The Good Neighbor

Demaris had been working all day to clean their house to her husband's standards. She took a hot bath to soothe all the aching muscles in her body. She had her hair pinned up to keep it from getting wet. Brian said he loved her hair. When she once asked if he thought she should cut it he responded directly with his answer. "If you cut it, I'll kill you." He didn't say it in a bantering way but cold and hard. She knew that he meant it and it scared her to the bone. "You are mine," he said matter-of-factly. "Your body is mine, your soul is mine and your hair is mine and what is mine I keep." He said he loved her hair but he never wanted to see it wet. This meant simply that she had to wash her hair when he went to work in the morning and let it dry throughout the day. Thick hair takes long to dry; long, thick hair takes very, very long to dry. That is why she took pains to keep it dry.

The water was hot. A distinctive line across her armpits separated her body in two. The line above the water was a milky white and everything under was a bright red. The heat was no longer uncomfortable but soothing. The tired muscles were fading and her mind was in the world of the book she was reading. The day before she had bought one of the books her neighbor had written. The book was titled Beyond the Horizon and was about Jessie Benton. Her husband was a famous explorer but the book was more about her undying love and support for him. David had done a great job in depicting American frontier life in the middle of the 19th Century. She could identify with Jessie Benton even if she didn't always agree. She thought David had done a great job in relaying Jessie from a feminine standpoint. She never thought a man could do that; maybe he was gay. The short biography in the back said that he was married but didn't mention any children.

She was halfway through the book when she heard the front door close. Brian was home. When they were first married she longed for the sound of that door; but something had changed. Why? What had she done? What had she not done? These questions had haunted her for years and she was still in the dark. What she did know was that she hated her life; she hated herself and she hated him. Every day when she heard that door, her blood ran cold and it took all of her mental strength to go on. She didn't know how long she could continue. With a sigh of defeat she put the book next to the bath and prepared to get out.

Brian did his usual search but couldn't come up with any cleaning transgressions. His inspection also didn't find his wife. He needed to pee and went to the bathroom. When he opened the door he knew where his missing spouse was. Even before he saw her reclining in the bath, he was assaulted by warm, wet steam and the sweet smell of bath oil. He entered and left the door open to help dissipate the warmth and steam.

"There you are," he said as he pulled his zipper down and stepped up to the toilet. "I thought you were hiding from me." He looked at his wife and a feeling of revulsion passed over him. He was no better at explaining the situation than his wife. When they had married he felt that he had made the right choice; but things changed when they moved and started a new life. He felt that she wanted to change him and he didn't want to be changed. If he had it to do over again he would have left her at the altar and been a better man for it. She was okay in bed but the thought of only having sex with her was repulsive. Life had so much to offer and he was determined to have it all. Demaris was an anchor around his neck; keeping him from rising to his manifest destiny. He should have stayed with Kimberly, the new gopher at work. She was hot and he could walk away at any time. She was just one of the many he had and he had vowed to never stop.

Brian looked down at his wife in the tub and didn't like what he saw. His eye caught the book lying on the floor. "What is this?"

Demaris saw Brian looking at her book and answered, "It's just a book." She tried to keep her voice neutral so he wouldn't think she was particularly attached to it.

"You amaze me! How can you find time to read books? Your job as my cleaner is fulltime." With these last words he swiveled his hips and redirected his urine on the offending book.

Demaris jerked when she saw what he was doing. Her reaction was also seen by him so he again redirected his amber piss and caught her between her half-submerged breasts. She tried to avoid the offensive attack and fortunately his bladder was her ally. As the yellow stream slowed its path withdrew over the edge of the bathtub and onto the floor. Demaris pushed water over her upper body to clean off his piss.

"Get your ass out of that water and get it into the bedroom!"

This was nothing new to Demaris and she knew that she could never comply fast enough to satisfy him but going too slowly could make the consequences much direr. She stood up and stepped out of the tub; she was dripping water but didn't dare slow down or stop to get a towel or dry. As she passed him he slapped her on her right butt cheek. The blow rang out in the quiet house like a gun shot. He followed close behind her and continued to slap her exposed derrière.

