Zeke

by Wodke Hawkinson

As if he read her mind, Zeke gazed down at her with an expression of tenderness. “I love you, Sue,” he said softly. “What other man would go this far just to see you satisfied? What other man would care this much?”

  She hung her head, barely feeling his hands on her skin.

  “Mmmm.” Zeke stroked his fingers lightly between Sue’s legs, and then turned his attention to Mike and Lou. “Anyone else want to try?”

  It had gone too far. Sue wanted to get dressed and walk out, but Lou had taken a timid step toward the bed. Zeke encouraged him. “That’s the way. Go on and take her. She’s ready. She’s nice and wet.” He licked his finger.

  Mike got to his feet and moved closer so he could see. Zeke stopped him with a hand to his chest.

  “Do me first,” he said quietly.

  “Oh, no,” Mike said, backing off. “I don’t swing that way.”

  “Neither do I,” Zeke said. “But I want to see how it feels. It won’t hurt you to do a little for me. After all, look what I’m offering you.” He gestured toward Sue.

  Mike looked at Lou and back to Zeke. He swallowed hard. “What do I have to do?”

  Lou looked in amazement at his friend. Mike shrugged. “I don’t mind,” he said, “as long as I can be with her afterward.”

  With a tight smile, Zeke unzipped his jeans.

  It seemed like a lot of time passed, but Sue knew that was an illusion. After appetites were sated all around, awkwardness crept in. The men dressed quickly, in a hurry now to be away from each other and away from this room.

  Sue huddled under the blankets. I’m not the same person I was when I left home, not even close. I don’t know who I am anymore.

  “Well, we gotta go,” Lou said. “So long.” He opened the door and Mike dashed out ahead of him. A cold breeze rounded the room as the door closed. Sue propped herself up on the pillow and watched Zeke knowingly.

  “What?” He looked disgruntled, defensive.

  “Oh, nothing,” she replied. “I was watching you part of the time, that’s all. You with another man.”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal. But, you know what’s really funny?” He snorted. “Lou’s going to wonder about ole Mike for the rest of their lives.”

  It was mean and small, Sue thought. Childish. She wondered why Zeke felt the need to mess with people’s psyches the way he did, and how he was so able to manipulate them into doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. “You sure seemed to enjoy it,” she said quietly.

  “Lighten up, Sue. It didn’t mean anything. All I was doing was getting off.” He crawled into bed beside her. “I would’ve been doing you, if you weren’t so busy. I just took what was available. Doesn’t mean anything at all.”

  He pulled her into his arms and fell promptly asleep. She surprised herself by doing the same.

  The next morning Zeke pulled up to the office, unwilling to sacrifice the security deposit. He entered and approached the small check-in desk with a light step; but when he exited, his stance was stiff, and his face was set in anger.

  Sue’s heart pounded against her chest as she tried to understand what could have happened to set him off. In an agony of suspense, she awaited his explanation, but none came; he got in the van and drove away from the motel.

  Vacuous Cow-Eyed Moron

  Zeke said nothing as he stopped at a convenience store and gassed up, his silence surrounding him like a hard shell. He bought himself a coffee and roll but didn’t get Sue anything. Foreboding inched its cold fingers up her spine and she sat as close to the door as possible.

  Zeke pulled from the store and turned into the street.

  Sue was wary, timid. “Isn’t the highway the other direction?”

  Zeke glared at her, eyes full of hate. “Isn’t the highway the other direction?” he mimicked.

  Sue remained quiet as Zeke drove cautiously down a snowy, ice-covered county road. He finished his roll, took several sips of coffee, and then pulled into a drive that led to a farmer’s field, stopping just shy of the gate.

  Sue waited. Something bad was coming. She slowly moved her hand to the door handle, ready to jump from the van and run, if necessary.

  “Let go of the fucking door, Sue.” Zeke’s voice was cold.

  “What’s wrong? What did I do?” Tears filled Sue’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks.

