by Mary Jaine
As I took my plate and cutlery over to the sink and started to wash up, she came over and stood behind me, dabbing something cold that stung on the dozens of little scratches and grazes I'd picked up from my night communing with nature as well as the bumper collection I'd got as a going-away present from my dog- cock father.
Where it hadn't hurt that much before, by the time she'd finished it would be fair to say I'd been better off not knowing all those little cuts were there; that stuff stung like buggery, and my back and shoulders were now on fire, making me twitch involuntarily every time she touched a raw spot.
Ashley finally grabbed my ear and hauled me down to her level.
"Nick, if you don't stand still I'm gonna rub alcohol on your balls; that'll really give you something to twitch about, now stay still! Jeez, you're like a three-year old girl, quit squirming!"
Once she'd finished torturing me (sorry, 'tending to my wounds'), she pinched my arse and grinned.
"OK He-Man, all done, grab a coffee; we have things to discuss...and some apologies as well, so chop-chop!"
I followed her into the living room, hypnotized by her spectacular arse twitching as she walked, the fact that she was wearing nothing except a brief apron playing trills and arpeggio's on my libido; I was sporting a more than respectable hard-on within 10 paces, and I had to resort to shuffling to avoid tangling my balls in the material of my suddenly too tight jeans.
Ashley looked back at me over her shoulder, and the combination of that look, her smile, and the sudden extra bouncy twitch her cheeks developed had me mentally stripping down and listing an Alfa Romeo SZ gearbox before I went off like a Roman candle...
By the time we reached the living room, I was in agony; whatever she had in mind had better be quick, I had something of my own I wanted to get in the open, and certain pressing matters I wanted to press against her! She led me to the couch and climbed onto it, tucking her legs under and wrapping the apron demurely around herself. I sat down, and waited for her to start.
"Nicky, about last night, I just wanted to tell you I was so wrong to leave you alone like that. Judy was right; you could have been killed, and it didn't even occur to me, I just drove off in a rage. I got a couple of miles down the road and I realised what I'd done, and how wrong I was to leave you stranded like that."
"I came back for you, but you were gone, and I called out for you, I screamed out for you, but you must have been out of earshot; I was so scared at what I'd done, I thought you were lost, and it made me feel like I was in free-fall, like stepping off a cliff, and I felt and scared, and alone. I guess I never really thought about how much you meant to me until I thought I'd lost you; I was just happy to float along being in love with you, without understanding what that actually meant, then when I thought I'd lost you, all I wanted was you, nothing else, forever."
"Judy warned me she'd make me pay for what I did, but nothing she could do compares to what I felt when I found you gone. I love you Nick Davis, and I want you, forever, no games, no secrets, no holding back, just the two of us. You tried to shelter me yesterday, and I appreciate that, but from now on, no more secrets. There's nothing so bad, so god-awful that you can't tell me, I know that now; yesterday grew me up, and I realized the one good thing I have is the only thing I'll ever need."
She dimpled at me and took my hand.
"I know you asked me once already, but this year's a Leap Year, so right now I'm exercising my prerogative as spinster of the parish; Nicky Davis, the love of my life, will you marry me?"
I gaped at her, then grabbed her hands and held them tightly.
"Christ, yes, yes, a million times, yes!" I whispered in her ear, my heart almost bursting with delight after almost losing her forever just a few hours before
She grinned up at me and leaned in to kiss me, one of those kisses that completely wipes your mind and leaves you slack-jawed and drooling.
"I'm never leaving you anywhere, ever again, I promise!" she laughed, a clear, bell-like chiming that made me ache for her long legs and smooth thighs just an arm's reach away under a flimsy apron, and my groin tightened almost unbearably.
There's only so much a mortal man can take, and I pulled her to me, sliding her astride my lap as I squeezed her perfect cheeks, the feel of those smooth, firm globes nearly tipping me over the edge.
"No, Nick, down boy, down!" she giggled, "You haven't got time, Judy's on her way over. Your new boss called, he needs you to sign some paperwork, Judy said she'll take you, so go get washed up, now! Mom won't be home until seven, so we'll have plenty of time to play when you get back!"
