Wheels of Steel, Book 1

by Pepper Pace

  “Why?”

  “Because if my knees buckle you’re going to have to prop me up.”

  “I can do that.” Jason gripped the counter that was next to the toilet with one hand, leaning on her with the other. She was nervous, he was wobbly and she wasn’t sure if he wouldn’t just take a nose dive into the porcelain toilet bowl.

  “Ok. You’re going to have to pee me.” He avoided looking at her.

  She chuckled. “You already got me once with that one.”

  “I’m not kidding this time. I can’t pull out my penis if I’m holding on for dear life.”

  Robin froze momentarily. She didn’t want him to know how totally unprepared she was to do something like this. But this is what it meant to be an aid. Like when she’d had to wash Miss Lucille after she didn’t make it to the toilet in time.

  “Um, the door is open. Your Mom might come in-”

  His breath came out in a frustrated puff. “You’re just peeing me, not giving me a handjob. Plus my Mom has done this and seen this a million times.” He gave her a chilly look. “Do you want me to call my mom for this?” He already knew that she was too inexperienced for this—had already tested her more than once and she’d failed both times by not offering to wipe his ass and by looking like a scared rabbit the first time he’d mentioned peeing him.

  “No.” She said shortly, not liking the look he gave her; like she was inept, just because she didn’t want to touch his penis. “I can do it.” She realized that there would come a time when she would have to do something like this for a male, but she had always figured it would be someone old—and less attractive.

  She unzipped his pants. Then she reached into the opening and he snorted. She almost dropped him and ran.

  “What?!”

  “You’re going to pull me through that little hole?” She unbuttoned his jeans. He nodded. “Reach down into my waist band.” Nervous sweat beads dotted her brow, but she did what he said. If this was some type of trick then she was going to kill him and then quit…or go to jail, whichever happened first! Her hands moved slowly. “Keep going…keep going.” He said playfully. “Almost there…got it! Now pull it out.”

  Ewww, it was so gross. It was like a thick dead worm but bigger…lots bigger. Eww. She hid a grimace as she gripped his flaccid penis with her forefinger and thumb, withdrawing it from his boxers and his jeans that had begun falling down.

  His mother suddenly appeared with a handful of fresh towels and washcloths. Robin’s face turned into molten lava.

  “What time are you going to be back tonight? I thought I’d make us dinner.”

  “We’ll be coming right back after Physical Therapy. Probably before five.”

  Oh my god oh my god. His mother was just talking to him as if it wasn’t strange that she was holding his penis! Oh my god.

  “Honey, you’re going to make a mess that way. Point it into the toilet bowl.” She said to Robin. “And next time lift the seat.”

  “Yes Ma’ame.”

  “Okay, spaghetti and meatballs. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Suddenly his penis jerked and stiffened slightly and then urine began streaming from it. Again Robin almost dropped him. She had to use two fingers so that she could keep it aimed. She looked down at it; her fingers on some guys penis and she almost fainted.

  Jason and his Mom continued talking for a few more moments and then she left to finish whatever she was doing. Robin felt like a frozen statue as she tried not to move until his peeing had ended. She tried to think about something else, maybe small talk but she was absolutely blank. Then the flow stopped.

  “Wait.” He said. Then it started back up again for a brief few seconds. “Okay. Good job, Robin.” He knew that hadn’t been easy for her because she was trembling like a leaf. He supposed it hadn’t been as amusing to her as it had been for him, especially when his Mom walked in. He thought she was going to bolt right out the door! His mother had planned that, he knew, just to see if she knew what she was doing. He knew that Mom would be forming several sneak attacks on Robin.

  “Shake it.” He prompted her. “Two good shakes should do it.” He wanted to tell her the old joke, ‘more than two and I’ll enjoy it too much!’, but she might just believe that. And in actuality there was nothing sexual about pissing in front of a girl that was so scared and disgusted that she would rather quit then do this. And as a matter of fact, there was nothing amusing about it either. Jason hid a scowl.

  Once that was over she replaced him in his shorts…not very smoothly; grazing him against the rough material, but not worth complaining about. Theoretically, she would only have to do this on Fridays but maybe he’d just sit and piss the next time.

  He sat down in the chair and zipped and buttoned himself. “Thank you, Robin.” He wanted to ask if she was okay but it sounded condescending so he wheeled out of the bathroom, leaving her to wash her hands and get herself together.

