Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Copyright (C) 1998, Clayton. ALL Rights Reserved Babysitting - Jenny Chapter 6 Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. No illegal activity described herein was carried out, this document details fantasies that took place late at night when I was alone in bed. I firmly believe that no fifteen minutes of pleasure is worth the innocence of a child. Besides, I derive much pleasure from the company of children, playing with them or simply watching them at play, I am not going to risk this for any momentarily heightened sense of pleasure. If you are under the age of eighteen the law says I've got to tell you to go away, so, "Go away!" Common sense says you're going to ignore me, so don't blame me if you go blind, your parents find you in possession of this document or your space bar to stops working. If this type of material is illegal in your city, state, country, then see above, substituting "law enforcement agency" in place of "parents". Introduction: Between now and the new year I will be unable to do much writing. Instead I will be proofreading this story, and possibly a couple of others, and publishing a chapter or so every day or two. When I next have the time to write, your responses will determine which stories I will work on. So if you have a preference for which story you would like me to finish first, send me an email or five. __ _ / ) // _/_ / // __. , , / ______ (__/ </_(_/|_/(_/_<__(_) / /_, / ' +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Clayton | clayton@nym.alias.net | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | There is nothing so soft, or pleasing to the touch, as the skin of | | a child. Cup their cheek in your hand and ask yourself if you are | | willing to harm such beauty for your own gratification. | | Take you fantasies to bed - alone. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Chapter 6 - Repercussions. Dianne greets us at the door looking less than happy, "What on earth were you doing that made you three quarters of an hour late?" she asks. Slipping her hand into mine, Jenny gazes up at me with a look that is half questioning and half fearful, I return a slight nod, and she turns to her mother. In a very small voice she asks, "Mummy can we talk?" Realising that this is serious, Dianne's features slip from anger to concern, "Of course honey, you know you can always talk to me. Do you need to talk now, or can it wait until after tea?" "Now I think Mummy." "Sorry for being mad at you Greg, but you can understand my concern." Dianne apologises, "Does this need your presence?" "That's up to Jenny," I reply, "but I think so." "Greg's got to be there Mummy," Jenny says, "or I'll say it all wrong and get him into trouble when it's really my fault." "One of those." Dianne says to me, once again looking less than pleased. "Come in." Once we're in the bright lights of the foyer, Dianne looks at Jenny and asks, "Jenny why is your hair wet." Touching the still damp hair around Jenny's scrunchie, Dianne looks at me, her frown deepening by the second. "I had her take a shower." I answer for Jenny, "She was prickly with sweat and wouldn't have been able to concentrate on her work." "So it's got nothing to do with this?" Dianne asks. "Not directly." I answer, relieved when, Dianne's expression lightens. "Well let's get this over with, it's obviously not going to get any sweeter for the waiting." "Can I use your phone first?" I ask "There's something I need to sort out." "Oh that's right this is your games night." Dianne says, "Go ahead." While I call Morrie and tell him to get someone else to play my character until I get back, Dianne tells Tony to feed Jeremy and put him to bed. Deciding on the schoolroom in order to keep Jeremy from interrupting us, Dianne leads us up the stairs. She frowns slightly when Jenny pushes me into an armchair and climbs into my lap, but recognising that Jenny is doing it for security, says nothing about it. "O.K. who want's to go first." "I will Mummy," Jenny says, puling my arms even tighter around her, "it's my fault, and you're going to be real mad." "That bad is it?" Dianne sighs, "If it'll make it any easier, I'll reserve judgment until, you've both had your say, because I'm sure Greg will do his best to plead your case." "Thanks Mummy," Jenny says, "but you still aren't going to like it. Remember what Vanessa and I did when Greg was here the first time. Well I sort of did it again, except worse. I tried to show off my new undies by making him peek at me." Smart move, I'm not sure that Dianne would sit still through the rest of this if Jenny told her exactly how she tried to show them to me. It might have got me off the hook, but I felt that Dianne needed to know what I told Jenny, even if I lost my job as a result. "Anyway they were all sweaty, and he saw right through them." "That's why I packed your other undies with your sports gear, maybe next time, you'll wear them." Dianne says with a frown for Jenny. "Go on." "Well that's when I got all prickly and Greg made me take a shower." "Cold sweats are never fun." I put in. "I hope it scared you good." Dianne tells her daughter. "A bit." Jenny admits, "but not enough I guess, because I did it again. With my other undies." She hastily adds. "I don't care what you're wearing don't do it it's dangerous." Dianne tells her daughter severely. "I know Greg told me that too," Jenny mumbles, "But I guess I didn't care, and besides you knew where I was, so I thought he couldn't hurt me and I did it again." "Jenny!" Dianne cries out in mixed fright and anger, "Have you any idea what could happen to you if you keep up that sort of behaviour?" "I do now." Jenny says almost inaudibly. "My turn." I say. Taking a deep breath, I continue, "You're probably going to throw me out on my ear when you hear this, but I did it for Jenny's sake. Her behaviour was scaring me almost as badly as it's scared you, and I wanted her to be very sure of the possible consequences of her actions." "You obviously said more than you think you should have." Dianne says to me, "Tell me the worst." "Well there's no pretty way to say this, so I'll tell it bluntly. I took her step by step through exactly how I or anyone else, could seduce her." "WHAT?" Dianne yells, half rising from her chair, "You told her what?" "He told me what happens to girls who do stupid things Mummy." Jenny replies, "Please let him finish, he didn't do anything bad, I did." "Sorry," Dianne apologises sinking back into her seat, "I did say I would hear you out." "I said you wouldn't like it, but Jenny was trolling for sharks, using herself as bait, and I wanted to scare her as badly as I could. So step by step, I showed her exactly how easily a whole lot of innocent little things could end up putting her in a position of being too scared to tell anyone about what was happening, because her own actions had become entangled in the situation. "I will say this in her defence, she was adamant she'd tell you no matter how much her own actions had contributed to her predicament. However, I played hypothetical, and took it right to its grisly conclusion, including dragging Vanessa into it and how she would probably feel as a result of everything that happened. I don't think I told her anything about sex itself that she didn't already know." "You didn't." Jenny interrupts. "But I was more concerned with making Jenny understand just how badly she could be burnt." I finish. "Grim stuff," Dianne frowns, "but I can see your reasoning. Any