Tempting Bait

Junior college sure beat the hell out of high school. And being away from his dinky hometown of population 2500 beat being stuck back there in Podunk City, USA. When he arrived and registered, the junior college campus forty miles away budded with delightful sights Joey Marshall only dreamed of having in his bed.

Everywhere he looked, opportunity abounded: in the Student Lounge, in the registration lines, in the administration building, at the Cashier's Office where he paid his fees, at the parking window where he bought his $25 sticker, in the bookstore checkout line where he paid for his armload of books, in the library where he went to rest from all this new cluttering up his mind.

First thing he did was change his name to just plain Joe. Right off. No more of his parent's nickname, that Joey crap he'd put up with through twelve years of public school and before. No one need know he'd ever answered to Joey. From now on, he would be just Joe Marshall.

After matriculation—oh, how he loved the pompous sound of that word!—he must get serious about finding a place to live. Classes began in two days, and he could live at home and drive, but that meant an hour and a half spent each class day wearing out his already well worn car, and pouring gas through it at the rate of $15 every day. That amounted to $300 a month he could spend on a room and food each month, and still not recklessly abuse the funds he'd scrimped and saved to get through his two years at JC. In the Student Lounge he found an Apartments for Rent and Roomates Wanted posting board. Better check that straight away.

All the apartments listed were far out of his range, unless he found four or five roommates to share with, but the Roommates Wanted section, now that was another situation. He could squeak by costwise on some of those, and only have to touch his folks for a little financial help now and then. He called the most promising one, the one closest to campus, but when he went to see it, it was a dump and the five guys already living there seemed more interested in enhancing their beer drinking Olympics than graduating from JC on time.

The second and third listing ranked slightly better—not so much beer drinking—but still he hoped for better.

The fourth surprised him. A girl answered the phone when he called. The note posted in the Student Lounge said nothing about female roommate wanted, only roommate wanted.

"Sorry. I'm calling about the roommate you're advertizing for. I didn't see it was for female."

"Male is fine, so don't worry. You want to come see it?"

"You mean ...?"

"We had a boy renting last year, so really it's no big deal. When you want to come see?"

"Maybe straight away? I'm all registered and my books bought, so either I drive home now, or do something productive around here before driving home."

"Where's home?"

"Liberty Valley."

"Oh! Not far."

"Forty miles one way. Fifteen bucks a day for gas."

"Good. I like a man who's sensible about his money. Lots of guys are kind of foolish about expenses, particularly if Daddy's picking up his tab."

"My parents can't afford much and still save enough so my sisters can attend junior college in four years."

"Sisters? How many?"

"Two."

"Younger, right?"

"Yes."

"How you get along with them?"

"Oh, like sisters with an older brother. Sometimes I think they act pretty silly."

"And you? What do they think of you?"

"Probably that I'm a little overbearing and a know-it-all."

The girl on the other end of the line chuckled

"Well, here it's just Mom and me. We rent out that room so we have more company than just ourselves. You got a girlfriend who takes up a lot of your time?"

"No. No girl. No heart, either. Still getting over the last one."

"Oh, sorry."

"I'm managing."

"I hope so. Her fault or yours?"

"Both, I guess. I read something different into it than she intended. She sure read more into it than I intended."

"Let me guess. She figured wedding bells should ring the June the two of you graduated high school?"

"Yeah ... well sort of. Wedding bells the spring I graduated from high school. She was two years younger and intended to quit school and make babies instead graduating herself. Had she graduated, she'd have been her family's first daughter in several generations to do so."

"I see. And you think there are other things more important that making babies so soon?"

"Yep."

"I think you're right." With that a pause ensued which he had difficulty interpreting, thinking he may have committed a faux pas.

"So ... What was you name, again?"

"Joe. Joe Marshall."

"So, Mr. Marshall. You want to come over this evening and have a look at the room?"

"Okay by me. What time?"

"Say seven? Mom is at home tonight and we should have finished supper by then. That won't make it too late for you driving home, will it?"

"No, that's fine by me. Oh, but one other thing. If I decide to take it, I can only make a deposit on the room tonight. I'll have to stop by the credit union tomorrow morning and draw out the rest.'

