Breaking And Entering With Steele

A quick note for all of my readers, followers, subscribers, and fans; I write for fun. I write to become better. I write to improve my skills. I try to be adaptive, write from the mindset of a teenage introvert who is dying to come out, an old man whose days of glory seem far behind him, from a woman's perspective, or a man's. I seek greatness, but I know with that comes a terrible price. So be it. I am currently writing a number of novels which I plan to have published. I thank you all for reading. Please share, comment, and check back for more. If you don't like what I write, please leave me some constructive criticism. I am always looking to do better. To become, better.

Thank You.

Also, this is mostly Taboo, but if you counting your steps, then incest. Have a good read.

AJ Abraxsis. Chapter 1.

"Yeah? Hello?"

"Hey A.J. I've been calling for you for an hour now. Come upstairs. I have to talk to you about something."

"Okay, Dad. I'm almost done with this level."

"No. Shut that shit off, and come up here now."

"Dad, please. I'm almost-"

"I swear to god, you're going to learn what's really important in life."

AJ paused his game, heard his father's footsteps across the house, and immediately jumped out of his seat, running for the stairwell. He flew up the stairs, three at a time, and turned to his right, stepping into the kitchen.

"I'm here," AJ said, trying to act like he wasn't completely out of breath. His father gave him a hard look and then turned around. AJ followed.

"I'm going to be going out of town for a few weeks. Not business, but something else. I need you to step up while I'm gone." AJ took a seat on the couch while his dad sat down on the sofa. "I want you to get a job."

AJ sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He'd already tried that, multiple times, and every time he got a job, his father did something to ruin it. Whether it was his dad calling his boss at work to bitch about AJ having to work late, or threatening his supervisor for making AJ come in on days he wasn't scheduled to work, the result was always the same. AJ never had a job for very long, and if he did, it wasn't a very good one. Job opportunities were few and far in between, in an economy that valued low prices, low-wage workers, and corporate interests, over the everyday worker.

"I'm being serious," Jaxson said, narrowing his eyes at AJ. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm listening to you," AJ said flatly.

"Then say something."

AJ clenched his jaw, not wanting to say what he was really feeling. He didn't want to get into an argument, and he didn't want his father to completely flip out on him either. He was already looking into ways of making money. Some of them were a bit riskier than others, but AJ wasn't one to avoid risky situations. If anything, the risk made the reward that much sweeter.

"What do you want me to say?" AJ asked, turning to face his father. "I can get a job. I'll have one tomorrow if you want. But you gotta let me work. You can't be calling them, bitching them out when they insist on me working on my day off."

"That was one time," Jaxson said. "And you asked for that time off. We had that trip planned for months!"

"Yeah," AJ said, nodding. "And I lost my job over it. I 'chose' to go on a fishing trip with my dad, instead of working, helping the company, and being part of the team."

"That was a shit-ass job anyway," Jaxson said, pulling his sleeves up past his elbows. "A real job doesn't ask you to come in. They know you'll be gone. You leave your phone at the office, you get on a plane and you fly to Milan, or Paris, or Tokyo. As long as you're back on time, as scheduled, ready to go, they understand, and they value that. Work is work. And not work is... isn't."

"Well, I can't get a job making hundreds of thousands of dollars if every 'shit-ass' job I get, I get fired from. I'm going to have to do the grunt work, somewhere. Move up the ladder. Advance."

"Yeah. I'll call Marty at the office and have him get you a job."

"Dad. I don't want a job at your job," AJ said. "I...I'll get a job. I promise. But you gotta promise me, that you won't call them, under any circumstances."

"What if I need you to pick something up on the way home from work?" Jaxson said.

"Then you call my cell...or send me a text."

"What if your phone is dead?"

"What if I'm dead," AJ said, trying to be smart, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he'd fucked up.

"Don't say that!" Jaxson said in an extremely exaggerated way as if AJ was going to run out of the house, into traffic. "Don't ever say that! It's not funny!"

"Sorry!" AJ said quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"You know I miss your mother every single day," Jaxson said, his voice trembling. "I don't know what I would do if..."

"Dad," AJ said softly, but in as solid a voice as possible. "I'm fine. I'm not going to do anything stupid. I was just...making a joke."

"Well don't," Jaxson said roughly.

