Roomers Revisited Ch 03

The explanation / justification for my having the nerve to write a sequel to 'Roomers' is summarized at the beginning of Ch. 01. I hope I've slipped in enough back-story so that you don't have to have read the first series to enjoy this follow-up. On the other hand, if you're a 'Roomers' virgin, it would certainly help to scroll through it quickly.

Two points: remember to vote and remember I respond to non-anonymous feedback.

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Beautiful afternoon. I was in position on the rug, thinking about not very much: decided I needed a beer, but a cab pulled up outside so I put that idea on hold. A dark haired woman climbed out, moved to the rear door, hauled out two kids, straightened up and looked at the house. Jesus jumpin' Christ. Before I realized it, my feet were taking me to the front door.

'Annie, what the fuck have you done to your goddam hair?' She yelped and jumped at me, clung tight, her whole body shaking, while the kids stood and watched. They were real dirty, looked kinda subdued, not like kids usually are, tearing round and breaking stuff. Just stood and watched. Shit, friends are friends, but a coupla rug rats weren't part of the deal, far as I was concerned. First time I ever seen her cry though. I set her down, looked at her carefully, felt a pulse of anger.

Someone had worked her over pretty good. Coupla important teeth missing, swelling round her eyes, bruises on her neck like someone had tried to strangle her. She flinched under my gaze and began to say something. Click. Oh, damn. My fuckin' talent was part of this, and I listened, kinda despairing, as words came out of my mouth.

'Annie, you get the hell into the bathroom, take the kids, get cleaned up while I fix some grub. And don't fuckin' argue. Nothing happens till you're all clean and fed. Go do it, girl, or I'll hold you down and wash you myself.' She tried to smile but her face crumpled, and she didn't move, so I bent down to the kids, took their hands, hauled them into the house, not paying too much attention, I heard a gasp, then Annie cannoned into me, knocked me clean over. Banged my knee real painful.

'What the fuck....' I looked up and she was stood over me, hands like claws, lips drawn back like she was ready to kill, then slumped suddenly, nearly fell. Movement at the top of the stairs: Kirsty and Donna standing staring. Looked like the weekend was wrecked whichever way I played it. Might as well draft 'em before they ran.

'Hey, girls, you wanna give me a hand, please?' I picked myself up off the floor, beckoned them down. 'This is Annie, friend of mine, been having it sorta rough, as any fool can see. Kirsty, take 'em up to the big bathroom, get 'em clean.' Better not to have my own bathroom looking like a goddam refugee camp. I checked the kids again, then Annie. Sure were dirty. 'Put their clothes in the trash. Donna, you come down the mall with me, buy some stuff for them while I get bunks and bedding. You good with that?' I realized I was sounding sorta fierce, but hell, I was under stress. They nodded, and Kirsty put an arm round Annie, pointed the kids up the stairs. Annie went with her like a zombie, never said a word, and I began to worry some about what this was gonna cost. Deal with that later. I stomped out to the truck and Donna followed me, looking kinda scared. I made an effort.

'Damn, Donna, I'm sorry. Annie's a good friend and someone beat up on her and scared her goddam kids to death, and it makes me fuckin' furious. Nothin' to do with you, girl, I promise.' She looked calmer and I hit the ignition.

It's amazing how quick things get done when you don't care too much about being polite. Forty minutes, we were back at the house. I sent Donna up with clothes, hauled my purchases through, began the self-assembly crap you gotta do nowadays. Bunk beds made the room seem kinda small, but Annie wasn't gonna be in any state to argue. I was fixing a big pasta mess when Kirsty slipped into the kitchen.

'They're in the front room, Doug.' Her eyes were wide, like the real world had suddenly goosed her. 'Your friend's got bruises all over her body, and the kids have got marks on them too; they're exhausted.' I nodded, pointed with my chin at the drinks cupboard.

'Give Annie a big Scotch over ice, fix some juice for the kids, tell 'em we'll be eatin' in about ten minutes. You mind hangin' in a little longer?' She shook her head.

'You're really angry, aren't you?' I nodded again. Small click in the back of my skull.

'Eight years, nine mebbe, I ain't seen her, but we're friends so I'm gonna fix her goddam life an' then I'm gonna make good an' sure whoever beat up on her hurts way bad. Now go sit with them, keep 'em calm.' She reached up, touched my cheek softly. Excellent. Loyal friendship, righteous anger push most women's buttons real good.

'You're a pretty good friend to have, I guess.' Way to go, Kirsty. You too, I hope.

