The Misbegotten

It was a quarter passed ten when the movie finished. Johan and Flavia said their good nights and left. Not without Flavia giving me another of her level stares as she walked through the doorway, closing it behind her.

She knows something is up, I thought to myself for the second time that night. And, if she doesn’t know, she suspects there is something happening between Katie and me. Flavia was smart and knew about people. It was one of her strong suits.

I walked over to the multimedia center, switched the output to my MP3 player. I found my slow jam playlist and set it to “Random All”, letting the music play. I lowered the volume since all my younger siblings were either getting ready for bed or were already asleep. I smiled at Katie who hadn’t left the bed and was messing around on her cell phone.

It was odd when, out of nowhere, there were footsteps on the stairs. A quiet knocking followed. This never happened, especially this late.

“Come in,” I said at once, which brought up Katie’s head.

The door opened and my mother poked her head into the large room. “I was just coming up for the both of us. Good night. I’m going to bed, but your dad is still up watching the tube.

(It is an expression from before my youth. Since there were hardly any CRT monitors anywhere in the world by then, it was an antiquated expression).

“If you hear any bumps in the night, it’s most likely your dad looking for another beer, or stumbling to bed. Ok?” She grinned.

“Ok, ma, good night,” I said with a nod.

“Good night, son. Good night Katie. I hope your first full day here was a good one. We will talk tomorrow. Ok, honey?” My mother’s smile turned soft and comforting.

“Ok, Auntie,” sparkled Katie, nodding four or five times. “It was a good day, relaxing and quiet. There was no yelling-.” She seemed to catch herself, because her eyes shot wide, then, “Good night!” She stood there, waving somewhat lame.

My mother’s smile broadened, but her eyes betrayed sorrow. She knew some of what Katie and her siblings were going through as the hands of her sister and her wanna-be actor husband. She backed out of the doorway, so Katie couldn’t see her. She mouthed to me, “take care of her!” Her face melted into frown wrought of concern and worry.

I inclined my head, but said nothing. I felt a stab of guilt at the nasty, carnal thoughts I’d been having all night and day about Katie. My mother was counting on me to keep her safe and sound. Here I was chomping at the bit to get into her tiny, lace panties. I’m gonna burn for this!

My mother closed the door and was gone.

I went to my dresser and pulled out something to sleep in. I doubted there would be much sleeping tonight, if everything went as planned, but I still had to change. I’m not quite sure what I wore, although I remember it was another warm night. It was only a few degrees cooler than the night before. I am guestimating I grabbed shorts and a t-shirt.

Hey, it’s been a few centuries; give me a freakin’ break, alright?

I walked around the eight-foot section of wall sticking out into the Loft to accommodate the bathroom. I saw Katie was back on her cell, talking.

I waved to get her attention.

She stopped her conversation, tilting her chin at me.

“I gonna shower and change, ok? You know pass the time and make sure I am clean for…” I shrugged, covering my embarrassment with a snicker.

She became illuminant within a second and gave me the thumbs up sign. Then she went back to whoever she had on the phone.

I came out fifteen minutes later to find her off the phone, reading a magazine on her bed with her nightclothes piled up next to her. Her sexy feet dangled above the floor.

She saw me and got up at once, tucking her garments under her arm. “One of these days, we won’t be taking turns. We’ll be showering together. What do you think of that?” she asked. She brushed passed me a wicked grin etched on her face. She blew me a kiss before she disappeared behind the bathroom door.

If I had been feeling any tinge of guilt before, it vanished in that instant. Katie was just too damned titillating. She was like chocolate or a cold beer or a warm cup of coffee. She was one of those things. In the right place, at the right time, she was beyond irresistible to me. She was my ambrosia.

And if all went as planned, I was going to devour her tonight!

*****

It was eleven thirty when my phone chirped, and from the sound, I knew it was a text from Ramona. I flipped over on my bed and snatched the phone form the nightstand.

Katie, who was lying next to me, continued to watch the TV. We had turned it on in anticipation of watching some late night comedy.

I read the message, I felt my heart sink.

“Change of plans, call me ASAP!”

I voice-dialed her phone number, saying her name and waited with ever-rising anxiety for her to pick up. I didn’t have to wait long.

On the second ring, she answered, speaking in low tones. “Eff?”

