Sapphic Voices General Fiction

SECOND CHANCE

This is a Story of a young girl who finds love, acceptance and a chance to grow up in a family that cares for her. Change is hard for us all, but without it we wouldn’t grow. There is strong language in this Story, so if that offends you then you probably won’t want to read this. This Story contains depictions of violence.

One hot summer day, I was out by the pond, enjoying the shade of two huge oak trees. I was just sitting there and watching the clouds drift by. It’s my favorite spot and I go there to think about things. Most of the time I bring my dogs with me, but today I had walked to town to see my Mom. My mother is a nurse and works all kinds of crazy hours.

An orange moving van drove by and turned on Hunter St., which just happens to be where I live. Someone had finally moved in next door to us. I got up and finished my walk home. My dogs went crazy as I opened the front door. Feeding them was my first priority. Gus is my lab and Dodger is a mutt that just wandered in one day. Mom didn’t want him but I convinced her he was a great watchdog, so he got to stay. I played with the dogs for a while and then curiosity got a hold of me and I started watching the moving guys unload the van.

I sat on the front porch, lighting a cigarette that I had swiped from my Mom. It was still hot and muggy and the movers were dripping in sweat as they hauled boxes and furniture into the house.

A soft voice broke the quiet. "Don’t you know smoking isn’t good for you?"

Startled I jumped up and noticed a pretty blonde girl standing by our yellow rose bushes.

"Gosh you scared me, how long have you been standing there?"

"Just a few seconds, by the way my name is Maureen."

"Hi, I’m Jamie." I stared at the girl. She was a little taller than me and wore faded blue jean shorts and a white tank top. I thought she was very cute. I smiled and put out my cigarette and then we shook hands. Maureen told me that they had just moved here from California.

California! Why in the world would you leave there and move to this boring town?" Now I have never lived anywhere but Texas but I wasn’t about to admit it.

We chatted for a while and I found out that her mom, Ruth, had gotten a job here as an accountant. Maureen also had an aunt Sara; she was a computer consultant and traveled quite a bit. I had a curious interest in Maureen. You know how it is when you meet someone and there is an instant connection? My face was flushed and my heart was definitely beating a little faster.
Then I found out Maureen was 16, and suddenly I didn’t want to tell her how old I was.

I said. "You should meet my sister Becky and her friends, they could show you around town.

Maureen just smiled at me. "Jamie, how old are you?"

I mumbled, "14."

"Why do you act like being 14 is so bad?" asked Maureen.

I looked down at the ground. "Because Becky is always telling me I’m too young to hang out with her and you probably won’t want to be friends with me either."

Maureen gave me a big hug. That shocked the hell out of me. I mean we just don’t do stuff like that in my family. Oh my Mom might hug us on our Birthdays or Christmas or something like that. But just to hug someone for no reason, I didn’t know how to handle that.

She took me by the hand and led me over to her house. I met Ruth and Sara and they were just as nice as Maureen. Ruth was the soft motherly type and Sara was strong and kind of quiet. We all worked hard unpacking. But really it was kind of fun. We laughed and talked and I felt right at home. Ruth made dinner and insisted that I eat with them.

Ruth said, "Jamie here is my cell phone, call your mother and let her know where you are."

I shook my head. "Ruth my Mom is at work and won’t be home for hours. And she doesn’t like me calling her, unless it’s an emergency. She won’t care if I eat here."

Sara gave Ruth a funny look. Ruth nodded her head and motioned for us to get out of the kitchen. My Mom never cooks, we always eat take out, so a home cooked meal was heaven for me. Ruth made a chicken and rice dish and it tasted wonderful. I felt so calm and content that I didn’t want to leave. But it was getting kind of late and I needed to check on my dogs. Besides Becky would be getting home soon.

My house felt kind of cold and lonely. Funny how I never noticed that before. We live on the edge of town and I have to take the bus to school. Since my Mom works so much, most of the time I only see my friends in school or when I’m playing softball. Becky has friends that drive so she is hardly ever home either.

A car pulled into our driveway. Becky stumbled in through the front door. She had been drinking; I could smell the beer on her. Its kind of rotten, but I really don’t like my sister very much. We are both brunettes and pretty close to the same height and weight, however Becky has really big breasts. The guys are all just crazy about her. But they don’t have to live with her! She mumbled something at me and went upstairs.

