Teaching Ms. Riggs

by Stephanie Beck

  “I do like diamonds,” she teased, her earlier hesitance to have anything to do with him eased because he needed help. “Any time works for me, Mark. I’m not busy at all this weekend, just church on Sunday.”

  “Thank you. Thank you. How about Saturday morning? We’ll make the drive, hit a matinee, do some shopping, get dinner and make it back before chores.”

  “Works for me.” She spent another minute talking with him and nailing down times, Mark thanking her every other sentence. He was so adorable. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.”

  “I really do appreciate this, Ben. We’ll see you tomorrow at ten.” He sounded a little more at ease, the husky quality back to replace the panic.

  “Great. Have a nice night.”

  When Ben locked up her room for the day, she sighed at how fast it had flown by. It was crazy, but she wished the days lasted longer. She dragged it out as long as she could, but if she stayed later than four thirty, she attracted attention. Sharing her problem had been hard enough with the sheriff, but since the stalker hadn’t made any contact at school, Ben had been able to keep the issue to herself at work.

  She was off the school block in only minutes despite dragging her feet. The only things left in the night were to finish her walk, eat dinner, grade papers and hope the calls didn’t come.

  Maybe she could spend more time at the nursing home or volunteering for church, she thought. But that opened the door for threats. If she got close to anyone, Ben knew in her gut they could be hurt. The possibilities were terrifying enough to make her maintain her lonely evenings. The trip with Mark and the kids to KC probably tempted fate, but she was weak and lonely and it was out of town.

  She turned a sharp corner near the hardware store and was nearly knocked to the ground by an oversized man who must have been equally as distracted. “Oh, sorry, ma’am. You okay?”

  “Yes, thanks.” Shaken out of her thoughts, Ben offered a smile. “I need to pay more attention, I guess.”

  He nodded and kept walking, and she did the same, keeping a leisurely pace to her apartment. It was warm for October, and she would probably turn on her air conditioner until night came and cooled things off.

  She was nearly home when she realized she needed to get to the bank if she planned on shopping. She might not need it, but she should at least be able to contribute for her movie ticket and meal. Besides, if there was a sale, she needed a pair of tennis shoes. She turned around and walked the three blocks back to town, pleased to have one more reason to delay the lonely night ahead.

  * * * *

  “What the hell? Where is she?” Victoria Maris slammed down the phone at five o’clock when it continued to ring. “I thought you said she would be home by now.”

  “She should be,” Steven insisted. “I ran into her going by the hardware store. Even a chunky girl like her should be able to make it to the apartment building in less than ten minutes. Maybe she’s on the can.”

  Victoria refused to dignify that with a response. Her vile cohort became less and less tolerable every day, and she hated having him in the same room.

  His stench offended her, even when he tried to cover it with layers of his cheap cologne. Everything was getting on her nerves, but she knew it was the waiting. They were getting closer to the big day when Bennie would pay.

  Ideally Victoria wanted to finish alone and be done with Steven altogether, but for a while longer at least, he had his uses.

  “Go over there and find out what she’s doing.”

  “It’s too fucking hot, babe.” When he wiped his pasty brow with the edge of his sweat yellowed shirttail Victoria thought she’d be ill. “Call her in an hour. Maybe she had to stop by the store or something.”

  Her jaw hurt from holding back her reply. She wanted to kill him. He was a moron and a pig, but he was familiar with the territory. If she wanted to kill Ben, and she did, that meant keeping him around a little longer.

  “If you go I’ll make you very happy tonight,” Victoria offered, adding a seductive purr to her voice.

  He scratched his belly and had the nerve to snort in disgust. “Yeah, then you’ll get off like a whore in the bathroom. Cock not good enough for ya?”

  “Yours is.” She twisted just right as she stood, showing the high tops of her thighs as she managed to also pull her v-neck down a bit. There was a reason she kept him around, and she expected him to do his job but understood him enough to know he needed a little incentive. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t like to play with myself. You certainly like to play with me.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” His eyes locked to her breasts. The filthy lust in his gaze would have made a lesser woman squirm, but Victoria knew exactly what she was doing. The price Steven exacted with his lackluster desires fit well within the range she was willing to pay to get her way. “I love those tits of yours. Lift your shirt.”