more?" "A little, but first I like to say this. On the down side, Jenny is quite a bit less innocent than she was this morning, but the positive result is that I doubt even Brad Pitt would be able to seduce her now. "The other thing I told her was just how easy it was for some of the less savoury members of our community to misinterpret the signals she was sending, and the sort of situation she might find herself in as a result." "That was real scary." Jenny puts in, "Mummy, did you know more than nine out of ten women or girls will get hurt before they die?" "No I didn't." Dianne says in surprise. Of me she asks, "Is it really that bad?" "Yes and no." I reply, "I was still intent on scaring Jenny, so I lumped every kind of sexual assault in together, from a drunken groping at the pub, right up to outright rape. Using the official figures it comes out to about fifty-fifty, but if you use the estimate that only about one in four sexual assaults get reported, then it works out that about ninety three percent of women and girls will suffer some sort of sexual assault in their lifetime. Actually it would be somewhat less, because I made the assumption that the chances remain constant throughout a woman's life, when in truth, they're a bit lower for girls under sixteen and considerably lower for women over about fifty. But I'd figure that it would still be somewhere in the low to mid eighties. "I don't have my calculator handy, so I can't give you the figures for actual rape, but at a rough guess I'd figure it to be around five percent based on the raw data, in truth a bit less, and considerably less if you take the proper precautions." "He told me how to do that." Jenny says. "Well I hope he put not flashing your knickers high on the list of priorities." Dianne says. "Yep." Jenny giggles, recovering her spirit now that the worst has been told. "I wouldn't laugh if I was you." Dianne informs her daughter darkly, "There's still the matter of your punishment to be dealt with." Gulping Jenny subsides. "Is that the end of the confessions?" Dianne asks, "Or is this going to turn into a Demtel commercial?" "No that's it." I chuckle, starting to feel that, I might make it out of this with my balls intact, "No steak knives.' "You needn't laugh either. I haven't finished with you yet." Dianne informs me, "Jenny go to your room and stay there until I tell you to come out." "Please don't be mad at him Mummy, he was scared I'd do something stupid and get hurt." Jenny pleads on my behalf. "No promises, but I'll give him a fair hearing." Dianne says, "Now go, there are some things I need to hear that you don't." 'Uh-oh," I think, 'here's where I get my marching orders.' Dianne waits with her head cocked to the side for the sound of Jenny's bedroom door closing and then turns to me. "First of all tell me how you know so much about seducing little girls that you can give a step by step account." Since telling her about frequenting Mr Double's site on the Internet, is a sure ticket to Hell, I say, "Accounts in the papers, a good dose of imagination, and sheer inspiration. I think even you could come up with a believable scenario, with the wellbeing of someone you care for deeply at stake." "More easily than you can imagine." Dianne says, "I spent two years of my life with our minister's hand, and worse, up my skirt." "I'm sorry." I say. "Thankyou." she says, "*He* convinced me I wanted it, so I know what that's like. Fortunately I managed to work up the courage to tell my mother and we dealt with it very effectively. We drove him out of town, and a series of anonymous letters to various women's groups followed him around the country until he finally committed suicide. And you know what, I'm not the least bit sorry, he used his position as a man of God to take advantage of me and a lot of other girls, and once he was dead he lost the power to hurt me or anyone else ever again." "I wouldn't be sorry either, I would have nailed his gonads to the church door." "Dad wanted to kill him, but Mum wouldn't let him, because there was no point in going to jail over the likes of him. Instead she came up with a campaign to get rid of him. There was a certain justice to it too. She used the same sort of techniques that he'd used to seduce me, to let the whole town know just what he was. One tiny step at a time. And the whole time he could see what was coming, but couldn't do a thing about it without admitting the truth. "My mother was a master manipulator, the first thing she did was change the sermon on the church notice board to 'Lot's Daughters.' for five weeks running. Next it was changing all of the hymn numbers to 'God bless the little children'. One insidious step at a time, she exposed that monster to the community. Somewhere about the fourth week of her campaign, other women, mothers of girls he'd touched, came forward to offer their help, somehow they knew my mother was behind it, though to this day almost nobody else does. It was a club where only his victims families were accepted. "Everywhere he went women would huddle together, and he'd hear the word child above their whispers. Groups of girls that he'd touched would lie in wait for him and the moment he came near they would hurry away. Younger children, his victim's brothers and sisters were taught to sing 'Georgie Porgie' whenever they saw him. That one was probably the most effective thing my mother thought of, as within days nearly every child in town was doing it. "Finally the synod was forced to take notice and he was transferred away. I wish we could have taken them on too, for covering up their mistake in accepting him in the first place, and secondly for not admitting it and defrocking him when they had the chance, but they were untouchable. So I've had to be satisfied with out living most of them. "As for him. A letter would go to enough members of the church social club in the town where he was placed, that there would always be at least one or two women who'd been victims themselves. Since they often couldn't strike back at their own attackers, they fastened on him as a substitute. Some of those women were vicious, but one thing remained constant. Everywhere he went, he was followed by 'Lot's Daughters', 'God Bless The Little Children', and 'Georgie Porgie'" "Brilliant just brilliant." I congratulate her, "It should happen more often, at the same time I wish it never had to happen." "Amen to that." Dianne replies feelingly, "Do you know just how many girls it does happen to?" "I don't know what the official figures are," I reply, "but since 'under sixteens' is probably the most under-reported age group, the official figures'd be damned near useless anyway. However, I believe that the best estimates put it at some where between twenty and twenty five percent of girls being technically molested by their sixteenth birthday." "Technically?" Dianne queries, "That's a rather cold way of putting it, don't you think?" "Sorry I didn't mean it like that." I reply, "What I meant is that since all sexual contact with a child under sixteen is defined as molestation, even when it is another child, a lot of otherwise harmless incidents are included in the figures." "I see what you mean." Dianne replies, mollified. "*Technically* I'm a dangerous sex offender who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children, because my brother and I played doctor with the little girl next door. Although I know it wasn't really right, and even then, we were aware of that fact. (At least we were always careful