It wasn’t much later that Mom came home. Becky and Mom are a lot alike; they have the same moody personality. And the same bad temper. She sat on the couch, lit a cigarette and drank a beer. I flicked through the TV channels, but as usual nothing but crap was on. Then Mom told me to go to bed. Like I said we aren’t very close in my family. Mom called her boyfriend Mike on the phone. He is an unemployed jerk; a skinny redneck that likes to push women around. Once I asked my mother why she even bothered with men. I mean my father is in prison up in Huntsville; he was dumb enough to rob a bank. As far as I’m concerned Mike belongs there too. He sells drugs for his spending money. Anyway Mom told me that being alone was worse than putting up with bad behavior. Personally, I think my mother is nuts when it comes to men.

I was the first one up the next morning. I found some cereal to eat, but we had no milk. So I settled for toast and coffee. Mom always slept late and I had to be quiet. Becky was still sound asleep too. I let my dogs out of our back yard and took them for a walk. Gus and Dodger are my best friends; whenever things get bad at home I just leave and take my dogs for long
walks. They love me no matter what. When I got back to the house Mike’s old blue truck was in our driveway, he and Mom were drinking coffee in the kitchen.

Mike was laughing. "Hey did ya’ll hear your new neighbors are a couple of dykes!"

I glared at him. "You don’t know anything, I met them and they are really nice people."

Mom asked Mike "Are you sure they are dykes?"

"Oh yes, there is no doubt. My sister Wanda told me that she heard from the bank manager they have a joint bank account and signed for the house together too."

"And that makes them gay of course." I said, "Wanda is dumber than you are!"

Mike jumped up "Girl, you had better watch your mouth or I’ll beat the shit out of you!"

Mom told Mike to sit down and then she told me I was not to hang around our new neighbors. They could be a bad influence on me. I yelled at her and Mike; but how do you reason with prejudiced fools? Mike wanted to burn a cross in their front yard. I couldn’t take it anymore and I left the house. My whole body was shaking, I was so mad.

Ruth saw me run out the door and she asked me to come inside her house. I tried to control my temper as I talked to her... I wasn’t sure how to exactly talk about it either. I didn’t want to offend her.

Finally, I just blurted it out. "Ruth my mother’s boyfriend is saying some things about you and Sara. He is a big jerk, but my Mom is taking his side. I’m really pissed off at both of them."

Ruth’s eyes got real sad and she took my hand. "I think I can guess what he said. Did it have anything to do with Sara and I being lesbians?"

I pulled away from Ruth and asked her. "Do you mean its true?"

‘Yes, its true. Does that bother you?"

I didn’t know what to say to her. I just knew that in the short time since I met them, Ruth, Sara, and Maureen had shown me more love and understanding than my family ever had. Their genuine affection for me had really bowled me over. Besides deep down I had always known I was attracted to other women. But who was I going to talk about my feelings with? My Mom or
Becky? I don’t think so! I looked up to Ruth and I valued her opinion.

I cried out "Ruth, my mother said I couldn’t come over here anymore!"

"Jamie, things could get ugly." She paused then said, "I have had to deal with this before. But first of all I want you to know you are always welcome in my house. I mean that with all my heart."

Ruth gave me a big hug, held me tight and I felt safe and comfortable in her arms. It was just kind of strange to me; I had never been hugged so much. Ruth told me that Maureen and Sara had gone into town to see a movie. So we just sat on the couch and talked. I learned a lot that day. She said that people hate and fear what they don’t understand. Most of all I learned about love. When I left Ruth’s house I knew that I loved her more than I had ever loved my mother. Part of me felt guilty, but damn it, Mom didn’t love me either.


My house was empty. Mom had gone somewhere with Mike. And Becky was off with her friends. Gus and Dodger were happy to see me though. I gave them each a dog bone to chew on and then cooked up some mac and cheese for me. I fell asleep watching TV. The sound of squealing tires and breaking glass woke me up. Running outside, I noticed Ruth standing in her front yard. Tears were streaming down her face. Then I saw her front window had been broken. What a way to welcome someone to our town! Ignorant people just piss me off. It was my turn to hold Ruth and comfort her.

