They talked for quite a bit longer, but they let the topic drift away from heavy subjects. Frenchy told a few stories of what it was like working in the woods, and even a couple stories from high school, without letting them get too dark or violent. She told some stories like that too, especially of how she’d once played basketball for Mrs. Wine but couldn’t do it her senior year since she was too old. That made Frenchy wonder if Monica was the girl who Mrs. Wine had been talking about when she’d told him he wouldn’t be able to play football if he went back to school in the fall, but he kept the thought to himself.

It was so enjoyable to just sit and talk with Monica that time got away from them. It was after ten when she happened to look at her watch. “Wow, look at the time!” she said softly. “Frenchy, if we’re going to do this, we probably ought to be getting to it. I’m going to have to be getting up early to be getting Cindy off to school.”

“Believe me, I’m ready when you are,” he said. “Although it’s been nice to talk to you, there’s something else that I want to do too.”

“I’ll just bet,” she giggled as she started to get up. “You’re not going to have any trouble keeping quiet, are you? I don’t want to wake the kids.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said as he followed her. It was nice to see her butt moving in front of him as he followed her up the stairs.

She led him into what obviously was her room. It had a bed, a dresser, a chair, a couple milk crates that served as a bedside stand, but not much else. His attention was more on her than it was on his surroundings, but he noticed that the walls of the room had been beaten up and not very well patched. Maybe it had been some of Lonnie’s work, or maybe another one of her friends, he thought, wondering if he could do any better – it wasn’t the kind of thing his father had ever bothered to teach him how to do. He closed the door behind him as she said, “Frenchy, I know you’d probably rather do it otherwise, but I have to ask you to wear a rubber. I learned the hard way that the pill doesn’t work very well with me, and the last thing I need right now is another kid.”

“Sure, I figured that,” he lied a little, not having actually thought about it in that way. “I hope you have some since I didn’t think to bring any with me.”

“I keep some around,” she replied as she peeled out of the heavy sweater she’d worn all day. “I never know when I might need them.” She went to the dresser, pulled out a couple foil packages, and put them on the bedside stand.

From there on there wasn’t much talking for a while. The sweater and the flannel shirt had obscured her chest all day long, but as he unbuttoned the shirt he discovered a tired white bra with a safety pin holding the strap together; the bra-covered breasts were reasonable, if not exceptionally large. Figuring the bra was a little fragile, he was careful as he reached around behind her and unhooked it to find that his impression had been correct.

It didn’t take them long to be in bed and under the covers – it was chilly in the room as the heat from the stove hadn’t reached up to her room all that well. They snuggled together sharing body heat as his hands roamed her body, and hers ran around his. After a while she twisted around, got one of the foil packages off the stand by the bed, and reached down for his tool. He could feel her rolling the condom onto him. “Wow, you’re hard,” he heard her whisper. “I’ll bet you’re ready to use that on me.”

“More than ready,” he said as he rolled on top of her naked body as she spread her legs to receive him. He could feel her hand on his tool as she guided him into her.

Frenchy had made up his mind to take his time and enjoy this, but as soon as he felt the warmth of her sex enclosing his all those plans went out the window. It had been months since he’d been in a woman, and the fact that he had finally made it overcame him – his body was saying NOW! and that mostly took over. Within only three or four strokes he was ramming himself into her as hard and as fast as he could. It was pretty much how he’d always done girls in the days when just doing them had been all he could ask for.

Predictably, he didn’t last long. It was only seconds before he shot his load into her – well, into the condom, but his body didn’t care. Only then did he come to his senses, and realize that it wasn’t exactly how he’d wanted things to go.

Apparently it wasn’t how she wanted thing to go, either. She was still under him as he lay on her when she whispered in his ear in a disappointed voice, “Did that get your rocks off OK, Frenchy?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he sighed. “I’d hoped on lasting a little longer, but it’s been too long. I hope I didn’t hurt you or anything.”

“No, I’m all right,” she replied listlessly. “And I guess I understand, but I was sort of hoping it would go on a little longer too. But I guess I have to remember that I’m here so you can fuck me, so I guess it’s all right.”

