Adam's Journey

*****

Stormy,
For me, bad idea. In my head, all of them are older, Kristi is blonder, with bigger breasts and looks less cute and more sexy. Kori is also more mature, less innocent looking, as is Tiff. The thing is we all have our own image by now. I can remember when you first started this story, you posted a picture of 'Kristi & Kori', quite different again.

Your writing encourages our minds to fill the gaps in within the scenes you write. When Adam licks Kristi's nipple, we can 'see' it, the colour, the size, the texture. We can even taste it. And all of us are seeing and tasting something slightly different, something which is perfect - for us. Your pictures are hot, but they can never compete with the perfection of your characters as we (and you) see them.

Try it yourself; close your eyes and imagine a main character from one of GH's stories. You already have an idea what she looks like. Now, do you really think that GH could come up with that exact picture ?

I think GH has said in the past that he sometimes has pictures (usually of porn stars) downloaded in various scenes so that he can get some of the detail of them and sex scenes into his writing, as memory aid. Even then, when he may be writing about an actual permister, we 'see' someone slightly different.

Storm,

Peak's right.

I originally started writing captioned pics. Alcale was my hero. I feel like he was the first master. Since then there have been others. Prissy and Timmy27 are both masters of the genre.

In my first stories I always included pics. Brenda was Stephanie Wylde, Sandra was Liz Honey, Julie was Stacy Thorn and April was Tiffany Diamond. Anyone who doesn't know these pornstars can easily find them at freeones.com.

While I still use pornstars as inspiration, I stopped including pictures and later stopped making reference to them.

for the record, Kagny Lynn Karter was Kelly and in my newest story, Sasha Grey is Katie.

I stopped including pictures and even making references because Peak is right. As writers, our job is to ignite the imagination. We lay the foundation for the images, but for each of us the character is going to be different because of our individual experiences.

I am in love with Kristi and I know exactly who she is. She is a tall slender ash blond who I had a crush on when I was a freshman in college.

Sandra will always be Liz Honey to me, but that's because we grew together as I wrote that story. I don't think Liz Honey, as delightful as I think she is, should necessarily be the image of Sandra to everyone else.

Storm, Peak is right. Your magnificent writing fires our imagination, but you should let us take it from there.

GH

Thanks. You guys know how much I value your input and opinions. The reamisters you articulated are the very ones that prevented me from putting in photos for so long, but then I saw some shots in the zillions that the generous subhub puts up for everyone to enjoy that made me think of some of the ladies in this story.

Just because they resemble the women in my mind's eye does not mean that they would work as well for everyone, as you each stated so well - and so tactfully! It was an experiment - and in truth, none of them was EXACTLY the woman I had imagined either - but close! The girl I had up as Tiff, in particular, expressed that toughness/vulnerability that she so much displays - but that was just to me, in my mind. I guess I'll let everyone else keep the women they have grown to know and love.

I would try caps sometime - except by now everyone knows I can't write anything that short and succinct!

Another truly masterful segment.

There are only a few talented writers on here who can hold everyone's interest without throwing in a bunch of sex stuff, and you're definitely one of those who can pull it off. That was very well done Stormy, I felt like I was right there at the cookout, I could almost smell the delicious food. Thank you. I'm still guessing as to how this all turns out, and that's exactly what I like about the way you weave a story together. So many likely and then unlikely combinations, no telling where it's going.

Take care,

TrF2

Stomy,
Another great segment! Tits is right. The story line keeps us coming back for more. I really appreciate your talent and look forward to each entry.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
JJ.

Storm

Earlier I was wondering where you were going with this, but I think I'm beginning to understand. I am very eager to see the next segments.

Thanks again for you wonderful writing

GH

Stormy,

I'm with Trf2, I can almost always come close to the path a story will take, you are full of surprises and I love it.

Will GH share his best guess?

RidgeRover

Stormy,

I'm with Trf2, I can almost always come close to the path a story will take, you are full of surprises and I love it.

Will GH share his best guess?

RidgeRover

Timmy, jj, and RidgeRover, thanks. I do appreciate the comments and that you keep reading. It's very good to know! By the way jj, I think proper English would be "tits are right"! Oh, wait, I see what you meant!

Trf2, thanks. I DID warn everyone that it might be awhile before it got hot again! Although, I do hope it will get very hot when it does - I have that scene all worked out!

GH, thanks. Do me a favor and send me a note on that so that we'll both know, 'cause I'm totally lost! (No, not really)
______________________________________________________________________ ________





I started by giving her the short version of Izzy, from younghood friend, to friend with benefits, and on to friend in need, and, strolling slowly, that’s where we were when we rejoined the others at the fire. Nick looked at us a bit oddly – as might be expected when a man you barely know walks up with his arm around your wife. Come to think of it, Kristi also seemed to find it curious, so I suppose the reverse is also true. Nevertheless, we separated there, her to rejoin her husband and me to sit between Kristi and Tiff, who had to move a little to make room for me.

Ronnie got up and came back with a Scotch and a cigar for me – he, Nick, and Pops were already enjoying the same combination – and I thanked him, sipping the Scotch and tucking the cigar into my shirt pocket. While I will occasionally enjoy a good cigar – and Ronnie buys only good cigars – I have to be in the right mood, and at that moment I was not. Alisha looked around at what everyone was takeing – K had what looked to be a gin and tonic, Tiff was nursing a beer, slowly peeling off the label, and Kristi had her favorite, a Baileys over ice, this time in a plastic cup. When Alisha chose the same thing that Kristi was having, for some reamister it did not surprise me. Ron stepped over to our make-shift bar to pour for her.

As I began to explain about Paul being rendered sterile by his illness, Pops interrupted me. “Wait…so you’re saying that this guy, the husband of your old girlfriend, gets sick and is now impotent, and they want you to…”

“No, no, he’s not impotent! He can still get it up; he’s just sterile, shooting blanks.” I had actually forgotten that he didn’t know the whole story, since everyone else in our little group did, and I had been trying to explain it to Alisha, first, and then Nick. “Really y’all, he got pretty sick, but it would have been no big deal - he recovered completely except for that - but they still wanted more kids.”

Alisha looked across at me, the reflection of the flames flickering in her eyes. “So, go on. How did they come to ask you?”

“Actually, that was a little weird, to be honest with you. When they finally figured out that he was the reamister she wasn’t getting pregnant, they talked it over, and since he and I look somewhat alike, and since we were already friends…”

Kristi cut in on me “And since Adam was already fucking her…”

I cringed a little, but Nick’s eyebrows went up, and he laughed, and my good buddy Ronnie joining him. Nick looked at me, still chuckling. “Well, now this is starting to get interesting!”

“Hey, to be fair, I was divorced at the time, and hadn’t met Kristi yet! It’s not like I was cheating on anyone!”

Kristi nudged me. “No, as long as we ignore the fact that she’s married, and that you were also doing her while you were married, and that you are still screwing her now, then the whole baby-making thing doesn’t seem so bad! Almost noble, really!”

Alisha butted in next. “Uh-oh! Look, I didn’t mean to poke the hornet’s nest, like I said earlier. We can move on if you like.”

Kristi shook her head. “No, it’s OK – really! I just have to bust his balls a little bit when I have the chance. When I first found out about it I was very hurt – mostly that he hadn’t told me – but once I stopped to think I realized that he did a very generous thing.”

Kori joined her; “Yeah, I was touched when he told us about it. I think it was a very sweet thing to do!” Tiff just reached over and squeezed my hand.

Ronnie snorted. “Oh come on! You’re trying to make him out to be some kind of saint or something! Damn, it’s not like she asked him to snake out her sewer line or put a new roof on her house or something – he got to fuck a beautiful, sexy woman, knock her up, and not have to spend the next twenty years paying to raise the little ankle-biter! What guy wouldn’t be all over that deal?” He was laughing as he said it, and Pops was roaring. He smacked Ronnie on the back and Ronnie turned and fist-bumped him. I was pretty proud to be the source of their hilarity – again!

I just hung my head, letting them all laugh at Ron’s cleverness, until Nick focused on what he’d said. “Wait, wait – so you didn’t just go somewhere and work up a squirt into a beaker? You actually screwed her to get her pregnant? What the hell did her husband say about that?”

