by Roberts, EM
“Now, Miss Maisie, is that anyway to talk to me after the way I take care of you?”
“What, girlie, what was that?” Maisie yelled, trying to raise her head to look at Roe. Maisie was confined to a wheelchair and spent much of her time in bed, having lost both of her legs as a result of untreated diabetes.
“Nothing, Miss Maisie, I brought you something special today,” Roe sighed as she reached and grabbed a miniature Milky Way bar from the pocket of her scrubs. She felt sorry for the people here. Half of them didn’t have any family, and the ones who did seemed to have been forgotten by family members. It was heartbreaking. It really was.
“Gimme..gimme...I won’t call you nigger no more,” Maisie smiled broadly showcasing several gaping holes where teeth should have been as she held out her wrinkled and veined hand.
Not until tomorrow, Roe thought, and then every third word would be “nigger.” She wheeled the medicine cart out of the room and down the hallway to the nurses’ station. After signing the necessary paperwork, Roe was finished for the day. Unlike most people who hurried home to their family after a long day of work, Roe had no obligations--no family. Instead, she made the walk to Black Eyed Pete’s, the local dive bar. Having been converted from an old garage, the place sported a bar and exactly three small tables. This was fine, since there were never more than ten or so customers at a time.
Walking through the door, she was hit with a wall of stale cigarette smoke and body odor. She grimaced, knowing that she would become attuned to the smell shortly. She worked in a nursing home which smelled like cooked cabbage and urine on a daily basis. The smell here was almost like ambrosia compared to that smell. Hell, a few gin and tonics, and it wouldn’t matter if the place smelled straight up like ass, she thought, as she made her way through the dimly lit room and pulled up a worn bar stool.
“You want yer usual, Roe,” Pete, the owner and full time bartender, asked as she shed her denim jacket and plopped her behind upon the stool. She hooked her heels on the rungs and leaned forward placing her arms on the bar, giving Pete a good view of her cleavage.
“You know it, Pete,” Roe winked and replied sassily, turning to glance around the room.
At the other end of the bar sat The Old Man, an octogenarian who was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer Roe remembered her own father drinking when she was a child. She could never remember the old man’s name, and everybody just called him The Old Man. She’d come to call him that as well, and part of her cringed when she said it because it seemed so disrespectful. But, to be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot of respect in this town anyway. She wondered when she was his age, if the people in the bar would call her Old Woman. She hoped not. Although, she certainly did hope that she was still frequenting bars and having a good time at that age.
Continuing to scan the room, Roe spotted her neighbor from Taylor’s Creek Campground—Artie Little. Artie had his tongue down a cheap blonde’s throat and his hand up her acid-washed denim skirt. Roe wrinkled her nose and wondered how much this bimbo would cost Artie. Every time he slept with a woman, he was convinced she was the love of his life so much that he spent every dime in his checking on account on making the woman in question happy. Usually, this involved rounds of drinks and tacky jewelry. In the six months Roe had known Artie, he’d had three women live at his place, and each had taken all his money and broken his heart.
Roe couldn’t really judge anyone, though. She’d made some bad choices and had some regrets. This was the reason she never stayed in one place for too long. She didn’t want commitments--she didn’t want to care about people. Because ultimately, caring about people ended in heartbreak. Four failed marriages and a son she rarely spoke to had proven this philosophy. So, instead, she did what made her happy. She traveled, and she had a good time. She owned a tricked out Airstream travel trailer that had seen 40 out of the 50 states in the last twenty years. She’d met countless people, had a score of lovers, and seen some pretty cool places. She had no debt, and all in all, life was pretty good. There were regrets, but she didn’t let them hinder her. She was living for herself now.
She watched Pete walk around the bar, methodically wiping up spilled and invisible alcohol. To most people, he was an average looking fifty-five year old white man. Dark hair, sprinkled with liberal amounts of silver, a constant five o’clock shadow, and the warmest brown eyes she’d ever seen, Pete really was very attractive in a simple kind of way. She also liked that he wasn’t a very demanding lover. In fact, he was quite generous and went out of his way to please her in bed. It was a satisfactory relationship. Did she wish it was more? Maybe a tiny part did, but overall she didn’t think so.
