LeRoy was sitting on the porch, rocking and rubbing the head of that old hound dog of his, as Dinah walked up the stone path from the mailbox at the edge of the muddy road. She had walked slow up from the bus stop in the nearest town, at the mouth of a fold back into the Blue Ridge. The suitcase she was lugging, balanced on the other side by her guitar case, was heavy, but she wasn't walking slow because of that weight. She was weighed down by something more serious than that.
She worried that LeRoy would know it as soon as he saw herâthat, like his momma, he could see guilt from miles awayâor maybe that he could smell it on her. She'd be in for quite a licking if he did. And that would probably be the least of her worries.
LeRoy turned a wary eye on her as she approached. Chester, the hound dog, looked up, starting a woof as he did, but seeing that it was his master's womanâand no threat to him in the pecking order around hereâhe just yawned, lowered his muff to between his splayed legs again, and snorted off into sleep.
"Did'ja bring back enough to leave somethin' after paying for the trip and makin' up for your absence?" LeRoy asked when Dinah had reached the bottom step of the rickety porch. "You know I tol' you this nonsense would stop if it didn't more than pay for itself."
Dinah sighed, set the suitcase down on the hardscrabble that passed for a lawn at the fringe of the porch steps, placed the guitar case on top of that, and climbed the steps. She crossed over LeRoy's foot without him moving it and sank into the other rocker, with a second sigh.
"Here. $500. Hope that's enough," she said as she scrounged around in her purse and came up with an envelope stuffed with fifty-dollar bills.
LeRoy seemed ready to say something before she'd gotten the bills out of her purse, but he clamped his mouth shut as he closed his hand over the proffered money. The bills were still in Dinah's hand when he did that. LeRoy stood up from the rocker, still holding Dinah's hand in his grip. "Well, let's go into the house then. I want some."
"Oh, LeRoy," Dinah answered, trying to keep the tired whine out of her voice. "It's afternoon yet. And I've just walked the five miles from townâafter the long bus ride from Roanokeâand there's some chores needin' done, I'm sure."
"You been gone five days, Dinah. What'ja expect I'd want when you got back? Git on in the house now."
Chester raised his head and gave a little growl as Dinah walked past him into the house. Greenbacks didn't impress him muchânor did the woman's reappearance in his life.
LeRoy had his pants and briefs off before Dinah had even gotten the buttons undone on her shirtdress, and he hiked her dress up around her hips as he pushed her back onto the bed and slapped her legs apart. Dinah could see that he was more than ready and she wasn't going to be given enough time.
But mostly she was worried that he'd smell the other man on her. She'd gone back to her hotel room and spent close to an hour in the shower trying to scrub the man off her, but she was afraid her sin was written right across her forehead.
"If you'll just give me . . . oh, gawd, LeRoy."
"Fuck, you're dry," he complained. LeRoy pulled his cock back out of her, spit on his hand and rubbed that on his cock and gave it another go.
"Oh, ohhhh." Dinah turned her head to the wall, as LeRoy grunted and groaned and started to pump her, increasing the friction as his cock slickened up inside her.
Any minute now she expected him to stop and hold and snarl his usual, "You been with another man, haven't you?" But it never came. LeRoy was concentrating hard on getting his own pleasure out of her. And it not coming was kind of funny, since this is the first time her answer would have to be "yes."
He hadn't even asked her what she'd won the $500 for.
"LeRoy, baby," she murmured, warming to the churning of the cock inside her. "I done pretty good in Roanoke, honey. Won the talent contest and then . . ." She made the mistake of looking up into his face as he hunched over her. Other than having her cunt to work with, LeRoy wasn't there at all. He was concentrating on his rhythm and trying to get deeper inside her with each thrust. She covered her breasts with her hands and pinched her nipples, sighing as much from what she was doing to herself as from what LeRoy was doing between her legs. LeRoy was hardbodied and hard cocked and young and nice enough to look at. She'd concentrate on that.
The man in Roanoke had been older and stubbier, but at least he'd given her some time and attention. He'd liked her tits right much. She didn't have to squeeze and work them herself when he was fucking her.
It wasn't her first beauty pageantâshe'd had to win a few to get this farâbut it was sort of make-or-break time for her now. There hadn't been too many Miss Virginias older than she would be come November. The state pageant was held down in Roanoke, and it had been hell to pay to get LeRoy to let her go from out of their southwest Virginia hollow to compete. She was sure if the event had been held in Norfolk, he wouldn't have let her go, like he didn't let her go last year when it was in northern Virginia. Roanoke was farther away then he'd ever let her travel before.
He was jealous that way, even though it usually seemed that he cared more for his hound than for her. But she'd shown him the list of prize money, and he'd begrudgingly told her she could try it, although it looked like a lot of foolishness to him. When she'd asked him if he was coming to cheer her on, he just gave her his "are you from outer space?" look and asked her if she didn't realize how important his job was down at the garage in town.
When Dinah had won the talent contest with her singing and guitar playing, she realized for the first time that she had a shot at the finals. The top woman went straight to the nationals with the Miss Virginia title, and the next two would get to go on to Nashville for a regional Miss South contestant to also go to the national pageant.
She reasoned later that this had probably been her downfall, what had led her into sinâthe glimmer of a hope for getting further.
She'd been in the ballroom of the Hotel Roanoke convention center, waiting along with all of the other girls for the construction workers and designers to stop fussing on stage so that they could practice their evening gown walk when she'd heard the page over the loudspeaker.