"Okay, fine. I won't."

The two of them sat for a while longer before Jaxson reached for the television remote and turned it on. AJ lifted his chin to see what his dad was going to watch, to see if it was anything even mildly entertaining. The news was on, covering a shooting that had happened in a city not too far from where they lived. The reporter switched to another who was interviewing a witness, and Jaxson turned the channel. "Low-life degenerates," his father said.

AJ sighed. Everyone was a low-life degenerate if they were on the news. According to his father, life should be all kittens and roses. There should be no poverty, no crime, no inequality, none of that. But his father never followed the principles he embraced. He was always putting down everyone other than himself, always trying to get a leg up on the competition, always trying to outdo or outsmart his rivals. He didn't usually do anything that might have been considered criminal, but he didn't always tell AJ everything he did either, and AJ was afraid of the dark secrets his father was hiding.

AJ watched a number of commercials and then whatever show had been playing prior, resumed, and after about two minutes, his father switched channels again. "Why isn't there anything good on T.V. anymore?" his father grumbled.

"Because they have cable now. And DVDs, and streaming services," AJ said.

"Gimmicks," his father said stubbornly. "Everything is changing. They're trying to make you pay for things you used to get for free. Bottled water? Huh? Huh? They get rid of regular TV, and make you pay for cable. It's not enough that you pay for cable though. Now you gotta pay for the streaming services too. Everything has a price tag on it now."

"Soon, they'll be selling air," AJ said, repeating something his father had said on numerous occasions.

"Oh don't get me started on..." Jaxson turned to see AJ smiling at him, and he knew he was rambling. "Go...go play your video games."

"Thanks, Dad," AJ said, getting up and walking away quickly.

"Yeah," Jaxson said, waving a hand dismissively. "Just make sure you get a job." He lowered his voice so AJ couldn't hear it. "I told Melody you already had one. Come on lady luck, don't fail me now!'

The next morning, Jaxson was gone, and AJ had the entire house to himself. He stayed in bed until eleven a.m. before getting up to make breakfast. By 3 p.m. he'd already achieved a new high score on one of his video games and by 7 p.m. he was thoroughly bored with everything. Deciding to do something productive, he walked across his basement bedroom and put in a load of laundry.

His father had bought the house with the intention of having a large family, and them living there their entire lives. It was a pretty big house, six bedrooms upstairs, a master living room, and a master bathroom. Because it was an older home, it only had one bathroom, and the kitchen was a combination dining room/kitchen which made things a tight fit when the table was full and someone had to get into the fridge.

The basement had a concrete floor with cinder-block walls and an unfinished ceiling which AJ liked just fine. He'd used whatever he had at his disposal, creating makeshift walls and situating things wherever he wanted, as the entire basement was his bedroom, all except for the laundry room, which was basically the basement past the stairwell. While it might have been an issue for other people, living right next to the laundry room where the washing machine and dryer might keep you up at night, the sounds of these things soothed AJ and put him right to sleep. The large wash basin which the washing machine dumped water into, also provided AJ with a convenient, albeit uncouth, way to relive himself during long gaming sessions where timing was of the essence.

The next morning AJ awoke determined to find himself a good job. He took a shower, shaved his face, put on cologne and deodorant, and made himself look presentable. He stood in front of the mirror for a moment, inspecting himself for flaws. His hair was a bit overly long, dark, and shiny. His father said his hair was oily and had bought him shampoos to cut the oil and make his hair "nice" but what AJ ended up with was a hair supplement for men who were prone to losing their hair...which didn't help cut the greasy look.

AJ smirked and then turned, raising an eyebrow at himself, thinking he had the looks, he had the clothes... He had a good education but he'd never had the drive to go to college. His father said that was a good thing. College was nothing more than a trap. An added expense where young men and women went to fornicate incessantly and ninety-nine percent of people who went to college, regretted it. His father called them "whore factories" as well as "debt factories" and told AJ he was much better off not going.

A few moments later, AJ was in his car, driving along, looking for the first place that said: "help wanted". After driving almost ten miles in one direction, he turned around and headed back. This was stupid, he thought. He should have been looking in the paper, calling people on the phone, looking on the internet! But his father had strictly prohibited him from having a computer, and AJ knew why. A long time ago, his father had gotten into a bit of trouble with the law. Now, he was prohibited from using a computer, or even having one. It concerned ranting online and making threats against someone. AJ knew that much. But the fallout sucked.

