The Misbegotten

Once more, I was before the stove, cooking. Although this morning, I had help - unexpected help, but help all the same. But let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t appreciate the sort of help that walks on two legs, keeps one company and looks as radiant as the morning sun itself. It would be welcomed in anyone’s book, right? The fact she had a smokin’ hot body only added to the satisfaction of the arrangement.

It was an hour after Katie had puked in the bathtub. We’d come down in search of something to prepare for our pending company.

Katie had still been a bit unsteady, her equilibrium off.

I knew it was only a brief consequence of the violence of the mysterious sickness. But to be safe, I perched her atop one of the stools before the breakfast bar opposite the stove. I had no intention of watching her fall flat on her face. If her condition worsened, she could rest her head without risking injury. I gave her a couple of Tylenol and told her to keep her ass on the stool until she had recovered in full.

We had talked and joked. For the most part, the topic broached was how we were going to convey our sexual encounter with Ramona. The conversation felt lighthearted and good-natured. This was likely due to the fact we both were beginning to understand that things between the three of us were going to work out. We weren’t anxious or felt any sense of dread hanging over our heads. We were just ourselves and the time passed without us noticing.

When the door bell had rung some odd minutes later, Katie went to answer it.

Though I was half-buried in the various elements of the brunch I was preparing, I stopped her. I had told her something sarcastic that I can no longer recall.

Although, I do remember she had cussed at me again, but stayed put. She cupped her head in the palm of one of her hands, her elbow resting atop the counter.

I sauntered toward the front door, wondering if she was still somewhat dizzy.

I had expected to see Ramona, resplendent with the smile I had come to adore. It was the one that lit up her eyes and made her cheeks look like those of a cherubic angel.

What I hadn’t expected were the opposing visages of Sandy Fernandez and Leda Quintanilla standing behind her. Like always, they were the definition of contrast. Sandy was bubbling over with excitement, her face aglow. Leda was dark and foreboding as thunderheads upon the horizon. To her credit, though, that day Leda did appear capable of keeping her as face impassive as possible.

“Babes!” Ramona had exclaimed and jumped into my arms. She pointed her toes when I lifted her off the ground.

I gave her a half spin as our lips came together.

She gave me a quick, but intense kiss on the lips.

Even through her clothes I could feel the heat of her. A very male instinct washed over me. I could tell this girl was ripe for mating. I needed no extraordinary senses to detect it, but I wasn’t about to take any chances either. So, with a purpose, I made certain I didn’t make any attempt to smell her. I knew it would look horrible if she stripped me naked and fucked me right there on the doorstep. I mean, the neighbors might’ve taken offense. Not to mention, the reactions of her friends behind her. If Katie’s portrayal of my “powers” were accurate enough, then all four of us might’ve gone to the floor in orgiastic spasms of orgasmic pleasure.

Thank God that wasn’t the case that day. I refrained.

Instead, I put Ramona back on her feet. Not after I had grabbed a nice, meaty chunk of her ass mind you. I gave it a firm squeeze to let her know, I knew, she was horny and… it interested me.

Her grin was one of eager anticipation and delight. The edge of her eyes glimmered in the late morning sun. If I had told her I wanted to fuck her up in my room, she would have come no questions asked. She wouldn’t have cared that her friends were there, if they knew she was going off to get boned. None of it would have fazed her, not in the least.

I don’t know how she might’ve been with her past boyfriends. With me, Ramona always seemed willing; she’d do it anywhere, anytime.

My kind of girl indeed!

I just stood there, admiring her in her tight blue jeans, her loose fitting, white cotton blouse and navy, three-inch heels. She was so beautiful, I forgot for the moment the other girls were there. I let my eyes wonder over the curve of her hips and bulbous swell of her breasts, filling her top regardless of its’ baggy manufacture. As usual, her make-up was exquisite. Her hair she styled and brushed so that it flared from her face, framing it, perfect. It made her hazel eyes stand-out all the more. They seemed larger now, and more striking.

Her expression she let melt between self-consciousness and sultry.

I could see she was wondering if I liked the way she looked. She wasn’t quite certain how to react.

That was when Leda cleared her throat, somewhat loud, and broke the mental connection between me and my girlfriend.

