51 comments/ 28124 views/ 8 favorites Loud and Clear! By: ParisGreen An LW story from a non-participant's viewpoint. Inspired by another LW storyline that was so distasteful that throwing on a subsequent chapter did not resolve it. Prevention is the best cure! ---------------- "Oh mom, you gotta be kidding me! I just started my job, so this is no time for me to be asking for some vacation off! I need my job to get through college!" "Well, Aunt Judy wants to have yard work done plus some tress planted. She specifically asked for you, her favorite nephew. She really has her heart set on your helping her out, so please do not let her down!" That guilt trip was courtesy of my mother. Here I am some years ago, the July after I had turned 18, freshly graduated from a science high school and she has me farmed out. This, even though I was able to swing a nice tool & die apprenticeship at a jewelry factory in the diamond district of Manhattan. Actually, one reason why I got the job was to get out from under my parents' manipulations. Yep, there is a power play under way between us control freaks. All I can say is that I learned from the best. She is well aware of that fact and has to be quick on her toes to trip me up. This trip-up was a good one, as I do like to visit my Aunt Judy and Uncle Horace. Not that they are related to me. They are good friends of my parents, where I was taught to call them Aunt and Uncle. Never saw any reason to stop calling them that. "Judy is expecting you the week after, when Uncle Horace and your dad are on their fishing trip." "Oh really, I can't go fishing or go to the beach because I got me a nice job doing things I have been wanting to do for years, and you just up and ship me off to Long Island just like that? What'll Mr. Bracchi think of me if I ask off a whole week so soon?" Mr. Bracchi is my boss at the jewelry factory, where he runs the tool & die department. He is a down to earth Italian, short and single. He does a great job explaining what needs to be done, but takes no shit from anyone. Not looking forward to having to ask him for time off. My mother is reading my mind: "Aunt Judy will cover any pay you would lose for time you are helping her." Ehhh? Not exactly what I was worried about, but this is interesting. This apprenticeship pays much more than minimum wage, another reason I took the job over my parents' objections. Why were my parents objecting? Because I was working for free in their family business. I had enough of that, so when one of my shop teachers asked if I was interested in a summer job where I could keep on working part time while in college, there was no need to think, I just asked who do I call and thanked him for the lead. I was in good graces with all of the shop teachers in high school. Being the teacher's pet can have beneficial results! "You know this makes no sense. Aunt Judy wants yard work done while Uncle Horace is off fishing? They have plenty of lawn guys out there in Glen Cove, plus Uncle Horace makes more than enough money as a lawyer to pay a service to do the work. Why me?" "Well, we had this planned out before you went off and got your factory job. Now you are trying to wriggle out of helping your Aunt and work in the city instead?" Hehe, my 'factory job', as if retail was any better? Good to see my holding a job outside of the family was having the desired effect on my parents. "The time has come to stop including me in your scheduling. I am booked for the next four years with college or work and not available for your resource allocation needs. I still help you out with scheduling your work and workers, did not leave you high and dry there. That should help you adjust to my not being around much anymore." Planning? Lots of that happens in controlling families, especially in our family business. I always did a better job of that than my parents. As I found out when I got to college, I possess a natural skill for operations research concepts, which explains why I can whip up the best schedules without a second thought. "Now Rodger, be reasonable, we have this planned out and Judy is depending on you to help her out the week after." Mom is really pushing on this, maybe a last gasp to rein me in before college? "OK, I get the hint. If it was someone else, I would say no, I have a job, and I would not even consider taking off. However, I do not want to disappoint Aunt Judy, especially since the two of you worked something out that you failed to tell me about and include me in on it. Tell you what, I will ask Mr. Bracchi if I can have off the week after, and see what his take will be. If he balks, then I will speak to Aunt Judy and see if we can work out an alternative. Then again, Mr. Bracchi might be a nice guy and let me take that week off. We shall see." "Well, that is so kind of you to try to stick to the original plan." "Mom - you did not include me on that 'original plan', so you are now reaping the results of what you sowed. Other people are depending on me now." Did I mention that my mom was selfish? That trait was one that I disliked and made all effort not to emulate. Not that it was hard for me to avoid, I never had a desire to keep all for myself. This guilt trip was a tried and true tool of her trade. ---------------- So we left it at that. Now I had to come up with a way to approach Mr. Bracchi and ask off without getting fired. Mr. Bracchi normally brings a lunch bucket and eats at his desk. He has offered to chat with me during lunch if he is not otherwise engaged and I have taken him up on it. I wanted to get the vacation quandary quickly out of the way and not evade the topic, so I asked Mr. Bracchi early in the shift the next morning if he was going to be eating at his desk. He said sure and I could join him if I wished. So far, so good. We eat at his desk and after we are done chowing down our sandwiches, Mr. Bracchi remarks: "So Rodger, I see you are a bit antsy today. Something on your mind?" So transparent am I? "Mr. Bracchi, I hope you do not think I am a bum or something, but I am in a bind and I have to find out if it is possible for me to take off the week after next? Mr. Bracchi looks at me, raising his eyelid. "This is not my doing. My mom made arrangements for me to help my Aunt out on Long Island, and she just told me last night about it. If you say I must work and need to provide more notice before taking a vacation, I will tell my aunt and mom that I cannot take off. They will have to live without my assistance. "I have a feeling that you would like me to say that officially, so you can get out of helping your aunt?" "To tell you the truth, I enjoy trips to my aunt's house. But having started this job now, I really do not feel that staying in Long Island is better than working here." "Let's hear you say that a year from now!" "So far I have enjoyed working here, would hate to think that something could come up to make me not want to work here anymore." "That is why I am grateful Mr. Rubenstein sent me your name as a candidate. I see you as a valuable employee, even when you shift into a part time schedule as you head off to school in the fall. I will give you the week after off as vacation. I realize you are reluctant to help your aunt out, which means you are not trying to pull my leg and blow off a week at the beach." "Yeah, and she has yard work planned for me, so