Zeke

by Wodke Hawkinson

  Bumping Uglies

  Will rose early, grabbed a quick breakfast, and hit the highway. Just as he was finishing his coffee, his cell phone rang. He pulled to the side of the road and answered.

  “Hey, Will.” Melvin sounded chipper as usual. “Where are you?”

  “Just outside Assaria, heading south.”

  “Good. Got a report here you might be interested in. Over in Nickel, New York there were some vending machines broken into at a campground.”

  “Really? Hold on.” Will dug out his pencil and notebook. “Name of the place?” He wrote down the information as Melvin spoke.

  “There are also a couple of reports involving juveniles, which don’t matter, and a fight between two guys over in Sheneca, but they had priors and the police ID’d them already. Besides, there was no woman involved.”

  “Okay, we’ll put those on the back burner for now. Probably not our people.” Will tossed his notebook into the passenger seat. “I’m going to drive over to Nickel. I’ll call from there. Where’s Roxie?”

  “Spying.” Melvin’s voice held a note of regret. “Wish I was.”

  “You’re right where I need you, Melvin. What you’re doing is damned important. Got that?”

  “I know. It’s just not as exciting.”

  They disconnected and Will pulled back on the road, fiddling with the radio as he did so. He couldn’t abide modern music for the most part, and reception was sketchy at best. Finally he turned it off and listened to the hum of his wheels on the asphalt. An hour later, he pulled into a rest stop to use the facilities.

  Returning to his car, he retrieved his notes and cell phone. He placed a call and as it was ringing, he gazed at the few vehicles around him. A group of sleepy people in business suits climbed out of a Land Rover and trudged to the restrooms. The tribulations of the corporate life. Glad I’m not one of those poor bastards.

  “Old Mill Valley, this is Jeff.” The voice was laid back and friendly with a strong New England accent.

  “I’d like to talk to the manager, please,” Will said.

  “Speaking.”

  Will identified himself, explained he was tracking a young couple on the run and had heard from police reports about the vandalism of the campground vending machines. “I’d like to arrange a time to come and talk to you about that. I don’t know if the folks I’m tailing are the ones who tore up your place, but I have to check out every lead.”

  “Well, I’d be happy to visit with you; come on over. Things are kinda slow around here this time of year, especially with the cold weather.”

  Will looked at his watch. “It’ll take me about three hours to get there.”

  “No problem; I’m always around. You know how to get here?”

  Will looked at his map. “I think so. You’re just south of Nickel, right?”

  “Yep. Can’t miss us. We’ve got twenty cabins in addition to the campsites.”

  “The couple I’m looking for...” Will paused. He wasn’t sure what they looked like at this point. “They’re both young. I think they have black hair. Guy is slender, tall. Probably driving a dark-colored van...”

  “They were here,” Jeff interrupted him. “And I got a story to tell you about those two.”

  This time, Will drove straight through. In fact, he barreled down the road, trying to shave every minute he could off the trip. His skin buzzed with a combination of caffeine and the thrill of the hunt.

  Old Mill Valley snuggled up to the foothills of the Adirondacks, surrounded by trees shedding their bright fall foliage, and swathed in a damp fog. The cabins extended on either side of the large building that housed the owners’ living quarters on one end, the courtesy center on the other, with the office separating the two. Everything was painted a crisp, clean white. Off to the side were a few scattered RVs, smaller campers, and a couple of tents.

  A bell on the door chimed as Will pushed into the office. An athletic young man with a fading tan and sun-streaked hair stepped to the counter with a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. He was younger than he had sounded over the phone. “Help you?”

  “I called. I’m Will Falstaff.”

  “I’m Jeff, Will, the one you talked to. You’ll be wanting to see the damage, I’d guess.” He walked out from behind the counter. “Lucky you got here when you did, the repairman’s on his way,” he said as he led Will to a door that opened into the courtesy center.

  It was a large room with a picnic table, a microwave, some coin-operated washers and dryers, and the vandalized vending machines. There was another door in the opposite wall that led outside.

  “Determined, weren’t they?” Will mused aloud as he examined the deep grooves and scratches on the nearest machine. He turned back to Jeff, and showed him the picture of Sue. “Is this the girl?”