Totally deadpan, I answered “He was happy. It was a lot cheaper that way – no fertility clinic.”

He stared at me for a moment, until he realized I was yanking his chain, and then shook his head. “I should have known better than to ask...”

I laughed. “Sorry. Actually, it was sort of Paul’s idea that we do it that way. He felt like a lab was no place to start a new life, and he was already aware that Izzy and I were…intimate.”

Kristi laughed. “Intimate – that’s a nice euphemism! What he means is that they had an ongoing affair, for many years, and she had somehow managed to convince Paul that her affair with Adam was perfectly normal – he actually goes along with it, with them getting together!”

Nick just looked at me. I shrugged. “Almost never – she lives far away, and if we’re lucky we see each other maybe twice a year. Still, you’d have to know Izzy to understand. She can be extremely persuasive – and Paul is a confident guy, he knows how much she loves him and their boys. I mean, she loves me too, and I love her, but not in the same way that he and Izz love each other – or me and Kristi either, for that matter. It’s just different – Izzy’s more like a sister to me.”

Pops shook his head. “Son, that’s a disturbing thought.”

That brought renewed laughter all around, and I joined them, objecting at the same time. “No, I said she’s LIKE a sister – and in some ways she is – but she’s not my sister! We’re not engaging in any unnatural acts.”

Kristi leaned over and kissed me. “If I know you, I’ll bet you’re engaging in a few that are illegal in some states!”

“Well…yeah, that may be true. Anyhow, to make a long story slightly longer, they have three beautiful boys – the youngest, Cody, is obviously the one I put in my two cents worth on – and they’re very happy.”

Kristi wrapped her arm through mine and grabbed my hand. “Of course, he left out the part about them wanting one more young, and asking for his, uhh, contribution again.”

That seemed to pique Alisha’s interest, after she had sat silently listening for quite awhile. “Really? Why do you suppose they asked you again?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, same reamisters as before, I suppose. Paul and I look alike, Izzy and I are close already, yada, yada – plus, then their two youngest will be actual full brothers – or brother and sister, maybe. That’s actually one reamister they’re doing it, is to take one last shot at having a little girl to round out their brood.”

Alisha continued her questioning. “And is it going to be the same thing this time, nature’s way, or are you doing artificial?”

“Same as before, I guess. As long as everyone is on board for that, otherwise I’ll do the jar thing. We haven’t really worked that out yet.”

She looked at Kristi. “How would you feel about that?”

Kristi smiled. “I don’t see any reamister that they shouldn’t just do it the normal way – I mean, they do have this ongoing thing already – and Paul is right, it should all start in a warm, loving place, not in a lab. Besides, Adam is uniquely equipped to place his contribution to best advantage.”

I had just taken a sip of my Scotch when she said that, and now I fetishd on it. It was a less than professional spit-take, since most of it dribred down my chin as I spluttered. I couldn’t believe she had said that! Alisha looked at me appraisingly as several of the others laughed at my reaction. Kori was the first to break in. “Oooh, I can vouch for the truth of that!”

Tiff backed her up. “Yeah, having seen it, it does seem as though that would be an effective way to get the seed to the garden!”

I was beginning to get a little tired of being the object of most of the humor – until Nick put it in perspective for me. “Well, if the ladies are going to give you a ration of cuckolds brownie about something, better that than the opposite, right? I gotta ask though, does this Paul guy stay and watch you knock up his wife, or does he just turn her over to you and go out to the den and watch TV?”

I laughed. “Neither, actually. You’d have to know Paul, but the idea of him wanting to watch is crazy. He‘s totally straight laced, just really kind of a simple, normal nice guy. I guess you’d call him a prude. He stayed home with the kids, and Izz and I went and had a good dinner, and a few glasses of wine, then went to a nice hotel. I tried to make it… I don’t know, memorable, I guess, nice, sort of romantic…” I paused, glancing at Kristi. I was worried about how she would take that, but she was just watching me, a small smile on her face.

“And then you banged the crap out of her, right?” Ronnie! I should have known I could count on Ronnie to class things up!

Kristi shut him up with an icy look, and then looked back into my eyes. “No, and then he made gentle, beautiful love to her, and they made a baby together, for her and her husband – because that’s the way Adam would do it. And I have no right to ask him to do anything less, because that’s the man I fell in love with.”

Alisha sniffed, and swiped at her eyes. “That’s a really nice story. I’m kind of glad I brought it out after all, and that you two are so accepting of each other.”

Tiff nodded. “Yeah, he has a way about him. I can see why Kristi puts up with him - I almost bit his head off when I first met him, but an hour later we were like best friends.” She grinned. “A little awkward sometimes, maybe, but he always seems to land on his big feet!”

Kori just caught my eye and gave me a smile and a wink. Ronnie wasn’t done yet, and he shook his head. “You know, it’s incredible how when it comes to women you can step in cuckolds brownie and come up with roses on your feet. I just don’t get it!”

I laughed. “What can I say Ronnie – it’s like you and money, it just seems to fall in your lap.”

“Hey, I work very hard for my money!”

“Yeah, and I work very hard to be this lovable! You think it’s easy acting like a big, clumsy, helpless puppy so the women will all feel sorry for me? It’s not, trust me!” This was fun, relaxing and sharing stories with friends, most of them laughing at me and Ron and our friendly, comfortable banter.

With my tale told, we set about freshening takes all around and getting comfortable, tossing a little more wood on the fire. It was a beautiful night, the fire perfect for holding the night chill at bay. Down the beach we could see the kids sitting around their fire, a brief fountain of sparks rising into the sky as someone tossed on another log.

As we all slowly filtered back to the fire, I watched Alisha sit very near Pops, almost at his feet, and he reached out and touched her shoulder, just for a moment. She looked back at him and smiled, and he smiled in return. I ended up between Kori and Ron, with Kristi next to Kori and Tiff between Ronnie and Nick. We formed a small semi-circle facing the fire and the lake beyond, with the upper beach and rising cliff at our backs. There was a slight off-shore breeze, so what little smoke there was carried away from us.

I leaned forward and looked over at Nick. “Nick, you and Alisha have alluded several times to you being gone a lot – are you still in the service?”

Kori further encouraged him. “Yeah, we’ve been hogging the stage talking about Adam. Tell us about you two!”

Stormy,
After giving this some thought, I think Tits are Great! and I agree that tits r fun! Just a little humor!
JJ.

Stormy,
You did it again. Great writing. Great story. Thanks.

Thanks guys. I appreciate you hanging with me. Like I said, I know it's been a little dry - so to speak - but it will come into play later, I promise. Still have a little to tell about our new friends, but I'm getting there!
______________________________________________________________________ ______




Nick shook his head. “OK, but I don't want to bore you - and to answer you Adam, no, I’m retired. Thirty-two years was enough for me, I bailed on ‘em at fifty.”

Alisha looked at him and smiled, then shook her head as if dismissing a lost cause. “What he doesn’t tell you is that he now works as a private contractor, as a consultant to the Army, so it’s not as though he put it all behind him.”

He grinned at her. “Well, we did agree on me doing that, it’s not like I made a unilateral decision.” He looked around at the rest of us. “Ten times the money and a ninety percent less chance of getting my ass shot off – it seemed like a good move.”

Pops grunted. “The Army, huh? What in the hell made you pick the Army?”

Nick actually laughed rather than taking offense. “Well, let’ see; eighteen years of growing up on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin, rolling out before daylight every day to milk cows, shovel out stalls, me and my dad, two brothers and four sisters working our asses off to keep the farm going, and freezing my balls off every winter in America’s version of Siberia – I just wanted to go someplace warm for a change.” That was the most words any of us had ever heard him string together at one time. Turned out he wasn’t quite finished. “As it worked out, Vietnam was plenty fucking warm!”

Pops looked at him. “You were in ‘Nam? I’d of figured that was before your time.”

Nick shook his head. “Nope, not that lucky. It was toward the end, but I enjoyed my twentieth and twenty-first birthdays there; it was a fucking barrel of laughs. You?”

