Pride, Prejudice, and Porn

Part 24

At breakfast the next morning Jamie told Mom that the Binghams had accepted our dinner invitation. That sent her into a whirl of activity, starting to plan guest lists and going off to talk with Mrs. Armstrong about a menu. The Twits began nagging me mercilessly to take them into Marysville, reminding me of my promise yesterday. I agreed to take them after lunch. Linda and Karen were happy. There was a better chance of running into the Marines in the afternoon. 

Around two o’clock I rounded up the girls and drove them to town in the van. I found a parking place a few doors down from Pete’s, so I grabbed it. It was a slow moment in the coffee house, so we were able to take over the big couch and the rest of the sitting area near the front window. Maria sank into one of the easy chairs with her latest book and her usual extra-large latte. Linda and Karen sat on the sofa. They must have exhausted the usual topics of clothes, parties, and boys earlier in the day, because they began asking us about our stay at Norwood. They particularly wanted to know about Caroline, and what she wore and what she did. I did my best to talk her down without mentioning everything I now knew about her. I certainly didn’t want her to become a new role model for my sisters! 

After a few minutes on the subject of Caroline, mentioning her fascination with Italian Vogue, I tried shifting attention to Chuck and Fitz, and how nice they’d been to Jamie and me while we were staying at Norwood. The girls allowed that Chuck was very nice and very handsome, but could hardly be interested for long because he was unavailable, given that he was gay. About Fitz, on the other hand, they had a definitely negative attitude. “He’s so mean and stuck-up,” they said. 

“Huh?” I responded in surprise. “How did you get that idea?”

Fitz’s reserve at the ball turned out to be the basis of their opinion that he was stuck-up. He also hadn’t spent any time in town meeting and glad-handing people. Their conclusion that he was mean had different origins. David Wickman had apparently shared his tale of woe about his mistreatment by Fitz all around town. It seemed to me like a really inappropriate thing to do, but it had been effective. Hartfield County isn’t very large, and gossip is its favorite sport (even more than thoroughbred racing) so it had taken very little time for David’s tale of Fitz’s villainy to spread among all the people we knew, according to the girls. I realized, though, that I didn’t have any answers to the allegations David made. I hadn’t brought up the subject while I was with Fitz at Norwood and he never mentioned it, but after getting to know him there I suspected there was more than one side to the story. Nothing in Fitz’s behavior or anything he said while we were at Norwood suggested that he was either mean or vengeful. That was all I could say about him to my gossipy sisters, though, along with the fact that he seemed to be very fond of his younger sister, Gloria, who was the same age as the twins. The girls didn’t seem to be impressed.

My back was to the street. Karen and Linda leaped up as I heard the tinkle of the door opening. I turned to see Wickman and a couple of other tall, good-looking Marines come in. The two guys with David must have been the newest arrivals at the Air Station because I didn’t recognize either of them. Karen and Linda rushed over to meet them at the counter where they were placing orders, then dragged them back to where we were sitting. “Guys,” David said to his two friends, “these are the Bennetts. They’ve been very nice to me since I got stationed here,” he said, suggestively emphasizing the “very” in his introduction. “These are Linda and Karen,” indicating the pretty girls at his side. “That’s Maria, with the book there,” nodding his head in her direction, “And this is their brother, Izzy. Bennetts, these are my friends Mike Dennis and Bill McDonough. They just got transferred here, but I know Mike from training school. We’re all quartered together at the air station.” 

David sat down on the sofa with Linda, facing me. Dennis parked himself next to Karen and McDonough took an empty easy chair near Maria. Linda was making goo-goo eyes at David, who was certainly the best-looking of the three Marines, although the other two were hardly chopped liver, themselves. David seemed to be paying attention to Linda’s prattle about what had been going on during the week Jamie and I had been at Norwood but I thought I kept seeing him glancing at me, and I certainly couldn’t avoid noticing that he was sitting with his legs agape to show off the impressive bulge in his jeans. I mean, he was sprawled there directly in front of me! 

"Linda!” I heard one of the baristas holler, and my airhead sister jumped up to go pick up her second peppermint mochaccino of the afternoon. David patted the seat next to him and said “Come over and sit here with me, Izzy.” 

Somewhat reluctantly I went over and sat down next to him on the sofa. “Haven’t seen you around, lately,” David said. “Been avoiding me?” he asked suggestively, as one of his thighs brushed against mine. 

“Jeez, what an operator,” I thought to myself. “Nah,” I answered him. “I was tied up all last week over at Norwood helping take care of Jamie after he hurt his ankle there. Chuck insisted he stay there until he could get up and down stairs by himself before he came home to Longacre. We just got back yesterday afternoon.”

“The girls said you were there,” David said. “So, you spent a lot of time around Fitz?” 

“Uh, huh,” I responded. No way was I going to mention to David just how much time I had spent with Fitz, or how well I had gotten to know him while I was at Norwood.

“Did he mention anything about me being here?” David asked. “Or was he being his usual high and mighty self?”

