My Only Talent Ch. 18

My Dad and I headed out to get my cousins, counter-commuting on the way in toward the airport, but we knew we would be in the thick of rush hour traffic on the way back to the house. He had a flight tracker pulled up on his phone, and he was a grandmaster at timing flight arrivals at DFW. Their flight was delayed, as usually happened with those DFW segments originating at BOS or LGA, but not too long. We met Uncle Ted and Aunt Martha, and all three sons: Teddie, Mikee, and Jeffie (you just can't make this stuff up) and then went down to the baggage carousels to collect their luggage. When we finally got it all loaded, we made for home, and crawled through the rush hour traffic, congested even on the toll ways.

By the time we got back, it was almost completely dark outside, and the three younger dogs were out riding the fence again. My Mom began greeting everyone warmly, but when Jeffie walked in the door, Eldee went on red alert, barking at him like she had found the bad guy while on revieren. My dad put her on a zit, and then took Jeffie by the arm and moved him closer to her. She quivered, but did not bark. She nosed him, right on his shirt pocket.

Dad said "What have you got in there?"

"Nothing. None of your business."

"Did you bring dope here on the airplane?" Uncle Ted asked gruffly.

"It's just pot. It's practically legal. And you freak out if I drink with my buddies!"

Uncle Ted shook his head, "You stupid fucking piece of shit!"

Ah the never ending joy of family visits during the holidays! A few moments later I heard the toilet flushing. This might explain all three cousins' lack of developing their 'talent'. I recalled my Dad saying that regular use of drugs or alcohol, especially before the age of 17, or using 'E' anytime, can reduce or even extinguish our abilities. I hope they had really enjoyed whatever they used, considering what they may have given up. And two of these brilliant young gentlemen would be staying in the bedroom right between mine and the one Nora was in. Perfect. Not a dull minute! At least I knew that Eldee was a very light sleeper, and wouldn't tolerate any intrusion into Nora's space.

Mom and Grandma had set up a giant and very well stocked sandwich buffet in the kitchen, complete with several cold salads, pickles, olives, and veggies and chips with dips. The family trooped through in various moods. My first thought was to sit outside on one of the patio tables facing the garden. Even though it was dark and cold, it felt better to me than sitting inside in the bosom of our extended family right now. Nora soon joined me, with a couple of dainty half sandwiches, but also a big helping of Grandma's unique German mustard potato salad. I had never seen her eat so heartily.

"This stuff is incredible! Better than any I had in Germany. How does she do it?"

"Well, that's her secret, but I can tell you she grows three different kinds of potatoes for it, and makes up the sauce about three days in advance so it can 'brew' as she terms it. She also uses three different kinds of mustard, and some kind of special vinegar, too. I have never tasted anything even vaguely like it, either. I have to warn you, though, it gives you strange dreams!"

"What kind of dreams?"

"It might affect you differently, but for me they are always exotic and erotic."

"Did they ever include seeing Alley topless or naked?" She smiled like she had a secret.

"No!" Where in the world did that come from? "What's up?"

She smiled again. "That's what we are going to help Alley out with Sunday night. She did get a big sexual thrill out of losing her top at the swimming pool, and it drove her mother absolutely crazy. I am not sure which is the prime motivator, but she is planning to enter the 'amateur night' contest at some strip club. She wants me to be her wingman, you to be our escort, and I think she really hopes that her mother actually will find out!"

Wheels were turning in my head. Austin may be the live music capitol of the world, but Dallas is probably the title holder for 'gentlemen's clubs'. In between downtown and DFW there is a cluster of a dozen fancy ones, and a perimeter of more downscale competitors around them. Each and every club claims to have the best looking dancers, the best food, and the best drinks, and they all compete for the image of being the most 'upscale', named for diamonds, gold, silver, platinum and maybe next even unobtainium. They offer free limo service to the club (but not always back), shoe shine stands, 'business centers', VIP rooms, cigar bars, and tasting rooms for single malt scotch, not to mention the overpriced bottles of cheap champagne that the customers buy the girls. And they all hold 'amateur nights' with cash prizes. The contestants are usually new dancers hoping to get hired, wives looking to spice things up a bit with hubby (or anyone else who may be interested), and the occasional 'true amateur' who is just trying to make her rent this month. The clientele ranges from rich bankers to mid level drug dealers to low income fools who just got paid and will blow their whole check in an hour or two.

