by Lola Swain
As Rose and I walked toward the lockers, we both noticed the kids coming from the lockers giving us weird looks. Sort of the same look Bobby Sharpe threw me in class.
“What the fuck, Rose?” I said as we got closer to our lockers. “Tell me you don’t see the looks we’re getting and don’t you dare tell me I’m paranoid.”
“Yeah, it does seem to be odd,” Rose said as she looked at the kids who were staring at us. “What is going—holy shit, Lyric!”
Julian sat on the ground under my locker. I looked to the right and Alexander stood next to him. And to the left, Nico stood with an angry look on his face and his arms extended. And on my locker? Giant, thick neon yellow letters spray-painted across the top that read: BROTHER FUCKER.
“Nice, Lyric, huh?” Nico said as he paced back and forth in front of my locker. “I fucking told you this would happen! I told you this!”
“Calm down, Nico,” Rose said, “Lyric is not having a good day!”
“Oh, not having a good day?” Nico said and grabbed my arm. “How’s your day now, Lyric?”
Nico slammed me up against my locker and I smelled the paint still fresh on the metal. He pushed my shoulders into the metal and the pad lock dug into my back.
“Nico, stop!” Serene said as she ran into the locker bank. “Leave her alone, this is not her fault.”
“The fuck it isn’t!” Nico said. “I told you that Mandy is a straight girl and that I may not have smoothed things over with her. And now it’s fucking obvious! Brother Fucker, Lyric. You stupid, selfish bitch!”
Nico drew me toward him and slammed me back into the locker and walked away. I fought the urge to cry and stood there with my head hung. Nico leaned against the lockers away from us and slid down to the ground and sat with his head in his hands. We were all silent. This was the first time that any of us really fought, other than the usual bickering back and forth. For once I stopped thinking about Professor Teresi and thought about how I hurt my brothers and sisters. I thought about what Papa would do and I was really terrified. And finally, I thought of the potential damage to my family.
You have heard of the Inquisition, haven’t you? Papa worked very hard to build what he has, to seek our mothers out and inject his seed into them to produce us. He wanted us because he knew that he didn’t want to be alone any longer. But Papa knows more about people, more about you, than you probably know about yourself.
He knows that different is shunned in this life. That once the mark of different is carved into your flesh, you are forever suspect. You risk everything for that difference and sometimes, the foundation you lay is not worth risking the masses destroying it by outing your non-conformity. So, you fly under the radar…you blend. You don’t forsake your beliefs, you just don’t flaunt them. Because when the angry army finds out you exist, your beauty immediately turns ugly and the mob seeks to destroy you, everything you are and everything you have. But Papa has no interest in wandering anymore. He’s made New York his home, the headquarters of his empire, and he will not pack us all up and run away like a gypsy in the night.
You see, there are a few things that the book gets right. Papa was the son of the morning and held his place high and exalted above everything. He is perfection incarnate and there was a terrible fight, one that nearly cost him everything. But he wasn’t cast down as a beast to wander the earth. He wandered as the man he is and he knew that he needed to rebuild, to procreate and rise up again as the most powerful being in the world. But he isn’t a preacher and does not want to convert you. You have to abandon nothing if you don’t want to. Frankly, he couldn’t give a shit what you do or do not believe. Just don’t cross him. Or us.
“Alright, let’s all calm down,” Julian said. “We need to think of a plan.”
“What we need to do is get that Mandy cunt and end her!” Serene said through clenched teeth.
“Easy there, Ice Cube,” Alexander said. “We’re not going to end anyone until we sit down and discuss this like semi-rational people. We’ll meet tonight after Papa goes out. There’s no need to alert him to this.”
“But what about that? I said. “Does that just stay on my locker all day for everyone to see?”
“Lyric, I swear to fuck if you start whining about how embarrassed you are,” Nico said as he shot from the ground and lunged toward me.
Julian jumped in between us and put his hands on Nico’s chest.
“Stand back from her, Nico,” Julian said. “We are going to do as Alexander said and meet tonight to discuss this after Papa leaves. I’ll cut my next class and grab a janitor and slip him a fifty to scrub this off without telling the Headmaster.”
