“Am I?”

*Author’s Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

Disclaimers: This story has been edited by myself, utilizing Microsoft Spell-Check. You have been forewarned; expect to find mistakes.

*.*.*.*

Christine Gernaud stood in front of the Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store in Kimble, Louisiana, fanning her sweating face. The heat was in the high nineties; the humidity was also in the high nineties. Her blonde hair actually looked light brown where it stuck to her scalp; the sweat made the yellow hair look dark.

Christine had her mother, Pam Gernaud to thank for her beauty. Just like her mother, Christine was blessed with thick, straight straw colored locks, large blue eyes, a button nose and pouting light pink lips. Her mother had also passed along her large breasts and cute bubble butt and slim waist to Christine.

Christine wasn’t thanking her mother for any genetic traits; she was cursing her mother for constantly running off with this trucker or that trucker, getting herself pregnant, then returning to Gary Gernaud with promises that she’d reformed. The last time Pam returned, Gary agreed that it would be her last time and put two slugs into Pam’s cheating heart before putting the gun into his own mouth and ending his misery.

Christine and four of her brothers and sisters were farmed out to the foster care system. Her first night in the Gueydan household, Christine’s nightmare really began. She found alcohol to numb the pain and deaden her shame. After all, Mr. Gueydan told Christine it was her own fault. And Mrs. Gueydan claimed that Christine brought it all on herself, always parading around, showing off the goodies.

Nina Crowder pulled into the parking lot of the Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store. The twenty seven year old woman shut off the powerful engine of her 2017 Dodge Charger and sighed as the last blast of cold air left the vent of the car. Oakleaf, Texas had enjoyed some brutal heat waves, but they rarely had such extreme humidity.

“Thank God it’s Friday; sit in the air conditioning whole weekend,” Nina promised herself as she rested her hand on the door handle.

When Tom Thibodaux of Thibodaux Investments had decided to open his own collection agency, he contacted Brad Prescott of Prescott Conglomerate, Inc. and asked Brad to assist. Brad was smart enough to know, he wasn’t smart enough to assist Tom, so routed Tom to Ashley Dunn, the manager of the Collections Department.

“Mr. Thibodaux, the first thing you’re going to need is an experienced agent to manage the department,” Ashley had stated. “And, the one person I would recommend, the one person I know would make your department a success is Nina Crowder. She has the experience, the know-how; hell, she helped me to whip this section into shape. And, she’s not afraid to hurt people’s feelings.”

“Oh, I don’t want…” Tom had said.

“You don’t want to be intentionally cruel,” Ashley had forged on. “But, people’s feelings are going to get hurt. Employees, clients, your clients’ customers; feelings are going to get hurt. And you don’t want a ‘buddy’ that wants to make everyone happy. You want someone that will separate the wheat from the chaff, get the job done.”

Nina had just had another relationship crater. She’d had yet another boyfriend dump her after promising a forever love; Bobby had even been talking about marriage and children before deciding to hook up with a leggy blonde bimbo that danced at Tijuana Jack, a gentleman’s club in Oakleaf, Texas.

So, when Ashley had recommended that Tom interview Nina, Nina had jumped at the opportunity. The face to face interview had gone very well; and the salary had made Nina almost gasp out loud. The only thing Nina had not liked was Tom’s insistence that his agents dress professionally.

“We’re going to be on the phone,” Nina had spluttered. “Who cares what we look like?”

“I care. We’re a professional company. Employees should dress and conduct themselves in a professional manner,” Tom said firmly.

So, Nina dressed in skirts and blouses or dresses; she hated the way she looked in pants suits. With her red hair cut in a short bob, pants suits tended to make her look somewhat butch. She even put her 28B breasts into a bra; the first day on the job, she’d not worn a bra. Tom had quietly called Nina into his office and pointed out that he could very clearly see her nipples through her silk blouse.

Her first six months in DeGarde, Louisiana, Nina had rented an apartment in Venice Apartments. After her ninety day probation period had elapsed and Tom had indicated that he was more than pleased with Nina’s performance and the performance of the collection agency as a whole, she had hired Deidre Doucet of Gold Standard Real Estate to find a home for Nina.

“Come on; ain’t going get no cooler longer you sit here,” Nina told herself and opened the door of her car.

A blast of fetid air blew Nina’s pleated skirt up, exposing her thigh high stockings and bald pubic mound to anyone that might have been looking. Tom Thibodaux might be able to tell Nina to wear bras or camisole tops underneath her blouses, but he could not tell Nina she had to wear panties. Going commando was Nina’s one act of defiance.

Nina quickly pulled the skirt down and smiled self-consciously at the cute blonde girl that flashed a smile at Nina. She locked her car and closed the door and grabbed an abandoned buggy.

“Oh, ow! Holy cow!” Nina whistled as the scalding hot plastic handle burned her palm.

“Hey, lady, you uh, you buy me a pint of Albertson’s Gin,” the blonde asked.

“What? Albert, how old are you?” Nina asked the attractive girl.

“Nineteen,” Christine admitted. “Come on, lady, I got the buck; just buy me the pint, huh?”

“Buck; how much is a pint of this stuff?” Nina asked, ignoring the sweaty dollar bill the girl held out.

“Eighty nine; comes up to ninety seven with tax,” Christine said.

“Eighty, wow, the good stuff, huh?” Nina said. “Look, I don’t think so. Jesus, you’re only nineteen? I don’t need…”

“Come on, lady; shit, I don’t get back to the shelter by six, I’ll miss supper,” Christine begged.

“Shelter?” Nina asked, looking again at the girl’s clothing of man’s shirt and blue jeans cut off into obscene shorts.

“Yeah, I’m homeless,” Christine admitted, a slight blush coloring her face.

That slight blush gave Nina cause to hesitate. She didn’t know how long the girl had been homeless, but apparently the girl had not been hardened to the point that she couldn’t blush. But she had been beat down enough that she needed cheap alcohol. Nina could now see how badly the girl’s hands shook as she held out the dollar bill.

“Okay. Come on,” Nina said, nodding her head toward the store.

“They uh, they don’t let me in; manager caught me stealing couple apples,” Christine admitted.

Nina smiled and nodded. The girl’s blush was on her face again. And the girl was honest enough to admit that she resorted to stealing.

“Okay, go wait by my car,” Nina said. “Don’t touch any of the buggies; burned shit out of my hand.”

Inside of the store, Nina grabbed another buggy. This one had been out of the sun long enough to cool slightly. On impulse, Nina veered to the produce section and grabbed a large Fuji apple. She had done her major shopping earlier in the week, so just needed a few items she’d forgotten about.

In the liquor aisle, Nina found the Albertson’s Gin and wrinkled her face. The pints were eighty nine cents; a fifth was only a dollar fifty nine. Next to the gin was the Iron Barrel Whiskey. Nina selected a bottle of Iron Barrel Chocolate and a bottle of Iron Barrel Cherry Whiskey. She did a swing around and found the Burns & Burns brand sweetened condensed milk.

“Hmm,” the cashier said when she spotted the pint of Albertson’s Gin among Nina’s other items.

The woman even turned her head and scanned the parking lot through the plate glass window. She gave Nina a hard look as she continued to ring up Nina’s purchases.

At the door, Nina grabbed the bags from the buggy and marched into the brutal heat of the summer sun. Nina saw the girl had moved to the other side of her car; out of the unfriendly cashier’s line of sight.

“Lady, you uh, you didn’t take my dollar,” Christine said.

“Didn’t need your dollar,” Nina said, putting everything into her trunk.

“Aw, you didn’t get it?” Christine whined when Nina slammed the trunk shut.

“Yeah, I got it,” Nina said, hitting the fob for her car. “Come on, get in. I don’t know what they’re feeding you at the shelter but I’m making country fried steak at my place.”

“I don’t get there by six…” Christine said, slightly panicked.

“Kid, when’s the last time you had a bath?” Nina asked.

“I showered other day,” Christine hotly said.

“A bath, kid, not a shower. I even got a hot tub,” Nina invited.

Christine nodded her head and opened the passenger door of the car. She got in and buckled up as Nina started the powerful motor.

“You did get me the gin, right?” Christine verified as Nina pulled out of the parking lot.

“Yeah,” Nina agreed.

“So, uh, we going fuck?” Christine blurted out.

“God, am I that obvious?” Nina almost asked, looking at the blushing blonde.

“I uh, I figured we’d you know, eat, have a couple drinks, get to know each other,” Nina admitted, resting her small hand on Christine’s warm thigh. “That okay?”

“I uh, yeah,” Christine conceded.

Deidre Doucet had found Nina unit #202 in the Withers Condominiums in Jack’s Creek, Louisiana. The four condominiums looked like rustic bars with mottled tin roofs. Each building consisted of four separate units; the odd numbered units had two bedrooms and two baths, the even numbered units had three bedrooms and three full bathrooms. Nina did not know when, if she ever would, but decided the three bedroom unit would be good for her and her husband and their children.

Nina pulled into the garage, still chattering pleasantly. Christine sat numbly in the passenger seat, sweating profusely despite the cold air blowing on her.

“Lady, please, you get that gin?” Christine begged when Nina popped open the trunk of her car.

Yeah; kind of stupid of me,” Nina admitted, finding the bottle. “Could see you needed it pretty bad.”

Christine quickly unscrewed the cap and took a gulp. Nina watched, face soft as Christine shuddered then coughed slightly. Then Nina gathered her other bags and nodded toward the interior door with her head.

“Oh, got you this,” Nina said, handing Christine the Fuji apple as she settled the bags on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, hey, thanks!” Christine said happily.

“I mean, if you really hungry, go ahead and eat it,” Nina said. “Me? I’m going get out of this get up and then I’ll start on our dinner, okay?”

“Yeah,” Christine said.

In her bedroom, Nina pulled off her clothing, rolling the stockings down and off, putting the sodden silk blouse into a bag with her other dry-cleaning-only clothing. Her bra joined her cotton skirt in her hamper. Then Nina pulled on her Dallas Cowboys jersey and padded back to her kitchen.

“You like chocolate covered cherries?” Nina asked as the pounded round steak sizzled in the cast iron skillet.

“God! Don’t remember last time I had any,” Christine said, perking up.

“Kind of got this idea; I’m a whiskey kind of girl, by the way, what is your name?” Nina said, pouring two jiggers of Iron Barrel Chocolate and two jiggers of Iron Barrel Cherry Whiskey into a tall glass.

“Huh? Oh, I’m Christine,” Christine said. Christine Gernaud. You?”

“Nina Crowder,” Nina said, stirring in a tablespoon of condensed sweetened milk to the whiskey, then dropping a few ice cubes into the glass. “Here, try this; tell me what you think.”

“Mm,” Christine sighed. “Oh! That, that’s good!”

“Yeah?” Nina asked, fixing herself a duplicate.

Christine had never drank for flavor. She’d started off with drinking the mouthwash and the vanilla extract and the cooking wine in the Gueydan household. Beer and wine followed; schoolmates at Northside High School could usually steal those from their parents. After graduating from high school, after being thrown out of the Gueydan household when the State of Louisiana quit paying for them to house Christine, Christine drank whatever she could. She preferred the Albertson’s Gin; it acted quickly and lasted a good while.

“Here we go,” Nina said, putting a plate of food in front of Christine.

“Man, this is good, yeah,” Christine enthused, chewing and swallowing a hunk of meat.

“Thanks. My mom was an unbelievably bad cook,” Nina admitted. “So my brothers and me; we learned to cook. It was either that or starve to death.”

“Where’s your bathroom?” Christine suddenly asked.

The bathroom was a bit of a disappointment. There was no medicine cabinet; Christine had learned to raid medicine cabinets when she was in school. Two or three pills could sometimes take the place of alcohol and no one could smell pills on her breath. This bathroom’s medicine cabinet had Band-Aids, some hydrogen peroxide, some tampons and a bottle of Midol and nothing else.

Christine returned to the small dining room and saw that Nina had fixed a second drink for the two of them. She smiled and Nina returned the smile.

Christine looked at the small red headed woman. When she smiled, Nina Crowder was a very beautiful woman, with pale skin, narrow face with a very light dusting of freckles, and large brown eyes. Her nose was a little sharp, her chin was pointed, and her hair was cut into a short bob that just reached her jawline.

Christine impulsively leaned over and gave Nina a quick kiss on her lips. Nina smiled and returned Christine’s kiss.

“This is good,” Christine sighed as the alcohol burned down her throat and reached her gut.

“Mm hmm; there’s more potatoes and green beans if you want,” Nina said, scraping the last of her meal onto her fork.

“Yeah?” Christine asked.

They took their third drinks onto the screen in patio. Nina took the cover off of the hot tub, fiddled with the jets, then pulled two towels from a small hutch. Christine gulped her drink as she eased her too-large tennis shoes from her feet.

“You uh, Nina, you ain’t worried someone going see us?” Christine asked as Nina lifted her jersey up and off, revealing her nude body.

“Nope,” Nina said, pointing to the tall privacy fence that enclosed the back patio from view.

Nina became a little aggressive and unbuttoned Christine’s shirt. She raised up on her tiptoes and kissed Christine’s lips softly. Then Nina licked Christine’s lips with her pink tongue.

“Mm,” Nina cooed as Christine’s tongue stabbed into Nina’s mouth.

“Mm,” Christine groaned as Nina’s small hands lifted and squeezed Christine’s 31D breasts.

In high school, when she’d been eating on a regular basis, eating the school breakfasts and lunches, eating the Gueydan’s dinners, Christine had sported a 34DD chest. Her nipped in waist had made her large breasts look even larger, and had emphasized her rounded buttocks. Time on the streets had whittled the pounds and inches from Christine’s five foot three inch frame. Her hair had been trimmed to waist level the last time she’d had a hair styling done. Her hair now reached to below her buttocks.

