"Huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." She got up and poured herself another drink. "I’ve been babbling on like a fool. I am a fool."
"When are you gonna tell me the truth, Mrs. Childers? I mean, Gee."
"I have told you the truth, Nick." The tears were gone.
"I don’t think so. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the truth."
"There’s nothing else to tell. Jake is gone. You said it yourself, it was all about this synthetic crack."
"Okay, if that’s the way you want to play it." I finished my drink and stood up. I was ready to go. I wanted to call Felicia. But she got up too and took the glass from my hand. I looked at her. I mean really looked at her for maybe the first time. She was miserable. The more she talked about her life, the more I wanted to, needed to talk to Felicia, hear her voice. Hear something positive. Mrs. Childers returned my glass to me full. I thanked her and took a sip of my liquor.
"Maybe now that you don’t work for me, you’ll start paying me some attention."
"Just what makes you think I haven’t been payin’ attention to you?"
"I see the way you look at me."
"I —" she put hand over my lips.
"I’m hot." She stepped closer, resting her chest against me. "And I’m sticky. I’m goin’ to take a shower." I took a moment to contemplate the way her moods took dramatic swings. Not five minute ago she was crying. Now she was almost predatory. She stepped away and turned around. "Unzip me." I unzipped her dress and she walked away as I lost site of her in the darkness. The light came on in the bathroom. I stood motionless, watching as she turned on the shower. Then she looked back at me. I took that as my invitation to join her.
She kissed me. Then she put her arms around me and kissed me again. "Undress me, Nick."
I took my time undressing her slowly. Once I was done, she stepped into the shower. "Aren’t you coming?"
I undressed myself very quickly and followed her into the shower. My presence was met immediately by her arms around my neck and her tongue in my mouth. I picked her up by the waist, and she wrapped her legs around me. I angled her back against the wall and entered her. Despite the lack of foreplay, she was dripping wet. I like it like that.
"Harder, Nick! Fuck me harder!" I pounded her furiously against the wall. "Yes, Nick! Yes!" she screamed her delight. We went at it in the shower for awhile before we got out. Without bothering to dry ourselves, she hopped up on the bathroom vanity and spread her legs. "Come here," she said, motioning with her finger. I quickly complied. I placed my hands on the mirror to steady myself as well as get some added leverage. She lifted her legs and grabbed her ankles.
For reasons which I can’t explain, Ben Josephs crossed my mind. I thought about what Chésará said, "’Cause he can’t fuck. Gee said that he couldn’t keep it up long enough to do anything for her. Gee said she rocked the house two times and he came."
Well, she was rockin’ that house with a vengeance, but I was hanging right in there with her. Then her eyes bucked open, her body began to quiver, and her mouth opened as if she wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Mrs. Childers picked up a towel and walked out of the bathroom without a word. I grabbed a towel and followed her out, drying myself as I walked. She wrapped the towel around her and headed for the bar. She poured a drink for each of us and handed me one. I drank mine, and watched as she came from behind the bar. She poured her drink across my chest and then she proceeded to lick it off. Once she was satisfied that she had gotten every drop, she led me into one of the bedrooms, and we went for it again. "Your turn now."
Mrs. Childers laid down on the bed and she climbed on top of me. I felt her ease herself down on me. She grinded her hips into mine, pinning my shoulders against the bed and stared in my eyes. I felt paralyzed, I couldn’t move and I didn’t have to. She rode me furiously until I felt myself expand and explode inside her. I had to laugh, because when I came, she screamed louder than I did.
* * *
Chapter Eighteen
Mrs. Childers dropped me off at my apartment about two in the morning. She was nervous during the ride about what Chilly might do if he were home when she got there.
I had drunk my share of Hennessy and could feel the makings of a serious hangover coming. I popped a couple of aspirins, took a shower, and crawled into bed. I went to sleep thinking, not only about what I just did with Mrs. Childers in the shower and in just about every room in the house. But I thought about Felicia mostly. Although I found Gee, now it felt funny saying it, very attractive, I missed Felicia. I just had sex with Gee and it was great, but in some strange kind of way, Gee’s sex made me long for Felicia’s touch even more. I wanted to see her face, hear her voice, to see her smile and be excited by her touch. I rolled over, I didn’t understand it and I was too buzzed to try.
Tuesday July 21: 8:03 AM
The sound of somebody’s fist making contact with my door, or maybe it was their foot, I’m not sure which, woke me from my sleep around eight the next morning. "Stop fuckin’ bangin’, I’m coming!"
I dragged myself out of bed and made my way toward the door. What I found was two uniformed cops informing me that Detective Kirkland wanted to see me at the station right away. Once I got through cursing them out for makin’ all that noise so early in the morning, I told them to wait, and I would be right out. I gave some thought to getting back in the bed. But that would only make them bang on the door some more. Still, I took my time about getting ready.
An hour later, I found myself sitting alone in an interrogation room waiting for Kirk to show up. But as luck would have it, Richards walked through the door.
"What happened to you, Simmons?" Detective Richards asked.