Choked (Devoured #3) (5 page)

“I don’t know why he’s acting like this either. He’s
making it very hard for mommy to feel like she can trust him.”

Julianna went to the closet and shifted hanger by
hanger, looking for something specific.

“I know that if he knew you like I do, he would want
you just as much as I do. Do you hear me in there? I don’t want you to take his
bad behavior personally or hold it against him when you grow up.”

She laughed.

“Even though I expect you to go through a tyrannical
teenage phase like I did.”

She found what she was looking for and threw it on the
bed before sliding the closet door shut.

“And I promise that by the time you’re old enough to
understand who your parents are, he’ll have come around. So there won’t be any
need for you to remember what a big jerk he was being before you arrived. All
that matters is that when you arrive, he’ll be able to see that you’re his and
he’ll love you forever.”

She lay down on top of the bed next to the garment.

“Until then, it’s all up to mommy to get things
ready for when you arrive. And you’re going to have everything you need just
like I did. But I don’t want you to be a spoiled brat about it. I expect you to
appreciate everything I do for you.”

She ran her fingers over the red silk.

“I know you’ll make me proud just like I’ve made my
parents proud. You’ll have to work hard and do whatever it takes to get good
grades. Because it’s all about keeping your options open. Not your legs. That’s
the mistake mommy made.”

She crumpled the red silk nightdress in her fist.

“But that doesn’t matter now. Because it’s all going
to work out for me like it always does. And you and me, kid, we’ll be taken
care of. Don’t you worry. You leave that to me.”

She rubbed her pointer finger on the scratchy cum stain
spattered across the top half of the dress.

“And try not to rip me apart too badly when you come
out, will you? Because even though you won’t understand how sexy I am until
your friends’ balls start to drop, I still want to have a killer body long
after you’re done with my tits, okay?”

Julianna sat up and turned the silk lingerie over.

“I just can’t get over your daddy’s nerve the other
day. You must have heard him. Telling me I can’t prove it! You would think he’d
know better at this point, wouldn’t you. I certainly would!”

She smoothed the dress against the bed.

“You and I both know that the easy thing would be to
send him some pictures. My favorite is the one where you can see the mark he
left on my butt from spanking me so hard. Don’t worry. I won’t let him spank
you like that. He was spanking me in a good way. Because I was being a bad
girl. Someday you’ll understand. Anyway, I really like that one. But I also
really like the one where my ass has the piano key marks in it.”

She started to fold the dress carefully.

“Of course, you know the problem with those as well
as I do. He could still deny it. Plus he’d think it was weird of me to take
them, which it was, but no one ever gave it to me so good like your daddy did.
It seemed natural to want a souvenir.”

Julianna walked over to her desk and picked up a
padded yellow envelope.

“You know I’m sorry it had to come to this, because
believe me, your dad is a good man. But he obviously needs a little boost
telling Aunty Madeline about you and me. Fortunately for him, I’ve got just the
thing to help him along. But I’m as surprised as you are that he hasn’t
realized yet that I always get what I want no matter what I have to do to get
it.”

Julianna slipped the folded dress in the envelope.

“Well, it won’t be long now before he has the little
epiphany he needs.”

Julianna sealed the envelope with a spitty slow drag
of her tongue.

“There. That should do it. Now I might as well tell
you so you don’t have to hear it from him, okay? Madeline is going to leave
your dad when she finds out about this. That’s about the only thing I’m sure of
right now. Fortunately, that’s enough for me, because he’ll be all alone and
missing his wife and baby and then –voila- the understudies appear.”

Julianna slipped the parcel in her bag at the end of
the bed.

“And your father, if I know him like I think I know
him, will do the only logical thing he can do. Love us instead and forget about
them.”

She lifted her bag on the bed and rooted around
until she found her keys. Then she slipped her shoes on and her bag over her
shoulder and left to run her errand.

Kirk scooped a second helping of mashed potatoes
from the stove top onto his plate and looked over his shoulder.

“Sure you don’t want anymore?” he asked.

Madeline laid her silverware across her plate. “I’m
sure, honey, thanks.”

