Reborn

by Thomas A. Watson

  Walking back into the store with two stacks of bills, she started counting while flipping through the notes. Pulling out a wad, she laid it on the counter and spread the hundred dollar bills out. “Here’s fifteen, keep the change,” she smiled. “Write it up and say you gave us a discount and you can pocket it.”

  The old man ran behind the counter and picked up Kenneth’s credit card, handing it back as the young clerk looked at the money like it was possessed. “Thank you kindly,” he said with a forced grin.

  Putting his credit card back in his wallet, “Will you help me carry this out?” Kenneth asked, looking at the old man.

  Nodding, the old man came around the counter and pulled the young man with him. After the trunk was full, they put the last two boxes in the backseat, with the dogs trying to get in the boxes, wanting to know what was in them.

  Looking back in the store, Kenneth grinned at seeing the young clerk, still staring at the cash on the counter. “You need to tell your granddaughter that the money is clean, and we aren’t in the mafia,” Kenneth said, turning to the old man.

  With a nervous grin, the old man nodded. “Yes sir.”

  “If you don’t talk about us, you will see us again,” Kenneth said, holding out his hand. “Witness protection program.”

  Still wearing the nervous grin, the old man shook his hand. “We won’t tell a soul,” the old man assured him. “Until we meet again.”

  Kenneth helped the girls in and then walked around to his door as Tiffany pulled the dogs out of the boxes. Climbing in, he started the engine. “Nice people,” he said, pushing in the clutch.

  “Whatever,” Besseta huffed, “he thought I was thirteen years old.”

  Pulling out of the parking lot, Kenneth laughed as he reached over to pat her leg. “I didn’t think you were much older than that, the first time we met.”

  Undoing her seatbelt, Besseta spun around and gave Kenneth a scowl as she leaned into the back, digging in one of the boxes. Pulling out a bottle of vodka, Besseta spun around, getting back in her seat. Taking the cap off, she drank several large gulps. “I’m not a little girl,” she said, wiping her mouth.

  “Shit, I know that,” Kenneth grinned, raising his eyebrows.

  A blush crept up Besseta’s face. “You need to quit,” she said, trying to hide her eyes.

  “Hey, I’m just saying,” Kenneth shrugged.

  Taking a different route home, in case the officer was still spanking himself, it was dark when Kenneth pulled back into the garage. When they reached the house, the three cracked open several bottles before sitting down and were soon feeling no pain.

  Chapter Nine

  Groaning as light hit his eyelids, Kenneth sat up in the bed and cracked his eyes. Realizing his view was lower than normal, his eyes popped open to find the mattress on the floor. Looking around the room, he saw pieces of the large canopy bed scattered across the room. Blinking his eyes, “Don’t remember doing that to the bed,” he yawned and looked over.

  Laying naked on her belly, Besseta had her face buried in the pillow. Leaning over, Kenneth kissed her back. “We broke the bed.”

  “Shit if I care,” she mumbled into the pillow. “I like it even more, now that I don’t have to worry about breaking you.”

  Climbing off the bed, he lightly popped her butt. “I still thought you were going to break my neck.”

  Letting out a groan, but not turning over, “You would’ve healed,” she said into the pillow.

  Chuckling as he walked into the bathroom, Kenneth looked down at his body. “Damn, didn’t realize I was that cut,” he gasped, stopping in the doorway and rubbing his hands over his chest and his ripped abs. “There’s no way I worked out that hard last night gettin’ some lovin’,” he said, flexing his arms and seeing his muscles rippling under the skin.

  “Humph,” he snorted with a smile at his body, then headed to the sink and turned on the water. Cupping his hands, Kenneth splashed water on his face and looked in the mirror.

  “EEEeeeeEEEHHHHHHH!” he screamed, jumping over to the side so he couldn’t see in the mirror and then threw his back to the wall.

  “What?” Besseta yelled, out of breath beside him, wide awake now. She held her hands out wide and her fingernails were extended two inches over her fingertips.

  Glancing toward the mirror, “There’s someone in the mirror and it’s not me,” Kenneth whispered, cutting his eyes at the mirror.

  Dropping her hands and looking at Kenneth’s body, “Um, you say something, babe?” she asked, licking her lips as her fingernails retracted. With his back pressed against the wall hiding from the mirror, Kenneth’s muscles rippled under his skin. He wasn’t gigantic nor was he small, but his body mass was bigger and much more ripped than when they had gone to bed last night. Kenneth always had a great toned body but now, it had more mass and was really toned.