My thoughts exploded into a thousand annoyed shards, falling away at the speed of light – gone in an instant, difficult to recall.

“Oh!” Ramona had squealed, glancing back at her friends. She waved a hand in their general direction. “I wanted to get here as fast as I could and I really didn’t feel like walking. So, I called Sandy to see if she could take me. She said sure, but that Leda was over and wanted to come along for the ride. So, there you have it – all three of us, here.” She giggled over me catching her off guard. It had made her nervous, self-conscious in some strange way.

I glanced over at Sandy, who was waving one of her small, jerky waves. She was wearing a soft-pink, tube top under a white cotton blouse. She wore it unbuttoned with a high-seamed, white mini skirt. I could see thigh six inches above her knee. She had on a pair of ankle-high, athletic socks and a darker pair of pink sneakers, the sort used for walking long distances. Still though, they were stylish. She looked rather fetching, I must add.

My vision meandered over to Leda. She had on denim shorts as well. Although, hers were not as short as Katie’s booty version, belted with a modern looking strap of leather, black of course. She balanced that with a matching black, short-sleeved t-shirt, devoid of any picture or slogan. Upon her feet, she had on blue and white sneakers. She must've worn foot liners or had gone without socks, because her ankles were bear. As I perused her outfit, she had shifted her weight onto one foot. Her other foot tapped, slow, against the concrete as she twirled her sunglasses in her right hand. She looked at me straight in the eye, daring me to say something negative.

I frowned slightest. What the fuck is up with you, girl?

“Hope we’re not intruding,” speculated Sandy with a broad smile. Unwittingly, she was bouncing on her toes. The action made her mini skirt flare, showing a bit more of her thighs before it came back down.

My eyes were hungry for the seam of her panties, but we can’t always have what we want. I saw only skin. So, I smiled back, a sucker for more of her firm teenage thighs. “No, not at all, Sandy. My cousin and I were just putz’ing around the kitchen, getting a handle on what we want to make for brunch. Are you guys – uh… gals – hungry?” I amended with a quick peek at Leda’s raised eyebrow.

“I am,” admitted Sandy in a rush. Her eyes were all for me, which made Leda roll her own. She hadn’t changed. She was exactly the same as she’d been on the first day I had met her.

Ramona just batted her eyes at me, saying, “I’d never turn down anything you were cooking up, Effy.”

I chuckled at the sexual innuendo and motioned for them to come inside.

Now, here I was before the stove, spatula in hand with Sandy at my side – spatula in hers - helping me fry some eggs. Of course, we had bacon and ham, potatoes O’Brien and pancakes going too. We were also toasting bread and talked the whole time.

Leda sat at the breakfast bar across from us, listening to our conversation. Every now and again she’d add to it, her mood lightening as time passed.

Ramona and Katie had moved to the dining room just passed the bar and Leda.

I glanced over at them from time to time. I could tell they were in a deep discussion. I could pretty much divine what was their topic of choice – me. I was never a true master of extrapolation. Still, it was easy to see their intensity over what was certain to be a detailed retelling of the first-time fuck between Katie and me.

I felt my mouth twist to one side, wondering what they were saying. Were they comparing/making notes? Were they jealous or angry? Or were they curious or interested? What did they think of me? Was I good in their eyes? I mean, I always figured I was a decent screw, because I went out of my way to make sure my partner got off just as much as I did. I sort of prided myself on that.

But still… us guys, we never know, you know… especially with all those chicks who claim they fake it most of the time. I was hoping neither of them had faked it with me. I wanted to be good enough to make their toes curl for real. What man wouldn’t want this for his girl, right?

So I guess you could say I was a little concerned. And why were their heads so close together? Why were they speaking in such low tones, their lips moving a mile a minute? Why?

“…like to cook, Estefan?” asked Sandy, breaking my concentration.

“What?” I asked, missing what she’d said.

She smiled and shook her head ever so slight, a small movement in fact, almost imperceptible. “I asked you if you liked to cook.”

“Ah, sorry, my mind was elsewhere,” I replied. I rolled my eyes up in my head and made myself look like a loon or something similar.

She huffed happily through her teeth.

