The Training of Jeff Stintum Ch. 03

Chapter 3: Jeff's House

Jeff's mind was a whirl of white smoke as drove home in a daze. He couldn't think about anything specific for more than a second. He didn't even notice the sound of thrashing guitar and screaming vocals that cut through the air in his car from the CD he had been listening to. His brain flashed through image after image, unable to alight on a single one: Sarah's bright face looking down at him, the red lipstick on her full lips, her hand on her hip, the watch and bracelets on her wrist, how her butt moved tremendously, teasingly in front of him in the hallway, her thighs, her slow, confident strides, her large, long hands next to his feet. Had she really put her hair tie around his wait?!? Her number!! And here Jeff realized that he was clutching the piece of paper she had given him, and he nearly swerved into oncoming traffic.

He arrived at his house rattled and out of breath. He looked down at the piece of paper. Neatly written in a firm hand was: xxx-xxx-xxxx. She had written a little <3 under it, along with "Sarah's #". He kept looking at her handwriting as he walked the muddy, unkempt path to his door, past the disordered heaps of empty beer cans and the overflowing trays of cigarette butts. He could hear some discordant notes from a guitar inside, and he carefully folded the paper and put it in his pocket before he walked through the front door.

He was met with the ever-present haze of weed smoke as he walked in and shut the door. Two of his roommates were there in the living room. Dave had his shaggy black hair hunched over a bong from which he was in the process of taking a very large hit. He pulled the carb out and cleared the bong, holding the smoke in for a second before exhaling it out into the air. Cassie was stretched out on the love seat texting on her phone. Through the haze it looked like she had on long sleeves but Jeff knew those were just her sleeve tattoos.

Neither roommate said anything to Jeff as he entered — Dave jerked his chin up once in a "what's up" motion before easing back into the sofa, hands crossed behind his head. Cassie didn't even look up from her phone. Jeff stood awkwardly in front of his roommates, unsure of how to proceed. Usually he just went right to the fridge for a beer or sat down next to Dave and smoked, but he felt different right now. He felt like...telling them what had just happened. He hoped somewhere in his struggling mind that they could make sense of it for him.

"I...went and got that test done today," he told no one in particular. Dave didn't move.

"Test?" came Cassie's firm clear voice. "What test?" She still hadn't looked up from her phone. These last few weeks, ever since Cassie had made official plans to move, she had been more distant with everyone, especially Jeff. He guessed that maybe he had done something to piss her off, but he didn't know what, and he was afraid of asking Cassie about it. She sure could be intimidating. She had used to party a lot with Jeff, and enjoyed being "one of the guys," as Jeff had called her. Recently, though, she had started taking her music really seriously, and her hard work paid off — she was joining a popular band in New York. Although she tried to be nice around the house, it was clear that she was ready to get the hell out.

"The...uh. The x-ray. Of my hip. To see what's making it hurt."

"Oh. I thought you just walked that way." Cassie's deadpan delivery made it impossible to tell what she meant by this comment, and Jeff felt something like anger welling up inside him. Clearly they did not appreciate what had happened.

"The nurse was actually an old friend of mine."

"Was it Julia Weber?" came Dave's stoned, sudden question from the sofa.

"What? No...no!" Jeff was getting frustrated.

"I wonder what's become of that Julia Weber," murmured Dave as he nestled himself deeper into the sofa.

Jeff felt like stamping his foot and yelling and Cassie noticed his impending outburst and got off her phone.

"Well who was it Jeff?" she asked loudly, turning her whole body to face him, chewing her gum vehemently. She had a short leash for Jeff these days; he felt like everything he did annoyed her, and he didn't know why.

"It was..." and here Jeff realized that Cassie would have no idea who this person was, but he said it anyway: "Sarah Helleger."

"Who's that?" Cassie asked quickly and impassively.

"Oh! Sarah Helleger!" came Dave's voice from somewhere in the cushions. "That little girl who used to ride her bike everywhere when we were growing up. How is she now? Probably in college, right?"

"There's...nothing little about her now," said Jeff in a shaky voice. He was finally getting out what he needed to get out.

"Jeff, what are you talking about?" asked Cassie, sighing and rolling her eyes. "Is she super fat now? Does she have rolls? Did your childhood sweetheart not grow up to be the woman you thought she would?"

Dave chortled into the cushions. "Childhood...sweetheart," he said laughing, moments later, "Cassie, this girl's like ten years younger than me and Jeff."

"Seven," corrected Jeff, not seeing how any of this was funny.

"Oh. Jeff was just acting weird and upset so I just assumed he was in love or something." Cassie was losing interest and going back to her phone.

"And she's not fat!" said Jeff to Cassie with much more energy than he realized, "And she doesn't have rolls!"

Cassie put her hands up and lifted her brow: "Well excuse me, Jeff! I'm sorry I don't know anything about this girl I've never met and never heard of. Fuck!"