  “Yes, I said something. There’s someone in the mirror and it’s not me,” he hissed, slowly peeking his face out to look into the mirror and then yanked it back. “He’s still there and he’s copying me.”

  Almost drooling, Besseta stepped over, rubbing her hands over Kenneth. “He needs to get his ass out of here,” she panted, not paying attention to what Kenneth was saying.

  Feeling Besseta rub her hands over his body, Kenneth looked down at her. “Baby, hello? There’s someone in the mirror!”

  Panting harder now as she rubbed his chest with more force, “Let’s just kill his ass,” she moaned.

  Huffing, Kenneth turned his head back to the mirror and stuck his hand out. Standing to the side, Kenneth saw a hand in the mirror. Then, Kenneth started holding up different numbers of fingers to make sure it was his hand.

  Satisfied it was his hand, he slowly leaned over, peeking into the mirror with one eye, then blinked it at random. Again, satisfied it was him, Kenneth moved to stand in front of the mirror, only to find Besseta blocking him as she continued running her hands all over his body. Seeing the lust on her face, Kenneth just picked her up, stepped closer to the mirror and put her down. Besseta never noticed, nor stopped rubbing his body. The only pause was she moved one hand to his back, rubbing it while keeping the other hand on his chest.

  Looking into the mirror, Kenneth jumped as did the figure looking at him in the mirror. Reaching up, Kenneth touched his face. “Gradual, my ass,” he gulped, then glanced up at his hair, now a dark golden brown. “Just for Men, you can kiss my ass, all my gray is gone,” he mumbled.

  Seeing Besseta’s hand run over his chest, Kenneth looked again at his chest and gave a yelp. “That’s bullshit!” he shouted.

  “Are you okay?” Tiffany asked, appearing beside him and letting out a gasp. “Wow,” she said, looking at Kenneth in the mirror, then turning her head to look at him with her own eyes. On the other side, Besseta just stood there, running her hands over his body with a blissful grin.

  Staring hard into the mirror, “My hair is gone!” he shouted.

  “Your hair is beautiful, babe,” Besseta droned, not looking up at Kenneth’s hair.

  Looking over at Besseta, Kenneth reached over and wiped the drool off the side of her mouth. “How would you know, you haven’t looked at anything other than my body,” he grumbled.

  Almost purring, “Yeah, your body looks great,” Besseta grinned.

  Reaching up, Tiffany ran her fingers through his hair. “Well, your hair does look good,” she said.

  “I have no hair on my chest!” Kenneth shouted. “I was twenty-four years old before I got chest hair and any hair around my manhood. You have no idea the shit I put up with in high school and college, not having any hair down there!”

  Glancing down, Tiffany jumped back. “You’re naked!”

  “Duh,” Kenneth moaned with an idiotic expression.

  Besseta slammed her body into his side, dropping her hands lower. “I like it with no hair,” she grunted. “The hair tickled my nose when-.”

  “Hello?! I’m in here, and really don’t want to hea
r this!” Tiffany shouted, interrupting.

  Leaning over and looking around Kenneth’s back at Tiffany, “You may want to leave then,” Besseta growled as she panted and her face broke into a mischievous grin.

  “Besseta, he’s kind of freaking out about this,” Tiffany said, trying not to laugh at her. “In appearance, he did regress in age in one night.”

  Shaking her head and gripping Kenneth’s butt with one hand, “He can think about that later but right now, he better man the hell up,” Besseta informed her.

  As Tiffany ran out, Besseta took Kenneth down to the floor. “I’m having a crisis here!” Kenneth shouted.

  “Rrrrrr,” Besseta growled as Tiffany shut the bathroom door. Seeing Bonnie and Clyde had come in when she’d opened the bedroom door, Tiffany pointed at the door. “Out, if you two stay, you’re liable to get hurt,” she said, shooing them out.

  An hour later, Tiffany was sitting on the couch when Besseta and Kenneth came out of the room with Kenneth bitching. “I can’t believe you want me to wear this!” he shouted.

  “Hey, I wear the shirt you like in bra and panties, you can wear that for me!” Besseta shot back.

