Tales of the Ragoon, Kate's Movie Star (11 page)

In her wildest fantasies, Kate had never
imagined herself in a thong. Uneasily, she imagined it now. She
hesitated, and although she knew that she had locked her door, she
checked it again to make sure. Then she stripped bare, and she put
on the thong. She butt was too big, and she would need a trim, she
realized as she looked at herself in the mirror. Something else
that she had never considered doing.

You keep saying that you’re not a kid
anymore, Kate, she said to herself. It’s time to prove it. She
found her clippers and her razor.

Runyon was at the edge of sleep when he heard
the creak of the door.

He sat up, and heard Kate whisper,
“Runyon?”

“Kate?”

He heard Kate creep carefully down the
steps.

“Lights,” Runyon ordered, and the overhead
LED lights illuminated.

Kate was wearing the coat that she used when
her family took a trip over to Yosemite National Forest. It fell
down below her knees. She came down the stairs and stood a few
paces from his bed.

Runyon rubbed his eyes and yawned. “What is
it, Kate?” he asked.

Kate took a deep breath and dropped the coat.
She waited for his reaction. Runyon froze, took a deep breath of
his own and then slowly let it out. His gaze traveled from her head
to her bare toes and then up again. His irises darkened as his eyes
met hers.

“Kate,” he expelled, his voice was thick and
husky.

She smiled nervously and did a slow
pirouette.

“Kate,” he said again with a sigh.

“Um…thanks for the swimsuit, Runyon,” she
said. “I thought that you might like to see it.” She gave a little
wiggle.

He groaned. “Sweet revenge, huh, Kate?” he
asked. “I hope that your Dad is asleep.”

“He is.” When Runyon took a step toward her,
she put up a hand. “Jail bait, remember?”

He gave another groan. “Then don’t come any
closer, Baby,” he warned her. She laughed. He gave a rueful
snort.

Then Runyon leaned over, reached under the
bed, and withdrew still another colorfully wrapped box.

“I was going to wait a few days and then give
this to you, but I guess that now is the time.”

“What’s this?” she asked as she eagerly
grasped the box.

“Open it,” he replied.

Kate unwrapped the package and withdrew the
garments. She held them up. It was another swimsuit. This one was a
two piece with a sexy bright pink top and a somewhat modest
bottom.

“All right!” exclaimed Kate. “This is more
like it. My Dad will complain, but he’ll let me wear it.”

“Hide the thong. Please,” requested
Runyon.

Kate looked down at herself and then at her
new bathing suit. She gave Runyon a mischievous look.

“Might as well try it on,” she said.

She reached behind her back, and she untied
the top. She let it slip to the ground.

“Kate,” grumbled Runyon and turned his
back.

A minute later, Kate announced, “Okay, you
can look now.”

Runyon turned around and stared longingly.
This suit was more modest, but it still did nothing to dampen the
hormones suddenly raging through his body.

Kate liked seeing that look on Runyon’s face.
She did not respect girls who teased, and besides that she did not
consider herself attractive enough to ever be considered a tease,
but at that moment she was happy with the knowledge that he was
physically attracted to her. Her own hormones were alert and ready,
but deeper inside was a contented feeling. He might be just a
pretend boyfriend, but Runyon Silverstar really liked Kate Garcia.
She knew it, and she was satisfied. She retrieved her coat and the
thong.

“Good night, Runyon,” she said as she waved
good bye from the stairs.

“Good night, Katey,” he replied softly as she
shut the door.

School began again after the holidays. Kate
was busy with homework. Runyon was busy with the talent show class.
The principal of the high school was much more comfortable with his
involvement now since, ‘the two of them had shown such excellent
discretion’ concerning their relationship.

The only fly in the pudding happened when
Runyon found an unsigned note in his briefcase warning him that
‘Kate is a spy for the Ragoon.” The note went on to assure him that
there were several other girls of upstanding character who would be
happy to help him relax during his taxing sojourn in Livingston.
When Runyon suggested that Kate star in a school play about Mata
Hari, his pretend girl friend smacked the side of his head with a
not so pretend newspaper.

“You are a violent young lady,” complained
Runyon as he rubbed his head.