  Zeke struck so quickly Sue never saw his fist coming. His first blow smashed into her chest; the wind rushed from her lungs. The second targeted her stomach. Struggling to catch her breath, Sue grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. But before she could slide out to the ground, Zeke snatched a handful of her hair and jerked her across the ice chest between the seats, slamming her against him.

  “You deceitful, disloyal, sneaky, backstabbing bitch! I trusted you! And how did you repay my trust? You called home? What the fuck! Who do you think you’re fucking with here?” He grabbed a second handful of her hair and shook her violently.

  Sue screeched and tried to writhe away from him. “Stop! You’re hurting me.”

  “Oh, babe, you don’t know the meaning of hurt. But you will.” He released her hair and slammed her into the passenger seat, knocking her head against the headrest. Her body twisted awkwardly and pain bloomed in her side. She scrambled to right herself.

  Zeke reached across her, pulled the door shut, and locked it. With vicious, quick movements, he fumbled under her skirt and grasped her crotch in a vice-like grip.

  Screaming, Sue wrestled with his arm, but he only tightened his hold, digging steely fingers into her soft feminine tissues.

  “What have I got here?” he bellowed. “What have I got?”

  “What?” she sobbed.

  “What’s in my hand, you vacuous cow-eyed moron? I swear you’ve got the fucking IQ of a tennis ball. What the hell is this?”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she cried.

  “You know what it is.” Zeke squeezed harder. The tendons stood out on his arms. “Say it.”

  The pain was severe and Sue’s squirming only intensified her agony. “My female parts.” She managed to squeeze the words out.

  “Damn it; tell me what I call it, what it really is.” Zeke bore down harder.

  “Pussy!” Sue shrieked into Zeke’s face.

  “That’s right, Einstein. And that’s all you are to me. All you were, and all you’ll ever be! You hear me?”

  The pain was so intense she could only manage a weak nod of her head.

  He abruptly took his fingers away.

  Sue pressed both hands to her crotch, weeping softly, curled into a ball and cowered against the passenger door. Zeke flopped back into his seat and glowered at her, unable to speak, so great was his anger. Long moments passed, and her distress quieted to an occasional whimper.

  Zeke lit a cigarette and blew the smoke directly at Sue. “Tell me what the hell you were thinking. Back there in the room. You knew we were living without interference from anyone from our past. You knew!”

  Crying softly, Sue finally spoke. “I can explain. I didn’t tell them where we are, I swear. I only called home to let my mom and dad know that I’m okay. I had to tell them I was alright. I love my parents and I couldn’t let them worry. Besides, Zeke. This is a good thing. Now we don’t have to worry about them following us. Now they know I’m okay, happy where I am.” Sue looked hopefully at Zeke, praying he wouldn’t touch her again, hurt her again.

  “You’re so naïve, Sue. This means the exact opposite of what you thought. Now they know where to look. You think they can’t trace that call? Now we can’t travel by normal routes. We have to take shitty back roads. This is going to slow us down, slow us down to a crawl. And we can’t afford to crawl. We need to run, thanks to you.” Zeke gripped the steering wheel, breathing hard, struggling to control his emotions. “Just sit there and stay quiet. I don’t even want to know you’re here.”

  Zeke slammed the van into gear, backed onto the road, and sped away from Edison. “I had no ide
a you were so devious, such a scheming little traitor. I thought you were my girl, my sweet special girl. Now I know you can’t be trusted. This changes everything. It’s unforgivable, Sue. Damn you! All the love I gave you and this is the way you pay me back. All the fun I’ve arranged for you to experience. All the excitement I’ve brought into your pathetic life. Apparently, it hasn’t meant anything to you. What an idiot I was to think you loved me. You only fucking love yourself.” He droned on about her many flaws, her stupidity, her worthlessness, and her treachery.

  Exercising monumental self-control, Sue choked back her tears and kept still, terrified anything she said or did might exacerbate Zeke’s wrath. He eventually fell silent as the miles flew by beneath their wheels.

  Finally, they reached the outskirts of another small town and Zeke stopped for gas. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His voice took on a patient tone. “Okay. I’ve been considering what you did and I see why you thought you needed to call home. Of course, you were wrong. You understand that, don’t you?”

