Jack returned home from his first day at the college. He had spent the morning in the personnel office filling out papers and learning more about the job benefits. He had spent the afternoon in the office of the college president replacing carpet. He had finished installing the carpet twenty minutes before quitting time and had spent the rest of his time there learning his way around campus. All in all, it had been a pretty good day.
He parked his car and looked over at the community house. Someone had installed the solar panels on the roof that day. So far that house had been a lot of work and it wasn't done yet. The roof had been repaired and the interior framing had been replaced. Enough of it was done that they were using the house, but he still needed to put up the sheetrock on the interior walls. Money was very tight on the project, but the need for the house had become obvious to everyone.
Looking at the house reminded him that he had promised Dave that they would get the sheetrock up for the small office in the back of the house that evening after dinner. He was going to have to ease off and only work on the weekends with his new job. He hoped that wouldn't be a problem for the other members of the commune.
Abby was at home when he came in the front door and asked, "How was it?"
"It was okay," Jack answered. He was afraid of sounding too enthusiastic. There was a nagging fear that it couldn't be that good and the bad news was lurking around the corner to catch him unaware.
"That's good," Abby said understanding that he didn't want to tempt fate by being too enthusiastic.
Jack said, "I'll get my first paycheck next week. They said that it would be for my first week only, but I didn't expect to get paid for three weeks so I'm pleased about that."
"That's great," Abby said looking over at him. He really looked relaxed and moved around easily.
"I've even got a dental plan," Jack said shaking his head. He was going to have to go to the dentist as soon as he could afford it.
"Wow," Abby said envious of his benefits. She got to eat a couple of tacos and a soda for lunch as her only job benefit.
Jack said, "Well, let me change out of these clothes and into something I can get dirty. Dave and I are going to get up some more sheetrock in the community house after dinner."
"I'm shopping tonight," Abby said holding up her list. It would take her about two hours to get most of what was on the list. She and the other old ladies spent a lot of time searching for bargains at the various stores in the area.
"I take it you'll be home late," Jack said knowing that the shopping expeditions could end up lasting hours.
"We've got coupons, calculator, shopping list, our price comparison sheets, and money. We'll be there all night," Abby said. Monday nights seemed to be the slowest night at the discount warehouse store. Weekends were murder with the crowds of people there.
Jack knew that Abby attacked the problem of shopping like a science. She had set up sheets with the prices of everything from five different stores. He had to admit that it was effective. They were eating a lot better than he thought possible for the small amount of money that they were spending individually for food. He said, "It looks like it will be a busy night."
"Everyone is busy tonight," Abby said.
"I noticed that they put up the solar panels," Jack said amazed at how fast things had moved on that front.
"Johnny is in town. He and Dave watched them install the panels," Abby said. Johnny was in town only one week out of four. He was an auditor and had to go to where the job was.
"That's good," Jack said.
Looking over at Jack, Abby said, "Johnny has some papers for you to sign."
Worried, Jack asked, "What kind of papers?"
"He's filled some papers declaring the commune to be a non-profit organization so that we can handle taxes a little better. Our contributions to the repair fund become tax deductable. The organization is paying the electricity bill and taxes on the house so that it doesn't show up on Emily's taxes as income," Abby said. She didn't understand the complexity of tax law and was more than happy to have someone else worry about those issues.
"I didn't know he was doing that," Jack said. He wondered if he had missed something in the last breakfast meeting.
"It came up because a number of the members of the commune have to file taxes quarterly because they've been pulling money out of their retirement funds," Abby said. To her, April was tax time and the idea that some people had to deal with it four times a year boggled her mind.
"I had been afraid that we would get slammed with tax problems," Jack said.
Nodding her head, Abby said, "All of the work that we do in support of the commune are now considered community service hours rather than barter. It doesn't really matter to me since I don't make enough to pay taxes, but it will be important to you, Johnny, Rich, and the others who are taking money out of their retirement funds."
"I was worried about that," Jack said. He figured that he would probably get audited anyway in the future. That was a kick to the stomach that he knew was coming. He was confident that life wasn't through with torturing him yet.
"Johnny is an accountant and knows that kind of stuff," Abby said.
"So what does he need me to sign?" Jack asked curious why he had to sign something.
Smiling at him, Abby said, "You are on the board."
"I am?" Jack asked wondering what that meant.
"Yes. You are one of the community leaders," Abby said. Although Abby contributed a lot of time to the commune she didn't seem to have the same level of influence as Jack. It had bothered her a little since the idea of the commune was hers, but he did put in more work than everyone else.
"Since when?" Jack asked confused by that charge.
Abby laughed at his reaction and answered, "Since the beginning."
"I don't know how to run a commune," Jack said scratching his head.
Abby said, "According to Johnny, the correct term for what we are doing is 'Intentional Community.'"
