Ben was having a lot of fun driving around Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, a small town about five miles south of where he lived. It was a great place to learn to drive because he wouldn’t have to worry about killing anyone--the residents were already dead. At first, he was nervous, but Charlene gave him a lot of encouragement. Now that he was more familiar with driving, his confidence was up. After an hour, he stopped and parked in front of a mausoleum.
“You’re doing great,” Charlene said. “Next time we can go on the road.”
“That’ll be cool,” Ben said.
“Do you like driving?”
“Yeah, especially with you here.”
Charlene blushed. “Oh thanks.”
“Are you doing anything special tonight?”
“Not really,” Charlene said. “Usually I call up one of my friends and spend a couple of hours on the phone talking to them.”
“You want to do something tonight with me?”
“Sure,” Charlene said. “What do you have in mind?”
“I could make you dinner.”
“Oh, that would be great. My parents have a party they have to go to, so they’ll be gone for quite a while. You can make dinner at my house if you want.”
“What do you want to do in the meantime?”
“Well, I have to go to Barbara’s house and pick her up. I guess she’s meeting someone at China Beach. Do you want to come with me?”
Even though Ben didn’t want to spend another minute with Barbara, he agreed.
Barbara lived in a large peach colored Victorian with gingerbread trim and immaculate landscaping about a block away from where Charlene lived. Charlene parked just outside the entrance and honked her horn.
She sighed. “Barb told me she would be right outside the door when I came. She’s probably doing some last minute primping. Do you want to come inside?”
Ben didn’t really want to, but he said yes anyway. He didn’t want to leave Charlene’s side.
When they approached the house, Charlene rang the doorbell. No one answered. She turned the knob and when the door opened, she went inside.
“She’s probably upstairs in her bathroom,” Charlene said. “That’s where she spends most of her time.”
“She has a bathroom all to herself?” Ben replied. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised. The carpeting in the foyer was so plush he sank into it. There was a three-foot wide crystal chandelier hanging over his head. The foyer itself was so big that his voice echoed off the walls.
“Yeah,” Charlene said, as if it was no big deal. They went up the stairs to the main part of the house. In the living room there was a Hispanic lady vacuuming the rug. It was decorated in a contemporary style, with two white leather sofas, two matching armchairs, and a black lacquer coffee table with a huge matching display case. The living room itself was about double the size of Malcolm and Colleen’s.
The lady seemed a little startled to see them. She shut the vacuum cleaner off.
“Hello there, we’re friends of Barbara’s. We were just going upstairs to get her,” Charlene said.
The cleaning lady paused, apparently unsure of what to do. She eyed Ben suspiciously. Her parents probably had a rule of no boys in the house if they weren’t home, but since Ben was with Charlene, there probably wouldn’t be any monkey business going on.
“All right,” the cleaning lady said. “She is upstairs in bathroom.”
“Where else?” Charlene replied, chuckling. They went down a long hallway and up another flight of stairs.
Barbara’s room looked just like Ben imagined, very feminine with a full size canopy bed with pink ruffled comforter and French provincial dresser and vanity. In the far right corner of the room was a door. Charlene went over and opened it.
“Ahhh!” Barbara screamed.
“Opps, sorry Barb, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Charlene said.
Barbara emerged from the bathroom. Ben barely stifled a laugh when he saw her. She had small tin cans pinned into her hair.
“What’s he doing here?” she said.
“Oh, I was giving him driving lessons,” Charlene said.
“My parents are going to be home any minute. They’ll kill me if they find a boy in the house. Why didn’t he just wait in the car?”
“I invited him in,” Charlene said.
“Well, invite him out,” Barbara replied.
“How long will you be?”
“Give me ten minutes. Now get that kid out of here.”
Charlene went outside. They sat down on the brick steps near the house’s front entrance.
“Geez, what a welcome,” Ben said.
“Don’t take offense,” Charlene replied. “She’s like that with everybody. I’ve been her best friend for years and she still has a fit if I come over five minutes before I said I would.”
Ben did take offense, though. That Barbara was a pain in the butt. She was about as rude and self-centered as anyone could get. He wished Charlene didn’t have to be her chauffeur.
Fifteen minutes later, Barbara emerged from her house. Her hair was so sprayed down that it shone in the sun. She had a short orange dress with large pink polka dots, with pink boots and matching purse. She carried a white bikini in her other hand. Ben thought she was a little overdone for going to the beach. For the first time ever, he appreciated his sister’s no fuss no muss style. If the tables were turned and he had to take Gennie to the beach, she would have just run a comb through her hair and would have been out the door in about a minute. It was a good thing Barbara was an only child. If she had siblings, they probably would have jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge by now.
