Will Ryan raised his chin and stretched his neck. He tossed back the shot of Jameson and let it trickle down his throat trailing a mellow burn. He followed it with a sip of Guinness.
Tommy the bartender busied himself wiping glasses and checking his stock. Will studied his mundane motions, then took a long look around the bar. He had been coming to the Cobblestone since he was old enough to drink, even longer if he counted the times he and his neighborhood chums frequented the backroom where they had marathon poker sessions. None of that hold ’em nonsense in those days. Straight five-card draw was the game of choice, each hand quick and bloodless, if not painless if you were on the losing end.
It struck Will with a melancholy note that home had become just another stop on the road. Familiar faces were rare in the old neighborhood, and even the few familiar ones, like Tommy, were oddly distant. It was the job, he figured. It kept him away for long stretches, but not long enough for him to be among the cherished who moved on —to the suburbs, or Florida, or wherever. He thought if the old crowd poured into the bar at that moment Tommy would greet them like long-lost family. It was unusual now for Tommy to even acknowledge Will with a nod, coming or going.
It wasn’t like Will cared. He admitted his own reclusiveness. After nearly five years of plying the interstates with nothing but the thrum of a diesel engine for company he had come to appreciate solitude. He didn’t miss the old gang, felt no pull from the past. They were people he knew once, friends who had gone their separate ways, and whom he would not likely see or hear from again. Still, he thought it odd that he felt no connection, no nostalgia. When you’re a kid, a teenager, you think your friends will be friends forever, that things will never change. Will didn’t lament change, but he wondered why it didn’t bother him.
He thought of ordering another shot, then decided to finish his Guinness and leave. But his thoughts had turned to Susan and his eyes focused somewhere past the bar and time. Susan he missed’susan of the pale, snow-blond hair and gray eyes, Susan of the perfect body and cream-toned skin. Being inside her was like surrendering yourself to impossibly wonderful sensations. No woman since had drugged him like she had, provided him that sense of euphoria that went beyond fucking.
But Susan wanted things, and wanted him to want the same things. Why didn’t he apply to college? He was smarter than the average kid in the neighborhood, as was she. It occurred to him then how she not so much stood out, but stood away from the crowd. She had plans for her future, and if it was to include him, he would have to toe her line.
But he had no idea what he wanted to do. After a stint in the Army he still didn’t know, but he told her he wouldn’t conform to her idea of a success. She said she couldn’t afford to squander her life on a man with no direction or goal. She said it coldly, and he told her goodbye. He never regretted his decision, but he missed her.
I have to stop coming in here, he mused. He stretched his long jean-clad legs, rested his heels on the opposite bench of the booth and let his head fall back. Eyes closed, he willed his brain to empty itself of all thought.
“Will? Hey, how’ve you been?” The voice was feminine, familiar and high pitched.
His eyes snapped open. She was the girl his mother used to call “as homely as a basketful of boots.” Short, with a petite build, except for her thighs. They were wide out of all proportion to her small body and made her look like she stuffed watermelons down her jeans. Her short dark hair was an unkempt nest.
“I heard you still came in to the ‘stone, but you never seemed to come in on my nights.”
“Judy? You work here?”
“Yeah, just three nights. I waitress over at Walsh’s too.”
“Oh? You working tonight?”
“No-just came in to get my check from Tommy. Gotta pay my rent, ya know. My uncle rents me a studio. He’s a prick about paying on time.”
Will nodded and brushed a fall of dark hair from his eyes.
“Geeze, you look great,” she said, grinning through an Irish overbite. “I haven’t seen you in years. I thought you moved out like just about everyone else, but someone said you still live in your mom’s house.”
“Yeah. It’s just a place to sleep now.”
“Sorry to hear about your mom. I went to the wake, but I guess you didn’t see me.”
“It was a crazy time. All my brothers and my sister were in from out of town. Thanks for coming, though.”
“Yeah. Anyway, you really do look great. Geeze, you always looked great. I loved your hair … still thick and dark and luscious.” She blushed, “Oh, Christ, listen to me.”
She stood at the table’s edge, he thought expectantly.
“Um, I was just leaving.”
“Oh?” He sensed a tone of disappointment, or maybe hurt.
“But … do you want to join me for a beer — one and done?”
Another grin creased her face and she slid into the seat. “I’ll buy,” she announced.
“No way, it’s on me.” He signaled Tommy.
