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School began on the Wednesday following Labor Day. Sailor Kent did not take the bus to school. Her sister Gabrielle drove her in a brand-new Mustang convertible. The seats still retained their new car smell. Sailor luxuriated in the comfortable seats and wind that ruffled her long blonde hair. Gabby worked hard all summer at Happy Burger and treated herself to the new car as a back-to-school gift. She would graduate from high school in June of the following year.
Sailor wished the summer had not ended. She enjoyed her first flirtation with love. Sailor noticed Bethany Copley sitting beside Erik Newell when they passed the school bus. She raised her hand in a wave, but Beth looked away. She had hoped to join Beth's crowd and move away from her friend Maddox Kelley.
Sailor did not know what to make of Maddox anymore. Maddox clung to Jack Meadows at every opportunity. On the other hand, Jack scowled at her and ordered her to leave him alone. It disturbed Sailor to hear him call her Maxi Pad. It was a rude and nasty nickname. If he continued it in school, everyone else would pick it up. Sailor felt embarrassed for her friend.
Clyde Martin never disrespected her. He treated her kindly and never called her mean names. She was his honey, his sweetheart. His touch was gentle but tentative. She let him fondle her small breasts in the backyard arbor, and she put her hand on his crotch. They only went so far and stopped. Neither was ready yet.
Gabrielle talked to her about sex. Her sister often came into her room after work for a chat. Most of the time, their conversations turned to sex. Her sister had already lost her virginity to Buddy Walker. Gabby came into her room with stars in her eyes that night. Sailor wanted to know all about it. She was dying for her own experience, but Gabby warned her against moving too fast.
"Play hard to get for a while. Hook him, then reel him in," Gabrielle stated, answering Sailor's barrage of questions. "Don't give yourself freely. Clyde won't respect you if you do."
Sailor took her sister's advice to heart. She teased Clyde gently. He was sensitive but not overly emotional. They kissed and touched in the moonlight, each experimenting with sensations they did not understand.
Clyde ran toward the Mustang when Gabby pulled up at the middle school. He opened the passenger door and bowed at the waist. Sailor took his extended elbow and grinned at her sister. Gabrielle pulled away, feeling satisfied about her younger sibling.
The school bus pulled up. Bethany and Erik got off with the crowd. Sailor waved toward Beth again and was ignored. She couldn't understand. They had worked on the spring dance together, and it seemed they were renewing their friendship. Beth had gone out of town to visit her aunt over the summer and only returned before school began.
Sailor and Clyde shared Mr. Williard's homeroom class. Maddox Kelley and Jack Meadows were in homeroom with them. Maddox glared at the biology teacher, recalling her humiliation from the previous year. Jack sprawled at his desk, studying Maddox's back.
Jack hated middle school. He wished he had advanced into high school, where he belonged. He was nearly seventeen, sitting amongst a bunch of fourteen-year-olds. Jack had matured over the summer. Enola Kelley tutored him in sex, bringing him closer to his departure with virginity. Still, he felt frustrated. Each time they came close to consummating their relationship, they were interrupted. Maddox always managed to show up at the worst possible time.
No matter where he went, Maddox was always two steps behind. She waited to ambush him outside Girty's rundown home or appeared at the trailer when he went to see Enola. Jack hated Maddox. He hated her with a passion that overwhelmed him. He pushed her around, called her names, and showed his disdain openly. Still, she continued to haunt him. Jack couldn't do anything to persuade her to leave him alone.
Sailor Kent caught Jack's eye and glared at him. She noticed him watching Maddox and didn't like it. There was something odd about Jack, something that gave her the creeps. She could not understand her friend's obsession. Jack was pudgier than ever. His large lips were moist and blubbery, his grey eyes hard as steel. The dingy white tee shirt he wore didn't reach his jeans. Pale, flabby skin poked between his waistband and the shirt's edge.
Sailor regarded him closely. He looked different from the rest of the kids. Some of the boys had sprouted up during the summer. They didn't look like boys anymore but weren't quite men. Clyde had grown several inches. He remained thin but, when he held her, she felt the muscles in his biceps tighten. Jack looked bigger, older than the rest of them.
