Pillowface halted ahead of Joel, squatted, and began feeling around the leaf-covered ground. After a quick search he retrieved an object from the debris.
A machete: thick, long, and massive.
The blade was blemished brown from what Joel figured was old blood since there were also splashes of a fresher red spattered across it. Joel cringed when Pillowface offered him the blade that had undoubtedly killed that pretty woman. At first, he didn’t accept it, but Pillowface was persistent in nudging him.
So, he took the machete. It was heavy like a sword. Joel tried holding it with both hands, but just couldn’t manage it. He let the tip drop to the ground. It stabbed two inches in.
Pillowface went back to sifting the ground. Joel looked around the ground and surrounding forestry, noting all the areas swashed in red. There was a lot more blood than he ever imagined could have come from one person, especially one the size of that girl.
He wondered what her name was.
“Is all of this that woman’s blood?” Pillowface shook his head. “Is this
your
blood?” Nodded. “On the blade? This is what cut you up like that?” Pillowface found the sheath and stood up. Joel struggled to give him back the machete. After he took it, Joel’s arms felt sore and useless.
It was funny to Joel how he was becoming more capable of understanding Pillowface. Even without words, he seemed to speak clearer than most people he knew. Joel liked him, and no matter how heavy things got, he had no plans of ditching him.
Pillowface led them deeper into the woods. After a while, Joel sat on a tree stump, allowing Pillowface to go on without him. He was exhausted, and his shins were screaming. Ten minutes passed before he finally returned, carrying the largest chainsaw Joel had ever seen. With all of Pillowface’s toys gathered, it was time for them to return to the house.
(III)
The kid looked parched and sore by the time they made it back to his house. Walking alongside him, Pillowface carried the chainsaw in one hand, and the machete in the other.
“Are you thirsty? I am. Want to get some water or something?”
Joel took the lead, marching to the side of the house where there was a water spigot with an attached hose. He turned it on, leaned over, and slurped the water as it dispensed. He stopped when the sudden blaring of rock music erupted from the other side of the wooden fence
.
The chainsaw and machete clattered when they slapped the ground. Pillowface left them there on his way to the fence.
“Wait,” Joel whispered, trying to shout without raising his voice. “Don’t go over there, they might see you.”
Pillowface ignored him, and marched straight to the wooden barrier anyway.
Joel trotted after him, catching up as Pillowface pressed his bulk against the fence to peer over the top. What he found on the other side was a young woman with dirty blonde hair, no older than eighteen, sunbathing. She sat on a towel with her legs extended in front of her, massaging glistening oil onto her skin, causing it to shine as if she’d been swimming in wax. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses. A thin, two-piece white bikini was tied around her hips with noodle-like straps. The top was nothing more than small triangles over her nipples that laced around her neck. Her breasts were nearly falling out of it.
He licked his lips, practically able to taste her.
Then he felt that familiar hatred rising from deep within. His hands trembled with pumping adrenaline. He wanted her. Not to hold her, or to caress, but to crush and disfigure. How could
she
be so beautiful? How was it allowable that his beauty could be so callously stolen yet this insipid girl could be so effortlessly beautiful?
She would laugh at him if he took the mask off. If she could see his face, she’d make fun of him, laugh at his scars.
They all would.
“That’s Tonya,” said Joel.
Pillowface jumped at the sound of his voice. Looking down, he saw his little buddy peeking through a small knot in the wood. If Joel had noticed his reaction, he gave no indication to it.
“She’s the neighborhood hottie, and the neighborhood slut.” Joel snickered. “She let me look at her tits before. I swear it. One time after my parents died, she let me play with them. It was her way of trying to make me feel better. It worked. But, she made me swear not to tell anyone. So, you can’t say anything. Promise?”
Even if he wanted to, he had no one to tell, and if he did, he wouldn’t dare to anyway. In some way he was honored Joel had shared that, and wouldn’t betray him.
“Look,” he said. “She’s taking her top off. Shit, that’s two sets in
one
day.”
Tonya’s hands were behind her back, tugging at the knot. The top came off easily; her perky breasts slumped, but only slightly. Perfectly round in shape, the nipples were the size of raisins. She began lathering them in oil, cupping them in her hands, fondling them with the glaze. Her breasts looked wet and slippery under the yellow spread of sunlight.
