Melissa

Hello everyone, I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, but my second book is doing better than I ever expected it to do. With that said, I've been doing A LOT of book signings in A LOT of different places over the past year so; thank you for understanding. As always this is a fictional story so, remember; anything can, and usually does happen in a fictional tale. I hope you enjoy it. God Bless,

MoogPlayer

~~~~~~

Hi, my name is Thomas Jackson Blake Jr., Tommy, or these days, just plain old, Tom, to my friends. I stand six feet, two inches tall, and weigh around two hundred and twenty-five pounds. I have dark hair and eyes like my Dad; and while I'm in my mid fifties now, what I'm about to tell you happened right after my eighteenth birthday. My mother had been killed in a terrible car wreck when I was twelve. She was on her way home from having her hair done, when these two assholes that had just held up a convenience store and were being chased by the police, ran a red-light and plowed directly into Mom's car on the driver's side, killing her and the guy in the passenger seat of the other car.

I was an emotional wreck over it for a while, not to mention Dad; and I can't even begin to comprehend, nor could I ever imagine the toll that Mom's death had taken on him. Still though, he never once neglected his fatherly duties, and was very good to me in every way. He was there to chase away the nightmares I'd had, and stayed with me until I went back to sleep. It's not only correct, but a fact to state that my Dad is the best and strongest man I've ever known, who did more than just set a good example for me to follow; he did it by following the same standards as well.

You see, Mom was a concert pianist who gave up a very promising career when she met my father. I asked her about it one time during one of the many piano lessons she gave me, insisting even as a child that I learn to play piano; and with a beautiful smile she told me, that by following one's heart, it would bring that person pure and total fulfillment, hence the reason she married Dad.

Dad, on the other hand, who went by Jack, was in the Marine Corps and had fought in the war in Vietnam, which, thank God, had just ended when this all took place. Still though, he had taught me how to defend myself as well as how to fight, from the time I was a small boy until I was ten. He then he put me in a dojo to study under a friend of his, where I excelled and earned my black belt in only a little over two and a half years, due to, and because of the previous and intensive instruction my father had given me.

~~~~~~

Chapter One

About two years after Mom died, I was seventeen at the time, and Dad began dating. At first he went out on a few dates, none of which were successful, until he met a woman named Linda Hanson. He began to spend more weekends out with her, and after they had been dating for about six months, or so, he brought her home to meet me.

She weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred and twenty pounds, I'd say, and stood about five feet, six inches tall. She long shoulder length blonde hair, and very pretty blue eyes. Her measurements fit her height and weight, and she was as nice as she was pretty.

"It's very nice to meet you, Tommy," she gently smiled, "Your father has told me so many wonderful things about you."

"Oh, is that a fact?" I playfully teased, "Well if Dad said something good about me then you can be fairly sure that it's a load of horse manure."

"Oh my goodness," she giggled, making not only her pretty face light up, but the entire room as well, "That was too funny."

"Jeez," Dad smiled, "Don't make his head any bigger than it already is."

"Oh, come now, Jack," Linda grinned, placing her arm around my waist, making me blush, "That could never happen to such a handsome boy...especially this one."

