Family Friend Part 1

By Leslie Schmidt

"Mommy, what's sex like?"

"Honey!...What a thing to ask!"

"Well, I hear you and Tommy when you get home sometimes."

"I'm sorry dear, we thought you were asleep."

"So, what's it like?"

"Oh honey...well...making love is like the best hug you can get."

"But you don't love Tommy."

"It's not like that. Tommy and I...well...we're really good buddies."

"But you don't love him. At least, you say you don't."

"No, no, I don't love Tommy. He's a friend."

"Then you're having sex, not making love."

"It's not like that,...anyway, eleven year olds shouldn't be thinking about sex."

"Well! I'm not your average eleven year old."

"No, that you are not."

"So, what's it like?"

"Oh honey, I don't know, it's just...well...wait 'til you're older."

"I don't want to."

"Katie, eleven is too young to be thinking about sex."

"It always sounds like you're having fun. I hear you talking and laughing...you giggle Mommy."

"You shouldn't be listening to us."

"Well, Mother, I really can't help it."

"We'll try to be quieter next time...Wait, how many times have you heard us?"

"Mom...all the time. Every night he spends here."

"I'm sorry, we should be more discrete."

"That's OK, I don't mind. I like it when you're happy."

"Oh God child. You are so sweet."

"I want to..."

"To what?!"

"I want to have sex."

"Jesus Katie, you're just eleven, you're too young."

"No I'm not."

"You haven't even started your period yet."

"That just means I can't get pregnant."

"Don't count on that dear."

"I know. I'll make him wear a condom."

"Who?"

"I haven't decided yet....there's a boy, he's Jason's older brother. You know Jason, he's the goalie on my team."

"What, he's just a pimply faced...what, is he fourteen?"

"Fifteen. And he's cute."

"You'd probably be disappointed. Anyway, think about your reputation. What if he tells people."

"Yeah, I guess.

"Anyway, fifteen year old boys are not interested in eleven year old girls."

"I'll find someone."

"Honey-Don't. You'll end up hurt. Wait until you're older and fall in love."

"But you don't love Tommy."

"Oh,...OK, let me think about this for a while. Promise you won't do anything until we've talked about it."

"OK, I guess so."

* * *

Think about it, Kathryn did. Katie was a wonderful child, no mother could have asked for better. However, she had always been one to do what she wanted. Not that she was disobedient or foolish, just, if she made up her mind; there was nothing that would stop her.

When she was five, she'd told Kathy she wanted to climb to the top of the tree in front of their apartment building. Kathy hadn't worried too much about it; the first limb was above HER head. How a five year old had dragged a step ladder across the yard and set it against the tree was something that neither Kathy nor the building super could figure out.

He had knocked on Kathy's door after a fourth floor resident had called him about the little girl off his balcony.

Katie had taken precautions; she had brought a rope with her and had it tied around her waist. Then she had tied the other end a lower branch. As she explained, as she climbed, the rope looped over limbs and branches-it would get tangled and hang up if she fell.

"Where did you learn about that?" Kathryn had asked after she and the super had spent half an hour talking the girl down.

"Jack and the Beanstalk," she answered.

Sure enough, two weeks earlier Kathy had read her a version of the nursery story where Jack had done just that.

Then, when she was eight, there was the driving incident. Kathy had explained that Katie couldn't drive until she was sixteen-that was the law.

"But, Billy as school drives his uncle's tractor at his farm."

"Yes, at a farm, not on the road, the law doesn't apply."

Two months later, when her class was on a field trip to a local dairy, Katie took one of the trucks for a joy ride. She didn't wreck it, no one knew what was happening until a classmate saw her climbing out.

A three day suspension and no more field trips was the result. Kathy was, secretly, very proud of her daughter, but she couldn't tell anyone. Katie had said it was just like driving a go-cart at the track, only bigger.

A co-worker had commented that she better never take Katie on an airliner. Too late; and flight lessons cost thousands.

* * *

"So, have you thought about it?"

"What?"

"Who I'm going to have sex with."

"Honey, that's a big step, you're too young to be making these decisions."

"There's a new boy in my class, he's really cute."

"He's also in sixth grade."

"So."

"A sixth grade boy wouldn't know what to do with a girl."

Katie pouted, Kathy checked her blind spot before changing lanes.

She looked over at her daughter, Katie wasn't her little girl anymore.

