Right there in the kitchen stood Tiffany’s mom, busy putting groceries away. She turned and saw them.
“I thought I heard voices in the back. How are you girls?” Sammy blushed, unsure if she included him or not in that.
“We’re okay, mom.” Tiffany said. “What’s for dinner?”
“Will these two be staying?”
“No, Sammy and I have to get home.” For the briefest of seconds, Tiffany’s mom stared at Sarah and then Sammy before she finally connected the dots mentally.
“Oh, my!” Tiffany’s mom said with a laugh very similar to her daughter’s. “I didn’t even realize that that was you, Sam! I’m so sorry!” Sammy’s face wrinkled and he looked away as her eyes unintentionally darted down to his crotch before returning to his face.
“His swimsuit was ripped, so we had to think of something else.” Sarah explained.
“It fits him very well.” Tiffany’s mom said, her eyes twinkling. “But I’m sure he’s had enough embarrassment for one day.”
“Let’s go get changed.” Sarah said, gently nudging Sammy toward their clothes. To his relief, Sarah seemed to feel bad about the mix-up, so she allowed him to go alone into Jaxon’s room and get redressed. As he stood there, underwear in his hands, a thought occurred to him. Surely Jaxon would not miss one pair of underwear. He paused, contemplating it. What would he do with his undies though? Putting them in his pocket would be pretty obvious. Knowing Sarah, he had to hurry, so he decided against it. Then again…
Working quickly, Sammy went over to Jaxon’s dresser and grabbed the first pair he could see, navy blue with a white waistband. He pulled them on, smiling to finally be in normal underwear again. He had not worn plain briefs since his twelfth birthday, practically a year ago!
The question now was, what would he do with his own underwear? His pocket was out and he could not hide them in Jaxon’s dirty clothes. They would stick out like a sore thumb. Spying the garbage can by the dresser, Sammy put them in, covering them with a few things to try to hide them. Satisfied, Sammy put on his shirt and pants, feeling almost like his old self again.
Dressed in his own clothes, Sammy brought the swimsuit out and gave it to Tiffany. She smiled at the meek boy.
“Are you sure you don’t want to keep it?”
“I’m sure.” Sammy mumbled.
“Okay, but you can totally have the flip flops. Sarah told me you two are walking home and you need something to wear.” Sammy wrinkled his nose and nodded.
“Uh thanks.” Slipping the flip flops on, he and Sarah said their goodbyes.
“We’ll have to hang out again real soon.” Sarah said.
“The pool’s always open for you two.” Tiffany’s mom said. “Walk safe!”
The walk home was surprisingly uneventful. Sammy suspected that Sarah felt guilty about his exposure to Tiffany’s mom, but he had no way to be sure. About a block from their house, though, a distracted Sammy almost stepped out in front of a delivery truck. Sarah grabbed him and pulled him back onto the sidewalk.
“Oh, my god! You almost died!” Sarah said. There was not a single note of teasing in her voice. She was genuinely concerned. Sammy was equally shaken, his breaths coming short and fast.
“Guess I gotta be more careful” he said, trying to calm his heart, which seemed to be beating out of his chest.
“Mom’s always said there should be a stop sign here.” Sarah said as they resumed walking. Thankfully, they made it the rest of the way home without any other incidents.
“There you two are.” Dad said. “Dinner’s almost on the table. Go wash up.”
Surprisingly, Sarah did not mention Sammy’s near miss, nor did she really look at him much over the course of dinner. They were having pasta, so Sammy did not need a knife. In fact, it seemed like an entirely ordinary family dinner, at least until Sarah’s phone chimed.
“No phones at the table.” Mom said, but Sarah looked over at Sammy.
“Sammy?” She said. “Are you wearing undies?”
“What?” Sammy and his mom said in unison. “Yeah!” Sammy objected.
“Well, Tiffany says they found your undies in Jaxon’s trash.” Sarah said slowly. “Are you fibbing?”