Still though, I could tell that Linda made Dad happy and that's what was most important to me. I mean, hell, I hadn't seen him smiling like that since way before Mom died, and he most definitely needed it so, that's all that mattered to me.

~~~~~~

The house that we, me and Dad, lived in back then was nothing to write home about. Don't get me wrong, we didn't live in a hovel either; it was just an ordinary three bedroom house in an American middle class neighborhood.

Dad was an Architect whom, after Mom died, poured himself into his work, making partner eighteen months after that. My father made sure that I was well fed, nicely clothed, and while my car wasn't necessarily brand new, I still had a nice car, a used, mint condition, 1958 Corvette Stingray.

I had painted it a beautiful shade of deep blue, and then once that was done; Dad and I took it down to Guadalajara Mexico to give it a brand new white leather interior that was tucked and rolled. The really cool part about it was that for my eighteenth birthday, Dad's partners at his work all pitched in and bought me a complete set of Classic Mag Wheels, which was basically the proverbial icing-on-the-cake. Of course Dad had a Blaupunkt™ stereo installed that had a cassette player, as opposed to an eight-track tape player. With the pre-amp mounted in the glove compartment, and after the speakers had been put in; it felt like I was in a concert hall when the music played.

The girls loved my car, and I always had a date on the weekend, but because I was such a painfully shy kid, I remained a virgin till almost the end of my high school career. The girls always seemed willing enough, but, to tell the truth, I hadn't the foggiest idea, at the time, how to navigate my way around a female body; and therefore, for fear of failure, I never tried.

All-in-all my car was very cool looking according not only to my set of standards, but almost all of the kids of whom I'd made friends and attended Thomas Jefferson High School with. My school was one of very few in the area which had not only your normal and standard high school sports teams, but also a Karate Team. I was one of only two Black Belts on the whole team, the other one being our coach and instructor, Mister Larry Timmons, who, he himself was a Sensei, or teacher, as that's what the word "Sensei" means.

Because of the rarity of the sport at that time, even moreso having a team in a high school back then, it meant that we were forced to compete on the collegiate levels, against junior colleges and some smaller universities, while still closely adhering to the N.C.A.A. rules and regulations.

I was asked to join the Karate Team when I was a sophomore, and once that happened, every black belt who was on whatever opposing team we faced, seemed to be after my hide. But, we still persevered, and, through all the bull-shit, managed to make a good showing whenever, as well as wherever we competed.

~~~~~~

I knew that Dad and Linda were getting serious when I came home one evening after practice to find Linda and her daughter, whom I hadn't met yet, at the house to greet me. Linda's daughter, who I found out was named, Melissa, was absolutely breathtaking as she was so beautiful.

She had long dark hair, the same color and length as mine; but that's where the similarities between us ended. She had bright blue eyes and was built like the proverbial brick-shit house. I'd say she weighed around one hundred and fifteen pounds, stood five feet, seven inches tall, and although it was difficult to tell her bust size when we first met; I'd say she had C-cup sized breasts; but like I said, it was difficult to tell at the time.

~~~~~~

I tried to be as polite as I knew how, but she acted like a bitch from the very beginning. She was very rude, or so I though; and she refused to be engaged in any type of conversation with me, barely speaking to Dad, and that was only if he asked her a direct question.

"Man" I silently thought to myself, "What a bitch!"

As I had been expecting for some time now, Dad broke the news to Melissa and I that he and Linda were getting married. I was ecstatic over the news, and was genuinely happy for the both of them. However, Melissa sat there and silently sulked...and after receiving a scalding glare from Linda, asked to use the telephone.

I thought her behavior rather strange until a bright yellow taxi came and picked her up from our house, taking her home, according to what Linda told us after Melissa was gone.

~~~~~~

"I'm sorry if I upset her," Dad said, to Linda, "I didn't think that she...."

"No, sweetheart," Linda gently interrupted him, "It's about time she got a good dose of reality and started dealing with the fact that she can't have everything she wants, whenever she wants it, and I'm really sorry for her behavior."

"Linda, honey," Dad soothed, taking her into his arms and kissing her, "There's no need for you to apologize...for anything."

"That's right," I smiled, hugging them both, "For anything."

"I love you guys...very much," she sniffled smiling.

"We love you, too," I grinned, receiving an affirmative nod from Dad, "We love you very much."

~~~~~~

Dad and I spent the rest of the summer packing everything and getting ready for the move to a new home, and as Dad called it; a new start. Granted, I was ecstatic over the fact that my father had found happiness again; but I was dreading having to spend my Senior Year of high school in a new school.

I remembered how the people at my school had treated the new students, and I was certainly not looking forward to being treated the same way...especially knowing that Melissa would be there as well. "Oh, well, I guess that having to put up with shit like this is part of life, and I guess that I'll just have to deal with it," I thought to myself.

"Look at it this way, man," my friends, Jake Collins and Mark Howard, teased me when I told them about it, "It's not like you don't know how to handle yourself, now, is it?"

"I don't know," I said, "I mean, I'm glad that my Dad is happy, but...."

"Come on, Tommy," Jake grinned, "You and I both know that all the girls at Warner High School are hot Hell, bro, I even heard that most of them are real sweet, too."

"Not all of them," I said, "But hey, I'll still be close enough that I can come visit you guys, right?"

"We'll have to see about that," Mark laughed, "Especially if one of those Warner girls gets her hooks into you."

"Come on, dude," I playfully groaned, "Gimme a break, man, damn."