"Don't worry about that. We'll work out something."

***

When Joe arrived home to Liberty Valley at nine-thirty, he scrambled to load his car with at least a few things he'd need for the rest of the week in his new room. That meant: to get by with and look reasonably good for the girl who went with the voice who answered when he called about the room. Damn, she was good looking, almost a dead ringer for her mother. Her father must have been blonde, too.

Joe figured he had about a much chance with her as with one of cheerleaders at his local high school, but what the heck? This girl radiated class, far beyond the finest where he grew up. Confident, too, but not the stuck-up kind of confidence you see so often. Her confidence radiated more than just I'm good, and if you don't think so, just watch the boys follow me around aura. None of that; just quiet, calm, firm, certain, one hundred per-cent genuine self confidence. Reminded him of the Grace Kelly movies; this girl could be an actress/princess, too.

Certainly, she'd learned her confidence from her mother, and developed all the traits required to hold it genuine. Maybe it was her age, a year older than the girls in Joe's class at Liberty Valley High. Surely, he had no chance with her, but hope springs eternal in the male psyche, right?

Thursday evening after class, when he let himself into the basement hall via its outside door, he found a note taped to his room's door:

Joe:

You are invited to our special, new renter barbeque, which, if you're available then, we will hold on the back lawn by the pool at seven o'clock, tomorrow evening. Dress will be swim wear, or whatever you have that's decent. Please RSVP as we have no excuse except you for this celebration.

Cindy Crayford and Madge Newman.

Well, why not? Sounded as if his cut-off jeans would pass muster, and Cindy would be there. So sure, why not? The only question was where and how to RSVP. He settled for catching Cindy and RSVP'ing in person when she came to the basement to do laundry.

"Good," she said when he caught her. "You like steak, salmon, chicken, Polish sausages, hamburger, or what?"

"Whatever you please."

"Then for you, we'll splurge for steak."

Sounded good to him, although he thought steak was grossly over-rated. His family raised beef, and in grade school Joe often swapped his lunch's steak and roast beef sandwiches for the city kids' bologna.

***

All Friday Joe stewed as to whether his cutoffs were okay for this spur-of-the-moment social event. They were pretty ratty, but comfortable, and he'd all but out grown them, so they were plenty tight. Maybe too tight in certain areas?

After all, last thing he wanted was looking overdone in the show-himself-off department. The T-shirt he chose, although somewhat tattered, too, still had both sleeves. The two small holes in the shirt's body were work related, which he thought perhaps boosted his useful-to-have-around-the-place image.

"Ah, so there you are, Mister Marshall," Madge said as he stepped barefooted from the basement steps onto the pool slab. Yes, her voice held a slight flirt, but he didn't mind because she had very flirtable poise to match. So did Cindy, that way one dose of his own response served for both. "I'll put the steaks on right now. You need a drink?" Madge said.

"Too young. Don't want to get you in trouble."

"Good. Good to see a man with sense enough to look out for others. Cindy, go get the steaks from the fridge, then have a quick swim with Joe while they're grilling."

She was gone a moment, and then back with a foil covered plate she handed toward her mother. While she still held the plate, she turned to Joe. "Go ahead and get in. I'll join you in a minute."

He was barely in the coolish water when a cannonball splash inundated him. The face that greeted him as the water drained from before his eyes laughed and grinned at his expense.

"Always make a big splash, that's my motto," she said, swimming to him and kissing him hard on the lips.

That kiss qualified as a big splash, too, even without the cannonball. But it didn't end there. She held onto him, finally ending with her arms around his shoulders and pulling her breasts against his face as she shoved him underwater.

"Hey, Mom! He's embarrassed! Isn't that cute?"

Her mother looked over at them, but her expression Joe could not interpret. On one hand, the mild disapproval he saw worried him that he'd just over-played his invitation for tonight. On the other, her smile said she wanted her daughter to have this if it was what she wanted. He smiled back, hoping to get feedback that told him where he stood.

