The Rooster Club

by N. M. Catalano

  “Oh God, Theresa, I’m so sorry…”

  Her legs hugged him tightly to her, as her heart pounded out a beat in her chest.

  “No, don’t, I’m glad, that was…”

  “Two years of no sex, I lost control. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you.”

  “Michael, I’m an adult, I knew what was happening. I could have said stop if I didn’t want it too.”

  “And one hell of a woman,” he chuckled wickedly.

  That little laugh was all Theresa needed. She would have him again, and she’d make sure he loved it.

  Michael kissed her lightly as he lifted himself from her.

  “I’ll be right back, I’ll get a towel to get you cleaned up.”

  A tremor of hurt flowed through her, but she wasn’t going to let it stop her from making him want to be with her again.

  “That would be great,” she said, hiding her hurt.

  Michael handed her the towel, then reached for his clothes. He pulled up his pants and grabbed for his shirt, then handed her her clothes.

  “We can finish watching the game,” Theresa said, as an awkward cloud lowered on them.

  “If those Giant’s drop the ball again, they won’t be able to show their faces anywhere,” he laughed.

  They watched the game as if nothing had happened, right back where they had been before. But things were different. Michael didn't touch her again, he didn’t trust himself. He knew that shouldn’t have happened.

  Theresa kept stealing glances at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

  Michael couldn’t ignore the beast that had been awakened in his pants. And the gnawing at the back of his mind.

  ***

  Life was good. Elijah was getting healthier and stronger, he went to the gym religiously, it was his new addiction, and he’d been rewarded at work with a promotion. He’d moved out and gotten his own place, and thanked Michael every day for what he’d done for him. He even had a girlfriend.

  Michael had been given a territory and a store to oversee. Rudy was letting him expand more and more, and it was showing in his bank account. Michael was still living life mostly as a recluse. The only people he associated with were from work, or Elijah and Theresa, and his children and family.

  The phone rang as Michael walked in the door.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s Theresa, how are you?”

  “Hi, I’m good, just getting in. What’s up?”

  “I’ve got two tickets to an Off-Broadway show, someone from work gave them to me because they couldn’t use them. Come with me, Elijah’s with his girlfriend.”

  Michael felt a hint of caution, but ignored it. It had been a long time since he’d lost control on the couch. Things were almost back to the way they had been before, all of them friends and hanging out once in a while.

  “Sure, I’d love to,” he said as he pushed his instincts aside. “I’ll come pick you up, be there in about an hour.”

  “Great! I’ll be ready.”

  Michael took a quick shower. He’d had a hard-on from the minute he’d hung-up the phone. Theresa was the only woman he’d been with in two years, and his penis knew it. The sound of her voice was like the bell to Pavlov’s dogs.

  “Shit,” he grumbled as he began to slide his hand up and down his stubborn cock. He had to take care of this before he got to Theresa’s, because he couldn’t trust himself if he didn’t. His dick would be yelling at him all night.

  After taking care of his problem, he dressed in one of his new suits and drove to her place. When she opened the door, his problem sprung back to life. Every delicious curve of her body was beautifully displayed in a body hugging black dress, with a slit all the way up her leg.

  “Hi,” she said quietly.

  “Hi, you look incredible. I hope you have a jacket so I don’t have to beat off every guy within a ten mile radius trying to get next to you,” Michael said. He was trying to remain unaffected by her sexual gifts she was displaying to him under her dress.

  “You’re funny, and yes I do, one second.”

  Michael watched her walk away as her sweet little round ass swayed across the room. He took that opportunity to adjust the hard-on in his pants before she turned around.

  He moaned to himself as he thought, ‘This is going to be a very long night.’

  At the show, the intoxicating smell of a woman and her perfume, and the sight of Theresa’s breasts threatening to spill out of her dress were making him crazy. All the delicious delectables of a woman. He was still a man, even though he’d been celibate for so long. He only had so much self-control.

  By the time he’d brought her home, and walked her to her apartment, his balls were so tight, and his dick was so hard, there was no way he could fight his need.

  He pushed the door closed behind him with his foot as he pulled her to him. He kissed her slowly and hungrily, relishing the taste of a woman on his tongue. He wanted to enjoy the experience, savor it, and make it last.

  Because he didn’t want this to happen again.

  But right now, he was going to enjoy every inch of delicious femininity.

  ***

  It had been two months since that night Michael gave in to his beast. He’d channeled his excess energy into working out every chance he’d gotten. He even got back in the ring occasionally, needing to blow off extra aggression.

  No sex will do that to a guy.

  One thing he did not allow was being alone again with Theresa. If he couldn’t control himself, he wouldn’t let temptation near.

  That’s when the call from Theresa came.

