Once Upon a Time in Emmitsburg

Mr. Wexler didn't say anything. He just had another sip of his coffee.

Mrs. Wexler said something about the desserts, and that was pretty much that.

I felt good. I'd answered every question without making a mistake.

That was the first and only time I was ever invited in their house; that was until several years later when Mrs. Grummond died. Even then; it was only after Mrs. Grummond's funeral when they had a reception at their house. I was there then mostly to help keep Mrs. Wexler and the girls from becoming too melancholy.

The other significant thing came up just before Halloween and it had a lasting impact throughout most of my high school years. Darla was a ninth grader, and she'd most certainly blossomed into one of the most beautiful girls in town. I'd would've said Amber was just as pretty except she hid her good looks in sweat clothes. In fact, some people were sort of getting the impression that Amber might be kind of diky, as in like a lesbian. She kept her hair short, she never wore any makeup, and she was kind of a sports freak. All the girls at their school were athletically minded, it was part of the curriculum, but Amber was always off doing extraordinary things like canoeing, fishing, hunting, and spelunking. I was told she even learned to fly. She played regular sports too; they said she was good at field hockey, great at volleyball, and outrageous at girls' basketball. I couldn't really say since I was usually too busy trying to keep my grades up and earning enough money to pay for the insurance I needed to get my driver's license.

What happened that was so unreal happened with Darla. When I worked for Mrs. Grummond that fall it was always Darla who was kind to me. Amber was indifferent. Like I said Darla was beautiful, long wavy blond hair, big wide-set blue eyes, and a figure that could've graced the cover of a magazine. Boys from all over craved her attention. I admit it; I craved her attention too, I just kept my cravings under my hat, or in my pants. I knew any feelings I had weren't going anywhere.

There was this one boy, his name was Andrew Wernicke; he'd already graduated from high school, one of the local prestige all boys' private schools and was attending one of the private colleges down in Baltimore where he specialized, so I heard, in lacrosse and in impregnating other peoples' daughters.

Mr. Wexler had heard of Andrew, and he'd made it clear he wanted no Wernickes visiting either of his girls. That was the rub; Andrew had already gotten inside Darla's field of vision. She was crazy about him. He was all she talked about when they were at Mrs. Grummond's. Amber warned her. Amber threatened to tell their father if she started dating him. Finally, the girls came to a negotiated settlement; Amber wouldn't rat her sister out as long as they double dated so she could keep an eye on things. Still, they needed a decoy, some stupid guy who'd play the "official date" so Darla could have her real date with Andrew.

It was Amber who explained everything. She'd go out with some guy her age and Darla would go out with me. Amber would drive, so she'd pick me up and bring me to their house. I'd wait outside while Darla got ready. Darla would come to the car, we'd kiss and hold hands so her father saw it was safe, and then the four of us would disappear for a good time. What happened after our little performance was Amber would drop me off at some convenient place, usually the mall, and then they'd drive off to wherever they wanted to go. Later, around 11:00 they'd come back and pick me up, drop Andrew off, and we'd go back. I'd walk Darla to her front door where we would say goodnight. Then Amber would drive me home.

The game worked for a while, but like anything, it got complicated. Andrew had his own car, some kind of sports thing, and he wanted to spend more "private time" with Darla. Darla talked her sister into redefining the arrangement. It was all still double dating until we found Andrew, then Darla would leave Amber and her date and drive off with Andrew. I still got left at the mall.

The worst of it for me was I had fallen so madly in love with Darla. I hated that bastard Andrew; I hated him not only because he had Darla, but also because I heard about the lies he was telling all his friends how he was scoring every time they went out. Of course, it wasn't true; anyone in their right mind wouldn't believe any of it. I finally got fed up. I told Amber about the lies. She told Darla. Darla confronted Andrew. Andrew tried to lie out of it, but Darla never believed him. He got mad, and since he couldn't take it out on Amber, he decided to take it out on me. Darla broke up with Andrew, and Andrew punched me in the nose.

Brandon asked me what happened to my nose. I told him. He found Andrew and punched him in his nose. I stopped complaining about washing his car. Had I misjudged Brandon?

