Chapter 7-1
Super Nova
Part 2
When it comes to boys shopping, we get in and we get out, nothing more than that. Personally, I think I spent more time in the car section of the stores than anywhere else compared to the clothing section while my mother and Mrs. Earl browsed the ladies' section. Dad was right. I found that one certain key chain, that had my name all over it. It was simple, but it told everything about me.
I chose a large golden Key with a fairly big key ring that could almost work as a bracelet. The key, itself said I wasn't a prisoner any longer, with my own key I could get out of any jail cell. The huge ring said I was in control, not the person holding me prisoner. I bought several items like a full cleaning kit and several deodorizers. I coughed when I got to the counter and cost me almost 100 dollars for the things I thought I needed for the car.
I even bought a new Jack and Star, not liking the one that came with it, and have enough times experienced the old pump handle and watching it break loose or tip over. Greg said it would pay itself back compared to the others when I gasped at the price of 50 or so dollars for that alone. He was right; to this day I still own one. In fact, over 30 years I have only had to buy two. So, I know it was worth the money and then some. My mother gasped, seeing everything I had bought, asking me if I expected her to use them.
I said. "Yes, and I would show her how to change a tire."
She said. "Yeah, right?"
Mrs. Earl said. "And why not? I teach every one of my girls at church how to change a tire, and the basics. You can't always have a man around to do it." My mother gasped, but it was settled. Mom, was going to get a crash course in car maintenance, and Mrs. Earl was going to make sure of it while I was not home. That included washing and vacuuming out the car.
Mom gasped at the price of the car insurance, hating the idea of paying for something she might not even need. She had always managed to get by without it. Mrs. Earl reminded her that it only takes one incident to make you grateful for having insurance. At the time, it wasn't strictly enforced by law, which is one of the reasons my mother had been able to avoid it for so long. Additionally, her cars never lasted very long anyway. Personally, she should have considered herself lucky that Bishop Earl was willing to pay more than half of it, knowing that it would strain her financially. This was especially true because she didn't have car insurance in the first place or had let it lapse for more than six months, causing the premium to skyrocket. Adding me to the policy with only a learner's permit made matters even worse.
The moment my mother saw the price, she made up her mind that Susan wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the steering wheel until the situation improved. Mrs. Earl insisted that she and her husband be listed as secondary policyholders, so they would be notified immediately if my mother stopped making payments. I could see the hurt in my mother's eyes, as if no one trusted her. There was nothing I could do about that, considering that I didn't even trust her in most things, especially when it came to paying bills.
The only thing that saved her was her clean driving record–no tickets or accidents in the last five or ten years. Even though there were times when she probably wished she could drive the car off a cliff or blow it up with dynamite, I had my own dreams of doing that, including her or my father or both, however they would be inside the car as I did it. I'm sure many people have had similar thoughts.
We were done by two which really made my day because that meant me and my Supper Nova could get acquainted, with the help of Greg and Eli as we washed, buffed, and scrubbed her out. I replaced the seats with seat covers for now and took her for a spin just us guys around Santaquin. After all, I knew every street like the back of my hand. Santaquin was the best place to teach Eli how to drive; He asked me if I was sure. I said. "You're my husband. Just think if I was dying and you and I were stranded. You be the one that needed to get me to the hospital."
He said. "I kill you first and then marry Greg."
Greg said. "That could work … until he came home and found Rhoda and Jackie holding a knife, wanting to know why he killed him before they could."
He said. "You have a point." He knew his sister Rhoda and his wife Jackie would be furious and would hunt him down like an animal and then gut him.
I had chosen a great big open field with nothing but a dirt road and no ditches within 1 mile. I got out and switched places with Eli, taking the passenger seat while Greg sat in the back, showing Eli the gas and brake pedals and then letting him drive. I smiled when the car bucked back and forth as he hit the brake and the gas at the same time. Then let her rip as we floored it down the road, swerving until he got the hang of it. He drove it until he could make it back to Greg's house like a pro, with the biggest smiles on our faces. Mom nearly came unglued when she rushed out of the house, finding Eli behind the wheel instead of me.
I simply said. "Eli, my husband, and is responsible. Susan is not; he has a job and makes good money. Susan doesn't, besides it's my car which means it's also Eli's and our wives' car." Mom nodded because I was right. I said. "They will be getting their licenses at the end of the school year and will be added to my insurance, not yours. When that happens," She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that, because it was already expensive enough. The only problem was the car needed washed again; Oh, well, at least it was clean dirt and dust.
Jeannie asked how it went, seeing the smiles on our faces. I knew she heard everything, but how could you not, She said. "My best friend taught me how to drive, so it's only fair that Eric is the one to teach his husband and his wife to drive. I agree Susan shouldn't be behind a steering wheel until she learns responsibility. She already had gotten out of work today because her father refused to let her. Personally, I would have picked her up and put her in the car, and left her on their doorstep. But I am not her mother or father … and thank God for that one. It was bad enough that Becky tried to burn the house down and all she was doing was toasting bread in a toaster. She is the worst babysitter I have ever seen. I wouldn't trust her to babysit my own kids let alone anyone else's."
