I laid on the gas and watched the speedometer rise from 120 KPH to 160 KPH. It wasn’t that I minded the company. In fact, I was damn glad to see him. But being with him in close quarters – like the cab of a car – made me nervous.
He prattled on and on during the drive. Mostly about insignificant things like the fat bitch on the plane. But occasionally he would inject something about the house. I half-listened to everything he was saying, partially because his track was manic and random. But mostly because Elizabeth had slipped back into the bed that was my soul when I wasn’t looking. Lights must have been off.
But I snapped-to and thought about Jack. Seeing him confirmed my suspicions. There was something horribly wrong. And my instincts where he was concerned were rarely wrong. I desperately wanted to get out of the damn car and start drinking.
We pulled up to my townhouse and I parked the car at the side of the building. As we got out, he seemed to cheer up a bit and calmed down. But I was irked when he grabbed his light suit bag and let me take care of the heavy suitcase. It had rollers, but they wouldn’t help me under the present street conditions.
So he strolled and I lugged as we wound our way around the corner. Jack prattled on while I just craved getting inside and pouring a drink. But as we approached the steps to my townhouse, all thoughts of an insane and wonderfully Bohemian visit with Jack were shattered. In a million mind-numbing shards of broken heart.
She sat on the steps looking lonely and forlorn. Wearing a thick winter coat and mittens which she used to hold herself, she just sat there and shivered. Piercing shrapnel of shock, pain and panic shot through my brain. I blame myself for everything that happened.
God, Malcolm. I’m so sorry. I can’t.
Oh my God.
I looked at him. He’d been prattling on and didn’t notice her until we neared the steps. She was wearing a wool cap and while I recognized her instantly, for all he cared or chose to care, she might as well have been his next nameless conquest.
But when he did notice her, he stopped in mid-sentence and smiled with the most evil look. My heart was a kettle drum in my chest. Abuzz with a myriad of thoughts, I couldn’t think straight. We were about six feet away and he smiled at her and lowered his head. As if he was a bull ready to charge.
I tried to intercept Jack, so I spoke before he had a chance.
“Elizabeth? What are you doing here?” I should have been ecstatic to see her, but I wasn’t. My voice trembled as I realized what was about to happen. What are you doing here? Why now? I desperately tried to think. What do I do? But while I considered the split-second, Jack didn’t.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the little slut that keeps fucking with my friend’s head. How’ve you been, Elizabeth?” He spoke in a mocking tone as he chuckled and sat down next to her. He patted her knee as if he was greeting an old buddy for the first time in thirteen years. She instinctively pulled away when he touched her. But he wasn’t fazed.
“You look good. How long has it been? I see you finally lost some weight. Good for you. But you’ve aged.” He spoke with mock surprise as he placed a finger near her face. As if he was going to trace the lines around her eyes. She flinched. But she couldn’t move, because his body boxed her into the railing.
“Why did you put him through this?” He gestured toward me, but I didn’t feel like he was defending me. “We go way back. You can tell me.” I felt assaulted. I wanted to react. To do something to stop this immediately. But my feet were frozen to the street that bore my wretched soul.
”You did whatever you could, in that fucked-up little head of yours, didn’t you? You kept the wound open. You kept it open and deliberately nurtured it. Even after all these years!” He spoke with emphasis and mock incredulity.
“Jack…” I tried to speak, but I couldn’t even do that. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t happening…
He ignored me.
“You know, you were okay. I liked fucking you, even if you did lack creativity. It was like teaching a child how to be an adult.” He chuckled.
“You liked it, too. You couldn’t get enough of me. Do you still think about it?” He peered at her as if he expected an answer. After a moment, he made a sour face and shook his head.
“Nah…you’d never admit it. Malcolm over here,” he idly gestured toward me without losing the lock that he had on her face, “fell in love with you. But you don’t want love. You don’t need love.
“I know what you need.” He leaned over and whispered something into her ear while he ran a finger along her thigh. Shocked out of her trepidation, she darted an enraged look at him and jumped off the steps. I started. She backed away from him while he lounged on the step.
