GLIMPSES OF CONSEQUENCES
By DrBill
"HOWA we going to start?" The ritual joke having been followed by the ritual groans, the Housewives of Worthington Acres came to order. The group had evolved from informal visits for coffee and complaining to a neighborhood organization of sorts. While the meetings still tended to be primarily boast and bitch sessions, they also traded useful information and occasionally took on neighborhood improvement projects and the like. But they did not try to pretend that it was anything more than group therapy for the frustrations and pressures of being housewives and mothers.
It was obvious that Janet had something she wanted to share. The ritual pool toy, with its neatly lettered "Don't Ask" legend on top, was passed to her.
"Tom has been accepted at Tech! With a scholarship!" she practically shouted. Everyone congratulated her, saying how remarkable it was.
"And to think, he was almost expelled from middle school." Vicki added. "More than once. How on earth did you get him to make such a turnaround?"
"Oh, that's right. You all were on that trip to the Coast that Summer!" Janet chuckled, joined by giggles and chuckles from the others. "Well, some of the girls had seen some stories and some books, and ..." She explained at some length, with some of the others filling in details and anecdotes.
Vicki was astonished. "You can't be serious! How did you get away with it?"
"With a lot of help from our friends." Nods and laughs around the room. "Including you!"
"Me?" Vicki frowned. Then, "Those papers. Your ... niece? Oh!" She had used her part time job at the school district to file some paperwork for Janet, shortly before her vacation. "Hey! I could've gotten in trouble for that!"
"Not really." Janet placated, "We had you covered, just in case."
The meeting moved on to other matters. As they were leaving, Janet gave Vicki a folder and a couple of books. "Just some light reading," she grinned.
Vicki got home, and noticed that she had a phone message. She looked at the ID, and briefly panicked at the memory of the meeting. Then she calmed down. Since it was from the school, it had to be about one of the kids. Job related calls came in from the district office.
As she had guessed, it was about Davey. He and a few others had been caught loitering in "the spot" and were facing two days' detention. "The spot" was an area under one of the stairways where, if you looked up at the perfect angle, you could see up the skirts of some of the people using the stairway. The students had been warned to stay out of that area, and knew that they faced penalties if caught there. The ironic part was that the school had long since done a study and found that the peepers couldn't really see far enough up the skirts to really see anything but leg. Because of that, the school didn't spend the money it would have taken to fix the problem. The boys (and a few girls) who did go there were drawn by the thought, rather than the results. Those caught were given a lecture about respect and personal privacy, and sometimes (for repeat offenders or those with other aggravating factors) detention. But all had their parents called. Twice. The first time was in the presence of the offender, and described the offense, the punishment, and the fact that the school takes invasions of privacy seriously. The second, without young ears listening, did a bit of damage control to let the parent know about the limited practical effects of the offense, and suggest followup strategies. The school district in general, and the school in particular, had a good relationship with most of the parents and knew the value of keeping things that way.
Vicki sighed, and returned the call. The dean reminded her that it was Davey's third time getting caught there, but that he did not seem to be the leader of the group. He also reminded her that school would be out in a week, and that he would rather not mess up finals and other year end functions. Vicki thanked him and hung up.
Davey got home much later than usual. The after school detention caused him to miss the bus, so he had to walk the half mile to his house. He knew better to call and ask for a ride under the circumstances. When he walked in the door, he was immediately exiled to his room to do his homework and "think about what he had done" until his father got home. He expected it, but wasn't happy about it. He knew that his dad wouldn't hit him or anything like that; he was not that kind of a dad. His mom just wanted to make sure that both parents confronted him about school things, presenting a united front as it were. They had started doing that when Sherry had successfully played them off against each other when she was in fifth grade. He was willing to bet that the detention was not the only punishment he would get.
"Geez!" He thought. "And I never even got to see anything!" It was just so unfair. Not so much as a glimpse of panty. He saw more at the pool than under those stairs. And a lot more on the net. He let his mind drift over things he had seen on the net, as he kicked off his shoes and flopped on his bed.
