JC: Ed Biggers
Part 3: Accretion
Chapter 1
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Infant, toddler, child, adolescent, adult, and geriatric reflect the 
changes in the physical body over the course of a full lifetime. 
More important than changes in the body, are the different roles a 
person plays in the theatre of life. A small sample of roles can a 
person can hold includes friend, employee, boss, lover, spouse, 
leader, follower, parent, grandparent, consumer, producer, and 
provider. A life isn't being lived unless a huge number of roles are 
being played.

As the number of roles taken by a person in the course of a day 
increases, it is regretful how we tend to forget a role or two. A 
woman that is a cook, mother, maid, wife, chauffeur, laundress, 
PTA member, employee, lover, companion, and supporter can 
easily forget to be lover, companion, and supporter to her husband. 
The man that is a father, gardener, employee, provider, handyman, 
husband, lover, companion, and supporter can easily forget to be 
lover, companion, and supporter to his wife. 

The darkest hours of the night, when all are asleep and the house is 
quiet, is when a person is haunted by the roles forgotten in the 
course of the day. Why didn't we make love today? Why didn't I 
complement her on the promotion? How was it that we didn't have 
the time to walk on the beach together? When did she stop 
supporting me? Sleep is disturbed by such questions and the body 
wakes as tired as when it lay down to rest. 

The importance of roles can change slowly over the course of time. 
Meaningful roles can become displaced by more mundane roles. 
When did vacuuming the carpet become more important than 
fucking on the floor?  When did being a good employee working 
overtime for a miniscule raise become more important than 
supporting the child at the baseball game? When did doing this 
thing become more important than doing that thing?

It is only after the consequences of having relegated those 
meaningful roles to the background are reaped that it becomes 
obvious that one has screwed up their life. The child runs away 
from home, the spouse has an affair, and the house becomes a dry 
sterile environment that kills the spirit. Loneliness becomes the 
watchword of the day. Men and women, in the throes of 
depression, cry to heaven, "Oh Lord, let me be loved."

Infant, toddler, child, youth, adolescent, adult, and elder. Looking 
back to previous stages of our physical growth, we think of how 
much better things were back then. They weren't, it was just that 
we didn't see the true consequences of our actions at the time. We 
didn't recognize the missed opportunities until long after they 
passed. 

Upon stepping out of the auditorium, Ed was greeted by hearty 
cheers from his family, friends, staff, and classmates. The crowd 
shouted, "Congratulations, Dr. Ed Biggers."

Smiling broadly, Ed replied, "Thank you. I appreciate the help that 
each and everyone of you provided me."

Beth and Kelly grabbed him, one to an arm, while Ling stood 
behind, pushing him down the hall to a double size classroom. 
Around the room were several tables filled with food created by 
Marguerite. One table was filled with presents, brought by 
everyone in attendance. Ed looked around and saw the banner 
taped against the wall. In very large block letters it said, 
"CONGRATULATIONS DR. ED BIGGERS."

This had been a surprise for him. It was nice to know that everyone 
was more confident in him than he had been. For the past three 
hours, he had sweated and paced nervously thinking thoughts of 
everything that could go wrong. The presentation and defense of 
his dissertation had gone well. In fact, it so easy and over so fast 
that he could hardly believe it. The questions that he had been 
asked were much simpler than he expected. The end had been anti-
climatic; a simple good job from the committee members.

Having been through this process himself, John knew what Ed had 
felt before and after. He said, "See, you were worried for nothing."

Ed replied, "I guess so. It went pretty smoothly."

"It always does when you know your stuff," said John. 

A very impressed Shirley came over to him. Afraid to kiss him, she 
hugged him as she said, "Wow, I remember when you headed off 
to college. I didn't believe that you would make it this far, but you 
did it. I'm so proud of you."

A line had formed behind Shirley as others came over to say 
something to him personally. Sherry came up to him and kissed 
him with a passion that curled his toes. She said, "I can't believe 
the bully turned to a scholar. The whole town is proud of you."

His old neighbor, Maria kissed him on the cheek. Smiling at him 
shyly, she said, "You've become the man I always thought you 
could be."

Her wife, Rosa, grabbed Ed and hugged him tightly. Tears rolled 
down her cheeks in happiness as she said, "Congratulations, Ed."

