Up and Down the Road

She walked down the edge of the road, her headphones in her ears attached to her phone that sat in the back pocket. The sun beat down oppressively on a June afternoon, making her shoulders pink where the straps of her tank top didn't cover them. She stayed on the gravel and the grass where she could, out of the way of the passing cars. It wasn't a busy road, more like a neighborhood street. Houses stood far apart from each other down long driveways with patches of wooded area between them. She's walked this road hundreds of times and felt like she knew every uneven spot, every overgrown patch that intruded onto the road, the dent in the guard rail from Levi Hogan's drunk driving accident their senior year, three years ago, the Gardener family's elaborate mailbox designed to look like the miniature version of their house.

She could feel it when cars were coming down behind her and instinctively stepped further away from the pavement as the truck slowed down next to her. She wasn't paying attention to it, not until the driver lowered the passenger side window and called out to her.

"Marcy!" She looked over at him, pulling the headphone out of her left ear. "Hey, where are you headed?" She recognized the man behind the wheel. Dennis lived up the street from her, was probably a good ten years older, and at one point, back when they were both in high school, dated Marcy's oldest sister.

"Hey. Just down to the A&P. For work," she told him. It was down at the bottom of their street, a twenty-five minute walk from her house, only fifteen more from where she stood now. Dennis shifted his truck into park.

"Hop in, I'll give you a ride," he offered.

"Thanks," she pulled open the door, holding onto it for leverage as she struggled to hoist herself up to the passenger seat. It was a big truck and had no running boards and she wasn't exactly a big person. Marcy shut the door, settling herself into the passenger seat and buckling the seatbelt. Dennis smirked at her when she looked over.

"That was amusing to watch," he commented, shifting back into drive and looking over his shoulder as he pulled away.

"Short girl problems," she rolled her eyes.

"I don't usually see you around. Did you just move back home or something?" He asked, switching his gaze between the road and her.

"I'm in college. Just home for the summer." She wouldn't say that she ran into Dennis frequently before she had gone away either. Not since she was a little kid and he was with Sadie.

"Why are you walking?"

"I like to walk." It wasn't a flippant response, she meant it. It wasn't that far to walk and the 2000 Buick LaSabre that she got secondhand from her dad was not exactly fuel-efficient. It also had the 'check engine' light on for over a month now and she was a little bit scared to be stranded somewhere in it. Then she'd had to pay for a tow truck in addition to the repairs. She figured that she probably saved a good amount of money walking to and from work over the summer and could eventually afford to take it into the shop and actually have it checked out. And maybe, while she was at it, she could have the AC checked on too, cause that stopped working over a year ago now.

"Ok, I'll grant you that it's probably ok right now, as you're going in, but when do you get off?" His eyes were on the road as they rounded the curve.

"Tonight - at 10."

"And you walk home, in the dark, up this road?" Dennis's eyebrows went up.

"Sometimes. Frequently I bum a ride off of someone." Dennis smirked. "Sadie's supposed to get me tonight." He nodded.

"That's good." He seemed genuinely relieved when he pulled into the A&P parking lot, taking her right up to the entrance.

"Thanks for the ride," she smiled at him, undoing her seatbelt.

"No problem," Dennis gave her a little salute with his hand, smiling at her before she let herself out.

Now she was even earlier for her shift than she was going to be had she walked. She walked through the store towards the backroom to pull on her uniform and store her bag. She didn't think too much about Dennis. It wasn't the first time that someone had picked her up on the road and had given her a ride. It was a really small town and people knew each other. She had lived in the same house her entire life and her parents had been there at least ten years before she was born. Five years ago, when her mom suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and suddenly passed away, the neighbors definitely pulled together, even more, checking in on them constantly and bringing over meals for them. She had been fifteen, still in high school, her middle sister, Talia, was twenty-one and away at college, and Sadie was twenty-three and living back home again. It was a rough time. Dad didn't deal with it well, working longer hours, drinking more when he was home, withdrawing into himself. But the neighbors and the town were there for them, holding them up. It didn't seem strange or out of the ordinary to rely on help from others, to accept a dish of casserole or a ride from someone.