“Mmm, yeah, but I was in the Navy. We dealt with some cuckolds brownie, but not like you guys. What unit were you in?”

“The Tenth, eventually – we sure did love your flyboys though, they saved our butts more than once.”

I saw Tiff turn and look at Pops. “You were in the Navy? You never mentioned that! How could I not know that?”

He shook his big head. “It’s the past, it’s over. Besides, I couldn’t take it as long as Nick did; I got out after twenty years.” He turned back to Nick. “You said the Tenth – as in Tenth Special Forces Group?”

Nick looked surprised. “Yeah! You know it?”

Pops shook his head again. “Nah, I know about it, a little. We worked with the SEALs sometimes and you guys all talk about each other. It’s a pretty small community, what you guys do.”

Kori put her hand on my knee and leaned around me to look at Pops. “Pops, you were in the SEALs?”

Pops deep laugh rang out over the lake. “No girl, I said we worked with them, had them on-board sometimes, did transport, retrieval, logistics, that kind of stuff. This fat boy don’t be jumpin’ out of no perfectly good airplanes, or slidin’ down no ropes hangin’ outta helicopters, no ma’am, my momma didn’t raise her no fools!’ Everybody was laughing at him. “Me in the SEALs, that be fucked up! They’d of had to have ‘em a walrus platoon, or elephant seals or sumthin! Shee-it! Wetsuits in my size – that ain’t no pretty picture! I be washin’ up on the beach, folks be tryin’ to keep me wet and roll me back in the ocean!”

I was laughing along with the rest of them. When Pops gets rolling he can be hilariously funny, as I had previously discovered, and he doesn’t hesitate to poke a little fun at himself – or anyone else, for that matter! At the same time though, Nick’s reference to the Tenth – and Pops subsequent observation about it being Special Forces – rang a little bell in my head, and I knew why the way Nick moved and watched things looked so familiar. I didn’t know The Tenth either – but I knew of it, if only because they were based at Ft. Carmister, and I’d seen his type before.

When I had spent over a year and a half of my life doing post-graduate work in that part of the state, and particularly in the area around Fort Carmister, I had met some soldiers from The Tenth, and had shared a take with them on a few occasions. When you’ve been climbing around in the hills all week, it’s kind of nice to get into town and maybe hit a bar on the weekend – or it had been when I was in my early twenties – and in Canon City or the south end of Colorado Springs, that usually meant hangin’ with the Army.

I had shot more than one game of pool with guys wearing OD green and various camo, and there was always something a little different about the guys from Special Forces; they didn’t talk about it, but they told you if you asked what they did, and all they ever said was “Special Forces”, or sometimes “SF Airborne”, which I finally asked about to find out what they meant. They were usually quiet, cliquish, and supremely confident guys; they didn’t walk with a swagger or anything like that – they didn’t have to, they knew they were the best. Not always best at the pool table necessarily, which is why I could often play a good part of an evening away, but otherwise very self-assured, no-fear kind of guys. That, I guess, is what I had been seeing in Nick – and my instincts had been right; he probably could be a very dangerous man.

Kori turned her attention to Nick. “But you were in Special Forces? Is that like Delta Force?”

He laughed. “More like Delta House, sometimes! Don’t buy all that Delta Force stuff you see in the movies – for us it was usually about ninety percent training and waiting mixed in with about nine percent active and one percent of being terrified and figuring you were about to die. Those Delta guys are a lot more specialized than we were though; they focus primarily on anti-terror, protecting VIP’s, hostage rescue, and quick-strike kind of stuff - still mostly waiting and training though, like us.”

Kori pressed him, seemingly very interested. “So then what exactly was it you did?”

He smiled at her, shaking his head. “Well, I hope you’ll understand that I can’t tell you ‘exactly’ what it was. Really we try not to talk about it much at all, but since I’ve been out for eight years I won’t give away anything current.” He paused, as if thinking about what to say, or how to put it. “Broadly, it’s called ‘unconventional warfare’, although in these days of terrorism, insurgency, and IED’s most warfare fits that description. We worked quietly as much as possible, behind the scenes; recon, intelligence gathering, working with the friendly locals to train and equip them to fight for themselves, establishing networks of friendlies. Occasionally taking out some insurgents or other thug gang before they could do it to our guys. Loosely speaking, that kind of thing.”

I had the sense he was downplaying the actual danger of what he did, and now he had my curiosity piqued. “Where all did you serve? In thirty plus years, you must have gotten around!”

He laughed. “You could say that – again though, I can’t be real specific. Some of the places we were, we never officially were, you see. All the best garden spots though, the usual tourist destinations; North Africa and the Horn, the Middle East of course, and Central America, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe in the nineties. I was *****ry in Vietnam, didn’t move to Special Forces until almost the end, about my twenty-second birthday. My tour was about up, but they talked me into trying to get through the special training to join The Tenth, and I was like a duck to water. The rest, as they say, is history.”

I nodded. “Wow! Well, it’s not much, but thanks for your service. I appreciate it – we all do.” The others joined in, agreeing and thanking him. He seemed more than a little embarrassed. Ronnie turned to Alisha. “Our thanks to you too, and your kids. We owe you so much for what you gave up, not having him around, always wondering if you would ever see him again. I can’t even imagine what that…” he got all fetishd up and couldn't complete his sentence. Just when I start to think Ronnie is a total lost cause he always redeems himself by doing something really classy. I guess that’s why we love the abrasive little bugger!

Kori finished for him. “Yes Alisha, thanks for letting our country have your man for awhile. Now you enjoy him from here on out.”

She smiled. “I plan to. It’s been good to have him around more the last several years, and the kids have finally gotten a chance to find out what a wonderful man their man is. His current job doesn’t keep him away nearly as much.”

Pops looked from Alisha to Nick. “Yeah, what is it you do now?”

Nick shook his head. “Well, again, I can’t tell you very much, or…”

Tiff cut in “Yeah, I know - ‘or you’ll have to shoot us’.”

Nick laughed. “Yes, well, I suppose that would be one solution. I was going to say ‘or I could get in a lot of trouble’, but I suppose shooting you could also work. Actually I wouldn’t mind shooting the guys, but somehow shooting such beautiful women would seem like such a waste.”

Alisha laughed. “Ah, ever the gallant soldier! Stop hitting on them and tell them what you do that makes you so much money instead of those measly old Army wages.”

He chuckled. “Now, now dear! We had three great kids and raised them partly on those measly wages.” He looked at us again. “I’m a liaimister between industry and the military, weapons development, procurement, and training for our men. I try to make sure all facets work together – and that’s about as detailed as I can get.” He nodded toward Alisha. “You should ask her about her life, it’s really much more interesting – and she can actually talk about it!” That brought a round of laughter, and he waited for it to quiet down before continuing. “Ask her how a peace-loving, flower-young hippie like she was ever decided that she loved a lonely soldier home on leave – because I’m still dying to know that one myself!”

Stormy,
Character buildup makes your stories great. It keeps us coming back to watch the developments. At some point you could spin some of the past characters into another story on in some cases I suspect they will re enter stage left. Great Work Stormy! I enjoy the story lines!
JJ.

Storm great stuff as usual. Also you fooled me again - LOL. Your first description of Nick, my thought was Mafia.
Special powers never entered my mind.

Thanks Stormy. I can't wait for this party to get started. Continued best wishes.

TrF2

Time for a bump - Hope you're OK Stormy.

Storm

The Odyssey continues and I'm loving every sentence of it. That segment where Adam talks about maning a young with Izzy might be some of the best writing you've ever done and that's saying alot.

The comversational give and take in all of these scenes is outstanding. As always, I am in awe of your s*******. Thanks for writing.

GH

Well worth the wait. Thanks Storm

Stormy,
Another great segment. You have brought Adam a long way! I truly enjoy your work
Thank You
JJ.

Stormy's back on the boat. Yeah!

Hey, I think I've got the sex party figured out. Adam, Ronnie and Pops are going to make Alisha air tight. Wow, I'd like to see pictures of that-wonder who gets which hole? Nick, Kristi, Kori and Tiffany are going to have a wild, no holes barred foursome with all kinds of wild lesbian stuff thrown in. Eventually, I see Nick lining all three of them up on their hands and knees and playing musical pussies for a while. Who ever gets him to come wins the big prize, and if he can last more than 32 seconds with the three of them, he wins the big prize.

