Cast Adrift

"Yeah, you little piggy, put that bottle in your mouth and 'oomph!' it's all gone," Lowell sang to his baby.

"Oh. My. Goodness! That, young lady was a burp and a half!" Lowell laughed when Allure rewarded his efforts with a truly impressive belch.

"What? Tell you another story about your mommy? Oh, okay, she was beautiful. You know, just like you," Lowell said. "But, she didn't let that go to her head. No, she was beautiful on the inside too."

The first time Lowell tried to masturbate, he felt so guilty his erection wilted in his hand. If Allure had not been sound asleep, Lowell would have screamed in frustration.

"God, I don't know why you had to take her," Lowell sobbed. "I know you have your reasons, but damn! We, we needed her here."

Thursday, Lowell asked Nancy if she could stay another thirty minutes. When Kitty jogged past, Lowell dashed across the street and dropped in step with Kitty.

"Hey, how's it going?" Lowell asked.

"Oh! Hey, I uh, hi Lowell. You uh, you live near here?" Kitty stammered, caught off guard.

"Mm? Oh, yeah, I'm still in one oh two, right there," Lowell said, fighting against the smile.

He knew Kitty knew he lived there; she'd been to the condo when Passion was alive. And, yesterday, he had seen Kitty look pointedly at his door as she jogged past.

"So, how long you been a jogger," Lowell asked as they kept a steady lope.

"I uh, I just started," Kitty admitted.

"Know, there's a track right behind Estelle Stadium," Lowell mentioned as Kitty started to lose steam.

"Uh huh, and all those guys all standing around and yelling stuff about my boobs," Kitty snapped.

"Hmm, yeah, they would do that," Lowell agreed. "Still amazes me how some of them even managed to get into college, you know?"

"This is me," Kitty panted, pointing to a battered old Chevy.

"Oh, hey! When did you get this?" Lowell enthused, looking at the nondescript vehicle.

"My sister gave it to me," Kitty beamed with pride. "See I was on the Dean's List last semester and the semester before and her boss's wife was getting rid of this; you want a ride?"

"Yeah, I do," Lowell said. "But really, I need to get home; my baby sitter's husband is on medication and she needs to get home and take care of him."

"Oh. Maybe some other time?" Kitty suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Lowell smiled. "Great to see you."

"Hey, wait, what's your phone number?" Kitty asked, getting her phone out of her car.

Lowell did not tell Kitty it was the same number as before. He just smiled and gave her the number. He was surprised, pleased when Kitty immediately called his number.

"There. Now you got mine too," she smiled and got into her car.

Lowell watched Kitty drive away. Then he jogged to his condo.

"Saturday evening is fine," Nancy agreed. But no later than eleven o'clock. Remember, we have church on Sunday, and if I don't get my beauty sleep..."

Allure waited until the door shut behind Nancy to start fussing. A dry diaper and a bottle did calm her down. She smiled and cooed as Daddy kissed her all over.

"Oh, what? Now you want food?" Lowell said to Excalibur.

He fed the cat, burped his daughter, then started on his homework. After an hour, he called Kitty and asked if she'd like to do something on Saturday.

"I uh, yeah, I mean, like what?" Kitty asked.

"Nothing real big," Lowell said. "Wedges has got some pretty good sandwiches, and then there's Ozark miniature golf right next door. Last time I played there, I got a twenty nine."

"A what?" Kitty gasped. "Lowell, that's impossible! There's no way you..."

"Uh huh, and then on the second hole?" Lowell said and Kitty burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I'd love to go there," Kitty enthused.

Making Kitty laugh seemed to break through whatever wall she had up. Suddenly Lowell found himself on the phone with a real chatterbox. She spewed a bunch of words at him, without saying anything.

"And ever since then, yellow's been like my all-time favorite color," Kitty babbled.

"Hmm, I would have guessed blue because of those beautiful blue eyes of yours," Lowell said.

"So I'll pick you up, hmm, 'bout six?" Kitty finally ended their conversation.

"Sounds great," Lowell said, grateful that Kitty had finally run out of things to chatter on and on about.

The three yellow roses in a simple vase earned Lowell a soft kiss. But then Kitty had to drive back to Steubbens Dormitory to put her flowers into her room.

"Oh, Cindy's going be so jealous," Kitty enthused and gave Lowell another soft kiss before dashing out of her car and into the building.

"Cindy's my roommate; she's really sweet, but because she's kind of fat," Kitty started babbling when she got back into the car.

Through the drive to the restaurant and throughout the meal, Lowell heard all about Kitty's numerous roommates. So far, Harriet and Cindy were tied for Kitty's all-time favorite, and the worst was Denise Hall, a really gross girl that never showered or changed clothes and stole anything she could get her hands on.