She shrugged and smiled. “Wow, I’m so glad I ran into you. Have you heard from any of the kids — I mean, they’re … well, we’re not kids anymore.” She fumbled with a dingy pastel pink shoulder bag.
“I don’t hear from anyone. Working too much, I guess.”
“Yeah, you’re still driving?”
“Long haul.”
“Yeah. Well, I run into Angie Genaro once in a while when she comes back to visit her mom. She isn’t Genaro anymore, though.”
“Oh? I guess she married Danny McDermott.”
“No’she and Danny split a couple of years after high school. He never proposed and she got tired of waiting. Anyways, she said he kinda turned into a mean drunk. She doesn’t know where Danny is now.”
Will thought Dan was always a mean drunk, even when they were kids. A moment flashed in his mind when he had to nail Danny after he’d thrown Angie against a fence outside the old stadium. The next day he didn’t remember a thing, not even Will knocking him out.
“Anyway,” Judy went on, “She married some guy she met in Florida, but they live in South Carolina now and got four kids. You wouldn’t recognize her now. Remember how skinny she used to be? Well, she ain’t skinny no more. She sees Patty and Jake still. Now, everyone knew they were gonna get married. They’re in Carolina too, but I can’t remember which one. Jake has some big job managing lumber shops or something like that. They got three kids too. Let’s see-oh-Benny Dekes, you know he got into trouble, right?”
“No.”
“No? Well, it was in the paper. He and his brother were at some kids’ hockey game and I guess a ref yelled at Ben’s brother’s kid, so crazy Benny jumped onto the ice and beat the shit out of the guy — almost killed him. He’s in jail for three years at least. Heidi dumped him right after that. I don’t know what happened to Heidi, but Angie told me she heard from someone’s sister that she was living with some black guy in Connecticut somewhere. Jesus, her dad would have flipped — he hated, you know, black people. Geesh, he hated everyone who wasn’t white. But he already died of liver cancer, I think. Then Heidi’s mom married the guy who used to own the drugstore on the avenue. Angie said they were carrying on long before Heidi’s dad died, though.”
“Uh-huh.” He watched Judy take a long sip of her beer.
“Hey, Will, do you ever hear from Susie?”
The question surprised him; it surprised him that it hit him with the impact that it did.
He hankered for another shot, but sipped his fresh Guinness. “No.”
“Oh, well, Angie said she heard from her sister that she’s living in Arizona now. She married some guy out of college. I guess he’s an architect or something. He’s got some big job out there.”
Will nodded, but said nothing.
“They just had a baby.”
He felt his face muscles tighten and his chin set. Did the guy appreciate her? Did he revel in her body like Will had? He thought of another man on top of Susan, plundering her. His stomach tightened and he scolded himself for it.
Judy had stopped talking. Then, in a quiet voice, she said, “Gee, Will, I thought you two were perfect. Do you miss her?”
A simmering anger must have made its way to his face, because Judy suddenly looked down and away. “I’m sorry—Jesus, I always put my foot in my mouth. It’s none of my business, Will, I’m really sorry …”
“Forget it,” he assured her, but he had to concentrate on keeping an even tone. He was angry at himself for reacting the way he did. Judy was just a poor ditz; she didn’t mean any harm.
“Yeah, well, people say I talk too much. I know I talk too much. It’s just, I don’t really get a chance to talk to anyone. It gets kinda lonely around here now.”
Will let out a long sigh. “It’s okay, Judy. It’s good to see you.”
He pushed his glass away and started to get up.
“Will-do you want to come home with me?”
“Huh?”
“Well … I dunno. You seem kinda lonely too … and I’m lonely …”
He didn’t answer, as he tried to register what she was saying.
“Will … you could … you can do anything. It’ll be okay.”
“Jesus, Judy.”
She kneaded her shoulder bag and her face flushed a searing red. “Christ, listen to me, you’ll think I’m desperate … I am desperate.” She forced a chuckle, but it dissolved into a sob. She stood up and hurried to the ladies room.
Will stood and watched the door close after her. He thought he should probably leave right then. Judy was off her rocker, but she wasn’t his problem. Was she really trolling for — what — a sympathy fuck?
He cast a glance toward the bar. Tommy stood looking at him, then at the door to the ladies room.
Will mentally answered his look with a fuck you.
He started toward the exit, but he couldn’t leave. He turned and walked to the ladies room. He rapped on the door. “Judy? You okay? Come out here.”
