PART TWO n – The Townhouse

  It didn't take too long, then there was a knock at the door. The girls were smiling and looking around. My boyfriend looked at me. Wow. I had a warm feeling rush over me. I had asked him for this, and he still explicitly asked my permission. Now he was seeing if I wanted to answer my own front door. He was deferring to me. I felt spoiled.

  "Its probably your friends, dear. Go say hello."

  He answered the door.

  "Wiz. I found you."

  "Come on in, Jay."

  He stepped in. He nodded politely in my direction, then in the direction of the other two girls. He wasn't a little guy, he was almost as tall as my boyfriend. Short neat hair, like he had. I realized they both had kept their military crew cuts. Mine always had 5 o'clock shadow, this one was clean shaven. Not ugly, not a pretty boy. Fairly handsome. As he stepped in after nodding to everyone, he scanned around. He gnced towards the kitchen, then came back to rest on the room a final time. He waved at me, then the girls.

  "Ma'am… and dies. Nice to meet you. Wiz, you live here?"

  "Sure do."

  "Damn, son. You weren't kidding. Look at you. Officer's quarters now. You gonna get soft."

  "I might. Ladies? This is Jay. Jay, that's Hurry, that's my girlfriend. And over here… that's Light, and the other one's Right. You might recognize those two, they're the girls you saw in the movie."

  He walked over to me and held his hand out. I took it, and shook his hand.

  "Nice to meet you, ma'am. You have a very nice pce."

  "Thank you."

  He nodded, then went over to the two girls seated on the couch, who were smiling like idiots. He went through the same routine with each of them. Shaking their hands, telling them it was nice to meet them.

  "All right Wiz. Pytime, then some cookout was the pn, right?"

  "Sure."

  "Well, I got the right LZ, I'm just gonna fetch the boys. Ma'am, dies… excuse me a second… be right back."

  He went out the front, and me and my boyfriend followed him out. There was a pick up truck down in the parking lot. Older one, but painted like new. Three other guys looked much like the first in general appearance. They all had some style of Army T shirt on, and all had some kind of Army gym shorts on as well. He yelled down to the guys around the truck.

  "Right pce boys! Come on! Bring the gear up!"

  One guy brought a big military bag up, that matched the two my boyfriend had a pair of. One brought up two cases of soda and some packs of food items. The third brought up a cooler. These guys were all somewhat muscur, to more so. One was taller than mine, one was about the same, and the third was a hair shorter. They all worked out. One was bigger, one was smaller but more ripped, one was sort of in between. They looked like hell on wheels, but they all had quiet manners with the dies. They all went through the ritual of shaking hands, and saying hello. They all called us ma'am and miss.

  Jay spoke for them, and asked where they could set up at. I asked what they needed, and he said just some yard. I suggested the front yard. Other than some soft drinks loaded up in the cooler, the boys opened up the gear bag, and passed out what looked to me like wrestling head gear with a little extra to them. Everyone had their own mouthpiece in a little container. The bag had gloves and pads the boys passed around, made sure their felt marker names were on them, and geared up. Mine disappeared to our room and was back with his own little kit I hadn't known he had.

  Me and the girls got to sit on the wall and watch the guys stretch out, and run in pce, and shadow kick and box a little while. Then, they paired off and warmed up. Throwing soft punches, soft kicks, and what seemed to be pnned moves where they took each other down. They switched around, and over time they warmed up. And started getting faster and harder and rougher. Everyone was smiling and ughing, this was their fun workout. This obviously went on in their basement. They had gotten their buddies to room with them, until they were all living together and going to school together, and working out in the basement together as well.

  Then, they started pairing up and going at it, which looked much more serious. After a while they all took a break, had soft drinks and talked to us, before saying it was "time". Two at a time would square off and go at it. It looked like they beat the hell out of each other, because they did. When one got knocked down, the other would offer his hand to them, and they would bat it away and stand up on their own. Some could leap up to their feet dramatically, by putting their hands behind their head ying there, and shove and twist upright to be ready to go again.

  Mine wasn't in on these matches. He would pair up off to the side, with one of the resting ones. He would spend time covered up, letting them take shots. Then, he would point, and take shots at them. Pnned. He would offer advice on doing it better. Eventually, it was time for another break. More soft drinks. It was a longer break. Then they started with their next thing. Wrestling. They kept the head gear but lost most of the pads. It was the same routine again. They paired off and rotated around, going through softer and slower moves, and slowly increasing speed and delivery.

