Beth couldn't remember the last time she had seen her son, Marcus, so excited. Or so well dressed. His normal outfit was a pair of old gym shorts and a t-shirt. Today he wore well-pressed chinos and a long-sleeve blue shirt.
Beth was dressed up, too, in a pretty knee-length dress with short sleeves. It was late Sunday morning, and one might have thought she and Marcus were getting ready to go to church. They were due to go out in a few minutes, but not to church.
Beth and her son were going to her first meeting of the MS Club.
It was a mystery to Beth, but it sounded nice. Marcus had made some friends on the Internet, where he spent a ton of his time competing in multiplayer games. They had invited him to join their club, and evidently, the young men's moms were invited to the club meeting, too. Beth was happy. For a long time, it seemed like Marcus had been glued to his computer screen. It was nice to see him meet people and be social.
Beth was pleased for the chance for herself to get out, too. She had been a widow for several years and was often lonely. She could spend a couple days at a time during which her only company was Marcus, who had just graduated from college but still lived with her in her house. It would be pleasant to meet other women her own age.
Beth's husband had died of cancer a few years before, leaving her to care for her only son, Marcus. She had tried dating, a little, since her husband's death, but it had not worked out, and Beth spent most of her nights alone.
"Time to go, Mom!" Marcus said.
"I'm ready," she replied.
Marcus politely let Beth walk ahead of him to the car in the garage. He even opened the door for her, to her surprise. She wondered at his newfound sense of etiquette. It almost seemed rehearsed. She settled into her seat, and Marcus got on the other side behind the driver's wheel. He started the ignition.
"I'm so happy you've made friends. From everything you've told me they sound like nice young men."
"Oh yeah," he said. "They're great guys. You'll like them. And you'll like their moms, too. I've met some of them."
"Well, I look forward to it, too," Beth said, beaming. "A little social intercourse is good for a person."
Marcus laughed for some reason.
"I'm glad you feel that way, Mom!"
After a 15-minute drive, Marcus pulled the car into the driveway of a large Tudor-style house, in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city. Beth was impressed. Her own house, the payments for which she kept up with her income as a nurse, was modest by comparison. Marcus's new friend's parents must have been wealthy.
Marcus rang the doorbell, and moments later he and Beth were greeted by a beautiful, perfectly groomed Latina woman who flashed a pearly-white smile at them. Beth guessed she was about the same age as she was--mid-40s, but she was dressed more glamorously and more provocatively. She wore a tight-fitting blue minidress that showcased her ample cleavage and a long pearl necklace that dipped down into the shadow of her bosom.
"I'm Lorena," she said. "Hi, Marcus. You must be Beth! Come on in."
Inside the house, apparently waiting for them, were sixteen people: eight young men, all of whom appeared to be in their early to mid-20s, and eight women, whose ages appeared to range from the mid-40s to the mid-50s. Beth was surprised at the attractiveness of the club's members, and at the sexiness of the women's attire. She felt dowdy by comparison. It would have been intimidating had not the women been so uniformly friendly to her.
The men mostly milled about the living room, while the women gathered around a large granite-covered island in Lorena's spacious, immaculate kitchen. A basket wrapped in crepe paper stood at one end of the island.
Beth was struck by the welcome she received. The women gave most of their attention to her, or to another woman who introduced herself as Marilyn. Marilyn was dressed the sexiest of all of them, in a very short wraparound skirt and a tight camisole top. She had one hand on the basket. She seemed nervous, as though she were anticipating something.
Lorena ended the milling about by tapping a demitasse spoon on a champagne glass. The young men filtered into the kitchen through two doorways until the entire assembly was gathered loosely around the kitchen island. One of the young men passed out half-filled champagne glasses to everyone present.
"It's time, everyone!" Lorena said. "First, I want everyone to welcome Beth, who is new, and whom we hope to get to know a lot better. Beth and Marcus, we look forward to you joining our club. But that comes later. Today, we turn our attention to Marilyn, and her son Russell. The initiation is today. I have no doubt it will go well, and Marilyn and Russell will become formal members of the MS Club! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone cried in unison.
Initiation? Beth couldn't recall Marcus saying anything about an initiation. She was puzzled. The mystery deepened.
"Time to open the gift basket, Marilyn!"
Marilyn blushed and gently removed the crepe paper. She took a series of items from the basket, and she held each one up to applause and laughter from everyone in the group. Beth saw no rhyme or reason to the gifts, which included, among other things, breath-freshening mints, a spray bottle of stain remover, and knee pads. It was, evidently, a joke that everyone was in on but Beth.
She leaned over to Marcus, who stood next to her and whispered.
"Marcus, what's this about?" she asked.
"It's just an inside joke, Mom," he whispered back. "You'll see later."
Beth followed the events with curiosity. After the gift unwrapping was done, Russell, a skinny lad who looked about Marcus's age, took his mother by the hand and led her out of the room. The other young men, including Marcus, followed them, to another part of the house, while all the other women remained in the kitchen.
Lorena led the remaining women to an adjacent, spacious dining room, on which lay an extravagant spread of cheese, crackers, fruits, pastries, champagne, and bottles and bottles of wine.
Beth wondered where Marilyn and the men had gone, but she had no time to think about it further because the women around her kept her busy with chatting and drinking champagne. They seemed eager to see her get her fill. Soon her head buzzed. She didn't worry about being drunk because Marcus was driving.
"Beth," Lorena spoke up, at last, silencing the others, "I suppose you have some questions. You must be curious about our club."
"Y... yes," Beth stammered, realizing the pleasant buzz from the champagne had spread from her head and induced a slight slur in her words. "I do. But you've been so nice I didn't want to be pushy about asking."
"You don't need to worry about that at all," Lorena said, smiling, and all the other women around her smiled and laughed as well. An elegant, perfectly coiffed woman named Rita put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"We've all been here. You get a little nervous about it at first, but we have no doubt you'll fit right in."
Beth was puzzled.
"Beth," Lorena explained, "MS" stands for "Mom-Son." As you can tell, our club is a small group consisting of young men and their mothers. We're highly selective, and very few moms and sons get as far as this initial meeting. So far, all that have attended have ended up joining, I'm pleased to say, and so far, none have regretted it. You have probably noticed that the men are in their 20s, while the women are in their 40s and 50s."
