Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 22:19:33 -0700 From: RC in Sacramento Subject: Becka the Beast, Chapter 17 This is a work of fiction from a first time author. It depicts acts of sex and sexuality between two teenage females. If such content disturbs you, or you are under 18, get out and stay out. As always, this story can only be reproduced by consent of the author. Becka the Beast by Sacwriter Chapter 17*** Johnny Cameron was sitting on the bench underneath an oak tree in the back yard, tuning up his twelve string. It was after dinner, the dishes were done and all of the leftovers put away, and as he often did Johnny felt the need for a little quality time with Lady Rosa, which was the name he had given to his guitar. Johnny liked this spot underneath the towering old oak, and all this past three months he would often retire there to play. On more than one occasion his evening practice sessions had turned into mini concerts, as his family would come trickling outside to gather on the lawn and hear his sweet chords drift through the warm nights of summer. Johnny had just finished up a particularly difficult riff, a signature piece of his idol Jose Feliciano, when he saw a figure come drifting out across the lawn. He grinned when he saw that it was Becka, but instead of calling out to her he just continued playing, knowing that the music was already drawing her on. Becka sat down on a bench underneath one of the other trees, smiling shyly at the young man. He grinned back in reply, letting her know that he was grateful for the audience. He decided he wanted to see her smile again, so he segued into one of Jose's bolero hits, Poquita Fe. The tactic worked, the shyness left Becka's smile, and soon they were grinning like two kids sharing a treat. Johnny was delighted, happy to see that his new little sister was able to get into this kind of music. It would have been the pits if she was into that rap-crap that was rotting the minds of so many other kids her age. 'Her age'. Dude, she's only two months younger than you! Do NOT make the mistake of treating this one like a kid. "So how you feeling, Becka? Was it getting a little too intense in there for you?" "Yeah, I guess. I'm just not used to so much attention, is all. I came outside for some fresh air, and I heard you playing. Hope you don't mind me sitting here, but it was just so beautiful I had to come down and listen." "Thanks. Say, do you play an instrument? Maybe someday we can jam." Becka shook her head. "Nope, sorry. I wish I did, though." "Well, if you ever want to take some more guitar lessons, I'll be happy to oblige." Johnny smoothly slid into High Heel Sneakers. It was a pretty hot dance number, and somehow the old tune seemed to fit the girl, who was such a combination of innocent beauty and tough little street fighter. Definitely a living contradiction. "Johnny? Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" "I guess that depends on the question. No, I'm kidding, go right ahead." "Gia says that you're going to join the Army when you graduate, and learn computers and stuff. Is that true?" "Yeah, it is. At least that's the plan." "Okay, but what about your music? Won't you have to give up being a musician if you become a programmer?" "Huh? No, of course I won't. I love the guitar, I'm not giving it up. I'll always play, even if it's just for my own fun. Heck, the fact is, I could never make a living playing my music, anyway." "What? You're crazy, Johnny, you've got all sorts of talent. You're just as good with your music as I am with my drawing, and I'm going to be a professional artist. I have to be. And musicians make lots of money, with your talent you could be rich." Johnny shook his head in denial, as he strummed a few chords of Mystery Train. "Not in this country I can't. Spanish guitar isn't very popular this side of the border, so I'd have to move to Mexico or South America to be a star, and I like it here. Besides, chica, my Spanish sucks. "Becka, look, I love my music but I also love computers, too. If I was a full time musician, I'd still be writing code and surfing the net on weekends. But computers are where the money is, so I'll just save the weekends for Lady Rosa here. Like I said, I'm not giving anything up, I'm just keeping the things I love in their proper place." Becka nodded, taking in what Johnny had told her, falling silent as he started in with Hitchcock Railway. Johnny studied her as he sang the words, seeing the young woman losing herself in the music, his music. Oh, and what a strange little girl you are, Becka Jackson. Johnny had heard her story from his sister's trembling lips that first day in the hospital, and it had sickened him to the core. How any man could so terrorize a young girl for so long, that she would just lay there while he did those kinds of things to her! Gia had described it in such horrifying detail, breaking down twice in the telling but still continuing on, as if she had to get it out of her system before it rotted inside. And yet there had been a savage pride in her voice when she related