not to get caught.) However, I don't consider it to be something that brands me as someone who should be registered as a sex offender, but the law as it stands says exactly that. "For crying out loud, Tracy was no innocent even before we began our games. I've got a photograph of my brother and I showing off our Christmas presents in the driveway, and back in the background, sitting on her front porch, is Tracy wearing nothing but a pair of knickers, a dreamy smile and some very busy fingers. *Technically* I guess that opens me up to a child pornography charge as well." "Don't you think she might have been molested?" Dianne asks. "I doubt it." I laugh, "This was the seventies remember, when the entire fabric of sexuality was being rewoven, I think she was just the child of the times. I think Tracy discovered what felt good entirely on her own, and was simply never discouraged from doing it, in and around her own home, elsewhere she was a perfect little lady. At least until we got the wardrobe door closed and the torch lit." Dianne chuckles at this, saying, "I remember that, though in my case it was the linen press and the game was one minute of heaven. Not that it was, heaven I mean, mostly it was some very noisy giggles and a lot of clumsy groping." With a reminiscent chuckle, she adds, "And the last time finished with a lot of angry yelling and me eating my dinner standing up." "Ouch." I grin. "In a way, I think that was what made me vulnerable to the minister too." she says sadly. "You can't blame yourself for that." I say, "He was the one who forced himself on you." "Oh he never used anything so crude as force." Dianne replies, "No, I meant the spanking. Like you told Jenny, he built things up one tiny step at a time, until by the time I realised what was happening, I was more afraid of the spanking I'd get from my father than anything else. It was only when one of the older girls turned up pregnant that I finally said anything. I saw how she was treated by the whole town and suddenly, I was a whole lot more scared of that, than anything my father might do." "How is Jenny's father going to react?" I ask. "Hopefully not as badly as mine did," Dianne replies, "though I think I'll keep your part in this limited to having scared Jenny badly enough to be good, without going too deeply into the specifics of how you did it. "Now I think it's time to go and get our little exhibitionist and pass sentence." She says rising from her seat. "And me?" I ask. "You, I sentence you to having to put up with my troublesome daughter, at least until she's able to keep up at school on her own." "Thanks. I think?" I say with a mock grimace. "You didn't think you were going to get away that easily did you." Dianne chuckles, "You have Jenny really thinking, which is something that Julie never could quite manage. I watched her spend two hours out there at that rock, writing up her journal for you, and I know how much she dislikes creepy crawlies. And you went above and beyond the call of duty in order to keep her safe, where many other men would have said nothing for fear of being blamed. And that in turn would have given her a green light to try out her tricks elsewhere. No, you're in it for the duration." "Do I get time off for good behaviour?" I ask mournfully. "There is no leniency in this court." she says mock severely, "The full sentence will be served." "I shall attempt to bear my burden with fortitude." I say with a grin. "You do that." she says with a backward grin as she passes through the door. She returns alone a minute or so later, saying with a grin that Jenny will be along shortly. When Jenny does appear, she is carrying a double handful of frilly, filmy nothings. "Is that all of them?" Dianne asks. "There's still the ones in my bag." Jenny admits. "Well give me those, and you can put the dirty ones in the laundry when, we're finished here." Dianne says grimly. "Thank you Jenny," she says taking the knickers from her daughter, "now sit over there." To me she says, "That's the first part of her punishment, it's back to her old undies for a month." "Good choice." I nod approvingly, "May I add something to whatever else you've got in store for her?" "'What is it first?" Dianne asks. "A birth control device." I reply. "A WHAT?" Dianne asks incredulously. "This." I say holding up a five cent piece. My grin mollifies her somewhat and she asks, "How does that work?" "Like this." I say, moving over to Jenny and fitting it between her knees. Pushing them together, I step back, instructing her to "Keep it there." "I've said it before." Dianne chuckles in realisation, "You're a cruel man Greg Parry." Finishing with a peal of laughter, she says, "I love it." Jenny's dark expression and uncomfortable looking posture however, tell me that she is not at all thrilled. Schooling her features into proper disapproval, Dianne turns to her daughter and says, "Jenny, you are also grounded for two weeks with no visitors, the only place you will go apart from school and here, is Greg's house for your lessons, everything else is stopped. You will also receive no pocket money for the same period, and I will cut all of your lunches. I am also withdrawing my permission for your excursion to the zoo. And since I like it so much, every time you sit down in this house, you will wear your birth control device. That," she nods significantly toward Jenny's knees, "is the only money you will see for the next two weeks. "And now that that part's out of the way, it's time to go and tell your father why he's going to be seeing so much of you for the next two weeks." Dianne finishes off. The prospect of this makes Jenny shudder, a soft thud announcing that she has let her knees come apart. Before her mother can speak, she picks it up and returns it to its place while apologising, "Sorry mummy, it slipped." "Well I can't expect you to learn in five minutes, come on and lets get this over with." Dianne says. Fortunately, Jeremy is in bed by this time, and Tony waits alone in the family room. Knowing that Jenny has done something to disrupt the routine of dinner, he doesn't look pleased, and when Jenny enters the room looking scared, he looks even less pleased. "What has she done?" he asks darkly. Dianne waits until everybody is seated before speaking, and then it is to quietly rebuke Jenny. "Haven't you forgotten something Jenny?" "Sorry Mummy." Jenny replies quickly fitting the small coin between her knees. "What's that?" Tony asks curiously. "Her birth control device." Dianne replies, keeping her expression as straight as possible. "Her what?" Tony cries out in shock. "Don't you love it?" Dianne chuckles, "It was Greg's idea, It's one hundred percent effective, and just so deliciously appropriate to her crime too." "Which is?" "In effect gross stupidity," Dianne replies, "but the actual particulars, are that she tried to show off her new knickers to Greg. Repeatedly." "Is this true?" He turns an angry glare on his daughter. "Yes Daddy." Jenny replies in a small voice. "And why are you here?" He asks me. "I would have though your part would have ended with dumping her at the door." "He's here because he came down on her like a ton of bricks and he wasn't sure that we'd approve of his methods." Dianne answers for me. "However, I've approved them, and I especially like his last touch." She waves at where Jenny is uncomfortably perched on her chair. "I sort of like it too." He chuckles, "But what did he do that he thought was so terrible. He didn't hit her did he?" The look that Tony gives me, makes me very glad that I hadn't. Very glad." "No nothing like that." Dianne is quick to reply, "He only did what he threatened me with during our interview a couple of weeks ago. He gave her the naked truth and pointed out just how bad her chances of getting through life without being assaulted were already. *Without* her asking for trouble on top. How did you put it? 