The library, AJ thought, turning around once again. The library had computers. He could go there, and use one to find a job. A few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot, got out, and locked his car out of habit. There were a lot of other people here today, and as he walked into the Library, he sighed. All the computers were already being used, and a line of high schoolers sat, waiting in line to use them.

"Suffer little children, huh?" A voice said from nearby.

AJ chuckled and turned around, smiling, and then froze. A woman stood, her back against the wall, jet black hair draped down over half her face. She stared at him with one eye. He smirked back at her. She was a goth, dressed all in black, from her ripped black jeans to her black shirt, to her black jean jacket. All black.

"You know where that's from?" the woman asked, her blackened lips revealing bright white teeth and a delicate-looking pink tongue in bright contrast.

"I, uh...the bible, I think," AJ said, hooking one thumb into his right trouser pocket.

"So you're a religious zealot?" The woman asked.

"No," AJ chuckled. "I can't remember the last time I was in church."

"That's what people say when they're remembering the last time they were in church."

AJ smiled wryly. "So what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Oh, I always like to spend my Saturdays at the library, watching the chaos unfold. People drop off their kids and then leave. Just let them run wild. It's a complete shit show."

"Do you work here?" AJ asked.

"No. I used to. I still get the employee discount on rentals and the vending machines. It's just a number you punch in. Not like they can take it away."

"Hmmm," AJ said, turning back to the line for the computers.

"Where do you work?" the woman asked.

"Nowhere," AJ answered.

"Unemployed or you just don't wanna tell me?"

"Unemployed," AJ answered. "I'm uh, working on it. I was coming here to try and use a computer to look up the job listings."

"Good luck," the woman said, turning back to the long lines.

There was a commotion then, and AJ thought it would be much better if he just left and came back some other time, so he headed for the door. He hated to do it, he was really enjoying talking to the goth chick, but he felt he had no other choice.

He was almost in his car when he heard her voice again. "Hey? Dude!"

"Huh?" AJ turned back to her, pausing, his hand on the driver's side door.

"You going to tell me your name before you ghost me?"

AJ let go of the door handle and stood there. The girl struck a pose as if she'd been insulted, with one leg slightly out to the side. AJ's eyes roamed up and down and saw that she wasn't as dark as she was trying to make herself out to be. Not really. But she was trying hard.

Sucking in a deep breath, AJ walked back toward the woman. She was younger than him, but still not a teeny-bopper. His father's words instantly jabbed his consciousness. Always ask for ID. You can't trust these girls nowadays. You gotta protect yourself at all times....

"You eighteen or older?" AJ asked, squinting at the sun shined directly into his left eye.

"Jesus. Right to the point. You wanna fuck in the backseat now?"

AJ's mouth fell open, but he closed it when he saw the wry smirk on the girl's face. "I...I don't need to get involved with-"

"I'm not jailbait," The woman said, smiling.

"Can I... see some ID?" AJ asked, cringing.

"Holy shit dude," the woman said. "You some sort of pedo? You already in trouble with the feds?"

"No!" AJ said a bit too sharply. "I...I just wanna make sure."

The woman stood there for a moment and then scoffed, reached into her pants, not her pocket, not her back pocket, but the front of her pants, slid her hand down, and then pulled her ID out. She handed it to him and said, "There. Satisfied?"

AJ looked at the ID and saw a face that looked nothing like the one right in front of him. The name read Abbey Farnsworth. He looked for her date of birth, found it, and saw she was nineteen. He handed the ID back to her.

"You're not going to come to my house in the middle of the night, break in through the window, and rape me, are you?"

"No," AJ said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, good. Cause that's my grandma's room. It'd be the best night of her life for sure. Maybe she'd die while you were doing her."

"Jesus Christ," AJ said, stepping back.

"I'm just fucking with you," Abbey said, folding her arms across her chest like AJ. "You fuck with me, I fuck with you."

"I wasn't fucking with you," AJ said.

Abbey's eyes slid down to AJ's shoes and then back up to his face. "Nice shoes."

"My dad bought them for me," AJ said then, divulging information he didn't want, or need to.

