I've had this story idea sitting around for literally years, waiting for me to start writing again. The pandemic gave me the time so I got to work and am finally ready to publish. Simultaneously I was working with Sam of Sams_Island (another imprint of the Island Chain) on a Corona story that it published. I decided to check out the Similar Stories to "Corona Exposure" and came upon "The Journey" by rgjohn. Imagine my surprise when I started reading "The Journey" only to find it featured a married couple named Tim and Janice; the same names as the couple in "Knockout"! Coincidence? As I read further into "Journey" I realized I have read it before sometime in the long past. A great story, written well and perhaps it stuck in my subconscious? Well, I've decided to stick with Tim and Janice; you can consider it an homage to rgjohn.
Small_Island
An imprint of Island Chain Publishing
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KNOCKOUT
Pick a Spot
As Tim pulled into his driveway, he saw their lawn boy, Jerome, packing up his gear, having just finished with their yard.
'Lawn boy?!' Tim laughed to himself. 'Need to start calling him, Yard Man.' He remembered the scrawny kid who'd shown up one summer day offering to do their yard work. He'd looked so young that Tim had thought he was 11 or 12, only to find out he was close to 14 and would be starting high school in the fall. Now Jerome was 18 and just weeks away from graduating. Over those four years he'd sprouted a good eight inches and now stood 5' 11", as tall as Tim. He'd also gotten into football and weightlifting and weighed a solid 175. He was naturally lanky and had had trouble putting on even that much weight, but it was good enough to be a 2-way starter at his small school, playing wide receiver on offense and cornerback on the D.
He was also a smart, articulate kid, with a great sense of humor and had become much closer to the Stanleys than just the teen who cut their grass. They'd had him and his parents over for barbecues and holiday parties and had been regular attendees at Crowley High football games during Jerome's Junior and Senior seasons.
So, it was with a happy smile that he greeted the young man after parking his car. "Jerome, really glad I caught you," he said.
"Hey, Mr. Stanley," the teen answered. "What's up?"
"Man, I told you to drop that Mr. Stanley stuff when you turned 18."
"My mom says, 'You never outgrow good manners'," the boy said, smiling.
"That may be true, but I'm only ten years older than you. And if you don't care about making me feel older than I am, I'd hope you'd think about Janice. I see her checking herself for gray hairs every time you call her Mrs. Stanley."
Jerome laughed and said, "All right, I'll try; for Mrs. Stanley's, I mean, Janice's sake."
"Speaking of Janice," Tim said, looking around. "Have you seen her recently?"
"You just missed her by five minutes," Jerome answered. "But she said she was only walking down to Thompson's for something she needed for dinner, so she should be back soon."
"That's okay, I wanted to talk to you alone," replied Tim in a conspiratorial tone. "I need your help with something."
"Well," Jerome half-laughed, taking on a deep, old codger voice. "It's always nice when you young people remember and respect your elders' experience."
"Actually, it's the other way around," Tim answered with a laugh of his own. "This is an old guy needing some young advice. You see, our wedding anniversary is coming up and I have an idea I think Janice will really like; I want to take her dancing."
"So, what's the problem?" asked Jerome. "You guys dance pretty good. Hell, kids at school are still talking about how I blew their minds when I got out there and two-stepped like a cowboy at the spring dance; a dance you guys taught me."
"Well, that's the thing," said Tim. "I can do a fair two-step and even hold my own with pop hits, but I have something else in mind. You remember that
iPod
playlist you put together for Janice's birthday?"
"Sure, that was no big deal," Jerome said.
"Oh yes it was," Tim replied. "She loves it. That's what she listens to when she works out now, and Hell, I swear I've seen her dancing to it even when she's gardening." Jerome laughed.
"I shit you not," said Tim. "Down on her knees, pulling up weeds from the vegetable bed, and rockin' side to side in rhythm to one of the tracks you gave her."
On the outside, Jerome laughed again, but inside he twitched with a mental image: Mrs. Stanley in those Daisy Duke cutoffs she wore while gardening, down on her knees, with her fine, fine ass swinging side to side.
"I just know she'd love to go out dancing at a club where those songs are played," continued Tim. "But I don't know where those clubs are. I'm hoping you do."
Jerome shook himself out of his reverie. "Well, to be honest, I took a lot of that playlist straight from the DJ at 'The Bounce,' it's the hottest club in the city. I did weave in some extra Old School and Motown, 'cause I know Mrs...er, Janice, likes that, but most of it was stuff I heard at 'The Bounce.'"
"Oh," he added hurriedly. "Please keep that to yourself okay? I really don't want to have to explain to my folks about sneaking into a 21-and-over dance club."