Posted by PK on December 22, 2001 at 17:23:15:
Nick looked uncomfortable. He didn't want to cause trouble but he couldn't lie to her, not
today of all days. He shrugged off a sudden awkwardness. "She thinks you don't like her," he
admitted.
Janice tried to make light of it. "Am I really that fearsome?" she teased, but it was a false
note and they both knew it. Of course, as Nick's girlfriend Corinne was entitled to come, but
still, that wasn't the point.
"She doesn't want to spoil it for you," Nick said. "It's okay, really, she understands. No big
deal."
Janice felt her heart sink. It was true, she had never tried to make Corinne feel welcome.
Why not, she suddenly wondered. What had the girl ever done wrong? Nothing. Her family
were foreigners and a little off beat, but they weren't bad people and here Corinne was
considering her feelings ahead of her own. She couldn't for the life of her make any sense of
her objections to the girl, they seemed petty and irrelevant. And unfair. She had to put this
right.
"Tell her I want to see her," she said firmly. "I won't take 'no' for an answer, and I'll be really
disappointed if she doesn't come. Go tell her right now, there's still time."
Nick didn't wait to be told twice. He left in a hurry and Janice settled back. It would be nice if
Corinne turned up, but she didn't want to worry about it. She didn't want to worry about
anything ever again.
It took Nick some time to find his favourite girl. She wasn't at the house or in her tree. On an
inspiration, he finally found her fishing, in her old denims.
"Hi, lover," she greeted him easily. "Shouldn't you be at the party? They must be getting
ready to roast your mamma."
"Yes, we are. That's why I'm here. Mom wants you to come."
Cory threw him a wry smile. "Sure she does."
"No, really, she said so. She said she'd be disappointed if you don't come."
Corinne waded out of the water and sat down on the bank, waving the agitated Nick down
beside her. "Why would she say that, I wonder?"
"She didn't say. Cory, I don't know why, but I know my Mom. She meant it."
She looked thoughtful for a minute. "I don't know. I don't want to snub her if she really wants
to see me, not today, but..."
"Cory, please. For me? Just come say hello, if you get the freeze you can go. What can it
hurt?"
Corinne nodded. "Point. What should I wear?" She waved at herself. "I don't have anything
suitable...."
"What you've got on. A bikini.."
"I don't have a bikini."
"Shorts and T-Shirt, anything. Come naked. Cory, it's a good old US barbecue, not tea at the
Palace garden with the Queen of England..."
Corinne reached a decision. "I'll come," she said. "Run home, boy, You've got things to do.
I'll be there in a while, I have to change."
Nick kissed her quickly and ran back.
Meanwhile, Jill was spilling her guts to her mother. All her regrets about her nasty remark,
the trouble she had at school, everything. She even admitted how Nick had defended her
and calmed her, her doubts about her father and how guilty she felt about driving her mother
to this.
"And all the time Dad was right," she concluded, sparing herself nothing. "He wanted to wait
for it all to be great for you. I should have trusted him. I'm dumb and rotten, and I'm sorry."
She looked genuinely miserable. Jill had a hell of of a temper, but she was incapable of
being insincere, Janice knew she meant every word. She stroked her daughter's head.
"Sweetheart, you're not rotten. If you were, you wouldn't care. You're fourteen, that's all. I
was that age once, you know."
Jill smiled ruefully.
"One day you'll be roasted too, you know." She didn't want to contemplate the possibility that
Jill would be butchered or stewed. Not her kids. "You're not scared, are you?"
"No, not really." Jill shrugged. "Well, maybe a little, but it's not that..."
"Don't be afraid. Of anything. Certainly not some silly girl in school. Don't you ever wonder
why she picks on you?"
Jill couldn't say 'because my Mom's still alive' and she didn't take the point right away. She
wasn't exactly dumb but deep thinking wasn't her thing. She shook her head.
"Because she's scared. All bullies are scared of something. You should feel sorry for her."
Jill didn't feel remotely sorry for Cherie, but she nodded anyway. "I just wanna make it up to
you for being a sh.. ah, for not being nice to you."
Janice laughed and hugged her. "Sweetheart, I love you very much. Eat me. Be happy. And
be nice to Amelia, it won't be easy for her. Don't give her a hard time. If you do that, your
friend Cherie wins."
"She's not my friend," Jill retorted. Then, "Oh."
"Yes, 'oh'"
"Girl talk?" It was Tom. "You ready Hon? Nearly time for guests, you'll want to change before
you greet them, won't you?" He raised an eyebrow.
Janice glanced over to the roasting pit. The fire had been burning for a while and was settling
down. There would be time to welcome the guests before she went onto the spit. "I'll be a
couple of minutes," she said, "Look after everything."
She went back into the house to get ready while Tom got Jill involved in the strategy of
roasting the potatoes.
