“Estefan, stop right now,” she wheeled on me like a banshee. “I told you too what I expect from you.” She was pointing at me know. “I don’t want to be grandmother this early.”
We all groaned with agonized embarrassment, no one more chagrined than me. I could feel my face flushing with heat, and knew full well I as red as the girls. I guess you could say we were acting a little hypocritical, seeing all of us were anxious for a little action. But then, I can’t honestly say none of us thought about making a baby when we were fucking, because… well, we were fucking like the stupid, immature brats. We didn’t think of the consequences of unprotected sex. At least, I didn’t, once Ramona got on the “Depo” Shot³, it was out of mind, completely. Before then, we used the ole’ “pullout method”, which I had perfected after a good deal of practice, although half the time Ramona liked me to spooge on her tits or in her mouth when she finished me off with one of her patented blow-jobs.
Tirza had been my lover before her and she had been on the pill. It was the first sacrilegious thing she had done in her life – or so she said – because condoms gave her rashes. It left us only two options, stop having sex or get her on the pill. Magnanimously, I had let Tirza decide. After nine days of her jerking me off and me twiddling my tongue between her pink labia’s, she made an appointment at Planned Parenthood4. She got on the pill. Like she had told me earlier that very morning, she liked fucking me. Of that, I was glad – very glad indeed. Thank you, Tirza, from the bottom of my nut sack.
I knew Katie was on the Shot as well, so the idea of us accidentally creating life hadn’t crossed my mind. I had purposefully blown my load into her a few times weeks before. I remembered how hard it had been for me to walk the following day. I almost smiled when I realized my mother had been watching me the entire time.
Then, her gaze went back to Ramona. Her face was stern, her mouth set to one side as she digested a new reality, one she didn’t like in the least. We had inadvertently confirmed the first thought she’d had when she stepped into Loft unannounced. We had done so with our body language. She knew for certain – Ramona and I were having sex. She breathed in heavily, frowning even deeper when she saw Tirza. My poor ex-girlfriend was shuffling from foot to foot next to the three taller girls she stood near, dreadfully nervous.
My mother motioned for me to approach her, which I did dutifully, hoping she wasn’t going to do anything rash like tell me I couldn’t go out with Ramona anymore, because she was in for a rude awakening. I wasn’t dating just Ramona anymore…
“We will talk later of you and Ramona, Estefan, but you will answer me right now what I am about to ask,” she said to me through a clenched jaw, barely moving her lips.
“Okay.”
“Are you using protection?” Her eyes were like twin daggers. Thank God, she had the tact to keep her voice down. My mama might be old fashion in some areas, but even in situations such as this, she too was respectful of our feelings. Though she could be strict, she enforced it with a light hand.
“Yes, ma, Ramona is on the Shot,” I answered my voice as low as I could make it and still be heard.
She nodded curtly. “Good.” She huffed, crossed her arms under her bosom and shook her head at me, and then shot a furtive glance at Ramona. “Well, I guess it was bound to happen,” she muttered more to herself than to me, so I didn’t respond. I mean, what could I’ve said? Yeah, mom, Ramona’s fucking hot, so you had to know eventually I would try and tap that ass. No, I don’t think so. “Does her mother know?”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “No!”
“From your reaction, it sounds to me that if she found out, it could pose a very serious problem for you, eh?” She raised her brow to reinforce the point she was trying to make.
“Yeah…” I shrugged.
My mother drifted in her thoughts for almost a full minute. “Okay, well, I’ll keep it secret for now, but you are going to have to come clean eventually, young man, especially now that I know. I am obligated to tell her mother, you do realize that don’t you?”
I nodded, grateful and apprehensive at the same time. Fuck, I didn’t want to tell that fat bitch a god damned thing! This was going to suck big, huge hairy balls, I could already feel it deep down in my gut.
