Zeke

by Wodke Hawkinson

  “I can’t believe you bit me.” She rubbed the inflamed spot with her fingertips. She could feel the ridges, but it appeared the skin was unbroken.

  “It was just a love bite,” he said quietly. “Some people like that sort of thing. I thought you might. Now I know you don’t and I won’t do it again. And, don’t forget. You kicked me. It feels like my jaw is cracked.”

  “I didn’t mean to kick you and you know it.” Sue was a bit calmer but still shaky.

  “I don’t know that.”

  “Well, I’m telling you. You hurt me and I jumped. I didn’t kick you on purpose.”

  “Okay. I hurt you and you hurt me. How about we apologize to each other and just forget the whole thing? You know I love you, bunny.”

  “I know.” Sue wavered, beginning to see some humor in her automatic reaction and its outcome.

  “You can bite me back if you want. Teach me a lesson I won’t soon forget. Give me a taste of my own medicine. Make me rue the day I was born.”

  She giggled lightly before unlocking the door. It opened slowly. Zeke leaned against the door jam, wearing a timid grin. He pulled her to him and held her close. She stood, arms at her sides, and allowed it. Finally, she thawed and returned the hug.

  “Let’s go buy you some clothes,” he said. “Really nice ones.”

  “Really?” Sue brightened. “Okay.”

  The ice had nearly all melted, but a cold drizzle was keeping things wet and uncomfortable. The wind was sharp, piercing their clothing. Water dripped monotonously from the trees and eaves around town.

  Edison wasn’t exactly the Mecca of fashion, but they did locate a small boutique downtown. The dedicated employee brought item after item to the dressing room. This, Sue concluded, might be the reason for the steep prices of the merchandise. Most stores didn’t give a shopper this much personal attention. Or, maybe the girl was simply bored, with Sue and Zeke the only customers.

  Sue wished the clerk would knock before barging in. She was embarrassed that she had no underwear; Zeke had thrown it all away.

  For the first ten minutes, Zeke sat in a chair up front. Every so often, Sue would emerge from the dressing area and model an outfit for him, the clerk beaming in the background. He only gave thumbs up to the skirts and dresses, thumbs down to anything with legs. Finally, Sue asked the clerk not to bring any garments with legs.

  “I think I’m gonna walk around a bit, check out the other stores,” he said. “I’ll be back in a little while. Take your time.”

  Sue nodded and went back to try on more outfits. She had bent to step out of a dark wine skirt when she heard a gasp behind her. Standing with several outfits draped over her arm was the sales clerk, her eyes fixed on the bite mark. “Your boyfriend out there, he do that to you?”

  Sue stood quickly and backed into the corner.

  “Let me see it.” She took Sue gently by the shoulders and turned her. “Hmm. Well, it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen. Probably won’t scar; you’ll have a bruise, though.”

  Sue met her eyes and a disturbing knowledge passed between them. “Leave him before it gets worse,” the clerk hissed. She said no more about the injury but proceeded to show Sue the clothes she had brought in.

  As she exited the dressing room, Sue’s eyes were drawn to a pair of boots, and she ran admiring fingers over the soft leather. Noticing the price, she stepped back with a sigh and turned away, resigned to making do with what she had.

  Zeke returned just as Sue had finished making her selections. He smiled at her and bathed her in a look of affection and tenderness. The clerk wouldn’t look at Zeke, instead, busied herself ringing up Sue’s purchases and folding them carefully into a slick pink tote sack. When she handed Sue her change, she held onto it just a second too long, giving her a meaningful look before pulling her hand back. It was a look that said, remember what I told you, a message so clear to Sue it was almost as if the girl had spoken the words aloud. Zeke took notice, but said nothing inside the store.

  Sue left the shop with a wine-colored sarong, a tiered skirt in shades of green ranging from emerald to dark forest, three pairs of black thigh-high stockings, a loose silk blouse in a cream tone, along with three other tops. She had fingered some sexy lingerie but knowing Zeke would veto the purchase, she left the silky items hanging on the racks.

  “You hungry?” Zeke opened the van door for her, a rare courtesy.

