A Perfect Match, Every Time
by Varian Milagro
http://varianm.blogspot.com
Chapter 10
When Helen awoke she had no idea where she was or even what day it was. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls, as did her mouth. She spied a glass of orange juice, but that made her think of vodka which made her want to hurl. She ran to the kitchen sink and drank until her belly felt like it was going to burst. Looking at the kitchen clock she saw that it was a little after one. Since it was light out she guessed that it was PM and not AM.
She headed to her bedroom, to change her clothes. A shower was probably a good idea, but it sounded like too much effort. What wasn’t too much effort was tossing the all the fugly dresses in her closet. She couldn’t even remember why, or even when, she’d bought them, but she didn’t really care. They were hideous and she was never going to wear them so they had to go. She tossed them all into the hall and then rooted through her dresser for fresh underwear, t-shirt, jeans and hoodie. All of them fit much better today for some reason, not that she really cared. She wanted to get out of the house as soon as she could.
When she entered the garage she was shocked to see that the car was gone. Had Cassidy taken the car? She must have, but for some reason that idea bothered her. It wasn’t like she was going to drive it herself, not if she didn’t have to. All it did was pollute the air and clog the streets anyway. Better to get where you were going with your own power and not rely on the remains of dead dinosaurs. After pumping her bicycle tires full of air she took off towards the other side of town.
There weren’t a lot of people at the skatepark when she arrived, which wasn’t totally surprising since it was a school day and not yet 3pm. She sat down on one of the benches that ringed the large cement bowl so she could watch the three guys present do their skateboard tricks. Based on their looks she guessed that they were skipping high school. When she lit a cigarette one of them headed her way.
“You got another one I can have?” He pointed at her cigarette.
“You got another one of those?” She pointed at his skateboard.
“No, but I’ll let you take a spin on it for a smoke. I’m Mitchell.”
“Deal.” She tossed him the pack as she snatched the board from his hand. “I’m Helen.“
Without stopping she ran to the edge of the bowl and then leapt, slipping the skateboard under her feet just before it hit the concrete down slope. She rocketed up the other side, did a handstand with one hand while the other held the board to her feet, which were currently high in the air above her head. Her hair flopped down around her face, looking more like thick strands of yarn than a sheet of hair. She followed up with a few ollies and a rail slide before skating back to Mitchell.
“Nice board.” She held out the skateboard to him.
“That was a wicked hand plant. You know, me and my buds are heading over to White Castle in a few. Wanna come?”
“Nah, I’m waiting for someone.”
“Oh. That’s cool. You can keep riding while I finish my smoke.”
“Thanks.” Helen dropped the board to the ground and then pushed it toward the edge of the bowl. She ran at it, leapt on just before it went over the edge, starting a series of tricks that she didn’t know how she knew and didn’t really care why she now knew them. She was having a blast and that’s what counted.
Not even a minute had passed from the time she’d stopped skating and given the skateboard back to Mitchell when a very familiar face approached. Once she saw his piercing blue eyes she was head over heels for him.
“That your boyfriend?” Tommy Fogle said, pointing to Mitchell, who was standing with his friends about a hundred feet away.
“No. I don’t have a boyfriend.” Helen’s heart hammered in her chest. Tommy was so close that she could reach out and touch him if she wanted, but she didn’t. She wanted him to make the first move.
“You look really familiar, do I know you?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
“Holy shit. I know who you are. You’re Cassidy Prentice.” He looked her over again. “You’re looking good.” He reached over and fingered one of her many blonde dreadlocks. “When did you get these?”
“They’re kinda new. I got bored with my old hair.” The absurdity of being at a skatepark, pining over Tommy Fogle, slammed into her like a school bus doing 90mph. Why did he think she looked like Cassidy and how had she managed to do a bunch of skateboard tricks? It’d been twenty-five years since she’d last been on a board and at that time she’d fallen on her ass as soon as she’d stepped on one. Just what had her daughter done to her?
“I love the look. I knew you’d look hot with dreads.”
“I’ll be right back.” She ran to the public restroom.
Looking in the mirror she realized why Tommy thought she was Cassidy. She looked almost exactly like her daughter, except much, much hotter. She’d maintained a lot of the curves and beauty that she’d gained from dating Ryan, but now it had been toned down a little and repackaged into her daughter’s 18 year old body. Except for the dreads, she looked like she could be a serious contender for homecoming queen, not that she believed in subjecting herself to such blatant objectification.