Of course, the relationship was private. The only person who knew about it was Ella. Roe trusted Ella and vice versa. It wasn’t like anything would ever come of the relationship anyway. As nice as Pete was, he really wasn’t her type. Although Roe lived in a camper, she was a high maintenance kind of girl. She liked the finer things in life: whereas, Pete was a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. Most of the clothes hanging in her closet were designer wear, and the money Roe shelled out for shoes would shock even Pete and Ella. And, they both knew her passion for shopping. She didn’t have a lot of expenses, so the money she made went into looking good. And, why shouldn’t it? It was her money, and she had no one to tell her what to do.
The door opened letting in a breeze of cool October air and two young men with it. Roe groaned. She’d hoped she could make it through the night without having to put up with the two assholes who’d just walked through the door. Ezekiel and Abraham Perkins were the epitome of all that was wrong in this town--all that was wrong with the world in general. Ezekiel was wearing a t-shirt that proclaimed The South Will Rise Again under the image of a rebel flag which was paired with dirty jeans and work boots. Abraham, the cleaner of the two, was wearing a blue flannel shirt with camouflage cargo pants. Both had wads of tobacco in their jaws. Ezekiel sat beside Roe placing a Pepsi bottle filled with tobacco juice on the bar beside her gin and tonic. She grimaced and turned slightly away.
“Well, if it ain’t my pretty chocolate girlfriend, Ro-Ro,” Ezekiel grinned, placing his arm around Roe’s shoulders.
Roe shrugged off his arm and stood. She probably should pay her bill and skedaddle because there was just no way she could put up with these two tonight. She’d been having a good time watching her man work and relaxing with her favorite drink, and of course, it couldn’t last. Yep, she’d better be on her way. If not, she was sure to say something that would get her into trouble. Plus, she didn’t want Pete to have to deal with it either. She downed the rest of her drink in one long swallow, wincing a little at the burn of the alcohol.
“What, ya think ya too good fer my brother?” Abraham stood and walked in front of Roe.
“No, I think maybe he’s too good for me.” Roe replied with sarcasm, not being able to help herself.
“Maybe, he just wants a little brown sugar.”
“Well, he’ll have to get his treat somewhere else because I’m leaving. If you would be so kind as to let me pass,” Roe counted to ten. She was trying. She didn’t really want to though. She wanted to really tell these redneck mother fuckers what she thought of them and their bullshit, but there was Pete...She really liked Pete. However, she was pretty sure that punching this guy in his tobacco stained teeth would be the highlight of her six months in this town.
“Hey, boys, come on now. Let Roe be. She took care of yer Granny down at the nursing home today. You gotta be grateful for that, right?” Pete asked as he moved along the bar, giving Roe a silent message. Slip out the door, and I’ll see you later.
Both men turned to answer Pete, and in that instant, Roe made her get away. It was only a short distance to the campground, but the cool air and the two assholes from the bar prompted Roe to move faster than usual. There seemed to be assholes like this every place she went. There were good people like Pete, Ella, and Ella’s father, and there were bad people like the
Perkins’ assholes. In New York City, she’d seen it. She’d also seen it in Los Angeles. She usually stayed until she couldn’t take it anymore, and then she would pick up, move, and start the process again. So far, she’d never really found a place where she felt she belonged or wanted to stay. This town wasn’t that bad; it was just the few assholes in it who left a lasting impression.
Arriving at her destination, she unlocked her door and stepped inside. Ella had freaked out the first time she’d entered Roe’s living area. Plush cream carpeting, track lighting, and a nice flat screen television were definitely not the norm in camp living to Ella’s way of thinking. The walls of the camper were pale lavender with black accents. The whole ambience Roe was going for was classy with a dash of sexiness, and she felt she’d certainly achieved that.
