by Piper Denna
“No. I just woke up,” I said, hoping to pass that off for the reason I was dressing. “What are you doing here?”
“Just woke up, my ass. If I had a patent, you’d owe me money.” When she laughed hysterically, I smelled the pot smoke on her breath.
“Jesus, Shurre. Are you high?”
“Not nearly high enough. You and I are going to par-tee, Al.” She whipped out a baggie of weed from her cleavage, holding it like a trophy while she giggled more.
“No. We’re not. You’re going home to your husband.”
“I gotta shower first,” she told me soberly.
“Tell me you didn’t… were you at your uncle’s again?”
She rolled her eyes in answer, then filled the bowl of her tiny pipe with weed, pressed it down, held a lighter to it and drew in. Her eyes watered at first, then glazed over as she held in the smoke. She blew it purposely in my face.
“Knock it off, Shurre.” God, I hated how she made me feel like a kid and talk like one, too. “Why’d you go there? Tell me, Goddammit, or I’m calling Robert right now, and he can come get you like this, fucked and fucked up.” My stomach turned at the sweet smoke still stuck in my nostrils.
She smiled and stretched her arms up high. “Mmm. A shower first, I think.” She made a show of stripping, giggling and humping the door jam in her underwear before she went in my bathroom and turned on the water.
“Join me?” she teased.
I didn’t reply.
She giggled in the shower alone, for no reason at all. I eyed the pipe on my dresser, tempted to join her in Hilarityville for just one night. Besides the night she’d seduced me or molested me or whatever, I’d smoked pot only a handful of times, and always with Bill when we were at resorts. He used it to get my inhibitions down, and it worked famously. A good reason to refrain from doing it with Shurre.
“Oh Ali, Ali, such a clean little pally,” Shurre sang in a high voice. “Churchy and clean, a virgin pristine.” I was surprised she remembered what pristine meant. “Now she spends her days working with her hands!” She laughed so hard she fell down. I didn’t rush in to see if she was okay. The fall made her laugh harder. Good. She was very wasted. Maybe she’d talk.
She came out in only my towel, wrapped around her waist and with the slit in the front instead of the side. I turned away when I saw her bush.
“Whoo, what a slickery shower you got there, girlfriend!” she laughed, flopping down on my bed. “Smells like snatch in here. Must be you, haha!”
“Jesus. I’m calling Robert.” I reached for my phone.
She lunged on top of me. Her weight pushed me down, but I made myself remember I wasn’t pinned. I could get away when I wanted.
“Ali. It’s our night, baby. Tonight,” she giggled, “all your dreams come true.” Her wet pubic hair rested against my thigh. The slick between her legs came off on me. “Oh, it’s been too long. You’ve missed me, huh?”
Her bare breasts were smashed between us. One fit neatly between my own smaller ones. I turned my head to avoid her kiss. “You want me, Ali. I bet you’re wet. If I touch you, if I lick you…”
My pulse quickened, and I tried to remember not to panic
“…I’ll be able to taste how much you want me.”
“No. I don’t. I just had phone sex with Cam.”
Her face turned as if she’d been slapped. She recovered quickly and laughed, “Oh, so he’s got you warmed up, then. Remind me to thank him. When I tell him you’re staying in Colorado.”
“I’m not staying here. And I’ll be leaving sooner if you don’t quit.”
She put her hand between my legs then.
“Quit!”
When she tried to force her way inside my shorts, I slapped her face hard and shoved her off me. She went clear off the bed and landed in a giggling heap on the floor.
“Ohh, you like it rough now, huh? Buttlovin’ Bill must’ve whacked you around some. But honey, I won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t want you. Don’t make me fight you.” It came out sounding plaintive, not strong.
She laughed and climbed back on the bed.
I ran for the door, wondering if I ran outside how long it would be ‘til she came down or passed out. But I was sick of running. I turned and watched her calmly toking up again. I was tired of her intimidating me. I waited until she tipped her head back and exhaled.
“Okay. You win,” I said, walking back in the room.
“Hmm?” she smiled. “Win?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it. You and me. Just like old times.” I grabbed the tucked end of the towel and pulled, exposing her.
