Zoey's Place

by E M Bannock

  Zoey didn’t like the answer. She’d never asked for brothers or sisters and, because she was the oldest, when anything went wrong she was always blamed. Zoey felt abandoned, and withdrew. Trying to stay out of sight whenever she could.

  The worst part was all the creepy men who lived in the house, a constantly changing cast of characters. The commune members believed in free love, and seeing her mother kiss the other men just seemed wrong. She never knew which ‘daddy’ she was going to see coming out of her mother’s room in the morning. It should have been her daddy and no other. Zoey came to have hard feelings about her mother, and their already strained relationship became non-existent.

  It wasn’t until she was fourteen that she was finally able to live with Lyle full time, and that was only because she had starting to mature into a young woman and some of the men in the commune began to express sexual interest in her. One day one of her ‘daddies’ cornered her in a back storage room, kissed her on the lips, and fondled her budding breasts. She managed to wriggle out of his grasp and run out of the room. When she told her mother about it she was called a liar.

  As soon as she could she told her father about it, and he was outraged. At the end of his next weekend visitation he called Sally and told her that Zoey wouldn’t be coming back. Further, Lyle informed Sally, she was damn lucky he didn’t call the cops and have her pervert boyfriend arrested. He also told her he had a good mind to come over there and beat the shit out of him, and if she ever tried to contact Zoey, he would make good on his threats. Happily, Zoey never saw her mother again.

  Determined to start a new family life together, Lyle took Zoey to Michigan. They lived in a small apartment in Detroit close to where Lyle got an assembly line job at the Ford Motor Company. Life was hard, but he did the best he could to provide a decent life and a happy late childhood for his daughter.

  Zoey had never made friends in school because she was embarrassed about her life. She didn’t want to tell anyone about her mother. Then, one month before she was set to graduate from high school, Lyle was killed in an accident at work. She felt cheated, only having had a few years with her father. Zoey had already been accepted at the University of Michigan, and intended to study law after she got her undergraduate degree in social work. She wanted to help men get custody of their children if it was in the better interest of the child, and fight to change the current trend. Lyle was very proud of her.

  When she tried to contact her mother to tell her of Lyle’s passing, she found out that her mother had died a year earlier from pneumonia. Zoey felt nothing at this news, and remembered how horrible it was when her parents were divorcing and her father’s futile battle to keep her. His death was a hard blow but she pulled herself up, accepted this hard knock, and did what her father would have wanted her to do: go to college and become a lawyer to change the world in a way she knew mattered. She wanted to make a difference to honor the memory of her father and the difference he’d made in her life.

  For years, a small part of every paycheck Lyle received had gone to a separate bank account set aside for Zoey’s college education. She was planning on taking out student loans to cover the rest of the expenses, but Lyle had named Zoey his beneficiary on his life insurance policy, and after his accidental death she had more than enough for college.

  The experience of her childhood left a bitter taste in her mouth and made her determined not to have kids. She had no real example of what a good mother should be, and she didn’t want to risk falling in love with the wrong man and having to put her kids through what she went through. She didn’t even think she would ever fall in love, let alone get married, but that part at least changed the night she met Mickey.

  *****

  Mickey grew up in an upper middle class family in suburban Detroit. His parents, Ida and Nicolai DeLucca, were first-generation Italian immigrants. The little family lived a very comfortable happy life.

  Mickey enjoyed being an only child. He always had the latest toys, the nicest clothes, and more Christmas presents than his friends with siblings. They always had share toys, wear hand-me-down clothes, and never seemed to go on the kind of luxurious vacations Mickey’s parents had taken him on. Like trips to Disneyland as a child, and when he was older, a dude ranch in Wyoming, vacations in Niagara Falls, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks, a week at the beach in Hawaii, a Caribbean cruise, even a trip to England, France, and Italy.