Richard Green came over and said, "Great going, cowboy!"

Seeing Richard and Ed together, John Green came over and said, 
"Hey, I didn't know that you knew each other."

Surprised to see his cousin, Richard said, "Hey, John. How's my 
favorite cousin?"

"Just fine," replied John. There had been a time when the two men 
didn't get along at all. That was back when Richard was a loud, 
abusive, and crude drunk. Past differences had become forgotten 
by the time that Richard married Linda. John's daughter, Kim, 
came running over and threw her arms around Richard in a 
friendly hug. She asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to congratulate Ed on going from cowboy Ed to Dr. 
Biggers," replied Richard.

Distracted by the presence of Richard, John and Kim Green 
congratulated Ed and went off with the cousin. When Grace 
arrived, she joined them as they discussed how each of them knew 
Ed. Ed had no idea that Richard was related to John, although the 
common last name should have clued him in. 

Jim, Sherry's husband and their lawyer, came over to congratulate 
Ed. Winking, he said, "You're now a doctor. Folks will have to 
start calling you Doc Biggers."

Laughing at the mental image that Doc Biggers invoked, Ed 
replied, "That sounds like the name of a sex toy company."

In response to the joke, Jim and Sherry burst out laughing. With a 
saucy wiggle of her hip, Sherry said, "I'll just have to try that Doc 
Biggers Sex Toy."

Ed blushed when a half dozen women in the room piped up, "Me 
too."

With a broad smile that showed her white teeth, Cathy came over 
and put an arm around Jim and Sherry. Ever since Sarah, the 
granddaughter of William Redman, had greeted Jim at the door, 
Cathy had taken every opportunity to tease her former boss. 
Turning to Sherry, she asked, "So tell me, what did Jim say when 
he came home after Sarah led him around the house naked?"

While Jim blushed at the reminder, Sherry giggled and said, "If I 
remember correctly, it was something to the effect that he had 
wished it was Cathy."

Laughing, Ed said, "I'm sure that can be arranged."

Sarah came over to them and saw the laughter. Knowing Cathy, 
she was sure that the woman was teasing Jim again. She said, "Are 
you pestering this poor man again? I tell you, he was a perfect 
gentleman. I was very disappointed."

The comment invoked a great deal of laughter. Sarah and Cathy 
double teamed Ed while congratulating him. There were times 
when the staff was just too much to handle. After that, the four of 
them disappeared to eat and talk leaving Ed behind to meet the 
next in line.

Dale and Terry Taylor were next to congratulate him. After 
shaking hands with Dale and hugging Terry, Dale leaned over and 
whispered, "We have a present that we'd like to give you in private 
sometime."

Curious about the nature of the present, Ed asked, "Can you give 
me a hint?"

"No," said Dale. Terry said, "We did get permission from your 
wives."

The couple pushed each other in a good natured manner as Ed 
realized that the present probably was something sexual in nature. 
He blushed and said, "Tell me when you want to give it to me and 
I'll be there."

Terry blushed and said, "We'll let you know."

The happy couple went over to Marguerite, to thank her again for 
the feast that she had prepared. Marguerite had come to like the 
couple very much and on her days off sometimes visited with 
Terry. Ed, watching the four of them together, thought that it was 
interesting how knowing one person led to knowing another and 
then another. 

Nevada Hayes came over to Ed and shook his head. He said, "Ed, I 
have to say that when you started this stuff, I was afraid that you 
were making a big mistake. Now that you've finished, I have to 
admit that I was wrong."

"Nevada, I knew that you had my best interests at heart. I 
appreciate that. A man can't have a better friend than that." Ed 
looked at his former boss and realized that he was beginning to 
look old. The face had wrinkles that hadn't been there when he 
worked for the man. The back was bent a little rather than ramrod 
straight. He asked, "So how are you doing?"

The old man looked around at all of the younger people in the 
room. With a sigh, he said, "I'm getting ready to retire. Just looking 
for the right person to take over the business."

The initial line had disappeared as the initial excitement wore off 
and hungry people went to graze the food on the tables. Ed put his 
arm around Nevada and asked, "This person, does he need to be a 
cowboy or would you prefer a business man?"