this is not much of a vacation in my mind!" "A word of advice. I know you do not think much of your family, but they are the first ones that will have any concern for you. After them, there will be few people around that will care for you. It gets real hard to replace such people, so it is in your interest not to irritate your relatives." "Of course, since you have not accumulated any vacation time, therefore the week off is without pay." "I fully expected not to be paid. This should be the only time my parents will interfere with my schedule and have me take off for a family event" "OK" says Mr. Bracchi as he gave me a look that said "yeah, right". "You know I am going to have to get Hector in here to clean and grease the machines while you are away." Mr. Bracchi smiled at that one. Yep, Mr. Apprentice, that's me, starts from the bottom and works his way up. Not that I minded. The machines got a really thorough going over from me, at least in the beginning of my employment, as I used the task to see what parts they had and how they all ran. I took way longer than Hector to do the cleaning, but Mr. Bracchi has not complained about that yet. So that was my lunchtime talk. Got the week off, kept my job, plus got some advice to boot. That went better than I expected! During lunch later that week I asked Mr. Bracchi why he was not married. He told me that he was once but is now divorced. No kids, but I could tell from talking with him, and the unspoken words, that this topic was painful for him. He did allude to the fact that the lack of kids was part of it and his wife strayed on him. There's a factoid to file away for future use, marriage vows can be ignored if the spouse can somehow justify it. ---------------- One skill I possess is the ability to tell when things are not what they seem. In other words, I can tell when people are not telling the truth, or at least withholding information. This is an aggravating gift, in that it is useful only to me, since I have nothing more to draw my conclusions from. The first few times I used these findings in a public manner terribly backfired on me, so I keep my mouth shut when I realize that I have a liar in front of me, or I walked into a situation that was not as expected. This gift is also not consistent. Some people can still pull the wool over eyes, at least not for too long a time. Mom is always worried that I did not have a girlfriend and rarely went on dates. This is an outcome of my interaction with girls earlier in my youth, especially those my age and younger. I have a couple of traits that other people like about me, such as having intelligence and being able to fix stuff. When it came time in class for group projects, the girls all wanted me to join their group. Also, knowing all about things and that I could fix them, even at a young age, got me many opportunities to be friendly. Being able to deliver the goods has its benefits, but when it came time for extracurricular activities, then I found out I was being used. The word selfish comes to mind when dealing with girls. So mom was on my case to spend more time with girls. She also wondered aloud whether I was a happy guy. After that remark I made it quite clear that such abdominal behavior was anathema to me, so she had nothing to worry about in that department. "I was not worried honey, some guys like other guys, nothing wrong with that. Just that if you wanted to live that way you would need lots of support, as society does what it can to make the lives of gays miserable. And there is nothing wrong with guys loving each other." "Really? Well this guy ain't loving any other guys, that's for sure!" ---------------- The Sunday start to my adventure finally arrives. That morning Uncle Horace shows up at our apartment to collect my dad. Here I find out that the two of them are heading up to the Catskills, something new, at least for me. "So how come it is only you two guys, leaving Aunt Judy and mom behind? I thought the Catskills had more than fishing? Nice hotels, entertainment, dancing, you know, the stuff that couples like to do?" "Our usual campground is being renovated this summer, so we had to find an alternative, and Uncle Horace was thinking this year about adding to the list of things we do. Plus he is covering the bigger hotel bill." "Wow, awful nice of Uncle Horace. Still, without your wives? They are OK with being left behind from a fun vacation week?" "Yes Rodger, without our wives. We planned this out together awhile back, and they are fully aware of what we are doing." That word again, planning. There is way too much of it for a simple fishing trip. Who in their right mind would shut down a business in prime moneymaking time? And this trip was planned well in advance, leaving me out of the loop, especially after I told them about my full time "factory job"? This situation is sounding weirder the further into it we go. Going without your wife. I have to wonder what happens after you get married that you would even consider going to a nice hotel without your wife? "Now Rodger, I am sure that Judy will be happy with your company while I am away from my house. Just do a good job in the yard and she will make sure you have a good vacation too." Weirder is the keyword now. I never considered manual labor as a vacation. Then there was a tit for tat just expressed. So if I do a bad job I will have a lousy vacation? "Sure Uncle Horace, if you say so." "Well you behave son and make sure Judy's garden is well fertilized." "OK dad, you and Uncle Horace have a relaxing time at the Catskills too!" Guess I just found out I will be doing more than mowing and planting trees. This conversation with the adults had to be the most weirdest yet. Dad and Uncle Horace head out, looking chummy with each other. That leaves me now to pack my bag for Glen Cove. Do not need much, all fits into a backpack that I will take onto the train with me. Last chance to get out of the manual yard job. "So mom, as I mentioned before, this makes no sense to me, doing yard work for Aunt Judy. The only thing I ever planted was flower seeds into Dixie cups full of dirt when I was in elementary school." "Do not worry son, Judy will be more than happy to show you how to take care of her garden and how to fertilize it. It is something men have done all these years, and I am sure that even you can do it too." I give up, looks like I am going to Long Island. "Mom, will you be OK by yourself this week?" "You do not have to worry about me Rodger, I have a few things planned for myself to keep me occupied. You just run along and catch the train. Remember Judy will be waiting for you at the station, so please do not miss the train." "Alright, I am off. Bye mom, enjoy yourself!" "You too!" ---------------- I head out the door with my backpack for a week of digging fun. I walk the four miles to the LIRR Jamaica station to get the train to Glen Cove. I could have taken a couple of busses, but would need to transfer, so walking was the most expedient way to get there. Plus having been raised in NYC, walking was second nature to me, something you just did. Then again I have a feeling I walk way more than most people, even those living in NYC. That was driven by my meager allowance. I would walk and skip bus trips in order to keep money in my pocket for important things, like candy and replacing lost Spaulding