  I've watched wrestlers before, when they were practicing. This wasn't wrestling. This was dirty wrestling. They were choking each other out, and tapping to get let go. They were putting moves on arms and legs stretched out, and tapping to get released. Taking each other down and capitalizing on it. Once again, mine wasn't in on the final matches they stood around to watch. He would pair up off to the side and work with a guy taking a break, yet rested enough to py around. Once more, he was pointing and letting him do it again, telling him something before trying it one more time.

  It took me a while to realize it. Mine was some kind of leader. He was working with them, and they were taking advice. He didn't pair up for the harder matches. These were some kind of… students. These were his freshman soccer pyers, asking for advice from the more experienced pyer.

  I could see it on Little Lightning's face, and Right's face as well. This was a fun meat market show. Tough guys. But they were all sweet and polite to women. Mannerly. They all came up to me, having been told this was "my" pce, and asked to use the bathroom.

  Eventually, they took another break, and it was more lengthy. This had been going on a while. Soft drinks in the cooler were starting to get cooled off. Then it was time to do the kickboxing and the dirty wrestling together. They paired up and went at it. One guy got all but knocked out. One guy got swept off his feet and body smmed hard enough he got the wind knocked out of him.

  And once again, mine was off to the side, pairing up with a guy that hadn't taken his turn yet.

  Eventually, they were done, and were talking about food time. He was standing next to me, sitting on the cement wall like I was.

  "I don't get to see you fight, honey?"

  He shrugged.

  "I guess. If you really want."

  "My girl wants to see me get beat up. I need a volunteer."

  Everyone ughed like it was a joke. Finally someone razzed Jay.

  "Jay? That's all you, buddy."

  Jay shook his head.

  "Fuck it…"

  They squared off. Jay wasn't getting close to him. He had to tell him to.

  "You gotta come in on me sometime. Just do it."

  When he tried to tackle him, he got a hand behind his head that tossed him onto the ground. He backed off and let him try again.

  "Keep your head up…"

  He nded most of his punches on air. Then he got tapped back for missing. He finally got a hard kick stopped by having his ankle grabbed, and he got tossed down.

  My boyfriend backed up and addressed him.

  "Come on. Give me some love…"

  Jay came in on him, and mine covered up. He protected his ribs with his arms, his face with his gloved hands. He let Jay unload on him for a while, until he started to get winded. Then he started taking shots back finally. Holy shit. He staggered him with a few, then covered back up and asked for "more love". They went through it again, until he came out of covering up and staggered him with a few shots again. Jay got frustrated and tried to take his head off with a hard, fast kick, and he simply kicked his standing leg out from under him. He started to come in on him on the ground.

  "You were telegraphing it, Jay. Now you better protect yourself…"

  Jay scooted away, and got his feet up, half on his side. When mine came too close, he kicked at him, to keep him back. He rotated, to keep him at bay. He finally got a heel grabbed, and he got reeled in, and he suddenly had my boyfriend clinching him. They rolled around on the ground. Jay didn't seem to be able get him off of him. He rolled Jay around, and tossed him around, until he was completely wore out and panting. Finally he ended up with arms wrapped around his neck from behind. He tried to avoid it, but finally tapped the forearm choking him out several times and got let go.

  Jay batted his hand away, and got to his feet.

  "Good job, Jay. Good job."

  Far from being ashamed he lost, the other guys sort of mildly cheered him. Apparently, he was their "tough guy" for pying around with my boyfriend. They teased each other for none of them wanting to do it. My boyfriend had two of the others take turns taking shots at him, while he covered up and let them go. They occasionally got a hard shot back, or tossed down. Eventually, he let the other three all go at once for a while.

  The show over, the boys all drank some cold drinks out of the cooler. They asked if they could use the kitchen, and I led them in. The cooler had packs of meat down in the ice. They made burgers and steaks, and everyone ate as they made them. One of the guys remarked it was nice to meet girls that ate deer meat. Lightning suddenly looked at her second little steak suspiciously. Wiz chuckled.

  "Light? You liked the first one. You wanted a second one. What's wrong with low fat meat?"

