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 ï>¿The Trailer Park: The Fourth Year A Story in the Wynter/Trailer Park
Universe by Wizard CopyrightÂ(C) 2006 by Wizard

   Chapter 56

   "Beat it, Temple!"

   Kenny tried to look innocent.  "I'm just watching my sister.  Can't a
guy watch his little sister practice?" He and three of his friends were
leaning against the door to the gym.

   "Not here, and not now," I said as I walked up to him.  "Get out."

   "Listen, Mr.  High-and-Mighty football hero.  You're not the boss of our
school, and you're not the boss here."

   "Haven't you heard?  Football's over.  I'm just killing time until
baseball hero season." I stepped up until I was in his face.  I have to
admit, I was praying that he'd do something.  Self-defense wouldn't be
breaking my promise to Kelly.

   "I can watch if I wanna."

   "I'm one of the coaches, and this is a closed practice.  Now you can
walk, or I can help you out."

   I could almost see the wheels spinning round in his head.  He was
wondering if I could take him.  He was wondering if his friends would back
him up.  I don't think he was smart enough to be thinking about the
aftermath.  After all, I was supposed to be here and he wasn't.

   "It's not worth it," he muttered and slipped to the side, turning his
back on me.  "Some people need to learn," he said as he slapped the push
bar on the door.

   "Anytime you want to try teaching me," I told his back.  His friends
slunk out after him.

   "Problem, Tony?" Miss Calloway asked when I walked back over to where
she and Tami were talking to Gary, the gymnastics club coach.

   "They just wanted to watch little girls in tight leotards," I said.

   "And you don't?" Miss Calloway accused, laughingly.

   I grinned.  "There's a difference." I hope.  Damn, hoist by my own
petard.  What is a petard anyway?  And why would anyone want to hoist me by
it?

   "There sure is," Gary agreed.  "I won't let him hang around the club,
either."

   "Anyway, Kelly looks relieved that he's gone," Tami added.  We all
glanced to where Kelly was working on the beam.

   "So, you were about to tell us what we were doing wrong," I prompted
Gary.

   "Oh, I don't think you're doing anything wrong."

   "We're just not doing it right," Tami said.

   Gary laughed.  "It's not that either.  It's just a young team.  Stephy's
the only level seven, so she's the only one who's done an optional routine
before.  The others are all used to compulsories."

   "What's that?" Tami wanted to know.

   "Well, Kelly and Miranda are level sixes.  The rest are, or were, level
fives.  In club competition, like we do, the levels up through six do
compulsory routines.  That is, they all do the same routine.  When they get
to seven or above, they do optionals, where every girl has her own routine.
In middle school and high school competition, they all do optional
routines."

   "Yeah, I helped Traci with hers on beam," Tami said, showing that she
understood.

   "So how come Kelly, who's a level six, beat Stephy, who's a seven?" Miss
Calloway asked.

   "Well, Kelly's a really hard worker, and she'll be a seven this summer.
But the problem is Stephy.  She's really inconsistent.  Some days she looks
like she's headed for the Olympics, and other days..."

   We all nodded.

   "So is our problem the routines or the tricks in them?" I asked.

   "Skills," Gary corrected.  "Tricks are for magicians."

   I nodded.

   "Sorry, pet peeve of mine.  The answer is, probably both."

   "That helps," Miss Calloway sighed.

   "I'll try to watch everyone do a routine today, and then I should have
some suggestions about how you can tighten them up, or skills you can add
to improve their difficulty."

   "We appreciate it," Miss Calloway said.  "As a PE teacher, I know a
little about a lot of sports and not enough about this one."

   "No problem.  When Stephy and Kelly asked, I was glad to do it.  I just
wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping on anyone's toes."

   Miss Calloway laughed.  "I've got big toes, but feel free to step all
over them."

   "Well, I've got to go teach my sister to vault," I announced.  "Now if
someone would teach me."

   Gary smiled but didn't rise to the bait.  Apparently I was too subtle
for him.

   Vaulting is easy.  You just have to throw yourself headfirst at the
vaulting table.  Spotting vaulting is easy.  I just have to make sure they
can walk away from it.

   I'd already learned to spot vaults on the girls, but they already had
the basics.  With Traci, I'd be starting from scratch.

   First I called over all of our vaulters and told them what I wanted to
see.  They lined up at the end of the runway, and I watched as they took
turns doing handsprings, which is the most basic vault and the one I wanted
to teach Traci.  I'm not very analytical, but I was trying to correlate
what they did with how the vault looked.