Shifting her gaze, Sailor looked toward Maddox. Maddox was always small for her age and slightly pudgy. Her round, innocent face appeared the same. The sweater she habitually wore looked tighter than usual. She still wore the old plaid skirt and worn Keds. Enola had neglected to school-shop for her daughter that year. While everyone else wore new outfits for the first day, Maddox retained her old last-year clothes.
Sailor stood in the cafeteria with her lunch tray. Clyde did not share her lunch period that year. She looked over the tables, trying to decide where to sit. Bethany sat amongst her friends, laughing at some joke. Sailor moved toward them but noticed all the seats were taken. She spied Maddox, sitting alone, and headed toward her friend.
Maddox looked up at her anxiously. She did not smile. Sailor placed her tray and sat down. Opening her salad, she poured ranch dressing over it and began to eat. Maddox continued to watch her with a downcast expression.
"What's wrong?" Sailor finally asked.
"Jack's not here."
Sailor's eyes traveled over the cafeteria. She gathered from Maddox's statement that he was supposed to share their lunch period.
"Maybe he's in the boys' room." Sailor shrugged.
"He left school."
"Oh." Sailor pondered the statement. "Not feeling well?"
Maddox shrugged. Jack had left school after third period. She saw him strut through the door and rush along the sidewalk. Helf-tempted, she began to follow him but remembered her mother's warning to stay in school. Maddox had the habit of leaving on a whim, mostly when she wasn't getting her way. Enola's warning that morning took her aback. Her mother never cared about what she did or where she went.
"He probably has an excuse," Sailor stated, munching her salad. "Maybe his grandmother is sick." Girty Meadows was often in the ER with some complaint or another.
"Yeah, I guess." Maddox perked up a little. "Why are you sitting with me? What's wrong with your spoiled rich friends?"
Sailor glanced toward Bethany and Erik again. She didn't know what was wrong with them, but rich and spoiled was right. The Kelleys were dirt poor, and the Kents were doing okay financially. Bethany's and Erik's families were in a league all their own. Sailor thought perhaps she didn't really belong with them.
"Don't know, don't care," Sailor answered flippantly. She did care, just didn't want to show it.
Maddox began talking about Jack. Her face looked rapturous as she spoke. Sailor became uneasy again. Her friend's obsession hadn't slackened over the summer. Although Jack mistreated her, she sucked it up and continued her pursuit. Sailor wouldn't have accepted the abuse. Maddox was looking for trouble.
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Jack Meadows hurried along the sidewalk. He couldn't get further away from the middle school. He had places to go and people to see. Or at least one person.
He did not have to contend with Maddox Kelley for the first time all summer. She was safely tucked away behind her school desk. Jack thought of her as a child—a clinging, willful child. He didn't like children and lost his patience with her quickly. His early summer plans to entrap her turned course when he saw Enola for the first time.
Enola made him feel like a grown-up. They drank bourbon together, and she flaunted her near-naked body in front of him. He felt enticed by her firm breasts and the scant panties she wore beneath her filmy nightie. It seemed that she never wore clothes at home. She was always dressed for bed.
Bed. Jack wanted to go to bed with her. His desire grew as he marched along the sidewalk. He knew where he was going and what he would do when he got there. It was time; it was long past time. He stopped and put his hand over his crotch. It was stiff and aching for relief. He could barely contain himself.
Jack straightened his back and held his chin up. He had a few more blocks of walking, then fulfillment. The trailer park seemed miles away. His feet shuffled along, moving his bulk closer and closer.
The screen door latch slipped through his hand. He tugged and came up empty. Grasping it again, he nearly yanked it off its hinges. His feet stumbled over the threshold. Enola sprawled on the chaise lounge. She smiled at him, opening her arms and legs. Jack practically fell on her. He thrust his penis toward her welcoming thighs and missed.
Tears sprang to his eyes. Jack never cried. He had learned to hold back his emotions at a young age. His mother had no time for tears. She showed him no sympathy even when he was only a toddler. Jack had fended for himself all his life.
The sudden tears took him aback. Jack squatted on his knees, towering above Enola. He had failed. Failure sat heavily on his shoulders. His nose ran, and he sniffed heavily. His flabby lips moved like loose rubber bands.
Throwing her head back, Enola's cruel laughter rang out. At first, she wanted scream obscenities. The idiot child, she thought maliciously. She found little sympathy in his tears. Her own selfish satisfaction remained uppermost in her mind.
