blurring_the_edges_24_this_is_for_right_now birdmad The friday a week after your birthday finds you and a couple of guys from the plant down at the indoor soccer practice field at what remains of Maryvale Mall. All of the tenants are gradually leaving this place behind and it becomes a bigger, more gradually run-down ghost of the busy place it was when you spent the occasional Saturday afternoon here during your high-school days. After kicking around with the guys and wasting a couple of bucks at the arcade, you stop at the pharmacy on your way home to pick up some of your mom's prescriptions and buy the groceries. You spend the rest of the morning and the earliest part of the afternoon entertaining your little nephew and one of his school buddies from across the park. Since your sister and his dad divorced, you have found yourself in the odd position of being the closest thing to an adult male influence on the boy's life and you have,as such, had to make that much more effort to hide your darker days for the sake of not having the kid turn out like you. Zoe calls the house and young D.J., still at that age where he thinks girls are a communicable disease, answers the phone and proceeds to act like a little retard over the fact that a girl is calling you Zoe overhears him and thinks it's funny and cute. "You've never met the boy, that's why," you tell her, laughing. D.J. takes offense and tries to kick you in the shin, but with the phone still in hand you sidestep and he kicks the corner of the wall instead. "Missed me, cabron," you tell him. Trying to talk to Zoe and roughhouse with the kid is something of a chore, but not a bad one. "Hang on a second, Zoe, i'll have to call you back in just a couple of minutes, okay?" 'Sure." Setting the phone down, you scoop up D.J., squirming mass of wise-assed seven-year-old, and hold him by his ankles over the toilet. He alternates between laughing and panicking as you threaten to dip him in and flush. "You gonna leave me alone so i can talk, little monkey-butt?" "Yeah," he says, calmly, resigned to being barred from further annoyance. "Okay then, ready to fly, then?" "COOL!" he says. Your mom is in the kitchen making cheese enchiladas for her, D.J. and two of your sistes who are coming over tonight. She doesn't seem too beaten down by the chemo, although there are days when it does take a heavy toll on her. Your sisters told her they would cook, but she insisted on doing it herself. Her room is unoccupied at the moment except for Spot and Dot who have climbed into and are now napping on the the pile of towels you pulled from the dryer and are getting ready to fold and put away before you get dressed to meet Zoe and Tricia, you take him back to the living room and, careful not to launch him into the shelf or through the window, you build up a little momentum and pitch the boy across the room onto the couch. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he says, sailing through the air and crashing in what looks like an uncomfortably awkward position. Springing up, he runs back to you and says, "come on, you've gotta do that again!" "Sorry, man, lucky shot, can't guarantee you'd make it across or stop at the couch next time." "Would you two knock that off in there, you cabrones are liable to break something." "See, i told you, no more, little man." "Ohhh-kayyyy!" You take the cordless phone and go into your room, closing the door behind you. Calling up Zoe, she tells you that there are two birthday presents over at her apartment waiting to be unwrapped. "And i suppose one of them is you, right?" "Okay then, make that three. Plus , i managed to score some E from the Jimmys" Whoa. Yeah, it is the path of least resistance, ain't it. Can't have the one you want? Easy, just have everything else. Upon arrival at Zoe's, you do indeed find Zoe and Tricia and some E, you also find Dana. By the grace of the MDMA, the next eighteen hours of your life defy description. You barely have time to get in a couple of hours of sleep and a shower when Tony call's Zoe's apartment and tells you that the upcoming evening is when you are due to have your little command performance with Claire for the amusement of Mr. Platte. "By the way," Tony adds, in a congratulatory tone, "Claire wants to bring a friend, if you're game, I figured you would be so i said yes on your behalf." If this had been two weeks ago, you would have been less enthusiastic, but your heart is on the shelf and though you are beyond tired from the marathon event you've just been involved in, you are content to let your cock be your guide. The guy behind the counter at the drugstore looks you over with incredulity as you stop in, clearly looking like one who has been "rode hard and put away wet" as you pick up another 12-pack of condoms. "Jesus, buddy, didn't you just buy a pack last night?" Walking out, you say behind you with a tone of almost smug satisfaction, "Yeah...I did." By the time all is said and done, the small of your back and your quadriceps muscles end up stiff and sore for the next three days after this weekend is over. Though satisfying, you find you are so positively sexed-out afterwards that you actually pass up on Zoe's offers of a little one-on-one play two more weekends running. Between her offers phonecals from Dana and messages passed from Claire through Tony and Zoe, you come to the conclusion that you are not the only satisfied customer from the festivities either. Well, now this puts a whole new slant on things, doesn't it? 030425 what's it to you? who go blather from