He was tempted to get on and look at a few of his favorites, but he knew that if his mom caught him he would be in a whole lot more trouble. On the other hand, he did have to get that history paper finished. And for that, he needed some more online research. If she walked in and found him doing homework, it might help him. And if the windows with his paper and some of his source pages just happened to be covering up some other windows, what could it hurt?
He turned on the computer, and brought up the report. It really only needed to be spell checked and have the bibliography and junk finished, but he was sure his mom didn't know that. He started the spellcheck, then left it stopped on the first error. He got on the Internet, then brought up browser windows with three of the sites he had used. Finally, he brought up another browser window and went looking for upskirt sites. If he was going to be in trouble for it anyway, he figured he should at least see what he had been trying to see.
He had just found a good site and started getting a glimpse of panty when he heard the footsteps outside his door. He hid the window and started looking at the report window when the door opened and his big sister burst in uninvited. Smirking at him, she crowed "You're really in trouble this time. When Dad gets here, I bet you'll be grounded for the whole summer. Or worse. And I'm gonna enjoy every minute!"
Sherry was still mad at him for accidentally ratting her out. Not that he wouldn't have done so on purpose, but this time was an accident. Their mom had been annoyed with her for some reason, and had told her to take out the trash while she was at the store. When she left, Sherry told him that Mom had said for him to take out the trash right away. When he did, he cut his hand on something. It wasn't too bad of a cut, but he got blood on his t shirt and jeans before he got it bandaged up. Their mom freaked when she saw the blood and bandage. He told her what happened, playing up the (mistaken) claim that it was because she had demanded that he take the trash out (in an attempt at playing the guilt card). As a result, Sherry had all the chores for the next week and couldn't go out with her friends (or boyfriend) that weekend. As soon as they were out of earshot from their mom, she hissed that he should watch his back, because she *would* get her revenge.
She was always trying to boss him around anyhow, just because she was three years older than him and in high school. And more often than not, his mom seemed to turn a blind eye to it.
"Get out of here, Sherry! I'm trying to do my History paper."
"Yeah, right you little perv. I bet you were surfing for porn again."
"MOM! Sherry's in my room bugging me! I'm TRYING to do my homework, like you said!"
"Sherry, get out of his room!"
"I'm GOING, Mom!" Then more quietly, she laughed "Just wait. Dad'll be home any minute. I hope I get to watch." With that, she stomped out and went back to her room.
He got up and closed the door. He was sure she left it open deliberately, just to bug him. Then he brought up the window again, and quickly closed it (barely getting another glimpse of its wonders). She was right about one thing: Dad would be home soon. He took a moment to clean incriminating pages out of his browser's history file, cache, and cookies, then went to work on his paper.
As soon as Glen stepped in the front door, he knew someone was in trouble again. He just hoped it wasn't him. Probably Davey. He wasn't a bad kid, really. Part of the problem was that Vicki had had no experience living with boys before Davey was born. Men, yes (mostly just him and her father). But no boys. No brothers, no male cousins, not even neighbors. She kind of had the idea that children should all be like the sisters and cousins she grew up with. They weren't angels, apparently, but they were all girl. When Davey came along, she thought she would just have another Sherry, but with different plumbing. Glen helped her learn differently. Despite the confusing start, they seemed to have done ok with him. He got in trouble here and there, but nothing that was unusual for a boy of whatever age he was at the time. Like the time he and another boy were swearing at each other in the hallway. Or when he got caught in "the spot".
On the other hand, Sherry was about due. Her stunt with the trash was one of her milder ones. She had real issues with power and status, especially where her brother was concerned. He couldn't count the number of times he had caught Sherry trying to get him into some sort of trouble, or trying to trick him into doing something. While Vicki was aware of this, she just treated it as the normal, if regrettable, actions of an older sister. She would punish her if she got caught, but generally did not get too upset about it. She did get a bit worried about some of the problems we had when Sherry was Davey's age. The times she was sent home for dress code violations were bad enough - some of them verged on public indecency. The status battles between her clique and their rivals got out of hand. Even Vicki had to respond when Sherry got caught (along with three other girls) making some serious false accusations against a leader of a rival clique. Sherry tried claiming that she had been acting in good faith, that she had believed the others and was just supporting her friends. Unfortunately for her, she had been spotted - and taped - on the security cameras when she tried planting some of the "evidence". That was one of the things that got her suspended. Worse, from her point of view, was that those involved had to publicly recant the accusation and admit their own guilt when they returned to school.