Thinking of Ella prompted Roe to reach in her bag and take out her cellphone: Had a run in with my two favorite turds. Home now. What’s up with u? She walked over to the wine rack sitting atop her mini-fridge. She grabbed a bottle of Sangria, poured herself a glass, kicked off her shoes, and sank into the cushions of her futon. She clicked on the television and scanned the channels. News, news, shopping, cartoons. She settled for a romantic comedy. For all of her disdain about love and marriage, she was a romantic at heart. She didn’t believe in the shit, but it was still nice to dream of some handsome rich man who would sweep her off of her feet and love her forever. Yeah right, she snorted. No knight in shining armor was coming to sweep her off her size ten feet. Just a small town bar owner who was afraid to be seen with her.
As if on cue, a soft tapping came from the door. She smiled and stood. It was time to do some entertaining, she thought lasciviously. She opened the door, pulled Pete into her arms and kissed him deep and long, her tongue intertwining with his. She sucked on his lip as she unzipped his jacket and flung it to the couch. Placing her arms around him, she grabbed his ass and squeezed lightly. That was the first thing other than his eyes that had drawn her attention. Roe was an ass woman. He laughed into her mouth. She squeezed his backside again in retaliation and just because she could.
“Hmmm, you taste like Sangria,” Pete murmured into her mouth as he unbuttoned her blouse and squeezed her breasts. Shedding clothes, they made it to the futon in record time. There was no talk. They both knew what they wanted. They were adults and didn’t need promises or compliments, and this was about mutual satisfaction, not happily ever after. Pete pulled the side lever, turning the couch into a bed. He pushed Roe down onto the bed none too gently and pinched her nipples. She liked it a little rough, so he felt compelled to oblige.
“What do you want baby? You want me to go down on you?” he asked. Pete knew how to keep a woman happy in bed. That was for sure, Roe thought, as she ran her fingers through his hair and tugged gently on his ear. She leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the cheek.
“When have I ever turned that down?”
Pete grabbed her legs and pushed them back towards her upper body. He slid his tongue along her pussy --the wetness smearing his face. She moaned. It felt so damned good. She just needed him to find the right spot.
“There, right there, baby, that’s it. Don’t move that tongue anywhere but there,” she ordered, gripping the coverlet with her hands.
Pete continued this task, slipping a finger inside of her and slowly thrusting it in and out. She could feel the pressure building. She reached down and ran her fingers through his hair. Almost there….it wouldn’t be long. She was especially horny today, so she definitely knew it wouldn’t be too long. Yep there it was. Sometimes, when she had an orgasm, she thought her head would explode from the fierceness of it. She sucked in a lungful of air and expelled it loudly.
“It’s your turn,” Roe commanded as she lifted Pete’s head from her crotch. Bouncing up with renewed energy, she pushed Pete back on the bed and slid his cock into her mouth and sucked tasting herself on him. She felt cum swell to the tip of his cock and licked it off, grimacing a little at the bitter taste. Pete needed to lay off of the coffee, she thought.
“Gawd, baby, that’s just so good,” he moaned, his hands rubbing her shoulders.
Pete knew the drill—she’d suck his cock, but she wouldn’t swallow. A small taste was the extent of that business. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. She wanted to because she wanted to do that for him. She wanted to please him. She was old enough to know that both partners needed mutual satisfaction. The fact of the matter was that it was just the texture of the stuff that made her gag, and she certainly didn’t want to end up puking her guts out. That’d happened a long time ago with another man, and it hadn’t been pretty for either of them. Nope, that definitely wouldn’t be romantic.
Pete tapped her head, letting her know he was close. She climbed over him and slid his cock inside of her. This was the moment of sex she enjoyed the most--other than the orgasm. There was just something about the feeling of a man’s cock as it first slid in. She rocked gently at first and then faster. She leaned down, grabbed the metal arm of the futon, and rode him. This was all about Pete. He’d given her what she wanted, and now it was her turn to let him blow his steam. She didn’t mind it one bit. She liked the power of being on top and in control.