“Aside for the fact that you and Ramona are… are… well you know,” she waved her hand in the air, blushing. I felt my stomach twist with discomfiture. I never expected to have a discussion like this with my mother this soon in life. If I’d been forty, maybe things would’ve been easier for the both of us – maybe… “Is there a legitimate reason why all these girls are staying overnight with you? I know I told you the other night they could stay, but you told me only Jolene and Tirza, which in itself was a little weird. I know Jolene is Flavia’s friend, but Tirza…? Haven’t the two of you fighting for some time now?”
I nodded lamely.
“Estefan what’s going on? This is very confusing.” Despite having learned things she had dreaded learning for the last few years, my mother looked concerned.
“I can’t tell you all of it, mom, because I don’t want you or Dad, or the little ones to get hurt,” I replied circumventing her question.
She was scowling again, not liking my answer one bit. “What are you talking about, Effy? Have you guys been something you’re not supposed to be doing? Drugs? Shoplifting?”
“No, mom, it’s nothing like that. Nothing like that at all, I promise.” I was almost smirking. I wouldn’t be half as worried as I was if this whole fucking thing had been only about something as insignificant as getting busted for distribution of narcotics or stealing from the local liquor store.
“Then what is it, son?”
“I can’t tell you,” I started to say in greater detail when I thought hit me out of nowhere. I reached out and touched her arm lightly, careful not to hurt her when my ever-hardening body. “You remember what we were watching when you said it was okay for a few of my friends to stay the night?”
She went stone-faced, searching her memory, cocking her head to one side, then, “The news.”
I bobbed my head up and down. “Exactly.”
She thought for a few moments longer. Her hand came to her mouth of a sudden and she grabbed me by the side of the shoulder, squeezing. “You’re involved with the crackdown on Muto’s?”
“Trying to stay out of it would be a better way of putting it, but yeah, some of the girls’ families are involved,” I replied, not speaking to the fact all of us were Muto’s or that some of us were already fugitives from of the NIA – armed and dangerous fugitives no less.
She leaned back, letting go of my arm, her eyes fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird. They were moving so fast. “Shit,” was all she uttered.
I took a quick gander around the Loft. No one had moved a muscle; they were all watching us intently. Ramona had come to stand at the side of the bed closest to me and my mother, obviously concerned about her status with my mom. I gave her a worn smile and nodded imperceptivity, sending her thoughts belying calm and confidence. She blinked back relieved tears as she read my mind, knowing my mother could’ve thrown her out of her house if she chose to do so.
“Okay, okay, it is what it is. We are a strong family and we will deal with it, even if it means our family will have to grow for the time being.” She shuddered with what looked like raw trepidation. When she peered back at me, her face was full of so many conflicting emotions, there was no way I could understand what she was thinking.
“I won’t let anything happen to any of us, mama, I promise.” I had said the exact same thing, as a little boy, when my father threatened to come back and beat the living shit out of mother.
She hadn’t forgotten. She reached up and stroked my cheek. “I know, my sweet boy, I know.” Her gaze flickered to the others in the room as her hand descended to her hip where she rested her hand, shifting her weight to one foot. “Well, ladies, since you are all here and seem to be staying for a while, I suppose you
will all be hungry soon. So, get cleaned up, straighten up in here - if you don’t mind - and come down and help me with breakfast.
“AND,” she added as an afterthought, pointing around the Loft. “No funny business.” She was arching her brows again and, in spite of ourselves, a few of us had to hide betraying grins by thinning our lips or biting them. She pointed lastly at me. “Don’t tell your Dad about this just yet. I will find a way to broche the subject with him myself, ok? He’s gone out to help you uncle Juan fix his car, so we’ll have some time to figure things out.” Uncle Juan was one of my step-dad’s older brothers.
“Sounds good to me.”
She turned to leave and I actually let out a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding, feeling light-headed. I must’ve forgotten to breathe during the entire exchange.