  “I could eat something,” Sue said as she slid inside, tucking her purchases carefully in the back. They stopped at a diner and indulged in two breakfast platters, overflowing with pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Sue found she was ravenous, and between the two of them, they cleared their plates. Zeke discouraged her from leaving a tip, saying the waitress received pay for her work and didn’t need anything extra. After Zeke turned away, Sue slipped three crumpled one-dollar bills onto the table, understanding servers weren’t paid well at all and depended on tips to make a decent wage.

  When they returned to the motel, they stopped near the lobby to buy some sodas and snacks for later. Once in their room, Zeke asked Sue to model her new clothes for him. He told her how sexy she looked as she paraded self-consciously around the room. He stared at her with open desire and let his eyes rove her body. He coaxed her out of the last set of garments quickly and laid her back on the bed.

  “What happened back there with the salesclerk?” he asked nonchalantly as he played with her breasts.

  “What do you mean?” Sue was cautious.

  “I mean that look she gave you, what was that about?”

  “What look?” Sue’s pulse quickened.

  “You know,” he said, now running his hands down her belly, idly circling her navel.

  Sue’s chest tightened. “No, I really don’t know. What do you mean?”

  “I think she liked you,” he said.

  Sue felt the tension melt from her. For a second, she had wondered if he somehow overheard the warning the clerk had given her.

  “In fact, I think the two of you might have had an encounter back there in the dressing room. You looked a little flushed when you came out.”

  “If I was flushed it was from trying on all those clothes. It’s harder work than you might think.” Sue pasted on a blank expression, fearing she knew exactly where Zeke was going with this line of questioning. “What kind of encounter could I have had with that girl, anyway?”

  Zeke began stroking her lower abdomen, running his fingertips down her thighs and back up. “I think she liked your body, got a kick out of seeing you naked. Who could blame her?”

  “Oh, Zeke. No, there was nothing like that.” Sue shook her head in vehement denial.

  “I think there was,” Zeke said. He got up and went to his backpack. He pulled out a small white sack and took something from inside.

  “Look what I found at the pharmacy.” He held up a small pink plastic item that fit over the tip of his finger. “This will make you feel good. This is something that clerk probably wished she had when she saw you naked.”

  Sue remained focused on the tiny device as Zeke ambled to the bed and opened her legs. Gazing at her with lust, he removed his clothes and crawled onto the mattress beside her. He placed the vibrating device against her tender folds of flesh. Sue’s body responded immediately as sweet waves flowed through her pelvis and up into her belly.

  “Let’s talk some more about that girl in the store. Her nametag read Candy. Did you call her Candy?”

  “No,” Sue whispered. “I didn’t call her anything.”

  “Did you think she was pretty?”

  “I guess.”

  “I think you liked Candy a lot.”

  “She was okay,” Sue breathed, nearly consumed by desire.

  “I know you liked her. I can tell that you like girls, Susie,” he said softly.

  “Like them how?” Her voice was husky, her body refusing to ignore the touch of the vibrator.

  “You know how, and I can see it. It’s in the
way you react. You prefer a softer touch, like a woman might use,” he said as he moved the small vibrator over her sensuously.

  Sue’s arousal was very quick, and she would have plunged over the precipice to which she clung if Zeke hadn’t pulled his finger away and moved it instead to her breast. A new rush of sensation traveled through her and she gasped at the intensity.

  “It’s too bad your friend, Joyce, didn’t treat you better or you could have got it on with her. I don’t blame you for not wanting Joyce, though. She sounds like a plain Jane and you guys didn’t really have much in common.”

  He moved his finger smoothly over her skin, leaving her breasts and playing around her navel before traveling lower.

  “Now Candy, she’s a different story. Pretty woman like that was too tempting to pass up. I know what really happened in that dressing room, bunny, and it’s all good. Candy helped you take off your blouse. Then she reached around and cupped your breasts, didn’t she? No, don’t answer, just listen. She lifted each one in her silky hands, those slender fingers with their rose-colored nails. You felt a rush as you realized how pleasing a woman’s hands could feel. You could smell her perfume. You turned around and smiled at her. She smiled back and leaned in. You did what comes naturally and kissed her. Her lips were soft and sweet like big puffy marshmallows. You put your hands on the back of her head and pulled her closer, wanting to taste Candy, to see if she lived up to her name.”

