Sociopath?

by Vicki Williams

  “The television and stereo are in here.” Vic showed him.

  “You get the use one of the spots in the garage off the alley,” said Chas.

  “What do you think?” they both said at the same time.

  “I think it’s great.” Rafe told them, “perfect. I’ve only got one worry.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ve never been into plants much. You’d have to give me instructions about taking care of them.”

  “Oh, we can do that or come in and do it for you. The plants are no problem,” Chas assured him.

  “Well, maybe you’d better tell me how much then to see if I can even afford it.”

  “We usually charge $1,800 with $100 a month extra for a pet, but we can drop the extra hundred, can’t we, Chas?”

  “Why don’t I start out paying the $100 until you see for yourself that Hawk isn’t going to harm anything, then we can drop it later if you feel comfortable.”

  “Yes, that’s a good way to do it.” Chas smiled warmly “When do you want to move in?”

  “Not ‘til closer to the end of the month but I’ll go ahead and start my rent now. That way you won’t lose anything waiting on me.” He wrote them a check.

  *

  They both watched the narrow hips saunter gracefully down the sidewalk to the gate.

  “What a fucking waste,” said Chas.

  “It’s going to be different having a straight guy as a tenant but I think this one’s going to be fun, don’t you, Chas?”

  “Interesting, to say the least,” Chas replied.

  *

  “I just googled our new tenant, Chas.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to do that before we rent to him, Vic? If he’s a felon, it’s already too late.”

  “He isn’t a felon. He’s a race car driver. He has his own website and his own fan club. He’s a big super-athelete at Princeton. They call him Rafe the Wraith because he’s so fast. He won the Chesapeake Regatta two years ago. The family is hugely rich. They live on an estate on the Eastern Shore called Heron Point. I researched some of his brothers and sisters. The gay brother, Denis, is an artist. His partner is an actor. He has the lead role in “It’s in the Cards”, you know, it’s playing at the Broadhurst. Maybe after he gets settled in, we ought to ask him to invite his brother and his friend to one of our parties.”

  “Let’s not jump too far ahead of ourselves, Vic. Let’s just wait and see what he turns out to be like first.”

  ~ ~ ~

  CHAPTER 9

  What he turned out to be was the most favorite tenant they’d ever had. They and all their friends adopted him, almost like a pet, and they adored the pet of their pet too, the playful puppy, Hawk.

  “It’s like having a sensuously silky black Persian kitten show up on your doorstep. He doesn’t really provide any useful function except that he just makes you want to smile when you see him stalking across the yard or sunning himself at the pool,” said Vic.

  “Yes, and you can hardly resist the urge to reach out and stroke him.” Chas agreed.

  It was almost a relief that he was straight because there were no jealousies or hurt feelings to contend with as there most likely would have been had there been competition for his attention among their guests. Not that everyone didn’t seek his attention. They vied for that devastating smile to shine their way but without the sexual element, there was nothing hurtful in it.

  So they babied him and pampered him and spoiled him, sharing their food with him (they were both wonderful cooks, he’d never eaten so well), showing him off at their parties (which he usually joined for a while but left before things started getting more, well, seriously gay), taking Hawk for walks during the day while he was gone. He told them to come in the house to get Hawk or water the plants or whatever whenever they wanted. Private as he was, for some reason, it didn’t seem invasive when they entered his space. They had thought they’d clean the house for him but discovered, it never needed cleaning. He was a perfect housekeeper himself. No dish was ever undone, no bed ever unmade, no pillow ever out of place.

  He came over and watched the ballgames with them in the high ceilinged Victorian living room with its plush rugs and carved wood fireplace and tall windows with velvet draperies and the round tower room at one end. Mostly stretched out on the floor with his head resting against a big pillow, Hawk’s head on one brown leg.

  *

  They were definitely curious about his personal life and peered through the bay window in the French county kitchen to see who he was bringing home with him tonight. Sometimes he paused in the light of the floodlight in the yard and gave them an ironic salute before he escorted his company into the carriage house door.

  Chas watched the parade of blondes, redheads and brunettes and said, “and they accuse us of being promiscuous.”

  They were open about their nibbiness but he didn’t seem to resent it.

  “Rafe, Darling, do you ever sleep with the same one twice?”

  “Hardly ever. Life is less complicated that way. Go out with them twice and the next thing you know, they have expectations I don’t want to have to deal with.”

  “We couldn’t help but notice that you had two girls with you the other evening, Rafe.”

  “Best friends,” he explained, “they like doing things together.”

  “That was a beautiful African-American girl you were with last night, Rafe.”

  “Do you guys have a bell that rings when I come through the garage door so you know to race over to your windows?” he asked, grinning.

  “No, we just keep one eye out for your return when you’re not here. Do you mind?”

  “No,” he smiled in amusement. “I don’t care. It’s almost like having Mom and Dad waiting up until I get home, which incidentally, my own parents never did.”

  One thing about the carriage house - “You guys have taught me something.”

  “What’s that, Rafe?”