Nico got around Julian and I flinched as he came toward me with his large hand balled into a fist. He reached over my head and punched the locker and walked away. He left a big dent in the metal and an even bigger dent in my heart.
“I’m going to go home,” I said. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“But, Lyric,” Rose said, “it’s not even 11:00. Papa may still be home and he’ll wonder why you’re not in school.”
“Then, I’ll wander around until school is out and meet you back at the apartment.”
“I’ll go with her,” Alexander said and handed me my book bag. “Can’t be without your partner in crime, right, Lyric?”
“Right,” I said.
Alexander and I said goodbye to the others and snuck out the back entrance of the school.
He helped me over the fence and then threw me our things and hopped over. Alexander began calling me his partner in crime when we were seven and he called me that ever since. He and I used to scheme and plan little wicked adventures in the night we referred to as the skulking games. When we were nine-years-old, we started sneaking out of the apartment and wandered the streets of Manhattan at all hours of the morning. Can you imagine seeing a couple of nine-year-olds walking down Park Avenue in their pajamas at three o’clock in the morning? Well if you did, it was Alexander and I. We never got caught, by Papa or anyone. We must have wandered thousands of miles over the years. We usually stuck to our area but there were a couple of times we ventured into Alphabet City and Washington Square in the wee hours. It was always more exciting when we went somewhere bad.
Where Nico is brash and brusque and a bad-ass, Alexander is methodical and gentle and subtle. Not weak at all, but Alexander was always popular not because of his bravado like Nico and Julian, but because he always tries to place himself other people’s heads and gains their understanding. Not manipulative mind you, but empathetic.
We walked for a while in silence up and down 5th Avenue, looking in the shop windows and at the people we passed.
“So, some day huh?” Alexander said after we walked for about an hour.
“Yep,” I said, “some day.”
“Don’t worry, Lyric, we’ll figure something out. Maybe Nico can talk to Mandy again and straighten her out,” Alexander said and stopped in front of FAO Schwartz. “Hey, let’s go in. I haven’t been here since we were kids.”
Alexander dragged me past the guards dressed as toy soldiers that stood watch in front of the store. We played like we hadn’t since we were little. We spent nearly three hours running up and down the aisles and stopped at every demonstration to play. I almost forgot about the trouble I had gotten us in, but it was never far from my reach.
“Come on, that was fun wasn’t it?” Alexander said as we left the store. “Want to go to the zoo now?”
“Just the park,” I said and pulled him toward the East Drive entrance to Central Park. “Let’s find a bench and sit.”
We walked past the peanut vendors and both inhaled the sticky, sugary scent of honey-roasted peanuts that wafted through the air.
“I’m starving,” he said, “let’s get some.”
He ordered three bags of honey roasted peanuts and we found a bench near the pond and sat.
“Oh, these are always so fucking good,” I said as I inhaled a handful of the salt
y-sweet peanuts.
“Yes, I forgot how good these are,” Alexander said and chuckled. “I always smell them, think they smell delicious, but I never stop to get any.”
“Well, we did today,” I said and rested my head on Alexander’s shoulder.
“Yes, we did today,” he said and stroked my hair. “I don’t want you to worry anymore, Lyric. We’re Trucido’s and we always stick together.”
“But Nico was so mad, Alexander,” I said and sighed. “I mean, did you see the rage in his face? I’ve never seen him like that.”
“And he has a reason to be mad, Lyric. What you did was very stupid. Papa always told us that he doesn’t care what we do as individuals or as a group as long as what we do does not harm the group. We are a group, Lyric…family. We’ve got a fuck of a lot more than most people, but the biggest thing we have is each other. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I said. “I swear I will never, ever do anything that has the potential to harm the group again.”
“I know you won’t.” Alexander said and threw his arm around me.
Alexander and I spent the rest of the day in the park talking and laughing and people watching. He had such a calming effect on me and I was happy that he came with me. We made our way toward the 79th Street exit when I saw them.
