Chapter10 - Buck Redeems Himself
Nellie and Buck lay stretched out on red satin sheets stretched tightly over a king sized bed with Nellie snuggled up to Buck's ear and cooed.
"Buck you old son-of-a-bitch, you can still get it up after all. Followin' the fiasco at Rattlesnake Flats, I probably defamed you honor by tellin' my friends you were less help to a woman in need than a cold shower. It appears I owe you an apology. And bein' a woman of my word, you won the bargain. I'll pay back the tab you put out for the booze and room. You came through this time with flyin' colors includin' the flagpole. I'll let it be known your reputation remains in tact and you do have a hair on you ass after all."
"You did yourself up with a pretty damn good turn yourself, Nell, for being an old work horse!" Allowed Buck.
"An old work horse!" Nellie spluttered rising up on her right elbow. "I must say you have a quaint way of wordin' your compliments. Being referred to as old 'work horse' in this particular settin' doesn't make me feel very lady like, more like somethin' you found standin' on a street corner under a pale light."
"Ah shucks! Nell. No need to get your hackles up, I was just meanin' you're like a well trained cuttin' horse, which is always a pleasure to come by. All I had to do was nudge you a little and you knew just how to move and in which direction."
"All right," demurred Nellie. "I'll accept your hayseed compliment for knowin' your heart is in the right place, but I don't especially care about bein' compared to a horse and an old one at that, even if it is well trained."
"Where in the hell did you come from anyway?" Buck asked, turning toward Nellie. "Seems like most of the people I run into around here knows you and I hear talk about you ownin' most of the damn town. Anything to such a rumor?"
"One thing about you, Bucky Ol' Boy, you don't mess around with romantic pillow talk when you want to know somethin'. I can't really see as how that's any of your friggin' business where I came from or what I own. I'll be generous and tell you enough for you to know I didn't crawl out from under a rock full grown.
My father chased construction jobs so I grew up in places all the way from Scappoose, Oregon to Frog Holler, Virginia. I got married to an older man in San Francisco who had a heart attack givin' his mistress what he seldom gave me. I was fortunate enough he left me enough money to keep from havin' to stand under streetlights to pay my rent. After he left for his happy huntin' ground, I traveled for a while; got to see everythin' I wanted to see and decided to roost here full time. Don't see as how you need to know anymore. I kind of like to keep my life private."
"I get the notion you're my kind of woman. You and me could join up and cut some pretty hot land deals here abouts." Nellie bolted upright and let fly with another verbal barrage at Buck.
"Soundin' like and me bein' your kind of woman are two entirely different ends of a stick. Me joinin' up with you has about as much chance as the Pope turnin' Baptist. To put it in more simple words even you can understand, it ain't goin' to happen, so get over your thinkin' itcould."
"Bu! Bu! But!" Buck stuttered.
"But! Your ass, cut back Nellie with her voice raised a notch in volume. "Didn't your mother ever teach you its bad manners to interrupt a lady when she's talkin'? Just shut up till I'm done. You may think you're the prize every woman is itchin' to spread her legs for; but I'm tellin' you, Bucky Boy plain and simple, so even a cow herder like you can understand, I ain't one of your kind; now, yesterday or tomorrow."
Nellie got out of bed crossed to the dresser, poured two glasses a quarter full of bourbon, turned back to Buck and handed him a glass.
"Have a drink to the good stuff we shared tonight without you makin' any plans. You just let the past few hours be a pleasant memory. I've run up against men like you before who somehow get it stuck in their thick empty heads, most likely heard from some southern preacher rippin' off from Paul writin' about women bein' put on earth to keep their mouths shut and be submissive to their husbands. That's OK for you and maybe for some women willin' to give up bein' a person just to say they have a man. Sorry Bucky, I'm not a candidate for your submissive congregation. Here's to your future in C. J. and the condo business," toasted Nellie before tossing off her bourbon.
Turning around she set down her glass and quickly dressed. Drawing some bills from her purse she put down money on the dresser for the booze and room rent before walking to the door. Without looking back or saying a word she opened the door, walked through and softly closed it behind her.
Lying naked with a partial glass of Bourbon in his right hand, Buck remained in quiet though the remainder of Nellie's oration. He watched her dress, exit the room and listened to the clicking of her heels fade away on the outside concrete walk. Buck set his untouched glass on the bedside table and lay back on the bed to recall and think over Nellie's words and actions.
"She sure got a burr under her saddle," Buck thought. "Women! How in the hell is a man supposed to understand them? First she whispers in my ear real smooth like, about how good I am and the next thing I know she dumps a bunch of bitchy words on me, then she hitches up and drives off without sayin' another word. Damn, she was good.