  “I never knew how much women love mirrors. Sometimes, when they’re going down on me, they glance over at the mirrors in the bedroom and get so caught up in admiring themselves with my cock in their mouth, they lose their train of thought and I have to remind them to keep going. If I ever buy my own house, I’ll probably have a mirrored wall.”

  “We’re so glad we can be of assistance, Rafe Darling,” Vic said dryly.

  *

  Sometimes, their friends developed mad crushes on him. They watched to see if he needed their help in extricating himself but he never took offense and wielded his rejections with kind courtesy, using them as his shield.

  “I’m wildly attracted to you, Rafe. Just let me give you a blow job. I know I could make you so happy.”

  “I can’t do that, Blake. I promised Vic and Chas I wouldn’t get involved with any of their guests. They have sort of a non-fraternization policy and I respect them too to let them down but if I was going to do that, Blake, you’d probably be the one.”

  “I would, Rafe?”

  “Yes, but it’s not going to happen so…..”

  *

  “Have you ever been tempted, Rafe, even a little bit, by a man?”

  “You know, Vic, I guess I’ve never given it any thought. It’s not that I’d have any moral compunction against it. If, say, I was in prison and there were no women, I wouldn’t go without sex. I’d probably be the first one to tag myself a partner. I imagine one mouth on your dick feels pretty much like another. It’s just the girls have always been so available, I never had to think any farther than that.”

  “Yes,” said Chas in his wry manner, “I suppose when you’ve taken it upon yourself to single-handedly fuck one entire half of the sexual universe, you don’t really need any more options.”

  *

  They faithfully read the Princeton Weekly Bulletin on-line for news about him. Then they started going to his games, jumping up and screaming, “run, Rafe, run” when he got a hit. When he drove one home, he always looked up and gave them a vi
ctorious thumbs up as he jogged back to the dugout.

  *

  “We read in the newspaper that grades have been handed out. You’re doing okay with your grades, aren’t you, Rafe Darling?”

  “You’re asking me about my grades, Vic?” he asked incredulously. “Am I going to have to start bringing you my report card next?”

  “Well, no, of course not….not unless you just want to.”

  “I don’t want to, Vic, but if you’re really that curious, you can look them up on the internet. My user name is rvincennes; my password is raven103.”

  *

  “Straight A’s!” he told Chas proudly that night. “A’s as far as the eye can see!”

  “Do you think we’re starting to know what it feels like to have a son, Vic?”

  * *

  “Hi, Ren.”

  “Hey, Gil, how’s it going in lovely New Jersey?”

  “One more year after this one, Renny, and we’ll be lazing on the sunny beaches of coastal Alabama.”

  “I’m don’t blame you for being impatient to go. You’ve got a wonderful place there.”

  “And what about you and Maggie? Did you find anything in Florida?”

  “No, Maggie fell in love with a place in Fort Lauderdale but, you know, Gil, it’s me that has to deal with property managers and being concerned with whether it’s going to be blown away in a hurricane. I’m trying to pare down my responsibilities, not take on more. She was sort of disappointed but I told her, I’d buy it for her and put it in her name, give her a checkbook and an allowance to take care of it and turn all the decisions over to her and if she wanted it under those conditions, fine.” He chuckled. “She decided against it.”

  “Whew, more power to you, Ren. I don’t think I could get away with handling Cindy that way. But anyway, to the main reason for my call, I think you made the right move letting Rafe live off campus. He actually seems happy this year.”

  “Good, I thought getting him out of the dorm would help.”

  “Yeah, it seems like Rafe’s Riders has ended. Don’t hear anymore about it. I think that was more about relieving stress than the women themselves. I suppose he just takes them home now. It’s too late for Helene Barnes though. She came to me and said she was leaving Women’s Studies, that she’d just lost the heart for it. I’d love to know what happened between her and Rafe but I don’t suppose I ever will.”

  “I’m still willing to sound him out about it if you want me to, Gil.”

  “Yeah, why don’t you? I know I said not to at first but I’m just damned curious to know the story. Don’t browbeat him though, just see if you can find a way to bring it up and feel him out. Everything else with Rafe is the same. Grades -A’s, baseball stats - great. Far as I can tell, he drops into Ivy and eats now and then when he’s on campus all day but mostly, he’s a commuter. Does what he has to do here and leaves.”

  “Okay, I appreciate the call, Gil, and I’ll see if I can do a little interrogation for you.

  “All right, talk to you later, Ren.”

  * *

  Dear Rafe - Haven’t heard from you. Is everything okay at your end? How are you getting along with your landlords? Do you like it there? I’m dating again but I decided to play the field a little this year and not get hooked up with just one person. Well, I suppose I would if I really liked someone a lot like I did Cal but I haven’t been with anyone else I felt that way about. I think I’ve been doing some good stuff for the Scribe. I’d like to be Editor next year. I talked Mom into letting me get a puppy for IN THE HOUSE, can you believe it? She said she’d approve it since I was the last kid left. She said she never would let anyone else because she couldn’t let just one do it or she would have had 6 or 7 dogs running around underfoot. Maybe she just feels sorry for me because I’m alone so much. Anyway, I’m going to get a Yorkshire Terrier. Misty’s little dog had a litter of pups and they’ll be weaned next week so I’m going to go choose one. I love you, Rafe.

