Chapter 27: Battle Lines Are Drawn

Scott felt like he had stepped in a huge pile of manure. He looked over at Sam and then back at Greg. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “What do you want to say to Sam?”

Leaning forward towards Sam, Greg said, “Sam, you are dating my little girl. I love her more than life itself. Now the problem is, I don’t know you well enough to decide if I like you or not. There’s nothing personal about that, I just don’t know you. You need to understand my position. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”

Confident that Greg was about to tell Sam that he didn’t want him coming over to see Cathy, Scott was fuming at the mistake he had made. Crossing his arms, he decided to listen to what Greg had to say before saying something that he would regret. He looked over at Sam trying to see him through the eyes of man whose daughter he was dating. He couldn’t manage that. All he saw was his son and the kid looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

Swallowing heavily, Sam looked to his father for guidance. There was no guidance coming from that quarter. He said, “I understand that, Sir.”

“Now, I know that things are heating up between you and Cathy. I’m afraid that she’s going to do something stupid and you’ll be involved. Do you get my drift?”

“I’m not sure, sir,” Sam answered knowing exactly what he meant.

“One of these days, she’s going to be ready to say yes to you. Hell, for all I know she’ll be asking you to do it. I’m not stupid enough to think that you won’t do it. No, I’m not going to ask you to promise that you won’t do it,” Greg said finding it almost impossible to say what he meant. He wondered if there was a good way to let a teenage boy know that he knew that before long the kid would be having sex with his daughter.

“Do what?” Sam asked suspecting that he understood exactly what Greg was saying.

Scott shook his head and said, “Don’t make him say it, Sam.”

“Oh.”

Greg took a sip of his drink. This was the hardest thing that he had ever done. While rubbing his eyes, he said, “Sam, I want her first time to be special. Don’t go rushing into it. I want you to promise me that you’ll make it special.”

Stunned, Scott stared at Greg with wide eyes. He could see that it hurt the man to make that request. Unable to hold back his curiosity, he asked, “Why would you ask that?”

Greg looked down at the floor hoping that he wasn’t inviting a disaster. In a quiet voice, he said, “I can’t stop it from happening. Not in today’s world. I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

“I understand,” Scott said. He turned to look at Sam and thought about how lucky his son was. He hoped the boy didn’t blow it. Just to make sure, he said, “Son, you better talk to your mother about what would make something like that special before you go off and do something you’ll live to regret.”

Turning to look at Sam, Greg asked, “Do I have your promise that you’ll make her first time special?”

“Yes, Sir,” Sam said realizing that Cathy’s father was giving him permission to sleep with his daughter. All he was doing was putting conditions on it. Even then, the conditions weren’t all that bad.

“Get out of here,” Greg said waving towards the door. Before Sam reached it, he added, “Don’t hurt my little girl. Don’t make her do anything that she doesn’t want to do.”

Scott took a sip of his drink and studied the man seated in front of him. The entire conversation was too improbable to believe. Once Sam was gone, he asked, “Why did you do that?”

“She’s ready to make a major mistake. I don’t want her hurt,” Greg answered.

“What makes you think that being with my son is a mistake?” Scott asked feeling irritated at the suggestion that his son wasn’t good enough for his daughter.

“That’s not the mistake. The mistake is being with your son for the wrong reason,” Greg said staring into his drink. There was just a hint of the golden liquor around the ice cubes in his glass. He swirled the ice around the glass and said, “I’d invite you for another drink, but we’re expecting company.”

Recognizing a dismissal when he heard one, Scott stood up. He understood that Greg needed some time alone. For that matter, he needed some time alone to think about what would happen when Martha started dating. He extended a hand and said, “It’s hell being a father.”

“You can say that again,” Greg said shaking his hand.

Ted stood at the front door with his father waiting for his mother to make her way up the walkway. Turning to his father, he said, “This is going to be a disaster.”

“You might be right,” Daryl said with a frown. His wife had refused to wear clothes appropriate for an evening by a pool. He had grabbed her bathing suit and stashed it in the trunk of the car without her knowing about it. Seeing her now, he doubted that she would have a need for it.

Harry opened the door and said, “Hey, you’re here. I was getting worried that you weren’t going to show.”

Not knowing how to answer, Ted said, “We’re here.”

“Okay. Come on in,” Harry said gesturing into the house. He watched Ted’s mother make her way up the walkway. She didn’t look much like the woman who had visited the house when they had brought Ted over the first time. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Ted. Ted just shrugged his shoulders with an expression that he was just as confused by her behavior.

