Firecracker Ch. 03

"Are you done with your plate, Keith darlin'?"

"Yeah, Kammie. Thanks." Keith Winslow had pushed his plate away after finishing his bacon and eggs to watch the hummingbirds joust on a rainy August morning. Kammie Smith took the plate over to the sink to wash and rinse it before putting it in the drying rack.

She came back over to the table where the crippled veteran sat, biting her lip. "You're still glum today. What's up?"

He looked up at her. "It's still 'bout my pal Rusty. Poor guy deserves better than gitting stuck in the VA home."

"Mr. Dodge's a nice man. Thought his family would take care of him."

"They did. They stuck him in that damn place. The same damn place I'm likely to git stuck in a few years."

Sitting with her backside against the table overlooking the deck, she looked down at him. Keith was a lean weathered man with naturally dark hair in his late 50's, a disabled Vietnam vet how needed a walker and wheelchair to get around. Kammie was just over 5 feet tall, slender and perfectly proportioned with blonde hair. He was wearing a white t-shirt and green sweatpants; she wore an oversized Arkansas University t-shirt she slept in. She kissed him on the top of his head and murmured: "I'll take care of you."

He reached up and caressed her head. "Thanks, Sweetness. But you just got out of High School, and it's not fair for a young gal like you ta git stuck with an old fart like me. Someday you'll move on, and I'll have to git ready for th' future."

"Well, even if I'm not here thru some dam craziness, ya got Sandy and her kids."

He snorted. "Sandy's always had it in fer me."

"She's looked after ya for years. She cleaned yer place ev'ry week before I got here, and made sure ya had food."

"It goes back ta when she was little. I got home when she was a little over a year and a half, and it took a week ta make friends with her at all. Then when her mom died, she blamed me for not lookin' after her right. Din't want to move to the Lake, din't want to come back when Mike got the job with th' Water Patrol."

"But she's yer daughter. Don't know why she wouldn't take care of ya."

He grimaced. "She'll put me in that damn place first chance. Jest wait and see." Clapping his hand to her thigh, he looked up at her pouting face and came to a conclusion. "Yer missing somethin'."

"What?"

"My big smile. Know how to git it back. Been leavin' ya alone too long. Hop up on this table."

"What?"

"Need a little Sweetness this mornin'. Need to persuade ya t'stay awhile." He lifted her by the waist and sat her down on the solid oak table in front of him. Pulling her shirt bottom up, he took a playful nip at her crotch while she giggled. "There's a little man in there I need ta say hello to."

She leaned back and spread her legs to give him better access, her face smiling broadly. Rain pattered on the roof, drumming faster than her heart as his tongue sought amid her inner curves for her spring of nectar. His hands stroked the outside of her legs from her hips to her knees. A silent blue flash in the distance illuminated her frazzled blonde locks from behind, and her hand reached down to bury itself in his long dark locks unbound from their usual ponytail. His hands invaded her red t-shirt, running up her sides, making her giggle. The rain increased its patter, and another flash in the distance was followed by a low murmur of thunder.

"Yes, oh yes, Studmuffin. No little boy could do what you do to me," her voice husked as a quivering overtook her. His hands found her nipple tipped handfuls and started to massage them as his tongue focused on burying itself deep inside her while he sucked her bud. A light touch of upper teeth on her clitoris made her gasp and pull him closer, and she laid her legs over his shoulders, draping down his back. "I'll be yer breakfast any day you want."

Her nipples erected and he pinched them lightly. Leaning back, she crossed her legs behind his head and squeezed it in appreciation. The vibrations in her body grew in intensity with the rain, and distant flashes with crashes of thunder grew closer. The winds buffeted the trees next to the house, raking the branches across the shingles. The height of the storm came when she reached her peak, adding power to her howls of delight as she arrived the climax of her Clouds and Rain.

Letting his head go with her legs, she pushed it away, unable to take any more stimulation. He sat back and smiled, seeing the glow of satisfaction on her round face. "Knew you'd like that," he said calmly.

She took him by the ears, and leaned forward to kiss his head. "I'll give ya a few years to quit doin' that." After she regained her breath, she hopped down and knelt under the table. "Kin I repay the favor?"

He traced the outline of her chin. "Not now, Sweetness. Not up fer it. Happens ta old men now and then. Arthur's botherin' me too much t'day; probably need to go soak a while in the jaccuzi when the storm's over."

