“Go on, Toby. Roy’s back.”
Roy. Didn’t that just sound like a drunken redneck stepfather name?
“He’s asleep, ain’t he?”
She glanced over her shoulder back into the dark of her room, thought about it. “Okay, but just for a little bit.” She stepped back from the window, and I crawled in.
The clove smell had faded some. The room was air-conditioner cold and felt nice after being outside, but I could see gooseflesh on Molly’s arms in the light of the streetlamp, her nipples straining against the fabric of her black tank top. She wore that and white cotton panties. Her hair was a little mashed on one side, so she’d probably been sleeping a while.
“I’m getting back under the covers.” She crawled into bed.
I stayed at her window, wondering if the Mustang would come down her street any moment, but I didn’t see anything.
“What do you want, Toby? I don’t want to fuck anymore.” Her voice drifted from a vague lump under the comforter. Her fat stepdad liked to crank the air down arctic style.
“I just need to hide out a minute.” I hesitated. “I think I’m in deep shit, Molly.”
“Why?”
“Remember, I told you Luke Jordan was dead?”
A pause. “You killed him?”
“No! Hell. Come on.”
“What then?”
“I lost the body.”
She laughed. “It’s not very Goddamn funny.”
“Yes it is.”
“There are some guys after me, I think. They keep following me.”
She stopped laughing. “Maybe it’s Luke’s brothers.”
“What for?”
“Well, if you … Toby, if you killed Luke Jordan, I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Why the hell would I kill Luke, for fuck’s sake?”
Her voice got real small. “No reason.”
“Anyway it’s some car I’ve never seen in town before. Big-ass, tricked out Ford Mustang. Mach 1 with a V-8 like a fucking rocket engine.”
“Somebody from out of town.”
“Yeah.”
And that didn’t help me a damn bit. Why would somebody randomly breeze into town and take a sudden interest in freaking me out? The answer: it wasn’t random, I was just too thick to know why. Okay, if I wanted to be a deputy so bad, then it was time to start thinking like one. Think smart. Okay, dipshit, what’s the only other thing of interest that’s happened? A dead Luke Jordan. So what’s the connection? You don’t know, do you, you dumb motherfucker?
Hell.
“You went quiet,” Molly whispered. “You okay?” “I’m thinking.” “Solve anything?”
“Thinking’s not my main strength.”
“Come get in bed.”
I went to the bed, stood at the edge. If I got in, I’d have a hell of a time getting out again. I wanted sleep. I wanted to stretch out next to Molly, pull that comforter over our heads and forget about everything else. But I was-n’t supposed to sleep here, and I for damn sure wasn’t supposed to wake up here.
She sat up, took my hand. “Come on.”
I shook my head. “Can’t do it. Oh, man, I want to, but I can’t.”
She let go of my hand, her fingers dragging across my crotch. I felt the spark of electricity, things stirring to life. “I bet I can change your mind.”
“Really, Molly. I’d better go. I have to find out what’s going on.”
Her hands worked my zipper, reached in and fished me out. I was semi-erect. She started fondling. It took a minute or so, but I managed another erection, found myself thrusting against her fist. I didn’t think there was anything left after the night I’d had, but the thought of getting inside Molly again made me dizzy. Her head leaned in, and I felt her hot breath as her mouth edged closer.
The banging fists on her bedroom door sent my heart into my throat. “Open this Goddamn door!” Roy.
Molly shoved me away. “The closet!” Her whisper was a frightened hiss.
I scooted to her closet, my erection wagging and deflating but not fast enough. I closed the door, saw the light leak underneath. Molly had gotten up, switched on the light, probably slipping into her robe. The banging on the door increased.
“Okay!” she yelled. “Two seconds.”
I heard the door creak open, the heavy slouch of Roy pushing his way in.
“What the fuck’s going on in here?” A booze slur in Roy’s voice.
“What do you mean?”
“You talking to somebody?”
“I was on the phone.”
“Who with?”
I lost track of the interrogation, realized my pecker was still dangling out of my fly. I reached to zip it up fast, caught the tip in the zipper.
I bit my lip to keep back a yelp, tears quickly filling my eyes. Oh, fucking shit! Felt like a hot match head on the end of my dick. I tried to work the zipper down slowly, sweat bubbling on my forehead and behind my ears. The argument between Molly and Roy was getting louder, but I tuned it out, still trying to work my zipper without ripping a hole in my dick.
There was a smear of warm blood on my fingers when I finally unjammed the skin from the zipper. I wanted to weep, but the blinding hot pain slowly subsided. I had to stop myself from moaning relief.
I heard “Goddamn little cunt” and the smack of skin on skin so loud it made me jump. Sounds of a struggle, grunting. I put my hand on the closet doorknob, hesitated, not quite ready to explain what I was doing in this underage girl’s closet. It was difficult to just stand there and listen, but I made myself be patient.
Then I heard Molly scream, “Leave me the fuck alone!” and storm out of the room.
Roy chased after her with, “Don’t turn your back on me!”
I waited another moment, heard the muffled argument elsewhere in the house. I pushed the door open and headed for the window when I saw the coast was clear, bumped my shin on the way out. I tumbled down, sprawled in a pile on her yard.
“Shit.”
I stood slowly, still a vague sting at the tip of my dick, my right shin throbbing.
I looked at the house, telling my body to turn around and go about the business of the night, but I knew I could-n’t do that. Molly had told me she’d caught her stepdad looking at her a bunch of times, and not a good kind of look. Sort of creepy and licking his lips, so Molly locked her door every night before bed. If I walked away, and anything happened to her, it would be my fault.
I went up the front steps, knocked, waited, knocked some more.
The porch light came on, and I heard the rattle of chains and locks and then the door opened. Roy stood swaying, looking at me with one eye closed. A cloud of bourbon almost knocked me back down the steps.
“What do you want?”
“Neighbors called in a domestic dispute. I need to know the trouble.”
“Shit.” Roy snorted. “I know you. I know why you’re here.”
“Been drinking tonight, sir?”
“Fuck you.”
“Roy, maybe you’d better spend the night with a friend so there’s no problem here after I leave. Grab somebody’s couch and sleep it off.”
Another snort. “You think I take that star on your chest seriously? You think anybody does?”