   After they'd each done three handsprings, they started getting fancy. 
In a meet, each girl gets two vaults, and the judges take their best score
of the two.  They can do the same vault twice or two different ones.  So
all the girls did a nice safe handspring for their first vault and a more
difficult one for their second.  Miranda and Suzie did half-ons, where they
did a half twist in the air before landing on the vault.  Stephy and Kelly
did half-halfs, a half twist on and another half twist off.  Brianna did a
half-on-full-off.

   The girls vaulted for about ten minutes, then went off to other things,
and I called Traci over.  The first five times she jumped she got halfway
up and fell back.  The sixth time she went over with just a little tap on
her stomach.  The gym erupted with cheers.  I hadn't even realized anyone
was watching.  Traci beamed as all the girls yelled and applauded.

   I wanted to clap too, but I didn't want my favorite brat getting a
swelled head.  "Do you have any idea how ugly that looked?" I asked.

   "I suppose you could do better?"

   "A pregnant hippo could do better."

   Traci bowed to me and, with a flourish, waved her arm at the vault. 
"Show me."

   "Yeah, Coach," Stephy said from the side of the floor mat.

   "I don't like to show off."

   "Show us!" Kelly yelled from the bars.

   "I..."

   "Come on, hotshot!" Tami yelled.  "Give the girls a treat."

   Now I knew how George Washington felt when he heard about Benedict
Arnold.  Then I saw my out.  "I'd like to, but safety rules.  Nobody vaults
without a spotter there."

   "I think I can handle that," Gary said.  I knew I never liked the guy.

   I sighed and walked toward the end of the runway.  I was trying to
remember everything that Kelly had ever told me about the vault.  And
trying to analyze what I'd watched earlier.  I was an athlete.  I could do
this.

   I got to the end of the runway and turned to face the vault.  Gary had
the springboard standing on end and was putting some extra springs in. 
Probably a good idea.  I was heavier than any of the girls.  He looked at
me, then set the board down.  He looked at me again, then moved the board
away from the vault a few inches.  He nodded.

   I took a deep breath.

   Everybody had gathered by the vault to watch.  I wondered if screaming
and running away was an option.

   'I'm an athlete, ' I told myself.  'I can do anything.'

   "Do you have any idea what you're doing?" I looked to the side at Kelly
standing there.

   "Not a clue," I admitted.

   "But you're going to try anyway, cause you're too macho to back down."

   "Pretty much."

   Kelly sighed.  "I'll miss you."

   I swallowed.  "Thanks, you're a big help."

   "Just remember, don't reach for the vault.  Hit the board and go up,
then kick out with your legs to get upside down.  If you reach, you'll
bullet right over the top."

   "Got ya, Coach.  Tell Tami I love her, and she gets all my stuff."

   I took a step forward and started running.  I was trying to think about
what Kelly had told me.  Don't reach.  Don't reach."

   The runway was eighty feet long.  I ran as hard as I could, my eyes
focused on the springboard.  Even as I ran, I could feel my body wanting to
reach for the vault, wanting to get my hands in place as soon as I could.
Don't reach.  Don't reach.

   I hit the board doing about a hundred and ten miles-an-hour and took off
almost straight up.  I didn't reach.  As the board pushed me into the air,
I kicked my legs up behind me and felt myself going upside down.  My arms
were up by my ears, and I could see the suede surface of the vault rushing
at me.  I braced for impact, and my hands hit it, then I was flying off the
other side.

   I was doing it.

   I was vaulting.

   This was easy.

   The momentum of my legs was carrying me over the vault and
right-side-up. I was coming in to land.  Maybe I should be a gymnast.  My
feet were coming down on the mat, but I realized that my feet were behind
my body.  I landed on my toes, and fell on my face.  Hard.

   "Are you okay?" several of the girls asked.

   I rolled over and looked up at the ceiling.  "Ow."

   As the bus rolled down the main street of the town, I stood up in the
aisle and faced the group of giggling girls.

   "Ladies!" I said to get their attention.

   "He's going to yell at us again," Stephy said.

   "It's a tradition," Kelly explained.  "He always yells at us after a
meet."

   "You should try living with him," Traci lamented.

   Rodney Dangerfield thinks he gets no respect.  He should try coaching a
group of middle school girls.

