The Kiss

The Kiss

As we become more mature, one may find one's self reflecting back to the mischief of youth. Most recently, a friend, Sherry, had just such an occasion, and I thought I would share the recollection she recounted to me. Sherry a Florida beach girl has lived her entire life in the sunshine state. Her family is a rarity; they are natives. She said her ancestors evolved with the coral and limestone. The only thing, that Sherry valued as much as her family, was her friends.

It was Sunday January 28, 1996, ‘Super Bowl XXX, which was the reason for their gathering. It was an annual event. They called it their ‘lots party’ there was always lots of booze, beer, wine, food, dirty jokes, and of course cheering. Not so much for the teams, but for the scores, there was always a hefty payoff in the football pool. It did not matter that it was the Cowboys and Steelers, neither team had any sizable following here. In fact, the commercials got more of their attention than the game, with the exception of the end of the scoring drives. No, the true excitement of this party was the camaraderie of close friends. They had known each other for many years, in fact, this was their seventh Superbowl together, they would take turns hosting.

This year they were at Rusty and Lynn’s house. Joey and Ibbey had just finished helping them add on a massive new redwood deck, and this was its christening. The evening was chilly but not cold; the end of January in Florida is typically in the low-sixties. The cast iron fire pot, Rusty had in the center of the deck, glowed with a warm aura.

As was their custom, the party started with the men near the grill and the beer chest, as the women brought out the other foods and snacks from the kitchen. The guys wrestled out the thirty-two inch Sony, it took three of them, to get the bulky box through the glass doors, and they placed it on the table at the opposite end of the deck. There were the before-game warm-ups, which consisted of the guys pretending to talk football, and show off their meager memories of the past season, and of course the retelling of their best jokes. Once the ribs or sausage was done, and the girls had the other foods out, they settled in their selected seats, in a semi-circle facing the TV.

Joey and Sherry were near the center on the padded wicker settee. Sherry had just turned thirty-four, just two weeks before, she sported a five foot eight inch medium build, and had given life to four terrific children. Which had not done much for her figure, OK maybe a little, her bras were now 36 DD, but after the last baby, she still had ten, OK it’s fifteen pounds to lose. She had married Joey in 1980; they met after he had gotten out of the Navy. He was five years older than she was; which was OK, she liked his maturity. He worked as an engineer for GE; she did not know for sure what he did at work, some manner of government stuff and always top-secret.

On the other end, of the settee next to Joey sat Ronda. She was a tall, forty-something gal, with short dark hair. She was the regional VP and director of marketing for Citicorp. She still worked hard at her looks, and could afford to spend as much as she pleased, as she was the highest paid of anyone in the group. She lived three houses down from Rusty and Lynn. Ronda was the oldest and was always the most fun. She had an enormous sense of humor, could find something funny in everything, and she was never afraid to share her thoughts. At her feet sat Jimmy, Ronda’s boyfriend. He was about 10 years her junior. He sat on the deck his back against the settee with Ronda’s legs on either side of his shoulders. She stroked his hair and called him her puppy dog. He worked as a chef at the same restaurant as Ibbey.

Ibrahim, who they called Ibbey, and Cindy his wife, were in reclining deck chairs to the right of the settee. Ibbey was the restaurant manager at the local, top eatery. He was originally from Iran. He immigrated here, when he was a child; his father was an assistant to the former Shaw. Cindy, was a real estate sales person, who had just gotten her license. She and Ibbey met in college, she was a cheerleader and he an all-American defensive-end for the Texas Longhorns. They moved here from Austin a few years ago.

Rusty, a hotel general manager, was six-foot-two-inches tall with bright red hair and a typical ginger complexion. He sat on a chair to the other side of Ibbey and Cindy, making it easier for him to put another log in the fireplace and tend the grill. His wife Lynn, a demurer woman of twenty-nine; she had short brown hair and was extremely slender. The rest of the girls sometimes kidded her about her weight, though they wished, they had her malady. She was sitting on the opposite side of the deck closest to the door to the house. She was a stay at home mom, an eager hostess, and she took considerable pride in her home and showing her hospitality.

Left of Ronda sat Sherry’s best friend Lori, and her beau John. He like Jimmy was sitting on the deck, his arm resting on Lori's knee. He was working on his seventh or eighth beer but doing OK. Perhaps holding ones liquor was something they taught in the police academy, or maybe it was his strapping physique that metabolized the alcohol so easily. There was no doubt he went to the gym way too much. He was Lori’s current significant other. She tended to go through them with notorious regularity.

Sherry and Lori met in high school and were fast friends, their friendship continued through college and into their adult lives. Over the years, whenever Sherry found herself in any hot water, you could bet Lori was steaming in the same pot with her. More often than not, she was the one who lit the fire to start things boiling. The tale of their graduation night, was hilariously troublesome, but that is another chapter. Lori also five-foot-eight, weighing maybe a hundred-twenty-two pounds with shoulder length, brunet hair and a perfect body. She had dreams of being a model and probably could have been. When she was on heels in one of her little black dresses, no human male between puberty and senility could let her pass without review. Every female in the group secretly wished they could have her figure. Why not she presented perfect 34Cs a 26-inch waist atop 36-inch hips that were supported by long, supple legs. Lori had been with Sherry through thick and thin. She was even with her in the hospital when Sherry had her children. She took turns with Joey during the hours of labor and was in the delivery room, both of them, one on each side of the bed.