  Mickey’s parents were older when he was born. They had never planned to have children and always called him their mid-life surprise. But they loved him dearly, and he them. As he got older he realized the carefree, lavish lifestyle they gave up to raise him. He had decided early that he wanted to live like they did when he got older; before they had him, of course. He didn’t think he would make a good father, and really had no desire to try. He enjoyed life and the finer things it could provide. He knew that he would have to get a good education and a good job. That meant long hours and dedication. He really didn’t think it would be fair to a child to have an absentee father. He just wasn’t cut out to be a dad.

  His parents were also nudists. They were unashamed of their bodies and instilled that philosophy in their son. Mickey was taught that the naked body is a thing of beauty. He learned the proper names of body parts. Men have a penis. Women have a vagina and breasts. Everyone has an anus. Mickey’s parents frequently walked around nude, and so did he when he was growing up. Every summer they visited the local nudist colony. It was no big deal. So, when he reached puberty, the female body was not such a mystery.

  When Mickey saw Zoey’s slender, 5’6” frame sashay into the bar that night, he took notice. He was mesmerized by her shoulder-length auburn hair. When he was introduced to her and looked into her sparkling hazel eyes he was hooked. She had smooth alabaster skin and full, pouty lips. He leaned in to shake her hand and was intoxicated by her subtle perfume. Her touch was electrifying. He knew she was the one. He was in love, and had to have her.

  As they got to know each other that night they found that they shared very similar philosophies, even though they had come to the common conclusions via very different circumstances. This included the decision to not have children. They began to date.

  It wasn’t long after they started having sex that they discovered they had an insatiable craving for it. Neither was a virgin when they met but had only had casual sexual relations before, never feeling comfortable enough with their partners to go beyond the norm in the bedroom. In fact, Zoey had always held back before Mickey, never able to completely trust a partner after her first sexual experience in the commune. Zoey and Mickey hungered for each other’s bodies. They felt free and uninhibited with each other. Mickey teased that they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Sex was enjoyable and it felt natural to experiment with various positions, sexual aides, and role-playing. It became almost a hobby. Whenever they traveled they would always check to see if there was a local sex shop. They loved going to the stores together to buy objects for their ever-growing collection.

  After two years of dating they married. Shortly after that, Zoey had her tubes tied. It seemed like the logical thing to do.

  Chapter 3

  Zoey sat at her desk and picked up the folder in front of her. She reviewed the forms inside that her staff had prepared, making sure everything was correct before they were filed at the courthouse. Setting it down, she put her hands over her face and rubbed her tired eyes. She reflected briefly how her chosen lifestyle was so perfect for her long work hours and Mickey’s travel schedule, both as demanding of time as raising a child.

  Through the years, as Mickey climbed the corporate ladder, his job duties took him away from home more often, sometimes six weeks at a time. The pay had increased exponentially but, in her eyes, it was small compensation for being separated from her beloved husband. This trip had Mickey gone for almost a month already, and she missed him. She tolerated the long periods away by immersing herself in her work. However, she couldn’t
help but miss his touch on her body, their lovemaking, his manly musk, his embrace. This was one of those times. He would be home in one week. The anticipation was almost more than she could bear.

  Both had excelled in their selected field and were enjoying the fruits of their labor. They still lived in Michigan but moved from their small suburban home in Ann Arbor to a spacious home in Birmingham, an upscale suburb of Detroit. Their first home in Ann Arbor served its purpose. It was close to the U of M campus and was a convenient location while attending college. It was the hangout for their friends who lived in dorms or on campus during their college days. After graduation everyone seemed to gravitate towards the suburban Detroit areas. That’s where the jobs were. Since both Zoey and Mickey were only children of only children parents and both sets of parents had already passed on, their friends were their family, and they wanted to stay close to them. So it seemed natural to move where they did.