Christine was grateful for the alcohol; she wasn’t sure how she felt about kissing another woman. She’d done some pretty shameful things for alcohol, but she’d never been with a woman.

Once, she’d sucked two old guys off for a few worn dollar bills and a pint of Albertson’s Gin. The two men had laughed and called her filthy names. The fat one had even slapped her on her face with his cock, smearing his dribble of semen onto her face. But they’d given her a few bucks and a pint of gin, so she’d withstood the shame.

Nina unzipped Christine’s shorts and ran her fingers over Christine’s blonde muff. Christine sucked in a gasp as Nina’s finger easily slipped into Christine’s wet pussy.

Nina slipped Christine’s shorts down over her narrow hips and down her slim legs. Then, with another kiss to Christine’s lips, Nina pulled Christine to the hot tub.

“Upsa-daisy,” Nina cheerfully said as she assisted Christine into the bubbling waters.

Carefully balancing her drink in hand, Nina kicked one stubby leg up and over the rim of the tub. Christine saw Nina’s bald mound split open and saw Nina’s puffy inner lips threatening to poke out. Nina used her free hand to balance herself as she lifted the other leg from the ground. Christine now looked at Nina’s slim, pale buttocks.

“Love coming out here,” Nina confessed as she floated over to where Christine perched. “Feel you know, naughty being out here, nude.”

“But, thought you said no one can see us,” Christine asked, glancing around nervously.

“They can’t but, it’s just the whole idea of it,” Nina confessed and kissed Christine softly.

Christine returned Nina’s kiss. When Nina opened her mouth, Christine stuffed her tongue into Nina’s mouth. She groaned into Nina’s mouth when she felt Nina’s fingers dancing across her breasts.

“Mm, oh,” Christine groaned as Nina’s fingers tugged at Christine’s right nipple.

The bubbling waters caused Christine’s large breasts to bobble. The ceiling fans were on medium speed, blowing cool air onto the covered patio. Christine’s light brown nipples were crinkled hard; the cool air cooling her wet breasts and shoulders.

Nina pulled her mouth from Christine’s lips and took a hefty gulp of her drink. Christine followed suit, draining her glass. Nina gently took the emptied glass from Christine’s hand and placed the glass on the lip of the tub. She then drained her own glass and set it on the lip, next to Christine’s glass.

Nina then rolled slightly in the steaming water and pressed her chest against Christine’s chest. Their lips mashed together in a passionate kiss. Christine wrapped her arms around the slender red head’s torso, pulling Nina tightly against herself.

Underneath the bubbling froth, Nina pressed her bald mound against Christine’s tuft of blonde hair. Both girls groaned in pleasure as Nina rubbed her crotch firmly against Christine’s crotch.

“Mm,” Nina crooned, bringing her hand between their mounds.

“Mm,” Christine grunted as Nina’s fingers entered her wet pussy.

Nina’s fingers brought Christine closer and closer to climax. They continued kissing as Nina fingered Christine’s pussy.

“Come on; you’ll love this,” Nina husked, pulling Christine from her perch.

“Mm,” Christine protested; she’d been right at the brink of orgasm.

“Don’t worry,” Nina giggled and pulled Christine toward a molded lounger.

“Mm, augh!” Christine cried out as a forceful jet of water pummeled her pussy.

Nina’s kiss silenced Christine’s cry of pleasure. Christine pressed her crotch firmly against the torrent of water as Nina’s lips and tongue kissed her and Nina’s fingers tugged and teased Christine’s nipples. After a second powerful orgasm, Christine slumped in Nina’s embrace.

Nina then pressed her own small breasts into Christine’s hands. Christine sluggishly did toy with Nina’s hard mounds for a moment before bending her head and suckling on Nina’s left nipple.

“Bite, augh, bite it,” Nina whispered.

Nina shuddered in pleasure as Christine did bite down. Christine then did the same to Nina’s right nipple. Christine moved her hand down over Nina’s taut belly, over Nina’s smooth mound

“Damn, how you get it…” Christine asked, feeling how soft and smooth the flesh was.

“Electrolysis,” Nina said. “Bite it again. I like my nips bbitten.”

“Christine bit down on Nina’s left nipple and pulled her head back. Nina grunted and shuddered, pulling herself back, stretching her breast out even further.

“Augh, God yes,” Nina cried out as Christine drove two fingers into Nina’s wet pussy.

After her second orgasm, Nina pulled Christine’s head close. The two shared a soft kiss. Just as Christine opened her mouth, the jets suddenly died down.

“I set it for twenty minutes; you really don’t want be out here do much more than that,” Nina said, gently pulling Christine to the edge of the tub.

Nina handed Christine one towel and began to dry herself with the second towel. Christine shivered slightly; the ceiling fans were blowing cooled air on her damp flesh.

“Come on,” Nina urged, opening the door of the house.

“Ack!” Christine called out as the chilled air hit her flesh.

“Come on,” Nina giggled and led Christine up the carpeted stairs.

“Ack, ack, ack,” Christine complained, shivering in the cold air.

“And…” Nina said, pulling back a fluffy comforter and urging Christine to lie underneath the covering.

Christine hunkered down, shivering. She watched Nina’s compact backside as the woman scampered from the bedroom.

A moment later, Nina returned with two fresh drinks. By the time Nina returned, Christine had ceased shivering. She sat up and accepted the drink.

“Mm,” Christine sighed as she gulped the harsh liquor.

Nina took a sip of her own drink, then put the glass on a coaster on her nightstand. Christine took another gulp of her drink, then set her glass down.

Nina cupped Christine’s head in her small hands, then kissed Christine softly on her lips. Their tongues touch and Nina sucked on Christine’s tongue.

“Mm,” Christine moaned as Nina sucked on Christine’s nipple.

Nina pressed Christine’s breasts together and trailed her hot tongue from one nipple to the other. Then she reached over and grabbed Christine’s drink. “Mm, augh!” Christine cried out as Nina again sucked on her left nipple.

Nina had captured an ice cube in her mouth when she’d sipped Christine’s drink. The cold ice and Nina’s warm tongue created a sharp contrast that had Christine’s nipple painfully hard. When Nina brought her mouth to the other nipple, Christine again gave a cry.

Nina swallowed the sliver of ice cube and warmed Christine’s hard nipple with her warm tongue.

Nina wiggled down and kicked along the undersides of Christine’s breasts. She then licked over Christine’s concave belly, wiggling down Christine’s prone body.

“Ooh,” Christine let out a moan as Nina blew warm breath over Christine’s puffy labia.

Nina thrust her tongue out, licking along Christine’s puffy pussy lips. She could taste Christine’s excitement on the girl’s wet labia.

“Mm oh, augh!” Christine cried out when Nina jammed two fingers into Christine’s wet pussy.

Nina again took a sip from Christine’s glass. Christine also took a hefty gulp from her glass as Nina’s fingers continued to toy with her pussy.

Christine gave another yelp as Nina’s warm lips encircled Christine’s clitoris. The incredible contrast between Nina’s warm mouth and the ice cube in Nina’s mouth was intense. Christine arched her back as Nina’s mouth and fingers tortured Christine’s pussy.

“Augh, oh God, God damn, God damn, aught!” Christine screamed in orgasm.

Nina sucked and fingered Nina to two more orgasms while frantically rubbing her own pussy to three bucking orgasms. Finally, Christine weakly shoved Nina’s mouth from her pussy. Nina rolled onto her side of the bed and picked up her drink.

“Oh. My. God,” Christine weakly murmured, draining her drink. “That was…”

“Yeah, it was,” Nina said quietly.

Nina had girlfriends when in high school. They’d gather in Marva’s bedroom; Marva’s mother and father worked at Mickelwhite’s Deli and didn’t get home until well after nine o’clock in the evening. They’d talk and squeal and gossip. Invariably, the subject of boys and sex would come up and they’d whisper breathlessly about what they would do if ever a boy paid them an iota of attention.

They’d even practice on one another. Kisses and gropes became more aggressive, but they never crossed the line into full lesbianism. Their clothing always stayed on.

In college, Nina had experimented with some girls. But she would only experiment with other girls when not in a relationship with a boy. Because she didn’t play games, because she fucked, Nina was rarely without a boy.

Nina’s reverie was broken when Christine rolled over next to her and softly kissed Nina’s lips. Nina put her glass down and opened her mouth for Christine’s tongue.

“Mm, yyeess,” Nina sighed when Christine bent and took Nina’s left nipple into her mouth.

Nina tensed as Christine’s teeth tugged at her nipple. She felt a minor orgasm well up in her guts as Christine’s tongue and teeth tortured her nipple.

Christine spent far too long on Nina’s nipples, biting and tugging them. Nina’s nipples ached by the time Christine wiggled down toward Nina’s pubic mound.

Nina gripped the back of Christine’s head and thrust her mound hard against Christine’s mouth. Christine was an inexperienced pussy eater and Nina was growing frustrated with the blonde beauty. Finally, Nina gently pushed Christine’s head away.

Twice in the night, Nina woke to go to the bathroom. Twice, she looked at the blonde beauty sleeping drunkenly next to her and wondered why she’d invited the girl into her bed.

“Am I? I’m not. No, I’m not. Am I” Nina wondered as she looked at the girl’s face.

“Pancakes,” Nina announced, waking Christine in the morning.

“Pan, oh wow,” Christine mumbled, sitting up. “All we ever get at the shelter is eggs. Oh. And that turkey bacon.”

Christine ate the six large pancakes Nina put in front of her. Then she fixed herself a drink of vodka and orange juice. Nina said nothing as Christine drank that drink, then made herself a second one.

“Need to get more?” Nina softly asked as Christine peered at the nearly empty fifth of vodka.

Christine didn’t answer. She turned her back to Nina and gulped down her liquid breakfast. Nina came up behind the girl and hugged the girl.

Christine’s long blonde hair rubbed against Nina’s nude body. Nina did not feel the sensuous rubbing of Christine’s hair against her small breasts or pubic mound. Nina felt Christine’s body shaking with silent sobs, even as the girl gulped down her drink.

Nina used the last of the vodka and made Christine a third drink. She then brought the girl up to the first guest bedroom and pushed Christine into the bathroom.

“Jacuzzi in here; the bubble baths are just so wonderful,” Nina said quietly as she set Christine’s drink onto the rim of the tub. “So, get in, sit back and relax, okay?”

Christine did loll in the wonderfully scented bubbles, languidly sipping her drink. Nina had set the jets to medium and Christine let the gentle swirling water soothe her.

“Okay, here. You said you’re a thirty one D, right?” Nina’s voice woke Christine from a light slumber.

“Huh?” Christine asked and drained her glass’ mostly melted ice.

“That’s pretty nice, isn’t it?” Nina smiled, putting a bag on the vanity. When you’re all dried off, need you to try on these, okay?”

Inside of the bag was a serviceable bra, size 31D, a pair of white cotton briefs, a pair of khaki shorts and a cute light blue top. There was a second bag with some white canvas sneakers, size eight and a large vinyl purse. Inside of the vinyl bag were two pints of Albertson’s Gin and a crisp five dollar bill.

“The shoes fit? I saw your others were a nine and they were about falling off of you; they fit?” Nina asked when Christine came out of the bathroom.

“God, yes; they feel great!” Christine enthused, modeling her new outfit.

“Here’s your old clothes,” Nina said, dropping the shirt and shorts and old, splitting tennis shoes into another plastic bag. “Your apple’s on the counter.”

“Oh. Oh, okay,” Christine said, grabbing the large Fuji apple and putting it into her new purse.

“Where you want me drop you off?” Nina asked, starting her car.

“I uh, I guess by the shelter; it’s over there on Ellis Drive,” Christine mumbled, pointing listlessly toward the Elgee shelter.

“Thanks, lady,” Christine said, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.

Nina drove away rapidly, not looking in the rear view mirror. Returning home, Nina checked that the cover was on her hot tub. She then cleaned her home. She even changed the sheets and comforter from her king sized bed, though she normally didn’t change the bedding until Mondays.

“I don’t need…” Nina argued with herself as she scrubbed the Jacuzzi tub. “I, she’s just a drunk. I don’t have time for…”

At four o’clock that afternoon, Nina drove slowly around the Elgee shelter, looking for Christine. She then drove to the Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store and looked around the parking lot. Nina drove again to the Elgee shelter, slowly circling the block.

Sunday, at random times, Nina drove around the shelter, around the grocery store, crisscrossed the streets around the Elgee shelter and slowly drove through the park near the shelter. Nina saw other people, many of whom looked homeless, but didn’t see Christine.

“Hey,” Nina said quietly when she spotted Christine outside of the Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store on Friday.

“Hey,” Christine let a cautious smile crease her face.

“Need a pint?” Nina softly asked, nodding toward the store.

“Yeah,” Christine agreed, digging in her new purse for a dollar bill.

“I got it. Want an apple?” Nina asked.

“I can get a banana?” Christine asked.

“Yeah,” Nina smiled and hit the fob for her car door. “Come on; get out of this heat, huh?”

Nina rolled the windows down, leaned over and gave Christine a soft kiss, then went into the grocery store.

“Here,” Nina said, handing Christine one of the bags.

Christine saw a bunch of greenish-yellow bananas, two Fuji apples and two pints of Albertson’s Gin. Nina put the other bags at Christine’s feet and started the car.

“Thanks, lady,” Christine said, stuffing nearly all of the banana into her mouth.

“Welcome,” Nina said, voice flat.

Inside of the condominium, Christine drank all of one pint of gin while Nina prepared dinner. With their dinner, Nina made drinks of Nulough’s Chocolate flavored Vodka with cola.

In the morning, Nina woke up and saw that she was in bed alone. Staggering downstairs, cursing her hangover, Nina saw that Christine had helped herself to all of the Nulough’s Vodka, all of the Beefeater London Dry Gin, and had stolen the cash from Nina’s wallet.