The door opened a crack, then slowly it opened more. Judy slipped out.
“I’m sorry, Will. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I’m just a pathetic …”
“Shhh, cut that shit out. Let me walk you home.”
“You don’t have to …”
“Jesus, quit arguing. Let’s go.”
He guided her to the exit and held the door for her.
“I live right over on Taft Street.”
Will nodded. “How long have you lived there?”
“Since my mom moved down to Florida with my sister. Didn’t have room for me with all her kids. So my uncle gave me this little bitty place. Said he was taking a bath renting it to me so cheap — 800 freakin’ dollars a month. And he wants it right on time. I eat a lot of soup and macaroni and cheese in a box.”
Will mused on how small she looked, and her weird little body shape. Her jeans encased those thighs like they were shrink-wrapped, but everywhere else her clothes looked like they were hanging off her.
It was just a five-minute walk and they stood in front of her building.
Judy shrugged. “Thanks for walking me home, Will, especially after …”
“It’s okay, Judy.”
She shrugged again. “I just-I just get so damned lonely. Like no one in the world even knows or cares I exist. My room — it’s like a box, a cage.”
A voice inside Will’s head told him, you know better. But he put a hand on her shoulder. “Got any coffee in that cage?”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been drinking alone for the past couple of hours. I probably need a coffee. Got any?”
Judy’s face brightened. “Sure, sure I got coffee — but, you don’t have to …”
“Coffee, Judy … just coffee.”
“Yeah, sure … c’mon.”
He followed her along the alley to a door. She fished keys out of her bag, then pushed the heavy metal door. Will pushed too and marveled at the weight of the thing.
They stepped into the basement as the furnace fired up and steam wheezed through the pipes. A single incandescent bulb lit their way to a place that could have been a storage compartment.
“My place,” Judy said and shrugged. She turned the key in a flimsy fiberboard door and stepped inside.
It was barely large enough to contain a futon. A mini stove and fridge were jammed into a corner where shelves held a few cans and boxes. Judy flipped a light switch, then made her way to the stove. Will watched her struggle in the cramped quarters to take an electric percolator from a shelf. He heard the whoosh of a faucet and was amazed there was enough room for a small sink.
“Where’s your bathroom?”
“There’s a shower stall and toilet down the hall and around the corner. It’s illegal. My uncle’s always telling me not to let any city inspectors in.”
Will sat on the futon. A small television sat atop a small chest. Panties and stockings draped over the screen.
Judy sat next to him as the coffee perked.
“I know, it’s not much to look at, but it’s the best a girl who barely got through high school can afford on her own.”
“Do you have a window?”
Judy motioned behind them. A tiny slit of glass lay between the top of the wall and the ceiling. Will shook his head.
Judy got up and poured from the pot into a chipped mug. “Oh, crap. I don’t have any cream, and I’m out of milk.”
“It’s okay, just black will be fine.”
She handed him the mug.
“You’re not having any?” he asked as he sipped the steaming brew.
“No, only in the morning to get myself going. How is it?”
“It’s okay.” He put the mug down on the floor, the only space he could find.
“Are you going to be okay, Judy?”
Her face flushed. “I-I’m sorry about back at the bar. I must have embarrassed you something awful.”
“It just — I wasn’t expecting …”
“Yeah, it’s okay. Sometimes, when I’m alone — and I’m always alone — this place just seems even smaller. And I get to thinking about being alone in this little room, like, forever.”
“You said your mom moved to Florida?”
“Uh-huh. She’d been after my sister for an invite. Finally Sherry caved in. But she said only my mom. So Mom told me I was old enough to be on my own’see you later. My brother — I haven’t heard from him since he left home. He works on a ship somewhere I think. If Uncle Carl didn’t give me this place I’d be out on the street.”
Will watched her as she shrugged. “I guess it’s okay. I mean, you get what you deserve, right? But it gets so lonely at night. It’s like I’m buried in some tomb somewhere and no one knows.”
“Maybe you could try something else — go back to school?”
“I’d have to pay for it. I wasn’t much good at school. Teachers as much as told me I was hopeless.”
Will didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. He thought he should leave. Judy’s misfortunes were not his problem.
“Will, why did you and Susie break up? I always thought …”
“Nothing,” he snapped.
“I-I’shit, there I go again. I’m sorry, I don’t know why … It’s just … I think you miss her. I think … well, I just feel it.”