Becky said. "Good, because I rather not. I hate babysitting and hate cooking even more. It wasn't my fault that the toaster burned everything. I was told to put the toast in and wait for it to pop back up. No one said anything about checking the stupid dial or cleaning the toaster out every so often." Stomped off and turned on the TV as she waited for dinner. She was angry because her friends refused to come over and have sex with her, instead decided to go to the mall and out to see a movie. She was invited to go with them, but she didn't have any money.
I said for her to call them back and tell them I would drop her off and I gave her two twenties. I figured I was looking at a gift horse in the mouth just to have her gone, and she did at least make an attempt to do something, and it deserved a reward. Her eyes lit up the moment I put the money in front of her and said. "Good deeds get rewarded. You gave it an effort, whereas your sister didn't. I'll give you ten dollars more if you can talk them into you spending the night and not to come home until tomorrow afternoon, but if you work five hours each day this week instead of sitting around the house or with your friends … I'll pay you twenty dollars each day you work."
Mrs. Earl said. "I'll match that if you do it without complaining, too much."
Becky looked at the money and nothing else, seeing the dollar signs she said deal. And was on the phone. Then she turned and asked. "Are you just trying to get rid of me?"
I said. "Of course I am, because you'd just get bored and bug me and my friends to death." She gave a high-pitched giggle and was ready to go in a matter of minutes.
Mom said. "You didn't have to do that."
I said. "Yes, I did, because I wanted to make a point when she tells Susan where and how she got the money and what she did with it. My Dad said it's always good to reward someone for doing something that would make them want to do it again. It's a win-win situation. I get a whole week without her breathing down my neck. She learns what happens when she does something worth rewarding. She didn't have to do it. She could have gone shopping with us, but she chose to work, even though she said it was to avoid watching us boy's kiss. What she doesn't know is that each reward will become harder, than making toast. She'll have to decide if the money is worth it. If it isn't, she won't do the chores asked of her and she won't get paid to sit and do nothing.
"She will spend the money quickly because she has no spending habits. However, she'll have to make a choice: either live without going out with her friends or stay home, knowing that she turned down the opportunity to make some quick cash. It's likely that her friends all have some sort of way of making money, and she'll be faced with that reality. She'll realize that I don't give anything away for free, as Susan will learn that I helped her sister out and she got nothing in return. This situation highlights how she could have earned the money and joined her friends in having fun instead of sitting on the couch, questioning if this is truly what she wants. She won't understand why her sister and her friends are having fun while she's left with nothing.
"Money is power and the only way to get it, tis to earn it, by using the world system. So yes, I had to because you wouldn't do it. Instead, you would have given it to her without her earning it. As you have always done, I was raised differently and because of that, I know how to get my money to work for me. The more I have the more power I have. I was taught if I can get something done and use the money as an incentive I own that person, knowing they will come back wanting to do whatever I ask. It's called work and responsibility, which I learned from each of my foster parents. Something you should have been teaching me but didn't because you were too busy treating me like garbage. I am sorry, but you know it's true.
"I watched you the other day on camera as you were handed a letter stating I wouldn't be home until Wednesday, and you were given close to a thousand dollars for your inconvenience. We took a bet that you wouldn't use it on bills or help pay for the car I bought. Instead of the first thing, you said 'O let's go shopping.' I lost that bet, trusting you cared more about me and me buying you a car, but instead, you use the money as if it grew on trees.
"True, it wasn't my money, but you didn't know that you were given the choice to put a down payment on the car, letting me finish paying for it and you would pay me back. Instead, you chose the other because you thought I would never know. You knew they were watching you; he told you they would, but you couldn't resist and now you have no choice but to raise the money somehow. To either buy the car from me or another before I graduate next year.
"You fell into the trap, and I am sorry, but that's the cold hard truth. Money makes people do stupid things for those who don't know how to let it work for them. I work and I save every penny I spend. I pay my bills first before I pay myself. It's how I was taught, and I know Becky. Tomorrow or the next day she'll be hounding me for more money even though she chose not to work, but the bank will be closed because she didn't earn it. Each day she sits around is another day without cash in her pocket. She could have earned that money doing easy labor, nothing too hard like doing dishes, vacuuming, or a little cooking. Something all her friends are already doing to earn theirs as an allowance or a job they had signed up to do. She'll beg and she'll cry, but I won't bend, because I know each time I break, it means all she will have to do is whine some more. It only takes one time, and it gets easier after that.
"Now think about it as I take Becky to her friend's house. Knowing she'd break because all she had to do was two simple things. Make toast or watch the kids making sure they don't get into trouble. Not have sex with them or stimulate them in some way. That is why the kids call her a whore because all she wants to do is have sex. Sex has its place. I plan to have lots of sex, but I don't have to if I don't want to. I am a horny boy; I have two very beautiful wives and a handsome husband who likes seeing them naked. I also have friends that I also plan to have sex with, but my two wives and husband always come first in everything. Even when paying bills that keep a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs, sex is just a benefit. Everything else is part of life; my adoptive parents taught me that."
