On The Rebound Ch. 04

Wow! What a family. Eddie Howell, balding overweight salesman, Mrs. Howell, small mousey submissive wife, Robin Howell, petite blond cheerleader doted on by daddy, and Rachel Howell, tall attractive café au lait girl. By the size of her, Rachel's dad was a big, big man.

Rachel was still talking as she approached me where I was standing by the Falcon. "So this is the junk heap I am supposed to drive, huh?" She looked into the car, "well, maybe one of the guys from school can work on it enough to get me around."

I had to speak up then, "you don't need to do that, my dad and I already worked on it. This car is good for another 40 or 50 thousand miles."

Just then Robin honked the horn, "Come on Mark, you can talk to her when we get back."

"Sorry, I guess I had better go with her before she makes a scene. It was nice to meet you Rachel. I hope that we get to talk more while I am here." Robin honked the horn again.

"Nice to meet you too Mark, you're right, you better go. She is just getting started."

"No, she is done." I leaned over to be at eye level with Robin, "cut it out Princess, daddy spank."

Her only response was a totally shocked expression, and as I rounded the car to get in, I saw the same expression on her sister's face. I got in the car and Robin drove away while I was buckling my seat belt.

"Would you really spank ME? I've never been spanked before. Daddy would never do that to me."

"He probably should have. What about your mom, didn't she ever spank you?"

"Momma takes care of the house and daddy. She doesn't do anything else very well. Momma is a little slow."

That's a hell of a way to think of your mother.

Robin drove me around town and talked to me about all the stuff she used to do here. I saw the high school, the football field, the shopping mall her dad's store was in, the shopping center she liked to hang out at with her friends, the shoe store with the best fashions in town, and numerous other places which held no interest for me at all. We passed a sign for the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Field, and I discovered that Robin had lived here all her life, and had never gone to the museum. I simply could not imagine that. Having such a fantastic resource available and not using it. I was hoping to get a chance to go to it while I was here.

Robin finally headed home. The Falcon was gone when we got there. I guess Rachel had someplace to go. We went into the house and Robin thanked her father again for the new car. He asked me my opinion, and I told him that I would go out to the garage later and check it out. I wanted to hold my approval until I had a chance to examine the inner workings a little better. Eddie just gave me a baffled look.

"Do you know anything about cars? I just send them to the dealer and let him take care of them."

"Yeah, that's probably why that Falcon was 30 thousand miles overdue for service, the dealer charged you for work he never did. He knew that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. You need to change dealers; and then get another mechanic to check on any work done. You have to be able to trust your mechanic to do what you pay him for. Dad and I do all our own routine maintenance, and one of my cousins runs a garage."

"Wow, you have it all under control, don't you? Well I won't worry about my baby's car then, with you looking after it."

The smile Eddie gave me never reached his eyes. I don't think this man trusts me. Well, that was good, because I wouldn't trust him with my dog, and he died 10 years ago. Maybe he was just upset because I was boinking his little girl, the one he cared about.

We sat down to dinner and Mrs. Howell appeared again, with the food. Her only comments were to ask what we would like to drink. Eddie kept up a running commentary during the meal about the local happenings with Robin while pointedly ignoring me. Mrs. Howell never returned, and when I asked about it, I was told that she ate in the kitchen.

Halfway through the meal Rachel came in and went directly into the kitchen. She came out in a few minutes with a filled plate and a drink. She sat across from me and listened to the discussion between her sister and father. Every once in a while she would interject a comment about one of the people Eddie was talking about. He and Robin seemed to not hear her; they never said anything back to her. This was surreal. We were supposed to stay here for a full week and head back on the 30th to avoid the holiday traffic. I wasn't sure that I could survive that long, I might have to call Don to come pick me up. I looked up at Rachel, and she leaned back in her seat and laughed.

"Welcome to purdah Mark. When these two are in a room, no one else is present. Would you like to talk to me for a bit? We can go into the living room and give them some privacy."

"Rachel, you leave my boyfriend alone, he doesn't want anything to do with someone like you."

"Hold it right there Princess, I will be the judge of who I talk to, not you. Your sister seems to be very nice and intelligent; at least she is not ignoring others at the table. Common courtesy would have you or your father address comments to us once in a while. Now I need to get my pills and such from my coat." I got up to go into the hall for my coat. I had a pint of blackberry brandy to take my pills with.

"Maybe you had better move to the living room boy, I'll not have you instructing me on courtesy in my own home. Go along with him Rachel, you have already shown your contempt of us." Eddie stood up and stated this firmly. Robin had a kind of smug expression on her face and said nothing. The sheer force of will required to keep from smashing the big bore at the end of the table into next week was astounding. If Rachel hadn't taken my arm and guided me out of the room, I probably would have ended any chance of a pleasant holiday right then.

