Can't Stop the Girl

Annie took a deep breath as she watched Sullivan and his friend take their leave. "Has he always been that cynical?" she asked Mandy.

"As long as I've known him," Mandy said.

"Yes, he has," added Tony, who had just arrived at her side. "We grew up together here, and he's always had a chip on his shoulder. I don't know what he said this time, but I can guess."

"He's from Park Meadows originally?" Annie asked. "So that stuff about pulling himself up by the bootstraps..."

"His father did that," Tony said. "And never missed a chance to remind him. But he also spoiled Sullivan rotten, that's probably why he's like that."

"Should've known," said Annie, who'd had more than one classmate like that at her fairly snobby college. "Anyhow," she said, standing up and resisting the temptation to grab at her gut, "I'd better get home. See you tomorrow? You too, Daryle?"

"You bet," said Tony and Mandy in unison.

"Me too," Daryle said. "Thanks for listening, Annie. And nice glasses."

Annie laughed appreciatively. Her cat's eye glasses were an heirloom from her grandmother's high school days. They looked beyond retro, but the look worked for her somehow. Some of her clients at work had even taken to asking for help from 'the girl with the funny glasses'. "Thanks, Daryle," she said, and with a flirtatious flair that surprised even herself, she added, "I'll wear them tomorrow too!"

As she drove her old car back through the clean streets to her bedsit (she'd fallen in love with that word while studying in London junior year), Annie resolved to hang onto the holiday cheer in spite of Sully and Karen and Mrs. Reed. If some people just couldn't have a nice day, there was no need to let them drag her down with them.

She did feel bad for Daryle - what a Stepford nightmare Christmas must be at the Reed place! - but at least he could look forward to going back to California after the break. Perhaps, Annie thought as she cruised slowly down Park Street and admired the opulent Christmas decorations that were casting every shade of hue into the night air, she could play big sister for Daryle for the next few weeks. If his mother was anything like her own had always been this time of year, heaven knew he'd need it! Annie didn't know just how she could help - it would hardly do for a woman seven years his senior to invite him out for a snowball fight, after all - but she had a feeling an excuse would turn up. People like Daryle and herself did have a talent for finding one another and bonding against all odds.

On that note, as Annie pulled into Mrs. Goldstein's driveway and parked, she resolved to tamp down the nasty memories of her mother that were now bubbling up. Mom was halfway across the country, and as Annie reminded herself as she stepped out into the crisp night air, she couldn't hurt Annie anymore without her permission. Annie took a deep breath and, with the appreciation only a city girl could have for the suburbs, she drank in the peace of the scene and the joy of the season.

Mrs. Goldstein was on her way to falling asleep in front of the television as usual. "Hi, Annie," she said. "How's the Christmas planning?"

"Holiday planning," Annie corrected. "We're going to have a multi-faith appreciation event. Would you be interested in a presentation on Hanukkah?"

"Hanukkah really isn't that important, you know," Mrs. Goldstein said, as Annie had known she would. "It isn't like Christmas."

"I know," Annie said. "I had a crush on a Jewish boy for ages in high school and I learned a lot about it trying to impress him."

"I can guess how that went over with his mother," Mrs. Goldstein said.

"It never got anywhere near that far," Annie said. "He never even asked me out. That was the last time I waited for the guy to always do the asking."

"Smart girl," Mrs. Goldstein said. "Now, you sure your friends all want to learn about Jewish traditions for Christmas?"

"That's the whole point of the event," Annie said. "Well, that and raising money to help disadvantaged kids in the city."

"I can certainly get behind that," Mrs. Goldstein said. "Let me talk to some of the others at the JCC, okay?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Goldstein!"

"You're welcome. Good night."

Annie grinned at the characteristically unsubtle hint and let her landlady get back to the late show. She padded down the hall and through the kitchen in her stocking feet, and downstairs to the finished basement she'd called home for over two years. She flipped on the light, and gratefully stepped into the oasis of Christmas cheer that she'd been building up every year since college. Twinkling colored lights on every wall and drizzling from the curtains on the two small windows near the ceiling, and a vintage aluminum tree in the corner with figurines posed all around it. If only there were someone special to share her winter wonderland with, she thought as she always did at this moment. But Rick was history months ago, off to Africa to save the world, taking his self-righteous guilt-mongering with him about how Annie ought to do her part rather than working as an accountant in an anonymous suburb, and although her heart was on the mend, she hadn't given much thought to dating again yet.

