by Ray Garton
“You need to go out?” she said. She opened the screen door and Dexter hurried out and piddled at the base of the tree outside. He walked a few feet away and squatted to move his bowels on the grass. Then he came back in and pawed at her leg. She picked him up and he licked her face.
Kendra could not get the smile off her face. She could not believe just how naughty she had been today. Not only had she taken Steven’s hard penis into her mouth and stroked it up and down with her hands, she had made it ejaculate all over her face.
“That’s the technical term, ejaculate,” Steven had told her. “But most people call it coming.”
Then, after he had wiped it all away with a wet washcloth, she had posed totally naked for his camera, and she’d even touched herself for him. It was a little embarrassing, but it was about as naughty as she’d ever been and it tickled her inside. She thought about the men who would be looking at her pictures on the website, and at the video of her sucking on Steven’s penis. How many, she wondered, would see her? Steven said they would all fall in love with her. That made her feel like butterflies were fluttering inside her belly, the thought of all those men looking at her and falling in love with her online.
But she did not really care about them. The only one she cared about was Marc Reznick. She wondered what he would say if she sucked on his penis. Had he already imagined her doing that in his mind? Is that what was going through his head when he looked at her? She wondered. She also wondered what his hard penis looked like. Was it as big as Steven’s? It didn’t really matter. Did it?
The thought of touching his hard penis through his pants excited her, made her tingle inside her stomach.
Something else was going on inside her stomach – hunger. It was five minutes after two, past lunchtime. Kendra thought about what she wanted for lunch. She looked in the cupboard and found three stacked cans of tuna. A tuna salad sandwich sounded good. She took a can out, took the can opener from the drawer, and opened it, drained the water out of the can, and scooped the tuna into a bowl with a fork. She mixed in mayonnaise. Mommy always put chopped celery and onions in tuna fish salad. Kendra put the mayonnaise back in the refrigerator, then opened the crisper drawer and removed celery and green onions. She got a big knife from the drawer and broke off a celery stick, washed it in the sink, then began cutting off small pieces on the cutting board.
She did not feel it when it happened. She did not even know she had cut herself until she saw the blood. It came from a long, deep cut down the side of her index finger on her left hand. It bled furiously. Blood dribbled on the cutting board and counter, splashing in deep-red spots on the surfaces.
Kendra felt light-headed at the sight of all the blood and she had to grip the edge of the counter with her right hand. She went to the sink and held the finger under cold water. The water washed the blood away for a moment and she saw how deep and long the cut was. She wasn’t even sure how she’d done it. She hadn’t been cutting that fast, had she? Or had she been cutting at all? She could not remember. One minute, everything was fine, and the next, blood was everywhere.
The next thing she knew, she was sitting on her ass on the floor, holding her hand out before her, dripping water and blood, her head spinning dizzily. The blood was getting everywhere and her finger began to throb with pain. It felt twice, maybe three times its actual size, and when she looked at the finger, she was surprised to find that it was the same size as all the others.
Dexter came to her side and looked at her with puzzlement.
Blood was getting all over the floor, over her legs, but all she could do was sit there and stare at it.
Someone knocked on the screen door.
“Kendra?” Marc called. “Hello? Your mom told me to look in on you. You around?”
“Cuh-come in, please,” she said, her voice broken and hoarse.
He pulled the screen door open and stepped up into the trailer smiling – until he saw her sitting on the kitchen floor with blood everywhere.
“Oh, my God,” he said, rushing to her, “what happened?”
“I-I-I… cut myself.”
He hunkered down beside her and held her left wrist as he examined her finger.
“Oh, boy,” he said. “That’s going to need stitches.”
“Stitches?” she said weakly, her eyes wide.
“Yes. Come on, let’s go. I’m taking you to the Emergency Room to have that stitched up. Do you have something we can wrap it up in till we get there? Do you have any gauze?”
“I… I think there’s some in the bathroom.”