Over the summer she had grown four inches-amazingly she had broken five feet in August. Like Kathy, she was going to be a large woman but, unlike her mother who could be described as 'buxom,' Katie really didn't carry any extra weight. She was just big and strong for her age.

This was something the soccer coaches made a lot of use of. She was a good runner, so putting her as center made sense, and her size allowed her to intimidate the defenders of the opposite goal. Last year she was taller than all but one of the boys in her fifth grade class and there was one girl, a bean-pole, who was taller than both of them.

But, unlike some of the other girls, she showed no signs of puberty yet. Her chest was just as flat as it had always been and her skin was still completely clear. One of the girls in her class had to be wearing a C cup, but Katie was still in a training bra-and really didn't need that-it was a concession from her mother.

Kathy knew that that would change with time. She had been the same way as a girl, a late bloomer that made up for it by being big boned and strong. Kathy hadn't started her period until just after her fourteenth birthday, so she understood Katie's feelings too. Still, by the time she was a high school junior her breasts were the subject of much oggeling by horny boys.

Katie also shared her mother's pleasant, but not pretty, face. She had a broad face with a strong chin. Wide set eyes (Kathy's blue, Katie's brown), high cheeks, a straight nose and large mouth. An attractive, open, and strong face that people instinctively liked and trusted-it spoke of character and honesty. Kathy's hair was blonde, Katie was darker with red highlights. But, when Katie spent much time in the sun, it would bleach out. The result was that, by late fall, she had natural dark roots and dirty blonde ends.

Kathryn had thought about who she'd prefer, if Katie really was serious. Then again, she had to find someone who'd do the right thing if Katie wasn't serious.

"How 'bout Glen Wallace?" Kathy asked.

Glen was Paula's father. Paula had been Katie's regular babysitter until she had graduated from High School last June and was now at collage. Now Katie was old enough to stay by herself when Kathy and Tommy went out.

"He's kind of old..." Katie said quietly.

"Well, ya know, old guys can be very nice. They take their time and are very appreciative," Kathy said kiddingly.

Katie looked straight ahead down the freeway.

"How old is he?" she asked.

"I suppose he's in his late forties...forty-seven or forty eight."

Katie was silent for a few moments. Then, "OK."

'Fuck, she called my bluff!' Kathryn thought. Then she looked at her daughter. "Honey, I wasn't serious."

"Well, if you aren't I am," Katie said.

"Honey, what am I supposed to do? Call him up and say, 'Hey, do me a favor and make love to my daughter?'"

"Well, maybe I'll just have to seduce him."

Kathy knew that her daughter was serious.

* * *

Glen's wife, Molly, and Kathy had been best friends. They had first met at work and, even though there was a ten year difference in their ages, they had become very close. The memory of Molly, sitting across the table in the break room, saying that she had ovarian cancer still haunted Kathy. The horrors of chemo and radiation had destroyed the vivacious, outgoing woman and she had died in hospice while Glen was at work, trying to make enough money to cover the bills. He had still had to file bankruptcy last year. The house Molly and Glen had made for their daughter had been sold at foreclosure auction.

As it turned out, he ran an office supply store just a few blocks from Kathy's work.

"Glen, when do you take lunch?" Kathy had said after spending almost five minutes working her way through the menus at his store's phone number.

"Pretty much whenever," he replied, "But usually kind of late-around one-that way I can be on the floor while the staff takes theirs."

"You know the Burger King mid block on 23rd? How 'bout we meet there about 1:10?"

"How's Paula doing?" she asked while they stood in line.

"She's settled in I guess," he replied. "At first she called every night, now I might hear from her a couple times during the week, and never on weekends."

"Mine to go," Kathy said to the counter worker, then "Let's eat in the park across the street," to Glen.

They had finished the usual small talk by the time they settled down at a picnic table. It was a beautiful fall afternoon-the trees still had some of their color but about half their leaves were on the ground. The sun helped warm them up in spite of the temps in the low sixties.

"Well, Glen, the reason I wanted to talk..."

He looked at her expectantly.

"Ah, you know,...Katie's an unusual child...at least, she's always been one to do exactly what she wants."

"Yeah, Paula said that a couple of times, except that she never seems to get in trouble."

"That's because, well, she's so damn reasonable, and careful. She studies, learns what she can, and never takes chances, even though she's doing something extreme."

"Molly said she was a hand full to you," Glen replied.

