Taming Tawnee

It was nice that his sister had graduated from just telling him what they were going to do to asking him if he wanted to do something, though Will would have been fine with it, either way. "Sure. After dinner, maybe?" he asked.

"What's going on after dinner?" Janice asked, poking her head in the door.

"Not a lot," Tawnee said, turning to head up the stairs.

"Don't know, yet," Will said, at nearly the same time.

Janice wrinkled her brow as her daughter basically fled the room. "Yeah, well, William, would you be a dear and help me with some fabric samples? There are a couple of boxes of them in my car and they're heavier than heavy."

"Sure, Ma." Will walked out the front door with his mother while she opened the trunk to her car.

"I don't know why the manufacturer would send an old woman something you're need a fork truck to move around. They could have at least broken them up into more reasonable-sized packages."

Will shrugged. "Don't know," he said as he bent over the trunk and slid one of the corrugated, plastic boxes over to the edge and tested its weight by picking up on one end. "Good god, that's fabric in there, and not just a solid chunk of concrete?" he asked. He didn't want to look like a wimp in front of his mom, but he didn't want to herniate something, either. He lugged the thing out of there, and straining, took it back into the house.

Janice was a manager of a furniture store, and she often received fabric samples such as these. She would fashion custom displays so that customers could check out the different options for upholstering their furniture. She got the door for him.

"You're supposed to say, 'you're not that old, Mom'."

He grunted. "I will next time, sorry." He set the box down by the couch in the living room and they went out to get the other one.

"Take a breather before you get that one, Will. I want to talk to you about your sister."

Trying his best not to look worried, Will looked to his mother. "What about her?" There wasn't any way that she thought that they were up to something, was there?

"Well, she's been different lately. I know that this whole Doug and Amanda business has messed with her, and I'm worried. She hasn't been going out with her friends, she either looks like she's been crying all night or she's as cheery as cheery can be. I love Tawnee to death, but cheery would not be a word that would normally be used to describe her. Seems to be spending an awful lot of time with you, lately. You'd tell me if something's going on, right? I know you care about her," Janice said.

Will swallowed. Now he couldn't help but be worried. "What do you mean, Ma?"

"I'm worried that she might be on drugs or something. I know that your father and I have never had to worry about that sort of thing from you two, but the way that she's been acting, well..."

"Drugs?" Relief coursed through Will's system, odd considering that his mother had just suggested that his sister was abusing drugs. He thought that was probably better than if she knew what he and the girl were really up to, though. "Definitely not. She's been up and down, there's no doubt about that, but you got to realize that she's had her world change here. She'd been seeing Doug for a long time, and Amanda was really the only close friend that she had. Tawnee's not been going out because she's been wanting to focus on graduating, is all. Been working pretty hard, really."

"She has," Janice agreed. "That doesn't explain you. You two getting along better because of what happened? Nothing against you, Will but if I had to pick one of you to be an emotional wreck after a breakup, I would pick you. You've always been the sensitive one."

"Geez, Ma, thanks. I only dated Mandy for a couple of weeks, this crap was way harder on Tawnee than it was me. And yeah, I guess it did kind of turn us into kindred spirits, I guess that's what you call it, anyway," he said, grabbing the second box. Will was tired of this conversation.

"No need to get huffy about it," Janice said, closing the trunk. "Didn't mean to offend your sensitivity."

Though mildly irritated by having his masculinity called into question by his own mother, William managed a small grin. "At least it's not hard to figure out where Tawnee got that smart-ass streak from."

"I see that you've ended up with a touch of it, too. Remind me to slap your father for that, later," she said, holding the front door open.

Satisfied for the moment that all was reasonably, well, Janice decided to stop acting so worried. She felt like that she knew both of her children well, and it was her duty to figure out what was wrong when one of them began to act out of the ordinary. It was sometimes difficult to see them growing up right before her eyes, though, and she had a feeling that Tawnee had done an awful lot of growing up in the last month or so. Janice was just hoping that whatever the girl had taken away from her recent drama changed her for the better.

"You two have plans later, I take it?" she asked as Will put the box next to the other one. She might not still be worried, but she would always be nosy. Her right as a mother.

He nodded. "We haven't decided what. Nothing big. Been watching a lot of movies, since Tawnee's taking a film arts class."