The kids, well, I'm not going there because they're kids and they're down the beach doing their own thing. Maybe Kori will get tired of musical pussies and eating Kristi and Tiffany and wander down the beach to have a three way with Trell and his new girlfriend.

No people were injured in the making of this sex scene.

It's good to have you back as a boat permister Stormy, you've been missed.

TrF2

Storm, I am always impressed by your ability to describe, but there are times when you completely blow me away. That was a good example. Your Odyssey is alive and kicking. Keep it up, I'm loving every word.

Thank you for writing

GH

I see we lost a post or two here as well. Not sure what's going on with this site, but I'll put them back in. Can't do anything about the comments above being out of order, if anyone is reading catch-up later. This is pretty annoying - I hope Mr. Big can get it straightened out!
______________________________________________________________________ __________________





Alisha, who had been leaning back against Pops’ strong hands as he massaged her neck and shoulders, seemed surprised to have everyone’s attention focused on her. “I’m really not all that interesting – and besides, I’ve already told Adam the best part, about how I got my kids after losing hope of having any. I don’t want to put him through that boring story again.”

I objected. “It was not in the least boring! In fact, it was very interesting, and touching. Please, go ahead.”

She looked around at all the faces that were turned toward her. “Well…OK - but I’ll lead up to it. Let me start with how Nick and I met. It was 1971, and I was in San Francisco…”

Kori interrupted her. “Are you from there? I really love that city!”

Alisha shook her head. “No, I’m from here – well, not here exactly, but from Colorado, where we live now. I was born and raised there, near Boulder. San Francisco, well…I was just visiting.”

Nick laughed. “Visiting! She was a runaway, a scared, broke, dirty little runaway.”

Alisha nodded. “I was only fifteen, and he’s right. It was pretty bad at first.”

Tiff leaned across Nick and touched Alisha’s arm, very gently. “You ran away from home at fifteen? Did you have a bad home life?”

Alisha smiled. “Doesn’t every fifteen year old kid think they have a bad home life? I mean, you know, parents that want to make rules and restrict your freedom? Outrageous!”

Tiff laughed, that same sweet bell-like sound that always made everyone else smile. “So you were just rebelling against authority? It wasn’t some horror story?”

Alisha nodded. “Right, no horror stories. Are you disappointed?”

Tiff shook her head. “No, relieved – I don’t like bad stories about kids.”

Alisha nodded agreement. “Well, my parents were the best; they adopted me and took me into their home, made me their flower and gave me all the love and everything I could have ever asked for, and I paid them back by running away and scaring them to death. It took me a little while – and Nick’s help – to grow up a little and realize how incredible they really were. I miss them still, but at least they got to meet all of their grandyoungren before they died.”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, they were great people. We both miss them a lot. I feel like I owe them so much for this incredible lady.” Alisha gave him a radiant smile, and he cleared his throat self-consciously. “Ahem...anyhow, back to San Francisco…”

She laughed. “Oh yeah! At that moment, as a crazy hormone-soaked teenager, I felt like I had to get away. We had heard for several years about all the hippies, and peace and love and all that stuff, and it all sounded so…romantic, I guess, or maybe idyllic, to a dumb kid like me, and we had lots of hippies around Boulder, and they seemed nice – so anyway, I snuck out, hitched a ride to the Bay area, and found Haight-Ashbury – just like on TV.”

Pops paused in his massage and pulled her back so he could look down at her face. “You were in The Haight in the early seventies? Woof!” I wasn’t sure what that meant until he elaborated. “I passed through – it was getting pretty rough by then, wasn’t it? Maybe not such a good place for a young kid – especially a pretty girl?”

She agreed. “It was, a lot of the good stuff of the sixties had broken down, and a lot of hustlers and crooks had started to show up to take advantage of…well, anyone they could, really. I was lucky; a couple of good people took me under their wing and helped look out for me.”

Nick laughed. “Ah yes, Meadow and River! Quite a pair!”

She looked at him. “Hey, be nice! They helped me a lot, probably kept me from really getting in trouble.” She glanced around at the rest of us. “They had been there from the start, but were only about seven or eight years older than me. They were a fixture in The Haight by then, and they helped a lot of kids. I still stay in touch with them. A lot of the poor waifs they helped out still keep in touch, they’re great people. Never had any kids of their own, I guess because they were too busy taking care of all of us.” She laughed. “Their real names are Kate and Johnny.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Meadow and River are Kate and Johnny, that’s great! I met a girl – woman - just recently named Rainbow – her actual name, but she goes by Rain. Her folks were hippies, but I don’t know if they were ever in San Francisco or not.”

Kristi cut in. “When Adam says he met her he means he got to know her - inside and out, if you catch my drift.”

I glanced around – all were watching me, Ronnie with a little smirk, Kori grinning, the rest with some degree of puzzlement, it seemed. I shrugged. “And you were chasing her worthless husband - but that’s a whole other story – we’re listening to Alisha right now.”

Kristi couldn’t let it go. “Rain is coming to live with us for awhile.”

“You invited her!”

“I knew how much you liked her!”

I shook my head and let it drop, not mentioning that Kristi seemed to be hot for her too. Alisha sighed. “I can’t believe that you slept with a girl – or woman, as you said – whose parents were hippies. That means I’m old enough to be her lady! That makes me feel old!”

Nick laughed. “Sweet girl, I hate to break it to you, but except for Pops you’re old enough to be the lady of any one of these young folks!”

She stared at him for a moment, her mouth dropping open, and then looked at Kristi, who giggled. “I’m twenty-nine – Adam is thirty two.” Her eyes move to Tiff, who smiled at her. “Twenty-five.”

She turned to Ronnie and Kori, hoping to prove Nick wrong, but Ronnie just smiled. “Sorry, I’m thirty-five, and Kori is Adam’s age – but you can’t be over about what…forty, forty-five?”

She shook her head mournfully. “Fifty-five. I really am old enough to be your lady!”

Ronnie seemed genuinely shocked. “No cuckolds brownie?! Seriously, you look great, like maybe Kristi’s slightly older sister. You’re wa-a-ay too hot to be in your fifties!”

While Ronnie’s honest (if slightly tacky) compliment seemed to perk her up, it rang a little bell in my head, something I couldn’t quite identify. I frowned, trying to concentrate and see what it was, but before I could formulate a clear thought (for which I choose to blame the holy water) Alisha went on: “Wow, I could have done without that revelation! Anyway, I was mostly staying with Meadow and River, scrounging for food, doing some panhandling, that kind of stuff. It was a growing-up time for me.”

Nick prodded her. “Enough background – tell them how we met!”

“Hush – unless you want to tell this story!” He bowed his head and waved her on; she continued. “River – Johnny – knew people. He always got us into concerts, got free meals from restaurants, trips to communes on the coast, plenty of free pot – of course, that’s how he got all this stuff, he was dealing – but he got us into Fillmore West on the week it was closing, for some of the concerts. Have you heard of it?”

I answered. “Sure, it was famous in the sixties, all the great bands played there, right?”

She nodded. “All of them, first at Fillmore, and then at Fillmore West when that closed. I even met Bill Graham there one night, because River knew him. They were friends.”

Tiff looked at her. “You met Billy Graham? But I thought…”

Pops laughed. “Tiffy, you’re showing everyone that you’re the baby of the group! Not Billy Graham, the evangelist – Bill Graham, the famous music promoter and Fillmore founder. He’s legendary.”

I was silently grateful to Tiff for taking one for the team – I’m not sure how many of us knew that, but she’d spoken first, which allowed the rest of us to act sophisticated! I addressed Alisha. “When did it close? What kind of groups played there?”

She smiled wistfully, remembering. “July of seventy-one. It was incredible, but sad. The whole scene was slowly dying, and when Fillmore West closed…well, it was never the same. Grateful Dead, Boz Scaggs, Santana, Quicksilver, Creedence Clearwater Revival, a bunch of others. There were rumors that Jeffermister Airplane would be there for the last day, the 4th of July, but they weren’t. It was amazing though!”