"Which club?"

Nora thought a minute. "I think she said it's the one where all the pro football players hang out?"

That would cover at least two of them, also where the concentration of super macho and drunk drug dealers and gang bangers was highest. "That place has more guns and knives per square foot than most gun stores! It is not a good choice. But if she really insists, there is a place that is much safer, and also where word might be more likely to get back to her mother!"

Nora looked intrigued. I picked up my phone, scrolled through my contacts, and dialed. "Hey Bigun, its Robbie, are you still working at 'Babe's Club'?"

Michael "Bigun" Jackson looked nothing like his unfortunate namesake. He was white-blonde, 6' 6' tall, and well over 330 lbs. He was about 3 years older than me and had played 'nose tackle' on our high school football team, and excelled at being an immovable object in the middle of the line. He would soak up at least three blockers while the linebackers behind him made all the tackles. He spent at leasts three hours a day in the gym from the time he as 13, and was rumored to have once 'bench pressed a Volkswagen". I wouldn't bet against it. He had dated my older sister for a while, until she gave him that kiss of death phrase 'I like you but as a friend'. He also refused to call on Suzie, and he and I would sometimes commiserate when he picked my sister up or dropped her off. He was a genuine good guy, but with some hard luck.

He got a football scholarship to WTTU, but flunked out spectacularly, majoring in beer and babes, finally getting lots of 'fat little girl friends', as his former coach Spike Bleach used to call them, but just he didn't make it to enough of his classes to pass any of them. When he came back to town and started taking junior college where my mother taught accounting, he got an evening job as a bouncer in one of the second tier strip clubs. I helped him get through most of his classes, and he used to regale me with tales of the stupid stuff the strip club customers did. He was one of the best bouncers they ever had, because nobody ever thought seriously about taking him on, and when he needed to throw someone out he just gently picked them up and carried them outside, with little wear and tear on the customer or the furniture, and there was no shame to having the 'Bigun' toss you out. It was sort of a badge of honor. He finished junior college and started school at UTA, studying business, and soon became the assistant manager of the club.

"Yeah, I'm home for Thanksgiving, and wanted to touch base with you, and ask you a question. I have a friend who is determined to dance at amateur night somewhere, and I wondered if I bring her over to Babe's if you would watch out for her?"

"Well, you might know her. I used to call her "Alley Shitty'. Yeah, that's the one. Yeah, I think she wouldn't mind that: something about teaching her mother a lesson. No kidding!"

"Okay, Sunday night, about ten? OK, buddy, I'll see you then, and drinks are one me. Really? I don't either. Ok!"

I polished off my sandwiches, and then went back to the impressive display of cookies and candy Grandma had put out. She made stuff you could not get anywhere else: anise seed cookies, homemade licorice, little one bite rhubarb tarts, and some strange herbal candies she called her 'special horehound' drops. They were dusted with sugar like lemon drops, except they were brown and square, and they tasted like nothing else I had ever had. I always liked them, but she didn't make them very often.

I loaded up my plate, and Nora got a few of them and some of the other more unusual choices, and then Grandma stopped us at the end of the line.

"Robbie, take it easy on the horehound drops. You liked them even when you were little and most kids don't, and now that you are past eighteen they may have some new and different affects on you, if you take my meaning. And, Nora, dear, I have no idea what they may do to you!"

Grandma must have gotten the full briefing from Mom, after Mom had gotten dad to spill all the beans. Nora smiled and said, "Well, I have Eldee to watch over me tonight!" and took about half as many of the drops as I had. Mom was talking to Aunt Martha, presumably assuring her that all of them were invited to the open house at Alley's. The cookies and candy tasted better than ever, and Nora and I both polished ours off quickly. Nora gave me a funny look as we washed off our plates and put them in the dishwasher.