Ben didn’t realize China Beach was walking distance from where Barbara lived. It took about a minute to drive there. She could have walked there in about five minutes at the most. Ben was pissed but he didn’t say anything to Charlene.
“Have fun at the beach, Barb,” Charlene said to her as she closed the door.
“I plan to,” she said in a sultry voice. Obviously, she was meeting up with some guy.
“Are you going to say thank you to Charlene?” Ben said.
Barbara shot him a look of death. “Of course,” she sneered.
“Thank you Charlene for giving me a ride,” she said halfheartedly.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said. “Just go have fun.”
Charlene turned to Ben as Barbara walked down to the beach. “Want to go to my place now?” she asked.
“Sure,” Ben said.
About two minutes later, they arrived at a modern looking brick house even bigger than Barbara’s. Off to the side of it, there was a four-car garage. Charlene opened one of the doors with a remote control, something Ben had never seen before. They walked to a side door and into the kitchen. The kitchen had light wood cabinets, copper colored appliances, and was bigger than any kitchen Ben had ever seen. It was a chef’s dream, with a huge pantry and a six-burner gas stove. There was a breakfast bar dividing the kitchen and dining room and above it was an open display cabinet with various kinds of cocktail and wine glasses. Charlene showed him the dining room, living room, den and game room. It was a showplace, with everything decorated in the latest style and sparkling clean.
Charlene took him up to her bedroom. She had the same canopy bed and French Provincial furniture as Barbara did, but instead of a pink comforter she had a handmade quilt in a rainbow of colors and she not only had a dresser and vanity, but enough room for an armoire and matching bookcase.
They decided to rehearse their roles as Romeo and Juliet before they started on their homework. Somehow, though, they ended up kissing and couldn’t stop. Ben thought Charlene would push him away but she didn’t. Ben unbuttoned her shirt and undid her bra. By this time, he was trembling with passion. Everything about her was so soft and beautiful that he just wanted to eat her up. She unbuttoned his shirt and caressed his chest. She moaned as he rubbed up against he
r. She unzipped his pants and slid her hands inside. That surprised and excited him. He didn’t know how much longer he could contain himself. He pulled up her skirt and removed her panties. She cried with delight when he rubbed her thighs.
“I’ve got to have you,” he whispered.
“Go ahead,” she said. She helped him pull down his pants and guided him inside her.
He never felt anything as wonderful as that sensation. The pleasure heightened rapidly. Finally, with a shudder, he exploded. He fell on top of her with a sigh when it was over.
They fell asleep next to each other. When Ben woke up, he saw Charlene straightening herself out.
“You don’t hate me, do you?” he asked, thinking she might be mad at him.
“No,” Charlene said. “Why would I hate you? I wanted it too.”
“I probably should go,” Ben said.
“Wait,” Charlene replied. “You said you were going to make dinner.”
“You’re right,” Ben said.
They went down to the kitchen. Ben looked through the cabinets, trying to find ingredients. There was some fresh swordfish in the refrigerator and Ben used that. Charlene went into the pantry and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. They didn’t say much as they ate their meal and sipped on the wine.
“Have you ever made out with Johnny?” Ben asked. He instantly regretted saying it.
Charlene looked surprised, but didn’t seem offended.
“No,” she replied. “We’ve tried, but no.”
“You mean you just went to third base?”
“No, we went all the way, but Johnny...how can I say this…”
She put her index finger up in the air and bent it.
Ben almost choked on his food. “You’re kidding!”
“I think he was just nervous, that’s all.”
“Do you love him?”
Charlene took a long time to answer. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “I used to like him, but now…I’m just used to him.”
“Do you love me?”
“I think I do.”
“Do you want to go out with me?”
“That’s a big decision.”
“It’s not that big. I mean, it’s not like you’re married to Johnny or anything.”
“Yeah, that’s true, but…”
“But what? You just went all the way with me.”
“Oh Ben…I don’t know what other people are going to think.”
He tried not to let the anger show in his voice but it did. “Who cares what other people think? We’ve got to do what makes us happy. If other people don’t like it, tough luck.”
“I guess you’re right. Give me some time to think about this. I’ll let you know tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” Ben said.
When they finished their dinner, Ben helped Charlene put the dishes in the dishwasher.
“I have to go,” Ben said, “I told Malcolm and Colleen I’d be home by ten o’clock and its nine now.”
“Want me to give you a ride?”
“No, I’ll walk.” Ben kissed her on the cheek. “Goodbye, Sweetheart.”
She kissed him on the lips. “Goodbye.”
Chapter 24