I nodded. “Wow. I love CCR, the Dead…Carlos Santana is still great. You got to see them all?”

She smiled, nodding. “Yup! I even got to go backstage and meet most of them.”

Nick laughed. “You did more than meet them – go ahead, tell them!”

Alisha looked at him. “Nick…”

He laughed again. “She was a groupie! The lady of my youngren used to be a groupie!”

She was actually blushing as the rest of us accepted that with some laughter - and maybe a few looks of admiration from the ladies! “I was not a groupie! It’s not like I followed a group around and tried to hit on all the band members, just when I met them, there in San Francisco, you know…”

Nick laughed at her feeble attempt at a disclaimer. “That just makes you a less selective, come-one, come-all kind of groupie. I’m not sure that’s an improvement!”

“Are you saying I’m a rock’n’roll slut?” She leaned forward and thrust her chest out and stared at him defiantly.

He laughed again. “No, I’m saying you were a rock’n’roll slut; now you’re a…”

“Careful, Lieutenant Colonel!” She narrowed her eyes at him.

He shook his head, still chuckling. “Uh-oh, my General, calling me by rank – clearly I’m skating on thin ice. As I started to say, now you’re a beautiful, sexy lady, a cherished, loving wife and a smart, wonderful, amazing lady to our kids, and my pride and joy, my reamister for living – and probably the horniest damn woman on the face of the earth!”

She had just started to let her guard down when he threw in that last bit, and we all broke down laughing at her expression of mortification. Kori was the first one able to speak. “That’s not true! I’m the horniest woman on the face of the earth!”

Kristi frowned. “I thought I was!” She looked at me. “You always tell me I am – were you lying?”

I shrugged. “I…I thought you were! Maybe my frame of reference is too limited – I guess I need to get out more…”

“Never mind!” She looked at Alisha. “But you said you were only fifteen, right?”

Alisha looked around at all of us, and I think she decided she was among friends, and that there was no reamister to hide anything. “Well…yeah – almost sixteen. But once I discovered fucking, I really, really liked it!”

Ronnie, who had been silently listening to all of this, finally spoke up. “Wait, wait! This can’t be right. You, the sweet, innocent looking lady of three, were once a rock groupie? You gotta be cuckolds brownietin’ me!”

Pops laughed. “Ron, she wasn’t just a rock groupie. She was a rock groupie to the stars! These are some legendary names we’re talking about here, guys with stacks of platinum records between them! So, girl, time to fess up and name names – who did you share your charms with?”

Alisha was blushing, but also laughing. Clearly she was enjoying her sudden notoriety, but was more than a little embarrassed to admit how wild she had been as a younger woman – and probably thankful that her flower had not followed in her footsteps. “Guys, I can’t really name names! A lot of these guys are still around! Not Jerry, but most of the others…”

I laughed. “Well, first, we won’t tell anyone – none of us writes for the Enquirer; and second, nobody would be shocked to find out these guys liked to party with the ladies – it’s one of the things musicians are known for!”

Alisha looked at me, cocking her head very attractively. “Well, yeah, of course – but remember, I was fifteen or sixteen when I was doing this! That’s very bad for them!”

Nick chuckled. “In fairness to them, even when haves or holy water were not a factor nobody could have guessed she was that young. She was this gorgeous little hippie, flowers in her long, blond hair, and all big, blue eyed wonder with a lithe, tight little body that screamed sex. And she has this smile…” he broke off and looked at her, and she smiled at him with that smile, a sultry, enigmatic little smile that said she knew things you could only dream about. It was a smile that some women, certain very special women throughout the ages, have used to beguile men, to twist men to their will, to inspire them to build dynasties, fight wars, and topple empires. I could see that when she smiled that smile she could have been eight or eighty, and it would not have mattered; men would have wanted her. I wanted her, Ronnie wanted her, and it was clear by the way Pops was staring at her, his eyes rapt, that he wanted her as well.

Nick just shook his head. “Yeah, that smile.” He shrugged. “And so, when she came on to them, they were pretty much lost unless they were so fogged that they couldn’t see straight. Nobody could blame them; she was whatever they wanted her to be, and as old – or as young – as they desired.”

Alisha laughed. “I guess that’s mostly true; I rarely had much trouble getting with them if I could just get backstage.” She looked at Nick. “But you just got done telling everyone I was just a dirty, scared little hippie!”

He shrugged. “So I exaggerate – you weren’t dirty. But most of your crowd was, and that just made you shine like a diamond among lumps of coal.”

Ronnie shook his head, as if emerging from a daze. “Yeah, I guess I could see that. You would tend to stand out in a crowd! But you gotta tell us who, which famous stars…”

Nick interrupted him. “She did stand out, like you say. She was the first thing I saw in a concert hall full of people, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her – but we’ll get to that, first tell them some of the big names you bagged!” It was a little odd to me the way he said it, almost like he was proud of her history but rarely had the opportunity to brag about it, or her!

She looked around at us as if considering which secrets to spill then shook her head and laughed. “What the hell – you’re probably all too young to recognize any of the names anyhow!” She started to rattle off a string of names – not too many, maybe a dozen or so - and she was right; I recognized only a couple of them, as did all the others of us that were younger. Pops seemed to recognize most of them, and when she paused, he whistled.

“That’s kind of a ‘Who’s Who of Rock and Roll’ list right there, at least for the West Coast scene.. I’m impressed – you young folks may not know it, but you are in the presence of greatness here; this little lady is practically a living history of the whole sex, haves, and rock and roll era.”

She groaned. “Oh, thanks! It was bad enough just feeling so old around all these younger people – now I feel like an old slut, and trust me, that’s not an improvement! And by the way, beyond a lot of pot, I did not do haves – much.”

Pops shook his head as he patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, we were all young and foolish once. The lucky ones survived it. So, anyhow, about you and Nick…”

She seemed almost surprised to be pointed back to the main path of her story. “Oh yeah, Nick!” She laughed. “Well, I was just kind of hangin’ out, groovin’ with some friends, about half-stoned, and I look up and here’s this tall, handsome guy – with a total buzz cut!” She laughed again, partly at the memory and partly at using such anachronistic expressions. “And if the haircut didn’t tell me that he didn’t belong, the way he stood, so tall and erect, completely gave him away.”

Nick nodded. “It probably helped that I was wearing fatigues too, huh?”

Alisha shook her head. “Nah, a lot of us shopped at the Army-Navy surplus stores. There was always a lot of that army green around. But you just stood out like a sore thumb; it was so obvious that you weren’t one of us!”

“Why were you there?” Tiff, sitting next to Nick, touched his leg. “It does seem like a strange place for a soldier to turn up, at a hippie rock concert. Didn’t you feel out of place?”

He smiled at her and took her hand in his. “What can I say? I was on leave, and was supposed to have gone home to Wisconsin for a week, but my connections got screwed up and I spent two days on Guam and another in Oakland. Time got too short to go home, so I stayed on the coast. I guess it was just my destiny, I must have somehow known that the woman that would change my life would be there, at the Fillmore on that particular day. Something, some power, just drew me to that place on that day, and there she was, even younger than and as beautiful as you are today, like this bright, shining light in this big, dark cave, and I was drawn to her…”

Tiff was eating it up, and she smiled sweetly at him before Alisha laughed. “Yeah, that, and he said he was a huge CCR fan and wouldn’t miss seeing them for anything – even if he had to battle through a bunch of hippies. It’s good to see he can still shovel it though.”

Nick laughed, his spell over Tiff suddenly broken. “Actually, I think I said dirty hippies. But I’ll admit I was a little nervous about it. I was just a kid, and I didn’t know if I’d be screamed at, or spit on – but I wasn’t going to miss my one chance to see Creedence.”

I agreed with him, but decided to poke a little fun too. “Yeah, I really like their stuff too. I love that old classic rock. I probably would have done the same, ‘cept I wasn’t even a gleam in my man’s eye yet. So, how did it go?”

“Hey, they weren’t classic then! Damn smartass punk!” He laughed, and then shrugged. “But it went fine – no problems at all. It was a pretty loose atmosphere, and everyone was very mellow, and they just…accepted me. I was all worried for nothing – and I met that one.” He nodded toward his wife. “That was worth anything that could possibly have happened.”

