One Body

As I brushed my hair back into a tight ponytail, I saw Joshua come up our driveway and ring the doorbell. God, why did my father have to be such a goofball??? Why did he have to restrict me to riding back and forth with this kiss-ass? Geeze, he acts like he was a perfect gentleman in his teenaged years. And I know for a fact that he and Mom fooled around before marriage. So I totally don’t get his hypocrisy.

I grabbed my books and went down the stairs. He was standing at the door with his car keys in hand. My father was standing right beside him. And they stood there as though I was the bride-to-be and Joshua was my fiancé. I looked him over. He wasn’t bad looking. But his close hair cut turned me completely off. And he stood to straight. Way too stiff. I like a guy who kind of stands loose, you know, the type who always leans up against something. AJ did that.

As I came closer, I started to smell his after-shave. He reeked of it. He probably swam in it just like my father did in the morning. In fact, Joshua was like my father’s “Mini Me”. They smiled at me as I reached them, and all I did was cut a small grin back.

“Monica. This is Joshua Harrowitz. Joshua, this is my beautiful daughter Monica.” My father said with a huge cheesy smile on his face. I felt sick. I had to fight every urge to run back upstairs and vomit anything swimming in my stomach from last night’s dinner.

“Well, Monica, we better get going if we’re going to make breakfast.” Joshua advised in an annoyingly chipper tone. I know I must have rolled my eyes and just followed him out to his Honda Civic, parked on the street in front of my house. He rushed ahead of me and opened the door for me. As I sat in the car and he closed the door, I looked up at my Dad who was standing in the door, proud as the day I was born. God, I wanted to puke.

Joshua got in on his side and put the key into the ignition. Then he strapped his seat belt on tightly. He looked at me, and then at my seatbelt... which was still on the side of my seat. I pulled it around and fastened it so that he would hurry up and go. The fast I got to school, the better. The faster I saw my sweet AJ, the better!

He checked all of his rear-view mirrors and then turned the radio on. I cannot believe that he was playing the news. THE NEWS! I mean, if he had played some corny ass soft rock or something, I’d have tolerated it. But the news? I’m a fan of the news and all, but only on television and in the paper. Not on the radio too! That was just a little too much.

He didn’t drive straight to school. he went to McDonald’s first for some breakfast. I usually just picked up a Muffin, an orange, and some juice from the Cafeteria. But no.... he said that he liked McDonald’s too much to skip his usual breakfast meal from there.

“So, uh, what do you want?” He asked, looking over to me before we reached the menu board.

“Sausage and egg biscuit, I guess. And some coffee.” Joshua made a goofy face when he heard me say coffee as if I were an 8-year-old asking for malt liquor in a dirty glass. I didn’t appreciate his condescension.

“Coffee? You drink coffee?” He asked.

“No, I just want to swish it around in my mouth, gargle with it, then spit it out.” I answered back. Stupid answer for a stupid question.

“Well, God, you don’t have to bite my head off. I know you aren’t pleased about my driving you around and all, but hey, your Dad asked me to. And I look up to him.” He stopped talking to me to make our orders. I pulled a five-dollar bill out of my right pocket and passed it over to him as he pulled up to the first window. He wouldn’t accept it.

“A gentleman never lets his lady friend pay.” He cooed, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black leather billfold. He pulled a crisp ten from it and gave it to the cashier. She made change and handed it back to him. Joshua pulled up a little and fitted the change into his billfold accordingly. Then he pulled up a little more to get our food. I couldn’t help from laughing at him, on the inside of course.

“Listen, lets get one thing straight. I am not your lady friend. I don’t even know you like that, see? And don’t think anything will ever go on between us, because I’m with someone else.” I informed him. He only rolled his eyes at me, which was a change in heart.

“Psh... please. McLean? That guy is just trash. He’s just using you, you know that?” Joshua scoffed. I took my food out of his bag and then I opened the car door while he was slowly approaching the exit. He stopped abruptly, but I was already out of the car.

“What the hell are you doing?” He shouted, panicked by the fact that I hopped out of his moving car.