After a stop in the hallway closet, Rachel sat me down on the couch and then sat beside me.

"Take it easy Mark, they are always like this and getting mad does nothing. You just have to get used to it, because they won't change."

"Get used to it my ass. If they go on like that I'm likely to lose it, and that won't be very nice."

"Just take it easy Mark. You have been good for Robin, but at heart, she is still daddy's little darling. She can do no wrong in his eyes, and he can do no wrong in hers. I would say that coming here was a mistake for you, except that you really needed to see this. You may have control over her in Indiana, but when she's here Robin belongs to Eddie. I have had to put up with it my whole life, and finally I have a chance to get away."

This broke through my darkening mood for a moment, "and what are you going to do?" I opened the brandy and started taking pills.

"I graduated last week and my teacher found me a job. I was at the interview today. I took the job and I am due there to start on the 3rd. The odd part is that the job is in Lafayette, at the 84 Lumber Company. They want me to work with contractors and customers as an interior designer to get the best use of their products. I was going to have some friends work on that Falcon Eddie gave me and then follow Robin when she went back. The company is going to help me find a place to live. Robin said something about this," she pointed at the brandy, "do you have to do this with every meal?"

I was calmed down quite a bit by then. "Yeah, but only about half a pint for breakfast and lunch, I need a full pint for supper. It can be a bother sometimes, but you get used to it."

About then the doorbell rang. A few minutes later I heard Mrs. Howell's voice murmuring by the front door. A much louder male voice said, "Where is she, Bill told me she was running around town today with some guy. Is he here too?"

I started to get up, but Rachel grabbed my sleeve and held me back.

"Wait a minute Mark, you need to hear this. That is Brent Baldwin, Robin's boyfriend all through school. He was the captain of the football team, and still thinks that he is hot shit. He can't get on the State team because he isn't nearly as good as he thinks he is. He is almost as big a blowhard as Eddie, and that is saying something."

I was looking at her when Brent spoke again, "Robin baby, who is this guy you were running around town with?" There was a pause and Robin's voice murmuring quietly, "Your what?" More murmuring from Robin, "No I will not be quiet. When we got together after that football game I knew we were still a couple. Where is this wimp, I'm gonna show him whose woman you are."

That was all I needed to hear, I shook my head at Rachel as she tried to keep me from going out of the room. I stepped to the door and heard Robin saying as I did, "no Brent, you and the other guys at the games didn't mean anything. I like Mark and I want to keep him for a while yet. The next time you are in West Lafayette we can get together again."

I was standing still in the doorway, I felt something at my side and looked to see Rachel standing there looking sad and shaking her head. "I'm sorry Mark, but she has always been like that. Even when she was going with Brent she would go out on him for kicks. Self denial just isn't in her vocabulary."

Now it came crashing in on me, why Robin had been staying away from parties where the people knew her. She was afraid that she would run into someone who would give away her actions. I would say that my heart was broken, but I just felt numb.

I stepped further into the room, until I was within view of Brent. His eyes got wide and he moved around Robin to confront me.

"There you are you pussy; get the hell out of here with my woman. You can never have a hot chick like her, asshole."

"No problem buddy, you're welcome to her." I turned to Rachel, "Could you take me somewhere that I can wait for someone to come get me? You were right, coming here was a mistake, especially leaving my car at home."

Robin spoke up then, "no Mark, it's not what it seems. Don't leave."

"I heard enough Robin, when I said exclusive; that is what I meant. Don't try to get in touch with me when you get back, I won't be forgiving. I told you why I didn't want to date you, and I was right. Goodbye Robin, I'll give Brenda your stuff." I was about to ask Rachel if we could go, good thing I hadn't even unloaded the Falcon; when Brent decided that he was going to teach me a lesson.

I felt something crash into my face rocking me backward, then the lights dimmed and I was going back, back, into my nightmare...(( I could hear the wop, wop, wop of the chopper blades and the rounds hitting the ship. I yelled at Kosman, "Get us out of here Chief"! I slapped my left armpit to get my 45, there was an ARVAN coward trying to hitch a ride and I had to get him off or we would be overloaded and couldn't lift. Damn! No pistol, Captain Boyd was going to ream my ass for losing my weapon, no help for it; I'd have to beat the dumb motherfucker off. He was too close to really hit, so an elbow into the face moved him back enough that I could kick him in the chest, hard.)) I dimly remember seeing Brent crashing into the door before I passed out.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the couch and I could feel someone on the couch beside me. There were voices murmuring in the background, and the more I came to my senses the less indistinct the voices became.

"The boy has a broken nose, three missing teeth, and two broken ribs. I want to press charges." That was the voice of Eddie, the ass.

A new voice broke in then, one I was not familiar with. "Brent threw the first punch; all this man was doing was defending himself. I can take him in if you want me to, but I'll take Brent in too, and let the judge sort it out. Mr. Reynolds' ID says that he is a disabled vet, and the Judge is not going to be happy with someone who attacked a vet. He lost his boy over there."

