faces just as he couldn’t put words into the feelings for the vibes she was radiating. He felt this just by a chance glance that she had unintentionally thrown in his general direction.
***
Like the names of Jacqueline McCarthy’s children, Nathan did not know that much about her. He would learn her life’s story later, but for the purposes of this story it makes sense to some of them now for context. It is important to understand the background of this forty-two year old woman.
Mrs. Jacqueline McCarthy was born Ms. Jacqueline Hamilton in Colonial Beach, Virginia. Colonial Beach was a small town with a large population of retirees. A desire to live amongst the busier members of society would later draw Jacqueline to New York City. A desire to achieve something in between first brought her to Roxburgh just a few years before this point in the story.
Jacqueline was married to Steven McCarthy, a former Major League Baseball player. Steven had been a successful outfielder in the 1990s, but few would acknowledge this success nowadays. After eight years in the majors, Steven began using steroids, as many other players did those days. The steroids did wonders for his statistics, particularly his power numbers, and he used this newfound surge to make more money.
He was however, caught for his use of steroids and was forced to stop by his team’s doctors. Not long after he ceased use of these performance-enhancing drugs, Steven tore his anterior cruciate ligament, or his ACL. Without his magic potions, Steven was forced to retire to a few endorsement deals and a career in sports broadcasting.
His broadcasting jobs began to wash up after it become public knowledge that Steven’s name was among a long list of cheaters in the game. Many of his fellow cheaters survived the scandal, but his volatile behavior and poor people skills worked against him. Fortunately by then, Steven had acquired enough money to live by means other than his reputation.
He invested his money in several enterprises such as restaurants, sports equipment shops, and insurance, all in the Seattle area. Steven’s diversified portfolio made his money relatively safe and gave him a new way spend his time. Steven did not come with the rest of the McCarthy’s to spend the summers on the East Coast.
Jacqueline had often been distraught with her husband during his baseball days because she suspected that Steven had been having affairs with many women across the United States and the city of Toronto in Canada. He had purchased a house in Roxburgh so she would not be bored during the long and grueling baseball season, but Jacqueline took this as an apology gift for sexual misconduct. Jacqueline often opted to forget this information, but she didn’t miss the time away from her husband either.
The truth was, Steven had not actually had any affairs during his playing days, though not for lack of effort. He had attempted to, he was hampered by a common side effect of his steroids. He found himself plagued with erectile dysfunction. This had caused him great embarrassment one night when he tried to take a pretty woman back to his hotel room, only to find that he would be hitting no home runs that night.
Steven tried to fix his self-imposed handicap by another performance enhancing drug Viagra, but he discontinued this soon after receiving a prescription. One day after Steven had indulged in morning sex with a woman, who was not his wife, Steven was unable to make his erection go away. This lead to an unfortunate nickname by his teammates when he showed up to batting practice with a healthy boner. Steven was often referred to from that day forward as “Woody.”
Jacqueline was not aware that Steven frequently neglected his duties to casually wander around his restaurant to make small talk with patrons and to have coitus in his office with the waitresses. Steven enjoyed that these women respected him as the powerful businessman and athlete that he still found himself to be. Jacqueline did not care much that her husband had been a former baseball player aside from the fact that it paid the bills and allowed her to live a fairly extravagant lifestyle.
Jacqueline enjoyed the time away from her husband. Their three kids, Tiffany aged 10, April aged 8, and Randall aged 5, originally had come to like Seers Point because they thought they could see the Statue of Liberty. The object they were looking at was in fact the Empire State Building, but no one had told them otherwise and none of them had the vision to tell otherwise or the sense to check.
The look Jacqueline had made which attracted the attention of Nathan was not one used in hopes of attracting a mate to use to get back at her husband. She had often thought about having an affair to get back at her husband, but had never acted on it. The smile was relief to be rid of him for the next three months.
***
Nathan himself had made a face that had attracted attention. “I know that look,” Griffin said slyly. “Which MILF are you looking at?”
Griffin had ruined Nathan’s train of thought. The timing was a little unnatural given that he’d been single for less than twenty-four hours. Nathan didn’t feel bad about this since it seemed a bit early to have feelings of attraction toward another woman anyway. It did not seem likely there would ever be a good time to move on with a married woman.
“Gross. I’m daydreaming, Griffin. Your parents are right next to you,” Nathan said harshly. The outburst had attracted Megan’s attention, who ushered for them to be quiet. A few of the older members were giving them dirty looks. Nathan listened.