So there’s the setting, they joked and laughed at the silly commercials. They lamented at having just missed the quarter’s pot pay-outs in the football pool, and talked about work and their kids. As it was nearing half-time the guys started talking about going down to Ronda’s house to look at Jimmy’s hot rod, he almost had it finished. They were all grunting and acting like fools, no doubt inspired by Tim Allen on Home Improvement, which was on just before the game. On hearing their plans, to leave the girls alone with Diana Ross and the half-time nonsense, Sherry said aloud to Joey “What, you find, an old car more interesting, than a deck full of sexy women?” Being a bit of a smart-ass Joey said, “You know where we can find one.” She shot him a look that could have steamed the clams they had just finished. Joey instantly knew he had made an error and soften his banter. “We will not be long. We just want to see the new paint job; we will be back before the game starts again.”

Ronda now joined in, as she noticed the TV camera men focused on the cheerleaders jumping up and down. She exclaimed, “Will you look at the ‘Ta...ta’s on that girl, I think I am going to buy me some of those.” The guys were on their feet waiting for the finish of the quarter, they were still intent on going to look at the car. When Jimmy got up to lead the procession, Ronda said, “What, you are still going, what are we suppose to do?”

Ibbey said, “Oh. .. you girls just do your usual, and complain about how we don't understand.”

Ronda on a roll continued her taunts, “OK girls we are going to play 'Spin the Bottle', and I can’t wait to see Sherry making out with Lori.”

Now Joey piped in, “Now that... We would stay to watch, hell you could sell tickets. But since I know it’s just an idle boast, we are going to get out of your hair for a few minutes.”

Sherry looked at Lori; over the years, they had been accused of being hooked at the hips and they had teased with Joey and the others many times. Nevertheless, they had never done anything beyond the tease; they were best friends, not lovers. But, when Sherry looked into her eyes there was that twinkle, that devilment that had gotten them in trouble so many times back in school. She didn’t know what came over her, maybe she was mad at the men, for treating them as objects, less valuable than an old car. She thought for god’s sake, it’s just a car, and they had borne their children.

Sherry got up off the settee and walked over to Lori, who was sitting in a straight-backed, patio chair. She straddled her legs and leaned down to kiss her. Lori sprained upward, her lips meeting Sherry’s. The men were all in a group standing next to Lynn by the door. Sherry bent lower and the top of her low-cut sweater hung down, giving Jimmy, Rusty, and Ibbey a perfect view of her breast. She was wearing her cowboy bra. You girls know the kind, the ones that head’em up and move them out.

Lori reached up putting her arms around Sherry’s neck; Sherry placed hers around Lori’s back and Sherry eased her up from the chair. Now the Vixen slipped her tongue into Sherry’s mouth, she didn’t resist. Lori moved it slowly against hers, and then, Sherry did what she would never have dreamed could happen, she returned her tongue-lashing. For five full minutes, they stood there kissing and caressing each other, Sherry admitted later that Lori’s passion warmed her to her toes.

They finally released their embrace; Lori reached out to Sherry’s lips, gently wiped away the dampness, and touched her fingers back to her own lips. Without saying a word, they returned to their seats. Ronda waved her hands in front of her face in a fanning motion and said, “Its OK, boys you go play with your toys, we’ll be OK. I am spinning next.”

Lynn slapped Rusty hard on his arm as she looked down at his pants observing his firm erection. Ronda laughed and said, “He’s not the only evil boy here,” and a quick visual survey revealed similar afflictions as prominent as Rusty’s.

The men decided that they would check out Jimmy’s car another time, and stayed to watch Diana and the jumping high school kids do their show. The guys became exceptionally attentive and made many attempts to encourage an encore; but Sherry told them, “No it wouldn’t be as fun with you all drooling, all over everything.”

They finished the evening with many more puns and teases, but that was the end of it. That was until Sherry got home, that night Joey made love to her, as he hadn’t in a long time. It was blistering. Even now, so many years later, a soft whisper with a threat to call Lori, gets his full attention.

I asked Sherry what she would say if I told somebody the story. She said, “I would tell them that if the occasion ever presented itself, girls once in your life, and even if it is only once, let the vixen out. Take hold of your best girl and kiss her the way you wish you could be kissed. I promise the memory will help keep you warm on a chilly winter’s night

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(Note to any reviewers, first thank you for taking the time. Next this is a character test for a new project I am planning. and while Spelling Punctuation and Grammar are always important (they seem to be the bane of my existence but if i didn't have issues, my copy editor's children would go hungry.) but today they are not my primary focus, I would like to know if the characters are believable and the style is OK, would you read a storyline following the antics of Sherry and her friends)

Picture Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring in Mullholland Drive Starworld.exteen.com