Marc stood and went down the hall to the bathroom. She heard him fumbling around in there, searching.
Her head spun and she had to look away from the blood.
Marc finally returned with a roll of gauze, a small pair of scissors, and some white tape. He wrapped the finger snugly, taped it, then cut the tape.
“Okay, can you stand up and walk?” he said.
“I… I think so.”
He took her elbow and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go, now. Out to my car. I’m taking you to the hospital. Get the keys to the trailer so we can lock it up on our way out.”
Kendra took the key Mommy had left her on the table and put it in her pocket. She locked the trailer door on the way out and said, “Bye-bye, Dexter.”
* * * *
They sat for what seemed like hours in the waiting room of the Shasta Regional Medical Center Emergency Room. When Kendra’s name was finally called, Reznick went with her through the double doors and into the back.
The doctor unwrapped the bloody bandage from her finger and cleaned the wound, then he gave her a shot in the finger to numb the area. The shot hurt a lot and made Kendra cry. Reznick held her right hand and squeezed it as the doctor gave her the shot, but it didn’t help.
Then the doctor stitched up the cut. Kendra could not watch, had to look away, or she knew she would pass out. Reznick squeezed her right hand the whole time and whispered to her that everything was going to be fine, that it would all be over soon. Once he was done stitching the cut, the doctor wrapped the finger lightly.
When he was finished, the doctor said, “I’m going to give you a prescription for a mild dose of codeine, because that finger is going to hurt pretty bad once the shot wears off.” He disappeared for a moment, then returned with a pad and pen. He scribbled on the pad, tore off the page, and handed it to Reznick. “You can take that to any pharmacy.”
When they left the Emergency Room, Reznick walked with his arm across her shoulders. Kendra walked unsteadily, holding her left hand in her right, her cheeks glistening with spilled tears. She leaned against him as they walked out into the stifling heat and crossed the parking lot to his Toyota.
In the car as they drove back to Anderson, Kendra said, “Thank you.”
She spoke very quietly and Reznick did not hear what she said. “What?” he said.
“Thank you. For taking me to the hospital.”
“Oh, no problem. I’m not sure if your mom is going to be too crazy about the bill, but it was no problem, really. Let’s go to the drugstore and get those pills.”
Reznick drove to Owen’s Pharmacy in Anderson, which was just down the street from his office. They waited while the prescription was filled, then Reznick paid for it, and they got back in the car and he drove them to the trailer park.
In the trailer, Kendra saw a turd on the kitchen floor. “Oh, Dexter, I’m sorry I wasn’t here to let you out.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Reznick said. “I’ll clean it up.” He got a paper towel and cleaned up the mess.
Kendra stretched out on the couch, and Dexter hopped up and joined her, curled up on her tummy. He seemed to know something was wrong and he stared at her with big sad eyes.
Reznick got a couple pills from the bottle, got a glass of water, and a banana, and took them to Kendra on the couch.
“Here,” he said. “Take a couple of these with water. Then eat the banana. If you don
’t take them with food, they’ll make you sick. I’ll go clean up the blood in the kitchen.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind.”
Kendra’s finger began to throb again. She had taken the pills just in time. She rested her head on a throw pillow and closed her eyes, frowning at the pain.
As time passed and Reznick cleaned up the blood in the kitchen, the codeine pills kicked in. Kendra experienced a giddy feeling that made her smile, and a tiredness washed over her. By the time she heard Mommy drive up, she was feeling no pain.
* * * *
Anna Dunfy pulled in under the carport beside her trailer, and she was smiling. Her day had gone so well, she still couldn’t believe it. It was a good job, a job she could do well, and a job where she felt welcome. It was such a good job that by the end of the day, she was praying she could stay on full-time.
She got out of the car, looking forward to putting on a T-shirt and shorts and relaxing with Kendra. She put her purse strap over her shoulder, went up the steps, opened the screen door, and went inside.
