Oddball Ch. 08

"Yeah, I kind of keep packing mine too, then I remember 'oh, I want this top,' then I got to unpack everything and start all over, Britney laughed.

"And you know winter will be here before the end of the semester so you got to pack that too," Chin Li mused aloud.

"Shit, I'm going to need another suitcase," Britney complained.

"Yeah, me too; maybe Wal-Mart has a cheap one," Chin Li said.

"Pick you up as soon as I finish my lunch," Britney said.

----

"I fucking hate ties," Jim cursed to himself as he sat at his desk to while away the next eight or nine hours.

Hank Schaub, his father in law insisted, cajoled, bribed and bullied him until Jim finally agreed to come work for him. He hated every minute of it; hated having to wear suits and ties every day, hated sitting behind a large desk, shuffling papers back and forth, hated the monotonous inactivity of it all.

"Daddy says you're doing such a good job," Melissa enthused.

"Really?" Jim wondered. "I don't do ANYTHING! The bar must have been set extremely low."

Denise softly knocked on the doorjamb, breaking Jim out of his near-trance state.

"Need anything, Mr. Kowalski?" Denise asked, seductive smile on her lips as she toyed with the buttons of her blouse.

Hank had laughed when Jim looked at Denise, then at his father in law.

"Yeah, she's something, huh?" Hank said. "I don't do nothing, but damn! It is nice to just look and daydream."

"No, not really," Jim returned her smile.

"Yes, God damn it!" he thought. "I need something to do! I'm losing my ever loving mind here!"

Denise smiled her sensuous smile, turned on her very high heel and slowly strolled back to her seat at the small rotunda that sat in front of his door and the door of the president of the company, Hank Schaub.

"Slithered," Jim thought.

Slithered, like a snake; the woman slithered rather than walked. She gave Jim a real sense of discomfort, of unease.

She sat, adjusted her stockings, and then looked over to make sure that she had Mr. Schaub's attention, had Mr. Kowalski's attention.

Jim picked up the phone and hit '1' on the speed dial.

"Hi," his wife answered the phone on the first ring.

"I want to bend you over and slide my dick in you and fuck you," Jim husked into the phone.

"Oh that sounds so good," Melissa moaned in reply. "But my husband will be home at six; think we'll be finished before he gets home?"

"Yeah, I only last about ten, fifteen seconds," Jim laughed.

"Gee, that's still about five, ten seconds longer than my husband; come on over," Melissa laughed.

They chatted for a few more minutes, then Melissa had to go; a client had walked into the drug store.

Hank stuck his head into Jim's office, smile on his face.

"About to lose your mind here?" he asked.

"Yes," Jim said.

"About to change," Hank smiled wider. "Just got off the phone with Cathy Villeaux; DeGarde National Bank's doing a branch on Highway 19 South. Congratulations, you're the project manager."

"Do project managers wear ties?" Jim asked warily.

"Only if they want the men laughing at them," Hank agreed.

"Then baby, I'm your man," Jim laughed happily.

Hank smiled; Denise was 'stretching' to reach something in the back of the file cabinet, her skirt stretched tightly over her delectable rump. He nearly walked into the doorjamb as he stared at the beautiful sight.

She smiled knowingly over her shoulder as she pulled the file folder out and closed the drawer.

"Mr. Kowalski?" she asked as she stepped into the young man's office. "Here are the materials and the building codes and grades for the DeGarde National Bank project."

Her breasts threatened to spill out the front of her blouse as she bent over to put the file on his desk.

"Thank you," Jim smiled, looking into her eyes, instead of at her chest.

----

Georgette clutched her doll as they drove home. She was fussy and cranky; it had been a long day for her.

"I think someone needs a nap," Mary said.

"But I'm not tired," Thomas teased.

"You will be; is your mother home?" Mary asked, lightly rubbing his leg.

"God, I hope not," he groaned.

The Kowalskis were staying with his parents until they moved to Missouri River University, home of the Missouri River Pioneers. Mary and Thomas slept in his room; Georgette had Jim's old room.

"Me too," Mary whispered. "You are quite loud, you know that?"

"Me?" he asked. "Me? Oh no, Missy, I'm nowhere near as loud as you are!"

"Oh no!" Mary gasped.

She leaned close to Thomas.

"What are we going to do when Georgette can hear us?" she whispered.

"Turn up the music," he suggested. "Or learn to scream a little quieter."

----"As long as I waited to give myself to you?" she asked. "Learning to scream quieter isn't an option."

"Hope it was worth the wait," he teased.

""Yeah, I guess," She shrugged. "Think you need some more practice, though."

Chapter 4

"Tell Daddy 'Bye,'" Mary told Georgette. "Tell him we'll see him in two weeks."

"Bye Daddy, I love you, we'll see you in two weeks, bye," Georgette called out.

"Damn it, I don't want to leave y'all," Thomas complained.