'Trolling for sharks using herself as bait.' Wasn't it?" "Pretty much." I reply. "I learned something from it though Daddy." Jenny puts in. "I should bloody well hope so." He replies. "Uh huh, it really scared me," Jenny nods fervently, "but I mean maths stuff too." "An obvious attempt to change the subject," he grimaces, "but I'll bite. What did you learn." "Statistics like they do in college." Jenny replies proudly. "I thought I was bad when it comes to being sidetracked." he says looking at me, "How did that come about." "Well, when I was trying to get her to realise what sort of trouble she was asking for, I used both the official crime statistics, and also the estimate that only one in four such crimes got reported. And it confused her that while the annual chance was four times as high, her lifetime chance was only a bit less than twice as bad. So I explained how it works with the marbles in a bag example, and how to calculate that an event will happen at least once and why multiple occurrences of the event meant that you couldn't just add the numbers together." "There's no way I'd use the word 'only' about ninety three percent." Dianne mutters. "Ninety three percent?" Tony says incredulously, "You're kidding me." "No he's not." Dianne says, "It shocked me too. But that figure does include everything from lewd suggestions, right up to the worst, so you can breath a little bit easier." "I'm still seriously considering locking her in her room until her eighteenth birthday." he mutters. "That was Jenny's first reaction too." I say with a smile. "Except she was going to spend the rest of her life there." "But he told me how to make it better by doing sensible stuff." Jenny says. "Such as?" Tony asks. "Well I guess this is one of them," Jenny says with a grimace, pointing to where her knees still keep the coin trapped. "because I can't flash my undies if I can't move. But mostly it was stuff about not being alone at night, and not getting in cars with strangers, and wearing sensible clothes on the street, and things like that." "In other words, being careful and not acting like you were asking for trouble." Dianne supplies. "Uh-huh." Jenny nods. So apart from having to sit like my grandmother's maiden aunt, what's the damage?" "No pretty knickers for a month, two week total grounding, except for her tutoring sessions, no pocket money for two weeks, I've cut her excursion, and she brown bags it as well. Oh, and no TV. You can read in your room or sulk. Your choice." Dianne says. "That reminds me," I say, "Jenny wants to borrow a book of mine and I think it needs your approval first." "What is it?" Dianne asks. "To Sail Beyond The Sunset, by Heinlein." I reply, "She says she's read some of the other books that link with it, but this one goes quite a bit further, and I wanted to make sure that you were aware of that before I handed it over." "Just how bad do you think it is?" Tony asks. "Well there's nothing terribly graphic from what I recall, but it does touch a little more heavily on subjects that not everybody considers appropriate for someone of Jenny's age." I say. "I think I understand what you mean, but could you be a bit more specific?" he asks. "Well I guess the thing that worries me most is that there's a fair bit of 'the game the whole family can play'." There, there's no way Jenny's going to look that one up in the dictionary. "Uh-huh." he says slowly, "Maybe I should read it first, and then I'll be in a better position to judge." "That's not fair Daddy I wanted to read it first, and you'll take forever." Jenny moans, more or less back to her usual self now that her fate has been decided. "No it's not." Tony tells her, more than a trifle angrily, "What would be fair, is you not needing that 'birth control device' because you wouldn't be able to sit down for a week. Now go to your room and, I don't want to see you until the morning." "But I haven't had anything to eat." she cries. "I doubt you'll starve to death between now and breakfast." Tony replies unsympathetically, finishing with a sudden roar, "GO!" "Crying in earnest." Jenny flees from the room, and I hear the sound of her stumbling up the stairs, followed by the angry slamming of her door. Still angry, Tony half rises from his seat, only to be pushed back by his wife. "Leave it." she says, "She's a very, very frightened little girl right now, and as angry as you are right now, you'll just make it worse." "Don't I have every right to be angry." He says, "I'm scared shitless that the next time it won't be someone with Greg's strength of character? What if someone like that bastard in Castlemaine got to her?" Dianne looks over at me, almost apologetically, as she says, "I wasn't going to tell you this, but Greg also told her just how easy it would be for him to do to her, what that minister did to me. She *is not* going to be prey for the likes of him." "Why on Earth would you use yourself as an example." he asks me. "Because I wanted to make it as immediate and as close to home as possible. 'I would', has a heck of a lot more impact than 'he could'." I reply. "Especially since she seemed to be so intent on laying the groundwork for me." "You mean you didn't just talk about it in general terms?" Tony asks. "He means, he told her exactly what, and how little, it would take to turn her into his own personal sex toy." "Everything?" "I didn't go into graphic detail about the sex, but I did tell her just how easy it would be for me to touch her in various places while doing something else, like tickling her, and how from there, with a little less tickle and a little more touch each time, it would eventually lead to all touch and no tickle. I hope I'm not spilling any secrets here, but I got the distinct impression that she is fully aware of just how good touching various parts of her body can feel." Nods from Dianne and Tony confirm my supposition. "We never discouraged her, just made sure she knew that it was something private." Dianne tells me. "Anyway, she was able to see how she could be lead to the point where she would be the one doing the asking. At which point of course she is all but lost. "In the end though, I couldn't quite bring myself to say what the logical conclusion was, but she tried to make a joke that told me she'd figured it out for herself." "Well I can't say I'm happy you told her all that," Tony says, "but compared to her actually experiencing it... Well all I can say is that I'm grateful, that you did." "I'm not happy that I said it either," I say, "but there's no way I could have lived with myself if I'd said nothing and something happened to her." "Why didn't you just tell us and let us deal with it?" he asks. "A couple of reasons." I say, "Partly, I didn't want her dismissing it as parental alarmism. She already knew that it was wrong and possibly dangerous, but she kept on persisting in the belief that I was safe, so it was obvious that she hadn't taken the warnings that you'd already given her seriously enough. Mostly though, I was scared juiceless and I just wanted to stop her in her tracks. "I may be safer than most, but I'm not completely safe, no one is. We all have a