Finding My Way Home Ch. 02

She looked up at me and smiled. It almost reached 250 watts. "Saturday, 7pm, I'll cook dinner, okay?"

"Great!" I was on cloud 9 all the way home.

26 September 2009

When it finally reached Saturday, I dressed nicely and did what my mother had taught me many years ago about what to do when going to a woman's house for dinner; picked up flowers and wine. I drove to her little house and had no trouble finding it from the address. The town was small and all the streets were pretty well laid out.

When I arrived, I immediately noticed that something was wrong. Her front door was ajar and there was an old pickup in the driveway. I knew that she drove a Jeep and it was in the driveway as well. I left the flowers and wine in the car and parked in front.

I walked up to the door and peeked in around it. "Hello?"

There was no answer at first so I pushed the door open halfway and repeated it. "Hello?"

Suddenly the door flew open and standing there was Buck, her ex. He looked a little wild-eyed and drunk and I was immediately afraid for Lily.

"Where's Lily?"

"Who are you?"

"Jon Kenton, an old friend from high school." I stuck out my hand, offering a handshake, hoping to lull him into talking to me reasonably.

He stared at me. "Nope, don't know you." He started to close the door.

"Where's Lily?"

"Fuck off!" He tried to slam the door, but swung it closed with one hand and I easily blocked it and shoved it open. I made my way in, knowing I was in trouble with only one good shoulder, and he backed up in surprise. I had to find out about Lily.

"Where's Lily?" I tried to remain calm to keep him from getting further worked up.

"None of your business, asswipe!"

He started to grab me and I decided that I could not get in a tussle with him with my bad shoulder. He was two inches taller and now at least 40 pounds heavier. I did the only thing I could think of quickly. I gave him a jab to the Adam's apple. It had the immediate affect I desired. He stopped and tried to breathe, his eyes going big at the loss of air. I rushed by him and into the back bedroom to find Lily out cold on the bed. I didn't know where Lauren was, but I was hoping that Lily sent her to her mother's for our date. I knew he would recover quickly, so I picked up the hard line phone next to her bed and dialed 911. Even if he interrupted me, they would have the number and therefore the address.

The operator came on the line and just when I was going to say something Buck burst into the room. I put the receiver down, leaving the line open, and stood to face him.

"What did you do to Lily?" I tried to make him react to my accusation while the operator responded to the call.

"None of your fucking business. The fucking bitch is hiding my kid from me." He advanced on me and I tried to think what I could do. He would be ready for almost anything and was bigger than me. All the combat training doesn't do much with an arm in a sling in a tight space.

Since I was in a cramped area, I figured the only option was to make the first move to try to surprise him. I braced myself and then rushed him, trying to ram him with my good shoulder, but he still had good reflexes and I was not fully successful. I was able to slam him against the wall and get in a couple of good thrusts of my knee into his midsection, but he knew my weakness from the sling I was wearing. He made sure to grab and push on my bad shoulder. When the pain hit, I was shocked at how intense it was. It slowed me down enough for him to hit me on it and that sent me to the floor. The pain was so intense that I couldn't concentrate on hitting him at all. He kicked me a couple of times, once in the ribs and once on the shoulder, and then laughed as he watched me writhing in pain. The last kick was pushing me toward unconsciousness and I tried to hold on. He had left me, but the pain was dragging me down so fast I couldn't tell what he was doing. The last thing I remember was him laughing as he walked over and hung up the phone.

Chapter 7. Recovery?

27 September 2009

I slowly came awake and was aware of the hospital surroundings. I was in a bed and hooked to an IV. I could also feel that my left arm was tightly bundled, not in its normal sling. When my eyes opened, I could see my mother and Lily's mother standing in the room. They both noticed me waking up.

My mother rushed to me. "Jon!" She hugged me and pulled back to look at me. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got beat up." Wasn't it obvious?

Then Mrs. Johnson leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Thank you, dear boy, for saving Lily."

I looked at her, trying to get my mind around what she just said. Everything was slowly coming back to me, but I didn't know exactly what she was talking about, and the medications had made me groggy.

