Where We Begin

Chapter 35 - It's A Pretty Fine Morning So Far

Nov 9th, 2002 - Busta

After crawling out onto the roof overhang, a clumsy shimmy down the lattice on the side of the house and a tumble into the shrubs below, I dusted myself off and lifted a "thumbs up" into the air.

Taylor, in her bedroom window, looked relieved that I hadn't broken my neck. She blew me a kiss and waved, vanishing from view. I hurried out to the sidewalk, down to the corner. The first yellow glow of morning was peeking out from behind the mountains in the distance. 

In a matter of minutes, Jake's red convertible pulled up. He didn't look too pleased with me, having obviously rolled out of bed to get here. He was in sweats, had bags under his eyes... he even had a hair out of place, but he artfully smoothed it out as I got in.

"Heeeeey buddy," I greeted him carefully.

"Good morning, Busta," he replied, flatly. 

"You are a lifesaver, seriously. I owe you my first born child for this."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Is there one on the way after last night?"

"Absolutely not, we used a condom."

Jake did a double take, but quickly remembered he was behind the wheel. "What? I was kidding, Taylor said you fell asleep over there."

"Yeah," I replied. "After we had sex."

"Uhh congrats, I guess?" Jake cringed but laughed at the same time. "I'm equally honored and horrified to be a part of this major life event. So, why exactly am I driving your ass home right now?" 

"Taylor's parents were both out of town last night, until about 20 minutes ago, when her dad got home early. I had to go out the window."

He laughed harder. "Wow, talk about a rough morning."

I shrugged. "I'm thinking it's a pretty fine morning so far."

For a minute, Jake just drove, before clearing his throat. "How... uh, how'd it go? I mean that in the most general of ways, though. I don't need any mental images."

"It was supposed to be a surprise, but I kind of figured it out. At least the part about her parents being gone. But yeah, Taylor got candles and had this nightgown thing... oh, and she bought condoms, with Brandy."

"Oh, that must have gone so well," he muttered.

"You know it," I said. "I can't think of a way to sum it up. It was a little scary at first, but then it was... I don't know. Amazing? Surreal? It was pretty fun, too, that's for sure."

Jake nodded, eyes on the road.

"But uhhh, I mean, waiting is awesome too. It's the whole love part that's really cool, sex is just like... a bonus. Or extra credit? Shit, or..." 

"Busta, stop," Jake chuckled. "I don't care that Kiki and I are waiting, but that doesn't mean I can't be interested in hearing about some stuff. Especially since it's you, and I know you aren't going to get all macho about it."

We turned onto my street, just as the sun made an appearance on the horizon.

"Yeah, nothing macho about my story," I thought out loud. "Taylor took control of it all. And I'm not complaining." 

"Taylor taking control? That sounds about right," he joked as we pulled into my driveway. 

"Hey, really, I can't thank..." I began to say, as the garage door suddenly opened. We both froze. There was my mom, looking just as surprised as us.

"You're not upstairs?!" she screeched. 

I looked at Jake, then back at her. "Uh, no."

"Where have you been? Have you been out all night? Ugh, mother of the year, right here," she continued.