Carla Anne Dawes.
Her pretty, teenaged face stared up at me, the black-and-white photo in her yearbook showing eyes filled with promise and flirtation, the black cashmere sweater she wore filled with hope – the hope of every male junior in high school to bury his face there someday. It was the picture of someone who had the world – especially the masculine portion of it – by the balls. Carla Dawes was a teenaged vixen, a cheerleader whose ability to shake her ass and wave her tits at anything with a penis and make things happen had inspired lust and jealousy for three golden years.
Seven years later she was a drugged out whore. So much for the promises of youth.
She had been a real cunt in school, the epitome of the stuck-up socialite in the Byzantine politics of High School. She had used and discarded everyone in her path, for gain, for advantage, for amusement. She had been particularly cruel, I remembered, to a small group of “plain Janes”, female science geeks and drama nerds, that had staked a claim to the largest table in the school Library. Using her popularity as a weapon she had picked on them unmercifully her entire scholastic career. Rumor, insult, innuendo, all were weapons in her arsenal. On more than one occasion I recall her reducing some of the geek squad to tears.
I had felt compelled to renew my high school acquaintance with her after encountering her on one of the city’s less-than-wholesome streetcorners. A quick fee negotiation later she had sucked me off behind an abandoned grocery store. She only charged me $20, but I tipped her $10 – we had gone to school together, after all. For $30 I got a blowjob from a cheerleader, only a few years past her prime.
But whatever nostalgic thought had driven me to open the yearbook hadn’t prepared me for the flood of memory that came with it. High school was three long years of struggling sexuality, testosterone poisoning and desperation. Most of it vanished in college, where my geekiness was an asset – even cool, at times. Most of it. But there was a residual stain of anger and resentment that lingered. The feeling of power and fulfillment that I had gotten from getting sucked by a cheerleader-cum-junkie was potent. It was revenge, pure and simple.
But it wasn’t quite enough.
Carla, or “Peaches”, her street name, had pressed her number into my hand before I returned her to her street corner. Apparently my ostentatious display of wealth had been as much of a draw for her as her tits had been for me in High School. I can’t help being wealthy – I was just lucky enough and smart enough to major in the right subjects at the dawn of the Internet Age, and wise enough when to know when to cash in my vestments. I was Twenty Five years old and had seven million dollars in the bank. I was still a geek, of course, but no where near the geek I was in High School. Or was I?
Here I was with an opportunity for vindictiveness like I had dreamed about for years. My adult conscience told me how petty it was to harbor such grudges – that was ages ago, after all. Carla deserved my pity, not my revenge. The adult thing to do would be to walk away, or, if I was feeling particularly altruistic, try to get her some help.
The mean-spirited, adolescent thing to do would be to take advantage of the situation, to vent my spleen and get my revenge on a selfish, self-important cunt like Carla.
Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions.
I considered dialing her number, then decided against it. I would return to the scene of the crime instead, getting her in her natural urban environment. I took the Mercedes this time, just to show here exactly how fucking wealthy I was. That was the hook for her, of course. The money.
I found her not far from our encounter the other day. She had apparently just gotten her fix for the day, her eyes half-lidded and dopey making me think of heroin more than cocaine. She stumbled along the street in faded bell-bottoms and a deep green T-shirt, the same tired leopard skin bag on her shoulder. She wore a leather cowboy hat and clogs. Much more of a hippy chick than cheerleader. I pulled up behind her and honked, causing her to look up suddenly and trip over an imaginary crack in the sidewalk.
It took her a few moments to recognize me in her state. When she did, she smiled.
“Hey, it’s the kid from the other day, David’s little brother. Howya doin’, man?”
I was a little disgusted that she didn’t remember my name. I ignored it.
“I’m horny as shit. Wanna suck some dick for cash?”
“I got a few minutes before my next appointment. You wanna go the same place?”
“Sure. Get in.”
She got in, and I almost regretted it. Carla Cuntmouth had apparently had a busy night, and one without sufficient bathing facilities. Still, the cheap perfume soon numbed my nostrils to the point where I didn’t care.
“Wow, did you get a new car?”
“Nah, just felt like driving the Caddy, today.”
“You have a Jag and a Caddy?”
“And a Lexus, but I’m thinking about selling it. I feel like I’m driving my grandmother’s car when I drive it.”
“Well this one is sexy as hell, Stud.” From Sugar to Stud. She was starting to get bold.
“Glad you like it, Carla.”
“Hey, where are we going?”