I left, watching my mother wipe her eyes. I told Eli he gets to drive again; Greg came with me and so did his brother Chad, who said they wanted to stop for ice cream on the way back. I didn't apologize, maybe I should have, but I didn't. She needed to know that I knew everything she had done at Paul's house. She needed to know that she wasn't doing her job by letting Susan get away with it like she had done all her life. She needed to know that Becky was becoming just like her. She needed to know so many things because no one besides me could tell her. I was neutral; I wasn't really her son anymore. I was becoming my own person.
I didn't look back as I got into the car tossing Eli the keys. I wanted to make one more stop and that was Stringum's, I needed to make keys, so Eli and the girls had one to my room at my mother's house, and a key to the car and house in Heber. I would have made one for my mother's house, but I didn't have one, she had never given me one.
In some way's it said I didn't really live there. I was a visitor nothing more. Susan and Becky had a key to the house and their room. Aaron only had one for his room, not the house, but so did my mother and most likely my father. For now, Tony and I were the only ones that had one to my room. As we drove, I watched Becky keep checking her purse to see the money in it. I knew it would be gone quickly and like I said I knew she wouldn't work for the rest … maybe tomorrow maybe the next day.
She smiled as she counted the money she could earn in a weeks time. Yet numbers mean nothing unless it's real. She asked if I was going to keep my promises. I said. "I always keep my promises. I'll even have it in writing, sitting on your bed by the time you come home." She smiled at me as if I had done something important. Yet I knew I would crush her hopes and dreams, and she would go back to hating me and accusing me of lying and going back on my promises. It wouldn't matter that I had given her a contract.
All she would do was try to beg for more money. However, I also knew the next time I asked her to do something she wouldn't do it. I knew Susan and she too would beg me for some money, promising me she would do anything to get it. Yet when the time came to do it, she would refuse. I was nothing more than a money tree. I was nothing more than the person they hated because my parents hadn't taught them responsibility. Maybe I was too hard on my mother. It hurt me to hear my words telling her she wasn't doing her job teaching me responsibility. Telling her, my foster parents stepped in, taking me by the hand and teaching me how the world works. Money was power. I needed to be hard and mean or it would slip through my fingers.
Becky's friends were waiting outside on the steps as she quickly took out her sleeping bag and pillow and her small little suitcases. She told them she earned the money herself, and they looked surprised and I gave them a nod it was true. I didn't know her friends, they weren't the ones I had introduced her to over the summer, which in many ways was good. She quickly made an introduction telling them I was married to Eli, and we kissed all the time and I was also married to his sister Rhoda and his sister's best friend Jackie who doesn't look anything like him. They seemed a little intrigued asking Becky if Eli and I were gay.
A long silence stretched between us before she responded to the question, her hesitation very noticeable, eventually answering with a curt laugh, "No!" Continuing her explanation, she mentioned that I leaned toward girls but also had an interest in boys, leading to multiple boyfriends. Becky then told them I was bisexual, a significant distinction from being gay, feeling the weight of the revelation. Many of his female friends who are nudists are currently staying at her house. They gasped upon hearing that. I told Becky to have a good time and left her with her friends. The boys all gave me a fist bump for getting rid of our problem. Greg and Chad told me they would have broken their piggy banks if it meant getting rid of her for the week. I quickly reminded them that this was Becky, and the week wasn't over yet.
We made a stopover at the Payson Polar Queen, an establishment that has stood the test of time and continues to thrive to this day. However, my appetite was spoiled by Eli's unexpected response to a question I wasn't prepared for. It seemed like they were genuinely interested in joining our cause in taking down the Satanic Church, which would no doubt involve the "Preparing Ritual." Eli promptly explained each phase. The initial part wasn't anything groundbreaking, as we were all engaged in similar practices within our relationships. However, when Eli reached the final phase, the coring part, I couldn't help but wince at their inquiry about potential pain. I said. "Yes, it hurts if not done correctly."
"If it is done right," Eli said looking towards me as he took my hand and looked into my eyes knowing exactly how I felt about it. "It can be quite pleasurable." He said, hoping to convince me, that in time it would be for me. Even though I still doubted that would ever happen.
I corrected him and said. "I am still waiting for that part to happen."
Eli said. "That's because it was done incorrectly the first time, and you tighten up every time you are remembering how Gloria raped you."
I said. "For good reason, it hurt like I was giving birth to a whale and hurt like that for days having to have used a medicated laxative and a shot for the pain."
He said. "Yes, and now that it's all over and you have had it done to you over and over again by the fallen Queens men and me and the girls. You don't feel the pain anymore now do you?"
I said. "No, but I expect it still to hurt." He cursed Gloria and promised me that he would find a way to make it pleasurable so I will not remember the pain I went through.
I said. "Yeah, right?" And left it at that. Noticing I was scaring Greg and his brother Chad. I didn't want them to go through it, I rather they didn't. But if they were, they needed to know the wrong way and the right way. I would rather have them feel nothing, rather than the pain I went through, I rather not have them go through the procedure at all. Yet it wasn't my decision, it was their own to make. I wasn't going to force them. Their life wasn't hanging in the balance, for now anyway.