~~~~~~

Linda's late husband was a Corporate Attorney who got killed in a plane crash. And because he was in a company plane, not to mention the humongous life insurance policy he taken out on himself; he'd left her extremely well off.

And because of that, we moved out of our house into hers. It was located on the other side of town, which meant that I would be spending my senior year at a new school, and because the rumors that I'd heard about the place, I was going into it with mixed emotions. I had a feeling that this up-coming year was going to be different from any, as well as every thing I'd ever seen or experienced in my life...well, at least up to this point anyway.

~~~~~~

Dad and Linda opted for a courthouse wedding as opposed to a church wedding. I was Dad's best man and Melissa stood up with her mother. I wasn't expecting Melissa to say more than two words to me after the ceremony, and I was right, she didn't say anything. She simply signed Dad and Linda's marriage license as a witness, and then she turned and walked away. I could tell that Melissa's behavior had truly hurt Linda, but I was not about to let a very happy occasion turn sour.

So, after I signed the other witness line on the marriage license, I turned to Dad and Linda, and kissing Linda on the cheek, said, "I want to let you know how happy you've made not only my father, but me as well, and I will always love you for that. Welcome to our family, Linda; I wish you and Dad all the happiness in the world."

"What a sweet thing to say," she happily sniffled, "Thank you, Tommy, and I love you, too, sweetie."

"Is that so?" I teased, "Then I say you should've waited till I graduated high school and was old enough before you married Dad."

"Shut up," Dad laughed, "Smart ass kid."

"Oh my goodness, no," Linda giggled, "He's a silver tongue devil...just like his father."

~~~~~~

Dad and Linda spent five days in the Florida Keys for their honeymoon, and when they returned, I could tell that they had truly enjoyed themselves; forming the bond that the honeymoon gives to couples in love.

~~~~~~

Then the day came that we had to move. While Dad had made previous arrangements for some, not all, of our furniture to be put in storage, I'd already packed up my belongings and put them on the truck that was going to our new home. And when I got to the new house, well, new to me anyway, Dad and Linda were there to greet me the moment I pulled into the driveway of one of the most beautiful, most spacious homes I'd ever seen.

We've got your new room ready," Linda cheerfully smiled, hugging me the moment I got out of my car, "I hope you like it, sweetie."

"Thank you," I sweetly replied, returning her hug, "I'm sure everything will be just fine."

~~~~~~

My "new room" as Linda called it, turned out to be the entire basement floor of the house. She and Dad had taken my workout gear, i.e. mats, punching bags, practice weapons, etc. and placed them in a strategic location on one side of the room; while placing my musical gear, electric piano, Hammond B-3 Organ, synthesizers and amps on the other side of the room with my bed strategically placed somewhere in the middle of it all. Man, it was very cool, even if I say so myself, and I knew that I was going to be very comfortable here.

I thought they did an excellent job and thanked them both profusely, telling Linda, "Thank you for allowing me into your home, and I'll do my very best not to make you sorry that you did."

"Oh, Tommy," she tenderly replied, while gently hugging me, "This is your home, too, now, sweetheart; and it will always be your home...for as long as you want it to be."

"Thank you very much," I smiled, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Needless to say, Melissa was nowhere to be found, and to be totally honest, I really didn't miss her one bit either. She had been a total bitch from the very first moment I met her. I would've been able to tolerate her disrespect toward me, but she'd also been disrespectful to both Dad and Linda for no reason whatsoever; and that, I wasn't going to tolerate...not in the least, the little bitch...I didn't give a shit how good looking I thought she was. Damn, did I just say that?

~~~~~~

One good thing about living in Linda's house was the fact that there was a nice sized pool in the back yard, of which I volunteered to keep it clean as one of my chores. Not only did it have a diving board, but it was long enough that I could swim laps and still get a good workout.

The whole house sat on two acres of land, all of which had been sodden in Bermuda grass upon its construction, making it look like something you would see depicted in a "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine pictorial so; to say that it was nice would be an understatement.