"Oh no, not really. She's wonderful and fun to be around, just, sometimes, kind of scary."

"OK," Glen said, in a tone that implied 'get to the point.'

"Well," Kathy continued, looking nervous, "she's eleven now and beginning to grow up and, well, she's curious about...about sex."

"What child entering adolescence isn't?" He took a bite of his Junior Wopper with cheese.

"Yeah, but, you know Katie, she wants to try it."

Glen had a bit of a confused expression on his face. "Sounds like you've got a problem there. I've played a few card games with her, she doesn't bluff."

He paused. "Paula was never really a problem with that. She tried to shock Molly and me a couple of times but she kept her head about her. I suspect that she was sleeping with her boyfriend last year but I can't be sure. I certainly didn't want to press her-it was a really rough year for both of us. I always trusted her to be responsible and she's never broken that trust."

"Yes, but what I can trust is that, if Katie wants to do something, she will."

"So, what can I do for you?" Glen asked. "I suppose I could talk to her about it, like a father. We know each other pretty well. But, I doubt it'll make any difference if she's determined. Also, maybe it would get her angry at you to know you told me." He dipped a fry in ketchup and ate it.

"No, it's gone beyond that. I know better than to tell her 'no'. Instead, for the past couple of years I've just steered her whenever she wanted to try something new-books and videos, even scuba lessons last year. No..." she bit her lip "...if she's going to do this, I need someone who'll...who'll make sure she doesn't get hurt, or in trouble."

"O...K..." Glen responded, unsure. "I'm not sure I can help you there. I really don't know any teenagers..."

"No Glen," Kathy reached across the table and took his hand, "she wants it to be you-and, I guess I'm OK with that."

Glen made a 'huh' sound, then looked at her in silence for almost a minute. Then he smiled. "Well, I guess I'm honored, but, shouldn't she find someone closer to her age?"

(He was also a little surprised to realize that his cock was firming.)

"That's what I'm afraid of. Some kid might not take 'no' when she changes her mind, or he might hurt her, or talk later and ruin her reputation. I know that, when she chickens out, you'll stop, not try to manipulate her, or force her."

"Well, again, I'm honored but...well, she's just a girl. I could never betray her trust. I've known her for...since she was in diapers...it would be a betrayal to even try to...to show her anything other than, I don't know, a friendly hug."

"Glen, if I tell her not to do something, then it becomes a challenge. She'll go find some boy. With you, with you she can say no, then the whole thing will be over, at least until she's a few years older."

At this Glen smiled at the irony of what Kathy was saying. "Oh, so you give her permission to do it with me because she'll say no. Thanks a lot!" his dry sense of humor came through.

"Oh NO...it's not like that...No, the problem is, she might say 'yes.' But... I'm sure she'll back out," Kathy said. She looked at him with a contrite expression, "Would you just sort of, well, give her the chance to say no?"

Again a smile crept across Glen's face. "Sure, when?"

Kathy thought for a moment. "She has a soccer game Saturday afternoon. How 'bout if we say she's staying the night after the game? I'll drop her off. You'll give her a ride home when she wants. That way she can just come into the house and we can pretend it never happened."

"Sure, I can do that," Glen said, then took a sip of his Coke.

"Thank you," Kathy said.

As they were getting up, collecting the cups and wrappers, Glen looked directly at Kathy. "What if she doesn't ask to go home until the morning?"

They were standing, facing each other. Kathy was a tall woman, able to look Glen straight in the eye. She looked down at his chest, then back up. "The only time we ever discussed it, Molly said you were a kind and gentle lover." She paused. "Also, I know you'll take precautions-not get her pregnant."

"Well, there's no chance of that. After Paula was born Molly and I decided we didn't want any more kids...she had so much trouble with Paula. I've been fixed."

Glen walked back to his store in a bit of a fog.

* * *

One thing Glen had not been willing to give up throughout his wife's illness and the resulting financial calamity was his membership at a local gym. It was his habit to stop off on the way home from work and do something...sometimes weights, other times a run on a treadmill. Today an acquaintance had asked him to play racquetball. As he came out of the shower room, with nothing but a towel around his waist, he stopped when he saw himself in a full length mirror.

At 47, he had avoided the beer gut that many men his age develop. Not that he looked like a he did in his twenties-he had gained at least 20 pounds but he carried it well. No chiseled muscles, but no rolls or creases either. His hair was salt-and-pepper around his temples but it only gave his rather sharp features a look of authority rather than ambition.