When I stopped, I added: “Yes, I do now that you mention it. I like to see the pleased looks on people’s faces when they eat something I’ve cooked with particular skill. It makes me feel good to know they’ve enjoyed something I created.”

“That’s kinda cool when you put it like that.” Sandy’s orbs sparkled as the concept settled into her mind.

I breathed a laugh. I grabbed the handle of the largest skillet and began to turn over the potatoes. They were in chunks intermixed with onions, bell peppers and a good dusting of seasoning.

At my side Sandy, flipped an egg, and then tossed a look back toward Leda. “You’re an over easy kind of girl, right?”

“Yes ma’am,” she answered with a nod. “So, Estefan, you cook for all your girlfriends?” she inquired a few moments later. Her left arm resting across her mid-section, she cupped the elbow of her other, supporting it. She placed her hand beneath her chin and tapped her fingers across her cheek. She was being over-speculative as if she were fishing for something deeper, more personal maybe.

Thus, I was careful with my response. I didn’t quite know where I stood with the moody girl. “Not just my girlfriends, Leda. I cook for my family members too, even for my extended family at barbecues and such.”

The tapping slowed. “But, the girls, they like it, don’t they?”

“I guess… unless I mess something up along the way. No one likes jacked-up food.” I shrugged and turned to face her square-on. “Why do you ask?”

She smiled. For the first time today, it reached all the way up to her dark eyes. The difference was amazing. She was incredibly pretty when she let her guard down and tossed aside the whole “I’m a bitch” attitude. But, the tapping continued unabated. “I think you use this, your domestic side, to get them all worked-up over you.” Her laugh was like water over smooth rocks, tumbling and rolling as it spewed forth.

Sandy giggled.

I shrugged anew. “Once again, if it comes out like crap, I don’t think anyone would be all worked-up over me.”

“Yeah, but your good at cooking, so you don’t ‘mess-up’ often I bet. In a sense, it works just about every time. Am I right?” She continued to laugh with her chin jutting out before her.

“I don’t know…,” was about all I could say to that.

“It does, I mean look at what it’s doing to Sandy. She’s about half-way decided whether she should jump your bones or not. And, I don’t think it matters all that much that you’re taken,” said the dark haired girl, pointing at her friend.

What a bitch! I thought as I watched Sandy’s expression transform to complete ignominy.

“Leda!!!” she exclaimed, getting both Katie’s and Ramona’s attention.

“What?” replied Leda with false incense. “You know you’ve always liked the guy. It’s just that Ramona got dibs, so you’ve laid low. Right? Come one, girl, admit it.”

“God, Leda, you can be such a hag when you really want to be. Is that why you came with us today, so that you could try and make a fool out of me in front of everyone?!?” Sandy stomped her foot, spun about. She placed the spatula on the countertop next to the stove and stalked off toward the TV Room without another word.

Ramona went from the dining table after Sandy, scowling at Leda as she passed her. “That was fucked up,” was all she said. Then, she too was out of the room.

Leda placed her hands to either side of her, palms up, asking through her silence what she'd done wrong. Her eyes fell back on me. “She does like you. I wasn’t like I was lying or anything. I wasn’t even putting anything out of context, for that matter.”

Sandy likes me? After all this time, she still likes me? How come I hadn’t seen this before?

“It was sort of mean though,” piped in Katie as she walked pass the breakfast bar and made her way to me. She picked up the spatula Sandy had been using and began to help. Whoa, Katie must be really sick in the head to actually be helping!!! Better call an ambulance and fast!

Leda tilted her head toward the doorway her friend had stormed through. “Yeah, maybe… I just couldn’t take the way she was mooning over your cousin - all girlie and cute. It was disgusting.”

“Why? Not everyone is as cold and shut off as you,” I blurted out before I knew what I was saying.

Leda’s usual glower returned in an instant.

I could feel Katie’s gaze on my cheek, red hot and searing.

I didn’t care. What Leda had done was cruel.

“You’re an idiot, Estefan,” began the dark-eyed girl with a level tone. Her eyes were twin shards of glowing coal. “You’re so caught up in pussy, you can’t even think straight.”

“And you’re so far up your boyfriend’s ass, you’re as fucking blind as bitch in heat!” I had countered almost upon the heels of the last syllable she’d spoken. My proverbial dander was on the rise.