A brave smile looked up at him. "Sure, Keith. I understand. You take such good care of me."

The phone rang, and Keith picked the receiver up from its spot on the table. "Pawpaw, things are bad," his granddaughter Erin wailed on the other end..

Kammie got up from under the table and pulled her hem down as Keith turned to focus on the phone receiver. "What's up, Erin?"

"It's Momma. She's gone."

"Gone? How?"

"We got up this mornin' to a big crash. Daddy had a note from her, threw their weddin' picture 'gainst th' wall and was pounding his fists on another wall. Said she's left for Canada."

"Canada?"

"Yeah. Left a note fer us and one fer you. I'm scared, Pawpaw."

"Ya don't hafta be scared, Erin honey. What's yer daddy doin'?"

"Called in sick and went ta town. Just got back with a big bunch of beer and he's started drinkin' it. Stacey and I wanna get outta here."

"You kin come over here if ya want."

"That's what we was hopin'. We'll pack a couple bags and get there soon." The phone went dead, and Keith flicked it off.

He turned to face a worried Kammie. "Stacey n' Erin's comin' over here soon. Somethin' up with Sandy; she's gone nuts. Better get cleaned up. It'll take them an hour t'get here, so we kin get showered and changed. May hafta run to th' store later. Be a dear and git the shower started for me. Should be hot by the time I git there."

"Since we're in a hurry, dya wanna share?"

"Yeah, but no funny business. Not upta it." He lifted himself up awkwardly as she danced across the room through the master bedroom into the bath, where the water started running momentarily. Sniffing, he still had a nose full of Kammie's essence, an aroma that had grown as sweet as honey over the past month. A couple of twitches below his waist caught his attention, but the fresh concern over his family quelled them before he could focus on his arousal.

Kammie was unusually somber in the shower as she lathered them and used the shower head to rinse them off. He insisted she give his face a good washing, and her coy smile as she did so almost made him laugh. It seemed she took extraordinary care to bathe, rinse and dry his private parts, and he repaid her with unusual attention to her bubble butt when her turn came. They managed to finish and dress just about ten minutes before the twins arrived.

The rain stopped and the clouds passed off to the East, so when Keith met his granddaughters in the common room alone, Kammie went down to the shore to do some maintenance on the boats. They bustled in carrying overnight bags: Erin wore a blue sweatsuit with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, Stacey wore a red halter top and white shorts. The girls were identical twins: tall, lean, with brown eyes, Keith's dark hair, graceful hands and feet. Stacey bustled back to the guest room immediately, while Erin dumped her bags and sat down right away to talk with her grandfather. "Hi, Pawpaw. Here's the note Mom left for you."

He took the envelope and ripped it open. It was printed on ordinary paper:

Dear Father,

I am ashamed of you. Taking that poor girl into your house and fucking her silly like a dirty old man is more than creepy. It's been hell going to the grocery store, the beauty shop, the country club. You don't know how much you've hurt me, you horny old tramp. You've made it impossible for me to live here and hold my head up.

I'm going to Canada to be with a man who really loves me. Fuck that moron Mike I had to marry when I got pregnant with Frankie. Don't try to talk me out of it. I don't give a shit if you cut my out of your will, even if you have anything when you die, you old bastard. Forget my dear old Mother who worked her ass off taking care of you when you came home from 'Nam a cripple. Forget your sperm ever made me, you selfish old bastard. You deserve to die.

Sandra

Stoically, Keith put the paper back in the envelope and handed it to his granddaughter. "What did she say to you and your Dad?"

"She was ashamed of us, goin' off to college halfway across th' country. Leavin' her alone with Dad. Said we was stupid sluts who didn't deserve t'find a decent boy."

"What did she say to yer Dad?"

"He tore it up and threw it away."

"Ya said he bought a bunch of beer."

"Yeah. Started drinkin' before breakfast. Stacey and me is scared. Haven't seen Dad like this?"

"He call in sick?"

"Yeah."

Keith rubbed his stubble and Stacey came back into the room. "Yer Dad's done this a coupla times before."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. 'Fore you were born, his brother Nick died ina car accident with his girlfriend. Ran up under a semi. Drank three days before the funeral, then was right as rain."

"He had a brother?" Stacey asked.

"Yeah. They was as close as you two. Then when his Dad died, he went on a three day drunk. Ya musta been real small."

"Yeah. Grandpa Jones died when we was a year old."