  “I don’t know. I only talked to him. She waited in the van. I just caught a glimpse of her through the window. It was late when they got here and they woke me up to register. I was so tired, I didn’t even notice until the next morning that he’d signed in as Mr. and Mrs. Gypsy Rebels.” He laughed. “It’s weird about these machines, though. The guy pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, and he paid for two nights. The fact that they left the same night they got here makes me think they’re the ones that did this. The only thing is, why pay for two nights; it’s a waste of money.”

  Will shook his head. “Who knows about people? Maybe they hadn’t planned on robbing you until the opportunity arose. When did you discover they had gone?”

  “Later on in the morning. They were the only ones to pull up stakes; gotta be them who did it.”

  “Care if I question your other guests?”

  “Wouldn’t bother me, but it won’t do any good. I already talked to them; nobody saw a thing.”

  “What about your security cameras?” Will rubbed his eyes.

  “Don’t have any, but I’m ready to invest in some. This is just a small place, Will, geared toward families. We don’t usually have any kind of trouble. Our guests have been pretty trustworthy up until now. Still, we’re living in a changing world. I guess all good things disappear eventually.”

  “Ain’t that the truth?” Will sighed deeply, his disappointment evident.

  “I can tell you this, for what it’s worth; Earl said it looked like...”

  “Earl?” Will interrupted.

  “Oh, sorry. That’s the sheriff.” Jeff chuckled. “Anyway, he said it looked like the machines had been pried open with a knife, a big one. Like a hunting knife.”

  “Fingerprints?” Will made notes.

  “Hell, I don’t know. I don’t think so, though. Earl never said. But I can give you his number, if you want.”

  “Please.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you. Say, what are these folks wanted for?”

  “They’re not wanted exactly. The girl’s parents are just worried about her; want to make sure she’s alright.”

  “Ah, run off, did she?” Jeff asked with a knowing tone.

  “Something like that.” Will thanked him and turned to go, but stopped. “You said you had a story to tell me about them.”

  “Yeah. Some of the other folks camped near them said they made a lot of loud noises.”

  “Noises?” Will raised his eyebrows.

  Jeff cleared his throat self-consciously. “Sexual noises. One guy said they were ‘bumping uglies’ so loud they sounded like cats in heat.”

  To that, Will had no reply and simply shook his head. With a friendly wave, he left the premises and returned to his car where he made a quick call to the sheriff. All he learned was that some fingerprints had been found but weren’t in the system. He promised to email copies of the prints to Will’s office. After delivering the email info to Earl, Will checked his map, slid on his sunglasses, and pulled back onto the highway.

  At Knifepoint

  They had spent the night in the van again, shivering against each other under the blankets. Sue awoke stiff, s
ore, and cranky. She tried to control her bad mood as they pulled onto the road again. About half an hour later, Zeke rolled to a stop next to a little restroom in a small town park. “Let’s see if we can wash up in here,” he suggested.

  Sue stretched her tired limbs as she stepped to the ground. She was sick of sitting and relished walking around a bit. She definitely wanted to wash up. She grabbed her bag of toiletries and a couple of towels, and headed for the women’s room. From the corner of her eye, she saw Zeke approach a couple of guys sitting in a truck, probably skipping school. Sue shook her head; she never knew when Zeke would be sociable. Most of the time, he was an introvert.

  She pushed through the door and was relieved to discover the bathroom heated, lending unexpected warmth to what she had feared was going to be miserable. At least it wasn’t freezing and for that, she was thankful.

  Inside, Sue discovered a tiny sink and two stalls with no doors. Scanning the room she noticed a spigot low on one wall with a hose attached and coiled in the corner. They must just wash the place down to clean it, she thought, noticing the metal covered toilet paper and paper towel dispensers. She assumed the water would be cold but decided she needed to be clean more than she needed to be comfortable.

