by Earl Watson
She had only fifty minutes before her flight back to Rome. She had already obtained her grandson’s passport but she still had to buy a ticket for him.
It was only five days ago that her daughter’s friend had called from New York City. “Mrs. Peterson, your daughter left her son with me three weeks ago and I have no idea where she is. As a mother of three children myself, I have enough on my hands. She did not leave me a number or address so that I could contact her. But she did leave me your number in case of an emergency. She mentioned that she was moving in with somebody in Michigan. That was the last I heard from her.” Mrs. Peterson only asked one question.
“Is my grandson alright?”
48
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress
“Yes he is fine.” Mrs. Peterson dropped everything and made arrangements for the woman to drop her grandson off at Kennedy Airport. It was only by the grace of God, that the school where she was teaching gave her two days family emergency leave. It was finals week and they couldn’t bend the rules to much. She got past customs and headed for the lobby. The airport was still under construction and using the detours was eating up her time so she took the stairs.
As soon as she walked thru the lobby door she saw him. It had been almost three years but she recognized him instantly. The closer that she got to him the wider the smile on his face got. It touched her to know that he recognized her also. He stood up and she hugged him tightly.
“I hope that you haven’t been waiting too long. Were you afraid?”
“No grandma, you said that you would be here and I knew that you would. There was no need to be afraid.”
“Let’s hurry Marcus, if you are hungry we can get something to eat on the plane. It took her no time to buy him a ticket and board their plane back to Rome. She looked over at him and was shocked to see how calm he was.
“It’s just like him. It’s his first plane flight and he is as calm as the pilot.” She studied his face.
“He still has it alright! The curse! No child should look that beautiful, especially a boy.”
She was in the hospital on the day that he was born. She was the one who gave him his middle name of Vipsainus. She had loved anything that had to do with Italian History, from the time that she was a small child. Mrs. Peterson had pursued that interest to earn a masters and then a PHD, in that field. She was now teaching Ancient Italian History at a private college in Rome. The fact that she was African American never bothered her in the least. It shocked her friends and family at first but soon they accepted it. She hoped that her daughter had taken her other two children with her. They were three year old twins but did not have the same father as Marcus. In the eight years that she had been teaching in Italy she had only been back in the United States five times. She always made sure when she was there to spend all of her time with her grandchildren, especially Marcus. For the first four years of his life Mrs. Peterson had been his 49
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress primary caretaker. Her husband had died and it was tough on her raising him while going to school and holding down a job. But no matter how hard things were she always made sure that her grandson was taken care of. To her it had been quite evident from the day that he was born that his mother would not be up to the task.
In the past years she had gotten reports about her daughter’s lifestyle. But it was only in the last six months that things began to spin completely out of control. Her daughter had frantically begged her to take custody of Marcus. Mrs. Peterson knew what the reason was. Her daughter had found another man to “Fall in love with.”
The man made it clear to her daughter that there was no way that he would take care of another man’s child. Since then Marcus’ mother had been leaving him with any friend or relative that she could find. But now that she had used up all of those resources only his grandmother was left. Mrs. Peterson had wanted to take him with her to Rome when she first started teaching. But at that time she had a small apartment and her wages were not enough. However, now that she was doing well and established that would not be a problem. She explained her dilemma to the school and they helped her get all the necessary papers and gave her a bigger apartment, as well as enrolling him into school. By chance her daughter had called the day before she left for New York, and faxed her a notarized letter of custody of her twelve year old grandson. Mrs. Peterson glanced over at him as he slept on the plane. She put her arm around him and rested his head on her shoulder. As she turned out the light she made a promise to herself. “There is no way that I am ever sending him back to his mother!”
Even though she spoke perfect Italian, Mrs. Peterson didn’t have time to teach him the language so she hired a tutor for him.
Within six months he had learned enough to maintain an eighty five average in school. His grandmother could see that he was one of those special children that instinctively knew the value of getting a good education. The first thing that he did when he got home was to tackle his homework with relish. With her long work day it was a blessing that he could be trusted to look after himself and not get into any trouble. Many a night she returned home late to find that he had already done his homework, eaten, washed, and was sound 50
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress asleep. Countless times she would marvel to herself.
“He is the most self sufficient and dutiful child that I have ever known.”
The only thing that she had misgivings about was the envi-ronment that he was growing up in. The school that Mrs. Peterson taught at allowed her to live and work on campus. But Marcus was too young and he had to attend a school that was a few miles away.
On his off days he would wonder around the city and take in the sights. Of all the sights that intrigued him it was the ancient Coliseum that captured his imagination the most. When his grandmother would tell him about all of the exploits that happened there his eyes would light up. After she left work on some of those days she would have go to the Coliseum, and drag him away. He was popular in and around the city and made friends easily. In time he took to the Rome and it’s surroundings as if he had been born there.