balls. By the time I was 18 I probably could have entered the Olympics as a walker. Shame I never knew of that sport until I was much older. Buying the ticket I was tempted to take the train all the way to Oyster Bay and get off at Glen Cove on the return leg. I love trains and would make up any excuse to take a trip, not to reach a particular destination, rather for just the experience of the train ride. That includes the subway too. Problem is that the extra ride to Oyster Bay would cost me over an hour on a Sunday schedule, keeping Aunt Judy waiting and worrying. So I just bought the direct trip to Glen Cove. The train ride was pleasant and uneventful on a hot, sunny day. Shame they run diesels to Glen Cove and not electric trains that one could stand behind the front door and look out the window. I am standing in the vestibule of the train car as we pull into Glen Cove station, holding on tight as the engineer lazily stops the train, allowing the couplers to jerk the cars around. A good or caring engineer could avoid the coupler slop, but not a bored engineer looking for excitement. I see Aunt Judy standing by her car in the parking lot. I wave and walk over, where Aunt Judy gives me a squishy hug. "Glad to see you again Rodger." "Nice to meet up with you again Aunt Judy. Cannot wait until we get to your house." One thing I can count on when visiting Aunt Judy is a fresh pot of coffee in the afternoon with a dessert. Supposedly that is what they do in Europe where she is from, and I always enjoyed taking part in that. So we are sitting in her doing room talking. "You have grown into a fine young man. How tall are you nowadays?" "I am just under six foot, pretty much done growing now Aunt Judy." "You are the same height as Horace. You can stop calling me 'Aunt' now Rodger. You are an adult, and there is no reason for you to call me that anymore." "That is going to be hard for me Aunt Judy. That is a term of respect, and not many people get that level of respect from me." After chatting we go into the garage to make sure we have all of the equipment to do the yard work. They have a nice garage with lots of shelves, plus a drop down stairway to the garage attic. Aunt Judy says there are some items she needs to get down from the shelf above the workbench. She asks me to hold onto her as she clambers up the bench and reaches for the highest shelf. At this point I notice that she is wearing a short sundress. As I hold onto her calves and as she reaches up I see that she has nothing on underneath! This is an utter surprise to me and I have no choice but to let go of her legs. Consequently, she starts to tumble down. Luckily I kept a few wits about and was able to keep her from falling off the workbench, but in doing so, her butt lands in my face as I grab her thighs. I finally get myself in position to lift her and push her back onto the bench top. "What happened Rodger? Why did you let go of me?" "You have no underwear on!" "That is no reason to let go of someone you were supposed to keep from falling!" "Looks like my mind thought different and I lost control. Not everyday I look up a woman's dress and see stuff I should not be seeing. I did not let go on purpose, women normally do not show me their undersides. I was in an unfamiliar situation and did not know what to do!" "Instead of letting me go you could have said 'the scenery is great from down here' and kept holding on!" "Really? You would want me to let you know I saw your bottom? Are you saying that you did that on purpose?" "Yes Rodger, girls do not mind if sometimes a guy sees their 'bottoms'. The smart man will know when to make a comment. You need to realize that situations will come up where you will be close to a woman and see or feel things that are private, whether on purpose or not. For your information, it is hot today and I did not want to burden myself with extra clothes, so I did not put on any underwear, as you saw. Nothing wrong with that!" "Except I got to see the lack of underwear, and there is nothing wrong with that? All the time we are taught 'Modesty is the best policy'. So what changed now?" "That was when you were a kid. Now you are an adult, so the rules are not the same." Ow, my brain hurts! Equivocallity strikes again, but why is it coming from my aunt of all people? She says it's now OK to let people see your private parts? It used to be so simple and relaxing when I visited Glen Cove, now I have some doubts. "Well, are you able to help me get these things down or not? "Maybe I should be the one up there, but if you insist, I can hold you. I promise not to let go of you this time." I was careful and made sure I kept supporting my aunt. There was one heck of a lot of body contact as we collected the garden paraphernalia and got them to the garage floor. Once done, Aunt Judy explained what the items were to be used for in the garden. After that we went into the house to cool off from being in the hot garage. After a cool drink I went outside to look around the yard. Aunt Judy joined me shortly. Loud and Clear! As we walked around the yard discussing the tasks that Aunt Judy was looking to have done, I saw that there was a blond girl around my age who I never saw before striding into the house next door. Aunt Judy noticed my looking at her and mentioned that the house next door was recently sold and new neighbors moved in at the end of June. "You know she has a boyfriend." "Not hard to believe, she seems confident and smart, plus she looks pretty, would be hard to ignore her in a room." "How can you tell that without talking to or spending time with her?" "I have had a knack for figuring out people and situations. I can glean a lot from first impressions and have rarely been wrong. My accuracy gets better with each passing day." Funny how people look at me strangely after I say certain things. I also wonder why Aunt Judy pointed out the existence of a boyfriend. Is she trying to protect me? Nevertheless, I will be looking to talk to that girl next door and find out if she has a real boyfriend, amongst other things. Maybe I can wrangle one of those summertime romances while on my forced vacation? We finish up the planning process and have a roadmap for the week of garden work. The trees and planting materials were already delivered. First thing was to mow the lawn on Monday, then start on planting prep. It was getting towards evening. "Why don't we head in and get dinner going." "I should take a shower before I mess up your furniture while eating dinner." "Sounds good, you can use the kid's bathroom, I have you set up in Keith's old room. I will take a shower too." "Thanks for setting up the room for me to use." Aunt Judy and Uncle Horace had the typical boy and girl, who both left home. Keith was the last to graduate from college. So the house is empty most of the time, convenient for hosting visitors such as myself. I lock doors whenever I use a bathroom, no matter where I am, even if I am alone. Of course I was rattled when I heard an attempt at the doorknob. What the heck? It must be obvious that I am in the shower. Was it someone other than Aunt Judy? Well, the doorknob was tried once again and then was left alone. Once I was satisfied that things were stable, I finished up in the bathroom as fast as I could. I was alone downstairs for a bit after I got dressed. Aunt Judy finally