“Aren’t they huge? They felt so soft though…”
Pillowface felt warmth in his pants, but willed it to remain limp.
Joel groaned. “She has a jerk boyfriend named Clay Ray. He’s an asshole. Always picks on me. Makes fun of me….”
Tonya lay back, aiming her chest at the sky.
“You like her, huh?” Joel whispered.
He didn’t know what it was about her that had him so interested, but he wouldn’t say he
liked
her. Actually, he felt a strapping effect of loathing towards her.
“I think she’s hot. I’ve always wanted to do
it
with her, you know? You should see her Mom. She’s hot too.”
Pillowface wondered how she was able to lay outside topless without her parents doing something about it. They must not be at home, which was the only rational explanation.
“Come on; let’s get back in the basement. My sister will be home soon. We can get some water and I’ll sneak you some snacks down.”
He turned his back on Tonya’s exposed flesh and followed Joel to the side of the house. Before entering the basement, Joel turned to him and said, “I still have to clean up all your bloody footprints.”
Pillowface hoped Joel could handle it without his help. He felt beyond tired; almost sickly he was so exhausted. The air mattress beckoned him. It would be the most comfortable bed he’d had in a long time.
(I)
Haley took her time cruising along Marble Lane, passing houses while neighbors she’d never met walked their dogs, or finished up yard duties before it got dark. Kids were playing, relishing the cooler temperatures of evening. Houses were spread out through the trees, scattered and secluded. She knew none of their owners by name. Sure, they would acknowledge each other with waves and smiles, but other than Joel’s friend Ethan, she didn’t really know anyone on this side of Marble Lane, including Ethan’s family.
And she was just fine with it remaining that way.
As she neared her driveway on the other side of Marble Lane, she spotted her next door neighbors’ daughter Tonya, and about the only family she was friendly with, checking the mail. She wore cut-off jeans, the straps of her bikini bottoms curved above the waist band and over her hips. Instead of a shirt, a thin bikini top that was basically just nipple patches barely covered her breasts.
Haley felt embarrassed just looking at her.
Tonya waved, her hand stacked with mail. Haley was tempted to pretend she was messing with the radio and hadn’t seen her. But, as much as she wanted to avoid her, she couldn’t even be rude to someone as obnoxious as Tonya.
She was already in the road before Haley had stopped the car.
Smiling, she rolled the window down and said, “Hey Tonya, what’s up girl?”
Tonya leaned into the car, propping her elbows on the door. Her breasts squished against her forearms. Their pliant mounds were right in her face. The scent of coconut oil began seeping into the car. Tonya’s lotion smelled good. It made Haley think of the beach. “Not much of anything. You just getting home from work?”
“Yeah, it was a rough day.”
“Aw, that sucks. Maybe we should go hang out or something, help take your mind off of it all.”
“I can’t tonight.”
“I can’t either, maybe another night this week?”
Not that Tonya was bad company, she just felt awkward going out with her in public. Haley was five years older than her, and Tonya had only been a high school graduate for the length of a weekend. When it came to opinions of a fun night, their tastes clashed heavily.
“Sounded like you had Joel doing some yard work today.”
Haley couldn’t stop her surprised reaction. “Really? He actually did it?”
Laughing, Tonya said, “Yeah, sounded like a massacre was going on over there with all the machines going.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t just watching one of his movies?”
They both laughed.
“Could’ve been,” said Tonya. “But, I didn’t hear any screams.”
Haley laughed. “How are things going with Mr. Clay Ray?”
“Not bad. He’s actually pretty damn sweet when no one’s around.”
“Nah, he just wants in your panties. That’s all that is.”
“Probably. He’s been kissing my ass pretty hardcore, so I’m eating it up while it lasts, making him wait for it.”
“Good girl. All the stuff I’ve heard about him, making him wait sounds like the best plan.”
“Yeah, I want him to realize there’s more to me than these tits.”
