I heard the guys open the door and they joined us on the court.
“Who let you out of the kitchen runt. Why don’t you get your ass back inside and help Mom finish cooking my dinner.”
“Do you want one turd in your soup tonight Todd, or two?”
The boys busted up laughing again as I opened the door. I turned and snuck one more look at Anthony before going back inside to help Mom.
**********
The next day was Saturday and like usual, I was procrastinating. I had some homework that I should be doing, but instead, I was watching TV and enjoying the peace and quiet of having the house to myself. My brothers were outside in the pool, my mom had gone to the market, and my dad was at work. That was probably the best thing about having a pool in our backyard. If my brothers were outside splashing around and dunking each other, they weren’t inside picking on me.
I was flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch when I was interrupted by a knock at the front door.
Probably another of my brother’s mongoloid friends who had come over to foul our pool.
I opened the front door.
“Hi Melanie,” Anthony said in a gentle voice.
“Hi Anthony, it’s great to see you again,” I said sweetly, “come in.”
He gave me a quizzical look.
“It’s… Ummm… nice to see you too Melanie.”
“All my friends call me Mel.”
“Okay,” he said, as we exchanged nervous smiles in the doorway.
I studied his face; he looked so anxious and apprehensive.
This might be tougher than I thought.
“Your brothers… Ummm… invited me over to swim, are they around?”
“Yeah they’re out back in the pool, but you look really hot, would you like some iced tea?”
He gave me another confused look and then quickly scanned the perimeter, no-doubt looking for my brothers. Thankfully, it was impossible to see into the backyard from the foyer.
“Ummm… Yeah, I guess so.”
He followed me into the kitchen.
“Have a seat at the table, while I get the tea.”
I could feel his eyes on me as I filled the glasses with ice from the door of the refrigerator, and then poured the tea from the large pitcher.
I handed him the glass and then sat down beside him.
“So, how are your classes going?”
“Okay, stop. You’re freaking me out.”
“How am I freaking you out?
“You know… this… this whole thing.”
“I can’t get one of my brother’s friends a glass of iced tea and ask him how he’s doing?”
“You’ve never said more than two nice words to me since I’ve known you… and…”
“And what?”
“And just being in a room alone with you, that’s enough to get my ass kicked if your brothers knew, so you had better start telling me what this is about.”
I look down sheepishly.
“I want to learn about sex.”
“And you want me to teach you? Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”
“What’s so wrong with you teaching me?”
“This whole thing is wrong, on so many levels.”
I gave him a few moments to calm down; agitating him like this wasn’t going to get me what I wanted.
“First off, I have a girlfriend, do you know that?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well, I can assure you, she wouldn’t think much of this conversation.”
That brought a little smile to our faces, so I knew I still had a chance.