She smiled softly at him. “He was so shy, almost painfully shy, and it seemed so strange, this big, tough soldier so intimidated around all of us peace-freaks and flower youngren. Everyone was just there for the music, and the atmosphere of the movement, which was really fading by then. It was one of the best moments of all my time there. It was very special.”

Kori chimed in. “So, did he sweep you off your feet? All of you soldiers probably have some smooth lines you use on the ladies, right?”

Nick and Alisha looked at each other and laughed, and then Nick looked around at all of us. “I just walked right up to her like I knew what I was doing - I knew I had to meet her, but I hadn’t really thought any further than that – and when she turned those beautiful eyes on me I just fetishd; couldn’t say a damn word!”

Alisha smoothly took over. “I look up and he’s right in front of me, just staring at me with this panicked look on his face. He was cute, so I smiled and said ‘Hey!’”

Nick laughed. “Well, that’s partly true. Actually you smiled, said ‘hey’, and handed me a doobie.”

That earned a round of laughter. We could all just about envision the scene in our heads, the shy, clumsy guy, suddenly mute, the young girl, confident in her own beauty and wise beyond her years throwing him a lifeline in the form of a smile and a joint. When our laughter had quieted down Alisha nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. And he took a long toke, handed it back, and we ended up watching the concert together.”

She looked at Nick, who added “Yeah, and I was a lot smoother and less introverted when I was stoned, so it got better.”

“He was dancing and singing along with the rest of us, like he’d been there in the Haight for years. Everyone was cool, and it was all good. It seemed like there was just this instant connection between us – which there must have been, because I gave up a shot at Tom Fogerty to be with Nick.”

Ronnie stopped her. “You mean John Fogerty, right?”

“No, Tom – he was John’s brother; he was in the band too, rhythm guitar and backup vocals - boy, you’re so young! I had a real thing for him after I met him once; he was so cute with all that curly hair, and so sweet! And then he left the band shortly after that concert, then they broke up, and then he died…oh, probably about twenty years ago. Wow, can it really be that long? Anyhow, that made me very sad when I heard that. I never did get another chance to meet him.”

We all fell silent for a moment, digesting that little tale. Alisha looked genuinely sad, which to me seemed kind of an odd response to missing an opportunity to screw some rock star, especially when it had all happened so long ago. Then again, I have a lot of memories, both good and bad, which are closely associated with music, things in my life that various mistergs always remind me of. Perhaps she was just reminiscing about times gone by and the loss of another talented musician of that era. So many of them are gone now!

In the quiet moments after she had quit speaking, we heard a sort of sing-misterg chanting coming from down the beach. Nick was the first one to hear it and look, and he called our attention to it. “Hey y’all, get a look at this! What do you suppose is going on?”

We all turned to look, Kristi, Kori, and me rising to our feet to see over the others who were between us and the distant fire. They had apparently built up their fire recently, because it blazed brightly – and around it, in their best shuffle and hop imitation of a native dance, circled the four kids! We could make out the taller, bulkier shape of Trell, and the tall and limber Grace; the two younger kids were harder to tell apart, although the more aggressive leaping and arm-waving one seemed to be Samuel. They were also singing some entirely unintelligible chant.

Nick looked back at us. “What do you suppose that’s all about?”

Tiff laughed. “Who knows? Rain dance, maybe?”

Pops looked at her. “Well, I just hope it’s not a war dance. I’m too old and fat to run if they decide to attack!”

That brought a general chuckle. Ronnie threw in his guess. “Maybe it’s a fertility ritual!”

Nick groaned. “Bite your tongue! That’s the last thing we need Gracie to be involved in.”

Ronnie went on. “Well, whatever it is, if it involves sacrificing a virgin you’d better go rescue Faith. I’m pretty sure she’s probably the only one in the vicinity.”

Nick just gave him a level look, totally deadpan. “If you’re trying to cheer me up you’re doing a real cuckolds browniety job.”

Alisha laughed. “Oh honey, don’t be like that! You couldn’t expect her to forgo the joy of sex forever – not with my genes in her! She’s smart – and careful.”

Nick growled “Yeah, sure – but look at her! She’s just a kid!”

She wasn’t, of course, but both she and Trell were at that point of transition, that time when they knew they were expected to “put aside youngish things” but were not quite ready to do so – as witnessed by their uninhibited fire dance. I’ve always found the loss of innocence and the insistence on growing up to be just a little sad, a bit melancholy; maybe that’s why I’ve so often resisted doing it myself, as Kristi never hesitates to remind me!

I looked at Nick. “Relax, dad - she’ll be fine. She’s got a good foundation for it. Besides, if you and Alisha hooked up at that concert, she was a lot younger then than your flower is now, and you seem to have done all right.”

He turned his cold stare on me for a moment, then he suddenly laughed. “That’s true – but I didn’t know she was only fifteen! It was sure a great three days until I found out though!”

Kori looked at them, first at Alisha, and then at Nick. “That was really pushing your luck! How did you find out?”

“He asked me to marry him.” She grinned. “You should have seen his face when I said OK, but I’d have to get my parent’s permission because I wasn’t old enough.”

That brought another round of laughs, Pops in particular seeming to enjoy the idea of Nick’s shock and discomfort at discovering that his new love was a minor. ”Man, you dodged a serious bullet! I think both the civilian authorities and the Army would have roasted your balls for that maneuver. What did you do?”

Alisha answered for him, as wives so often do. “He withdrew his proposal and marched me to a phone and powerd me to call my parents and tell them I was OK and where I was. I was so mad, at the time – but it was a good thing.” She paused, her gaze distant and unfocused. “ They cried, they were so scared and worried about me. I was stupid and self-centered, I had no consideration for how much they loved me, or how much I’d hurt them. When we talked I realized how much I missed them!”

“I just made sure I got her on a bus for home, before I had to go back. The Haight and San Francisco were starting to get pretty dangerous by then, lots of haves was bringing in lots of bad folks. It was no place for a kid, especially such a beautiful one.”

Alisha leaned over and put her hand on his leg. The gesture was both loving and possessive. “He was right. He made me a better permister, and maybe saved my life. A lot of the girls wound up hooking. I went back a couple of times, to see friends there, but my parents always knew, and I always went home again.” She rubbed his leg. “Nick and I, well, we wrote each other – a lot; there was no internet back then, remember. I eventually did marry him – obviously - but not until five years later, and then I spent the rest of my life worrying about him and wondering if he would come home from wherever the most recent hellhole was.”

Tiff shook her head. “I don’t know how you could do that – or how any military families deal with that. It must be so horribly stressful!”

Alisha shrugged. “You just learn to cope. It becomes your normal life, after awhile.”

Nick nudged her. “C’mon, it wasn’t always that bad! She lived with me in Spain for awhile and in Germany and Japan – and you loved the year we spent in Australia.”

“But you were gone most of that year!”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know; and that’s what you loved about it, all those hunky and horny Australian guys!”

Alisha actually giggled. “Well, that’s true. That was a pretty fun year!”

Pops looked at them. “So, I guess you’re saying you didn’t always behave like a good little wife while he was deployed…”

Kori interrupted him. “Well duh! Who would want to go without sex for long periods like that? Certainly not me, I’d dry up and blow away!”

Ronnie laughed. “You’ll have to forgive my little sexpot – she has trouble going twenty-four hours without it.”

Nick ran his eyes over Kori’s delicious little body. “Lucky for her, she probably rarely has to – I’m guessing!”

Alisha scolded him. “Try to behave yourself! And no, we both knew that we weren’t going to be celibate eleven months out of every year – and besides, when Nick is anyplace in Asia, he can’t keep his hands off those sexy little dark-eyed Asian girls.”

He whistled softly. “Oohh man, those tight little asses and that long, shiny black hair, and the way they look at you…they love the white guys a lot. I guess our dicks are usually pretty big compared to a lot of Asian men.”

Pops laughed. “Yeah, I’ve heard that too – and those are some gorgeous women. They also seem to dig themselves some dark meat, if you get my drift.”