Tommy was waiting for her just outside of the ladies room when she exited. She looked at him, as if for the first time. She’d judged him so wrong over the last year. Everything from the way he leaned against the wall like he didn’t care about anything, to the tattoo of a pot leaf on his neck seemed so cool now. The large gauges in his ears, which before she’d considered them as a form self mutilation, now looked like the sign of determination and dedication. You didn’t get gauges that big overnight; it took a lot of time and work. Besides, they looked totally killer on him.
It was more than just his looks; it was his whole attitude as well. He didn’t give a fuck what other people thought about him, he did what he wanted. He was into skateboards, so he rode them all the time. He followed his passion and didn’t let trivial things like school work get in his way. She loved that about him now.
She lit a cigarette, hoping that it would hide her goofy smile. “Want one?”
“I don’t like giving money to big tobacco, so I roll my own.” He pulled a pouch of American Spirit tobacco from his jacket pocket. “Want me to roll one for you?”
“Sure.” Helen dropped her commercial cigarette to the ground and crushed it out.
“Great.” He smiled, sending her head spinning. Holding up a baggie filled with dark green leaves, he said, “You want me to add a little Kali Mist to yours, too?”
“Fuck yeah.”
“Excellent.” He sat down next to her and then handed her a rolling paper. “Hold this for me,” He dribbled a little tobacco followed by a whole lot of weed. “I saw you skating. You’re pretty good.”
“Thanks,” she said as he carefully took the paper from her and then rolled it into a tight joint.
“So, your mom cool with you talking to me? She was pretty clear last year that she didn’t want me anywhere near you.”
“I could give a fuck.”
He looked at her with a whole lot of skepticism. “Okay, who are you and what did you do with Cassidy Prentice.”
Helen’s heart seized up in her chest. He’d figured out that she wasn’t really her daughter. What if he didn’t want to be with her anymore? How would she go on living?
“On second thought, don’t answer that. I like the new you. Smoking, skating, swearing. All my favorite S words.” He stuck the joint into his mouth.
“You forgot an S word.” Helen lit his spliff and then leaned in real close. “I do that one too and it’s my favorite.”
“What the fuck are we doing in a skatepark then?” He handed her the joint.
“Getting stoned.” She took a long drag and then held the smoke as long as she could, relishing the floating feeling growing in her brain. “Oh, were you thinking of a different S word?”
Tommy laughed as he took back the joint. “You tease.”
“I was teasing, not being a tease. There’s a big difference.” She ran a hand up his thigh. “I don’t tease, ever.”
“Good, cause neither do I.” He leaned into her face, his blue eyes boring into hers. He exhaled a tight stream of smoke straight into her mouth and then followed it up with a knee wobbling kiss.
They made out on the bench, not caring who was watching, only pausing long enough to take the occasional drag. Once they’d smoked the whole joint they sucked face for nearly twenty minutes straight.
Eventually they got hungry so they walked down to the In & Out burger. He ran into a couple of friends that gave them a ride to LA Skate to pick up a board for her and some new clothes. Next door was a tattoo/piercing parlor where she got started on her own set of gauges. Ivan, the piercing guy, started her off with a pair of size 16 tapers. They looked like tiny spikes that you’d use to kill a five inch tall vampire, but they were made of stainless steel, not wood. She also got a small tattoo on her other wrist, but instead of another butterfly she got a pot leaf.
Helen invited Tommy into the house when she got home. He was leery of having a run in with Cassidy’s mom, which made her feel kind of guilty. She’d been right in her assessment of him back then, he was an unmotivated stoner who didn’t think further into the future than his next trip to the skatepark, but he was also crazy cute and an awesome kisser. She coaxed him into the house by telling him that her mom had changed. So much, in fact, that he wouldn’t recognize her even if she were standing right in front of him.
He rolled another spliff while she found a better radio station. She still liked classical music, but it wasn’t the kind of music she wanted to get stoned to, so she selected KROQ, an alternative rock radio station. She snuggled up next to Tommy and helped him smoke his weed while they played a few games of Mario Kart. He said that it had been a long time since he’s played Nintendo and then said they should go to his place next time since he had an Xbox. She said that she’d go wherever he wanted. He set down his controller, pushed her backwards on the couch and then climbed on top of her.
