I faded out The Cramps and hit the minidisc button to play a public service announcement about contaminated meat, my favorite PSA ever.
ââŠplace meat on lower shelves in your refrigerator,â the announcer wound up in her clipped but earnest tones, âso juices do not drip onto other food items.â
I flipped on the mic. âOhhhhâŠdripping juices,â I breathed. â
Gross
! So listen to the nice lady folks⊠I know
I
donât wanna eat any dirty meat.â
I laughed. OK, itâs cheesy and a little off-color, but itâs the middle of the night, you know? Iâm pretty sure there arenât any young children listening. I lean back into the microphone.
âThe time is 3:02 am, boys and girls, and youâre listening to your ever-loving student radio station, KLGR. Iâm Nicola, and weâre gonna do some Gun Club now. Sorry to load the punk on you, but tonight I think I want it rough. Know what I mean?â
I hit play again and flicked off my mic. The first screaming bars of âSex Beatâ came up and I pushed the rolling-chair away from the mixing board and stretched.
Alright, itâs 3 am in the fucking morning. That part sucks. But I love my radio show. Itâs not just that I get to impose my musical tastes on the late-night listeners of the small college town I live in. Itâs not just that I get to brag about my deejay gig at parties. Thereâs something about knowing my voice is on the air that gives me chills.
I have a great voice, if I do say so myself. Itâs husky, low â probably the sexiest single thing about tall, thin, shy me. Flat-chested, usually dressed in T-shirts, I donât look like a glamorous vixenâŠbut damn, I can sure sound like one.
So I play it up, you know what I mean? Talk extra-husky, make a few double-entendre jokes. I always try to sound like Iâm talking just to
you
. I like to picture guys flipping through the radio dial in the middle of the night, stopping when they hear me, listening, trying to picture me. Maybe even getting a little turned on. Whatâs the harm?
I know itâs working, cause I get a lot of callers, especially for such a late show. Mostly guys, of course. Nothing too weird; they just want to talk for a minute and then I let them go.
I turned to look through the stack of CDâs I picked out of the station library. Iâd played a lot of heavy stuff in the last twenty minutes. I checked the board: two minutes left to play on the Gun Club. Just enough time to run out to the vinyl section and scrounge something up. I swiveled my chair around to get up.
In the door of the deejay booth was a man Iâd never seen before. He was tall, sturdy â definitely good-looking, but way too old to be a college student.
âHello, Nicola.â
âUmâŠcan I help you?â
âYou said you were lonely, so I thought Iâd stop by.â
Itâs true. I do say that a lot, when Iâm trying to get people to call in and request a song. The more calls you get, the better your shows rating, so I lay it on extra thick, butâŠ
Well, Iâm no idiot, and this was scary.
âI think you should leave,â I said, trying to sound firm and mean. Yeah, whatever. My voice was shaking like Brittney Spearâs ass.
He laughed.
Thereâs a panic button inside the booth for emergencies. This definitely qualified. But for the life of me I couldnât remember where exactly it was. By the phone? Behind the turntable?
âIâm sure thereâs a call button,â he said. Shit, he read my mind. âThereâs also a phone, I see. But Iâd really think twice if I were you. Before anybody could get here, I could do some real damage to your face.â
His hand dove into the pocket of his coat and he brought out a switchblade. He flicked the blade out and let me look at it for a second.
My mouth was suddenly dry. I swallowed, licked my lips. I couldnât think straight, I was so scared. All I could get out was a strangled âplease donât.â
âWhat was that? Please, you said?â He laughed. âOh, Nicola, are you
scared
? You always sound so cocky, such a tough little cookie.â
He stepped forward, reached down where I was sitting and took a handful of my short, dark hair. He pulled my head back so I was looking straight up at him. Tears were starting in my eyes, but I held them back.
âYou know, youâre not quite like I pictured you,â he said. âI thought youâd have longer hair, fuller lips, maybe. Youâre so
pale
.â
OK, itâs stupid, but that really stung. So what if I wasnât the curvy bimbo heâd made up in his freaked-out psychopathâs head.
âReally sorry,â I spat. âBut Iâm not the porn star you were expecting, so why donât you just fucking go.â
He shook his head slowly, looking down at me. âNo,â he said. âNone of that stuff matters. I want you. Just like you are.â
He gave my hair another tug, pulling my head all the way back. His other hand, the one with the knife, cupped my cheek. I felt the metal cold against my jaw, and shut my eyes. I wouldnât look, I just wouldnâtâŠ
I heard the rustle of his clothes as he bent down, and then his breath hot on my face and neck. I tried to twist away, but he jerked my hair tight, pulling my head forward, and he was grinding his lips against mine. Iâd known what was coming from the minute Iâd looked up and seen him, but I still wasnât prepared for the vicious attack of his mouth.
His lips crushed mine painfully against my teeth and his tongue forced its way past mine, filling my mouth. His bristly upper lip and chin scraped me raw.
Just as I started to choke, he pulled away, leaving a long strand of spittle between his mouth and mine that broke and landed across my chin. I was too paralyzed even to wipe it away.
His hand released my hair and went to his belt, undoing the buckle. He didnât seem to be in any hurry. He was even smiling a little.
âYouâre such a little tease, Nicola. Such a classic little tease. No,â as I started to protest. âNo, of course you donât mean it. Teases never mean it. Itâs all harmless, right?â
He pulled his belt free and took hold of the zipper of his fly.
âItâs just a little fun, isnât it, Nicola?â
He jerked the zipper down, his voice getting tenser, harder.
âJust a little fun, right, baby? Thatâs because you donât know shit about what itâs like to be lonely, honey. You donât know what itâs like to have somebody pretend to want you -- and you want so bad for it to be true â and you know all the time the little bitch is just having
fun
.â
His fly was down, and reached inside his pants, rubbing himself.
âYou donât know lonely, baby. I think you might be learning, though. Donât you wish somebody was here right now? Donât you wish somebody was here to save your sweet young ass? But youâre along, arenât you? Just you and me. â
He grabbed me under one arm pit, jerking me onto my feet.
âStand up,â he said. On my feet I was almost as tall as he was, but he was so much stronger. His arms went around me like iron and he was kissing me again, even rougher, forcing my head back and plunging his tongue into my mouth with rough, angry strokes.