“No, he didn’t say anything about you,” I answered. “And he’s a stranger to me so I wasn’t going to bring it up unless he said something first.” I couldn’t tell if David was relieved or annoyed to learn he hadn’t been the topic of conversation.

“I guess he wasn’t very friendly or sociable,” David said.

“Actually, he was perfectly fine,” I said. “He’s not very outgoing, like Chuck is, but he was completely normal once he got acquainted with me. Chuck and Caroline were pretty busy the last few days Jamie and I were there dealing with construction and renovation stuff, so Fitz and I ended up spending a fair amount of time together. He even asked me to work out with him and showed me some things I can do to put on a little more muscle and I taught him some stretching stuff he can do.”

David looked at me strangely. “Well, Fitz can be nice enough with people he knows pretty well. As long as you don’t cross him and get his temper up!”

“I don’t think you could say we know each other well,” I dissembled. “But he certainly wasn’t the ogre I was expecting to meet. Like I said, he was perfectly nice while I was there and he was actually a big help the evening Jamie got hurt, and afterwards. Maybe strangers get the wrong impression of him because he’s reserved and quiet, especially compared to someone like Chuck. I thought he was kind of a secret softie when he talked about his sister Gloria and how close they are despite their age difference.”

David seemed kind of flustered, especially when i mentioned Gloria. Just then Linda came back with her econo-size mochaccino. She glared at me and I got up so she could sit next to David again as I went back to my seat opposite them. I watched Linda flirt outrageously with David, and he seemed to be paying more attention to her than he had been before our brief conversation. I could hear Linda telling him that they were planning another cards and game night at Aunt Susan and Uncle Phil’s house in a few days and that she hoped that he’d come and bring his two hunky friends with him.

This was all turning into another mindless afternoon babysitting the Twits. I pulled out my phone to check messages and otherwise entertain myself. I was surprised to see a message from Fitz! “Hey,” it said. “Kinda miss talking with you. Weird, huh?” Followed by two smiley/winky emojis. 

“Yeah,” I texted back. “I feel the same. See you at dinner Saturday night, though!”

“Definitely,” came back a reply, surprisingly quickly. “See you then, if not before!” A couple more smiley emojis followed. Hmmm. Nothing at all ogreish about Fitz, at all!

I kind of mindlessly scrolled through my social media, realizing how much more I wished I was doing anything with Fitz instead of this chaperone duty with my sisters. Then I noticed the time on my phone. It was getting late and we needed to get home before dinnertime. 

“Sorry to break this all up,” I said as I stood up, “but it’s time to push off. You know how pissed off Mom and Mrs. Armstrong get if we’re late to dinner.” Maria got up with her book and went to pitch her empty latte container in the trash. Linda and Karen started whining about how it was too early to have to go home. I set my silent glare to “Shut-Up-Or-Else.” 

“Into the van,” I said. “Now. Otherwise it’s a very long walk back to Longacre.” I turned to the two new Marines. “Nice meeting you guys. I guess we’ll be seeing you around soon.” I marched the Twits toward the door. As soon as we were outside on the sidewalk Linda and Karen were whining again and giving me the evil eye. “Chill!” I barked. “I don’t want to hear another word about Marines this afternoon. You’ll be seeing them in a couple of days at Aunt Susan’s. That’s enough for this week!” Sitting in the back seat, I could feel Linda and Karen staring silent daggers into the back of my head as we drove home.

Part 25

The games night at Aunt Susan’s turned out to be on for Thursday evening and I got drafted into driving the Twits into town for it. God but I wished the twins would hurry up and get their driver’s licenses, already! 

When we arrived most of the girls’ friends were there already, including several of Linda’s fellow cheerleaders and a couple of the older high school jocks. So were David Wickman and his friends Dennis and McDonough, both of whom seemed to be capturing the attention of some of the girls. As usual, Aunt Susan had set out a groaning board of munchies. Nobody would be going home hungry, that’s for sure.

It turned out to be a relatively uneventful get together, but it gave me a chance to watch David in action. Although he spent quite a bit of time with Linda he also seemed to spend plenty of time chatting up some of the other girls, including the daughters of a couple of the wealthiest families in the County. His friend Dennis was at a table with Karen engaged in a cutthroat game of Monopoly. I got absorbed into a table playing hearts with Maria and a couple of the other kids. I had to focus on the game but on occasion, when I looked around the room, I saw David and Linda sitting together on a loveseat, each holding a plate of nachos and looking conspiratorial. When it was finally time to leave there was no sight of them. I thought they might be back in the kitchen so I went in search of them. They weren’t in the kitchen, they were out on the back porch, smooching! I switched on the porch light, surprising them, and they leaped apart, looking flustered.

“Linda, we’re leaving,” I said. “C’mon, everyone else is ready to go.” 

I herded the girls into the van. Linda was giving me glares. Obviously she wasn’t happy about my having broken up her back porch make-out session with David. Also, obviously, someone was going to have to have a serious talk with her, somehow. She was much too young to be getting involved with David and it could only lead to very big trouble. I just didn’t know how to bring it up with her — she’s so self-centered and pig-headed it would be hard to get through to her to make her understand. I’d have to talk with Jamie about it when we got home. He was a lot more level-headed than me and Linda did sometimes pay more attention to him. Maybe he could talk some sense into her. If I tried I just figured it would turn into another of our shouting matches.