The credit cards and debit card were still in the purse, so Nina did not call the police. There had been roughly forty dollars in the wallet; emergency cash, so Nina shrugged off the cash.

Again Nina cleaned her home. She felt an odd hollowness inside as she methodically went from one task to the next. Her last act was to strip the bedding and shove it into the washing machine.

>>.>>.>>

The Atchafalaya Basin’s bitter wind blew an arctic blast that buffeted the 2017 Charger. Nina shivered, despite the car’s powerful heater. She slowly pulled into the parking lot of the Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store and parked.

“Hey Lady, oh shit!” Christine asked, then squealed when she recognized Nina.

Nina easily caught up to the blonde; Christine’s oversized boots making running very difficult. Nina grabbed the blonde in a bear hug and gave the girl a soft kiss to her lips.

“I have been so God damned worried about you,” Nina said, tears springing to her eyes.

“I’m sorry I stole from you,” Christine sobbed out.

“Why, why’d you do it? I would have given you, never mind, you need a pint?” Nina asked, hugging the girl.

“I yeah,” Christine agreed.

“Want an apple? They even have bananas? Those are out of season, aren’t they? Come on, Jesus, it’s cold out here,” Nina said, pulling Christine toward the car.

There were some bananas and some apples available. Nina also bought two pints of gin, along with her other purchases. At the register, she asked the clerk to break a twenty; asking for four fives.

“Still at the shelter?” Nina asked, giving Christine the bananas and apples and pints of gin.

“I uh, no,” Christine mumbled. “Was They uh, they kicked me out for…”

Nina didn’t press the issue. She could see the ravages on the blonde’s face. When Christine opened her mouth, Nina could see damage to Christine’s teeth; signs of smoking meth.

“See you still got the purse,” Nina smiled softly.

“Yeah,” Christine whispered.

When she pulled up to the entrance of Trahan Park, Nina handed Christine a five dollar bill. She did not look at Christine as Christine hurriedly drank down one of the pints of gin.

“Thanks La…thanks Nina,” Christine mumbled as she got out of the car.

“Uh huh,” Nina mumbled and drove away.

Nina drove home to Unit 202. Pulling into the garage, Nina allowed the sobs to escape. For several minutes, she leaned her head on the steering wheel and sobbed bitter tears.

“Hey,” Stephanie Cimo said when she entered the condominium an hour later.

“I saw her today,” Nina said, draining her glass of Iron Barrel Chocolate and cherry whiskey with a tablespoon of Burns & Burns sweetened condensed milk stirred in.

“She here?” Stephanie asked, looking around.

“No,” Nina said, getting to her feet. “Chicken Parmesan okay?”

Stephanie wrapped her arms around Nina and softly kissed the woman. Nina let some fresh sobs escape as her lover held her tightly.

“Why don’t you let me take care of that?” Stephanie softly asked, kissing Nina’s lips. “You just sit down; let me cook tonight.”

A month after Christine’s theft and disappearance, Tom Thibodaux had held a contest among the departments. Top producers for the month of September would win a two hundred and fifty dollar gift certificate to T. Dayton Hair Salon. At the monthly meeting for the first week of October, everyone applauded enthusiastically, along with calls of ‘fixed’ and ‘rigged’ when two collection agents won.

“And in truth? Nina Crowder, the manager of the Collection Department actually beat both Patrick and Jill; she was double their production combined,” Tom said. “So, Nina, here’s a gift card for T. Dayton as well.”

“Huh? Oh, no, I’m management; I’m not…” Nina had protested as the management and staff had applauded for her.

“Now that you all see what it takes to win? I look forward to seeing who wins in October, hmm?” Tom said, dismissing the meeting.

Nina tried to sell the gift card; she didn’t want the services of the exclusive salon. Even at the bargain price of one hundred and fifty dollars, no one was nibbling.

Then Nina overheard two women cattily whispering and giggling in the ladies’ restroom. When one of the women declared that Nina not only acted like a ball-busting butch, but looked like a bull dyke, Nina resolved to use the card.

Nina finished her business, washed her hands, then waited for the two employees to finish their catty gossip.

“Oh shit,” Jill Newsbaum squeaked when she stepped out of her stall.

“Fuck,” Jean Turlings moaned when she stepped out of her own stall.

“I’ll let HR know that this is your last day,” Nina said quietly. “And honestly? I’m pretty disappointed in you. You both attended the Diversity in the workplace seminar; you should know better.”

“Ms. Crowder, I’m sorry,” Jill hurriedly said.

“Me too,” Nina agreed.

“See?” Jean screamed as the door closed behind Nina. “That’s why everyone says you a fucking butch.”

After her trip to HR, Nina sat at her desk and looked up the number for T. Dayton Hair Salon. The young lady’s response of ‘Tee Day taw(n)’ made Nina smile. Somehow, the young woman made ‘Dayton’ sound French.

“First time? Hmm, let’s see, oh! Ms. Cimo has an availability of Thursday at three; shall I pencil you in, Ms. Crowder?” the young woman asked.

“Please,” Nina smiled.

“Again, Ms. Crowder, I really am sorry,” Jill sniffled as she walked past, her few effects in a small cardboard box.

“I am too; you were…” Nina said, but the door clicked shut behind Jill.

On Thursday, Nina sat on the comfortable couch, looking around at the ostentatious salon. The woman to Nina’s right positively reeked of money. The old woman had shiny rings adorning every exposed digit. Her wrists also held jewel encrusted bracelets.

The tall red head across from Nina also reeked of money; even though her clothing was casual, Nina could tell the jeans were tailored for the woman’s frame. The sweater she casually draped over her shoulders was real cashmere. The two young teenagers with the leggy red head wore the school uniforms of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. The girls sat and flailed their hands at each other; it took a moment, but Nina realized they were communicating in American Sign Language.

An elegant looking blonde strolled toward the woman that sat next to Nina. To the elegant woman’s left was a somewhat unattractive girl that smiled happily.

“Mrs. Schaub? It is so nice to see you again,” Terry Dayton beamed at her long-time customer.

“Oh, you too, my dear,” the old woman smiled as she and the blonde exchanged air kisses. “And don’t you just look beautiful, Maggie!”

“Thanks Grammaw,” the pre-adolescent beamed.

“We got in some more of the blackberry soap; Mrs. Schaub,” Selena, the receptionist beamed as Margaret Schaub put her American Express card onto the counter. “I put aside five bars for you.”

“Okay, and who’s ready to get their heads shaved today?” Terry spoke and signed to Sophia Campion and TeddiAnn Baggett.

“You,” Sophia signed.

“She said ‘you!'” TeddiAnn laughed.

“Oh, you are a smart one,” Terry spoke and signed. “So, ready?”

“Ms. Crowder?” an attractive brunette with sparkling hazel eyes asked.

“Yes,” Nina said, tearing her eyes from the two young girls and the blonde beauty.

“Hello. Thank you so much for coming in. I’m Stephanie Cimo; I’ll be working with you today,” Stephanie beamed, assisting Nina to her feet.

“So, you have beautiful skin; do you use sun block? You’re a natural red head, but I only see a little bit of freckling,” Stephanie said as she eased Nina into a comfortable stylist’s chair.

“I uh, I won this gift card, I guess I,” Nina stammered, uncomfortable in the elegant surroundings.

“Oh, lucky you,” Stephanie said happily.

“Lucky nothing; I busted my ass to get it,” Nina smiled.

Then Nina lost her smile. She leaned forward and Stephanie leaned toward Nina.

“Other day? Overheard these two women? You do something make me not look like a total dyke?” Nina asked quietly.

“Ms. Crowder? You don’t look, you’re a beautiful woman that has an aura of confidence,” Stephanie said softly. “But, I suppose, let’s see…”

An hour after Nina sat in the stylist’s chair, Stephanie stepped aside so Nina could see the results. Stephanie had given Nina’s orange hair some lighter shading, given the short tresses some body and had combed the hair from right to left, allowing a few strands to perch just to the left of Nina’s warm brown eye. Nina did not normally wear makeup, but Stephanie had applied a light foundation, some light blush, and some light lip gloss. On her eyelids, Stephani had brushed a light brown shadow, making Nina’s eyes warm and inviting.

“And you still have ninety dollars on your gift card,” Selena smiled as she rang up the service.

“I uh, let’s see, fifteen percent of one sixty is..” Nina said.

“Twenty four; but Ms. Crowder, that’s not necessary,” Stephanie said. “It was my pleasure to…”

“I get you next time I come in?” Nina asked.

“Of course,” both Stephanie and Selena answered.

Six weeks later, Nina again entered T. Dayton and waited for Stephanie to finish with her current client. The warm smile Stephanie gave to Nina seemed to be a genuine smile. As Stephanie worked, Nina let it slip that she was from Sweet Oak, Texas.

“You are not!” Stephanie gasped.

“Uh huh, worked at Two Alliance Square, Prescott Conglomerate,” Nina said.

“Ms. Crowder, I’m from Great Oak!” Stephanie gushed. “And, and, and, get this! I worked at Elegantre, right there, right across the street from Two Alliance Square!”

“Get out of here! You did not!” Nina laughed.

In hushed, excited giggles, the two women talked about Texas, talked about people and places they both knew.

“I moved when Thibodaux Investments wanted to start their collections,” Nina said. “You come here for T. Dayton’s?”

Stephanie lost her happy smile. Nina reached out and clutched the woman’s hand.

“I, I was, my borfriend; he, Glen was always this kind of real controlling,” Stephanie admitted. “You know, would steal my money, then run off and go get high. Couple days later, ‘Oh I’m so sorry, babe, it’ll never happen again, I’ve had it, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired, baby.'”

Nina squeezed Stephanie’s hand; she’d had a few relationships with men that had used her, used Nina’s insecurities to manipulate her.

“But the last time? When I told him his bullshit wouldn’t work? Son of a bitch broke my jaw. Then when he got out on bail? Tried to choke me to death,” Stephanie whispered, blushing in embarrassment.

“Hope they put his ass under Stratton,” Nina said, naming the maximum security prison located in Lowridge, Texas.

“Hope his boyfriend treats him like he treated me,” Stephanie whispered and the two women giggled.

“And…” Stephanie said when she finished.

“Perfect, again,” Nina approved her reflection in the mirror.

“I uh, I’m not supposed, you ever eat at Cowboy’s? Barbecue?” Stephanie asked, adorable blush on her pretty face.

“Right there on um, on fifty two?” Nina asked.

“Get off at six; see you there at um, Six thirty?” Stephanie asked quietly as they walked to the cashier’s station.

“Okay,” Nina quietly agreed.

“And adding in the sixty six on your gift card…” Selena said, tapping rapidly on the keypad.

“And add another twenty four for Ms. Cimo’s tip,” Nina ordered.

Away from the opulent setting of the salon, Stephanie squealed, giggled and laughed like a girl. Nina joined in and their food was cold by the time the two finished eating.

Outside, Stephanie pointed out a nondescript Kia sedan. Nina proudly pointed out her dark blue Charger.

“That, that’s a Charger?” Stephanie gushed. “I, Glen was always wanting one; even tried to get me to co-sign for one for him. Thank God I didn’t; Glen’s never had a job longer than couple of weeks.”

Their first kiss, Nina trapping Stephanie against the open door of her Kia, was an electric jolt. It was a simple lip to lip kiss, but both Stephanie and Nina felt the kiss surge throughout their bodies.

“I uh, I, you ever had the wings at Dead End?” Stephanie stammered. “I, Friday night? Six thirty?”

“It’s a date,” Nina confirmed after punching Stephanie’s phone number into her phone.

Their second kiss, again, just a lip to lip brush sent another electric jolt through their bodies. Stephanie got into the Kia and smiled through the window as Nina waved, then walked to her Charger.

Nina showed off a little, leaving a little strip of rubber in front of Cowboy’s. Then, driving past Burns & Burns Grocers Grocery sore, Nina quickly scanned the parking lot, trying to see if she could see Christine.

At work the next day, Nina found it hard to concentrate. She found it hard not to text Stephanie, not to call Stephanie. She remembered she and Marla spending hours on the phone, not really saying anything, just squealing and laughing together.

“I’m doing tuna steaks on my back patio,” Nina said when Stephanie answered her phone at six oh two that evening. “I like to do some asparagus spears and some sweet potato wedges with that. Come over?”

Nina texted the address to Stephanie and began to prep her food. Thirty minutes later, her heart pounded in her chest as the doorbell of her condo chimed out.

“Hi, I know, we got plans to see each other Fiday, but God! I, I just couldn’t wait,” Nina admitted as Stephanie entered the living room of her condo.

“Wanted to text you like a million times today,” Stephanie admitted as she and Nina embraced.

“Oh my God, me too!” Nina laughed happily.

Their first tongue kiss was a hurried, frenzied one. Both girls were trying to suck the other girl’s tongue as their lips mashed together. Nina cupped Stephanie’s beautiful round face in her hands and stuffed her tongue into Stephanie’s mouth.

“Come on; you drink? I got this drink I make, you like chocolate covered cherries? It kind of reminds me of that; let me make you one, tell me what you think, come on,” Nina babbled, pulling Stephanie to the liquor cabinet.

On the back patio, Stephanie admired the hot tub and playfully shrugged when Nina suggested they could use it later. She sat in one of the chairs and sipped her drink as Nina grilled their supper.

“Tuna? Doesn’t take long at all,” Nina said, carefully monitoring the food.

After their meal, Nina and Stephanie sat on the couch and talked and kissed. Stephanie declined a second drink; she was driving and certainly didn’t need to be pulled over.

“You uh, you could stay the night,” Nina offered, blushing hotly.

“I could, couldn’t I?” Stephanie mused, then held out her glass for a second drink.