showed up, and looked a bit flustered. "Rodger, I needed to get something out of the bathroom while you were taking your shower and found the door locked." "Yeah Aunt Judy, that is normally what one does when they go into the bathroom." "That is not necessary in this house, Rodger. We normally do not lock doors except the exterior ones at night." "Gee Aunt Judy, that is the first time I heard that rule. Then again, locking the door accomplished its purpose, as I was using the bathroom, and having the door locked prevented you from walking in on me while I was naked." "I only needed to get a towel for myself, that is where I keep them. I would not have bothered you and I am sure I would not have seen anything I did not see before." "Really? When was the last time you saw me naked? I do not recall any recent sightings?" "You are right, I have not seen you naked since you were a young boy. But I have seen men naked before, so it would be no big deal to me." This is getting weird again, how did we get to talk about naked men? "Well, that may be fine for you and Uncle Horace, but I am not a nudist or a show-off, so please bear with me and leave me my modesty." "Rodger, you need to lose some of your inhibitions. You are definitely uptight about yourself and interrelating with people. I see that even in your dealings with your own family." "Alright Aunt Judy, this conversation is getting heavy. I thought I was on vacation. Want me to help you with dinner?" So I help my aunt with getting dinner ready, which was her doing the cooking and my setting the table. After we ate, Aunt Judy got the cards out and we sat down to play Gin Rummy. We played many rounds of cards. As the evening progressed, I noticed that the amount of innuendo is slowly increasing and finds us back to the girlfriend topic. ". . . more than one girlfriend? No way, one at a time is enough for me. At the rate I am going, I will be lucky to find the one love of my life." "There is nothing wrong with more than one girlfriend." "Maybe for someone else, but that is not me. Hmmm, maybe I am as selfish as my mother, just in a different way?" "Your mother is not selfish!" "You should live with her, you might find out something else. Everything she does is aimed towards her own satisfaction. On the other hand, I do not see how I could interact with two women on equal time, nor meet one woman's needs while tending to another. That is a conflict of interest that I have no desire to enter into. In a sense, sticking to one woman is a requirement to maintain my sanity. Am I being selfish in 'denying' my companionship to other girls if I stick to just one girlfriend? "That is a self protection argument, but is to be expected as everyone starts off self-centered, in that self protection is innate to every person. What you are missing out on is sharing. That seems to be something that is learned and you still need to." "Did we just fall into a discussion of altruism? We start off our lives as selfish egotistical people and then acquire the ability to care about others and obtain empathy? At least I think I consider others when I act. Others have recognized when I offer a helping hand and do things for other people, sometimes as a sacrifice to myself. That does not sound selfish. And I do not see my mom acting that way, least of all providing any sacrifices." "Sounds like you are talking about Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs'?" "So this philosophy has a name?" "I think they all have a name. But aren't you just confusing altruism with naivety? Yes, you do like to share and help others, but some of your altruistic-seeming traits are based on your naivety. For some reason you do not recognize people's intentions. You react to things inappropriately or unexpectedly. Often that makes you come off as being a nice guy." "But I thought I was a nice guy?" "Yes, Rodger, you are definitely nicer than a lot of other boys, more mature for your age. Still, you need to be aware of the times when you are not sensing a situation properly. I think people take advantage of your naivety when they can." That does not compute! Here I think I see things others do not and my Aunt tells me there are things I am not aware of! "You are an open book, everyone can see what is in your mind." "That's plausible, as I do not like to do things where I purposely hide the facts, such as playing poker. I also do not like people that hide things for personal gain. I dump hypocrites in the same pile." "Being judgmental, are we?" "When was I not? Still, does that say I cannot hide things, that I cannot play poker? I am doing that out of choice. I elected not to train myself to be sneaky and hide things, based on what I saw happen between others, my parents being the biggest example. So, no, I see no need to sneak and hide and have avoided it so far. Successfully I might add." "Still does not explain why you do not share." "I am having a hard time with that. I feel that I do share. However, I also feel there are matters that are personal and not to be shared." "Sounds to me like you are hiding after all?" "Oh, you got me there, I have to think that one through. ... Could it be that some people share better than others, maybe they learned to share better? But does that mean we are required to share, to share everything, in order to get to Maslow's top level? If Maslow was about happiness, then if sharing makes me unhappy, then it cannot be possible that I must share everything. So that should permit me to keep personal matters to myself - no need to share everything, even if you think otherwise!" "Now you are getting stubborn." "Only if you feel so, but I think you need to think that through, nothing to do with stubbornness. This conversation has tired me out, I am heading off to bed." ---------------- I was tired and happily slept the night away without any interruption. Noises outside the doorway altered me to the fact that it was morning. After a pit stop I made my way down to the kitchen where breakfast preparations were underway. Aunt Judy was moving about, and I noticed that her robe was not closed. I could see her flat tits as plain as day, hanging like plumb bobs. At least I do not drop anything this time, but use her hint from yesterday's garage experience. "Aunt Judy, you did it again! You know your robe is not closed all the way, you are showing!" "Sorry Rodger, it unraveled as I was cooking. Did not think it was a problem." "It is distracting, rather best to keep it closed." "If you say so. I wonder, if the girl next door were standing here with her robe undone, would you ask her to close it?" "Depends. I would take a good look before saying anything. Then, depending on the situation, I might ask her to close it, or maybe even take it off all the way." "So why do you not ask me to take mine off all the way?" I take a good look at my aunt, but I am looking straight into her eyes. "You are not the girl next door, you are my aunt!" You should not be walking around like a hussy! What is going on here?" "Rodger! I am not a hussy! I told you before that you are not a child anymore, but I guess you still want to be treated like one!" With that Aunt Judy tied up her robe and went back to cooking. "Sorry I do not come across as an adult. No one left me an instruction guide on what to do when you hit 18 years old, so obviously I am missing out