Damn, the meal was weird. Kids were starving, ate like their plates were gonna be stolen any goddam second, made me wonder some about what their lives had been like recently. Annie hardly said a word, wincing every time she chewed, skinnier than I'd ever seen her, and that's saying some. Sure was strange seeing her with dark hair.

'What's with the dye job, Annie? Got tired of bein' a blonde?' Bad move. She raised her eyes and there was a well of hurt in them.

'Jeez, Doug, I didn't know if they were gonna come lookin' or not. Changed the color in Boise, took the next bus to anywhere. We been through half the goddam states in the Union gettin' here.' She dropped her eyes again and her voice wobbled. 'First time I felt safe for fuckin' weeks, Doug.' Tears began to trickle down her cheeks and I scooped her up, set her on my lap. Kirsty and the kids were staring and I wondered who "they" were.

'Kirsty, you wanna take the kids through, put 'em to bed?' I jerked my head and she got up and did it. Soon as the door closed Annie shuddered and began to cry for real. This was not how I'd planned for my dam' weekend to be. Me, I'd thought she was fed up with ol' Ray, just wanted to split, and instead I got a basket case on my hands. I let her settle, then stood up and carried her through. The kids were looking kinda spooked.

'Time for you to go to sleep,' I told them, 'and we'll put Mom to bed too, everyone clean and safe, OK?' Kirsty began fussing, letting them choose top and bottom bunks, fetching glasses of water, while I shucked Annie's new dress off, slipped her between the sheets. Kissed her forehead gently, for Kirsty's benefit I gotta admit, told her to sleep, we'd fix everything in the morning. Ten seconds and she was out like a light. Kids were fighting it though: the boy was watching me real close and I was kinda glad when Kirsty waved me outa the room. I was on the couch with a big dose of Mr. Walker's famous tranquilizer when she came out.

'They're asleep now. Little Doug's been trying so hard to look after everyone, and he's scared to death, and Lizzie's been hurt badly: she'll hardly say two words without checking to see if she's going to be smacked.' I wasn't listening to the last bit.

'You tellin' me the kid's called Doug?' She stared at me.

'Didn't you know?' Course not, dummy, or I wouldn't be asking.

'Shit, girl, I didn't even know she had kids, tell the truth, and now I discover one's got my goddam name. Jeez, what a day. You reckon she'll be able to function tomorrow?' If ol' Ray was gonna come looking I needed to know. Kirsty was sitting opposite, watching me; I could almost hear her brain turning over.

'You haven't seen her for years but she named her son after you, and you've spent a lot of money and haven't said anything except that she's had a bad time.' Course I haven't said anything. You think I want this shit spread round the whole fuckin' town?

'Hell, Kirsty, friendship rules apply: I mean, I ain't gonna say anything about her less she agrees. Wish I knew what happened though. Toughest woman I ever known, and now look at her.' I drained my drink and stood. 'I'm gonna get some shut-eye. Gotta feeling tomorrow's gonna be another long one. Thanks for all the help, kid; you been a goddam rock. Guess I owe you.' She was still staring at me kinda intense.

'What happens if the kids wake in the night?' she asked suddenly. 'Men really scare them at the moment, and you in the dark in a strange place ... I mean, they'd have hysterics. I think I'd better stay.' She got up, looking determined. 'I'll be right back. You get into bed.' Well, shit. Someone's had her strings pulled, I guess. Best do as I was told.

When she came into the bedroom I noticed three things. She was carrying a box of condoms, wearing a robe, had a kinda warm look in her eyes. Observant Doug. The condoms went on the bedside table and the robe dropped, nothing underneath except skin. The warm eyes climbed into bed along with the rest of her, settled against me, one arm snaking out, cradling my head. Ruffled my hair for a second and I felt her soft breath in my ear.

'I saw part of the real you today, didn't I?' I shrugged, made sure she felt it.

'Hell, Kirsty, ain't a part of me gets used very much.' Time to find out what was going on inside that curly head. 'You wanna tell me something though? I mean, here we are, and one of my oldest friends is in the next room, in real bad shape. You're not dumb: you gotta know I ain't gonna be able to pay you much attention for a while.' See how she reacted to that. By surprising me, that's how. I swear I'll never understand women.

