Page 27 of Private Pleasures

“That’s where the money went,” Nora said.

“You mean he stole our college funds?” J. J. was outraged.

“Well, honey, it was his money, after all,” Nora began.

“Oh, crap, Ma! Don’t defend him. Please don’t defend him! Every efffing Christmas for as long as I can remember he was waving the year-end statement at us, and saying how we’d never have to leave college with a lot of debt. That his father did it for him, and he was doing it for us. What a scam! Where’s the money gone?”

“I don’t know,” Nora lied. “Maybe it’s just one of those legal negotiating tactics that Rick says we’re going to see a lot of, honey.”

“I’m going to lose my soccer scholarship if I don’t go this year. They’re not going to hold a sports scholarship until I can come.”

“Well, he has paid your sister’s first year at law school,” Nora reminded her son.

“Yeah, he would. Jill was always his favorite,” J. J. said almost bitterly. “And think of the bragging rights he’s got. ‘My daughter is at Duke Law.’ He’s probably yapped about it so much already that he couldn’t not pay. He knows Jill will get the money she needs for her other two years. Besides, it actually isn’t costing him any more than if she’d done her undergrad work in four years instead of three. He’s always been a cheapskate, Ma, and you know it. Damn! What the hell am I going to do?”

“J. J., you wanted the truth, and I’ve told you the truth,” Nora said. “We will find a way, I promise you. But there’s more, honey. My car’s lease is almost up, and I can’t afford to buy it. It has to go back to the dealership. Your car is about to become the family car. I’m sorry. Daddy won’t buy the car for me, and he won’t pay for car insurance either. Rick is seeking insurance we can afford.”

J. J. looked up at her. His face was that of the Jeff she had once known. “Ma, why is he doing this to you? To us? What did we do wrong?” His voice was strained.

“Honey, I don’t know. You know there’s another woman involved. I think your father wants everything to be perfect for them. The problem is he can’t make it perfect without a lot of money. He wants to sell the house. He’s taken the college funds for himself. He’s jettisoning his old life to make a new life. He doesn’t know what else to do, I’m afraid. But J. J., I don’t want you to worry. I’ll do the worrying for this family. You need to concentrate on your exams. I will not let your father sell this house from under us. It is my house. Our home. He’s not going to get it. Okay?” She tipped his face up to hers, looking directly into his blue eyes. “Okay?” she repeated.

He gave her a weak smile. “Okay,” he said. “But I think Dad’s a real shit, Ma, and don’t yell at me for using that language.”

“Not this time,” Nora told him. “I am forced to agree with your rather astute assessment, my son.” She gave him a small smile.

J. J. grinned back. “I don’t mind if I have to stay home. You need someone to look after you,” he told her.

“You are going to college, young man,” Nora said firmly. “And I’m going to learn how to operate a computer, and take a course in how to get a job so I can support myself, and you. It’s an adventure, J. J., and I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“You are the greatest, Ma,” he replied. “I would have thought that you would have gone to pieces over this, but you haven’t. You’re real strong. You even seem happier, and you’re even starting to look different. Prettier.”

“Thanks, babe,” she said. “Now go study, and I’ll start dinner.” His words surprised her. After he had disappeared from the kitchen, she walked into the hall and looked at herself in the mirror. Was she beginning to lose weight? And her face seemed to have lost those stress lines she had been wearing for months. Nothing like a whole lot of loving to make a woman feel better, Nora thought mischievously. She could hardly wait to get to The Channel. She returned to the kitchen and began getting the supper ready for the two of them.

Afterwards she curled up in the den with a magazine, waiting, waiting for her son to go to bed. Just before midnight he came down, got himself a glass of milk, and said, “I’m going to hit the sack now, Ma. You really should go to bed yourself.”

“Good article,” she told him, waving the magazine. “I’ll be up eventually.” She heard his footsteps retreating back upstairs. She waited another hour just to be certain. Then she crept upstairs, and peeped in his room. J. J. lay deep in sleep. Taking the empty milk glass, she slipped from the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. Hurrying back downstairs, she put the glass in the dishwasher, and then almost ran into the den to turn on the television, her eager fingers punching in sixty-nine. And there was her apartment on the screen. Nora placed her hand flat against the screen, and to her vast relief was immediately in the living room.

“Kyle!” she called. “Are you here?”

He came through the open bedroom door, and Nora flew into his arms. He kissed her hungrily. “God, Nora, I missed you! You said you’d come last night.”

“I couldn’t. J. J. is home at night now. Kyle, if he came into the den now, what would he see?” she asked.

“I guess what’s here,” he told her. “I don’t really know.”

“Then I can’t stay,” Nora said. “I can’t take the chance of his seeing this.”

“Don’t go,” he begged her. “I need you, baby.”

She could see the thick ridge beneath his black silk boxers. “I need you too,” she said. “But it’s too dangerous, Kyle.”

“Look,” he began reasonably, “from the other side you can just see the living room. If we went into the bedroom and closed the door, if anyone came into your den, all they would see is the living room. And if the kid’s asleep, Nora, we have time. Is he a sound sleeper? Does he wake up in the night?”

“J. J.?” She laughed. “No. When he socks, he’s good for at least six hours.”

“Then we can take an hour for ourselves, can’t we?” he tempted. “I’ve got some very nice champagne on ice in the bedroom, and I’ve been eating raw oysters all evening waiting for you.” He pulled the sash of her robe open, and began to play with her breasts. “It would be a shame to let this go to waste,” he told her, pulling his penis from his shorts. “I want to do you, Nora. I need it. You need it too.”

She swallowed hard. She did need it. All afternoon she had been thinking about screwing him. “You’re certain if we close the bedroom door, we’ll be safe?”