Ruth was really shaken up. Sara and Maureen drove up and saw the damage. Sara took Ruth into the house and closed the door. Maureen asked me what had happened.

"Some idiot thought it would be fun to toss a brick through your front window. I don’t know who did it, but we have lots of fools in this town."

We cleaned up the broken glass and Sara put cardboard over the window. Then she called the police. My cousin Robert was the patrolman who answered the call. He asked us what had happened and took a look at the window.

"Hey Jamie, come here for a second, I want to talk to you." Robert said.

I walked over to the patrol car. "Robert are you going to catch the assholes that did this?"

"Now, Jamie you know there is no way to prove who did this. But you shouldn’t be hanging around these people." Robert puffed out his chest and glared at Ruth and Sara.

"Why not, Robert? They are good, decent women and a lot better than some I could name in this town."

He said bluntly "They are not our kind and you know it. Some people don’t think they belong here."

"Some people are full of shit too!" I was so damn mad.

"Jamie, I’m warning you... don’t get involved in this! You are just too young to understand and I don’t want you to be influenced by some dykes. Think of your family’s good name."

I laughed bitterly. "Yeah, sure... my mother and sister are drunks, my father is in prison and the whole town thinks we are trash. Just what good name were you talking about?"

Robert didn’t say anything else, he just drove off. I told Ruth I was staying with them tonight. Maureen and I went to her room.

"Why are people so hateful in this town?" Maureen asked me.

"Look I don’t like what happened, but you can’t believe we are all like that."

"No, I know you are a beautiful person."

She hugged me and I felt warm all over. I was very unsure and nervous... was she feeling the same as me? Looking into Maureen’s intense blue eyes, I was lost, my heart just melted. I kissed her on the lips, very softly. Then I stepped back to see her reaction. To my surprise she started to cry.

"Oh Jamie ..." Maureen said tearfully. "I like you too. But I need to tell you some things about me. My parents died in a car crash. I was a real mess, drinking and taking drugs to kill my pain. Ruth saved me, and last year she adopted me. I am just getting my life straightened out. I don’t want a relationship right now and we shouldn’t risk our friendship by getting too serious."

I felt a little bewildered. Yes, I wanted Maureen’s friendship, but I wanted more too. I wanted to hold her and kiss her. But she was pushing me away and I wasn’t happy about that. There was a moment of awkward silence; then I turned, slammed the door and headed downstairs. Maureen called out to me and Sara and Ruth asked me what was wrong, but I didn’t answer any of them. I just left and went home. I crawled into my bed and cried myself to sleep. I knew I was being unfair to Maureen, but my heart was broken and I just didn’t know how to handle that.

Five long days went by before I saw Maureen again. I was out by the pond, throwing a stick and my dogs were swimming for it. The mosquitoes were getting to me so I lit a cigarette. Taking a drag, I sucked the smoke deep into my lungs. The dogs started barking, I looked up and Maureen was standing by one of the oak trees. The sunlight gleamed off of her blonde hair. She looked like a Greek Goddess or a Forest Nymph. Beautiful but unreachable.

"You shouldn’t smoke." She said.

I choked on the smoke "Well... " I gasped.

"SEE, you can’t even talk you are coughing so much."

I gained control of myself. "Did you come down here just to nag me about smoking?"

"No, I saw you and I thought it would be a good time for us to talk."

"You told me how you felt, what else is there to say?" I turned away; I didn’t want Maureen to see me crying.

Maureen grabbed me and forced me to look at her. "Damn it, Jamie, I love you too! I’m just scared! Can’t you understand that?"

"I’m scared too. But I can’t stand not being with you." I looked at her with tears in my eyes.

"You have beautiful eyes." She whispered.

We stared at each other for a long time and then Maureen kissed me. Softly, slowly, touching tongues we tasted each other. It would have been a beautiful moment, but Becky and her friends chose to drive up right then.

"Oh, I think we are disturbing the lovebirds." Becky sneered at me.

Maureen stood up to her. "Why don’t you just leave us alone? We aren’t hurting you."

Becky shoved Maureen. "You are trying to turn my sister into a Fag! You people are fucking sick!"