breaking point beyond which we'll do something unthinkable, and my destroying a child's life is definitely not the way that I want to find out what mine is." "I doubt any child could make you reach your breaking point," Tony says, with Dianne nodding her agreement, "but I understand what you mean." "Oh I don't know," I say with a slight smile, "there's one or two I could cheerfully strangle on occasions." "With mine first and foremost at the moment I think." Tony chuckles. "What could possibly make you think such a thing?" I ask in mock surprise, "Jeremy's a lovely child." "Yes he is, but my other child needs to be nailed into a barrel and fed through the bunghole." he says with a dark laugh. "I thought that only applied to teenage boys." I say with a smile, nodding towards the book on the arm of his chair to indicate I'd gotten the reference. "So you've read Space Family Stone too." He chuckles. "If it's got his name on it," I say, "I've read it. I was most upset when he karked it." "Me to." Tony replies. "Well," I say, "I think I'd better be going, if I don't get home soon I won't have a house to go back to, and I'm sure Dianne would like to get something to eat." "I don't think I could eat anything tonight." she says, adding, "You don't mean to say you host these games? I only thought you were be ringing to tell them you couldn't make it." "It doesn't matter," I say, 'I considered Jenny to be much more important." "Well, you've done your duty and more, get out of here before they wreck the joint." Tony says. With a final goodbye at the door, I head for my car and the probable disaster waiting for me at home. *** "What took you?" Dave quips as I come into my lounge, "Girlfriend troubles?" "Big ones." I reply, "And the next one of you who makes a smart arsed crack can leave." "Bad huh?" Morrie asks seriously, "Shall I kill off Kitty Kat?" "No just tone her down a little O.K.?" "So what happened?" Nothing you bastards need to know about." I say, "Suffice it to say, she's one very scared and sorry kid right now. Now give me a pipe or ten and tell me what's happened, and whether I'm still alive." "'Nuff said." Morrie says, and goes on to bring me up to date on the campaign. *** The following Monday, Dianne is waiting with Jenny when I arrive to pick her up, Dianne obviously dressed to go out, Jenny in jeans and a flannelette shirt. After exchanging greetings, Dianne tells me. "Tony and I discussed things a little more after you left, and decided that you may tell Jenny anything that you feel she needs to hear without fear of repercussions. And we'll leave it up to you as to whether you tell us or not. "Now since I have an appointment with the doctor this evening, you needn't drop Jenny off tonight, I'll pick her up on my way home." "O.K. thanks." I say as Jenny gets in beside me. "See you then." "So how goes it?" I ask, as I pull out from the kerb. "Awful." she mutters, "I can't do anything. They won't even let me watch the news. As soon as Dad turns the TV on, I've got to go upstairs." "Well look on the bright side," I say, "you'll soon finish those books I lent you." "I guess so," she grumbles, "but Dad hasn't even started that other one yet." "Let me put on my prophet's hat for a second." I say with a grin, "I bet he starts it just before your two weeks is up." "Probably." she half smiles back, "I can't even 'practice' 'cause Mum made me wear these stupid jeans." "Well since you won't be 'practicing' for another two weeks anyway, it doesn't matter." "Two weeks?" she exclaims. "Well your punishment isn't over until Thursday week, and then I won't see you until the Monday, so that's two weeks." "Mumble, mumble, sassafras'n, mumble." "Yes Muttly?" I inquire sweetly. She giggles. "Nothing." "I thought as much." She remains silent for the remainder of the trip, her arms crossed and her bottom lip pushed outwards, though it is fairly obvious that here heart isn't really in her sulk. As I slow down to pull into my drive, I see my neighbour Angela looking over the fence to where I usually park my car. She has her baby Sandy in her arms and a bag over her shoulder. She smiles and waves when she sees me pulling in, but the smile fades when she sees Jenny beside me. "Hi Angela." I smile, as I climb out of the car. "Were you looking for me?" "Well I was going to ask you to look after Sandy for me, but I see that you're busy." she replies looking unhappy. "Never too busy for my little munchkin." I smile, "I assume Danny's out of his tree again." "Totalled." she grimaces, "It's only bingo so it's all right." "No chuck us the rug rat and go and have some fun. I can still keep an eye on her while I tutor Jenny here. Oh yeah, Jenny this is my neighbour Angela, and Angela, this is Jenny, who I'm tutoring in maths, science, and most recently, feminine deportment." "You what?" she laughs. "He has to try and turn me into a lady." Jenny giggles, while blushing hotly. "I don't think I'll ask why." Angela smiles while handing me a sleeping Sandy, and the bag. "She's already filled a nappy for today, so you should be right there. I'll see you about ten. Bye." "Bye." Jenny and I wave. "Can I hold her?" Jenny asks eagerly, "What's her name?" "No you can't, you can take my keys and open the door for me." I reply, "And her name's Sandy." Pouting, Jenny does as I ask, holding the door while I bring in Sandy and the half ton of junk needed to care for her. Inside Jenny repeats her request to hold Sandy, which I again refuse. She becomes even less happy, when I indicate that she will be working at the desk. At least she remembers to be quiet as she takes her seat and gets her things ready. Ignoring Jenny's obvious, and this time more genuine, sulk, I build a nest of cushions and carefully deposit Sandy in the middle, covering her with a bunny rug from the bag. I then place a fireguard, bought specifically for this purpose, in front of my TV and video. The coffee table on edge serves to protect the bottom few rows of books. Bottle in the fridge, and doors closed, I turn to where Jenny is sitting watching my precautions with interest. "Haven't you forgotten something?" I ask with a significant nod downwards. "Do I have to?" she moans, "Mummy only said I had to do it at home. Besides I'm wearing jeans." As if to illustrate her point, she moves her knees about eighteen inches apart and back together." "Since it was my idea, you can do it here too." I inform her with a smirk. "Now put it in and let's get going." Grimacing, she digs in her pocket and pulls out the coin. And almost immediately discovers how much harder it is to keep it in place when sitting in a swivel chair. Over the next ten minutes or so it hits the floor with sufficient regularity that I decide to give her a break and relent. However, by this time there is a such a set look of determination on her face that I continue the session without saying anything further. Suddenly a funny look enters her eye, part glee and part something that seems almost self mocking. Catching the coin out of the air as it falls for the umpteenth time, she looks at me and asks, "Does it matter what part of my knees I keep it between?" "Well it took you long enough?" I chuckle. "The only rule is that it remain between your knees, how you keep it there is entirely up to you." Slapping the coin down on top of her right knee, she crosses the left over the top and swings her foot back and forth a few times. "There," she declares with finality, "the bloody thing can't go anywhere now." "Spot on." I chuckle. "Well why did you make me do it