“Ali!”
“Oh, it’s past time for you to play coy, Shurre. Don’t cover yourself. You want me to look at you, right? I’m looking. You look pretty good, actually. I don’t know why I’ve been holding back. Spread your legs, let me really see you.”
She curled up, unsure how to react. “Ali?”
“You want me, Shurre? I’m yours.”
“No. It’s you who wants me. You want me,” she repeated without conviction.
“We’ll see, won’t we? I’ll have you begging before I’m finished,” I told her, sliding my fingertips down her backbone. She arched, resisting. My fingers trailed along her waist, over her hip. “Does it feel good, Shurre? Do you like it?”
“N-No. You want me. You’re touching me because you want me. I’m in control, Ali.”
I swallowed hard and skimmed my fingers up her ribs. My heart tripped when I passed the soft swell of breast. “Not this time, honey. This time I’ll be giving you what you want.” I leaned toward her as if to kiss, hoping to God she’d cave before she called my bluff.
“Shit! Stop it, Ali! You can’t do it to me!” She covered her face with her arm to block the dreaded kiss. “Quit! It’s not fair. You’re not the one. I’m the one. I’m in control,” she sobbed. “I can control you, and I can control him, too!” Didn’t sound like she believed her own words.
After draping a blanket over her, I put my arms around her shoulders and held her while she cried.
“Oh, Ali. I’m s-s-s-sorry. God. He called me again, and he made me go over.”
“How? How did he make you?”
“H-h-he’s gonna tell everybody if I don’t keep doing it.”
“Shurre, he’ll be the one in trouble, not you.”
“NO! He’s gonna die! He gets out of it! I’ll be the one left alive, the piece of white trash that fucked her uncle for twenty years.”
“Why? Why did you keep on?”
“So he wouldn’t tell! I know it’s stupid. But it’s like the hamster wheel. The more I did it, the more I had to hide. I can’t let Alice find out. And Robert. Oh my God!” She shook, and I could see how scared she was, how much she cared what Robert thought. “I stopped Ronnie for a while, you know. For two whole years, the fucker couldn’t get it up. All I had to do was act like the aggressor, like I was the one who wanted it, and his sick prick wouldn’t get hard. It was perfect. And then Aunt Pam died, and he moved back here and got that fucking Viagra. An old man’s best friend.” She shook with hysterical laughter.
“Did your aunt know?”
“How could she not? I think she hated screwing him, and since he was sterile she figured, why bother? I heard them fighting after the first time she figured out what he’d done to me. I was fourteen. He’d been doing it for a year, every time I was there. I begged my mom not to make me go there, but I couldn’t say why, so she made me go. Ronnie told Aunt Pam that I liked it. I heard him. He kept telling her how I begged for it, because I was such a little slut. And the next day, she looked at me like I was so worthless.” Shurre cried again, and I held her, and could only guess how much it would hurt to have a trusted adult believe those things. “So after that, I made noises like I liked it. I made sure she’d hear. She hated me for it.”
“That’s sick, Shurre. You were only fourteen. That’s not old enough to consent! He was an adult. She should have…
”
“Oh, she was happy to have him off her ass for sex. The next visit after that, she was the one who tried to bribe me with presents. I think she was afraid she’d be in trouble, too, if I told. But I felt so dirty.”
“That’s normal.”
“No. I felt dirty because I did like it sometimes, after it didn’t hurt anymore. He figured out I enjoyed it, and then he worked on me ‘til he made me come. The first time, I felt like it was a reward for letting him use me. But I kept thinking what a sick piece of shit I was, for liking my uncle’s dick in me. He told me he’d never been able to make Pam come, and I was a real woman. He said I was sexy and he missed me when I was gone. Sometimes, he’d call me when I was here in Rifle. He called on the phone and while I stood there in my mom’s kitchen, he beat off. And I had to keep a straight face, but when I hung up, I’d run in my bedroom and cry, because it made me horny. Then I figured out how to get myself off. And that part I liked, because it wasn’t wrong, or sick.”
“It’s him. He’s the one who’s sick. Not you,” I tried to assure her.