“I’m walking. And thanks for the food.” Our school was only a few blocks from the McDonald’s. If I walked fast, I’d only be a couple minutes late. And it wasn’t like my teacher would mind anyway, I had never been late before so she wouldn’t freak out about it. Joshua wouldn’t let me get away so easy though. He only eased up beside the sidewalk and drove beside me, the same speed that I was walking.

“Please get back into the car, Monica. I’m sorry.” I merely stopped, bent over into his car window and shoved my middle finger in his face. After that, I adjusted my book bag over my shoulder in a more comfortable position and kept walking.

“I swear I won’t speak against McLean again, just get back in the car. You’re gonna make me feel awful for make you walk.” I thought about it for a second, and I knew Joshua wouldn’t let up. So I got back in. Besides, the last thing I needed was more shit from Dad.

“This is it though, if you say anything else about AJ again, I’m gonna tell me father something shitty about you.” Joshua complied and we ended up getting to school on time.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I hopped out of the car and ran up to AJ who was sitting with his friends on the steps leading up to the front doors of our school. He had a cigarette resting between his lips, and had he seen me coming, he’d have put it out. But he did not, so I put it out for him. He only smiled and pulled me down on his lap. We had a long kiss, and by the time we stopped, Joshua was standing before us.

“Problem, Preppy?” AJ asked, Shane only smiled. And T giggled.

“Monica, come on, we have to go inside. The bell’s going to ring in a few minutes.” He protested.

“The rules state that you drive me from my house to school, and from school to my house. We’re at school, and my father didn’t say anything about escorting me in the building. I go in when I want, with whomever I want.” I told him. He looked highly agitated, but he knew I wouldn’t go with him. And he also knew that staying there arguing with me would only end in his humiliation. So, like the soldier boy that he was, he turned on a dime and headed for the entrance.

When I turned back to AJ, he was sinking his teeth into my sandwich and Shane was sipping my coffee. I could only laugh at the two. If they weren’t kissing on T and I, they were stuffing their faces.

“Come on, let’s go in like Preppy said.” AJ said, and he helped me up. As we went inside, AJ started to tell me about plans he had for us. All the while, I could only think about how I was ever going to break away from my father to carry out these plans.

“My Ma’s going up north for a few days. She’s going to visit her friend from high school. I got the house to myself from today until Tuesday. And tomorrow after school, I want you to come over. We can rent some movies and I’ll even make you dinner. We’ll make a weekend of it. Just you and me, baby. How’s that sound?” It sounded like heaven. A weekend alone with AJ? Friday night to Sunday night? I thought I would melt away right then and there. But how would me father ever let me go out for a whole weekend?

“What about my Dad?” AJ thought for a moment, then a thought came to him.

“That’s easy. You’ll just tell your father that you’re going to T’s for the weekend. T can transfer all calls to her line at her house to her cell. That way when he calls, her cell will ring instead of the phone in her room. And when her cell rings, she’ll answer as if she’s at home, when she’s at my house with us. See what I mean?” AJ was amazing. Such a marvelous fabrication in so little time.

“Perfect plan, EXCEPT, he’s gonna want to talk to my Mom.” T reminded him.

“Well, we’ll just have to get Lina to pose as your Mom if he asked to meet her.” Lina was T’s older sister, who was 33. See, T’s mother had Lina at a very young age. And she later had Tyler (T’s older brother} and T when she was in her 30’s. So Lina was 16 years older than T. She could tell people she was T’s mom, and people would believe her, even though she was only in her early 30’s. Her professional appearance added years.

“Cool, I’ll call Lina tonight and tell her to stop by tomorrow. So, have your Dad bring you over to my house around 6. Think he’d let you come?” T asked.

“Yeah, he loves you. He thinks hanging with you is the best thing for me. But the problem is Josh. If my father brings this up to Josh, Josh might blab and tell him that you and AJ are friends.

“Then we’re just gonna have to keep good ol’ Josh quiet.” AJ muttered.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Third period was over, and I was in “D” Lunch with T, waiting for AJ and Shane to return from the table Josh sat at. Shane returned first. He flopped down in his seat and started bobbing his right leg up and down. I did the same thing when I was angry. T kissed his forehead and asked him what was wrong. He only pointed at AJ who returned to the table later.

