Amy Lynn, page 21
“That’s important to know, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I suppose it is. I can tell you all about the rest of these kids, but that one is a mystery. This is the first time in her life she has been involved in organized sports. Every coach in this school wanted her and I have her.”
“Is she smart?”
“I would say so. She’s an ‘A’ student with achievement test scores that are off the charts. Somewhere in the brilliant range.”
“What about her family?”
“Mother died when she was young, older brother died tragically a few years back. She comes from a good Southern Christian family. I met her Dad. He’s a good man. Her family has a good reputation and you will discover that’s important around here.”
“Hobbies?”
“She fishes and hunts, deer hunter and the boys tell me she’s a pretty good one. She also has a custom hot rod truck that she fools with.”
Summer’s face twisted in disgust. “Like, killing deer?”
“Killing, gutting, skinning, and eating.”
“Wow, anything else you can think of?”
“Nope, other than that Principal Nolan treats her like the Christ child. No one knows why. But other than making sure she is in weight training for her elective, Amy doesn’t use it to her advantage.”
Summer stared at her thinking wow, and none of it explains how she got that body.
Amy finished putting in her laps and the coach called her over. “Amy, I’d like you to meet our new assistant coach, Miss Van Hollen. She’s a student teacher from Pepperdine University.”
Amy was awestruck by her beauty. It was as if they made a Malibu Gym Rat Barbie Doll and brought it to life. Amy smiled. “Nice to meet you Miss Van Hollen.”
“You can call me Summer.”
Coach interrupted. “No, she can’t.”
“Sorry, I forgot where I was. I look forward to working with you. We’ll talk more at practice this afternoon.”
“Yes, ma’am. See you then.”
Summer shivered and thought, Ma’am, ugh.
During sixth period, Summer watched through the door while Amy was weight training. Impressive, I can work with this. Amy didn’t stand around much. She worked out like an animal.
That afternoon, Amy finished swimming her laps and then she and Summer began practicing the strokes that Amy was unfamiliar with. Amy was clearly in great shape but because of the weight training, she lacked the flexibility she needed. It was clear to the rest of the team why Summer was there. She worked, more or less, exclusively with Amy. Some of the girls were a little jealous and made snide comments. Amy ignored them. The time she and Summer spent together in the pool began to blossom into a friendship. Amy still didn’t have a really close friend other than Carla Jo. Emotionally, Amy was still relatively closed off from the rest of the world. On those rare occasions that she did open up, Amy could come across as a little needy. Summer would use that to her advantage in more ways than one. After about a month, Summer knew what she needed to make Amy a better swimmer. “Have you ever tried yoga?”
“No.”
Summer thought for a moment. “It’s against the rules for me to invite you to my house, but if you were to show up I wouldn’t turn you away. We really need to work on your flexibility. I can show you some things.”
Amy thought for a minute. “I didn’t drive today but I could tomorrow and stop over on the way home.”
Summer put her fingers in her ears. “La la la la la, I didn’t hear that.”
Amy giggled. “Okay.”
Chapter 38
That evening Amy stopped by her Uncle Jack’s. She checked the oil and transmission fluid in her truck, and then pulled the number one spark plug and checked the color. It was a nice light brown. Perfect, she thought. She checked the air in the tires and told her Uncle Jack she would be driving to school the next day. Amy’s daddy didn’t have a garage and Uncle Jack didn’t care if she kept it there.
“Feel like doing a little work?”
“Probably Saturday. I have homework tonight and I’m going to visit a friend from the swim team tomorrow after school.”
Well, that’s a good thing. Amy needs to put her schoolwork first. And a friend? That’s good too. “Alright then, I figured we would start working with handguns.”
“Can’t wait, see you in the morning.” Amy hugged him and gave him a kiss.
“Don’t bother waking me up. You got keys, just lock the garage,”
“Yes, sir.”
The next afternoon, Amy followed Summer to her townhouse.
“I love your truck.”
Amy gazed at the modern furniture, colorful prints and decorations “Thanks, I love your place.”