“Holy fuck,” I said and stopped short.
Alexander slammed into my back.
“What, Lyric?”
“Over there, look!”
I pointed toward the place where Professor Teresi and his wife lay in the grass. They were having a picnic near the turtle pond.
“Lyric, leave it alone. What did you just say about not causing the group any harm?”
“I’m not going to,” I said and walked toward them. “I just want to say hello.”
Alexander ran after me across the lawn and grabbed me as I reached their picnic blanket. He was too late.
“Professor Teresi?” I said and he jumped up from the blanket and stood in front of me. “Hello.”
“Lyric, what are you doing here?” he said and brushed a leaf from his leg. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“Shouldn’t you?” I said.
“Oh, Gio, this is the girl from yesterday, isn’t it?” the wife said and stood from the blanket. “Do you remember me, what’s your name, Lyric? I’m your teacher’s wife.”
“Yes,” I said and stared into her eyes.
“And who is this?” she asked and pointed to Alexander. “Is this your boyfriend?”
“Her brother.” Alexander said and held me by the arm.
“Ah,” she said and turned to Professor Teresi. “Gio, would you please run over to the museum and check the time of the Peter Max exhibition.”
“Um, it’s at 5:30,” Professor Teresi said.
“Gio, please,” the wife said. “I want to have a talk with your little friend.”
Alexander held my arm tight and dug his fingers into my flesh. I know he was trying to calm me down. I wanted to rip her throat open with my teeth and he probably felt my heart pounding through my veins.
“Look, Lyric,” she stood tall and stared into my eyes, “Giovanni is my husband and he is your teacher. Now, this crush you have on him is endearing and I’m sure there is a part of him that is flattered, but again, he’s my husband and your teacher. Just leave him alone and go away.”
“I don’t hear him saying this,” I said as I stared her down.
“Oh, believe me, he is,” she said. “As a matter of fact, he didn’t go to school today because he wanted to avoid you. Seems you’ve become a pest to him and he was willing to avoid his job if it meant avoiding you, Lyric. So, he and I discussed the ridiculousness of that rationale and we decided, actually he decided, to go to the Headmaster about this problem with you. You’ll be getting the note to meet with him tomorrow. Actually, you and your father will get the note instructing you both to meet with him tomorrow.”
“You stupid fucking cunt!” Alexander said.
“What did you call me?” the wife said.
“Well, I think the West side heard it, but if it bears repeating,” I said, “he called you a stupid fucking cunt.”
“You told our father?” Alexander said and jumped toward her. “Told him what, that your husband wants to fuck my sister? Why? Because my sister is a million times hotter than your skinny ass is?”
There was a couple sitting on a blanket close to where we stood. I looked over at them and the man stood and walked toward us. He was fucking huge. I grabbed Alexander by the arm and pulled him away from the wife.
“Come on, Alexander,” I said as the man quickened his pace toward us, “we need to get out of here.”
I dragged Alexander through the park and out to 5th Avenue. I turned back and the wife was talking to the big man and Professor Teresi. Professor Teresi and I stared at one another for a moment and then he looked down at the ground.
He betrayed me.
“In this place, death is mercy.”
Edgar Allan Poe
The house music blasting from the hotel’s stereo pounded more forcefully than David, no, Michael…whatever, pounded his cock in my pussy. I looked up from where he had me bent and watched Nico fuck David/Michael’s wife, Kristine/Karen, on the bed. Seeing that look of pleasure on Nico’s face made me angry. David/Michael was at best a common lay, neither too small nor big, decent stroke, but Nico…well, Nico was a phenomenal lay and I felt cheated that I had David/Michael.
Nico and I picked them up at The Penthouse Club on Broadway. They were from Parma, Ohio and David/Michael was there for a convention. They were also away from home for the first time and wanted to be wild. David/Michael was in his early thirties and nice looking. He probably played football in college and went to church every Sunday. Kristine/Karen looked to be about the same age, probably fucked only David/Michael in her life and had huge tits and a big ass. They bopped up and down to the techno music and tried to fit in with the cosmopolitan hipsters who populated the club.
