(aka Bike) Part 1325 by Angharad Copyright © 2011 Angharad
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I suddenly realised that it was a Saturday and that it was two weeks to Easter, which meant the children were now on holiday. That could be a help and a hindrance. Showering with Simon reminded me of how much time we seemed to have before we were knee deep in offspring–sadly none of it ours, except by dint of legal process. However we loved them and I hoped that they loved us.
Jenny was due the day off, because from Monday she was with us full time the whole holiday. I was going to Bristol and putting some flowers on my parent’s grave whatever happened. I also wanted to check out the house. Although I paid someone for keeping it tidy and mowing the lawns, it wasn’t like seeing it myself.
Danny was playing football, and Simon agreed to go and watch him and take Meems with him, she wanted Puddin’ to go so he agreed to have her too. Julie was working but would help Si when she got home should I be delayed. I took Billie, Livvie and Trish with me and of course Catherine, who got to sit in the front seat as navigator.
By the time we’d had breakfast, and sorted the car seats, packed everything we’d need–like push chair and change of nappies–that sort of stuff, it was nine o’clock.
I kissed Si, Danny and Puddin’ goodbye and off we went. It’s a boring ride but fairly straightforward, and about an hour and a half later we were outside my parent’s house and unloading our stuff, including the large bouquet of flowers I’d purchased on the way up.
I had no choice, they’d all have to come with me to the cemetery as they were too young to leave on their own. However, I decided we’d have lunch first and Trish carried the food for making the sandwiches into the kitchen. I emptied the kettle and refilled it for making my tea–the girls would drink fruit squash.
Trish went to use the cloakroom and moments later, Billie, who’d been watching Catherine, went to do the same–Trish told her to go away. I heard the ruckus and told her to use the upstairs bathroom. She went up and I continued buttering the bread for our sandwiches.
I was just about to start the second round of bread when Billie called me from upstairs. Her tone was urgent, and while I had no idea what could be alarming her, I dropped everything and rushed up the stairs.
She was staring into what had been my parent’s bedroom. “What’s the matter, darling?”
She pointed and my eyes followed the line of her fingers and into the bedroom. In my parent’s bed were a young couple–very young, like fifteenish, the duvet pulled up to their necks–presumably for the same reason any of us do that–we have nothing on underneath. I stared at them for a moment and they blushed–so they were in the wrong and I wasn’t in the wrong house.
I sent Billie to the bathroom and walked into the bedroom, “Just who are you and what are you doing in my parent’s bed?”
“We didn’t know you were coming, we didn’t mean no ‘arm, ’onest.” The boy spoke with a broad Bristolian accent, which I’ve more or less translated for you.
“How often have you done this?” I demanded rather than asked.
He blushed and was about to say this was the first time, when his girlfriend nudged him and he confessed, “This is the second time.” His eyes only flittingly met mine and hers didn’t at all.
“I see. Is this true?” I directed at the girl.
“Yes,” she said almost in a whisper, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks. “I told you we shouldn’ta dunnit,” she accused him.
“I take it one of you must be related to Mrs Hardy,” my caretaker cum cleaner.
“She’s my mum,” said the boy very sheepishly.
“So you must be Josh?”
“Yeah,” he said and nodded.
“And you?” I asked the teen girl.
“Abbie.”
“And how old are you–and the truth, please?”
“Fifteen,” she said the tears flowing down her red face.
“And Josh, how old are you?”
“Fifteen,” he replied in a tone which if it had got any more sheepish would have been bleated to me.
“I believe that means in English law, you are both under the age of consent. That means I have to insist you stop your amorous activities and get yourselves dressed.”
“Are you going to tell my mother?” asked the boy.
“Do you think I should?”
“I dunno.”
“If you came into your parent’s house and found two underage kids bonking like bunnies in your parent’s bed, what would you do?”
He blushed so red I was worried he might spontaneously combust, “I dunno, tell ‘em to clear off, I s’pose.”
“I’m within my rights to call the police.”
“Oh please don’t do that, lady,” implored the girl.
Billie reappeared at this point and I sent her down and told the others to stay downstairs.
“You’re acquainted with the police are you?” I asked her.
“Yeah,” she looked down at the bed.
“What for?”
“We done some shopliftin’ a couple a months ago.”
“I see. So should I call your parents?”
“They’re not in,” she said quickly.
Josh shrugged, “I cain’t stop ya.”
“True.” I pretended to muse for a few moments although I knew what I was going to say from the beginning. “Perhaps we can come to some sort of deal.” They both looked anxious but in favour of anything that kept their parents and the police out of things.
I looked at them. “We’ll discuss this downstairs, I’d be grateful if you got yourselves dressed and stripped the bed.” With that I shut the door and left them to it.
I was making sandwiches still, when they came down carrying the bedding. “Washing machine is through there,” I pointed to the utility room, “detergent and conditioner are on the top.” They both went through and I heard the washing machine door closed and the water run a few seconds later. They came back out looking very embarrassed in front of my giggling girls, even Catherine was giggling though possibly because the others were.