  “It’s a banana hammock for swimming,” Kenneth moaned as they came down the stairs.

  “Let me tell you, if Tiffany wasn’t here, you would be walking around butt-ass-naked!” Besseta snapped.

  Stopping on the stairs, Kenneth looked at her. “Hell, you let her wash my naked ass!” he popped off.

  Jumping up, Besseta wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. “I could care less if she sees you naked, I just don’t want to jump your bones with her in the room and you walking around butt-naked. Now, I will do it,” she grinned.

  Letting her hang onto the front of his body, Kenneth didn’t wrap his arms around her as he walked downstairs. “You act like you didn’t like the way I looked,” he said, not looking at her.

  “Like, hell!” Besseta shouted. “It took all I had not to jump you every minute of the day, then you wake up with a body that Zeus himself would envy, and you expect me to keep my hands off?!”

  “I wouldn’t walk around naked,” Kenneth mumbled, reaching the bottom of the stairs.

  “Bullshit! I would burn all of the clothes!” Besseta yelled, squeezing her legs tighter around him. “Let’s go back upstairs,” she grinned. Trying not to laugh at them, Tiffany’s face contorted as she fought to keep a straight face.

  With Besseta still latched onto him, Kenneth put his hands on his hips, looking at her face an inch in front of his. “You have got to be kidding,” he said with a straight face and Besseta just kept grinning. “Baby, I’m still freaking out a little here. I wake up and look like I did back in college.”

  With wide eyes, Besseta looked down at his body and then back at his face. “You looked like this in college?”

  Nodding, “Yes, baby, and that was almost two decades ago,” Kenneth said.

  “That fucking bitch broke up with you after your family died, and you looked like this?!” she shouted in his face and Kenneth slowly nodded, with a little fear in his eyes. “I’m going to suck her eyeballs out of her fucking ears!”

  Hearing a snort, Kenneth looked over at Tiffany whose face was twitching while she tried to keep a straight face. “Will you talk to her?” he begged, and Tiffany shook her head before letting out a snort. Looking back at Besseta, Kenneth put on a small smile. “Baby, I’m wearing the stupid swim trunks, can you get down?”

  The anger left Besseta’s face. “Can we go back upstairs?” she asked, grinning maliciously.

  Closing his eyes and sighing, “Later, I promise,” Kenneth agreed.

  Locking her mouth over his, Besseta kissed him passionately, or lustfully; depending on which one you would’ve asked. Breaking the kiss, Besseta dropped down and stepped back to ogle Kenneth’s body once again. “You know, if you’re tired…we can go lay down,” she suggested hopefully.

  “You broke one of the marble slabs on the floor, babe, I’m amazed you didn’t break my hips,” Kenneth said, crossing his arms over his chest. Tiffany snorted, slapping a hand over her mouth as she rocked back and forth on the couch.

  Seeing Kenneth’s pecs flare up when he’d crossed his arms, Besseta licked her lips. “We can replace it and you can heal.”

  Dropping his arms, “Will you please stop that?!” Kenneth pleaded.

  “What?” Besseta asked, never taking her eyes off his body.

  “You’re looking at me like I’m on the menu!” Kenneth shouted.

  Slowly nodding, “Oh, but daddy is on momma’s menu,” Besseta moaned and a thump sounded when Tiffany hit the floor.

  “Can I please, at least put some shorts on?” Kenneth begged.

  Shaking her head as if in a trance, “I’ll burn every stitch of clothing in this house, if you do,” she warned.

  Stepping over, Kenneth grabbed Besseta’s shoulders and shook her until she looked up at his face. “Babe, as you know, when guys get excited, our bodies advertise the effect. Girls don’t. A banana hammock isn’t what I need to wear around you, especially when you are wearing that,” he said, looking down at the button-up shirt with the bra and panties under it.

  Dropping her eyes back to his body, “Then take the damn thing off,” she grinned. “I’ll carry you back upstairs,” she offered as Tiffany started kicking the floor.

  Giving up, Kenneth pulled Besseta close and hugged her. “You know, only the guy is supposed to be this horny,” Kenneth chuckled as Besseta leaned toward him.

  With two slaps resonating when Besseta grabbed his butt, “Shit, you always drove me crazy, but now you drive me insane,” she said, fighting the urge to just throw him down again.