"Well, just don't make any plans for tomorrow, your father's trying to get tickets for something at the arena," she said.

"What?"

Janice shook her head. "I have no idea. I heard about it today at lunch and we only spoke for a few minutes. He wants us all to go, though."

Will agreed to keep his schedule open, not that there was much of a chance of it filling up. They didn't get to do much as a whole, so when their father made plans for them, they always went along, for better or worse. Usually it was something mundane like bowling or miniature golf. Once he took them deep-sea fishing which turned out to be a vomit-ridden disaster, but for the most part, his activities were bearable, sometimes even fun. Will left his mother to sort through her samples and thought he'd go give his sister the heads up.

Tawnee's door was open, so he knocked on the frame. "Hey."

She was sitting at her desk, working on her computer. Her natural reaction in the past would be to yell something profane and tell her brother to leave her alone, she told him that she would be working. Able to suppress that, she just turned and asked, "What's up?"

"Mom asked me if you were on drugs and Dad wants to make sure that we don't make any plans tomorrow night. I guess there's something at the arena the he wants to take us to see."

Tawnee cocked her head to the side. "What? What did you tell Mom? Why does she think I'm on drugs?"

"Your mood swings, I guess. She's worried about you not hanging out with your friends anymore and wonders why you've been spending so much time with me. Don't worry, I told her you're not taking drugs. I said basically that you've just had a mental breakdown and you'll be fine," he said. Will tried not to smile, but couldn't help it.

Tawnee sighed. "Oh god. You don't think that she thinks, you know, anything's going on with us?"

"I don't think so, no."

"So, she just thinks I'm crazy? What a relief." Tawnee didn't like her mother worrying about her. That would mean that she would spend more time checking up on her, which would mean that Tawnee would have a harder time doing the things that she wanted to do. Mainly her brother.

"I don't think it's that big of a deal. She didn't seem overly concerned or anything."

"Yeah, but less of her attention is better, know what I mean?" She turned back to her computer screen briefly, then to her brother. "What do we have to see at the arena tomorrow? I hope it's not Smurfs on Ice or some shit."

That sounded a lot like the old Tawnee. "Heh, I don't know, but I would like to think that Dad wouldn't do something like that to us. I told you all I know, didn't mean to interrupt you, just thought you'd want to hear. See you after while."

Tawnee's voice softened. "You're fine, Will. See ya."

The big news of the evening came over the dinner table when Jacob, husband of Janice and father to Tawnee and Will, revealed that he had gotten a hold box seats to an MMA event at the arena.

"That's awesome, Dad! I didn't realize they were in town! How'd you get box seats?" Tawnee asked. She was clearly excited.

"A guy over at marketing. Anyway, they're not front row, but we'll have a pretty damn good view and won't have to worry about getting any blood or teeth on us," Jacob said.

"Good Lord! Blood and teeth? What's MMA?" Janice asked.

"Mixed Martial Arts, dear. Sort of like boxing, only with more action," he explained.

Janice frowned, not a big fan of violence. "I don't mean to rain on your parade, but that doesn't sound all that appealing."

Will could have went either way. He wasn't a big fan, but it would be something different, and probably would be pretty interesting to see the fights in person. "Come on, Mom. Nothing brings a family together better than to watch grown men tear each other to pieces in an eight-sided ring of death," he said.

Tawnee laughed. "Yeah, not only men, but women fight, too. It'll be fun!"

Jacob grinned. "See, Janice, it'll be fun."

"Hmm, I don't know about you guys, whatever floats your boat. I can always close my eyes, I guess," Janice said.

"Better bring some ear plugs, too. They really start to scream when their bones get broken," Will advised.

"Yeah, like that one time when that guy was put in an arm-bar, and his elbow popped out, right through his skin! He didn't even tap out, but the ref made him quit," Tawnee said. "He was howling like he was possessed by a demon."

"Yeah, I guess he almost bled to death before he made it to the locker room," Will said, popping a meatball into his mouth.

Janice put her fork down. "Alright, I've heard enough, I'm trying to eat." She didn't know if the kids were telling the truth or if they were just messing with her. Either way, she figured that it was her husband that was ultimately to blame. A trip to watch people kill each other for a family outing. Delightful.

