by K T Morrison
Nelson said, “Hey, I hear you’re working at Energex.”
“Yeah. I am,” he said, “A junior in their aerospace.”
Natalie said, “Still gigging.”
“Still gigging,” he said. “I fuckin’ love it.”
She said, “Seems like somebody fuckin’ hates it.”
“Huh?”
“Somebody punched you in the face.”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, somebody did punch me in the face.”
“What happened?”
“Hey, just bullshit. You know how it goes,” he said. “You going to invite me in?”
“Sure, come on in. Come on and sit in the family room,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re here. It’s great to see you.”
Renny kicked off his Air Jordans and left them in the hall, stepping down and following them into the family room.
Natalie said, “Let me get you something for your eye.”
“Really? That would be awesome, Nat. Like a T-Bone. Like in the fucking cartoons.”
“I don’t think we have a T-Bone,” Natalie laughed, “but I can get you a bag of peas.”
“Awesome,” he said and carefully clasped a hand over his injured eye.
“Well, shit, come sit down on the couch, Renny.”
Renny did, taking a spot on the couch to the side of their den arranged on the floor. He said, “What were you guys doing here?—looks like a sleepover.”
“Yeah, I go to work tomorrow, so we were doing a little Christmas cheer tonight. Just me and Nat.”
“You two sweethearts.”
“I know, eh?”
“Hey, look at this: fucking Frosty,” he said, gesturing to the TV and the still-paused image.
Nelson looked to the paused screen and smiled. “Yeah, we were binging.”
“Pretty soon you two will be out in the suburbs, for real.”
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Natalie was there then, coming in from the kitchen holding a bag of peas. She came behind the couch, leaning over and guiding Renny to put his head back. He did, and she gently placed the bag of peas over his injured eye.
She said, “So what happened?”
He said, “Like I said, bunch of bullshit. Ah ... these girls, shit, I don’t know. They started it with me, you know? Then these guys ... I wasn’t doing anything ...”
“Oh no,” Nelson said. “One of their boyfriends punch you out?”
“These girls have been bugging the shit out of me. Coming to every show,” he said waving his hands around indicating the drama. “One thing leads to another… Somebody misunderstood something ...”
Nat said, “So, one of the boyfriends?”
“I guess so. Big fucking guy ...”
CHAPTER 4
NATALIE
He looked good. Had to be the last time she saw him was her wedding day; two years ago now. Got drunk, of course, and she heard later he put the moves hard on Katie, one of her bridesmaids. In the end, in typical Renny fashion, he’d gone home, allegedly, with a middle-aged server from the venue.
She’d petitioned Nelson during the wedding planning to exclude him from their special day, but Nelson was adamant; she agreed, of course—it was crazy to want to snub one of Nelson’s friends, and plus Renny had been an occasional member of their group. Sure he was wild and crazy and either brought the best time with him or the worst. In the end, his antics at their wedding were minor and could definitely have been a lot worse.
Now she held a bag of frozen peas to his face and all the scuffles of their past seemed distant and in a nostalgic sort of way she was glad to see him tonight. She asked him: “So, seriously—tell us what happened.”
“Nothing,” he groaned.
“Why did this big guy punch you?”
“Fuck if I know,” he said, tugging at the crotch of his jeans.
“Fuck if you know, bullshit,” she laughed, then saying, “Here,” guiding him to hold the bag of peas against his own face while she climbed over the back of the couch to join them, careful to keep her long T-shirt from riding too high. She sat herself on the couch between Nelson and Renny, drawing her knees up, sock feet on the couch seat.
“Thanks for the peas, Nat. Feels good,” he said, sinking back into the cushions of the couch.
He had a thick beard now, his handsome face hidden in it, but those dark eyes (at least one of them right now) could still suck you in. Not a big guy, not a jock either, slim build, average height, but it was those deep and soulful eyes under long lashes—and a confidence that bordered on perpetual arrogance—that had a whole host of the campus’s female population, including Nat’s own cousin, blowing up his phone as they used to say. Not Natalie though, ‘cause she hung with him socially—he lived with Nelson—and knew he was just a regular old run-of-the-mill asshole. And, of course, there was the big blowup of ’13 where she’d struck him, but that was best not brought up tonight.