Thoughtfully, Nevada looked at Ed and said, "I hadn't thought 
about it."

While scratching the back of his neck, Ed said, "When I was 
writing my dissertation, I met a kid that was majoring in business. I 
was just thinking that if you kept ownership of the business but let 
this kid run it, you'd have a nice little retirement check coming in 
every month."

The two men discussed the possibility while walking over to a 
table. As they loaded up their plates, an agreement was reached for 
Nevada to interview Gary Dow. Nevada promised that he would 
go over and talk to Cathy to make the arrangements. Satisfied, with 
the arrangement, Ed started to eat. 

After the first bite of food, he realized how hungry he was. In the 
morning, he had been so nervous that he couldn't eat much of a 
breakfast. Lunch had been worse and he had skipped that 
altogether. He spent the next fifteen minutes eating.

He was finishing a taco when Kim entered the room. She came 
over to Ed and, after kissing him, said, "Hello, Ed. 
Congratulations."

Happy that she could make it, Ed smiled at her. Kelly and Beth 
waved and stepped out of the room know that Kim was not 
comfortable around them. He kissed her back and said, "I'm so 
happy that you came."

She looked around at the people in the room and asked, "Where are 
Kelly and Beth?"

Disturbed by her continued avoidance of his wives, Ed answered, 
"They stepped out when you came in."

Kim was silent for a moment and then said, "I'll be right back."

"Okay," replied Ed. He spoke to her back since she had already 
turned and was heading out the door. Watching her leave, he 
wondered where she was going and what she planned on doing 
when she got there. 

In the hallway, Kelly and Beth were hugging each other. The 
continued unease of Kim around them had begun to hurt. It was a 
shock to both of them when Kim left the party and approached 
them. Hesitantly, she said, "Ladies, can I talk to you?"

Slowly, Kelly turned to face Kim with a tenseness in her stomach 
that was impossible to ignore. Too much of this and she worried 
that she would develop an ulcer. She answered, "Yes, you can."

Looking around to see if anyone was watching, Kim said, "Okay, 
I'm willing to sleep with you."

Looking in disbelief that Kim would even make the suggestion, 
Beth asked, "Pardon?"

With a little more control than she thought possible, Kelly said, 
"That's nice. I'm not willing to sleep with you."

Very surprised at the answer, Kim asked, "Why not?"

"It would be rape," answered Kelly as she looked at the woman. 
Although Kim was putting on a brave façade, it was easy to see 
that she was terrified. Kelly added, "We don't rape."

Stuttering, Kim said, "I… I… I thought that was what you 
wanted."

Beth and Kelly went to Kim and put their arms around her as they 
led her back into the room. Beth said, "Listen to me. We only want 
you to be happy. We want Ed to be happy. You don't have to love 
us or have sex with us."

Kelly added, "We would be happy if you could at least like us."

Confused, Kim stumbled along between them. When she looked 
up, she was facing Ed with tears in her eyes. She whispered, "They 
don't want to sleep with me."

"Of course, they don't," said Ed. At the hurt look in her eyes, he 
explained, "They only sleep with people when there is a mutual 
affection and desire. You don't have an affection or a desire for 
them, so they will leave you alone regardless of what you offer 
them. The only thing they've ever wanted for you is to be happy."

Looking over her head, Ed winked at Kelly who went with Beth 
over to table to snack on something. His wives were discussing the 
sad state of Kim. Sherry noticed that they were upset and went 
over to help them. She listened and then looked over at Kim with a 
frown. When she headed over to Ed, the wives tried to stop her, but 
she shook them off.

Sherry, a large woman, strode over to Ed and said, "Ed, I care 
about you a whole lot, but I'm going to take this young lady 
somewhere else for a few minutes and I'll drop you where you 
stand if you try to stop me."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Ed. He had no idea what had been going on 
and decided that he didn't want to know. 

With a grip that was just short of painful, Sherry pulled Kim out of 
the room. Kim followed behind trying to figure out who this 
woman was. As Sherry pulled her along, she passed by Jim and 
said, "Come here."

Jim followed them out into the hallway just as confused as Kim. 
Sherry came to an abrupt halt and turned around looking at Kim. 
She said, "Darling, you have some problems and I suggest you get 
them taken care of. I don't care what happened in your past, but 
you've got some lessons to learn about love. Until you learn, I 
forbid you to see Ed."

