Chapter 9 Meetings And Consequences

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I may have taken that little impromptu tease a bit too far. I thought as I dashed into my room and grabbed underwear, jeans and a t-shirt to put on.

I had only meant to let the towel slip a little and then catch it. With a witness other than May there, I couldn't take the chance that they would notice me moving much faster than a normal person could. I dressed quickly and went to the top of the stairs to watch and listen.

"I'm really sorry about Ben, Doris." May said and handed the black woman a drink of wine.

The black woman chuckled and accepted the glass as she sat on the couch. "Why are you sorry? Does he always greet people like that?"

"Oh god, no!" May gasped and then sat beside her. "He doesn't even greet me like that."

"Is that regret I hear?" Doris teased and May blushed.

"Please don't joke about that. He's my nephew!"

"Uh huh. By marriage." Doris said and took a drink of wine. "I've been wondering why you've been so happy for the last two weeks."

"Doris!" May gasped again and the black woman laughed a deep and rich laugh.

"Yes, I'm just kidding. I know it's really because he's been treating you so well." Doris said.

"He really has." May said. "I've never eaten so well in my life."

"And you said he never used to cook?"

"Not even microwave meals." May said and took a drink. "He's also doing all the household chores and he makes me take relaxing baths and lets me watch what I want on the television."

"You lucky, lucky woman." Doris said and rested a hand on May's arm. "I wish my Addy was as attentive as your nephew."

"How is he doing, by the way?" May asked. "We haven't had much chance to talk the last few weeks."

"The emergency room has been hectic lately and you haven't visited the office until today." Doris said.

May took the woman's hand on her arm and held it for a moment before she let it go. "I'm sorry about that, Doris. I'm also glad there's enough nurses available that I can leave work when my shift is over."

Doris nodded. "I'm almost in the same situation. Addy's been out of the house more than he's been at home. His salvage business is taking off and he has several government contracts on the go."

"I'm not sure if you want me to say I'm sorry or not." May said and both women laughed.

"Me, either! He's making good money, even if he is away so much." Doris said and then smiled. "Do you think I could borrow your nephew for a few days a week?"

May laughed and lightly smacked her arm. "No teasing about that!"

Doris looked at the kitchen and nodded at the table. "He hasn't done anything yet."

May smiled. "He calls it our date table when he decorates it."

"Cheeky and bold." Doris said and her face went serious. "Are you sure you don't want that recommendation?"

May sighed. "No, I don't want to risk it."

"Why not?" Doris asked.

"Ben hasn't been Peter since the accident. He hasn't done a single thing that Peter used to do."

"I wouldn't say that." Doris said. "He seems to adore you."

May opened her mouth to say something and then nodded. "I'm glad he does. If he treated me like a stranger, I'm not sure how I would handle that. I don't know if I could handle it."

Doris put her hand back on May's arm. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It's not like I haven't thought about having him see a psychologist." May admitted. "I know he's not Peter anymore and I don't want to force him to be. It still bothers me that Peter could change so much with a simple hit to the head like that."

"It wasn't simple, if what you told me about it was true." Doris said and took her hand back. "How long did you have to wait at the hospital and you work there?"

May chuckled. "We would have been there longer if I wasn't a nurse."

"At least you didn't panic too much when you saw the blood."

"I panicked enough." May said. "He couldn't even see straight and thought there were three of me."

"Three of you that he said were pretty." Doris joked.

"I said no teasing, dammit!" May said and they both laughed.

I had heard enough for now and went to my room to close the door loudly. I walked to the top of the stairs and both women stared at me as I walked down them. Without pausing, I walked around the couch and stood in front of the black woman.

"Hi, there. I'm Ben the Flasher. It's nice to meet you." I said and held my hand out to her.

Doris looked surprised for a moment, then she laughed and shook my hand. "Hello, Ben. I'm Doris."

"I'm sorry about earlier. I usually don't walk around with Big Ben hanging out like that." I said and looked at May's blushing face for a second before looking back at Doris' amused face. "I didn't know May would be coming home so early."

"I believe she will be calling beforehand from now on." Doris said, clearly amused.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" I asked.

"I'd like to. I really would." Doris said and looked like she actually did regret not being able to stay. "I need to get home to cook for my family, so I'll be leaving soon."

"I could do up something for you to take with you. It will save you time from cooking yourself and you can spend more time here with May." I offered.

Doris gave us a big smile. "If May is okay with it, I would like that."

May nodded and I nodded back.

"I'll get started right away." I said and walked around the couch and went to the kitchen.

"He's really doing all the cooking? You weren't joking around?" Doris asked May in a whisper.

"You know I haven't made lunch for myself since I started working. I just didn't have the time to spare." May whispered back. "I can't wait to see what he comes up with this time."

Basic soup is out, then. I thought as I opened the refrigerator and ducked behind it to take out my phone. I did a search for quick chicken recipes and one of the first ones was a spicy chicken curry that could be served with rice or on top of it.

