1.
Months and months, she couldn't let it go, she couldn't put it behind her. She kept reliving the whole thing in her head. Every day, practically. Every night when she got into bed. Damn near driving herself out of her mind. It was ridiculous and it was intolerable and it had to stop.
Something had to be goddamn done.
2.
She expected him to look freaked out when he opened the door and saw who it was. Instead the look he gave her was totally blank and unreadable.
She made herself grin at him sweetly. "Howdy," she said. That afternoon she had deliberately dressed up much girlier than she usually did. In this particular case, by girlier what she really meant in her own head was plain trashy. It would help bait the trap. So she'd put on jean shorts that were cut so high the bottoms of the pockets dangled below the straggled edges, and a white blouse with the sleeves torn off and the shirt tails tied high in front to show off her belly and the piercing in her navel. Beneath that she wore a black sports bra that was slightly too small for her tits, and thanks to the dark color anybody and everybody could see it perfectly clearly through the thin cloth of her blouse. She'd pinned her bangs back from her forehead with brightly colorful barrettes, making her look almost a decade younger than she was really was, and finally, for footwear she'd picked shiny purple cowboy boots with exaggerated heels.
He raised his eyebrows at her. That was it.
"I wanted to introduce you to somebody." She stepped aside with a theatrical gesture. "This is my good friend Jarod."
Jarod had been keeping out of sight against the outer wall next to the doorway. Now he swiveled himself into the entrance, leading with his fist—which happened to be a very large fist, and which he plowed with considerable momentum straight into Phil's nose.
Phil toppled backward like a chopped tree, flat on the floor. He didn't make a sound. But he wasn't knocked out. His eyes were still open when she and Jarod went into the apartment and closed the door behind them.
Jarod grabbed the front of Phil's shirt and dragged him further into the room, in order to give himself more space to work. Angel took a seat on the armchair. She was giddy, nearly shivering. Had to hug herself to hold still, clutching her own elbows tight as she could. Phil looked at her and the expression on his face wasn't flat and lifeless anymore; now it was sorrowful. Blood was streaming from both his nostrils.
Then Jarod nudged Phil's ribs with his toes. "Hey, look at me, you piece of shit. I hear you get off on hurting girls. Let's find out how much you like it yourself. How's that sound? I'm gonna kick the living crap out of you, buddy, and I'm gonna take my time doing it. You dig? Get ready now. You ready?"
Phil just blinked at him and sighed. If he'd been upright on his feet, the top of his head would only have come up to Jarod's chin, while Jarod's arms and legs were at least twice as thick as his.
Angel giggled. This felt the same as the first part of a roller coaster, when they're cranking you to the top of the big hill ... when you're almost over the curve ... Except to be honest this was sexier than that. Angel realized she was genuinely turned on, like she was watching a porno. Not that she liked watching pornos—in fact the few little bits she looked at, they only embarrassed and annoyed her. Angel had far too much real life sex to be able to tolerate the silly shortcuts and exaggerations that pornmakers traffic in. Point was, if porno could turn her on like it was meant to, she imagined it would feel like she felt now, watching Jarod loom over Phil. A picture with great promise. She would cherish this memory for the rest of her life.
Only then Phil lashed up with his foot. Jarod tried to dodge, and he wasn't quite quick enough. Phil kicked the side of Jarod's knee, and made it bend in a direction it wasn't supposed to. And it bent that direction a whole lot.
Now it was Jarod who toppled to the floor. He didn't drop silent, like Phil had. He hollered like he was dying.
He didn't stop until Phil had got to his feet and kicked Jarod again, in the face that time, twice.
Now Jarod had blood pouring from his nostrils down his entire chin and neck and the front of his shirt the exact same way Phil did.
He wasn't completely unconscious, but he looked a great deal less conscious than Phil had been after he got clobbered. Jarod was talking to himself, but silently. He appeared to be asking questions. He appeared to be trying to remember or figure out where he was and what the fuck was happening to him. And he was also crying and clinging to his damaged leg with both his hands. Phil had fucked up the poor guy's knee real bad; that was clear.
Now Phil turned to Angel. She stood up from the chair, but that was all she did. She didn't try to rush around him to the door. She thought about it—she wanted to—but she didn't make the attempt.
Phil put his hands on his hips and smiled at her through the blood all over his mouth. "You shouldn't have come back here," he pronounced, "Not like this, anyway."
"I owed you," she answered, trying to sound defiant and unafraid and not managing it very well.
Phil shrugged. "Personally, I thought you and I were square. Nothing more to say on either side. Now that's changed, hasn't it?"
"Fuck you!" she said.
"You know what's gonna happen. Only question left: how much you asking for?"
"I'm not asking you for anything, you twisted bastard."
"There's no escape, Angel. You started this shit, not me. Your buddy Jarod can't get you out of it. He fucked up. Or I just got real lucky—I tell ya, I didn't think that kick would work. The guy's got legs like tree trunks—I thought my foot would bounce right off, and then he'd go ahead and tear me to pieces."
"Well, it didn't."
"Yeah, it didn't. Believe me, I was as shocked as he was. Now, I want you to take your clothes off. Everything. Same as before. Get your hot ass naked. Do it now and do it quick."
"I won't."
"Fair enough. But just so you know, if I gotta do it for you—if I gotta fight you to get you into proper position, you're gonna get twice as much punishment. Only fair, I think. Here are my terms. If you surrender right now and cooperate, you get five minutes."
"Five minutes of what?"
"You know what. Five minutes of spanking. I'm not gonna give you a count, just the time limit. I'm gonna spank the bejesus out of you as many times as I like for five full minutes—or, if you resist, and I gotta wrestle you to get your shorts down—then you're gonna have to take ten."
"Only if you can pin me."
"What's it gonna be, Angel? Your choice. Fucking choose."
She wanted to charge him. She wanted to claw his eyes out, and his balls too, and then stuff them all down his throat until he choked to death underneath her. Except she wasn't sure she could manage it. She doubted she was strong enough. If she fought him, more than likely she would lose. Make things harder and more dreadful for herself than they already were.
There was another consideration, although it was a much more difficult one to admit to herself. She tried to bury the thought, soon as she had it. Tried to pretend it never crossed her mind ... but of course that didn't work.
She knew she wouldn't completely hate what he was about to do to her. Not completely. In fact already part of her deep down inside was almost looking forward to experiencing it again. And maybe what he was saying was right—maybe she had earned it. Maybe what she had tried to do to him, or tried to get Jarod to do to him for her, had been genuinely wrong. And if she went ahead and accepted that, then she should accept the punishment he wanted to subject her to.
But if she gave in, without further struggle, that would be so pathetic and demeaning. Let alone what would follow. She would die from the humiliation. The same humiliation he made her feel previously, which was what brought her back to this place in search of ruthless revenge. Turned out there would be no revenge for her, not today anyhow. Looked like all she was gonna get instead was a second dose of the exact same medicine he made her swallow before—the exact same soul-shriveling disgrace.
Her cheeks had turned scorching hot and sweat dripped off the tip of her nose. Her heart was thundering so hard it made her head quiver and that made the whole room seem to tremble around her, and now her throat had swollen—she could scarcely breathe anymore. Her toes curled inside her boots and her belly clenched inside, and then she felt her vagina clench inside her shorts, and when it did, she felt a trickle of moisture escape the opening and become a chill damp speck on the very top of her thigh ...