"It is a commune," Jack said thinking that people were crazy in relabeling a thing just because a past label had a negative context. It reminded him of Orwell's 1984 where they were changing the names of things because they wanted them to avoid any undesired connotations that a word may have acquired. As Shakespeare said, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.
"Apparently not. A commune implies much greater economic interdependency than we have. We are a group of individuals working towards a collective goal that defines our intention. That makes us an intentional community rather than a commune," Abby said shrugging her shoulders. Johnny had made the distinction sound important and she wasn't going to argue with him.
"I'll call it a duck if I want to," Jack said.
Abby laughed at the petulant attitude in his voice and said, "You and everyone else."
Frau Shutlz came out of Jack's bedroom and said, "Guten Abend."
"Guten Abend, Frau Shultz. Wie geht es Ihnen?" Jack asked going through his normal greeting in German.
"Ich bin fein. Wie geht es Ihnen?" Frau Shultz replied with a big grin.
"Ich bin fein," Jack answered.
"Das ist gut," Frau Shultz said thinking that he wasn't doing so good. An active young man like him should have a girlfriend. She looked over at Abby thinking that the young woman wasn't doing right by Jack.
"Was ist fur Abendessen?" Jack asked. He had finally managed to learn how to ask about dinner and to talk a little about food. It wasn't much, but it made the old woman very happy to have someone with whom she could talk.
"Ich weiss nicht. Laura kocht heute Abend," Frau Shultz said telling him that Laura was cooking that night. She looked over at Abby and said, "Ich muss mit Abby sprechen."
Jack looked over at Abby and said, "She says that she needs to talk to you."
"Not again," Abby said rolling her eyes.
Frau Shultz took Abby by the arm and led her into her bedroom. Once there, she picked up a bottle of baby oil and box of tissues. Holding them out to Abby, she said, "Sie mussen dich um ihm kmmern."
"What?" Abby asked staring at the bottle of baby oil. She had a pretty good idea what Frau Shultz was telling her to do.
"Es ist nicht gesund, damit ein Mann so lang ohne eine Frau geht," Frau Shultz said wishing that she knew English.
"I have no idea what you just said."
"Notwendigkeit der jungen Manner, mit Frauen zu sein," Frau Shultz said. One of the lessons that she had learned as a young girl during the reconstruction of Berlin was that young men became much more manageable after a little attention from a woman. She had fed her ailing mother by doing that. It hadn't been easy, but necessity was a harsh mistress. As far as she was concerned, Abby could do that for Jack.
"I still don't understand what you are saying," Abby said despite the fact that she knew exactly what she was trying to say.
Frau Shultz put the baby oil and tissues in Abby's hands and said, "Kummern Sie sich um ihm."
"You've got to be kidding me," Abby said staring at the elderly woman.
Frau Shultz could see that she was not getting through to Abby. She snorted and stomped out of the room. Abby put the baby oil and tissues back on her dresser. She left the bedroom shaking her head.
Having seen the elderly woman stomp out of the house, Jack asked, "What's the matter with Frau Shultz?"
"I think she basically ordered me to give you a hand job," Abby said.
"Sorry about that," Jack said a little embarrassed.
Abby shook her head and said, "It is not your fault. I think she's senile."
Jack shook his head and said, "Ella explained it to me the other day. Frau Shultz believes that young men need release on a frequent basis or else they get unmanageable. Apparently she put up with a lot of drunken American soldiers after the war and discovered that young men are lot nicer after they've had sex."
"I know about that," Abby said admitting that it was the one motive of Frau Shultz that she understood. She didn't understand why it had to be her to take care of Jack.
"I don't know how representative her attitude about prostitution is in Germany, but she doesn't see anything wrong about it. I'm pretty sure that she'd send a prostitute over here for me if she thought any of us could afford it," Jack said.
"She wants me to prostitute myself," Abby said.
"I don't think she sees it that way. I think she sees it as you helping me," Jack said. He wasn't going to add that Frau Shultz felt that Abby owed it to him for all of the help he gave Abby.
"How does she know that I'm not taking care of you?"
"She cleans the house every morning. I guess she expects to see signs that something is happening over here," Jack answered.
"Well, next time you jack off leave something for her to find," Abby said crossly.
"Hey!"
"I'm sorry. I just get so tired of everyone thinking that we should be doing the wild thing over here regardless of our feelings about the matter," Abby said.
"It is not my fault," Jack said defensively.
"I know," Abby said with a sigh. She looked at Jack and knew that the spark just wasn't there.
"Sorry," Jack said. Although by most opinions Abby was an attractive woman, she just didn't do it for him. He liked her, but didn't desire her. In a way, she was a comrade-in-arms rather than a sex object.
