What happened next happened so fast, that it took Cathy a full minute to comprehend it.
Troy got up from the couch, and stood over Gerald, pulling him to his feet by hooking his arms under the boy's arms.
'You say nothing! Do you hear me?'
'Aw, come on, man!' Gerald exclaimed, trying to get out of Troy's grip.
'So what if everyone knows?'
'So everything!' Troy barked, doubling up a fist in Gerald's face. 'She made a promise to her mother. Don't make life more difficult for her.
You keep your mouth shut, you hear?'
Gerald yanked himself free from Troy's viselike grasp, and then shrugged his shoulders.
'I don't know what difference if makes. But I can keep my mouth shut!'
'You better!' Troy barked. 'Because if I hear one word, and you know damned well I will-I'll have your balls on a platter, and see you eat them!'
Gerald's eyes opened a little bit, but he bit his tongue.
It was a well-known fact that Troy always kept his word.
Troy sat down on the couch again, and picked up the sandwich he was eating. He looked at Cathy, who was almost gaping at him. Troy laughed, and stuffed her mouth with the sandwich.
'Here, keep it busy! It's open an awful lot!' Troy laughed.
Cathy started to get mad at the rough treatment he had offered her, and then changed her mind. He seemed to be so suave, so different from the other boys.
'If your mother says so, I'll take you to your prom,' Troy said.
Cathy, her mouth full of sandwich, widened her eyes.
'But there are strings attached to that promise!' Troy said, leaning close to her. Cathy thought she was going to drown in Troy's dark, passionate eyes.
'When you're sixteen, I want to find out if your cunt is as gorgeous as your mouth. Is it a deal?'
Cathy's passion melted in thick streams down her cunt as she nodded.
'Mind you, that's only if your mother says you can go with me. I'll bet she'll say no.'
'I don't know. I'll ask her,' Cathy said, finally swallowing the food in her mouth.
Troy drove her home, and waited until she was in the door. Cathy sailed out to the kitchen.
'You won't believe it!' she gasped to her mother.
'What, dear?' Mrs. Jones said, noticing the hectic flush in her daughter's face, the unnatural brightness in her eyes.
'Stephanie got me a date for the prom on one condition!'
'What's that, dear?'
'I have to get my…'
Cathy realized she had got carried away. She didn't quite know how to explain it to her mother.
'Who's your date?' Mrs. Jones said, coming over to the kitchen table where Cathy had sat down. She ran her hands over Cathy's forehead. It was fairly cool, so the flush must be excitement.
Funny Troy, Cathy thought. He had made her bathe her face with cold water and dry it thoroughly before they left Stephanie's house.
Troy had said that if her mother saw flush, she'd think she'd been making it, or was sick with a fever.
Cathy said that wasn't so, and Troy had just laughed.
'You wait!' Troy said, as he dunked her head playfully into the basin full of water. 'As soon as your mother catches sight of you, she's gonna put her hands on your forehead!'
Cathy gulped. She had to tell her mother!
'A friend of Gerald's, Stephanie's steady.'
'Humph!' Mrs. Jones said. 'I don't like that boy.'
Cathy sighed. 'Neither do but I like his friend.'
'What's his name?' her mother asked suspiciously.
'Troy.'
Cathy's mother gasped. 'Troy Madison from Rivergate?' Rivergate was the heavily-populated section of town where Troy lived.
Cathy nodded.
'What's the condition?' her mother asked. Her mother's voice had got very low, and Cathy knew that was a dangerous sign that her mother was getting fighting mad.
Cathy gulped again. Her father staggered up the back steps, and kicked open the screen door. He was laden with groceries. Jimmy was behind him with a carton.
'Bob, wait till you hear this!' Her mother's voice had got even deeper!
Cathy suddenly paled. She brought her thumbnail to her mouth. What had she done?
'What is it sweetheart?' Cathy's father said, coming over to the table with a troubled look on his face.
'Tell him!' Cathy's mother demanded in a not-to-be-denied tone of voice.
'Stephanie got me a date for the prom,' Cathy said in a small weak voice.
'Stephanie!' Jimmy snorted. 'She's one of the biggest cock-baiters in school, and she goes with that no good son of a bitch Gerald!'
'It's a friend of Gerald's,' Mrs. Jones said, slamming her open palm on the table. Cathy jumped.
Jimmy walked toward Cathy frowning himself. Cathy felt as if she were being picked on.
'Cathy, what did you do to get that date?'
'Now wait a minute! Wait a minute!' Bob Jones raised his arms, and quieted everyone down. He sat down in the chair next to Cathy, and took her trembling little hand in his.
'Who's the date, honey?' he asked, a worried frown on his face.
'T-Troy Ma-Madison,' Cathy said in a little voice.
'Whaaat!' her father exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. 'That no good hoodlum!'
'Maybe you'd better tell us what the condition is,' Mrs. Jones, said, her voice still low in her throat.
'What condition! What are you talking about!' Mr. Jones exclaimed.
Cathy started to cry.
'I can't go to the prom because I'm a-I promised I wouldn't let any of the boys in school fuck me!' she said, sobbing. 'So-so when Stephanie invited me over today, she didn't tell me that a friend of Gerald's was there, and Gerald thought if Troy fucked me, I'd go to the prom.'
'Only Troy didn't fuck me. He said he respected my promise to you, and he'd take me to the prom if I'd fuck him when I was sixteen.'
'Oh, my God!' Mrs. Jones said, slapping her hand to her forehead.
'Cathy Jones, you aren't going to that prom with Troy Madison!' Mr.
Jones exclaimed.
'Cathy, how could you!' Mrs. Jones exclaimed.
Cathy, bewildered, feeling put-upon, sobbed even louder. She ran from the table, and went to her room. She locked the door, and fell on her bed, and sobbed violently.
All of a sudden, the prom didn't mean so much. But seeing more of Troy did mean a lot to her. She really liked him, liked the way he talked, liked his manners, and his good looks, liked everything about him!
But Troy had warned her that her mother would probably say no.
She heard her mother knock on the door.
'Cathy, we're going out to eat. Come on, dear. Come out!'
'Go away! I'm not going out! I don't ever want to eat again. I wish I were dead!'
'Cathy, you open this door instantly!' her mother cried. Cathy could hear the alarm in her mother's voice. 'Bob! Bob! Cathy's locked her door!'
She heard her father's footsteps on the stairs, and then her father knocked on the door.
Cathy went to the door and opened it.
'Come on, let's go to dinner,' her father said, patting her on the shoulder.
Cathy shook her head.
'Cathy, we are not going to leave you in this house alone, so go wash your face and come with us.'