  Michael had been sitting alone in his quiet apartment. His thoughts had drifted to Natalie. Funny how he had always thought about her when he allowed himself moments of hope. He wanted to talk to her, but he had no idea where she was. He’d tried her at Vici Luggage about a year after he’d last seen her, but she was gone. At the time, his marriage was finally over and he’d wanted to have a new start with her. But there were no listings for her in the tristate area, or upstate. Then his life had fallen completely apart. Now things were looking up, so he’d made up his mind to try and find her again. He pulled out the phone book and opened it to the page with the map of the area codes of the fifty states. He placed his finger on North Carolina and decided to start there. One of the last things she’d told him was her parents were living there. If he could get a phone number for them, they could tell him how he could find her if she wasn’t there with them. He began with the more well-known cities, and marked each one off as he went. He was on number six.

  “Michael, can I come over? I have to talk to you,” came Theresa’s voice over the line. She sounded nervous.

  Michael slammed the thick book shut and threw it on the counter, along with thoughts of finding Natalie. Very loud warning bells went off in Michael’s head. He had a terrible feeling he already knew what was coming, and he didn’t want it to be face to face.

  “I’m on my way out, you can tell me now, its ok,” he tried to keep his voice light.

  “I really wanted to talk to you in person, it’s pretty important,” she pushed.

  “I have an appointment,” which was bullshit, “but if it’s important, just tell me,” he insisted.

  He did not want to have this conversation in person.

  “Alright…Michael…I’m pregnant,” Theresa said quietly.

  ‘AFUCKINGGAIN!’ he screamed at himself.

  He’d worn a condom the last time they’d been together, Theresa had them.

  ‘How could this have happened?’ he asked himself. A very loud, and sarcastic, reply shot back, ‘You fucked her, asshole.’

  He took a deep breath. Then another one.

  “Are you sure?” he asked evenly.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she was grateful he at least had the decency not to ask if she was sure it was his.

  “Ok, I guess we need to talk then. I’ll call you tomorrow and we can set something up,” Michael answered
her evenly.

  “Ok, and thanks Michael.” She sounded relieved.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For not being mad.” There was a smile in her voice that Michael could hear.

  ‘You have no idea how furious I am, but at me not you,’ he said to himself.

  “It would be stupid to be mad. I’ll call you tomorrow, Theresa, and don’t worry.”

  He was a man, he took responsibility for his actions.

  He couldn’t believe his fucking bionic semen had gotten another woman pregnant.

  He wanted to beat the shit out of himself.

  He went to the gym and knocked the guy out in the ring instead.

  ***

  Three months later Michael and Theresa were married. He’d searched his soul the night she’d told him. He swore to be there for the child, just like his other children. And he and Theresa were friends, they got along well together, and the sex was good too. He didn’t love her, he knew that, but the baby was what was important.

  The wedding was almost an exorbitant affair, more than he could afford. But his business associates would be there, so he had to make an impression, and he told himself that he’d eventually pay it off. Elijah was his best man. When Michael had broken the news to his brother, the shock on his face reflected the shock Michael had felt when Theresa had told him. Elijah said he had no idea they were even seeing each other. That’s because they weren’t. They’d only had sex…twice. Now he would be spend the rest of his life with this woman, another one he’d gotten pregnant. And he tried with everything in him not to think about Natalie, and the hopes he’d had of trying to find him.

  It didn’t work.

  Life was officially over and just beginning at the same time for Michael.

  ***

  Ray and Natalie had been dating for a couple of years when he’d asked her to marry him. They’d never spoken about it, but it was kind of like it was the natural progression of things. She accepted without hesitation. Ray was a good guy, he worked hard, but he wasn’t ambitious, and he made her laugh. Natalie loved him in an affectionate way, she’d always known that even right from the start. There was never that passionate, make you crazy, completely breathless love. So, she believed this was better, because it wasn’t reckless.

  At some point she had started to think it was completely foolish to believe in that kind of love. She’d even tried to talk herself into thinking it didn’t exist.

  It didn’t work.

  “Mom,” Natalie remembered a weak moment of reminiscing when she and her mother were having a rare deep talk. “Do you ever think about your old boyfriends?”

  Her mother smiled softly as she got a far-away look in her eyes. “Just one, my first one. He was so sweet.”

  “Do you ever wonder if he thinks about you too? And do you ever wonder what he’s doing?” Natalie had asked her.

  She looked at her youngest daughter, and was quiet as she searched her face.

  “Michael was something else, wasn’t he Natalie?” she asked with a hint of fond regret.

  She knew, mothers always know.

  “Yes, he was, the asshole,” Natalie attempted to laugh.

  That didn’t work either.

  “We can try to find out what he’s doing,” her mother said as she reached for her purse.

  “What are you talking about?” Natalie asked as confusion rattled around in her head.

  “I think I have his mother’s phone number somewhere in here,” she mumbled as she dug through the decades of pictures and papers she had buried in her magic bag of tricks.

  “Are you kidding? You’ve had that all this time and you never told me?!”

  Natalie couldn’t believe it, never would she have imagined she had Michael’s mother’s phone number.

  “No, I don’t remember why he gave it to me, I just remember he did. Ah,” her mother announced as she pulled out a small shred of lined paper that looked as if it hadn’t been unfolded since its entombment. She carefully opened it saying, “Let’s call.”

  “Oh my God,” Natalie whispered. She didn’t dare to breathe as her mother dialed the phone.