  “Oh, I’ll do a whole lot more if you’ll go see if Bennie is home yet,” she replied, tugging her shirt up her rib cage. “All this heat and humidity is making me sticky. Maybe you’d like to join me in the bathtub tonight?”

  “Like we’d both fit.” He tilted his head, still staring, and Victoria knew she was only a few promises from getting her way.

  “Then I’ll go in and you can watch, silly.” She added a little giggle for good measure. He loved the dirty schoolgirl routine, and she wanted him to move. “When I’m done doing all those naughty things, you might have to punish me.”

  “It is naughty.” The gleam of sexual mischief in his eyes, along with a little hint of meanness, perversely turned her on. “Maybe you’ll need me to spank that ass and ream you good. That’ll teach you not to be doing that shit.”

  “Maybe,” she agreed, touching her breasts through her shirt because, fat pig or not, the idea of getting off in the bath with him watching and then being spanked and fucked really did it for her. “But I can’t even think about it unless my work is done. You know how important my work is, Steven.”

  “Fuck.” He hefted himself up, stalking toward her, and for a moment she thought he might just bend her over and take her. She wouldn’t have hated it, either.

  Of course she would have had to kill him for it later. But instead of screwing her raw, he grabbed her breasts harshly, squeezed once, and headed for the door. “I’ll be back, and when I get here you’d better be naked and finger fucking yourself in that asshole of yours or I’m liable to break it.”

  “Whatever you say, Steven,” she said sweetly. “Hurry.”

  Chapter 6

  Ben was grateful she taught high school students. The whip-slim redhead beside her couldn’t be sweeter and her intellect surpassed most kids her age, but she hadn’t stopped talking since they’d met that morning. Ben didn’t know how much more she could take.

  So far, Kira had talked about school, the farm, her dog, her cows, her suspected lactose intolerance, and her toenail polish. There’d been a brief quiet during the movie, but the second the credits had rolled she’d been back talking about her undying adoration for Zac Efron.

  Now she was talking about her friends. Ben tried not to be obvious as she looked frantically around Sears for the girls department. She really liked Kira, but if the little girl said ‘like’ one more time Ben thought she might cry.

  “So Misty Mae totally has boobs already, and she had her period over the summer,” Kira informed her as they walked by Hannah Montana adorned packs of underwear. “While I was in stupid France with a baby nanny she was becoming a real woman. I’m so jealous, ’cause I don’t think I’ll ever have boobs. My mom doesn’t, and Grandma doesn’t count ’cause she’s old and they eventually just stretch and roll, right? Are yours stretched and rolled, Ben, or are they, like, real still?”

  “Good Lord, girl, what are you talking about?” She laughed so hard at the earnest question she had to stop herself before she fell into a child-sized mannequin. She gasped until she finally caught her breath and could speak. “Rolled? No, mine are not r
olled anywhere, and I have to say as a girl who developed early and just kept going, big breasts aren’t everything.”

  “But aren’t they, like, awesome?” Kira’s face squished in confusion. “They mean you’re mature and stuff.”

  “Maturity is a state of mind, but don’t worry, kiddo, you’ve got lots of time. Now, are we looking for undershirts or training bras?”

  Ben helped pick out half a dozen training bras and a two-pack of undershirts for the winter months ahead, as well as a new pack of underwear while they were at it. Apparently, Mark had bought her Dora the Explorer underwear when he went school shopping while Kira was in France, and that was unacceptable for someone of her advanced tastes.

  Kira was still talking, and at the little girl’s request, their purchases were safely out of sight in a paper bag as they walked from the store. Ben thought Kira was adorable and remembered doing the same thing with her aunt. Unfortunately, cute undies had been a waste according to her aunt, and because Ben had developed breasts a little early, her aunt had had to spend money sooner and made sure Ben had known it.