AJ sat next to me and started to explain what had just happened at Josh’s table, and why Shane was so pissed off at him.

“We came to an agreement. He’s gonna keep quiet about everything you and I do. And he’s gonna play dumb about our weekend plans on one condition. Shane and I have to join ROTC.” Shane crossed him arms tightly then. You could tell he was gritting his teeth, for you could see his jaw moving through his cheeks. His nostrils flared and he rolled his eyes at AJ. T only smiled and tried to hold in her laughter. But then the thought of laid-back Shane and AJ in tight black uniforms was too much for her to control. She tossed her head back in a hearty laughter, and Shane’s eyes widened at her as if to say “why the hell are you finding this funny?” It was then I understood how they could comprehend all of Shane’s thoughts. His eyes and facial expressions said so very much. AJ and T could hold long conversations with him with him speaking a single syllable. I found it quite amusing.

“And you actually agreed to that?” Shane nodded his head enthusiastically, then rolled his eyes again.

“Well, why does Shane have to do it to?” Shane quickly leaned in on the table, toward AJ, very much wanting to hear AJ’s explanation.

“Josh wanted two recruits. And he wants both of us under his command. He’s just going through a weird power trip. But it’s not that bad. It’s worth it. For you, I’d do anything.” I couldn’t help myself. I took his face in my hands and kissed him in front of everyone there. Shane looked up at T and expected the same thing for his sacrifice, but she still had too much pinned up laughter inside, and it came out just as he looked at her with those sad eyes. When she started her second laughing fit, he only lowered his head and shook it in annoyance. Not with T though, with AJ for getting him into this mess.

~*~*~*~*~*~


My father lowered his glasses only to look up at me with a doubtful gaze. All I could hear was the Grandfather clock in the corner of his office ticking, ticking, ticking. I wanted to break it, because it only intensified the anticipation I was going through having to wait for his answer. I had asked him about “going to T’s house for the weekend.” And he had yet to answer. I knew what he was thinking. I was on punishment, why should he let me go out and have a fun weekend with a friend.

“Who else will be there?” He asked me, sitting back in his leather desk chair.

“Just T and I. No one else.” He sighed and looked at me deeply. Probably trying to detect any lies. I tried not to stare directly at him, but I knew that if I looked away too much, he’d know something was up. So I stood there, looking right back into my father’s eyes. God, if he didn’t hurry up and give me an answer soon, I was going to fall to me knees and confess!

“Ok... I’ll let you go. But I’ll need to speak with Tara’s parents first.” I jumped up in excitement and hopped over to him, giving him a huge hug. I must admit, I felt like shit for disobeying my father that way. For lying to him. I respected my father. He loved me so much and he only wanted what was best for me. I just wish he could see how much I love AJ, and how right we are for each other. AJ needs me. I don’t know exactly why I feel that way, but he needs me in his life. For some reason I feel as though he would sink if things fell apart between us. Again, I don’t know why.

I ran upstairs and threw a few more things into my blue Polo duffel bag. I made sure I packed the cutest underwear sets I owned. I wouldn’t be caught dead in Grandma draws in front of AJ. Even though I doubt he’d care... I wanted to look extra special for him this weekend. I wanted to make him fall to his knees.

When I went back down the stairs, my father was waiting for me in the car. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. That night would change my life, forever.

The ride to T’s house was pretty silent. My father really didn’t speak much at all. I had no complaints about this, of course. When we pulled into T’s driveway, she opened the door and waited for my Dad and I to get out of the car and come in. T turned her head back and looked up the stairs.

“Hey, Mom! Monica and her Dad are here.” T shouted, then she looked at me and winked. Lina came down the stairs in dark blue slacks, a blue shirt, and black slippers. All of which she got from their mother’s “house clothes” drawer. She came up to my Dad and held out her hand, my father smiled and shook it.

“You’re Tara’s mother?” My father asked. Both T and I held our breaths.

“Yes, I’m Mrs. Duran. How are you this evening?” Lina asked. She even had one of T’s mother’s diamond rings on to pose as a wedding ring. Had I not known what T’s mom really looked like, I’d have fallen for it. I mean, hey, some mothers really do look that young. And let’s face it, Lina and the real Mrs. Duran looked like sisters.