The guests started arriving. Most of them were just the Johnson clan, with their son's
girlfriend and of course including Kate, the new Mrs Johnson and Janice's daughter. Her
older daughters also came, one with a husband. Julie and Marcia had invited boyfriends and
Nick had asked Sue and Clara, though they both knew Corinne was his favourite. They'd
come anyway, it wouldn't be a good idea to miss a party like this.
Tom and Nick went to the garage and rolled the Jessica machine out into the daylight.
"Good grief, Tom, what IS that?" asked Fred Johnson jovially. "Don't tell me you dug up a
Jessica?" He shook his head in amusement. "You sure it'll work?"
"I believe so," Tom said rather coolly, but was overridden by Amelia's "Oh, DADDY!" and her
obvious annoyance at her father's attitude. "If Tom..uh, Mr Partridge says it will work, it will
work, okay?"
Fred gave her a look that said 'anything you say, hon' but he held up a hand and said aloud
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Tom."
Tom gave Amelia a smile to show he hadn't laid her father's patronising comment against
her. He couldn't help noticing how nice she looked, in the microscopic green bikini with a little
pink bow between the breast cups. Any other man, at any other time, would have wondered
what would happen if he pulled the knot, but he was waiting for Janice to reappear.
He didn't have to wait long. Janice emerged, attended by her daughters like ladies in waiting
on a Queen. She was dressed in a simple white bikini and sandals. Every eye was on her as
she greeted her guests. She made sure to give Amelia a warm welcome.
"Awesome, Mrs. P," the girl uttered.
It was no less than the truth. Janice was a vision of wholesome American womanhood in her
prime.
"Thank you, dear," she replied, and kissed her on the cheek. She went the rounds of the
party guests like a Royal procession. Even Nick was stunned, he had never seen his mother
looking quite so regal. Tom smiled quietly to himself. He had always known what she was
capable of.
The guests started on the drinks and conversation flowed easily. Although there was fruit
punch for the younger members, and it was technically illegal, nobody prevented them from
having the odd glass of wine or can of beer. It was tacitly accepted that a few minor breaches
of the law would be overlooked.
Both Nick and his mother, however, were still waiting for Corinne to show up. She finally did,
coming through the gate wearing a flowered shirt tied up under her small breasts and clean
but ragged shorts. Her long brown legs were bare and shoeless. She had a large jug of pink
stuff in one hand and a bottle of clear liquid in the other. Nick took them off her and led her
in, relief evident on his face.
"Island punch and rum," she explained as Janice came over.
"Hello, Mrs P, " she said shyly. "I hope you don't mind.." she indicated the drinks that Nick
had put on a trestle table laden with beverages. "It's not much, just homemade.." She had
considered actually turning up naked, but decided on the poor but clean look instead. She
didn't want to look as if she was trying to upstage her hostess.
Janice held out her arms and enfolded the girl in a hug, smelling the pleasant warm scent of
her skin. "I'm glad you could come," she said. She relaxed her embrace and added seriously,
"I'm sorry if I made you think I didn't like you. It wasn't anything to do with you, I was stupid
and stuffy and... I don't know. I wish I'd gotten to know you better..."
"Water under the bridge, Mrs P," Corinne said. She smiled brilliantly. "I'm glad I came. You
look great, I just hope I look half that good when they come to roast me. If they do.."
"Of course they will, and it's Janice," Janice reassured her. In this spirit of reconciliation, the
last of her worries disappeared. Well, almost. She took Cory's hand. "Look after my son,
won't you?"
"I'll do my best," Corinne vowed. It seemed that Nick's mother, in her final clarity, had
accepted that Nick would choose to marry her. A good omen, if ever there was one. She
knew she would accept if Nick chose her when the time came, and she was quietly confident
that he would.
Nothing remained to prevent the best Thanksgiving feast ever. Perhaps another few words
with Tom and Amelia? Janice reproved herself sternly. It was time to stop meddling and get
on with it.
She found Tom chatting to Fred Johnson, his earlier irritation at his neighbour's attitude
clearly forgotten in his enthusiasm about the machine. He was explaining some technical
point which Fred, though no mechanic, felt obliged not to admit he didn't entirely understand.
It was a man thing. Both, of course, had cans of beer in their hands.
"Darling, isn't it about time you got me on to cook?" she reminded him. If they didn't start
soon she wouldn't be ready until the party was too far gone, and the day was wearing on. She
didn't want to nag but left to himself, Tom had no sense of time at all.
"Sorry, dear, you're quite right." He made a can't-be-helped gesture in Fred's direction, who
was quite happy to yield the conversation to more urgent matters. Tom and Janice together
went over to the machine, where Tom signalled Nick, who was talking to Corinne, to come
over and help. For the first time, he looked a little nervous. Janice gave him a reassuring
smile. If she had any doubts about trying his beloved gadget out, she wasn't going to show
them here. Calmly and confidently, she took off her bikini and stepped out of her shoes.
