by Charity B.
“Wow.” I kiss her neck and her smell adds to my desire. “You look gorgeous.” Her cheeks pink before she softly presses her lips to mine and I lift her up to sit her on the counter. Pushing up the dress, I kiss her jaw and spread her legs. “Drink your wine.”
She obeys as I remove my jacket, roll up my sleeves and loosen my tie. I pull a knife from the caddy before I get on my knees and pull her little nude colored panties to the side. She’s holding the wine in one hand while the other is in my hair. I’m slow with my tongue and as I suck her clit, I do it softly. My fingers remain gentle as they move in and out of her. Watching her drink and rock her body onto my mouth makes me want to do this all night.
I have kept it leisurely up to now, but her wine glass is almost empty and we have a celebration to get to. I quicken the pace of my tongue and fingers until her grip on my hair threatens scalping. I don’t like cutting near that artery, ever since last time, so I decide to move to the top of her thigh, closer to her hip. I swipe the knife across her flesh and she moans softly. I do it again, and she gasps as she grinds against my tongue, giving me her orgasm.
Once she’s finished, I stand up and lick my lips before I kiss her. “I’m going to change, then we can go.” Rubbing my thumb over her cuts I add, “Clean these up and cover them with a bandage.”
She’s still breathless when she jumps off the counter and takes my hand. “Wait, what about you?”
“Sometimes I just want to make you come, Tav.”
I go upstairs to change and when I meet her back in the kitchen, her face is still rosy. Lacing my fingers between hers, I lead her to the garage.
“Ready?”
Her smile is soft and her eyes sparkle as she nods. “For anything.”
The Walk is full of people and lined with American flags. It’s never this busy unless there’s an event going on. The stage is at the end of the pier and all the shops have their doors propped open with star spangled blue and red striped balloons tied to them. White lights are adorning the rooftops, and red, white, and blue streamers decorate all the stores. Many of the food shops, such as Tattletale Taffy, have stands set up outside, for people to try samples.
It’s of course necessary that she tries every sample available.
Beach side communities, like Shadoebox, often have tourist shops that sell seashell and sand incorporated nick knacks, so we see a lot of that, along with Fourth of July themed merchandise, but there are also very unique items, and every store has their own style and flare. She’s particularly drawn to the doll shop, so I lock that fact away for future use. The music volume gets higher, signaling the concert is about to start, so we head toward the food vendors.
“I want a funnel cake. Sugarville makes the best ones.”
“We need dinner, Tav. How about taco salads? Or a corn dog?”
Burgers are her choice, so we eat our greasy dinner at one of the picnic tables while the first band starts up. She bobs her head to the music as she eats her fries. Once we finish, I lead us to the packed beer garden.
It doesn’t take long for people to start dancing on Main Street with Tavin right behind them. She holds my hand until we are in the midst of it, letting herself get lost in the music. Three songs in and I hear her name being called.
“Tavin! Hey, Tav!”
She hears it too because she spins around and her face brightens. “Christopher!”
Now that I know who I’m looking for, I find him weaving through the crowd, toting a girl behind him.
His arms wrap around Tavin as soon as he reaches her. “Damn, Tav. Where have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” After he says it, his bloodshot eyes glare at me. “And now I know why…” He shifts his frown to her as he tilts his head. “Really? After what he said to you at the club?”
She shakes her head with a sigh, and I’m proud of the way she stands tall to him. “You know there’s things we can’t tell you, and this falls into that. Please don’t hate me for choosing this. You’re one of my only friends.”
He lightly shoves her shoulder and blows a raspberry. “Always the dramatic one, aren’t you? I don’t care who you fuck, Tav. I just hate that it’s taking you away from him. He loves you. He always has.”
Her gaze falls to the concrete. “I know.”
Sighing, he drapes his arm over her shoulder. “And I’ll never hate you, you big dork. I care about you both. You’re both my best friends. I just don’t want to see our boy hurt, you get me?” She nods and gives him a small smile as he pulls her against him for a hug. “Text me if you need me.”