“Oh!” exclaimed my mother, spinning on her heel. “The little ones are sick today,” she began rolling her eyes, overwhelmed by the twist of events. “That’s why I came up in the first place. I was going to tell you, I’m not going to need some help today taking care of them, so since I have sooo many more of you around, I expect excellent help in that department, cool?”
“Sure, auntie,” piped Katie.
“Absolutely, Mrs. Ernando,” agreed Leda.
The others merely nodded.
She looked over at Leda. “And call me, Pat. Ok, ladies?”
There were more nods all around.
Then, she walked quickly back toward me, which surprised me. She kissed me on the cheek. “Why do I love you so much?”
“Because, I’m yours,” I supplied at once.
There was a gleam in her eyes. “Now, I know why these little tarts like you so much.” She smiled and chuffed with mirth. “Have you been lifting weights, Effy?”
“Why would you say that, mom?”
“Because when I touch you, you’re hard as rock, I don’t remember your muscles being that dense before.”
I raised my shoulders toward my ears and kept them there, filling my face with mock rigor-mortis.
“Oh well,” she said and waved the question out of existence with her hand. “See you all downstairs in a few.” And she was gone.
“I have never been more scared in my life, Effy,” said Ramona as she rushed into my arms, crushing her breasts against my chest. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if she had told me to leave.” My girlfriend was shaking with fright.
“I know, baby girl, I know,” I murmured into her ear, kissing her, making her calm down.
Well, one hurdle down only about a thousand to go until this whole thing blows over…
Little did I know it would be years and years later, before it would all finally fade away into nothing. By then, everything would be different – none more than me.
Oh god, why did Martín and Lucia have to get sick too!
{ ¹Darth Vader: fictional character, whose real name is Anakin Skywalker; the main protagonist of the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists of the original trilogy and as one of the main protagonists of the prequel trilogy. }
{ ²Force Choke: referencing an ability of the Sith Lords in the Star Wars saga, wherein a Sith uses the Force to choke his victim. }
{ ³“Depo” Shot: slang for the 20th century contraceptive, depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), a long acting reversible hormonal birth control drug injected every 3 months.
{ 4Planned Parenthood: is short for Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. }
~~~~~~~~~~~~♦~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Chapter 65 ~
(Summer – 2018)
Coming Clean
“So… Tirza, I can see, at some point, by some means, you’ve made up Estefan. Yet, when I sit here and I see my son’s newest squeeze, sitting across the very same table as you, I am compelled to ask - why are you here, my dear?” asked my mother. She was pushing away her plate, dotted with crumbs. All inclining’s of the eggs, bacon, waffles and hash browns she’d eaten long gone.
She had changed out of her robe and was wearing a burgundy-colored sweat suit. This one, though, consisted of shorts instead of pant-length bottoms and the top didn’t have sleeves. I guess you could say it was for working out at the gym. She had combed her coarse, black hair away from her face, parting it right of center. It cascaded from her head to just pass her shoulders, blanketing them in thick, lustrous locks. She had grown into a beautiful, middle-aged woman, even after popping out a few more kids later in life.
But, when I was little, my mother was a knockout. She’d been big breasted, thin around the waist with flaring hips and had the same perky, bubble-butt I’d inherited from her. Since she stood no higher than five foot one and weighed no more than ninety-eight pounds, she was what men at the time called “a spinner” – a sexy, petite beauty that a man could spin on his cock with very little effort (Not that I ever tried to imagine it or anything. There’s no doubt I’m a Perv, I’m just not that particular sort).
Now, her skin bore more of the wear typical of a woman her age, but only a little - .
Wait, you know what? Now that I’m looking back, thinking about her on that day, she was still a knockout, even at forty! Just because I was surrounded by nearly a quarter-ton of high-grade pussy, didn’t mean my mother didn’t belong in the same category as the teens surrounding me on that day. Hell no, she was just as beautiful, just as elegant. I know so, because, when placed under a microscope, dissected, I know for certain why I was never afraid to approach a beautiful woman. I grew up with one hugging and kissing me, since birth. I was at home in the arms of a gorgeous female.