  She washed her hands, happy that her first contact with a penis was over, then she joined him in the living room where he was pulling on his shoes. His mother had been in the bedroom making up his bed….which she knew he could do himself since she’d just seen his bed neatly made.

  “So, are we ready to go?”

  “Yeah, just two classes today; so a pretty short day for you.” Yeah, then she could take care of quitting her other job.

  “Mom, I’m leaving.” She came out and gave him a series of kisses to his cheek. He hugged her, and the way that he clung to his mother surprised her. He closed his eyes and really seemed to enjoy being in her arms. Most people hugged but didn’t really like the touch, but it wasn’t like that with him. He broke the hug and then wheeled out of the door.

  “Bye.” Robin said politely.

  “Goodbye. Drive safe.”

  “I will.”

  “Jason?” She asked as they drove to school.

  “Yep?”

  “What does your Mom do for you on Friday’s?”

  “She cleans. She’ll clean the toilet, mop, do the laundry. Then she does my shopping for me. Sometimes she’ll cook food to put in the freezer. She only works part time, not that she needs the money. My Dad always keeps up with his alimony and he still pays her child support. He said he’ll do it until I’m out of college.” He got quiet.

  “Do you want to hear some music?” She asked sensing his change in mood.

  “How about I play you some music?” He turned in his seat and reached in the backseat for his book bag. He retrieved MP3 car speakers and plugged them into her DVD player. Then he plugged his MP3 player into it. Soon she was listening to a cool hiphop beat.

  “Wow. Are these your beats?”

  “No, this is D.J. Krush; a definite influence on my music making. You like this?”

  “Definitely.”

  He was pleased. He was also conscious that he knew virtually nothing about her. “Are you…do you have kids?”

  She gave him a surprised look. “No! No.” She said a bit calmer.

  “Okay.” He chuckled. “I don’t see a ring so I guess you’re not married.”

  “Nah. I’m single.” She addressed each of these questions as if surprised that he might even suggest she would be otherwise.

  “Single.” He stated.

  “Yep.” He didn’t say anything more and they rode on silently listening to good music.

  Chapter 13

  Jason’s first class of the day was music appreciation. It seemed that it would be the least complex class that she’d attended with him, until he informed her that first semester had been learning how to read music. Link was in his class and they sat together talking about nothing more benign then the lesson at hand. Link winked at her.

  “Hiya, sweetie. Still a glutton for punishment, I see.”

  She grinned shyly. “It’s not so bad. I listened to the C.D…the More Love.”

  Link’s eyes twinkled. “And…?”

  “I loved it!” She gushed.
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br />   Jason turned back to his computer and fiddled around wishing that Link wouldn’t always have to be Mr. Charm. It was rather sickening the way women ate it up. He suffered through Link’s flirting until class was called to order.

  After music they parted ways and he and Robin went to his last class of the day. He watched her as she listened intently to the lesson. He could clearly see that most times she had no idea what was going on. Yet she continued to watch and learn. He also watched the way the other guys seemed to be watching her. He wondered about her being single. She was attractive with a full voluptuous body, but so shy that she barely met anyone’s eyes. He saw several men trying to catch her attention but she had no clue. Jason grinned.

  After class Jason sold some C.D.’s while Robin danced from foot to foot until she told him that she had to go to the bathroom and rushed off in that direction. He saw Amberly and quickly wheeled to her.

  “Amberly!” She turned and when she saw him continued walking. He scowled and wheeled faster. He was a beast in a wheelchair…and frankly she wasn’t that fast on two feet. “Why didn’t you stop?” He asked when he’d caught up to her. “You still pissed?”

  She finally stopped abruptly and turned to him. “Fuck you, Jason—TOP, whoever you want to be!” He gave her a surprised look.

  “Amberly…” He had never ever heard her say anything like that in all of the years that they had been friends.

  “No! You threw us under the bus! I would have expected something like that from Link, but not you.”

  “All I did was to go to a party with Link. He was going to D.J. and I went to listen. How is that throwing you under the bus? Just cuz we were on YouTube? We didn’t play any Wheels of Steel-”

  “No Jason because the D.J gig was a Wheels of Steel gig! Patty talked to Darby from Omicron House who told her that they wanted Wheels of Steel specifically because of More Love! So don’t play us for stupid! If you don’t want Patty and me then you don’t have to have us!”

  Jason was speechless. His mouth actually hung open. “Amberly, I didn’t…know.”

  She made a face. “You’re trying to sit there and say that you didn’t know? Then you got played worse than we did! Because he got you up on that stage and you played that new beat and nobody was worried about More Love!” The look on Jason’s face stopped her. “You really didn’t know?”

