clung to Nora and rested my face on her shoulder, sighing and squealing, moving with impatience now and then as Bob seemed to slacken. He soon speeded up to keep abreast of my demands, though. If ever a man had learned how to be a lover in a hurry, it was Bob.
A new climax dawned on me, rising from my toes and swelling to fill my body for a brief, glorious moment. Then, as exhaustion and contentment displaced lust and frustration, I felt his cream rush up my tunnel with all the force of a firehose, burst after burst, while he fucked like a berserker, frantic to get the last licks in. And from beneath me Nora's little cries blended with his grunts and my sighs. I looked at her curiously, wondering if an emotion had befallen her. If it had she did a good job of covering it up. Her face was blank, flushed and sweaty but blank. When Bob rolled off me she tossed me off her and jumped out of the bed at once. “I won't forget this,” she said, grabbing a towel out of a drawer and wiping herself all over. “You've humiliated and exploited me, but I'll get my own back one day.”
Bob just shook his head and staggered over to his own bed. Nora waited for me to get off, then set to straightening the sheets and wiping the spreading patch of sperm with the towel. “Disgusting!” she muttered. I figured it was time to leave.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The following morning we heard that Dad had come home just before dawn and was in bed recovering from a monstrous hangover. Nora had left the house before breakfast to go hiking with Harold, which caused Bob and I to wonder if pony-tailed Harold would finally get his end in. Now that Nora had admitted her real reasons for embracing celibacy it seemed quite likely that she would follow through by raping hapless Harold. We wished him luck.
Aunt Liz was in a very good mood. While Mum was upstairs plying Dad with orange juice and toast, she turned to us with glee in her eyes and, rubbing her hands, she said: “It's going to happen soon, I can feel it in my bones. This family is on the brink of a real breakthrough. Don't you think so, Kathy?”
“It's all possible,” I said evasively.
“Come on, you know more than you're letting on. What happened at the office yesterday? Don't tell me your dear old Dad went on a binge just for the hell of it? He hasn't been drunk since Elaine was born.”
Bob looked at me searchingly. “Yes, what did happen at the office, Kathy?”
“Oh, nothing.” I bent over my cereal and hoped they'd stop asking questions. Of course that only made them probe more.
“Something must have happened,” said Bob, “for you to be so tight-lipped. The biggest gossip in the house, usually, Aunt Liz, and now she has nothing to say.”
“Oh, leave me alone!”
We heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. As one we fell silent. Mum walked into the kitchen and announced that Dad was feeling a little better.
“If I were you I'd let him suffer,” said Aunt Liz. “It's alright for a man to get drunk but that's no reason for you to put yourself out.”
“He's sleeping now, anyway,” said Mum. “I might go into the city for a while and shop or something. It's about time I got out of the house.”
“That's the spirit. Hey, I might go with you. We can look up a few friends or have lunch together, how does that sound?”
“Yes, that would be nice,” Mum said unenthusiastically.
They left about an hour later. Aunt Liz lingered for a moment till Mum was out of the door, then she threw her car keys at Bob and said: 'Take your sister for a drive and leave your father to suffer in solitude.” She winked and disappeared.
We gave them a few minutes to get under way, and then we hopped into Aunt Liz's car. Bob took the wheel, of course. He loved to drive. But instead of putting his all into driving, he turned to me the moment we cleared the front gate and said: “So what happened between you and Dad? Don't tell me you laid him.”
“Not exactly,” I said hesitantly. And then, bit by bit, I told him the whole story. Bob listened intently, driving at a fast clip all the while. Now and then he shook his head and sighed, as though it was all too much for him. When the story came to an end he said: “Phew! I didn't think Dad had it in him. But he couldn't go all the way, eh? Probably afraid you'd lose respect for him. Jesus, Kathy, you're quite the little operator, aren't you? Who are you thinking of balling next, Mum?”
“I see you're beginning to think of me like all the others,” I said angrily. “You think fucking is all I care about Well, that's not fair, Bob. I only do it with those Hove.”
“Just kidding,” said Bob. We reached the freeway ramp and when he had nosed the big, powerful car into the mainstream of traffic he floored the accelerator, letting it have a free rein for a minute or so till the bulk of traffic was behind us. “Anyway, I understand now why he went on a drunk last night You must have blown his mind for him.”
“And that isn't all,” I said with a reminiscent smile.
“Yeah… but listen, it's about time we coordinated matters a little in this family. Since you've come home you've turned Elaine into a lesbian by the looks of it we've alienated Nora, driven Dad around the bend, and brought the beast out of Aunt Liz. God only knows what Mum is going through at the moment.”
“Speaking of Mums,” she said, pointing ahead, “there they are, tooling along the freeway. Why don't you just drop back a little and follow them.”
“What for? Let them have their day on the town and well go some place private to fuck up a storm.”
“Later-right now I want to check something.” It was just a hunch, as they say in detective stories. A few small points hadn't gelled with me over the past few days. Mum seemed too complacent, and things were happening that had to have a cause, a prime mover… yet they had been made to look like circumstantial little events. Why? I had no idea. I just had a feeling that Mum and Aunt Liz weren't going shopping, and that it was important for us to know what they were about to do.
Bob hung back far enough to remain undiscovered. They were talking, anyway. Mum and her sister always had plenty to say to each other in spite of having lived close to each other ever since they'd moved out of their parental home. They made a turn just within the outskirts of town and headed toward one of the better neighborhoods in the area. It became harder to tail them and if they hadn't been so talkative they would surely have spotted Aunt Liz's conspicuous car. At last Mum pulled over in front of a neat suburban home insulated from the street by a high hedge and a number of small trees. Both women got out of the car and walked up to the front door.
“See?” said Bob. “They're just going to visit old friends. Now what did you want to know that for?”
“Let's just check.” He shrugged and parked the car around the corner. We walked warily towards the house, looking around to make sure no one was watching us. Everything was dead quiet, clean and orderly, curtains before all windows-but surely there'd be an old biddy to peer out through the lace, a hand on the hot line to the police station. I figured it was worth the risk.
Bob hung back while I peaked through the front windows. Nothing. Just a nice, neat living room. We went around to the side and found even less. Bob began to motion me to come back to the car and let the matter slide. I was determined to find out what was going on in that quiet house. The rear windows told me nothing either. They had to be upstairs. That in itself was odd.
“Let's go!” Bob whispered. He hated sneaky operations. I shook my head and he told me he'd wait for me in the car. That was fine with me. When he'd gone I went around the house once more, this time testing the doors. The back door was open. I removed my shoes and walked barefoot into the house. From upstairs came the sound of laughter-either Aunt Liz's or Mum's. I could hear my heart thumping wildly. This was turning into a real caper!
Up the stairs, terrified every step of the way. At the end of a short corridor the laughter was loudest. A door was slightly ajar. I came as close as I dared and, pressed hard against the wall, I looked in. Mum was in a chair, her legs crossed, a drink in her hand-and she had her eyes on me. “Come in, Kathy,” she said pleasantly. Aunt Liz opened the door the rest of the way and I walked in, feeling flushed and stupid. When I sat down I found we weren't alone. Two men sat on a couch facing Mum and Aunt Liz, big, muscular, swarthy men who seemed most
