And the Winner Is?

Before you read be forewarned:

There's no under-age sex.
Nothing about religion.
No politics.
Nobody gets shot or beaten up.
No Afghan heroes or Karate experts.
And nobody gets taken care of by anybody named Mario.

*****

"And the Winner Is?"
By Jedd Clampett

It's 8:45 p.m. by my watch. Fifteen more minutes, that's all just fifteen minutes and I'd find out if this story ends happily or not. You see for those interested that'll be when Rita's closes. She'll come out that front door and I'll know. It wasn't always like this. No sir, not like this at all. Not long ago I was...well let me see. Got a minute?

My name's Calvin York, not that Calvin York; he was a war hero. Me, I'm a nobody, short one too, just 5'9", barely 160 lbs, brown hair and eyes, raised by a single mom. See, like I said, nobody.

I grew up and still live in a small town; well still pretty small, it's being swallowed up by the D.C. suburbs. Well sort of; it's just outside Winchester, Virginia. Went to public schools, graduated around fifteen years ago. So that makes me...you do the math. My best friend used to be Jason Warehime; he's a year older, ash blond, blue eyes, taller than me, used to be muscular, once a fighter, and a real ladies man. Yeah, the girls flocked to him. He came from a good family, mom, dad, two older sisters.

The girl central to this story; her name was Arlene Daniels till she got married, she married me. Her mom and dad were divorced; Arlene grew up with her mom and her second husband. Arlene's a gorgeous person; dark brown hair and eyes, 5'4", maybe 120 lbs., real good figure. Arlene, she was always popular, two years younger than me, she was dating boys years older than she was. I guess she started dating, I mean seriously dating, about the eighth grade, I know she got around.

I guess I got seriously interested in Arlene when she was in the tenth grade. It was at her tenth grade birthday party, it was in October. Man she had the looks, she was dating a guy who'd already graduated, he had a car, a job, and money. I never much liked him. Her parents didn't either, and shortly after that party they made her break it off. I thought that would've been my chance. I was wrong.

So little Arlene was forced to dump the 'working man', but before I could make my 'move' Jason stepped in. Jason had already graduated and, like the other guy, he had a job, a car, and money so to him Arlene was easy pickings. I guess they hit it right off, because he bought her a ring, a cheap silver band, no stones, and pretty soon he was sporting her around all over the place.

Now what was I doing? Well I was playing the field; that meant getting told no almost all the time. Oh there were a couple who'd go out with me; there was Cindy Applegate, Gwendolyn Smersbock, and as a last resort there was Carolyn Corelli.

When Jason hooked up with Arlene I was a senior, had a part time job, and shared a rickety old 1987 S-10 Blazer with my mom. I promise, not a lot about cars in this story. Jason drove a 1997 Ford Explorer.

Jason and I did a lot of double dating, but as luck would have it Jason's much nicer and newer Explorer spent a lot of time in the shop; transmission, a couple accidents, and some steering problems. My old S-10; it just had a lot of rust so it got a pretty robust work out.

Double dates usually meant a trip to the movies, a couple bags of popcorn, and a follow up out in woods for some pretty heavy necking. Correct that; heavy necking for me, a lot more for Jason and Arlene. None of us were what we'd call virgins; well one was, skanky little Carolyn Corelli most assuredly was. I mean it; we'd be in the front seat, and she'd have that aspirin held so tightly between her knees I swear she crushed them.

The other two, Cindy and Gwendolyn weren't so squeamish, not that I got anywhere. Christ life really sucked. Every day I'd see Arlene in school; she'd be striding up and down the halls in some tiny mini-skirt, tits bouncing all around, hair done up just so, and smelling like vaginal juice all the time. She'd come up to me in the hall and press those hard little pear shaped nuggets up against my chest and ask if I'd seen Jason, and where I thought we'd go Friday night.

By the time she got to her senior year, turned eighteen, and I'd gotten into community college she and Jason had a regular program going in my back seat. I mean it was always the same; first he'd get her to lie down, then he'd strip her shoes, pantyhose, and panties off and then he'd start to eat her out. He sounded like a hog at the trough. Arlene would lie there at first, but then she'd start bouncing up and down, squirming this way and that, moaning and groaning.