   "I just wanted to say I thought you had a great meet."

   "Were you at the right meet?  We lost," Brianna said.

   "Yeah, but, one..."

   "He's counting again," Miranda moaned.

   "One!" I said a little more loudly.  "Robert Kennedy Middle School is a
better team than Stoner.  They won the district last year.  And two..." I
waited for the interruption, but it didn't come.  "They only beat us by
fifteen."

   The girls cheered.

   "Like I told you, if you work really hard, we won't win a meet, but
we'll keep closing that gap."

   "What if we want to win a meet?" Brianna asked.

   "Can't be done," I said positively.

   "Oh yeah?" Maria challenged.

   "Yeah," I said with a nod of my head.

   "Oh yeah?" several of the girls asked.

   "Yeah."

   "Oh yeah?" they all screamed.

   "Maybe." The girls applauded and stomped their feet.

   I waited till they calmed down.  "The thing that made me proud to be one
of your coaches was the way you guys supported each other as a team. 
Somebody, who shall remain nameless, fell off the beam four times..."

   "Traaaccciii," they all yelled, and my sister turned a delicious shade
of red.

   "Who shall remain nameless, but when she finished you were all there
with hugs and nice words."

   "But she got a six on vault," Brianna pointed out.

   "You gonna make her learn the floor this week?" Miranda asked.

   "Actually, I was thinking of getting you on the beam."

   "I hate beam."

   "Gary says you have a great beam routine."

   "But that's a compulsory routine."

   "So we take your compulsory routine, change a couple of things and call
it an optional routine.

   "Can we do that?"

   I nodded.  "We can do that." I'd talked to the Kennedy coach before the
meet, and he said I wouldn't be the first one to use that shortcut.

   "Cool.  Then I'd be an all-around.  I can beat Kelly." Kelly had come in
third all-around tonight, but she'd beat Stephy by two-tenths of a point.

   "In your dreams!" Kelly yelled from the other side of the bus.

   My pep talk degenerated into a series of taunts and jibes from there. 
As I sat back down next to Tami, I couldn't help thinking that a team that
acted like a team and wanted to get competitive could be a very dangerous
thing.



   Chapter 57

   'I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date, ' I thought as I jogged
out of Mr.  Calloway's room.  He'd asked me and Ricky to come in and talk
about the baseball season after school, so I was late for gymnastics.  On
the plus side, the girls should be all stretched out and working when I got
there.

   I figured I'd hit my locker, grab my stuff, then cut through the south
hall, out the back door, across the football field, and jog through the
woods to the middle school.  In a month, it'll be easier: jump in the car
and speed over.

   At my locker, I dumped the steno pad I'd been doodling in at the meeting
into my backpack, stuffed in my science book, and closed my locker.  It was
about ten to four, and I figured I could get away with jogging in the
hallway, so I took off toward the south hall.

   When I turned into the hall, the first thing I noticed was Kenny opening
a locker, which was strange cause his locker was in the same section as
mine.  Then I noticed a kid standing on the other side of him.  The kid, I
think he was a freshman, looked nervous and was shifting from foot to foot.
I stopped and watched.  Neither of them noticed me, though I was only ten
feet away.

   The kid dipped into his pocket and pulled out a folded bill, it looked
like a twenty but I wasn't sure.  Kenny grabbed it, unfolded it, and
smiled. 'Extortion, ' was my first thought, but then Kenny reached into the
locker and pulled out a baggy.  Something green and leafy.  Probably
oregano.  Kenny was running an herb store for aspiring cooks.

   I took three big steps and kicked the locker door hard.  It smashed
closed, not quite catching Kenny's hand.  As Kenny's head snapped toward
me, I reached out and grabbed his wrist.

   "Let go!" he yelled.

   I squeezed, and he dropped the baggy.  "Not in my school," I told him
coldly.  'Please throw a punch, ' I begged silently.  The kid looked like
he was about to wet his pants.  "Take your money and go," I ordered. 
"Don't come back."

   The kid reached for the money still in Kenny's other hand.

   "No!" Kenny bellowed.  I squeezed his wrist harder.  The kid grabbed the
twenty and jackrabbited down the hall.  I made a note to tell the track
coach about him.  The kid could move.

   "You don't want me to catch you selling again," I told Kenny as I
released his wrist.  'Please try to hit me.  You're tough, you know you
want to.'