She waves as he walks away with the girl that he never introduced. I stand behind her and wrap my arms around her waist as I rest my chin on her shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
She nods her head, though her earlier enthusiasm is no longer present. “I don’t want to keep hurting people.” I can’t decide how to respond because everything I can think of feels self-profiting. I don’t need to though. She turns to face me and holds my hand. “Do you want to get more beer?”
I squeeze tight as I gesture in front of us. “Lead the way.”
Quite a few beers and three bands later, she’s back in her original mood. The crowd has started to thin and I’ve noticed a couple vendors closing up shop. She’s sweaty from dancing as she falls against me laughing.
“Did you have fun?” I ask, against her hair.
She squeezes her arms around my waist and grins. “Oh, yes.”
As we walk back to the Lambo, I hesitantly bring Christopher back up, keeping an eye on her to gauge her reaction.
“How did you meet Christopher? You’ve known him for a while, right?”,
“Toben used to go to school with him before Logan bought us.” She’s watching the store owner’s close their doors and shut off their lights. “Then, when Logan let us out of the basement, we ran into him and we’ve all been hanging out ever since.”
I still don’t exactly know what all went on, and to be honest, I’m not sure I want to. Although, I do think the more I know, the easier it will be for me to understand and communicate with her. This isn’t a random story on the news, this is her real life. I want her to open up to me because she trusts me and wants me to know her. At this point, though, I don’t need to keep asking her questions.
Toben, however, I have no problem asking questions. Maybe insight from a different source will be helpful. Perhaps I wasn’t looking at this time with Toben in the correct perspective. Not to mention he owes me.
A fucking lemon-yellow Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, to be exact.
Saturday, July 4th
SASHA ARRIVES AT NOON WITH a bag over her shoulder, carrying a case of berry smoothies. She pulls off her sunglasses and hands me one of the cups, along with her keys, as she brushes past me. “The sandwiches and the rest of my stuff are in my car. Will you be a good brother and go get them?”
It isn’t really a question considering she’s already at the base of the stairs. I do what she asks, and when I open her car door, the smell of the sandwiches wafts beneath my nose, and my stomach reminds me how hungry I am. Grabbing the food, along with the garment bags, I carry it all up to Tavin’s room where the beautification process has already begun.
Tavin’s hair is pinned back and Sasha is lining hot curlers, nail polish, and a bunch of other stuff that I wish I didn’t know what it was, along the dresser.
Sasha sees me walk in with the garment bags and jumps up to get them.
“Wait till you see this outfit I made for you, Tav. You’re gonna love it.” She takes out a pair of tan Mary-Janes that have little cut out patterns along the top. “Are these not the cutest?”
Tavin grins and reaches out for them. “These are for me?’
“Yes, nerd. Oh, and look at mine!”
She holds up black heeled sandals with long straps that tie halfway up her calf.
“Oh my gosh, those are so pretty!” Tavin squeals.
Their shrieks and estrogen are g
etting to be a bit much for me, so I take my sandwich and back up toward the door.
“Have fun.”
They’ve been upstairs for over two hours and I think it’s almost time for them to leave. I’ve never understood what girls could possibly do to themselves that would take that amount of time to get ready.
The doorbell rings and I answer it to find Timothy and Todd looking dapper. I let them in just as the girls are making their way downstairs.
“Thanks for coming today. I don’t do fashion shows.”
Timothy waves me off. “Are you kidding?” He points his thumb to a grinning Todd. “This one would have made me go regardless.” His face lights up as he looks behind me. “Well look at you two!”
I turn and feel my own smile spreading. They both look adorable. Tavin’s wearing a pair of ivory, crochet shorts with a sheer, cream tank and a lacy, sleeveless bolero. Her hair is curled and halfway pulled back with a ribbon. The best part is her cream thigh highs and they look so hot with those shoes.