Each blow was more painful than the last. Her unprotected butt was being brutalized and she was helpless to protect it. She ran to the bedroom as fast as she could. When she landed on the bed she felt his hands grab her thighs and viciously spread them apart. His hands slapped at her inner thighs, forcing her to spread her knees even further apart. She felt his fingers violate her vagina. The juices that she had always had no trouble in producing had deserted her. His forceful manipulations left it dry and the assault was both painful and degrading. At that moment she had an epiphany. This was not love. She did not love Brian and probably never did. Brian didn't love her and never did. What they had been doing for the last few years wasn't love. They had never really made love and what he was doing now was rape; pure and simple. Love isn't hurting someone. Love isn't degrading someone. Love isn't forcing or scaring someone. Love isn't fearing someone and love certainly isn't dreading their appearance and hating the sight of them. What they had was something completely contradictory and had to end. As she felt him enter her dry vagina and violently dry fucked her, she only registered it with a small portion of her mind. The rest of her psyche was focused on escape. Escape from Brian and an escape from her loveless life.

Brian was mad. He didn't know why he was angry but thought it had to do with the frustrations that had been plaguing his life for the last years. He cursed himself every morning; he cursed himself every afternoon and evening. And he cursed Demaris. She was the cause of his pain and she should share it like any good wife. As he pumped his penis in her dry hole he felt cheated. She couldn't even produce natural fluids to make their lovemaking pleasurable. He felt himself cumming and didn't attempt to hold it in. He wanted to finish and leave her to her book. He wanted to leave her and find someone who could give him what he wanted and needed. With his sperm boiling up through his shaft, he repeatedly and viciously slapped her upturned butt, ignoring the screams and sobs of his wife.

Brian filled her womb and then deserted her. She heard him cursing as he picked up his keys and stormed out of the house. Demaris remained on the bed and continued to cry. Her battered body and bottom assumed a fetal position and waited for the pain to abate. Her sobs soon silenced and the burning sensation on her butt slowly subsided. As her mind acknowledged these changes it went further and took a realistic look at her options. She knew that she couldn't go home and expect support. Her parents saw Brian as the son they were denied and never stopped saying how fortunate she was to have him. She could imagine their reaction if she tried to explain how her life was with him. "I'm sure you are exaggerating. Brian is such a sweet boy; and successful too. You should thank your lucky stars that he married you; we do." And on and on, she could see that they would think it was all her fault... Maybe it was, a voice whispered in her head. Maybe she deserved what she got. Maybe she was worthless; God knows he had told her that enough. As these thoughts started to sink her spirits even further an inner alarm went off in her head, pulling her out of her downward spiral.

I've got to leave! I've got to leave and never see him again! These thoughts brought her above the waterline and she was no longer drowning in her sea of sorrows. When? How? Where? These three questions came to the forefront of her thoughts and she pondered her options. The first was easy to answer. When? Now! She suddenly felt a frantic urge to just get up and run. As her body stirred she realized she had to do some things before she left. For one: the image of her running out into the street played out vividly in her mind. What was wrong with that image? She examined it with a feeling of pent-up frustration. One of those feelings you get when a word is on the tip of your tongue but you just can't quite swallow it and then spit it out. It was like one of those pictures you see that just don't look right; the defect is there, hidden in plain sight. Then it dawned on her and she gave an audible gasp of shame and embarrassment and shame. She was still naked! The embarrassment came from the fact that it took so long to see and the shame came from the fact that in her present state everyone would see what Brian had done to her.

Her thoughts were slowly forming into a plan. If the plan was sensible or even plausible she didn't know and the ever-present frenzied state she didn't dare explore that branch of thought. She first had to dress and then leave. How? She had a car in the driveway but where would she go? She had no friends, no job and no prospects. Suddenly she experienced another epiphany.