  He shook his head. Amberly’s muscles were popping, her head practically rolling on her neck as her agitation grew. She could barely stand in one spot, while, in comparison Jason was calm and virtually not moving at all. He reached out and took her hand.

  “I still want you. I promise I do. I’m not trying to get rid of you. And I would never throw you under the bus. Okay? You are my girl and you know that.” He and Amberly were friends back when he was a seventeen year old kid attending his first Diversity Club Meeting. She’d already been at the University for a year and had taken him under her wing. Had it not been for Amberly’s friendship he would not have adjusted with his disability as well as he had. Certainly she had paved the way by preparing him for the way people would misunderstand his slurred speech and lurching muscles.

  Amberly suddenly reached down and wrapped her arm around his neck. She felt better knowing that she had not totally misread their friendship. He held her; touch being so precious to him—closeness more meaningful than even words…but he did not feel better. He felt tons worse.

  Robin paced several feet away from them, not sure how she should let her presence be known, or even if she should. They were having a personal moment and why had she assumed that Jason was single? She had come out of the bathroom in time to hear him telling her how much he wanted her. Obviously their earlier fight had almost broken them up.

  She now found herself intensely curious about the girl; Amberly. She moved a lot better than Jason. She was petite almost to the verge of being too thin; with small, almost non-existent breasts. She was the type of pale that others described as porcelain. Her hair was dark and fine; wispy strands that seemed slightly unruly. She had dark eyes that were almost black and she was pretty and fragile looking. They made a very lovely couple. And that thought made Robin slightly sad because she had never known anything like that for herself.

  She finally made her presence known because watching them holding each other seemed voyeuristic. She cleared her throat and Amberly looked up.

  “I gotta go.” The girl said while standing up.

  “I’ll call you.” He intended to have a good talk with Link.

  “Okay.”

  Jason glanced at Robin as Amberly limped away. He sighed, a slight frown on his face. “Lunch.” He said.

  “Lunch.” She repeated.

  “We have over an hour before my physical therapy appointment. We can go eat off campus. No reason to hang around here.”

  “I’m game. What sounds good?” They headed out of the building together.

  “I don’t know. You’re driving.”

  “Hmmm. Chinese?”

  “Yuck.” Rice tended to cause him to choke.

  “Okay…how about pizza?”

  “I have that all the time. Come on, Robin. Think. What do you like?”

  “Me?” It was Friday. There was one place that black folks in Cincinnati went on Fridays. “Well, we could go to Alabama’s?”

  “ Alabama’s? What is that?”

  Oh wow, she couldn’t believe that there was a person from Cincinnati that didn’t know about Alabama’s. “Do you like fried fish?”

  “Um…I can’t do bones.”

  “Filets; no bones. It’s battered, deep fried filets.” And the best damn fish bar in the state. Her Mama called it ‘ghetto fish’ but even being all bourgeoisie, her Mom ate there often enough.

  “That sounds good, actually.” He didn’t eat much fried fish unless it was a McDonald’s filet-o-fish sandwich when he was out and about with his friends. The thought of his friends caused a grim expression to fall over his face again. But Robin’s enthusiasm caused him to momentarily forget his angst.

  “Alabama’s is like the most popular fish bar in Cincinnati! I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it.”

  “Well I think we have a place for lunch.” He said.

  She stopped before opening the door to help him in. “One problem, there’s no place to eat inside.”

  “Hmmm, we could take it back to my place but my Mom-”

  “Or we could go to the park.” She interrupted. No offense but his mother was the last person she wanted to be around.

  “As long as it’s wheelchair accessible then I’m fine with that.” It was the end of summer and he hadn’t had much opportunity to spend time outdoors at a park.

  While she waited for her order, Robin chastised herself for this stupid idea. How smart was it to leave a boy prone to seizures in a car alone? And in Over the Rhine of all places! What if someone tried to carjack him?! One of the many aggressive panhandlers could knock on the window and Jason would probably roll it down and get jacked!

  She was a nervous wreck by the time she had the two brown paper sacks containing steaming hot fish filets and fries. She let out a relieved breath when she returned to the car and saw him bobbing his head and listening to his MP3 player.

  “Mmm, that smells delicious.” He said while taking the food from her as she climbed into the car. There were several parks in close proximity of the restaurant and she selected one that she remembered to be easy to maneuver by someone in a wheelchair. He allowed her to wheel him while he held the food and two cans of soda.