Abby sighed and said, "The fact of the matter is that I'm horny too. It has been two years since I've had a date. It has been even longer than that since I've had sex."
"Oh."
"Maybe they are right," Abby said not believing it for a minute.
"No," Jack said. There was nothing as unappealing as a mutual mercy fuck.
"Let's go eat dinner. I'm sure that I'll hear all about it from Ella tonight," Abby said. She knew why Frau Shultz had suddenly become much more insistent about her taking care of Jack. She had made the mistake of letting Ella know that Jack was giving her a break on the rent because she had to pay the automobile insurance.
After dinner, Laura came up to Abby and said, "Let's go shopping."
"You and me are doing the shopping tonight?" Abby said. She had understood that it was going to be a few more people going along on the trip.
"I thought it would give us a little time for us to talk a little," Laura said looking over at the younger woman. She looked around the room and shook her head. She had a pretty good idea what Abby was going through at the moment.
"Let me grab my stuff and we'll head out," Abby said. She was kind of relieved that Ella wasn't going with her.
Ten minutes later, Abby pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the discount warehouse store. Laura said, "I know that you think we are just a bunch of sexless old ladies, but we still have needs."
"I guess so."
"Some of the women have been after me to share Dave with them. Bev has been the worst about it," Laura said. It was really starting to bother her and Dave wasn't helping the matter. He was enjoying all of the attention a little too much.
"You're kidding?"
Laura shook her head and said, "Just because you are too old to breed doesn't mean that the desire goes away. It diminishes and stops being so spontaneous, but it doesn't entirely die."
"I guess I never thought about it," Abby said.
"I know that you've been getting a bit of grief about Jack," Laura said.
A little grief was an understatement, Abby said, "Frau Shultz handed me some baby oil and tissues earlier."
"I didn't realize it was that bad," Laura said shaking her head. She was going to have a few words with the ladies in the commune.
"Yes," Abby said. She had a feeling that it was going to get worse in time.
Laura said, "He is a nice young man."
"I just don't like him that way," Abby said.
Laura looked over at her for a second and then asked, "Do you do anything to show that you appreciate what he does for you?"
"Not really," Abby said. She hadn't even given him a massage since she had moved in with him.
Laura said, "You know, you two surprise me. I always figured that if a young man and a young woman shared a house that they would be at it like bunnies in no time. I guess I come from a different generation when we more or less believed that people were weak. I'm pretty sure that if I was your age and in your situation that I would have given into temptation a long time ago."
"It is just a lack of interest," Abby said wondering what was so difficult to believe about that.
Laura said, "I'm sure that if you were to walk around topless one morning that Jack would be plenty interested."
"On my part," Abby said wanting to make sure that there wasn't any room for misunderstanding. Jack was actually six years younger than her.
"I guess that is what we don't understand. I'll tell you the truth; I don't understand why you aren't interested in him. In my day, we judged a man by how well he kept his responsibilities a little more than on how much he made or what he looked like. Jack reminds me of Dave back when we were dating. He was so serious about his job and taking care of his responsibilities. He would get so tense sometimes that I'd give him a backrub. I swear that man could purr," Laura said with a smile. It had been a while since she had done that for him.
"You really love him," Abby said.
Nodding her head, Laura said, "I do."
Back at the community house, Jack and Dave were putting up the sheetrock in the small office room. Jack said, "I don't think we'll have time tonight to tape it off."
"We can do that this weekend," Dave said. He was going to miss having Jack around all of the time.
"Yeah," Jack said thankful that Dave understood that he was not going to be able to put so many hours into working for the commune.
Dave asked, "How is the new job?"
"It is pretty nice actually. The people seem friendly and the work load isn't that bad. I'm sure that it will get busy at times. They were telling me that in the summer they repair a quarter of the dorms and that is usually a lot of work. The rest of the year is basically repair work," Jack said.
"That's not too bad," Dave said.
Jack said, "One of the electricians was helping me out this afternoon. It appears that everyone just helps each other when an extra hand is needed. I kind of like that."
"Aren't you union?" Dave asked.
"Yes, but they aren't rabid about it. We're all maintenance workers despite having different skills," Jack answered. He had been on some jobs where a person wouldn't step in to help unless it was in the job description. There was nothing worse than wrestling with something while two guys watched unwilling to lend a hand.
"Sounds like a pretty good job," Dave said.
"They do watch the clock, though," Jack said. He had been surprised when everyone gathered around the time clock five minutes before they were to clock out. He said, "They said that they get in trouble if they fail to clock out on time. They have to clock out within five minutes of when they get off."
"Interesting," Dave said.
"Yeah," Jack said. He was rather used to working until the job got done, particularly when he was doing the work for himself.
Having basically run out of small talk, Dave said, "You missed the big fight."