Stephanie’s 35C breasts were capped with large areolae and hard nipples. She admitted, before Glen had broken her jaw and severely bruised her esophagus, she’d been a 38D, but having a jaw wired shut and a throat too sore to swallow had helped her whittle off those last few pounds.

“God, they, they’re beautiful,” Nina cooed, gently caressing Stephanie’s breasts.

Stephanie’s belly still had some softness to it. Her navel was a little tunnel in her belly. Stephanie’s hips were generous, a thirty six inches around. Nestled underneath her pale belly was a very neatly trimmed bush of brown curls. Stephanie’s light pink lips peeked through the brown curls.

“God, you were any more beautiful, I’d hate you,” Nina sighed, looking at Stephanie’s body.

They touched one another, throat, shoulders then breasts. Nina was the first to lean her head forward and bring her mouth to her partner’s hard nipples.

“Ooh, Nina, yes,” Stephanie sighed, holding Nina’s head firmly against her breasts.

Stephanie was somewhat submissive and allowed Nina to set the pace of their lovemaking. Stephanie allowed Nina to pull her mouth toward Nina’s breasts. Stephanie allowed Nina to pull her hands toward Nina’s bald mound.

Stephanie was quick to orgasm when Nina lapped at Stephanie’s pussy while driving two, then three fingers into Stephanie’s pussy. She followed up with a second and third orgasm as Nina sucked, then bit Stephanie’s clitoris.

“You, I want, I need to taste you,” Stephanie finally gasped out as Nina was working a fourth finger into Stephanie’s sloppy pussy.

Their morning was a hurried affair of scrambling into their clothes, kissing, promising to call later, kissing, then finally dashing out of the condo.

Friday, over very spicy wings and ice cold draft beers, Stephanie heard about Christine. She saw the pain in Nina’s eyes as Nina talked about the blonde beauty that had allowed herself to be sold for a pint of cheap gin.

“But, if she hadn’t been there,” Stephanie softly asked as a girl gyrated on a small stage to ‘Everybody Wants Some’ by Van Halen. “Would we be together right now?”

“I don’t, I don’t know,” Nina admitted. “I guess, probably not.”

“No. Definitely not,” Nina mumbled as Stephanie walked away toward the Ladies Room.

Stephanie and Nina both had work on Saturday morning, so had agreed, they’d meet, they’d eat, then they’d go to their separate homes. In the parking lot, as they kissed ‘good night’ Stephanie begged Nina to come to her apartment.

Nina laughed as she followed Stephanie to Venice Apartment. She parked in the ‘Visitors’ space and Stephanie and Nina held hands as Stephanie led Nina to Apartment 211.

Two days after Christmas, Stephanie moved into Nina’s condominium. Slowly, the couple settled into a comfortable existence.

January 18th, three days after she’d seen Christine, while she was preparing breakfast, Nina heard Summer Duhon, a Channel 12 reporter talking about the three bodies that had been discovered in Trahan Park.

“With temperatures reaching twenty degrees overnight, with the wind chill as low as eleven degrees, the medical examiner states the probable cause of death to be hypothermia,” Summer said as the camera showed the leg of one victim sticking out from underneath a wooden gazebo.

“Nina?” Stephanie softly asked.

Nina didn’t hear Stephanie. She stared at the leg, stared at the large vinyl boot on the screen of the television.

“Oh, Christine,” Nina sobbed out. “Oh, dear God, oh Christine.”

There was no service for Christine or her two male companions. There was no one to claim the bodies and as far as the workers of the small Pinoak, Louisiana cemetery knew, there was no one mourning the passing of the three meth addicts.

During the day, Nina was as business-like as ever. She guided her agents with a firm hand and also kept her own production quite high.

At home, Stephanie held Nina as Nina sobbed for the loss of a tortured soul. Nina sobbed that Christine never knew how loved and treasured she was.

“I’m still here,” Stephanie finally said, two weeks after the morning broadcast had shown Nina what had become of her lover.

“I know, Baby,” Nina smiled softly.

“Do you?” Stephanie asked.

“What you mean? I…” Nina asked.

“When’s the last time we made love?” Stephanie challenged. “Nina, when’s the last time we took a bath together?”

“I, just last, I,” Nina struggled to remember.

“I bought those body paints; jars haven’t even been opened,” Stephanie said, a demanding tone creeping into her voice. “You know, I’m used to being second fiddle; I been the girlfriend guys would fuck because the girl they really wanted wouldn’t go out with them. I’m used to…”

“you’re not second fiddle, you’re the, God, I made a God damned fool out of myself over you,” Nina protested.

“Only because Christine isn’t here,” Stephanie screamed. “She was here? I’d still be just your hair stylist and you wouldn’t give a damn about me.”

The make-up sex was slow and tender. The bath water was cool by the time they got out of the tub. Stephanie allowed Nina to dry her, then lay her out on their bed and slowly, lovingly massage scented lotion into Stephanie’s skin. They slept in the nude, naked body touching naked body.

On Valentine’s Day, Nina took Stephanie to Henri’s, a trendy, expensive French restaurant in Elgee. Over the delicious raspberry truffle cake and bitter expresso, Nina gave Stephanie an heart shaped pendant with large emerald stone in the center. Stephanie’s gift to Nina was a pearl necklace with matching earrings.

Home again, the lovers used the last of the washable body paint, drawing hearts onto each other’s breasts, bellies and buttocks. Helping each other wash off the body paint was nearly as much fun as applying the thick colors. Stephanie even painted a large green heart over Nina’s bald pubic mound. That took extra rubbing with a soft washcloth to make sure all traces were fully removed.

“You know, if we had a baby, we could name her Christine if it were a girl,” Nina commented over dinner of tacos with her home-made salsa and home-made guacamole.

Stephanie took a hefty gulp of the sangria wine. Carefully, she set the glass down and looked across the table at Nina.

“One problem with that, Nina,” Stephanie said, voice tight. “Well, two problems. One, I don’t have a dick and last time I checked? You don’t either. And two? I’ll be damned if I’d ever let you name any baby we might ever have after that skanky ass meth addict.”

“No, no, we’d name her Christine Stephanie,” Nina tried to bargain.

“No, Nina, not just no but fuck no,” Stephanie screamed, hurling her dish across the dining room to smash against the wall.

The dish shattered into several pieces. Remnants of taco and refried beans clung to the wall and baseboard and floor. Stephanie followed the sudden violent act by hurling her glass of wine at Nina’s shocked face.

“I, I hate you!” Stephanie screamed at Nina.

“God damn you, you selfish bitch,” Stephanie screamed, running from the room. “And God damn that fucking Christine; I hope she’s burning in Hell right now.”

Nina dabbed at the wine that had spilled onto her blouse, wondering if Professional Dry Cleaner would be able to get the stain out. Tears spilled down her face as she slowly cleaned the broken dish and glass and Stephanie’s dinner. Then, refilling her glass, Nina sat and finished her own meal.

Overhead, Nina could hear Stephanie marching back and forth. She could not make out the words, but could hear Stephanie screaming at her from time to time.

“Stephanie, I…” Nina said, knocking on the closed door of the guest bedroom.

“Go away, Nina,” Stephanie’s heavy voice called out. “Just, I can’t. I can’t look at you right now.”

“I love you,” Nina sobbed out, but got no response.

Nina almost called in sick the following morning. She certainly felt ill; head hammering, brain foggy from lack of sleep, heart heavy with pain. But it was the first of the month; there were calls to be made, papers to be filed, accounts to be reconciled.

Nina knocked softly on the closed door of the guest room.

“What?” came the heavy response.

“I, I’m going to work now,” Nina said.

There was no response. Nina rested her forehead against the cool wood of the door.

“I’m going to work now,” Nina repeated. “I uh, I love you Stephanie. I, I hope we can talk tonight, okay?”

There was no reply. Nina slowly pulled her head off of the door and walked down the stairs. She grabbed a protein bar and a yogurt before leaving the condo. The garage door was beginning to jerk and hesitate; Nina wondered who to call to take a look at the door.

At her coffee break and her lunch break, Nina did send a text message to Stephanie. She sent a simple declaration of love and a sincere wish to talk. She got no reply to any of her messages.

Arriving home, bone tired from lack of sleep and a grueling day at the office, made all the more grueling by two associates abruptly quitting and walking out, Nina wearily climbed the stairs. The door to the guest room was open and Nina looked in. She couldn’t help but smile; Stephanie had neatly made the bed before leaving for work. Stephanie was incapable of leaving a bed unmade.

The smile quickly left Nina’s lips. Stephanie’s pillow was not on the bed. Stephanie’s fuzzy flip-flop slippers were not peeking out from underneath the bed.

Nina turned and walked quickly to her bedroom. Stephanie’s pillow was not in her usual spot. Stephanie’s slippers were not underneath the bed.

Stephanie’s cosmetics were gone. Her clothing was gone. The only thing of Stephanie’s left behind was her emerald heart pendant and gold chain. That, Stephanie had placed on Nina’s pillow.

Calls and text messages to Stephanie’s phone were unanswered. The next day, on her first coffee break, Nina called T. Dayton and was informed by Selena that Stephanie no longer worked at T. Dayton; siting a family emergency.

The heavy ball of lead in Nina’s stomach turned into a ball of icy determination. If the wish for a baby had driven Stephanie away, then Nina would see it through to the bitter end.

“That’s the fucking problem with you, Nina,” Ted, Nina’s last boyfriend had yelled. “You’re in a fucking hole, you know you’re in a hole, but do you stop digging? Fuck no! You just keep digging and digging until there’s just no hope of ever getting out the fucking hole, Nina.”

The University of Louisiana at DeGarde had an on-line newspaper. Nina went on and logged into the ‘Personals’ section. She clicked on ‘Woman 2 Woman’ then laughed at herself. She then clicked on ‘Man 2 Woman’ and read through the profiles. A few interested her and she clicked the check mark next to their profile header.

The two that had pictures showing handsome blonde college boys, Nina composed a little note, explaining she was not looking for a relationship; she was looking for a few hours of fun. The one that did not have a photograph, Nina asked for a photograph and explained she wasn’t looking for any relationship.

Harrison Smith replied that he was not looking for fun; he was tired of playing around and was looking for someone to share his life with. Nina thanked him for his response. The gentleman without a photo responded and Nina shook her head. Bobby was a Latino male; therefore, did not suit Nina’s agenda.

In the ‘Woman 2 Men’ section, Nina posted a recent photograph of herself, one that Stephanie had taken just as Nina was stepping into the living room, ready for a date. Nina’s eyes filled with tears; it had been their Valentine’s Day date.

Within hours of posting the profile and photograph, Nina had received seventy three responses. The next day, Nina requested that the profile and photograph be removed; she had almost three hundred responses.

“Who says Honesty don’t pay, huh?” Nina smirked.

Weeding through the emails, Nina deleted most of them. Her ad had stated she was looking for a white male, preferably blond, for some fun and nothing else. But the vast majority of her responses were from African-American males promising her that they’d deliver on the fun. Since her ad had been pretty specific, Nina saw no reason to send a polite note of rejection to the men.

A few back and forth responses helped Nina whittle down the fifty seven men down to twelve potentials. Another two fell out when their responses took on a demanding tone.

The ten remaining were shuffled and seven fell out when they balked at providing a clean bill of health. Nina got out her tablet and guesstimated that her most fertile time would be between Saturday, March twentieth and Sunday, March twenty first.

Freddie Loomis agreed to meet Nina at Saladelights for an early lunch on Saturday. Austin Orr agreed that A Sunday brunch at Side By Side Steaks would be wonderful. Greg Knowles was agreeable to dinner Saturday evening at Tommy’s Po-Boys.

Nina rented a room at the DeGarde Inn, locked her purse in the trunk of her car and walked to the trendy Saladelights. Entering the restaurant, Nina did conclude, it had been a poor choice to meet and get to know a man she was about to have sex with. The tables were small and crowded together. The seats were hard and uncomfortable. And the floor was ceramic tile. Sound bounced off of the hard walls and floors and chairs scraping back and forth made an unbelievable racket.

“Hi, please tell me you’re Nina,” a large, handsome, well-built young man smiled down at Nina.

“I, even if I wasn’t, I’d say I am,” Nina admitted, looking at the young man.

“That’s very sweet of you,” Freddie smiled. “ever eat here? They have an amazing roasted vegetable salad; they serve it warm.”

Freddie Loomis told Nina about growing up in a very small town in rural Illinois; he’d never even played backyard football as a kid. He was actually attending U.L.D on an academic scholarship, currently he was working on his Doctorate in Engineering. But his freshman year, he walked on and the coach put him in as Nose Tackle and he’d fallen in love with the game.

“A lot of people look at football and say it’s just a bunch of guys hitting each other,” Freddie said, very animated. “But there’s preparation, and anticipating what your opponent will do and what will you do if he does this, or if he does that?”

Nina agreed; she’d looked at football as little more than twenty two big sweaty men fighting over one football. But listening to Freddie explain the components of the sport, Nina found herself looking forward to the next U.L.D. Storm football season.

“I have a room over at the DeGarde,” Nina admitted as she lost the attempt to pay their bill.

“Oh?” Freddie smiled. “I take it I passed?”

“Yeah, you passed,” Nina let an embarrassed giggle escape.

In the motel room, Nina gave a quick glance at her wristwatch. She deduced she had four and a half hours to drain as much baby juice out of Freddie’s balls before she would have to shower and dress for her date with Greg Knowles.

“Holy cow,” Nina said out loud when she saw what Freddie Loomis had in his jeans.

The large man was certainly proportional. His cock was a fat seven and a half inches long and very thick. Nina wondered if she’d be able to get her mouth around it, then remembered, she wasn’t there to put her mouth around it.

“Mm hmm, you, you are one sexy woman,” Freddie complimented and easily picked Nina up.