   Kenny glared.  "You don't run the school.  You don't tell me what to
do."

   I grinned.  "You're right, we could discuss it with Mr.  Parker.  Or
maybe Deputy Boyd."

   "Narc," he growled.

   The truth was, I had an ingrained resistance to tattling on anybody,
even Kenny.  I just smiled.

   "This isn't over," he said threateningly as he walked away.

   I hoped not.

   I finally got to practice and spent most of it working with Miranda. 
First she showed me her level six routine, then we talked about the changes
we could make.  She wanted to change the back walkover to a back
handspring.

   The only problem was, she couldn't do a back handspring yet.  I'd
spotted back handsprings on the floor, but not on the beam, so I told her
to talk to Gary.  If he thought she could get them before the season was
over, he could start teaching her and then teach me to spot.

   The phone was ringing as I walked in the house.  Tami's mom had dropped
me off.  Since it was Friday, Traci was spending the night with Rachel
Clark, and Mom and Dad had said something about dinner out.

   I dropped my bag and ran to the phone, wondering who was calling at six
on a Friday.

   "Hello."

   A recorded voice said, "This call may be recorded or monitored for
training purposes."

   "Mr.  Sims?" a human voice said.

   "This is Tony Sims."

   "This is Clark with Gringott's Bank and Trust."

   Somebody for Dad.  "You want..."

   "I was just calling to remind you that you're seriously behind with your
mortgage.  When can we expect payment?"

   "You've made a mistake.  You..."

   "There's no mistake.  We gave you a mortgage in good faith.  Now what
are you going to do about it?"

   "But I'm not..."

   "You can't just stop paying because you feel like it."

   This guy was getting on my nerves.  "I'm trying to explain..."

   "I don't need excuses.  Everybody has excuses."

   I had enough.  I thought about just hanging up, but figured that would
hurt Dad, not this clown.

   "Your supervisor, NOW!"

   "What?"

   "Do you speak English or what?  Get your supervisor on the phone."

   "Now see here..."

   "No, you see.  Unless you're the chairman of the board, you have a
supervisor.  I want him or her on the phone."

   There was a long silence.

   "This is Candice Hall.  Is there a problem?"

   "A big one." I took a deep breath, I'd almost lost my temper and said a
fucking big one.  Right now, I needed to come off as reasonable.  "Your man
Clark there called and asked for Mr.  Sims, I identified myself as Tony
Sims.  And he started lecturing me about my responsibilities to pay my
mortgage on time."

   "Well he..."

   "Please let me finish.  My name is Tony.  I'm fifteen years old and
don't have a mortgage."

   "I see."

   "I assume Clark wanted to talk to my dad, but he wouldn't let me explain
that I'm not him.  Your call says you record these conversations.  My
advice is that you review the tape and try to teach Clark some manners. 
Even if my dad or someone is behind in their payments, they don't need to
have Clark lecturing them like they're a child or treating them like
they're a deadbeat."

   "I agree."

   "I'll tell my dad you called."

   "On behalf of the bank, I'd like to apologize."

   "Maybe you should listen to all of Clark's calls and then make some more
apologies." I hung up wondering just how far behind Dad was.



   Chapter 58

   I hate life.

   But I ain't all that thrilled about the alternative.

   Maybe I should say alternatives.

   I mean, a beautiful garden where I'm attended by twenty-four virgins
doesn't sound too bad.  Except they have no souls.  Without souls, I'd
think they'd get pretty boring after a while.  Kind of like all those mind
control stories on the net.  I figure having sex with a controlled girl
would be a lot like masturbation.

   Then there's Heaven with it's streets paved with gold.  I mean, after
the first hundred years, would you really care what the streets are paved
with?  Hell, after the first hundred minutes.

   Reincarnation could be cool unless I came back as a cockroach or a
maggot or something.

   I read somewhere that the stars are all people who died, but I'm not
sure a couple million years of turning hydrogen into helium, or is it
helium into hydrogen, before burning out, would be a lot of fun.

   Then there's the idea that you just end.  You're done.

   I guess the problem is that nobody's sure which alternative is the real
deal.

   No, that's not right.  The problem is that everybody's sure which
alternative is the real deal, they just can't agree.

   It's like the old joke:

   St.  Peter is standing at the gates of heaven sorting the recently
deceased.

   "John Smith, Baptist, you're in.  Please go to room 321, but be very
quiet going by 317.