"Honey, training camp's already started; the coach let you wait a week for the operation," Mary reminded him.

"I know, but I don't want to leave y'all, I miss y'all already," he complained.

"I miss you too, but we knew this was going to happen when we got married," Mary said. "And it's just two weeks and then we'll be there."

"Bye, sweetheart, Daddy loves you," Thomas said and kissed his daughter.

"Bye, I love you, see you in two weeks," Georgette smiled.

"You are such a smart girl," Thomas praised.

"Tell him, 'I know, I get it from my Mommy,'" Mary told her.

"I know, I get it from my Mommy," Georgette giggled.

They stood outside of the house and watched as he pulled out of the driveway. Mary smiled through her tears as she waved until she could no longer see the truck.

Inside, she was dying; her period had been two days late and she had hoped and prayed that she was pregnant, but then it came.

"Ride my bike," Georgette demanded.

"Okay, just on the sidewalk," Mary cautioned as the girl pulled out her tricycle.

"Look, Mommy, I go fast!" Georgette called out as she pumped her fat little legs as hard as she could.

"And she'll be grown up before you even know it and leaving you to go to college," Theresa Kowalski tearfully said from behind Mary.

"Yep," Jim said as he and Melissa stepped out of the house. Whee! Look at her go!"

"Yep, my niece, the speed demon," Melissa laughed.

"Your niece? That's my niece," Jim argued.

"That's far enough, turn around," Mary called out, ready to sprint should her daughter need her assistance.

"She is beautiful," Melissa praised as the smiling girl executed a turn and came racing back toward them.

"Look at that smile," Jim said. "She is something, huh?"

"And she'll be gone before you know it," Theresa said again.

----

Barry's mother was busy. Busy with what, he did not know, nor did it matter much. It had been the pattern for much of his life; she always put his needs and wants far behind those of her own needs and wants. The sole reason she had fought so bitterly for custody of him when his parents divorced was because his father had wanted custody.

He pocketed the money she'd left for him on the kitchen table. She was usually pretty good about that; using money in the stead of affection, or concern, or compassion.

He didn't look around; the house held no fond memories for him even though he had lived there for all of his eighteen years.

He got into his car; a graduation gift from his dad and Dad's wife, DebbiAnn. THAT, that little bit of information drove his mother absolutely nuts, when Dad had married the nineteen-year-old cheerleader.

"I mean, seriously," she had shrilled. "What can he possibly do with a little nineteen year old tramp?"

"As much as possible," Barry muttered.

He drove down to I-10 and headed west.

----

"Be careful, call us when you get there, call if you need anything," Allison tearfully told Tiffany.

"Take your useless dog with you," Charlie called out.

"Daddy, she's not useless!" Tiffany screamed, bursting into tears.

"I know she's not," Charlie hastened to reassure her, hugging her tightly.

"I don't want to leave; I'm not going to college," Tiffany sobbed, clinging onto her father.

"No, no, you're going to college," he said.

"But what about Lady?" she sobbed.

"Mom and I will keep her here; you can get her when you get out of college," he assured her.

"Maybe," he said as he walked off.

"Daddy!" she screamed at him.

"I'm just kidding," he said, picking up the yapping animal. "You can have her back when you graduate."

"Bye, I love you," Britney hugged her sister.

"I love you too," Tiffany said. "You leaving tomorrow?"

"Uh huh, pick up Chin Li at eight and driving until we get there," Britney said.

She lowered her voice.

"What they say about Chinese drivers? I swear it's true; she scares me half to death!" she said. "It's like she has no peripheral vision at all!"

"Have fun," Tiffany said and gave another wave before she got into her car.

"Bye, I love you," Britney called out as Tiffany backed out of the driveway.

----

"There's that beautiful granddaughter," Leah smiled as Georgette and Mary entered the house.

"Hi Grandma," Georgette called out. "Where John-John?"

"He's sleeping; babies need a lot of sleep," Leah smiled and pulled the girl up into her lap.

"Well wake him up; I want to play," Georgette demanded.

"No, he's sleeping," Mary, said. "You're not very nice when I wake you up, are you? Well why would you want to wake him up?"

"'Cause I want to play!" Georgette whined.

"Thomas left for MRU this morning," Mary told Leah.

"And you're flying out there on...?" Leah asked, lightly rocking her granddaughter.

"The nineteenth," Mary said.

"Well can I play with his toys?" Georgette asked.

"No, not until he wakes up," Mary said. "In fact, I think it's time for a certain little girl to have a nap too."

"No!" Georgette argued.

"Yep, someone's pretty cranky," Leah said and kissed the girl's forehead.

"I not cranky, you are," Georgette argued.

----

John smiled as Henry finished the front-end alignment, and then brought the car back down. The man was slow as molasses, but when he finished a job, you know it was done right. The man was meticulous, paid attention to every single detail and would not stop until either he or the job were finished.

