Author's Note: If you wish to learn how this menagerie came together, please read the series,
A Vital Appreciation. This narrative has taken a turn and I felt it needed a new title. If you don't care about the back story, that's fine. Ray and Brooke and Julia will live on anyway,... as if you were never there.
The tree tops stirred in the wind and the waxing moon lit their leaves, but even the brightest stars could not be seen as the city glowed still with a mercury-vapor haze. Ray liked it up here anyway-up on the flat roof of his century-old house. He had hauled up a couple of lawn chairs and a little glass-topped side table for his evening meditations, and the night found him now with a glass of Scotch in his hand and his feet propped up on the two-foot parapet.
Ray stirred from his reverie as he heard the crunch of footfalls on gravel. A scrape of the second chair, two glugs of liquor poured and a the crack of bottle-on-glass, drew his attention. He glanced over and said, "I thought it might be you."
A few minutes of companionable silence passed.
Ray reached in his pocket and produced a pack of Marlboro reds and a book of matches. He tossed them on the table with, "I got these for you. You know, nobody smokes these anymore. You should quit."
Three strikes on the matchbook cover, a flash of orange guttering flame and an exhalation of tobacco smoke.
"Did I ever tell you, I was married before?" asked Ray. He glanced over and continued, "Yeah, I didn't think so. Well, she was a wonderful woman, just super, and we had 20 good years together, before she passed. But, you know what? It was hard. It was hard to lose her. It was hard to keep her. Relationships are just hard. You gotta work at 'em. You know?"
Ray paused a moment to collect his thoughts. He continued, "The thing is, I never expected to be in a relationship with a woman again, much less TWO at the same time! Somehow, though, it's been easier than I thought it would be. We seem to click, don't you think? It's sort of like a Three's Company situation, but with more sex." He chuckled, paused and added, "And...you don't get that reference, do you? Sometimes, I forget about our age difference."
He took a sip from his glass and said, "I am glad you're here, though." Ray glanced over and said, "You've brought new life, new energy to our little family. You've made my dick longer and harder than I can ever remember." He chuckled, then paused, smiled genuinely and completed his thought with, "And the sex, well, is astounding."
Ray pushed his chair back, stood and said, "I need to go now. Brooke needs me in the bedroom. A 'command performance,' you know. I'll leave the bottle." As he approached the hatch he turned and said, "If you feel like joining us, you are very welcome." Ray nodded to punctuate his offer, lifted the metal lid and cautiously descended the narrow staircase to the second floor hall; and pulled the hatch lid down behind him.
Three minutes later, the hatch opened and Brooke popped up. She was dressed in a white robe, hastily thrown on, that hung open exposing a narrow strip of bare flesh from her neck to her knees. "Hey, Ray!" She called out, "Baby, are you still up here?" From inside the house, Ray's response could be heard faintly, "I'm in the bathroom. Be out in a minute."
Brooke glanced back over at the two chairs and the small table. She saw no one. There was a thin, ethereal fog rising from the surface of the roof that caused her to shiver, so she descended the stairs and pulled the hatch down behind her. It locked with a click.
It was the tick, tick, tick of rain dripping on the sill outside their bedroom window that woke Ray. The morning light was grey and he fumbled around for covers, but they had been pulled from his reach. He lay naked on his side and felt not cold, but exposed. From the corner of the room, he heard, "Good morning, sweetheart. Don't move. I'm almost finished."
Brooke sat cross-legged in an overstuffed arm chair with her sketch pad on her lap. A small table lamp lit her work. Her boobs hung to her belly, hunched over the drawing and her hands moved rhythmically over the page. From his horizontal posture Ray calmly watched her cute little affectations, like the way she compulsively looped stray hair over her right ear, but never the left.
"You must have a book-full by now." said Ray. He could see her grin without breaking her focus.
"You are my favorite subject," she answered.
Straightened to take make an appraisal of her sketch, Brooke gazed at it for a moment and found it satisfactory. She flipped the book closed and set it on the lamp table along with her pencil and stomp. Ray watched her stand and peer out the window for a few moments; and wished he had artistic talent as well. He would have sketched Brooke's body there and now, lit by the gauzy morning light. It was a vision he wanted to remember.
Brooke sat on the edge of the bed aside Ray's thigh and ran her hand gently over his skin. "I love this thick muscle over your hip," she said. Ray remained quiet. "I love the way your ass dimples on the sides." she added. Ray felt her hand drift down over his stomach and pick up his cock. She said nothing more, but Ray imagined she was recalling last night as she squeezed and pulled the skin of his shaft outward and then in.
"It would be a good morning for a sleep-in," suggested Ray.
"Can't." replied Brooke. "Julia and I are setting up the second bedroom for a webcam show," she explained as the pace of her pulling quickened just a hair.
It was the first Ray heard of it. "Let me know if I can help." he offered.
"Mmmm." said Brooke as she held Ray's thickened penis to her mouth, wrapped her lips around the head and tickled the tip with her tongue.
