LEE ANNE
The human heart is a mercurial beast, fickle, unpredictable, and capable of holding contradictory emotions, simultaneously entertaining the opposites. I was miserable, and at the same time, proud of my misery. Although desperately lonely, I had spurned the offers of intimacy from women who knew Margaret.
I was proud of my moral stand not to piss in the pool where both us had bathed as a loving couple; and that Margaret did not know anything of my decision, which was starting to take on the patina of a pledge, only added to my pride. This was my secret sacrifice, enjoyed or suffered in solitude, a quiet testimony to my will power.
However, I was soon disabused of the delusions of any such will power, proving the cynical view that if you could resist a temptation, it is only because the temptation is weak, not that your will power is strong. In my case, it took just one phone call from Lee Anne to push all my honorable intentions, along with the all the false pride, into the nearest ditch.
Lee Anne and Roy were members of our Tennis Club for few years but left a year earlier, presumably to prepare and wait for the 'Day of Rapture', which, according to Roy was imminent. However, knowing Roy, I think he left because he had exhausted the customer pool among the Club members for his Real Estate business.
With Roy, it was hard to tell where his business ended and his religion began. If he was not trying to sell a plot of land, he was pushing his dogmatic version of apocalyptic Christianity. His Christianity seemed to have mutated into a religion of retribution and punishment. It had no place in it for love or forgiveness.
These so-called 'born again' Christians have totally corrupted the message of Jesus, the gentlest of men. They have turned him into a vengeful and cruel messenger, a harbinger of the end of the world. 'Shiva the Destroyer' can now stay stoned on ganja without guilt since the 'Prince of Peace' has taken on his job of bringing the world to its end.
No one at the club lamented Roy's departure. He was a dull man without wit or warmth and only with two topics for conversation: one was the impending end of the world, the other the sale of Real Estate lots to build new houses. Everyone, on the other hand, missed Lee Anne. She was a woman without guile or vanity. She exuded sincere and uncomplicated warmth, along with radiating a smoldering sexuality of which she seemed oblivious. This indifference only enhanced her allure. Both the male and the female members of the club were equally fond of her. The men, I suspect, because they wanted to get into her pants and the women because they knew she would never let them. All coveted this unapproachable woman, including me.
I never acted on my lecherous feelings, stopped by my loyalty to Margaret, and even more, by Lee Anne's own innocence, which seemed to protect her like an invisible fortress. Still, I was never able to look at her without longing. Now, unexpectedly, she had called me!
"Jim dear, I have just heard of your recent tribulations and my heart goes to you. I am calling to offer you my sympathy and give you courage. I hope you will count me as one of your friends. Remember that you also have a friend in Jesus who loves us all, you included. You are not alone. Roy and I are both praying for you."
Her wonderful Southern cadence and her bedroom smoky voice over the phone made even these simplistic ramblings sound sensual as a warm bath. "Jim, I don't know how to say what I am going to say, so I am going to just blurt it out. I know your problem Jim, your one big weakness: you are addicted to sex; you are a victim of your lust. No, no, don't deny it; I know it and I have known it from the day I joined the Club.
"Then, of course, you had your beautiful wife who satisfied all your needs and kept you on the straight and narrow. What will become of you without Margaret? I am filled with dread just thinking about it. You are a decent man... but you cannot control your urges and I am afraid your craving may force you to the company of bad women, call girls, prostitutes, and God knows what else."
I wanted to object to her characterization of me as some kind of weird sex-junky, chasing whores in the back alleys of Boston, but I said nothing. I was content to just to listen to her husky voice as it continued.
"I have been trying to think of some way to keep you away from these dangers. I think the Lord has given me a solution. I am no Margaret Jim, and I never could be; but I know that once you hungered for me and wanted me.
"Well, I am here for you now, if you will have me. Use me, Jim, use me to fill your cravings until you find a good and decent wife."
I could not believe my ears. If it was any one else but Lee Anne, I would have thought that some elaborate and cruel joke was being played on me. Lee Anne's sincerity, however, was beyond question, at least by me.
"Lee Anne, is this part of your Christian duty?"
"Oh yes, Jim. The Lord commands us to share with the needy and help the suffering. You are now both needy and suffering."
"And what does Roy thinks of your charitable mission?"
"I did not discuss it with him, Jim. I prayed only to the Lord and made my own decision. No matter what you decide, I hope you won't say anything to Roy."
This little intrigue was unexpected and her flash of independence heartened me.
"You are a true Christian, Lee Anne. I promise to keep the matter between you and me; and, of course, the Lord."
I had meant to be ironic, even sarcastic, but I was surprised at how sincere I sounded. They say that deception breeds deception. Perhaps, sincerity also breeds its own progeny.
"Thank you Jim. I know I cannot do what Margaret could, but if I can keep you off the streets for now, I believe I would have done the Lord's work".
"Lee Anne, don't you have any idea how sexy you are? I don't want to compare you with Margaret, but I want to tell you that you are an incredibly ravishing woman. Don't you pay any attention to the reactions of men around you? God, if you only knew!"
"Of course, I know, Jim. I know that men ogle me all the time; men have ogled me since I was barley fourteen. I have learned to live with it.
Anyway, I never took those poor old dears at the Club with their clumsy come-ons seriously. I just smiled and ignored them. It was you that worried me the most."
"Me? I have never made a pass at you, Lee Anne."
"That is so true, you never did. That is why I know that you are a good man, even a strong man. You fought the Devil on his own turf and did not let him defeat you."
"Now you have lost me, Lee Anne. I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Jim, a woman always knows when she is lusted after, even a simple woman like me. You are not anything like those old fools at the club. You are the real danger to women like me. The very first time I saw you, it was at the dinner the Tennis Club had organized to welcome us. You were seated directly across the table from me. "Oh God, the way you looked at me! I felt as if I were a tall glass of cool water and you were a man who had just come from the desert, parched with thirst. I was afraid that any moment, you would jump across the table and drink me down in front of Roy, God, and everybody else. "I wanted to get up and run away but I couldn't move. My knees were rubber and I was so clammy with desire between my legs, I thought I would leave a trail dripping behind me if I got up and left."
"Clammy? You could never be clammy, Lee Anne. Let's call the condition slippery and wet."
"Stop being such a smart alec, Jim. You have no idea how I suffered, divided between fear and want. Every time I walked away from you, I knew you were looking at me, your eyes aimed at my behind like two flame throwers."
"If I had made a pass at you, why be so afraid? Why not just ignore me too... like you did the others?"
"You don't understand. I was not sure I could resist you, Jim, or even wanted to. The truth is, I was terrified that if you asked me, I would jump right into your arms and live in shame for the rest of my days. The Devil creates his own whirlwind. You can fight him, but I am not strong like you. When I finally realized that you would never make a pass at me, God forgive me Jim, I was heartbroken."