on a few steps. With that I walked out of the kitchen and went outside for a breather. ---------------- Aunt Judy says she needs to go into town to do some shopping. I get started on the mowing while it was not too hot. Not too hard to figure out the mower and how to work it, so off I go and cut down the grass. After a couple of laps the girl next door appears. When I swing by on the next loop I wave to her and she walks up to the wood fence between the properties. I stop the mower and say: "Hello! My name is Rodger." "Hi! My name is Cathy. I saw you yesterday." "I saw you too, but my aunt had me tied up, I could not even step away to say hi. My aunt did tell me later that you recently moved in." "So you are related to her?" "Not really. Aunt Judy and her husband are close friends of my parents, and I have called them Aunt & Uncle all my life. They are not related to me, but they are the only relatives I have. I have been visiting this house as long as I can remember, but only get to visit every so often. At least once in the summer I will stay for a week or so." "So what brought you to move in next to my aunt?" "My parents wanted to get a ranch house in a development. They liked this one the best and we moved in at the end of last month." "Are you still in school?" "Yep, will be a senior next semester." "Wow, your parents moved you right before you graduate high school?" "Same school, silly! We already live in Glen Cove, just in town. They wanted to have a house with a yard to mow." "I dunno about that. Mowing looks like work with small benefit. I feel like a farmer harvesting a crop. Yet if you do not harvest it every week, then your property looks like crap, so you have to harvest all growing season long, or find someone to do it for you. Like me. Worst thing is, this harvest has no value. The benefits are solely aesthetic." Oh oh, Cathy gives me the look, hope I did not lose her already. What is this, I say something and people look at me like I'm from another planet? "Something tells me you do not live around here?" "Nope, I live in Queens, in an apartment surrounded mostly by concrete, and the super mows what little green there is. Us tenants do not get involved in that." "Does your aunt have you work every time you visit?" "I never did any planned work here before, so this year is different. I was not even planning to be here at all this summer. I started a new job after graduation and wanted to put in as many hours as I could before I start college this fall. But my mom did not pay attention and set up the annual vacation for me this year. And not even a nice, relaxing vacation, rather a working vacation. They have me doing yard work this year. My aunt wants some trees planted this year and I was picked to do it. I had to ask off from my new job to be here this week. How about you, do you have a summer job?" "Yes I do. It's not much, but I work at the grocery store in the evenings, filling in when the mothers need to head home." Cathy ponders for a few moments, looks like she is hesitating, so I wait for her to continue. "You know, when I saw you yesterday, I thought you were just another one of her visitors. You are the first guy I have seen here to do more than just walk in and out of her house. The others just come and go, so I have never met any of them." "I have no idea about my aunt getting lots of visitors?" "They are teenage boys much like yourself. I have seen at least three different guys. But we have heard more than that, so we probably have not seen them all." "Heard?" "Yeah, your aunt does not always close her windows. Then she is very noisy in bed!" "Noisy in bed? And you hear this?" "Yeah, she is very loud and you can tell she is screwing around with the boys!" "You're kidding!?! You're telling me she has different boys come visit her, and she is cheating on her husband with them, and she is not hiding this from the neighbors!?!" "That's pretty much it. Except I do not think it is cheating?" "Why would you say that? She is married, so if she is in bed with these guys, that sounds like she is cheating on my Uncle Horace." "Only during the day is she by herself with the boys. Sounds like when the guys stay overnight, your uncle is in there with them." "Oh man! You gotta be pulling my leg! My uncle would let my aunt screw around with other guys. Plus be in the room at the same time with them?" "Sounds like he is an active participant." "He is noisy too?" "Your aunt uses his name, along with the other boys, not that they are quiet themselves." "Uncle Horace does this at the same time with the guys?" "Yeah, like a menage a trois." "What's that?" "I see you do not get around much. That is when a woman is having sex with two men at the same time. That would be in your Aunt's case. Same phrase works for sex between one man and two women also." "Simultaneously?" "Yes!" Cathy chuckles at that one. "This is too much to take." "Plus I think your uncle likes the guys too!" "No way!!! My uncle is a faggot?" "Whoa! That was vicious! I gather you are not a fan of gay men?" "No way - a disgusting thought to me! Uncle Horace never came across as gay. At least he never bothered me, plus I never saw him act like Liberace. The only guy I ever saw him be pals with is my dad." Oh God, that hit hard! Cathy sees my face change, as I put two and two together. "I am so sorry to have brought this up. We are very curious as to your aunt's behavior and since she was so open about her activities, I thought they were common knowledge. I see now that this is news to you, even appalling news. I wish I never told you!" "I am glad you told me. My parents, along with Aunt Judy, have been acting really weird around me of late. Your story sheds light on some of that behavior. You gave me plenty to think about, and I am grateful you did tell me." A noise in the driveway alerted to us that my aunt returned from shopping. "Well, my aunt is back now. And I only have two loops of mowing to show for the time she was away. Guess 'Farmer Rodger' better get back to work, else he will get fired." I winked after that last line. "OK, see you around. Maybe we can talk again sometime." "Will see, my aunt acted funny yesterday when I asked about you. And here she comes now. Bye!" "Well Rodger, I do not see much progress in the mowing department." "Cathy came out while I was mowing, and we got to talking. I will finish up now." "Nice that you had a chance to talk to her. I will go put the groceries away and let you finish up. I would not wait much longer. The sun will be higher and make it hotter for you to get the job done." She had a strange look on her face when she spoke, could not make that one out. Did not sound like she really liked it that I spoke to Cathy. Well, here I had a chance to talk to Cathy, but instead of me getting to know her better, she ended up using me to get the latest gossip. I did not even get to find out if she really had a boyfriend or not. I had to agree that it was getting hotter. Even so, I took my time mowing, as it gave me time to digest what Cathy told me about my aunt and uncle. I am not even here for 24 hours and I have had more talk about sex and adult themes than I have had in the past ten years. My aunt acting like a cheater, but my uncle was in on it? That made no sense. Then my uncle could be gay, and now I have to wonder about my dad? Bad enough my aunt and