'It's not the quantity, it's the quality,' she murmured, nuzzling my neck gently, 'and I don't know much, but I know quality when I see it.' She paused, and I wondered what was coming next. 'Not exclusive,' she went on thoughtfully,' because you've got other friends, and I've got a whole heap of catching up to do, but advanced classes sometimes would be nice. Would that be OK?' Well, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It never rains but it fuckin' pours. Better take out some insurance though. Didn't want my life screwed up.

'Long as you remember the rules, girl. No gossip, no obligation, no curiosity, no possessiveness, don't bring baggage with you unless you need to share real bad, no sulking if it's a case of not tonight thanks. I tried all ways and that's the only one that works; why I don't have a whole bunch of friends.' Like I said before, fake sincerity is better than no sincerity at all. Her arm tightened round my neck.

You know more than me about a lot of things, and not just sex.' She fumbled a condom out of the box, then scooted round and crouched over my groin. 'You know how we did it the third time the other night? Real slow and gentle?' Fine by me, but I was curious.

'Kirsty, tell me how come you ain't blushin' or I'm gonna take you by force, give you a complex for life.' She snorted as her tongue traced a delicate path down my thigh.

'I've used up a lifetime's worth blushing, the last few days. Not feeling stupid any more is probably most of it though. I don't know what made me ask you, but I'm so glad I did. Perhaps you've turned me into the sort of person I was meant to be originally. I was reading about...' I stifled a sigh. She was probably always gonna need shutting up once in a while. Hell, I can do that. I reached down, put one hand gently against her mouth, stroked the curve of her butt with the other. When I dipped down into the crease below her asshole I felt moistness on my fingers. Slightly alkaline, I remembered. My cock was swelling and the thought of burying it in rich pussy was too much to bear.

'Turn the left side of your brain off, girl. We got a friendship to christen.' God knows, I deserved something after all the strain.

I gotta say, I know how to pick 'em. She shivered once as I slid into her, eyes opening wide as she felt herself stretching and the sensations filtering up to ol' Mr. Right Side, then raised her head slightly, slipped her tongue into my mouth, and pressed up gently with her hips. Girl was a goddam natural. Be helpful she carried on thinking I was numero uno, especially if she was gonna run comparison tests, so I kept it slow and steady, kinda wanting her to have a good time. Took longer than I'd have liked, but after a while she was beginning to thrash around, hanging onto me tight, so I knocked the safety catch off, started in hard, pushed her right over the edge; hell, she went so strong she took me with her and that was it for a spell. Excellent feeling, and I managed to squeeze another one out of her before I was done; she sure was pleased to find out girls can go round the track twice. Then it was oh Doug, I'm so lucky and this and that and that and this. Pillow talk, but real pleasing from a girl who never seen a dick before last weekend. Fell asleep finally, thank God, and I eased outa bed, put my robe on, went to make a cup of tea. There's only one place I can think straight.

The bay window was there like always, and I stood and sipped slowly, let the day drain away. Hell, the way things were going it was gonna be a goddam Chinese fire drill just keeping up. Mebbe once Annie felt up for a little activity, we'd see how much of the friendship part Kirsty had really taken on board. Kids were gonna be a handicap though. I remembered the only other time I ever been involved with a woman with kids. Only just escaped with my goddam liberty, and I still get a queasy feeling when I think about it. I wasn't gonna get suckered like that again, friends or no fuckin' friends. Trouble with memories, queasy or no, you can't put them back in the box till they're done.

******

Funny thing, but I was in the window when she came careering into my life. Wet day, summer storm, and she took the corner too fast, lost it, started going sideways. Now my truck's kinda solid, but Nova's aren't, and there was a real nasty sound as they said "hi" to each other. Course, she started running round in the rain like a madwoman, so I put on a jacket, went out to join the fun. Noticed she had a pair of kids in the car, staring out the windows. Right after that I noticed she was pretty cute. Smudgy reprint of a young Demi Moore was how she looked, so it seemed like she'd be worth soothing, see if she was due a follow up. She was still bawling so I tapped her on the arm.

'What's done is done, I guess, lady. Lemme help you get your car into the kerb, we'll sort out the insurance stuff inside. I'm gonna drown if I hafta stay out here much longer. Bring the kids with you: they're lookin' kinda tense.' Got her car wedged onto the sidewalk and herded them into the house, turned the gas grate on.

'I'll fetch towels, make coffee. Put the kids by the fire, lady, or they'll catch pneumonia and you'll be wasting half your day tending them.' Gruff but gentlemanly, hint of a twinkle. Dependable Doug. The kids were steaming in front of the grate and she was fiddling with her hair when I brought coffee and juice in.