“Are you still able to get wet? You seem frostier than you used to be, but we’re both willing to try. Personally I think it’s a waste of time.” He looked over at me and winked. “Malcolm, what do you think? Should we do her? It’d be just like old times.” He chuckled and peered up at her.
“Why are you here? You just can’t seem to get it into your head that he doesn’t want to see you anymore. He doesn’t need you. You are a cancer that needs to be burned!” He sneered and glared at her. I needed to stop this, but I didn’t know how. He got up and walked toward her. She took a couple of steps back.
“So tell me honey…you don’t mind if I call you ‘honey’ do you? It’s not as nasty as some of the words we used to use. Y’know.” He winked at her but didn’t wait for an answer. “So tell me. Do you keep coming back because you want to see him? Because you want to suck his cock one last time? Or are you trying to drive the knife in deeper?”
She gasped. Shock crossed her face. She glared directly at him, and the words that came out of her mouth sounded like no Elizabeth I’d ever known.
“Get…away from me…” I could only watch, while he smiled and she backed away from him. Away from both of us. She looked at me and I saw rage and confusion in her face. Nostrils flared, she looked at me, then him. Then back at me. Suddenly, she shook it off with pain and hatred. I recognized what was welling up inside her. She turned and walked away with parting words.
“It was a mistake to come here.”
“Elizabeth!” I cried after her, but my feet were frozen to the ground. I looked at Jack. He slapped his knee and laughed.
“Good riddance too, you little whore! You Goddammed cunt! Don’t you know that he can do so much better than you? He’s fucked tail that makes you look like the ugly sister!” With this last statement he jumped up and screamed the words at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down and waving his arms at her.
His words echoed and rang through the street for several minutes while she disappeared around the corner. I thought about going after her, but something kept me from doing it. I’ll regret that choice until the day I die.
But at the time, all my emotion, all my hate for the world that spawned me was directed at Jack.
“Jack! SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Too little, too late, I finally found my voice. Suddenly, there was no sound. Just the haunting quietude of winter on a lonely city street covered with snow and ice. A fading echo of words that could never be taken back rung in my mind.
I should have gone after her.
He looked at me and the smile faded from his face. It was replaced by a grim look that I couldn’t comprehend. Walking past me, he picked up his suit bag and muttered under his breath. Almost as if he didn’t want me to hear it.
“You’re a cancer that needs to be burned.”
Chapter 52
When we got inside, I couldn’t look at or talk to him for several minutes. My hand stung horribly and anger swelled inside my brain like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Jack neither noticed nor cared. Because he was too busy laughing and slapping himself on the back for ‘taking a piece out of her.’ I turned on the stereo and poured a very large Scotch. While I poured it to the brim of the glass, I shot him an accusatory look. He could get his own fucking Sc
otch.
Ignoring my sleight, he sat back in the chaise lounger and laughed at me.
“That was fun. Wanna do it again?” As he gazed at me I could sense his mania. But I was trying to focus on anything but him. And her. I was besieged with anger and confusion. His performance had only made it worse. As I thought about her and the opportunity I had missed, he realized that he was without a drink. He jumped up, poured himself a Scotch and collapsed on my lounger like a man who had conquered Everest.
“Let’s call her. Leave a few fun messages. What do you think?” My eyes darted in threatening barbs at the suggestion. He wasn’t kidding. I gave him a dirty look, lit a cigarette and sat back on the couch. Jack raised his palms in supplication and made a mockingly apologetic face.
But his words reminded me of the call. Just before I left for the airport. I looked at the phone. The light was flashing. I jumped up, but Jack saw me eye the phone and he reached it before I could.
“DAMMIT! Give me the phone!” He held it over his shoulder and behind his head. He frowned and shook his head.
“No.”
“DAMMIT! Give me the phone NOW!” Jack continued to shake his head. But the smile had fallen off of his face. He gave me a grim stare.
