Chocolate Isses

Chapter 7

Lose your wife, lose your life and lose your soul

Copyright @ calibeachgirl

All rights reserved, 2011

Tuesday, December 29, 1931

They didn't return from the airfield until well after dark.

It had taken several weeks to get the plane safely flyable again. James wanted it to be a surprise and tried to have at least a few hours each day working on the Jenny before coming home for dinner.

Bethany had found his calendar with 'Jenny' and times and dates and thought he was stepping out on her until he took her to the airfield and surprised her with the plane. After that, they worked on it together and kept the secret to themselves.

Subconsciously, he had wanted her to find the calendar, leaving it on his desk, open like that. It was too wonderful a secret to keep and with her help he met his self-imposed deadline of New Year's Eve. He couldn't wait to get her into the air... the plane, too.

Showing her how to inspect and polish the propeller, he went about rechecking the radiator connections and the water level.

Walking around the plane, he carefully examined the wire rigging one last time.

Four years the plane sat in the hanger, protected from the weather, but it needed to be carefully taken apart and inspected. He would never risk her life with it. Never. One last walk-around and they were finished.

He couldn't wait for tomorrow. He saw she was excited, the smile on Bethany's face lit up his heart.

She was still polishing the propeller when came from behind the wings.

"Bethany, it's good, baby, it's good. It's time to go home."

"I'd rather spend some time here with you, Jimmy."

"Are you ready for tomorrow? You're not afraid, are you?"

"Just a little, but I'll be with you and that makes me feel safe. I know that you wouldn't let anything happen to me."

They sat on a couple of wooden crates and looked at the airplane.

"You'd take Catherine flying, didn't you?"

"Yes. We flew almost from the beginning. She loved the sky... said it made her free from her cares.

"Yes, we flew."

"And, now you want to take me. Do you think she'd mind. I mean..."

"I thought about a lot of things since you came to live with me. Even before... you know... even before that. Catherine would be happy for us. I don't think she ever envisioned someone like you as far as..."

"Being colored."

"Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. But, I'm sure that the color of your mind and heart and soul would be so natural to her that she would think of you as an excellent wife for me.

"We'd be married now if things were different. Bethany Rose," he went to his knee and offered in his hand a simple gold band to her. "Would do me the honor of being my wife?"

He was insane, that she was sure of. He had already asked her once but she gave no reply. It was insane then and it was insane now.

If she continued to offer her silence in reply, how would he feel? She was madly in love with him. That was the right word, 'madly.' It was insane to think they ever would, ever could be married.

She looked at the ring. It was symbolic of their relationship: plain, simple, understated, complete. And yet, it pleased her that he would even consider marrying her. She already was sleeping with him. She smiled at that thought. Oh, yes, she was sleeping with him.

She was already... yes, she already might as well be.

"Yes. But, I don't..."

"Shhh, baby. We'll find a way. We'll find a way."

He slipped the gold ring onto her chocolate finger and kissed her as he always wanted to, as his wife.

Even though they were alone, she whispered, "Tonight, darling, tonight."

Eliza made simple ham-on-rye sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes and coleslaw between the slices. She brought out cold bottles of Coke as they came into the kitchen. "I hope this is good enough, James. I wasn't sure what time you'd be coming home."

Bethany had wanted to bathe first but if she went upstairs, she wouldn't be coming back down. The lure of the bed was too much once she was in his room. And if he was there, it wasn't a ham sandwich he'd be eating anytime soon. She started to giggle; her sister looked at her, wondering just what was going on in her mind and then saw the ring.

'Oh, Jesus, what had they done?'

James sat wearily in his chair and laid his head down on the table. These long days were so tiring. He had one woman with him all day wanting nothing more than to love him and make love with him. The other, waiting at the house, desired at least some adult conversation. Eliza, surrounded by two small children and a sometimes cranky toddler all day, was sometimes more tired than they.

Bethany washed her hands in the sink and took the wet towel to him. Her attention to his needs... She'd attend to his other needs later, that she was sure of. Each night under the blankets, she found an eagerness that kept them awake for hours, leading to an even more exhausting next day... and now, it was going to be more special than ever before.