“Are you sure you’re eating enough?” He took his
seat again at the head of the table. “You’re supposed to be eating for two,
remember?”

Madeline rolled her eyes. “As if I could forget.”

“Seriously, though.”

“Kirk, don’t worry about it.” Madeline rested her
elbows on the table. “No one cares more about this baby than I do. I would do
anything to make sure it’s healthy.”

“Oh I see what you’re doing now,” Kirk said. “You’re
just saving room for ice cream.”

Madeline smirked. “I might force myself, yes.”

Kirk nodded.

“But I’m really only supposed to be eating a few
hundred extra calories a day. That’s nothing.” Madeline’s hands swiveled gracefully
on her small wrists as she talked. “You could inhale that on accident.”

“I thought it would be more.”

“Me too, but that explains why so many women go
overboard and then can’t lose their baby weight. Cause it’s not baby weight;
it’s just a bunch of weight they put on when they happened to be pregnant.”

“Good to know.”

“Oh shush. You started it.” She leaned back in her
seat. “And you know you wouldn’t love me anymore if I got all big and fat.”

Like your mom God forbid,
Kirk thought. “Of course I would! There would be more of you to love!” He
reached over and pinched her lightly on the arm.

“You’d like that, would you? If I couldn’t get my
cheerleading uniform over my thighs anymore?”

“I’m glad you mentioned that. It has been too long
since you put that on.”

“I’ll put it on when you put on your wrestling
uniform.”

Kirk shook his head with his mouth full. “Not the
same.”

“Why not?”

“Because the wrestling uniform is just a little too
sexy.”

“You mean now that you fill it out so well?”
Madeline brushed her blond hair with her fingers.

“All I’m saying is that I don’t think it leaves much
to the imagination.”

“And my cheerleading uniform does?”

“Oh yeah.”

Madeline’s cheeks went rosy.

Kirk’s legs were full of energy just from thinking
about her in the uniform, and he wanted to stomp his feet under the table, but
instead he took a deep breath. “How was work? Are things picking up at the shop
at all?”

“Not much. My mom’s convinced it’s the recession.
She said people used to be more embarrassed about their old stuff and tried
harder to keep up with the neighbors.”

“Then who bought the second hand stuff?”

Madeline shrugged. “I don’t know. Students. People
like us, I guess. Young families trying to save money for diapers.” She
squeezed Kirk’s hand where it lay on the table. “Anyway, now people have
started using stuff to within an inch of its life and by the time they bring it
to us it’s practically unusable.”

“Are your folks making ends meet okay?”

Madeline tilted her head at him. “You worried
they’ll have to move in with us?”

“I never worry about that.”

Madeline rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked
over and spoke into the fridge. “Actually something super weird came in today.
Did I tell you?”

“Weirder than the collection of nude garden gnomes?”

Madeline laughed as she tilted the pitcher of Crystal
Light over her glass. “Those were weird alright, but you wouldn’t believe how
fast they sold.”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t.”

“No. Do you remember that red silk nightdress you
gave me?”

“Of course I do. And what a perfect segway from the
cheerleading uniform.” He used his fork like a gravy plow and herded the mash into
one section of his plate. “By the way, if you’re trying to get me all worked up,
it’s working.”

Madeline sat down in her chair again and pushed her
empty plate a few inches away. “This is actually not sexy at all. Wait till I
tell you.”

Kirk nodded and scooped some mash into his mouth.

“Someone dropped off that exact same dress at the
shop today in an envelope.”

“Well that’ll sell no problem.”

Madeline shook her head. “Not this one. It has a big
stain on the chest.”

Kirk looked up from his plate.

Madeline’s voice dropped to a whisper. “It looked
like semen.”

Kirk choked so hard on his mashed potatoes that he
had to stand up and brace himself against the table.

Madeline smacked his back a few times.

By the time he was finally able to swallow, he was
as red as someone who’d fallen asleep in the sun.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he squeaked. “Wrong tube.” His eyes were full
of tears as he sat back down in his chair.