~~~~~~

The first day of school was a week away when I finally saw Melissa since Dad and I had been moved in, well, actually it was because I saw her Mustang convertible parked in the driveway, and I could hear her and her mother going at it upstairs.

"Would you care to tell me where you've been for the past week?" Linda firmly asked, "I can't begin to tell you how bad you made yourself look in front of Jack and Tommy."

The next thing I heard was Melissa screaming something unintelligible and then I heard what sounded like something made of glass, crashing against the wall and breaking on the floor. I dashed up the stairs at light speed in case someone had been hurt.

~~~~~~

I arrived upstairs on the main floor (remember my bedroom was the basement) and followed the sound of two females yelling at each other into the living room, where I found Melissa and Linda locked in verbal combat; and it wasn't until I heard Melissa call her mother a selfish bitch that I intervened.

"KNOCK IT OFF!!!" I yelled, silencing the both of them.

"Now," I evenly said, "Would someone like to calmly tell me what the hell is going on in here?"

"My daughter is being extremely disrespectful," Linda told me, "And I'm sick and tired of it."

Before I could comment, Melissa hatefully spat, "I'm not being disrespectful, Mom's just being a bitch, and I'm not...."

"Whoa, wait a minute," I sharply interrupted her, "I don't care what it is. You have no right to call your mother a bitch in her own house under any circumstances."

"Fuck you," she again hatefully replied, taking a swing at me with her fist, "And you don't belong here either, motherfucker."

The moment she swung at me, I simply blocked and deflected her punch, angering her enough to take another swing, until I finally got her arm locked behind her in a gentle but firm grip and calmly said, "We can do this all day, but I don't want to have to do this to you, nor do I want you to do this to yourself. Do you understand me?"

"Fuck you," she said, beginning to cry, "Let me go."

"I'm going to let you go," I warned, "But you'd better not try to hit me again, okay?"

"Okay," she cried, "Just let go of me, you asshole," and then I released the hold I had on her.

"You'll pay for that, you fucker," she openly cried, and then she ran down the hall to her room, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

"I'm really sorry about that," I told Linda, "I didn't hurt her, I swear; but she left me no choice, please tell me that you understand."

"You have nothing to worry about, Tommy," Linda smiled, "I think the only thing you hurt was her pride, which means that you didn't really hurt her at all."

"You can tell me that it's none of my business," I said, "But why does she act like that? I mean, I haven't done a single thing to her, and yet she treats me like a disease."

"It's not your fault," Linda sadly smiled, "She wasn't the same after her father died, and according to her, I was defiling her father's memory when I began dating again. I've tried to talk to her but she won't let me in."

"Maybe I can try again," I reassured her, "But we're going to have to give her some time to get over this though."

"That would be great, sweetie," Linda hopefully replied, "I'm willing to try anything at this point."

"Good," I grinned, "But let's see how things go from here, first."

~~~~~~

Melissa refused to have dinner with us for the rest of that week, waiting until she thought everyone was asleep, and then she would sneak into the kitchen and eat whatever was left over. Her movements on the ground floor above me woke me every time she came into the kitchen; and once I'd brought it to her mother's attention, Linda began leaving a full plate of food in the refrigerator for her daughter after supper was over with.

~~~~~~

The first day of school finally arrived, and with it came a bundle of nerves that had decided to take up residence in my stomach. Still though, I wasn't afraid, no, it was more apprehension than anything else, and I knew that I would eventually be alright once I got into the swing of things.

~~~~~~

The moment I pulled my car into the parking lot and got out of it, two girls, who were very pretty I might add, approached me with smiles on each of their faces while I was locking my door. One was a blonde and the other was a brunette, both of whom had blue eyes, and both of which were built very nicely.