I was intrigued as to what I was going to sign, but Ashley just replied that he didn't say. I asked why her Judy had to take me, and she actually blushed shamefacedly.
"I'd like to take you, but...I'm grounded; at my age! Can you believe it?"
I had to laugh, it was just too funny; Ashley looked indignant, but eventually she started to see the funny side too.
+++
Judy was quiet and subdued as we drove into town, saying nothing, and flicking the occasional glance at me, until at last the silence got to me.
"Judy, pull over, please!" I asked her, and she did so without a word. Once she'd parked-up, she sat with her hands on the wheel, looking straight ahead.
I broke the strained silence.
"OK Judy, what's going on? You haven't said a word since we set out, you won't even look me in the eye, what's up?"
She turned and looked at me, and there were tears in her eyes.
"Nick, last night, I thought we'd lost you, and it scared me; Ashley's my best friend; she's like my sister, and I thought she'd abandoned you, and that made me feel sick and really fucking angry, I thought I'd lost you as well!"
She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands, and stared at me with an almost aggressive expression.
I was getting a funny feeling about this conversation; why was Judy so cut-up over Ashley and I falling out, however briefly?
I had to say something, just to break the thickening silence building up in the car.
"Jude, why would you feel like that about me...ah!"
She grinned at me, a lopsided, 'at last he gets it' kind of grin.
"Yeah Nick, that's right, God help me, and I know it's wrong, but I think I'm in love with my best friend's guy! And you know the real pisser about that? I know he'll only ever have eyes for her, but it still doesn't change the way I feel. If there was no Ashley I'd be all over you, but as it is, I know I'll never have a chance with you, nor would I ever make a move; I wouldn't ever hurt her like that; you're her happiness, not mine. So there we are; now you know!"
I tried to be as gentle as I could; I could see how much pain she was in.
"Judy, I..."I began, but she cut me off.
"It's OK Nick, I know I can't have you, and I accept that. But I had to tell you, just once, just so I didn't explode, and now we can go on with our lives. Just do one thing for me? Hug me, please, just once, let me pretend for a few seconds that you're with me."
I couldn't refuse such a gracious request, and I pulled her to me, hugging her as warmly as I could, letting her have her fantasy, heartbreaking as it must have been.
One thing I knew for certain, though; despite my promise to Ashley, this was one conversation I would keep secret and take to the grave; if Judy ever felt like telling Ashley, well, that was her right; it was her secret. I would never tell.
After a while she patted my shoulder and let me go, sliding back into her seat and swiping her forearm across her eyes. When she looked back at me, her pixie grin was back, then she looked over her shoulder and pulled away from the kerb.
By the time we reached our destination, she was almost her old self again, making outrageous and sharply observed comments about every subject we touched on as we chatted.
While I filled-in various employment forms and applications, Judy wandered around looking at the glamorous sports cars scattered around the service bays. I kept one eye
on her as I filled-in forms in triplicate and made various declarations; she was a pretty girl in a tiny skirt in a workshop full of horny mechanics, so I felt a little extra vigilance was called for. Judy, however, seemed quite un-fazed by some of the remarks made to her, and some of her retorts would have blistered paint.
At one point I saw her leaning against a stunning black Lister Storm that hadn't been there before, smiling, and chatting animatedly with the young technician. He couldn't seem to take his eyes of her, and she seemed to be making a lot of eye contact, so maybe she'd made a conquest; I hoped so. I did love Judy, but only as my girl's best friend and I wished her nothing but the best.
When I was making ready to leave, Mark grinned as he nodded toward Judy.
"When she was seven, she bit my hand so hard it drew blood. I put her over my knee and spanked her good! She's quite something! Are you and she...?
I grinned back. "Oh no, Judy's my fiancée's best friend. Ashley couldn't bring me so Judy got the short straw."
Mark smiled at me and held out his hand.