“But you don’t know. Sophomore year, spring break, I told him I wanted things, or I’d tell. And when I went back that summer, I scored big. Pam hated me for it. Every time I left the room I heard her say ‘whore.’ But I scored big. And I figured out if I touched myself, he’d get flustered and come early, and not get off. It was so cool.” She laughed, in spite of the morbid tale. “All the way through school, that’s what I did. I had a little gold mine. All I had to do was close my eyes and pretend I was with the captain of the football team instead of an old guy who wore suspenders.” She reached for the pipe again, and I figured she needed the boost to get through the rest. “I got really good at sex. Lotsa practice for my age, you know. Bonus of no chance of pregnancy, and he didn’t get it anywhere else, so no VD, either.”
“How do you know? Maybe there was some little girl down the street? Maybe you weren’t the only one.”
“Oh, I knew.” She grimaced and shuddered. “His pecker would just about shoot off on its own at the sight of me. He was definitely starved for it. He got me smokes, and he got me dope. I coulda got coke from him, if I’d demanded it.” She took a hit and stared up at the ceiling. “When we graduated, I decided I was done doing him. But he had other ideas. I shoulda narked him out when I was younger, before I blackmailed him for all that loot. But then it was too late. I wasn’t a little kid anymore and nobody would’ve believed me.” I doubted that was true, but she didn’t let me tell her so. “He didn’t want me being married, you know, getting it regular elsewhere. So he fucked up my marriages every chance he got. That’s when he started threatening to tell on me.”
“Is that when he started hurting you? Rich told me you came home with bite marks.”
“Yeah. It all woulda been fine, and I would’ve kept giving it to him to keep him quiet, but he refused to use a rubber. I told him I wouldn’t do it then, so he started roughing me up. The more I fought, the more marks there’d be, which would only make it worse for me with Rich.”
“You were trapped.”
“And how. But then I started playing aggressor with him, and wiped him right out. It was great while it lasted. Watching him yank and yank, and still have nothing to show for it but a wrinkled bag of skin. It’s so hard to go back to it again. Now I have to drink or smoke before, and he still makes me sick with his shriveled old pecker standing up so hard from the drugs. The black eye was because I dumped his Viagra down the toilet when he threatened to trick Alice into his house. I will kill that bastard if he comes near one of my kids.”
“Shurre, what if he already has?”
“Honestly, I think he’s only got it for me. I know it sounds weird, but I really do. It’s a screwy kind of love, but he’s just fixated on me. That’s why he bought me the car after the bruises.”
“You have to stop going there.”
“I know, but he’ll tell everybody. Robert would leave me, I know. He’s a good guy, but he can’t deal with stuff like this.” She looked with glazed eyes at my dresser, as if it might show her a way out. “Hey Ali?”
“Yeah?”
“Were you really gonna kiss me?”
“God, no!”
*
It was late when she went to sleep, but I called Cam.
“Hey. Everything okay?”
I told him about facing her down, and all that she’d told me.
“There’s not much she can do, without the truth coming out. Kids under eighteen get identity protection in court, but it usually comes out to everybody they know anyway,” he said. “By the time he was tried and convicted, his cancer would have killed him off.” It was a grim situation. “Do you feel better after you stood your ground?”
“Yeah. I’m sure it won’t happen again. I’m pretty beat now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
All Fore Revenge
Chapter 20
I tried to work on Thursday, really I did. My story was cooked and ready to serve. All I had to do was type the thing. The trouble was, I kept getting sleepy. I’d be typing away in the middle of a storystorm, and catch myself nodding off. It seemed like one of those “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” moments, so I joined. I slept right through lunchtime and woke up ravenous. I’d just started making myself a tuna sandwich when Cam called.
“Hey Baby,” he said cheerfully. “You’re awake!”
“Yeah. Getting ready to eat. How’s your day?”
“Fine. You know your books are selling like hotcakes? Love on the Back Nine is up to number two-fifty on Amazon.”
“Hmm? You checked?”
“Sure I checked. When I bought it last week, it was only number three thousand something. Haven’t you been reading the papers or watching TV?”