I replied in the affirmative.

“I’m not sure I can make it down there tonight. Lucy, my friend who was going to give me a ride, had an emergency in her family and has to be elsewhere. She was my only hope. She was the only person my mom would let me spend the night with.” She breathed exasperated. “I told you, remember, the moment she found out Selena was fucking her boyfriend, she was going to get all suspicious about you and me.” Selena was her older, eighteen year old sister. “She’s been trying to act all concerned, like she cares. You know that bitch only cares about getting some from her man and her fucking welfare check, because of me. Who the fuck is she trying to fool anyway?”

“Shit, Ramona, you don’t have any other way to get here?” I asked trying to keep my voice level.

“Unless, I sneak out and walk…?” she offered.

I was having none of it. She lived over a mile and a quarter from my house. To walk in this part of Los Angeles, this late at night, was asking for it. Even I myself wouldn’t dare to run that gauntlet. Add the snitches to the mix and I knew I would never see her again.

“Hell no, Ramona!” I spoke with force into the phone. “I’m not going to risk you getting raped - or worse - just so Katie and I can be together. We can wait, it’s not worth the risk.”

That got Katie’s attention. She lowered the volume on the TV. She gave me a questioning look, which I returned with a roll of my eyes. She slumped in frustration.

“Ok, ok, I won’t walk, but crap! Estefan, I feel bad for you guys. We made all those rules and now I’m the one fucking shit up!” She sounded bummed out, which was kinda strange considering the subject.

“We can wait, don’t worry. We have plenty of time. The summer is coming and there will be a whole bunch of opportunities for the three of us. Don’t sweat it, alright?” I was trying my best to cheer her up, but I knew it wasn’t working. Then, I heard someone talking in the background as Ramona muffled the phone.

Then: “ – it, mom, since when do you care how late I talk on the phone? It’s the last day of school tomorrow not the beginning of finals week, so no one is even going. Why don’t you just go watch TV and leave me alone! I heard her mother tell her to get off the phone, angry this time. “Ok, ok, I’m getting off…” Then, to me: “Eff, I gotta go, she’s acting like a bitch. She’s drunk and acting like a drunken bitch. You know how she gets. I will call you when I can - probably first thing tomorrow - ok? Then, we’ll make plans, sound good?”

“Yeah sure, sounds good,” I began, but I wasn’t able to finish my thought. I heard her mother scream at her and the connection broke without warning. The line went dead.

“What happened?” wondered Katie with a sad look on her face.

I shook my head again. “Ramona’s ride cancelled on her, and her mom is acting like an ass, so… she won’t be coming over tonight.”

“So, that means, you and me…” She stopped when I tilted my head, indicating she was on the right track.

“Yup, because of our ground rules, we’re gonna have to postpone - ,” I attempted to clarify.

“Fuck!” Katie shouted through clenched teeth to muffle her frustration. Her hands clenched at either side of her hips. “I wanted this to be the night. Damn it!”

“I know, I did too,” I agreed, flopping down on the bed. I grabbed one of my pillows and tucked it under my chin.

Katie did the same only form the opposite direction, so that our heads were together, side by side, inches apart.

“This blows.”

“So now what?” she mused aloud.

“I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a few beers. This whole day has been so full of shit. I am mentally exhausted. Maybe I could use more than a few beers, now that I think about it,” I said in mock deep-thought, then caught Katie’s accusatory glare. “What?” I asked.

“Beers, Estefan?” Her tone was dry.

“Well, yeah,” I shrugged, thinking we had earned them. We had experiencing more than our fair share of ups and downs in such a short period of time.

“After you gave me all that shit this morning about being under control. What the fuck, dude, you’re confusing me?” She swung at my head with her fist, though she had no intention of hitting me.

I dodged it with ease. “My dear that was before we made out on the couch, before we both wanted to jump each other bones. And, it was before my girlfriend decided it was ok. This is despite the truth that we’re cousins and we still want to do each other.

“This was also before Tirza’s news, before you asked my girlfriend if you could have me tonight and before she agreed it was cool, provided she was present. AND, my sweet cousin, this was also before we all made plans, cleaned up, and, a short time ago, found out that those same plans had fallen through.” I was breathing heavy by the time I finished. “That constitutes a few cold beers for us suffering teens. Don’t you think?”