Jeff was breathing hard and had no idea how he had gotten himself so tangled up in this conversation. He looked to Dave pleadingly to help him make sense of everything. Dave was comfortably high and feeling rather mellow, and could see that his little friend needed some help. Dave and Jeff were the same age and had grown up together; however, unlike Jeff, Dave had grown into quite the man. He stood at 6'4, and had plenty of meat on his bones.

"So Sarah's grown up, huh?" he ventured calmly to Jeff. "What does she look like now?"

"She's...she's really tall." His voice sounded smaller to him in the hazy air.

"How tall?"

"Uh...taller than me."

"Well, duh, Jeff," said Cassie, her face back on her phone and her gum smacking away, "Most people are taller than you."

"Like who, you?" Jeff shot back. He wasn't going to take any of Cassie's crap anymore.

"Yeah, me!" said Cassie, smiling as she put her phone down and bounded up to Jeff in her socked feet. Her phoenix-red hair flashed like a jungle bird through the smoke. She seemed enthusiastic about this comparison as she whirled Jeff around and put her back to his. "C'mon Dave, see who's tallest!"

Jeff felt a heavy sinking feeling — he knew she was taller than him. Why had he reacted like that? He heard Cassie chewing happily on her gum as she did a little dance behind him.

"Cassie, stop it," he muttered, feeling her butt rub against his.

"Uh, Cassie's taller," said Drew from the sofa, "by like an inch or so."

"See big boy," said Cassie, smiling and arching her eyebrow at Jeff as they turned around, "it's not news that someone is taller than you, even if it's a girl who's much younger."

"But...but it wasn't just that she was taller," stuttered Jeff, eager to tell the whole story, "She was...big. Everywhere. Like...hips, and...uh...legs...her arms...um..like...her butt was—"

"Damn, Jeff!" exclaimed Cassie, shifting to one hip, "So you were just checking this chick out like one hundred percent, weren't you?" She could see that Jeff was at a loss for words, and so she took pleasure plowing on through. At least the conversation was interesting now.

"So she was bigger than you too?" Cassie laughed again. "Well I've got news for ya Jeff—most people are."

"Shut up Cassie, I just haven't been working out much recently." Jeff was not getting the reaction he wanted.

"Let me show you something Jeff," said Cassie, and waltzed back up to him. She lifted up one of her legs, which was also heavily tattooed. She wore short, tattered jeans, so most of her leg was visible. Cassie was not a large person by any means: at 5'7, 130, she was on the lighter side of normal. This was precisely the point she was going to make to Jeff. He always went around, acting bigger than he was; this would be a fun parting reminder to him.

"See this?" asked Cassie of her thigh as she held it up to Jeff. "This is a small thigh, like smaller than average. Put your hands around it. Around the middle part there."

Jeff did and couldn't get all the way around. He tried to but her thigh flesh couldn't yield to his hands. It pushed back, and Jeff was surprised how firm and dense it felt. There were still three or four inches left before his fingers could touch.

"Mmhm. Good, now put them around your own thigh."

"But I —"

"Don't worry about your jeans. Just do it and see how it goes." Jeff shook his head and tried, and felt his stomach drop as he was able to comfortably fit both of his hands around his thigh. Cassie couldn't help but laugh in surprise.

"Haha! Oh fuck, I didn't realize it would be that easy! And with your jeans on too, wow."

"Fuck this shit, Cassie," said Jeff angrily, moving to leave the room. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but I'm outta here."

"Wait, Jeff! Wait!" said Cassie eagerly, and contritely. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything. Can we just do one more? One more?"

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Ok, one more." He actually enjoyed the attention from Cassie, and relished her saying that she was sorry. This was more interaction than they'd had in weeks.

"Arms!" said Cassie, and held hers out. She was wearing a tank top, so her arms were completely visible. Jeff had to take off his jacket to get to the short sleeve shirt underneath. Cassie went over to him and stretched her arm out next to his.

Again, Jeff felt a sinking feeling as he looked at his arm next to Cassie's. It looked like a child's arm next to a grown-up's; even though she was a normal-sized person, everything from her wrist to her forearm to her upper arm looked bigger and more substantial. Cassie's tattoos didn't help with the starkness of the contrast, nor did her forearm flexing, which she was doing with a grin on her face as she eyed Jeff, gauging his reaction to the visible muscles and tendons that moved underneath her skin and made her tattoos roll and dance. Jeff tried some flexing of his own and saw no discernible change. Cassie laughed, but genially this time.

"Wow, if you had tattoos and flexed your arm like this, none of your tats would move!"

"Ok, you've had your one," said Jeff, frustrated again, as he moved to go back to his room.

"Aww, just one more?" whined Cassie playfully after him. "Biceps?" Jeff turned to look and she was striking a sprightly biceps pose, winking at him as she bit her tongue. Dave had gotten up from the sofa and had walked over to Jeff.

"Oh, Jeff, before you go into your room, just so you know I found a good situation with Louis and a few of those other guys, so I'm actually gonna be moving in with them in a couple weeks. I'm gonna get someone good to sublet, don't worry."