“Shit, this might not have been the best idea,” Nina suddenly flinched.

If Freddie decided he did not want to leave at four thirty, if Freddie decided he wanted more than just pussy from Nina, Nina had no way of defending herself. She’d been a second dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but had not kept up with the discipline. She couldn’t even think of first form as the large man easily held her in his massive arms.

“Do you stop digging? Fuck no! You just keep digging and digging until there’s just no hope of ever getting out the fucking hole, Nina,” Nina heard Ted’s words echo in her brain.

Freddie’s kiss was a gentle one. His caresses were soft, exploratory caresses. When he gently placed Nina onto the bed, she relaxed and spread her legs.

“Mm, augh!” Nina cried out as Freddie glued his mouth to her hairless mound.

“Dick, stick that dick in me,” Nina begged after Freddie had tongued her pussy to orgasm.

“Yes ma’am,” Freddie smiled and pressed his hard cock to the mouth of her pussy.

Nina screamed out as Freddie’s cock battered into her cervix. Her second orgasm was a painful one. Thankfully, Freddie was quick to ejaculate.

Nina found out that she could indeed wrap her mouth around Freddie’s cock as she sucked him to a second erection. She then straddled his hips and mounted him. Her brown eyes sqeezed shut as again, his cock pushed into her cervix.

“Oh God damn, God damn,” Nina chanted as she bounced up and down on his meat.

She did not orgasm until he again blasted her insides full of his sperm.

“What time, damn, I’m, hey Nina, I’m sorry, I got a tutoring session at three,” Freddie said, glancing over at the bedside clock.

Nina talked Freddie into one more session, doggy style. Then he dressed and left; bedside clock showing two forty nine.

Nina swabbed a –tip into a puddle of Freddie’s semen that had leaked out onto the comforter. She sealed the!-tip into a small sandwich bag and wrote ‘Freddie Loomis’ on the bag with a marker. With a shrug, she then licked the cooling puddle of semen from the polyester comforter.

She set the bedside clock alarm for four thrity , wedged two pillows under her ass and took a nap. At four thirty, Nina slapped the ‘Snooze’ button and napped. Then she carefully sponged her pussy clean and dressed to meet with Greg Knowles.

Over shrimp po-boys, which Greg dressed with an almost obscene amount of hot sauce, Nina found Greg to be a charming, funny man with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She hoped her pussy wouldn’t be too sore to enjoy sex with the handsome man.

“I uh, seriously?” Greg asked when Nina invited him back to her motel room.

“I, what, you uh, you don’t want to?” Nina asked, stomach knotting up.

“I uh, no, I mean, yes, but, you, Nina, you’re beautiful,” Greg stammered.

“So? Beautiful women like fucking too,” Nina smiled, opening the door of her Charger.

“Oh goody!” Greg said and Nina laughed.

Greg’s cock was six and a half inches long and was thick. He wasn’t as large as Freddie and thankfully, his cock wasn’t as large as Freddie’s. Greg moved to put his mouth on Nina’s pussy but she stopped him.

“No. I just want you to fuck me,” Nina husked.

Greg did his best to fuck Nina through the mattress. He managed to put four loads into Nina’s pussy before his cock refused to rise. Nina kissed him hotly and invited him to stay the night.

In the bathroom, Nina jammed a Q-tip into her sloppy pussy and gathered some of Greg Knowles’s DNA. She put the!-tip into a sandwich bag and hurriedly wrote ‘Greg Knowles’ onto the bag.

They shared a few kisses before rolling over and shutting off the lights. In the morning, Nina managed to get two more loads out of Greg before shoving him out of her motel room.

Austin Orr was a handsome blond man with an unmistakable drawl. Nina and he both shared a chuckle; he was from Oakleaf and she from Sweet Oak, which was in Oakleaf County. Nina saw the faint tan line on his ring finger, could see that Austin Orr had recently removed a ring from the finger. She shrugged; she wasn’t looking for a husband.

“Do you stop digging? Fuck no! You just keep digging and digging until there’s just no hope of ever getting out the fucking hole, Nina.” She could hear Ted’s voice as she and Austin ate and chatted and got up to get more food.

“I know I should stop, but God, at the prices they charging?” Austin admitted when he sat down with his third plate.

“So, what you going tell your wife when she asks you where you been?” Nina casually asked, taking a bite of the delicious cinnamon roll.

“You mean, before or after I ask her how her girlfriend is?” Austin asked, unperturbed at the question.

“I’m getting an orange juice; you want one?” Nina smiled.

Austin also sported six and a half inches. Nina wondered if Austin could taste Greg’s semen in her pussy as he tongued her to orgasm. The thought that she was feeding a philandering husband another man’s semen did give Nina a dirty little thrill.

At six that evening, Nina swabbed her anus and put the soiled Q-tip into the third sandwich bag and wrote ‘Austin Orr’ on the bag. Her pussy was raw, sex was becoming painful. Austin shrugged; he’d managed four times with the petite red head. Nina then suggested anal sex and smiled proudly when Austin’s cock jerked to full erection.

After collecting the swab of Austin’s DNA, Nina swabbed her mouth, coating the!-tip with her own saliva and sealed it in a fourth bag with her own name on the bag.

“Hope you come again,” the clerk smiled as Nina paid for the room.

Nina smiled and thanked the woman. Then she sat in her car for several long moments. Finally she said a silent prayer that she’d been successful; she really didn’t think she could stomach doing this again and started her car.

Nina had enjoyed herself; each partner had brought her to orgasm. But her ass and pussy were sore; her pussy felt bruised. And her heart and mind were in turmoil, arguing with her over her actions.

As she drove past the Kimble Burns & Burns Grocers grocery store, Nina glanced at the parking lot. She felt the sting of tears; she knew Christine wouldn’t be there. The blonde beauty would never be there ever again, no matter how many times Nina searched for her.

Home again, Nina sighed in frustration. She still had not called anyone about the garage door and it was getting worse. Then she emptied the suitcase’s clothing into the washing machine, making sure to separate the Q-tips first. Those sandwich bags went into her freezer, inside of a larger bag.

“Now, the hard part,” Nina said aloud. “The waiting.”

The first day her period was to start, Nina was breathless. She checked and checked again but there was no spotting. The dreaded cramps had not begun. She still placed a pad in her panties, just in case and went to work.

By the fourth day, Nina was unable to contain her joy. The realization that she had no one to share this joy with did diminish her happiness greatly. Her mother certainly would not be happy to hear that her daughter, her unmarried daughter was pregnant with a stranger’s baby. Even though her mother was an atheist, Shirley Anne Wesson Crowder Carson Blumenthal insisted that her only daughter must live according to high moral standards. Shirley’s four sons and two step-sons were not held to these exacting standards; boys will be boys, after all.

“Stephanie,” Nina sniffled, rubbing the emerald heart pendant that dangled around her neck.

Nina wished she knew how to get in touch with the Texas cutie; she wanted to share her happiness with her lover. There was no listing of any Cimo in or around Oakleaf, even though Stephanie had said her father was still alive.

Of course, if Nina had known how to get in touch with Stephanie, Nina would have barraged her lover with countless entreaties to please come home. She would have spent hours on the phone begging and pleading and manipulating to get Stephanie to come home.

A few weeks later, Nina was able to get an appointment to see Dr. Ellen Sweetman, an Ob/Gyn. Dr. Sweetman confirmed Nina’s prognosis; Nina was just over six weeks along in her pregnancy.

Nina smiled happily as she paid the co-pay for her office visit. Each of the men she’d fucked had been good looking, intelligent men. Truthfully, though, she hoped it was either Freddie or Greg that had impregnated her. In hindsight, Austin Orr had been a mistake. Did she really want her baby to have a man that so casually cheated on his wife as the father?

Tom Thibodaux did congratulate Nina when Nina confided in him. He smiled when he disclosed that his wife, Kimberly was expecting their second child.

“So, our children will probably play together,” Tom smiled, then lost his smile and he lowered his voice. “You, are you going to keep it?”

“Yes, most definitely,” Nina smiled. “But, my kid picks up any bad habits? I’m blaming it on your kids.”

“And Kimberly will blame it on me,” Tom laughed happily.

Quarterly bonuses were awarded; everyone was alerted of which departments, which department heads would be receiving bonuses. And, all were not told, but all were aware that the financial planning department was not receiving any bonuses. Michael Trahan, the head of the Financial Planning Department would not be receiving any bonus for that quarter.

With her bonus, Nina contacted Reynold Reynolds and asked the private investigator to please find Stephanie Cimo. As Nina tapped out the retainer payment on her cell phone, she wondered if the morbidly obese man would even live long enough to cash the retainer; he was sweating profusely despite the ice-cold air in his office.

“So, how far along are you?” Reynold asked as Nina turned to leave his office.

“Just about two months; how could you tell?” Nina asked. “I’m not even showing yet.”

“Call it a hunch,” Reynold smiled and groaned as he got to his feet.

In the full length mirror that hung over her bedroom door, Nina pulled on her Dallas Cowboys Romo jersey and put a wadded up pillow in the front. She looked at herself, her pregnant self in the mirror and laughed out loud. Then, laying on the bed, Nina hiked up the hem of the jersey to just underneath her ‘belly’ and masturbated, first with fingers, then with her vibrator. She was quick to orgasm.

“Wasn’t too hard to find,” Reynold Reynolds disclosed a few days later. “Owns some make-up and hair salon in Myndee, Arkansas. Called ‘Salon Cimo.'”

“Wow, that was quick,” Nina praised.

Ronald James, father of Stephanie’s old boyfriend, Glen James had moved to Myndee, Arkansas just after requesting a divorce from Betty James, Glen’s mother. A week after his departure, three pregnant teenagers showed up at Ronald’s former residence, looking for Ronald.

Ronald had always extended an invitation to his only son to come live with him. Ronald extended that same invitation to Stephanie, Glen’s girlfriend. Ronald often invited his four daughters to come visit, to come live with him in Myndee, but none of his daughters wanted anything to do with their father.

Stephanie had modeled Salon Cimo after T. Dayton Hair Salon and Elegantre’s Cosmetics. She rented stations in her salon to none but the most attractive young women. They sold organic cosmetics and hair and skin care products. Each stylist was to wear dresses or blouses and skirts, never slacks or jeans. Over their clothing, the stylists wore an unbuttoned lab coat. Each station was illuminated by recessed lighting; there were no clocks visible anywhere, and hidden speakers played Classical music softly in the background.

To the left of Salon Cimo was Burke’s Shoes, and to the right was Zydeco’s Coffee. They received many walk-ins from these two shops; Stephanie congratulated herself for choosing the right location. The tire store at the end of the strip mall was her one bone of contention.

That and Ronald James. Daily, Stephanie Cimo cursed Nina Crowder for shoving her into the lecherous grasp of Ronald James. Each night, as Ronald James defiled her flesh, Stephanie’s hatred of Nina Crowder grew deeper and deeper.

“Ms. Cimo?” Theresa Meyers’s soft voice interrupted Stephanie’s cleaning of her work area.

“Yes,” Stephanie asked, putting the cordless vacuum cleaner into its wall sleeve.

“There is a new client asking to see you, Ms. Cimo,” Theresa said, voice low and modulated.

“I will be right there,” Stephanie said, striding to the partition that kept stations and clients separated.

The front of the shop had four comfortable couches forming three sides of a rectangle. Theresa’s station formed the fourth wall of the rectangle; she was seated next to the entrance of the shop. In between the first and second couch and second and third couch were glass shelves that displayed skin care and hair care products. To the left of Theresa’s station was the entrance, to her right were glass shelves of their cosmetics. The poised, beautiful blonde girl kept an eagle eye on the wares; she received a four percent commission on any items she sold, and received no commission on any items that were stolen.

“Yes?” Stephanie said, smiling as she stepped around the partition.

The smile froze on her lips as she stared at Nina Crowder. Stephanie stopped in her tracks and stared at the cause of her misery.

“You…” Stephanie hissed, venom bubbling up.

“I, is there somewhere we can talk?” Nina asked softly.

There were two customers idly flipping through magazines, one customer playing on her phone, and an employee sitting to Nina’s right. Nina did not wish to ‘out’ herself or Stephanie in front of Stephanie’s customers and employees.

“I, we, I have nothing to say to you,” Stephanie hissed hatefully. “You God damned bitch; I wish you were dead. Do you hear me? I wish you were dead.”

Nina tightened her face; she had expected this response. In her heart, she had hoped she would get a much more joyful reception, but she had expected anger, bitterness, vitriol. She stoically nodded her head and turned to leave.

“I wish you nothing but happiness and success,” Nina said quietly and pushed open the door of the salon.

Zydeco Coffee served Nina three piping hot beignets and fresh pressed coffee. She used five napkins from the table dispenser to wipe at her flow of tears. Wearily, she took her paper plate and Styrofoam coffee cup to the trash bin, then ducked into the bathroom. She had a five hour drive ahead of her.

Stepping into the small bathroom, Nina stopped and stared at Christine. She could not breathe as she saw the blonde beauty pacing back and forth in the tiny room.

Christine wore a wife beater shirt that displayed her ample chest to perfection. The hem of the graying white shirt did not meet the waistband of her low rider cut-off denim shorts. Her hip bones and flat belly were evident in her skimpy attire. When she turned, cheap flip flops slapping the tiled floor, the shorts displayed Christine’s delicious backside.

Her blonde hair was done up in a ponytail, dangling down to just below her beautiful ass. Her skin was tanned, a healthy tan, not the kind of tan achieved in a tanning salon.

“Chris, Christine?” Nina managed to croak out, sure she would faint.

“Huh? Sorry, lady, you got me confused for someone else,” Robin Brundette smiled tightly.