  “Hello, may I speak to Michael?” she said to the phone. Then her mother tried in Spanish, “Puedo hablar con Michael?” A pause. “Gracias, perdoname.” She hung-up.

  Natalie’s heart dropped as quickly as it had soared.

  “I’m sorry honey, she didn’t know any Michael.” There was a look of sincere regret in the beautiful older woman’s eyes.

  “It’s ok, mom. It’s been a long time.” After a moment of hope, Michael’s image evaporated like a puff of smoke. Natalie didn’t think it was possible, but her heart hurt for him once again.

  Natalie and Ray were married a year after he’d proposed. And it was good for a little while. Yes, they had fights just like everybody else. But after the children were born, Natalie had felt like hers and the kids’ lives were moving on while he just stayed stuck in that same place he’d always been at. After ten years of begging him to join them in life, she couldn’t take it anymore. Her loneliness pushed her to look for someone to give her the acknowledgement of being a woman who was desired. She fell in love with this other man. And broke up her family.

  Natalie’s mother was gone by this point, she’d died of cancer. The rest of the family hated this man. Except Sylvia. When he’d rejected Sylvia’s advances, she caused a rift between Natalie and her father. He was going to disown Natalie if she stayed with him. Natalie was heartbroken because her dad wouldn’t even talk to her about things, that he believed everything Sylvia was telling him, and didn’t even give Natalie a chance. The rift between Natalie and her father never went away, but only grew stronger over the years. After a few years, and a lot of damage, this man and Natalie parted ways. But the devastation had already been done. She couldn’t forgive Sylvia because it was her and the poison she’d spread that gave Natalie her cross to carry during her father’s illness.

  17 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Today…

  Natalie trudged silently through the soggy ground in mechanical mode towards her front door. She’d received a phone call from her brother Vinnie about 7:00 p.m. last night saying that their father had slipped further in and out of consciousness and that this could be it. She rushed over as quickly as she could. Natalie will never forget how her father looked at her when their eyes had met, how his had brightened and the beautiful smile the oxygen mask couldn’t hide had spread across his face. He passed peacefully from this world to the next an hour later. He’d fought a tough fight, but he finally succumbed to the cancer. The paramedics and the funeral director arrived a short while later and had taken him away. After they had gone, Natalie, Vinnie, and Sylvia sat on their father’s front porch in the rocking chairs and had a beer. Each of them told their own stories of times they’d remembered growing up in the family. If any death could be described as ‘nice’, this one could have.

  Natalie had attempted to bury the hatchet with Sylvia, but not in her head, like she’d sometimes had imagined.

  It wasn’t until later, when she was sitting alone in her big, quiet, empty house that she cried. A lot. It didn’t matter how old she was, Natalie felt like an orphan now that both her rocks were gone. Things had been strained between Natalie and her father for the past several years since her divorce, and the other man, and that is a guilt she’ll have to live with. But right now, she needed a friend. Natalie needed someone where there was a place away from all of the ugliness and pain of this world.

  The last place Natalie had felt that was in Michael’s arms.

  The irony of it didn’t go unnoticed, and she laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of the situation. Michael, of all people, with everything he’d put her through when she was younger, this was her special place she’d thought of. But all the pain from the past had slowly been replaced with tenderness. Something had grown between them in the past couple of years, beginning with the time she’d seen him again. He had a sensitivit
y and sense of caring about him that she couldn’t deny. He was still Michael, strong, confident, and powerful, but he had a heart, and it was huge. And it pulled at Natalie’s.

  It was still fairly early in the morning, about 8:00 a.m., but she decided to text him anyway. It’s been two years since they’d spent that beautiful night together. They’d kept in touch with calls and texts, but their paths never could coincide to cross again since that day and night.

  Hi Michael, how are you?

  Natalie sat on the couch with her phone clutched tightly in one hand, and a mug of tea in the other, like she was holding on for dear life.

  The reply was almost instant, and it made her jump.

  “Shit,” she chuckled nervously. Her nerves were strung tightly. She was probably coming out of the shock of the last thirteen hours.

  After wiping up the mess she’d made from the spill, she read his reply.

  Hi Natalie, I’m great, how is everything?

  She stared at the phone, holding it a few minutes, not knowing what to say.

  Ping! Came the alert of another text.

  Natalie, what’s wrong?

  She started to cry again. She typed out the message with blurry eyes.

  My dad died.

  Ping!

  Oh God, I’m so sorry. Can I call?

  “What, do you think I have a man here?” she laughed out loud again, sniffling.

  Yes.

  Her phone rang almost before she hit ‘Send’.

  “Hi,” came her strained greeting.

  “How are you?” Michael’s voice asked gently.

  The question was simple enough. But it opened the floodgates to everything that she’d held in the past few months during her dad’s decline. She wept and Michael soothed her aching soul.

  “Natalie, baby, I know you feel alone. I want to be there for you,” he said with tender earnest.

  “Michael that is very nice of you, but you don’t have to do that. You’ve got your responsibilities, and your family. I’m fine,” Natalie told him, as she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her robe.

  “I’m coming. When’s the service?”