   "Jenny Taylor, Jew, you're in.  Please go to room 324, but be very quiet
going by 317.

   "Carl Reed, agnostic, you're in.  Please go to room 342, but be very
quiet going by 317.

   "Excuse me St.  Peter," the next man says, "I was wondering why you tell
everyone to be quiet when they go by room 317?"

   St.  Peter smiles.  "Room 317 is for the Catholics.  They think they're
the only ones here."

   Anyway, I hate life, but I'm stuck with it.

   I stood outside Tami's trailer for a long time making up my mind.

   At least it was a nice night.  The stars were out in full force.  All
six thousand, three hundred and thirty-two of them.  There were only a
couple of clouds, and a warm wind was moving them west.

   On the one hand...

   I could hear the TV inside, but couldn't make out what was on.  It was
Sunday.  There wasn't much worth watching on Sunday anyway.

   On the other hand...

   I saw a light go on in Tami's Mom's bedroom.  If I stood here long
enough, they'd both go to bed and I wouldn't have to decide.

   But I knew that not deciding was a coward's way of deciding no.  I
walked up the step and knocked before I could change my mind.

   "Tony?" Tami said in surprise as she opened the door.  She glanced
toward the back of the trailer to make sure her mom was out of earshot.  "I
thought you were busy seducing Mikee."

   "No, she just wanted to talk."

   "About Kelly?"

   "And other things."

   "Kelly seems so much better.  I'm glad you could help her."

   "All I did was listen."

   We stood in awkward silence for a minute or more.

   "Did you want to come in?" Tami said, opening the door wide.

   "No, I just stopped by to give you a message."

   "A message?"

   "I love you."

   Tami blushed.  "I..."

   I put my finger across her lips before she could say more.  "And I'll
love you forever.  Or like the song says, forever and ever, amen."

   I took my finger away, leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips.
Then I turned and walked away.



   Chapter 59

   I walked up to Elizabeth Taylor Lane to Zoe's house.  She lived right
next to the rec center.  This time I didn't hesitate, but walked up on the
porch and knocked.  A woman answered.  She was mid-thirties and could have
been pretty except she seemed worn out.

   "Hi, I'm Tony.  Is Zoe here?"

   She looked surprised but glanced behind the door toward the living room.
A few seconds later, Zoe appeared and looked just as surprised as her mom.

   "Hi, Zo, I thought you might want to talk a walk with me."

   "I...  What about Tami?"

   "Tonight, I wanted to walk with you."

   Zoe looked questioningly up at her mom.

   "I don't know..." the woman said.

   "Moooom."

   "Okay, but just a little while.  It is a school night."

   "It's nice and warm.  How about half-an-hour?"

   The woman hesitated, then nodded.

   "We're just going to walk around, enjoy the night, and get to know each
other," I explained while Zoe got a jacket.

   "I just..."

   "I'll take good care of her."

   "So tell me about New York.  I've been all over the West Coast, but
never even close to the Big Apple," I asked and she was off.

   Zoe could talk.  And talk.  And talk.

   But I enjoyed listening to her.  She'd lived in New York all her life
before moving here and thought it was an exciting place.  When I'd first
met her, I hadn't liked her, mostly because she complained so much, but the
complaining had died down.  I figured it was mostly due to culture shock,
and now there was just excitement about her old home.

   I didn't think I'd ever want to live there, but Zoe made me want to
visit as she went on and on about skating at Rockefeller Center or summer
days in Central Park.

   I don't think I said five words after my first two sentences, but the
half hour went fast.  As I walked her to her door I suggested, "Maybe we
can do this again tomorrow."

   Zoe smiled.  I mean really smiled.  She nodded, "I'd like that."

   Before I opened the door for her and gave her a quick kiss.  "I would
too."

   "Pretty ladies.  It almost makes it worth it to drag myself out of bed,"
I said the next morning as Traci and I walked up to the bus stop.  Tami,
Mikee, and Kelly were already there, coats pulled closed and collars turned
up against the cold wind that was blowing.

   Peter slipped his arm around Traci, but I ignored it.

   "Give it up.  Everybody knows you like school," Tami said, then blew on
her hands and stuffed them back into her pockets.

   "You haven't told anybody?" I said in mock horror.  "It's supposed to be
a secret." All three girls, Traci too, shook their heads.  "Besides,
there's a difference between liking school and liking getting up in the
morning to go," I added, watching my words come out in a white fog.

