Triptych
Thirty-three
THEY DID A 50S RETRO SOCK HOP in the gym for a mixer. It went about like sock hops did in the 50s, if Happy Days was genuine. The guys sort of lined up on one side and the girls on the other and nobody hit the dance floor. At least I was thankful I had clean socks in my gym bag. The fact that they were bright white made me look hip in this environment. Black jeans and a black t-shirt made me look like the local bad-guy. Hello Fonzie. I headed over to the snacks and drinks table to get myself a Coke.
“So y’all the fella on the poster?” drawled a sweet voice beside me.
I turned to look and then looked up. The eyes I was searching for were at least three inches above mine. They were so dark brown they looked black. Her skin tone was dark tan and she had a ton of black straight hair tied up in a knot on top of her head so that it gave her another two inches over me. She was thin as a rail and if it hadn’t been for the slight but obvious breasts and flare of her hips, I might have thought she was a guy at first. But her voice was soft and heavenly. I love a southern drawl, Miss Scarlett.
“Hi,” I said, always quick with a clever response. “I’m Tony. If you are referring to the racquetball poster, then yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Whitney,” she said. There was a softness to the i-sound that just sucked me in.
“Nice to meet you. Can I get you a Coke?”
“They got fizzy water? I don’t do caffeine or sugar.”
I rummaged around in the ice bucket until I came up with a can of sparkling water.
“Is this what you’d like? It’s lemon flavored.”
“It’ll do. Would you mind opening it? I don’t want to break a nail before the first day is over.”
She reached to take the open can from me and I handed her a plastic cup as well. As she poured her drink, I noticed that her nails were all perfect in length and had as much paint on them as one of my canvasses. There was a pink undercoat with blue tips and a silver swirl painted over the top.
“That’s a beautiful manicure,” I said. “I’m glad I took the bullet and was the one to break a nail on the can.”
“Did you? I’m sorry. And thanks.”
“I was kidding. About the broken nail, not about the manicure. Where are you from, Whitney?”
“The Louisiana Bayou,” she said. “I’d pick your accent as being Middle America. Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas. Close?”
“Dead on. How’d you know?”
“I’m planning to study Linguistics. I listen to how people talk.” I chortled a little. “You laughin’ at my accent?”
“It just took me by surprise. I love your accent.”
“I could change it if you’d prefer something closer to home,” she said. I was dumbfounded. There was no trace of the Louisiana accent of just a minute ago.
“Wait. Are you fooling with me? Where are you really from?”
“Really, Louisiana. But I listen to people and can copy almost any accent. I like my own most of the time, though.”
“I do, too,” I said enthusiastically. “It’s cool.”
A bouncing bubble of blonde mirth came into view and in a moment was looking up at me.
“Tony! I’m glad you came to the mixer. Rick said he thought you were anti-social and wouldn’t be here,” Rio said. “Hi. I’m Rio,” she said turning to Whitney.
“I’m Whitney,” sniffed the tall girl. There was not a trace of any accent in her voice that I could identify. Uh-oh. These girls were on a collision course.
“Tony, do they have any 7-Up in there?” Rio asked. I turned my back to paw through the ice again and came up with a can of 7-Up. I opened it and poured the contents into a plastic cup for her while trying to listen to the whispered conversation between the two girls. I couldn’t make out a word, but when I turned, they were both looking at me with smiles pasted on their faces. I handed Rio her drink.
“I was about to ask Tony how a freshman can already be an Intercollegiate racquetball champion. You saw the posters, didn’t you, Rio?” Whitney asked. Whatever had passed between the two had apparently left Whitney confident because the full accent was back.
“I wondered about that, too, Tony,” Rio said.
“Well, without going into too much of a story, I’m technically a freshman with sophomore standing.”
“You transfer?”
“No. I’m double enrolled. I did last year at Pacific College of the Arts and Design and this year I’m mostly at SCU but have a class at PCAD, too. I’ve got my freshman requirements all complete, but it’s my first year here. I competed in the championships last April under a new joint enrollment agreement between the two schools.”
“You mean that was all real? Rick said that there was no such thing as a double degree program and figured you just transferred,” Rio said.
“Who’s Rick?” Whitney asked.
“He’s our cohort’s mentor,” I said. “He can’t help it if he hasn’t been told about the new program. I’d guess that the eight of us from PCAD are the only ones in this room who know about the program. And I’m not sure if the other seven are even here tonight.”
