My Cousin Teddy

You know the saying about families sticking together? Well, when it comes to my cousin Teddy he has a strange way of showing it. Fun, but strange.

I live with my mum Susan, my sister Karen and my younger brother Drew. Mum had Karen when she was still a teenager, so even though she only turns 40 next year she has a twenty tear old daughter at the local college. I came along seven years later, and Ted three years after that. Dad left five years ago, so I have to be the man of the family, which means I’m very protective of the others.

It was the long summer vacation, and Teddy had come to stay with us for a week. He’s a year older than me, and has the sort of raging hormones you think will never happen to you. He also has a fascination with women and girls who are tied up and gagged - I once visited him and saw his computer, which he had left on a page with picture after picture of them. When he came back, he swore me to secrecy, and I keep my promises. Besides, I liked to look at some of the pictures as well....

This was a Saturday morning, and we were sitting round the breakfast table when Karen came in. She was heading off to see her boyfriend for the morning, and was dressed in a tight fitting red sweater, a brown leather bomber jacket, tight blue jeans and knee length brown leather boots with her jeans tucked in. I looked at Teddy as she walked across the floor, and saw how he could not take her eyes off her.

“I’ll be back by three Mum,” she called out as she flung her handbag over her shoulder, “Are you going to be able to cope with all three of them on your own?”

“I think I can cope with three boys, thank you very much,” Mum called back from the kitchen sink. She always liked to dress smartly, even when at home, and today she was wearing a black slip dress which fitted her like a glove, her copper red hair flowing over her shoulders. The hem of the dress came to just above her knees, and she had a pair of black shoe son with kitten heels. Even though she was small, at 5 foot 6 tall, she never liked wearing high heels. She was due to go to the office where she worked today, to prepare for an upcoming move, so she was in a hurry to get out of the house.

“Damn,” she said as she looked out of the window, “it looks as if it’s going to rain. Guess you boys are going to be stuck indoors all day.” She turned and looked at us, drying our hands as she did so. “Do you think you can do that without getting into trouble?”

“We should be able to, Mum,” I said, while Teddy just nodded and said “Of course we can, Aunt Susan.” All three of us were dressed the same way - t-shirts, shorts, socks and trainers. We had planned to go to the park and knock a ball around, but as we heard the rain start to fall on the windows we knew that was not going to happen.

“All right then - why don’t you go and switch the television on, and I’ll be in in a few minutes.” We trooped into the front room, me watching Teddy the whole time. I knew he had a major crush on Mum - his mother, my Aunt Kate, was like a taller, thinner version of her, so I think there was a bit of forbidden fruit going on here.

There was an episode of Ben 10 Alien Force on the channel, so we watched it for a bit, Mum coming in and join gin us to watch some. In one scene, Gwen had a hand put over her mouth to prevent her calling out, at which point Teddy said “That would never work you know.”

“II think it would,” Mum said as she put her hand over her own mouth, looking at us as she said nothing. “Nah”, Teddy said as he walked over, “I don’t think it would, I think you cheated Aunt Susan.”

“Cheat? Of course I didn’t cheat oyuuutddeee,” she said, but as she spoke Teddy put his own hand over her mouth, muffling the words that she was saying. She looked at me as Teddy took his hand away, saying “Told you so,” before he left the room and head up the stairs.

“Now why did he do that,” Mum asked as she looked to the door. “I think he’s just trying to prove he’s right,” I said as I nudged Drew in the ribs. “Go and get me a drink, will you Drew?”

As Drew stood up and walked to the kitchen, Teddy came back in and sat next to Mum on the couch. “What’s on next,” he said as he looked at the TV guide.

“I think it’s Mannnnnn,” Mum said as Teddy put his hand over her mouth again. “Sorry, Aunt Susan, I didn’t catch that,” he said as he looked at her, and then took his hand away again. I could not believe he was doing this - especially as he had bet me he could not get away with hand gagging Mum. And there he was, doing it and she wasn’t even suspicious?

“Sorry, Aunt Susan,” he said with a sheepish look in his eyes, “I just wanted to see if you would fall for that again.” She looked at him and just said “All right,” before we all turned and watched the film.

It was an old Disney Classic, and as we watched it I could see Mum knew the plot, as she kept saying what was going to happen next. In the end I wanted to shut her up, but Teddy stepped in at a crucial moment, as Mum said “Oh this is when Pete discovers that Mdmdmmmmmmggmdmdd.” Her eyebrows shot up as she looked at Teddy.