“Good god, it sounds tiresome just listening to you spell it out like that,” she replied in a huff. “Will your parents know if we took a few?”

“My dad usually lets me have one now and again. But, he has so much stockpiled in his frig in the garage, he’ll never know we took some. Plus, we can replace them in the morning with some of the beer he already has stored next to the frig. You know, the stuff that isn’t chilled yet. He’s got so much of it, I doubt he even knows how many cases he’s got in there.”

Katie understood and grinned. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go get some!”

A few minutes later, I was back with eight twelve-ounce cans of Budweiser and a thirty-two ounce Mickey’s Big Mouth¹. (Back then we used to call it thirsty-two ouncer, because after one… “I’s still be thirsty for more”). It was more than enough to get a good buzz going, but not too much to make my step-dad suspicious.

“Were they hard to get?” asked Katie wiggling her sweet ass on my bed.

“Naw,” I tittered with a grin. “My dad was fucking passed out in his BARCO-Lounger. His beer was still in his hand. The TV was still on, so it was easy. I brought the beer up to the middle of the second flight of stairs, so no one would see it. Then I went back down and woke him up and walked him to bed. He always knocks shit over when he’s drunk.

“He gave me a big kiss on the head, saying I was a good son and asked to make sure I locked-up the house. I thanked him and did what he asked, turned everything off. After that I came back for the beer and jola! Not only am I a model son, I can now guarantee no one will disturb us!”

“Oh my god!” She was playful with her accusation. “You’re a good son who just ripped his dad off for a whole bunch of beer! Shit, Eff, you’re such an ass kisser.”

I was nodding like a bobble-head, passing a beer over to her, which she popped open like a pro. I follower her lead and we made a toast.

“…To being together like we’re meant to be…!”

We both took a long pulls of the chilled liquid, feeling the tension melt from our bodies. We brought our cans down about the same time, eyes watering from the alcohol. We tried to spy each other through the blur, sputtering and giggling all the while.

I smacked my lips. “That was good, Kat. I really needed that,” I admitted, wiping at my mouth.

Katie looked at me through her beer eyes, glittering in the lamplight. “And you make yourself come across like this little goody-two-shoes. You’re just as bad as the rest of us.” She was chiding me as if I was some kind of poser bad kid or something.

I guffawed at her naiveté. “Sweetie, you just gotta be smart when you do shit. I think about it in advance, you know? How else could I cover my tracks so well? How can I deflect or guide the way a person thinks about me? So, they would never even imagine, I would do what I intend to do. It’s all basic shit, Kat. You just have to build a reputation. Then surround it with a good deed now and again. Pepper it with decent grades and keep your parents radar clear. It'll surprised you when you find out how much shit you can get away with.”

She squinted at me, deep in thought, scratching her temple.

“Think about it,” I resumed, “a few months ago, my parents let Ramona spend the night with me, up her in the Loft. That was, of course, before her mother found out that her older sister was getting t-bagged on a regular basis. After that tidbit of news came out she started acting all stupid and stuff.”

“How did you guys manage that?” asked my cousin after taking another swig of brew.

“Well, Ramona had been improving her grades all year. But she still needed an A on her mid-term to get a B in History. I asked my mom if we could cram here, because at her house, Ramona didn’t have a decent place to study. So, her mom and my mom worked it out. They allowed Ramona to spend the night, provided she had her own bed to sleep in, which just happened to be the one my mom made up for you. The one you have yet to sleep in.” I raised my eyebrows, nodding toward that particular piece of furniture across the Loft.

“Did you guys study?” Katie grabbed her second beer, opened it and took a decent chug. It was her silent way of telling me I better get cracking, so I downed the rest of mine and opened my second.

“Hell yeah,” I answered, emphatic now. “But what we didn’t tell our parents was Ramona and I had already been studying for her mid-term for almost two weeks. By then, she was more than prepared. We studied or had her books out until everyone went to bed. We feigned like we were going to sleep. Because I knew my mom would surveil us.

“Sure enough, about a half hour later my mom crept into the Loft to make certain we were in separate beds. It was just like I knew she would. Satisfied, she went to bed herself.