  Sue placed all her clean clothes in the sink near the door, stripped from her dirty clothes, and wadded them up into the other sink, laying her toiletries on top. She turned the handle and water ran clear and cold from the end of the hose. Sue quickly wet herself down from head to toe, squealing a little when the freezing water hit her skin. Shivering, she lathered up, washed her hair, and rinsed quickly, before toweling dry. If she hadn’t been so cold, she would have shaved. She dressed in clean clothes and then finger-combed her spiky red hair. After brushing her teeth, Sue felt like a new woman. She was smiling as she left the restroom.

  Outside, Zeke was nowhere to be seen. Sue glanced at the pickup truck where he had stopped to chat, but it was empty. She placed her bags in the van and then went to the men’s room door and hollered at Zeke, “You almost done?”

  Zeke’s voice sounded muffled when he answered. “Sue! You need to come in here. Quick.”

  Sue sighed heavily, wondering what Zeke had in mind now. He most likely had something up his sleeve. She stepped through the door to find Zeke, naked, being held against the wall by one of the two young men from the truck. Sue turned to run but the second guy grabbed her and pulled her all the way inside. The door banged shut behind her with a metallic boom.

  “Not so fast, little girl.” Her assailant was tall, wiry, and skinny, his face red with acne. Sue figured him for maybe eighteen, not much younger than herself. He easily held her arms down at her sides and shuffled her toward the center of the room while she stared with wild eyes at Zeke.

  The other man, shorter and chubby, giggled with excitement and held a knife under Zeke’s chin. “Got your boyfriend here,” he said.

  “Sue, you need to do what these guys tell you, or they’re gonna cut me,” Zeke whimpered.

  Sue blanched.

  “Come on, Billy,” the guy with the knife said. “Get her naked.”

  Billy released Sue’s arms. “Strip!”

  “No,” Sue cried out.

  “Do it, Susie. Don’t let them hurt me.” Zeke choked back a sob.

  The sound tore at Sue; she’d never seen him frightened before. She looked from the knife at Zeke’s throat to his panicked eyes.

  “Where’s Big Ben?” she asked, imploring him to defend himself, get them out of this.

  “In the van.” He looked shamefully at the floor.

  “Who the hell is Big Ben?” Tim growled, tension entering his arm.

  “Our dog,” Zeke said. “Just our dog.”

  Tim relaxed, but kept the blade at Zeke’s throat.

  Sue would do anything to get out of this alive. She slowly took off her newly donned clothes, baring herself to these drooling boys.

  Billy stared at her body as if he’d never seen a nude woman before. “I’m first, Tim.”

  Zeke had a strange look in his eyes. She waited, fearful, to see what would happen next.

  Billy seemed unsure of how to proceed. He began by putting his hands all over her. Sue stood frozen in place, trembling from cold and fear.

  Tim reached for his zipper with his free hand. “Get on with it so I can get some.”

  “Get down on your knees,” Billy said, freeing himself from his pants.

  Sue started to back away but Zeke cried out, “Do it! You have to, Sue.”

  She dropped to her knees and opened her mouth, fighting the urge to choke. Billy moaned after a few uncertain thrusts and pulled back. He pushed her to the floor, knelt between her legs, and took her. Sue shivered, her bare back pressed against the cold cement floor. She looked up at Zeke, mortified. As bad as she felt, she knew Zeke felt worse, having to watch his woman violated and being unable to stop it.

  “My turn,” Tim said and started to move away from Zeke, the knife in his hand forgotten.

  Zeke hissed at him, but Sue didn’t catch his words. Tim turned back. “Oh shit. I almost forgot. Get up here and watch this guy,” he told Billy.

  A glimmer of suspicion wedged itself in her chest like a shard of ice. What just happened? Sue wondered. Why didn’t Zeke try to save me when he had the chance?

  The two assailants changed places, passing the knife between them. Billy pushed up against Zeke, brandishing the blade, and turned his glazed eyes toward his buddy. Her confusion was crowded from her mind as Tim swaggered over to where Sue lay, fiddling with the opening of his jeans.

  “My turn, baby,” he whispered as he dropped on top of her.

  Tears rolled from her eyes and her chest heaved with sobs. She barely heard Zeke speak over the torment she was enduring.