how Becka had so fiercely risen to her defense, when Ralph Danning had turned his attentions on Gia. There was no doubt about it, when it came to the crunch this girl sure had a lot of sand in her. Johnny respected courage in all its forms, and he had seen that courage himself when Becka had insisted on facing Danning in the hospital. Sitting there, alone in the room with the guy, just staring at the bastard for almost half an hour! It must have been like doing surgery on yourself, he thought, with a pocketknife and no anesthesia. But she had known it was necessary and she had done it, and when she had walked out of there with her head held high, he had felt the same surge of pride in her that Gia had shown. The song ended, and Johnny started picking out Behind the Mask. So what's behind your mask, Becka? What's going on in that beautiful head of yours, after all that you've been through? When the song finished, Johnny decided to ask. "So what are you thinking about, chica? What's put that faraway look on your face tonight?" Becka started, looking a little sheepish at being caught with her mind wandering. She grinned shyly and then looked around the yard as she answered. "I dunno. You and your family, this place, the way everyone's been treating me ... I guess it's just a lot to take in, you know? I mean, it's barely been a month since I first met Gia, and in that time my whole life has changed. Ralph is in jail, and I have a new home, and a built in 'family' that goes with it. And at school I even have friends! Becka the Beast has friends. Shit. "And now everybody knows what Ralph did to me but it doesn't matter, nobody thinks I'm a freak like I always thought they would. And I know that you guys never felt that way even before we found out Ralph isn't really my father. So it's like I spent my whole life terrified of some ghost hiding in the closet, only to find out that it's just an old shirt or something. My big bad boogeyman turned out to be nothing, so what was I so afraid of all this time? It's just so strange, you know?" "Hmm, well, the fear was real, even if the boogeyman wasn't. So what, now you feel like everything's been turned upside down and you don't fit in anywhere, is that it?" "No. In fact, it's just the opposite. I feel so comfortable here, like I belong. It's like I was always supposed to be here, and it was that other life that I never belonged in, you know? "I realize now that I never thought of Ralph as my father, even when I believed he was. I never called him anything but 'my old man', even in my own head. It's like somehow I always knew we weren't really related. Weird, huh?" Johnny shrugged, picking out the chords to Destiny, picking his words carefully. "Maybe it just means you were always meant to be here. Ever thought of that?" Becka looked away, and was silent for a while. When she finally looked back at him, her blue eyes were glistening. Maybe now they were finally getting to the real problem. "But what if I'm not, Johnny? I keep having this feeling that I don't deserve to be this happy. And I keep thinking, if I close my eyes or look away, it'll all be gone. You'll all be gone." Johnny sighed, thinking that this was a tough one. How do you convince somebody that they're worthy of happiness? His fingers started to pick out Sad Gypsy on their own while he thought, but then he laid the guitar down and stood up. He walked over to where Becka was and sat down next to her, taking hold of one of her hands. He captured her eyes with his, and willed her to hear the truth in his words. "Becka, I'm pretty proud of my family. I think that we're all of us good, decent people. Mom and Dad raised us to be that way, and it's not unlike our family to reach out to somebody who needs it. But even so, we've never gone this far before, not for anyone. "Getting you out of that house and away from Ralph Danning is one thing, but inviting you to come live with us, to be a permanent part of our family, well that's something else. But nobody hesitated about doing that, did they? No one. We all thought, we all knew, that we wanted you here. "And if we all believe that you belong here, who the hell are you to say that you don't? Huh?" He said the last with a smile, and she rewarded him with one in return. When he stood he helped her to rise, noticing that she still moved stiffly. He put his arm around her shoulders as he walked her back to the house, and was pleased when she leaned against him. For a little while, he thought, she had shown him a peek at what was behind the mask. * * * The weekend proved to be restful, a time for Becka to heal and to get used to her new surroundings. She tried to help with the household chores and was politely, but firmly, refused. She ended up in her and Gia's room studying, catching up on all of the schoolwork she had missed, and even getting a start on the next couple of weeks assignments. Becka had not forgotten her resolve to do well in school, and the kind treatment from the Camerons had only firmed her resolve to get an art school scholarship. For the first time ever she knew someone had faith in her, and she was determined not to let them down. On Saturday night Bobby had his first date with Jessie. He had downplayed it as much as possible and tried sneaking out unnoticed, but somehow Gia had found out. As Bobby was slipping out the front door Gia appeared at the head of the stairs (well out of reach) and started chanting, "'Berto's got a girlfriend! 