Mrs. Peterson and Marcus had been living in Rome for six years and he was thinking about going to college in Naples. The school where she was teaching was giving a party to celebrate it’s twentieth year in existence. All of the present and past staff and their families had been invited. As the night wore on Mrs. Peterson noticed that every girl that Marcus asked to dance turned him down.
All of the adults at the party had already mentioned to her how handsome, smart and well mannered he was. She started to wonder if Marcus would find that things were going to change for him as he got older. It wasn’t that the Italian people were biased, but it was just the way that things were going to play out. Being turned down by all the girls didn’t seem to bother him. But she knew that this was something that she was going to keep an eye on.
It was about this time that she began to make contact with a few colleges back in the states. Within a year she had accepted a teaching job in Saddlebrook New Jersey. Marcus did not mind returning back to the states but, he did mind leaving his precious Coliseum. He spent every free minute of his last five weeks there before he left Rome. Once that they had settled in Saddlebrook, the High School authorities agreed with his grandmother that it would be a waste of time for him to attend school for a month. Based on his excellent grades from Italy, and his college admission tests he 51
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress received a full scholarship to Princeton University.
In his freshmen year he became a member of the “Natty Boys” club that consisted of five guys in all. They were Vincent Spinelli, Harvey Lapman, Warren Tandler, Roger McManus, and Marcus. Roger, Vincent, and Marcus shared the same dorm room but the other two boys lived in a different building. They came up with the name and the idea because they wanted to be noticed by the girls at the school. They figured that with so many guys wearing sneakers, jeans with holes in them, tee shirts, and baseball hats turned backwa
rds. Guys who dressed different would surly be noticed by the girls. Up until this time Marcus hadn’t paid much attention to men’s clothing. But the more that he began to get dressed up the more that he realized that he would always make it part of his life.
Marcus’ major was history, Vincent’s was business, and Roger’s was chemistry. Because all three of them were smart their freshman year was a breeze. But of all three of them Roger was the smartest. When it came to anything that had to do with chemistry he was really a genius, it was as easy as breathing.
It was the end of their first winter at school and all of the members of the “Natty Boys” were in study hall. When a pretty light skinned girl meandered over to their table and sat next to Marcus.
As all real buddies are trained to do all of the other four boys scat-tered. She looked him up and down for a minute then studied his face. The way that she was looking at him made him feel a little strange. Finally she spoke.
“There is going to be a bra and pantie raid at my dorm tonight, did you know that?” “Yes I did hear about that.”
“But you are not coming are you?”
“No.”
“That’s what I told all the girls in my dorm. They tried to argue me down so I bet them. I made over eighty six dollars and I am here to share it with you. I believe in sharing....everything.”
“Why were you sure that I wouldn’t come?”
“I knew by the way that you try to act like a typical college kid, but you are not. I could tell by the way that you speak, how you dress just a little better than your friends, how you move, and how many other guys try and copy you, but they can’t! You are like Gulliver, and the 52
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress rest of us are like the Lilliputians, just hoping not to get crushed by you. It should be quite obvious to you now that I have been watching you for some time. After all we do share one class together. Have you ever noticed me?”
“Yes, a few times.” The girl moved a little closer to him and rubbed her finger across his hand.
“I work at the motel down on Maple Avenue. I am the night clerk and whenever I don’t feel like working I turn out the office lights and turn on the no vacancy sign and get myself a room and crash.
A lot of the students from here use my motel when they want some private time. I have even seen a few of your friends there with a girl.
But I have never seen you there. I am working tomorrow night and if you are interested why don’t you stop by. I would hate having to get a room and be all by myself.” The girl then got up and walked off.
Sex had always been a mystery to Marcus. Now that he was almost twenty he had his share of wet dreams and then moved on to masturbation. But the idea of actually having sex with a girl unnerved him. He didn’t know why, because from the porno films that he saw at the frat houses. The act seemed to be very pleasurable and Vinny had been giving him a terrible ribbing about still being a virgin. After thinking about the girl’s offer for a few days he decided to take her up on it.
When he walked thru the motel door the girl immediately turned on the no vacancy sign. She took him by the hand and put her finger to his lips. As the two of them crept down the hallway she couldn’t resist putting her hands down the front of his pants and whispered.
“I was praying that you would come.” She lead him into a room in the back of the motel and quickly locked the door and within a few seconds she was all over him. She pressed her lips to his and forced her tongue deep into his mouth. Marcus had no idea what he was supposed to do. She put both of his hands between her legs and squeezed her thighs together. While holding onto him with one arm she shoved her hand into the front of his pants and found his penis. She had just began to massage it when his body started to convulse. In the blink of an eye his warm sperm jettisoned all over her hand. The feeling was very pleasurable but he was totally sur-53
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress prised at not being able to control himself, and muttered.