the other way?" she asks accusingly. "Well it is good for your posture." I say in my best stiff upper lip accent. Giggling she thumps my arm, and says, "No the real reason." "To make it clear to you, just how important keeping your legs together is." I reply, "Flashing your knickers is an art that I'm not going to teach you until your two weeks is up, but I will say this much. Anything straight up between the knees carries only a single message, and that message is: 'Here it is boys, come and get it.'" "So what was it when I bent over to show you my bum?" she giggles. "It depends on how much you show off, I say, "It varies from: 'Have a good look boys, and if you're real lucky I might let one of you touch.'; to 'Grab a handful of this and hang on for the ride of your life.' But unless you're an expert it's still a slut signal so don't use it. "What about when I took my skirt off?" "Depends on the circumstances, but it's usually: 'Come and get it *now*. Throw me over the coffee table, and root me ragged.'" Almost screaming with laughter she slides from her chair to land on the floor with a thump. Rising with a rueful rubbing of her tail bone, she eases herself back into her chair. "Definitely a slut signal." she giggles. "Very definitely." I chuckle. "Now enough of that, find your 'birth control device' and back to work." A few minutes later, Sandy announces that she's had enough of sleep, with a happy gurgle. Even as I turn, she is already bumping her way out of her nest, intent on exploring her surroundings. At nine months old, she's a perfect little demon. Very mobile, and interested in anything and everything, seemingly most interested in those things that are fragile, expensive, or dangerous, and if it's all three, well that just makes it all the more attractive. I quickly scan the room to make sure that I haven't left anything like that within her reach, then turn back to Jenny. As can be expected, her eyes are on Sandy. "Oi, back to work, I'll let you know when you can stop." With a filthy look for me, she turns back to her books, while I rush to prise a scrap of paper out of Sandy's hand before it goes in her mouth. She looks at me as if she might howl for a couple of seconds, then deciding it's not worth the effort, she scuttles of to the next destination in her journey through life. From her bag, I scatter a few toys about in the faint hope that they might distract her from *more interesting* things. Temporarily at least, it works, a plush cube with a chime in it catches her attention, and as she bats it around the floor, I return with a sigh of relief to where Jenny is making a mess of her latest problem. By the time that's sorted out, I have to rescue a slightly chewed magazine from Sandy's clutches. The next thing is a whimper of discomfort from Sandy, which when investigated is due to a saturated nappy. Before she can exercise her lungs properly, I roll her onto her back and divest her of fluffies and nappy, dropping both into a plastic bag. She coos happily at the cool soothing touch of a 'wet one' and I notice a slight rash, so I decide to let her air dry for a while. "Aren't you going to put a nappy on her? Won't she wet on the floor?" Jenny's questions, indicates that she has once again, become distracted from her work by the baby. No, she's got a bit of a rash and leaving the nappy off is good for it." I tell her, "And if she makes a mess, I, or if you're not back at work in three seconds, you, will clean it up." "That's not much of a threat," she giggles while nevertheless turning her eyes back to the desk, "I have to change Jeremy's dirty nappies sometimes and they're awful sometimes. What if she poops?" "There's not much chance of that, since she's already done one today, but since you're an expert, if she does, I'll let you have the honours." "Thanks, I don't think." Jenny mutters as she continues with the current problem before her. "O.K. take a break." I say a few minutes later, "Keep an eye on Sandy while I get some drinks." I return a couple of minutes later with a pair of Cokes and a couple of inches of juice in a bottle for Sandy, to find Jenny on the floor hopping a fluffy bunny across in front of Sandy. With gurgles of joy she chases it back and her tiny pussy winking at me from between chubby thighs. "She was touching her vagina so I distracted her." Jenny tells me. "Why?" I ask as I pass out the drinks. Sandy accepts hers with a squeal of joy, rolling onto her bottom and sitting with her legs stretched out in a vee. "Because I don't want her to get hurt." Jenny informs me seriously. "I don't think that's a problem quite yet." I chuckle, "She's just a baby." "Don't laugh," Jenny cries, "you said it happens to babies too." "Sorry." I say, "I said that to scare you. Actually it hardly ever happens to babies, and in the few unfortunate cases when it does, whether they're touching themselves or not, makes absolutely no difference to the situation." "See, she's at it again." I grin, waving to where Sandy, with her bottle in one hand, is happily probing at the plump crease between her legs with the fingers of other. Jenny glances toward Sandy and then looks away with an embarrassed giggle. "All she knows at the moment is that it feels nice." I explain, "Later on when she's able to understand, it will be explained to her that it's something to do in private." Suddenly a wicked demon prompts me to ask, "How long have you been doing it?" "I can't tell you that!" Jenny exclaims with a rosy blush. "Actually you don't need to." I chuckle evilly, "Your mum told me you've always done it, and you were encouraged to keep it private, just like Sandy will be when she's old enough to understand." Completely crimson now, Jenny gasps incredulously, "She told you?" "Oh I'd already guessed." I tell her, "She only confirmed it." "My, life, is, over." Jenny groans biting off each word as it emerges. "Why on Earth for?" I ask ,"Almost everybody does it." "I know that stupid, it's in all the books." she tells me, "But it's still bloody embarrassing." "If it's any comfort to you," I say, "I still do it once or twice a day." "Me too." she admits, then slaps her hand over her mouth as she colours yet again. "Oh shit!" "I think the word you're looking for is 'oops'." I chuckle. "You won't tell anyone will you?" she pleads. "Well that depends," I prevaricate, "what's in it for me? Seriously though, who would I tell, I'm sure your mum already knows, and if I tell anyone else my ten year old student tosses off three times a day, I'd probably end up trying to explain it to the boys in blue." Suddenly I notice Sandy's eyes begin to defocus, and I make a dive for her bag. Just in time to catch all but the first dribbles, I get a folded nappy beneath Sandy as she cuts loose with a healthy stream of urine. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Jenny looking on with interest as it arches from between her chubby labia. As the flow becomes a dribble, Jenny glances my way and realises that I'm watching her. "I was... I mean..." she stammers. "You've never really seen how a girl pees before?" I guess. Crimson with embarrassment, Jenny nods jerkily. "It's O.K." chuckle, "I doubt very much whether Sandy minds, and it is a bit difficult to watch yourself." "How..." Jenny begins, then answers her own question with a self-conscious grin, "I know, you guessed." "How did you guess?" I say with mock astonishment. While I finish mopping up a squirming Sandy, Jenny asks, "How come you always know all this embarrassing stuff about me?" "Well it's nothing sinister if that's what you're worried about." I say with a grin, "I've got a seven year old niece, and I've either caught her at it, or heard my sister tell me all sorts of things that she's done. Let's see among other things, I've caught her using her electric toothbrush in the most interesting way." From the violent shade of red that suddenly suffuses Jenny's face, it's obvious that I've inadvertently scored yet another direct hit. One that embarrasses her so much that she burries her face in a cushion. "Now my life really is over." she wails, her voice muffled by the cushion. I can't help laughing, as I say, "Oops sorry. I didn't know you had one or I would have picked another example." "Well don't!" she orders me, "I've probably done it too." "More than likely, since there's only so many ways to get your jollies, and most kids try most of them before settling down on what works best for them." I chuckle. "But it really was the funniest thing. I'd just arrived at my sisters place, and since I thought Christine was only brushing her teeth, I didn't bother knocking, and I don't know who was more surprised when I walked in to say hello. Would you like to know what she said?" "What?" "She said, 'This is private Uncle Greg. Go away, I haven't finished yet.' and the whole time she kept that toothbrush right where it would do the most good." Actually what she'd said was, 'Oh pooh it was nearly happening. Now you'll have to do it with your mouth.' However, there was no way I was going to tell Jenny that. Forgetting her embarrassment, Jenny rolls about on the floor howling with laughter. A few seconds later she grunts as Sandy thinking that it's a game, flops onto her stomach and bounces up and down. Still chortling madly, Jenny rolls Sandy back onto the floor and kneels over her. "Did you hear that Sandy?" she giggles, "I bet you'll have a lot of fun with this," Jenny gives Sandy's fat little pussy a light rub, much to the chortling infant's delight, "when you get older too." Suddenly realising what she has done, Jenny sits back, "Oh wow, sorry, I didn't really mean to do it." "It's O.K., there's no harm done." I reassure Jenny, "She's still a baby so she's used to being touched there. Just be a bit more careful in the future." I go on, "However, I think it's time you got back to work while I get a nappy on the pee factory." <giggle> After laying out everything I need, I capture one squirming infant and plonk her down on top of her nappy. Looking up, I notice that Jenny is still there, so I say, "Since you aren't working, hold her down while I get some zinc cream." When I turn back, I find Jenny looking on while Sandy slides a chubby finger up and down the crease between her legs. She blushes when she realises that I've caught her again, but continues to look on while I gently move Sandy's hand aside and apply the ointment. Not caring whether it's my fingers or her own on her pussy, Sandy coos contentedly as I spread the protective cream over her tiny vulva. "She really likes it doesn't she?" Jenny asks me as I pull Sandy's fluffies into place and send her off on her explorations with a pat on her thickly padded bottom. "Why I do believe she does." I say in mock surprise. "Stop being silly." she rebukes me, asking, "How come it's wrong? I mean touching her there when you don't need to?" "Two reasons:" I say, "first, she might come to think that it's O.K. for anyone to do it. But most importantly, she can't say no, and because it feels good whether you like it or not and she's going to make all those happy little noises no matter what, I might think she wants me to do it, when what she really wants to do is go over there and stuff toast in my video recorder." Jenny giggles, "She can't, but I see what you mean. It's like when you tickle me, you wait until I really mean it when I say stop, but when you tickle a baby you give her lots of little ones so she can roll away if she wants too." "Exactly," I say, "though I will admit that her mum and I sometimes give her a bit of a rub when she's really cranky and nothing else works." "But that's all right," Jenny says, "because it's like when you put that cream on. It's to make her better." "That's a very grey area, though I guess that most mums or dads have done it at one time or another. Still, a lot of people might think otherwise, especially if the baby's not your own, so it's probably best not to talk about it, and to think long and hard before you ever do it. O.K.?" "O.K." she nods, and then a little gleam enters her eyes. "How do you do it for boys?" she asks. "You don't need to know that right now," I tell her, "and when you do, I'm sure your boyfriend will be more than happy to tell you. Now stop trying to distract me and get back to work." Showing me her tongue, and then her naughtily waggling backside, Jenny giggles, and returns to the desk. A couple of minutes later, she calls me over to help with a problem. Taking her cue from the previous week, she has gotten out her homework and is now mired down in a problem that she doesn't quite understand. For the remainder of the session, I divide my attention between her and Sandy, who shows her usual amazing penchant for finding things that I'd lost, sometimes months before. A die from the previous Wednesday's game session, an old cigarette lighter, a floppy disk, a bit of tinsel, Jenny's bag, into which she almost completely disappears, in her attempt to get a shiny scrap of foil from a chocolate bar. With a baby in the house, Jenny keeps one eye on the clock. Though I will say this to her credit, she keeps the remainder of her attention solely on her work, but the moment six thirty rocks around, she puts down her pen and announces that she is done for the day. Knowing that it's useless to argue, I agree, and bare seconds later, Sandy is once again chasing the rabbit across the floor, while the contents of Jenny's jeans moves in the most interesting ways as she struggles to keep ahead of one, who's usual means of locomotion is crawling. Puffed well before Sandy, Jenny grabs a ball and rolls it across the floor towards me, and since that which moves, must be chased, a new, but just as hilarious game ensues. A few minutes later someone knocks at the door, and leaving the two girls to play, I rise to answer it. "Sorry, I'm late." Dianne apologises to me, "However, from the sound of it, I don't think I was missed." Standing in the doorway she watches her daughter rolling about on her back, with Sandy clasped in her arms. "Some punishment." she observes dryly. Sounding disappointed, Jenny says, "Oh you're here Mum. This is Sandy, she comes from the lady next door." "Amazing," Dianne says facetiously, "and I always thought it was the stork who delivered babies." Ignoring her mother, she addresses Sandy, "She's silly, everyone knows that your daddy put you in your mummy's tummy." Deciding that it's best to ignore it, Dianne just rolls her eyes at me. Jenny, however catches it and with a wicked glint in her eye, she says, "I can tell you how if you like." "I think that it might be her point." I chuckle at Dianne's look of discomfiture. "Oh indubitably my dear fellow." she grins, "So how much time did you lose today?" she asks with a nod towards Sandy. "Actually, she was pretty good," I say, "I only needed to reminder her that she was here to work about a hundred times." "Gre-eg!" Jenny cries stretching my name to two syllables in her outrage. "O.K." I laugh, "Really she was quite good, she got through everything I had planned and most of her