That was finally starting to change, she realized with some pleasure as she unbuttoned her trousers. With that first hint of relief of her bloating, and with the reminder of Daryle and Reggie and how pleasant they'd both been to look at tonight, Annie was sorely tempted to jump onto her bed and get down to business. But her guitar beckoned in the corner by her bed, and she had made a promise to herself when she'd moved to Park Meadows that she wouldn't give up the bohemian lifestyle she'd so enjoyed in college entirely. One of these days she would work up the courage to sing at open-mike night at Kelly's, and in the meantime she'd vowed to practice every day, even if it was just one song.

And so Annie draped her trousers on her desk chair and turned on her computer, and found "Jingle Bell Rock" on Youtube. She'd been working out a bluegrass-style arrangement for it for the past week or so, and had learned well the trick of forcing yourself to practice by writing a piece you couldn't quite play yourself. Still wearing her sweater and panties, she settled herself with her guitar on the desk chair and pressed Play on the video.

It took three runs through the song before she didn't flub the B-seventh chord on the "Jingle around the clock" line, but she did it. Satisfied now that she was free to play with herself instead of the guitar, she set it aside and clicked on her Youtube Christmas song list. Then she pulled off her sweater, camisole and bra, and after lining the bed with her period towel (she'd called the raggedy old bath towel that since high school), she also slipped off her panties and lay back on the bed, wearing only her cat's eye glasses and her crucifix necklace.

Rick was history, and their relationship had been rocky anyway, but the man had been a genius in bed. As she teased her clit gently with her right hand and rubbed her nipples with her left, she recalled his supple hands all over her body and his hard cock deep inside her, pushing ever so gently in and out on a mellow night like tonight. She couldn't have actually gotten him near her tonight, she knew, because he was scared to death of period sex, but she was free to imagine him tickling her belly and kissing her breasts and driving her wild with his hot breath on her cheeks and neck.

She imagined what could be, and she remembered what was. His hairy chest and the fun of running her fingers all over it, his hard cock in her hands and then in her pussy, her fingers grazing him as she rode him into orgasm, his fingers returning the favor on her eager breasts. Annie closed her eyes tight and rubbed harder as her desire gradually overcame the dull ache of her cramps as it always did sooner or later. That didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was that when she closed her eyes, she didn't see Rick. She saw Daryle, or Reggie, or sometimes both. Shy yet confident, they let her explore their bodies and gazed adoringly upon hers, and touched it just as she liked it.

Annie felt a stab of shame, but it passed. She was much too aroused now to let that stop her. As she imagined their firm young bodies alongside hers, she longed to put something in, but she wasn't about to stop and take her tampon out for that. Not when her stroking on the outside was reaching a fevered pitch and she could feel the dam about to burst. Reggie, Daryle, one on each side, wearing nothing but a smile each and caressing her also-nude body reverently...

"Onhh!" Annie let out a delighted grunt as she came, then a louder sigh of contentment as she felt the pain melting away as usual. Though feeling physically relieved, she lay there and stared at the blinking colorful reflections on the ceiling, pondering just what it meant that she was fantasizing about a pair of her friends' barely-legal sons. Tempting as it was to blame it all on hormones, Annie wasn't buying that.

It was harmless, she managed to convince herself as she got up to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. Truly weird, but harmless.

Saturday dawned clear and cold, and Annie slept in late enough to practice her guitar without any worries about waking Mrs. Goldstein up. A few other household errands kept her busy until lunchtime, when she fixed a suitably wintry lunch of soup and a sandwich. Bemused at the thought of how excited she was at the prospect of spending the afternoon wrapping presents for kids she didn't know, she was in great spirits as she drove over to the Barkers just before two o'clock. It occurred to her on the way that she ought to have brought something along, maybe a snack for everyone to share; but there was no time to get anything now.

When she arrived at the Barkers', though, she knew even before anyone had answered the door that it was just as well she hadn't bought anything. She could hear sobbing and screaming inside, and for a horrible moment she wondered if someone had broken in.