  “Just pretend it’s me, honey,” Zeke said, his features contorted with what she hoped was helpless fury over their nightmarish situation but looked suspiciously like lust. “It’ll be over with soon. Just pretend it’s me and do a good job so these gentlemen will let us go.”

  Sue couldn’t do as he said, couldn’t stifle her tears and pretend to enjoy the experience, even though her rapist was surprisingly gentle with her. Sue was supine, unmoving. Let it be over, she prayed.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Tim panted in her ear. “So beautiful.”

  She felt his warm breath on her skin and shrank away as much as possible, pinned as she was beneath him. Tim took more time than Billy, and Sue wished he would hurry.

  A part of her mind kept nudging her with uncomfortable questions. What was wrong with this scene? Why didn’t Zeke look more frightened? Was he just trying to put on a brave face to steel her through these despicable acts?

  Tim behaved as if this were an assignation rather than an assault. Is this how rapists act, she wondered. What the hell is going on here?

  She descended into a surreal miasma. Her mind recorded her perceptions: Tim’s moist breath in her ear, the press of her bare flesh against the cold floor, the faint scent of human waste from the urinals, the indefinable look on Zeke’s face. It was horrible, but she suffered the humiliation to save not only her own life, but that of the man she loved.

  “It’s okay, honey,” Zeke said, his eyes shining with a strange light. “It’s not your fault. You can’t help it.”

  She closed her eyes and groaned. Then it was over.

  When Sue opened her eyes, she was infuriated to see Zeke and Billy grinning at each other, the knife no longer in sight. No one was holding a blade to Zeke’s throat and Zeke wasn’t trying to rescue her. The truth settled hard in her gut like a heavy stone. She’d been set up.

  Tim crawled off her and stood, tucking his shirt in and zipping up his jeans. He ran a hand over his forehead, wiping away the perspiration.

  “Thanks, dude.” He slapped Zeke on the back. “That rocked!” He looked down at Sue, and tipped an imaginary hat to her. “And thank you too, Miss. You were awesome.”

  Billy nodded before foll
owing his buddy outside.

  “What...what...what is this?” Sue cried as she gathered her clothes to her body and stood. “What just happened? Zeke? You were never in any danger, were you? You let those boys attack me!”

  “That’s right! Wasn’t it a trip? I wish I could’ve filmed it. I just didn’t see any way to pull out the camera and still carry on the ruse.”

  “Oh god, you planned this whole thing!” Sue pulled her clothes on with jerky movements. “You enjoyed it!” She sat on the dirty floor to pull on her socks, hands shaking so badly she could barely accomplish the task.

  “Now, Susie.” Zeke shook his head sadly. “Don’t be that way. You know you liked it. Hell, you came like old faithful.”

  “I didn’t! I was scared out of my mind! How could you put me through that?” Sue put on her shoes and stood, hands clenched at her side. “You jerk! YOU ASSHOLE! I hate you!”

  “No you don’t. You wanted that as much as I did. Come on, baby, admit it. You enjoyed it. Especially that big boy. He was hung, wasn’t he? I almost wanted to do him myself,” he chuckled, stroking himself.

  “You’re disgusting! And what you did was cruel.” Sue pulled her coat on and wrapped her arms around her belly to keep from slapping him. “What if they would have hurt me? Did you ever think about that?”

  “They didn’t hurt you, and they wouldn’t have either. I had the situation under control.” Zeke’s face grew cold. “Don’t whine like a baby, Sue. It’s a real turn-off. I arranged this to help you, to set you free of some of those damned hang-ups you have. Besides, these guys are ready to graduate and they’d never been laid. Think about it, Sue. You were their first. It’s actually an honor.”

  “Bullshit!” Sue screamed at Zeke, hands shaking. “You used me. You did it for yourself.”

  “I did it for both of us.” He flung his hair away from his forehead, his features relaxing into a look of pleasure. “And you can lie to yourself if you want to, but I know you liked it. It’s okay to like it, Sue. That was the whole idea.” He reached out to caress her face, but she pulled back. His voice took on a patient tone, as if he were explaining something to a child. “Look, if you want to play all innocent to salve your ego, go ahead; you’re only fooling yourself. I know you, Sue. I know you intimately. You got off on what happened here.”