They could see my confusion so my mother filled me in. "When you went to see Lily, Buck had drugged her and, according to the police, was planning on taking her back to Chicago with him. He lives just outside there now. The police arrived as he was putting her into the truck and they stopped him and then found you on the floor. It was the 911 call and open line that did it. The operator heard everything."

I interrupted her. "How long have I been here?"

"That all happened yesterday. You've been here since last night." My mother looked at her watch. "It's 6pm, so you've been here almost 24 hours."

"Where's Lily?"

"In the room next door. She's doing fine. She's already been up and around and is leaving in a few minutes." She looked up at Mrs. Johnson, who smiled and scurried out the door.

"What about my shoulder?"

"The doctor said they will have to wait a couple of days to be sure, but he thinks the only damage is some bruising and pulling of some stitches where the wound was not completely closed yet. They repaired the stitches and everything should be good."

About that time Lily came into the room. She was dressed in street clothes and holding her hand was a beautiful little clone of her and her mother. She walked over to me with Lauren and then bent over and kissed me lightly on the cheek. She hugged me, whispered a thank you into my ear, and then turned to Lauren.

"Lauren, this is Mr. Kenton. Say hello."

Lauren looked up at me shyly, not releasing her mother's hand. "Hi, Mr. Kenton."

"Hello, Lauren. I'm very pleased to meet you. You're a very pretty little girl."

I think Lauren and Lily both blushed at that and Lauren smiled shyly, moving slightly behind Lily and peering at me from behind her mother with her big blue eyes. Her thank you was barely a quiet whisper.

"I'm sorry you had to get in the middle of this." Lily looked around the room at everyone. "I hope your shoulder is okay."

"It'll be fine." I smiled.

"I'm sorry that you got involved. This turned into a real disaster."

I reached for her hand, but she wouldn't let me hold it. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you are okay. What's going to happen to Buck?"

Lily turned to her mother. "Mom, Lauren has been asking for something to drink. Can you take her to the cafeteria?"

"Sure." Mrs. Johnson took Lauren's hand. "C'mon sweetie, let's go get a soda." Lauren looked like she was going to protest to her mother, but then thought better of it and let her grandmother lead her from the room.

Lily turned back to me. "They took him to jail and threw the book at him. They charged him with assault, attempted kidnapping, and some other things. I also filed a restraining order against him to keep him away from both me and Lauren. I have no idea how to explain to her that it was her father that did this. She's only seen him a couple of times and has no idea what he's really like."

I stared at her. "So what's he like now?"

Lily stared at me for a second and then looked at the floor. "He's become a mean drunk. He never finished his degree, just like me, and is now working construction up near Chicago. He's meaner than I've ever seen him."

"How did he drug you?"

She looked up at me. "I forgot he can be so devious. He acted nice and said he just wanted to talk about Lauren. I wanted to believe him since he's her father, so I let him in – against my better judgment. He then went to the kitchen and got a couple of beers from the fridge. I guess he put something in mine, because after a few minutes, I started feeling woozy and couldn't stand up. I knew then that I was in trouble. The doctor told me it was one of those date rape drugs. Fortunately, Lauren was with my mother for our date." She finally reached out and touched my arm. "Sorry about that, by the way."

"Sorry about what? You didn't cancel the date or cause it to be interrupted. I'm just glad you are okay."

"Well, I'm definitely sorry that you got in the middle of this. I wanted to let you know that his brother came to the hospital and said he was going to do something about Buck being put in jail. He's just as mean, if not meaner, than Buck and I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine."

Lily stared at me. "No, I mean that we can't see each other anymore. I don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt more than you already are."

"Lily, I'm a big boy now. I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me."

She looked at me, then my bad shoulder, and then at the floor. "Sorry, but I mean it. I won't go out with you again. I can't take the chance that he'll find a way to hurt you. I couldn't live with myself if that happened. This is my fight and I'll handle it. Besides, we barely know each other after all this time."

I stared at her. My emotions were all over the place. I was just getting old feelings about a beautiful woman I knew in high school, had felt wonderful around her, and she was going to blow me off? "No, Lily, I won't do that. I'm going to keep asking you out until you go out with me. Remember, I'm pretty stubborn." I tried to smile and make her smile.