“Everything’s rented. My dad set me up with a place to live while I was here.”
“Why did you come here?”
“Well, ah, I’m not trying to insult you, but this is considered to be an underserved area. There’s supposedly a lot of poverty. By volunteering to come here I get a grant and a stipend. My dad is all about me paying my own way through college and this will help.”
“Yeah, there are a lot of poor people outside Lewistown. No offense taken.”
“You seem to be doing okay.”
“My daddy works hard and my aunt and uncle kind of spoil me.”
Summer smiled. “What do you say we get started.”
Summer worked with Amy teaching her yoga positions and stretches that Amy had never done. After about an hour, Summer asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Sure, I could eat. I have to eat like a horse to keep weight on.”
“Oh, I miss those days. Do you like stir-fry?”
“I’m not picky.”
Summer picked up a bottle of wine and poured Amy a glass. She tried to hand it to her. Amy wouldn’t take it. “I don’t drink.”
“This isn’t drinking, it’s wine. Kids in Italy start drinking it when they’re old enough to use a glass. Besides, there are things in wine that are good for you. I drank a couple of glasses with dinner all the time when I was training.”
Amy surprised her self with how quickly she caved. “Okay, but just one glass.”
Amy and Summer talked while Summer cooked. There was one word that kept coming into Amy’s mind: cool. She is so cool. She was funny, interesting, educated, cared what Amy thought, and was interested in what she had to say. After dinner, Summer asked her if she wanted to watch the video from one of her swim meets.
Amy smiled with excitement. “Sure, I would love to see it.”
Summer put in the video and they sat down on the couch. It was a recording of the Olympic trials from ESPN.
“I missed being on the Olympic team by three one-hundredths of a second.”
“Wow, that must have been heartbreaking.” Amy empathized as Summer filled Amy’s wine glass, yet again.
“Yeah, it hurt, but I got over it. I was wondering what drives you? I have never seen anyone work so hard.”
She watched Amy become guarded. “I have my reasons.”
“One of my majors is sports psychology. What drives people is one of those things I’m always curious about. Do you want to share?”
Summer caught some sadness in her as she replied. “No, no, I don’t.”
Summer took a drink of wine. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No, I gave a guy my number once, but he never called. I don’t trust many people, especially boys.”
Summer put down her wine glass, turned sideways on the couch close enough for her leg to brush against Amy’s. “Do you trust me?”
Amy smiled. “Yes.”
Summers seductive tone sounded like the whisper of an angel. “Good, because I am going to kiss you.” Summer leaned over and gently kissed Amy on the lips. The wine had made Amy feel warm and loose. She felt as though she was melting into the couch cushion. Overcome by some unexpected desire, she locked eyes with Summer. Totally enraptured by her beautiful face, Amy unconsciously licked her lips.
Summer cooed, “Did you like that?”
Amy slowly nodded her head. Summer stroked her hair with one hand and leaned in to kiss her again. With her other hand she began to rub the inside of Amy’s thigh. Amy’s legs began to part as if by reflex. She couldn’t stop it if she wanted to. As Summer’s kisses became more passionate and aggressive, Summer slowly moved her hand up the inside of Amy’s thigh. Amy didn’t stop her.
Chapter 39
Emotions were spinning in Amy’s head as she lay in bed that Saturday morning. Round and round they went like stock cars on a racetrack, each emotion determined to take the lead and sometimes crashing into each other. She felt shame and guilt, as though she had sinned a great big sin. But how could that be bad? Summer had taken her to a place she had never been before. She remembered panting and groaning while some type of glorious spasm she had never experienced shook her to the core. Memories of laying her head between Summer’s breasts and having her arms and legs wrapped around Summer’s body. She kept trying to get closer. It was like she would climb inside her skin if she could. Then the kissing and tenderness kept replaying in her head. She was trembling and whimpering while Summer gently kissed her and stroked her hair. Amy had never felt that physically close to anyone. My God, how can that be wrong?
Amy got up and took a shower, got dressed, and went into the kitchen. Her daddy was sitting at the table.
