5 Days Earlier
Jason awoke with a start, immediately suspicious. He didn't remember much of the dream, but what he did remember put him on guard.
He needn't have worried. Jason was still under the covers, and seemingly unmolested. Pearl, or rather the lump of blankets that represented her, was in the same position he'd remembered from the night before, snoozing softly.
That calmed Jason's nerves somewhat, and with that calm came the familiar post-ambien fog. Looking over at the clock, he saw that it was half-past eight. Telly was probably back already, but he had no idea if Granny had already returned from ... wherever.
Still, laying around in bed wasn't his style. Time to get the day going.
Seeing no reason to wake Pearl, Jason got out of bed as gently as possible. He had the most durable case of morning wood in history, and his dick caught on the covers repeatedly, finally springing free to bob clumsily before him.
Really wish I could do something about that
, Jason thought.
Coincidentally, Pearl gave a loud, snorty snore at that very moment.
"Appreciate the enthusiasm," Jason muttered.
He pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and went into the kitchen. Once there, he discovered that Granny had in fact returned. She was laid out on the couch, sleeping, still dressed in the same clothes she'd worn out yesterday.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. All demons present and accounted for. He went into the kitchen and got to work.
Half an hour later, Pearl came out of the bedroom, yawning and stretching.
Pearl sniffed. "What smells so good?" she said.
"Breakfast," Jason said. He had already finished most of his, and sat at the little kitchen island, reading a copy of the most recent Chronicle. "Come get some."
"With an invitation like that..." Pearl said. "Is there any -"
"Butter, yes," Jason said. "But you have to promise to put it
on
things, instead of eating it straight. Trust me, it works better that way."
"We'll see," Pearl said. She sat down on the stool next to Jason and he forked food onto her plate. Scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa, fried mushrooms and some sausage patties. He poured her a glass of apple juice, and put some bagels in the toaster. Pearl jumped when they popped out a minute later, all crispy.
"Allow me to butter your bagel," Jason said, smiling.
"Hey, I'm supposed to be the bad one, remember?" retorted Pearl.
"See, you have to butter it up while it's still hot," Jason said, getting into it, "that way it gets all melty and soaks in real good."
"What's got into you?" Pearl said.
"Just shut up and put it in your mouth," said Jason.
"You're a bad man," Pearl said, but took a tentative bite anyway, which elicited a little squeal of approval.
After her initial reticence, Pearl did enjoy the buttered bagel, and that seemed to open the floodgates of hunger within her. She commenced to wolfing down everything on her plate.
Jason watched her eat, and remarked to himself, not for the first time, that she was kind of cute like this. Her hair all big and fucked up from sleeping, naked and chowing down with gleeful abandon on food she'd never tasted before, she seemed more like a big kid than the sexy, murderous vamp she usually presented. If he'd only met her today, he'd never have suspected that she was anything but an innocent, possibly sheltered woman coming out of her shell for the first time.
He watched her eat in silence, and Pearl filled that silence by noisily scarfing away. She didn't seem to be all that familiar with forks, so she clanged around a lot.
Eventually, Jason heard Granny stir awake. He'd made enough for three people, and fortunately Pearl hadn't yet eaten into what was intended to be Granny's share.
Granny awoke a bit more together than Pearl had. She simply stood up, looked toward the kitchen and said, "Good morning Jason, Purleen."
"Morning, Granny!" Pearl said. "Jason made breakfast for me!"
"For
us
," Jason corrected. "Have some. I made sure Pearl didn't eat yours."
"That's very kind of you. I shall," Granny said. She sat across the island from the two of them while Jason put food onto her plate.
"Thank you, Jason," Granny said. "And before I forget," she placed a folded stack of bills, mostly twenties it seemed, onto the table. "That is for you."
"Thank you," Jason said, trying to keep the wariness out of his voice. Thumbing through it, it looked to be around seven hundred dollars.
"Okay, I gotta ask," Jason said. "Where is this money coming from?"
"From my customers," Granny said. In stark contrast to Pearl, she ate her food with precision, as if she were dining in the fanciest of restaurants.
"Granny," Jason said, "who are your customers? What are you doing for them? Why are you getting so much money and why are you giving it to me?"
Granny lay her fork down on her plate, and looked around briefly. Jason guessed correctly that she wanted a napkin, so he pulled a paper towel off the roll and handed it to her. Granny wiped her mouth and folded the paper towel into quarters, placing it down next to the plate.
"I shall answer the last first," Granny said. "I owe my life to you." She reached up to her neck, lightly touching the white scar that encircled it. "As such, while on this plane your needs are mine to fulfil. I must and will service you in any way you desire."
"Oh," Jason said.
"I can tell from your reaction that this is news to you," Granny said, "which means that Pearl has not done as she was told."
"You said," Pearl said, "to tell him as much as was necessary. It just never came up."
"Purleen, I shall not quibble with you," Granny said. "In fact, I had counted on the possibility that my child would be remiss in her duties, and so this much I had prepared myself to explain."
"So, you'll do anything I ask?" Jason said. "Like, anything?"
"I'm not your puppet, if that's what you're implying," Granny said. "Think of it as a boon of well-being. Our phrase for it is
ska-masz
. If I can put your mind, your spirit, or your body at ease, I must take that initiative."
At the mention of putting Jason's body "at ease", the part of his body in most need of easing stiffened and jumped mightily. Pearl didn't even pretend not to notice. She reached over and began to pet Jason's penis, as if it were a nervous housecat.
"Down in front, big fella," Pearl said. "I know you'd love to have all that Granny to yourself..."
"Really not helping, Pearl," Jason said.
"...but we all know the story by now," Pearl continued sadly.
"Indeed," Granny said. "I dare not give your body the comfort it craves. But in my opinion, your spirit and mind can be eased by the application of currency, thereby giving you the freedom to explore your options in the immediate future. Hence, all the currencies that I earn are yours."
This immediately gave Jason an uneasy feeling. He was thinking of a word that started with "pros" and rhymed with "constitution".
"Granny," he said tentatively, "you're not ... you know ... having sex for money, are you?"