Nelson said, “Wait—is someone after you?”
“No. Not really,” Renny said.
Natalie said, “Not really?”
“Nothing to worry about,” he said. “Can I ask you guys a favor?”
“Sure,” Nelson said. “What is it?”
“You guys think it’s okay if I crash here tonight?” he said, turning to face them, bag of peas blocking one eye, tugging at the crotch of his jeans again. The way he’d been slumped in the seat had pulled the inseam of his jeans tight between his legs and she could see below the hem of his leather jacket a generous denim pouch of what had to be some very large testicles, and she wondered if what her cousin told her about Renny was true—though she’d never doubted it, why would Valerie lie?—and Renny seemed to be the type of guy she imagined would be hung.
Nelson said, “Sure thing, buddy. Take off your stuff … stay. Hey, Nat? You’re okay if he stays, right?”
She smiled to Nelson who had just complained she’d spent fifteen minutes on the phone with a friend from work. “Yes, of course, of course,” she said—like they would turn Renny away when he put them on the spot like this. “Two things, though, seriously.”
“What?” he said.
“One, you have to take that coat off—the cold is radiating from it, I can feel it from here, trying to leech my heat away, and two, you really do have to be honest about what happened. If, like, the Triad kicks our door down to kill all of us over your gambling debt or something I’m going to be super-pissed.”
Renny gave an honest laugh and reached over to squeeze her knee she’d hidden up under her shirt in an effort to keep warm. “You’re a trip, Nat. Always keeping it real. I miss you. You, too, Nelson. We had good times, huh?”
“Yeah, we definitely did,” she said, wagging her knee so he’d retract his cold hand. “So, what did happen?”
“Well,” he said, sitting forward now and setting the bag of peas down next to him, then slowly unwinding the scarf around his neck. “I was hanging out with those girls like I said—they are total pains-in-the-ass, I’m not joking. Not hot or anything, not ugly either, solid sixes, six-and-a-halfs, but you know, all made up and everything. And way too touchy and grabby, always hanging off me.”
Nelson said, “Sounds terrible.”
Natalie scolded him, “Hey—what, you want teen groupies groping you?”
Nelson bounced his eyebrows at her, making her laugh.
Renny bundled his scarf up in his lap and worked his arms out of his leather jacket. “Yeah, Nelson, dude, these girls are a pain I’m telling you—like juvenile, and for three months now turning up at every gig and just hanging off me and making a scene—”
“So why were you hanging with them tonight?” Nat asked.
“Drugs,” he said. “They had a bunch of stuff. We were popping some pills backstage and I was—fuck, I was just humoring them—but we’re horsing around …”
Nelson said, “So that’s when, like, one of their boyfriends shows up?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
Na
t squinted at his dubious expression. Sitting there in his cool-ass hat and that soulful look (even with one eye puffy and narrow), his necklaces and the tattoos all up and down both arms and she recalled the blow up of ’13. “No,” she said. “No, right? It was one of the girls. One of those girls hit you.”
He rolled his eyes and flopped back against the cushions, two hands clutching the balled up scarf between his legs. “What?” he moaned as if she was talking crazy. But she wasn’t. Renny was an asshole, and even if you were a teenager infatuated with him, his arrogance and disdain could get to you. He was good at that: getting under your skin.
“I’m fucking right,” she laughed, convinced now, rolling toward him and clutching his forearm. “I am,” she laughed. “I’m fucking right, aren’t I?”
“You think some girl punched me in the eye?”
“Yeah, I do. What did you say to piss her off?”
Renny smirked. “Said she had a five-head.”
Natalie hunched forward laughing so hard her stomach muscles hurt but nothing but a wheeze came out. Fucking Renny, she knew it.
