As the sun hung overhead, Jeff felt the heat getting to him, due mainly in part to his padded attire. He was beginning to get uncomfortably thirsty, as much as the crutch-breast was getting moist with perspiration. Looking around at everyone talking in the front yard, and still knowing very well that his mom wouldn’t let him go home and change, he tried to think of an excuse.
“Hey, mom, uh..... I don’t think that the Fergusons are out here. Can I go find and say hi to them to..... be polite? Especially Tim! Since it’s his birthday?”
Jeff’s mom looked at him as though he had suggested they dig a moat around the property, but relented after Josh woke up, whining. “Oh, okay. I suppose you could. Just, take Jack with you. And tell Gary and Suzanne we said hi! We’re going to mingle.”
Jeff nodded, not caring that he had to drag Jack along with him. As Jeff’s dad put the presents for Tim on the ground and held Josh while Jeff’s mom went over to greet an elderly couple Jeff didn’t recognize, the brothers made their way to the back yard, where the part was being held.
“You’re walking funny”, Jack noted. Jeff wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but at the same time realized making a conspicuous deal out of it wouldn’t help him. “I banged my thigh on my bedpost while getting dressed.” Jack shook his head. “That’s dumb.”
Once again, Jeff refrained from saying anything. If he had to be accompanied by the little brat, letting him think he was “dumb” and “walking funny” was leagues better than the alternative if anybody figuring out his predicament.
As they got to the backyard, Jeff looked around at the vast array of childish decorations set up. Balloons, tables with colored cloths, streamers, a bounce house, and even a performing magician were all situated in the large, open backyard, full of children and adults alike, with a big pool situated at the far end. As far as Jeff could tell, he was the only teenager at the party, excluding Brianna. Who, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen; something Jeff never thought he would ever have been happy about.
“Come on, lets go say hi to the Fergusons. It was your idea”, Jack interjected. Sweat beading neatly down his forehead, Jeff once again came up with an excuse. “How about you go find them, and I’ll go get us some snacks and stuff? Before there’s a line?”
Jack looked at his brother cautiously. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? Why didn’t he want to see the Fergusons even though he brought it up? What was his angle.....
“Jack, if you get them, I’ll get you two things of fruit punch or soda or whatever they have. And I won’t tell mom.” Jack, who was never allowed to drink “more than one cup of sugar water a day”, was intrigued by this offer, and relented, going in search of the birthday boy’s family.
His opening gained, Jeff proceeded to the row of snacks and drinks laid out for the guests, careful to continue walking the way he had been practicing so the breast was kept hidden by the sweatpants-bra cup combination. After getting to the ice cooler, Jeff was ready to drink the ocean itself. If he could without being noticed, he would have milked himself and drank the creamy fluid on the spot. But, having to keep the crotch-breast a secret, he opted for a can of cold cola instead, which he ran over his face before opening and chugging listlessly. Satisfied, but still hot under the clothes he was wearing, Jeff opened another soda and drank it down at a slower, but still fast, rate.