I marched them into the lounge, shutting out my gaggle of giggling girls, and told them to sit down. “How did you get in?”
Joshed showed me his mother’s key. “I came to mow the lawns.”
“And have you?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay, I think you’d better go and do it now.”
“Are you gonna tell my mum?” he asked.
“I might not if you do a good job in the garden. Have you had lunch?”
“I’m not very ’ungry.”
“That wasn’t what I asked?”
“No, miss.”
“Right, you go and mow the lawns,” I pointed at him. “Abbie, you come and help me do the lunch. Well come on, I’m sure you have other things to do afterwards.” They jumped up when my tone became more imperative.
I sent her to wash her hands, and introduced her to the rest of the squad. She was embarrassed and they were excited. I got Trish to lay the dining table and Abbie I left to wash the salad stuff. I finished the ham sandwiches and made the tea.
We called Josh in after he’d finished the front lawn and I asked him to put his shirt back on and to wash his hands then come to the table. It was excruciating for them to sit there and politely eat and drink while I breast fed Catherine and then had Trish feed her some babyfood.
When the machine finished, I made Abbie hang out the washing on the line while Josh finished the grass. When they were both finished, I pretended to inspect the grass.
“Okay, you can both go. If you give me your solemn word that you won’t do anything like this again, I won’t say anything to your parents. If I catch you at it again, I’ll call the police–not because I’m that upset by what you were doing but because you’re both too young to get saddled with a baby.
“I presume your mother gives you something for cutting the grass?”
“Yes, miss.”
“Okay, here’s another tenner, off you go–oh and Josh–I expect my lawns to be well looked after from now on.”
“Yes, miss.”
Abbie came up to me, “Thanks for not callin’ the police.”
“Go on–get lost, both of you before I change my mind.” They left arm in arm smirking like guilty teenagers always do.
“What were they doin’ upstairs, Mummy?” asked Trish smiling like a demon.
“You know jolly well what they were doing, which is why you asked me–go and put the dishes away and take that smile off your face you little squirt.” She pouted and went back into the kitchen, and I turned away so she couldn’t see me snigger.
I looked at the grass–he’d done a better job than I did when I had to do it. Oh well, a bit of a surprise but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Comments
I'm not a prude
But these days I really wish boys and girls that young should just bloody wait. Everything in our society is so sexualized as it is and it leaves me feeling that we are little more than animals, finding that life has no meaning beyond slaking those needs and looking for the next as sex is the ultimate addiction.
By no means sex in itself is wrong but doing it without intent trivializes the act.
Kim
Well We Are
only animals, Kim, which is why we behave like the other animals do! These two young kids were certainly not doing what they were doing without intent, in the sense of not knowing what it was they were up to! This is no new phenomenon either, I distinctly recall in a posh part of Hertfordshire when I was in my early teens that children got up to this kind of thing - one girl in my Grammar School had to leave at 14 because she was having a baby! (That was ovwer 50 years ago)
I can agree about it being undesireable that kids are sexualized with erotic clothes and exposure to commercial influences like adverts and the ubiquitous gogglebox, far too much. We cannot keep them ignorant of sex, but what we can and should do, IMHO, is give them the FULL story, STRAIGHT, no glossing over the problems of too early pregnancies, the permanent damage they do to a girl's body, and her career prospects, and that we make BOYS understand that too - they seem to always get off too lightly, now as back then. This sort of thing always went on, it is just more publicised these days.
What is taught in schools about sex to children is so Bowdlerized, so censored, so badly taught, that it is little wonder that kids get only half an idea about what reproduction and bonking is all about. I have long argued that since creating and raising the next generation is the most important function we have in our lives, even for those who are fortunate enough to later become heads of corporations, professors in universities, brilliant musicians, or perahps even lawyers or polits ( heaven forbid!), that child-rearing should be a COMPULSORY subject taught in ALL SCHOOLS to ALL SEXES. At best they confine them selves to the anatomy and mechanics of it. Nothing about the art of loving, or of developing and maintaining a relationship. Which is why boys know practically nothing about what girls want and expect, and girls not much more about what boys want.
It is a pity so many parents are too embarrassed to talk about it all with their own children, too. Instincts being as powerful as they are, I am surprised a lot more teens dont end up pregnant.
Briar
Briar
What I meant by intent
... is that it should be done not to satisfy random urges ( which is all what sex is ) but to channel it into something that is truly bonding and worthwhile, as an accessory to learning more about the other human being you are spending your time with, however short, and not merely raw instinct. Marriages fail because that does not happen as folks marry for the good sex. Even if the relationship is short term, it is sad that sex is just that, sex.
I agree all about the whole sex ed stuff but the social conservatives in the US are nutcases who do not want to acknowledge the need for such, instead thinking God will take care of it :(.
Kim
They got of lightly.
