Walking an Endless Path Pt. 01

Joe nodded at Renata and shared a glance with Iosif in the mirror.

"What are you going to do?" Joe asked.

Renata smiled enigmatically and patted Joe's bare leg with her palm. She purred a little at the feel of the strength in his thigh. "I will have my legs fixed. I will get my strength back. Then we will go home."

"But—"

"THAT... is what we will do," she interrupted him firmly, accepting no argument. Her eyes were cold, resolute, and defiant. Anton had killed her family and tried to kill her, and when he discovered she was still alive, he'd turned her into his next plaything. Joe wouldn't judge what Renata or Iosif would do to rebalance what had been done to them.

"I hope that when you've both done what you need to do, you'll come back to visit," Joe said quietly. He kept his eyes down as he didn't want to look in Iosif's eyes. He was sure he'd only see fatalism reflected there. He felt Renata's soft fingers touching his cheek and leaned into the touch but didn't look at her either. Joe had done what he could. He gave them the truth. From this point, they would make decisions and act based on that instead of the lies they had been fed. It was enough.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the driveway to the Lancaster's house. Renata pulled out a pad and pen and asked Joe to write down his home address. In hopes that it meant he would see her again, he did.

"Know that we will forever be grateful to you and your friend who gave you this information. And know that I will forever be grateful that you freed me from my chair. I would ask for only one more thing before we go," she said.

Joe looked at her. She really did have the most beautiful eyes!

"Kiss me, but let me remain awake."

He smiled. "I'll try my best."

They unbuckled their seatbelts and kneeled, facing each other on the car's floor. Iosif raised the panel behind his seat to give them privacy.

Joe placed his hands on the sides of Renata's neck and slipped his fingers through her thick ebony hair, so much like Elizabeth's. He felt a distant pang of loss in his heart, and it found a sympathetic emotion with Renata's imminent departure. She ran her hands over the broad expanse of his bare chest and tilted her face up so he could press his lips against her soft mouth. He gently caressed her lips, and she stroked his in return. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, and Joe clamped down on his sensations with brutal control as his excitement spiked. Renata felt the tingle being pulled away and moaned in need. She aggressively thrust her tongue deeper into his mouth, and Joe slid his tongue across hers, loosening his control minutely. As the surge coursed from Joe to Renata, she moaned again and pushed her body against his, clawing at his back. Joe wrestled the surge back under control as he felt the woman begin to weaken. She gasped at the diminished sensation but sagged against him gratefully. Joe kissed her once more with only the lightest touch of the surge and felt Renata's pleasure tip over the edge into throbbing explosions. She threw her head back and cried out. Her cries went silent, but her mouth worked like she was howling. He slid his hands down her back to her ass and pulled her body against his as he felt her jolt and tremble through the waves of her pleasure. She lurched forward against him and tucked her head into the nape of his neck. He could feel her gasping for air against his neck, and he inhaled the clean scent of her hair as it was pressed against his face.

Finally, she calmed, and Joe gently set her back against the soft backseat. She looked at him with dreamy eyes and smiled with deep satisfaction. She looked down and saw the outline of his erection against his shorts, and her eyes grew large.

"It wasn't that big before!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

Joe chuckled. "Yeah, that happens."

"Oh! Right!" Renata put her hands over her face in embarrassment.

"Renata, please be careful and come back. Okay?" Joe said.

"I have something to live for, yes?" she smiled.

"Yes." He kissed her forehead and stepped from the car. He gathered up the bricks and closed the door.

Holding the bricks in front of himself for modesty, Joe walked up to the driver's window, which rolled down.

"I must get soundproof divider," Iosif growled as he took off his shades so he could glare at Joe.

"Sorry about that, but don't worry, that was only a kiss," he said.

Iosif's face froze. He looked at Joe's mouth, then back to his eyes.

"Better her than me."

Joe snorted in surprise. He grinned at Iosif as the shades went back on and the car pulled away.

He looked at the bricks in his hands and decided he was done with his exercise for the day. He walked back down to the house and returned the bricks to where he'd found them. He no longer needed their cover. Going to the backyard, he saw his friends having breakfast on the deck. He looked back to the road and wondered if he'd ever see his new friends again. They had their own path to follow, and it was leading them home.