The other thing that got her suspended worried Glen more. Some of the leaders of her clique had pressured some of the younger hangers-on into having oral sex with some boys in what they thought was an obscure corner of a corridor not covered by the video system. They were wrong. They were even more careless, however, when they allowed two staff members to overhear their pressure tactics. The leaders of the clique were expelled, and the only thing that kept her from getting expelled with them was the fact that the tapes showed her role as having been limited to lookout. She didn't even watch the sex. Even Vicki was livid about that one. Sherry lost a lot of ground at home and at school over it. It took her a long time, and a lot of conspicuous good behavior, to get back into Vicki's good graces. And she continued to work very hard to keep it that way. One of the things that worried Glen about it was the fact that one of the boys involved had since become her boyfriend.
But for all that, she wasn't really a bad kid either. She had exhibited poor judgment a number of times, and was too easily swayed by certain other people, but she wasn't hard core. Except for that whole sibling rivalry thing.
It seemed somewhat paradoxical. Davey got in less, and less serious, trouble at home and especially at school. But Vicki responded to his transgressions far more harshly than she had with Vicki's. Part of the reason Glen was so adamant about setting the punishments for such infractions together was that it gave Vicki a chance to cool down and gave him a chance to restore some perspective. As a matter of practical necessity, problems outside of school were generally addressed by whichever parent was closest.
It was probably Davey. And most likely something at the school. He sighed, pulled his thoughts together, and went to the kitchen to greet his wife.
"Hello, love of my life. What happened this time?"
"Your Son got caught trying to look up girls' skirts again." The emphasis on the first two words told Glen a lot about Vicki's mood and attitude.
"What did the dean have to say in the *real* phone call?" Glen knew how things worked.
"The same nonsense about it not being as serious as it sounds, and that it is an opportunity to reinforce lessons about personal privacy and the like. The usual excuses. He also said they did not want to screw up finals and the other year end stuff." she huffed.
"What did he get?"
"Two lousy days of after school detention. Today and tomorrow. And the usual ineffective lecture. Why do they even bother?"
Glen sighed. "What would you have them do? Strap him to a beam and give him thirty lashes? Sure, it was a bad thing for him to do. But he is a thirteen year old boy, and poor judgment and a high libido are normal parts of that."
"What's next? using the binoculars to look in the neighbors' windows? Hiding a camera in Sherry's room? Or ours?"
"Don't give him ideas. Look, the female body is a big mystery to him. He knows what is where in theory, but not in personal experience. And his hormones and curiosity are driving him to find out what he can. He is making some poor choices in how he is going about trying to satisfy that need to know. But there are much worse things he could be doing and is not doing."
"What do you want to do, just ignore it?"
"Of course not. We can make it clear that we back the school in this matter, and impose the same things from this end. We can ground him for those same two days, and then I can have a long talk with him about dealing with those urges and temptations. Unless you want me to go buy a bullwhip and some chains?"
In the end, she went along with the grounding. Glen spent the better part of two hours, interrupted only by dinner and a bathroom break, talking to Davey about behaviors and consequences. And women.
Davey spent a few minutes cleaning up the report, then got ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
The next day, he was too busy to get in too much trouble. He walked home after serving his detention. There was a benefit to being grounded: it gave him time to study and work on his class projects. And Sherry was too busy with chores and her own school work to bug him.
Friday started out interestingly. Davey had just opened his bedroom door to go to the bathroom, when the bathroom door flew open and his sister dashed to her room. She was wearing only a bra, panties, and a towel wrapped as a turban, and carrying some wet clothes. She was there and gone in a flash, giving him little more than a glimpse.
School was pretty much all review for next week's finals. Even PE. At least the detention was over. And the grounding. As soon as he got home, he grabbed a snack, threw on his trunks, and headed for the pool.
