Finally she turned, her eyelids puffy and red. He waited for her to speak. She shook her head from side to side. 'I can't do it,' she whispered, speaking more to herself than Jimmy.
'Think about it, sugar,' he said. 'You won't have to scrap for cigarette money. You won't have to beg for liquor.'
Her fury returned, a storm blowing in from a half-forgotten wasteland. 'If you think I've been loving you for liquor, then you better think again.'
Jimmy reached out and touched her flushed cheek. 'Easy, honey, I didn't mean it that way. I just mean a lady like you deserves good things.'
He let his hand trail down her neck to her breast and he gave a gentle squeeze. 'Stuff this nice ought to be wearing silk, girl,' he said. He let his hand slide lower. 'Cause it's silky smooth.'
Not a bad little advertising pitch. I'll have to remember that, come Friday nights at the Moose Lodge when the boys are peckered up and out for foxtail.
Peggy relaxed a little under his caress. Her tears had stopped but the salt of their tracks still ran down her sharp cheekbones. As Jimmy stroked, he decided that this was seventy-five-dollar stuff if he'd ever seen it.
'I don't know, Jimmy,” she said, then gasped from arousal.
'Shh. Don't say nothing. Just think about it for a while.'
'What about Sylvester?'
'You and me managed to work around him just fine. Don't you worry about that.'
'And the kids?'
The kids. Might make evening business a little awkward, but Jimmy was an optimist. Besides, if this got rolling, he could branch out into dope peddling. And it would be convenient to have distributors in both the elementary and high schools.
'Just think of what you can buy for them,' he said. 'Won't have to run around in ratty-assed boots anymore. They can get Nikes like the rich kids. And they could have hamburger for dinner instead of macaroni and cheese.'
'What if Sylvester starts noticing all the little extras?'
'Tell him you've been stretching the dollar. Hell, it's not like he notices things anyway.'
Peggy trembled against his caress. A low moan escaped her lips.
Damn, she is a hot one. She can probably turn half a dozen tricks a day. Maybe even do a party scene once in a while. I'll have to work out a rate card for different positions.
'Jimmy,' she said, breath coming fast now.
Jimmy rolled away. He wanted to leave her aching. Might make the idea of an endless parade of men seem more enticing. He started to get out of bed. She grabbed him by the most convenient handle.
'Jimmy, where are you going?'
'Got to run, honey.'
He reached for his clothes as she wrapped her hands around his waist. Her lavender nail polish glittered in the sunlight. He stood and she fell back onto the bed, her legs wide. 'Jimmy, don't leave me like this,' she pleaded.
Perfect. If she could act this good with him, there was no reason why she couldn't pull it off on demand. He looked at her while he stepped into his pants.
'Think about what I said, Peggy.' He tugged on one of his snakeskin boots, resting his other foot on the bed.
Peggy lay still and pouted, her lips curling. He picked up the whiskey and turned to leave the room.
'Jimmy?'
'What, darling?'
'What would that-you know, what you're talking about-do to us?'
'Not a thing, darling. You know I love you, no matter what.'
'Wouldn't it make you jealous, knowing?'
'There ain't no room for jealousy. There's business, and then there's you and me. What we got is special.'
Peggy scooted out of bed and wrapped a nightgown around her torso. She followed him to the door with quick, shuffling steps, kicking the dirty laundry away from her ankles.
Jimmy looked out the glass slats of the trailer window, making sure the coast was clear. Peggy was at his shoulder. He reached out and absently stroked her hair. 'If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me,' he said.
'How much did you say we could make?'
He looked out the window again. 'I figure forty bucks a shot for the basics, fifty for special treatment. We split it fifty-fifty.'
And Jimmy would keep the extra.
Peggy gnawed at a thumbnail, clattering her small sharp teeth. 'I don't know,' she said around her thumb.
'I'll round up the customers, and all you have to do is send them away happy. Everybody wins.'
'But it's so- dirty.'
Jimmy faced her and took her firmly by her bony shoulders. 'Look here, Peg. It might be a way out of this,' he said, jerking his head toward the interior of the trailer. 'Maybe we can get away someday, just you and me.'
'But the kids-'
'It'll take a few years.'
'I don't know.' She looked down at the ragged welcome mat.
'Think about it,' he said, his hand on the door.
She leaned forward quickly and pecked him on the cheek. He handed her the nearly empty whiskey bottle.
'Are you sure you'd still love me?' she asked.
'Of course, darling.' Just like he loved his Ford F-100 pickup with the Leonard camper top and CB radio. Just like he loved the hunting knives that he traded at the Piney Ford flea market. Just like he loved his silver Dale Earnhardt belt buckle. Like he loved all his favorite possessions.
'And things will be just like before?'
'Sure. Maybe better.' Except there was no way in hell he'd be poking her after she started working. Not with the kinds of diseases people spread around these days. But she'd learn all about that later.
'I'll call you,' he said, before putting his weight on the corrugated trailer step.
Peggy sat at the kitchen counter with the bottle in front of her. Jimmy's tailpipes thrushed as he backed out of the driveway and headed downtown. She idly scraped at a flake of dried gravy with her fingernail as she thought about Jimmy's offer. She took a sip of the whiskey, enjoying the numb tingling feel of her lips against the glass. Just for practice, she slid her mouth down the bottleneck. It went in easily.
Someone knocked at the door. She wondered who it could be at this time of day. The kids wouldn't be home for another hour or so, what with the long walk from the bus stop. She wrapped her nightgown around her waist and held it in place with her arm, then opened the door a crack.
It was Paul Crosley, wearing his terrapin grin.
Mayor Virginia Speerhorn looked down from her seat at the podium. She enjoyed her elevated view of the Chamber of Commerce members. She surveyed the pink tops of bald spots, the stray hairs that sprang free from severe barrettes, the seam lines of wigs and toupees. 'Progress report, Mr. Patterson?'
'Yes, ma'am,' said Melvin Patterson. He looked as if he'd love to put a tongue on the tip of her strapless dress shoe. WRNC provided good coverage for her during the election seasons, and Patterson was too dull-witted to know he was giving away free political advertising every time WRNC interviewed her.
'I've gone over security for the weekend with Chief Crosley,' she said, her authoritative voice rattling off the oak rails and teak walls of the Town Council chambers. 'That leaves entertainment, which I believe is your area, Mr. Patterson.'
'Yes, Madam Mayor. The musical acts have signed contracts, and country star Sammy Ray Hawkins is headlining. And the storytelling group will be there. Except they perform for free, of course. Then there are the usual attractions like the Volunteer Fire Department turkey shoot-'