*****

"So, what are you going to do to entertain me 'till it's time for bed?" Tawnee asked. Dinner was over and the dishes were done. The sun was still up.

"I dunno, want to go outside? It's nice out. If we're quick, we could walk over the hill and catch the pretzel guy at the plaza before he packs it up for the night," William suggested.

The hill was a large, scrubby berm located a few blocks over that separated the suburban housing from a small string of businesses. There wasn't much shopping to be done there, a convenient store, a laundromat, things like that. There was also a little stand that sold ice cream and soft pretzels. All the kids in the neighborhood had at one time or another made the trek over 'the hill' to peruse the wares.

"Sure, I guess." Tawnee thought that it would be much easier just to take the car, but since they were really just killing time, a walk would be fine. They left the house and started down the block.

"You got all your credits taken care of? Gonna graduate okay?" Will asked.

"I've looked at it all a million times, I think I'm all set. It's been a lot of work this semester, though."

Will kicked a pebble off the sidewalk into the street. "Gonna be glad when it's over?"

"Yeah, you know, I don't have any great memories of college like you see in the movies and stuff. I never played any sports, went to a few parties, I guess. Mostly it was just a lot of fucking work. Don't think I'll miss it much. Only thing is, when it is over, I'll have to find a job," Tawnee said. She was trying to remember the last time she had actually walked this way. Four or five years, probably.

"Yeah. I've only got three years left after this one. Seems like forever."

"It seems that way sometimes. I think the last time I walked over to the plaza was with a guy I used to date named Matt. He lived just over there, somewhere," she said, pointing down toward the end of the street. "Don't have any clue what happened to him."

"You gonna move very far away, do you think?" Will asked. It was the question that he had been trying to lead up to since the conversation started.

"Aww, you gonna miss me if I move away, Will?" she asked, as they stepped off the sidewalk and onto a dirt path that wound its way past a 'no trespassing' sign. She tried to sound like she was teasing him, but what her brother was worried about had been on her mind.

"Well, yeah. I've already had one girl skip town on me, and it hurts."

"Come on, Will, don't get all sad on me. I don't know where I'm gonna end up, but I don't want you to worry about it, okay? You know what you and I've got going on can't last forever, right? I wish it could, but that's just the way it is."

"I know. I don't mean to bring you down. You'll just be hard to forget, you know what I mean?" Will said. They were cresting the hill and could see the roofs of the shops on the other side.

"I don't want you to forget me! I won't forget you. Can't we talk about something else for a while? You're making me want to fucking cry and I've done enough of that lately," she said.

"Sorry, Tawnee. Here," he said, taking her hand. "So you don't fall on the way down."

Tawnee smiled. The path wasn't all that steep, but she let her brother hold her hand. It was a nice gesture, and probably something she hadn't done with a boy since her early high-school years. He continued to hold her hand, even when they were down on the flat.

"You know," she began, "there's a super secret make-out spot on top of the hill."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I bet if you buy me a pretzel, I could help you find it on our way back."

"Heh, that sounds interesting. What kind of pretzel do you want?"

They released hands upon returning to the pavement, but they walked in stride and close together, sometimes bumping shoulders. The two were acting silly, they knew, but it was fun. Will got them both a giant soft pretzel and they sat on a bench in front of the laundromat to munch on them.

"This is kind of like the dates I used to go on before I could go on real dates," Tawnee said. "You know, before I could drive anyplace and had to be home by dark."

"I didn't go on many of those. I don't think I ever had a real date until I met Sam. We had a lot of classes together and I'd been wanting to ask her out forever, I just couldn't work up the balls to do it."

"You must have eventually, you said you dated her for like six months," Tawnee said, gnawing off a piece of pretzel.

"No, she cornered me in the library one day and said something like: 'Are you ever going to ask me out, or what?' So that's how that happened," Will told her. "Apparently, in high school word gets around if you tell one of your buddies that you like someone."

His sister giggled. "Smooth. That's one way to get a girl, I guess. Just sit around and hope that she comes to you. Mandy did, too, now that I think about it. Just think of all the chicks you could get if you actually grew a pair and started talking to them."

