Box Jewelry

They go into a store here and there, but they aren't the kind of shops Katelyn had in mind when she suggested they take this walk. The stores her mother likes to visit are art galleries and stores with pricy exotic furnishings. Her mother has been going to these places for years, but never once has she bought anything.

Sandwiched between one of the stuffy furniture stores and an art gallery, is the shop where Mark bought Katelyn's new earrings. As they stroll by Katelyn stops and looks in the window.

"Hey, Mom... Have you seen the jewelry in this place?" She teasingly asks, winking at her father.

"It's very pretty Katelyn." Laura flatly answers, almost ignoring her daughter as she keeps moving towards the next art gallery.

"Don't you think this one is pretty?" Katelyn beacons her mother back for a second look. "Wouldn't you do about anything to have something like this?"

Laura comes back and peers into the window to get a better look at what her daughter is talking about. "Sure I guess it's pretty. But it's not worth what's being asked. That's way too much to put out jewelry."

"So what's it worth? What would you put out for it mom?" Katelyn asks, flashing her devilish grin towards her father.

"I don't know. I've always found the high price of fancy jewelry just a little hard to swallow." Laura answers her daughter in all seriousness.

"I guess it's all about taste, huh mom." Katelyn's grin turns to a big teasing smile. "But I can see when it's a lot... if it's way too much... It could be a bit hard to swallow."

"I think your mom is trying to say she just isn't into fancy jewelry." Marc chimes in trying to derail where Katelyn seems to be taking the conversation. "Let's go see what's up ahead."

Mark is relieved when they move away from the storefront and Katelyn stops taunting her mother about jewelry. Mark knew the joke about sucking cock for jewelry. He knew what his daughter was getting at. All he could imagine is his little girl accidentally blurting out that she had sucked his cock for a pair of earrings.

On top of that, Mark wasn't all that sure his wife wasn't starting to figure out something was going on between him and Katelyn. She had been acting extra friendly towards him all day. Standing in front of that store and letting Katelyn taunt her mother about jewelry was just pushing their luck.

They walk a few more blocks and find themselves in front of Beach Benders. Katelyn can hear the band playing, and immediately recognizes the sounds of Dana and Helical Gear. Both sides of the street are lined with motorcycles, once again skillfully parked, all leaning left as if part of some master plan. Mark stops for a moment as he admires the shiny chrome, paint, and leather on the bikes.

"Forget it Mark, you aren't getting a motorcycle." Laura says as she tugs Mark away. "Those things are for uneducated wild men and hooligans."

"So is it the motorcycle you are opposed to or the lifestyle it represents?" Mark asks in a tone that tells Laura he would buy one anyway if he wanted.

"It's both Mark. Those things are dangerous and we've never associates with those kind of people. I just don't see the draw in either one."

Then Laura surprises everyone. She guides Mark into the doorway of Beach Benders, knowing full well the place will be packed with the very uneducated hooligans she was just referring to. Katelyn timidly follows, hiding behind her parents like a shy toddler. She knows she isn't supposed to be there, and really doesn't want another confrontation with the doorman. She is afraid that the same burly doorman will be there, and she is sure he will cause her trouble.

Hide as she might, she sees the same doorman from the other night peer around her parents and look right at her. Then he just looks away as if he had never seen her before in his life. After that Katelyn hears the doorman tell her parents that the club is filled to capacity, and that he can't let them in until someone leaves. Without asking what Mark and Katelyn want to do, Laura just decides they aren't waiting and walks away with Mark in tow.

Katelyn doesn't follow her parents. Instead she stands in the doorway, up high on her toes, trying to be as tall as she can, taking a good look inside the club. She sees the three teens that got turned away at the door the other night. They are sitting at the reserved table drinking sodas. Dana is on stage belting out that same sultry tune that seemed to tickle Katelyn's loins the other night, and it's doing it to her again.

Dana is at the part of her show where her sensual dancing takes her one by one to each band member as they sing in harmony. Katelyn's dream flashes through her head, and for a moment she imagines it is her up on stage instead of Dana. Then she once again imagines herself standing naked in front of her father. In her dream she was embarrassed, but now that she has shown her body to her father she doesn't feel ashamed by her thoughts. This time she rather likes it.

Now her thoughts shift back to Dana who is now dancing in front of the lead guitarist. The very man who became Katelyn's father in her dream. Katelyn thinks the guitarist could actually be Dana's father. The two definitely have a resemblance. Whatever their relationship is, the way she looks at him while she dances convinces Katelyn that Dana is having sex with him.

Then Katelyn just stands there. Mesmerized by the sensuality of the song. Knowing what it is like. Knowing how lucky Dana is to be having sex with her father... Suddenly, Katelyn's thoughts are interrupted as her mother tugs at her arm, telling her that they are leaving. It's time to go back to the beach house.

Later that night Katelyn is alone in her room. It's the last night she will ever be at the beach house. They are leaving to go back home the next morning, and an offer has been made on their timeshare. As she sits, she once again gazes into the mirror. She pulls her new earrings from their box and carefully hangs them from her ears. Then she tilts her head side to side, posing in them, hardly believing how something so small could make her look so different. So grown up.

To Katelyn these aren't just earrings. They are symbol. They will always represent an important first-time event in Katelyn's life. With these earrings and her father's love, the childish ways of her youth are clearly in her past. In a few short weeks she will be off to college, and with the little time that remains before she leaves, there is one more thing she has to do. That one thing is to get some more of this adult looking jewelry, and Katelyn knows exactly how to get it.