Son of a Preacher Mom

It was almost dusk when the sound of a car driving up to the house made Penny look out of her bedroom window. She smiled. There was no mistaking that car! It was Preacher Cooper, which meant he would be there. Penny's face was flushed and her breath caught at the very thought of him being down stairs. Each day she would see him at school. When they did run into each other in the hallway, he would only nod and never express any further recognition of her.

She quickly finished getting ready, taking note that she didn't need makeup to enhance her warm sunshine complexion and soft green eyes. Due to her wholesome good looks and bright outgoing nature, the boys at school called her little miss heart breaker since she wouldn't date any of them. The boys at school were nice and she knew many of their families. That was the problem. There was no mystery in dating a boy she watched grow up from a nose picking kindergartener to a tobacco-spitting teen. The thrill of danger that pulsed through her whenever he'd take her walking while his mother railed against the sins of the flesh in Penny's living room was conspicuously absent in the few dates she had agreed to go on with other boys.

Penny, however, had slowly become aware of those sins. One day, as school ended and students streamed from the building, she caught sight of him, head and shoulders above the rest. He wasn't heading for the doors; instead he veered toward the auditorium. Penny followed him then waited a few minutes before entering the school hall.

He sat on the stage, the lights blazing around him, and he began to play. Songs she had never heard and melodies that filled her with emotion from rage to hollow sadness to endless longing. After that, each day she would sit quietly in the darkness in the back watching him play the piano. She would watch as his fingers would glide over the keys. She would lose herself in thoughts of those long, delicate, so sensitive fingers mimicking the strokes of the piano keys across her young body. Penny would then blush, remembering Preacher Coopers sermons.

"Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins." and "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is coved" Penny would sigh; she could not deny the deep yearning within her. Everyday, as she watched him play, she would wonder about him. Why did she only see him in the halls but never in classes? How did he learn the piano- there was no teacher here in the auditorium and it was clear that the music he played was advanced. Penny noted that he must play from memory since there was never any sheet music either. He played music that had a pounding intensity and worked the keys from both ends to the middle.

One day, he abandoned his usual pieces that caused his fingers to climb the keys to rip notes of discord that blended seamlessly into harmony in the air. This new piece was delicate, slow. His body dipped and swayed. He closed his eyes as he caressed the keys and smiled. Penny crossed her legs, feeling the heat developing there. The lilting tune stopped suddenly.

"Did you like that?" He was staring into the dark auditorium. Penny gasped and grabbed her bag to flee.

"I know you are here everyday. You aren't exactly the quietest of people. You dropped a book the other day." His words lacked the lazy consonants and drawn out syllables of their town. His were clipped and precise. Penny stood, silent, cloaked in darkness with her bag on her shoulder.

"My mother comes out to your farm on Sundays to preach." He turned back to the piano. "I shall accompany her next time. You and I can go for a walk while she delivers her sermon. I think you would like that."

Penny nodded vigorously then remembered he couldn't see her. He smirked at the silence.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Temptation had snared her with the melodies of DeBussey

XXXX

She wore her best white sun dress, and her hair up from her neck. She loved the way he would kiss her neck in that place below her ear; the place he had made his own; how he would stroke her neck as his lips played out their dance. As Penny got to the bottom of the stairs, she turned and saw Preacher Cooper.

Preacher Mary Cooper was the original fire and brimstone lay-preacher. She drove out each Sunday to the Penny's father's farm to hold church services for the outlying farms. She was talking to Penny's father and mother when she saw Penny

"Ah Penny, How are you today?" Mary Cooper turned back and looked at Penny's father and mother with an imposing look on her face.

Penny's father snorted and turned away, saying over his shoulder "Don't start again, Mary"

While this exchange was going on, Penny's eyes were fixed on the doorway. Her hands had begun to sweat, the flush from earlier now travelled down her neck and across her breasts. A warm glow spread throughout her young body. There stood Sheldon Lee Cooper, Mary Cooper's son. Penny drank him in. Over six feet and deep blue eyes. She smiled as she walked up to him.

"Sounds like your momma is still trying to get me married off" Penny tried to sound casual but she was still worried that she would be forced into a loveless marriage like her sister. Other guests from the surrounding farms had begun to enter her house and Penny's mother ushered them into the parlor. Everyone looked forward to Preacher Cooper's visits . Her sermons, once in full flow, could stir the very soul and it helped break up the monotony that was country life.

Mary Cooper called out "Shelly, you joining us?"

Penny saw the change come over Sheldon; his warm blue eyes became ice cold; there was a sudden weariness in his face.

Sheldon was looking down into Penny's face "No Mom. I'll go for a walk. I've done my church for the day." His mother's eyes rested upon him.

The look in Mary Cooper's eyes would have withered any other man; Penny felt her own knees knock from its intensity. It was clear that this battle was an on-going one between mother and son with neither willing to yield. Constant arguments with his mother about his indifference to her church had hardened Sheldon against his mother's endless lectures about the power of God and his sinfulness. Penny watched as Sheldon walked to the door. She held her breath until he turned to her and smiled.

No words were needed; Penny knew by Sheldon's eyes he was inviting her to join him. As they both walked across the backyard in the moon light, Penny slipped her hand into Sheldon's. This is how it had started all those weeks ago, just holding hands then Sheldon would steal a kiss, and they would laugh.

Now they would walk out to the big tree at the back of the house to sit on the old swing. Sheldon would put his arm around Penny and she knew everything was alright. Her young heart raced at his very touch. No one had ever made her feel so complete.

Tonight, as they sat in each other's arms, Penny pulled away slightly and looked into Sheldon's blue eyes. She could almost see the reflection of the stars in them. Penny shivered; the nights were becoming colder. Sheldon removed his jacket and placed it around Penny's shoulders.

As Sheldon pulled the jacket closed, his hand brushed Penny's breast. She shivered again but this time not due to the cold. Her cheeks reddened as Sheldon brought his hand back to cup her breast, his thumb slowly rubbed across her nipple, forcing Penny to softly moan. Sheldon pulled Penny closer for a passionate kiss. Their tongues tangled for dominance but neither fighting to win. Penny was moaning into Sheldon's mouth with the pure joy of being with him. All the weeks of holding hands and stealing kisses had been building to this one night. As Sheldon slowly stroked the soft skin of Penny's inner thigh, he gazed into Penny's eyes. She reached up and lightly kissed him again on the lips and simply said "Yes".

They both stood up. Penny took Sheldon's hand tightly in hers and slowly walked out to the barn. Sheldon looked over his shoulder, back to the house where they could still hear his mother giving her sermon.

"In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes."

"Penny you do know this means hellfire and damnation?" Sheldon was trying not to smile.

She gave him a sidelong glance and pulled him even faster toward the barn.