  Looking over at the couch with Tiffany biting her hand and kicking the floor, “Tiffany is about to pass out,” Kenneth told her.

  “She’ll recover,” Besseta said and then bit his chest, holding him tight.

  “Ow, shit! That hurts,” he said, trying to pull away, but Besseta wasn’t letting go with her arms or mouth. “Will you please control yourself?”

  Letting her bite go, Besseta looked up. “Let’s go back to the bedroom.”

  Bending down, Kenneth scooped her up in his arms. “You’re starting to scare me,” he confessed, carrying her over to the couch and setting her down.

  Giving a huff, “Make me wait a while and you will be scared,” Besseta said, crossing her arms and then looked down at Tiffany. “Is she having a seizure?”

  “No, she’s probably laughing at the banana hammock,” Kenneth said, looking down at Tiffany.

  Jumping up and standing on the couch, Besseta grabbed Kenneth’s shoulder, spinning him around. Since she was standing on the couch, she was almost eye to eye with him. “Hey, buddy. I bought that when I bought your suits because I wanted you to wear it then. So, none of this is saying I didn’t think you were hot and sexy then, buster,” she snapped. “Then I wake up with-,” she paused at a loss, waving at his body, “this…. and you don’t want me to look?”

  Kenneth stomped his foot. “I tried crawling out of the bathroom and you pulled me back in!”

  “Sissy!” Besseta shouted and Tiffany could no longer hold the laughter in. They both jumped when Tiffany busted out laughing, convulsing on the floor. “See? She thinks you’re acting like a sissy. Let’s go back up to the bedroom, so you can man up,” Besseta said, pointing at Tiffany.

  “I give up,” Kenneth sighed, dropping down onto the couch. Besseta stepped over, straddling his legs and sat down facing him on his lap. Biting her lower lip, she rubbed his chest. It was ten minutes before Tiffany stopped laughing and crawled back up onto the couch, wiping her face off.

  “That was great,” Tiffany moaned, sitting back and holding her sore belly.

  “I need to write Maliki today,” Kenneth said, looking at Besseta.

  “He can wait,” Besseta said, finally looking up at Kenneth’s face.

  Shaking his head, “I haven’t contacted h
im since I turned, that’s been quite a while,” Kenneth explained.

  Catching her breath, Tiffany sat up. “Well, I can tell you what he’s sent so far,” she said.

  “Ah, Tiffany. I know what you’ve read and what you sent. I watched your entire life, day before yesterday,” Kenneth reminded her.

  “Man, that’s so not fair,” she huffed, all signs of laughter gone from her face. “Do you know everything?”

  “All seventy-four of the languages you know and the studying you’ve done,” Kenneth nodded.

  Grinning, “I know you like-,” Besseta started, but stopped when Kenneth put his finger on her lips.

  “You need to get your mind out of the gutter,” Kenneth snapped, hearing in his mind what Besseta was thinking.

  Pulling Kenneth’s finger off her lips, “Throw your body in the gutter and my mind will get out,” Besseta grinned.

  Not able to help it Tiffany chuckled, but was still disappointed. “You two know everything about me and I only know what you’ve told me,” she whined.

  Reaching over, Kenneth grabbed Tiffany’s wrist, making Besseta gasp. “You’re going to show her and not me?” she asked, hearing Kenneth’s mind.

  “Not sitting on my lap like that,” Kenneth said. Letting out a groan, Besseta rolled off his lap to sit next to him. Kenneth grabbed her wrist and closed his eyes. Not exactly sure how to do it, Kenneth just concentrated on his mother.

  Besseta and Tiffany threw their heads back when a jolt hit them, sending them down the tunnel. When they reached the bottom, they were looking up at a man. Besseta recognized him from pictures as Kenneth’s dad. Then, Kenneth’s dad passed him over to Kenneth’s mother who was crying. “So, you’re the one that’s been kicking me,” she said, looking down at him.

  Slowly, the image started speeding up, but they remembered everything as they followed Kenneth through his life. Finally, they saw Kenneth reach out to take their wrists and close his eyes as another jolt hit them, sending them back through the tunnel.

  Besseta let out a gasp and jumped up off the couch, looking back at Kenneth who was covered in sweat. Tears ran down her face as she remembered the feeling of joy and love Kenneth had felt, seeing her the first time. “Baby,” she moaned and dropped down on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.