  It was easy to like Birmingham. It had an abundance of culture. To unwind, Zoey went to the Robert Kidd Gallery. Its founders, Robert Louis Kidd and Ray Frost Fleming, had both graduated from local Cranbrook Academy of Art. She enjoyed seeing the work of the young aspiring artists on display there and Cranbrook was close, just a stone’s throw from Birmingham in neighboring Bloomfield Hills. It also provided her with a quiet place to view fine art. And if she really felt like seeing art, she was close enough to the Detroit Institute of Art downtown, where she could see the works of the masters.

  She often thought that if she hadn’t been an attorney, she would have been an artist. There were times at U of M when she debated whether she should major in art or to further her goal of family law. She loved her law work, but wondered if she would have been an even better artist. She appreciated all forms of art and sometimes, when stressed out, she unwound by wandering the galleries for hours on end.

  She looked at the group picture of her friends framed on her desk. It was the last summer vacation at the lake house with their best friends before life got complicated. Mickey started his new job and her friends started having babies in rapid succession. Joanne and Lenny had two boys: Francis, who liked to be called Franky, and their younger son, Sam, who was born two years later. Carol and Dave quit after having the twins Mary and Betty, born a year after Sam. Mickey and Zoey felt honored to be referred to as Aunt Zoey and Uncle Mickey by their friends’ kids. They had fun watching them grow up. It was the perfect relationship, and they felt privileged to be part of it. They could spoil the kids all they wanted and return them to their respective parents when done.

  Zoey attended every birthday party, school play, and awards ceremony of the kids, and if Mickey was home he went, too. Christmas was always a shared joy. Shopping for them was so much fun. Every year Zoey took all the kids shopping for gifts for their parents. It was a crazy day full of commotion and confusion. She picked up the tab, of course. Joanne and Carol told her she was insane for taking all the kids at the same time, but Zoey loved it. It was fun but only because it was one day a year. The thought of adding the 24-hour responsibility of being a parent to her hectic schedule gave her shivers. The chaos and disorder of the day only reaffirmed that her decision to remain childless was the right one as she dropped them off at home and retreated to her calm, quiet house.

  After the kids got old enough, during the summer when Mickey was traveling, Zoey would have sleepovers with Mary and Betty. She would treat them to a trip to the beauty salon for haircuts, manicures, and pedicures. The night would end with both girls snuggled in bed with her, eating ice cream while they watched the latest princess movie checked out from the video store.

  For Franky and Sam, the sleepovers included a trip to the toy store and an afternoon at the park, bowling, or whatever they wanted to do. Usually Mickey was home and he would toss a ball around with the boys and grill hot dogs or burgers for dinner. Their selected rental movie was always some horror flick or one with an action hero. They ate their share of ice cream as well. The boys slept in the guest bedroom, but Zoey noticed that they always made sure the night light was on.

  It was rare that all the friends could manage one dinner a year together now. The annual summer week at the lake house was just a memory. The old family cottage had been in constant need of repair as it aged, so they sold it. Now they had a vacation home in Incline Village on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. They called it the cabin but it was really a 3,400-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath home; actually quite small by Incline Village standards. The ‘cabin’ wasn’t right on the lake but it could be seen easily from the living room window, and enjoyed in all forms of weather from inside.

  Mickey and Zoey could ski in the winter and golf or swim in the summer. They enjoyed doing all three, as well as hiking in the wooded mountains. Sometimes they rented a boat just to be alone and make love out on the vast, open expanse of Lake Tahoe.

  Mickey did a lot of business with foreign customers in Las Vegas, which was just a short plane ride away. It constantly amazed Zoey that so many of the clients loved to go to Vegas. She figured it was the fast-paced gambling, half-naked women running around, and the party lifestyle that was forbidden and so different from the lives they had in Saudi Arabia or whatever Middle Eastern country they were from.

  Most of the time she stayed at the cabin when Mickey went to Vegas with his clients. It was peaceful and quiet, and as beautiful in summer as it was in winter. It served as their own little hideaway, and she loved it there. The house was set back off the road and was accessed by a winding drive. The two-acre lot was thickly wooded, which gave them total privacy. This suited Mickey just fine, as he liked to walk around the back patio naked. It was their personal Shangri-La, the one thing in their lives that was just theirs. Mickey called it Zoey’s Place because she was always so happy and at peace there. They never brought company to their hideaway.