"This is a very good sandwich, Eliza, thank you. God, I'm so tired. You'll never believe what happened today in Redondo," said Bethany.

"We were down at the market there and Bethany was going over the books with Blaine Johnson. She was all business and you could see how nervous he was. I don't think he's ever been that close to a colored girl before."

"Did he faint? That would have been funny."

Bethany laughed. "Almost, I bet. His fingers were shaking the pages of the ledger so much I thought they were going to be ripped in two. For a while, I thought it was because there was money missing but he is clean as a whistle.

"Actually, I feel sorry for him. He's seen the future and doesn't know what to make of it. Can you get me another Coke, please?"

Eliza handed her another bottle. "Do you really think we're in the future? Really? I've my doubts on that."

"Eliza, look at us here."

Eliza was more interested in looking at Bethany's ring.

"Would you have believed we'd be living like this? Even if I had become a nurse, to live like this? I don't think so."

"So, what was so funny? That couldn't have been it."

"No, there was loud band music and then this huge noise outside the market. I went downstairs to the store windows; there was a circus parade going down Main and this elephant..." She started laughing; she couldn't speak. "...this elephant... oh, 'Liza."

Eliza waited impatiently. A circus parade! Another thing she missed out on... but then, if she had stayed in Venice, she'd have never seen it anyway and this arrangement they had... so much better.

Bethany's hand moved under to the table and brushed against James' thigh. His eyes widened slightly as he felt her touch. Even after all this time, he was excited by her brazenness. Suddenly, he wasn't as tired as he thought and gave her a wicked smile. Tonight would be interesting, that he was sure of.

"This elephant decided to stop and it sat on somebody's car. You could hear the car crunch! Oh, Eliza, it was so funny! That car was smashed. Oh, my..."

Eliza was aware of her sister's hand moving under the table; she was sitting across from her at the table, after all. She wasn't sure why Bethany Rose displayed her affection so openly. Her affection must be returned as strongly as she wanted.

Was she having a honeymoon experience? Eliza never had anything like that, already pregnant with the boy. How stupid she had been but the constant berating did nothing to change the present.

Eliza tried to put her maddening interest in her sister's relationship with James away. She was lonely; she knew that and the two lovers no longer hid their affair from her. It bothered her because she was alone and cried herself to sleep too many nights now. Where was someone for her?

She still wondered how it would all turn out for them. She couldn't see how it would end well unless they maintained the pretense for the rest of their lives. Was that how life would be?

It still did nothing for her own personal life. Three children all at the house... There were no colored men in this town and probably never would be and the idea that there was another James out there waiting for her was laughable.

Things weren't going to change, even with kind men like James. She knew in her heart that not every white person hated colored people, but they just didn't find it a pressing issue to worry about. Even white women only got the right to vote ten years ago. How much longer would it take for anything better?

Each night she prayed for James. Prayed that he would be happy with them every day... prayed that he would live a long, happy life with Bethany, with her, with her children. Prayed every night to keep him safe...

"Ahhhh," Bethany yawned. "I'm going to bed. Thank you for dinner, Eliza. Do you know what we're eating tomorrow?"

Eliza looked at James. It was always her call but she still asked.

This time, he took an interest. "Can we have some chicken. Maybe make a salad and some homemade bread. Chocolate cake?"

"What time do you think you'll be coming home?" That was always the question. With those two, who knew when they'd arrive? Sometimes, Eliza was sure they were making love somewhere whenever the mood struck them.

"Not like today, I'm telling you. I'll be there in a moment, Bethany."

He looked at Bethany Rose just disappearing up the back stairs. "Eliza, I know this is hard for you, seeing Bethany and me like this. I never meant to cause you any grief.

"I don't know what to say. I'm in love with your sister and I hope that she's in love with me and not just saying it because living here might be better than what you had.

"After my wife..." He looked at Eliza. "After my wife died, I wanted to die. Everyone was dead. How could I write her mother and say she was dead. How could I write her mother and say her granddaughters had been murdered most savagely. I couldn't and I still can't.