Kim stepped back and said, "Who are you that you think you can 
forbid me to do anything?"

Stepping forward, Sherry said, "I'm a friend of the Carter Clan. I'm 
a big fat broad that can be mean as hell when I see my friends 
getting hurt."

Snarling, Kim said, "You can't keep me from Ed."

Angry, Sherry replied, "You don't deserve Ed because of the way 
you treat his wives."

Exasperated at the lack of understanding of anyone around her, 
Kim said, "Look, I offered to sleep with them. What's wrong with 
that?"

Understanding came cascading down on Jim. This was the woman 
with whom Ed went rock hunting. He had heard some of the 
background on her. The lawyer in him came out as he said, "Have 
you ever given a guy a pity fuck?"

"No, I'd never do that," answered Kim offended at the idea.

"How do you think a guy would feel if you were to walk up to him 
and offer him a pity fuck, basically calling it that?" asked Jim.

"The guy would be crushed," answered Kim. She would never do 
anything to hurt a man like that.

Sherry, looking daggers at Kim, said, "Yet, you offer Kelly and 
Beth a pity fuck!"

Her face blanched as she realized that was what she had done. She 
said, "How do I convince them that I'll do what they want?"

"You dumb bitch," said Sherry. She drew herself up to her full 
height and, pronouncing each word individually, said, "All they 
want you to do is to be happy and to treat them with a little respect. 
Is that too hard for you to understand?"

Being called a bitch was as effective as a slap in waking up the 
mental processes of Kim. As she listened to the statement about 
what they wanted, Kim actually heard the message and it fully 
registered for the first time. She asked, "They don't want to sleep 
with me?"

"No!" said Sherry frustrated at Kim's denseness.

"Why not?" asked Kim. The revelation hurt in a funny sort of way. 
It was difficult to admit to herself that someone wouldn't want to 
sleep with her, even if it was a Lesbian.

In a very serious tone of voice, Jim answered, "Because they don't 
love you."

Sherry said, "I can tell you from experience that if they love you 
and you love them, it would be the greatest thing you'll ever 
experience."

Kim pulled back from Sherry as if she were hit with a bolt of 
lightening. She looked at her and said, "Don't tell me you are one 
too?"

Sherry said, "Jim, tell Kim what my favorite sexual adventure is."

With a smile on his face, Jim said, "She loves to have two men at 
once, particularly if they'll do anything that she asks."

That was a sexual adventure that Kim could understand. The idea 
brought warm feelings in her private parts. She smiled and said, 
"Umm, that must be magnificent."

Sherry said, "Jim, what is your favorite sexual adventure?"

Excited, Jim answered, "I like to watch you having sex with a 
woman while I'm taking turns with the two of you."

Kim looked at Jim like he was the lowest form of life that she had 
ever encountered. Sickened, she said, "You bastard."

Snapping her fingers to get the attention of Kim, Sherry said, "I 
love my husband and I'll do that for him any time, day or night. 
That, my dear, is love. It is a giving of pleasure to another with 
your entire heart and soul. Believe me when I say that if you ever 
feel the desire to give another pleasure without limits, you will find 
that it is the most incredible experience of your life. You will want 
to do things that right now would disgust you."

Tears welling up in her eyes, Kim said, "I don't understand."

While Jim felt sympathy for Kim, an anger welled up from deep 
within Sherry. Spitefully, she said, "I know you don't understand 
that and for that reason, none of us want to sleep with you. For that 
same reason…."

Desperate, Jim tried to stop Sherry lashing out at the other woman 
with a verbal tirade. Everyone froze when John said, "And it harms 
none, then do it."

Sherry turned to face John, ashamed to look at him in the eye. John 
stepped over to her and said, "Sherry, it is time for you to let it go. 
I know about your years of pain caused by immature men chasing 
after pretty women that were totally selfish. Those days are over 
and you won the grand prize. Don't propagate that pain to anyone 
else."

Sherry answered, "Yes, John. You're right. It's just…"

"Sherry, would you belittle a woman with a broken jaw for not 
giving a blowjob?"