Kendra was stretched out on the couch, and Marc Reznick was in the kitchen wiping down the floor with a rag.
“Hello,” Anna said, frowning a little. Something wasn’t right. “Kendra?”
Kendra opened her eyes and turned to her with a drunken smile. “Hi, Mommy. How’d your job go?” She sounded groggy. The index finger of her left hand was bandaged.
“Hi,” Reznick said. He stood up straight, tossed the rag into the sink, and washed his hands. He dried them on a hand towel. “We had a bit of an accident today.”
“An accident?” Anna said, alarm coming into her voice. Her purse dropped to the floor. “What happened?” She went to her daughter’s side. “Honey? What’s wrong?”
“I cut my finger real bad,” Kendra said. “Marc took me to the hospital.”
“The hospital?” Anna said, her eyes widening as she turned to Reznick.
“It was a pretty bad cut,” he said. “Long and deep cut. I knew right away it needed stitches, so I took her to the ER.”
“The ER?” she said, her voice becoming high and squeaky. “You couldn’t have taken her to a walk-in clinic?”
“Oh, well… it didn’t occur to me to take her to a walk-in clinic. The doctor stitched her finger up and gave us a prescription for codeine, because he said the finger was going to hurt really bad once the shot he gave her wore off.”
Anna knelt down beside the couch and took Kendra’s hand between both of hers. “How’d you cut your finger, honey?”
“I was tryin’ to make tuna fish salad like you do, and I was cutting up celery. I don’t know how I did it. One minute, everything was fine, and the next, I was bleedin’ all over the place.”
She looked over her shoulder at Reznick. “You paid for all this?”
“Yeah. I’ve got the receipts.” He reached into his right pocket and took out two slips of paper. He walked over to Anna and handed them to her. “One for the hospital, one for the pills.”
She unfolded the receipts and looked at the totals. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “Over five hundred dollars.” She closed her eyes as she took a deep, steadying breath. She didn’t want Kendra to see her get upset, but inside, she was. How could she pay for it?
Anna slowly got to her feet and turned to Reznick. “Thank you for taking care of her,” she said. “And for cleaning up in here. I can’t tell you, I really appreciate it.”
“Hey, it was no problem at all,” he said. “I’m just glad I was around when she needed me. Well, if you don’t need me for anything else, I think I’ll be going.”
“Thanks again,” Anna said. She went to her purse and took out her checkbook, then put the purse on the kitchen table. She wrote the check and tore it from the book, then handed it to Reznick. “Do me a favor and don’t cash this for a couple days, okay? I’ve gotta figure out some way to cover it.”
“Sure,” he said. “No problem.”
Reznick went to the couch and looked down at Kendra, smiled. “You take care of yourself, okay?” he said.
She smiled back at him, her eyes half-closed. “Thanks, Marc.”
After he was gone, Anna looked at the receipts again. Five hundred and eighty-four dollars and eighty-eight cents with the hospital and pharmacy bills combined. She had no idea how she was going to cover the check she’d written for Reznick.
She looked at Kendra, who was snoring gently on the couch, with Dexter curled up and asleep on her stomach. Anna went to the kitchen table and sat down, put her face in her hands, and exhaled heavily into her palms.
She lifted her head when she remembered the business card the man had given her at the club night before last. He’d said he would pay her to pose for pictures for his website. She wondered how much he would pay her.
Anna reached over and pulled her purse toward her and began to prod her hand around in it. She was pretty sure she’d put the card in her purse. She could not find it, so she overturned the purse and dumped its contents on the table. She sorted through all the stuff until she found the small white card.
Burning Lizard Amusements. She looked over at Kendra to make sure she was still asleep. She took the phone from its base and punched in the number that was on the card. It purred a few times, then a man said, “Burning Lizard.”
“Hello,” she said. “Uh, I’m not sure if you’re the man who gave me your business card, but – “
”Who’s this?” he said.