  Thomas and Mark waited at the ball cap store. Thomas had a new Chief’s hat, but his uncle’s dusty, old Flathead Falls Frogs cap was still firmly on his own head. Constancy. Ben liked that about Mark.

  He’d gotten a haircut since the last time he’d been to her apartment. He was a handsome guy, tall, broad and though his middle showed signs of softening a little with age, he looked good. Nearly forty, according to Kira, he was a strong man in his prime. More and more Ben had to remind herself she didn’t need one of those.

  She might like Mark, and the more she was around him the more she did, but she had a psychotic bitch stalking her who might just like to kill her. She couldn’t let that spill onto him, and if they became more than casual friends she was afraid it would.

  “Get everything you needed?” Mark looked like a kid hoping for presents on Christmas morning. Ben thought his desperation was the cutest thing she’d seen since watching Kira debate underpants.

  “Yeah, Uncle Mark, we got everything,” Kira assured him and handed over his debit card. “Thank you for buying me the clothes and for asking Ben to help.”

  “You’re welcome, squirt. You know I would’ve done it if I’d had to. But I’m glad I didn’t.” The relief in his words made Ben smile. “So where else should we go? I think it’s a little early for supper unless you guys are hungry?”

  “Naw, I’m good from the popcorn still.” Thomas readjusted his new hat and bent the stiff brim to curve it. “A cheeseburger would be good pretty soon. How about the shoe store at the other end?”

  “Sounds fine with me,” Ben replied when Mark looked to her.

  They walked together, the two kids staying just in front. Thomas put a little distance between them as Kira went on chatting her brother’s willing ear off. Ben hadn’t had siblings or any family close to her age, and she was envious of their relationship. They were tight and didn’t pick and fight with each other like so many siblings did. It was like they understood they were in their lives together and clung to one another. The time they spent in France sounded like it wasn’t always the best, and Ben figured they were probably the only comfort the other had.

  It was a sad situation, but they would have a special relationship because of it. Thomas would never let Kira be hurt and if she ever were, he would be there. Mark would be there too, of course, to help pick up the pieces. And Ben knew, as the little sister, Kira would key the car of the first girl to break Thomas’s heart.

  “Oh, a baby store! Come on, Ben, let’s go see the baby stuff.” Kira fell back from her place beside her brother to tug Ben into the brightly lit, happily colored store full of little clothes. “There were tons of cute clothes stores in Paris, but Mom said they were a waste of time so I didn’t get to go to any. My dolly seriously needs some new clothes. Uncle Mark always rolls his eyes, and Thomas won’t even come in with me anymore. Boys are so silly.”

  “They are.” Ben started breaking out in hives the second she was surrounded by the beautiful little things.

  “This would fit my dolly.” Kira held up a preemie sun suit for inspection Ben turned to Mark who’d followed them in and bit back a smile when he indeed rolled his eyes. “Please?”

  “No way.” He shook his head at the tiny clothing while Ben fought to breathe and prayed neither of them noticed. “We’ve had this talk before, squirt. You can buy all the baby stuff you want secondhand with your allowance, but you aren’t buying new stuff for Maggie.”

  “Maggie’s my doll with the horribly lacking wardrobe,” Kira explained to Ben as she put back the polka-dotted suit. “I can still look though, right, Uncle Mark?”

  “Sure, baby, nothing wrong with that,” he agreed as Kira continued to pull Ben deeper into the store.

  She’d wanted a baby. More than anything, she had wanted a little one of her own, but it hadn’t happened. She and Don had never used protection, not from day one, because they’d been married and both wanted a big family. Two years into their marriage Ben started working on getting pregnant.

  She’d made sure she had enough folic acid, started eating better, lost ten pounds, exercised more and had been in the best shape of her life. She’d gotten over-the-counter ovulation kits, read all the books, but nothing happened. Eventually, she and Don had seen a specialist.

  Dr. Miller had done everything, but nothing had worked.

  “Ben?” At Mark’s question she realized she hadn’t been paying attention, lost in dark thoughts. “You okay?”