“I’m doing well, how are you?” Lina smiled and nodded, signifying that she was doing quite well.

“I’m hanging in there. I’ve been swamped with work for the past 2 weeks. I don’t know how I made it through. Thanks God I have five days off.” Lina explained. And she did, the real Mrs. Duran did not. In fact, she was working as Lina spoke.

“And you’re sure it’s alright for Monica to stay here all weekend?” Daddy asked.

“Sure! It’s fine. They’ll be no bother. Tamera rented some movies earlier. I’m sure they’ll just sit and watch those all night, swap secrets... generally act like little kids again.” Lina patted T’s cheek, trying her best to seem motherly. And Daddy was swallowing every bit of it. I almost felt like falling over and laughing at how perfect this was working.

“Ok, well, I’ll be going. If there’s any trouble, Monica knows how to reach me. And she gave me your phone number here, so I may check on her time to time... she knows why.” My father looked at me crossly. Then he kissed my forehead, bade farewell to all of us, and left for home. As soon as the door was shut, Lina pulled her hair out of a ponytail and her maternal smile faded.

“You guys owe me big time. I’m too old for these high school pranks.” She mumbled, then she grinned and hit T on the arm playfully. She trotted back up the stairs and into her old bedroom.

T and I didn’t wait long to get into her car and drive over to AJ’s. And I couldn’t wait to see him. As she drove, she told me to transfer her calls over to her cell phone. I did so, and by the time I had finished, we were sitting in front of AJ’s house. It was an old house, but in top shape. It was big too. No bigger than T’s though. But it’s style made it look bigger. It was the type of house people rent out in sections. The kind broken into three separate apartments. I could see one light on in 4 windows on the top floor. That must have been AJ’s room.

T and I got out of the car and went up to the front door. He had a big front porch. A country swing was built in, suspended from the canopy over the porch. In fact, the whole place had a country feel to it. It reminded me of my younger days in North Carolina. Our house there looked something like this. Except we didn’t have palm trees in the front yard. Only Oaks and other trees such as that.

T didn’t bother to knock or ring the bell. She only sifted through the keys on her key chain and when she found the right one, we were inside AJ’s house and on our way up the stairs.

On the second floor, there was a beautifully decorated sitting room. Across from it was AJ’s mother’s room. She had a fireplace there, and a mantle with many pictures sitting on and mounted above it. There were lots of AJ, some as a baby, and some as he is now. And his mother, Denise... she was gorgeous. I could see so much of him in her. She had kind eyes, a warm smile, and soft Spanish eyes. I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

“I’ll introduce you to her when she comes back home. I’ve already told her so much about you. She’s anxious about meeting you too. Hey... listen to the message she sent me earlier.” He went over to the side of her bed and sat down. Then he played the message his mother left while he was in school.

“Hello there, Alex. I know I should be waiting until you get home to call, but there is no telling when I’ll get back in, so I’ll just leave a message. Things are just fine here. Mary says hello. Is everything running smoothly there? My house is still in one piece, is it not? It had better be, mister. And if Monica does happen to stop by, behave yourself. I mean it, Alex. I’m too young to be a grandmother.” She giggled for a second. “Alright, sweetie, call me either tonight or tomorrow morning. I love you hun. Bye-bye.” The machine beeped and AJ grinned. I could tell by looking at him that he loved his mother very much. Just hearing the sound of her voice made him smile.

“I can’t wait to meet her.” I said. He got up from the bed and kissed me for the first time that day.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.” He whispered. As we turned to go, we saw Shane and T on the sofa across from Denise’s room. They were kissing frantically and groping each other like the end of the world was coming and they had to spend their last minutes as best they could. AJ only shook his head at the sight and proceeded to lead my up to the third floor. The top floor. His floor.

“There were three main rooms up there. One was his bedroom, another was a small lounge room with a big TV and his stereo system. A part of that lounge room was a miniature kitchen. A stove, a small over, a microwave, a sink, and a fridge. I was impressed. He and I could live up there if we wanted to!

