Free Season of Passage, The by Christopher Pike Page B

Lauren said. 'Just out of puberty.'
    'Hey, my intentions were noble, at least at this point. The next morning Kathy picked me up at my hotel and took
    me to the hospital. The kids were excited. It was touching-there wasn't a one of them that could walk normal y. Not that they were al down in the
    dumps. They seemed real together. They loved me. I gave a speech on what it was like to fly the shuttle, and to be weightless. There were some
    pretty sharp minds there - they asked good questions. I guess not being able to play and stuff, they read a lot. I was lucky I had a box of literature on
    the Nova from Rockwel . I passed it out, and stayed for a couple of hours and signed autographs.'
    'Get to the juicy stuff, would ya?' Lauren complained.
    'When we were leaving the hospital, Kathy asked if I wanted to eat. We went to a restaurant and then saw a movie. It got late. We had a few beers
    at a bar. I must have been feeling loose. You know how I never drink.'
    'Excuses, excuses.'
    'I started to notice what a sweet girl she was. We talked for hours. She works a forty-hour week in an orthopedic surgeon's office. But she's so
    devoted to those kids. I real y began to dig her. I thought she liked me, too. I know she did. She told me she thought I was special.' Gary paused.
    'She asked if I'd like to come to her house for coffee.'
    'For coffee. Right.'
    'Yeah, with the beer in me, I didn't care if she served it with a little cream on the side. She lived with her parents, but on the way to her house, she
    told me they were out of town. That was al right with me.'
    'How old was this girl?' Lauren asked.
    'Twenty-five. Why?'
    'I was just wondering. Go on.'
    'Soon as we entered her house, she put the coffee on. Then she started to check every room in the house. It was weird. I assumed she was looking
    for burglars. She even went out into the garage. I started to look around myself. It
    seemed the thing to do. A few minutes passed. I began to wonder where she had gotten to. When suddenly she snuck up on me from behind and
    wrapped her arms around my waist. What the hel , I thought. I was surprised, though. I hope I haven't given you the wrong impression of her, Lori.
    Kathy struck me as very shy.'
    'Yeah. Sure.'
    'We started kissing. She leads me upstairs to her bedroom. There she lets it al hang out. Jesus, if she didn't have these tits under her sweater. She
    was an animal. She tore off my pants before I could undo my belt. I was having trouble keeping it together, and we had only just begun.'
    'This is gross,' Lauren said.
    'Yeah? I'm glad I got your interest. Now al this time Kathy didn't say a word. In fact, as soon as we'd gone into the bedroom, I heard someone
    knocking at the front door. I asked if she wanted to see who it was, but she didn't answer. She just kept doing what she was doing, and I forgot
    about the knocking. So there I was, naked in her bedroom, about to make the supreme public relations sacrifice for NASA, when suddenly...'
    'Don't tel me!' Lauren cried. 'Kathy came running in.'
    Gary looked startled. Then he chuckled. 'You're right. It was Kathy, al right. I was in bed with her twin sister, Lorraine. It seems Lorraine had pul ed
    the same trick before. That's why Kathy was searching the house - to make sure Lorraine was out. Unfortunately, when she looked in the garage,
    Lorraine locked her in it. That was the knocking I heard. But Kathy got back in somehow. She went berserk. She tackled Lorraine to the floor. They
    fought like two cats. Kathy cal ed her every name in the book. But Lorraine was enjoying herself. She laughed her head off. She had a high, shril
    voice - it's hard to describe. It was no wonder she didn't talk to me. It was total
    madness. They were both bleeding from scratches. I worried someone would get seriously hurt. I jumped in and broke them apart, which was not
    easy. I eventual y got Kathy downstairs, and had her sit quietly on the couch. But I was stil naked. I had to go back upstairs to get