By the seventh hole, Lowell found out that he and Passion had been correct in their diagnosis of Kitty Truehart. Someone, a bunch of some ones had broken the girl's trust and taken her innocence. It started with the foster homes and continued through high school.

"I mean, he tells me he loves me, we're going be together forever," Kitty said, blue eyes filling with tears.

Lowell guided Kitty to a bench and held her while she sobbed. She clung to him tightly as she told him of the youth's callous behavior after he'd gotten what he wanted.

"Some boys, hell, some men just never grow up," Lowell said quietly.

"Oh, but I bet you're not like that, right?" Kitty said angrily, pushing away from Lowell. "You're different, right?"

"I'd like to think I'm different from those guys," Lowell said, offering her his handkerchief.

"I, listen, I, you win. I don't feel like playing no more," Kitty said, blowing her nose into his handkerchief. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Lowell said, gathering their putters and balls. "Be right back."

"Look I'm, I'm sorry, I guess it's still, I guess I'm just not ready yet," Kitty said as she drove Lowell to his condo. "But I have been seeing Dr. Steinman."

"It's okay. Hey, we tried, right? That's pretty big. We tried," Lowell encouraged.

When she pulled up to the condo, Kitty did not turn off the engine. She stared straight ahead, stared at the stone façade of the building in silence.

"Hey, I, could I have a kiss good night?" Lowell braved asking.

"I, what? You want..." Kitty asked, surprised.

"You gave me two kisses earlier," Lowell reminded her. "And, they were really very nice kisses and I'd like another one or maybe even two or three."

Making Kitty smile was another rewarding moment. She put the car into 'park' and leaned over. Lowell kept his hands in his lap as he leaned toward her.

"One," she counted and gave him a soft kiss. "Two, and three."

On 'Three' Kitty parted her lips slightly. Lowell tenderly touched her lips with the tip of his tongue. Her hand came up and touched his cheek as she opened her mouth for his tongue.

"Mm, three," Kitty murmured, pulling away from him.

"Good night. Remember, we were on hole seven and I had twenty points and you had five hundred," Lowell said, opening his door.

"What? I had twenty three!" Kitty screeched then laughed as Lowell shot her a teasing smirk.

"Thought for sure we wouldn't see you until eleven, twelve o'clock," Nancy said as she and Allure sat watching a Law & Order SVU rerun.

"What are you showing my little girl?" Lowell protested as one of the detectives was talking about pedophilia.

"That there are bad, bad people in this world," Nancy said, turning off the television. "Did y'all have fun?"

"I don't know," Lowell said truthfully.

Kitty called just after ten thirty. Lowell eased himself back against a mound of pillows and spoke in low tones; Allure was sleeping peacefully, Saints blanket around her form.

Kitty again apologized and Lowell again told her it was okay. They'd had a very nice date, all in all.

"Remember," he said when Kitty let out a yawn then said she was going to bed. "We were on hole seven and I had twenty points and you had five hundred and one points."

"It was twenty three points," Kitty giggled. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Uh huh," Lowell agreed.

"Cindy said there's a free lesson at the archery range," Kitty said on Sunday.

"Oh?" Lowell asked.

"Uh huh, Thursday night; want to go?" Kitty asked.

"Absolutely," Lowell agreed. "And then after? How about Ling Cho's? Someone told me they got a Mandarin Beef that's pretty good."

"Okay," Kitty happily agreed.

Nancy agreed readily enough to watch Allure for the few hours Lowell would be out. She reminded him, much as a mother would, that this was a school night, so she expected him home no later than ten o'clock.

The free lesson was fun. Kitty put her three arrows in the vicinity of the large target, but never struck it. Lowell managed to hit the target's outer most rim with two arrows. His first of three arrows joined Kitty's arrow somewhere beyond the target.

"Do you think this is something you'd like to do?" Lowell asked Kitty when the husband and wife team switched from free lesson into their sales pitch.

"No; it's too hard," Kitty said.

"Okay, then," Lowell said, taking her hand.

The Mandarin Beef had two peppers next to its name on the menu. Lowell wondered what namby-pamby milk toast had rated the menu. His dish was no spicier than Kitty's beef and broccoli dish. At least his hot and sour soup did have a pleasant bite to it.

Lowell and Kitty held hands from archery range to the Chinese restaurant. They again held hands from the restaurant to her dorm.

"Thank you," Kitty said, swiveling around to face him.

"No, thank you, I had a good time," Lowell said.

They kissed, Kitty using plenty of tongue. As they were out in public, well within view of the front door of her dormitory, Lowell kept his hands on her upper arms, away from her monumental breasts. With one more kiss to his lips, Kitty smiled, then dashed inside of the dormitory.