It began to dawn on Frenchy that he hadn’t done a very good job in her eyes; if this had been another one of her tests, it was pretty clear to him that he’d failed. It felt strange; he’d never thought about it that way before when he’d been with girls in the past. As far as he had been concerned they had just been there to be fucked, to get his rocks off in, and he hadn’t cared much about whether the girl had gotten anything out of it or not. “I’m sorry,” he said as he rolled off of her to remove his weight. “As nice as you’ve been to me, I should have done better for you.”

“It’s OK, Frenchy,” she sighed. “You did what you wanted to do, and that’s what I’m here for. The hell of it is that I really like fucking and I’d hoped to get a little more out of it.”

He reached out and pulled her close to him. “Like I said, I’m sorry,” he told her. “If you’ll let me, I can try to make it up to you. There’s no reason you have to just lie there and get fucked. I may not be the best lover in the world but if you’ll tell me what you want me to do, I can try to make it better for you.”

“Are you sure?” she said softly. “I’m sorry, Frenchy. Sometimes I get a little down when I have to lie there like a piece of warm meat while someone pounds it into me. It makes me really realize how worthless I am. I’m not much use to anyone but my kids and I’m not much use to them, either. I used to like it when a strong man used me like that and sometimes I still do, but not very often anymore.”

“You’re not worthless, especially to your kids,” he told her. “I think you’re doing a good job with them with what you have to work with. From what you told me earlier, you’ve been strong for them. I wish my folks had done half as good a job as you’re doing. It was like they really didn’t give a shit, and they didn’t really want me in their lives. And it’s just gotten worse since then. Your kids are lucky that they have a loving mom who cares for them.”

“Thanks, Frenchy,” she whispered back. “I need someone to tell me that once in a while.” In the darkness he could feel her roll onto her side; he felt her arm behind his head, and felt her pull his lips close to hers. It started as just a little kiss, but it grew more powerful as time went on; soon their mouths were open and their tongues were exploring each other. It went on for a long time, and Frenchy soon realized that her kiss was more exciting and more fun than the time he’d spent fucking her – lots better, in fact.

Eventually – and it wasn’t a short time – she pulled her head back. “Thanks, Frenchy,” she said. “If you really want to try it my way, I’m willing to see how it goes.”

Frenchy needed absolutely no convincing after that kiss. “Just tell me what you want,” he told her. “And if I’m doing it wrong, tell me that too.”

Over the next while – it was impossible to put a time to it, other than the fact that it didn’t last long enough – Frenchy found himself doing things he’d never dreamed of. It wasn’t anything terribly exotic, just things that he’d never considered that he’d be doing with a woman. Her instructions weren’t detailed, just an occasional, “Oh, wow, I like that!” or just a simple, “Don’t stop now!” Occasionally she’d take his hand and show him how to massage or caress a part of her body, which didn’t always mean her breasts or between her legs. Along with that went the uncomfortable realization that he really hadn’t known how to make love to a woman, or even just fuck her so she’d enjoy it. In the past, he’d mostly been focused on how it felt to him, with no consideration of what it was doing for her. It was not a happy realization, because he was having a lot more fun with this than he’d ever had before.

It was quite a while before she pulled him onto her again. He could feel her hand on his sex, rolling another condom onto him. “OK, this time, just take it nice and easy,” she whispered. “If you feel yourself getting close to blowing your rocks, just stop and pull out for a second, and keep me hot with your hand.”

Though he didn’t have the thrill of conquest that he’d enjoyed the first time he’d entered her, this time seemed a lot better. He was determined to make this good for her; in the back of his mind he realized that there was a little more riding on this than just a good time in bed. He was aware of the fact that he’d failed her test earlier, and this was a make-up test of sorts. If he failed this time, he realized he wasn’t likely to be invited back, favors or no favors, and over the course of the evening, especially the time he’d been in bed with her, he had come to realize that he wanted to do it again.

They went to it for a long time, often stopping to catch their breaths and lower his arousal a little. This time she was a lot more passionate than she had been before, and it was a lot more fun all the way around. Finally, after quite an enjoyable period, he could feel her give a little gasp and buck under him a bit, then murmur, “Oh, God, I love that!”

