The New Neighbor

three o'clock he agreed with her.

But he did not agree simply because he was so fatigued. That, he knew, was simply because he'd gotten so little sleep lately.

Since he'd gotten out of bed that morning – a formidable task beneath the weight of his exhaustion – he'd been able to think of only one thing: Lorelle's last words to him before he'd left her house and sneaked back to bed the night before…

Next time, you can tie me up. Or, if you'd like… I'll tie you up.

He called her several times from his office, but never got an answer, so he tried to busy himself with his work. But nothing could eclipse his thoughts of Lorelle Dupree.

He knew it was ridiculous. It wasn't like he was sneaking to a motel with someone his family didn't know about and had never met – she lived across the street, for crying out loud. Worse yet, he'd even fucked her in his own bedroom while Karen was asleep in bed!

So who says you can’t do it someplace safer? he asked himself at his desk over a fast-food lunch he couldn't eat. And, if necessary, we can sneak off to a motel. It's not exactly unjustified, either. For the last twelve years, I've been married to a woman who thinks a libido is an Italian desert. Maybe if Karen had made some effort to overcome her lack of interest in sex… maybe if she'd tried to use a little imagination in the bedroom… maybe then this wouldn't be happening. Maybe if she took a little more interest in me than she does that fucking cat of hers… maybe…

George left work at three and was home in fifteen minutes. Jen was the only one up. She sat in his recliner wearing her bathrobe. A most unusual expression rested on her pale face. She stared at the television, but did not seem to be seeing it. Her eyes were dark with concentration beneath a huddled brow, but a gentle smile curled her mouth slightly at the corners. She sat with her knees spread far apart. There was something strangely adult about the way she looked, sitting in his chair with contrasting expressions struggling together on her face.

“Where is everybody?' George asked.

'In bed. They're sick.'

'You don't look so good yourself.'

'Just tired.'

'You should go to bed.'

She did not look at him, just shook her head.

'You've got school tomorrow, Jen. If you're not feeling well, you should go to bed.'

'I'm… just… tired,' she said with slow deliberation, as if speaking to a retarded child.

'Well, that's what people do when they're tired, dammit, they go to bed!” he snapped.

She didn't move.

'Did you hear me?'

'I heard you,' she muttered.

'Goddammit, go to bed!'

He waited until she finally got out of the chair and went down the hall, walking by him as if he weren't there.

George went to the bathroom, urinated, then washed his hands, freezing for a moment as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

Have I missed that much sleep? he wondered.

Wrinkles webbed from the outer corners of his eyes and his face seemed to sag on his skull like an ill-fitting garment. He ran a brush through his hair and brushed his teeth before going to the kitchen and pouring himself a drink. Coffee was what he really needed, but he knew a couple of drinks would make it easier for him to do what he wanted to do.

Twenty minutes later, he went to the phone and punched out a number.

'Hello?'

'Hi,' he said.

'George! You're home early.'

'Yeah, I was… well, I felt kind of… actually, I was thinking maybe I could… that maybe I'd, you know… “

Lorelle laughed. 'Tell me, George. Has anyone ever dripped hot wax on your bare skin?'

'Nuh… no… “

'Come on over. I'll tie you up and we'll see how you like it.'

Chapter 13

There Goes the Neighborhood

Robby awoke with a taste of dirty socks in his mouth and a vivid memory in his mind. For a few minutes, he tried to convince himself the memory was of a dream brought on by what had happened yesterday afternoon, but his gut told him it wasn't.

Sometime during the night, he had awakened to find a ghost kneeling beside his bed, groping under the blankets and between his legs.

'Let me do it again,” Jen had whispered, as her fingers fumbled for his cock, her face the color of dirty teeth in the sodium glow of the streetlight outside. 'I wanna do it again, Robby, okay? Please?'

'Go back to bed, Jen,' Robby slurred, pulling away from her. 'Just… go.”

'Oh, c'mon, Robby. I promise not to watch Entertainment Tonight anymore, okay? I promise. I know how much you hate that show. And… I know how much you love what I want to do to you.”

Robby had cried himself to sleep that afternoon, his bed shaking beneath the uncontrollable sobs that he could not fight. He'd not only been upset by what he'd done, but also by how much he'd enjoyed it… how much he'd enjoyed Jen's hands stroking his cock… how much he'd enjoyed nuzzling the fine hair between her legs with his nose…

The sobs almost returned as she kneeled beside his bed in the night, reaching for him.

'Go away!' he'd hissed again and again, pulling the covers up tight around his chin.

As Jen left his room, pouting and naked, she'd said something in a sad whisper.

What was it?

He sat up in bed, trying to remember, trying to wake up. It had seemed important at the time.

Robby crawled out of bed, dressed and got his books. He didn't want to take time to shower or eat breakfast. He had to get out of the house and avoid seeing anyone, if possible. Especially Jen.

Angry voices came from his parents' bedroom. Robby considered pausing outside their door to see what they were fighting about, but didn't want to take the chance of getting caught. In the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face, brushed his teeth and combed his hair, trying to ignore his hollow, gaunt reflection in the mirror.

Jen was curled in the recliner wearing her bathrobe when he passed the living room. She turned and looked at him, her face empty for a moment, then warming suddenly, as if it had taken her a moment to recognize him. Robby stopped in the living room doorway. He wanted to speak to her, to say something that might begin to make up for what he'd done, but his voice was trapped in his constricting throat because -

– Jen's hand was beneath her robe, between her spread legs, moving as she stroked herself and smiled at him with her brows raised high above her heavy-lidded eyes, and -

– Robby suddenly remembered her words as she left his room the night before, spoken in a breathy whisper full of disappointment. She said you'd pay more attention to me.

He hurried out of the house and into the cold drizzle, lifting his face to the gray sky as he crossed the grass. He breathed deeply as the chilly moisture sprinkled his face.