"You are a real party animal," Nancy playfully taunted when Lowell entered his home at nine twenty. "I think I stayed out later than this last date my husband and I went on."

"Uh huh. Good night," Lowell smirked as Excalibur demanded his attention.

"Dr. Steinman, uh, she asked me if you'd come in," Kitty stammered into the phone Friday night. "I seen her today and she asked me..."

"Sure," Lowell shrugged, even though Kitty couldn't see his shrug.

"See, I told her we'd been on a couple of dates, and before we get too far into this, she uh, she wants to meet with you," Kitty continued.

"That would be fine," Lowell said. "Hey, I mean, after Passion's you know, death, I could probably stand talking with someone about it, you know?"

"I mean, Jesus, it's not like I told her we were thinking about getting married, but she still wants..." Kitty continued, becoming more agitated.

"Kitty, I'll meet with her. No problem," Lowell said.

"You will?" I told her you probably wouldn't want to but..." Kitty said.

Letitia Steinman was a harsh looking African-American woman with a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Lowell wondered if Dr. Steinman hated all men, or just Caucasian men.

"My wife was Passion Trueblue; one of the three women that was killed when the tree fell on them," Lowell started the conversation. "So, as you can imagine, I'm dealing with a lot of grief, and even some guilt. Kitty was a friend of my wife's and here I am, going out on dates with her."

The opening salvo turned Dr. Steinman from adversary to professional therapist. They talked, mainly about Passion, about Allure, and to an extent, about Kitty.

"Women, in particular women with ah Ms. Truehart's uh sizable attributes are used to men that tend to hmm, classify them, based solely on those attributes," Dr. Steinman stated as the fifty minutes drew to a close.

"Yes, I have noticed, she has big tits," Lowell said. "So did my mother, so did my wife, so does my step-mother. My mom was a homemaker, a fantastic cook, a peace maker and a peace keeper in our home. My wife? Yes, I noticed her boobs. I also noticed her brains, her wonderful sense of humor, her kindness. My step-mother is a teacher, so, she's not just a life support system for a pair of boobs; she's a smart and capable woman. I see Kitty as a smart, sweet, funny woman. Yes, she is sexy, but yes, she is also very vulnerable. I'm not out for a piece of ass, a quick and dirty fuck. Remember? I have a daughter of my own. I wouldn't treat any woman like that."

"You ever had skillet pie?" Kitty asked when Lowell answered his phone.

"No. What's skillet pie?" Lowell asked.

Kitty gave a description; to Lowell it sounded like a potato hash. He agreed that they'd have a dinner date the next evening.

"Yes, of course you can bring her," Lowell agreed when Kitty asked if her roommate Cindy could come.

He understood, Kitty wasn't quite comfortable being in his home alone. She needed Cindy there, as a safety blanket.

Cindy was a chubby girl with big breasts, big buttocks and big belly. She also had a big attitude; Cindy was loud and vulgar.

"Cute pussy painting, dude," Cindy said, looking at the painting over the fireplace.

"Thanks; it was my wife's," Lowell said, wondering how Cindy was able to see the vagina in the painting and he still wasn't able to quite make it out.

Excalibur did not like the chubby brunette, even as Cindy declared that all animals loved her. As soon as he could, Excalibur raced up the stairs to escape the loud woman.

Skillet pie was two or three potatoes grated into a large skillet, along with grated onion and bell pepper and cheddar cheese and four eggs whisked with some heavy cream. Lowell guessed this was something Kitty's older sister had invented to make food stretch on a tight budget.

"Think my favorite part is the crust along the outer rim," Lowell said, eating his meal.

"Nice plates; you didn't pick these out, huh?" Cindy commented.

"No, they were my wife's," Lowell admitted.

"So where is she?" Cindy asked, looking around. "Run off on you?"

"Cindy!" Kitty gasped. "I told you..."

"She was killed," Lowell said, resting his hand on Kitty's hand.

"You do it?" Cindy asked, fixing Lowell with a hard stare.

"No, she was killed when a tree fell on her," Lowell said, standing up. "I think it's time you left my house."

"Huh? Hey dude, look..." Cindy said.

"No ma'am, you look," Lowell said. "You've been rude, loud, overbearing, in short, you've been a bitch from the minute you walked in here. This is my house. I don't have to put up with that behavior in my house."

"Aw, fuck you, pussy," Cindy sneered.

"I am so sorry," Kitty said, close to tears.

"Why? You didn't do it," Lowell said, glaring at Cindy.

"No, but she's my friend," Kitty said.

"Call me later," Lowell said, bending and kissing Kitty softly on her lips.