  "Hmm. I didn't know I was eating Bambi."

  The guys ughed. My boyfriend asked where the hell she thought steak and hamburger came from.

  "Someone killed that cow. This deer? At least had a chance."

  "But… someone shot it."

  "They shoot the cows, honey. They line them up in a tight hallway. They know its coming. They know they're next. They're all mooing and bellowing. This deer? Didn't have to go through that. It was just there one minute, and gone with no warning. At least it got to live its life first. It didn't have to live its entire life in jail. Force fed only what it was given. Never allowed to roam around and do what it wanted to do. This deer? Lived its life. Ate what it wanted. Had a mate. Maybe fathered children. And when its end came? It was quick and painless, and never knew it was coming. If it was you, which one would you pick? Live your life in jail, never getting anything to eat you wanted. Then you had to stand in a line to get sughtered, knowing it was coming. Terrified. No… you'd want to run around, eat what you wanted, live your life. Then when it happened, you'd never know. You already ate a burger, then that's your second chop. You already like it. Why's it okay to eat a cow, and not okay to eat a deer? Same animal, really. The deer is just a smaller cow that jogs a lot."

  She thought about it, and the smell got her to finish it.

  My boyfriend took a bath before eating, then asked if the other guys could shower. I said sure. They had a change of clothes in their little bags, and I told them to throw their sweaty clothes in the washer, and I ran them through and handed them back out. After eating, they took turns getting a quick shower and changing. They had their own towels.

  We all sat around and watched movies and talked. Those not on the couch or one of the easy chairs, sat on the floor with their backs up against the couch. Lightning kept sitting next to Jay, and talking to him. The other three gravitated and took turns sitting with or talking to Right. When we were outside, other girls that had been watching them practice, were stopping by and talking to the boys.

  Fresh meat.

  One of the girls asked where these "bad boys" had been hiding out at.

  The boys all looked at her, and started chuckling. Shaking their heads. One rolled his eyes. One turned away and hid his face so as not to ugh at her, he was being polite. Jay asked my boyfriend.

  "Wiz. I thought we were going to hang out, meet some nice girls for a change. You didn't tell us we were brought up to get insulted."

  My boyfriend had taken to sitting in front of me on the floor, in front of my easy chair I was in. I had my knees over his shoulders most of the time, and my lower legs down over his chest. He would kiss my leg or rub one idly. Sometimes resting his hands on my ankles. He let everyone know I was his without saying a word. No other guy would sit or stand near me. He sighed.

  "Little Lightning?"

  "Yeah."

  "Its not my house. Its her house. But… its not polite to insult company to their face, when they're being nice to you. They brought over food, cold drinks. They shared it with us. Why insult them."

  "How did I insult them? Bad boys are cool."

  Right agreed, and the girls gave a high five. The guys all ughed.

  "Girls? Watch this. Hey guys? What do we think of bad boys?"

  "I'd rather not be called a pussy."

  "Bad boys can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag."

  "They make nice punching bags, if you're bored."

  "Oh look at me. I never had an honest day's work in my life. I'm on probation. I've been to county. I'm so cool."

  "I can read and write, you know."

  "I don't have herpes!"

  "Wow. I'm so cool. I live in my single mom's basement, and I hit on high school girls."

  "I sp girls, because I'm scared to hit a real man."

  "I fight like a girl, but if I work out some, I can pretend I'm really tough!"

  "If I carry a stolen gun I don't even know how to shoot, maybe people will be scared of me."

  "Look how many shots I can do, then pick on someone smaller than my girlfriend, to pretend I'm tough."

  My boyfriend summed it up for the girls.

  "There you go, dies. Bad boys? Are useless pieces of shit. Real men? Think that shit's retarded. Full grown men, acting like six year old kids. They ain't worth a limp fuck. Where do these boys hide? Right in pin sight. They have j-o-b-s. They want to pass their csses. They don't hang out in the bars all night and every weekend."

  Talk turned to other topics. These boys were all very polite. They asked mine if he was pying soccer now.

  "I live with a starting pyer. She wants me to wear her number, so the other girls know I belong to her. No other girl is allowed to look at me twice. Tell them what I am to you honey."

  I tousled his hair, sitting in front of me.

  "This is my dirt bike. No one else is allowed to ride it."