Madeline patted him on the back a few times before
picking up her drink and handing it to him.

Kirk took a sip and pulled his chair back up to the
table.

“I’m sorry,” Madeline said, taking her seat again.
“That’s my fault. I should’ve waited until you were done eating.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“Sure you’re okay?” She leaned down and tried to
catch his eye.

“Yeah.” He patted the air with his hand. “Fine now.”

“Is now a bad time to tell you that I think you eat
too fast?”

Kirk nodded.

“Anyway, isn’t that disgusting?”

“Yes.” Kirk pushed his plate away from him and
leaned against the back of the chair.

“I mean, who would do something like that?”

“I don’t know,” Kirk lied.

“There’s no way you could not notice the stain, and
it was the only thing in the envelope.”

“What did you do with it?”

“We threw it away. What else could we do?”

Kirk nodded and brought his hands together on the
edge of the table.

“And just in time, too. My mom nearly had a heart
attack!”

Well it’s still only a matter of time
before that happens.

“How gross is that, though?”

“It’s pretty gross alright.”

“Why would someone do that?”

Kirk put his hand on top of Madeline’s. “I really
wouldn’t think about it anymore, honey. It was probably just some nutter with a
few screws loose who thought they were doing a nice thing.”

Madeline nodded.

“Or did you see who dropped it off?”

“No. It was just leaning against the front door.”

“Did anyone else see who left it?”

“Why?”

Kirk pulled his hand back. “Just curious.”

“No. I don’t think anyone did.”

“Well I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s
nothing. There’s a lot of harmless weirdos out there.”

Madeline stood up and stacked their empty plates.

“I just hope nothing like that happens again,” she
said. “You know. For my mom’s sake. “

“I’m sure it won’t,” Kirk said.

I’ll make sure it doesn’t.

Julianna was descending the steps of the psychology
building when he pulled up.

“Get in the car.”

She walked to the curb where Kirk was waiting and
pushed her sunglasses on top of her head.

“Hey stranger.”

“Get in.”

She opened the door and sat down.

He started to drive away before she’d even closed
the door.

“Hold on! I’m not even in the car!” Julianna pulled
the door shut and looked at him.

He didn’t look sorry.

“Are we in a hurry?”

He stared out the windshield.

“Where are we going?”

“I need to talk to you, and I need your undivided
attention.”

Julianna waited patiently. Perhaps he’d finally come
to his senses.

Kirk pulled into the empty football stadium parking
lot and drove to a far corner in the shade.

“It’s been too long since we went for a ride.”

He swung into a spot and parked the car.

“This is a very secluded spot, isn’t it?” She
slipped her hand across his knee. “Time for round two is it?”

He smacked her hand off his knee.

“Ohh. You know it turns me on when you play hard to
get.”

“I didn’t come here to fuck around, Julianna.”

“But you’re open to the idea?” she asked, dragging
her skirt up slowly with one finger. “Cause all you have to do is say the word.
I told you the pregnancy is making me sooo horny. You could slip right in.”

“I want to talk about that stunt you pulled the
other day.”

“What stunt?”

“You know exactly what stunt.”

Julianna turned and looked out the window for a
second. “Maybe you could refresh my memory?”

“Is that really necessary?” Kirk asked. “You have
such a big selection of semen stained clothes you can’t keep them all
straight?”

She smacked her forehead lightly with her
fingertips. “Ohhhhh. The night dress.”

“Yeah.”

“What about it?”

“Well I have all sorts of questions about it, but
the only one that really matters is why the fuck did you send it to my wife?!”

“Oh good. So she got it okay?” Julianna dragged her
cross charm back and forth along the chain. “I was a little worried about just
leaving it against the door like that. I almost delivered it to her myself.”

“Why?!”

She looked at Kirk like he was a small child that
couldn’t solve a simple math problem.

“I’m serious! What would compel a person to do
something like that?”

“I thought you needed a little push.”

“A little push?”

“Yeah.” Julianna leaned her head back against the
headrest. “I thought it might be easier to tell her if you had an excuse to
bring it up, ya know, like a talking point.”