'Berto's got a girlfriend!" Bobby had shot her a pained look, and then with a great show of dignity he had completely ignored her as he strode out the door. This had only served to send Gia into a fit of childish giggling. Becka had seen the whole thing and couldn't help grinning at the act, but still she warned Gia that "paybacks can be a bitch." * * * On Sunday Gia disappeared for several hours, but then showed up with a surprise in tow. It was Sammie, and along with her were half a dozen bags of new clothes, and all of them in Becka's size. Phil had decided that their new family member needed a decent wardrobe, and had given up his credit card to Gia for that purpose. Gia had then called Sammie, and the two experienced shoppers had hit the mall with all the efficiency of a military campaign. Becka could only stare open mouthed as the two girls paraded out their trophies, shocked at the sudden windfall, but equally surprised to realize how glad she was to see Sammie. "God, I still can't believe you guys went and did this! Gia, how did you even know my size? These things all fit perfectly!" Becka was standing in front of the full length mirror, modeling one of the two swimsuits the other girls had brought her. It was a one piece, dark blue with sea green sides, cut low on the top and high on the hip. It hugged her body like a second skin, and in a way it was even sexier that the bikini they had also bought. Becka ran her hands down her sides, delighting in the feel of the tight fabric against her body, wondering about the effect it was having on Gia. She wished that Sammie would go to the bathroom or something, so that she could be alone with Gia to find out. "Hey, it was only last week that we went shopping for clothes, remember? I know your sizes. Besides, Sammie's got the best eye in the world for this kind of thing. She picked out most of this stuff without any help from me." "What can I say? Some people have it, some people don't. Fashion is my life." Sammie was sitting on the bed, sorting through the shopping bags and setting out the remaining outfits for Becka to try on. Becka grinned at her, then turned back to the mirror to continue admiring her new look. Sammie had a right to brag, the suit looked fantastic! Becka was about to say as much when she felt two hands snake themselves around her waist from behind, pulling her back in a tight embrace that ended up grinding her bottom against a very familiar pair of denim jeans. Becka gasped, spinning around in Gia's arms, as she looked over anxiously at the girl on the bed. The fear of discovery, of being exposed, was suddenly making her stomach try to crawl out through her throat. "Gia!", she hissed, trying to pull away, but the other girl refused to let her go. Instead she moved in closer, her hands now dropping to grasp two big handfuls of Becka's ass. "Ummm, you're right, Becka. This does fit perfectly. Nice and tight. Yummm." "God, Gia. I'd tell you two to get a room, but you have one and, hey, I'm in it. Have a little consideration, why don't you?" Sammie put in, her tone exaggeratedly bored. Becka stopped struggling with Gia and stared at the girl on the bed, stunned. Sammie returned the look, slowly smiled, and then winked at her. Only then did Becka remember that Sammie had already guessed that she and Gia were lovers. "Sammie, this ... this doesn't gross you out or anything? I mean, you don't think that Gia and I are sick?" "Hey, it's not my thing," Sammie said, shifting on the bed, obviously a little uncomfortable despite her words. "But I don't think there's anything wrong with it, either. I mean, you're not hurting anybody, so it's nobody else's business, right? And besides, it's the twenty first century, so like, who cares? We got about a zillion TV shows with gay people on them, so it's not like it's anything new." Becka felt the knot in her stomach begin to loosen. She looked down at Gia, who looked back and gave her a reassuring smile. Becka took a deep breath and let it out. "Wow," she said. Gia and Sammie laughed. * * * On Monday Gia went back to school. Becka had wanted to go with her, but Doctor Lorne had been firm; no school until the stitches were out. So Becka had spent the morning lounging around the house, watching TV, reading magazines and trying not to go crazy from boredom. Phil had spent the morning in his den doing paperwork, but had left at ten to prepare the dojo for the day's classes. Becka had assured him that she would be just fine, but when he walked out that front door she had felt a twinge of disquiet. She realized then that this was the first time she had been completely alone since the moment Gia had tackled her in the field behind her old house. Becka prowled