  He looked concerned, so she pasted on a smile to reassure him. His look didn’t change so she added, “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks. Are we ready to go?”

  “Come on, Uncle Mark, it’s super cute and only a dollar,” Kira whined, holding a sweet little sunhat in pink polka-dot seersucker. “I couldn’t get it at a garage sale for that. Tell him, Ben. That’s cheap.”

  “It is very reasonable.” She didn’t reach to touch the offered cap because she didn’t need that sort of burn surrounded by people. Ben looked toward the exit and wanted to run, but she’d already told Mark enough of her secrets. This one didn’t need to be given life to ruin their good day.

  “Fine. I should have known another woman would mean spending more.” Mark sighed theatrically but handed over two dollar bills. “Go ahead, squirt, but that’s out of your five bucks this week.”

  “Okay, Uncle Mark. Thank you,” Kira squealed and ran toward the clerk, stopping short after two steps. “Come on, Ben, it’s easier to check out with a grown up. Otherwise the lady always asks a bunch of questions and it takes forever.”

  Ben was shocked she could laugh, but Kira’s exasperation cut through her dark thoughts. With so many new and wonderful things in her life, Ben knew it was time let go of the past.

  Next they headed to a family chain restaurant at the end of the mall. After scouring the menu and asking Ben’s opinion on every entrée, Kira ordered macaroni and cheese off the kid’s menu. Thomas rolled his eyes at his sister as he ordered a triple burger with fries, a salad and a fruit plate.

  In fascination, Ben watched how they interacted and again wished she had more family. They were great together. They teased in a way her aunt had never been comfortable with. There had always been a reminder on the tip of her tongue assuring Ben she really wasn’t a welcome addition to her life.

  As Ben had gotten older her aunt had made it abundantly clear she was a burden. Kira and Thomas didn’t seem to feel that way at all, and not once did their uncle say or do anything that might change their attitudes.

  He was single, and he should have been doing what he wanted. As he tossed a straw wrapper at Kira, who giggled and tossed it back, Ben realized he was doing what he wanted.

  She tried not to watch Thomas eat. He wasn’t impolite, but it was just too much. Instead she ate and listened to Kira talk about the other things she’d wanted to do in France, but hadn’t gotten the chance to. Out of the corner of her eye she
saw Thomas reach for one of Mark’s fries. Without even breaking away from nodding about Kira’s monolog, Mark swatted his nephew’s hand. Ben looked at Thomas and the youth just grinned.

  She expected Mark to share his fries, but instead he scarfed down the last few on his plate. She was about to offer Thomas hers in case he was genuinely still hungry, but the waitress came and Mark ordered half a dozen desserts. From across the table, Mark winked at her and passed a piece of chocolate cheesecake before Thomas could devour it. She was more thoughtful than ever as she ate.

  Back in the car with a two hour drive ahead of them and the sun setting, Ben was pleasantly tired. She’d only thought a few times of the troubles waiting at home. She refused to let the crazy woman ruin a perfectly nice day, and it really had been nice. Family outings weren’t something she was familiar with, so as far as a first run, she thought she’d done pretty well.

  When the quiet from the backseat continued, Ben looked over her shoulder and was shocked to find Kira sleeping. Ben checked the clock and realized it had only been ten minutes.

  “She’s out already?” Ben asked quietly.

  “Yep, she’s a really good sleeper, especially in the car. When she was really little and had colic and croup and all that baby garbage, we’d get her bundled up and go for a ride. Thomas would put on his headphones and crash out next to me, and we’d drive until she fell asleep. He might not fall asleep now, but headphones are always out for major car trips. Case in point.”

  She looked back and sure enough Thomas had his iPod ears in and his eyes closed. He wasn’t pulling away from his little sister, who slept on his shoulder. They made a pretty sight to end the day. “They are such good kids, Mark. You have to be so proud.”

  “Hell, yeah. They’re amazing. We have a lot of fun.” His grin said more than his words could. “How long were you married?”

  “Six years. Almost seven.”