Deciding to mix it up, she twisted around, her ass facing him and proceeded to ride him reverse cowboy. He gripped her ass cheeks tightly and pumped up into her. She could hear him groan each time he pumped his cock up into her, and she smiled. Roe was a sexual woman. It wasn’t unusual for her to orgasm more than once during sex. She wouldn’t lie; it was the oral sex that felt the best. The penetration felt good, but it was hard for her to get off that way. Tonight, however, she was feeling it, and this could be the double.
“Aww, baby...I feel it coming. I’m gonna cum...can’t hold it no more,” he groaned as he thrust up into her deeper and faster. She rode harder, sweat trickling down between her breasts. She was just about there.
And just like that he ejaculated, it was over, and Roe was left a little frustrated. She hadn’t achieved that second orgasm after all. She’d been so close, but hey, at least she’d gotten off at least once. Some women didn’t even get that. Poor creatures. She didn’t need to be greedy, she thought as she stood and made her way to the small bathroom rather abruptly. Pete wouldn’t be offended because he knew she wasn’t the type to roll over and cuddle after sex. As soon as it was over, she liked to get cleaned up. There was nothing worse than lying around feeling all sticky and smelling like sex. In the bathroom, she turned on the small shower and climbed in. Five minutes later, she was feeling relaxed and ready for bed.
Walking back into the room, she glanced at the futon and noticed Pete watching her. She smiled. He was just so damn cute. A little rough around the edges, but that just made him more appealing. She’d better watch herself around him. Even though he wasn’t her type, she’d found that she liked having a man do what she wanted.
“You wanna take a shower? There’s a little hot water left. Or do you just wanna wait until you get home?”
“How about I take a shower here and then us just hang out…maybe I can sleepover?” he asked almost shyly, smiling at her.
“Well, um, are you sure? I mean, if someone sees you, you’re going to get a lot of grief for it. You know the rest of this advanced nation, even most of this town, is pretty cool with bi-racial couples, but your good ol’ boys at the bar might not be so understanding.” she replied with sarcasm, smiling to take the sting out of her response.
“Ya know what? I thought about it, and fuck them. Fuck the lot of them. I’ll see who I wanna see. If they don’t like it, they can stay the fuck outta my bar. Maybe it’ll class up the joint.” Standing, Pete dropped a kiss on her cheek and walked to the bathroom.
Well, what do you know? Roe thought as she pulled the cover over her naked body. She really wasn’t in the market for a relationship and sleeping over certainly indicated that might be where Pete thought this thing was headed. Roe liked sex, but she didn’t just have it wit
h anybody. She was picky with her lovers and had chosen Pete because he was nice and unassuming. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Pete, though. She really liked him, but could she ever love him? Did she want to? Could she overlook those people in this town who were still living in the pre-civil rights era? She doubted that. It was such a small town, those people stood out. Maybe in Knoxville, Memphis, or Nashville? She’d visited all three towns and had loved them. Could she be happy with a down to earth guy like Pete? Would he move to the city? She didn’t think so, and she was getting ahead of herself. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to let him spend the night. It would be nice to sleep in a man’s arms for a change.
She smiled as Pete walked back into the room wearing her fuzzy, pink robe. He stumbled slightly and then straightened.
“Whoa, boy, you been hitting the bottle at work?”
“No, I just felt a little dizzy for a second.”
She walked over to him and kissed his forehead. He was a little hot, so she walked over to a drawer by the kitchen sink and grabbed a digital thermometer. Sticking it under his tongue, she waited for the beep.
“100.5 --You have a slight fever. Nothing to worry about right now.”
“Maybe, I shouldn’t stay over. I might get you sick.” He went to grab his jeans.
She halted him: “No, stay over. If I’m going to get sick, I’ll get sick. We just swapped body fluids, for Christ’s sake. Plus, I had a flu shot a couple of weeks ago. AND, I kind of do want to cuddle.”
They climbed into bed with Pete wrapping his arms around her, and they spent the next few minutes talking about everything and nothing. Before Roe fell asleep, she smiled a happy little smile. She’d missed this. Maybe, she could convince Pete to come with her when she left, and they could travel together. Now, that was a far-fetched thought.