"Well, just get him out of here, he is no longer welcome in my home. I'm getting my daughter transferred to State so she won't be around him again."

I opened my eyes and saw a policeman talking to Eddie. "Well, hello son, are you with us again?"

"Yeah, I guess so, what the hell happened?"

I looked to see who was on the couch beside me and saw Rachel looking at me with compassion, not pity, compassion.

"The best I can understand from Miss Rachel, mister football hero here," pointing at Brent near the door, "sucker punched you with a fist to the head. You then proceeded to put an elbow into his face and kick him across the room. You also yelled something about a Chief getting you out of there, and then you collapsed. Care to tell me what you remember?"

"Well the Chief was probably Chief Warrant Officer Cosman, he flew most of our hairy missions. The knock to my head must have stunned me, I don't remember anything but wanting to get away from here." I looked back over to Rachel, "What happened to Robin, is she okay?"

"She pissed her pants and took off to her room, Mark. You literally scared the pee out of her. Do you remember what she said and do you want your ring back?"

"Is she afraid of me?"

"Oh yeah, your demonstration did a pretty good job of that."

"And what about you; are you scared of me?"

"No," she leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I'm wet."

Oh boy.

Eddie had to speak up then, "you leave Robin the hell alone. My daughter will not be mixed up with a crazy hooligan any longer. If you so much as speak to her I will have you arrested for assault." He turned to the policeman, "now get him out of here Paul, I need to make sure Robin is okay."

"All right Eddie, we'll go as soon as I am sure that Mr. Reynolds is all right. How 'bout it son, are you feeling good enough to travel?"

I was totally awake by then, "yeah, I'm okay now, my head hurts like hell and so does my elbow, but I've felt worse. Did I hear something about Brent having a couple of broken ribs?"

"Yes you did. You broke two ribs, his nose, and knocked out three teeth. I think his teeth cut your elbow, and you are going to have a black eye where he sucker punched you. Is what Eddie said about you drinking a pint of booze before this happened correct?"

"Yes it is, here, this should explain it." I reached into my wallet and pulled out the paper they gave me at VA about having to have alcohol with meals and about not giving me a breathalyzer test because it would be invalid. "Boy, the next session with my shrink at VA is going to be a doozie. He said that I might expect something like this, but I don't think he realized what might happen."

"No, I doubt that he did." He handed the paper back to me, "so you aren't drunk?"

"Not a bit, I need to get my bags out of Robin's old car. I can call my dad from the police station to come pick me up. He won't mind, but it will take a while. Could I stay in a motel till he gets here, I'm not under arrest am I?"

"No, you are not. You can press charges against Brent if you would like to, he attacked you."

"That's okay, if he didn't learn anything from my reaction, then jail time won't help. I would just like to get out of here, and yes Rachel, I would like my ring back, if you can get it for me."

Rachel smiled and reached behind her back, bringing my ring on the chain out. "I thought you might want it, she threw it down the stairs as she was running up them. That is a nice ring; a girl should feel lucky to have it." She then turned her attention to her step father. "Hey Eddie, I have a deal for you. I was going to follow Robin to Indiana to get to my new job when she left, but now I have a better idea. If you sign over the Falcon to me and let me get some of my stuff out of the room, I promise never to bother you again. I'm sure that the nice policeman will witness the title for you. What do you say Eddie?"

"You won't come bothering me for money or try to turn your mother against me again?"

"No more contact at all. I'll say goodbye to mom and that is the last any of you will see of me. I have tried and tried to get mom to leave you, and she won't do it, so I give up."

"Deal, I'll get the title while you get your stuff, will you witness this Paul?"

"Yes, I've got some time. I'll help you carry your stuff Miss. Will it all fit in your car?"

"Sure, Eddie here wouldn't let me have a TV and I already have what I want to take packed for next week. We should be able to do it in one trip." She turned to me again, "want a ride to Lafayette Mark? This way I can have a mechanic with me and you don't have to bother your dad. We both win."

"That sounds good to me Rachel, let's get your bags."

And that is the way it happened. Thirty minutes later we left that house for the last time. I never saw Robin again. Rachel and I stayed in a motel that night and I learned that she was a much better lover than her half sister. She was not kidding when she said that the violence had made her wet, but apparently a lot of things about me did that. After we got to Lafayette, she stayed with me while settling in to her new job, but we knew that there was no spark between us except for passion, and when she found a place of her own we separated as friends.

Don and Brenda lasted till Memorial Day, and then Don finally moved on. I didn't date her, but dating Robin had improved my standing among the girls in the school so that I had no trouble getting dates when I wanted them. I stayed away from the 'prom queens', and had a good time.

The End (for now)