“I have three brothers,” she replied.

Runyon was contacting the Ragoon at Merced
about the show again, but he refused to tell Kate why. He did say
that Luke was fitting in well with the production, and that Ashley
and Britney were happy to drive him home after the afternoon class
was finished. Kate refused to accept that she was a little jealous
of the two girls, especially well stacked Britney, as that would
have meant that she might have to wait for Runyon instead of
driving herself home.

She wanted to get home as fast as possible to
check on Juan and Pete. She was positive that they were cutting
school more that they usually did, and this disturbed her. She was
reluctant to worry her father about the two boys. Carlos was
feeling better, but he was still not as healthy as he used to be.
She didn’t want to have anything else disturbing him.

Finally, one afternoon, she asked Runyon to
talk to Juan and Pete.

“Aw, Kate, that is not a good idea,”
complained Runyon.

“Come on. They listen to you,” insisted
Kate.

“They won’t after this,” predicted Runyon
darkly.

Runyon knocked on their door and entered upon
their invitation. As usual, the two boys were engaged in a
multi-player computer game. Their wrists, arms and legs were in
frantic motion, and their gazes were locked to the large screen
fastened to their wall.

“Hey,” began Runyon.

“Sec,” replied Juan. He swept his finger
before the screen and destroyed yet another set of imperial
fighters.

“Your sister wanted me to talk to you,” said
Runyon.

Pete gave the top of his head a pat and the
screen froze. He turned to Runyon. Juan gave a cry of dismay.

“What about?” Pete asked.

“Kate says that you guys have been cutting
school. Plus, you’re not turning in your homework. The school
called.”

“Big turds,” sneered Juan. “What’s the big
deal about school? Why do we need an education? So we can grow up
and become minions of the Ragoon?”

“’Minions of the Ragoon,’ repeated Runyon
thoughtfully. “That’s not bad. Anyway, I told Kate that I would
talk to you. So, here I am.”

Juan looked at Pete. Pete looked at Juan.
Pete gave his head another pat, their game sprang to life, and the
two boys turned back to their screen.

“Been nice talking to you,” said Runyon.
There was no response.

Runyon reported back to Kate. He assured her
that the boys had carefully listened to him. Another week went by.
Kate got another call from the school.

“You’ve got to be firmer with them,” she
insisted.

Runyon sighed and tried again.

“You guys have to go to school,” he said.
“And you have to turn in your homework.”

“Or what?” asked Pete as he commanded his
virtual population to build another tower.

“Or what?” Runyon asked Kate.

“Well, tell them that I’m not going to buy
any snacks,” replied Kate.

“No snacks? Aw, come on, Kate,” replied
Runyon appalled at the idea.

“Then you think of something.”

Runyon thought about it. Another week went
by. An idea occurred to him.

“Look, guys, if you cut class again I’m going
to talk to the Ragoon and have your internet and television
disconnected.”

If Runyon thought that his threat would
provoke a reaction he was correct. The Garcia boys were furious at
him.

“Screw you, Silverstar,” yelled Juan. “This
ain’t your house. You’re just mooching.” Pete echoed his brothers
sentiments if only in a slightly lower tone of voice.

“Yeah, well, no class, no internet,” replied
Runyon just as angrily.

“The hell with it then,” rejoined Juan.

He smacked the top of his head so hard that
the television misinterpreted his motion and switched to video
phone mode. Pete turned off the TV, and the boys stomped out of the
house.

To Kate’s dismay, the two boys missed the
next three days of school. This resulted in a call from the school
and a warning about truancy. Kate begged her brothers to return to
school. Sullenly, they did so, but this did not mean that they were
doing their homework. The school sent notes home warning that the
two boys were in danger of failing a grade.

Relations between the boys and Runyon were at
an all time low. Even Pete, who had a severe case of hero worship,
was disillusioned with the movie star. Matt understood Kate’s
point, but he had his own life, and he could easily escape to his
room behind the garage. Carlos was aware that something was wrong
but, to their credit, all of the involved parties strove to keep
him unaware of the problem so that it did not affect his
health.

Runyon and Kate talked about the situation on
Valentine’s Day when they had dinner at the hotel.