She smiled at me with the tired, resigned smile that I saw a lot from her nowadays. "Sorry, but that's the way it's going to be." She turned around to leave.

Fuck! I had no way to stop her from my position in the bed. "I'm not taking no for an answer!" I shouted at her back and she didn't turn around as she went thru the door and turned left. "I'll see you again Lily!" I shouted louder.

I looked over at my mother, who was standing there watching all this. She looked at me and walked over to the door. She peeked around the corner for a few seconds and then looked back at me and smiled.

"What?"

She looked outside for a few more seconds and then turned and walked over to me. "I was watching Lily in the hallway. She stopped about halfway down the hallway, leaned against the wall, and took several deep breaths. She appeared to be trying not to cry. I think that's a good thing."

"You think she was upset because she turned me down? It wasn't just all her emotions of the last few days?"

My mother leaned close to me. "I think she's finding you irresistible. Any woman would."

I laughed a little in spite of my predicament. "Spoken like a mom."

"You betcha!" She turned and left the room.

Chapter 8. Lily, have you been drinking?

28 September 2009

I didn't get out of the hospital until the next day and I had been asked by the police to come down, provide my story and then review and sign a complaint against Buck. I did that and headed home. I was still pretty tired and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. I also planned on contacting Lily as soon as I could. I was not going to let this go.

Over the next few days I called her and went by the café, but she continued to put me off and wouldn't talk to me. I went by her house and she wouldn't even answer the door. I was starting to get angry at her, at Buck, at life in general. My mother was not taking my mood swings very well either.

I also obtained an Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification Card (FOID). I wanted to purchase a weapon in case Buck's relatives decided to come after me. Illinois has very restrictive laws about weapons and I would not be able to carry it with me like I wanted, but I wanted to have something for personal protection just in case.

At one point during this period I had the dream again. This time it was only up until I got shot. I jerked awake, the pain in my shoulder reminding me of that wound.

Nothing happened for a while so after about three weeks, I sent Lily a very appealing note, at least in my mind, about how she deserved more out of life and that she needed to get past Buck. I said in it that I still had a crush on her and wanted to go out on a date. I was hoping that she would at least talk to me after reading it. I got no answer.

17 October 2009

It was 9pm and my mother had just gone to bed. She was going to bed earlier than I had ever remembered because of the chemo. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. It was Lily.

I opened the door to her and she looked up at me with apprehension. "Hi, Jon. Can I come in?" Her words were slurred, her eyes wide and staring, and I could tell she had been drinking... a lot.

"Sure." I opened the door and she came into the foyer. I had to tread carefully. "It's really good to see you Lily."

"Thanks." She didn't stop in the foyer, but continued into the den, staggering slightly. "Is your mother still up?"

I followed right behind her. "No, she goes to bed early every night. The chemo wipes her out for days." I couldn't help but notice her style of dress. Her jacket was open. She was wearing extremely tight jeans that showed off her cute bubble butt and a t-shirt with a slightly darker bra underneath. She looked edible.

"Okay, good. We need to talk." She sat down on the couch, removing her jacket and dropping it beside her.

I stood in front of her. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sure." She giggled. "I've already been drinking, but what the hell, eh? Beer's fine."

I went into the kitchen and retrieved two beers. I opened them and want back into the den. I gave Lily her beer and sat on the opposite end of the couch. "Okay, so let's talk." I made her take the lead.

"Look, Jon. I know that you harbor some lin... linger... lingering high school crush kind of feelings about me, but I'm not that person. I'm a strug... struggling single mom trying to make life good for my daughter. You can't keep p... pestering me like you are doing." Now it was obvious that she had been drinking quite a bit because she was slurring and stumbling over her words and her eyes were bright and a little glazed.

"Is that what I am doing? Pestering you?"

"Yes, and it's getting annoying."

I leaned forward. "Lily, say what you want, but I really do want to get to know you. Yes, I had a crush on you in high school, but now I'm an adult. I know that I can't go back and relive those days. But I still find you a beautiful and attractive woman. I just want to get to know you. I'm not the type of person who is doing this because I need to save someone and I don't look at you as a 'project'. I really want to get to know you as you are now. I cannot say that anything will come of it, but we'll never know if we don't at least get to know each other better, right?"