Frenchy figured that was his sign to go ahead and finish himself off. He changed his pattern just a little and upped his pace, listening to her give little moans as he continued to thrust into her. Finally, there was no more holding it; somehow his hands were on her shoulders in an effort to pull her even deeper onto him as the spasms of pleasure ran through his body.

It seemed like that used the last of what strength he had. He lay atop her, panting hard, just enjoying the moment, enjoying her arms around him. Finally, as his breathing eased, he found her mouth in the darkness and gave her a little kiss, followed by another and another until once again their tongues were busy exploring each other’s mouths. It was quite a while before he managed to break away long enough to whisper, “Was that better?”

“Much better,” she whispered back. “You know, I think after we practice that a while you might get pretty good at it.”

Those words told Frenchy that he’d passed the make-up test, and passed it with flying colors. “We’ll have to do it again sometime,” he whispered. “Got any more favors you need done?”

“Lots,” she smiled. “Not that that wasn’t a favor all by itself. It’s been too long since someone did something like that to me. I don’t mind being used for someone to get his rocks off into, but there are times that I need more than that. I was really needing it tonight. Thank you, Frenchy.”

“Thank you,” he replied seriously as he rolled off her, and took her into his arms again. “Monica, that was wonderful.”

“I’m glad you think so,” she said in a small voice, then added, “Look, Frenchy. I think we can be friends, and I mean special friends.”

There it was, the indication that he’d really passed the test. He’d come to really like Monica, and would have hated to not have evenings like this available in the future. “I’d like that,” he said softly. “I’m already looking forward to the next time.”

“I am too,” she replied. “Look, Frenchy. There are a couple things you have to understand. We’re just friends, OK? Not boyfriend-girlfriend, or anything like that. I do have some other special friends and I have to be fair with them. That means no jealousy. You’re just one of a few, all right? You can’t be anything more than that.”

“I guess it has to be that way,” he agreed.

“I wish it didn’t have to be that way,” she replied. “Like I told you earlier, maybe someday I can find some guy I can settle down with and then maybe it can be a one-on-one thing like it’s supposed to be. But I haven’t found that guy yet, and until I do I have to keep doing this, OK?”

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said, just a little disappointed. It would have been nice to have had Monica for a girlfriend, but he could see her point. She just couldn’t afford to quit doing what she was doing until someone could take up the slack. Frenchy didn’t think it could be him, but it was something nice to think about. “I promise, no jealousy, no falling in love or anything.”

“Good,” she said. “That could bring an end to this as quick as anything. The other thing is that I don’t have a phone. I wish I had one, but I can’t afford it, so you’ll pretty much have to drop by if you want to talk to me about doing me a favor. If you see the porch light on, day or night, it means that there’s someone else here, so don’t be bothering us.”

“OK,” he said. “I hadn’t noticed it.”

“It’s been on all evening, ever since you got here,” she said. “It’s not very bright and sometimes in the day you have to really look to see it. I really don’t have someone here that often, two or three times a week at the most, but I figure that keeping you guys apart as much as possible holds down on the jealousy a bit.”

“It might,” he said, reflecting on how hard it might be to see her with another guy. This wasn’t going to be as easy an arrangement as he had thought it might be. “I sure don’t want to make any trouble for you. So what else do you need done?”

“This house always needs work,” she sighed. “I told you why it’s such a goddamn mess. Some of it is just work, but some of it is going to mean getting materials or something, and I don’t have money for that. That doesn’t sound like a problem you could solve with firewood, either.”

“Probably not,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of money for materials but I might be able to promote something here or there. I’m going to have to have a better look at it to see what I could be able to do.”

“Well, we don’t want to do it tonight,” she sighed. “In fact, we’re getting close to the point where I’m going to have to run you out of here, because I need my sleep, and I have to get up to get Cindy off to school.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to be getting around in the morning myself,” he agreed. “But there’s a chance that I may not be working a lot this week. We can’t get stuff done in the woods very much since the ground is too soft with spring breakup. Maybe I could drop by during the day and look the place over when the light is better.”