I expected for his room to be covered in posters of half naked girls and things like that. But no, there were no posters. The walls were bare. And they were painted a dark gray, which went great with the black décor in the room. I sat on his bed and he pulled my shoes of, tossing them into his open closet. Then he got up and went across the hall to the sitting room/kitchen. When he returned, he had a bottle of champagne and two champagne glasses. I know I must have been cheesing from ear to ear then.

He popped the cork and the bubbles cascaded over his hand. He poured a glass for me first, then one for himself. I took a sip, and before I could take the glass away from my lips, he was kissing my ear lobe and pulling out my ponytail. Once my hair fell to my back, he combed through it with his fingers. I felt like a goddess.

“Wait a second...” He whispered. Then he got up and reached into his nightstand drawer. He pulled a lighter out and began lighting candles around the room. I sat there in silence, not quite believing what was happening. The whole moment was so perfect. I wondered whether it could even get better. It could.

When he finished lighting candles, he turned the lights out and turned his stereo on low. He had already burned a mixed CD, and the first song was Butterflyz by Alicia Keys. I closed my eyes, and I was in heaven. Only AJ would know how deeply the soft sounds of a piano can put me in a zone that I’m not easily brought out of.

He sat next to me and let his lips explore my collarbone while he unbuttoned my shirt. All I could do was breathe deep and try to control my own trembling.

He pushed my shirt off of my shoulders and then pulled it off completely. Then he went for my bra, unfastening it from the back, then pushing it aside.

“Lie back.” He breathed in my ear. And I did so. As my head hit the pillow, I could smell his cologne on the sheets. Just lightly. Anything that smelled like my beloved was pleasing to me. I watched him as he took his shirt off and dropped it on the floor beside himself. Then he crawled closer to me on the bed, hovering over me, and looking over my body hungrily.

I undid the button on my jeans and then unzipped them slowly. AJ finished the job by grabbing hold to either side of my jeans and pulling them down. I lifted up a little so that he could pull them off with ease. It was then I noticed he was pulling my panties along with them.

Once all of my clothing was out of the way, and I was lying there nude before him, he ran his soft hands up my thighs, my stomach, my sides... over my breasts, and back down again. He got on top of me and continued kissing me in various places around my neck and jawbone. Though his warm chest felt good against mine, I wanted to feel even more of his flesh. I pushed his baggy jeans down, without having to loosen them, and AJ managed to work his way out of them entirely so that we were both naked and closer than we had ever been.

He pulled the sheets over our exposed bodies and then reached over for a condom in his drawer. He tore it open with his fingers, not his teeth, and for some reason it seemed more appropriate. It showed me that he was ok with taking his time with me. And I liked that.

When he finished, he looked into my eyes and smiled a warm smile.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked me. I took a deep breath and answered him.

“I’ve never been more sure in my life.” He smiled again and I felt him spread my legs a little wider and wrap them around his legs. I could feel his growing erection pressing against the lips of what had been unknown to a man’s touch up until then. AJ reached between us to guide himself within me. At first I felt calm and relaxed, especially when his fingers stopped near my clit to heat me up a little. Then, all at once, I felt tense and shocked from the sharp pain.

I screamed out. Not in agony, but just in surprise. I dug my nails into AJ’s back accidentally, but he didn’t flinch. He only pushed forward a little more, and I tensed up a little more. I could feel my maidenhead tear as he slid every inch of himself inside of me. Then he pulled back, lessening the pain. That’s when his slow and steady thrusts began, allowing me to get used to the feeling of penetration.

“Are you ok?” He whispered, breathing just as heavily as I was now.

“Mm-mm” I answered, not able to form words just yet. I had both of my hands up near my head, clenching the fabric of the pillowcases. AJ saw that and reached up to interlock his fingers with mine, allowing me to clench his hands instead. I felt a tear roll from my eye down my cheek. AJ kissed it away, and it made me want to cry all the more. But I was so overcome with bliss that my cries came out as moans. Deep, lusty moans. Sounds I had never made before. Sounds only AJ could draw from me.

I was no longer the geeky girl who had never been kissed. I was in love. I was loved. AJ meant everything to me. And now, he and I were one body.


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