Brooke moved the light stand so it wouldn't be visible to the camera, and pushed the bed to square it up in the frame. She asked, "What do you think, Jules?"
Julia was watched Brooke arrange the set through her laptop, and replied, "I think it looks great. Are you concerned the Christmas lights in the back will distract from the action in the front?"
Brooke looked over Julia's shoulder thoughtfully and said, "No... no, I don't think so. We need to keep the scene colorful and entertaining."
As Brooke settled into the director's chair by the new computer setup in the corner, Julia bounced on the bed and began a overly dramatic strip show. "Oh, yes, yes, Mr. Hornyman75. For only 50 coins more, I will show you my pussy," she said as she peeled her shorts down to expose just a smidgen of pubic hair.
Brooke giggled from the corner and called out, "Oh, but I was hoping I could get it for free. I don't think I can afford you!"
There was a knock at the door and Ray opened it a crack to announce, "Girls, you have a visitor." He opened the door wide and ushered in a striking dark-skinned woman. He followed after her with a huge open box of dildos and assorted rubber toys in his arms.
"Destiny!" exclaimed Brooke as she wrapped her arms in a bear hug around the new girl. "Hey, girlfriend!" greeted Julia cheerfully.
"Ray, this is our friend, Destiny." said Brooke. "She's here to help us with our cam show."
Ray set down the box on the bed, turned and held out his hand. Destiny took his hand, smiled demurely and shook it. "Bonjou," she said with a half-curtsie. Ray appraised her as a little shy, but her black eyes sparkled mischievously. "Ou se yon nonm sexy. Mwen espere fuck ou kèk jou." she added.
Ray wrinkled his brow and looked at Brooke and Julia for help, but they were just shrugging. Destiny laughed and said, "It means, I am so pleased to finally meet you, in Creole."
"Ah," said Ray, beaming. "So nice to meet you too!" He turned to the other girls and said, "Well, I'll let you do, er, whatever it is you are doing..." He looked back at Destiny, and said, "Well... Adios!"
The girl was staring at him with haunted eyes embedded in her obsidian face, glinting in the stark light of Brooke's spots. Her red lips parted, and she licked the edge of dazzling white teeth with a bright pink tongue before she replied, "Orevwa, lover nan lavni."
As Ray closed the door, he was left with a prickly feeling about the shy girl, Destiny. Something unsettling. Something provocative.
Ray dropped Julia off at the El Proscrito's Club House, and drove his green Duster to the far side of the parking lot. The line a the door was twenty deep, but Ray walked casually past them and greeted bouncer with, "Hey Jack, how's the leg?"
The big biker grasped Ray's hand and pulled him in for a half-hug. Ray had saved his life once after an accident in Montana. He un-clipped the velvet rope and held the line back for him to pass. Ray walked right in.
Ray heard shouting from the wait line and glanced back. Some guy with a camouflage ball cap and sparse beard was upset that Ray had jumped ahead. Jack crossed his arms and stared him down.
Wading through plush chairs and semi-nude women, Ray made his way to the bar- where the club had reserved stool for him. As he approached the bar he saw Father Muttathupadathu from the neighborhood. The young priest was poorly disguised in a black t-shirt and a leather vest.
"Pratush!" shouted Ray over the loud music.
"Hey, look what they gave me, Ray!" the young priest said excitedly. He turned around to show Ray the back of his vest. It had El Proscrito's colors, a big rocker patch that said 'Provisional' and his club name, 'Bad Mutta.'
He hitched up his pants and beamed as he turned around and said, "No body is messing with the Bad Mutta," in his peculiar Indian accent.
Ray covered his smile and said, "Why, that's tremendous , Pratush! You blend right in!" He leaned leaned over and said, "A word of advice though; The fake mustache isn't fooling anyone- least of all, your parishioners."
Pratush nodded and glanced around furtively, but he suddenly perked up and asked, "Did you bring Crystal in tonight?" Ray grinned, nodded and watched the young man wriggle through the crowd to find a center-stage seat.
The poor guy still only knew Julia by her stage name. Perhaps it was for the best.
Ray was settling into his reserved stool when the music stopped and the announcer said, "It's Crystal Power time!" Loud dance mix music commenced, and he shouted, "Put your hands together for Crystal, Amber and Opal!"
Three women danced onto the stage, led by Julia. They had identical, space-age outfits. By the second song, the girls had peeled off their space uniforms and were were now topless, swinging around floor-to-ceiling poles.
The crowd was animated and cheering. Dollar bills were showering the stage. Julia's beauty, athleticism and grace were undeniable, but Ray felt something more throbbing inside him than just sexual energy. He was... proud of her.
Suddenly there was a shout from the apex of the stage. That belligerent mutt he had seen in the wait line outside grabbed Pratush out of his chair and shoved him to the floor. The other customers scattered and the girls' performance stuttered to a stop.