“That would be fine,” she said. “I’m usually alone here with Chad all day, and it gets a little quiet, and with the crappy TV I don’t have much else to do. It would be nice to talk to an adult once in a while. I usually don’t go much of anyplace since I don’t have a car, but occasionally I can have one of the neighbor kids watch my kids for a while so I can go to the Super Market or the Library for videotapes for the kids, and stuff. It would be nice to have you drop by, and maybe I can think of something else for you to do.”

“I’ll think about it too,” he said. “I’m sorry I don’t have a car right now, or maybe I could drive you around for some of that stuff.”

“No point in wishing when it’s not going to happen,” she said. “Now give me a kiss, and then let’s call it a night. Frenchy, I’m glad to say that I’m looking forward to the next time we do this.”

“I am too, Monica,” he said, meaning it. “This has been about the best night I’ve had in a long time, and I’m looking forward to the next time.”

A few minutes later Frenchy was dressed and heading out the door. Monica had come downstairs with him, wearing a stained and tattered robe; she gave him a kiss inside the door, and as soon as he was down the steps and onto the sidewalk, she turned out the porch light.

There was nothing that Frenchy could do but head for home. At least his folks would be home by now, he thought, unless they’d hit a couple pretty good jackpots and were trying to piss them away. The odds were that his parents were already at home, broke and asleep, or not home yet. In any case, it didn’t matter; they’d gotten used to him staying out working at Sven’s on the weekend, but they probably wouldn’t leave the light on for him, either.

It was, as always, a long walk back home. Much of the warmth of the day had evaporated into the chill of a clear night sky; it was below freezing and he wasn’t really dressed for it being this cold, so he walked quickly, thinking about things.

Although he’d enjoyed the evening, it really wasn’t the kind of thing he could afford to do very often. Even with Sven discounting the firewood to him, it had still cost him seventy or eighty bucks. He knew he had gotten a hell of a bargain out of it all the way around, and well worth the bargain at that. He hadn’t been bullshitting Monica; it had been the most enjoyable evening he’d spent in a long time, and that included quite a bit of time spent hanging around with friends in what now seemed to be a far distant past. There was something with Monica, a friendliness or honesty or something that had reached past that, and that wasn’t including the sex. She’d really seemed like a friend who he’d enjoyed being with because he enjoyed being with her, not necessarily because he wanted to have sex with her.

But the hell of it was, he wasn’t going to be able to afford to do something like this evening very often. When you got right down to it he really wasn’t making that much money with Sven; it only felt like it since his expenses were pretty low, even including the fifty bucks a week he rather begrudgingly gave to his parents. But this cold walk in the middle of the night was enough to remind him that there were other things on his priority list, and getting wheels was among them.

In fact, now that he’d had a chance to get rid of the horniness that had bothered him for the last several weeks – although it could be expected to return – getting wheels was a lot higher on the list. He had about five hundred in the bank account now, a start on the kind of money he would need – but any vehicle that he could find running for five hundred bucks probably wouldn’t be running for long. So it obviously was going to be a while before he had a car again. On top of that, with spring breakup seemingly about ready to cut loose, he might not be working that much for a couple weeks, which would set things back even further.

At least with the weather warming up, getting wheels didn’t seem quite as imperative as it had once been, although it was still a pain in the ass to get along without them. It would be nice to have had them so he could maybe take Monica shopping or something; apparently she was walking as much as he was.

The evening with Monica had been quite an experience, and his mind kept coming back to it. He’d really enjoyed sitting and talking with her, and the second round of sex he’d had with her brought home to him just how lousy the first round had been for both of them. It struck him that she’d mostly tolerated the first round but had really enjoyed the second round. He’d learned something, and probably something valuable; it seemed likely that Mary Lou wouldn’t have told him just exactly where to get off if she’d enjoyed the sex they’d had as much as Monica had. And that was his fault, not hers.

Somehow, now he couldn’t blame Mary Lou for kissing him off, even for a lesbian. That still hurt him in his gut, but now at least he understood a bit. There were two sides to the story, and he’d only been looking at one side, rather selfishly at that. Though there was no hope of anything in the long term, he hoped that he could do better with Monica. She was beyond the high school shit that had dogged him for so long, and somehow she seemed like the doorway to a different world.

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