  “No,” Sue said weakly.

  Zeke once more moved his finger up, circling each breast and massaging her nipples. He gave her a loving smile. “It’s okay if you like girls. I’m fine with it. Let’s see. What happened next, I wonder? Oh yes, then you took Candy’s blouse off and unsnapped her bra. Didn’t you?”

  His finger made slow circles while his hand glided downward, tantalizing her as he detailed his fantasy about the dressing room. In spite of the shame she felt, in spite of his disturbing words, Sue’s body continued to respond to his seduction.

  When she reached an orgasm, Zeke laughed softly. “The two of you had quite a little tryst back there, didn’t you? Oh, Susie Q, you loved it so much. You liked it even better than Ernie’s mouth. There is a secret part of you that longs for a woman’s touch. I can tell. And I approve. One hundred percent. In fact, I want to watch it happen. I want it so bad!”

  He shifted so he could stroke himself with his other hand while he talked. “Call me Candy,” he whispered. “Pretend I’m her. Beg me to do you.”

  “What?”

  “Do it, Susie. Play along.”

  “Kiss me, Candy,” Sue said without enthusiasm.

  “Come on, you can do better than that. It’s just a game,” Zeke chided. “Remember, they’re just words.”

  “Do me, Candy,” Sue said softly, with a little more zeal, but still feeling very strange.

  With Zeke’s encouragement, she grew bold, graphic, which was exactly what he wanted. She played the game with him and he pleasured her as never before.

  Afterward, he lay quietly smoking, his eyes fixed on the ceiling with that faraway look. Sue was deep in her own thoughts, submerged in dark doubts about her sexual orientation. She had never noticed a particular attraction to women, but she did enjoy the sensations he provoked with his remarks. She had been titillated by the verbal pictures. And it had excited her to say Candy’s name while having sex with Zeke, and to pretend it was Candy who was touching her. She pondered her response to the game.

  Sue propped herself on an elbow and looked down at Zeke’s handsome face, willed him to look at her.

  “What?” He put out his cigarette and turned his gaze to her. “Say it, whatever it is.”

  “I’m just worried, that’s all.” Sue spoke carefully. “Some of the things we do don’t seem...normal. Don’t you ever want a normal life, Zeke?”

  He frowned. “Ah, Sue. You’re a victim of societal brainwashing. You’ve been convinced the dream life is marriage, a little house with a picket fence, a couple of kids, church on Sundays, and dinner around the table. Straight boring sex once a week, twice if the woman feels generous.”

  “That’s not really true, Zeke.” Inside she agreed with most of what he’d said. “But, even if I did think that way, what would be so wrong with it?”

  “It isn’t real life.” Zeke caressed her cheek tenderly, then gave her a sharp little slap.

  She pulled back, shocked, although it hadn’t actually hurt.

  “You’ve read too many silly romance novels, Sue. Life isn’t like that. Life is gritty, hot, dangerous; it’s an adventure. It’s dirty. You need to grow up; stop living in a fantasy. So you like to live on the edge. So what. So do I. So you like women. Big fucking deal. Stop punishing yourself.”

  “I’m not. I was just asking. That’s all.”

  She thought of Joyce and wondered why she had ever continued a friendship with her. She should have dropped her and found a better friend somehow, one she could have felt closer to. She wondered if she would have felt a sexual connection if she’d had a nicer, prettier friend. Would they have had naked slumber parties, examined each other’s privates, possibly done sexual things together? Was this impulse always there, but she didn’t know it because she had never been tempted?

  Then, she recalled the erotic dream she’d had about that girl in her English class. At the time, she had been ashamed but hadn’t given it much thought. Perhaps she shouldn’t have dismissed it so readily. Maybe it was a sign that she had lesbian leanings. She hoped not, for underneath her willingness to experiment with Zeke, she clung to an old-fashioned notion of a traditional marriage and family someday, a regular everyday life. This adventure with Zeke was just a brief interlude before they settled down and renounced all this crazy stuff.