“Oh. My. God. You, you look just, I mean you two could be twins,” Nina stammered and ducked into a stall.

“Lady, you get me out of here, I’ll be anyone you want,” Robin hissed urgently.

“Talk,” Nina ordered. “You a fugitive? You can forget it.”

Standing outside of Nina’s stall, Robin hurriedly told Nina about her abusive marriage to her on again off again high school sweetheart. They’d married upon graduation because she’d gotten herself pregnant.

“Humph! Takes two to get pregnant,” Nina snapped.

“Tell him that, huh?” Robin agreed.

Robbie had a job at Huxton Nissan dealership, worked no less than forty hours a week, but never seemed to have any money. They’d lost the baby; Robin blamed herself and Robbie blamed her for losing the baby. Robbie also blamed Robin for ‘trapping’ him into a marriage.

“Then get a divorce,” Nina suggested, flushing the toilet.

“Lady, you don’t think I tried?” Robin said. “Jesus, left him like a hundred times but he always finds me. Somehow he always finds me and…”

Robin broke down and sobbed as she talked about the physical abuse, verbal abuse, and the emotional abuse. She couldn’t go to the police, his uncle on his mom’s side was the Sheriff and he had two cousins and an older brother that were cops. Robbie’s uncle on his father’s side was an assistant DA for Clarkston County.

Because he was chronically broke, Robbie had Robin dancing at The Captain’s Table, a gentlemen’s club in Myndee. He was constantly digging through her purse, taking her nightly earnings.

“Course, then he’s saying I’m cheating on him; how fucked up is that, huh?” Robin sobbed. “He’s one got me dancing there, then gets all pissed off ’cause I’m dancing there.”

“And you say he keeps finding you?” Nina asked, washing her hands.

“Yeah. Went to my Momma’s, next day, there he is. Went and stayed at Michelle’s? Not even next day he’s banging on the door,” Robin agreed.

“Got a phone?” Nina asked, letting the air blower dry her hands. “God, hate these things.”

“I uh, yeah, you need to use it?” Robin asked, digging her cell phone out of her purse.

“This locked?” Nina asked, taking the phone from Robin’s hand.

Robin unlocked the phone and Nina quickly scanned through and found the ‘Find My Phone’ app on the device. Robin’s mouth dropped open; she’d not known the tracker had been installed.

“Okay, so that’s how he’s been finding you,” Nina said. “There anywhere you want me to drop you off?”

“Where you going?” Robin asked.

“Home. Louisiana,” Nina said, handing Robin the phone. “But, Christine, shit, I mean Robin, you, you even know anyone in Louisiana?”

“I know you,” Robin said.

“No you don’t,” Nina smiled. “You don’t know a thing about me. For all you know, you could be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”

“Look, lady, none of my friends, Jesus, they all scared of him,” Robin begged.

“Shelter?” Nina suggested.

“Talk about frying pan into the fire,” Robin scoffed. “Went there one night. One night. Some psycho bitch starts screaming at me that I stole her bag and pulls a knife on me. Went to take a shower and two guys tried to rape me. And then Rodney, his ass hole brother shows up.”

“Shit. Just. Shit. All right kid, come on; we got about six hours ahead of us,” Nina sighed.

Robin was skittish as they left the bathroom. She looked around furtively as they walked across the parking lot toward Nina’s midnight blue Charger. Inside of the car, Robin hunkered down.

“What kind of car Robbie drive?” Nina asked.

“A ninety nine Maxima, this kind of dark green thing,” Robin said.

“All right; we need stop off anywhere? You need get anything? Clothes? Money?” Nina asked, starting the car.

“Got all my money right here,” Robin admitted, nudging her purse. “Just drive, lady.”

“My name’s Nina,” Nina said, pulling out onto Holland Drive. “Quit calling me ‘lady,’ huh? Shit. Makes me feel old.”

Nina did not comment, but just as she turned from Holland drive onto Highway 119, she saw a dark green car turn into the parking lot they’d just left. She had no idea if it was a Nissan Maxima or not but the car’s paint was faded; it certainly could be circa 1999.

Stephanie turned from the large picture window as the dark blue Charger turned onto Highway 119. With icy resolve, she marched to her station and sat in her stylist’s chair to begin her plan of action. No longer would she allow Nina Crowder to dictate her life for her. She would no longer allow herself to be a victim.

Stephanie decided that her first act would be to find a place to live; Stephanie had a steady source of income and, despite Glen’s best efforts, had an excellent credit rating. Her next step would be to extricate herself from Ronald’s filthy clutches.

Clarkston County Police Department,” the mechanical voice intoned before launching into the prompts.

Stephanie selected ‘non-emergency’ and determined, if she’d not heard back from them by four o’clock, their closing time, she would simply drive to the police department. She also determined to get her own cell phone; Ronald had magnanimously taken Stephanie to PC Nation and selected a new phone for her. Stephanie now realized, it was so that he could keep tabs on his property.

“Fuck you, Ronald James, and fuck you, Nina Crowder,” Stephanie growled, then pasted a smile on her face for her next customer.

While Stephanie listened as Connie Trussaud requested a miracle, requested that Stephanie somehow give Connie the thickness and volume of hair she’d had nearly forty years ago, Robbie Brundette marched around the shoe store looking for Robin. The girl at Zydeco’s Coffee had smiled and laughed and flirted with Robbie, and said that yes, she’d seen a girl fitting his description of Robin in there maybe twenty minutes ago, but hadn’t seen her since.

The manager of Burke’s Shoes politely asked Robbie, if he wasn’t in there to look at shoes, please leave. Robbie politely told the wrinkled up old hag to suck his dick; he was looking for his bitch wife.

Stepping outside, Robbie again looked inside the plate glass window of Salon Cimo; the receptionist had told him no girl bearing any resemblance to his description of Robin had entered the salon. He didn’t see Robin in the limited view the window afforded.

Robbie checked his ‘Find My Phone’ app and cursed; nothing was showing up for Robin’s phone number. He wandered down to the tire store, but Robin was not visible in the showroom or in the service bay.

“Aw bitch, that is your fucking ass, hear?” he snarled, punching number 8 on his phone.

Robin had asked him once why she was number 8 and not number 1. Robbie had smirked and told her maybe she needed work a little harder, maybe he might make her number 1. Then he grabbed his crotch and told Robin ‘ate me.’

“Aw shit,” Robin squeaked when ‘All My Life’ by Foo Fighters began to sound from her purse.

“Problem?” Nina asked, glancing in her rear view mirror, then at her companion.

“That, that’s Robbie,” Robin whispered, terrified.

“Give me the phone,” Nina ordered.

“Yeah, who this is?” Nina asked, adopting a thick sounding voice.

“What? Who is this?” Robbie demanded.

“Nuh uh, I axed you first,” Nina said. “Who you?”

“What are you doing with my wife’s phone?” Robbie demanded.

“Nuh uh, I was sitting in that zwy de cuh, coh, whatever it is and this girl leave her purse when she goes drop the kids off at the pool so it mine now,” Nina declared.

“Bitch, better bring that phone on back here,” Robbie barked.

“Bitch? You calling me bitch? Know what, bitch, I’m blocking your ass. That’s right, who the bitch now, mother fucker,” Nina yelled and hung up.

“Quick, block his number,” Nina ordered, tossing the phone to Robin.

“I, I can’t believe, I can’t believe you talked to him like that!” Robin laughed merrily as she rapidly punched in the ‘block’ command.

“Aw, your ignorant ass is one dead bitch I find you,” Robbie screamed.

“So, this Chrissie, Christine, she your sister or something?” Robin asked, dropping the phone into her purse.

“No, she uh, she was just this girl,” Nina said, staring straight ahead.

“I mean, you walked in, seen me and just kind of froze there,” Robin said, looking at Nina’s pinched face.

“She uh, she, I picked her up one night,” Nina admitted, face flaming hotly.

“Uh huh, and?” Robin asked when a long moment of silence followed.

“I, she was this drunk, standing outside of Burns groceries, looking for someone buy her a pint of gin,” Nina said.

“And you bought her a pint of gin and then…?” Robin prompted.

“We went back to my place and fucked,” Nina admitted, face bright red.

“I uh, oh,” Robin said, staring hard at the blushing Nina.

“And couple weeks later, picked her up again, and couple months go by and she died, out in the cold; I need get some gas,” Nina said, choking out the last words.

Nina pulled into a gas station and killed the engine. She nodded when Robin asked if she could go to the bathroom.

“Hey, how old are you?” Robin asked, returning to the car.

“Twenty seven, fixing be twenty eight; why?” Nina asked, starting the car.

“Ass hole won’t sell me a quart of Gratchley’s ’cause I’m only twenty,” Robin snapped.

“Gratchley’s? Jesus, that’s what, like fifty cents?” Nina scoffed.

“Hey! I like it,” Robin argued. “Come on; I got the money.”

“Whatever,” Nina said but killed the powerful engine.

She located the Gratchley’s Veer quart bottles and grabbed one. She then located the St. Elizabeth Lager and grabbed a six pack of the ice cold cans.

“Told that girl she ain’t old enough be buying that stuff,” the grizzled old man snapped.

“Uh huh, but I am,” Nina said and showed him her driver’s license.

“Whatever,” the man said and packed quart bottle and six pack into two separate bags.

“Here,” Nina said, getting into the car. “Before you take one sip of that nasty ass Gratchley’s, need to get a taste of what a good beer supposed taste like.”

Robin looked at the can and wrinkled her face. Then, with a shrug, she popped the tab and took a big sip of the beer.

“Better than Gratchley’s?” Nina asked, pulling onto the highway again.

“Robin just shrugged and drained the can of beer. Then, she unscrewed the cap from the Gratchley’s Beer and drank down nearly half of the bottle.

“So, uh, you, this uh, this Christine,” Robin asked. “She uh, she know you was gay? I mean, when she asked you to…”

“I’m Bisex…know what? I’m gay. I am gay,” Nina said aloud.

Nina was in a car, driving down a two lane blacktop because she’d driven nearly six hours in the hopes of persuading her female lover to return to Louisiana. Of all of her previous heterosexual relationships, Nina had never driven six minutes in the hopes of persuading any man to come back to her. She certainly never spent a dime on searching for any of them.

When she’d lain in bed with Freddie, or Greg, or Austin, Nina had enjoyed the intimacy, but felt no romantic connection to any of them. They had been a source of sperm and nothing more. She wouldn’t spend one penny ever looking for any of them.

“No, Christine didn’t know I was gay,” Nina said. “But when I got her in my car, she kind of figured she was going have give up the pussy.”

“I’m, I’m going have give up the pussy?” Robin asked.

“No. I, no. I mean, shit, yeah, look at you, big old boobs, pussy all hanging out them shorts? Yeah, I want to fuck you, but, no. I’m, I’m not into using people, shit, broke my heart one time and one time is too many. No, Robin, I’m, I’m not going use you like that,” Nina declared.

Robin guzzled the last of her Gratchley’s Beer. She then looked at the five cans of St. Elizabeth Lager. Nina waved with her hand.

“Go ahead; I’m driving,” Nina said.

Robin drained a second can of the beer and nodded. Nina saw a Newhart’s restaurant ahead and put on her blinker.

“I been driving since seven; I’m starving,” Nina declared. “Those beignets didn’t even start to fil me up.”

“Good; ’bout pee on myself,” Robin admitted.

“I bet,” Nina smiled. “That’s fifty six ounces of beer you got in you. Don’t know how much a bladder can hold, but…”

At the counter, Nina ordered a cheeseburger and thick cut French fries and chocolate malt. She specified pepper jack cheese, add grilled onions, grilled bell peppers and grilled jalapeno peppers. The blonde girl behind the counter gave a smile and giggle when Nina said she was in the mood to hate herself afterward.

Nina looked at the metallic glint of orthodontic braces the cute teenager sported and felt a shiver of desire ripple through her. She shook her head; the kid was just a teenager, and was more than likely heterosexual. She thanked the girl and stepped aside to wait for her order.

“Wow,” Robin commented as she looked at the peppers and onions dripping from the burger. “They’re not shy with that stuff, huh?”

“Yeah, being pregnant has really screwed with my taste buds,” Nina said.

“Being what?” Robin asked, almost knocking over her diet soda.

“I’m just at about two and a half months,” Nina said, swallowing her mouthful of burger. “Man! Jalapenos are…but then you grill them? Really wakes them up. Want a bite?”

“I uh, no, no thanks,” Robin said, dunking her chicken strip into the parmesan sauce. “I uh, I thought you said you’re gay.”

“I am. Kind of, no, it’s not really complicated. I wanted a baby, so I went out and had sex with a couple of guys,” Nina shrugged.

Sucking the last of her malt, Nina picked up her tray and carried it back to the counter. The cute girl gave Nina a wide, shiny smile.

“Thanks; be surprise how many people just leave their tray there,” the girl said. “So? Did it do the trick? Hate yourself?”

“Almost,” Nina smiled, feeling the crotch of her panties begin to moisten. “Maybe if I’d gotten a double patty.”

“Well, you know where we are,” the girl smiled. “See you again.”

“Doubt it,” Nina smiled, leaning on the counter to talk to the cute blonde. “I’m in Louisiana.”

“So? We’re not worth driving here?” the girl teased, moving a strand of hair behind her ear.

“When I got a Newhart’s five minutes from my office? Not really,” Nina smiled.

“What part of Louisiana? My cousin? April? She’s going to, to, oh, that university right there, um, decade, degrade, something like that,” the girl asked, leaning closer to Nina.

“DeGarde? University of Louisiana at DeGarde?” Nina guessed and the girl’s pretty blue eyes opened wide.

“Yes! That’s it,” the girl said. “Could have gone to Myndeee, but guess she wanted get out of Arkansas,” the girl shrugged and again moved her long blonde hair behind her ear.

