Cathy and Jenn 2

Stripped For Florida: Cathy and Jenn 2

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This work is intended for ADULTS ONLY. It may contain depictions of sexual activity involving minors. If you are not of a legal age in your locality to view such material or if such material does not appeal to you, do not read further, and do not save this story.
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Cathy and Jenn

by Willie B Florida, all rights reserved
comments welcome to williebflorida@gmail.com

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Part 2

Jenn woke to sunlight already heating up their tiny bedroom. The smell of bread filled the house. She stretched her limbs and savored last night, suddenly remembering with a pang that it was a dream, but a dream that had felt so real she knew she would remember it her whole life as a more true experience than many more mundane waking moments. She lifted her legs high into the air and then rolled herself off the mattress and onto her feet.

In the kitchen Cathy was wrapping loaves of bread. Her mother would have gotten up in the wee hours, even earlier than summer dawn to start the bread rising and baking. She was in the shower now, singing some old song. She came out, her hair wrapped tall in a towel, another pulled around herself, just over her breasts. She looked happy, faded, and distracted, like a wildflower pressed into an old photo album full of memories.

"I'm making my deliveries, girls. Make sure you send a postcard so I know you arrived safe and sound in Florida."

Jenn looked at Cathy questioningly.

"If you still want to . . . " Cathy said hesitantly.

"Never waste your dreams," her mother said, as matter-of-factly as if she were telling them to finish what was on their plates.

Jenn followed Cathy's eyes to a pile of worn paper money set in the center of the table, weighted down with the nutritional yeast shaker.

"My mom wants to give us bus fare," Cathy explained.

"It takes too long to wait for the Green Tortoise; I don't want you to dither the summer away. Go, fly, have fun!" her mother insisted. "Be sure to write and tell me all about it." She sounded eager, as if she herself were going on the adventure.

"But." Cathy's voice caught in her throat. She tried again, "Maybe you want to come with us?"

"I can't, honey. I've got bread to bake, families to feed. I'm happy here in this big field. It's your adventure, sweet. You and Jenn have the world to explore, and each other." She looked at them both and then came and enveloped the two girls in as big a hug as she could muster with her slight frame. The two naked girls nestled against the damp towel wrapped around her. She kissed each one on the forehead and released them. "Take the Greyhound to St. Augustine. I don't know if she's still there, but her name is Amanda. I knew her a long time ago, but she'll remember who I am."

"Amanda . . . okay," Cathy committed the name to memory. "But, how will we find her?"

"If she's still there, she won't be hard to find." Her voice was so certain that neither girl wanted to disappoint her. No doubt another piece of the past, long gone, Jenn figured.

"Okay, we'll find her," Cathy said with a show of conviction she didn't feel.

"I've got to get dressed. Bunny's coming by so we can do deliveries; we can drop you at the bus station. Get your stuff ready so we won't keep her waiting."

Cathy and Jenn scampered to pack what few belongings they felt essential to an unknown adventure where they weren't planning to wear clothes. Cathy's mother hummed to herself as she got dressed and combed her hair in front of the mirror in the hallway. A sharp toot of a horn was followed by Bunny's large frame filling the front doorway.

"Hey, girls," she greeted them effusively. "I don't think I've seen you in clothes in ever so long. What's the occasion?"

"We're dropping them at the bus, Bunny," Cathy's mom told her. "Girls, help me get these loaves out to the truck."

Bunny's conveyance was a large old panel truck. The back doors opened up on hinges and the bread was stacked on large plastic trays, each fitting neatly over the one below. The two women sat up front and the girls in back. There were no seats and the inside was dim, the only light coming in from a small yellowed plastic skylight on the roof. As the van went into gear the girls held on to one another and the bread trays as they jolted over the farm's rutted roadway. They felt the vehicle pull onto the main road and then it was much smoother, the wheels humming on the pavement. Jenn looked at Cathy in the dim light. One day she was dreaming of Florida; the next they were on their way. She hoped this wasn't a foolhardy adventure, chasing after the imaginary world of some geezer named Willie. No, not Willie's world, she amended her thoughts, but one where two girls could be happy.