After we got home I did pull Jamie aside and told him what had happened and how concerned I was. I could see Jamie was concerned, too. “You’re right, Izzy. I didn’t realize those two were getting so, um, involved. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. There’s no way things don’t end badly if this goes on. But you’re going to have to keep your eyes open, Izzy. I’m not around those two as much as you are, so let me know if you see anything. Wickman must be nuts — he’s a grown man and Linda’s jail bait!”

“Yeah, we’ve got to keep them apart. I knew they were being all flirty with each other, and Linda’s incorrigible that way, but this was a lot more than flirty.” Something else occurred to me. “Jamie, while you’re at it, maybe you can get it through the girls’ heads to keep their mouths shut about David at dinner on Saturday and to behave themselves when Fitz and the Binghams are here. It’s clear there’s something between Fitz and David and we don’t need the Twits dropping bombshells all evening!”

“Good point,” Jamie replied. “I’ll try. I just hope it works. Maria and Karen usually listen to me, but I can never be sure Linda will. I just wish we knew more about what the deal is between Fitz and David. I keep forgetting to ask Chuck if he knows anything about it. I’m going to ask him about it tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I haven’t brought it up with Fitz, either. See if Chuck knows anything and let me know what he tells you. Fitz has never mentioned David to me and I still don’t feel like I know Fitz well enough to ask about it.” 

“OK,” said Jamie. “Fingers crossed. But I can’t help feeling like we’re suddenly walking through a minefield with this dinner party!”

Friday, after lunch, Jamie told me he’d talked to Chuck. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t able to get very much out of him. He said he only met David a couple of times back in high school when he visited Fitz at Pemberton over holidays. Something happened a few summers ago, before they graduated from college. Fitz wouldn’t go into details, but he said David had done some terrible things. Bad enough that he had to cut off the relationship with David and that he was no longer welcome at Pemberton. He confirmed that David’s father had been the estate manager at Pemberton, and that Fitz and David grew up together there, at least until Fitz started boarding school at St. Mark’s. The Darcys paid for David’s tuition at a local prep school and then college, and I guess it was expected that David would become estate manager at Pemberton when he graduated, but whatever happened made that an impossibility. He thinks the Darcys were going to pay for David’s tuition at graduate business school, but there wasn’t any point if he wasn’t going to be estate manager at Pemberton. As far as Chuck knows, the Darcys did pay his undergraduate tuition and expenses until he got his degree, but he doesn’t know anything else. He didn’t know that David had gone into the military and both he and Fitz were shocked to run into him here in Kentucky. They had no idea what he’d been doing since he finished college.”

I mulled that over. “Well, what Chuck told you coincides with what David has been telling people around here, except for the parts about why Fitz cut him off and banished him from Pemberton. I wish Chuck could tell you more about that. I still don’t know Fitz all that well, but I know he’s admitted to having a temper. On the other hand, he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who just flies off the handle. In fact, he seems to be pretty thoughtful and deliberative. I can imagine him being angry, but not impulsively. And from what I’ve seen, David isn’t exactly some saint. He’s so good-looking and charming I think people have been willing to let him get by with stuff that maybe shouldn’t have been overlooked. But it’s frustrating not to know more. I thought there had to be another side to the story, but it’s hard to imagine what would cause such an extreme break between the Darcys and David. I mean, they weren’t just casual acquaintances. Their families had been connected for a very long time, it seems, and Fitz and David grew up together.”

“We may never know any more than this,” Jamie said. “It’s obviously something that Fitz wants to keep very private, if he hasn’t even told Chuck all the details about what happened. And David isn’t likely to say what he did to cause this to happen. He’s clearly portraying himself as being blameless and making Fitz out to be a villain. But it’s a family matter that doesn’t really involve us, except in the most tangential way, and we don’t have any business with it unless Fitz decides to share more.”

“You’re right,” I sighed. “I just hate mysteries like this. Sometimes what we don’t know can hurt us! But I think I’ve seen enough of David not to trust appearances. Right now I’m inclined to trust Fitz more, even not knowing him all that well, yet. He just feels, I don’t know — more solid? It doesn’t seem like he’s got a lot of hidden agendas.”

“Well, keep an eye on David, at least until we can somehow get through to Linda that she shouldn’t be encouraging him and leading him on. I’m going to wait until before dinner tomorrow to remind the girls to keep their mouths shut about him, so it’ll be fresh in their minds.”

“OK,” I said. “Speaking of dinner tomorrow, maybe we should set up some shrubbery reservation times?” I grinned. “Assuming you’re planning to spend some time out there with Chuck? Because I was planning on some time there with Fitz, myself.”

“Oh,” said Jamie, giving me a sly look. “You guys can sneak out there after dinner sometime. I’m still hobbling a little, so I don’t think I’m up for the shrubbery. I’ll probably go over to Norwood Sunday afternoon. So the shrubbery is all yours tomorrow.”