This had not gone unnoticed by the guests. Conversation lulled as all attention focussed once
more on her.
"REALLY awesome, Mrs. P," said Amelia. Not original, but clearly heartfelt. It was true
enough. The costume had hidden very little, but it was an important little. Janice's full
breasts, still quite firm but heavier than any girl's, were impressive. Her shaven pubis
glistened slightly. She looked, and felt, ripe and ready.
"Thank you, dear," said Janice, and handed the girl her bikini. It was too big in the chest for
her, and Amelia didn't know how to take it. She was trying to think of a reply when Janice
said, looking at her intently, "You'll grow into it." She hoped the message wouldn't be lost on
her, she was sure Tom would get it. The girl nodded. She understood.
"These are for you," she said, passing her sandals to Corinne, who looked surprised by the
gesture. "It's not a hint." She smiled. "I know you like to go barefoot. Keep them anyway."
Corinne managed to thank her, overwhelmed by the significance of the gift. She knew very
well what it meant.
Janice mounted the machine gracefully and allowed her husband and son to strap her in.
Tom tied her hands. There was no need for adjustments, he had made sure it was set to fit
her. Together, father and son worked the controls like a well practised team. Janice took the
spit as if born for this moment. In no time at all she was cleaned out and ready for skewering.
He leaned forward, whispered 'I love you' in her ear and pushed the kill switch.
She felt the bite against her neck as the injection went in, and the pressure of the spit as it
pushed through her. Any moment now, she would be gutted. She felt enormously content, at
peace with herself and the world. Then the spit started to vibrate a little oddly as it moved
forward. It tickled and she wriggled against it. Was this supposed to happen? Oh, God, she
was getting out of control, she was going to come on the spit in front of everybody! Well, why
not, she thought. I might as well show the kids a thing or two. As her guts spilled into the
trough she let herself go. As she did, she wondered if Tom had done this deliberately. And
then, without knowing how he'd done it, she knew he had and laughed. You old rogue, she
thought.
"Well, I'll be damned, it works," said Fred. He watched in fascination as the revitalised
Jessica skewered, gutted and stuffed Mrs. Partridge. Tom didn't answer, he was watching
his wife.
Days ago, he had noticed an off-balance component in the electric motor that drove the spit.
Carefully, he had balanced it enough to work reliably but left the vibration in. He hoped
Janice was enjoying it, it was his last gift to her. He moved to the front of the machine.
"Surprise," he said with a mischievous smile. Before the point of the spit emerged from her
mouth, Janice stuck her tongue out at him.
Tom tied up her feet, not forgetting to tickle the soles the way that always drove her crazy
before he and his son carried her to the rotisserie and set her over the fire to cook.
Janice was completely out of herself. She writhed against the pole in shameless ecstasy,
spurred on by the knowledge that she was starting to cook. She knew everyone could see her
and she didn't care. Everyone here knew her, they would all eat her. Not one female in the
gathered crowd was unmoved by the spectacle.
"Way to go, Mom," breathed Jill. She was strictly speaking too young to have sex, but not too
young to have masturbated. She knew what was happening. Her mother had brought her up
to be polite and modest, not prudish or afraid.
"That's how I want to go," said Marcia soberly. She had grown a lot recently.
"She's an example to us all," said Amelia devoutly. Nobody could argue with that.
Nick said nothing. He was very proud of his mother, if a little sad. It disturbed him that she
was gone for good, but not that he had had a hand in it. He knew she wouldn't have wanted
anyone other than her family to do it to her. Corinne took his hand and watched with him.
Tom stood alone with his thoughts. Amelia went and stood at his side but wisely did not try to
intrude. She waited patiently. They stood a vigil together as Janice turned and writhed on the
spit. Neither of them paid any attention to the others who watched, though Amelia shared one
thought in common with all of the women. One day, sooner or later, they would be cooked
too. Some of them looked forward to it with excitement, some of them simply accepted it, a
few dreaded it but they all knew it would come. Most if not all echoed Marcia's
pronouncement, whether they'd heard it or not. When it came, they hoped they would go out
as well as Janice had, triumphantly, happily, surrounded by friends and family.
It was the first time Tom had seen Janice orgasm when he wasn't actually touching her,
possibly the first time since their marriage that she had. You don't do things by halves, lover,
he thought. She was letting it all show, for her daughters to see and for him. He thought he
had never seen anything so magnificent. From time to time Julie and Marcia basted her. She
seemed to enjoy that too.
"Got to hand it to you," said Fred, breaking the silence around Tom with his usual lack of tact.