“Well, I came over here to find out if you dance as well as you play racquetball. Come on. Nobody’s dancing,” Whitney said.
“Aw…” Rio complained as Whitney grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the front of the gymnasium.
“Oh, come on,” Whitney said, waving to Rio. “Bet you never had two girls on your arm at once,” she smirked.
If she only knew.
“I politely walked them to their dormitory and said, ‘Goodnight.’ That’s all,” I said.
“Aw. No goodnight kisses? No passes?” Melody whined.
“You, little devil, know I would never do that,” I said, tickling her.
“Variety is the spice of life,” Lissa quoted. “So I’ve heard. I certainly enjoyed sucking Beth’s clit, though, of course, I’d never trade either of you for her.”
“True,” I said, “but let’s not forget that we were all together when you did that. I will never just step out on you.”
“I love you, Tony,” Lissa said. “But why don’t you pretend I’m that tall skinny Cajun girl and show me what you could have done to her?”
I got the hint and while Melody occupied Lissa’s mouth with her own and then progressed to the nipples she so loved to suck, I dove into Lissa’s hairless mound and began licking. Is it still called muff-diving if there’s no fur? Oh, what the fuck!
“You’d want that Rio on her hands and knees, wouldn’t you, baby?” Melody asked, waggling her ass in the air. “You’d want to hang onto her love handles and push against her soft buns. Oh, like that, Tony!” she screamed as I entered her.
“Coffee?” Lissa asked plaintively after I’d finished emptying myself into her the next morning and we’d caught our breath. Melody was in front of Lissa and I was shrinking out from the back. The two kissed.
“The two of you are like ten of anyone else,” I said.
“You’re sure?” Lissa asked. I decided not to answer that one.
I padded to the kitchen and before I had the first cup of coffee brewed, the boys had come sleepily in from their bedroom.
“Why so early, guys?” I asked.
“Miss you, Tony,” Damon said. “You weren’t here to read last night.”
“Oh, buddy, you know I wish I was. Being out last night was more trouble than it was worth. I miss you, too.”
“Read a story, Tony.”
“Sure, kiddo,” I said. “Let me take Mommy and Meddy their coffee and then we’ll have a story just for us guys. Okay?”
Both boys nodded and scrambled for their room to get favorite books. We were now deep into The Berenstain Bears. I fixed coffee for Melody and Lissa and took it to them and told them I needed to go read to the boys. They both kissed me soundly and cuddled up with each other as they sipped their drinks.
When I returned to the kitchen, Wendy handed me an espresso, just the way I like it. Man! I’d forgotten she was there. Good thing I’d pulled on my sweats when I took Lissa and Melody their coffee. Although what Wendy wore to bed wouldn’t be called modest. I could clearly see her breasts and nipples. I was sure glad the boys added some male energy to the house. I was feeling really outnumbered.
“Okay, guys,” I said as I settled into the big chair. “What are we reading?” Predictably, it was the Bears, but Drew brought me a Little Critter book called “Just Me and My Dad.” I was touched and hoped sincerely that Jack had read this book to the boys.
“Can I join you? I love stories,” Wendy said.
“I don’t think you can sit on my lap, but there’s room on the armrest if you’d like,” I said.
I read. The boys giggled. Wendy hugged herself to my shoulder. It was a nice morning.
“Tony,” Wendy said. “You and Melody should get ready for school. I can fix the boys’ breakfast.”
“Thank you, Wendy,” I said. “Guys, you’ll be nice to Wendy, now won’t you?”
I got nods and went into the bedroom where I had to wake Melody and Lissa up again in order to get them into the shower.
“Tony?” Lissa said as I shampooed her hair.
“What is it, my darling?” I asked. She sighed. That might have had to do with what Melody was washing.
“Do you want to keep us secret from your new friends?”
I was shocked. Why would I want to keep us secret? Then I thought about the various people I’d met at SCU. I hadn’t told Eric—well, I sort of started to, but he didn’t believe me. I hadn’t told my cohort or mentioned to the girls last night that I was attached. Shit! Was I ashamed of my relationship? No, damn it!
“No, I don’t,” I said firmly. “I’m so inexperienced with this that I screwed up last night, didn’t I?”
“No. Last night was fine,” Lissa continued between moans. “I just wanted to know if you want us to stay out of your school life at SCU.”