He looked up from the paper. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, daddy.” Amy poured herself some coffee.
“A little late last night, weren’t ya’?”
Joseph teased. “You’re in trouble.”
She playfully reached over and smacked him in the head. “Shut up.”
Then she turned her attention back to her daddy. “Yeah, sorry, Daddy. We got to talkin’ and I lost track of time.”
“I never thought about giving you a curfew and I really don’t want to, but I think ten o’clock is reasonable. And if you are gonna be late, a phone call would be nice. Me and Carol don’t like worrying about ya’,”
“Yes, sir, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Amy seemed visibly distracted. “You okay honey?”
“Yeah, just a little tired. I’ve been training really hard for sectionals.”
“Well, I’m proud of you. I know how hard you work. I’m proud of your grades, too. You made the honor roll last semester. I’m very proud.”
“You can thank Aunt Carla Jo for that. I wouldn’t have made it through Algebra Two without her.”
“Just know that I see what you do and I am very proud.”
You don’t see everything Amy thought.
Later that day, Amy went to Granny Patches to see if she needed anything. They sat and talked for a while and then Amy fired up her truck and headed down the hill. She had driven the truck to her house the previous night because she knew she was late. The garage was already open so she pulled in and parked. Then she heard her Uncle Jack calling to her from behind the house.
“Good Morning. Whatcha doin’?”
“Setting up some targets. Handguns today.”
Amy was excited about that. Good, she thought, it would get her mind on something else.
They went into the garage where Jack instructed Amy to sit down at the bench. He pulled back a towel and there lay six handguns. There was a Colt M1911, a Glock 9mm, a Sig .380, a Colt .32 auto, an S&W .357 Magnum revolver, and a .38 snubnose. Before Amy could fire a shot she had to know how to take them apart, clean them, and put them back together; quickly. Jack was fanatical about a clean weapon.
The revolvers were not that difficult to master, but the automatics took a little more effort. After a couple of hours Jack was satisfied that Amy had learned what she needed to know. He put the pistols in an old tackle box and they went out back. Jack constantly gave Amy little bits of information that she soaked up. Mostly it was covert stuff, like wearing gloves to load the magazines so as to not leave fingerprints on the shells. For the first day, Jack didn’t get into anything tactical. He just wanted her to fire them all. She would get the feel of the weapons and understand their individual characteristics.
Jack was continually impressed with her natural abilities. It took a certain amount of hand strength to effectively fire a large-caliber handgun, and she had it. When they finished he took her back into the garage where she cleaned them all. Then they called it a day.
“Where’s Aunt Carla Jo?”
“She had to work today. I’m goin’ to get something to eat, you want to come?”
“Sure, I could eat.”
“Good, you’re drivin’.”
The following morning, she went to church. She felt like a fraud teaching her Sunday school class. Her big sin hung on her like a lead cloak, but her kids helped her to get over it. They were wonderful. They showered her with unconditional love and affection. After church, Jack told her to come by and wear her camos. They would be working on tactics.
Amy fired every weapon from every position imaginable. On her back, her side, her stomach, her knees, standing, sitting, and with both her left and right hands. She practiced speed loading and the whole time, Jack would bark different scenarios. He would watch her and just shake his head. She didn’t miss the target often. By the time they were through, Amy was a puddle of sweat. At the end of the day she cleaned the weapons and placed them in the tackle box. She handed over the tackle box to her uncle Jack. “Good job today, honey. Damn good job.”
Amy smiled. “Thanks, Uncle Jack. It was a lot of fun.”
Monday morning she rode with her daddy to school. He usually dropped her off on his way to work. She was nervous. She had not seen or spoken to Summer since they spent the evening together. Amy put on her swimsuit, quickly jumped in the pool, and did her laps. When she finished she climbed out and Summer was standing in front of her. Amy couldn’t look her in the eye. Summer looked to see if anyone was close and then she took her finger and pulled up Amy’s chin. She smiled an innocent smile and said, “I had a wonderful time on Friday. Anytime you want to visit, my door is open.”
