The sounds were obvious. No chance of misunderstanding what was going on. I looked at my mother, a little amused. She had just come into the house with me, and the house was filled with the obvious sounds of two peoplemaking it. Mom was in a panic—as if my innocence was about to be corrupted or something.

“Go to your room,” she said in a desperate voice. She didn’t yell loudly, though—it seemed she didn’t want the couple to hear her.

“Mom!”

“Just Go!” I could tell she was losing it. No longer was she keeping her voice down. She wasn’t really mad at me; she just wanted to protect me from, well, listening to two people get it on. I went. “Shut your door!” came the final cry when I was in my room. I just did it.

Finally! I was again sheltered from the decadence and corruption. In the form of my brother, Bill, and his girlfriend, Kate. Even with my door shut, I could easily make out Mom’s footsteps to Bill’s room.

Kate was really something. Bill had only been going with her for a week, and he brought her home a couple of times. Kate was tall and slender, and really sexy, and she always wore black tights and a miniskirt. She was smiling and friendly some of the time, but she often gave me these sly looks that made you feel like she was up to something. In a way, it didn’t surprise me that she and Bill were doing it. She seemed like the sort of person who would be more than willing if she didn’t instigate it herself.

I lay on my bed thinking. I didn’t hear any more noises. Mom hadn’t come up and told me I could come out. I thought about leaving and then figured I’d just lie there a while just to let things settle down. If there were something important, like dinner, Mom would call. I just lay there and thought.

I didn’t usually think of the idea of my brother having sex with his girlfriends, but I knew he might well have been doing it for a while, for years even. Then again, I couldn’t imagine our older sister, Ellen, having sex, and she had been married to Ken for three years. I heard a noise outside. I went to the window and saw Bill walking away. I figured it was safe for me around the house, but I guess I was a little perturbed at Mom. I just went back to my bed and lay down again.

It was hard to imagine that Ellen knew more about being with a guy than I did—she was just never the type that you could imagine with a guy. I guess a little part of me imagined that they never did it, as stupid as that idea is. I lay there and wondered if Mom had forgotten she had sent me to my room. I knew it must be OK to leave— obviously nothing was happening, and Bill was gone so Mom wouldn’t be in the middle of any lecture with him. I hadn’t seen Kate at all. I got up and opened my door. I didn’t hear anything. I went out, heading for the kitchen. Bill’s door was open a crack when I walked by. I glanced in—and there was Mom!