Sasha’s in a black and gold romper jumpsuit that looks great with her gold jewelry and black sandals. Her hair is down and curled, topped off with a black headband.
I still don’t see how it took them more than two hours.
They leave in a cloud of excitement and I give Timothy an apologetic grin as he closes the door. While it’s probably ridiculous to still have him go with her everywhere, my peace of mind is worth the possible over-caution. It helps that she likes him and doesn’t seem to mind having a babysitter.
Blind Mag walks into the kitchen and drinks her water like she is dying of thirst.
“It’s hot outside, huh? Want to go swimming?”
She gets on her hind legs in approval.
Toben should be here any minute, so I get the grill set up and make sure there’s plenty of beer in the outdoor fridge. I decide to leave on my swimming trunks in case he wants to get in, and toss a t-shirt over my head as my doorbell rings.
“Hi, Toben.” Not that I’m surprised, but it’s obvious he’s strung out on something. “Come on in, do you want a beer?”
“Sure, since I doubt you have any coke.”
“I have Coke.” It suddenly clicks. “Oh…you mean the drug.”
He laughs and adjusts his beanie. “Beer’s fine.” Blind Mag prances up to him and barks for attention. He smiles before kneeling down to pet her. “Hey, Blind Mag.”
I hand him his beer and Blind Mag follows us out back to the patio. He stretches out on a lawn chair while he lights a cigarette.
“I’m going to start the steaks.” I lift the lid to the grill and point behind me. “There are a few extra suits and towels in the pool house if you want to swim.”
Blind Mag just got situated on his lap when her ears perk up at the word ‘swim’. She leaps off him to jump in the pool and paddles around with her tongue hanging out.
Toben chuckles, “Naw, I’m good, I swim all the time at Mr. Stride’s”
“Mr. Stride?”
“A Client. A regular.”
“Right…” I throw open the ice box to dig for the cuts I want. “How do you like your steak? Bloody?”
He gives me an odd smile and takes a drag. “Whatever you think.”
I throw on the meat and sit next to him as I pull my sunglasses down. I don’t really know what to say. I’m sure as hell not asking him how work is going.
“I appreciate you coming, Toben, it means a lot to Tav.”
“Yeah, well, I did wreck your car so…”
“We don’t need to talk about that.”
He snuffs out his cigarette and when he opens his pack, I think he’s going to smoke another one until he holds up a joint.
“You wanna smoke?”
Maybe some weed will take the awkwardness down a level. “Sure, do you want another beer?”
Nodding, he lights up. “You know, I do have to hand it to you. I don’t know how you did it.” He shakes his head and takes a long hit. He holds the smoke in his mouth for a moment before he exhales and trades me for the beer. “Logan told me he sold her to you. It doesn’t make sense. I can’t believe he let her go. Just like that.” He takes a swig of his beer and watches Blind Mag climb the steps out of the pool. “I’m not going to lie, I fucking hate not having her home with me, but I’ve never seen her so happy. If she can actually be safe without having to be with the Clients, I want you to know I do want that for her.”
I take a hit and hand it back. “I don’t doubt you love her, Toben. I watched the video, I know you guys have been through a worse hell than I can imagine. I’m not saying that I understand what you feel, because I don’t. Just know, the drugs and the Clients are her past now.”
“You mean I’m her past.”
I shake my head and get up to throw on the vegetables. “I don’t want that, believe it or not. She feels like she needs you, and I respect that. If you and I can agree on anything, it’s that we both want her happy. You make her happy and so do I. Don’t pressure her into the drugs or put her in danger again and we’ll be cool, alright?”
He leans his head against the lawn chair and pulls off the joint. “I really am sorry about that. I know it was stupid.”
Oh, look, something else we agree on. I bite my tongue and change the subject to last night.
“We saw your friend, Christopher, on the boardwalk last night. Does he know anything about you guys?”