“No.”
I glared at him. Not for the first time, I thought about punching him in that smug face of his. But he stood his ground and his expression didn’t change.
“It’s time for you to grow up.” He lowered the phone to his side. “If you really want to listen to this message, I’ll let you. But you’ll have proven to me that you will never change, and that you’re just as fucking pathetic as you were when we were in school.”
I stopped and lowered my head. Sudden realization poured over me. I hadn’t changed. And as a result, my life had been one long miserable chain that added a new link with each tedious day. It was time to stop. I nodded and began to turn around.
“Good boy. Good to see that you’re learning. Besides,” he laughed softly, “she gave the absolutely worst head in the world.” I darted an evil look back at him and he raised his hands in mock supplication.
“Okay, okay. If looks could kill! Jesus.” He put the phone back in its cradle and took a long gulp of Scotch. Draining it, he poured another. I began to calm down as I told myself that perhaps she and I would talk tomorrow. I’d be able to patch things then.
For the moment however, I needed to forget, and he would help make it go away. I knew that. It wouldn’t help anyone if I got into an ugly funk. And so I decided to get with the program.
“What do you want to do? I need to forget.” I drained my glass and poured another. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to get laid. Like I’d never been laid before. I wanted to forget everything. Like it never happened. I was on the hunt for ignorance, and Jack was the hound that would sniff out my prey. He looked at me and laughed. He nurtured his glass and played with the ornaments on the tree.
“What do I want to do? What do I want to do?” He pranced around the tree and tilted his glass at me before he drained it.
“What I want to do is irrelevant. What you want to do is the point of this whole exercise.” Just as he spoke, the doorbell rang. Inwardly I jumped.
God, she wouldn’t come back for more. Would she?
“Aaaaaand…” he went to the coffee table, lifted the bottle and poured himself another, “methinks that what you want to do has arrived!” I sat and frowned with wide-eyed incomprehension as he strutted out to the hallway. I listened while he opened the door.
I heard his hushed voice, accompanied a female’s. Here we go. He quickly returned to the living room. Standing with a solemn look on his face, he bowed gracefully and comically.
“Sir Malcolm! Since the dawn of time, man has been faced with the most perplexing of mysteries…one which has baffled even the greatest thinkers, one that has made men cringe and women blush, one which…”
“Jack! Cut the horseshit! I’m not in the mood!” I tried to be angry. But as I blurted it out, laughter filled my words. The right side of his mouth was curled in utter satisfaction. As he put down his glass and tugged at his shirt. As if he was about to introduce the King of Spain.
“Malcolm, may I introduce you to…” he swept both hands toward the hallway, “Candi, Cindi and Coral. The three Cs. Ahhh, C is such a great letter. Ladies and gentlemen! I give you the letter C, the third letter of the alphabet! It doesn’t get the respect it deserves. It’s responsible for many of life’s best words: cock, cunt, coitus, copulation…uhm…” he paused, and a perplexed look crossed his face as he searched for another word. Finally he threw up his arms.
“C-section? Oh well. Need I say more? The mystery that surpasses the riddle of the Sphinx, the location of Noah’s Ark and the secret recipe for Coca-Cola is now here! Malcolm, I’m pleased to present you with the entertainment for the evening. Taaaa Daaaa! ”
As he held his arms out in glorious revelation, one, then two, then three gorgeous blondes strolled into the living room. They all wore beige trench coats, but those opened quickly.
Nothing to see here, folks. Not even lacy bras, skimpy panties, stockings or garters. They strutted across the room. Long legs inquired. Large breasts and shapely bodies offered. It was as if they performed in a fashion show.
After they dropped their coats, they approached me with sultry desire written on turgid pink nipples and moist lips. They descended on me and stroked, fawned and kissed. I looked at Jack with a smile for the ages.
“Okay. You’re forgiven.” This was going to be a good day, regardless of the incident with Elizabeth. The girls unzipped, unbuttoned and unravelled me as Jack sat down and watched. He smiled, but I barely noticed. I was too busy feeling thirty fingers, six lips and three tongues explore my body.