I told Becky to shut up, that she didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Becky’s two friends pushed me to the ground and held me down. Gus and Dodger came to my side, barking and snarling at the girls. They got scared and ran to their truck. That made the odds more even and I got up and jumped on Becky. I let out all the tension and anger that had built up in me. I pounded the hell out of Becky. It was Maureen who pulled me off of her.

"Come on, this isn’t solving anything! You guys are sisters, you should love each other."

Becky gasped. "Love her? I hate that miserable little bitch. Mom doesn’t love you either." Then Becky left with her friends.

Maureen tried to comfort me. "You know she was just mad. She didn’t mean those awful things."

I laughed bitterly. "No every word she said is true. My Mom doesn’t care about either one of us."

There was nothing more to be said. We walked back home. Maureen wanted me to come over but I had some chores I needed to do. I cleaned our house from top to bottom. Working hard, trying to block out my feelings.

Mom came home early that day. One look at her face told me the whole story. She was furious.

"Tell me it isn’t true! Tell me you weren’t kissing that girl!"

"Mom..."

She didn’t let me finish. Grabbing me by the collar she dragged me into the living room. Screaming at me, telling me what a lowlife piece of trash I was. How sex between women was so dirty, that normal people didn’t do things like that. I can’t remember all the things she said, but I was stunned by the hate in her voice. Then she hit me. She hit me across the face, my head snapped back and I could taste blood where my lip was split. I just stood there and took her abuse. Finally she got tired and quit.

She poured herself a drink. "Jamie, you have a choice to make. If you want to live here, you have to live by my rules. And I will NOT have a dyke in my house! If that’s what you are, then get out of here!"

Shaking with anxiety, I put some clothes in my backpack and got my dogs. Then I went and knocked on Ruth’s door. I sure hoped that we would be welcome there. Ruth took one look at me and gasped.

"Oh my God! Maureen told me you had a fight with your sister, but I didn’t think it had gotten that bad."

Maureen told Ruth. "She didn’t look like that earlier. Something else must have happened."

They both stared at me with horror in their eyes. My shirt had blood on it and I knew my face looked pretty bad, but I just didn’t want to talk about it right then. But they knew. They knew my mother had beaten me.

Ruth asked me if I wanted to see a doctor or go to the hospital. All I wanted to do was sleep. Sara insisted on giving me a quick check, just to make sure I didn’t have any broken bones or anything like that. Ruth fixed up a bed for me, the clean fresh sheets smelled wonderful. I just passed out. They must have had a long conversation about me, because in the morning Sara was all business.

Sara firmly told me. "Jamie I want you to take your clothes off, we need to take some pictures of your bruises."

I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, but I trusted them. So I stripped down to my panties and Sara took the pictures. The black and blue marks were quite visible now. My lips were swollen and hurt like hell. My mother hadn’t pulled any punches that’s for sure.

Sara and Ruth left the room, but Maureen stood there looking at me. Her eyes filled with tears.

"God... Jamie... you look like shit."

I groaned. "Thanks a lot. You know I’m not feeling too hot right now."

"Can I give you a hug?"

"Yes, of course... just take it easy okay?"

Maureen took me in her arms and softly squeezed me. I could feel her warm breath on my neck. Our eyes met briefly and we both knew what was going to happen. Maureen smiled and reached out to touch my bare skin; she felt my breasts, holding them gently. It felt so good when she rubbed my nipples. Her lips pressed against mine.

I couldn’t take it. "I’m sorry, I can’t kiss you, it just hurts too much."

She looked a little disappointed. "Do you want me to stop?"

I slowly pulled her shirt off. Maureen laughed and pushed me down on the bed. It wasn’t long before we were completely naked. We touched, we felt, we explored each other’s bodies. It was simply wonderful. She parted my legs and my hips rose up to meet her mouth. When she teased my clit with her tongue, I lost control. Maureen held me firmly as she licked and sucked my juices. Then she pressed her teeth against my clit. I screamed with pleasure. "OH, oh, oh...oh my God!" My body shuddered as I reached my climax. Maureen demanded more and more of me; she wouldn’t let me go until I was totally exhausted.

We sprawled on the bed. I slid my hand between her thighs, Maureen was soaking wet. I licked her nipples; her skin was hot and damp from our lovemaking. Sliding my fingers into her vagina, I wanted her to feel as good as she had made me feel. But Maureen stopped me.