She got out of bed and walked naked to stand before the full-length mirror on the closet door. She looked at herself and tried to evaluate what she saw. She saw a woman of medium height, long naturally blond hair, with breasts that were pleasing without being presumptuous. She turned and examined her body in profile and her attention was instantly directed to her nose. She had always thought her nose was her worst feature. It wasn't too long, it wasn't too short or wide; that was probably the problem, her nose was completely unremarkable. Forcing her attention downward she saw that she had an attractive long straight neck and her stomach was flat and firm; without an overly muscular tone. Finally she examined her blond pubic patch. She had always found this her most attractive feature. When she started puberty, she watched with fascination as her pubic hairs grew and began to spread. She would secretly call it her Venus garden and it remained her most loved and valued feature.

She had read in different women's magazines that the trend today was to shave their pubic hair. Why would they do such a thing? Why would a man want to have a woman that looked like a child? In her opinion the act was similar to neutering a man. She couldn't imagine her ever doing that as she couldn't imagine that any man would want it that way. She saw it as the preeminent sign of womanhood. As strange as it seemed she saw her pubic region as a definition of the real her. Women may change their hair color on a whim or to hide the telltale signs of age but they wouldn't dye there and that would always be her heritage; her true essence.

Demaris opened her closet and surveyed her clothes. She saw an array of garments that hadn't been really changed since her marriage. Most of her clothes were quality but very conservative. Nothing really jumped out and said 'notice me.' With a sigh she scooped everything off of the rod and dumped them on the bed. She went to the hall closet and fished out two large, wheeled suitcases. She carried them back to the bedroom and opened them up. She dumped the contents of her drawers into the suitcases and topped them off with her makeup. Both of them were already full and she plainly saw that the clothes on the bed would never fit. With a groan she fished out a pair of panties and stepped into them. Then she found a bra and started to dress. She knew that her undergarments didn't match but she thought it would be a long time before anyone would ever see her undressed. When she was dressed she took the suitcases out to her car. She gathered her bed-full of hanging garments and added them on top of the suitcases. With a bit of straightening she finally managed to close the trunk. She returned to the house and grabbed her purse. Checking her finances, she knew that she would have to make a visit to the ATM if she wanted to leave the city. She dug her keys out and removed the house key. She was going to leave and had no need or desire to keep anything that came from her life with Brian. With one final glance around the room she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Demaris didn't know how much money was in the bank. Brian made the money and paid the bills. He would give her a weekly allowance to do the shopping and she had to fight to get her own bank card to their account. She drove to the mall and parked by the ATM. She had to wait for two people to complete their transactions before she could step up to the next hurdle in her escape plan. She hadn't used the card much and had to look at her pin-number that she had hidden in her wallet. She wasn't sure how much she was allowed to withdraw at one time so started with a round $1000. Insufficient funds! Then she typed in $750; Insufficient funds! With a groan of frustration she tried $500 and received the same message. Tears of annoyance, aggravation, disappointment and defeat she typed in $300. Finally! The ATM kicked into life and she removed her card and money.

Back in her car she thought over her options and soon came to the conclusion that leaving the city would cost much more than she had. This meant that she would have to find a place here. As she sat in deep thought, huge, salty tears were slowly running down her cheeks. When she couldn't see any suitable options, her mind suddenly went to David. At first thought she dismissed it as ridiculous and dismissed it as ludicrous but his face continued to invade her thoughts. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. As she felt her pulse settle her mind became clearer. She finally had a plan. The plan was far from perfect but at this stage she would have grabbed at anything.

With a few more deep breaths she started her car and drove from the mall. On one of the side streets in the neighborhood she parked and locked her car. She was almost two miles from home but was determined to walk it. When she approached her street, fear and apprehension filled her but didn't wave her determination. She could see that their driveway was still empty so she picked up her pace. She walked directly to David's door and rang the bell. It seemed to take forever until he answered and she constantly darted her eyes from side to side. When the door opened she was greeted with David's smiling face.

She takes a deep breath and cheerfully said, "Is this a good time to have that swim you offered?"