“You’re very attractive,” David/Michael said in my ear.
I looked at his wife and she said something to Nico. Nico smiled and nodded. I knew what that sly smile on Nico’s face meant. They watched Nico and I all night and now they wanted to do something that they only fantasized about in their country-decorated bedroom in Parma, Ohio.
The wife looked over at David/Michael and nodded and then took Nico by the arm and they walked toward the bar. David/Michael ran his hand down my back and rested it on my ass.
“Ecstasy?” he said.
“Huh?” I said.
“I said, would you like some Ecstasy? I picked it up from a friend in Ohio who insisted we try it in New York.”
David/Michael held out his hand and there were four white tablets in his palm.
“No,” I said.
“Suit yourself. My wife and I never tried this before, but since we’re on vac-ay, we figured we should!”
We left the bar after downing a few drinks. They were staying at the Soho Grand around the corner from the bar, which seemed way too sleek for them. By the time we got back into the room, the Ecstasy started kicking in for both of them and they couldn’t keep their hands off of us. It was pretty hot, actually. They looked like they would explode if they didn’t fuck.
David/Michael unzipped my dress and peeled it from my shoulders. When my dress fell to the floor, he spun me around, licked his lips and smiled.
“Lord, but I’m going to fuck you good,” he said as he knelt at my feet and pulled my panties down my legs.
I stepped out of them and turned my head and watched Nico ripping the dress from Kristine/Karen. He pushed her onto the bed and she spread her legs wide and rubbed her pussy as she watched him undress. She looked over at me and stared at my body.
“Holy shit! What happened to you?” she said. “How did you get those bruises and burns?”
“It’s nothing.” I said and turned back to her husband. “I was in a car accident.”
I grabbed David/Michael by the back of the head and pushed his face toward my pussy. I spread my legs wide, lifted up on my toes a bit and rubbed my clit against his cute, Protestant nose. Not much for foreplay, David/Michael bent me over the desk and shoved his cock into me. He thrust his hips in and out as he pawed at my tits.
I looked back over at Nico as he plunged his big, fat cock into Kristine/Karen’s pussy. She gasped and Nico smiled and increased the speed of his strokes. Kristen/Karen screamed as if Nico was the best fuck she ever had. And judging from the lackluster pounding I got from her husband, he probably was.
“Give it to me!” she said and dug her press-on nails into Nico’s back. “Stab me with that big cock!”
Nico pulled out of her, dragged her by her legs to the edge of the bed and flipped her over on her stomach. He lifted her by her hips, bent her over and jammed his cock in her pussy from behind.
“Holy shit!” she said and screamed. “Just like that! Do it hard!”
Nico looked over at me and our eyes locked. He knew I wasn’t having any fun with Mr. Vanilla and he laughed.
“Harder!” I said to David/Michael as I stared at Nico. “Fuck me harder!”
David/Michael jackhammered his cock in and out of my pussy. He wheezed and panted as if he needed an inhaler. I was done with him and certainly done watching his wife have more fun than me. I allowed him to forgettably fuck me as I watched Nico fucking his wife and thought about the events that led up to all of this.
My brothers and sisters and I met the night before, after Papa went out. Alexander and I did not mention the fact that we saw Professor Teresi and his wife in Central Park that afternoon. Nor did we tell them that Professor Teresi told the headmaster of our school that my crush on him was out of control and a meeting was arranged between the headmaster and me and Papa to discuss said crush. I was fucking terrified, but that’s not what my brothers and sisters gathered to discuss.
We needed to figure out what to do about Mandy Cantervoss, my brother Nico’s girlfriend. Well, I don’t actually know what the fuck she is to him. I only know she has the potential to cause real problems in our family. I did something really stupid the other night after Rose, Serene and I returned from Professor Teresi’s apartment. I was so horny after the wife came home and interrupted my grinding session across Professor Teresi’s cock, I had to fuck. My pussy ached to the point of being torturous and I went to Nico’s room to have him make the pain go away.