homework. I'd like to bet, that she sees little clocks every time she blinks though." "I do not!" Jenny yelps indignantly. Sinking gracefully onto one of the many cushions now scattered about the floor, Dianne reaches out to tickle Sandy and make the appropriate noises. "See?" I observe to Jenny, "That's how a lady sits on the floor. Not like this." I mime the spreadeagled backwards leap that she'd used on first observing my lounge room. "Ha-ha." Jenny says sarcastically, while her mother chuckles. Forgetting that she's tarred with the same brush she continues, "At least I'm not like your niece." "On the contrary," I say significantly, "you're just the same. You just haven't been caught yet." "What naughty little secret's this?" Dianne asks, observing Jenny's crimson features with interest. "No don't tell her!" Jenny shrieks in real mortification, all but throwing Sandy at Dianne in her haste to get to me and shut me up. "Mrr rrr mmff." I mumble through the hand violently slapped over my mouth. "Oh this is too rich." Dianne giggles, absently setting Sandy on the floor. "You must have struck a real beauty this time." Just as absently as she'd set Sandy down, she now plucks her hand bag from between the curious infant's clutching fingers. Foiled, Sandy scuttles off after her ball, chortling madly and chasing after it when it skids from beneath her hands and skitters across the floor. "You're not going to tell her are you?" Jenny states, her fingers thoroughly twisted in my beard to ensure that I give the correct answer. Not trusting me to accede, she uses it as a convenient handle to jerk my head from side to side. "No? Good. You won't tell anyone will you?" Another violent jerking on my beard forced my head to make the appropriate motions. "You realise that a promise made under duress has no legal standing." I observe once she's released me. "Please don't tell." Jenny pleads, "I'll do anything you want." 'Really?" I ask with excessive interest. "Oh!" she squeaks as realises what she's potentially promised. "Exactly. 'Oh!'" I say, "be very careful what you promise, one day somebody's going to ask you to deliver. And you don't have to worry about me telling either," I continue, "I told your mother that I wouldn't break a confidence, and I won't." "Oh thankyou!" Jenny cries happily, "I'd just die if Mum found out." "Promise?" I chuckle. "Since you can't tell, you'll never know." she giggles, rolling off my stomach, "No Sandy, you can't eat my pencils." As Jenny rushes to rescue her pencils, I sit up and grimace as I tug a few loose hairs out of my beard and smooth it down. "Damn I wish I knew what that was about." Dianne giggles. "Let's just say she's found a bathroom buddy and leave it at that." I chuckle. "Oh!" she murmurs, then again on a rising note of comprehension, "Oh!" Keeping her voice low, she chuckles, "I think I know exactly what you mean. Who do you think buys the batteries?" "Well don't let on that you know." I say, "She'd be sure I told you outright." "How on earth did you manage to hit on that?" Dianne asks curiously. I look around to make sure that Jenny is fully occupied with amusing Sandy before beginning," Sandy has a bit of a rash, so I left her nappy off for a little while, and while I was getting some drinks she started to play with herself. Jenny, with what I told her last week still very much on her mind, stopped her and told me about it when I came back. "Well in the process of explaining why it was all right for babies to do it, I managed to score quite a few hits, and Jenny wanted to know how I knew so many embarrassing things about girls. I explained to her that I had a niece and between what I'd seen, and what my sister had told me, I just about knew it all. "I thought I'd try to mollify Jenny by recounting an embarrassing incident of Christine's, never even dreaming that Jenny had done it too, until she very nearly spontaneously combusted with embarrassment." Dianne's ringing peals of laughter attract the attention of Jenny who looks over at me. You'd better not be telling her." she informs me darkly. "No this isn't about you." Dianne replies. "Actually," I continue, once Jenny has returned to her game with Sandy, "Christine was more miffed that I'd interrupted her, than embarrassed." "I can understand why." Dianne chuckles. "How old is Christine anyway, maybe you could introduce her to Jenny." "Only seven," I reply, "so apart from a predilection for wearing out batteries in a hurry, I doubt they'd have very much in common." "Seven?" Dianne gasps incredulously, fortunately keeping her voice down, "Where on earth did she learn that at seven." "Actually, she was only six when I caught her and apparently it'd been going on for quite a while before that. You see my sister has lived alone for quite some time and she's probably not as careful as she might be." Dianne nods her understanding as I go on, "Anyway to my niece at that time, one buzzing thing was pretty much like any other buzzing thing. So she tried it for herself, and by the time I finally caught her, all we could do was persuade her not to pass the information on to her friends at school." "And wouldn't that have opened a can of worms if she had." Dianne chuckles. "Just a small one." I grin. "I guess we'd better get going, before my husband either expires of starvation or orders Chinese." Dianne says to me. "Jenny pack your bag, we're going." "Do I have to?" Jenny complains. "Well unless you plan on spending the night," Dianne replies, "yes you do." "Can I?" Jenny asks brightly. "No you can't, now get moving." Waiting until her mother turns back toward me, Jenny puts on a lingual display of monumental proportions before doing as she was asked. Tucking Sandy under one arm, I escort Jenny and her mother to the door. As we say our goodbyes, I remind Jenny that grounded or not, I still expect a journal entry on Wednesday. Grimacing, she agrees and after kissing Sandy goodbye she skips of to the car while Dianne has a final word with me. "Well it's obvious that she's quite practiced when it comes to herself, but what are you going to do if she asks how boys do it?" Dianne ask, "Adding with a smile, "I figure you have about a week before she asks." "Too late, she already did." I grin, "I told her, her boyfriend would be more than happy to tell her when the time came." "So you're not above a little embarrassment yourself." Dianne chuckles. "No, I just didn't want her to ask me to demonstrate." I grin back. "I bet she would have too." Dianne chuckles, "At least before your little talk last week." "I wouldn't be too sure that she wouldn't still." I say more seriously, "The down side of my being so vehemently protective, is that she *knows* that I'm safe and nothing short of my actually attacking her is likely to convince her otherwise." "Well it's always nice to have a few safe males around so, don't try to hard to disabuse her of notion." Dianne says. Suddenly she seems to think of something. "I hope you don't mind my asking." she says, "You're not gay are you?" "No I don't mind, and no I'm not." I reply, "I just had a big sister with a mean right hook, so I learnt to treat girls properly. Or else." "I remember now." Dianne says, "You told us about her right hook the night you did Jenny's hair." "So I did." I recall. "Well I really must be going." she says, "Thankyou for all you've done and I'll see you Wednesday." "Bye." "Bye." "Bye Greg, bye Sandy." Jenny yells from the car, waving furiously. Sandy and I watch them drive off, then return inside to await Angela.