“What?” he said. “She had a big forehead … I asked her why she didn’t have bangs.”
Nelson laughed now, too, and Renny joined him. Big mystery, why he had a black eye. Of course he’d asked for it; being cruel to some poor girl … And suddenly she felt a warm nostalgia from her heart; sitting with Nelson and his housemates in the common area, flicking bottle caps and shooting the shit before they headed out to hit the bars, go see a band. She said, “What?—these girls know where you live, don’t they?”
“Yeah,” he said. “They stole my wallet. I just wanna hide out, you know? Avoid any drama.”
She laughed again, a good honest sound, squeezing his tattooed forearm, saying, “You can stay, Renny, you’re welcome here … You know what?—it’s really good to see you again.”
CHAPTER 5
NELSON
I t was good to see Renny again, Nat was right, wild man that he was. When you went out with Renny you never knew what would happen. From getting almost-stabbed by a homeless woman outside the subway station one frigid night much like tonight (after taunting her relentlessly) to climbing up on stage to dance with Rex Titan at a Sentimental Tiger show and getting invited to an after-party—though he disappeared and went on his own without Nelson and the other guys. Always the life of the party, he kept a stream of cool cats, scumbags, partiers, and pretty girls in and out of their house, attracting quite a bit of notoriety that wiped off on Nelson in the most welcome way. If you were an associate of Renny from Hayfever you had to also have some sort of stamp of legitimacy. It had been a fun three years.
Nelson said, “It really is, man. You ever see any of the other guys?”
“From the house? No, not really. I ran into Travis and his wife downtown … shit, you know, that must’ve been almost a year ago now …”
And there he was tugging at his jeans again. Only now, Nelson could see a bulge in his pants right next to where he had his scarf bundled. He’d been tugging and adjusting his package since he sat on the couch. Now it seemed to Nelson the answer was revealed: he had an erection. Either that or he’d stuffed a huge zucchini down the front of his jeans. It really did look like Renny had a massive hard-on.
Renny was hung; he already knew that. Heard it from girls he slept with (also in their cries from behind the door to his bedroom as he stuffed it into them), and of course he’d seen it himself a few times. Not hard or anything, just in the bathroom after a shower or whatever. The thing was impressive. Not aroused, it dangled between his thighs more than half a foot.
The question that faced him now was obvious: why? Why did Renny have an erection?
The couch where they sat was an L-shape, Nat in the centre, the bend, Nelson and Renny on either side of her, almost facing each other. Was it Nat? Did Natalie give him a boner?
Nelson watched his wife. So pretty, such a winning smile and sparkling eyes, looking fucking adorable in her oversized reindeer shirt and her silly Christmas antlers. She didn’t wear a bra under her shirt and you could see the shape of her tits pressing out, and two points poking at the fabric as well. Probably the cold—he felt it, too, when Renny came in and it had tightened his own nips. She talked with Renny now and Nelson had lost the path of the conversation. He’d become fixated on Renny’s arousal and his proximity to his partially dressed wife. What if she saw Renny’s huge bulge? He couldn’t allow that to happen. The idea of her eyes taking in another man’s sexual arousal made his heart pound and his fingers tingle.
The thought that Renny was aroused because of sexy Natalie was truly exciting though, wasn’t it? Sexy Natalie. That’s how Renny used to refer to her around the house: Hey Nelson, what time’s that sexy Natalie getting here? Natalie wasn’t really Renny’s type, though physically she was. Too smart for Renny’s antics; always saw through him and Renny knew it. Nelson thought that, too, however, about Kelly, Travis’s girlfriend (shit, now his wife!) and they were pretty sure Renny had fucked her behind Travis’s back when he was away at a charrette in Buffalo; Warren claiming he saw her creeping out a tiptoe walk of shame from Renny’s bedroom, 4 A.M.
If Nat saw that bulge, what would her reaction be? Grossed out? Curious? … Aroused?
He interrupted them while they talked:
“Renny …”
“Yeah, dude?” Renny said, finger held up midpoint in a conversation with Nat.