I'd pretend to be making out with the girl I was with, but really I was trying to watch the show in the back. I'd try to twist around sideways, or I'd figure out a way to watch using the rearview mirror. It really hurt, I actually loved her, and there she was in the back of my mom's car squirming and giggling, legs and thighs out and around or up in the air. Of course it was always kind of dark, but those snow white thighs of hers moving all around, it was hard not to see.

Jason, he'd munch and chew until she got off. It was easy to tell when she got off since she shivered and shook so much the car rocked. Then after her first 'off' Jason would really go to work. By then they were both so hot he had get out; he'd lower the back seat so they had all the back and could lay down all the way. I always managed to keep a couple blankets to make things soft. He and Arlene would lie all the way out and then really go at it. Often as not, because the flooring was still a little hard they did it sideways.

He'd get her out of all her clothes. It was awful for me; there'd she'd be completely naked, not a stitch on, and he'd still be mostly dressed. He'd move her all around like she was a doll. They do it until he was ready to shoot; then he'd pull the same trick almost every time. Neither of them wanted her to get pregnant so he'd pull out at just the last minute. He'd shoot his wad either all over the back, or just as often all over her. Then they'd lie there and rest. But that never meant they were finished. No sir, Jason was one red hot lover.

After they'd rested awhile he'd get up, get out and restore the back so it was a regular seat again. Then he'd sit up while she knelt either on the seat or on the floorboards and suck him off. By then she'd be partially dressed, and of course, he'd pull out and ejaculate all in her face and on her blouse or dress. She never liked it. The first couple times she even cried, but Jason just laughed. Me? I'd be in the front with somebody futilely trying to get somewhere while still keeping an eye on the action in the back.

Usually after Jason popped his rocks in her face he'd lean forward and ask if I and my date were ready to go someplace. That always meant either the MacDonald's or the Tasty Freeze, yeah we still had one. I'd drive to the selected place, we'd get out and go in. Arlene always had that 'just fucked' look, and just as often she'd have some crusty semen on her blouse or dried out on her cheeks. That was a Jason thing; he liked showing her off with his sperm still fresh on her face or clothes, kind of like showing everyone how he'd marked his territory.

As for me, I never had anything to show except maybe a sticky back car seat and a much lighter wallet. Gwen and Cindy didn't seem to mind Arlene's antics too much. In fact I think they kind of enjoyed it; knowing what was happening in the back and knowing I wasn't getting anything up front. Carolyn, the damned Holier than thou Italian Catholic had none of it. I tried to get her on one of those dates, but she got so pissed about what was happening in the back she got out of the car. I had to get out and follow her. We ended up necking beside a tree stump; no nothing for me then either, not even a feel.

I mean it; me with the three girls was kind of like the story of the "Three Bears". Gwendolyn was a bony bitch; she had more sharp elbows than a porcupine had quills. Cindy was better, she had a great body, I got to feel her tits, but kissing her was terrible. Every time I took her out she'd start out by opening her mouth real wide and pulling her lips in over her teeth. Man oh man, dry and hard. I had to reteach her how to kiss every time I took her out; talk about a chore.

Of course, it was Carolyn who was the complete package. She had great lips, and she knew how to kiss. She had a great set of tits with dark aureole I could see right through her blouse, and nipples that pressed out just enough to cause a lot of heavy breathing. And legs? Legs! My God she had beautiful legs; they went all the way up to her ass, and what was the worst, she never wore pantyhose, only knee highs. Didn't mean a thing, like I said, I never got near any of it. I had to admit it though, she let me play with her hair, no not that hair, the hair on her head; she had the longest, thickest, blackest, most beautiful hair. In school she kept it up in a bun, but out on a date, at least on dates with me, she let it down. A couple times I just went to her house. We'd go in the cellar, make out, and then she'd let me comb her hair. I'd get to put my hands on her shoulders and neck and find a way to pull one of those snowy white blouses far apart enough to look down at her heavenly boobs. Once I messed my pants doing it. She knew it too.

So I dated several girls, but none of them was the right girl. I had it bad. I really loved Arlene. I bet I had a million wet dreams over her.