The ceremony was the same as it was every year. The President, who was fortunately no longer Mr. Lellenberg, told those members who chose to attend that it would be the best summer yet. The evidence he used to support this was a summary of the events of the summer, which were no different from any other year. Nathan could’ve gave the speech himself and wondered why this was a necessary event. His mind wandered as found an answer that he didn’t even realize. All he could think about was Jacqueline McCarthy.
There were light refreshments served once the ceremony was over. Nathan dragged Griffin to get a glass of iced tea so that he could have company when his aunt came over to say hello. She wouldn’t
ask any questions about Sarah or the party with Griffin present. Even Cassidy could be perceived as embarrassing.
When she approached, she said, “Hi, boys, did you have a good time last night?”
“Oh, just wonderful, Aunt Cassidy,” Nathan said. “Truth be told, I am a little tired.”
“Yeah, we probably didn’t get enough sleep,” Griffin added, grinning. Victoria had warned him against this sort of behavior when he went around telling adults, “Let’s do lunch,” but Griffin continued the facade.
“Any big plans for tonight?” Aunt Cassidy asked. Despite her tendency to worry too much about Nathan, she was fairly laid back when it came to social habits. It kept him happy, and her daughters were a bit young to be affected by it anyway.
“I don’t think so, probably just a movie,” Nathan replied.
“He’s coming over for dinner,” Griffin chimed in, which was something Nathan wasn’t aware of.
“How nice,” Aunt Cassidy commented. “Your family is so good to Nathan. I’ll be sure to thank them. Have fun,” she added, as she departed.
“Is our night agreed upon, then?” Nathan said.
“It doesn’t have to be. Do you suddenly have pressing matters to attend to now that your girlfriend has left the country?”
Nathan paused as his mind wandered to his ex-girlfriend in what might have been a time of grievance just a few hours ago. He wasn’t sure if he felt guilty or pleased about his brief infatuation with Jacqueline McCarthy. He suggested heading to the pool as a way of getting away from her and his lustful feelings.
Chapter 6
Dinner was uneventful. Victoria ordered Thai food, a favorite of the Rousseau family. While she and Megan were picking up the food, Nathan and Griffin smoked another joint in a shed behind the house that served little other purpose. Old lawn tools were kept there, but the Rousseaus had a lawn service like most of the neighborhood.
Nathan felt a bit better after he was stoned and had a stomach full of curry and noodles. Victoria and Megan asked them about the gossip around the school. There were a few questions asked about Sarah, which Nathan tried his best to deflect. Maybe Griffin was starting to pick up on things, but it was unlikely because both boys had foggy minds.
Each of them received text messages from Ralph Romero, another friend of theirs, about a party that he had decided to throw at the last minute. Ralph was a good friend, but neither Nathan nor Griffin felt much like getting drunk again. The late night parting into the wee hours of the morning had made them less likely to go to another the next day. Griffin had to work the next day, and Nathan had some homework to do. He was planning to do it at the library so that he could talk to Mrs. Buchanan and maybe watch a film with her.
Griffin declared that he was going to pick the movie, which drew little objection from Nathan. The events of his long day had started to take a toll of him. Nathan was glad they had decided not to go to Ralph’s soiree.
The movie Griffin selected was the 80s cult film Dune. The film had not been considered a successful adaption of the popular science fiction series written by Frank Herbert, but it remained beloved by strange people and stoners like Griffin. Nathan had only seen the film once before and while it would not have been his choice to watch it again, he didn’t object.
A journey to a distant land of mediocrity did his mind some good. He particularly enjoyed the performance given by Sting. Nathan was not surprised Sting hadn’t seriously pursued his acting career.
Nathan returned home shortly after the movie was over. It was only eleven o’clock, but he was tired and ready to unwind after a taxing twenty-four hours. Griffin put up little fuss as he needed to be at work at nine o’clock the next morning and relished the night ahead of him in a bed that was not adorned with Care Bears.
Victoria had offered to drive Nathan home, but he chose to walk instead. The walk was only fifteen minutes and the fresh air was nice. He took out his cell phone to see if there was anything important to check. There wasn’t, but he decided to send Sarah a text message. She had told him she wouldn’t be able to text while she was in Prague and he wasn’t entirely sure she’d even get the message at all. The message simply said:
I’m sorry.
Nathan wasn’t sure exactly what he was sorry about, but the word could be used as a general blanket covering all potential offenses.