The best part was the prep time was only about ten minutes and had a total cooking time of forty-five minutes.

"How spicy do you like your curry?" I asked out loud as I took out the ingredients I would need.

Both women gave each other wide smiles and spoke together. "Five alarm fire!"

The two of them laughed and I started the prep work.

*

Doris drove home and felt quite jealous of her friend May. She hadn't been for a long time and actually felt a little sorry for her, because she was raising her nephew all on her own. She also worked her ass off every day, even on the weekends when she could pick up extra shifts and not get in trouble with the union.

Ever since her nephew had been hurt and apparently had amnesia, her life had improved significantly. It was sad that the young man she knew was gone; but, the young man that had replaced him was so much better in almost every way. He was suffering academically because of the brain damage, which was understandable. Everything else, though? He was a godsend.

Ben did all the chores and took care of the apartment, did all the cooking and laundry, and even pampered May with daily relaxing baths. He even cuddled with her on the couch at night to watch television and he didn't care what they watched! He was perfect!

Doris laughed as she parked in her garage and imagined that Ben was her nephew and he was taking care of her house instead. He had shocked her and May when they had shown up unexpectedly at the apartment and Ben had given them a little show and tell. She wouldn't mind seeing that happen by accident again, because she was going to remember that sight for quite some time.

She picked up the large containers of curry and rice that Ben had insisted she take, because she had three mouths to feed and he said it would only last for three or four days without freezing it. He had also made a lot of it to save money on their food budget, so she had given him a hug to thank him and also shoved a twenty dollar bill into his jeans pocket.

Doris had felt a little naughty that her fingers had grazed something else inside the pocket and she suspected Ben's slight tension meant she had successfully teased the boy back for flashing her earlier. She entered the house and quickly did up plates of curry and rice, warmed them up for only a couple of minutes in the oven, and put them on the table when she heard a car pull into the driveway.

The front door opened and her husband came in. "It smells good, honey."

"Thank you." Doris said and walked over to the stairs before she shouted. "Daddy's home!"

"Coming, mom!" A young woman's voice responded.

Doris went to the table to kiss her husband and sat across from him. Her daughter walked down the stairs with grace and poise and both of her parents gave her approving looks.

"I hope you had a good day today, Liz." Her father said.

Liz nodded and sat down as she took in a huge sniff through her nose. "It smells delicious."

"It does." Adrian said and looked at his wife. "Please tell me it's at least a four alarm."

"It's a five and bordering on a six." Doris said with a beaming smile.

Adrian nodded and the three Toomes family members dug into the food with gusto.

*

Thursday was a chore to get through in the morning with Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry first period, then Statistics that used that geometry, then social science. I was really tempted to drop those classes and try for something else, except I had no idea what else I could be good at in a science and technology school.

"You look wiped out." Liz commented when I walked over to her table at lunch.

"I stayed up most of last night trying to get through the geometry book." I said and sat down. When I didn't move to take out my lunch, she looked concerned. "I forgot to pack it."

Liz nodded and reached into her pocket to hand me a ten dollar bill. "Lunch is on me today."

I looked at the money and back at her face. "Are you sure? I have money at home in my other pants and I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"It's fine." Liz said and I accepted the money.

"Thank you." I said and walked around the table. I gave her a significant look for a moment, then I leaned down to give her a pretty sound kissing for several seconds.

Liz looked completely stunned, so I smiled at her before I walked across the cafeteria and joined the line for food. Two squeals came from the front of the line and I saw Sarah and Kelly rush over to Liz's table and sat down, the trays they carried were forgotten as they talked hurriedly.

"You like older women, huh?" A female voice asked from a table near where I waited.

I turned and saw Isabelle with a couple of other girls. "Oh, hi! I haven't seen you in a couple of days."

"Answer the question." Isabelle said.

"I can confirm and will never deny that I find the fairer sex to be sexier when they are older than my current body." I said and her friends gave me pointed looks. "They have a bit more experience with certain things and are more comfortable doing them."

Isabelle's face went blank. "Are you doing them with her?"

"Not yet." I said and let a smile appear on my face. "What you saw was our first kiss on the lips."

"You do realize you've painted a target on your back, right?" One of her friends asked. "Liz has a lot of admirers."

"Of course she does. But, you have to ask yourself, how many of them can make a cobbler so good that it makes her moan?" I asked and the girls at Isabelle's table looked surprised. "There's your answer." The line moved and I went with it. "See you later if I'm lucky."

Isabelle gave me an odd look. "Maybe."

I held in my laugh at her denial, considering she pretty much assaulted me whenever she could get me alone. "What hall are you monitoring this afternoon? I have robotics class and then the lab."

"I'm not on duty until my free period tomorrow morning." Isabelle said.

"I've got biology and bio-lab all morning and I can't skip it. I'm sorry." I said and let her see that on my face. "I've got music after lunch and then gym for the rest of the afternoon."