around the house, looking for something to do. She thought about doing some housework, but the Cameron home was as neat as a pin. Even the laundry was all done and folded. She thought about taking a walk, but somehow no one had thought to give her her own key. She ended up taking a swim and then a soak in the spa, but without Gia there to share these activities, most of the fun was gone. When two o'clock finally came around and George arrived home, she fairly raced to meet him at the door. George had come home early to sign for a shipment of custom parts for a car he was rebuilding in the garage. It was, he proudly told her, a 1957 Chevy Bel Air sports coup, a 283 V8 with double hump heads, high performance solid lifter cam, and a Holley four barrel carb. Becka just saw an old car. Even though she only understood about one word in four, Becka nodded her head and made appreciative noises in all the right spots. Eventually George figured out what she was doing, and sheepishly apologized. He then started patiently explaining to her about the car, and what he was going to do to restore it. Becka still didn't understand it that well, but learning about auto mechanics sure beat the hell out of watching Oprah and waiting for Gia to get home. Before long Becka had donned a pair of gray overalls and was lying on her back underneath the car with George, learning about the intricacies of a 45 year old water pump. Gia found her like that when she came home from school, her blonde hair pulled into a hasty ponytail and a large smudge of grease across her little button nose. She looked so cute that Gia had to force herself not to laugh. She did it by remembering all the countless hours she had spent under the hoods of dozens of cars with George and her other brothers. In the Cameron family, you grew up with the taste of engine grease. Gia used the excuse that she had to give Becka her school assignments to take her back to their room. Once there Becka grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a kiss, lips and tongues seeking each other out hungrily. They ended up collapsing onto the bed in each others' arms, giggling like innocent children. For a while they just lay like that, enjoying the feeling of just being together. It was Becka who finally broke the silence. "Mmmm, that was nice. So how was your day?" "Lonely. Also a little frustrating. Everybody was asking me about you." "Yeah? And who's everybody?" "Everybody. It was like the whole school knows what happened last week. It was Sammie and the girls, they must've been on the phone all weekend spreading the word." "Yeah, I figured they would. CNN's got nothing on the Gap Girls. It's okay, Gia, I told you I don't care anymore. It was all those secrets that were hurting me, not just Ralph." "I'm still not sure I like it. You're going to have a lot of people asking you some very personal questions when you go back to school. And you know there's going to be all those assholes who're going to trash mouth you right to your face. How are you going to handle that?" "Tell you about it so you can kick their ass." Gia laughed, and gave the other girl a hug. "You do that. And I'll back you all the way, you know I will. It's still not going to be easy, though." "Easy's for wimps. I told you, Gia, I'm not afraid of school. Those guys can't hurt me, nobody can. Not as long as I have you." Gia felt like Becka had just managed to touch even deeper into her heart. She reached up and stroked her hair, looking into the clear blue eyes. Then she asked the big question. "Okay, but what about us? How about when we tell people about us?" Becka sighed. "I guess that's the next big thing, isn't it? Let everybody know that we're lovers. That we're gay. I told you I don't care what the people at school think, but I'm still nervous about your family. And we have to tell them first, don't we?" "Yes, we do. Definitely. And the sooner the better, I think." "Umm, can we wait a couple of days? Until after I'm official, when Social Services makes your Dad my legal guardian. I really don't want to do anything that might blow that, Gia." "Okay, baby, however you want to do this. But I want you to do one thing for me," Gia said, her voice suddenly playful. Becka grinned, and responded in kind. "Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Gia wiped a finger across the other girl's nose, and held it up to show her the smudge. "Wash your face. You taste like motor oil." * * * The next couple of days passed quickly. Gia endured the endless round of questions at school, telling Becka's story again and again. She was on the alert for any negative comments, but received surprisingly few. In fact, Becka seemed to be becoming a local school hero, even if it was in absentia. Gia was asked several times to convey best wishes and support to Becka, mostly from people the older girl had never even met. There were also invitations to three different parties, and several boys who wanted to know if Becka would be interested in going out with them. Gia politely but firmly shot the last group down. Becka was busy, too. George