I looked at him and used my best sarcastic voice. “Yeah Pops, that was real subtle - I’m not sure everyone knew what you meant. But back to you two; didn’t that put a lot of strain on your marriage? How did that work? I mean, I can’t imagine always wondering…” I glanced at Kristi and saw her studying my face as I spoke, her eyes searching mine. I knew what she was thinking, and my words just trailed off.

Alisha looked at me for a moment, and then spoke very softly. “No Adam, it wasn’t a strain. We both knew that we loved each other, and nothing short of him getting himself *******ed was going to change that. It was just sex, a release, maybe with a good and close friend that could help you forget for a little while that your husband was in harm’s way, or for him maybe a nice girl that could relieve the horror and loneliness for a little while. Neither of us really believes that humans were meant to be monogamous naturals.” She smiled at me. “My understanding is that you don’t really think so either. A lady named Izzy may have mentioned that to me.”

I had no answer for that, and I tried to ignore the triumphant smile that Kristi threw my way. I failed miserably, so I just looked at her and nodded, returning her smile and shrugging in surrender. It’s hard not to smile when my lady has the wattage of her beautiful smile turned up that way. And besides, so far everything seemed to be working out pretty well.

Again though, especially with both of them grinning at me at the same time, I noticed how similar the two women were, both in appearance and behavior. It was weird.

I think those three segments are all that got dropped. Please feel free to let me know if I'm wrong, or if you notice any other screw-ups. I hope to have a new chapter or two to post soon, maybe tomorrow.

To any and all that commented above, I may have lost a couple and am messed up on the order of the others except to say thanks, whenever they came in. I always read them and always appreciate them!

Trf2, your remark about making Alisha air-tight got a good laugh, and your amusing musings are always a good read. You have a very dirty mind - a very fine quality in a friend!

GH, thanks for the very nice comment. I almost dropped that paragraph when I read back; it seemed a bit, mmm, overly-sentimental or something. Glad I left it in!

What follows is new material, eff. 11/18. Sorry again about the dropped segments and the mix-up in the comments.
______________________________________________________________________ _______



Despite the fact that Alisha had me dead to rights – and that I knew it would be utterly futile - I felt compelled to defend myself. “Izzy is a little different situation. She and I knew each other long before I met Kristi, and she’s married to someone else. We knew we’d never marry, we weren’t right for that commitment, so me being with her isn’t necessarily a refutation of monogamy! Being faithful to one permister is what marriage is all about – most of the time I’ve been relaxing with Izz, I haven’t been married.”

Kori , sitting right next to me, laughed as she put her arm around my back. “Well sweetie, while that might work to cover your gorgeous butt – except for the time you were married to Lisa – what about Izzy? She’s been married for what, ten or twelve years? How’s that whole monogamy thing working out for her? With your willing and eager assistance, I might add!”

Damn! I had not thought of that line of attack! “Oh, well, uhh – hey, it’s not like she’s polygamous! She just relaxs with her husband, and occasionally with me!”

Pops laughed that deep belly laugh of his. “Son, I think it’s time to drop your weapons and throw yourself on the mercy of the mob. While technically speaking what Izzy engages in is called polyandry, or just bigamy, it’s a form of polygamy. Bigamy, polygamy, whatever, it ain’t monogamy. Alisha actually makes a very good point – there is a pretty broad school of thought that supports the idea that monogamy is purely a social construct when it comes to the human natural, and that we aren’t, by nature, monogamous.”

Alisha smiled up at him, grateful that he was taking up her point. He went on. “Most primates – which we are, by the way – are not monogamous. In fact, most mammals are not. Birds have the highest rate of monogamous pairing, with about ninety percent of them following that mating pattern – but even in birds, when the DNA of the offspring is matched against that of the pair-bonded parents, scientists have found that up to thirty percent of the young are sired by a male other than the known mate of the female.”

He looked around at the faces of the rest of us; we were, without exception, staring at him, surprised by the sudden launch into class lecture mode. Ronnie, not surprisingly, was the first to recover, and he did so in typical Ronnie fashion. “So basically you’re saying that even loons like to get a little loony and that maybe swallows, you know, do.”

Pops chuckled, but shook his head. “Ron, that’s weak – even for you. Did you know there’s actually a bird called the Wood Peewee?”

It took Ronnie just a second or two to process that, and when he did he winced, but Kori got a good laugh at his expense, the rest of us joining in. I tossed a small pebble at him. “Hey buddy, maybe we can get you a t-shirt with one of those on it, maybe with “Wood Peewee” printed on the back!”

He shook his head ruefully. “Yeah, thanks. Go ahead, pile on – just because you’re freakishly deformed you think that gives you the right, huh?” I was glad he’d shot right back at me. The moment I’d spoken I’d felt guilty about taking a cheap shot at his minimal endowment, but he seemed to take it in stride. There’s a strange etiquette to things like that; a guy can speak self-deprecatingly, or even derogatorily, about his own physical gifts – or lack thereof - and one-on-one between good friends like me and Ron we can take cheap shots all day long, but it had been wrong of me to try to embarrass him in front of others. Not Pops and Tiff, of course, they were now family, but Alisha and Nick didn’t need to hear it. Ronnie had turned back to Pops. “So anyhow professor smart-ass, is there a point about the naturals and all that cuckolds brownie, or do you just talk a lot when you’re takeing?”

Pops laughed. “Both, actually. But I’m just saying that humans aren’t unique in this respect; even in naturals that are known to form supposedly monogamous pair bonds, the female will often mate outside of the pair. Of course, that suggests that some males must be doing the same, otherwise there must be a lot of lonely bachelor birds – or whatever critter, since it holds true in other theoretically monogamous naturals as well - out there looking for a loose woman that will cheat on her spouse – and vice-versa.”

Ron nodded. “Yeah, that ain’t rocket science. Ever been in a bar on a Saturday night?” That got another laugh.

Tiff looked thoughtful. “Why do you suppose they do that – the females, I mean?”

Pops smiled at her. “Actually, that’s the perfect question to ask. Hell, we males will just cast our sperm into the wind; we have no real, absolute commitment after it’s gone, and there’s always more where that came from. We’ve basically been doing that since we were about eleven – I can’t tell you how many gallons of it I’ve left here, there and everywhere in my lifetime!”

Tiff wrinkled her nose. “What a lovely thought – although I will vouch for its accuracy.”

Ron nodded. “Yeah, it’s true – although it was more like thirteen for me. I was a late bloomer, but once I got started I about wore it out.”

Kori winked at him. “You’re still blooming dear – and you didn’t wear it out, you only wore it down to a nub.” He flipped her off, but with a smile.

Pops cut them off. “Ahem! As I was saying, the male has no commitment when he strays, but why does the female do it? They will spend a lot of time and energy on gestating, incubating, raising young; a long period of pregnancy and rearing their offspring leaves them vulnerable to predators or competition. Ideally there is a male to help out, but no guarantees. It’s like the old saying about bacon and eggs; the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. Same here – the male is involved, but the female is committed – so why risk alienating a mate for a brief fling with some other male?”

Nobody responded for a moment or two, and then Kristi tentatively raised her hand. Pops laughed. “You don’t have to raise your hand gorgeous – you can just jump right in.”

She blushed, laughing. “Oh yeah, huh? It kind of felt like I was back in school! Well, speaking just for myself, it’s about excitement. And curiosity, about something new, and maybe a little bit of vanity too; it’s fun to see another guy get all turned on just by seeing me naked. I know it sounds conceited, but I like that feeling.”

Kori nodded. “Baby, we all like that feeling! For me it’s about pleasure. I was never interested in other men after I married my Ronnie, but he kept insisting that I was missing out because…well, because he’s not especially well endowed, as some of you know.”

Ron shrugged nonchalantly, looking at Nick and Alisha. “In case you haven’t already figured it out, I have a tiny dick - which is what she’s so politely trying to say. Fortunately for me, she’s OK with that, but there’s no reamister she shouldn’t enjoy a little umm, deeper pleasure with a well-hung stud once in awhile, right?”