"What fight?" Jack asked looking over at Dave. He wondered when the social pressures would raise to a level where there would be bickering among the members of the commune.
"Frau Shultz, Ella, Claire, Bev, and Laura got into a bit of an argument after lunch," Dave said.
"What happened?" Jack asked concerned by the news.
Dave answered, "Laura came in here while I was doing a little work and found Bev flirting with me. Laura's a little jealous. Actually, she's a lot jealous. Let me just put it this way, fur flew."
"How bad was it?" Jack asked.
"Well, Bev said that there are a lot of single folks that have needs that aren't getting taken care of. Claire said that we weren't that kind of commune. My wife said that the only people touching my dick were her and me. It was hers for sex and mine when I was taking a leak. Ella and Frau Shultz started in on Abby and how she should be taking care of you. Bev volunteered Cheryl for that duty. Cheryl turned red and left the room."
"Oh boy," Jack said imagining that tempers reached pretty high levels. He asked, "What did you do?"
"I got the hell out of Dodge," Dave said with a short laugh. He wasn't a brave man and understood the value of a strategic retreat.
"Smart man," Jack said with a laugh.
"I caught hell from Laura afterwards, but it was a lot better than what would have happened had I stayed," Dave said.
Jack shook his head and said, "I've been wondering how long it would be until emotions started getting out of control. I'm surprised that we lasted this long."
"You and me both," Dave said with a chuckle.
Rich came in the room and looked around. He said, "All of the women are having a hen party at the house. I figured I would bring the boys down here to escape."
"Laura and Abby went shopping," Dave said.
"I guess there was a little excitement around here this afternoon," Rich said looking over at Dave. He found it a little hard to believe what he had heard over at the house.
"Dave was just telling me about it."
Johnny walked in the room and said, "Hello gentlemen."
"Hello, Johnny. I see they put up the solar panels," Rich said gesturing towards the ceiling.
"They'll wire it in tomorrow," Johnny said pleased with the progress being made. One of the benefits of a bad economy was that when you did spend money people jumped at the chance to earn it.
"Great," Jack said. He was kind of curious how it would all work out.
"We're paying in cash so we got a couple of extra panels. That's going to earn us a little extra money," Johnny said.
"That's good," Jack said knowing the value of cash in the current economy.
Rich looked over at Jack and said, "Would you care for a little advice?"
"Sure, why not?" Jack said. It seemed to him that everyone was giving him advice whether he wanted it or not.
"Get laid. Your lack of a sex life is causing a problem," Johnny said knowing exactly what Rich was going to say.
"Thanks a lot," Jack said shaking his head.
Frowning at Jack, Rich said, "Cheryl told me that Bev volunteered her to take care of that problem. I'll give you a little hint. That is not going to happen."
"I didn't expect it to happen," Jack said.
After getting blasted by Laura that afternoon, Dave had made a call. He said, "I'm bringing an old friend of mine over tomorrow. He'll take care of the old hens."
Chuck, one of Rich's boys, had wandered into the room. He asked, "What hens?"
"That's just a figure of speech, son," Rich said not wanting it to get back to the old ladies that he was calling them hens.
"Okay," Chuck said. "Can we watch television?"
"We haven't got cable yet," Rich said.
Johnny pulled out a pad and wrote a note. He said, "I meant to call the cable company earlier. I forgot all about it."
"Don't worry about it," Jack said. He had a feeling that with one call they would have cable that same day.
Whining, Chuck said, "I'm bored. Can we go home and play games on the television?"
"In a minute," Rich said not exactly wanting to go to the house until the women had left.
Jack bent down and asked, "Would you and Mike like to help us measure the walls?"
"Sure," Chuck said.
Handing Chuck the tape measure and pointing to one of the sections of sheetrock, Jack said, "I need to know if that panel is forty-eight inches wide. Go get your brother to hold one end of the tape measure."
"Great," Chuck said rushing out of the room to fetch his brother.
Noticing how easily Jack had found something for the boys to do, Johnny understood why the old ladies were so hot about him settling down with a young woman. Jack was a natural born father. He said, "I have some papers for both of you to sign before you go home."
"Cheryl told me about that. To tell the truth, I was getting worried about the legality of what we're doing," Rich said. A couple of conversations with Jack had gotten him worried. He could just imagine coming home to a tax audit and losing everything.
"Well, the community center is a non-profit member's only organization for neighborhood improvement and spiritual development. It is kind of like a church. The food sharing program is a co-op and isn't taxable. There are no laws that say that every family has to do its own cooking and can't share food with neighbors. The work you do is community service and the work done for you is neighborhood improvements donated by volunteers. It is a little shaky, but better than nothing," Johnny said shrugging his shoulders. He had a feeling that the law would eventually change.
Dave chuckled and asked, "Who is the Reverend of our little church?"
"Jack."
"No!"