After Midnight

and sat on one of those tables.”

“You got out of the car? Weren’t you frightened?”

“Yeah, sort of. As a matter of fact, that was the whole problem. It was so dark and spooky. I had this awful feeling like we were being watched. I wanted to get the hell out of there. But Tony kept saying there was nothing to worry about. And he laughed at me for being scared.”

“That wasn’t very nice,” Judy said.

“I didn’t think so, either. I thought it was rotten. So I really wasn’t in any mood to fool around with him. Anyway, we were sitting on top of a picnic table with our feet on the bench. Tony had a bottle of tequila. He drank from it with one hand and rubbed my back with the other. Before you know it, he snuck that hand under my blouse. Then he started trying to unhook the back of my bra, so I told him to stop it.”

“Naturally, he didn’t.”

“Of course not. He went ahead and unhooked my bra, so I stood up on the bench and said, ‘I mean it, Tony. Not here. This place gives me the creeps.’

“He said that’s what he likes about it. So I said, ‘Let’s just go over to your apartment, okay?’ Then I jumped off the bench and started walking away, but he suddenly leaps up and grabs me by the collar and jerks me off my feet. But he catches me, you know? So then I’m leaning against him and he reaches around in front and rips my blouse open. I mean, he was just vicious about it. It was a pullover, and he tore it apart right down the front and ruined it. Which is the real reason I’m wearing his shirt right now.”

Judy nodded, a solemn look on her face. “Not because yours got spilled on.”

“That was a little fib. I’m sorry. I never thought I’d end up telling you this stuff.” I tried to smile, making it look like a strain. “You’re really a good listener, Judy.”

“Thanks. I’ve been through a few of these things, myself.”

“Guys are such awful pigs.”

“They can be.”

“He completely ruined my blouse.”

“He’s ruined a couple of mine, too,” Judy said. “And a good dress.”

“Tore them?”

“Different things.”

I could tell she didn’t want to go into details, so I went on with my story. “The whole thing just scared the hell out of me,” I said. “Him flipping out like that. And also, you know, being in those woods. I really panicked. I just wanted to get away. But he wouldn’t let me. He jerked my shorts down and threw me onto the picnic table. I tried to get up, but he slugged me in the stomach.”

Judy winced as if she could feel the blow, herself.

“That knocked my wind out. All I could do was squirm on the table. It felt like I was drowning. Then the next thing I know, he’s on top of me. We’re both naked and he’s…” I made a face. “You know.”

“Screwing you?”

“Yeah.”

Her face suddenly went crimson again, and she said, “In the right place?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” She was really flustered. “It’s none of my business. Forget I asked, okay?”

“You mean, did he do it to me in the vagina?”

“Well. Yeah.”

“Yeah, that’s where.”

Grimacing, she said, “And not with anything funny?”

“What do you mean, funny?”

“He obviously didn’t, or you wouldn’t have to ask.”

“What’d he do to you?”

“Nothing. I wouldn’t let him. That’s why he beat me up.” She smiled a little sadly. “You should’ve seen me afterward. I was a wreck. You look like you lucked out.”

“This was my lucky night, okay.”

“You got off without too much damage. That’s all I meant.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“How did it turn out?” she asked.

“Where were we?”

“On the picnic table.”

“Oh, that’s right. He was screwing me. In the vagina. With his penis. Without a condom.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about AIDS or anything. I happen to know that he’s perfectly healthy.”

I laughed.

Couldn’t help it.

Luckily, I didn’t have a mouthful of beer. It would’ve spewed.

Judy raised her eyebrows as if she hoped I might let her in on the joke.

“As a matter of fact,” I said, “he isn’t.”

“Isn’t?”

“Perfectly healthy.”

“What do you mean?”

“He probably has a major headache, right now. If he’s awake yet.”

“Awake?”

“I knocked him out cold with his tequila bottle. He’d left it on the table where I could reach it. So while he was busy humping me, I grabbed it and gave him a good one. Busted it against his head.”

Judy’s mouth dropped open. She gaped at me, an odd look in her eyes as if she might be tempted to laugh, herself.

“Knocked him out cold,” I said. “But he was still on top of me, so I rolled over. He fell off me and the table, and whacked the bench, then rolled off it and landed on the ground. Took a pretty good fall.”

“Was he all right?”

“Not really. He was out like a light and his head was bleeding. He wasn’t dead, though.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t care. He’s probably on a back road, somewhere, walking home. But he won’t have an easy time of it. I was still really angry at him, you know? A bit more than angry. I was furious. I mean, he’d raped me. Wouldn’t you call that a rape?”

“I’d call it a rape,” Judy said.

“So would I.”

“Are you going to press charges against him?”

“I don’t think so. I think I’ve punished him pretty good without the cops. You know what I did? I left him there in the woods completely naked. Out cold, and naked as the day he was born. I kept his shirt, since he’d wrecked mine. All the rest of his clothes, I burned in one of the fireplaces. His underwear and everything. Except his shoes. I threw those into the woods. He’ll never find them. Then I hopped into his car and drove off.”

“You really left him there?”

I grinned. “Seemed like a good idea. Part of my revenge. But it didn’t seem like enough revenge. So I thought I’d drive over to his apartment and trash the place. Just to teach him a lesson, you know? Teach him that he can’t do that sort of thing to a girl.”

“So why did you come here?”

“I thought this was his place. I’ll show you.” I drank the last of the beer, set the mug on the table again, then pulled Tony’s wallet out of my rear pocket. Taking out the slip of paper, I walked over to Judy’s chair. “See this?” I handed it to her.

She scowled at it. “That’s my address. It’s also my handwriting. I gave this to Tony…months ago. When we first met.”