The Barkers' teenage daughter, Sabrina, answered the door. She looked absolutely crestfallen as she stood aside for Annie to enter. "H-hi, Annie," she stammered.

"Sabrina? What's wrong?" Annie stepped warily inside.

The anguish Annie had thought she was hearing through the door now rang loud and clear from the living room. "That bastard Sullivan did it, I just know it!" Pamela Reed was screaming through tears of rage.

"Now, Pamela, we don't know that!" Mandy countered, sounding near tears herself. "Let's not point fingers when we can't prove anything!"

"Oh, you fool, Mandy! You fool!" Pamela retorted. Daryle sat stoically on the couch, looking for all the world like he wished his mother would vanish into thin air. Tony Barker sat beside him, head in his hands. Rhonda Greene and her husband, Jerry, stood off to the side, looking sympathetic but helpless.

"The toys were stolen out of the van, Annie," Sabrina said. "They were there when Mom and Dad got home from the meeting last night, but this morning Dad went out to bring them inside to wrap, and the van was empty!"

"Oh no," Annie said, stepping gingerly into the living room.

She said it just loud enough to be heard over Pamela's rants, and Mandy stepped over to welcome her in. "Annie, I'm so sorry!" she said.

"It's not your fault, Mandy!" Annie said, and she gave her a reassuring hug that did little to comfort either of them.

"I'm not so sure about that, Annie," Pamela said. "Somebody's got to be responsible for losing our entire council budget here, and it is her van and her house!"

"Enough!" Tony jumped up from the couch. "I was the one who left the van parked in the street all night, because I had an errand to run first thing this morning and I didn't want it blocking our other car in the driveway! But the only one really responsible is the jerk who took the presents! What we need to do is call the cops, not attack each other over it!"

"Oh, the cops never catch anyone, Tony, you know that!" Pamela snapped. Grabbing up her purse from the floor, she continued, "Face it, you people blew it! I will remember this next year when it comes time to decide who's responsible for our budget! Daryle, come on, we're going home!"

Daryle stayed rooted to the couch. "Uh, no, Mom," he said. "I don't want to be alone with you right now."

"You little bastard, what are you accusing me of?!" Pamela shrieked.

"Mrs. Reed, maybe you should spend some time alone to cool off," Rhonda said gently.

"Oh, who the hell asked you?!" Pamela demanded. Turning back to Daryle, she said, "I'm leaving right now. If you don't come with me, you're walking home, and I might not let you in when you get there, understood?!"

"I'm not getting in the car with you, Mom," Daryle huffed. He sounded and looked terrified, but he stood -- or rather sat -- his ground on the couch.

Pamela gave them all a look that could curdle milk, and stormed out of the house.

While Mandy called the police and Tony went to the kitchen to get the snacks they had planned to share before getting down to work, Rhonda sat beside Daryle on the couch and took his hand in both of hers. "Daryle, do you want to talk about your mother with anyone?" she asked.

"Thanks, Mrs. Greene, but what you see is what you get with her," he said. "She's always like that lately. Honestly, it's great to see you all, but I wish I could have stayed in California for break! I knew it'd be a nightmare." Seeing Annie standing nearby, he looked up and managed a smile. "Hi, Annie," he said.

"Hi, Daryle. Have you got someplace to go for now?" Annie's heart was breaking even more for him than for the committee and the bad news. "We can go get some coffee if we'd be in the way here."

"I think that's a good idea," said Mandy, who had just finished the call to the police. "But first, Officer Roberts is on his way over and he wants to interview everyone."

"In the meantime, we might as well eat these," came Tony's voice from the kitchen. Annie turned to see him emerging with a tray of muffins.

Reggie Greene was behind him. "Hey, Annie," he said. "Guess you heard." Turning to his father, he asked, "Have we really got to be around when Officer Friendly gets here?!"

"Reggie, none of that!" Rhonda said, looking up from Daryle's side on the couch.

"She's right, son," Jerry said. "I know what you're thinking, but it'll only look worse if we leave now."

"Besides, we all know you didn't do it," Tony said.

"Doesn't matter what you know, all due respect," Reggie said. "You don't know what it's like for us with the cops."

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind. In the painful vacuum that ensued, Annie found her voice. "You're right, Reggie, we don't know. I'm sorry."