~~V~~

All good things have to come to an end, and that's what happened to Jason and Arlene. Jason came to me one day. I was just finishing up my first semester as a sophomore at community college when Jason told me his plans. Jason explained he was going nowhere at the warehouse where he worked. No surprise there; I'd been telling him operating a fork-lift was a dead end jobs. Jason said he needed to do something so he'd enlisted in the navy. He figured it was a four year hitch, he'd learn how to do something, and if he didn't he'd have his veteran's benefits to get him in a good college when he came out. I told him to do what I'd done; I'd joined the National Guard, but Jason said he wanted the full loaf, I wished him well, him and me and several friends had that 'last night' together, and he left for his new life the following day.

I didn't let Jason's departure get the best of me; I waited a couple weeks and called Arlene. At last I was going to get my big chance; virgin or not, she was going to be mine. I hadn't made any commitments to anybody so I called, I asked her out, and she agreed to see me.

We hit it off right away, and within three weeks we were in the back of my mom's S-10. I was still living at home. Life had finally come full circle, and I was getting my heart's desire. The happily ever after had arrived. Then the 'other shoe' dropped. I hadn't realized there was a first shoe until Arlene told me one night she was pregnant. If I was anything I was a man. I wanted her so much I told her we'd get married. That's when she told me she was four months pregnant and the baby certainly wasn't mine. She wouldn't say, but I knew whose it was.

Call me a fool, call me a dreamer, call me anything, but I stuck by my offer. We got married in a small civil ceremony. I quit college, used what few brains I had to get a job working for UPS, and Arlene moved in with me and my mom.

Arlene stayed home. We went to the Lamaze classes, we bought furniture, set up a nursery, we listened to the baby's tiny heartbeat, and later felt her kick. We managed a baby shower; Cindy, Gwen, and Carolyn, who I hated by then even came and brought gifts. A few months after we wed the baby came; she was a beautiful little girl we named Charlotte.

We continued to stay at my mom's. Arlene stayed home and took care of our baby, and she was our baby. I mean it I loved her from the start. My mom worked at the Walmart, and she helped out when she could. I continued with UPS, but went back to my real studies. I planned on becoming a phlebotomist. Sure they didn't make a lot of money, but I figured it was just the first step. I planned on going from phlebotomist to a P.A. and then maybe become a real doctor. High hopes I knew, but I was a husband and a daddy, I had responsibilities.

The years went by. I did become a phlebotomist, and I did get more education and experience and I did become a PA working for a doctor who dealt with people with back problems. The money wasn't great, but I felt like things were moving forward. I knew we were on the right track.

All this time I loved Arlene with all my heart, but I knew we didn't have the perfect relationship. I knew she loved me, at least in her way, but the fire and enthusiasm I'd seen in her with Jason just wasn't there for me. She loved me, I knew she did, she told me she did, but it just wasn't quite the same. She told me she didn't want any more children, that one was enough. I didn't care. I loved her, and I absolutely famously, unabashedly loved our little girl. Charlotte was everything to me, my life, my love, my all.

The years continued to fly by. All my old girlfriends found husbands or careers. Gwendolyn met and married an insurance salesman. They settled in in, bought a nice house near Luray and started to make babies. Cindy met a pharmacist who lived in Winchester. They divorced, but then she found an electrician, and they had four kids last I heard. Carolyn went on to college like her parents planned. She got a degree in education and found a good position teaching elementary education with the Frederick County schools.

~~V~~

It was long about the time Charlotte was entering high school that things started to awry. Charlotte was just fourteen and headed into the ninth grade when I started to notice changes in Arlene's behavior. Arlene, always the stay at home mom, had never worked. That had been good for me, we were still at mom's; she, that's Arlene, cooked and cleaned, did the laundry, and handled all household chores, but then I started to notice some discrete changes. Sometimes I'd call home and Arlene wouldn't be there. Occasionally Arlene said she had to go out at night; something she rarely ever did before. I took note how on those nights she went out she was always dressed extra nice, and often she got home a little later than I felt comfortable with. I also noticed changes in her attire; prettier dresses, shorter skirts, more perfume, and for the first time in years high heels. Her demeanor never changed, if anything she grew more attentive, better dinners, more polite conversation, and an absence of any complaints. I didn't want to be a suspicious jerk so I never asked her anything.

Then that fateful day finally came. I got home from a grueling afternoon shift listening to a lot of older men and women complaining about things only God could control, and there sat Arlene at the kitchen table. The conversation still reverberates in my ears.

"Calvin," she said, 'you know I love you. I've always loved you, but..."