“Seeing as he’s been my best friend since before I met Tav, I would like for him to not die. So no, I haven’t told him anything. Logan made it clear what would happen if I did.”
“He never asked any questions? Was never curious?”
He sighs and tugs on his stocking cap. “He was at first, and yeah, he asked a ton of questions. Then one day, he asked me where Tavin and I always go and I finally couldn’t deal with making up lies to him anymore.” He looks over the view of Shadoebox. “I bloodied his nose to make sure he kept it out of our business. Whatever he knows or thinks he knows now, he keeps it to himself.”
I’m not sure how I feel about him beating the shit out of his friend to keep him safe. Thankfully, the aroma of the steak floats beneath my nose and creates a nice segue.
“I think the food’s done.”
Filling our plates, I set them on the table as the sun begins to set. Blind Mag has set herself on the foot of Toben’s lawn chair to dry and he’s careful to not disturb her when he stands up. I get us fresh beers as he cuts into the meat and takes a bite.
“Damn, dude. I’ll give you this, you know how to grill a steak.”
His enthusiasm is a little out of character for him so I chuckle, “Thanks.”
We eat in silence and I smirk at his gusto. He scarfs down the steak without touching his vegetables.
The plate scrapes across the table as he pushes it away and lights another cigarette. I polish off the last few bites of mine before pouring us each a whiskey.
“Can I ask you something?”
He blows out smoke as he nods and waves his fingers for me to continue. “Shoot.”
“Tavin said he kept you in her basement after that first time, yet I found out through…sources, that you were at River Forge Academy until 2009.”
He shakes his head. “River Forge is a front. I think the place exists, Logan must just pay off the Headmaster or something.”
Wow, that seems extensive. I’m not so sure that Logan was ever sexual with Toben so it seems like a lot of hoops to jump through. “So, you were in the basement that whole time? You never left?”
He bristles as he shifts around in his seat. “Tavin didn’t. I did sometimes. With Logan.”
“Why?”
His body stills and he gives me a crooked smirk. “I’m not telling you that.”
A vibrating chill runs through my skin and I fight the urge to scoot my chair back. “Okay… How long was she locked down there before he let her out?
He takes another long drag before answering. “Five years.”
I�
��m surprised to say that I am actually having a decent time. We’re pretty buzzed and I swear he has an endless supply of joints. We lie back in the lawn chairs and watch the fireworks while swapping Tavin stories.
I explain how this little get together came to pass, and he laughs. “She’s always eaten like that. When I met her, I thought it was because she was starving, but Logan always made sure we were well fed and she still ate her weight in food.”
“How did you meet her?”
“Our parents were friends. I’ll never forget the first time I saw her. She was so skinny and dirty. She asked me for food.” He shakes his head. “I thought that was so odd. I didn’t know she hadn’t eaten in days.” The kid smokes like a chimney. He pulls out another cigarette. “I could tell her things I couldn’t tell the other kids at school. She was different, and sweet, and I wanted to help her. I would wash her clothes and bring her food. I even taught her to read.” He looks at me and smiles. “She was my first kiss.”
He isn’t trying to taunt me or rub it in, he’s simply recalling a happy memory.
“That’s what I mean, Toben, you guys have this relationship I will never understand. I know you think I took her away from you, I—”
“Don’t give yourself so much credit there, guy. You didn’t take her from me, I lost her all on my own, let’s get that straight, right fucking now.”
I hold my hands up in compliance. “Fair enough. Can I ask what happened between you two?”
He shakes his head and murmurs, “You don’t want to know that.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m curious.”
He stares at his beer bottle for an uncomfortably long time.
“I made her fuck me.”
My head jerks back at his statement. Other than that, I can’t move at all. I know he didn’t say what it sounded like. He looks at me, waiting for my reaction.
“What did you just say?”
His chin juts out as if he’s stretching his neck. “I think you heard me.”