That wasn't the worst of it. There was more. I had a real bad experience one time when they left me off. It was really weird but in an awful way. Not many people knew me; most considered me one of the town morons, plus I was pretty skinny. Anyway, they dropped me off one night, but not at the mall. Andrew had an idea about going to some special place so they dropped me off outside a small pizza shop. I had only a vague idea where I was. It wasn't especially cold, but it was damp and there was a very light misty rain. Since I usually spent all my time inside the mall, I hadn't worn anything other than a shirt and a pair of pants, but I did have on a new pair of sneakers. I was kind of proud of my sneakers. Though they were only Nike rip-offs I'd bought them with my own money.

I was walking around, up and down the sidewalk outside the pizza place when four rough looking boys I didn't know drifted down the sidewalk. They spotted me. One of them said something. Then another one came up and shoved me against the wall. He knocked me down, and they started talking to each other.

One must have noticed my sneakers because he looked at me and asked me where I got them. I told him I'd bought them with my own money. They started kidding around, and I thought I was going to be OK, but then one said he thought the sneakers might fit one of the other guys. He told me to take my shoes off to see if they would fit his friend. I told him I couldn't because they were so tight. I knew it was a phony thing to say, but I couldn't think of anything else. They knocked me down again, and pulled my sneakers off my feet. I tried to get up and stop them, but they knocked me down again. Then one of them said he liked my shirt so they ripped that off me. They thought it was real funny that I didn't have an undershirt on. One punched me in the chest. He had some kind of ring on and it really hurt. Another one said he wanted to find out if I was wearing underpants so two of them held me down while another one pulled my pants off. I was wearing underpants, but they thought the whole thing was really funny. They started throwing my clothes back and forth daring me to try and get them. I tried but they were big and there four of them. After a few minutes they got bored, and ran off down the street with all my clothes.

I was cold, wet, and all I had on was a pair of boxer shorts. I was miles from where I lived, and my wallet had been in my pants so I didn't have any money or anything. Plus, my hands and knees were all scratched up from the concrete sidewalk. I wanted to cry but didn't.

I thought I could figure out how to get home if I hid in the shadows hoping no one would see me. I think some people saw me, but no one stopped to see if I needed any help.

I didn't know what to do. I was still supposed to be Darla's pretend date, and I couldn't decide if I should just go straight to where I lived or maybe go to Darla's and hide in the bushes till they got there. I decided to go the Darla's.

It took a long time, but I finally got there, and I did hide in the bushes like a moron. They were really late that night, probably looking for me. When they pulled up and saw me they all started laughing. That wasn't true. They all laughed at first, but then Amber got very serious. She asked me what happened. When I told them her date and Darla started to laugh again. Andrew wasn't there, but Amber didn't laugh.

Amber got me in her car and we drove to the Walmart where she went inside and bought me all new clothes, a couple dry towels, and some peroxide for my scratches. She stopped and bought me a cup of hot coffee too.

Amber made her date and Darla sit in the front of her car while she and I sat in the back where she took the towels, dried me off, and put the peroxide on my scratches. I felt terrible, but I still got a hard on. While Amber was drying me off, I think she accidentally touched it with her fingers. That made it harder.

The whole time Amber was fixing me up Darla and Amber's date made jokes about what happened to me. I guess it was pretty funny. Amber didn't make any jokes, and she didn't laugh at theirs laugh either.

Once I was dressed and we got back to the Wexler's, I walked Darla to her front door and said goodnight. She was still giggling. Amber drove me to where I lived. She kissed me goodnight, and said I was a real gentleman. I got confused. Her kiss was so warm, it felt good on my lips. I wasn't sure who I really loved. Was it Darla or was it Amber? I couldn't figure out why she said I was a gentleman, or why she'd been so nice to me.

Later I heard Amber told Mrs. Grummond how I got beat up and lost my clothes. That was when Mrs. Grummond told me I was a gentleman because I had gone to Darla and Amber's house so Darla wouldn't get in trouble. Mrs. Grummond got angry with her granddaughters for the way they took advantage of me, but I told Mrs. Grummond I did it because I wanted them to like me. Mrs. Grummond lectured me about the right and wrong ways go get people to like me. She talked to me a lot like that.