The only thing Amy could think to say was, “Yeah, me too.”
Summer put a cartoonish serious look on her face and said, “Now let’s get to work.”
Amy was smart enough to understand the fallout from her relationship with Summer if anyone found out. It would not only bring shame and humiliation to her, but also to her family. Was she falling in love? How could she know? It was something she had never felt. One thing she knew for sure, though, was that those feelings were addicting and intoxicating. She wanted more. She kept a normal schedule but still tried to get to Summer’s house as much as she could. There was no pretense of a friendly visit; Amy fell into Summer’s arms as soon as she shut the door.
Chapter 40
A small caravan of Amy’s family left Black Oak for Lewistown. Sectionals were to be held on a Friday night at Lewistown High School. Amy walked out onto the pool deck with her team. The pep band was playing, banners were waving, and she could see her whole family sitting in the stands. This must have been how Kerry felt before the football games, she thought.
Her events would be the 200-yard medley relay where she would swim the final or anchor leg, the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard butterfly, the 100-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle, the 50-yard breaststroke, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. It was a lot of events, but she was in shape for it. Summer had made sure of that.
Amy performed well. Everything coach Hixon had planned was coming to fruition. Part of it was the coaching skills of Miss Van Hollen, but the other part, the part he didn’t see, was Amy’s near pathological desire to please Summer during her training. She lost only one race, the 50-yard breaststroke. She beat the state record in the 500-yard freestyle by three-tenths of a second. In her last race of the day, the 400 by 100-yard freestyle relay, her team was behind by over half a lap when she hit the water. She touched the wall barely an arm’s length in front of her nearest competitor and the crowd went wild.
Amy jumped out of the pool and as her team was celebrating, Carla Jo watched Amy run past them, past Coach Hixon, and into the arms of Miss Van Hollen. Carla Jo had to take a second look to see what she thought she saw. Amy tried to kiss Miss Van Hollen and at the last second, Miss Van Hollen turned her head. Amy mouthed the words, “Oh, sorry.” Then Carla Jo watched their body language: how they looked at each other, how Miss Van Hollen touched her and brushed the hair away from her face. How intimate, Carla Jo thought. Red flags began to wave in Carla Jo’s head. She would have to investigate this further.
Carla Jo invited Amy over for breakfast the next morning. She made Amy’s favorite: cream cheese-filled crepes with strawberry topping and whipped cream. Amy was still floating a little bit from her performance at the meet. Carla Jo had to be careful, but she knew what she was going to say.
“Miss Van Hollen has helped you a lot, hasn’t she?”
“Yeah, she’s wonderful.”
Carla Jo nodded. “I had someone like that in my life when I was sixteen. She was a bank executive. It was a big deal for a woman to hold a position like that in the 60s. She was a beautiful woman and she gave me my first job at her bank. To be honest, we even had a bit of a sexual relationship.” Carla Jo left the last comment hanging out there as she watched Amy’s face.
Amy got real uncomfortable real quick. Carla Jo watched Amy’s eyes dart back and forth as a blush appeared in her cheeks. Well, I’ll be damned, Carla Jo thought.
Meanwhile, Amy was screaming inside her own head, OH MY GOD, DOES SHE KNOW? HOW COULD SHE KNOW? Carla Jo continued, “It was one of the best and worst experiences of my life. She was so good to me. She taught me how my body worked, and believe me, she could make it work.” Carla Jo smiled as she stared off into the distance. Amy didn’t say a word.
“I was ashamed of what I had done for a long time, but looking back on it, it wasn’t all bad.” The smile left Carla Jo’s face. “But then there was the other half of it. When she was finished with me, she was finished with me. I liked her. Well, no, I probably loved her. When our relationship ended, I discovered something. She never really liked me for me. She made me feel like an adult so I would do adult things, but to her I was just an object that satisfied her needs. That part of it was soul-crushing. It was the first time I was used. After that I was more careful and discriminating about who I spent time with.”