He tried to imagine what he might look like to an eleven year old girl. He certainly wasn't a teenager, he was a middle aged man-in good shape but still more than four times her age.

He knew it'd be terrible to put her down, or to scare her for that matter. He had to be re-assuring, make her comfortable with him, comfortable enough to be willing to say 'no' to and adult. But, maybe she'd be too comfortable. The thought made his cock push out the towel just a little more.

He smiled and laughed at himself. He knew he wasn't willing to admit it to himself yet, but...

That night, laying in bed, he tried to imagine her. For the past two years he'd been thinking of high school friends of Paula's. There was one particular black girl on the basketball team that he thought about a lot. With a stab of guilt he realized that, for a while now, he'd been thinking of her more than Molly.

Tonight, however, he was thinking about Katie. He remembered her running around her parent's house naked when she was around three. Then again, when she'd left the bathroom door open once when she was around seven; he'd walked by just as she was stepping out of the tub. Now he was trying to remember what she looked like the last time he'd seen her, three months ago in August, just before Paula left.

He remembered that she'd been wearing a training bra under a sleeveless top and jeans shorts. He tried to imagine what she looked like under those shorts and the training bra. He was surprised at how intensely he came.

Bored on Friday evening, Glen walked the four blocks to the local VFW hall. The usual crowd was there, including the normal crop of Westpac Widows (military wives whose husbands are on deployment). A couple of times, over the past three years, he'd taken one home but not tonight.

The phone beeped through the fog of his hangover at eight the next morning. It was Kathy.

Tonite still OK?

Sure was his answer.

Like most middle aged men who live alone, Glen was developing OCD. Saturday morning was cleaning and laundry. Just after noon, after taking the sheets out of the dryer, he smiled when he thought that they might have blood stains on them tomorrow. Again he felt his cock firm.

After finishing the cleaning and laundry he went to the grocery store. Coke, frozen pizza, ice cream and (after a pause) KY were added to the usual hot dogs, bread, romin noodles, and frozen dinners.

As he drove home, he thought about how he should approach her. She was coming over for a purpose-to have sex. Still, he didn't want it to be crass, like a business transaction with the prostitutes he'd hired a couple of years ago when he was trying to take his mind off Molly. Then again, there was no other reason for her to be there. Trying to pretend otherwise would be awkward for them both. He was also supposed to make sure she could back out if she wanted. He sat in the car in the complex lot for a minute and rehearsed some lines a couple times, then took the groceries out of the trunk.

Katie was really jazzed when she got in the car after the game. They had won a hard fought game 3-2. Katie had made one of the goals (a penalty shot where she faked right then eased the ball past the left post) and she had assisted on the other (a head to another player in the middle of the box).

She was sweaty, grass stained and a little bloody-just the way she liked to be after a good game. Sitting in the car, she inspected the rivulet of dried blood that ran down the outside of her calf from just below the knee and then left a brownish-red spot on her dirt and grass smeared sock. She scratched at the blood which came off in small flakes.

As soon as they left the parking lot, Kathy looked down at her tween daughter. "Do you still want to go to Glen's this afternoon?"

Katie was brought up short and, for a moment, her mother saw an expression of shock on her face. It passed quickly.

"I need to get cleaned up first, I stink," she said.

Kathy could only shake her head.

At five minutes of four they pulled up to Glen's apartment. Katie was holding a small gym bag on her lap-an overnight bag. She looked up at her mom when the car stopped.

"Well," Kathy said, "you know what apartment it is."

Katie opened the door and climbed out.

"Honey," Kathy said before she closed the door, "you can call me anytime."

"I thought Glen was bringing me home in the morning," Katie said.

Kathy looked straight ahead out the windshield. "Of course," she said, "that's what we arranged."

Katie didn't know what to do or say so she gave her mother a happy look like she did whenever she was setting off to do something her mother didn't like.

"Bye Mom!" she said, then closed the door.

Kathy watched her run up the stairs and in the door without ever looking back. Seemed that she'd been watching her only child doing that for eleven years. She had always come back happy and not (seriously) hurt. Kathy shook her head and put the car in drive. She knew Tommy was looking forward to having only Kathy at the house tonight.

(He thought Katie was doing a sleep-over with a classmate. Since she was expecting Katie to turn up unexpectedly, she'd have to make sure they wouldn't be embarrassed.)

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