“Feel what?”
“I dunno … sadness, I guess. Will, maybe … we could help each other … we could …”
She knelt on the floor and turned to face him. With shuddering breath and trembling hands she began to tug at his belt, clumsily unbuckling it, then she tugged at the buttons on his fly.
Will scowled at the girl as she parted the front of his boxers, reached inside and withdrew his cock. Her breaths were short, rapid; she was practically hyperventilating.
“It’s okay, Will … it is, really.” She closed her lips over the tip. Her chin trembled.
“Ouch!” Will shot up. “For Christ’s sake!”
“Oh, god, oh, god … I’m sorry … let me try again …”
Will grabbed her elbows and lifted her off the ground. He flung her onto the futon.
“What do you want? Huh? What the fuck to you want? A fuck? You want a fuck, Judy?”
The girl trembled on the futon and drew her knees to her chin. Tears trickled over her cheeks.
“Great then! A good fuck!”
Will plunged his hands into her waistband and ripped open the front of her jeans. He tugged them so hard he nearly pulled her onto the floor, then down over those huge thighs, alabaster pillars. Her panties went with the jeans as he yanked all off her ankles.
His hand scooped her pussy. Her eyes went wide, with fear or something else he didn’t know or care. But her snatch was sopping.
“Let’s give Judy a good fuck.” He slid his hands under her legs and lifted her. She started to say something, then braced herself against the futon. He thrust his cock into her with no preliminaries.
“Owww!”
He began to pummel her pelvis with his. Her cries and groans echoed in the small room like they were coming from far away. He imagined Susan, her hips in his hands as he ravished her and accelerated his thrusts. He felt her writhe as he lifted her ass. The guy she married was there watching.
How about this, pal? This is the way I used to fuck your wife, and she loved it; she was a whore for it. This fucking cunt …
“Owwww!”
Will’s eyes focused on the girl on the futon, her face red and tear-streaked.
“Oh, Christ! Judy …”
He withdrew.
“No! No, Will, don’t … It’s okay. I told you it’s okay. Please don’t stop … Don’t go.”
Judy collapsed sobbing. “Don’t go.”
He knelt in front of her. “Oh, Judy, I’m so sorry.”
She grasped his hand with hers. “No… no-no-no… It’s okay. Will, please, I want you to … do anything you want, do anything to me … Don’t go, please. Please-please-please.”
Shame and pity broke over him. He held her in his arms and began to rock her as she cried into his shoulder. He continued until she had mostly settled, except for a few spasmodic sobs.
Finally he said, “You don’t deserve …”
“Please.”
“Shhh, you deserve better.”
He lifted her chin. “Forgive me, Judy.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he closed his lips over hers. She responded with a quiet moan. He kissed the tears from her cheeks, then trailed kisses down her neck. He slid off the futon and onto his knees, and then he parted her thighs. Gently now, he kissed the soft pillowy flesh and nibbled until he reached her pussy.
His tongue traced her folds as a tiny yelp escaped Judy’s lips. She couldn’t keep her legs still as her thighs, like fleshy rollers gently pummeled his cheeks. He licked her with firm long strokes and she began to chant, “Oh-Will-Oh-Will-Oh …”
He deep-kissed her cunt, his lips conforming to the oval slit. Then with one long slurp his tongue coursed over her extended clit. Judy’s hips rocked and she cried out, squeezing and releasing Will’s head between her thighs.
“Oh, God! Stop! No … Don’t … Will!” Then she went limp and poured right off the futon.
Will was astounded that she had come so quickly and so violently. “You okay, Judy?”
Her voice was raspy. “Yeah … I just … no one’s ever done that to me. It went on so long. Oh, Jesus, I got scared … it was beautiful.”
Will raised her back onto the futon, his hands rested on her knees. Judy looked at his face; a sheen of her fluids on his cheeks reflected the dim light in the room. She leaned forward and took his head between her hands. “Will, stay with me tonight — just tonight. I won’t pester you or stalk you later, I promise. Just stay with me one night … please?”
“Does this bed get any bigger?”
“Yeah, I can collapse the side. You will, then? You’ll stay?”
“Yes.”
He helped Judy collapse the backrest of the futon. It still looked barely large enough to accommodate Judy, never mind a six-foot passenger. But he tenderly removed the remainder of her clothes and patted the thin mattress. She slid under the covers. Gingerly he sidled next to her. He began to stroke and massage her small body.
