Judy White rolled over and looked at the empty side of the bed. It was unslept on that night. Her husband Richard was working late, as he had for so many nights the past few months. He was up for a promotion and needed to put in the hard work, and Judy wanted to support him in every way she could.
However, tonight was Friday and the twins were at their grandparents' place for the weekend. Judy wanted to spend some beautiful time with her man. Something that had been getting less frequent as their ten-year-old marriage went on.
Judy had given up her job as an office secretary when she got married in 1964 and had been a housewife ever since. And a great one at that. She made sure that her man and children always returned to an immaculate house and had the tastiest of meals. She kept with the latest trends and recipes she read in magazines. She did everything right.
They were living the American Dream.
She
was living the American Dream.
Though, tonight, she couldn't dream at all. Her time as a married woman had made her used to a presence next to her as she slept. Most nights, it was Richard. When he was away on business trips, it was either or both of the twins. As of late, however, with his extended hours, she would wait for Richard to return before she could fall asleep.
She would never tell him this, of course. He insisted that she go to bed without him and she didn't want to bother him by being the wife that couldn't even manage to fall asleep without her man. She would have read one of her stories or magazines as she waited, but the light would be visible from the driveway when Richard pulls over.
Since it was uncertain what time Richard would return, she would just lie alone in bed in complete darkness once it was past 10. Some nights, it would barely be a few minutes before Richard would return and Judy wouldn't have to feign sleep at all. Other nights, every minute felt like an hour at the end of which, she couldn't even allow herself to get up and kiss her man goodnight.
In all those stretched out minutes, all she had for company in the darkness were her own thoughts. Oftentimes, her thoughts would end up at sex. Her sex life was great at the beginning of her marriage. In fact, she lost her virginity on the night of her wedding.
The couple continued to make love frequently through the years, but as of late, it was less often than she would have liked. Occasionally, the couple would do their "special thing," but Judy did not want to think back to those nights because that would make her want the thing when she knew she couldn't have, and it would make the lone nights more excruciating than they already were.
Tonight, her thoughts drifted towards sex as usual. She usually was able to control herself enough to resist the urge to touch herself. Just the thought of getting caught in the middle of the act by her husband terrified her. How would Richard feel? He works long hours to put food on the table and his wife cannot even control her lust. Worse, if he took it to mean that he wasn't man enough to satisfy his wife.
Judy would let Richard have sex with her anytime and any place he wished if it made him feel like a man. She would let him do anything to her. But tonight, she desperately wanted to do something to herself.
It was taking him longer than usual to return and in the silence of the house, Judy could hear the ticking of the clock in their living room downstairs. Each passing minute felt like an hour and it had been almost two hours since she laid down in her bed.
Midnight approached, and with it would come her 30th birthday. She was hoping to hold her husband close as she reached this milestone in her life but with each tick of the clock, she dreaded that it would not be possible.
She was now getting worried. What if something happened to him? No, that's not possible. He's just working harder than usual because he wants to surprise his wife with a grand, romantic gesture later. Perhaps a vacation to the Bahamas as a combined gift for their anniversary and her birthday. Yes, that sounds more like the man she is waiting for.
To keep her from returning to the grim thoughts, she turned her mind to sex. As she thought of the man who was going to surprise her with sandy beaches, she felt the urge to touch herself and the temptation tonight was much harder to resist. She was about to turn 30 alone, and she did not want to think about it.
In her spinster days, her girlfriends had one day been discussing sex. They were all virgins, but Betty had read a dirty story and it taught her to do something that made her feel like nothing had before and she wanted to share it with her closest friends.
Judy was too afraid to try it, thinking that she would be committing a sin and that she would not be pure for her wedding night. Soon after getting married, she did try touching herself. She liked it so much that the pie she had put in the oven got burnt. Since then, she decided that it was either her pleasure or her duty, and she knew which one she had to choose.
Tonight, however, pleasure seemed so much more appealing.
She would usually just think about being pleasured, feel herself get wet and then do nothing about it. Tonight, she wanted to do something about it. She placed her hand on her belly over the nightgown and began sliding it down. The tips of her fingers had just reached her bush when she heard something pulled her hand back to her side.
It was the chiming of the clock downstairs. It was midnight.
"Congratulations, Judy. You were just about to begin your thirties by betraying your man," said Judy to herself. "Well done."
Judy was disappointed in herself. She couldn't tell Richard what she did but she will definitely make up for it. She could perhaps massage his feet when he reads his papers in the morning, or she could surprise him with a-
Another sound. This time it was louder than the clock. It sounded like two of her pans clashing against each other. It couldn't be Richard. He would never step into the kitchen after returning late. Judy would always leave a glass of water for him in the living room along with some snacks in case he was hungry. He would usually just drink the water and walk straight up to the bedroom.