She halfway undressed and he was on his way to third base when the knocking started on the front door. They tried to ignore it, hoping the person would go away, but they didn’t.
“This better be fucking important,” Helen said as she pulled on her tank top. She kicked her bra under the couch as she headed to the front door.
“It’s about fucking time,” Penny said when Helen opened the front door. “You ever think about calling a person back? I don’t even rate a text?”
Penny wore a slinky, black, long sleeve dress with slits on both sides of the long skirt running up to her waist. Her face was covered in dark makeup and her head with a floppy wool hat. It looked like she’d gained a couple of cup sizes and there was a pentagram hanging from a chain around her neck. To Helen, she looked like Aubrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s crossed with Morticia from The Addam’s Family.
“I lost my phone.” Helen pushed past Penny, pulling the front door closed behind her, hoping to keep the unannounced visit as short as possible. She wanted to get back to Tommy so they could finish what they’d started. She was insanely curious about what he was packing inside his jeans. The way his cock had felt on her leg when he’d been sucking on her tits made her think that he was way bigger than Ryan. She wouldn’t be certain until she got his jeans off him and could see for herself. The sooner that Penny left the sooner that was going to happen.
“You’ve got nothing to say for yourself? Thanks to you I skipped bible study last night to hang out at an occult book store on Westwood Ave. I spent the first hour first buying books, amulets and crystals and then the rest of the time helping out with a seance in the back room.”
“Sorry.” Helen didn’t know exactly what Cassidy had done to Penny, but she had a feeling it involved Olga matching her up with the dark haired teenager sitting behind wheel of the beat up van currently parked on the street in front of the house. It would explain Penny’s new look and why her tits were twice the size they’d been the last time she’d seen her.
“I’d be more mad at you, but I had so much fun last night. I actually got to speak with a spirit from another realm. I prayed five times a day all my life and not a fucking peep. One seance and I’m talking to actual dead people.”
“No harm, no foul?” Helen said as she pulled a pouch of American Spirit out of her back pocket..
“Oh please. You are so not getting off that easy.”
Helen looked to the front door as she began to roll her cigarette, wanting nothing more than to get back to Tommy, her nipples actually aching for the touch of his lips. “What do you want from me?”
“Answers first.” Penny pointed at the front door. “Was that Tommy Fogle in there? I didn’t think you liked him very much.”
“It’s complicated.” She lit her smoke and then held it out to Penny who waved it away.
Penny gave Helen the once over, as if she’d finally noticed the changes she’d undergone over the last couple of days. “Well, you look nice. You’re very skater chic.”
“Thanks.” She looked down at her outfit, almost all of it she’d picked up at LA Skate. In addition to the tank top she wore a pair of purple Vans and faded cutoffs. “Tommy helped me pick it out.”
“So, was the whole thing about dating brothers just to get me to agree to a match with Jax?”
“I’m sorry about how things turned out with Quinn. Helen got Olga to break up the match.” She thought back to her seduction of Quinn. Finding him had been easy thanks to Olga’s amulet. Getting him to agree to a blow job had been even easier. He’d been leering at her every chance he got since they’d first met on the camping trip at Mt. Baldy. It was just as well that she’d stopped him from being matched with Cassidy. He would have cheated on her with someone else eventually.
“That bitch. Well, the main reason I stopped by was to ask you if you wanted to come see Divine Heresy play at the Underground with Jax and me. You can bring Tommy if you want.”
“I really want some alone time with Tommy.”
“Desiree is going to be there.”
“Yeah, so?” Helen had no idea who Desiree. She’d never heard Cassidy mention that name before.
Penny shrugged. “She wanted me to let you know. Apparently she’s been trying to call you, too. Anyway, the second thing reason I’m here is this; I think you should get Olga to match your mom to my dad. We can be best friend sisters like we always wanted to be.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to do that. Your dad is into some pretty trashy women.”
“So? Your mom’s a total slut. They’re perfect for each other.”
Helen resisted the urge to punch Penny in the tit and instead blew smoke in her face. “Helen is too good for your dad.”
Penny waved away the smoke. “Well, fuck.” She chewed her lip for a moment. “Can I use your bathroom? I really need to pee.”
Helen opened the door. “Go ahead. You know where it is.” She tossed her smoke and then followed Penny inside.