   "Ya got that right," Tami agreed, and the other girls nodded.

   I mumbled something, and somebody mumbled something back.  I don't think
any of us were keeping track of what was said.  We were talking to see the
white clouds and to keep our throats warm.

   Zoe walked up, bundled into an oversized parka.  "How's my favorite New
Yawk-kar?" I asked.

   Zoe laughed.  "That's more Brooklyn, I was Manhattan."

   I shrugged as I stepped closer.  "Looks like Peter and Traci have the
right idea," I said as I nodded toward where they huddled together.  Zoe
looked toward them.  Then, before Zoe could reply, I slipped my arm around
her.  "Strictly to conserve body heat, you understand," I whispered.

   Zoe looked nervously toward Tami, but she was ignoring us, talking to
the girls.  "What about Tami?" she asked.

   "What about Tami?"

   The bus pulled up, saving us from further conversation.  I let the girls
get on first, then followed.  We were one of the first stops, so there were
less than a dozen kids on the large bus.  We'd pick up another dozen before
we got to Robbie's stop.

   Tami swung into the third seat from the front.  Mikee and Kelly took the
seat behind her and Peter and Traci the one behind that.  Zoe had settled
into the seat opposite Mikee and Kelly, and I swung in next to her.

   "But..."

   "I want to hear about subways.  I've never been on one, so all I know is
what I see on movies and TV, and there, they're always filled with monsters
or muggers or both."

   Zoe started talking about subways and buses that took her all over the
island.  I noticed Traci and Kelly sneaking looks at us, but mostly I just
watched Zoe as she talked.

   She was still talking about subways when Robbie got on.  One of Robbie's
eyebrows arched as she saw me and Zoe, but she didn't say anything as she
swung in next to Tami.

   Tami, Zoe and I walked toward the middle school mostly in silence.

   Despite what I had told Kenny about gymnastics being a closed practice,
I'd invited Zoe to come and watch.  When I told Tami after school that Zoe
was coming with us, I thought I saw a twitch in her cheek, but other than
that, she smiled as usual.

   The strange thing, I reflected as we walked toward the other school, is
that no one had said a word about my switch in female companionship.  Well,
nobody but Luke, who made a comment about my expanding harem.

   Robbie had given me a couple of strange looks, but didn't say anything.
Tami and I shared most of our classes, and we were as friendly as always,
just not touchy-feely.

   I slipped my arm around Zoe, letting my hand rest on her hip.  It took a
conscious effort not to slide my other arm around Tami and my hand into her
back pocket.

   Practice seemed to go faster than usual.  I spent most of it with
Miranda, helping her change her compulsory beam routine into an optional
one.  She'd talked to Gary about her back handsprings.  Saturday afternoon,
he'd spotted her on several.  Now it was my turn.

   My big problem was, I wasn't tall enough.  I had to stack several mats
next to the beam to get to a comfortable place to spot her.  Then, the
first one she did, I lifted her clear off the beam because I was so worried
about her crashing.  But after a dozen or so, we were getting into the
groove.  She was doing most of the work, and I was letting her.

   I spent most of the rest of my time with Traci and her vault.  She was
getting a lot better.  When we finished, she asked if I wanted to try
again. I was tempted.  I thought I could do better, but decided to wait
until Gary was around.  He may have let me go splat on my first try, but I
had a feeling he'd be handy to have around if I had more serious problems.

   "Hi, Mrs.  Morganthal," I said as the woman opened the door.  "I was
hoping that Zoe could take a walk with me again.

   "It's too cold," she said quickly.  "Besides, I think Zoe overdid it
today.  She's pretty tired."

   "I see.  Well, tell her I stopped by."

   Zoe's mom closed the door.

   I decided to see if Mikee could take a walk.  Besides I had things to
talk about with her.



   Chapter 60

   I held hands with Zoe as we walked to the mail boxes.  For the last day
of January, it was gorgeous.  The fact that it was Monday but there was no
school because of an in-service day just made it better.  It was about
fifty degrees, with just a light breeze blowing and not more than three
small white clouds in the sky.

   I unlocked the box with my key, pulled out a small stack of mail, and
wasn't surprised that most of it was bills.  There was one from the Porsche
finance company that somehow looked more official than usual.  Two from the
bank.  And several from credit card and insurance companies.

