Page 113 of Forced Proximity
—Dru’s secret thoughts
DRU
Seventeen years later
“Heaven help me,” I muttered as I walked down the stairs of the cabin we’d rented for the weekend.
We were one of four houses, and we were sharing our cabin with Chevy, Aella, and their three kids.
The adults had gotten the top floor, and the kids had gotten the bottom.
Since we trusted them all, we let them all share the downstairs.
The only thing I’d thought we’d have to worry about was damages in the form of broken walls and or windows—having teenage boys was a ton of fun.
I went down the length of the stairs, picking up wet swimsuits, Dr Pepper cans, and enough empty chip bags to make me want to scream.
When I got down to the bottom, I stuffed all the trash in the overfilling trash bag, emptied it, then set it at the base of the stairs to carry up with me later.
I started a load of laundry, then ventured into the first bedroom where the littler kids—though they were still teens—were staying.
After picking up even more laundry, careful to keep our stuff separated from Chevy and Aella’s kids’ stuff, I ventured to the bigger kid room.
When I got through the door, I stopped, unable to believe what I was seeing.
Then I yelled, “What are you two doing?!”
I would like to say that I’d been really careful about not seeing Jack in a personal situation for a long time, but this time I was able to see all.
Also, there was Tillie.
Naked as a jaybird.
Both of them scrambled to cover up, Tillie grabbing her discarded dress, and Jack grabbing his pants and stepping into them.
“What the fuck?” I cried out. “Couldn’t you have at least closed the door!”
There was a moment of silence and then, “Mom, it’s not what it looked like!”
I shook my head. “What was it that you were doing, if it wasn’t what it looked like?”
Jack cleared his throat. “I was just finger-banging her.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s a sack of shit, and you know it.”
Tillie cleared her throat.
“Are you even using protection?”
It was Tillie’s turn to talk when she said, “I have an IUD.”
An IUD.
Jesus Christ.
“Thank God for the small things.”
A voice cleared beside me, and Aella said, “What’s going on?”