"Heh, yeah. I think I'm over that initial panic of not knowing what to do. I mean, I'll never know exactly how to act around a girl, but who does? I think Sam and I learned a lot from each other about how the whole dating thing works," he told her.

"Gotta learn somehow, as far as I know, that's the only way. Sam had it easy, 'cause you're so thoughtful and nice. I bet you were the cutest first boyfriend. Why'd she go all the way to Arizona? There's a perfectly good college about six miles away."

"The biology department, I guess. Had a thing for animals, wanted to know how they were put together. How about you? Someone must have had the honor of being Tawnee's first love."

Tawnee finished up her snack and tossed the wrapper in the bin next to the bench and flicked some stray salt chunks from her lap. "Yeah, but to tell you the truth, it's more fun to talk about you than it is me. When I think about my old boyfriends, I just get mad 'cause I remember what dicks they were. I don't think I ever ended on friendly terms with any of them. I never really dated anyone for very long except for Doug, and by the time I got to him, I just thought: 'This is what it's like', I guess."

It was depressing, listening to his sister talk like that. "It's hard for me to believe that a girl that looks as good as you do would settle for chumps like Doug. If you put half the effort in to selecting a man as you do in your schoolwork, you could find a decent one."

Tawnee shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe I'll start looking one of these days, I'm just not all that interested right now. Besides, there's a pretty nice guy that lives right down the hall," she said, rising to her feet. Will did the same.

"An awesome guy," he said. "A real man among men."

"Yeah, he's great, but I'm not sure if we're talking about the same person."

William chuckled. "Probably not."

They sauntered slowly through the plaza and gradually made their way back to the path and began climbing the hill. As they got near the top, Tawnee took her brother's hand and led him through the weeds toward an old mesquite tree. It's branches hung in such a way to make it a natural pavilion of sorts. There were a couple of boulder sized rocks laying about that made for pretty decent seating.

"Here we are," she said.

"This is the super secret spot, huh?"

"Yeah, romantic, isn't it?"

"John and I used to come up here a lot," Will said.

"What?" Tawnee tilted her head to the side, trying to comprehend.

Will saw the look on his sister's face and thought that he should probably clarify. "Yeah, I don't think we came up here for the same reasons you did. He had an air pistol. We used to shoot cans and stuff. Didn't know it was only supposed to be a make-out spot."

Tawnee shook her head and grinned. "Sorry, I thought you were about to tell me about the love that dare not speak its name. Come sit with me for a second and I'll show you what this place is really for," she said moving toward the largest of rocks under the tree.

They sat down together, side by side. Tawnee put her hands on her knees, leaned over and pressed her lips against Will's. It wasn't long before his hands were moving gently up and down her back and their tongues were sliding in circles around each other. They both tasted faintly of spaghetti and pretzel, but that didn't bother them any. After kissing like that for a long while, Tawnee rested her head on Will's shoulder and they both took a breath.

"Yeah, I think we were using this place all wrong," he said.

Tawnee giggled and rubbed her brother's erection through his shorts. "You're nice and hard, and if we go back home right now, Mom and Dad will probably still be awake. Let me take care of that for you. It'll be something I never did up here."

Will couldn't think of anything to say, so he just kissed her while his sister unzipped his shorts and slipped her hand inside. He found himself whimpering with anticipation as she brought his cock out and began to stroke.

"Sit back a little," Tawnee said, breaking the kiss.

Will scooted back while Tawnee knelt in front of him, still stroking. The ground wasn't all that forgiving on her bare knees, but she thought that she could manage for a while. He ran his fingers through the hair on the back of her head.

"Just let me do all the work, okay?"

Not having a problem with that, Will nodded his agreement and closed his eyes , feeling the warmth and wetness of Tawnee's mouth engulf him. She began slowly, then built up to a quicker, steadier rhythm of taking him about three-quarters of the way into her mouth, then back to nothing.

Tawnee didn't mind fellatio, but it wasn't her favorite thing. Doug had a nasty habit of forcing her head down onto his cock and holding it there, like he really enjoyed choking her with it. She hated it, hence she mentioned that she should do all the work. Will's penis was easier for her to handle and made it a more pleasant experience. Besides, she thought that he deserved a little treat. How many blow jobs could he have possibly gotten? And probably none by someone that had a clue as to how to do it.