"There ya go. Give him a coupla days, and he'll stop. If he don't, we'll do, whadya call it, an innervention."

They sat and thought for a few moments. Stacey spoke up: "Kin we stay here?"

Keith shook his head. "Ya don't hafta ask. You're always welcome here, Stace. No matter what."

"Good." Erin said.

"Got one question fer ya," Keith continued.

"What, Pawpaw?"

"What 'bout Kammie? You two care she's here? I can send her away fer a while, if ya want. She'd unnerstand."

Erin shook her head violently, and Stacey said: "No, Pawpaw. If she's makin' ya happy, that's all that matters. She's okay with us. Ya kin even sleep with her while we're here."

"Well, that's gen'rous of ya."

"Pawpaw, we want ya to be happy," Erin said, coming over to embrace him and give him a kiss on his forehead. Stacey came over to do the same, as Erin continued: "If ya wanna live with Kammie and have more kids, that's all right with us."

He shook his head after they let go of him. "Ya don't hafta go that far, and don'chew go puttin' ideas in her head. She's down at th' dock right now. If ya wanna, take the boat out this afternoon."

"They said it's gonna rain, Pawpaw."

"Well, we'll think of somthin' else ta do."

Stacey went down to talk to Kammie while Erin took her bags to the guest room to get settled. Keith switched on the TV to watch ESPN, and wondered what would happen next.

Kammie and Stacey came up around lunchtime, and the three girls fixed a light meal for them. The clouds returned, so they four played board games all afternoon and into the evening. A game of Monopoly was followed by several rounds of Clue; after supper they played Spades until bedtime. The twins settled into the guest room, and Kammie was in Keith's bed as usual without a hint of tension.

He clasped her close, spooning with her, her hips digging into his crotch. The presence of his progeny in the next room distracted him, and his usual response to the closeness of her body was diminished. Knowing her longing for him, his hand dub down beneath her oversized t-shirt into her valley of love. She tried to roll over, but he kept her in her place as his fingers sought out her delicate flower. Her legs parted so he could play with her rose petals, which grew damp quickly from his wise manipulation. Laying back, she opened herself to him completely, and his other hand reached over to milk her perfect little breast. Before long, she shuddered in orgasm and fell asleep against him. He cradled her against the flashes of lightning the played through the windowpane and the drumming of rain that lasted most of the night.

The next morning, he awakened alone in broad daylight. The digital clock read 8:00AM, and there were no sounds from the rest of the house. Getting up, he struggled across the room and out into the great room. A plate of French Toast and sausages awaited him in the oven, fresh coffee in the pot, and he ate his breakfast on the deck, watching the hummingbirds zip past him.

His bones were still aching from yesterday's weather, so he took the cover off the jacuzi and started it up. The girls were playing in the water down below, and he thought he could accomplish his task without their help, so he left them to their fun. With difficulty he stripped off his clothes and got into the soothing waters. The cove below was in his sight, and he saw the three girls splashing in the water, naked with plastered hair, so he sat back and regarded the light white clouds sailing calmly in the wake of yesterday's bluster.

The girls played in the water for half an hour, then laid down on the dock to air dry. Keith watched as they lay close to one another, the twins white skin contrasting the skin kissed hue of his girlfriend. After they were dry, they rubbed sunblock on each other's bodies. As they worked, his trouser snake began to stir briefly, then relaxed as his mind filled with memories.

It was another August morning years ago when he lived on the other side of the Lake. Sandy was desperate enough to leave the kids with him, and they spent the morning washing his car. After bologna sandwiches, the kids laid down for a nap, and he was tired enough to rest next to them. He awakened with a start to find 5 year old Frankie fast asleep next to him, but the girls were missing. He went out to find them splashing in the creek running behind his house. A pair of bare cherubs were exploring the clear trickle, curious about every bug, chasing every pollywog, babbling to each other in their own private twin language, discovering the universe as only 2 year olds can. He sat on his back porch and watched until they tired of their sport, and came running to sit on his lap and tell him about what they found. He bathed their feet and dressed them, but their older brother narced on him, and their mother was so aghast he was never left alone with them again.

His reverie was dispelled by footsteps on the steps. Erin's head came into view followed by her unclad body wrapped in a big pink towel. Innocent as a cherub, she came up the steps and over to rest her backside on the side of the jacuzi. "Hi, Pawpaw," she said.

"Hi, Erin. Have a good time in the cove?"

"Yeah. I'll miss it when I go away to school."