'Best do names, I guess. I'm Doug Taylor, keen to know who I'm talkin' to.' She looked flustered.

'Jamie, uh, Legrande.' She glanced at the kids and lowered her voice. 'I only recently went back to my birth name, and I'm not used to...' Just divorced huh? Way to go.

Well, shit; turned out her insurance was in some kinda limbo, because of the divorce she said; one phone call and I knew fighting the dam' system for a hundred bucks worth of filler and paint wasn't gonna be worth my while. Magnanimous Doug.

'Hell, Jamie, best thing for me to do is butt out. Looks like way too much work. Tell 'em you sideswiped a tree or something, is my advice.' Look of relief on her face, stammered thanks, shy glances, the whole gratitude package. Just divorced, huh? Summertime, house empty, Chrissie outa the picture for three months, working a due diligence in London for God's sake, no word from Candice and Ellen for a while, so I was ripe for a piece of fresh. Not greedy, you understand, but definitely ripe.

'Jamie, you had a bad day already. You sit a minute, lemme go look at your car.' A little footwork pushed the wing harder into the wheelbay and I was able to report back that steering was gonna be a problem, and why didn't we call a tow truck, I'd give everyone a ride home, save a lot of trouble. That went down pretty good too.

Turned out she lived deep in the subs, so I got twenty godawful minutes of her chattering on about how weird it was to be single again and how her boss at the bank had been so understanding and she had a leave of absence and how all her ex wanted to do was go on banging his new girlfriend seven nights a week. Nearly told her that if his girlfriend was a mute I could understand that, but left it alone. When I pulled up the kids were whining some and I was getting kinda tired of listening to her.

'Real nice to meet you, Jamie, but I gotta run. Stuff I oughta be doin', tell the truth. Couldn't have been interrupted by a nicer person though.' Then it was all apologies, hustling the kids out of the car, shy thanks all over again. I drove back feeling kinda smug. Always better to let them simmer a while. Tell the truth, the thought of someone my own age was sorta enticing. Been a while since I'd traveled that route.

Well, shit: maybe I made a bigger impression than I thought. Three days later I was stocking up on the basics, trying to decide whether to stay with Bud or maybe switch to Coors for a while. Laugh if you like, but you get used to something, it's often a good idea to change. Decided to go the Rocky Mountain spring water route and was stacking the sixth case into the cart when I heard my name.

'Doug, hi, Doug!' Didn't place the voice straight away, but she solved that real quick, came running up, everything bouncing real nice. 'It's me. Fancy seeing you here: I thought I recognized you. How are you?' Just fine thank you.

'All the better for seein' you, Jamie. You're a long way from home.' She smiled.

'Oh, I took Stevie and Lorraine to my parents for the weekend and I've been visiting a friend, just girl talk, and I needed a couple of items and this was on the way back, so here I am and here you are too. Would you like a coffee? My treat, seeing as how I owe you for the other day.' Is the pope a Catholic?

'Took the words right outa my mouth. Food court's this way.' Her basket was empty so I left my cart for some shelf stacker to deal with, shame about the ice cream, steered her to the exit. 'Car fixed already, then?' I asked. She shook her head.

'My neighbor hammered that bit on the side so it's not all bent in, and it runs OK. I guess I'm still arguing with the insurers, and I don't want to ask my ex. He'd be kinda nasty about it.' Her lips compressed for a second, then she smiled again. 'I suppose I don't want him to think I need any help.' Her eyes flicked towards me but I didn't respond. Slackers don't go for that sorta hook.

'You find a seat, Jamie, I'll go fetch coffee.' When I got back she was burrowing in her bag.

'I said it was my treat and...'

'Jamie, price of two coffees ain't gonna break me.' She made grateful, puckered up, blew me a little kiss, realized what she'd done, went rosy red and then giggled. She was looking pretty good. Summer skirt, some kinda skinny top, light sweater over her shoulders. Black hair glossy as a crow's wing, big dark eyes batting with embarrassment. Yum fuckin' yum. She took a sip of coffee, looked up at me.

'So what do you do, Doug? I mean, you were home Tuesday afternoon, and you're out shopping Friday morning: do you work nights?' Shit, that question again.

'I'm kinda semi-retired, Jamie, tell the truth. Inherited the house and rehabbed it, now I let the top two floors to college kids, collect the rent. I live pretty comfortable.' Not an inheritance but close enough; I never yet told anyone except Annie the facts. She nodded like she was confirming something. That shoulda warned me.