In Hiding

"Hey sweet pea," you could hear Amanda's dad, Paul, say.

"Oh darling, it's so good to see you," you could hear Amanda's mom, Carol, say.

"Good to see you all too," Amanda responded quietly. "Hey sis."

"It's so good to see you!" Karen chirped happily. "I've missed you so much."

"So what brings you all here?" Amanda asked guardedly.

"Well, Karen wanted to look at colleges, since she graduates in the spring. And despite everything we say, she did want to look at her older sister's future alma mater," her mother said.

The door opened, and Gus entered with a copy of the newspaper. He heard Paul started to get alarmed.

"Who the hell are you? This is a private residence!" Paul said. You could hear a tussle in the main room.

"Dad! Relax! This is Gus. He's my ... boyfriend," Amanda said, her voice sounding quite small.

"A boyfriend?" Carol said. "He's so old ... and ... ethnic. What happened to your sweetheart, Daniel?"

"Daniel ... he got sick again. And he didn't want to weigh my life down with his sickness."

"Should have never started it in the first place," her dad snorted. "He's a steer, he didn't have a place with you."

"Dani is a great person, dad. I know you never liked him, but I love Dani." Your emotions were in a state of tumult. You never knew Amanda's dad didn't like you.

"Yeah, yeah. Still a steer," her dad said. He'd been an oil and gas executive, working on developing an oil interest in the Virgin Islands for many years. Then after Amanda finished high school, he switched careers, buying land in Minnesota and starting a dairy farm operation. He seemed intent on carrying over the parlance of steers and heifers to his real life too.

"So, Gus ..." Paul said. "I trust you don't have a similar defect as Dani did."

"Oh, I'm fully intact," Gus said.

"I could check him, dad," Karen said, teasingly.

"Oh, no no no," Paul said. "You're barely 18, you focus on math, not boys."

"I'll check him out, if it means that much to you," Carol said, a little bitter, a little intrigued.

"Sure ..." Paul said. "I wouldn't ask you to if Amanda didn't have such a crummy track record with boys."

You saw the door open, Carol's slender white legs in a tropical dress, followed by Gus's heavy footsteps. He sat down on your bed, and you held your breath to only the most shallow, lightest breathing you could muster.

You heard Gus's slacks unzip.

"Oh my, Gus," Carol breathed out.

"Yep, that's what Amanda says too," Gus said, smiling.

"Mmmhm. I bet. Okay, zip back up."

They trod back to the main room.

"He's ... equipped for it," Carol said.

"Well, that's something," Paul said. "I still don't know if I approve of you. But better than that nutless boy."

"Dad!" Amanda said angrily.

"Anyhow, we show Karen the campus tomorrow. Can we crash in the spare bedroom?"

"I'd really rather have you stay down at the hotel on South Beach, dad," Amanda demurred. "I have a roommate ... Danielle ... but she's out tonight."

"Well, then she won't mind. Karen, you can crash on the couch. Gus, let's have a little chat, just you and me. Carol, get the room ready."

It was going to be a long night, you knew.