"When I write to her I tell her everything's fine. As long as I believed it, it was real for me. I couldn't let go of them.

"And then, I met Bethany Rose and you and your children and here we are, wherever that is.

"Love is blind, Eliza. Did I fall for her because she was there and I was so lonely? God, I hope that wasn't the reason.

"What if I had met you that morning? Would it be you and me sharing a bed together, instead? Have you ever thought about that?" Oh, yes, she had, every time she saw them together, oh, yes, she had.

"Goodnight, Eliza." He got up from the table. Suddenly she rushed into his arms and kissed him, running her hands across his face.

"Oh, James... I don't know what to do. I've been so jealous of her, having you and each night I hear... what you're doing. I...

"Oh, my God, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough, I see. Eliza, how could..." Bethany turned and ran up the stairs, crying. How could Eliza do that to her? How could she? Bethany Rose fell on her bed, sobbing into her pillow, heartbroken, and tonight, of all nights. She looked at the ring and pulled it off. Without even looking, she flung it across the darkened room and heard it hit the wall and then nothing.

He honestly didn't know what to do. "Ah, Jesus Christ," was all he could say. He didn't need this, not now, not ever. Was it inevitable that this would happen? He should have known but he was so blinded by Bethany Rose he saw nothing else when they were together. The conflict between sisters, he had no experience... the conflict between two women in the same house, never before... and now, this...

He moved to follow Bethany but Eliza held him back by the arm. "No,' she said, "I'll go. It's my fault. Please, just stay here. I'll call you."

Eliza went to the freezer, got some ice cream and a couple of spoons and walked up the stairs to face her sister. The stairs were never steeper. She wondered if she finally had said that something that would have them all leave this sanctuary from the world. Her problem was that she could never hold her tongue.

After what seemed forever, he went upstairs prepared to hear the two screaming but it was all silent. Now, he was worried. Could they have killed each other? While unlikely, it was still possible. Who knows how women really think, anyway? Men didn't have even the smallest hint.

He knocked on Bethany's door.

"Please, Jimmy, go to bed. We'll talk to you in the morning."

He could have sworn he heard a giggle. At least, he thought, they weren't screaming at each other.

After showering, he crawled into the empty bed. How lonely it was to sleep alone, again. Sleep took a long time before it came upon him, more from mental exhaustion than restful peace and he tossed throughout the night.

Wednesday morning, December 30, 1931

High above Santa Monica Bay

Far below, the blue waters of the Pacific gave way to the shallow green waves that built up and incessantly crashed upon the beach. The inviting waters from Alaska were so cold only some fools on New Year's Day ever ventured off the sand and not for very long.

Like most things in California, looks could be deceiving to the naïve, innocent eye.

Just offshore, hungry schools of barracuda and the occasional Great White roamed what seemed a peaceful sea, waiting for any unsuspecting meal to come along, be it seal or swimmer.

So tiny compared to the vast ocean below, the flamboyantly yellow Curtiss Jenny swooped down and almost kissed the waters, a bright speeding spot against the blue aloofness of the deep.

Bethany held tightly to her belts as he put the plane into another series of slow gentle loops and carefully spun the plane upside down.

Three miles out, the flotilla of gambling ships floated outside the legal state jurisdiction. Bethany could just make out the small ferry boats carrying gamblers hurrying to lose what little money they had.

James brought the plane down and they skimmed the waves next to the Rex, the most famous of the floating casinos.

Up, up, up it went until it stalled out and began falling down like a lazy leaf only to be caught by his skilled hand and then swoop down again toward the water.

The headlong rush toward possible death aroused her and she found herself in a headlong rush to an impossibly strong orgasm as the plane once again made a lazy loop and headed back up into the sky.

He was overjoyed to be back in the air, the first time since evil had torn his life apart. The aerobatics of the plane mirrored his new outlook and hopes for the coming new year. He was free once more from his worries.

Flying was almost as good as making love but just as dangerous. Lose your mind, lose your life and lose your soul.

The sound of the low-flying plane grew loud enough to Eliza ran out of the kitchen and into the back yard to see it. Circling around, it headed back toward the house.