"I never thought it would work, but you did it, old buddy. Have a beer?"
Amelia glared at him. Her father ignored her.
"Thanks, not right now," said Tom absently.
"Looks great, doesn't she? I bet Janny'll cook up something fine. Always did, hey?" He
grinned.
"Janice," said Tom. She'd hated being called Janny. Fred retreated.
"Right. Maybe later, okay? I guess it's tough.."
Tom nodded. "Later."
He stayed there until Janice stopped moving. She was dead or unconscious, she would never
wake again. Amelia stole a look at him. His eyes were wet but he was smiling oddly.
"Bye, Jan," he said quietly. "God speed." He took a breath as if something had left him. He
turned to Amelia, the first time he had acknowledged her presence. She looked up at him
with complete submission, hope and trust in her face.
"She was wonderful," she said helplessly.
He smiled, nodded and put a friendly arm around her slender shoulders.
"Let's get that drink," he said.
"Looks great, doesn't she?" said Cory moodily. In times of stress she always headed for the
wilds. She and Nick were sitting in a tree, the only one in the Partridge back yard big enough
to hold them. She was watching Janice roast. Nick had followed her up, panting and sweaty.
"Yeah, she does," he responded. That was HIS mother cooking down there, what the heck
was bothering Cory so much? "What is it with you and trees?"
She ignored that and took a pull from the bottle of rum. "Wish I'd known her better, that's all."
Nick didn't know what to say. It wasn't Cory's fault his mother hadn't made her welcome
before today, but he couldn't say anything bad about her now. "Should you be drinking that?"
"No. IIlegal. It's agin da law." She smiled dangerously. "Git yer shotgun out, if ya see any
revenoo men, just holler."
Nick had only been wondering if she'd fall.
"Hey, give me a hand here?" It was Jill, clambering up below them. Cory leaned over and
reached out a long, strong arm. With no visible effort she pulled Jill up onto the branch and
wrapped the arm around her to hold her steady. She handed her the bottle and Jill sipped
from it and spluttered.
"Fuckin' fire water," she gasped. "Love it. Look, if you two wanna screw, I'm gone." She
passed the bottle back.
Cory kissed her full on the mouth, lasciviously, exchanging fluids. "You offering?"
It wasn't all that shocking to Jill. Lots of girls played with each other given the current sex
ratio and she liked Cory a lot, but she wasn't sure what to do with it now. Before she could
reply, Cory spoke again.
"Sorry," she said, "I'm just a bit flustered." Now her accent was almost British. She touched
the sandals hanging from a piece of leather cord around her neck.
"S'okay," Jill said. She settled down between her brother and her friend. "Give me another
shot of that?"
Marrying her would be extremely dangerous, Nick realised. He could smell his mother
cooking now, the aroma was appetising. He couldn't say anything with Jill here, could he?
He looked at them. Cory was stroking Jill's hair and she was purring like a kitten. This was
definitely not the time. No way.
"Marry me," he said.
Cory glanced at him, her expression unreadable. Nick had no idea what she'd say, but it
probably wouldn't be the obvious things, like they weren't old enough yet or that she was a
year his senior. She might mention that it was normal for somebody his age to play the field
for a few more years, sow some wild oats, eat a girl or two, but he doubted it. The both knew
all that.
"You want to read the banns?" she said.
"If that means what I think it does, yeah. If it's okay with you." Any other girl would jump at
the offer and cling like a vine, unless he actually had a hump back and a squint, but Cory
wasn't any other girl. "It's not fair on Sue and Clara."
"You don't like them?"
"Yeah, I like 'em. Enough not to keep them waiting for what's not gonna happen. Stop
dodging, Cory."
"I'm not dodging. A lot can happen in two years, that's all. We could wait and see what
happens, that's okay. But if you promise now I hold you to it. You break with me, we'll never
be friends again, you understand?"
"It's less than a year and a half, and I'll risk it." He didn't need to have risked anything and
they both knew it. Cory smiled.
"Not tonight, okay? Not fair to ruin the party for them." She held out a hand and he took it. Jill
almost fell out of the tree and they both let go to grab her.
By mutual agreement, they climbed down and rejoined the party.
Tom had gone back to being almost his normal affable self. Not quite the life and soul of the
party, but he chatted pleasantly to everyone. Amelia was glued to him at the hip, nervously
attentive, he treated her with his usual gentle courtesy and some affection. Nick, Jill and
Cory stuck together like conspirators. Cory had switched from hooch to fruit punch, she didn't
want to fall over before the main event. Kate and her stepson played American folk music,
she on guitar and vocals, he on a mouthharp and fiddle.
Nick heard:
"....somebody said to me
that I could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are the greatest fun
and I will be alone again tonight with you..."
He looked at Cory.
The scent of roasting woman pervaded everything.