"Have you heard the hot gossip?"
A silly question. Unless Marie told me what it was that she considered hot gossip how would I know if I'd heard it or not?
"I have no idea. Tell me what you've heard."
"Liz is complaining that Andy raped her last night."
I must have been looking rather dubious because Marie pounced.
"What? Don't you believe Andy would do something like that?"
"Yes and no," I admitted. "I believe that he's quite capable of being a little careless about getting permission before screwing someone but from what I've heard they've been no complaints from his victims. Some are supposed to have come back for more. I find it harder to believe that he would have raped Liz."
"Why? You've got to admit that she's stacked. All the boys want her."
"I know," I said cynically, "and from what I've heard a large number of them have had her. All Andy would have had to do was wave five dollars at her and she'd have been his."
"Maybe he didn't have five dollars," giggled Marie.
"Not a problem. She'd have taken an IOU."
(You may have guessed that I didn't have too high an opinion of Liz. She'd probably made the complaint because Andy didn't fuck her. I mean, even he has some standards.)
"Do you know if Andy has really raped some of his dates?" Marie probed.
"I don't know for sure but he does have a bit of a reputation for what he calls reluctant seduction. As to whether you can call it rape I guess it all depends on how reluctant the girl is. I've dated him a couple of times but I let him know right from the word go that a date was all he was getting and he was no trouble whatsoever. I suspect that if you lead him on and then try to back off then you might find he doesn't back off worth a damn."
"So you're saying that if you hint that he's in with a chance then he'll take the hint for approval?"
"Something like that," I agreed.
Marie looked very thoughtful for a moment and then changed the subject, having more dirt to dish out. It's amazing what that girl finds out and is willing to tell.
I ran into Marie again a couple of days later. Not really surprising as we lived in the same set of units.
"Ronnie, are you doing anything this Friday night?" she asked.
"Not really," I admitted. "I had a tentative date but it's now a bust. I found out the mongrel has a wife and I'm not into that sort of thing."