Where the fuck was this shit coming from? I am never able to be this direct and on the fly.

Beside me, Katie rested a hand upon my forearm – soft, but firm. She was telling me without speaking, I was walking a fine, fine line.

“Oh god, I don’t know what any of them see in you. You’re nothing but a god damned man-whore!” yelled Leda before she scooted off the stool. She walked through the dining room and out the far door toward the front of the house.

I watched her go, not really sure what to feel. I know what I had said smacked of the truth. Maybe my delivery of it had been a little harsh. Maybe I could have tempered it better or tried a more delicate approach.

But thoughts of that nature vanished in the next second when Sandy walked through the door. Splotches of red covered her face, her eyes bloodshot from crying.

Ramona was a half-step behind her. Using both of her hands, she clutched at Sandy’s elbows, urging the girl forward.

Sandy looked hesitant and wary.

Ah, fuck you, Leda! You deserved it!

An awkward silence befell us all, only the sounds of the cooking food reaching our ears. The food! I remembered and sprung from my stupor. I began to attend to the food so nothing burnt.

“Effy, I am sorry about Leda,” apologized my girlfriend.

I removed the eggs Sandy had been cooking and plopped it on a nearby plate with a deft hand.

“You know she can be unpredictable and difficult at times.”

“I’m not the one that needs an apology. Sandy is the one who deserves it,” I responded, looking at the group of girls in general. My sight settled upon the light brown hues comprising Sandy’s hair and eyes. I doted over her delicate v-shaped chin and the overarching “tiny” features of her face.

Man, I was totally surrounded by fucking HOT chicks that day!

[He almost ejects from the program, but realizes his mistake, calms down and the memory stream continues.]

“You, Ok?” I asked her, my voice much more quiet than before.

She just nodded. Her eyes were big as a deer’s in the headlights of an oncoming truck. She had no idea what to do next.

“Hey Katie,” said Ramona, which sort of startled me, because it was the last thing I would have expected her to say. “Let’s go finish our talk.” Her eyes met mine and a half-smile etched one side of her mouth.

I was about to think, you darned girls are going to talk about me again, aren’t you? Then something more subtle registered in her cast of her orbs. This wasn’t about their conversation they’d been carrying on earlier. This was something else.

Katie glanced from Ramona to me a few times, her brow bunched in question. Understanding crept through her – something that completely eluded me. She handed the spatula back to Sandy, who took it with obvious reluctance. “Ok, let’s continue,” my cousin said. She walked out of the kitchen with Ramona toward the TV room, or so I assumed.

Sandy had not moved, holding the cooking utensil before her like it was some sort of burning brand.

I peered at her, looking stupid, because I had no clue what had just happened. But, I had to turn back to the stove to attend to the food yet again.

“You have the coolest girlfriend ever, Estefan,” said Sandy mouse-like and faint.

“How do you figure?” I asked without looking at her. I was concentrating on not spilling the potatoes all over the top of the range.

“Because…,” was all she said, sounding so much like a third grader.

I stopped what I was doing to gaze at her.

She appeared on the verge of tears again.

I didn’t say anything, thinking it inappropriate to speak at the time. Why was she so close to losing it, though? I raised my eyebrows, urging her to continue.

“Because she told me to tell the truth and I’m like so amazed she would even say something like - ,” she was answering me when…

…From the front of the house - we both heard a gasp. A second later, came a series of ferocious gaging sounds. Then a solid Thump! as if something large had hit the floor.

We shared a surprised look, then came more gurgling rasps and a strangled call for help.

It hit me! Leda was sick! What had happened to Katie and me was now happening to her!

As swift as I could, I turned off the burners of the stove and grabbed Sandy’s hand. “Come on! Leda is sick!” I was dragging her in my wake.

She came like an automaton.

Yet, all of changed when we reached Leda and saw her lying on her side. She was on the floor, puke flowing from her mouth like a river.

Sandy screamed, “Leda!!!” She shook free from my grasp and went to the aid of her longtime friend.

That was when Katie and Ramona came bounding through the house.

Whatever this sickness was, it was spreading and doing so at an alarming rate.