Things got better after Brandon beat up Andrew, but then it got worse again. Everybody's heard the stories how the rat guy beats up the good guy and the nice girl falls in love with the good guy who got his ass kicked. All we had to do was come up with a plausible story how I got my nose punched to tell the girls' father.

The girls told him that Andrew had been chasing after Darla, and when he caught up with her I defended her and got beat up. It might've worked except some of Darla's parent's friends had seen us play out our little charade one night. Mr. Wexler grounded both his girls for a week, and I was forbidden to ever go near them except when they were at Mrs. Grummond's.

I also found out Mr. Wexler never wanted Darla to go out me from the beginning. I found out it was Mrs. Wexler and Amber who took up for me so I could go out with Darla. Amber even told her father I was really a good boy and not all that dumb. It was all so confusing to me.

That's when everything got more complicated at school. I was having trouble with English. Whoever heard of a boy wanting to read "Silas Marner"? My English teacher was a woman, and she didn't like me. I was in trouble, doomed actually, until Amber stepped in.

Amber was good at everything. She was so talented. I started staying late at Mrs. Grummond's, and Amber started helping me with my reading and my writing. We'd sit side by side and work on my studies. She still had her school uniform on, and by then she'd upgraded to dark miniskirts that she let slide way up her thighs. They were real loose, and I could see the tops of her legs. She started leaving her blouses unbuttoned at the top, and I could see way down. I tried not to look, but it was hard not to. She'd touch the buttons on her blouse sometimes and that made me look at her tits.

She'd started wearing makeup and cologne. She had a way of moving that made her tits drift in and out and up and down. She wore thin brassieres and I could see the dark parts of her boobs, and her tiny nipples. Her tits weren't very big, but they sure pressed against her blouses. Every time she looked at me her nipples would stick out. When Mrs. Grummond and Darla weren't looking, if I got something done correctly, she'd sometimes kiss me. I never imagined how great a kiss on the cheek could feel until then. She'd sometimes touch me on my neck; I'd get chills and then I'd get a hard on. Sometimes she'd complain about how messy I was, and she'd fuss with my hair and touch me behind my ears and straighten my shirt. Her fingers felt so good! I'd bought a bunch of regular Tee shirts so I didn't have to wear Brandon's old shirts.

Once we were working on something and she turned around and faced me. Her eyes were so deep and warm and wet looking. She wore glasses when we worked. She looked so sweet, like one of those girls on TV. Her blouse was loose. I took my left hand. I reached over and unbuttoned some more of her blouse and put my hand on her boob. Her bra was lacy and low cut. She didn't say anything. She just turned around and started talking about what it was we were doing. I lost my breath. She smiled. It was then that I knew I loved her.

Another time I rubbed my finger over her mouth. I pretended she had something on her face and I was wiping it off. She didn't get mad or anything. I got real hard then. She saw it too and she smiled in a special way she had.

Sometimes I'd get so hard it started to hurt. I was getting blue balls all the time. I was jerking off twice a night sometimes.

Things were getting crazy, but in a wonderful way. Amber and I would work on school stuff, and then she'd go in Mrs. Grummond's living room and talk with her grandmom, while Darla and I would sit in the dining room and kiss. I was madly in love with Amber the whole time she helped me, and then I'd fall madly back in love with Darla when we got together. Darla was great. She apologized for laughing that time my clothes were stolen, and that made me feel better. Sometimes she could sound so sincere. I knew she was pretending, but I didn't care. I tried sometimes to touch her, but she was so good at fending me off, it was like a lover's game.

Amber was completely indifferent about some stuff; she knew about Darla but never said anything. It was like she wanted to torment me. It was a torment too, but my grades in English went way up. I think the teachers thought I was cheating. I knew I was wearing my dick out when I was in bed. I was sore all the time.

Sometimes I thought the girls were in a race to see which one could make me love them the most. I didn't care.

The winter had its bad times. Uncle Cameron took Aunt Katherine and Brandon to see his parents in Little Rock so I spent Christmas alone. Uncle Cameron said there had been burglaries in the neighborhood so I should stay home and watch the house. Aunt Katherine left me some lunch meat so I ate that. Aunt Katherine got me a package of handkerchiefs for my present. The girls did get me Christmas presents and left them at Mrs. Grummond's. They got me a wallet and a wrist watch. Mrs. Grummond and Mrs. Wexler didn't know I was alone. Darla said they were both upset when they found out. Darla said Amber got mad.