This was all new to me. "What's the problem," I asked.

"I want a divorce."

"A what?"

"A divorce. I want to move on with my life."

My bowels literally turned to ice. For fifteen years she'd been the center of my universe, well almost the center considering Charlotte. I asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

And she replied, "You know Cal I love you. I've always loved you, but I've never been in love with you."

In my heart of hearts I knew one partner always loved the other more, and I'd accepted that, but the idea that Arlene would leave, that never entered my mind so I asked, "Have I done something. Look I can fix whatever it is. Just tell me..."

She cut me off, "Jason's home."

I was stunned. I had to sit down, "Jason?"

"Yes, he came home. He's been back about four months and..."

I didn't need another rock to fall on me. I could figure it out. I counted back, three months; that was about right, "You've been seeing him?"

"We didn't want to hurt you."

I didn't know what to say, "Arlene I love you. I've loved you like forever. I thought you loved me. You married me."

She seemed impatient, she sighed, "Look, I married you. You gave my baby a name, and for sixteen years I've been faithful. I've ironed your clothes, cleaned your dirty shorts, cooked your meals, I've spread my legs...but I think sixteen years of gratitude is more than enough."

Gratitude. Gratitude? Did she say gratitude? This was too much. I was in shock, I was numb, "What, you're going to move out?"

"I'm sorry Cal. I really am, but you knew you were always second best. He's got an apartment near Romney. Charlotte and I we'll..."

"Charlotte! Wait! What's Charlotte got to do with anything?"

I watched as Arlene wavered, "Well Jason's her real father, and I assumed..."

"What? You assumed what. That Charlotte would leave with you? Well fuck that," I was devastated. To lose Arlene to Jason after not a word for more than fifteen years was one thing, but Charlotte? Charlotte was mine! At that moment I realized how little I must have meant to Arlene, and that did something to me. Something inside me just died.

I could barely talk, "No Arlene. Charlotte's mine. She's my daughter. Hear me she's mine," just then Charlotte poked her head in.

"Mom, dad? Why're you arguing, and why'd you mention me?"

I looked at Arlene, "You tell her."

We both looked at the brown haired blue eyed angel standing in front of us, and Arlene said, "You know Calvin's not your real daddy. Your real daddy's come home. He lives in Romney, and we're going to live with him."

Charlotte looked from her mom to me, then to me she said, "What's she talking about dad?"

I told her, "Your mother was pregnant when I asked her to marry me. The man who knocked her up skipped out and joined the navy. He's back, and your mom wants to leave and take you with her."

Charlotte looked from me to her mom. She never knew. She looked at me, "You're my dad."

I got up and went to her but didn't touch her, "I'm your dad. I'm your dad for life."

Charlotte looked at Arlene, "You want to leave us?"

Arlene squirmed, "We're not leaving. We're moving away that's all. Your real father loves you. He wants to be with you. Don't worry, we'll come back and visit."

I watched Charlotte. There she stood, high honors in all grades from kindergarten all the way into to high school, hardly missed a day, played the clarinet, took dance lessons, sang in the church choir, tutored the slower kids; she was everything any parent could want, and she was mine. I was near tears, "Charlotte its true another man got your mother pregnant, but you know. You know who your daddy is.

Charlotte asked me, "Did you know? I mean that she was..."

"Not right at first, I replied, "it took about a month, but I loved her, and I knew I'd love you, and I did too, from the first time I laid eyes on you. You've always been mine, my little girl," it was apparent the discovery was too much for Charlotte.

She looked from me to Arlene, and said, "I need to get cleaned up. I have dance," she looked at me, "You'll take me right?"

I smiled, "Don't I always?"

Charlotte sped out of the room.

~~V~~

I took Charlotte to dance that evening. Later Arlene and I got into a battle royal. It sounded like she'd been doing a lot of gunny sacking over the years, a lot of pent up anger spilled out. For one I know I'd listened to my mom and Arlene constantly argue over who knew better about what was good for Charlotte. Mostly I'd kept out of that one, but a lot of times I sort of sided with my mom even though I knew Arlene had every right to tell my mom to just shut up. Charlotte wasn't my mom's kid, and she shouldn't have been trying to coach Arlene all those years. Then again it was my fault we'd stayed at my mom's. We should've moved out and made our own home.