“Seriously, straight up—what is going on between your legs?”
Renny laughed, chuckled, “What?”
Nat slowly turned to Nelson, eyebrows up quizzically.
He said, “Between your legs,” gesturing then by nodding with his chin.
Natalie turned away from Nelson now and said to Renny: “Well, apparently my husband wants to know what’s going on between your legs.”
Renny laughed and smiled at Natalie. “The wives are always the last to know, honey.”
Natalie said, “Where you two going to register? I think we have a toaster oven we got for our wedding, never opened, I’ll just put a ribbon on it and pass it on to you two.”
Nelson said, “Nat, he clearly has a boner.” Now his palms were sweating.
Renny scowled at him. “Nelson, Jesus, dude …”
Nat said, “Yeah, what the hell, Nelson?”
Nelson threw up his hands innocently. “Hey, easy. I just thought it was funny.”
“All right. Fine,” Renny said, then tugged the scarf aside, thrust his hips forward to present his huge erection.
Nelson took it in quickly, eyes darting up then to catch his wife’s reaction.
Nat’s eyes went between Renny’s legs and Nelson studied her face. She would have seen Renny’s massive cock pressing out against his tight jeans, long enough that the head poked a fat denim knot past his hipbone, past the pocket; so thick and hard you could make out the ridged columns.
Nat took it in. Incredulous for a moment like she wasn’t understanding what she saw, then she gawked, laughed a loud cough and covered her mouth. Her cheeks went red and her mouth stayed poised as if she would laugh.
“What … What the fuck …? That’s not … What is that?”
Nelson’s heart fluttered and he held his breath. It was awful. It was perfect.
Renny looked for her reaction as well, and now he said, “I was trying to hide it but fucking Eagle Eyes over here can’t keep his fucking eyes off my crotch.”
CHAPTER 6
NATALIE
I t took her a few moments to rectify what she saw with what she understood. The first second Renny removed his scarf she thought it was a joke—he’d stuffed something huge in his pants. Her eyes couldn’t come away as she struggled to comprehend, then her face went hot because she didn’t look away quick enough and Renny and Nelson watched her gawk at it. And it did come together; she could clearly make out the shape of the large balls she’d already noted, then what had hidden under his jacket—literally looking like he’d
slipped a long fat cucumber in there. But it was his cock. Could see the ridged shape of it, saw the swollen glans pushing his pants up right past his hip. She covered her mouth, both hands then moving to her cheeks, feeling them hot, and she looked away, finally, to Nelson, feeling ashamed she’d looked so long. Now she was mad at Nelson, saying, “Nelson—why the hell would you point that out?”
He shrugged, a strange expression on his face, somewhere between a smile and nausea.
“I know,” Renny said. “God, Nelson.” Renny looked down, admiring his own arousal.
She looked, then quickly looked away again, saying, “Why would you make me look at that, Nelson?”
Nelson was strangely silent and he just shrugged again, that trace of smile gone now. She continued to pat her cheeks, knowing she would be red even down her chest if she were to look.
“Hey, Nat,” Renny nudged her elbow, trying to get her to look around.
“No,” she said.
Renny said, “No, look, I covered it.”
She peeked over to see his long scarf curled up in a heap to cover his crotch again.
“Sorry,” Nelson said, his voice a croak, then he gave a weird, high, loon-like laugh.
Renny said, “Nelson, you fucking nut. You okay, Natty?”
“Yeah,” she said, putting the back of her wrist to her forehead, feeling it hot, too. “I guess my cousin wasn’t kidding,” she said.
Nelson said, “Your cousin?”
Renny said, “What do you mean?”
She said, “Yeah, my cousin Valerie.”
He said, “Who’s that?”
Nelson said, “What did she tell you?”
To Renny she said, “She’s my cousin Valerie—you dated her for, well, I guess just for a week.”
“I did?”
Nelson said, “But what did she tell you?”
She said, “You don’t remember her?”
“When was this?”