She cozied against him and he felt all tension leave her. Quiet sighs turned to regular wispy breaths. But before she could fall asleep he trailed kisses from her belly button to the space between her small breasts. He took a nipple between his lips and lolled it with his tongue, then the other.
Judy licked her lips. Small, kittenish sounds punctuated her sighs.
Will separated her legs and poised his cock at the gate to her cunt. He pushed past the entrance slowly, allowing his length to fill her before he withdrew, then thrust again — a gentle intrusion. Judy closed her arms below his shoulders and he accelerated his pace. The futon squealed with their rhythm.
“Oh, God!” A raspy whisper tickled his ear.
She clasped her ankles behind his knees, urging him to fuck her faster.
“Judy?”
“Umm?”
“Sweetie?”
“Ohhh … huh?”
“I’m going to fuck you so good … all night … Don’t come.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t come.”
“But …”
“Don’t.”
“But-but-but …”
“Don’t come, Sweetie …”
“But-but-but … I gotta come! … Oh, God!”
Her tremor rattled the futon. He felt her orgasm spread from her tummy and reverberate. He continued to kiss her as she came down.
“I’m going to kiss you some more … then I’m going to fuck you again.”
“Will?”
“There’s nothing you can do about it, Judy. You’re all mine tonight.”
Judy lay back, closed her eyes, and surrendered herself to Will.
* * *
He teased her, bringing her to the edge and letting her slide back as she mewled in protest. But after she came again she slid right into sleep. He held her in the dark, stroking her hair.
What the hell am I doing? This girl is so needy — when the hell did I become the charity fuck fairy?
But his feelings belied his own admonishments. Something had come alive in his very core, a desire to protect and nurture this girl. But who the hell was she to him? A girl he hadn’t seen in years. A girl he’d forgotten about, who once tagged after his old gang. She was a couple of years and a couple of grades behind them all. So they let her hang out with them that final year and that final summer. She might as well have been a stray kitten.
He didn’t sleep and his body ached when she began to stir in the morning. She showed no desire to get up, and instead spooned her behind against him.
“Hey … Judy?”
“Hmmm?”
“Listen, do we need to get you to the clinic — we didn’t use any protection.”
“No, I’m on the pill.”
“You are?”
“Will, can I tell you something — not so nice about me.”
Warily, he replied, “Sure, go ahead.”
“I’ve been trying to pick up guys … down at Tommy’s and at Walsh’s. I kinda been offering them the same thing I did last night to you. But, Will, it’s only because … the loneliness was just getting to be too much.”
“So you started on the pill.”
“I’m lonely, not stupid — not about that anyway. The thing is, I didn’t have much luck. I guess I scared them, or they just weren’t hard up enough to come home with me.”
“Judy, you have to stop thinking of yourself that way.”
She shrugged. “I even propositioned a woman. She was nice, you know? She’d come into Walsh’s and we’d talk and I thought we were getting to be friends. But when I asked her if she wanted to come home with me she said, ‘Maybe, for a hundred bucks.’ I had to leave work … I almost got fired. But I had to get out of there before I started crying my eyes out.”
Will rubbed his hand between her shoulders.
“One guy did come back, but when we got here he scared me. He started calling me names. So I told him I changed my mind and said he should leave.”
“Did he?”
“Not until he hit me. Wham! Right across the face. He must have run out ’cause I just started screaming.”
“You ever see him again, you point him out to me.”
“You’re sweet, Will. I guess you need to get going. I won’t keep you.”
She slid her legs off the side of the futon and stretched. The rap on the door made her jump.
“Judy! You in there? God damn it, where the hell’s the rent?”
Judy grabbed a thin robe and wrapped it around herself. “Oh, shit … Be right there, Uncle Carl!”
She frantically fumbled through a drawer beneath the television. Before Will could pull up his jeans she ran to the door. It blew open like a bomb went off behind it. A squat, barrel-bellied man stepped into the room and bumped up against Judy. She fought to keep her footing.
“I waited up until 11 o’clock. You said you’d drop this off.”
“I’m sorry Uncle Carl … I-I …”
The guy’s eyes darted over to Will. “Well, goddamn, now I see why you didn’t show up. What—do I need to tell your mother you’ve turned into a tramp?”
Judy trembled and tears were streaking over her cheeks.