And it didn't stop there. Cindy played with him more in the pool, brushing her body against his, as if to embarrass him further. Eventually her bikini top just happened to fall loose and float to one side, the side closest to her mother. He was afraid to look at first, but when his courage finally allowed, he found Madge looking at the two of them with a knowing half-smirk on her face.

Joe held his arms out at the elbows, palms turned up, as if it say, What can I do? To this Madge nodded and turned back to tinkering with their smoking steaks.

When she turned back to them after a few more Cindy cannonballs, she said, "Okay, you two. Your steaks are ready. Come and get them before they overcook."

Cindy looked great as she climbed out, even better out of the pool, and as if she knew how good she looked, made no attempt to reinstall her bikini top. Joe rather expected her mother to growl at her or say something about being a bit blunt in her flirt. But she didn't. Instead, she only

handed him a plate and slipped a steak onto it.

"Steak sauce is over there next to the potato salad, there's cole-slaw, too, and a roll if you want."

By now Cindy had her own plate and held it out to her mother. Madge only handed her the steak tongs with a motion that said, Serve yourself.

"Let's sit in the shade on that side of the table, Joe," Madge said, and led him in that direction. She made it clear where he was to sit, and in a moment, sat beside him.

"My daughter is a bit of a show-off. Hope you don't mind."

Joe shook his head and smiled. A girl looking that good could show off any time she chose.

"Hope you like your steak," Madge said as he cut into it. She took a knife to hers, too, at the same time bumping her elbow against him several times. Who was flirting now?

"So, you said you are taking English Comp, Chemistry, Calculus, Computer Science, and Phys Ed, as I recall. Full load, right? What Phys Ed?"

"Believe it or not, Beginning Social Dance. I wanted Tennis or Swimming, but those were already booked full.'

"Dance is good. Really, I think so. Every man should know how to dance. Us older women appreciate good dancing."

What did she mean by that? Older woman? She couldn't be forty yet; she sure didn't look older to him! Joe looked at his steak a moment before she bumped him again, trying to cut another bite off her T-bone.

Cindy brought her lightly loaded plate over and sat in the sun opposite them, her perfect skin still glistened with pool droplets shining like tiny diamonds. Joe did his best to ignore the unignorable, and failed miserably.

"You know Joe's taking social dance?"

Cindy shook her head. She reached across and added a dinner roll from her plate onto his. "Thought you might like one."

What he liked was the sight of Cindy sitting across from him, her upper assets still fully visible and perfectly shaped, and with every move she made—including the one to put the roll on his plate—fully animated as well. Did she know the mental anguish that sight causes a healthy young male of his age? Sure, she did. And that was the game: Tie him up in the head, drive him nuts, tease him, lead him on, and then make him do exactly what you wanted him to do. But hell! Who cared! Feeling the way he did only made his steak taste better.

Mostly, the conversation concerned Madge and Cindy. After all, Joe had little to contribute other than growing up too near a small town and what few advantages went with that.

The two women with him, however, had lived uncommon lives, much of it overseas. England, Germany, Spain, India, Greece, The Philippines and much of the South Seas, Australia, several countries in Africa, and New Zealand, all places Joe had only read about in National Geographic, but never expected to see.

The military. Cindy's father had joined the Army shortly after knocking her mother up at age thirteen and because of the shotgun in his back and threat of statutory rape charges, married her. Madge had followed him around the world, lugging their baby daughter with her and trying to make some sort of normal life, only to finally reach the end of her sixteen year rope with him three years ago. Enough was enough. Five hundred mistresses and every whore within twenty miles of each posting was enough, so now she was single again, had her barely age eighteen daughter safely with her, and enjoyed being herself for the first time in too many years.

So they lived in a junior college town of population 45,000, with hopes Cindy would complete her first two years there, and then continue at a 4-year not all that far away. Madge? She'd worked two years for a pharmaceuticals distributor as an area sales rep, but hoped to move to district responsibility before long. She must have been good at the commission selling game, though, because their home by no means looked like she and Cindy hurt in the cash flow department.

As the sun's heat tapered off, Madge excused herself saying, "I'm beat. Long trip today, mostly out of town. Started early, got back later than usual. Why don't you two enjoy the pool and get to know each other better."