She stared at me and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I've been a total b... bitch. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. I know it's tough on you. I have no idea what it would be like to be a single mother, but I have heard my mother talk about it before. It's difficult, but that doesn't mean that you can't still have a life, right?"

"You're right." She stared at me and smiled. She took a big pull on the beer. The alcohol seemed to be affecting her more as we sat there.

"Lily, when I was in high school, just being near you excited me. It still does. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth."

"It doesn't sound ridiculous. Maybe a little like a Disney movie..." She giggled to see my reaction and then hiccupped.

"Oh, so you want to make fun of me again." I grinned. "You really are a cruel bitch, Lily Johnson."

She laughed and I loved that throaty laugh. "Yes, I am. So you really want to date me? Take me out to dinner and do all that romantic stuff?"

"Yes. I want to do whatever it takes to get to know you and see what it is about you that drives me nuts. We can take it slow and learn who we each are after all this time."

Lily grinned at me and stood up, albeit a little shakily. She reached for her t-shirt and suddenly whipped it off, dropping it on the couch. "At this point, taking it slow seems too painful – and I'm horny." She reached up behind her back to undo her bra.

I was just staring, shocked by this turn of events. One minute she wants nothing to do with me and the next she shows up drunk and starts stripping for sex? "Uh, this is a little sudden after not even wanting to see me, isn't it?"

She had her bra unclasped and was holding it against her breasts. "You want me to stop? You don't want to have sex with me?" I couldn't tell if she was annoyed or just teasing me now.

I stared at her for a couple of seconds, my dick already making his choice known to me. "I want to have sex with you in the worst way."

"Good!" She whipped off her bra and her beautiful alabaster breasts were bared to me for the first time. They were magnificent. They were almost a C-cup, with nice pink areola and very prominent nipples. Her entire body seemed to be very pale. There was just a hint of freckles across the tops of her breasts. I looked up at her face and she was smiling. "You like?" The question seemed to be a mixture of her searching for a complement and needing reassurance that she was still attractive.

"They're fantastic."

She smiled and relaxed. "Good answer." She came over and sat on my lap. We kissed then. It was fast, but slow; tender, but aggressive. It was the best kiss I had ever had in my life. Nobody had ever seemed to completely enthrall me with a kiss. Usually, I was already thinking of my next move, or where my hands were when I was kissing a woman. But with Lily, just the kissing completely occupied my thoughts. When she finally pulled back she stared at me wide-eyed. "Wow! I've really missed kissing."

I gave her another little quick kiss. "I've never had one like that, so I've been missing out my entire life."

She giggled. "Careful, you're going to give me a big head." Then she squirmed on my lap. "And it appears that I've already given you one."

"You're killing me, Lily."

She suddenly took my head in her hands and looked directly in to my eyes. "Jon, I haven't had sex in two years."

I stared into those blazing blue eyes. "I haven't had sex in about 15 months."

She giggled. "We're pathetic."

I grinned at her. "Shut up and let's get naked."

She smiled and stood up. She undid her jeans and I sat there, unmoving, as I watched. She wiggled her hips and worked her tight jeans down and then off. Her panties were half down on one side from removing her jeans and I could see the beginnings of her pubic patch. She removed her panties and stood back up a little shaky due to the alcohol. I could see that she had shaved her pubic hair to a small patch directly over her pussy, leaving her lips visible below them. I wondered if she did that all the time or just for this 'event'. I hadn't moved and she looked at me pointedly. "You're not undressing." She covered herself, suddenly becoming a little self conscious as the only naked one in the room.

I stood up and took her by the hand. "Grab your clothes, let's go to my room."

She grabbed her clothes and I led her to my bedroom. I worked the buttons on my shirt and she helped me get it off over my bad shoulder. Once that was done she dropped to her knees and started removing my jeans. I just stood there and let her. She worked my jeans and underwear down at the same time and my now very hard cock popped up. She giggled at it as she waited for me to lift one foot and then the other. She looked up at me and smiled as she reached out and grabbed my dick.