had left her with several small projects to do on the Chevy, mostly cleaning parts caked with four decades worth of grime. He had also left her with several books on basic auto mechanics and car restoration, plus some magazines with great articles and pictures on the finished products. At first the girl had only been fighting off boredom, but now she found herself becoming fascinated by it. The idea of taking a rusted out pile of junk and turning it into an object of Detroit metal beauty appealed to the creative side of her soul. It seemed that the Cameron family addiction for cars was catching. On Wednesday Becka was due to have her stitches out. George offered to drive her, and on the way to the hospital they stopped and picked Gia up from school. While they were out, Phil arranged a surprise. Phil had bought a bed, one identical to the sleigh bed already in the girl's room. While Gia and Becka were away he and his other two sons brought it upstairs and assembled it. Phil had planned on giving Becka her choice of rooms from the third floor, but her doctor had advised that they wait for another few weeks before making her climb the extra flight of stairs. And besides, the way the two girls were getting along so well, they just might choose to share the one room instead. So Phil had decided that the older girl should at least have her own bed. They got the new bed upstairs alright, but had a few Three Stooges moments when they assembled it. But finally it was done, and they were admiring their work when Johnny spotted Becka's sketchbook on top of the dresser. He picked it up and started paging through it. Soon the other two men were looking at the book over his shoulder. "Man, Becka sure can draw. Here's the three trees out in the backyard, just the way it looks from this window. And this is the car she and George are building. And here's a picture of that girl who was over on the weekend, Sammie I think her name was. Man, it looks just like her. And here's - Holy SHIT!" Johnny's eyes almost popped out of his head, and Phil's weren't far behind. The next several pages were all of Gia, and all of them in the nude. In some the pose was candid, in others provocative, and in at least one she was obviously masturbating. Phil snapped out of it first and quickly grabbed the sketchbook away from his sons, but not before they had both gotten an eyeful. Phil scowled at them, and Johnny looked away sheepishly. But Bobby just met his gaze levelly, and eventually the older man turned away and started to pace in the tight confines of the room. "Umm, you know, this doesn't necessarily mean anything," Johnny said, trying to fill the silence. "I mean, Becka could have just drawn these from her imagination, you know? It's not like it's a photograph. It doesn't have to mean they're gay or anything, does it?" "It doesn't have to, but it does," Bobby put in quietly. Phil stopped his pacing and frowned at his middle born son. "You already knew about this?" "No, but I suspected. The way they acted, I guess, and also a few things Jessie let drop. I wasn't sure though, and besides, I didn't think it was any of our business." Johnny snorted. "Yeah, Mr. Cool here was always a couple of steps ahead of us with this kind of stuff." "Yes, I am. But that's not the point. The point is, Gia and Becka are gay, and they're also lovers. So how do you feel about it?" Johnny frowned, looking at his father. But Phil Cameron was no help, his face had gone as expressionless as when he sat across from him at a poker table. Johnny found himself shifting from foot to foot nervously, but finally he set his jaw and came to a decision. "It doesn't change anything. Gia is still Gia, and Becka ... dammit, I still think that Becka is the best thing to happen to this family since Mom died. And I intend to tell her that, too." Phil looked at his other son, but Bobby only nodded. The words had already been said, he agreed with them and didn't feel the need to add anything else. They both looked at their father, who's stoic face suddenly cracked in a proud smile. He gathered both of his sons into a rough hug and then slapped them on the back. "Your Mama would have been proud. She and I raised some damned good kids." Johnny had a huge grin, glad the crises was over before it had started. Bobby was wearing his usual composed expression. And as usual, he cut right to the heart of the matter. "So what do we do, Dad? Do we let them know we found out, or do we wait until they get around to telling us?" "I think we should tell them, Dad," Johnny put in. "The other day Becka told me that she's afraid that if she blinks, this will all be gone. Now I think she meant that this would all be taken away." "Yeah, that sounds about right," Phil said, thinking out loud. "She probably thinks we'll kick her out into the street and ship Gia off to a nunnery. Gia would know us better, but Becka can't be sure. No, I'm not going to let her get all twisted over this. When they get home, you two grab George and go out for a couple of beers, I'll talk to the girls. Now let's get out of here." (continued)