"Oh. So you're rich?"

"No," AJ said. "If I was rich, would I be out here trying to find a job?"

"Maybe," Abbey said. "Slumming it with the peasants. Trying to find out why production has tapered off. Looking for the next idea to steal."

AJ turned around and walked back to his car, regretting ever having spoken to the woman.

As he opened his door and slid behind the wheel, the passenger's side door opened and Abbey slid into the seat, closing the door quickly. "Where are we going?"

AJ smiled, not knowing what to think. He put the key in the ignition and turned it, starting the car up.

"Are you taking me somewhere quiet? Out of the way where nobody else will hear me scream?"

AJ turned in his seat and just stared at her. What was she up to? Was she trying to trap him? Or was this just how she was? Cutting, acerbic, irritating.... She was like a mosquito bite that itched but felt so good to scratch.

"So, you like it rough?" AJ asked, thinking he might give Abbey a bit of her own medicine.

"Maybe," Abbey said. "You wanna find out?"

"So this is a date?" AJ asked.

"I haven't been on a date in forever," Abbey said.

"Where do you wanna go?" AJ asked.

"I don't care. Anywhere but here. Oh, and I hope you're not one of those "strangle them slowly" types cause I have to be back here in an hour."

AJ pulled out of the library parking lot and turned left, destination, unknown.

"So, you going to tell me your name, or... it is better if I don't know?"

"AJ," he said.

"Darn," Abbey said, smirking.

"Darn? What? You don't like AJ?"

"No. If I'm going to be raped and murdered, I think it would be like, a lot more exciting if I didn't know my attacker's name."

"You're.... Not normal," AJ said flatly.

"Okay. And you're not normal either. Just picking up the first woman who speaks to you? Taking her for a drive without even telling her your name?"

AJ pursed his lips, but she was right. He was acting strange. Her entire personal threw him for a loop. "You hungry?"

"Cock or burgers?" Abbey asked.

"Cock," AJ replied flatly, testing the waters. He wanted to see what she would say.

"I don't know of any places around here that sell cock, but if that's what floats your boat, let's go! I'll watch you deep-throat an Italian salami. You know. Make sure you're in a safe place."

"On second thought, burgers sound good," AJ said, and he turned into a hamburger place that was known for its sliders and French fries.

"Dog biscuits and fries? Ohhh, the creme de la creme!"

"We can go somewhere else," AJ said, passing the first parking spot.

"No! No, I like this place," Abbey said. "It's just what I call it. The little burgers remind me of dog biscuits. I fucking love them."

"I do too," AJ said, pulling into the next parking spot. He turned the car off, got out, and was surprised to see Abbey not getting out. He ducked back in to look at her. "Are you getting out?"

"Uh, do you mind if I stay here?"

AJ wondered why she didn't want to go inside with him but, he had been planning to order and then eat in the car. "Suit yourself," he said and he closed the door. It was springtime, there was still a bit of snow on the ground, but it wasn't cold, or hot. He didn't think she'd die of heat stroke while he was inside.

As he ordered, he thought to himself, what if this woman was a thief? What if she was hot-wiring his car right now? He turned and looked out the window, and saw Abbey's head was bent forward. Was she tying her shoe? He sucked in a deep breath. Maybe she was going through his glove box. He wondered then what she would find in there, and cringed.

"Thanks," AJ said, handing the cashier a fifty. "Keep the change."

"Oh, thank you, sir," the man said, and AJ walked out with a bag of sliders, two large fries, and two shakes.

He walked up to the passenger's side door and Abbey opened it. AJ handed her one of the shakes, and then the bag of food. She took it quickly and opened it, fishing out a French fry and eating it before AJ could even close the door.

AJ got behind the wheel and closed his door as Abbey stacked burgers on the dashboard in front of him, and then handed him one of the French fries.

"Thanks," AJ said, grabbing a burger.

"Mmmm hmmm," Abbey sounded out as she chewed with her mouth closed. "These are soooo fucking good," She said once her mouth was empty, shoving another French fry into it.

AJ made a move to turn the radio on, but Abbey's fingers beat him to it, and she smiled at him. AJ felt his heart stop, and Abbey pushed the power button and then tuned the radio to the next station playing rock and roll.