“No! I’m wearing” his voice failed him. He was caught, but he still could not bring himself to admit what he had done.
“Wearing what?” Dad asked.
“Show me.” Sarah said, standing up and pulling him off of his chair.
“Sarah, stop!” Sammy protested, but it was too late. Sarah had already yanked down his shorts and lifted his t-shirt out of the way, revealing the navy blue briefs.
“Those don’t look like yours.” His mom said. Sarah pulled out the back of the waistband and nodded.
“See? Jaxon written right in the waistband. Bad baby!” Sammy yelped shrilly as her hand connected with his backside with a smack!
“Sammy, you stole?” His dad said, his tone so grave that Sammy whimpered.
“I just borrowed” he mumbled meekly.
“Sammy, this is very serious.” His mom said. “And, I think it shows we made the right decision.”
“Decision?” Sammy and Sarah said in near unison. Their parents exchanged a look.
“Starting tomorrow, since it’s Monday, your dad and I” mom said. “Are taking a big job in Sindelia. Because of how far it is, we’ll be leaving early and coming home pretty late, basically seven days a week. So, we’ll need you two to hold down the fort around here. I hope you’ll agree that you’re old enough, although Mrs. Boone is always next door if you need help.”
“And, since we can clearly see how things are around here” dad added. “Sarah’s in charge.”
“What?” Sammy and Sarah were again practically in unison, but this time, their tones could not have been more different.
“Given the fact that you stole, Sammy,” Mom explained. “I think it’s clear that you’re not ready to be in charge, so Sarah was the next choice. She’s shown a lot of maturity lately.”
“But”
“Sammy, hush.” Dad said. “We’re very disappointed in you and I hope that you show us you can be mature. You’ll be thirteen, you know.”
“I know.” Sammy mumbled.
“So it’s time to be a big boy.” Dad said. “Now, are you done eating?” Sammy had lost his appetite, so he nodded. A whole summer with Sarah in charge? How could they do this to him?
“Take off those undies right now, mister.” His mom said. “March right upstairs for your bath. And for goodness sakes, use the bannister!”
“Can I leave my shirt on?” Sammy asked, not relishing the idea of being naked in front of the whole family.
“What was that?” His mom’s voice softened.
“May I please keep my shirt on?” Sammy figured politeness would at least win her over somewhat.
“You may, but make sure it goes in your laundry basket and then meet me in the bathroom.” His mom sighed as she seemed to see his stolen underwear for the first time all over again. “Leave those undies on your chair. We’ll wash them and then you will return them to Jaxon with a very sincere apology.”
“Okay.” Sammy mumbled, stepping out of them and trying in vain to use his shirt to hide both his groin and his bottom.
“Mark my words, Sammy.” His mom said. “One more tumble down the stairs and you will be scooting down them on your butt until back to school.”
“Okay.” Sammy mumbled again, making a show of going up the stairs nice and slow.
“That’s more like it.” His mom said, calling his bluff. As he disappeared upstairs, she turned back to her husband and daughter. “Seriously, he’s still a cute little boy, but he’s getting that teenage attitude.”
“Spending too much time with Miss Sass over here.” Dad teased, looking at Sarah, who feigned offense.
“Sarah, let’s get upstairs before Sammy gets bored and gets into trouble.” Mom said, standing. Sarah looked at her, puzzled. “I didn’t want to mention it to Sammy right now on top of everything else, but since it’ll just be you two, you’ll be supervising Sammy’s baths. Just supervising. Understand?”
“Yep!” Sarah beamed. “Just watch little Sammy in the tub.”
“That’s right.” Mom said with a smile. “I know he doesn’t have anything you haven’t seen before. Oh, and gently remind him to wash behind his ears and things like that. He’ll be anxious to be done quickly at first, which is why we’re going to ease him into having you supervise.”
Topic: Boys Don't Wear Dresses (Read 70742 times)