"We're all caught up here, so I'll look forward to seeing you a week from Monday!"
As I left the office, I saw Judy write something on a piece of paper and slip it into the young technician's pocket, and I grinned. Apparently she'd gotten over me...
On the way back, certain things I'd been chewing over in my mind solidified into a plan, so I asked Judy if there was a men's outfitter's anywhere near. She decided to take me to the one her father uses; I wanted to buy some leather gloves, I thought I was going to need them.
I bought a pair of tight black calfskin gloves, thin, and supple, what they call 'Burglar's Gloves' in my part of the world. I asked Judy the way to Bobby Czyzyck's home, I had something to ask him, and I was determined to get some answers. Judy offered to drive me there, curious as to what I wanted with that little weasel.
When he answered the door, he went the colour of old yoghurt as the blood drained from his face. He tried to slam the door, but I had my foot there, and it was easy to reach in there and yank him out. He was nearly gibbering with fear as I held him against the wall, my gloved fist around his scrawny neck; good; just the place I wanted him to be.
"Bobby," I said, in a friendly, even tone, "do you remember when I said that if I showed up on your doorstep, it would be because you did something to bring me there? You've been a bad boy, Bobby, I know what you did to Ashley Lowry, and now I'm going to take you for a little drive a long way from anywhere, and I'm going to hurt you lots and lots. Man-up Bobby, it's time to pay!"
The pathetic little maggot was nearly crying with fear, but I wasn't finished with him just yet. I cuffed him a couple of times to get his full attention, although what I really felt like doing was chaining him to the rear bumper and dragging him a few miles at 40mph.
"I'm giving you a choice, Bobby; you can talk to the police, or you can talk to me, in a forest clearing a long way from anyone who can hear you scream. Now what do you want to do; talk to me, or spill your pathetic guts to the law? You have until I count to five, then you're just a distant memory. One...!"
No, I wasn't going to hurt him; I told you before, I'm a pacifist motor-mac, not a mafia enforcer, but after reading those emails, I didn't feel like asking him nicely for his cooperation. What he did have was a deep and abiding fear of me, and now it was time to build on that, turn the screw a little more. It was his good fortune that I was nothing like the man my father was; if it had been him here, right now, Bobby would just be a pile of anonymous body parts in a garbage sack; I was definitely the soft option here...
"Don't...please...don't...!" he stuttered, "I'll go with you!", which was all I wanted to hear, because I damn sure didn't want to be charged with kidnapping this disgusting little weevil. I led him to the car and shoved him in the back seat, then climbed in next to him, my hand holding him tightly by the scruff of his neck in case he decided to try and bail out of the car once we were on our way.
Judy watched all this in silence until we were in the car, and then turned to me.
"OK Nicky, what's this about, and where are we taking this smelly retard?"
I gathered my thoughts, emphasising my points with a finger tap on his scrawny neck each time, and he jumped like he'd been branded each time I did it, all the proof I needed of his involvement in brutalising my girl.
"You remember Ashley told you about the emails from England, about the rape, and the plot my pig's prick of a father set in motion? Well Judy Nixon, I'd like to introduce you to Bobby Czyzyck, rapist and scumbag, and soon to be convicted felon; he's going to confess, aren't you, Bobby?" I grinned at him, and his eyes rolled up in their sockets as his fear of me overwhelmed him. "Remember, Bobby, if you don't confess, if you try and run, I'll find you in whatever pit you lie low in, and I will drag you into the daylight, and I will fucking chop you up with a chainsaw, are you hearing me?"
Oh I was enjoying playing the heavy! Of the three fights I'd had in my life, I'd lost two, and one of those was to a girl, although, in my defence I was only six, and she was nine, and built like a brick shithouse...
Here and now, I had no intention whatsoever of hurting the little kerb-sniffer, but he didn't know that; all he knew was the scary psycho who'd given him a slapping was back, angry, and out for blood, and he was alone in a car with him and a girl who'd gladly watch him being fed to the hogs. Time to turn up the heat.