She didn't give Dennis another thought until he pulled up next to her again as she walked home from work that night.

****

He spotted her in the light of his headlights as he made his way back up the hill. He had been out all afternoon, helping his buddy Tim put together a swing set for his kid. He stayed over for dinner and a couple of beers before heading home and there she was again. Marcy Barton could easily be mistaken for a child. She was five feet tall, at most, probably didn't weigh any more than a hundred pounds, had her shoulder-length dirty blond hair in a ponytail, and wore no makeup. When he looked at her sitting in his passenger seat earlier that day, he desperately tried to remember how old she was when he dated her sister Sadie. Six or seven? But she said she was in college now. It made him feel old.

"Marcy!" He called out to her, rolling down the passenger side window. She approached the truck, looking in at him. "Did you seriously lie to me before about having a ride home tonight?"

"No," her eyes were wide, as far as he could tell in the darkness. "Sadie totally bailed on me. She just got the baby to sleep right before I got off from work and she didn't want to move her into the car seat and all. So she couldn't leave." She stood there, waiting for him to respond.

"Well, get in!" She didn't hesitate at his invitation, opening the door and awkwardly climbing into the seat. He waited for her to close the door and buckle her seatbelt before moving. "This kinda freaks me out that you walk all by yourself along a dark road like this at night." He couldn't quite tell in the darkness of the truck what her expression was.

"It's Jefferson! What's going to happen? There's more of a chance that I'd be attacked by a skunk or a bear even than by a person," her voice sounded as if she thought him ridiculous.

"Hey, there are sick individuals everywhere," he told her. "Plus you never know who could be passing through, it might not be someone local."

"Dennis, you live at the top of the hill! There's no outlet. The only people who come up this road are people who live here. I don't think I've encountered a stranger here the last two weeks that I've been walking." Man, she was a little spark plug.

"And what are you gonna do if a stranger stops, trying to pick you up? You had your headphones in, you won't even hear them approach you until it's too late." The road here was completely dark. Aside from the occasional house that had a decorative light out at the bottom of their driveway, there were no streetlights at all along this road. He was shocked that she wasn't using a flashlight or something walking in the dark like she was. By this time of the night, on a cloudy day, it would be totally pitch black.

"I know karate," she said and he wanted to laugh. He gave her a quick glance, not really seeing much of her face in the darkness. The only light inside the cab came from his dashboard. "Ok, I don't. But I'm a big girl, Dennis, I know not to get into cars with strangers." He laughed.

"Did you get into trouble a lot when you were in high school?" He imagined her being rebellious, sneaking out at night, getting grounded a lot.

"Umm..." she seemed to genuinely think about it for a bit. "Not really. I tried this and that, you know, out of curiosity, but I wasn't a bad kid. I got good grades and I was on the track team and stuff." He nodded. Her sister was that way too - up for experimenting, but ultimately a good kid. He definitely tried very hard to sleep with her, but she held out on him. She was only a sophomore when he was a senior and even though he kept trying, he knew she wasn't ready and it wouldn't actually happen. Sadie and Marcy didn't look very much alike though. Sadie must have been at least four or five inches taller than her and was already pretty well developed when he dated her. He couldn't help but notice that Marcy definitely wasn't built the same way. To say that she had a modest set of breasts would be generous. He doubted that she needed to wear a bra at all. But she was cute. And he found her overconfident personality fun.

"What's the 'this and that' that you tried in high school?" He was curious.

"You know, the standard stuff, pot, booze, cigarettes, fooling around with guys. Can't say that I really did anything wild though. Most of those I tried like... once, while in high school," she admitted. He laughed again. "Are you married with kids now?" She suddenly asked, looking right at him. "You're like thirty, right?"

"Wow," he clapped a hand to his chest. "Way to make me feel like an old fart there, thanks. Yeah, I'm thirty, but no, not married, no kids."

"Well, you know, I was just wondering. Sorry," she sounded apologetic. "Cause you know Sadie is married and has a baby and she's twenty-eight. And I don't know," she shrugged. "I'm not around most of the year, I don't know who's doing what."