“Well, my condo’s like twenty, maybe thirty minutes from the U.L.D. campus,” Nina smiled. “Listen, I uh, you ever get tired of working here? Give me a call; we’re always looking for good workers.”

Nina fished out a business card and prepared to hand it to the girl. Looking at the metal glint in the girl’s mouth, Nina hesitated.

“I, uh, so how old are you?” Nina asked.

“I’m going be nineteen to. MOR. Row!” the girl enthused. “Woo hoo!”

Nina flipped the card over and wrote her cell number on the back of the card and slid it to the girl. The girl quickly grabbed the card and looked at the phone number then at the front. She smiled, despite her light blush.

“I uh, okay Nina, thanks,” the girl said, voice low.

“Uh huh, so, uh, what’s your name?” Nina asked, hoping her jeans weren’t sodden with her excitement.

“Brooke,” Brooklyn March said, pointing to her left breast, where a nametag should have been.

Nina looked at Brooke’s cute breasts and shook her head. Brooke looked down at her chest then giggled. She slapped her forehead lightly.

“Shit, forgot it again,” Brooke admitted. “And knowing me, probably washed it. But it’s Brooke. Brooklyn really, but everyone here calls me ‘Metal’ because of the heavy metal in my mouth.”

“They should call you ‘Shiny’ instead,” Nina said. “Bye Shiny.”

“Bye, see you again,” Brooke said, blushing hotly now.

Robin drank the rest of the beers then slept as Nina drove. When Robin woke up, she desperately needed to pee. Nina pulled up to a convenience store and Robin ran in before Nina shut off the engine. Walking into the store, Nina grabbed a can of grape soda, she didn’t know why, but she had a sudden hankering for grape soda, even though she could not remember the last time she’d drank a grape soda.

“Good God, really? A dollar thirty two for a flipping can of soda?” Nina complained, but paid the hard faced Asian man.

“You get me another quart of Gratchley’s?” Robin begged, fishing out two worn dollar bills.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nina agreed and the Asian man rang up the beer and barked out the amount.

“Don’t ever lose that beautiful smile,” Nina quipped and the Asian man did let a hint of a smile escape.

Nina cleaned out the six cans and empty quart bottle before pulling back onto the highway. Robin drank the beer down, then looked down at her phone as it chimed.

“My momma,” Robin said and answered the phone.

“Ah ha! Knew you hadn’t lost your damned phone, bitch,” Robbie crowed triumphantly.

Robin cried out then ended the call. Nina shook her head; she did not know Robbie Brundette, but they were several miles away. They were safely in Louisiana, well out of reach of the Sheriff of Clarkston County, or Robbie’s cop cousins or brother. Robbie had no idea where they were, had no idea how to find his wife.

“In high school,” Nina started talking as Robin frantically fumbled with her phone. “I had a best friend. We’d, you know, kind of practice with each other, what we’d do if we ever got a boyfriend.”

“What?” Robin asked, sending the next call to voice mail.

“Nothing lezzie; it was always through our clothes,” Nina continued as she drove. “Then in college, shit, I went crazy. There was all these cocks, all these pussies, God! I loved college! Loved fucking!”

Robin turned off her phone. She drank the rest of her beer, holding her cell phone in her free hand. For a long moment, she debated whether or not to lower the car window and send the phone sailing out into the brackish waters she could see along the side of the blacktop.

“Then graduated; got a Bachelor’s in Business,” Nina continued. “Figured, ‘okay, you’re a college graduate now; time to get serious, time to settle down.’ Had, Jesus, I can’t even remember how many guys I been with, all of them saying they love me, we’re going get married, have a house and white picket fence and two point three kids and all that bullshit.”

Robin dropped the phone into her purse. She didn’t really hear Nina as Nina drove southeast on the endless stretch of asphalt.

“And of course, every time we break up? It’s all my fault. I’m walking around blaming myself,” Nina continued. “Then I move to Jack’s Creek, God, I hope that Brooke calls. Shit! Should have got her number. Oh well, hope she calls.”

“She probably will,” Robin encouraged. “We almost there?”

“Don’t you start that ‘are we there yet?’ shit, hear?” Nina smiled.

“Are we there yet?” Robin teased.

“And I’m busting my ass, I mean, really busting my ass, but it’s paying off; there’s light at the end of the tunnel and this really cute blonde with big boobs asks me get her a pint of gin,” Nina continued. “You know, at first I’m like ‘No’ but I’m looking at her and I just want to you know, do her so I go ahead and get her the damned gin.”

Several miles of total silence stretched out. Nina gave a sigh of relief when their turn onto Norman Road loomed ahead.

“Took her home, we fucked, God, it was, it was so good,” Nina started again as she turned from Highway 119 onto Norman Road. “Then, next time she comes over, little bitch drank all the vodka and gin in the house and then stole forty bucks out my wallet.”

“That, really?” Robin asked.

“It wasn’t the money, or the booze; shit, it was only forty bucks,” Nina said. “It was waking up and she was gone. That? That really hurt.”

Robin said nothing. Nina cut over onto Highway 52 and slowed considerably; Highway 52 was a notorious speed trap.

“Then I met Stephanie; you ever meet someone and it’s like ‘BOOM!’ That, that’s what I felt when I looked into her eyes and oh my God! That smile. I mean, I never thought I was gay; I can’t be gay, I like cock, right? But Jesus, Stephanie, Stephanie just filled my whole world. Then I saw on the news that Christine, Christine was dead and I just went crazy,” Nina said and turned onto Truesdale Road. “And when I said I wanted a baby; we’d call her Christine, Stephanie just, I guess she’d had enough of my crazy and left my insane ass.”

Robin looked at the beautiful rustic barns, then realized the clustered barns were actually condominiums. She looked as a barn door slowly slid up, stopped, slid up and stopped, then finally slid up fully.

“Damn it, keep forgetting to call someone about that,” Nina said and pulled into the garage. “But that, that’s why I was in Myndee. Trying get Stephanie come home.”

“What’d she say?” Robin asked as Nina turned off the engine.

“Told me she wished I was dead,” Nina shrugged heavily. “Guess, guess some cuts just can’t ever heal.”

Nina showed Robin where one bathroom was, then bustled upstairs and dashed into her own bathroom. Sitting on the commode, Nina felt the weariness of ten hours behind the wheel, felt the ‘thrum-thrum-thrum’ of the asphalt still niggling and jiggling her body. Then she felt the first wave of heartburn from her toxic lunch and greasy beignets.

“Like chocolate covered cherries?” Nina asked, seeing Robin wandering around the downstairs area. “I make this drink; kind of tastes like chocolate covered cherries.”

“You supposed to drink?” Robin asked, looking at Nina’s flat belly.

“One every now and then’s not going hurt,” Nina declared and quickly made two drinks.

Robin sniffed the whiskey drink, then sipped it and nodded her approval. Nina took a sip, then sat on her couch. Robin sat down next to Nina and took another sip of her drink.

Nina’s purse gave a ‘buzz’ and Nina fished out her phone. She did not recognize the number and was about to send it to voice mail. Then she thought it might be Stephanie and answered.

Hey, Nina? Hi! This is Shiny,” a breathless voice caressed Nina’s ear.

“Shiny! Hi! I, I uh, I wasn’t sure you’d…” Nina enthused.

“I can’t believe I’m, I mean, I hi. Y’all get home okay? Oh! You not still driving, huh?” Brooke asked.

“No, no, I’m home. We’re just sitting here, having a drink,” Nina bubbled.

“What you drinking?” Brooke asked.

“I, it’s this drink I made up,” Nina giggled, sipping her drink. “Of course, Robin’s telling me I’m not supposed be drinking, but you know, like one’s really going hurt?”

“Mm, that sounds sooo good,” Brooke enthused when Nina gave her the recipe.

Robin walked outside onto Nina’s back patio, to give Nina some privacy. She took her drink with her, sipping it, savoring the sweet and harsh flavors.

“So, what you doing right now?” Nina asked.

“Honestly?” Brooke giggled breathlessly. “I mean, minute I get home? Got to get right out of that uniform. Stinks so bad. And yeah, I did wash my stupid nametag.”

“Aw, it get broken?” Nina asked.

“Hmm, no, they’re about impossible to destroy,” Brooke said. “But anyway, got out of that stupid Newhart uniform and I’m just sitting on in my bed in just my undies.”

“Oh!” Nina let out a little moan, imagining the girl in bra and panties.

“What you doing for your birthday tomorrow?” Nina asked, unzipping her jeans and working her fee hand down the front of her panties.

“Shit! Joey’s coming in; hang on!” Brooke squeaked.

Nina heard fumbling. She didn’t know who Joey was, but felt an unreasonable dislike of Joey.

“Okay, I’m, I didn’t have my door locked,” Brooke giggled.

“So, who’s Joey?” Nina asked.

“My step-brother,” Brooke said, then giggled. “Bet he would have loved catching me in just my undies; I mean, you know, he’s like been trying catch me for years.”

“So, what you doing for your birthday?” Nina asked again.

“Probably nothing,” Brooke admitted. “I mean, I’d be shocked as shit if my dad even remembers. Jenna, my step-mother? I mean, I’m the one working, I’m the one paying rent, Joey ain’t never paid penny one, but somehow, her precious baby boy’s this angel and I’m just this piece of shit.”

“You could do anything, what would you want to do?” Nina asked.

“I don’t know, I guess, I guess I’d like to you know, get a Brick’s Pizza, get what I want, not what Joey wants, go to Connor Park; they got this slide? Thing’s ninety feet tall and you go through all kind of curves and turns and it’s just so cool, but Joey don’t like it, so we don’t ever, really? I mean, I think he’s kind of scared of it, but…” Brooke enthused.

“You working tomorrow?” Nina asked.

“No. You?” Brooke asked.

“This Connor Park open tomorrow?” Nina asked. “Tomorrow’s Sunday; they open?”

“Yeah, it’s this park right around the corner; it don’t never close. Well, I mean, at nine o’clock, they kind of tell people they closed, but no one ever listens to them,” Brooke said.

“Here, finish this,” Nina said, handing Robin her drink. “I’ll be back.”

Robin gave Nina’s crotch a look and Nina squealed, then giggled and zipped her jeans. She then ran from the back patio to the garage. Robin sipped the remainder of Nina’s drink, then sat, enjoying the solitude of the back patio.

“Okay, tomorrow morning? You’re on your own. Unless you want to go back to Myndee,” Nina bubbled, returning an hour later with a few bags in her hand. “I’m going be maybe, what was it? About an hour away?”

“I. Never. Ever. Want to go back to Myndee,” Robin declared. “But what, why are you…”

“I got a date with that Brooke girl,” Nina enthused and ran up the stairs. “Shit! Hope I still got wrapping paper!”

While Nina was wrapping Brooke’s five pound jar candle and simple silver heart silhouette and twenty inch chain and matching silver heart silhouette dangle earrings, Ronald James was staring hatefully at the two police officers that stood in his house. He could hear Stephanie slamming open doors and drawers and marching back and forth overhead.

“Well, Officer Brundette, Officer Dawson, believe me, you will be hearing from my lawyer; ever hear of Bobby Fletcher?” Ronald blustered.

“Ever hear of Tammy Dawson? Used to be Tammy Fletcher before I married her?” Officer Mike Dawson smirked.

“Okay,” Stephanie announced, entering the living room. “I got everything I brung.”

“Uh, what about my phone? Huh? I paid…” Ronald demanded.

“Oh yeah, here,” Stephanie said, taking the phone out of her purse and putting it on the coffee table. “Officer? You can see? It’s not damaged or nothing, right?”

“You were a dead fuck, know that?” Ronald snarled.

“Maybe you knew how to fuck, I’d come to life,” Stephanie suggested and smiled when Officer Brundette laughed.

“Sir? Make sure you stay away from her, stay away from her place of business,” Officer Dawson suggested. “We get called out?”

“That loan,” Ronald called out. “Huh? What about that loan start up that salon, huh?”

“I’ll pay it back,” Stephanie said. “Don’t worry about that.”

Leaving Ronald’s luxurious two story home, Stephanie felt like she was escaping a prison. She nodded her thanks to the two police officers. Officer Rodney Brundette sauntered over to Stephanie as she was putting some clothing into the trunk of her car.

“I uh, listen, you, that guy shows up? Starts hassling you? Give me a call; cell’s at the bottom,” Officer Brundette said, handing Stephanie his card. “Hear? Anytime. Okay?”

“Yes sir, Officer,” Stephanie agreed, putting the card into her purse.

“You ain’t nothing but a dog,” Officer Dawson congratulated his partner.

“Just giving the dog a bone, just giving the dog a bone,” Officer Brundette smiled as they both watched Stephanie’s cute backside as she bent to rearrange some items on the back seat of her sedan.

From Powell Street, Stephanie drove to the Home Comfort Inn and got a room. She smiled when the clerk informed her that there were free movies in her room. The clerk’s meaning was clear; the movies were adult entertainment.

In the room, Stephanie did turn on the television and scrolled through her choices. Oral, Gang Bang, Straight, even Shaved were selected before Stephanie settled on Lesbian. She left the television on, showing images of women satisfying women as she went to take a shower. A shower that did not have Ronald barging in and joining her under the needle spray. A shower where she was not trying to wash away her disgust.

Nude except for towel turban around her wet hair, Stephanie sat on the bed and watched two women making love to a third woman. Stephanie slowly rubbed herself as she watched the brunette being serviced by a red head and a blonde.

“Wonder what the fuck that bitch wanted?” Stephanie asked herself, thinking of Nina Crowder.

A scene that showed a black girl and white girl disgusted Stephanie and she switched over to bisexual movies. Her pussy twitched as she watched two women and a man making love.

The scenes that showed to men and a woman amused her; Stephanie could tell that the two men would have been just as happy had the woman left the bed.