After a couple of hours of swimming, hanging with friends and girl watching, he was ready to head home and get down to work. He figured that if he got the class projects ready that night, he could enjoy the weekend.
But things didn't work out that way. What with one thing and another, he found himself working on the projects on Sunday afternoon. His dad was at a meeting at the church, and they expected him back shortly before dinner.
Davey settled in to get his projects finished and printed. He had the covers ready. And the stapler. He spent the next two hours checking, polishing, and in one case redoing parts of the projects. He started printing one, then he noticed he was missing something. He had just started going downstairs when he heard his dad walk in the door.
"Hey, Dad! You know where the three hole punch is?"
"Welcome home yourself, Davey." he chided, with a grin. "I think it is still in the office. What do you need it for?"
"My homework projects. I need to punch them to get them into the covers. I'm printing one out now."
"Ok. Give me a few minutes and I'll get it for you."
"Thanks. Could you bring me some more printer paper while you're at it? I'll be in my room, slaving away." Davey replied, with feigned melodrama.
Glen chuckled and shook his head. He went to the kitchen to say hello to Vicki, and catch up on the day's news.
Davey knew it would be a few minutes before his dad got there, so he started another report printing. He also opened another window and tried a quick trip to a promising web site he had heard about. The splash page had just come up, when he heard his father on the stairs. He quickly hid the window behind the schoolwork screens, then moved to take the first report out of the printer basket. It wasn't complete yet, so he was waiting on the rest when his dad knocked and then came in.
He handed Davey the punch and the paper, then stayed to ask about his schoolwork. Davey complained that he had to do both a project *and* a final for history, and that he had finals for four core classes (including history) tomorrow. Glen offered his sympathy, and observed that at least the hardest part would be done and out of the way. They got so involved with their discussion that neither of them heard Vicki come up the stairs and into the room.
She started to ask them something about dinner, when the computer issued a trumpet fanfare. They turned to look, and found a large part of the screen occupied by a picture of a well endowed young woman in thong panties and nothing else, and some writing about a "Special *FREE* offer!" Davey grabbed the mouse and killed the window, but the damage was done.
"What was THAT doing there?" she demanded.
"I don't know. It was one of those dumb pop ups or something. It wasn't there a minute ago! You saw, Dad. Tell her!" Davey was panicking.
"Well, that's true. When I came in, there wasn't anything like that on the screen. Just the reports you were printing out." Davey started to relax a little. "But it had to come from somewhere. And from the way it showed up, it probably left some adware or the like in your computer. You know what we've told you about going places like that."
"And what were you doing looking at half naked women in the first place?" she interjected.
"But I wasn't even..."
"It didn't necessarily come from a porn site. But it sure wasn't somewhere you were supposed to be." Glen turned and gestured to Sherry, who had come to see what the noise was about. "Both of you need to get out of what you are doing on your computers and run the cleanup programs."
"And when you get them started, come down and set the table. Dinner is just about ready." Vicki added.
Sherry returned to her room, with a smirk Davey couldn't help but notice. His mom had her "How *could* you?" look, and even his dad looked disappointed in him. They went downstairs, while he shut down the word processing and browser windows. His reports were still printing, but he knew the scans would not have any problem with that. They would just be a bit slow. He started the scan and cleanup programs, then went and washed his hands.
Sherry was just leaving the bathroom as he went in. She gave him one of her superior sneers as they passed, but didn't say anything. He was downstairs a moment later, helping set the table.
Nothing was said during dinner, but after the table was cleared, his dad rendered the verdict. "You know better than to go to a website like that. Not only are you too young for that sort of thing," Davey winced at that one, and Sherry smirked. "but you can infect not only your computer but the rest of ours as well. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." Davey looked at his feet.
"I know you have a lot to do for the next couple of days, with finals and all. So you are on probation. If we catch you looking at any of those sites any time in the near future, I will cut off your Internet connection for at least a week. And that is on top of whatever other punishments your mom or I impose. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now go back up to your room and finish your your reports and studying. I don't think you are likely to have time for anything else tonight, anyway."
"And don't stay up too late." his mom added. "You need your sleep for tomorrow."