"No," answered Sherry as her face turned bright red in shame.

John said, "Don't belittle Kim because a part of her has been 
broken, perhaps beyond repair. My wives understand and hope that 
she can find a little happiness with Ed. Don't take their gift away 
from them. Ed has his relationship with her and is satisfied with 
what he gets out of it. Don't take his satisfaction from him."

"I'm sorry, John." Sherry realized that her anger was misplaced. 
Years of watching skinny good looking women steal men away 
while being totally selfish had hurt her more than she could admit. 
If the women had treated the men well, she could have understood, 
but they didn't and that she couldn't abide. She turned to Kim and 
said, "I'm sorry, Kim."

Before Kim had a chance to respond, Sherry pulled Jim into the 
room leaving John and Kim looking at each other. In a matter of 
fact tone of voice, John said, "I've been raped three times in my 
life. Once by a woman, once by a man, and once by a 
hermaphrodite. That does not mean that I've given up on women, 
men, or hermaphrodites."

Kim brought her hand to her mouth in sympathy. John continued, 
"From what I can tell, you've been raped repeatedly by a woman or 
group of women. I am not saying that you should have sex with a 
woman, but I am saying that you shouldn't give up on women."

"What do you mean?" asked Kim unsure what was meant by 
giving up on women.

"Do you have any women that you consider friends?"

"No," replied Kim realizing exactly what he meant. She had gone 
into a male dominated field so that she wouldn't have to work with 
women. Years had been spent avoiding any and all activities that 
required her to become close with a woman. She even viewed the 
women customers in her store with disdain.

John said, "You have two women in there that want to be your 
friend. They don't ask anything of you except that you be a friend 
back."

Lip quivering, Kim said, "I don't know if I can do that."

"You can," answered John. 

John returned to the room where the party was being held. From 
across the room, Ed raised an eyebrow as a question and John gave 
a thumbs up as an answer. 

Sammy was telling Ed about his time in college and that he would 
be graduating in May. The young man that had attempted to kill Ed 
had kept his promise to go to school and make something of 
himself. Graduating with a 3.46 GPA in teaching with a 
concentration in English, he already had an appointment to a 
teaching position in the Phoenix School District. He was planning 
to get married to the girl that he had been seeing for three years. 
They were rushing to get married before the school year started so 
they could take a long honeymoon. 

As he listened, Ed realized the young man wasn't boasting. He was 
desperately trying to convince Ed that he had done good things 
with the chance that Ed had given him. It was time for him to let 
the young man off the hook. He said, "Sammy, you've done well 
by me and your mother. I'm glad to see you are successfully 
pursuing a great calling. Teaching the young is one of the most 
important things we can do. If you remember the times of 
confusion when you were their age, you will be a good teacher."

The praise had the desired affect on Sammy. The young man 
relaxed and smiled at Ed before getting a more serious expression 
on his face. He said, "Thank you for everything you did for me."

Smiling, Ed said, "Sammy, I have to be honest with you. I did it 
for myself as much as I did it for you. I couldn't have lived with 
myself knowing that I had a hand in destroying your future."

When Sammy left, Beth and Kelly came over to Ed. He looked at 
them and asked, "So what really happened?"

Kelly said, "She told us that she would sleep with us. We told her 
no thank you."

Shaking his head, Ed said, "I was afraid of that. Sherry came over 
here and dragged her away. I imagine she read her the real woman 
riot act."

Having seen what happened, Kelly said, "John took care of that. 
Before you get to that, you had better open your presents. I think 
some people may want to leave soon."

A very elated Ed spent the next hour opening presents. More than 
one person remarked that he acted more like a kid on Christmas 
than a Ph.D. on his graduation. Many of the presents were of the 
typical graduation present type, pens, daybooks, and a brief case. 
Other gifts were associated with his chosen profession, rock 
hammers, chisels, safety glasses, and a hard hat. There was also the 
usual assortment of gift certificates. 

The specific kind of the present wasn't important to him; it was the 
thought behind it. He appreciated every gift he received. The idea 
that so many people had been rooting for him was humbling. The 
knowledge that so many would actually take precious time out of 
their day to spend with him celebrating this event touched him 
more than he could ever put into words.