New Year's came and went. I got together with some boys my age, but it wasn't what I wanted. I liked the beer, but I didn't like the throwing up. I didn't like all the questions I got about my girls. I was a gentleman. Mrs. Grummond had told me all about how to be a gentleman. A few of the regular kids were hanging out with me by then so it wasn't just me and the other "SPEDS".

January and February were icy cold. There was a lot of snow, and that meant shoveling Uncle Cameron's and Mrs. Grummond's walks and driveways. Mrs. Grummond wanted to buy a snow blower, but Mr. Wexler got mad and wouldn't let her. I wondered what she did before.

The worst was the dances. At the girls' school there were winter and spring dances. Both Amber and Darla got dates and went. There were dances at my school too, but when I mentioned them to Amber and Darla they said they couldn't go and that I shouldn't ask anyone else so I didn't. I was left out of all of it. I did to see their pretty party dresses, but that only made me feel worse...and made me want to jerk off more.

The worst came in the late spring. Both girls got boyfriends of their own. Darla met a boy who attended a private school and Amber met a freshman from a private college in Westminster. I knew nothing happened sexually except maybe a little petting, but it was still awful! They used to tell me what they did and it hurt. I'd been pretending they were my girls, and I was supposed to be the one! It just made me feel lonely.

The next two years of my life were a purgatory. I'd been saving and saving hoping to amass enough money to afford car insurance through my uncle's policy, but it turned out he had no interest in what I wanted. Mrs. Grummond wanted to help, but she'd had a minor accident and had her license suspended. When she had her hearing to have it restored, she was denied. I had no one. Mrs. Grummond ended up losing her house and her independence. Mr. Wexler did that. I thought I was doomed to be a foot soldier throughout what was left of my high school career.

Without Mrs. Grummond's patronage I no longer had access to a way to earn money, but Mrs. Grummond wasn't completely without resources. She had an old acquaintance who owned a small garage on the edge of town; one well-placed call and I was back in action. The owner of the garage believed he needed a good, hardworking young man to help him get things done; his name was Richard Havermore, he had what he termed a worthless, drug addicted son, Allan, he needed someone like me. By the end of my junior year, I was back earning money.

There were a few other girls, and with the money I earned from my evenings at the garage I still had a lot of trouble getting dates. I had friends who had cars, and I used my money to buy the gas. Still, I missed Darla terribly. I missed Amber too. I'd see them from time to time; they were so pretty. Darla would always wave. When Amber saw me, she'd stare for a couple minutes, but never say anything. I often wondered what she was thinking, probably how much she hated me.

The Wexler girls both had cars, and once they found where I worked, we not only had their business, but the business of some of their friends as well. Mr. Havermore started to look upon me as more than just a good employee, he started to see me as a potential partner. He even said so.

When the girls came it was both wonderful and awful seeing them. I was always covered in grime so I couldn't touch them. Darla never seemed to care. She even kissed me a couple times. Amber on the other hand had a new name for me; I was the "Grease Monkey". I didn't like that. She seemed to enjoy saying it. In fact, whenever she showed up in her shiny black BMW, she always had a couple girlfriends with her. I never got to work on her car of course; she only showed up to piss me off. I got to check her oil and tire pressure and clean her windshield, but I never got to really service it. She did manage to point me out to her friends; telling them how I was her grandmom's helper once and how she helped me get through my low-level English classes. Amber had become the queen of the put downs. I wondered why I ever liked her.

Amber was terribly pretty. Every time she came to Mr. Havermore's she was all dressed up. After she left I'd think about her and be depressed for days.

In the middle of my senior year I experienced what turned out to be another turning point. Uncle Cameron told me one afternoon once I turned eighteen, I was going to have to pay rent. He said his support payments would end, and he saw no reason for him to keep on taking care of me. I was stuck. I think he must have inveigled something from Mr. Havermore because the rent he required was almost exactly what one of my twice-monthly paychecks were. He was crippling me financially. It was obvious college was going to be totally out of the question.