"I kin understand. I missed home when I was in 'Nam. Forgit yer swimsuit?"

"Yeah. No problem here. Ya got the cove to yourself. 'Sides, you've seen us naked since we was babies, and we remember when you took baths with us." She brushed her wet, stringy blonde hair. Her subtle curves reminded him of her grandmother and an afternoon decades at the farm pond where he grew up. "I want ya to know Stace and I don't blame you for Mom's running away."

He nodded, shifting slightly in the water. "How come she left?"

"She's been talkin' to this guy in Canada for over a year. I got into her mailbox online from over here and she's been plannin' it for a long time. All this shit 'bout you and Kammie is just a line. She n'Dad's been sleepin' in separate rooms for two years now. Told us she's ashamed of us too, said we was arrogant sluts who deserve to live in a trailer park with scraggly fat men. Don't know what shit she fed Dad, but he didn't like it."

Erin looked away into the trees, and Keith saw her mother's outline. "Pawpaw, Stace and I don't care 'bout Kammie livin' with ya anymore. She's makin' ya happy, and that's what matters. Even if you have some babies, that's okay with us. If she goes away, don't worry, me and Stace'll take care of ya."

"Thanks, Erin. Don't think we can make babies; lotsa my buddies from 'Nam couldn't make babies after they got back. We was in some seriously bad shit over there that screwed us up a lotta ways. Anyway, I'm gittin' way too old fer that shit."

Erin toyed with the end of her hair, and looked down. "Thanks for lettin' us stay here, Grandfather."

"Any time, baby. You 'n Stace n' Frankie's always welcome."

She nodded and skipped in the sliding door. Keith sat back in the water as the jets were finishing. The water was the perfect temperature, and he leaned back to enjoy his soak in spite of his wrinkled fingers. The wind tossed the branches a little, and his thoughts wandered back in time again.

It was an August morning twenty years ago when a teenager was learning how to drive. Keith took Sandy to a parking lot and let her practice her parallel parking.

"Poppa, I don't understand. We got an automatic car for driver's ed, and Uncle Harry said I could use his car for the test. Why do I have to learn this with a stick?"

"Cause our car is a stick, and you'll be drivin' it. I doan want'ya to get into sumthin ya can't handle. Ya may have to take me to the 'mergency room in this car sometime." She quivered a little and sighed, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "That's why we're here in the parkin' lot, Sugar. Take it easy and git the feel of it."

"But Poppa, it don't make sense."

His patience was worn thin after a morning's frustration getting her there in the first place. "Shut up and drive th' damn car, Sandra Jean."

It took her many tries to get used to using the clutch in a forward gear, much less in reverse. Keith sat patiently as she did so, wishing he's taken extra aspirin that morning against the pain in his hips from the old war wound. Sandy was almost in tears before she had a feel for the clutch, and when she got it at last, he had her practice her parking next to a garbage dumpster.

Time after time she failed, and the last try crunched the fender against the dumpster. Her face was accusation rather than embarrassment. "Poppa, I can't believe you'd do this to me!"

"Doan worry, Sandra Jean. Harry and me'll get the dents ironed out in nothin' flat."

"I don't care. You're embarrassed me!" Streams of tears started leaking from her eyes. "How am I supposed to take that damn test now? I'm useless!"

"Nobody else's here, Sandy. Who th' hell's gonna embarrass ya?"

"Uncle Harry for one. All the old farts at the Legion. All their kids at school. You, you old bastard!"

"Language, Sandra Jean."

"I don't give a shit. You are a mean old bastard. And a damn hypocrite." She left the driver's seat and stood outside crying until he got out and hobbled over to her, but when he touched her shoulder, she stalked away and to the passenger door. They returned home in silence and Sandy didn't get her driver's license until after her children were born.

The memories were dispelled by quick footsteps playing a rising scale up the stairway. Stacey popped into view, wearing a white swim hat and nothing else; a small mole two inches right of her navel distinguishing her from her sister. "Hi, Pawpaw," she enthused.

Keith quickly switched the jets on again and looked back at her nervously. "Hi, Stace. Havin' a good time?"

"Yeah. Kammie 'n me raced out to the point and back. She beat me."

"Oh. Was it close?"

"Nope." She came to lean forward over the edge of the jacuzi on her elbows, looking down, letting her curves bounce and tailing the water with her fingertip. "Ya like Kammie a lot, don't ya?"