  *

  Hi Lane - You’ll love having a dog with you all the time. I hated always having to put Raven out in the kennel but it’s great to have Hawk right in the house. I don’t let him sleep on the bed though. I will NOT sleep with a dog! This is the best place. I sure lucked into something good. Vic and Chas are terrific. They poke their nose into every bit of my business but for some reason, it doesn’t bother me like it would if it was anyone else. I think they would adopt me if they could. They even come to my games! School is so much more relaxing since I’m here. That’s really good about your writing. Hey, Honey, are you sure you’re all right with this dating stuff? I’m getting kind of a bad vibe. Talk to me. I love you too.

  *

  Hi Rafe - Well, I got my little girl and she is the most adorable thing in the world. I named her Shasta. I keep her in her crate beside my bed, at least until she’s potty-trained. Mom and Dad left for Spain so it helps a lot to have something else alive in the house. I got named the Queen of the Harvest Ball. That’s nice, I guess, only being the 4th Vincennes girl to get it, it’s more like it’s expected than anything else. I’m going to the dance with Brad Andrews. He was named King and since he doesn’t have a steady girlfriend either, we figured we might as well hook up. I can’t really explain how I feel over e-mail. It’s too complicated. I’ll just wait to talk to you when you come home at Xmas which seems like eons away but I guess it will eventually come. I’m glad you’re happy at the new place. All my love, Lane.

  *

  Lane - Things are kind of hectic right now. Stacks and stacks of assignments but if you really need me to, I’ll make a quick trip home, at least an overnight. Let me know. I’d suggest you come here. You have your car now and it’s a fairly quick trip (even quicker the way I drive - ha!) but I don’t suppose you want to leave Shasta right now. You could bring her with you. Let me know. I’ll come if you need me. I know how you feel about being elected Queen, felt the same way about being King. Like they just give it to every Vincennes out of force of habit. Well, you’ll be the last. R

  *

  Rafe - No, that’s okay. Geez, if I was the cause of you getting a bad grade (like an A- ?) I’d never forgive myself! It’s nothing that can’t wait ‘til Christmas. I don’t know what you’d do anyway. I have some family news. Wyatt saved some of his men who were pinned down in Iraq and got awarded a Silver Star! Pretty neat, huh? I don’t know all the details. I suppose we’ll hear about it when he comes home. They are going to have another baby and so are Jocey and Edgar. We just keep growing and growing but I doubt if any of our generation are going to match Mom and Dad! And, last but not least, Annecy is engaged to one of the other veterinarians at her clinic. She’s getting married next October here at St James, with an outdoor reception at the house. She wants all her sisters to be bridesmaids - even me!

  *

  Lane - Hurray for Wyatt! Now that’s impressive! Baby news is getting to be pretty old hat in our family. Nice for Annecy. I’m glad she asked you too since the two of us usually get left out. Not that I mind but I know you do. How’s the housebreaking going? Hawk was a breeze but I’ve heard small dogs are harder. Anyway, I’m lucky because Vic and Chas love Hawk and take him for walks and let him out while I’m gone. An A minus? Honor would impel me to commit hari kari! R

  *

  Lane didn’t know if she really was going to confide in Rafe when he came home and that would feel really strange because she’d always told him absolutely everything but she wasn’t sure about this. The fact was she’d gotten a little desperate and had sex with four boys since school started, trying, hoping, to discover that there was someone out there besides Rafe who could make her feel the way she wanted to feel. Because what if no one could make that happen except her brother? Where was that going to leave her? Would it mean if she ever wanted to get married and have a family, she’d finally have to settle for a man who didn’t excite her? Or would she end up hanging around at the edges of Rafe’s life, waiting for his 20 percent? How pathetic was that? And it h
adn’t worked anyway and now she felt a little sick and ashamed of what she’d done. None of the four had come remotely close to bringing her satisfaction. In fact, she couldn’t wait for it to be over.

  She’d come home on top of the world after the trip to New Jersey. She’d talked Rafe into staying three days although the apartment business was already taken care of by then. She thought he would have preferred to just head back but he’d let her have her way. And he was sweet and wonderful and generous the whole time and even after they got home. And then he left for school again and her good mood just crashed and she was back to trying to figure out where she was going with her life.

  *

  He came home to the gatehouse to find a large, lighted wreath, featuring red ribbons and a smiling Santa, on his front door. Inside, on the mantel, was a small tree covered with white lights, gold bows with trailing streamers and gold and silver bulbs. Lying beside it was a small package, also wrapped in gold with a tiny gold bow on top. It was laying on top of a card with his name on it. A second package was larger and had a tag that said, “for Hawk”.

  He grabbed up the packages and told the puppy who was impatiently waiting to go out, “we’d better take these over so they can see us open them, don’t you think?”

  He didn’t even knock at the door anymore, just opened it and called out, “you guys home?”

  “In the living room, Rafe, come on in.”

  He opened Hawk’s gift first - an intricately handtooled leather collar with his name on a silver nameplate.”