"Actually, Judy, on reflection, I think our creepy little friend here might try and wriggle out of our deal; there's no guarantee they'll believe him, and he might try claiming he was coerced into confessing. What do you think?"
Judy picked up on what I was doing right away, smart girl.
"I think you're right, Nick, he could do a deal and never actually do any time at all. I think you'd get more justice if you just took him somewhere in the deep woods, cut him a little to make him bleed, and tied him to a tree so the bears and wolverines and weasels and other fucking vermin can finish him off!"
Bobby was bug-eyed with fright now; hell, so was I; Judy looked like the Angel of Vengeance, and she looked at him like he was already dead. Any doubts he may have been harbouring about our sincerity dissipated as he started blubbering and begging us not to hurt him, and pomising in exchange for not hurting him that he'd tell everything.
That was what I wanted to hear, so Judy got on the phone and called the police, telling them that someone wanted to confess to a rape. A detective in the Special Victims Unit talked with Judy, and asked her to bring her 'friend' (as she described him) to Arch Street police station, where the SVU was based.
I took a moment to remind Bobby that I would be waiting for him if he walked out of that police station under his own power, and that he could run, but I'd be right behind him every day of his life until he dropped dead or gave up. I think I can safely say, with no fear of contradiction, Bobby would happily have climbed into the tiger enclosure at London Zoo and kicked one of them in the nuts rather than cross me right there and then.
When we arrived at Arch Street, the SVU detective, a tall black woman named Shauna asked Bobby if he understood why he was being questioned, and did he want anybody to be with him, a lawyer, or his parents. He looked nervously at Judy and me, and shook his head, stating that he wanted to talk about the rape of Ashley Lowry.
We waited while Shauna and another SVU detective questioned Bobby in the captain's office, then I saw him being beckoned upright, turned around, and have his hands cuffed behind him while Shauna spoke to him; I'd seen enough cop shows to realise he was being given Miranda, so the little snot was under arrest. Shauna stuck her head out and gestured for both of us to be seated before opening the door and leading Bobby to a holding cell, presumably until his lawyer arrived.
Shauna came back to the desk we were waiting at and sat down, tapping her keyboard. Finally she looked up at me.
"So tell me," she began, "why did Robert Czyzyck confess his part in the Lowry case, and what exactly is your connection to
both of them?"
I explained my relationship with Ashley, and the story of how I'd come to America, and the documents we'd received the previous day that we'd passed to the FBI. I gave her the name of the Agent I'd spoken to, and suggested that perhaps she could get a more balanced and in-depth view from him. Shauna snorted.
"The feds will share exactly as much as they feel like sharing, when they feel like sharing it, and if this case involves foreign nationals on their home soil, well, it's not our jurisdiction and they'll tell us to keep our noses out of it. What I can do is put in a request for Agent Walker to brief me on the aspects of their investigation that involve the Lowry case, and just how Czyzyck is involved; he's admitting he was there, but he denies the act; he says it was someone else. That in itself is immaterial; accessory to or facilitating a rape is still a felony violation of Section 130 of the State Penal Code, so he's equally as guilty in the eyes of the law."
Just then her male colleague came over and had a brief whispered conversation with her, then went over to another desk and pulled a gun and his badge out of the top drawer.
"We just got lucky," stated Shauna, "your friend in there just gave us the alleged rapist's name and address. My team member is on his way now to make the arrest; there's no further need for you to remain here, we have your contact information if we need to talk to you any further. Thank you for all your assistance, we'll keep you posted on the progress of the case."
At last, Ashley was going to get some justice for what had happened to her. I still wanted my father yanked over the pond and stuffed in a hell-hole prison for what I was sure he'd done to Barbara, but Judy pointed out that there would have to be all kinds of negotiations before the US Government could grab him and try him. We'd have to settle for what we could get right now; the mills of God etc.
Judy dropped me at home but declined to come in; she had a date, with the young technician, Leon, so she wanted to get ready.
"See Nick, I'm over you already!" she grinned, before blowing me a kiss and beeping the horn as she pulled away.