“Sorry, but you were spooling the plot,” he said with a smile. “I know - let’s play a game instead.”

“Oh - what did you have in mind?”

“Blind man’s bluff - you’ll play with us, won’t you Aunt Susan?”

Now I knew he had been looking at pictures of women blindfolded with scarves as well as gagged, so I figured he had an ulterior motive, but Mum just said “all right” and went out, returning with one of her headscarves, a black one she sometimes wore to chapel. Folding it into a big band, she said “Who wants to be first?”

“Drew,” I said without hesitation, so Mum tied the scarf over his eyes, turned him round three times and let him loose in the middle of the room, laughing as he groped round in the dark trying to find one of us. For a ten year old he actually did very well, grabbing Teddy within five minutes and pulling the scarf off his eyes. Teddy took it and tied it round his own head, before moving round, his hand outstretched as he bumped into things - the couch, a bookcase, and mum’s chest on two accessions.

She laughed it off, but I knew I’d have to have a word with him. Time was against me, however, as he grabbed me and I had to take my turn. I worked my way round, eventually catching Mum as she said “I guess I need to take my turn now.”

“I want to put the blindfold on you, Aunt Susan,” Teddy said as I took it off.

“No, I’m going to do it,” Teddy said as he came over to take the scarf. Well, no way was I going to let him do that, so I held it behind my back and stared him down, saying “Make me”

“Is that a challenge?”

“It might be -what do you want to do about it?”

We stood there, toe to toe, staring each other down before Mum said “Enough - John, you put the blindfold on me.”

I smirked at Teddy as I walked behind Mum and tied the scarf over her eyes, and then span her round three times. She stumbled round the room, laughing as she tried to grab us and each of us ducked out of her way.

All good things had to come to an end, and eventually she caught Teddy. He smiled as he pulled the scarf down from her eyes, covering her mouth as she looked at him. “Thanks,” she mumbled clearly, and then she headed for the door.

“I need to prepare lunch,” she said as she pulled the scarf down around her neck and walked away, Teddy following her with his eyes. “Hey, Drew,” he finally said, “come and sit with John and me, I’ve got an idea.”

I sat on the other side of Drew, wondering what my cousin was up to, but he soon made his intentions clear. “Drew, how would you like it if we all played a game together after lunch?”

“Oh yeah - what sort of game?”

“Well, have you ever played cops and robbers?”

“A few times - why?”

“Well, I think we can play a game - you, me, John and your mum - like that. I think you’ll like it.”

“What would I have to do?”

“Well, we’ll be the bank robbers, and you and your mum can be the bank workers. We rob you, and then we come back later as the coppers and free you.”

Drew thought for a moment. “Free me? You mean we can’t move?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry, it’s just a game. What do you say?”

Drew looked at the rain hitting the window, before saying “All right - but only if Mum says so.”

“Well, why don’t you ask her? It might sound better coming from you?”

“Did you think of this yourself, Drew?”

Mum looked at us across the table as we pushed our plates away. Drew had just proposed the game, and to say Mum was not open was a slight understatement.

“I don’t know, boys - I do have some work to do in the house, and it does sound as if Drew might get hurt...”

“I promise,” I said, “that he won’t get hurt. I’ll make sure of that.”

Mum still looked worried, so Teddy said “We’ll help with clearing up and any other chores.” Eventually she nodded and said “Al right then, what is the situation.”

“You and Drew are bank workers - you’re the manager and Drew a teller, when two robbers come in and take you hostage. We’ll take it from there.”

“All right then,” Mum said as she stood up. “Drew, you come with me and we’ll set things up in the front room. You two come in fifteen minutes.”

We watched the two of them leave the room, before Teddy nudged me. “Where did you put my bag?”

“In my room - why?”

“Come on,” he said as he stood up, and I followed him up the stairs. When we reached my room, he opened the side of his bag and took out several lengths of rope and some scarves, as well as a roll of grey tape.

“Where did you get this lot from,” I said as he put them in a drawstring bag.

“Ask no questions, Johnny,” he said as he handed me what looked like a stocking. Turned out it was, as I watched him pull it over his head and did the same over mine. It gave a brown haze to everything I saw, as we both walked quietly down the stairs and looked in the front room. We could see Drew and Mum sitting behind the coffee table, with some piles of Monopoly money laid out in front of them.

Teddy nodded to me, and walked into the room. “This is a robbery,” he called out, “put your hands in the air where I can see them.”

“Oh god,” Drew said as he put his hands up, Mum following suit.

“Look, just take the money and go,” Mum said as she looked at us.