"It's alright. I guess I do have enough friends who are, but no, not married."

"Honestly, you look really good for your age," she told him and he believed that she meant it. She wasn't just saying it to make him feel better. "You have all your hair and stuff. You look like you work out."

"Thanks," Dennis chuckled. "Do you know what I do? Professionally, for work?" He wasn't sure how much she's heard. It really was a small town where everyone was in each other's business.

"No. Are you a personal trainer or something?"

"Woah, Do I actually look like I could be a personal trainer? Really?" He wasn't fishing for compliments, just taken aback by her comment.

"Sure."

"Thanks. But no. I do custom wood carving and carpentry. Art pieces, doors, a lot of signage, ornaments, and shit like that at the holiday season," he explained. "The reason I said that is cause it's kind of a physical job, I guess."

"Ah, I see, you are explaining away the big guns," she poked a finger at his bicep.

"Right." He could feel his face flush a little at that and was glad for the darkness in the truck. "What are you planning on doing once you graduate?"

"That is the question, isn't it? Do you know what I would really love to do? Like a dream job sort of thing? I'd love to work at one of those historical places where they give tours of the actual historical sites and talk about all the stuff from that time period and when they are not giving the tours, they are actually researching the artifacts and acquiring new ones that would fit the atmosphere of the place and make it all authentic, you know? That would be really cool." She concluded.

"Like at Gettysburg?" His eyebrows went up.

"Yeah. Or umm... you know, the tenement museum in New York City or Fort William Henry at Lake George," she sounded excited. "Living history sort of thing."

"So you're a history major then?"

"I am," she confirmed. "One more year left." She sighed. "I'm probably going to end up going to grad school though. Cause for any kind of a curator position or a researcher or anything you need more than just a bachelor's degree." The lights above the garage came on when he got far enough up her driveway and he took a long look at her face as he shifted into park. She had this contemplative look on her face and, with it, she looked a lot more mature and put together.

"That's cool too. I mean, if you're into school," he chuckled.

"I'm into it, it's ok," she admitted, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Thanks for the ride!" He shot out a hand to her arm before she got the chance to hop down out of the truck.

"Hey, please don't walk home in the dark, ok?" He wasn't sure that his request would actually yield any results with this strong-willed girl, but he was gonna try.

"Yeah, ok," she told him, giving him a wink before she closed the truck door.

She didn't heed his warning of course. In the coming weeks, he picked her up walking in the dark twice more. Honestly, Dennis really enjoyed talking to her while he drove her home. She was spunky and interesting and fun to hang out with. He couldn't deny the fact that he was attracted to her too. She was quite stubborn though.

"Listen," he told her, as they sat in her driveway for over twenty minutes just talking. "Let me give you my phone number and if you need a ride, just call me or text me or something and I'll come and get you." He didn't have much going on most nights anyway. He was single, living alone in a house up the street from his parents that formerly belonged to his grandfather, a good number of his friends had little kids so they didn't go out often. What else was he doing? She allowed him to input his number into her phone but made no promises to call him.

****

She liked him. The more time she spent with him, the more attractive she thought he was. She was yet to see him in anything other than a sitting position, at the steering wheel, but she remembered him being quite a bit taller than Sadie, which would mean he'd tower over her. She had lots of opportunities to admire his strong, muscular arms and his large, rough hands. She could imagine him handling her, being less than gentle about it, and her loving it. And yet she wasn't sure that he actually saw her that way. He acted more like an older brother than someone interested in her. He constantly worried about her walking home alone in the dark and being safe. He looked at her as if he thought she was a cute kid rather than a grown woman.

She didn't want to bother him, asking for rides. She didn't work late every single night and she did have friends who were able to pick her up at times. Sadie was also frequently up for a drive, especially when her three-month-old wouldn't go down and the car ride helped her to doze off. An occasional late-night walk wasn't that bad. She managed it a couple of times without Dennis catching her. Of course, he had other things to do than patrol the road for her at night and catch her every time she was walking late. But eventually, there he was again, driving past her slowly and then pulling off the road, underneath the trees up ahead.