He made his way back to his room, and settled in at the computer. The two reports were done printing, and the scans had finished. One bit of good news was that the scans had not found anything more than some tracking cookies. He deleted those, and went back to the online class notes. He carefully stacked and punched the reports, and fastened them into their covers. He studied some more, then got ready for bed. He called "goodnight" down to his parents (who answered in kind), then curled up in bed with one of his textbooks. He quickly read himself to sleep.
The next day, his mom woke them up early, so they would have time for a good breakfast. She had read this thing about breakfasts and test performance, and wouldn't take no thanks for an answer. They had a system for "special breakfast" school mornings. Davey would have a brief chance to use the toilet, then Sherry would have the bathroom for all of her morning routine. Davey Got his books and papers together and then ate breakfast while waiting on her. Then he showered and dressed while she ate. It was not a bad system. It cut down on morning arguments, and gave their parents a chance for brief separate talks with them over breakfast.
This morning's talk was nothing more than a pep talk about the finals, and a check to make sure he had his projects ready to go. He got the impression that they were waiting for their talk with Sherry, and just sort of going through the motions with him. Not that they weren't interested in him, just that there was something going on. He shrugged, knowing there was little chance he would find out what it was.
After breakfast, he hurried upstairs, hoping for a repeat of friday. No such luck. She was already back in her room. He got ready, then headed out the door to school.
History was not too bad. He turned in the project, and the final wasn't all that bad. Far too many questions, but nothing he didn't know.
Language Arts, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Ms. DeFenester was known for favoring the girls over the boys, but today she was in rare form. She was in a bad mood already when they walked into the room, never a good sign. Something must have gotten to her first period. And knowing her, it was something she blamed on some boy. This period it started before class, when Cheryl pretended to drop her book. She bent over to pick it up, turning so she gave Steve a good look at whatever she was wearing under her very short skirt. They were doing things like that to each other all year. Steve commented "Watch where you're pointing that thing! It might be loaded." Some of the other kids laughed. Cheryl was about to launch her comeback, when Ms. D. cut her off. She sent Steve out to the dean's office and threatened the laughing boys with lower grades. As usual, she did nothing to Cheryl or the laughing girls. By the end of the period, eight boys had been victims of her "discipline". And no girls, of course. Davey had managed to dodge the bullet, but some of those boys were friends of his. And he was sure the grading would be every bit as unfair.
All through lunch, he just got more upset. That kind of thing is not supposed to be able to happen. And the school sure wasn't going to do anything about it. He couldn't really do anything either. Thinking about what he could do, he dumped his tray and headed to the boys' room.
Settling into a stall to do his business, he saw the usual crude commentaries and got an idea. He fished out a marker, and started to work. He wrote quickly. As he was finishing his other business, he saw someone peeking into the stall. Someone familiar. Their eyes met, and the other boy ran for the door.
Davey knew that he would be in trouble if he didn't act fast. When he wrote his opinion of the english teacher on the bathroom stall, he had been careful to change his writing and spelling. But Wendell (what kind of parents named a kid *that*?) really wanted to nail him. He left so quickly (probably to rat him out) that his backpack was still on the shelf. Davey slipped the marker in a pocket of the pack, then finished washing his hands. As he walked out the door, he almost bumped into the dean. His look of surprise was genuine, as he moved to let the dean go by. That didn't work, and he found himself escorted back into the boys' room. The dean walked him to the stall, pointed to the writing, and asked what he knew about it. He was about to say that he guessed someone shared his opinion, but stopped himself in time.
"I saw it when I took a dump in there." That was true enough, since he finished the writing before he finished the rest.
"What else?"
"It is kinda rude."
"It is that. What would you say if I told you that someone saw you write that?"
"I would say that someone was lying. I mean, look at it. It's not my writing. And I know there is a "t" in the b word and that the l word ends with a "ian" instead of "ion". Look, he even spelled her name wrong. Besides, I don't even have that kind of a marker on me. Mine's in my locker, clear across the building. You can search me if you want!"
The dean did look through his backpack. He could see that his clothes did not show any lumps which resembled a marker. While all of that was happening, the bell rang. Davey was going to be late for his pre-algebra final. The dean walked him to his locker, where he got out his book, calculator, and (spare) marker.