Jeff felt devastated. He knew that Cassie was moving away, and that Dave had been planning on moving out, but he had been holding out for Dave to stay with him and keep him going — he always had before. Dave must have seen Jeff's shoulders slump, because he stepped over and engulfed him in a big hug.

"Nothing personal, Jeff. We all gotta do what we all gotta do. For me, I need a fresh start somewhere new. If you need me to help you with anything, let me know."

Jeff nodded and slumped off to his bedroom, but not before he glimpsed John through a crack in the door, which he pushed open. John was playing an electric guitar quietly, and without purpose or direction. He looked up at Jeff and smiled, his eyes far off in some distant world.

"How about you, John?" asked Jeff, even though he may as well have asked a brick wall. "Are you gonna stay with me here?" John made no sign that he had heard or understood the question, but he kept smiling and said quite clearly: "Up around that bend there, the glen there, bogey walkaround. A Trice? Yes, indeed!"

Jeff pulled the door to on his way out, assuming that John was on acid again. He seemed to be on it almost constantly these days. Jeff finally made his way to his bedroom at the end of the hall and went in, shutting the door behind him. More beer cans and bottles scattered the floor, and Jeff walked a path he had cleared through them and other junk to get to his bed. There were no sheets, only a mattress that got dirtier by the day. In one corner of the room lay a disordered heap of papers from when Jeff had tried to write a novel and gave up after a week or two. In another corner sat cold, hard blocks of sculpting clay, ready to be formed into masterpieces whenever the inspiration struck. A single orange lamp lit the room with a dull glow.

Jeff felt exhausted and was going over what to do in his mind as he took his clothes off. He would have to find two more people to live here. Three if John went missing. How did it all come to this? There used to be so many people around this house! So much energy! What happened to it all?

Right then, Jeff put his hand in his pocket and felt the piece of paper with Sarah's number on it. He took it out, unfolded it one more time, and put it on his nightstand. And what was — her hair tie! He had forgotten to give it back! He felt sudden shame, as if he had done something wrong, but this feeling quickly morphed into joy and excitement. He put the hair tie next to the piece of paper and stood grinning in the sickly orange light. After a few moments he began to feel ridiculous again. What was he doing? Making some kind of shrine? Was he...into Sarah Helleger? Did he...have feelings for her? He sat on the bed with his head in his hands, his feet dangling off the mattress. He tried to make everything in his head stop before he decided anything.

No! He realized quickly. He didn't have feelings for her. She was attractive, of course, but all his confused thoughts weren't about him being hot or him wanting to...be with her or something. These thoughts only expressed the pride he, Jeff, had in seeing Sarah grow into a beautiful young woman with a promising future ahead of her. He thought back to his youth, when he had shown Sarah how to use a sling-shot, and when he had helped her go back to her parent's house after she fell and skinned her knee. Golly, was she crying then or what. Jeff lay back in bed with a smile on his face as these thoughts swirled pleasantly through his head. He was beginning to even feel pride for helping raise her, and was starting to congratulate himself on having been such a good neighbor. 'Good for Sarah,' he thought to himself. 'Good to see her stepping up and joining the adult world.'

Before he went to sleep, Jeff opened up his laptop and sent Sarah's parents an email. He was in a mirthful mood, and wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to reach out. It read:

"Dear Jan and Chris, This is Jeff Stintum, your old neighbor. I was having a thing done today at the hospitall and I saw...guess who? Sarah!! That's right :) :) anyway it was pretty much of a shock to me since i had not seen her in lots of years. And she looked great!! I mean, really great. i was amazed. She has grown up so nicely, and really, the was she does her job is just splendid. i just wanted to let you folks know wbout this encounter, and maybe we can have a meal at my parents place or something. when Sarah comes home for the holidays mayeb we can make this happen. ok, i just wanted to let you know and say hi!

jeff

Jeff sent off this message and then turned off the light and laid back in his bed to sleep. He found sleep difficult, however, because thinking about Sarah did't make him feel tired: it made him feel energized and awake. After some tossing and turning, he knew what to do. He turned his light on and looked at the hair tie that was sitting on the piece of paper. It didn't looked stretched anymore — it had returned back to its normal size. Jeff couldn't understand what these feelings were, but he was compelled to pick up the hair tie and examine it. Yes, it wasn't stretched anymore; it looked like a normal hair tie. He didn't know why, but he felt his dick becoming infused with blood. His engorged head was dragging along the angular fabric of his boxers. His heart was racing — why?

Gingerly, he put his hand through the hair tie until it was around his wrist. He put his arm up a bit and the hair tie slid all the way up his forearm until it stopped at the crook of his elbow. Jeff couldn't believe it — wasn't this the same hair tie that Sarah had been wearing around her wrist? Wasn't it tight? And yet here it was, the same thing, not even tight around his upper forearm. Whatever this feeling was, Jeff did not like it. It was overwhelming, a hidden, mysterious something that he absolutely could not handle. He shook off the hair tie and put it back on his nightstand and turned off his light. In a few minutes he was asleep.