Of our visiting family, only Aunt Martha wanted to go to the open house with us, and I think Uncle Ted planned to stay home to watch over his three boys, who were planning on watching TV, and it might have been wise. The rest of us loaded up in the car and headed for Alley's house. Her parents had been doing an open house like this for years, even in their old house, and the guests were a mix of the families of some of my high school friends, some of Alley's dad's employees, her mother's real estate clients, and a few other neighbors. It seemed like a lot longer than 6 months since I had seen some of these people at school, and I was interested to find out what my newly developed Suzie abilities would tell me that I had never noticed before.

One the way over, I got another text:

SUZANNE: still sad and bored. I finished grading papers and that was most fun so far!

ROBBIE: ({})

SUZANNE: not looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital cafeteria

ROBBIE: wish you were here instead

SUZANNE: they exercise him manually and talk to him all day hoping for a response. I am helping. It hurts.

SUZANNE:he has lost 40 lbs of muscle and it kills me to see him but maybe we can still get through to him.

ROBBIE: ({})

.....

Sarah saw the headlights of a car leaving Robbie's house, and followed it over to that Alley chick's big fancy house. There were so many cars parked along the street that she couldn't get close enough to see if Robbie was actually in the car, and she didn't want all those people going in and out of the house to see her. Her frustration knew no bounds, and she knew she had to leave for Texarkana soon. She drove back to Robbie's house and drove into the driveway. She was going to walk right up and ring the doorbell and see if he was there, and if he was, demand some answers. She pulled in from the road, and drove boldly up to the front of the house. She parked her car, but before she could open the door, she realized that she was now surrounded by four big black dogs: left, right, rear, and front. They looked almost identical, but the one in front was a little smaller and had some grey markings on its head. Sarah reached for her door handle, but the dog in the front moved over toward the driver's side door and growled. The message could not have been clearer.

Sarah sat still, and so did the dogs, watching her closely. She realized they were not going to let her get out of the car. She made a decision. No need to get a hotel room for tonight and watch in the morning. She would go on to Texarkana now to have turkey dinner at her grandmother's house with her family. Staying here too long would raise too many questions from her mom. But she would spend all of her free time planning, and when she got back to ESU, she would put her plans in effect. By Christmas, she knew would have the best gift of all, Robbie!

.....

The open house was pretty much what I expected, but the Suzie signals were not. I heard subtleties and overtones I had never detected before, and saw instant detailed images without consciously finding the carriers and having to concentrate on them. I felt an undercurrent of connection with Nora, like there were hot little signals bouncing back and forth between us. Mrs. Demetrius, our old neighbor who had lived next door to Mrs. Douglass, was sending some serious Suzie for her husband, all very conventional, but some of the images I was receiving of her plans for him were anything but. The Wilkerson's, who lived next door to Alley, had invited another couple over to relax in the hot tub after the open house, and Mrs. Wilkerson was planning on suggesting that they all forego suits in the tub, just to see what might happen, and she certainly knew what she wanted to happen.

Nora seemed to get along well with everyone, and several people made the same kind of comments to me that Cactus Jake Warner had about how lucky I was to have found her. When I made eye contact with her across the room, I got this incredible feeling of warmth and acceptance, as if she already felt for me what Lara or Suzanne did after one of our marathon multi-orgasmic sex sessions. I gently tried to access her flight data recorder, and found it wide open and effortless to read, even though she was wide awake and actively engaged in a conversation. Man, whatever was in Grandma's horehound drops must be amazing stuff.

When we got back home, all three cousins plus Uncle Ted were playing spades at the card table, with MTV on the LCD in the family room and Aunt Martha was reading a book at the kitchen table. All four dogs were inside for the first time since I had been home, and the three young ones had stationed themselves right outside the family room, essentially between the cousins and the rest of the house. Eldee was in the kitchen, but she instantly came over to Nora, and sat for a greeting, again something I had only seen her do occasionally, even for Grandma, who was already upstairs asleep. Nora sat on the couch in the sun room that adjoined the kitchen and Mom and Dad and Aunt Martha bid us all goodnight and headed to their bedroom. Eldee circled around and herded me toward Nora, and kept shoulder blocking my leg until I sat next to Nora. As soon as I did, Eldee curled up, touching Nora's feet, and contently went to sleep.

Nora smiled at me, and said "I want to tell you some things!"