As the dean wrote out a late slip for him, he grumped "I bet whoever said that about me did it himself."
"Why would he do that?"
"Who was it? Maybe I could tell you if I knew that."
"You know I can't tell you that."
"Then I can't really guess why. Unless he was trying to frame me or something. Or just wanted to make you think it wasn't him? Can I go to class now?"
"Go ahead. I may need to speak to you again about this."
Davey took off toward his class.
"Walk!"
He slowed to a fast walk, until he was around the corner and out of sight from the dean. Then he ran the rest of the way to class.
The situation was serious enough that the dean ended up calling Vicki. He described the graphitti, the accusation and the defense. He told her that the school would not take any action, because they could not prove the matter one way or the other. He then told her one of the more disturbing aspects of the event. The (unnamed) boy who made the accusation also had an older sister: one of the leaders of the rival clique Sherry had tried to frame three years before. He wanted to alert her in case this was part of something larger.
Vicki wasn't sure whether she was more alarmed or annoyed. Davey knew better than to commit such an act of vandalism. But it was all too easy to believe he had done it. On the other hand, if it really was an echo from Sherry's past there could be more trouble this summer. She would have to talk to him about it.
After one of the hardest school days he could remember, Davey was finally on his way home. Four finals, all core classes. And that thing in the boys' room. Tomorrow would be better. One project to turn in, one real final, and a bunch of cleanup and parties. And the beginning of all the paperwork. But now he was tired, and his brain was fried.
He slumped in through the door, dropped his backpack, and sprawled on the couch. He didn't even want to think enough to grab a snack first. So of course, his mom had other ideas.
"You know better. Take that stuff up to your room. I've got a snack for you in the kitchen, when you're done."
He should have suspected a trap, but he was too frazzled. He took his backpack up to his room, kicked off his trainers and socks, and slipped on some sandals. He glanced briefly at his bed, then his computer. But he knew he had to get back downstairs. His mom probably wanted to ask about the finals.
As he walked into the kitchen, he heard the microwave ding. And he smelled cheese. As his mom slid a plate of her microwave nachos and a glass of milk onto the table, she asked him how his finals had gone. Between bites of nacho and gulps of milk, he moaned about how hard they had been. She didn't seem as sympathetic as he expected, but he didn't think much about it. Until:
"So what was that business with the restroom wall?"
"Huh? Oh, the stall. Yeah, someone wrote some nasty stuff about Ol... one of our teachers. The dean was pretty bent out of shape about it." It didn't even occur to him to wonder how she'd found out about that. He could guess all too easily.
"And what did that have to do with you?"
He was tired, physically and mentally, but he wasn't *that* tired. "Some guy tried to tell the dean that I did it. By the time I showed him that it wasn't my writing, and that I knew how to spell the stuff that the twit screwed up,... "
"Davey! Language."
"Sorry. Anyway, then I showed him that I didn't have that kind of marker on me. It was in my locker, clear across the school. By the time I showed him that, I was late for my math final. He gave me a late slip, but Mr. Brown still gave me cr... a hard time about coming in late. He didn't even give me any extra time on the test."
"Do you know who did it?"
"The writing or telling the dean? Might be the same person, for all I know. I heard some rumors about who told."
"What do you plan to do about it?"
"Nothing. It's too close to Summer to care. And if I did do something, it would just get him more attention. Screw it."
"Language!" His attitude seemed surprisingly mature, even if his language wasn't. But the part about timing made sense.
"Sorry."
"What do you know about the person who told the dean?"
"Not much. If it was who I think, he's in a couple of my classes."
"There may be more to it than you think. His older sister is one of the girls Sherry and her friends had problems with."
"Wendell's sister was one of *them*?" It was clear that he was genuinely surprised at that news.
"Yes. And if that is somehow connected with what happened today, there could be more trouble soon. So watch yourself!"
"Well, there's only a day and a half of school left, so he won't get much of a chance. And I never see him around here during the summer."
"Watch yourself, anyhow. And the dean is still not convinced you didn't write those things, so behave. He will be watching you."