“I don’t,” I repeated. “You are part of who I am and if I kept you a secret, I’d be living a lie. I don’t want to just start announcing to everybody that I live in a polyamorous relationship, because it’s none of most people’s business. But if I’m developing a friendship, I want them to know who I really am.”
“Good!” Melody shouted from somewhere south of me. Lissa tensed up and gasped as she came. Melody’s face appeared from between Lissa’s legs. “You need to invite them to the party,” she said.
“What?”
“You have new friends. We are having a party Saturday for your birthday and Kate’s. Invite your new friends,” Melody said while Lissa caught her breath.
“I don’t know…”
“Tony,” Lissa finally said, “don’t repeat last year. Make friends. Explore people. Girls. Boys. Hermaphrodites. Don’t isolate yourself at SCU. We all need more people around us.”
“Tony” Bree said over the phone. I’d just finished my orientation game-playing session in which I’d answered the question, “What is one thing about you that no one else at SCU knows?” with the simple phrase, “I have two wives.” Now everyone thought I was a clown. Well…
“What is it Bree? I’m about ready to leave for practice.”
“Are you playing Lissa today?”
“Yeah. It’s just the two of us working out.”
“Okay. First let me apologize…”
“Bree, you haven’t done anything lately to apologize for and we don’t need to make a habit of this.”
“I know, but you haven’t heard yet. I don’t plan to be your personal secretary, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“What, Bree?”
“I was approached by a few students today who asked if they could watch you practice this afternoon. I said yes and told them to be at the club at 2:30 p.m. Do you mind?”
“Who wants to watch me practice?”
“Well, your cohort, for one. And another girl who’s tall and dark and talks southern. She wants to bring her cohort, too. And I sort of mentioned it to Eric Barnes when we were talking this morning. Maybe 20 people?”
“Criminy, Bree! I need to let Lissa know.”
“Thank you, Tony. I’ll try hard not to do this again. I promise. But we’re recruiting. Would you wear your uniform? Please?”
“Sure, Bree. I’ve gotta run now.”
“Play well.”
Huh! I thought I’d escaped from the group activity planned for this afternoon. Looked like I was going to be the group activity. Well, if we could recruit some players, it might be worth it.
Lissa and I played well. It wasn’t the level we were at last week, but we’d both come about four times in the past 24 hours. We played well.
Most people left right after we finished our game and started to cool down. When we left the court, it was just Bree, Eric, Rick, June, Whitney, and Rio.
“So you’re the real ones,” Lissa said after introductions were made. “I’ll see you later, Tony. Don’t forget what we talked about.” She kissed me on the cheek and left me to face the group. Only Bree had an inkling of what I might be ready to do and her mouth was hanging open. John walked up just as I was ready to speak.
“Hey, before I leave to shower, I’d like to invite you guys to a party.”
“Cool,” Rio spoke for the group.
“It will be Saturday early evening, at about 6:00,” I continued. “But there’s something you should all know before you come over. Lissa is more than my coach. We live together and the party is at our house.”
I saw both Rio and Whitney’s faces fall.
“Um… what about Kate?” Eric asked. That was new for everyone else but Bree. Eric had been at the party I brought Kate to.
“Well, Eric,” I sighed, “I told you I’d ask my wives, but you said to bring my girlfriend.” His mouth hit the floor, too.
“Look, if unusual relationships aren’t cool with you guys, it’s better that you don’t come to the party. If you’re the kind of people I think you are, though, I’d like to be friends with you all and would love it if you come over Saturday night. You’ll meet some interesting people from here and from PCAD and from my family. I really hope you’ll come. I’ll give you all my address when I see you tomorrow.”
I left them in pretty much stunned silence.
By the time Friday night came and Lissa and I had finished pounding out a hundred little issues with a racquet and ball, I was exhausted.
The party invitation had reached about 30 people, most of whom had no idea what the extent of our relationship was. Most of the people had RSVP’d to say they’d be there. We’d decided that we weren’t going to hold back. It was our home.
I’d cut the last day’s orientation to go to the studio and work all day. It was such a relief to simply purge my mind of everything and let color flow from my paintbrush as I listened to a medley of African rhythms, chants, and even gospel singing. I don’t know how, but I morphed the playlist from Paul Simon “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes,” to Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Dire Straits “Calling Elvis,” Led Zeppelin “Dazed and Confused,” Iron Butterfly “In a Gadda Da Vida,” and finally KLF “Ancient and Justified.” My zoo concert canvas was finished when I left the studio.
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