“Hey, mister.” Will stood between them as Uncle Carl’s head craned back to look up at him. “What the hell is your malfunction? This is your niece, for crissakes, and you talk to her like that?”
“No blood of mine. She’s my sister-in-law’s kid. Hey, I know you too: Will Ryan. I knew your family. Well, for crissakes, what are you doing, slumming? Couldn’t find anything better last night to dip your dick into?”
Uncle Carl came right off the ground when Will jerked him up by the front of his shirt. He pushed him out into the hall and against the wall.
“Let go of me! I’ll get the cops, I’ll …”
“Go ahead. Tell them to bring the city inspectors, and the rat inspectors and anyone else who’ll be interested in this fucking hole you have her living in.”
Will’s face was on fire and his eyes bored into Uncle Carl’s. Then his nose twitched at the distinct smell of urine. It dripped down Carl’s leg and made a puddle around his shoes.
Will winced in disgust. He let Uncle Carl loose and called behind him. “Judy, get your things together, you’re getting out of here.”
“But, Will, I don’t have any place to go.”
“I’ll take care of that. Any place is better than this shithole. C’mon, hurry, it stinks in here.”
“Okay-okay.”
After a few minutes Judy stepped into the hall with two plastic trash bags.
“That all?” Will asked, his doubtful eyes darting from the bags to her face.
“Just my clothes. The TV’s busted. Everything else is Uncle Carl’s.”
“Okay, c’mon.”
He tugged her elbow and led her to the door. Carl waited until they were almost outside before he shouted, “Yeah, get out of here. I’ll tell your mother her daughter’s nothing but a fucking tramp. He won’t keep you around long … you skanky little bitch.”
The last thing Carl remembered before waking up in his own basement a hour later was Will’s fist bearing down on his nose like a runaway freight.
* * *
Judy struggled to keep up with Will, hauling everything she owned in the two trash bags.
“Will, where are we going? Will! I don’t have any money for another place. Will, please slow down.”
He pivoted on one heel and looked back at her. She looked like a bag lady in training. He walked back toward her and snatched the bags in his hands. “C’mon.”
“But, Will … where?”
“I … Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. Does Wang Foo Kelly’s still serve those big Irish breakfasts?
“Yeah, I think so. I haven’t been there in a while.”
“Let’s go.”
At Kelly’s Will tossed the bags under their table and signaled a waitress. The girl looked at them like they just fell out of a flying saucer. Will figured she just stumbled off the boat from Hong Kong.
“Hi, two Irish breakfasts.”
“You want 69?”
“Huh?”
“Sixty-nine … number 69?”
“Um … oh yeah, right, 69. Two Irish breakfasts, eggs, ham, bacon, blood sausage, fried tomatoes. Two big OJs too.”
“Sixty-nine and 69 … you want coffee too.”
“Yeah.”
The girl left with the order. Judy sat, shoulders hunched, confusion writ all over her face. Will’s brows furrowed and it looked as if he were desperately working out some life-or-death equation. But he already knew what he was going to do; he knew it the second he got his hands on Uncle Carl.
“Will, what are we … what am I going to do?”
“You’re going to eat a decent breakfast. Then we’re going to my place.”
“But then what? I can’t afford …”
“Judy, we’re going to my place.”
“You mean … to stay?”
“Well, yeah … I’m still working it out. Judy, trust me, it’ll be okay.”
The waitress brought two plates piled high with artery-clogging delicacies. Judy stared at the food.
“Go ahead, dig in,” Will insisted.
Judy attacked the food like she hadn’t eaten in months.
Later, their plates clean, Will settled back and sipped his coffee.
“My mom … God, wait till she hears from Uncle Carl.”
“I’m sorry about back there. I didn’t want to get you in trouble with your Mom.”
Judy shrugged. “It isn’t like it makes any difference. She’s in no hurry to see me again.”
They left Kelly’s and made their way the three blocks to Will’s house, a large, two-story single-family that stood out among the triple-deckers. Judy followed him onto the porch where he jangled some keys and opened the front door.
It was empty—quiet. Will tossed the bags in a small foyer.
Will guided her to a central living room and along a small hallway. They passed a large bedroom on the right then entered a brightly lit kitchen.
“This is nice,” Judy said.
“That bedroom used to be my mother’s,” Will said. “She died in there. There are three more upstairs and a big bathroom. My mom’s room has a small bath too. C’mon upstairs.”