“About twenty minutes later, we got up. We opened a window, popped the screen and made our way to the roof of the Loft, so no one would hear us. We smoked a nice fatty, got on a decent buzz. We started making out.” I grinned a goofy grin. “This then led to us taking off our clothes. We ended up fucking like crazy right there out in the open. It was beautiful, goddammit.” I let myself fall into silence, remembering Ramona’s hot ass body above mine and the stars silhouetting her form. Her big tits had bounced before me as she impaled herself on my cock time and again.

I recalled her telling me that night she knew I loved her. She said she could feel it. I had agreed, though I wasn’t certain she was correct. As I looked back on that night though, I am almost certain she had been right. In light of what had happened between her, me and Katie, inside, I had known.

“Holy fuck…,” managed my cousin, a whisper.

I could see the image of me and Ramona pounding each other in the open air, flashing before her eyes.

She liked it.

I remember thinking I was going to have to oblige her someday. “It was a hella-good fuck, but I don’t know if it was holy, cuz,” I joked.

She looked at me with a different set of eyes, ignoring my jibe. “So all this time, you’ve been a naughty boy and everyone thinks your shit doesn’t stink.”

I nodded.

“I mean, grandma thinks the world of you. So do all the aunties. No one can say a bad thing about you without someone in the family standing up to defend you.”

“I just play my cards, ‘Cuz. I look at the stakes and see if my hand can cover that’s all. If it doesn’t I stand pat, I don’t move forward,” I explained, sipping the top off my beer.

She reached out and squeezed my knee. “It’s fucking brilliant,” she commented, but complete with a British accent.

What the fuck!

I looked askance at her. “What the fuck, Hermione Granger²? What’s gotten into you!?!”

She laughed at that, and pointed at the beer can she was holding.

“Oh, I see,” I caricatured my own British self, “you’ve fallen off your crump!”

She began to laugh even more. She grabbed a pillow and put it over her mouth for a few seconds. Then her eyes went wide. She scampered off the bed in a flash, her hand over the top of her beer to keep it from spilling. She ran, full-tilt, toward the bathroom.

I could tell she had to pee… like a horse.

That was when my cell chirped again and made me frown. Who the fuck would be texting me at this hour? The alcohol had numbed my ability to discern detail. I missed the specifics of the tone accompanying the notification. I reached over and read the text, my mouth gaping at what I read.

“Babydoll, my mom’s has fucken completely lost it over the fact Selena’s been taking it up the ass or whatever. But, I feel so bad that I couldn’t keep up my part of the bargain. I let you guys down. So, for this one time only, Katie can have you. With the promise that you will never leave me and that we will always be side by side, you belong to her tonight. What do you think? Can you be with your cousin and still love me?”

I texted back immediately, my finger flying about my phone. “After what I saw you do and say today, I think I will always love you, Mona. I am quite certain of that, but still are you sure you’re ok with this?” I waited on baited breath for her reply.

Katie came out of the bathroom, taking another massive swig of her beer.

“Eff, she’s wanted to be yours for years. I only had to wait a few months. Go ahead, be with her, show her how awesome you are… and then later, tell me all about it. I want to hear every detail, so I know what my newfound sister is like. I need to find out just as much you, right? If this little experiment is going to work, we gotta test it sometime. I will hook up with you guys tomorrow… ok?”

Who the fuck was this girl? Did I fucking die and go to heaven? Did my girlfriend just tell me to fuck my cousin and then tell her about it? Was this some sick, kinky shit or what?

“Ok, love, talk to you tomorrow.”

“Kk, love you!”

“What’re you doing, Effy… with that phone?” asked Katie. She tossed her beer can aside and made for the Mickey’s.

I stopped her and gave her my cell, so she could read the texts. I watched her eyes widen and her lower jaw gape as her eyes danced across the digital words.

She swallowed hard and gave the device back to me. She grabbed the Mickey’s, opened it and took a drink in one fluid move. She stuck it out toward me, wiping her mouth with the back side of her hand.

I took the large glass bottle from her as I walked the phone back to the nightstand, plugging it into the charger. I realized, I was still holding my can of Bud, so I polished it off, and drank from the Mickey’s.

“How do you feel, Effy?” she asked very tentative, like walking through a mine field.