She waited all morning for Jack's arrival. Her body yearned with anticipation as she mentally prepared herself for sex. She longed for a fulfilment she hadn't experienced in years. Enola's body needed sex, needed Jack. The frustration of waiting played on her nerves. She had warned her daughter to stay in school, knowing Jack planned on leaving early.
If Maddox showed up, she would lose her mind. Enola knew she couldn't control herself. She wanted Jack for herself. Perhaps, later, they would share, but not now.
Jack stopped crying. Enola's laughter stunned him. He shrank into himself and backed away. They looked at each other, and then she opened her arms. He fell into them and snuggled against her breasts.
Their tender kisses became frantic. Jack yearned for sex, but nothing happened. His initial failure lay heavily upon him. He couldn't overcome it. Enola used all her persuasive abilities to prepare him. Still, he couldn't respond to her pulling and tugging on his penis. Weary and disheartened, Jack moved into a wicker chair.
His face froze in a frown. Enola chastised him, whipping him with her tongue. Her own desires were left unfulfilled. She had to remember she was an adult; he was a child. He wasn't mature enough to suit her needs.
"Go home, Jack Meadows," she ordered. "Go home to your granny. Don't come back until you can control yourself."
Jack continued to sit stone-faced in the wicker chair. His humiliation was her fault, so he shifted the blame. She rushed him, making him lose control. Jack never blamed himself for his own mistakes; they belonged to someone else. Enola enticed him with her suave body, forcing him to act too quickly. He continued to sit in the wicker chair.
Enola continued to berate his inadequacy. He was feeble and inept. He had to grow up before he could take on a woman with her needs. The more she spoke, the smaller he felt. Jack tried to tell her he loved her. He promised to do better next time. Enola stood above him, turned her back on him, and walked into the trailer's kitchen. She locked the aluminum door behind her.
Jack sat on, unmoving. His mind grappled with what happened. He couldn't move. The screen door opened and closed. Maddox's smile broadened. He had arrived at the trailer ahead of her and awaited her arrival. She said hello. Jack rose.
Maddox began talking about the first day of school. Her words tumbled out one after the other. She offered to help him catch up on the classes he missed. Jack's silence became more ominous, but Maddox didn't notice. She caught her breath and plunged into another topic, the fall dance. If Jack asked her, she would go with him, she suggested.
Jack drew back his fist and slammed it into Maddox's jaw. The hard punch threw her backward against the screen. She slumped, her body sliding against the wall. Jack kicked her in the ribs, and, thrusting open the door, marched out. Maddox spit out two teeth and began to cry.
Mikey squatted beside her and then ran into the kitchen. He returned with a damp cloth to press against his sister's jaw. He'd witnessed the entire scene from outside the screened-in patio.
"I don't like Jack," Maddox's nine-year-old brother stated. "He's not very nice. He hurt you."
Maddox had no patience with Mikey's innocence. She often referred to him as 'sunshine and roses.' Her brother saw everything in black and white, good or bad. He never recognized the gray areas. Jack was not bad; he was disturbed. He lashed out at her because he loved her; he knew she could take it.
"I can help him," Maddox decided out loud. "I'm going to help him."
"I don't think you can," Mikey contributed, his voice soft, willowy. "I don't think he wants help."
"Oh, but he does," Maddox stated dreamily. "He's telling me he does. He must hate living with that nasty granny of his. I'm going to fix everything for him. We will live together when we're old enough, and I will love him every night of the week. That'll make things better for him."
Maddox stood. Holding the wet towel against her bleeding jaw, she wandered into the trailer. She sat on her bed, dreaming about the future. Opening her notebook, she began doodling hearts and writing Maddox Meadows. She liked the two M's together.
"M&Ms," she whispered, admiring her artwork. Then she added: Maddox Maria Meadows. That sounded better. Relaxing against her pillow, she smiled. Her tongue touched the gap where her teeth were and tasted blood. The iron taste made her sigh.
When she reached sixteen in two years, she would insist that Jack move in with them. Satisfied with her plans, Maddox closed her notebook and drifted asleep. She planned to tame Jack, remove his aggression, and give him all her affections. Her love for him remained unchallenged despite his violent act toward her.
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