  Sue nodded when his eyes searched hers. “Yes,” she said meekly. Her mind and body sang with pain, which she valiantly tried to ignore.

  “Go on and use the restroom, then pick us out something to eat for lunch. But remember, I’m watching you. Don’t talk to anyone. I mean it, Sue. You don’t want to test me on this.” He opened his door and then turned back. “Oh, and leave your purse here.”

  Sue’s legs trembled violently as she walked to the restroom and entered a stall. She feared she would collapse. Without her purse, she didn’t even have a pen or lipstick to write out some kind of call for help on the mirror or wall. Moments later, she was glad she hadn’t because Zeke actually entered the women’s room to check it out.

  He walked in, opened each stall and inspected them for signs of a message. Returning to the door, he asked, “How we doing in here, honey?” His voice was syrupy sweet and carried to the cashier.

  “I’m fine.” Sue splashed her face with cold water and dried off quickly on a paper towel.

  He held the door open for her and escorted her through the aisles as they selected their food. Leaning close, he whispered in her ear, “Watch yourself, now. I’d hate to have to shoot off your pretty little empty head. Or blow away the guy working here, either.” He gave a meaningful pat to his coat pocket. It bulged with something heavy. “Hey, grab a few of those flashlights and some batteries.”

  Sue juggled the packages and followed him to the register. The clerk gave Sue a searching look, but she kept her eyes averted.

  Zeke paid for their purchases and held Sue close as they returned to the van. “You know I still love you, right Susie?”

  “Sure,” Sue said, swallowing the desire to scream. It went down like a mouthful of acid.

  As they exited the store’s parking lot, Zeke spoke. “I think we’ve stayed off the main road long enough. It takes too long to get anywhere on these stinking back roads. What do you think? Should we head back over to the highway?”

  “Whatever you think is best,” Sue said, voice barely above a whisper.

  A Really Bad Feeling

  Falstaff pulled into the motel early that afternoon. The proprietor remembered Sue and Zeke, but those weren’t the names on the register. Staring at the picture Will handed her, she told him she was virtually positive it was the same girl although the hair was different. It was short and spiky now, bright red.

  “The guy paid cash for the room. He hadn’t given his tag number or the make of the vehicle, but my desk clerk waited until they’d been in the room for a bit and then went out and got the information.”

  “And that is?” Will had his pencil ready.

  Flipping through the records, the woman told Will the vehicle was a burgundy-colored 1994 Dodge Caravan, and gave him the tag number. She told him she had only seen the pair once. The girl had been carrying some shopping bags from a downtown store called Trés Chic Boutique. “That’s a little specialty clothing shop downtown. They have these hard-to-miss shopping bags, bright pink. You could check there and see if they remember anything.”

  “I’ll do that.” Will got the address from her and asked without much hope, “Have you cleaned the room yet?”

  “Yep, just finished a little while ago.” The owner frowned. “Room was left a mess, beer cans and liquor bottles sitting everywhere. Beth, our housekeeper, did a discreet check of the room while the man checked out. Said the place smelled like a whorehouse on a Saturday night. But all their stuff was gone, nothing was broken, and they checked out and collected the deposit. The guy had been all friendly to begin with, but then he got a little red in the face when he heard about a small phone charge. But he didn’t contest the expense, just paid it and left.”

  Will thanked the woman and drove from the lot. He headed for the downtown area and found the little store with no trouble. With ice covering the streets, he literally slid into the spot in front of the boutique.

  Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Will wound his way through the racks of women’s clothing and lingerie and up to the counter. The clerk, Candy, remembered Sue well. She told Will all she could recall about the couple. “To be honest with you, I think that girl’s in danger,” Candy said, and told him about the bite mark she had seen and the way Zeke had to approve all her selections. “He was one good-looking man, but spooky as hell.”

  Will felt a stab of concern. “What do you mean?”

  Candy lowered her voice. “I know his type. Cruel. Manipulative. She was really sweet, but he made me extremely uncomfortable; he put off a bad vibe. It’s that feeling you get about someone that’s so negative, you just breathe a sigh of relief when they walk away. A feeling like you just avoided something really bad.”