  Life in Birmingham was different in so many ways from the simple life they had led in Ann Arbor. It was much better now. They could afford to shop at the expensive stores. They hired people to do the landscaping. No more thrifty old Hondas and VWs to be cobbled together until they died to save a penny. Now Mickey and Zoey bought the cars they had always wanted: a BMW convertible for Mickey and a Mercedes sedan for Zoey. They also had a Land Rover and another Mercedes in Incline Village.

  Zoey always hated housework and now had a housekeeper named Stella, a patient, hard-working woman with three kids of her own, do it for her. Stella’s husband had a good job working for the Ford Motor Company, and her job with Zoey was just to have extra cash. She came in to clean twice a week and do the laundry.

  When Zoey was home alone it seemed like a waste of money, but when Mickey was there Zoey felt like she should pay Stella double. He never did learn to pick up his clothes or put things away and, although he thought of himself as somewhat of a gourmet chef and loved to surprise her with homemade dinners, by the time he was through it looked like the kitchen had been hit by a tornado. Stella never complained. When they entertained it was always catered, with Stella in charge. The arrangement took a lot of pressure off Zoey, and Stella enjoyed it.

  Most of the time Zoey and Mickey had dinner out. She loved the selection of specialty restaurants close by. That was one of the reasons they chose Birmingham. The restaurants accommodated them at all hours of the day or night, and they were on a first-name basis with most of the owners and chefs. Funny what money could do. They never had to wait for a table, and most of the chefs were in competition to come up with new and exciting dishes for them.

  They traveled extensively, thanks to Mickey’s job. In the last twenty years Zoey had been to Spain, Italy, France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Russia, Australia, and a quaint little island country called Malta in the Mediterranean, not to mention all the destinations in the U.S. When Mickey was in town, they spent New Year’s Eve skiing at the Incline Village house. It was always a great time, and the winter landscape there was breathtaking.

  Mickey had been to many more countries
than Zoey. Some of them just didn’t hold any interest for her. She didn’t care for the Middle Eastern countries and didn’t like going there. She did venture to Saudi Arabia once and a few other Middle Eastern countries a handful of times. She hated the way they treated women and how she had to cover her head with a hijab whenever she was in the presence of men, even though it wasn’t law. Mickey’s company said it showed respect. She was told that a Muslim man could not look at a woman unless he was married to her, and that shaking hands with one was unheard of. Being unseen and not heard was not Zoey’s style at all. She was used to being part of the conversation and having her opinions respected.

  She thought it was so hypocritical because, when the men visited the U.S., Mickey was always expected to get them hookers. Most of the time it meant that he had to fly them to Nevada where prostitution is legal. Technically it was not legal in the city of Las Vegas, but with Mickey’s connections he always found suitable ‘escorts’. Zoey was always suspect as to their actual thoughts when the men were so polite to her face in the States, knowing the social mores back home. More hypocrisy, she felt.

  She used to wonder if Mickey ever had an ‘escort’ as well, and asked him once. To answer her he grabbed her ass, squeezed it hard, and kissed her passionately as he pulled her close. “How could anything be better than what I’ve got at home? Don’t worry, baby. This,” he said as he grabbed her hand and pressed it against his hard penis, “is only for you. I promise.” He had never lied to her before, and she had no reason to doubt him then. With that, he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom to show her just how much he loved her.

  Zoey was getting wet just thinking about that time. It had been almost a month since she and Mickey had had sex, and she was horny with excitement over their planned reunion. It seemed that those were the most passionate times. Sometimes they would spend all day in the bedroom, only coming out long enough to answer the door when food was delivered. The couple had been married over twenty years but their lovemaking was still fresh, hot, and exciting.