They walked along the banister of the landing at the top of the stairs. “My brothers and I split these two rooms when we were kids. The one at the far corner is my sister’s old room. She was the only girl in the family so she got a room to herself. Maybe you’d like that one.”
Judy peeked through the door. The furnishings were plain but feminine.
“But, Will … how long …”
“As long as you want.”
“I-I don’t know what to say, I …”
He stepped toward her and gently clasped his hands over her arms. “Look, I’m not here for days, sometimes weeks at a time. There are four bedrooms here for crissakes. So, put in here for a while. You won’t be paying rent so you’ll be able to save your money’save enough and you’ll be able to pay for school, find something better for yourself.”
“I-I can’t believe … no one’s ever done something like this for me, ever.” Tears brimmed in her eyes.
“Oh, c’mon, cut it out. It isn’t like I’m not getting something out of this.”
“Huh?”
“It’ll be good to know someone’s here, watching the place.”
“Oh.”
Judy looked her left. “Oh, my God. Look at the size of that tub.”
Will stepped past her and pushed open the door to the bathroom wider. “Yeah, my mom and my sister used to love to soak in that monster. I was always afraid my mom would fall asleep and drown.”
“I never had a tub to just soak in.”
“Well, help yourself. Fill ‘er up. There’s plenty of hot water. Get your clothes off.”
Judy looked suddenly shy. “Okay.”
“There are towels in the cabinet.” He reached past her and took a lavender box from a shelf. “Maybe you want to try this. My sister left it here the last time she visited, about the time of my mom’s funeral, it must have been.”
Judy took the box and squealed, “Bubble bath!”
“Well, it’s been sitting on the shelf for two years. Don’t know what the shelf life is on bubbles. Go crazy. I have to call the local and see when my next job is coming up.”
Will made the call from the kitchen. He’d have a load in three days bound for the West Coast.
He sat at the kitchen table listening to Judy draw her bath upstairs. He wondered if he had gone nuts. A human being isn’t like a stray dog, he thought. Was he taking responsibility for Judy? Yes, he decided, not sure why. But he felt responsible for her—and he liked it.
The water stopped and he listened to Judy play like a kid in the tub. After a while she quieted down and he made his way upstairs. The door to the bathroom was ajar, but he knocked.
“Hey?”
“C’mon in … It’s your house.”
“Yeah, but it’s your privacy. I want you to understand that.”
A thick froth rode the surface of the tub. Judy looked like she was bathing in whipped cream. She laid her head back and closed her eyes.
“You’re a nice guy, Will. You were always a nice guy. I knew that ever since the ballgame.”
Will knelt beside the tub. “Huh? Ballgame?”
“You forgot? Well, I didn’t … couldn’t. Sean Toomey got a bunch of bleacher tickets from his uncle who worked for some politician at the State House. He wanted to show off so he invited a bunch of us to the game. Remember?”
“No … not really. We went to a lot of ballgames.”
“Not all of us together. See, he even had enough tickets for me. If he was short one you could’ve counted on me not being invited. The only problem was all the seats were together except mine. I was all by myself about three rows below. You guys were all laughing and having a good time. I tried to join in but all I could do was yell up at you all. After a while no one paid attention to me. I wished I hadn’t gone at all.”
Will’s memory began to crystallize. Susan was there and he’d tried to make his first move on her, but she was playing her own game. She wasn’t going to be a prize won easily.
“Anyway, I was just going to get up and leave. I felt so stupid, and I figured no one would even notice me go. But the next thing I knew you plopped right down next to me. You’d had a few beers and you had a good buzz going. But you put your arm around me and said, ‘Hey, Judy, having a good time?’ Well, from that point on I had a good time. You were funny and you made me laugh and we just had a great time together. You kissed me too. Oh, not a boyfriend-girlfriend kiss, and sure not like the way you kissed me last night—just a couple of kisses on my cheeks. But, I crushed on you so bad—I’ve crushed on you since.”
“I remember—damn, we did have a good time.” His thoughts turned to Susan, putting her arm through Toomey’s and smiling at him like he was the center of her world—all to bust his chops.
“Yeah, well, I know why you did it. Because you’re a sweet and decent guy, and you felt sorry for me. Just like last night, when you made love to me.”
“Judy.”
“Will, it’s okay. The nicest, handsomest guy I ever knew made love to me. It doesn’t matter why—it happened, like I could only dream it would happen. Now you’ve rescued me and taken me into your house. Will, I just want you to know, I’m not expecting or wanting anything else … I’m happy with what I’ve got already.”