“This is all my fault,” moaned Kate. “I
should never have asked you to talk to them. This was my problem,
and I sloughed it off on you. I’m really sorry.”

“I should have been more diplomatic,” replied
Runyon moodily. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so I never
learned how to deal with family.” Runyon genuinely missed the
camaraderie that had existed between the boys and him.

“But you get along with Luke really well,”
observed Kate.

“Yeah, that’s true. But if he gets annoyed at
me, he can walk away. Your brothers are stuck with me. At least
until I get off probation in July.”

Kate felt a pang in her heart when Runyon
spoke about leaving. She wondered if he would remember her. He was
working every afternoon on the talent show, and she saw a lot less
of him in the afternoons. Sometimes, she wished that she had never
mentioned the show to him.

Relations between Runyon and Kate’s brothers
stayed tense for another two weeks. But the three young males were
growing tired of the situation. Something needed to be done. On an
impulse and a pretense, Runyon called Kurt Santini. While they
spoke, Runyon casually mentioned the dilemma. Kurt listened, and
then he had a suggestion.

After the call ended, Runyon thought about
Kurt’s idea. He wasn’t sure that it was a great idea, and his pride
almost caused him to reject it, but finally he went to talk to the
boys.

He knocked on their door and was told to
enter. The boys were startled to see that it was Runyon. They had
assumed that the knock was from Kate or Matt.

“What do you want?” asked Juan gruffly,
frowning at the intrusion.

“I have something to say to you,” replied
Runyon.

“What?” demanded Pete.

“I want to apologize for this thing that’s
happened to us,” began Runyon. “It’s true that Kate asked me to
talk to you about school, but I never should have threatened you.
You were right. This is your home, and I should have respected
that, no matter what Kate wanted me to do.”

The two boys looked at one another. Juan
stubbornly looked away, but Pete said, “We know that Kate wants us
to go to school, but school sucks. We’re just going to end up
helping our Dad build houses anyway. We don’t need to read that
Shakespeare junk for that. Who cares?”

“You never can tell,” replied Runyon. “You
might change your mind. You might end up becoming a famous movie
star like me.”

Pete laughed at the joke and even Juan smiled
faintly.

“I talked to my…former Step-Dad and he told
me that instead of using a stick, I should have tried using a
carrot,” said Runyon.

“A carrot?” queried Pete skeptically. “I
don’t even like carrots.”

“He meant a reward,” explained Runyon
patiently. “Like, if you go to school and turn in your homework and
pass all your classes, then you can come and stay with me in
Beverly Hills after I get off probation, and I’ll get you three day
passes to Disney Universal.”

Pete’s eyes brightened, and Juan looked
up.

“Really?” asked Pete. “Three day passes to
Disney Universal? That would be super cool, Juan.”

“Yeah, that would be kind of cool,” stated
Juan cautiously. “But Disney Universal is expensive even with free
passes. Dad’s kind of strapped right now with the new project.”

Runyon and Juan looked at one another. Runyon
understood. This was a negotiation.

“How about three day passes and two hundred
dollars to spend?” offered Runyon.

“Two hundred a day?” asked Juan.

“Two hundred period,” replied Runyon.

“Do you have a pool?” asked Pete.

“Yeah, and it’s heated and lit, so you can
swim at night,” replied Runyon.

“Wow, that would be cool,” blurted Pete.
“That’s a good deal, Juan.”

Juan looked at Pete. After years of practice,
he could read the plea in his younger brother’s eyes. They said,
‘I’m tired of being angry at Runyon. I want us to be friends
again.’

Juan looked up at Runyon. “I’m pretty far
behind,” he said.

“Just do your best,” replied Runyon.

Juan nodded. “Okay.”

“Great!” pronounced Pete. He held out his
hand. “It’s a deal, Silverstar.”

Runyon smiled, and he shook Pete’s hand.
“It’s a deal.”

He held out his hand to Juan. Juan looked
into Runyon’s eyes as he shook Runyon’s hand. Silently they
accepted each others apology.

“Whew, I glad that’s over,” responded Kate
when Runyon reported back. “”You’re not only pretty, you’re smart.
For a movie star, I mean.”