Stepping into her bedroom, I was about to flick the wall switch when I saw that the closet light was also on. I walked toward it, striding over the place where Slim and I had been standing when she’d put my hands on her breasts. Then I was in the closet, standing where she’d stood when she took off her T-shirt. I looked down. The powder blue top of her bikini lay on the floor, just where she’d dropped it.
Maybe she didn’t want it left on the floor.
As I thought about picking it up, however, I remembered Rusty fooling with Slim’s mother’s bra. What if I picked up the bikini top and got an urge to bury my face in it ... and Slim suddenly showed up and caught me?
So I let it stay on the floor.
I yanked the string to shut the light off, then rushed back across Slim’s room, hit the switch on my way out, and hurried through the hallway toward the glow from the bathroom.
At the top of the stairs, I paused and saw Slim looking up at me.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“No problem. Your closet light was on.”
“You get it?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll be right down,” I said, and entered the bathroom. I started to shut the door, then changed my mind and left it open a few inches so I would be able to hear her ... in case.
The first thing I did was take off the towel. Naked, I went to the bar where I’d found it. I folded it neatly and hung it up.
Then I crouched over the bathtub. I turned on the water and rinsed the tub, then used toilet paper to wipe some hairs that had collected over the drain. I tossed the paper into the toilet and flushed.
The counter and sink looked fine.
So I put on my shirt, then my socks and shoes.
And stood there, staring down at myself. The tails of my shirt hung down pretty much the same distance on me as Slim’s blouse did on her. But there was a difference. Slim had nothing down there capable of sticking out.
I did, and it was.
Slim had already caught a look at it in the laundry room when I lost my towel. Still, I wasn’t about to go downstairs this way.
She said to leave the towel up here, I reminded myself.
If she can go around in just her blouse, I can go around in this.
What if her mom comes home?
Never mind her mom coming home; in my condition I wouldn’t be able to stand in front of Slim for ten seconds without having another accident.
To solve the problem, I took off my shirt. Obviously, I couldn’t tie it around my waist by its short sleeves. When I turned my shirt upside-down, however, the corners of the front tails were able to reach around my waist. I tied them together with a half knot over my left hip. The arrangement looked ridiculous and didn’t cover any of my left leg, but it concealed what needed to be hidden. I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head.
Then I swung open the bathroom door, flicked its light off, and stepped into the hallway.
From the foot of the stairs, Slim grinned up at me. “Good grief,” she said.
“I had to put your towel back.”
As I trotted down the stairs, she stared at me and kept grinning. “You could’ve just worn the shirt, you know.”
“I am.”
“Up where it belongs.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
“I am,” she said.
“I know, but....” I shrugged. “It’s different.”
“Chicken.” Though the grin remained on her face, I caught a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
My God, I thought.
Turning away, Slim said, “We’d better get a move on. I put the knives in the bag with the beers, by the way.”
“Good idea.” I picked up the bag, the two empty beer bottles and Rusty’s shirt. Then I followed Slim into the kitchen. She grabbed her purse off the counter and swung its strap over her other shoulder. Then we went outside.
The wind was stronger than before, but warm. It felt good blowing against me. I watched how it flapped and lifted Slim’s blouse.
Was she angry with me?
Did she feel cheated because I’d worn the shirt around my waist? Had she hoped to catch glimpses of me underneath its tails?
Even as I wondered about it, the rear of her blouse was flipped up by the wind and I saw her pale buttocks.
Then she opened a door and entered the laundry room. I stepped in behind her, pulled the door shut, and followed her through the other door to the main area of the garage.
She stopped at the rear of the Pontiac. With one hand, she reached into her purse. Her hand come out holding a key case. She fumbled with it, found the key she wanted, then bent over and slid it into the key hole of the trunk.