“I don’t know.” I gazed at her, my eyes wavering. I felt the self-consciousness sink into the center of my bones. I walked back around the bed, meandering, the influx of alcohol making the Loft spin a little. “I have dreamt of being with you for a long time now. Even before last summer, every time I saw you and noticed your body was changing, I wanted you. You know this…, right?”

She nodded. “I felt the same then as I do now. I am for you, I can feel it,” she replied. She was earnest, wringing her hands before her. “That’s why the attraction was there. We’ve been like magnets to one another the moment we entered into puberty. That’s why you felt the way you did. Your eyes kept sliding across my body, stopping at every curve. Your curiosity had peeked, your senses firing like crazy.”

I was nodding along with her as she and I took the remaining steps between us. I twisted the cap of the Mickey’s as hard as it would good and placed it upright on the bed. Should it fall it wouldn’t spill.

She reached up and touched my cheek. Her fingers traced the contours of my face. Her nails tickled the stubble that had sprouted over the course of the day. “I did the same, Eff. I noticed every change in you, when your chest began to expand.” She brought up her other hand and covered my heart with it, stroking me in slow circles with her fingertips. “When your shoulders started to broaden and overnight you so much more imposing than I was.” Her hand fell from my face and onto my shoulder, and then she tightened her grip on me and pulled me toward her. Her head leaned to the side, leading with her lips.

I peered down at them. They were so thin, so pink, moist…

…and that’s when we heard footfalls coming up the stairs.

We pushed apart like a grenade had gone off between us. Thank god, the TV was still on, the lights were still on, so it wouldn’t look like anything was amiss.

I noticed the beer cans, and Mickey’s bottle upright upon my bed! Oh fuck me Freddy! I screamed within. As fast as I could, I flipped the bed spread from the top of the bed toward the bottom, covering everything.

There was another tentative knock on the door like the one we heard a few hours ago.

Katie walked toward the portal.

“Come in,” she offered as the door opened.

A groggy version of my mother stepped in with one of the wireless phones in her grip. “Katie, honey, it is your sister on the phone for you. She wants to talk to you.” My mother’s voice sounded like sand paper scraping over rocks.

Please don’t smell the alcohol on us! Please be too tired to notice!

Katie let out an exasperated sigh and glanced back at me with a shrug. She strode to the outstretched phone and took it from my mother.

My mom smiled wanly at her, waved a second goodnight to me and began walking down the stairs.

“Marry?” she asked into the receiver, hopeful. “Oh, Carry.”

It was her oldest sister, which made sense. Only Caroline would have a complete disregard for the time of day she was calling. Marissa tended to be mindful about disturbing people.

“What’s up?” she began as she followed my mother to the stairs. She only went down three or four before she stopped. She placed her hand on the door knob and, with a regretful look at me, closed the door. She wanted privacy, which I was more than willing to give her.

Whatever she needed, right?

I flipped the bed spread back over and gathered the beer cans. I put them in the middle of the trash I had in the bin near my desk to hide their presence. Then I walked about the Loft, turning off the lights and muted the TV. I left it on though, to provide a softer source of luminance than the other, harsher lights in the room.

I stopped in the middle of my part of the room, glancing around, my eyes settling on the top drawer of my dresser. Did you anticipate my intentions, Jake? I stepped over to it and searched around the back until I found what I was looking for. There were two baggies - one sandwich-sized, which held the rest of the pot we had bought earlier that day. The other was a smaller snack-sized baggie with six, tight-rolled joints. Jake, you the man, you fucking psycho!

I needed to chill out. My mind was racing over Katie. I had to pass the time, because there was telling how long the typical Caroline rant would take. That bitch never knew when to shut the fuck up. I searched around for the butane lighter stashed toward the back of the drawer. I went moon-faced when my hand closed over it. I walked into the bathroom, closed the door, turned on the fan, opened the window and toked up.

Let’s see how good this shit is that Jake brought home today… Shall we?

{ ¹Mickey’s Big Mouth: a malt liquor made by the Miller Brewing Company; widely known for its unique beehive-shaped, wide-mouthed 12 ounce bottle, often called a "grenade" due to its circular waffle design. }

{ ²Hermione Granger: a fictional character and one of the three protagonists (the other two being Harry Potter and Ron Weasley) of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potterseries. }