Tirza’s cheeks went pink, but her embarrassment was nowhere near as strong as her longing for her lost family, people she would never get back, would never see again. This seemed to make her brave. She glanced at me. I nodded, though not before I peered around the room making sure the little ones weren’t within hearing distance. Apparently, they were still recovering from their Muto sickness in the TV room with Flavia. She’d gone to check on them a few minutes ago at my mother’s behest.
Tirza cleared her throat. “Well, Pat,” she began when her esophagus seemed to clench on her and she choked, clearing her throat for a second time. She breathed a laugh. “I always feel so weird calling you by your first name,” she admitted.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” prompted my mom.
“I couldn’t think of anywhere else I could go without endangering any more of my family members. Your house seemed like the very last place the police or anyone else would look for me, so I came here as fast as I could after it all happened.” She stopped to absently wipe at the corners of her eyes, blinking back more tears.
“Would you care to tell me what happened?” spoke my mother in low measured tones as sweet as sugarcane.
“If it’s okay, Pat, can I go sit with Flavia and the little ones?” said Jolene, standing quickly, pushing back her chair with her knees, making a loud drubbing sound along the wooden floor.
My mom frowned at the noise and the odd request in concert. “Sure, my dear, absolutely, go ahead. We’re done here by the looks of it, so if you’d be so kind as to put your plate in the sink on your way, I’d really appreciate it.”
Jolene nodded with fast, jerking motions, bending at the knees, giving my mom what looked like a curtsy.
What the hell was that? Even Johan seemed bemused by his girlfriend’s behavior, but he stayed put, not wanting to tip his hat to our mother that he liked the girl.
We watched her go in silence, and when she left the room, my mother turned to me. “Why did she leave, Effy?”
Tirza answered for me though. “Because, Pat, what I’m about to tell you happened to Jolene’s family a few nights ago.”
“Oh!” started my mom, her eyes wide, mouth slack.
So, for the next fifteen minutes, Tirza repeated what she had told Katie, Ramona and me the night she had stumbled into the L
oft. That was when she saw Katie deep throating me, while Ramona and I kissed. During the entire time, my mom didn’t interrupt or comment, but sat there was still as stone, her dark brown eyes never once leaving Tirza’s visage as my ex-girlfriend recounted the horror and the pain she had endured the night her parents were murdered. Whenever Tirza stopped to compose herself, my mother would smile warmly, letting her know all was well, telling her she could continue when she was ready. She didn’t hurry her or appear impatient. She sat stoically through the whole telling of Tirza tale.
The rest of us around the table hardly moved as well, though, by then, we had all heard Tirza’s story. We had been accomplices in keeping her presence in the house unknown to my mom and dad, and of course, my two youngest siblings too.
When Tirza finally finished, having left out how she got into the house and the fact my girlfriend, my cousin and I had been engaged in a taboo sex act when she had done so, she shuddered. Her hands were clasped before upon the table, and I could see how tightly she was gripping herself, fighting against the urge to cry out and weep.
By then, Flavia had walked into the Dining Room. When she saw Tirza’s state, she tip-toed out like a gazelle and returned within seconds, a box of Kleenex¹ in her hands. She had been holding it, waiting for my ex- to stop talking. Now that she had, my step-sister leaned over the table and scooted the box of tissue toward her.
Tirza gazed up at Flavia thankfully, and swiftly yanked two sheets of the thin, fluffy paper from the box and began to tend to her face and nose.
My mother watched the exchange without speaking, but her eyes reflected the pride she felt for her step-daughter, internally praising the young girl’s thoughtfulness and kind manners.
“You okay, Teezee?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself any longer. I hated to see her ache like her heart had been physically ripped from her body.
She nodded and her face filled with even more gratitude.
“How long ago was this, Tirza?” asked my mom, making us look back and forth between the two of them.
Shadow Seed 1: The Misbegotten Page 72