“That’s a fucking weird thing to do, Julianna.”

She shrugged.

“And it’s not okay that you did it. It’s not okay
for you to be anywhere near her.”

“You made me do it.”

“That’s ridiculous. I would never even think of
doing something that twisted.”

“You challenged me.”

Kirk looked at her like she had a forked tongue.

“You questioned whether or not I could prove it.”
Julianna looked out the windshield. “So I answered your question.”

“Well you can’t prove it now, can you?” he asked. “Cause
you don’t even have the dress anymore.”

Julianna put her elbow up on the window ledge and
rested her head against her hand.

“Can you?”

She turned to face him slowly. “Don’t be an idiot,
Kirk.”

“The dress has been destroyed. Now it’s just your
word against mine.”

“Oh, please.”

“Isn’t it? Tell me the truth!”

Julianna sighed. “I’m the fucking CSI generation,
Kirk. If you don’t think I can prove that you fucked me in every hole in my
body, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought.”

Kirk straightened his arms against the steering
wheel.

Julianna shifted her weight to the center console
and spoke right in his ear. “I can prove which fingers you fucked me with. I’ve
even got hairs from your body that I choked on your when I was licking your
crack. You remember how much you liked that? I bet Madeline’s never heard the
way you purr when your crack’s getting licked.”

Kirk jumped out of the car and slammed the door. For
ten minutes he paced back and forth. He kicked the rim of the front wheel and
then turned his back on the car and brought his hands to his head as if he was
going to rip his scalp off right there.

She waited patiently, watching the clock, waiting
for him to calm down.

Finally, Kirk took a deep breath and opened the
door. He slid into the drivers’ seat and turned to Julianna with a look that
was both scary and fearful, as if his eyes were reflecting the anti-Christ.

“I’m only going to tell you this one time.”

She turned to him and raised her eyebrows.

“I want you to stay away from my family. Do you
understand?”

She put a hand to her stomach. “We are your family
Kirk. We can’t very well stay away from ourselves now, can we?”

Kirk banged the steering wheel so hard Julianna
expected it to snap off.

“For the last time, you are not my family. Stay away
from me and my wife. Don’t send us anything. Don’t call. Don’t even look at us
if you see us. Ever. Do you understand?”

Julianna felt his anger fill the car like a cloud of
thick smoke. “And if I don’t?” 

“I’ll go to the police. I’ll get a restraining
order.”

“Maybe we could go together. We might need their
help setting up how you’re going to pay your child support if I can’t be
anywhere near you?”

His jaw was clenched so hard it hurt to look at it.

“And then you’ll definitely have to leave Amery
because it’s practically a given that I’ll be working here in the fall. In the
psychology department, too.” She tilted her head. “So I really think a
restraining order is going to be more trouble than it’s worth if you think
about it.”

Kirk’s face was going from pink to red.

“The only reasonable option is still for you to grow
the fuck up, tell Madeline the truth, and raise this baby like a man.” Julianna
faced forward again. “It pains me to say this, but I actually can’t believe
what a pussy you’re being about the whole thing. I mean, you’d think the sooner
you started setting a good example for your children, the better.”

Kirk turned the car on and reversed from the spot.

Julianna was grateful he didn’t kick her out and
make her walk all the way back to campus on foot. It just proved that on some
level, he still cared about her. He could say what he wanted, but she knew the
truth.

He pulled up outside the psychology building.

Julianna put her hand on the door.

“Julianna.”

“Yes?”

“I’m only going to tell you this one more time.”

His eyes were so crazy Julianna looked to see if he
was foaming at the mouth.

“Don’t come near my family again or else.”

Her eyebrows came together. “Is that a threat?”

“Don’t come near my family ever again.”

“Kirk, are you threatening me?”

“Don’t test me. Now get out.”

Julianna got out of the car and watched him speed
away.

She agreed. Testing him was proving to be a waste of
time. She was sick and tired of his empty threats, sick of waiting for him to
accept responsibility. If he couldn’t make the right choice, she would take
away his right to choose.