Once Penny was out of sight, Helen leaned over to Tommy and whispered into his ear. “Once she gets back let’s go to your place.” She ran her hand over his crotch. “I really want to see what you’re hiding in here and I don’t want to be interrupted again.”
“Was that Penny?” Tommy looked more curious about the girl who’d just walked by than the one who was rubbing her body against him.
“You know her?” Helen let go of Tommy and sat back on the couch.
“Yeah, we have second period Algebra together.” He cupped his hands in front of his chest. “She get her tits done?”
“Looks like it.” She crossed her arms, not knowing who she was most angry with, Penny for interrupting them, Tommy for being more interested in the other girl’s tits, or Cassidy for robbing her of a couple of cup sizes. “Penny’s a total skank these days.”
The rumbling of the garage door reverberated through the room. Helen figured that it had to be Cassidy. “Fuck. We gotta get out of here!” What was Tommy going to say when he saw two Cassidys?
“Is that your mom?” Tommy looked as scared as Helen felt. “Is she going to freak out on me again?”
Helen was more afraid that it would be Tommy doing the freaking. “Let’s go out the back.” She grabbed his arm and pulled.
“I gotta get my skateboard. It’s by the front door.”
“Hello, angel.” Cassidy strode into the house from the garage, carrying several Gucci shopping bags. Her hair had grown out, hanging down her back in thick, blonde waves. She wore a body hugging scarlet dress that matched her lipstick and showed off her impressive curves. The dress had spaghetti straps, so it also showed off her sleeve tattoos, not that anyone would be looking anywhere but at her tits.
“Holy fuck,” Helen said as she stared at the gorgeous woman her daughter had become. She looked like she was in her mid thirties.
“Woah.” Tommy stared at Cassidy with a mix of awe and lust.
Helen punched him in the arm. “Don’t be gross.”
“Well, hello Tommy. Have you been having a good time with my little girl?”
“Yes he has, MOM.” Helen stepped in front of Tommy. “Do I have you to thank for that?”
Penny entered the room, saw Cassidy, the one who now looked like her own mom, and let out a shriek.
“Are you alright, Penny?” Cassidy sat down and crossed her legs at the thigh showing off her freshly waxed calves and her brand new Jimmy Choo pumps. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m okay, Mrs. Prentice. I didn’t know that you were home and you surprised me.” Penny held her purse against her body like someone might try and steal it at any moment.
“It’s good to see you again.” Cassidy extracted a long white cigarette from her pack using her French tipped nails. “Interesting new look you have going on there. Please don’t tell me that you’ve been changing the way you dress to please a boy.”
Penny shot a glare at Helen. “I felt like I needed a change is all.”
“We missed having you around. Would you like to stay for dinner? I’m making crab cakes. You’re welcome to stay too, Tommy.” She held the cigarette near her face, making no move to light it.
“I can’t stay,” Penny said as she fidgeted with the strap on her purse. “Someone is waiting for me outside.”
“That’s too bad. Does someone have a light?”
Helen rolled her eyes. “I thought you didn’t want us smoking in the house.”
“I don’t think I like your tone, young lady.” Cassidy leaned forward to accept a light from Tommy, making sure that he had an unobstructed view down her dress. “Besides, I believe that it was you who made that rule originally.”
Helen turned to Penny. “You know I’m warming up to your earlier idea.”
“Come here, Penny. I want to get a good look at you. I promise I won’t bite.”
Penny inched closer, her face soon matching the color Cassidy’s dress as she slid her purse behind her back. “I like your tattoo.”
“Thanks.” Cassidy lifted the pentagram charm that was resting between Penny’s breasts. “This is cute.” She exhaled smoke past Penny’s face. “Oh, I’m being rude. Would you like a cigarette?”
Penny scowled. “No and why is everyone trying to get me to smoke all of a sudden?”
“I’m assuming that you’ve been over to Jax’s house by now,” Cassidy said. “How is Desiree?”
“She’s fine.” Penny looked back and forth between Cassidy and Helen, looking more confused by the moment.
Cassidy smiled. “That’s good to hear. Has she asked about Cassidy by any chance?”
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’ve got to go.” Penny rushed to the front door.
Helen watched Penny leave and then turned to Cassidy. “I think we need to have a little mother daughter talk, Helen!”
Cassidy picked up her bags. “I’ll be in my bedroom, Cassidy!”
“I won’t be long.” Helen gave Tommy a quick kiss and then followed Cassidy to her old bedroom.