It buzzed the house with maybe fifty feet to spare and finally headed back to the new airport just to the north.

She went back into the house and started fixing dinner. James wanted early dinners on Sunday so he could have more time with Bethany. Lately, though, she noticed he was paying her more attention, talking to her, helping her in the kitchen when he could and playing longer with the children.

The Lord may have rested on the seventh day but James surely didn't. While the initial, almost continual lovemaking had tempered somewhat, she was still treated to the sound of her sister's sultry moans and the creaking of the bed.

"Oh, Eliza, it was incredible!" Bethany undressed, laying his leather flying pants and helmet upon the bed. "We went SO high! Did you see us? We flew right over the house..."

"That was YOU?" Eliza was astonished. He had taken Bethany up in an airplane. How was that even possible?

"He's got his own airplane; he's been keeping it over at the airport all this time. Oh, Eliza, it was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again. You must try it!"

She walked over to the dresser mirror and tried to comb her matted hair out. She looked closely, wiping some of the engine oil that had sprayed back. Someday, people should be able to ride inside the plane instead of having the weather fly into your face. Someday, planes were going to be fast enough to demand it. Someday...

"Oh, right, and when it comes down and hits something, then what?"

"Don't be silly. You know he was a pilot in the War. He's been flying for years now and it's his plane.

"What's for lunch?" Flying, she discovered, made her hungry.

"Baked chicken, salad, sweet potatoes and chocolate brownies for dessert. Don't tell me you're not hungry."

"Sister, don't worry about that. I'm famished. Just let me shower, though, and I'll be down and help you."

"Thank you." Eliza left Bethany to wash and went downstairs. With them both showering, she was surprised they weren't in the same bathroom.

No mention of last night, thank God. What madness had possessed her to kiss him, she still did not understand. Loneliness, yes, but no excuse to jeopardize everyone's life.

How easily he could have taken advantage of her weakness and used her. What would have happened if Bethany Rose hadn't seen them together? It was a scary, scary question and she shuddered, just thinking about it.

Very late evening...

Bethany Rose knelt between his legs, sliding her mouth down onto his cock, saliva dripping from her lips. Her right hand moved his skin up and down, in time with her head. She could feel him swell just a bit more and then the huge rush of semen flooded her throat. She couldn't swallow fast enough and much of it spurted out from her almost closed lips.

He almost grabbed the back of her head but stopped. This was her gift to him. Any action on his part besides filling her mouth would spoil the moment.

She smiled at him, white stickiness smeared on her chin as her tongue came out and licked. Seeing that... he came again, strongly enough to spray onto her milk chocolate face and splash back onto his cock.

"So... you're full of surprises, tonight. Care to try it again?" She began to move her hand faster, tighter and she spit on his cock to ease the friction and make it last longer.

"Ahhhhhh, Jesus," he barely said before he came again. This time she was prepared and opened her mouth wide as he spurted three heavy streams.

She kept her mouth open and moved forward; taking him in, four inches, five inches, six... her hand was sandwiched between her lips and his balls. He could feel himself pushing against the back of her mouth and then slipping down her throat.

She moved forward just a little more and could feel his cock expanding in her mouth just before he exploded again. She pulled it out, dripping its precious white cream and she rubbed it across her face, moaning unintelligibly.

Holding his cock with her right hand, she opened her now creamy mouth and took in his left ball. With her left, she continued to move the skin of his cock up and down, faster now, so much faster.

"Oh, God..." he moaned, lost in his own rush.

She went back to swallowing his cock, using both hands now to grasp his slipper skin, keeping her lips on its head while he continued to moan, not believing that something this good was happening to him.

She looked up at him and smiled, saliva dripping from her mouth to the tip of his cock. Taking him back in, the slurping sounds only served to drive him harder into her throat as he finally held the back of her head with one hand and the bottom of her chin with the other. Several times he could hear her gag but she continued to bob her head, taking him as deeply as she could. It was a strange sound, like two hands washing each other, the suction and release causing an almost hypnotic drum beat for so primitive a passion.

"Jimmy..." she almost couldn't speak. "Jimmy, lay back on the bed."