After getting though all of the presents, he went around the room 
and talked with people. In his travels, he didn't see Kim and 
wondered if she had left. He felt very sorry for her, particularly 
since she had made an effort to come here despite her intense 
distrust of his wives. It was odd, she could talk to them over the 
phone, but she couldn't stay in the same room with them.

A very distraught Sherry came to Ed and hugged him with tears 
running down her cheek. She said, "I'm so sorry, Ed. I didn't mean 
to hurt her."

Gently touching her face and wiping the trace of tear away, Ed 
replied, "Don't worry Sherry. You meant to help. I'm sure that with 
time she will come to understand."

Smiling weakly, she said, "You can tell a fat joke if you want."

Laughing Ed said, "Come by the house and we'll work off some of 
that guilt in a session with the Doc Biggers Sex Toy."

Laughing and feeling much better, she said, "I'll take you up on 
that."

Watching her leave with Jim, he wondered how many of the scars 
she carried were his fault. Others came and said their good-byes 
before they left. Ed stood by the food eating between visits from 
well-wishers that stopped by before leaving the party. He hadn't 
enjoyed himself this much in a long time. 

While Ed spent his time talking to different people in the room, 
Kim was in the hallway talking to Kelly. Her lower lip quivered 
and tears welled up in her eyes as Kim said, "I haven't been fair to 
you and Beth. I'm sorry for that."

Seeing how upset Kim was, Kelly led her to a deserted classroom. 
She sat down in one of the chairs while motioning Kim to do the 
same. All Kelly wanted to do was hug the other woman and 
comfort her, but she knew it would chase the other woman away. 
Kelly said, "Someone must have really hurt you in the past."

Kim shifted uneasily as she thought about her aunt and the tortures 
that she had been subjected to at her hands. In a voice that was 
barely audible, she said, "My aunt…"

Kelly started when a stately Native American woman entered the 
room. Smiling at Kelly, the woman said, "Hello, Kelly."

It took Kelly a moment to remember the woman and then 
recognition flooded over her. She squealed in happiness, "Lily! 
You're here!"

Lily smiled and said, "I take it John is somewhere around here. It 
will be good to see him again."

Excited to see the healer, Kelly said, "He's in a room down the 
hall. Ed completed his doctorate today and we are having a party 
for him."

Putting a hand on Kim's shoulder, Lily said, "Kelly, go join the 
party. I shall visit your house when I am done with my patient."

Kelly turned to Kim and said, "Do what Lily says. She's a healer."

Confused, Kim complained, "I don't know who she is."

Impatient to begin, Lily led Kim out of the room as she answered, 
"I am a Druid who serves the Goddess."

Among the last to leave the party was Professor Simms. This had 
been a special occasion for him. As an instructor nearing the end of 
his career, it was a wonderful feeling to have a student that 
exceeded the teacher. He had worried about what Ed was going to 
do once he graduated, but Ed had taken care of that matter. 

A research affiliate position had been created as a result of a 
donation from a consortium of mines. In a competitive application, 
Ed had won hands down with an extremely impressive resume and 
research plan that had appealed to the consortium. He was now a 
research affiliate, a position that gave him access to university 
resources and an office on campus. However, his primary income 
would be from his consulting activities which had become quite 
extensive. 

Satisfied that Ed would be a powerful presence in the world of 
mineralogy for years to come, Professor Simms never regretted 
having taken a chance on the lanky cowboy that had impressed 
him that first day. Walking over to Ed, he said, "Well, Dr. Biggers. 
This is a great day for the field of mineralogy. You're going to 
make great contributions to our understanding of crystal 
formation."

"Thank you, Professor Simms. I've really enjoyed this entire 
experience," answered Ed. 

"Well, I wanted to congratulate you one more time. Your 
dissertation broke new ground and I hope you continue your work 
in that area."

Ed and his former professor spent a nice time talking about the 
research that Ed was going to pursue. Sitting off to the side, John 
watched with pleasure as his husband talked with passion about his 
research plans. It was nice to see Ed so alive. Beth came over to 
John and put her arm around him. Together they watched Ed. Beth 
said, "He's like a kid that's been given a new toy."

"That's the way life is supposed to be," answered John. 

A very happy Kelly came running into the room shouting, "Lily is 
here!"