Also, Judy hadn't heard a car pull up the driveway. Despite the slight distraction, she was certain she hadn't heard it. She heard another sound as if the cabinets were being opened and shut. Judy jumped out of her bed, as quietly as she could, and glanced through the blinds.
There was no car in the driveway. She turned around and scanned her room. There was nothing in her sight that she could use to protect herself. She had ensured that there was no clutter in the room, and something big enough to be used as a weapon was definitely clutter to her until now.
As she frantically looked around once again, she caught a glimpse of her pink nightgown in the mirror. It almost reached her ankles but had no sleeves. She hurried to the dressing table and picked up her robe.
Before she could put it on, she heard the shattering of glass. She dropped the robe, fished out a hanger from the wardrobe and reached for the door. Since the bedroom door had no locks, her plan was to hurry and lock herself in the washroom. There, she could either wait for the intruders to leave or call for help through the window.
If something were to happen to her, she wondered how her Richard would feel. A man who couldn't even protect his wife from thugs? That ain't a man at all. She couldn't allow for that to happen, not after everything he had done for her.
She waited by the door for a moment and only heard silence. It would probably safer to walk slowly to the washroom instead of running, in order to avoid any attention. Since all the lights were off at the house, the intruders would have thought that no one was home. But this was a very safe neighbourhood where the worst crime in recent memory was when Mr Robinson had accidentally knocked an ice cream cone out of young Timmy's hand.
Then she wondered what would happen when they look through her bedroom. They would definitely see that someone was sleeping in it recently. She decided that she would think about it when she was safe.
She slowly opened her door and peeped out. The way between her room and the washroom was clear. She stepped out barefoot, tiptoeing. Two steps and someone leapt at her from behind. She had forgotten to check if there was someone in the other direction.
An arm grabbed her around the waist and the other covered her mouth. Judy wanted to scream, but she was too petrified. She dropped the hanger and froze in her position.
"Be quiet and everything will be alright," whispered the man in Judy's ear.
Judy nodded.
"I'm going to let go now. Make no sound. If you do, I won't be as gentle."
Judy nodded once again. The man let go of her, but she stood frozen.
"What's your name, sweetheart?"
"J-Judy."
"Good evening, Judy. You got a man?"
"Yes."
"Of course you do. Where is he this late at night, and how dare he leave something as precious as you alone on such a dark night?"
"He's at work. He's a police officer."
"A police officer, huh? And look at this, a thief is spending the night with his wife."
"He'll be back soon. Please leave, and I won't say a word. Take whatever you want, please. Just don't hurt me."
"Hmm. That sound like a desirable option. Take whatever I want."
"Yes, anything."
"Where's your purse, Judy?"
"In the wardrobe. You can take the whole thing."
"Now, Judy, if I ask you to stay where you are, will you stay put?"
"Yes."
"Good. Stay where you are."
"Are there more people downstairs?"
"I don't think you get to ask questions, Judy."
She heard the man walk into her room and return with her purse. She was too afraid to move a muscle.
He handed the purse to her.
"Pull out your licence."
Judy did not want to question the man again. She fished out her licence and handed it to him.
"Judy Anne White. At least you weren't lying about your name, Judy. Too bad you lied about your husband."
"I did not."
"I didn't see anything downstairs that would imply that he is in the police."
"He joined just recently. I promise that I am not lying to you."
"You're a bad liar, Judy."
"I'm-"
"It's fine, Judy. Tell me what your plan was. Lock yourself in the washroom?"
"Yes."
"That's smart, Judy. But what were you going to do with that hanger?"
"I..."
"I'm sure you would have thought of something. You seem really smart. But if you really are smart enough to beat a bunch of thieves with just a hanger, you should also have known that it was stupid to lie about your husband."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied. Please don't hurt me."
"Oh, look what it says here. It's your birthday. Happy Birthday, sweetheart."
Judy said nothing.
"Well, what kind of man would dare leave something as precious as you alone on your birthday?"
The man took the purse from her and placed it on the floor and picked up the wire hanger she had dropped earlier. He pressed it against the small of Judy's back.
"Walk."
The man led Judy down the stairs and into the living room. A lamp had already been turned on. She stood in the middle of the room, between the sofa and the television. She was spun around. She looked up at a man in a mask who was dressed in all black.
"Judy, your husband works in an office, doesn't he?"
"Yes."