“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” The girl gave him a sultry smile.
“Honey, don’t be sorry, just save some for the real thing.” Marcus was glad that she was the one in charge, he would just follow her lead. She could sense by how tentative he was that this was his very first time. After turning off the lights in the room she started to get undressed. Marcus, was sitting on the bed and staring at the floor.
“Don’t look at the floor honey. Look at me! I promise you that you will like what you see. He raised his head and viewed her as she moved toward him with her panties on and starting to undo her bra.
She turned her back to him and asked.
“I am having trouble with this, could you help me?” Marcus’ hands started to tremble as he found the clasp and undid it. She took it and threw it into a chair then turned around to face him.
“Now I want you to pull down my panties.” He had no idea where he got the courage to put his hands on her hips and gently slide her panties down to her ankles. The girl took his face into her hands.
“I like the way that you do that. You are very gentle. You are going to drive a lot of women crazy. Now go into the bathroom and take a shower while I wait for you under the covers.” Marcus was glad to be out of her view for a few minutes. He still had no idea what to do or how the rest of the night was going to play out. But there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to go thru with what ever she wanted him to do. When he stepped out of the shower and started to dry off he felt a sense of embarrassment. He looked down at his erect penis and wished that it would go down. So that it would not be noticeable when he walked back into the room. He put his shorts on to try and hide it but it’s head still peeked over the waist band. He took off his shorts and wrapped a towel around his midsection as he stepped back into the room. The girl leaped out of bed and dashed over to him and took his hand.
“Oh no that won’t do honey. I knew that you were innocent when it came to sex. But in the future remember that when you have a naked woman waiting for you in bed. She wants you to be naked too. It only adds to the excitement of what is to follow.”
She turned her face upward to kiss him and pulled the towel away 54
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress from his body. She looked down and put her hand onto his erection.
“Believe me honey you are not going to want to hide this. You have nothing to worry about and you are still a growing boy!”
She took his hand and they moved over to the bed and they laid down. Marcus was on his back and she got on top of him and started kissing his neck and chest, and said in an earthy voice.
“Don’t do anything, just lay there and I will do it all. She put her hands between their bodies and found his erection. All in one motion she arched her back and began to guide it into her. He felt a pleasurable warmth begin to engulf his entire body. She slowly lowered her body onto his until he was entirely inside of her. Then she sat upright with each of her knees on the outside of his legs.
“Honey you can open your eyes, it’s more fun that way. I was right, I can feel that you are going to be what every girl wants.”
She took his hands and placed them on her breasts while she leaned forward and held him by the shoulders.
“Please squeeze my breasts a little harder, harder, a little more, that’s it. It doesn’t hurt and you are doing just fine. I can tell that you are going to be a great lover.” Marcus could feel that her rhythmic movements now began to take on a degree of urgency. She began to pound against his body with a force that seemed impossible for such a petite frame. In Marcus’ mind she was now moving at the speed of light. Her hands were now firmly pinning his shoulders against the mattress. She began panting and trying to catch her breath. As she seemed to be inhaling and exhaling all in one motion. He suddenly became conscious that he was breathing in the same way. He also began to tighten his grip on her breasts, even though he had not intended to. Marcus wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say anything so he said nothing. As the sexual pleasure began to build he
could feel an eruption that was almost at it’s zenith. It was a feeling that instinctively caused him to remove his hands from her breasts and curl them under her shoulders. This allowed him to pull her body fully onto his. In a fit of lustful hunger their mouths sought each other out and their tongues began to dance wildly. It was the last act of their passion play before the final curtain fell. His pelvic area was now in perfect tune with hers. He grabbed her waist and gave her one last powerful upward thrust. Causing her to emit soft muffled 55
Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress moan followed by a series of spastic tremors from her trembling body. As Marcus approached his climax his hands moved from her waist to her buttocks. He held them in a vice like grip as he poured a torrent of his hot sperm deep within her. The sensation of it all caused him to gasp for air even harder. For a few minutes after that they both lay perfectly still as their sexual passions regrouped. She found his face and gave him a long luscious sensual kiss.
“Wow! It has been years since it’s felt that good. Let me give you another bit of advice. In the future when you make love to a woman try and make her feel like I do now, like it’s your first time. It’s the best gift that a man can give any woman.” She once again felt for his penis.
“I can see that you are ready again.” Marcus was still in the after glow of heat and passion. But mustered up the energy to say.
“Yes, I want you again.” This time she moved to the head of the bed and rested her head on the two pillows. Then she drew her knees up under her.
“I want you to kneel behind me and put it in yourself. Marcus did as she instructed. It didn’t seem possible that his throbbing penis seemed to have grown bigger and felt even harder. He put his hand on her waist and pushed forward and heard her utter a slight protest.