It would soon be time for him to head home as well, but first, he'd enjoy the day.

-=-

Before they left the following morning, the realtor stopped by to have Rene sign the final paperwork and hand over the keys. It was all smiles and handshakes as the realtor added this sale to his list of successes, perhaps the fastest he'd experienced.

Then it was hugs and tears as Grace and Philip bid farewell to Rene and Joe. Knowing that the home had been transferred to Joe's parents, they felt assured that they were not seeing the last of their young friends as Joe insisted he'd be back and bring her along when he could. Rene would always be welcome in their home as well.

The drive back was uneventful and mostly quiet. Both were lost in their thoughts. Much had happened, and their relationship had taken a significant turn, but they were so comfortable with each other that it hadn't become weird as they had feared it might. They remained the best of friends. Rene took pity on Joe and pretended to be his girlfriend when they stopped for lunch. The waitresses cast looks at Joe, but none tried to pick him up. Joe rewarded Rene by picking up the cheque.

They pulled into Glennville as the sun was sinking below the horizon. Joe pulled up in front of Rene's apartment and shut down the engine. He faced his friend, and they just smiled at each other.

"Joe, I can't thank you enough for your help these past few weeks. I was dreading re-entering my past, but you helped make it... painless. I'm also financially set for my retirement... one day," she amended, seeing Joe's worried look. "See you at work on Monday?"

"I'll be there. I wanted to thank you for bringing me along. It was an amazing experience, and I had so much fun renovating your house. I met some interesting people and learned some important things about myself. I don't know why I am the way I am, but with your help, now I know more." He blushed. "A lot more."

Rene reached out and took Joe's hand. "You know how much that benefitted me as well."

They shared a smile as there was nothing left to say.

"I'd better go, and I know your parents are expecting you home soon." She leaned across and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and slid out of the truck. Joe got out and handed her the duffle and unused sleeping bag. With a final wave, she went inside.

Joe drove home with a warm feeling in his heart. It was good to have friends.

-=-

Monday morning, Joe looked at his warehouse with dismay. While it wasn't a complete disaster, it would take him the rest of the day and maybe part of the next to straighten out the way the stock had been stacked, and he was sure some of the deliveries had been stored in the wrong locations. He went looking for Rene to find out if she had a current inventory count. What a mess!

Rene was at her workstation trying to make heads or tails of the stack of papers jammed into her file drawer. From the look on her face, Joe could tell she was seriously stressed. She looked up and saw an equally aggravated look on his face. She knew instantly why Joe was upset.

Just then, Donald walked by. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!?" Rene barked.

Joe could tell he'd been expecting this by how his shoulders went up.

"Now, Rene, it got pretty busy around here while you were off relaxing, and maybe the paperwork on the last few orders that came in got a little disorganized."

Rene's eyes bore into Donald's, and he began to sweat.

"Joe! We're taking a coffee break! Donald, when we return, I expect to see these papers sorted in chronological order and by invoice ID. I will take it from there. Then we'll deal with the mess you've left the warehouse in," Rene snapped out her orders.

"Yes, Rene," was all her boss said.

The seething woman stormed out of the store with Joe close behind. They walked down the sidewalk in silence until they reached the little café on the corner. They found themselves a table by the window, and Rene ordered a coffee and a freshly baked cheese scone. Joe ordered a bottle of spring water and three oven-fresh oatmeal raisin cookies. They sat enjoying their snacks in comfortable silence. Once the last crumbs had been eaten and the final sips were taken, they stretched and walked calmly back to the store. When the door chimed with their arrival, Donald looked up from the papers at Rene's workstation with a worried expression.

"Uh, I'm missing three invoices," he mumbled.

Rene looked at Joe and sighed. "Maybe I should reconsider my statement last night about not retiring," she grumped. Joe smiled at her, then returned to the warehouse to separate the mixed inventory until Rene was ready.

Chapter 22

Life once again settled into its normal flow as it will in a small town in rural North Dakota. There was a kind of inertia that pulled everything back into a pattern of normality when outside energies weren't present to stir up misadventures.

Clara finalized the purchase of Rene's home. She was in contact with the Lancasters, making arrangements to visit during the winter months and again the following summer.