Aunt Cassidy and the twins were asleep by the time Nathan returned home. Uncle Martin was watching an old episode of Cheers on Netflix, a service that Nathan provided. It wasn’t rent, but it was a hit. Nathan had tried to show him everything else he could watch, but Martin was content to watch classic sitcoms from the eighties. Nathan had tried to watch the show, but was unable to understand the humor of the time period and could only laugh when instructed by the program’s laugh track. Until he watched Cheers with his Uncle, he hadn’t understood what the laugh track was for.
Martin was a salesman for a faucet company in New York City. When the economy took a big hit in the recession, he was never in serious danger of losing his job.
“People will always need faucets,” he’d said, when asked if there was anything else he’d like to do with his life. His job paid the bills and allowed his family to live in the comforts of suburbia.
Nathan and Martin exchanged basic pleasantries before Nathan headed up to his room. His uncle was not a blood relative, and they did not share any interests. He put this blame on Martin, since Nathan had plenty of interests. His father had never warmed up to his uncle either. This was one of the few things Nathan had in common with his old man.
He watched an episode of Twin Peaks before going to bed. Like Dune, Twin Peaks was the product of David Lynch and starred Kyle MacLachlan. Nathan admired Lynch for his outside the box thinking, and MacLachlan for his success in unconventional roles. He saw himself as weird, and embraced that too. He thought a weirder town might be a more suitable place for him.
Suddenly, he found himself at the beach. He sat on a picnic blanket with a plate of hors d’oeuvres that were unspoiled by the sand around him. As he placed his hands in the sand, he felt it was much finer than the common sand around Long Island Sound.
He was not alone on the beach, though he couldn’t make out any of the faces in the distance. As he looked toward the ocean, he saw a girl with her back turned to him facing the water. Nathan saw two glasses in the sand next to his blanket. With no one else around besides the girl, he assumed they were sharing the picnic.
“Hey, are you coming to sit down?” Nathan called out. He didn’t care this girl’s identity was a complete mystery. That is, until she opted not to reply. He called out again but once again there was no answer.
He stood from the blanket that may or may not have been his, and walked up to the girl, who continued to act as though he wasn’t there. “Excuse me, aren’t you going to sit down and enjoy these hoer d’oeuvres?” he asked. There was still no answer.
Fed up with her rudeness, Nathan reached out to touch her shoulder. He generally didn’t make it a habit of touching people he didn’t know, but he made an exception in this case. The girl had been rude first.
Just as he touched her shoulder, she turned around. Though Nathan suspected Sarah might be the girl whose face was elusive to him, it wasn’t her after all. It was Mrs. Jacqueline McCarthy. Her expression was identical to the one she had made earlier that day except for one difference. Her eyes glowed in a way that pierced straight through Nathan until he felt an uneasy shriek emerge from deep inside him.
The shriek was not real. Nor was the rest of the beach scenario. Nathan awoke in bed. He was as he had left himself before he entered the dream world except for one noticeable difference. Under his covers was a massive erection. While he was shaken from the dream, one thing was clear. Thought he was confused, he could not deny he had been enjoying his slumber. This had been no nightmare.
Despite Nathan’s apparent enjoyment of the dream his brain had concocted, he was unable to fall back asleep for some time. The d
ream kept replaying itself in his mind over and over. Each time the dream would take an extra-long pause at the sight of Jacqueline’s face so Nathan could stare into those eyes again and again. He felt befuddled, but he wasn’t sure this was a bad thing.
Sometime later, Nathan fell back asleep. If there had been a dream again, he would not remember it in the morning. It was unlikely he had dreamt of Mrs. McCarthy again or else he would have remembered. There was also no erection. Not even the occasional “morning wood” that many males have in the a.m. hours.
Chapter 7
Nathan had breakfast with the Thompson family. He talked to Elizabeth and Piper about their softball game. He feigned an attempt to show genuine excitement at the shaky recap provided by Piper, but this pleasant sentiment sailed over the heads of the girls. They weren’t so sure about all the rules of softball, but they liked that their cousin was interested in their activities.
Aunt Cassidy saved Nathan from the world of peewee softball by asking, “What are your plans for the day? Are you hanging out with Griffin? Do you want to come to the club?” She often presented many questions all at once. She had not mastered the art of talking to a teenager just yet.
“Possibly. I think I’m going to go to the library for a bit and do some work. Finals start in a week and I want to end on a good note. If I finish with that and it’s nice out, I’ll be sure to drop by.”
He then dug in to blueberry, banana, and chocolate chip pancakes that had been prepared by Uncle Martin. While Nathan found his uncle’s taste in television rather abhorrent, he did have a few recipes worthy of some praise.
Courting Mrs. McCarthy Page 3