   As I closed and locked the box, I wondered how bad our finances were. 
Dad wouldn't talk about it, and Mom said to ask Dad.  But nether of them
looked happy.

   I looked at my watch before taking Zoe's hand again.  A little after
eleven.  I didn't have gymnastics until three.  Almost four hours.

   "It occurs to me that you've never had a tour of the house," I said as
we started back.

   "I've been to your house lots of times.  I spent the night there in
November."

   "Yeah, but you've never had the official tour."

   Zoe gave me the you're-weird-look, but didn't put it into words.

   We walked to the house.  Inside, I took her jacket and hung it up. 
"This would be the living room.  Please not how clean the floor is, that
would be because one of the Sims family knows how to use the vacuum." I
didn't even buff my fingernails when I said it.

   We moved through the living room.  "I know you're familiar with this
room.  Officially this is the dining room, but actually, it's where you and
Traci cheat at Monopoly."

   "I don't cheat," she protested.

   "Un huh." We'd played a few times since the sleepover.  Zoe won if Traci
wasn't there.  Traci won when Zoe wasn't there and the one time they both
played, Tami won again.

   "This is our kitchen.  Please note the immaculate oven.  That was a
major part of my punishment after the slumber party." Zoe opened it and
looked inside, grunting appreciatively.

   "As we continue onward, we come to our small but functional utility room
with matching washer and dryer." I noticed that the washer had stopped. 
I'd put in a load before going to get Zoe.

   I ignored my closed door.  "This of course is our main hallway. 
Actually our only hallway.  On your right is my bathroom, which I sometimes
let Traci use."

   She looked in.  "Very nice."

   "At the end of the hall is Traci's room.  This has been declared a
hazardous area.  You must be fully insured to enter." I opened the door,
and it was immediately apparent that Traci hadn't picked up in a couple of
days.  "The EPA assures us that it isn't actually toxic."

   "You're mean."

   "Only to Traci," I said, closing her door.  "To our left is the master
suite, where parental units go to conspire against me." I opened their
door.

   "Just a little paranoid," she suggested.

   "It's not paranoia if they're actually out to get you." I waved at the
room.  "That would be the bed where absolutely nothing happens, or at least
that's what Traci and I tell ourselves.  And my dad's desk where he pays
bill as the mood strikes him." I added the mail to his stack.  Obviously,
the mood hadn't struck him recently.

   I put my hand on her back and steered her out and closed the door.  "And
finally," I said as we walked back up the hall, "the nerve center of the
entire operation, my room." I opened my door and maneuvered her in.

   "My desk, my chair.  And the heart of the nerve center, my bed.  That is
where I lie to think deep thoughts, solving the ills of humanity."

   "Deep is right," she said despairingly.

   I grinned.  "It's also where I ravage young girls.  Say, you're a young
girl." I gave her a small push.  She stepped forward, off-balance and fell
on the bed.  I stepped to the bed, rolled her on her back, and lowered
myself on top of her.

   "Tony!"

   I grinned down at her.  "I have a strong suspicion that you're not
nearly as sophisticated and experienced as you imply."

   "I..."

   "All you have to say is stop."

   I lowered my lips onto hers and kissed her deeply.

   "Tony, I..." she said when I broke away.

   I lifted my head and looked down at her.  "You're very beautiful."

   Zoe blushed and I kissed her again, this time gently putting my hand on
her breast.  Damn, the girl was wearing a bra.  I was really going to have
to break her of that habit.

   "That's kind of nice," I said, grinning down at her.  "We should do it
again." She didn't object, so I did.

   "Isn't this better than just talking about it?"

   Beneath me she nodded and I squeezed her breast.

   "What about your parents?" she asked breathlessly.

   "Gone for the day." I kissed her forehead, nose and chin.

   "Traci?"

   "Hanging with Miranda until gymnastics." I kissed her throat, then
nestled my face in the valley between her breasts.

   She giggled.  "I haven't...  no ones ever done that before."

   "That's too bad.  I guess those New Yawk boys are slow." I kissed the
tops of those two mounds.

   "I guess they are."

   "Maybe I should visit the big orange and teach the girls there what
they're missing."

   "Apple," she said automatically.  "And you stay right here."

   "Yes ma'am." I buried my face between her breasts again.  I wondered how
she'd react if I started unbuttoning her shirt.  I had a feeling that she'd
let me, but wouldn't be comfortable about it.  I could wait.  After all, I
had all the time in the world.