The family was back together as Amy had returned from theatre camp once more. With her return, she fell back into her favorite role of teasing younger sister. She dragged Joe to the mall with her friends and into the lingerie shops to carry their packages. She flaunted him before the saleswomen in the shops and watched him squirm. She enjoyed this role the most as she truly loved hanging out with her big brother and knew he really wasn't too upset with her when she tested just how long his patience would last.

During these outings, she noticed a change in Joe. While he remained shy around women, there was a calmness and confidence in his manner that she was delighted to see. The drawback for Joe was that it just made him a bigger magnet for admirers.

Amy wondered what happened while she was away that gave Joe this boost. When she pressed him for details on his summer activities, he was vague other than renovating the house that their parents had bought. She discovered from her Mom that the house originally belonged to Rene, and Joe had spent a month there with her and stayed with the nice couple who lived next to it. Amy knew Joe considered Rene a good friend and sometimes asked her for advice. While she was jealous of his confiding in Rene instead of her, she couldn't argue with its results for Joe.

Winter came early that year, and it came hard. First came record snowfalls, and getting around was difficult. Then the temperatures dropped to record lows for weeks. Joe had a particularly rough time in the deep cold. He started to become lethargic and listless. He began to miss work. Karl and Clara became concerned, so they took steps to help their son. Was he affected by the intense cold? They installed a modest-sized sauna in the basement just off the games room. Next to this, they built a sunroom with arrays of specially color-balanced bulbs on three sides and a mirrored door. This booth was designed primarily for people suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder and emulated full summer sunlight. Joe's condition immediately improved after sessions in each room, especially with the sauna, which he preferred dry. He found a treatment at the beginning of the day, and one when he got home from work kept him from slipping into that depressed state. When it was particularly cold out, Clara kept him at home, and Rene covered his shifts by pulling in other part-timers.

During one of his evening sunroom sessions, Joe made a disturbing discovery. He was soaking in the rays after basking in the dry heat of the sauna. He'd noticed that the light treatments had the bonus effect of tanning his skin. Karl had assured him that the bulbs were specifically designed to exclude the wavelengths required for tanning, but he had to agree that after a few sessions, Joe was showing steady progress toward a deep tan. Allowing himself a little vanity, Joe began entering the booth naked to eliminate tan lines. This night while he turned to face the mirror to let his back to get the full benefit of the light, he realized he was bored. So, he made a few faces at himself in the mirror. He felt silly and recalled the New Zealand rugby team he and his dad had watched on TV the night before. Joe made a fierce warrior face like they'd seen, sticking his tongue out and down as far as he could. There, plain as day, two dark stripes traveled down his tongue.

Joe yelled in surprise. He stuck his tongue out again, and he could clearly see two narrow stripes starting on both sides of the tip, widening and running back toward his throat. He had rally stripes on his tongue? He looked closer and thought they actually looked more like tattoos, except even his taste buds had the coloration. Looking closer still, Joe noted the ends of the lines at the very tip seemed to end in curls. Joe felt a little lightheaded from how unreal it felt.

"DAD!" he yelled desperately, staring at this new weirdness in the mirror.

Suddenly the door flew open, and it was Amy and her best friend, Rachel. Joe blinked in surprise. Then Rachel screamed and fainted. Amy was frozen, so Joe reached out and grabbed the door back from her, and pulled it shut.

"Dammit, Amy! What did you do that for!" he yelled through the door.

"Uh, I-uh, you yelled like you were in trouble! We were playing pool in the next room," she struggled to answer. "Wait a minute! Why are you naked?" she yelled back.

"Never mind that! Go get Dad!" Joe yelled.

"No need to go get me. I'm here. What happened to Rachel?" Karl said, arriving to investigate the scream. Clara was right behind him and knelt beside the young woman.

"She looks like she passed out," Clara said.

"Joe was naked when I opened the door!" Amy explained, blushing deeply.

"You weren't home when I got in here!" Joe yelled in frustration.

Karl knocked. "Come out when you're decent."

Joe reached out, grabbed his towel off the hook, and closed the door. He wrapped it around himself and stepped out. He saw Rachel waking on the floor next to his mom, a short distance from the sun booth. He glared at Amy, who tried to look defiant but seemed too flustered to achieve it. She was unable to look Joe in the eye.

"What's wrong?" Karl asked his son.