“As little as possible.”
“Well, somebody figured out you’re not just Mrs. Bill Smyth, but an actual author who has books out. Looks like the publicity helped your sales.”
“Mmm.” I bit into the sandwich. I would have preferred to have my books sell based on reviews and merit, not some wild headlines about my marriage being on the rocks. “Wait. You bought my book?”
“Finished reading it last night, while I was waiting on you to call back. It’s great, Babydoll.”
“Thanks.” I was surprised a guy would like my romance novel. But then, guys were romantics, too. Look at Shakespeare. “Oh, hell. My agent’s on the other line. I better take it. Call me later!”
I switched over. “Hi Carol.”
“Well, helloooo BigsellerAli! Aren’t you just an agent’s dream? Free national publicity!” Carol was ever-excited, about everything. It was always a boost to hear from her and bask in her positive aura. However, at that particular moment, I was even more excited about my tuna sandwich.
“Mmm,” I mumbled past a bite. “Yeah, well. I wasn’t intending for that to be on the news, you know. It’s kinda my private life.”
“All that romance at the tournament! That’s the stuff women dream of, Dear! Your sales are sky-high! Tell me what you have ready to market.” Leave it to Carol to skim over the ugly stuff and pretend it hadn’t happened.
“Actually, with all the personal trauma, my productivity has suffered a little this spring.” God, that sandwich was great. All it needed was some onion.
“Oh, pooh! All that emotion will come out somewhere. Diamonds take longer than coal, that’s what I always say. I’ve been getting scads of calls for interviews with you! I’d sure like to set some up?”
“Well, I’m kinda laying low in Colorado just now, Hon.”
“Oh, at the Retreat. Right.” Carol insisted on classifying the farmhouse as my writer’s retreat, something she considered a trade necessity. In fact, she’d convinced Bill’s accountant to use it as a tax write-off. “Well, I’d be the last person to interrupt The Process, Dear. But if something really big comes up, I’ll call you. We can’t afford to waste good publicity! Okay, back to the keyboard you go! Write, wr
ite, write!” She hung up, bubbling giggles.
I put my phone down and made a second sandwich with a big slice of red onion in the middle.
When I settled at my keyboard again, my tummy was full. And I was sleepy. It wasn’t long ‘til I was fighting the sandman again, and sorely losing the battle.
Shurre came by after work to thank me and let me know she was going home. In my groggy state, I absorbed that my standing up to her had hit some nerve, and she was working on a plan to thwart Ronnie.
When she’d gone, I had another stinkyfish sandwich and crashed in bed again.
*
The most gorgeous man I’d ever seen stood next to my bed, the very picture of physical fitness framed by the window behind. Rays of sunlight poured all around his silhouette as he stared down at me. I wanted him, and I wanted him bad.
“Aleeee!” a little girl cried, then slammed into my body. It took me by complete surprise, and my stomach jolted accordingly.
“Those early morning runs you talk about must be fictional,” Cam teased. “It’s nine o’clock, lazy bones!”
“Ali, Ali! Did you miss me? Eww, your mouth is stinky!” Emily told me graciously after she’d kissed me hello.
“Um.” I covered my mouth while I talked and self-consciously smoothed my hair. “Wha’d you do, drive all night?”
Cam nodded, while Emily squealed that they’d wanted to surprise me.
“Oh. You did. Hiya, Shortcake. Long time no see, huh?”
I tickled her and smiled up at Cam. He looked worried, so I winked. He brought out the dimples and brightened my world more than even the sunshine could. My heart contracted in my chest and I knew what I felt for him was much bigger than garden-variety lust.
“Ali! Can I ride Butter? Please?”
“Um. She’d probably like that. Maybe Dad can get her saddled while I have a shower and brush my teeth, huh? Or do you want some pancakes first?”
“How ‘bout,” Cam suggested, picking Emily up and tossing her over his shoulder, “munchkin here helps me make pancakes,” Emily screeched when he pinched her bottom, “while Ali showers. After breakfast, we’ll go out and watch you ride, together.” He winked past Emily’s backside at me on his way out, pulling the door shut behind him.