  But, Zeke had painted pictures with his words. The images were so clear, almost as if they had actually happened and were tied to the sweet feelings she had experienced in his arms. She knew Zeke would refer to those scenes in the future as if they were real. And she worried that she would enjoy them even though it went against her sense of self.

  Stuck at the Loony Bin

  Will yawned loudly and stretched in an attempt to work the kinks from his back. No light seeped around the edges of the curtains, so he knew it was early. He rolled over and looked at the cheap bedside clock. Five a.m. Groaning, he sat up and stumbled into the bathroom.

  A shower revived him somewhat, but he needed coffee.

  Less than half an hour later, he was behind the wheel of his car munching a breakfast sandwich and guzzling an industrial-sized mug of coffee he’d picked up at the convenience store when he’d gassed up. It was too early to call Roxie; he knew she’d been on stakeout into the wee hours of the morning. Plus, there was no way to know for sure if Sue had been telling the truth. She might have been calling from a roadside pay phone and lied about being in a motel.

  The sky was lightening in the east, a pale pink rimming the horizon. On a different day, he might pull over and watch the sunrise. But there was no time for such indulgence today. He lit a cigarette and lowered the window a crack. The next turn placed the glory of dawn to his left as his headlights swept the road ahead.

  Will flipped on the radio and listened to a rhythm and blues station as the miles flew by. If Roxie or Melvin hit pay dirt, he’d abandon his current route; for now, his destination was an old asylum, next on the list of abandoned buildings Melvin had compiled.

  The station Will had chosen faded as he moved outside its range. He fiddled with the dial and found one that played oldies. He drove on for a while before pulling into a gas station on the edge of a small town. After visiting the men’s room, he filled up on coffee and settled into the front seat to call Roxie.

  “Any luck?”

  “Not yet, but we’ve eliminated quite a number of places. Here, let me grab the list.” She sounded exhausted as she rattled off the motels she and Melvin had contacted. “Melvin has a lecture this morning, but he’s coming back in afterwards. I’m going to
let him take over while I go set up surveillance on our cheating spouse.”

  “Be careful, babe.”

  “I always am, Will. You know that.” She sounded annoyed.

  “I know. But you also know I have to say it.” He hung up, and then scolded himself for letting his feelings show. Normally, Roxie didn’t react this way, but when she was tired, it was a different matter. At those times, she interpreted his concern as a lack of faith in her abilities, and that wasn’t accurate. Not even close. Will shook his head and put the car in drive.

  Shortly before noon, he turned into the long driveway leading up to the old asylum. Fresh tracks in the soft mud and bent areas of grass confirmed someone had been here recently, and he was sure he was on the right trail. Will’s pulse picked up.

  When he passed the old guard shack, his instincts went on full alert; he felt watched. Wary, he drove slowly, his eyes taking in the outbuildings and carriage house. He was astounded at the sight of the hospital itself; it was huge, much larger than he’d expected.

  Pulling up in front, Will killed the engine and took his weapon from the glove box. The feeling of eyes on him grew stronger, though he still saw no one. Getting out of the car, Will turned his head from side to side, but saw only weeds and debris leading up to the massive structure.

  Inside, he quickly explored the place, gun drawn and flashlight delving into dark corners. His footsteps echoed forlornly through the huge dusty rooms. The ragged cots lining the walls gave him pause, and he mentally scratched his head. When he found the groceries in the grubby kitchen, his spirits lifted. Then he dug a receipt from inside one of the bags. It was from a store in Brinkley, a small town just ten miles or so up the road, and it was three weeks old. This food couldn’t have been purchased by Zeke and Sue; so, who’s it for?

  He held his breath as he descended the stairs to the basement, taking careful, quiet steps. Disappointment filled him when he found no signs of the couple. He climbed the steps to the main floor.

  Peering out the rear door, Will noticed the grass was undisturbed and decided the outbuildings didn’t need his attention. He switched off the flashlight, lowered his gun, and walked slowly back to the front entrance. Here, he gazed at the broken stairway that led to the upper floors. He figured there had to be another set of stairs. Backtracking, he found the steps behind a door in the kitchen; the dust lay thick and undisturbed so Will ruled out going further.