It was awkward saying good-bye. The Greyhound bus station was run down and dilapidated. Worn down people sat or slumped against the wall on the sidewalk in front of the locked building. The sun beat down on asphalt unrelieved by a single shade tree. Bunny gave them boisterous words of encouragement, Cathy's mom hugged each of them and reminded them again to send a postcard. Cathy looked in her bag to make sure the roll of money was still there and Jenn looked around at this shabby beginning to a new life.

The two women said good-bye again, Cathy's mom wiped a stray tear from her eye, told Jenn and Cathy how much she loved and admired them and then they were off in the van to make their deliveries. Jenn was pretty sure they made their getaway moments before they all would have started crying in the parking lot.

As it turned out, there was no bus expected for another five hours. Another 17 hours and they were on a platform in Georgia waiting for another bus. And 6 hours after that they pulled in at yet another rest stop.

"This is the Florida Welcome Center," the hefty woman driving the bus announced. "We'll be here for 45 minutes." She put the bus in park, opened the front passenger door and got out.

Jenn and Cathy were tired, bones cramped from standing and sitting and waiting and riding. They were hungry. Although the bus had stopped at various places for meals, the girls were worried about spending their money. The bus fare had taken over half of the cash, and when they got to Florida who knew how they were going to get any more money. Cathy's mom had pulled out the last of the cash she'd saved from selling off her old car. Bunny was her transportation. Cathy -- and then Cathy and Jenn -- had walked up the rutted road to the highway where the old yellow school bus had stopped to pick them up. For most of the school year that road was either frozen, covered in snow, or a slick morass of mud. Jenn figured her school career was over. Nobody had mentioned anything about how long they were going to stay in Florida, but there was also nothing said about how they'd return to Ohio, or if they'd even want to. Sixteen and she was a high school dropout on the road.

"We made it!" Cathy exclaimed, jolting Jenn out of her musings. "Let's find something to eat. I can't keep starving like this."

Jenn nodded. They exited the bus and crossed the parking lot to the large glass-fronted building. They couldn't help staring all around as if trying to suck in everything about Florida. Jenn laughed, "We're barely across the state line and we're gaping like two fish!"

Cathy pointed, "Look!"

Five times bigger than life, lit up and shining through the panes of glass was a full-wall photo of golden-hued, pink-skinned twins. It was quite clear they were naked. Above it in huge letters read, "Stripped For Florida." The girls pushed their way through the glass doors and stood staring at the mural.

"Hello girls, welcome to Florida," sang out a cheery voice. Bringing their gaze lower they found themselves eye to eye with a perky Stripped For Florida sales associate. "Is this your first visit?" she inquired.

They both nodded.

"Restaurant is to your left; restrooms, information center and convenience store to your right."

"Thank you," Jenn remembered to be polite. "Um, is this where you can get naked?"

"Yes, ma'am," the young woman answered. "Your parent or guardian can purchase a Stripped For Florida microchip. Once it is placed behind your left ear you can get yourself as naked as can be. In fact, you'll be required to strip before passing through the sensors mounted over any of these doorways, and to stay stripped until you leave the state. Of course, Florida residents stay stripped until age 21."

Jenn tried to process this onslaught of information.

Cathy asked, "So, if we wanted to get stripped, how much would we have to pay?"

"One SFF chip is $150.00 and is valid for 70 days. We accept cash, debit or credit."

"150 dollars?" Jenn asked incredulously.

"Yes, ma'am. For residents it is only $45.00, paid annually."

They didn't have $300.00. If they paid the resident rate, and both got stripped, they'd have about $20.00 left.

"Can we pay the resident rate," Cathy asked. "We are moving to Florida."

"If your parent or guardian can show documentation then, yes, we can strip you for the Florida rate. We'll need something like automobile registration or property tax homestead exemption. If your parents are around I can explain it all to them."

"Um, okay. They're busy at the moment," Cathy demurred, suddenly nervous about advertising that the two of them were traveling alone.

"That's fine, I'm here all day." The young woman let out a high-pitched peal of laughter. "You two enjoy and I hope you can get stripped soon; you seem really eager about it."

"We are," Jenn smiled. They waved at the sales rep and walked toward the restaurant, each harboring the realization that getting naked in Florida wasn't going to be easy.

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(The End)