uncle were sexually crazy, but my parents too? If that was the case, they did a great job of hiding it. Then why is Aunt Judy no longer hiding it, not only from her neighbors, but also not from me? My aunt was looking at me through the living room window every once in awhile, so I went back to normal speed, got the job done and put the mower away. So now what? Well I am sweating like a pig, so I ask Aunt Judy what is next to be done. "It is too hot for us to work outside until this afternoon when the sun is behind the house. I will get lunch ready while you get a shower. "OK, sounds good to me." So I head off to clean myself. No way I will leave any door unlocked in Aunt Judy's house, not after that talk with Cathy. Wouldn't you know it, once I am in the shower, the doorknob is tried again. My aunt has got to be kidding me. But this time she uses a screwdriver to open door while I am in shower. Oh boy, no pretenses, she walks in naked. I freak out. "What are you doing here!?! Leave me alone!" "Why are you acting like that? After shopping I needed a shower too. I thought we could do it together to save hot water and I can wash your back for you." "I take my showers alone - no witnesses allowed!" "You need to grow up Rodger." "You need to leave! I do not want you here, and if you do not leave, I wall throw you out myself!" I was getting angrier with each passing second she stayed in the bathroom. I think that my aunt could finally sense that she ticked me off big time. So she stood for a few more seconds and then left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Well, that was it for me. I did not feel safe in my aunt's house anymore, so I made up my mind to leave for home. I would pack my things up right after my shower, no reason to stay any longer. I am in the Keith's room collecting my things and stuffing them into my backpack. My aunt enters the room and sees me packing. Maybe she got the message as she is dressed in street clothes now. "Going somewhere?" "Yeah, I have had enough, it is time for me to head back home!" "What about the trees?" "Have your husband pay a landscape company to plant them, no need for me to do it. Or you can do it yourself. Then again, you seem to have plenty of visitors coming by that could do it for you?" She looked at me and realized I found something out. "So your girlfriend told you some stories?" "Not my girlfriend, you already told me she had a boyfriend." "I have no idea, I never spoke to her." Loud and Clear! "I was wondering why you never mentioned her name to me. Well, Cathy opened my eyes, which I found coincidental to the topics you were bringing up since I arrived. I think you know me well enough that I do not take kindly to being told lies or spending time with people that withhold information. Especially with caregivers or those that are concerned for their charges. I wonder whose interests you had in mind this week, and maybe in the past?" "I never had anything but the best intentions for your Rodger. You mother was concerned that you were not growing emotionally, so she asked if I could help out. I see that going about it this way was a bad idea." "I'll say! You know I never saw eye to eye with my mom. Mom did say she planned my vacation with you, and I have to wonder to what level that planning involved, or should I say, degraded? This scenario is consistent with my mother's past intrusive plots. Now she has gone too far. To think I regarded you as a person to look up to, but that is no longer the case. I am heading home now." "You are going to stay here and plant the tress like you said you were!" "Like mom told me to? No, I am leaving." "Well, I am not driving you to the train station." "Don't you worry your little ol' head! God gave me a fine pair of walking legs and I am going to use them to carry my ass out of slutland as fast as possible!" "Wow, you are stubborn!" "No one is denying that, so what's new? Did you think because you're a so called adult that I would just do as you say, even though I have no interest in your education program, and you already knew that ahead of time? Think you can force me to do things against my will, things that I consider private in my life?" Aunt Judy just looks at me. "I gather then that the answer is no. So I am off. Maybe this is the last time we will meet. You will get your wish now, as I will say 'good bye Judy'. Note that I left off Aunt, as I have no respect for you anymore!" I grab my backpack, head out the door, walk out driveway towards the train station, less than a 15 minute walk. When I get there it is getting close to 1 PM. I see that they are on a non-rush hour schedule, where trains run every 2 hours. I just missed a train by 10 minutes! There was no way I could cool my heels in the station, so I just up and start walking back home to Jamaica. Only 25 miles, it is a clear day, nothing to stop me from getting home on foot. You would think that would be a good time to think. The beginning of the trip was a bit treacherous, as I had to walk along the side of highways without sidewalks and rude drivers. Not until I got to Roslyn that sidewalks were more common than not, and Northern Blvd was finally the stretch where the rest of the way was paved for pedestrians. Praise the lord, here comes a White Castle! I walk in and order me a bunch of sliders with fries and a coke, and sit down at a table. Now I can finally collect my thoughts, not that they are very nice. The events of the past day have revealed that my parents were in cahoots with my aunt & uncle, leading a depraved lifestyle and trying to pull me into it. Most interesting that they led their lifestyle without any hint to me and then all of a sudden want to bring me into it. I cannot live with this level of deceit, so I need to accelerate my plans to move out. College does not officially start until late August. Wonder if I can move into a dorm sooner? Will have to find out, else will need to come up with an alternate plan. On the way out of the White Castle I pass by the requisite panhandler. I was in no mood to deal with them today, so as I left the door I swung my backpack in his direction and told him to bug off! I have to try that more often, as he backed down right away. I finish the walk back home, get there after 6 PM. That was good timing, considering that I stopped for lunch along the way. Was fully expecting Aunt Judy to have called mom, with mom waiting for me at the door on the warpath. Strange, house was all quiet, no one home. I was very thirsty, so I made myself a pitcher of Kool-Aid with half the sugar and drank most of it. After that walk I needed another shower. When I was finished I saw that there was still no mom. Maybe she was visiting someone? The phone rang after a bit and I picked it up (pre-cell phone service, only a landline with no recorder and no Caller ID). "Hello". "Rodger - you made it home?" "Yes Judy, of course I made it home. Weather was nice, good for a long walk, no one mugged me and the walk helped get some frustration out. Now is your chance to put it back into me." "Please don't be like that." "Bye Judy." Click. Looks like I have the house to myself tonight. Mom not being home gives me time to figure out how to deal with my bailing out on Aunt Judy, plus wondering what to do with my discovery of Aunt Judy's cheating, whoops, rather her slutty lifestyle with guys way younger than her nonetheless. Then wondering if my dad and Uncle Horace are being pals right now in more ways than one. After 10 PM I feel emotionally drained and tired, so I head off to sleep. Sometime in the middle of my sleep I hear noises in the apartment. I throw on a T-shirt and look to see what is going on. Creeping through the hallway I find the noises are coming from the living room, as well as light. Oh, what a sight! There was my mom on the sofa with some guy. She must have imbibed quite a bit, as she was unnaturally boisterous. Guess she must have thought no one else was home. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, and then I realize that she was naked, along with the guy who was all over her. The guy seems to be around my age, and looked like he knew what he was doing. I was beginning to see a pattern here. Time to announce my presence. "Hey, keep the noise down, there are people trying to sleep here! You know it is time to be sleeping in bed! What would you have said if I made this racket when you were sleeping?" That got their attention! The two naked people fell apart and turned to see who was talking to them. "Gee mom, who's your friend? Or should I say, boy-friend?" "Wha, what are you doing here?!" "Well, well, looks like I left one slut for another. Except this one is already taken. Why don't you take this show to your room and close the door so I do not have to hear you two and leave me sleep in peace?" "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Aunt Judy's?" "What, join her in bed, just as you are looking to do yourself? In your current inebriated state, it is best to wait until you sleep this off and then I can give you the gory details of my vacation cut short. Do not worry about boy wonder there, take him with you to bed. If you are worried that I know about your lifestyle, don't. I obviously know about it already, that damage is done. We can talk when we wake up. Go on, no need to look so surprised! Nitey-nite!" With that I turned around, walked back to my room and closed the door. I lay back down to sleep, as I was surprisingly calm after seeing my mother bring some guy home, naked at that. I guess the ordeal at Aunt Judy's prepped me for this scenario, having drained my disgust already in Glen Cove. So I was not surprised when I saw it happen here at home from my mother. As I lay in bed reviewing the recent events, it finally occurred to me what has been happening and how I got to be bamboozled. I trusted my family, my parents. I treated them special, unlike everyone one else. Growing up in New York, the first thing you learn is not to trust anyone. Unfortunately, it was a mistake to trust my parents, it ends up that they were just like everyone else. Going forward I would have to treat everyone the same and trust no one, not even family. With that resolved, it did not take long to fall asleep, although I did hear some shuffling noises before I lost consciousness. ---------------- I was surprised when I woke up that my mom was already awake, coffee made too. I poured myself a cup and sat down at the kitchen table across from her. She did not look like she slept, plus was having the hangover look about her. "Morning. Where's boy wonder?" "He did not feel comfortable staying after your surprise appearance and went home." "Ruined your evening then? That might make up for messing my summer arrangements without talking to me first. Now, was the plan for him to stay all week, or were you going to get a new boy everyday?" "I feel bad, in more ways than one. Rodger, I do not know where to begin?" "About what? I am sure we have plenty aspirin in the bathroom closet." Yeah, I was going to let her have it and not be nice about it either. "Took them already, and wish I had something stronger. But that is not what I am talking about." "Really. Then what do you want to talk about? Perhaps my moving out as soon as possible? I am thinking that we should wait until you feel better first before diving into that topic, going to be a pretty heavy discussion." "Rodger, what do you mean moving out?" "Since I found out I live in slutland and have no desire to deal with sluts, or fags on top of that, I have found myself with a sudden need to locate a slut-free place to live." "Ouch! That was mean! You cannot be serious about leaving?" "It will take some effort, especially since I have my life tied up with yours and dad, but I am sure I will figure something out and find a way to support myself in a place of my own. You proved to me that I really cannot trust anyone, not even my so-called family. The reason for the breaking of the trust is most pathetic. I am unable to live any longer with you." "What is going on here? How can you think such bad things about your family?" "Uhh, how can I not think such bad things? I made the mistake of trusting my parents, which you have revealed this weekend to be an error, so I am now going about repairing the damage you did and making sure it never happens again. That means I cannot believe anything you say, and I see no reason to stay in a home with people lying to me." "Rodger, we were not being malicious! This was done for your own good! You were not maturing in the right direction, so we had to step in and guide you. Running away will not solve any problems!" "So, having endured a deceitful upbringing for my entire childhood does not equate to an unpleasant environment, which in turn gives me cause to think that my family is bad enough to want to leave? Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding, it is not just the lies and set up this week that I am reacting to, rather, for a long period of time you have been hiding a sordid lifestyle from me and who knows what other lies. That is intolerable, at least for me. Nothing to do with maturity, rather my criteria for a content life are greater than yours and I have no need to stoop down to your level, where I feel sluttiness is at." "That is not true! And stop with the insults! We never exposed you to our intimate pastime. We were very careful to make sure that you were blissfully unaware of what us adults were doing. You have to agree that until whatever happened at Aunt Judy's, you knew nothing of how we entertained ourselves." "The main point was to keep me in the dark, that way you could have a clear conscience and commit whatever perverted acts you desired? You know, that is how murderers think, if the body can be kept hidden, they will never be caught." "You have to stop that Rodger! We are not criminals!" "No, just perverts. What if I told everyone how you and Aunt Judy entertain yourselves? Not to mention what dad and Uncle Horace do to each other? Think your business would skyrocket once your customers heard that?" "You wouldn't dare?!?" "No, I would not. Although I have to wonder if I should not do so. Just making a point here. It isn't criminal, but it sure isn't something to be proud of! And now I am the one that has to live with the fact that my parents are degenerates. Obviously it does not bother you as such." "You are relentless! Throwing names at me is not conducive to having a conversation. There is no reason to continue talking to you while you are in this mood, you need to cool off first." "At this point I see nothing to discuss, so no skin off my back if we do not talk." "We have to at some time, you said you wanted to