“I’m Kitten. The dancer from the Mt. Shasta Gentleman’s Club. You gave me your business card the night before last, and you – “
”Oh, yes, I remember you well, Kitten. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was wondering if the invitation was still open. To pose for pictures, I mean.”
“For you? You bet it is!”
“Could we do it soon? I mean, like today?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Where are you? I’ll come over.”
“Do you know where the Riverside Mobile Home Park is?”
Anna frowned and paused a moment. “Are you joking?”
“Why would I joke? Do you know where it is?”
“I live in the Riverside Mobile Home Park.”
“Really? Well, then, we’re neighbors, aren’t we?” He laughed a big, bellowing laugh. “What are you doing right now? I’m in unit five.”
“I’ll be there in awhile.” She hung up.
Anna stood and went to her bedroom, where she changed into a yellow T-shirt and a pair of green shorts. She put flip-flops on her feet, checked on Kendra again – she was sound asleep on the couch – then left the trailer. She walked down to unit five and knocked on the door.
* * * *
Regent smiled as he let her in the trailer. She was just as gorgeous as he remembered. He guessed she was in her early thirties – since she lived in the trailer park, he could use her on TrailerParkGirls.com.
“What a coincidence, huh?” he said, still smiling. “We both live in the same trailer park.”
“Yes. It’s a coincidence, all right. So, tell me about what you want.”
He outlined the pay scale to her, told her everything.
When he was done, she thought about it awhile, chewed on a thumbnail, frowned. Then she said, “I’ll do the whole thing for twelve hundred dollars, but it has to be done right now, and only for cash.”
“No problem there. I’ll have to call a buddy of mine over to help me – “
”Oh, no. I’ll only do it with you. You bring somebody else in, and I’m outta here.”
He stopped and thought about that. He could do it himself, but he preferred to have an extra hand. Oh, well. He’d do it her way.
“All right,” he said with a nod. “Well, then. Let’s get started.”
* * * *
Kendra awoke when she heard the door open. Her eyes felt sticky and puffy, and she still had that giddy feeling, but it was
diminished, and mixed with a heavy grogginess. Her finger throbbed, but it was a faraway kind of feeling, distant. She turned to see Mommy coming into the trailer. She watched Mommy pull the screen door closed, then walk slowly to the kitchen table. She sat down and reached into a pocket, pulled something out, and put it on the table. Then she leaned her elbows on the tabletop and put her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs.
Dexter was still curled up on Kendra’s stomach, and she gently picked him up as she sat up and swung her legs off the couch. She put him down on the floor and carefully stood. She felt a little light-headed, but she managed to keep her balance. She walked carefully over to Mommy. A stack of cash lay on the table before her. Kendra put her hand on Mommy’s back.
Mommy jerked with surprise and gasped as she turned her head and looked up at Kendra. Her eyes were puffy and wet.
“What’s the matter, Mommy?” Kendra said.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Mommy turned toward her and wrapped her arms around Kendra’s waist. “It’s nothing. I just felt like having a good cry, that’s all.” She pulled back and looked up at Kendra. “How’s your finger?”
“It hurts a little, but not bad. The pills helped a lot.”
“When did you take them last?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we need to keep track. You can only take them every four to six hours.” She sniffed and rubbed a hand down her face, then wiped her eyes with her knuckles. She sighed heavily. “You didn’t fix your lunch, did you? You must be hungry. Want me to fix you some tuna fish salad?”
“That would be good.”
“You go back to the couch and sit down. Watch some TV. I’ll fix you some tuna fish salad for a big sandwich.”
“What’s the money for?” Kendra said.
“That’s got to go into the bank to cover the check I wrote Marc for the hospital and pharmacy bills.”
“I’m sorry I cost you so much money, Mommy.”
“Oh, huh-honey, it’s not your fuh-fault,” she said, her voice cracking. “Don’t you worry about it. Now, go back to the couch and turn on the Game Show Network and watch your game shows. I’m gonna fix something good to eat.”