Don't get ahold of one who knows how to do it like she did. Made me feel right good until she started all that uppity harpin' stuff about me not havin' any manners. Must be a rich bitch to act like she did when I asked her about ownin' some land. She had the nerve to tell me about how I expect a woman to be. Well, come to think about it, maybe she is a bit right on that score. Suppose I've been pretty one-way about how I take women. One of these days I may not be able to get it up enough to keep a woman interested. When that happens some broad will get pissed and spread the word around about it and me not being able to make it; like Nell threatened to do'll raise hell with my reputation.
Sure would like to meet up with her friend, what's her name? O ya, Rita, the one with great legs I saw at the VFW Post tonight. With Nell in her present state of mind it doesn't look like she'll be leadin' me to Rita. Oh well, what the hell? There's always another day and another way. Maybe I'd better think about changin' my outlook toward women and see if I can find one for the long haul." Turning over on his left side, and pulling the bed covers up, Buck was soon sound asleep.
About ten-thirty Julie and Sam agreed it was time to quit the dance and go to his apartment only a short distance from the VFW Post in an older section of C.J. The complex was still well kept but its appointments, especially in the kitchen and bathroom, reflected an older time. Sam unlocked and opened the door allowing Julie to precede him into the living room and after a quick look over she asked, "which way to the bathroom, Sam?"
"Straight ahead into the bedroom and take a left," he replied. On the way Julie noticed the bed was neatly made, with no cast off clothes lying about.
"Well, he keeps a neat house. That's another point in his favor."
While Julie was using the bathroom, Sam prepared a pair of nightcaps at the kitchen counter, filling the role of liquor storage and bar. Soon the sound of rushing water through the plumbing signaled Julie would soon join him. In a few moments Julie entered the kitchen. Handing Julie a glass and raising his to share a toast. "Here's to a pleasant evening we shared and an even more pleasurable night to come."
"I'll drink to that," Julie winked over the top of her glass as she took a drink.
With almost synchronized motions, their glasses came to rest on the counter and they moved into a tight embrace, quickly joined by a long open mouth kiss. Slowly drawing apart Sam turned off the lights and guided Julie to the bedroom.
A shaft of light sliding through an almost closed bathroom door dimly illuminated the bedroom. Sam drew back the bedclothes as Julie slipped out of her shoes and released the zipper of her slacks, letting them find their way to the floor. As her slacks skidded to the floor, she removed her blouse and tossed it on the bedside table. With only a bra and abbreviated panties concealing her nakedness, Julie wa
tched Sam shed his clothes. Standing on the opposite side, Sam's profile was projected on the wall showing a rather rotund body with a slight paunch. He turned slowly to face Julie, offering her a waist up view of his personal assets. She was satisfyingly pleased to see Sam was gorgeously rising to seal the occasion.
Quickly peeling off her bra and panties, Julie joined Sam on the bed as the slide into each other's arms with juicy tongue fencing kisses.
Left sitting alone, Rita watched Julie and Sam thread their way through the crowd and pass through the door on their way to Sam's apartment. Suddenly the smell of second-hand smoke and alcohol fumes became noxious and overpowering; caused Rita to decide it was time to leave. All the worthwhile men were committed, leaving her with little reason to hang around hoping to get a dance.
Thoughts of John Henry returned to her as she collected her purse and rose from the empty table. Making for the exit she noticed the room was quickly emptying, noting there were more couples leaving than she earlier noticed eating together. She slowly and observantly across the parking lot to where her car was parked; still clinging to long practiced security habits.
She surveyed the parking lot before walking toward her car, taking note to ensure its doors were completely closed and the car set evenly on its wheels. Satisfied with the car's outward appearance, when reaching the car she looked inside for an uninvited passenger before unlocking the door. Inside she relocked the door, started the engine to find three cars ahead of her waiting to exit the near empty parking lot. Returning to the condo Rita quickly made ready for bed and was soon stretched out relaxing under the covers, and mentally reviewed the evening's happenings.
"Maybe time has come to consider finding a man to share my life and experience some intimate companionship." Rita thought, "Without work to occupy most of my waking hours there isn't much to do with only a limited quantity of places to go and things to see. Lord knows there isn't much excitement listening to Julie and others like her talk about men all the time. It wouldn't surprise me if Julie found herself a long-term friend tonight.
Henry seemed like a nice man gauging from the way he conducted himself." For some reason a small quiet voice was speaking, warning her he was not all she thought him to be.
"Oh well! At least he's a prospect. I'll just have to keep my eyes open tomorrow night. Henry may prove interesting in more ways then one." Soon Rita was asleep.
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