In the morning, Stephanie woke up, glad to not have the smell of Ronald’s stale beer breath and intolerable gas assaulting her nostrils. She awoke to the soft murmurs of simulated passion and throbbing bass as two men thrust hard against each other while a well-endowed blonde sodomized one of the men with a large strap-on cock, not to the sounds of Ronald’s grating snores.

Stephanie rolled onto her back and stretched languidly. She wasn’t being pinned in place by Ronald’s gnarled hands. Her leg wasn’t numb from lack of circulation as Ronald’s pale, hairy leg pressed against her.

Her new phone gave a chiming sound and Stephanie smiled wide; she’d set the alarm so she had time to wake, dress, do her make-up and eat before Kevin Dorchette, the Gold Standard Real Estate agent came to show her some listings. Idly, she applied her foundation and watched two women sharing a double-headed dildo, then watched as they took turns servicing a man with the same dildo.

While Stephanie was enjoying a cinnamon raisin bun and orange juice in the motel lobby, Nina was happily complaining about how far away Brooke lived as she sped along Highway 119. Her phone gave a distinct ‘buzz’ that let her know she had another text message from Brooke. It was simply a repeat of the previous message; Brooke couldn’t wait to see Nina, how much further did Nina have to go, again, she lived in the third trailer on the left after the water tower.

“Pinewood Park?” Nina verified as she turned onto the gravel drive.

“I got it!” Nina heard Brooke scream from inside the trailer.

“I, hi,” Brooke said, suddenly very shy.

“Hi,” Nina smiled, heart hammering in her chest.

In her brown polyester Newhart’s uniform, Brooke March had been a cute girl of five feet, one inch. Standing in pink blouse and khaki short shorts, pink canvas shoes on her feet, Brooke March was both innocent and sexy and her warm blush just added to that allure.

Who’s there, Brooke, who is it?” a woman’s voice ordered.

“It’s Nina; a friend of mine, all right?” Brooke said, hard edge coming to her voice.

“Well, either let her in or get out; you’re letting in all kind of bugs, huh?” a bleached blonde demanded, pulling her tee shirt down over large breasts.

“Bye,” Brooke said and stepped out of the trailer.

“Hi,” Nina said again, grabbing Brooke’s hand. “Come on; I haven’t even had breakfast yet. Where you want to go?”

“We go to Twisters? They’re these doughnuts? They’re kind of…” Brooke asked, getting into Nina’s car.

“It’s your birthday; we can go anywhere you want,” Nina said.

Brooke gave Nina directions to the small shop nestled among other shops. Nina smiled when Brooke happily took Nina’s hand as they waited in line to place their order.

“Two chocolate and a chocolate milk,” Brooke told the girl behind the counter.

“One vanilla and one chocolate, large coffee with two cream,” Nina said, sliding a twenty dollar bill across the counter.

As they waited, they watched the worker making the doughnuts, dredging the hot doughnuts through either the vanilla vat or the chocolate vat. Nina couldn’t help but smile at Brooke’s enthusiasm.

“When they’re hot like this? Ohmygod, I mean, they’re the best!” Brooke declared, quickly eating her hot treat.

“Is that, so that’s where Gratchley’s comes from,” Nina said, looking at the brewery located across Switchback Road.

“My dad drinks that stuff all the time,” Brooke said.

“Hell, Honey, we all do,” an older man smiled at the two attractive women, revealing tobacco stained teeth.

“Just never knew where it came from,” Nina politely said.

“Comes from right here, Gratchley, in the great state of Arkansas,” the man said, then turned to help his son with his carton of milk.

“So, ready to go to Connor Park?” Nina asked as they left the small shop.

“Yeah!” Brooke agreed.

Nina thought it was a rip-off, but paid a young man four dollars, two dollars apiece for cardboard sheets. Then, watching Brooke’s cute buttocks peeking out of Brooke’s very short shorts as Brooke led the way up the stairs of the tall slide, Nina shrugged. She’d pay four dollars all day every day to have a view of Brooke’s sweet backside.

Finally at the top, Nina took one lane and Brooke took the lane next to her. Their first kiss was right before they shoved off, sitting on their cardboard sheets.

“Oh! My! God!” Nina squealed and laughed as they whizzed down the long, twisting metal slide.

“Aieegh!” she screamed as she entered a long, dark tube.

“I mean, isn’t that the best?” Brooke squealed when they came to a skidding stop on the soft foam rubber bumpers at the bottom.

“You ever do it face first?” Nina enthused as they scampered up the stairs again.

“No! You going do that?” Brooke gasped, blue eyes dancing.

Nina gave Brooke a quick kiss, then flopped onto her belly.

“Augh! Aieegh!” Nina screamed and laughed all the way down.

“I wanted to, but I was too chicken,” Brooke admitted as she came to a stop a moment later.

“No, no, you got to do it!” Nina ordered, laughing.

“Lady, you brave,” one little girl complimented as she stood, looking up at Nina.

“You going do it?” Nina asked the little girl.

“Christine! God damn it! How many times I told you don’t be talking to strangers?” a harried looking young mother cried out, running up and snatching the small girl away.

“What’s wrong?” Brooke asked, seeing the tears in Nina’s eyes.

“Cristine,” Nina choked out, then turned and walked to the swings.

They sat, side by side on two swings. Brooke listened as Nina described her very brief love affair with a blonde drunk named Christine. Brooke reached a small hand up and gently touched Nina’s face.

“You not over losing her, are you?” Brooke softly asked.

“Brooke, I, I don’t think you ever get over losing someone like that,” Nina admitted. “I mean, shit, she didn’t have to die. She just didn’t have to…”

Brooke leaned forward and gently pulled Nina’s face closer. She softly kissed Nina’s lips. With a soft smile, she kissed Nina again.

“You, I uh, I mean, I never, I ain’t never,” Brooke whispered, searching Nina’s eyes.

“But you just want to, don’t you?” Nina smiled.

“Ohmygod yes,” Brooke whispered.

“Come on; we’re doing that again,” Nina said, picking up her cardboard sheet.

The two did ride the slide three more times. The last time down, Brooke allowed herself to be talked into belly down, face first. She screamed and laughed the entire way down.

“Nina Crowder, you got to be the coolest girl I ever met!” Brooke squealed when she came to rest.

The young man did not offer any refund when Brooke and Nina carried their cardboard sheets to him. So Nina kept one sheet and carried it to the trunk of her car. She drew a large heart and put her name, then had Brooke sign her own name, then wrote the date. Then she put the sheet into the trunk of her car.

“It, it’s our first date,” Nina said, slamming the trunk shut.

“O! That, that’s so sweet!” Brooke said, eyes becoming shiny.

“So, where’s this pizza place?” Nina asked, unlocking the passenger door.

“Remember where Twisters is? Brick’s is right next to it,” Brooke said, getting into the passenger seat.

While Nina and Brooke were waiting for their large Supreme, add jalapenos, Kevin Dorchette sullenly pulled away from Castlerook Condominiums. Next to him, Stephanie looked at her phone.

“Mr. Dorchette, I told you, fifty to seventy thousand,” Stephanie quietly, firmly stated. “That was what? Eighty nine?”

Inside, Stephanie was anything but quiet and calm. She felt like she was on the verge of tears. Yet another man was trying to push and bully and intimidate her. Yet another man was trying to take advantage of her, was ignoring what she wanted.

“This is my money. This is my money. I have a right to get what I want,” Stephanie kept repeating to herself as Kevin turned toward the next home on his list.

“This next one, on Hastings?” Kevin said, putting on what he knew was a seductive smile.

“You know where two sixteen Conway Road is?” Stephanie asked, seeing a listing for a three bedroom, two bathroom home at 216 Conway Road.

“I uh, yes, yes I do, but, Ms. Cimo, Conway Road? That uh, that neighborhood is kind of…” Kevin tried to lie.

Lori Knowles was the listing agent for 216 Conway Road. Just like Unit 105 at the Castlerook Condominiums, Kevin was the listing agent of 1412 Hastings Creek. If he could sell one of his listings, he would get double commission.

And the last time Kevin had seen 216 Conway Road, the home was going for sixty two thousand. Standard commission on sixty two thousand would hardly be worth his while. The suit he was wearing cost more than the commission on that sale.

“Mr. Dorchette, I really would like to look at it,” Stephanie stated. “If you won’t show it to me, I’ll just contact, um, Lori Knowles and have her show it to me.”

“But fourteen twelve Hastings…” Kevin argued.

“Is seventy nine, know what? Take me back to the motel,” Stephanie ordered.

“Okay, okay, we’ll go take a look at it,” Kevin grumbled.

“Standard commission was better than no commission. Keven drove to the home.

“Now, what’s wrong with this neighborhood?” Stephanie demanded, looking at the homes around them.

True, many of the homes were older structures. Some looked quite weathered. But none of the houses had cars in the front yards, cars sitting on cinder blocks. Stepping out of Kevin’s Mercedes-Benz, Stephanie did not hear loud rap music booming. Instead, she heard two lawnmowers whining and whirring. She heard someone playing a violin somewhere. Playing it badly, but it was a violin, not an electric guitar or electric bass or a set of drums.

The house itself had recently been painted a striking goldenrod yellow with dark brown trim. The garage door had been painted beige and the front door was a rustic red.

As Kevin sullenly entered his number into the digital lock box, the violin stopped. Kevin removed the key from the lock box and unlocked the front door.

The interior still had that fresh paint smell, but it wasn’t overwhelming. Stephanie liked the soft eggshell color and the honey colored woodwork as well as the pale blue short pile carpeting.

“Knock knock,” a woman’s voice called out as Kevin and Stephanie entered the kitchen.

“Hello?” Stephanie asked, peering into the living room.

A striking strawberry blonde woman entered, wearing a short robe over a bright red, white and blue bikini. The bikini top was struggling to contain two round globes and the bikini bottom was just a scrap of patriotic colors barely dangling around the woman’s round hips.

In the woman’s arms was a small girl with strawberry blonde hair, dressed in a short dress. Behind the blonde woman and girl was a tall, handsome man with short brown hair and hazel eyes. The man was dressed in swim trunks and wore no shirt.

“Hi, we’re the Jensens; we live at,” the strawberry blonde woman smiled, then squealed. “Oh my God! Who does your hair?”

“Hi, Jack Jensen,” Jack said to Kevin, then mock-squealed. “Oh my God! What did you think of the NFL Draft? What about those Blue Jays baseball team? And who does your nails?”

“Oh, shut up,” Nadine laughed at her husband. “Hi, like I said, we live right next door. I’m Nadine, this is my husband Jack, and this beautiful little violin player is Jadine.”

“That was you I was hearing? You’re very good,” Stephanie lied.

“But seriously, who does your hair?” Nadine asked, even reaching out her free hand and combing her fingers through Stephanie’s hair.

“I uh, I do,” Stephanie stammered, oddly titillated by Nadine’s intimate touch. “B But, where do you get yours done?”

“I don’t,” Nadine screwed up her face in displeasure. “I haven’t found anywhere I like ever since moving here from DeGarde.”

“you. Are. Kidding. Me!” Stephanie squealed. “I worked at T. Dayton! In Bender?”

“Get out of here, you did not! When? I never seen you there,” Nadine squealed, putting Jadine down.

“Last, oh God, I moved here four months ago, opened up my own place,,” Stephanie said, digging out a business card.

“Salon…right next to Zydeco’s?” Nadine squealed.

“Come on, buddy,” Jack said, guiding Kevin toward the kitchen. “We’ll be deaf we hang around them much longer.

“What?” Kevin said and the two men chuckled.

“The owner just had this place painted; you ever hear of Pearl Painters? Owner lives right up the street; that really cute pink house,” Nadine said, guiding Stephanie toward the hall bathroom. “And in here? I keep teling Jack I want one of these; he put in a Jacuzzi tub.”

“Swimming pool and hot tub right there in the back yard,” Jack called out. “We don’t need a whirlpool tub.”

The light blue paint and the gleaming white sink, commode and tub were accented by the pale blue ceramic tiled floor.

“Miss Stefnee, you got any kids?” Jadine asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry sweetheart, no I don’t,” Stephanie smiled down at the four year old girl.

“Want to steal her?” Nadine joked.

“Fee to take her,” Jack said as the three females came out of the bathroom. “Five thousand for us to take her back.”

“Daddy, that’s not very nice,” Nadine smiled and took Stephanie’s hand to guide her to the kitchen. “And in here? “All new appliances; oh my God, should have seen the ugly avocado green stuff he had in here before. Can you say ‘Seventies?'”

Nadine sold the house; Kevin just stood and let the beautiful woman take Stephanie from room to room, pointing out the upgrades and features.

“And we live right next door to you,” Nadine pointed again toward their home. And as you heard, we have a swimming pool.”

Nadine leaned close to Stephanie after verifying that Jadine was chattering to Mr. Kevin about violins and horsies. Nadine put an arm around Stephanie’s waist.

“It’s clothing optional; we have an eight foot privacy fence around the yard,” Nadine whispered into Stephanie’s ear.

“I uh, I…” Stephanie stammered, wondering if the crotch of her shorts showed her interest in the ‘clothing optional’ features of the Jensen pool.

“Okay, they’re asking sixty two?” Stephanie asked Kevin after looking at the large walk-in shower in the master bathroom.

“Yes; originally listed for…” Kevin said.

“Offer them sixty two,” Stephanie ordered. “I can put down twenty percent right now.”

(As Stephanie was tapping out the transfer on her phone, Ronald James was discovering that his fuck toy had changed the password on her bank account, preventing him from taking her money. The password had been R — S and his eight digit birthday. He tried several different possibilities, never imagining F for Fuck, Y for You R for Ronald, N for Nina, I for I’m and F for Free and yesterday’s date.)