With that, she gathered up the remains of supper, carried them out, then came back, gathered her pool clothes, and left.

"Well, Joe? What say we do just that? Come on. Last one in is party pooper."

She rushed to the edge of the pool, and with one motion and a kick, her bikini bottom flew toward the other side of the pool enclosure and she was in the pool before that couple cords and its small patch of pink landed. Was he suppose to shed his cutoffs?

"Come on, Joe! Get a move on! You chicken or something?"

Yes, he was. She swam to where he stood at pool edge trying to decide what to do, splashed water up on him, and while that distracted him, grabbed him around the knees and tipped him, hands flailing, into the pool.

When he came up for air, she laughed at him. "That's for you, party pooper! Get back over here and let me have one of your great kisses."

His kisses? Great? From just one, how did she know?

Her hands flowed behind his neck again, and in a moment she was harvesting their first extended kiss. He hoped she liked it, because he certainly liked providing it. He just hoped he did what she liked!

"There, now," she said at the end. "How come you still got your pants on?"

"Cindy! Your mother!"

"Yes. Isn't she great?"

"Just like that? I'm supposed to be naked with you?"

"Don't you like me?"

"Sure. Sure, but so quick?" What he meant was: so close to intimacy?

"Look, Joe. I have thoughts on that."

Yes, I'll bet you do!

"See? It used to be boy met girl, boy fooled around with girl—maybe months or even years, then boy finally made love to girl, maybe knocked her up, then boy married girl, girl bore boy's kids, and the couple, if lucky, lived happily ever after. My system is quicker. You meet a guy who looks good, seems good, and you like because he's smart and treats you nice and polite, so you take him to bed and you fuck each others brains out ... maybe the same day. This way you get more sex, and if it doesn't work out, you know quicker, so you can get on with looking for someone closer to meeting your happily-ever-after needs."

Sounded blunt and contrived.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"You want to try me? I want to try you."

"Oh."

"Just oh? Is that all you see when you look at me?"

He didn't know what to say, so he just stared in disbelief.

"Look. Mom likes you, I like you, I hope you like me, and I hope you like her.

"Your Mom?"

"Of course! I don't want to get tangled up with some guy Mom doesn't like, too."

"But?"

"Joe! Wake up and face reality! You got two women here who like you. You are permitted to like them back, you know!"

Did she mean that the way it hinted? In a fog of indecision, he missed the fact her hands had left from around his shoulders and moved to unhooking the waistband of his cut-offs. A moment later she grabbed and slid them down his thighs. A second after that she dove alongside him and pulled them off his feet.

"There," she said once she came back to his eye level. "We're even, now. I'm ready for more of that I'd like to try you I've seen in your eyes ever since you first looked at your room the other night.

***

Joe woke slowly Saturday morning, the haze in his eyes filled with Cindy's beautiful shape, her smile, her breasts in his face, and her mouth on his giving yet another I sure like you kiss.

"There," she said. "I thought you'd never wake up."

He pulled her to himself and firmed up their mouth-to-mouth communication.

She squirmed and pulled away.

"How you feel?"

"Great!" That was another of those gross understatements that crowded his life since he rented his room. "How are you?"

"Better than ever. You want more proof?"

He had little ambition remaining in that direction, so he shook his head.

"I hope that means I got you real good." Her voice held a question on the end.

"Cindy, if you did me any better, I'd just die and float off to heaven."

"Maybe we should try for that? I know that's the way I feel, right now."

"Oooh."

"Come on, pull yourself together. Mom will cook breakfast for us so you and I don't have to. She thinks cooking for a man is the next best thing to sex."

"Really?"

"Yup. So don't disappoint her, okay?" Cindy chuckled. "I should warn you: The only way to stop her cooking for you is to keep her in bed so much she doesn't have time."

Well, that hit Joe in a way he never expected to be hit. That's what went on last evening? That was the real reason behind Madge's pool-side barbeque?

***

Sunday morning Joe found another note taped to his door.

"You put this here?" he said , pulling the tape loose and carrying the note to Cindy who came out of his sleeping area wearing no more than when swimming after the past Friday night's barbeque.