move out!" "That decision is firm, I am moving out, once I have another place worked out. I do not need your assistance in that." "I do not see how you are going to accomplish that. With that in mind, I will let you cool off and we can continue this discussion later." "The best way for me to cool off is to go to work now, and get my mind off the events of the past few days. Even though I took vacation, I am sure Mr. Bracchi will let me work today if I show up at the factory." "This is not how I envisioned the week playing itself out." "Yes, that is the point of the matter. By the way, you should call Aunt Judy, she called last night and probably wanted to speak to you before I arrived. Good thing you were not here already, so I could avoid the confrontation until you stumbled home late last night." "I was planning on calling her, as I must find out what happened while you were at her house." "I have to wonder if you lie to each other too? Just for fun, sometime let me know what her version of my visit to her house is. I am going to get ready to go to work". "I need to find out what happened. And figure out why you are so vindictive that I am unable to talk to you!" I did not respond, just went back to my room to get myself ready for work. While I slept calmly overnight, seeing and talking to my mom this morning woke up a new set of infuriating emotions. It would be best that I get out of the apartment immediately and make my way to work. ---------------- I arrived at the factory before lunchtime, picking up a sandwich at the deli across the street on the way in. Of course Mr. Bracchi is surprised to see me. "Rodger! Did you make a wrong turn, 47th street is in the opposite direction from Long Island?" "My so-called vacation turned into a fiasco and I cut it short. Is it OK if I return to work and cancel the rest of my vacation?" "Sure. If you want, you can join me for lunch. I can see there is a story behind your desire to return to work early, if you are willing to share it." "More than happy to, I need to unload big time!" I tell Mr. Bracchi all about what happened during my so-called vacation and my return back home, not leaving out any details. So at least one other person knows about my parent's lifestyle. I share with him my strong desire to move out and find a slut-free place to live. The first thought that comes to mind is my college in New Jersey. Maybe they will let me move into my dorm room before the semester starts. "That is not a bad idea Rodger. But I know a place that you could stay at if you do not want to deal with your college and pay extra for summer room and board." "Really?" "Sure. If you want, you could move into the spare room I have in my apartment. It has rarely been used, was meant for our kids, but since we never had any plus my ex moving out, there is little reason to use it. If it were not for rent control keeping my payments in check, I would have relocated to a smaller apartment." "Wow, so you would be OK with me moving into the spare room? I will make sure not to disturb you and disrupt your life." "I would not have offered if I felt you would be disruptive. I would not mind your company. I enjoy talking with you and you seem to have your head screwed on right. I think you would make a good companion. Besides, you might be needing some guidance, that which your parents seem not to have been able to provide you. I see this as a win-win scenario. What do you think?" "Gee, that's a great offer! I have to agree, I could use a sounding board, if you are willing to offer up your wisdom. When can I move in?" "You can come with me right after work to my apartment. We can work out arrangements from there." "That is wonderful, I really appreciate your helping me out like this!" "Excellent! We will head to my place right after quitting time today." This worked out better than I could have imagined! That evening was a long one. After visiting Bracchi's place and working out arrangements, we got extra keys made. Then I went to my apartment, which I have renamed to my mom's apartment, to collect some things so I can sleep and work the rest of the week away from my old home. I went alone expecting another confrontation, but was surprised that no one was there. That made it easy to collect a box worth of items and head back to my new home via the subway. Mr. Bracchi and I got along fine. Somehow I got the idea that he was treating me like the son he never had. He did ask me to call him by his first name. "OK Gerry, I will try to stop using Mister. Do not be surprised if I fall back to using Mister once in awhile." "I am sure you will get the hang of it." "How about at the factory?" "Use my first name there too, many others do, no reason why you could not." I definitely feel more welcome at my new home. No power play or someone trying to one-up the other, a much friendlier atmosphere. Never treated so nice by another person before, where I have not felt at ease in a long time, if ever. I think Gerry feels the same way with me around. Gerry is treating me like the son he never had, plus he says I make him look good at work and he gets the credit for hiring me. I am grateful for this arrangement, as it has taken a load off my mind, to the point that I am not thinking at all about my parents during the day. Over time I meet Gerry's family and we get along fine, I fit right in. I find out his name is really Geronimo, but was called Gerry since he was a kid. His sister is married with three kids that we meet with frequently and partake in recreational activities. Just another reason to claim Gerry's home is much better to live in than my parent's home. ---------------- Over time I settle into my room at Gerry's apartment. I take my time moving since there is no deadline, main thing is that I have a safe place to sleep and call home. After work each day I make a trip back to my mom's place, which is no longer my apartment, to take a boxful of stuff to my new abode. I have not seen her since Tuesday morning when I told her I was moving out, which suits me fine. My plan on Saturday was to finish the move so I did not have to make any more trips to my old place. I arrive at my mom's apartment after lunchtime and this time she is there. Not only her, but my dad and Uncle Horace have returned from their trip. This should be fun. I welcome them by saying: "Oh good, you 're all here, perhaps you can help me pack the last of my things." "Is that any way to greet your father?" Let's not waste any time, might as well get the pleasantries immediately out of the way. "Now that you brought the point up, I have to wonder if that a true statement?" "What do you mean by that?" "Whether you are my father or not?" My mom chimes in on that one. "Well Rodger, I guess you have not cooled off while you were away?" "Funny, I thought you were the one that was away from home. When I stopped off in the evening to collect more belongings, no one was home, not that I minded. Anyway, I was calm until I met you all just now. Now seeing you all again is beginning to boil my blood. So, now that we are on the topic, can you confirm whether you my parents or not?" The three old folks in the room are standing there bewildered. Guess I sidetracked any scripted discussions they might have intended to use. Uncle Horace is looking the worst of the bunch. Seems mom is going to be the spokesperson.