Reggie gave her an almost-approving nod, and looked like he was about to say something, but there came a knock on the door.

It was Officer Roberts. He was not unpleasant, and even Reggie had no complaints about the way he treated them all. But he was not encouraging about getting the toys back. "I hate to say it, but they're probably out of state by now. It might even be for someone else's charity drive, if you can believe that," he explained to Tony and Mandy. "Some churches have incentives for who can bring in the greatest haul, and some jerk will probably just claim to have taken up a collection at the office and bought them all."

"Disgusting," Mandy said. "So what can we do?"

"I'd give your insurance company a call," Robinson said. "Meanwhile, I will let you know if we hear anything about any leads, but I wouldn't hold my breath." He tipped his hat. "Sorry, folks. And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," came a dispirited chorus from the others as they watched him take his leave.

"Well, one thing I can do is ask around at our church," Rhonda said, standing up. "Maybe we've got some budget left over to buy some replacements."

"We'll do the same," said Mandy. "And I guess it won't hurt to call the insurance company."

"They won't pay out a dime, but we'll ask," Tony added, drawing a dirty look from his wife. "And maybe the police will find something. A thousand dollars' worth of toys don't just vanish into thin air!"

Annie exchanged knowing looks with Rhonda. Both of them having grown up in much rougher neighborhoods than the Barkers, they knew how naïve folks from places like Park Meadows could be about trusting the police. But really, Annie reasoned, what kind of hardened criminal would have stolen the toys and left the van? In spite of herself, she began to think Pamela was right and it was Sullivan and that repulsive friend of his. But why?

She didn't trust the cops to answer that. But letting this go just wouldn't do. Annie resolved to do some sleuthing of her own.

But first, there was her offer to Daryle. She sat down beside him and gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Want to go get that coffee?" she asked him. "I promise not to talk about your mother unless you want to," she added, remembering how often she did want to whine about her own in a situation like this.

To her melancholy pleasure, Daryle smiled. "That'd be great, Annie." Looking up at the still-crestfallen Barkers, he added, "Unless there's anything we can do here to help?"

"Absolutely!" Annie added, though she couldn't think of anything.

"No, I think we've done all we can for now except beg the insurance company for some holiday mercy," Tony said. "Of course we'll give you a call if anything happens."

"Thanks," Annie and Daryle said in unison, and he followed her out.

Pearl's Diner was a relic from the earliest days of Park Meadows, renovated several times with a retro-style that always seemed all too perfect to Annie at Christmastime. With the lunch rush out of the way, she and Daryle had no trouble getting a booth by the window. "I love the décor this time of year," she told him as they admired the translucent Christmas trees and snowflakes on the window. "Don't you?"

"Reminds me a little too much of those depressing television commercials you always see this time of year," Daryle said. "You know, with the beautiful families celebrating a heartwarming Christmas like in a Thomas Kinkade painting?"

"I know all too well," Annie agreed. "My remedy for that is to make my room at home look like that, decorations everywhere! Even if you're alone, it can feel joyful with a little bit of practice."

"That's good to know," Daryle said. "I ought to practice that."

He looked ready to burst into tears of rage at his mother, but the waitress arrived just in the nick of time. Annie ordered coffee for them both, and then took a look at the dessert cabinet on the counter. "I'd love a slice of that chocolate cake," she said, her cravings being in full swing. "Daryle, would you like one too?"

"Let me see if I have any cash for that," he said, reaching for his wallet.

"Don't be silly, it's my treat!" Annie said. "Two slices, please," she told the waitress before he could object.

"Thanks," he said when they were alone again. "But you really don't need to do this, Annie."

"I know, but I also know a friend who needs some cheering up when I see it, Daryle. I know it's none of my business what you've been going through with your mother, but I also remember what that felt like and I hate to see anyone else dealing with the same thing!"

"Thanks," he said. "I just -- try so hard, and it only seems to make everything worse! And I was really looking forward to at least having the pageant to work with."

"You still can look forward to it," Annie said. "I'm convinced we can find out what happened."

"Why?"

"Well, think about it, Daryle. A thief who was just after the toys would have also taken the van. It would have been a lot easier than unloading all the toys! No, someone's trying to send a message about the pageant."