Will lifted the soft sponge from the suds and washed around Judy’s shoulders. She sat up and he moved it down her back and around her ribs and over her breasts as she took in a quick breath.
“Judy, I made love to you last night because I wanted to. I wanted to … to be inside you. I wanted to touch you, kiss you … I wanted you … I wanted Judy.”
He leaned over and kissed her lips. “C’mon, your fingers are wrinkling up.”
She stood and he wrapped her in an oversized towel, patted her down and dried her hair. She leaned against him and he guided her through the door.
“Not my room?” she asked.
“Nope—mine. With a proper bed.”
He stood her next to the bed and unwrapped her slowly. She shivered as his eyes traveled over her body.”
“I-I’m not a pretty girl.”
“Yes you are.”
He sat her on the bed and began to undress. When he was naked, she said, “Let me try this again—I promise I won’t bite you this time.”
She lifted his cock and smoothed her hands over the length before she slipped her lips over the head. Her tongue swept over the sensitive tip, then trailed the underside. Will’s body trembled and his breaths shuddered.
Judy let his cock slip from her mouth and Will moaned for the loss.
“Don’t come,” she ordered.
“Huh?”
“Lie down … on your back.”
He lay on the bed and she smoothed her hands over his straining cock again.
“I’m gonna … Christ, Judy!”
“No … Don’t come.”
She straddled him and plunged down onto his hard, fleshy rod. Her thighs pressed his together and her ass bounced.
“Oh, God, Will! You’re so beautiful … I’m going to fuck you so hard.”
“Judy … Jesus, Judy!”
“Come in me! Come on … come … come, Will … give me all your …”
“Oh, Judy!” Will’s fluids rocketed up his shaft and splashed her insides.”
“Fill me … fill me up!”
The orgasm shook him deeply. As his body relaxed he trembled.
She slid beside him, a smile on her face. “Oh, Will … I just kinda wanted to … rape you … you know?”
She nuzzled her face into his arm.
They dozed a while. She spooned her behind against him and sighed, “This is so nice. I’ve never ever felt so … so good.”
His hand coursed up her arm to her shoulder. She rested her hand on his.
“So, does this mean I’m kept?”
“Huh?”
“You know, when a guy puts a girl up—rent free. They say she’s ‘kept’.”
He nuzzled his nose into her neck. “Judy, your life is your own. You come and go as you please. I just want to do something for you—take care of you. God knows, you’ve been served up enough crap in your life. If you’d turned to booze or drugs for comfort I wouldn’t have blamed you. But you didn’t; you try hard to get by, and you deserve a break.”
She molded her body against his, trying to make maximum contact. “I just thought it would be kinda nice to be—kept.”
“Fine—you’re kept. But, Judy, I don’t want you to misunderstand … I still don’t know where my life is headed. I wouldn’t want you to think …”
“That we could become lovers, boyfriend-girlfriend? Just friends, right?”
“I just don’t ever want to break your heart.”
“I don’t know what kind of future I have either, Will. But yesterday, I didn’t have one at all. I was an invisible girl who lived in someone’s cellar. For once I feel like, maybe there’s something out there for me. You did that for me. You saved my life, Will.”
She sat and slid her legs over the side of the bed; she stretched her arms and yawned.
She has really pretty skin, Will mused.
She stepped into the hall. Will got up and followed her.
He laid his hands on her shoulders. “Judy … there are times I just like to be alone … I get moody. I’ve come to appreciate solitude.”
She shrugged. “I know how to leave you alone.”
“Just so you understand. And the long stretches I’ll be gone …”
“I’ll keep an eye on things … and I’ll miss you.”
He smiled. “It’ll be nice to come home to someone, just the same.”
“Are we … still gonna have sex, you know, once in a while?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
Will watched her stroll to end of the landing, her hips swaying with a soft, gentle roll. She peeked inside her room, then turned and looked at Will.
“Can I have a cat?”
He laughed. “Yeah, you can have a cat.”
Judy ran into his arms and kissed him hard.
He thought he’d take her out to buy some new clothes; take her to dinner, treat her like a princess. And maybe … later … ask if he could sleep in her bed that night.
© 2006 Robert Buckley. All rights reserved. Content may not be copied or used in whole or part without written permission from the author.