He didn't usually do that, she noted to herself, continuing to walk on ahead towards his parked truck. He opened the door and got out, walking back towards her. God, he was massive. He had a v-neck t-shirt on with a pair of jeans and workboots and there seemed to be a bit of swagger to his step as he walked.

"It's after midnight, Marcy!" He announced the obvious as he approached. "How many cars have passed you while you've been walking right now?"

"Zero. No one's out here. I'm fine," she told him, stubbornly. He shook his head. She'd bet that he also rolled his eyes at her, but she couldn't make out. It was really dark. He stepped closer to her suddenly and lifted her up off the ground, throwing her over his shoulder. She yelped out in surprise.

"Shit, you weigh nothing at all!" he seemed surprised. "How little effort would it take some asshole to just pick you up and throw you into his truck and drive away. You wouldn't even have a chance to scream." He started walking back towards his truck with her still over his shoulder.

"Ok, I got the idea. You can put me down now," Marcy conceded.

"Nah, I don't think you got the idea yet," he told her. She felt him stop and heard him unlatch the gate of the truck bed. He lowered her carefully onto it, laying her down. She stared up at him towering over her in the dark, unsure about what was happening. His hands reached for her waist, fumbling to find the button and zipper on her jeans, then undoing them. Her heart raced in her chest, threatening to jump out.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, trying to stay cool and betray as little of her nerves as possible.

"I don't know," there was a smirk in his voice, "apparently, whatever I want. 'Cause, you're not even fighting me. Where are those karate skills you bragged about, huh?" He hooked his fingers in the top of her jeans and panties and pulled them down together, all the way to her sneakers.

"Dennis, ok, you can stop now, I get it," her voice was quieter, her fear definitely audible in it. It wouldn't make sense for him to hurt her, she thought. He was always so concerned about her safety, why would he do anything to harm me? Just to prove his point?

She felt him leaning over her, his large calloused hands going to her thighs and spreading them apart. Firmly, but not painfully so. He wasn't stopping. He leaned in closer, fitting his face in between her thighs, the scruff on his cheeks scratching them softly. His mouth covered her pussy and his tongue darted out, running the length of her seam. She didn't know whether to push him away or to pull him in closer.

He spread her open with his thumbs, licking thoroughly through all the folds and drilling his tongue inside her. She could help but arch her back off the hard, rubberized surface of his truck bed. He definitely knew what he was doing and the sensations he was causing with his tongue were a lot more intense than anything she'd felt before while being eaten out. Then she felt him push one of his thick fingers inside her and she barely held on, barely keeping on this side of not erupting in orgasm. His finger hooked inside her, thrusting, rubbing against the just-right parts, and she couldn't keep the moan from escaping her now. It sounded like Dennis smirked at her enjoyment of what he was doing.

The thought suddenly occurred to her that they were outside, just off their neighborhood road, where anyone coming up the street would get a clear view of them. And everyone on this street knew them! Somehow, the idea of this potential humiliation seemed to bring her even closer and she didn't know how to keep from exploding. His tongue flicked rapidly over her clit, tipping her over, Marcy bit her lip to keep from screaming. The sensation spread over her body, spasming through her, while Dennis didn't seem to let up. His finger continued to thrust inside her, his tongued still lapped at her dripping pussy, and then she felt him graze his teeth over her clit and she was coming all over again. She didn't even know that was a thing! Perhaps her experience with oral sex was too limited to know about this trick, but it certainly got her off for the second time! He eased up after that, seemingly satisfied with himself. She felt him pull away, then tug her panties and jeans back up her legs. She lifted her ass up to get them back on and reached for the fly to buckle them back up herself.

He lifted her down from his truck bed and closed the gate, then walked her to the passenger side door, opening it for her. Marcy was still in shock over what happened when Dennis joined her in the cab. He reached over her and buckled her seatbelt, cause she was still sitting there, slackjawed. She could see him grinning in the light of the dashboard when he started the truck back up. He seemed very pleased with himself.