As they ripped and tore, I noticed Jack out of the corner of my eye. He reached into his breast pocket and produced a small black wallet. Similar to the one I had seen at the Four Seasons in Manhattan. He carefully unzipped it and laid out a mirror and a vial of cocaine. He cut four lines. One of the hookers, Candi maybe – I don’t know and it doesn’t matter – looked at him with interest.
“Is that for us?” He smiled and nodded.
“Of course. Can’t have a Christmas party without snow.” He pushed the mirror toward her and I watched with fascination while each blonde snorted a line. The hooker closest to me – I didn’t even bother trying to figure out which one it was – dipped her pinkie in one of the lines and cupped it with her fingernail. Lifting it to my lips, she stuck it in my mouth and rolled it around. I licked under her fingernail and rolled my tongue around her digit.
As in Manhattan, one of them handed me the mirror. One line remained. Fine white powder. I lifted the mirror and the tube to my nose and snorted a line. As it shot up my nasal cavity, I coughed when it found the back of my throat. I shook my head. As if trying to free the remaining cobwebs. Lightheaded, but otherwise good to go.
Then I sat back while they undressed me. Even as the coke embraced my mind and opened it up to the possibilities, I was self-conscious when they tugged off my underwear. Jack sat right there. But I had such an erection and I was only slightly fazed.
While they played with me, I looked over at him. A grim look painted his face. His legs were crossed and a dark cloud seemed to settle in over his head. The three ‘C’s’ worked away at me and I managed to groan a question in his general direction.
“Jack. There’s plenty to go ‘round. Don’t you want to join in?” I didn’t really mean it, but it was the decent thing to say. As if in response, he stood, walked to the bar and poured another.
“Dude. No offence, but you’re not my type.” He returned to the lounger and resumed his voyeuristic role.
“That…that’s not what I…” I gripped a cushion with my fingernails. I didn’t care that I tore holes in it.
“I know. Just messing with your mind. Enjoy. You earned it.” He sat back and closed his eyes as I came for the first – but certainly
not the last – time that day.
Chapter 53
I awoke in my bed under a mound of covers, like I’d been visited by three love vampires that sucked me dry.
It was early afternoon. God, I must have slept for twenty hours. I sat up and looked around. It only took a moment before I remembered the day before. There were no hookers to be seen, but pillows were strewn everywhere and a black lace thong hung over my footboard. They left me a present!
I spread out like a stretching cat and lounged for forty-five minutes. Breathed in the scent of sex times three. It permeated the room, my bed and my body. God, I needed that. I decided not to shower. I needed to bask in the aroma.
When my need for coffee and food overcame my need to bask, I jumped out of bed and walked down the hallway. Coffee was the first rule of the day, so I went to the kitchen and started a pot. I made extra because I was certain that Jack could use some.
He had just sat there and watched. No interest in his own personal gratification. He just wanted to ensure that I was looked-after. I realized what a true friend I had. Not like Elizabeth.
Damn. He was one of a kind.
I strolled into the living room with two steaming cups of coffee. Fully expecting to find him there, confusion set in when I saw no signs of him. No Jack, no luggage. Nothing. Except for two empty glasses and tiny traces of cocaine – which I quickly swept off the table.
Almost as if he hadn’t been there. Putting the coffee down, I checked the spare bedroom. The bed hadn’t been slept in. As I returned to the living room, I pondered what happened to him while I sipped my coffee.
I sat in silence and forgot about Jack. Instead, I remembered the girls. Wow. What a ride. A bicycle built for four. I shook my head and smiled. I had finished my coffee and attacked Jack’s, so I stood up to get more.
But I thought about the newspaper. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d read one. For months, they had just been a reason to buy blue garbage bags, but my mind was joyfully clear. Perhaps the back-up of cum had subsided. So I whistled and went to the front door to retrieve the Montreal Gazette.
The House that Jack Built Page 34