Isabelle sighed and nodded. "My maybe just became a no, then."

The line moved and I nodded acceptance. Nothing else needed to be said, so I turned back to face forward and looked at the food dishes I was about to have access to. I needed something quick and not so messy, which meant chicken fingers and fries without gravy. It was a shame with no gravy; but, sacrifices needed to be made. Greasy fingers and small robot parts did not go well together.

I paid for my lunch and went back to Liz's table and chuckled under my breath. Sarah and Kelly had Liz squished between them and were launching rapid fire questions at her without letting her answer.

"Ladies, please. She's as much in the dark as you are." I said and sat down across from them.

"What? How?" Sarah asked.

"That was our first kiss, of course." I said and both girls gasped. "As you clearly saw, I practically stole it and I won't be giving it back until lunch is over."

All three girls blinked their eyes at me as if I was speaking gibberish.

"I'm going to kiss her again when I leave." I clarified for them.

Sarah and Kelly gasped and Liz blushed a little and looked happy.

I kissed Liz again for several seconds when we were both done eating and both Sarah and Kelly stared at us as I did. I wasn't sure if they were jealous or were trying to pick up tips, though. I was given significant looks by a lot of people when I left the cafeteria and I was okay with that.

I entered the robotics classroom and I had to clamp my mouth shut to stop my drool. It was wall to wall electronic parts and tools that gave my brain shivers, in the good way. I just wanted to throw caution to the wind and play! Play, play, play! Play with all the toys!

I stopped walking and took several deep breaths to calm down.

"You look like you're remembering something." A man's voice asked.

"No, Mr. Kinneson. I've just read all of Peter's books. Descriptions and pictures just doesn't compare to actually seeing it all in front of me." I admitted.

The teacher smiled briefly and then frowned. "You're going to have a hard time keeping up if you can't remember building anything."

"I know, sir. I want to ask you for any book recommendations I would need to get up to speed with the rest of the class."

"I'm reluctant to do so, Mr. Parker, considering you've missed two robotics club meetings already." Mr. Kinneson said. "That shows a distinct lack of commitment on your part."

I held in my sigh at hearing that. "I suppose you won't accept that I can't remember the club schedule or that I don't even remember being a member of the club?"

Mr. Kinneson sighed for me. "The principal has warned all of your teachers to give you some leeway after the other two incidents that resulted in you being kicked out of class."

"Actually, I voluntarily left both classes. I walked out of computer science because the teacher was going to kick me out at the end of December for not completing a project I have no memory of, and I dropped quantum mechanics because I had to quit the academic decathlon team and Mr. Harrison thinks I'm faking a significant brain injury."

The man stared at me and didn't respond.

"I wasn't going to sit there and try to learn something from a man that believes I'm a liar because I want to avoid the duties I volunteered for." I said and saw a flash of recognition on his face. "You feel the same way, because I apparently avoided something I had no knowledge of and you agree with Mr. Harrison."

Mr. Kinneson sighed once more. "You are making things quite difficult for me, Peter."

"Sir, with all due respect, if you were warned by the principal, then you know for a fact that my name is Ben. That's B-E-N. It does not spell Peter." I said and took out my new school ID to show him. "What does this and all of my electronic documents at the school say, sir?"

The man read the card and looked back at my face.

"I don't want to drop the class, sir. It's a core class and both my scholastic records and my grade point average will take a significant hit if you tell me I can't study this subject."

The teacher was silent for several minutes as the class filled up. A few of the students were in my other classes and they knew what was going on. Everyone remained silent as the teacher thought about it.

"If you base your decision on an extracurricular club that I can't remember being a member of, let alone what the club was working on, then your opinion is biased in the wrong direction. You know I have to drop the club, sir. I have to." I said and he didn't look happy. "You can't expect someone that needs to relearn what they did in the class since the beginning of the year, that's three full months of content, to participate in a club that they didn't sign up for."

"You did sign up for it." Mr. Kinneson said.

"No, sir. Peter did. I'm Ben, as I've already told you and my records show." I said as I waved my student ID at him and he didn't look convinced. "As far as I am concerned, and so are the teachers that have already accepted me into their courses, I am a transfer student that's trying his hardest to catch up to the rest of my classmates as quickly as possible."

Mr. Kinneson sighed once more. "I have to restrict you from doing anything being learned currently in both the class and the lab afterwards, until you can get up to speed."

"I can agree to that, if you give me permission to work through the things that have already been learned by everyone else." I said and he frowned. "I can learn significantly faster by doing, as my mechanical engineering teacher learned yesterday afternoon."

"I'll have to talk to Mr. Simmons and see if that's true." Mr. Kinneson said. "For today, you can familiarize yourself with the various tools and things that are available to be used." He said and squinted his eyes at me. "You are not to use them until I say so."

"Yes, sir." I said and put my ID away and walked across the silent classroom to the wall of robotic parts. If there was a heaven that really existed here, then this was a close third place. What was second? A little bald sharky, of course.

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