Cathy's too easy going. They'll be like cats at it from now on insofa as they'll do it, but they'll be bloody sure they won't get caught. Still if you can't stop 'em doing it (and you can't,) may as well get yer two bits out of 'em.
Yer gonna' have to install secret cameras Cathy!
Lovin' it.
Bev.
OXOXOX
Growing old disgracefully.
Thank you Angha,
ALISON
'a big chance of another underage Mum coming there!
ALISON
Really, what else ...
... could Cathy have done without seeming to be a po-faced prude? I think she handled it very well. After all there was no abuse even though they were both under age. I don't know how the law would treat it if Josh (say) had just passed his 16th birthday but Abbie was still under age. Sympathetically, I hope, even if it is, at least unwise.
Trish is the one I'd worry about most. She's far too knowing for her age. When I was asked what the difference between boys and girls was when I was about her age I replied that girls had long hair :) That was despite bathing often with my female cousin who is the same age as I am. I was clearly not very observant. But it was a different time in the 1940s.
Robi
I Still Would Have Told Their Parents
Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 1325
Can't help but think about Cathy as a teen and what boy she'd want to have bonking her and if her earlier dream came to mind>
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Err...
As Cathy's said on numerous occasiona, as a teenager, Charlie was "asexual" - wasn't interested in relationships / dating full stop - regardless of the other person's gender.
In fact, despite getting in volved in drama, she was still a bit of a loner - about her only (platonic!) friend at school was Siân.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Young Love!
Good grief.
Why is Cathy terrorizing the young couple? If anything, a lecture about safe sex would be in order, especially if they weren't using a condom. Fifteen isn't that young, at least historically, for adolescents to be exploring the physical and emotional aspects of sex. And these days, their physical development is probably the equivalent of a couple years older than generations ago. At least they seem to love each other and be in a mutual relationship.
I wouldn't be so certain that threats would be effective in making them stop, either.
The only legal issue that Cathy might have with the young couple is trespass, and that's rather hard to prove with them having the key. At most, it's grounds for her to "fire" the lad's mother from watching the house.
Awkward, most definitely. Criminal? Not so much.
___________________
If a picture is worth 1000 words, this is at least part of my story.
I too was a little surprised
that Cathy didn't have a discussion about birth control with young Abbie. And I agree with others. This will just make them be more careful. Afterall, how many teenage couples have an empty house available to them. Maybe they'll think about the sheets though.
Remember trying to go anywhere with small children. What used to take 5 minutes took 30 at least. And someone always had to go to the bathroom just as we were finally about to leave.
Underage sex and the law
There's a useful BBC News article on the subject here.
Essentially, while it is illegal to have sex under the age of 16, and it is illegal for parents to consent to their offspring's antics, in reality the law will usually turn a blind eye and very rarely prosecute.
Besides which, by the age of 15, most UK children will have covered SRE (sex and relationship education) within PSE (Personal and Social Education - may sometimes be called PSHE [Health], and faith schools may insert an M [Moral]) or Citizenship lessons. Then again, they're teenagers - remembering to put on a condom to stop Abbie getting pregnant or contracting an STD will certainly not be at the forefront of their minds.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Do transfolk ever lose the inferiority complex?
Do they ever just think of themselves as women only? It smacks of an inner guilt complex, as if they were somehow interlopers. Will we ever stop doin that to ourselves?
Girls, I know it is a struggle but it is something that only we can do for ourselves; make a new mantra, and live it!
Much peace
Khadijah
Interesting things...
Interesting things happening at Cathy's place - no matter which one she's in...
I hope her trust in the teens is well placed... As is, they now have something they can hold over her too... That she "condoned" under-age sex.
In any event. Like I said, interesting things happening to the family. Simon, perhaps, coming to terms with his mother's death. Hmmm... I wonder if some of Stella's instability could be related to the same thing - loss of mom at an early age. Time and your mind will eventually tell us.
Thanks,
Anne
Bonking like bunnies
Thanks A+B+I (sandwiches, salad, etc): Sometimes the expressions you come up with in Bikesodes really do make me laugh aloud.
I'm going to be interested to see what happens when Cathy et al. visit the cemetery, and in particular whether her mother has any more messages for her.
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yea a birth control speach is likely to come from the mouths
of many... but like even us as teens...in one ear, out the other. Other than sitting @ a table with a couple 6 yrs olds , their mom, and a baby breast feeding, maybe the visual might sink in better with nothing being said cause to the two 15 yr olds...i'm pretty sure they could notice kathy wasnt all that old her self.
agree with another commentor too ... kathy has kids. least a couple of them have been sexually abuse in past...but what occurred here might be helpfull in later yrs in keep them from said mistakes.
then again...i do believe that turning into a teenager wipes out most learned function of past ... so any thing taught at this early age is likely forgotten to maybe mid 20s....rofl
They saw an opertunity
and took it. It is simple as that. At least they washed the sheets, this time. :)