I took her hand and said, "Me too, but ladies first."

She looked a little uncomfortable as she began. "Do you remember when you said that if I would show you my feelings for you, that you would show me yours?"

I nodded, thinking back to the wonderful things I had seen in Alley's car, and just felt at the open house.

"Well, when I went to sleep in the car I assumed you would be able to sense my signals for you. Did you?

I decided it would never be right to hold back anything from Nora. "Yes, and I liked what I found. I also now know all about Hannah and Jalen, and your feelings for Suzanne, too. "

She stared at me slack jawed, amazed. Obviously she didn't anticipate that kind of extensive disclosure. "Oh my God! How do you react to ...what you learned about, me and ...them?"

I held her hand even more firmly. "My first thought is still valid: they had the good taste to be attracted to you, and bad judgment in the way they treated and ultimately lost you. I think I need to show you my feelings now." I bundled up all of my visions of her, and the amazing response I had when she sent hers. It wasn't a Suzie blast; it was more a gentle flow, increasing as I found her accepting it. I showed her my joy in being with Suzanne, and Lara, and Millie, and showed how I already felt that for her even though we had never spent a night together. Her eyes grew very wide. Maybe I should have held back, but I showed her my revulsion at the ugliness I found in Melanie's meltdown, and she almost lost consciousness.

Then she looked at me with shock. "Those images came from you that night at the dorm! That was the worst nightmare I have ever had. I felt horrible for days. Maybe my parents were right to warn me away from men like you." That was definitely not what I wanted to hear, and she looked really shaken. "But now I know how you feel, and I appreciate your honesty. I need some time to think, and I still need to talk to my parents before I make any decision." Eldee looked at both of us funny, tilting her head from side to side, made a little whining noise, and then followed Nora up the stairs.

Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be incredible. Thanks to Nora's help, my Grandma made all of the wonderful old dishes that I remembered as a little kid, and Nora made some kind of sweet potato casserole that even I liked, and some gingerbread bar 'brownies' that blew me away. Even the cousins went crazy for all the food and Nora and my grandma seemed to have really bonded. She praised Nora as a quick learner and for how well the old family recipes were executed, and I was so full that I was almost somnambulant as the ESU football game began. I should have gone directly to sleep, because the football team already had. It was a disaster, 'nuff said. There was a great selection of wonderful leftovers to help sooth my football disappointment, but Nora remained a little stand offish toward me, even though Eldee continued to herd us toward each other at every opportunity. Sunday afternoon we took the Boston crew to the airport, and I think everyone felt better after that, including them.

Nora announced to my parents that we were going out with Alley tonight, maybe to meet up with some of her sorority friends or drop into a party or 'go someplace to dance', so we would be out very late. Very smoothly worded, I thought: should we call her a barrister or a solicitor? But she was golden with my folks, but Grandma did suggest taking Eldee along for security, which we laughed off, but also said she felt good that I would be designated driver for the evening. Both girls wanted to leave at lot earlier than I did, but I explained to them that according to Bigun, amateur night usually went very late into the night, and the final winner would likely not be announced until 2 AM or so, and if we got there by 10 PM we would be fine. On the way over, they giggled and told me about studying stripper moves from Google yesterday to prepare Alley's dance routine, and learning how to make up Alley's 'stripper name' from her middle name and the name of the street her family lived on when she was born. Tonight Alley would enter the contest as 'Constance Normandy', and I could already hear a pretty strong Susie signal as 'Constance' visualized her exhibitionist fantasies. She would get lots of applause, too. She wouldn't have the biggest chest, but I'll bet she would have the prettiest face and hair, and if the audience caught her vibe of a first time stripper that loved living out her fantasy, they would really appreciate her act. She might even win.

We got to Babe's at 10, and sure enough we had to wait. Bigun came out and showed us to a table right up front: I introduced him to Nora, and he spoke up and said hello to Alley and said that he remembered her from Prosperous High. She turned pasty white, and then red, but then got this sly look, perhaps as she imagined her mother hearing about all this. But then I detected a moderate Suzie signal from Alley that chirped and then sounded steadily, for none other than Michael 'Bigun' Jackson.