Part 15 – Trouble Comes A-Knocking

After everything that had happened, I was feeling pretty down on myself. Megan didn’t leave my side and had been trying much of the day to cheer me up. When that didn’t work, she changed tactics. She put in a movie and dragged me in front of the tv. The show was one of my favorites a superhero movie called The Vindicators and for a little while, at least, I forgot my worries.
 
Part way into the show, I grabbed Megan’s hand and leaned against her shoulder. She squeezed back and smiled before returning her attention to the movie. About halfway in we were both lying on our sides spooning on the couch. Megan in back, her breasts pressing into me. I liked it, and I did my best not to call attention to it. Had Megan realized that it brought… interesting thoughts to my mind our seating arrangement would have changed. Given she wanted to wait before jumping into a relationship, this seemed like a mixed signal, but I would take what she’d give me.
 
It wasn’t until we were well settled that I remembered, Megan, who had been so caught up in confronting my mother and later trying to cheer me up, had neglected to take a shower. She smelled a bit like a meadow of flowers, actually. I doubt I would have smelled half as good if it had been me. Then again, she’d taken a few trips to the bathroom. Maybe she’d taken a minute to freshen up.
 
“You two are such nerds,” Allison said appearing at the base of the stairs. “I can’t believe you watch this stuff.”
 
Megan paused the movie and glanced back at her cousin letting out an exaggerated sigh. “You used to watch this stuff all the time before your twist.”
 
“Thank god for my twist then!” she exclaimed. “I’d rather put a power drill to my head than watch this crap.”
 
“Then what are you doing down here, other than bitching?” Megan replied.
 
“Fuck if I know.” Allison sneered and stomped away, but stopped halfway up the stairs and bit her lip. “Enjoy the movie.”
 
“What was that about?” I asked Megan after her cousin had disappeared the rest of the way up the stairs.
 
“I’ve given up trying to understand her.” Megan shrugged.
 
It didn’t take us long to forget about the whole thing and again become engrossed in the movie, but less than five minutes later it was the outside world that interrupted us. The doorbell rang, Megan paused the movie and nudged my shoulder. I sighed and rolled off the couch, freeing Megan to grab the door. Mrs. Belmont, Megan’s neighbor and one of the town’s biggest gossips stepped inside without saying a single word or waiting for an invitation.
 
“Well, it looks as if the rumors are true. Your father is harboring that thing.” She threw a finger out and I jerked back. The look of revulsion on Mrs. Belmont’s face made me want to scurry away and crawl into a hole.
 
“Mrs. Belmont,” Megan said between gritted her teeth getting right in the older woman’s face. “I don’t care what lame-brain stories you’ve concocted about Jim, but I like the company.”
 
“Young lady, I can forgive you for not understanding. Your father is hardly the best example. Let this be a lesson to you, be careful who you associate with yourself. People might get the wrong idea.”
 
I cringed at that comment, not because I found it insulting, which I did, but because it would set Megan off. When provoked, she had a tendency to do wild and impulsive things. I’d seen it many times, but this time her behavior shocked even me. Though that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it.
 
She spun around on the heels of her feet and flung herself at me. The first few times we’d kissed her lips had been so soft, but this time she pressed so hard that it hurt a little. Still it was pleasant in its own way, but when her tongue slithered into my mouth, I almost pushed her away from sheer shock. Again, it wasn’t unpleasant, but I was pretty inexperienced in these things. She pulled away leaving me breathless and wanting more and glanced over her shoulder at Mrs. Belmont. “Does that clear things up for you? I’ll associate myself with whoever I damn well please. Now get the fuck out of my house!”
 
I wouldn’t say it flabbergasted Mrs. Belmont, but the look on her face was priceless. “Little whore, now I see it’s not from some misguided sense of charity that your father has taken that freak in.” She stomped out of the house, face flushed and both hands clenched at her sides.
 
Megan erupted into a fit of giggles collapsing onto the couch on top of me. “That was amazing! Did you see the expression on that stuck-up old bat’s face!?”
 
Megan had her back to the door, so she didn’t see her father standing in the still open door until he cleared his throat and she peered back at him.
 
“Megan,” he said with a tight-lipped frown. “What did you do?”
 
Megan’s jaw dropped as she leapt up from the sofa and spun around to face Mr. Hails. “Dad, you’re home early.”
 
He grimaced slamming the door shut behind him. “Mrs. Belmont is good at only one thing, stirring up trouble. Worse yet, her husband is on the city council and the Mayor is her cousin. She is about the last person in town you want to make angry.”
 
“What was I supposed to do?” she asked planting her hands on her hips. “She barged in here and called Jim a freak!”
 
“You should have asked her to leave. Mrs. Belmont is a lot of things, but at least knows when she’s not welcome. If she wasn’t stirring up trouble before, I’m sure she will be now.”
 
“Then let her!” Megan screamed. “I’m tired of pretending we’re normal. Everyone will turn against us like they are doing to Jim once it comes out we’re twisted too.”
 
“Don’t think I haven’t considered that, but what you have done is to make a bad situation worse.”
 
“God!” Megan screamed throwing her hands up into the air. “I don’t fucking care! I hate this damn town and all the narrow minded bastards in it!”
 
She stormed up the stairs and Mr. Hails glanced at me shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t blame you. Sometimes I think Megan’s too much like her mother.”
 
“I know.” I bit my lip and hesitated glancing back over my shoulder looking to see if Megan was still in sight before I continued. “It is my fault though, none of this would have happened if it weren’t for me.”
 
He set his briefcase down and moved up surprising me by wrapping his arms around me in a hug. “Never let yourself believe that. You’ve done nothing wrong”
 
“You and Megan and, I guess, even Allison, got tangled up in this mess. I feel responsible.”
 
“Jim,” he said pulling away. “You’ve spent so much time in my home you’ve been almost like a son to me. I can’t just stand by and let your mother put you out on the street. We’re in this for the long run. I’ve seen firsthand what the world will do to people like us, and I can’t in good conscience stand aside. This would have happened eventually. It’s only a matter of time before Megan goes through her own twist and even if her transformation isn’t quite so drastic as yours I doubt the people of the town will be any more welcoming to her.”
 
“T-thanks Mr. Hails,” I said, “It’s nice to know there’s someone I can turn to.”
 
He smiled, and for a moment an odd expression passed across his face before he cleared his throat and motioned up the stairs. “If you’re up to it, maybe you could go talk to Megan. I doubt she’ll be showering me with affection any time soon and if I’m right, she could use the company. So could you.”
 
I nodded and made my way to the stairway about halfway up I turned back only to find that Mr. Hails had disappeared into the kitchen. I owed him so much and somehow a simple thanks just didn’t seem like enough. Would I ever find the words?