  Will made some notes, and then nodded at the clerk. “Is that all?”

  She hesitated, obviously battling internally whether to continue. “No. Actually, my friend, Dilly, told me a story I think you should hear. I won’t give you her address or number, but I’ll get her on the phone and see if she’s willing to talk to you.”

  Will stepped away to give the girl some privacy. Candy had a muted conversation with her friend and then covered the mouthpiece. “She’ll talk to you over the phone, but won’t meet with you in person.”

  Will reached for the phone, introduced himself, and listened.

  “I met the couple at the bowling alley,” Dilly said. “They seemed cool. Different, you know? Plus they’re photographers from New York; at least, that’s what they said. I didn’t feel like I could pass up on that, so we went back to their motel room, you know, to party. We were drinking and stuff, and then things got creepy.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, like I said, things started feeling really weird; so, I went into the bathroom and listened at the door. I overheard the guy, Zeke, tell the girl, Sue, that he was going to do stuff to me. And then he said they might need to get rid of my body later, if things got out of hand. They didn’t know I could hear them, so I flushed the toilet and washed my hands, the whole time trying to think of a way to get the hell out of there.”

  Will perceived her fear and it drove a stake of worry into his gut. A frown creased his brow. “What did you do?”

  “I kept my cool, even though I was scared as hell. I pretended I had a brother who was waiting for me back at the bowling alley. I let them think he’d seen me leave with them, let them think there would be a witness if I were to go missing. It worked; they took me back without hurting me. But, Zeke. He seemed really pissed. I couldn’t wait to get out of that van.”

  “Did you get the feeling that Sue was being held against her will?”

  Dilly paused to consider the question. “I’m not sure. She could have just walked away from him when they were inside the building, but she didn’t. I think maybe she wants to be with him even though she wasn’t all that thrilled with some of the stuff he wanted us all to do.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’d rather not say, b
ut he definitely calls the shots. I could tell that.”

  Will knew there was a lot more to the story, but Dilly was finished talking.

  “That’s really all I can tell you. I just want to forget the whole thing, you know?” Before Will could ask any more questions, Dilly had hung up.

  Will handed the phone back to Candy.

  “Thank you. That helped me a lot.”

  “You’re welcome. I hope you find her, and that she’s okay.”

  “Me too,” Will stated as he wove back through the filmy garments and left the boutique.

  Once back in his car, Will smacked the steering wheel with the palm of his hand in frustration. His gut feeling had just been vindicated; he was now convinced Sue Cox’s situation was unstable and that she could very well be in danger. He wondered if she knew it yet. He shook his head. The things some people would do to feel loved and accepted often appeared crazy to outsiders looking in. While he suspected the girl was not as innocent as her parents believed, he also felt confident she had still been fairly naive and that she was out of her league. Will slipped his cell phone from his shirt pocket and punched in the number of his office.

  “Hey. Got some news.” He updated Roxie on the recent information and gave her the vehicle info. He waited while she ran the plate through the computer and wasn’t surprised when she told him the tag belonged to a 2004 Honda Civic. “Hasn’t been reported stolen. Owner probably doesn’t even know his tag was switched out.”

  “Try to contact the owner of the Civic and find out what tag he has now. I doubt if it’ll help, but it’s something to try.” Then he told her what he’d learned in town.

  He heard her gasp when he told her about the bite marks and Dilly’s experience. “Roxie, I think this case has gone from important to urgent.”

  “I agree. Let’s hope the bastard doesn’t snap before you find them,” Roxie said.

  “I hear that, but I’m not entirely sure how to proceed from here.” He sighed. “Damn it. It looks like I just missed them by a few hours. Good news is, I’m closing the gap. I guess I’ll stay on the main highway and just keep checking gas stations and whatnot. They seem to be paying cash everywhere they go, so that will narrow it down. Why don’t you put Melvin on the motel angle? Have him call places ahead of my location to see if he can get a handle on them.”