Plus that, he had seventeen years of sobriety.

"Sobriety ain't for sissies," Henry smiled.

"No sir, it ain't," John agreed.

----

There was no tearful good bye when Chin Li left her parents' home; in fact, her brother Quan had said, "Good by, butt hole," as she was leaving.

Her father had muttered something about being proud of her, but she knew it was just empty words. Her mother muttered the same thing, but Chin Li knew that she had been a disappointment to both parents when she had been born female and that neither one had ever given her a second thought after Gee had been born.

She smiled widely when she saw Britney's car approaching.

"What's wrong?" she asked when she saw Britney's red eyes.

Britney couldn't answer her, just waved her hand impatiently.

----

Melissa looked at the strip again, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The blue plus sign smiled up at her. It wasn't a dream.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," she chanted as he hurried into the bedroom.

"Jim was sound asleep, but who could sleep at a time like this?

He jostled awake when she jumped on top of him and began kissing his face frantically.

"Guess what, guess what, oh my God, guess what, oh my God, you'll never guess," she babbled in his ear.

"Whew, okay, I'll guess; I guess we're out of toothpaste," he grumbled and wrestled her to the bed.

"Careful, I'm going to be a mommy," she shrilled as he began to tickle her.

Chapter 5

Britney didn't like her roommate, Suzie; thankfully, she would be in the dormitory for only one more semester, then she could see about getting an apartment off-campus. She' had thought about joining one of the sororities on the campus, but none of them appealed to her; or rather, none of the sisters that she'd met appealed to her.

"Sorry, Honey, I already know how to think for myself," she told one girl that was trying to sign up pledges.

"That's not very nice," the girl said in as snotty a tone as she could muster.

"Truth rarely is," Britney had said and kept walking.

Oscar had finally gotten the message; their relationship was over. There were no tears shed on her end.

She went out on dates occasionally but hadn't found any replacement for Mary.

Chin Li tolerated her roommate; the girl was trying her best to sleep with every male on the campus so she was rarely in the room. Chin Li had told Reagan what she did outside of room three nineteen was her business. What she did in room three nineteen was Chin Li's business and if it broke any of the campus rules, Chin Li would not hesitate to call the dormitory monitor and report Reagan.

"I'm here for an education, not popularity," she told the girl.

"Jeez, just 'cause no one wants to fuck you, don't have to be such a bitch about it," Reagan sneered.

----

Tiffany LOVED California; she was made for the beach. Her grades were horrible; she was rarely in class.

Her relationship with Barry was over as well. She had walked in and caught him in bed with a bone thin bespectacled girl, one of his classmates in Computer Science, Theory And Application. As far as she knew, Barry and Megan, or Morgan, or whatever the geek's name was, were still together.

The surf was beginning to pick up again so she grabbed her board and ran out into the waves.

----

Oscar heard a knocking sound; it was getting louder so he finally looked for a garage near campus.

"What a small world," he smiled as he saw a familiar pair of legs sticking out from underneath a car.

She slid out from underneath the car, looked up at him, did a double take and smiled.

"Hey," Violet said. "What's up?"

----

Mary drove home, blinking back the tears.

"Why God?" she quietly asked. "I'm a good Catholic; I've always believed in you and always loved you, why?"

Georgette sang some nursery rhyme from the back seat.

"How about McDonald's for lunch?" she called out and Georgette readily agreed.

"Thank you, Father," she thought as she put on the turn signal. "At least Thomas and I have her."

The doctor in Colfax Missouri had been sympathetic but Mary did not want sympathy. She wanted solutions; she wanted the situation to change

"So, this is it," she thought as she stood in line, holding Georgette's hand.

The doctor had told her that her ovulation cycle was extremely irregular, even though her menstrual cycle was regular; that was why she and Thomas had not been able to conceive. In his opinion, they would never be able to conceive.

"You know what?" she said aloud. "I have a little girl; that's a lot more than a lot of people will ever have; I better be grateful for what I do have and quit looking at what I don't have."

"Absolutely," the woman in front of her said.

"Oh, I'm sorry; you must think I'm this complete oddball, I'm talking to myself," Mary laughed out loud.

"No ma'am," the woman smiled. "I talk to myself all the time. But it does help to make a gratitude list."

Just them, Georgette dropped her cane; Mary and Thomas were encouraging her to rely more on the cane and not rely entirely on them. She bent over to assist Georgette.

"The doctor is wrong," the woman said.

"What?" Mary asked, surprised, and turned around.

The woman was gone.

"Ma'am, can I take your order?" a girl was asking her.

"Um, what happened to that...? Did you see a woman standing here?" Mary asked.

"Um, no, no ma'am," the girl replied, confused.

"Jesus is good," Mary smiled.

"Um, yes, yes ma'am, He is," the girl agreed. "Can I take your order?"

The End of the Oddball series.