"This time was just for you." She smiled at me. "Wait until your mouth heals, then you can make it up to me."

I hugged her fiercely, and then I rested my head against her soft breasts. I fell asleep listening to her steady heartbeat. It was such a reassuring sound. The next thing I remember Ruth was standing by the bed. Her eyes taking in our naked bodies, entwined. I pretended to be asleep. She didn’t say anything, just pulled the covers over us and left.

Maureen giggled. "Well I guess our secret is out now."

"Hey, I thought you were asleep!"

"No, I’ve been watching you for awhile. You have such a beautiful body."

"Well so do you." I pressed my breasts into hers. She trembled as I stroked her legs, working my way up her thighs; I parted her lips and touched her clit. She moaned, as I rubbed, softly at first, then harder and harder. Putting my fingers into her vagina, I felt her wetness. Licking my fingers, I tasted her sweet flavor. We touched tongues; Maureen gently sucked my tongue into her warm mouth. She rolled on top of me and opened her legs, urgently rubbing herself up and down my thigh. I put my hand down so her clit would hit my fingers. She threw her head back and moaned loudly. Her beautiful breasts bounced wildly. Maureen screamed as she finished her orgasm. She fell back gasping for breath. I played with her nipples; I just couldn’t keep my hands off her soft breasts. Maureen pushed me back and dove between my thighs, making me scream for mercy. We couldn’t get enough of each other.

Finally though my stomach started growling, we couldn’t stay in bed forever. Maureen playfully hit me on the butt and told me to get dressed. Ruth made us some sandwiches and as we ate, we got the lecture.

"Girls, I am responsible for you. And Jamie your mother would have me arrested if she knew you were sleeping with Maureen."

I interrupted her. "But Ruth she told me to leave, so nothing she says matters anymore."

Ruth sighed, "I wish that was true. But honey, you are only 14 years old. And no matter how much I love you, your mother still has control over your life."

Sara came into the kitchen. "Well, what about those pictures we took? If Jamie’s mother wants to start some trouble we can show the cops those pictures."

That was Sara, strong and tough and not about to take shit from anybody. She really did have a soft heart though. She just hid it well.

"No Sara." Ruth shook her head "That won’t work, people around here are not going to believe two lesbians. I am going to have to talk to Jamie's mother and settle this thing. Or we will never have any peace."

"Well, you are not going over there by yourself." Sara stated firmly.

They left the house. Maureen and I sat on the couch just holding hands, anxiously awaiting their return. Thirty minutes passed... then an hour, still nothing. Finally we heard them come in.

We bolted to the front door. "WHAT HAPPENED?" We both yelled.

Ruth had been crying, her eyes were red and swollen. Sara had her jaws clenched tightly. They were very upset.

Sara looked at me. "Jamie how in the hell did you ever live with that woman?"

I didn’t know what to say to that.

Sara handed me a piece of paper. "Here, read this".

My hands were shaking too much; I couldn’t read a word.

Ruth told me. "Jamie your mother has just signed a paper stating that she no longer assumes responsibility for your care. I am going to be your guardian now. Tomorrow we are going to talk to a lawyer and make sure this is all legal and not subject to any changes."

"How could she give up a child as wonderful as you? I just don’t understand it." Sara was crying.

I ran over and gave Sara a big hug. "I’m glad! REALLY!"

After hours of crying, hugging, and talking, we all decided to go to bed early. We were mentally exhausted. I was still stunned by the whole thing.

Maureen was in bed with an impish grin on her face. "You know you can have your own bedroom. This house is big enough."

"Mmmm ... is that what you want?" I had to smile.

"Of course not. I want to be with you!" She pulled down the sheet and I could see her naked body waiting for me.

It didn’t take me long to join her. We really got crazy with our lovemaking that night. It was beautiful. Maureen was a wonderful and inventive lover.

Maureen whispered to me. "You belong here... with us."

I knew my life would be changing, but I looked forward to it. No more regrets and living in fear. Yeah, life was going to be good from now on.


THE END

If you have enjoyed Julie Blue's "SECOND CHANCE", then please be certain to e-mail her at  shilo886[at]yahoo.com  and thank her for posting this Story.

Click here for a list of all of Julie Blue's Stories and Poetry at  Sapphic Voices Authoresses.