"Love you," Kitty whispered, following the still loudly braying Cindy to the front door.

"Love you too, or I wouldn't have put up with that snotty bitch for as long as I did," Lowell said, scraping the crust along the skillet's rim. "Yep, this is my favorite part. Oh! And I bet, you add some ham to this?"

When Kitty did call later, she disclosed that Cindy had badmouthed him from front door to dorm room and hadn't stopped with her denouncement of Lowell Albert Truesdale until just a few minutes ago when Cindy left to take her shower. Lowell laughed it off; Cindy's feelings toward him didn't matter one bit to him.

"You still want to see me?" Kitty asked, voice almost a whisper.

"Yes I do. "Do you like bowling?"

"Bowling? I uh, yeah, I guess, I mean, I haven't been in like forever, but sure," Kitty said.

"We'll go to Benito's, then right across the street to the alley," Lowell said. "You'll love bowling. See, unlike golf? The more points you get, then you win."

"You only had three points on me," Kitty laughed. "And we still had eleven more holes. I would have beat your butt."

"Maybe. We'll see," Lowell lightly teased her.

"I love, uh, I love you," Kitty whispered then disconnected the call before Lowell could answer.

After bowling, Kitty drove Lowell back to his condominium. They sat in the front seat of her car and kissed for a few moments. Kitty then pulled back and looked at Lowell for a long moment.

"I uh, you, if you want to, uh, you can, you can touch my titties," she finally spewed out.

"Okay, but only if you're sure," Lowell said, trying to see her eyes in the dark.

"Uh huh," she said, nodding her head.

Kitty shrank back when Lowell leaned forward. Lowell softly shook his head.

"Kitty, you're not, it's too soon, okay?" Lowell said softly.

He kissed her lips and opened the car door. Kitty put her hand on his upper arm, stopping him.

"I, Lowell, I, I want you to..." Kitty stammered.

"Kitty, not yet, okay?" Lowell said.

He gave her one more kiss, then got out of the car. He smiled at her as he closed the door of her car.

"You have got to be the most boring nineteen year old in the world," Nancy teased as she turned off a 'Criminal Minds' rerun.

"No, ma'am," Lowell said slowly. "I'm the most boring twenty year old in the world. "Damn! Sunday was my birthday."

"Oh, Lowell, why didn't you say anything?" Nancy cried out.

"Because I didn't even think about it," Lowell admitted.

There were two cards in his Post Office box; one from Lilah and Gail, and one from Mindy. Lowell felt the sting of tears even as he smiled; Gail had insisted that they send him twenty one dollars. Twenty because it was his twentieth birthday, and one to grow on. Mindy announced that she was a student at the University of Louisiana at DeGarde, go Storm! And had come out of the closet as a lesbian.

"So, dear old Dad pointed out all this shit in the Bible about God striking down gays and lesbians," Mindy wrote. "Of course, him being divorced from Kyle and Kylie's mom doesn't count, even though the Bible says that's against God's laws too."

"Shit, Dad," Lowell thought. "At this rate, you won't have any children left. Gail's your last hope, huh?"

With the twenty one dollars, Lowell went to the grocery store, bought himself a cake and a pint of ice cream and invited Kitty over to celebrate his birthday. She showed up with a very large card and gave him twenty one slaps on his backside; twenty for his birthday and one to grow on. She laughed happily when Lowell said his seven year old sister had suggested that very thing.

Lowell had made a pot of chili and wrinkled his face when Kitty asked why there were no beans in the chili.

"Real chili doesn't have beans," Lowell said. "Oh! I'm sorry. Maybe in Ar can sass they do."

"Arkansas, not ark can sass, butt hole," Kitty squealed, slapping his arm.

Lowell laughed and kissed her. Suddenly, Kitty wrapped her arms around Lowell and kissed him with ferocity. Lowell held onto her with one hand; he held a wooden spoon in his other hand and couldn't put it down.

"Love you," Kitty whispered into Lowell's chest when she released his mouth.

Allure picked that moment to cry for a dry diaper and a warm bottle. Lowell kissed Kitty's lips softly, turned down the burner underneath the chili, and fetched his daughter.

"Hi pretty girl, hi!" Kitty chirped as Allure sucked greedily on her bottle. "Can I hold her?"

"Sure," Lowell said, after a moment's hesitation.

"Oh, you are a pretty girl, yes you are, yes you are," Kitty cooed. "That bottle good? That's a good bottle? Yummy in the tummy?"

Lowell deemed that the chili was ready. He heated up a can of kidney beans, beans that could be eaten on their own, or spooned into the bowls of chili. A sleeve of crackers went onto the table, along with small bowls of sour cream, grated cheddar and chopped chives.