"Not here," Joe said, looking at their groggy guest, and left the room to return upstairs. Karl shared a look with Clara, then followed Joe.

Joe was pacing back and forth in the kitchen. Karl took one look at his face and gestured for him to join him in his office. He closed the door behind Joe and waited.

"There is something wrong with me," Joe started. "Or maybe a higher power is having a good laugh at my expense!"

Karl waited for his son to explain himself.

"I was in the sunroom, and I looked in the mirror and made that Maori warrior face like we saw last night on TV, and I saw THIS!" Joe stuck his tongue out.

Karl leaned forward and saw a discoloration on his son's tongue. His first thought was oral cancer, and it filled him with dread. Then he noted the regularity of the markings. "Did someone tattoo your tongue while you slept?" he asked.

"I know! It looks like a freaking Maori warrior tattoo!" Joe barked.

"Does it hurt?" Karl asked.

"Uh, no."

"So, it couldn't have been recent. I can take you to see Doc Watson, but I doubt he's seen this before. Let me get my magnifying glass and a flashlight." Karl rummaged around in his closet and found the items in question. "Okay, lean forward and stick out your tongue."

Karl examined the markings by holding the glass in one hand and the light in the other. With Joe's tongue hanging down next to his tanned chin, Karl realized the markings were the same shade as Joe's tan. It was pigment!

"Joe, is this the darkest you've ever tanned?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"The markings on your tongue are exactly the same color as your tan. It's pigment. Probably just melanin from your skin overflowing oddly. It's quite distinctive, but I'd suggest you stop using the sunroom for a while," Karl said calmly.

"Oh."

"You okay now?" Karl asked.

"Yeah, sorry. It just... all started to feel like some kind of cosmic joke was being played on me. All centering on my mouth," Joe sighed.

"You want to explain that last part?" Karl asked.

Joe wasn't ready to talk to his dad about his sex life. "No... sorry. Guess I was just being a little overdramatic. I'm going to go get dressed for bed. I'm beat. Thanks, Dad."

When Joe left, Karl sagged down into his chair. A close call but only some odd coloration. Soon Clara came in and closed the door behind her.

"How is Joseph?" she asked.

"It was just some odd coloration on his tongue due to over-tanning. He remains unaware that he's tanning twice as fast as normal using bulbs that don't produce ultraviolet. He accepts that it's just odd for the pigment on his tongue to change when his skin darkens. I suggested he stop using the sunroom for a while, and he agreed."

Karl rubbed his face with his hands. Clara moved around his desk and rubbed his tense neck and shoulders.

"I know we agreed that his not knowing gives him the best chance of living a normal life, but I still feel terrible keeping him in the dark about what makes him different," the father sighed.

"I still believe that we're doing the right thing, Karl. There may come a day when he needs to know, and that will be when his safety or health is in danger by not knowing. Then we'll tell him what little we know and hope he can forgive us." Clara kissed the top of her husband's head, then patted his shoulder. She was off to bed too.

"How is Rachel?" Karl asked.

"Oh! Well... the image of Joseph's naked body seems forever imprinted in the young lady's memory. Our son is apparently something of a demigod in her eyes. I'm more worried about Amy as she got a much closer and longer view, and she isn't saying anything. I think I'll have a little talk with her in the morning. Coming to bed soon?"

"I'll be right up. I love you, wife."

"I love you too, husband," Clara said, smiling.

Karl made a few notes in a password-protected document on his PC. He'd kept a journal of all Joe's physical manifestations over the years. He hadn't made an entry in a few years, which had given him hope that things had settled down, but now it seemed like there were still mysteries to the young man just under the surface.

Chapter 23

Joe spent most of that winter working on the final restoration stages of the vintage car. What this meant was finding sources for rare parts, negotiating with the vendors, getting parts shipments, and finally installing them. Getting the engine working was the final step. By late spring, he completed the engine rebuild and managed to get it running.

Once he returned it to factory specifications, he invited Rene over to see the finished product. He intended to sell the car so she could have the proceeds (minus his commission). As a vintage car, it was missing the safety features found in current vehicles, so Rene wasn't interested in keeping it. She did think it was lovely, though. Clara seconded that opinion as she had a soft spot for cars that reminded her of her grandparents. Rene told Joe to set any price he thought was reasonable for the car as she had no clue and no expectations.