“Not enough lady,” Teddy said as he passed the bag to me. “Take care of the teller - and you, manager lady, keep those hands raised.”

“Please, don’t hurt us,” Mum said as I walked round and made Drew stand up, taking a length of cord out of the bag as I did so. I used it to tie his wrists together, keeping his hands palm to palm, before making him sit down in front of the couch behind the coffee table.

“Put that money in this bag,” Teddy said to Mum as he handed her a paper bag, while I crossed Drew’s ankles and tied them together with a second length of rope, making sure I kept the rope over his socks. “You won’t get away with this,” Mum said as she looked at me, then at Drew, who nodded to show he was all right.

“Oh, I think we will,” Teddy said with a smile as Mum put the play money into the bag, while I stood guard over Drew. When she had finished, Teddy took the bag and moved the table out of the way.

“That’s very good, Miss Manager - now open the safe.”

Mum nodded as she stood up and walked over to the cupboard, pretending to turn a dial before she opened the door. She had placed more piles of money inside, which she put in the paper bag before handing it to Teddy.

“Right - turn round, hands behind your back.”

“Why?”

“I can’t leave you to raise the alarm - and your little clerk there is already secured, so now it’s your turn.”

Mum shrugged her shoulders and turned with her back to Teddy. I watched, fascinated, as he crossed her wrists and tied them tightly together, making sure the rope passed between her arms as well. I heard her give a little gasp and she looked over her shoulder, saying “That’s tight” as Teddy tied the last knot off.

I watched as he took a longer length of rope and passed it around her arms, his hands brushing against her chest as he pinned her arms to her side. “Is that going to happen to me as well,” Drew whispered, and I shook my head, saying “Not if you don’t want it to.”

Teddy made Mum sit next to my brother and started to bind her ankles together, the rope going over her hose as she sat with her knees slightly bent. As he pulled the ropes between her legs, she said “Please, just leave us like this, we won’t raise the alarm.”

“Sorry, Manager, can’t take the risk,” Teddy said as he fished two lengths of towelling out of the bag, with a knot tied in the middle of the strips. Mum took one look at them and said “No - no way you’re going to actually gag me. We can pretend to be gagged instead.”

“Oh mum,” I said in a pleading voice, “you said you would play along with us.”

“I did, but I don’t want to have something in my mouth that prevents me speaking. What if something goes wrong?”

“We can still hear you, Aunt Susan,” Teddy said, “This just makes you mumble. Please let us - drew doesn’t mind do you Drew?”

My little brother looked at Mum before saying “I don’t mind, Mum - it might be fun.” She looked at him, then at both of us, before saying “All right - but if I say to take it out, you take it out, all right?”

“Yes, Aunt Susan,” Teddy said as he took the cloth, “Open wide now.” As he pulled the cloth into her mouth, I watched, fascinated as she closed her red lips over the cloth knot and allowed Teddy to tie it in place over her red hair. As he moved back, he pretended to slip and placed his hand on Mum’s chest, saying “Sorry” as he grabbed her breast. She didn’t seem to mind, mumbling “sllrrtttdde” as I put the gag into my brother’s mouth.

“Just sit there, both of you,” Teddy said as we moved to the other side of the room.

“Here,” I said quietly, “What’s with the grabbing of Mum’s chest? You got a crush on her or something?”

“It’s just fun, John - I don’t mean anything by it,” he said as we heard the telephone ring. We all listened as the answering machine kicked in, and we heard Karen’s voice.

“Mum, I’m coming home - it’s two thirty now, and I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

“Udbttrnts,” Mum mumbled as she tried to twist her arms round, but Teddy winked a she said “So the Bank President’s daughter is dropping in, is she? Well, we’d better get a nice surprise ready for her, hadn’t we? Help me hide these two out of sight.”

Mum’s eyes shot up, but she didn’t say anything as between us we carried Drew to the side of the couch, leaving him there before we came back and picked Mum up. Drew lifted her from behind, while I grabbed her legs, and once again I saw his hands cupping her chest as he held her. Mum mumbled slightly as we placed her next to Drew, and went to stand behind the doorway.

“We don’t want you to warn them,” Teddy said with a smile as we stood there, Mum and Drew struggling a little to try and free themselves as the minutes ticked away. I looked at mum, the top of her dress stretched across her chest by the rope around her arms, and suddenly I saw what fascinated Teddy so much about her. It got me a little aroused as well, before we heard the front door open and Karen calling out “Is anyone home?”