Nick shrugged. “Hey, who am I to say? My wife likes to find herself a big stud once in a while too, and I’m about average in that department, so it’s not at all weird to us. We both play, but it’s mostly about her. More so each year, it seems.”

Alisha smiled at him, then laid her head back in Pops’ lap and looked up at him. “Speaking of which, you’re coming home with us tonight – if you’re free – and willing.”

Pops laughed. “Baby I’m not only free and willing, I’m eager and I’ll bring along takes and snacks! I thought you’d never ask.”

“You could have asked me, you know.” She rubbed her head against his leg, her hand sneaking up to explore his crotch.

He moved his legs apart almost imperceptibly, giving her access. “If I learned one thing in the Navy it was to not mess around with Special Forces guys; some of them are nuts, and all of them are dangerous. I thought cowardice was the better part of valor in this particular case.”

Nick laughed. “Good call, sailor. A lot of the guys I’ve been around would take very unkindly to you hitting on their lady. Unfortunately for me my wife has a little bit of a thing for large black men, but fortunately for you I’m used to it - and I like to see her happy and I’m pretty easy going.” He glanced down the beach toward his kids, and then shook his head, frowning. “Well, about some things. Anyhow, you look like you can take care of yourself.”

Pops shrugged. “Yeah, usually I can. Plus, it helps just to look that way – it avoids a lot of problems.”

I was more than a little bit shocked at how quickly and smoothly that whole conversation had gone, as if they were inviting him over for a beer rather than to relax with Alisha, and I was stunned at how calmly Nick had acquiesced and how calmly he had acknowledged his wife’s predilection for black guys. I would not have expected him to be the type that would willingly share his wife with anyone! Then I recalled that both of them had acknowledged taking other lovers – with mutual consent - during their long separations when Nick was away. I guess this wasn’t much of a stretch after all!


While I was stuck on that, Tiffany had obviously still been fixated on the lecture about natural infidelity – or whatever it had been about. I suppose that’s natural, since she’s such an natural permister, but clearly something was still troubling her. She leaned across Nick, practically in his lap, and grabbed Pops’ big arm. “You never did tell us – why do supposedly monogamous naturals fool around on their mates?”

He chuckled. “Oh, sorry! We got sidetracked – but in such a nice way! I should have known you’d still be gnawing on that question. Where did we leave it?”

Tiff responded. “Well, Kristi said excitement – and vanity. Kori said it’s about pleasure.”

He nodded. “Oh yeah! Any other guesses?”

Nick frowned. “Maybe to expand the gene pool? It’s a good way for a pack – or a herd, or flock or whatever, to bring in fresh genes and avoid inbreeding.”

I shook my head. “Well, yeah, but naturals don’t relate sex to reproduction; they have no concept of conception, I guess you could say, of how that brief moment of thrust and squirt turns into babies – or fertilized eggs – weeks or months later.”

Alisha laughed. “A brief moment of thrust and squirt, huh? What a wonderful description!” She looked at Kristi. “For your sake I hope he’s a little better at it than that!”

Kristi winked at me. “Usually he is – provided I don’t get him too worked up first. And if I do, he usually goes squirt-squirt-squirt-squirt-squirt; he’s being much too modest!”

Nick laughed, then addressed me. “No, I know that. What I meant was through you know, what do you call it, uh, instinct. Just an instinct to expand the gene pool.”

Pops nodded. “Actually, that is one theory. There is a biological imperative to mate, to reproduce, and many think that there is a similar drive to get the best available mate, for superior genetic material – but like Adam said, not that they think it through like that. It’s a built-in response to evolution, to produce the best quality offspring for which they have to have the best quality mate, and which then will have the same instinct pre-installed, and so on. But actually, you’re all right – or at least in agreement with various established theories. Apparently nobody really knows for sure why naturals – or people for that matter – step outside the bonds of a monogamous relationship so readily.”

Ronnie stopped him. “Wait a minute! You told us all that to tell us that there’s no answer? There’s ten minutes of my life I’ll never get back!”

I kicked his foot, and he looked at me. “Yeah Ron, like you had something better to do, right? It’s a beautiful night, you’re in an incredible place, surrounded by gorgeous women, a couple of ugly guys – and me, of course, your best and most faithful buddy and handsome sidekick – and you’ve got a take in your hand and a cigar. What else did you have on your calendar?”

He kicked me back. “Well… hell, that’s true. OK, so they do it for pleasure, if Kori is right.”

Pops shrugged. “It used to be thought that only humans, bonobos, and dolphins derived pleasure from sex – or, I should say, that will have sex solely for pleasure. I think most naturals derive some form of physical satisfaction from it. I mean, fuckin’ feels good, right?”

Kori, with a big grin, said “Mmm-hmmm, boy I’ll say, you bet!!” with considerable enthusiasm, drawing a laugh from one and all.

When things had quieted down again, Pops went on. “As I was saying, only those few species were thought to sometimes have sex solely for pleasure – for others it was thought that it is the instinct to procreate that drove things, and any good feelings derived were just the carrot on the end of the stick.”

I couldn’t resist. “OK, I’m confused; what do they use the carrot for?” Or the stick, for that matter?” That brought another round of laughter.

Pops shook his head. “I get the distinct impression that y’all are not taking this seriously. Who needs a take?” There were several takers; dry from too much beer, sun, and arid climate, I opted for a bottle of water. Pops moved to fill the requests, and Alisha, who had been curled against him, went along to help. As he gathered and prepared the various takes, he checked with us. “Have I bored you to death, or do you want to hear the rest?”

He received a general request to continue, and did so. “All right then. Now science is discovering that more and more species do copulate or engage in other sexual behavior when there is no chance of procreation – when the female is not in heat, or in seamister or estrus, or sometimes with juveniles too young to reproduce. They’ve discovered masturbation in many naturals, and homosexual behavior, fellatio – including self-fellating, in some cases - all kinds of good stuff that can have no real purpose but pleasurable sensations. Female bonobos, for example, will engage in long bouts of sexual rubbing, female-on-female, where they rub their vulvas together. Partly it’s a social thing, but they do seem to often reach orgasm.”

Nick frowned. “Isn’t the whole masturbation thing more or less confined to naturals with opposable thumbs? I mean…” he formed his hand into the standard chicken-chokin’ position and moved it up and down, which brought laughs and a couple of comments about how he seemed far too familiar with the practice.


Pops corrected him. “Not at all! Many do it by rubbing against things. Think about male dogs for example.”

Kristi nodded. “Yeah, Adam’s dog Ralph is a big-time humper, which is surprising considering how little energy he expends on anything else. He’s also got a huge rack on him…”
Kori interrupted “Well, they say dogs look like their masters, right?”
Kristi laughed but went on, undeterred “...and he will spend hours licking those big balls of his. That’s gotta be doing something for him, right?”

Pops shrugged. “It would for me.”

I laughed. “Which, him licking your balls or you licking his? Either way, you can borrow him some time if you want.”

Pops shook his head “Man, I walked right into that one! This crowd doesn’t let you get away with anything - not exactly what I meant, smart guy. But no, Nick, to answer your question, no thumbs required. Male dolphins will rub their erect penises on each other until one or both ejaculate, so that’s like gay mutual masturbation. Most monkeys do masturbate, and male bonobos – I keep referencing bonobos because they have developed quite a sexual repertoire and it’s been well-studied – but anyhow, the male bonobos will engage in what’s called ‘penis fencing’, where two males will actually seem to fence or joust with their erect penises.”

Kori giggled as she patted Ronnie’s leg. “Sweetie, you’d better avoid that sport! You’d be bringing a pocket knife to a sword fight.”

Ron shook his head. “Thanks for reminding me dear – where would I be without you? Now stop interrupting the man or I may have to find out!”

We all laughed at their easy verbal fencing, but Nick stuck to his point. “Still, they may be whacking willies, but they do have opposable thumbs. Not the dolphins, of course, but the monkeys.”

“Actually, bonobos aren’t monkeys, they’re considered great apes, like gorillas or chimpanzees. They’re closest to chimpanzees – and to us. They share over ninety-seven percent of our DNA. But unlike us, pretty much all they do is eat, relax, and have sex.”

Ronnie nodded. “Nice! Where do I go to apply for that job?”