Now that was a useful warning. He thought that had been a little too easy. "Ok." he said, wiping the last of the cheese up with his finger and licking it off. He took the plate and glass to the sink, rinsed them (under his mom's watchful eye), and headed toward the stairs. "I'm gonna take a nap, then get ready for tomorrow."
"What do you have left to do?"
"Just print out a fresh copy of one paper, and study for one more final. I'll start the printing before I lay down."
"Lie down. You're not a goose!"
"Whatever." he mumbled, as he dragged himself up the stairs.
He briefly sat at his computer and started the report printing. Then he staggered over to his bed and fell face first into his pillow. He was asleep so fast that he didn't hear his sister come home. Or the loud argument with their mom that followed. The next thing he knew, his mom was shaking him awake for dinner.
The rest of the night was a blur. He ate. He studied. He went to bed. If he did any more than that, he didn't remember it the next day.
The next morning's breakfast conversation was a bit different. His mom reminded him to watch out for Wendell, and his dad reminded him to watch out for the dean, as well. Then he turned around and told Davey that the dean was on his side, for the most part, but he had a job to do. It sounded like one of those times when his folks were hoping that he would realize what they were carefully not saying. Whatever it was, he didn't have a clue. His mom told him that Sherry would finish school for the year that afternoon, and that she would be picking her up from the high school before he got out. If they weren't there when he got home, they would be out clothes shopping. He shook his head, and his dad rolled his eyes.
School was much more fun that day. His only remaining final out of the way first period, the rest of the day was pretty much party time. PE was sort of half class, half party. They had almost all the activities from the year available, so that the kids who had to make up a missed day or two could do so. Those who didn't have to make anything up were free to choose whichever activities they wanted. They didn't even have to dress out. The only part they really had to do was clear out their gym lockers and check out.
The day ended, with no trouble from Wendell or the dean. The bus ride home was fun, with just about everybody in high spirits because finals were done.
He got home to a quiet house. He dropped his stuff just inside the door, and went to the kitchen for a snack. There was a note from his mom, telling him that she and Sherry were out shopping. It also said to leave a note if he went anywhere, and to be back by dinnertime.
After eating, he dragged his stuff up to his room. He dumped out his backpack on the bed. He chucked his dirty gym clothes in the general vicinity of the hamper, piled the notebooks and folders on his desk, and threw away the old candy wrappers and junk. He wanted to travel light tomorrow. He grabbed the folder with his sign off slips, and shoved it back in his pack. He got on the net, and checked his email. There wasn't anything urgent, so he decided to go to the pool.
After an afternoon of sun, swimming, goofing around, and girl watching, he made his way home. His dad was already there, but there was still some time before dinner. His mom sent him right up to shower, since she did not trust him to use the pool showers well enough to get all the chlorine off. He dressed and went down just in time to hear his dad playing at being upset over the money his mom and sister had spent.
Over dinner, he learned a few things. His mom commented to Sherry that tomorrow morning she would show her how to wash some of the new things. It came out that Sherry's week of chores had convinced their mom that Sherry did not know all she should about housework and the like. Since the next day was laundry day, Sherry would be doing much of the work under their mom's close supervision.
"I still don't see why I have to do all that stuff," she complained.
"You're sixteen years old. It is long past time you knew how to take care of things yourself. In a couple of years, you may well be out on your own, and then what will you do for clean clothes? Or food? No. I have left it far too late as it is. This summer you *will* learn these skills." Mom had her End of Discussion tone with that last.
Davey couldn't help a snicker at the look on his sister's face. She rounded on him. "What are you laughing at, perv? She's going to make you do it, too!"
"What?! But that's ... girl ...stuff..." he wound down, realizing that he was saying the wrong thing but unable to stop himself in time. His dad winced, then looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.
His mom took a deep breath, clearly about to launch into loud lecture mode, when his dad beat her to the punch. "No, it's not. Like Sherry, someday you will be out on your own. You need to be able to cook, clean, and even mend your own clothes and things. You have a little more lead time than Sherry, but she has a head start on some parts. You need to graduate from high school as a self sufficient adult, not a helpless child."
His mom took up the theme.