  "Thank you, honey."

  The guy that asked? Just said "nice", and he said it approvingly. The girls wanted to know if we were going to get beer. Jay said he was driving, he couldn't. He asked if the other guys wanted any beer. They did. Jay went to go pick beer up, and took both Light and Right with him to get it. While they were gone, the guy that had been sitting the most with Right, came over and sat next to my boyfriend.

  "Hey Wiz. You mind if I ask Right to go out with me? She seems nice."

  "Ask Hurry. Those girls are kind of her little sisters."

  I smiled. I felt like the parent, being asked permission to date one of my daughters. When I told him he had to ask her, he continued talking to "Wiz", who wouldn't leave sitting in front of me, or let me take my knees off his shoulders.

  "That's not the urinal, right?"

  He smiled.

  "No. The urinal is upstairs, hiding. She got tuned up by this one recently. For acting like a whore."

  "Okay, good. I was wondering about that. Thanks."

  He went back over to sit and wait for Right, and wouldn't leave her side after she got back. I leaned over far enough to ask him privately.

  "And what, is a urinal?"

  "A whore. Public urinal. Anyone can piss on them if they feel like it. I told the guys when I asked them over. There's two nice girls here, and one… urinal. If anyone's bored and desperate enough for that, fine. The other guys would probably make fun of him for it."

  Jay came back, and repeated the sitting and more or less asking if it was okay to ask Lightning out. He once again told him to ask me if I thought it was okay, that it was like my little sister. I once again told him, to ask her, I thought it was fine. He was already sitting next to Light just about exclusively. The girls ended up getting texts from their guys asking them out which gave them phone numbers, and texting them back so they had theirs. I'm not sure I can ever recall these two not meeting a guy at some kind of party, or out at a night at the bar.

  The boys came back with a case of beer, and a bottle of apricot brandy. I'm pretty sure my boyfriend told them what I liked, and they just figured getting me what I wanted, was a way of saying thanks for having them over. Me and mine had a beer each, we weren't big beer drinkers. Jay wouldn't drink and drive. The boys had two or three beers apiece, but none of the hollering, drinking and chugging games I was used to seeing. The girls did what the boys did. A couple of beers. Then they started smiling a lot and hanging on their guy more.

  I had a gss of apricot brandy on ice, and when I handed it down to Wiz, I smacked his hands, and made him let me hold it and sip out of my gss. I leaned over once and whispered to him that I intended to get him tipsy, then take advantage of him ter. I eventually got him up into my easy chair, and sat in his p. He was mine and everyone knew it. Sitting close with him, and kissing him when I wanted, was part of the bargain of being my property.

  When number three made an appearance at the entrance to the kitchen, I looked back and saw her in her T shirt and nothing else, she had come down to get a snack.

  "If you wanna come out here, go put some clothes on. We have company."

  She ended up upstairs and didn't come back down again.

  One of the boys asked who that was. I motioned him to come over, and when he bent down to hear what I had to say, I said that was the urinal he had heard about. He just said "oh", and didn't ask further.

  Wiz had to ask the guys if they thought I looked okay, and they were very polite about it. No one would stare at me, or dare touch me, even in passing. No teasing about being a big girl. If anything, they complimented me on it. As it got dark, we sat outside. Other girls that had seen the show earlier, were stopping by. No one would do much more than talk to mine. He was wearing my soccer shorts with my jersey number on it. They knew what that meant. Jay and the one that ended up liking Right sat with each other on the wall. The other girls that stopped by, more or less took turns talking to those two. I'm pretty sure they got a few cell phone numbers exchanged. Fresh meat doesn't sit out long.

  The boys thanked me and the girls before packing up and leaving. They wouldn't take their bottle of apricot brandy, but I made them. I had figured on guys here te or even staying over, but they were gone what to me was fairly early for a "party" around here. The girls stayed in the living room on the couch to watch movies. I led mine by the hand to come up to bed. I didn't ask him. I just gave him my hand and he took it without asking. Its our thing. Its my polite way of telling him I want him now. He's never once questioned me when I do it. I saw as I led him upstairs, that the boys had left the bottle of brandy on the kitchen counter. I led him back down. I poured a small gss and took it with us, then handed it to him to carry it up, trailing behind me as I led him to our room.