Teddy out his fingers to his lips as Mum and Drew looked to the door, waiting as the handle slowly went down and the door opened inside. Karen walked in, saying “This has to be the wettest day for months,” before stopping and looking at Mum and Drew.

“GGTOOTTTT - TSTRP,” Mum called out from her gagged mouth as Drew started to twist frantically round, while Karen started laughing. “They got you good, didn’t they,” she said as Teddy walked up behind her and stuck his finger into her back.

“Not a word, lady,” he said, “Just take that jacket off, nice and slow, and then kneel down.”

“What is this, a robbery, “ Karen said as she slowly unzipped her jacket and took it off. She winked at Mum as she said this, who nodded slowly before continuing to struggle and mumble.

“Yeah, and you walked straight into it,” Teddy said as Karen slowly knelt down, her boots creaking as she raised her hands. “Now just do as we say and you won’t get hurt. Slowly, very slowly, put your hands behind your back.”

“All right, I’ll do what you say, just don’t hurt them,” Karen said as she slowly moved her hands behind her back, the wool of her jumper stretching as Teddy crossed her wrists and started to bind them together with more rope.

He kept it over the cuffs of her jumper, so it looked like the red was swallowing the white rope as he cinched and tied off the binding. “You tie her arms,” he said to me as he handed me a longer length of rope, while he pushed her ankles together and started to wrap rope around them. I was distracted by the squeak of the rope against leather, before I passed the rope around her arms and chest and pulled them into her side.

As I wrapped the rope round, and passed it between her arms and body, Teddy pulled her legs tightly together and made sure her ankles were well secured. Once I had tied off my rope, he said “Lie down and roll over,” helping Karen to lie down and roll onto her back. Bending her knees slightly, he started to tie them together below her knees, but before he did that he handed me two lengths and said “Make sure those two have their legs well secured as well.”

I stood up and knelt next to Drew, bending his legs as I tied them together. “Skrrnllrrt,” Mum mumbled as I did this, so I looked over to see Teddy looking into her eyes as he tied the rope off.

“I’m sure she is,“ I whispered as I bent Mum’s legs and tied them together, pulling her skirt down as I stretched them back out again. “Fnksjn,” she said as she winked at me and watched as Teddy rolled Karen back over and pulled another knotted strip of towelling into her mouth.

“We need to make sure they can’t raise the alarm for a while,” he then said as he threw me the roll of tape. “Put some over their mouths while I find something to tie over their eyes.”

“N, udnthftdtsss,” Karen mumbled as I tore a strip of tape off the roll. “Sorry, lady,” I said as I rolled her onto her side, “but what the boss says goes.” I stuck the strip of tape over her mouth, her eyes wide open as she looked at me, then walked over and did the same to Mum and Drew.

Teddy came back and handed me a red silk square. “Use that on her,” he said as he nodded at Karen, “and I’ll take care of these two.”

I folded the scarf into a thick band and knelt next to Karen. “Lkklhmmffrssss,” she mumbled but lifted her head and allowed me to blindfold her. Looking up, I saw he had used a brown wool scarf on Drew, and the black silk square we had used that morning on Mum. I stood up and looked at her, her shift dress moving with her as the matching scarf covered her eyes and the tape over her mouth.

Teddy motioned to me to come over, and we picked Mum up, carrying her as she wriggled round to the other side of the room. This time I carried her from behind, and as my hands touched her breasts I felt a little thrill run through me. Teddy looked at me and nodded in silent understanding as we laid her down on the floor.

“See you around, folks,” I said as we left the room and stood outside, watching as the three of them started struggling to get free. My eyes were fixed on Mum, her dress clinging to her as she tried to roll round. But Teddy only had eyes for Karen as she twisted her arms round, the jumper stretching over her chest as she tried to get free.

“I see why you like those photos now,” I said as I nudged Teddy, watching the sight unfold before us. Eventually, however, we knew we had to do something, so I said “Police - is there anybody in here?”

“NHRRRR,” Mum called out as we ran in. I went to Mum and peeled the tape away from her mouth, removing the now soaking cloth as I took the scarf ff her eyes.

“Oh thank god - they robbed us and left us like this,” she said as Teddy untied Drew. I removed Mum’s ropes as Karen looked round, calling “Heeewhtbtmmm” as she did so.

“I’ll free Karen,” Mum whispered in my ear, “You two need to go and take those masks off.”

“Why?” I said as I untied Mum’s ankles.

“Because you both earned yourself a day of chores,” she said as she stood up, but she then winked at me as she walked over to Karen. I soon found out what the wink was about - but that’s a story for another day.

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