It seemed to take forever, but Shirley finally made it to the door and entered the house. Ted and Daryl were waiting for her. Ted was frowning and shaking his head. Harry said, “My mom is in the kitchen getting the appetizers ready. We’ll go out by the pool and have a little swim before dinner.”

The trio followed Harry though the house. He took them out by the pool and offered them chairs around the patio table. Greg rose from his seat and shook hands with Daryl. He offered the two adults alcoholic drinks. Shirley rose out of her depression long enough to say that she would appreciate a glass of wine.

While preparing the drinks, Greg explained about allowing the wine spritzers. Daryl looked over at Ted for a moment and then gave his permission for Ted to have a drink. Shirley didn’t say a word, but stared at Daryl as if he had said that Ted could use drugs. Greg couldn’t help but notice the tension in everything involving Shirley.

Sharon finally came out carrying a tray of appetizers. It was nothing more than simple cheese cubes and chunks of ham on toothpicks, but it was appropriate for the start of a backyard barbecue. Shirley waved off the appetizers, but Ted and Daryl took a small plateful. It was only after they had taken appetizers that Shirley noticed that they were using real China plates.

For the first time since arriving, she spoke without being asked a question first. “You’re using China plates?”

“This is the last of the old set. We got a new set a couple of weeks ago,” Sharon explained. She smiled at the thought of using the China for barbecue eaten in the backyard and said, “We’ll be using paper plates for the barbecue.”

“Oh,” Shirley said. She looked down at the pattern on the plate and said, “These are lovely.”

“Thank you. It took a rather wise woman to remind me that they were plates and were meant to be used,” Sharon said remembering the night she had talked to Ann Green.

“But China is only for special occasions,” Shirley said.

Seeing that a conversation was finally started that had Shirley interested, the men slipped away and entered the pool. Sharon watched them sneak off and then said, “That’s probably true. The question is - what constitutes a special occasion?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are special occasions limited to holidays? Or is a special occasion a time when you sit back and just appreciate what you have? Sometimes it is those occasions when you sit back to appreciate what you have, that are the more special times of your life.”

Looking at Sharon, Shirley didn’t know how to respond. Finally, she said, “I don’t have anything in my life that is worth appreciating.”

Surprised, Sharon asked, “What do you mean?”

“My husband is going to divorce me. My son hates me. I’m going to lose my house and end up homeless on the street,” Shirley answered.

“Oh my, that doesn’t sound very good at all,” Sharon answered thinking that if what Shirley was saying was true, that the three of them wouldn’t have been there together. She asked, “Did your husband say that he was going to divorce you?”

“No.”

“Oh. Did your son say that he hates you?”

“No.”

“So what makes you say that?” Sharon asked looking at the other woman.

Shirley vented all of the rage and anger that she felt towards Daryl. She explained how he didn’t act like he cared after Ted had been attacked. Sharon listened to the whole story without saying a word other than to nod her head and urge the woman to tell more. She shook her head in all of the right parts, said ‘ohh’ when it was appropriate, and basically provided a sympathetic ear. When Shirley finally finished her story, Sharon knew that she was out of her depth. Looking around for a minute, she finally said, “Come in the house with me. I need to call someone for you to talk with.”

“I’m not talking to a therapist,” Shirley said.

“Oh, I’m not calling a therapist. I’m calling June. You’ve got a lot in common with her and really need to hear her story,” Sharon said with a smile.

In her bedroom, Cathy reached up and started to unbutton her shirt while smiling at Sam. He watched her with wide eyes knowing that he was finally going to see the treasures that he had only felt through her shirt. Seeing his reaction, she said, “We’re going to go all the way tonight.”

Shocked, Sam stared at her while hearing the voice of her father. He looked around her room and thought about what her father had said. Smiling, he said, “I love you, Cathy.”

Cathy finished with the last button on her shirt and pulled it off. He was now looking at her bra. Hands trembling, she reached back to undo her bra. She stopped and asked, “You do want to do it, don’t you?”

“More than anything in the world,” Sam answered telling the truth. He moved to sit beside her and turned her face to his. In a soft voice, he asked, “Do you want your first time to be like this?”

“Huh?” Cathy asked confused by the question.

“It isn’t very romantic,” he said. He pointed around the room and said, “There aren’t any candles. No music. No flowers. Do you really want your first time to be like this?”

His question caught her by surprise. Cathy had it all planned out. In as matter of a fact manner as she could muster, she was going to get undressed and then lie back on the bed. He was going to do his thing and take her virginity. If Harry was right about what men wanted in bed, then Sam was going to be very happy.