Haley doubted there was much more than her busty mounds. She sighed. She felt exhausted. Drained. Her body was achy. All she wanted was to go to bed, cover up with a blanket, and hide. That sounded fantastic. But, unfortunately it would have to wait. “Well, I better get home and see what Joel’s getting into.”
“I hear that. Call me later, if you get a chance.”
“I’ll try.” She wasn’t going to call. Again, not because Tonya was a terrible person, but they had nothing in common, and it had been excruciatingly painful trying to keep even
this
conversation going.
Tonya pulled away from the window, her breasts clouting the door as she stood up. Haley wondered if there would be streaks left behind from the heavy oil residue varnishing her skin. Tonya wandered idly away. Haley could see the bottom cambers of her buttocks nudging out from the unraveled shorts and remembered when she used to dress the same way. She was thankful it hadn’t taken her long to grow out of it, but she doubted Tonya would ever let it go. She’d probably dress like that for the rest of her life.
She put the car in drive and drove up one more driveway, and on to home.
Haley thumbed the button on the garage door remote. As she waited for it to rise, she took a moment to examine the front yard. Just from her initial glance, it appeared as if a lawn squad had completed an overhaul. It hardly resembled the same place she’d left earlier that morning.
Even the hedges looked to have been trimmed.
What a nice thing to come home to. Joel had gone above and beyond what she’d asked him to do.
Asked?
More like demanded. She felt horrible about it now, but if she hadn’t, the yard would not be this fabulous.
Can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs, right?
That was one of Dad’s lines.
Haley took her foot off the brake and eased the car into the garage.
She entered the kitchen from the garage and stood on the welcome mat admiring the unblemished floor.
He’d mopped too?
It looked so spectacular she was afraid to walk on it, so she kicked off her shoes, then sauntered barefoot across the linoleum. It felt cool and clean under her feet and squeaked with each step.
Dishes sat in the drainer, washed and drying. The entire kitchen had an aroma of fresh pine. Her eyes began to mist. Not from the smell, but from something else. Was she actually so touched that she was going to cry?
What a woman thing to do
.
“Juh–Joel?” She could hardly bring her shaky voice above a murmur. She forged ahead, spinning a circle as she took it all in. It was the best thing he could have ever done for her.
When she entered the living room, she quickly found Joel, chest down on the couch. His right arm hung off the side of it, and was bent at the elbow on the floor. One shoe was off, the other just barely clinging to his foot. It looked as if Joel had fallen asleep while kicking off his shoes. He must have been pretty tired after the day he’d had. Burying Rusky, doing all the yard work, and on top of it all, cleaning the kitchen.
She moved past him to the stairs. The carpet felt springy and soft. He’d also vacuumed. She wiped her eyes, but they quickly refilled with tears.
What’s wrong with me?
Her throat clucked. Her body jerked as she quickly returned to the kitchen, taking a paper towel from the roll, and blew her nose in it. Then she wiped her face with a fresh one. After tossing them in the trash, she went to the freezer and removed two frozen steaks. She filled a pot to the brim with hot water and dropped them inside to thaw.
Then she headed for her room.
(II)
Pillowface was sleeping when he heard movement upstairs. He’d assumed it was Joel stirring about until a woman’s soft fragrance wafted into the damp room through the vents. It was a scent he could decipher from anything, and she smelled lovely.
Haley.
The soft patter of her footsteps traveled from one room to another and then back. Finally, they’d transcended to the stairs and faded. Joel had told him to stay put and he’d planned on complying. He was tired, and felt like shit, however, it hadn’t taken long to become anxious, to feel cooped up, and after smelling that wonderful scent, he couldn’t sit still. He had to move around.
So, he climbed the wooden stairs in silence except for the occasional squeak of wood. The fragrance became stronger at the top of the staircase, and when he nudged the basement door open, he was slapped with it.
He had to see who this wonderful smell belonged to.
As if he was on a mission, he infiltrated the living room. Moving in total silence, he snuck past Joel without disturbing him. He followed the scent to the stairs, and took them. At the top, he heard movement coming from the room straight ahead. There was a crack of opened space where the door hadn’t latched. Stealth-like in his advance, he slipped to the opening. With his body pressed firmly against the wall, he adjusted his stance so he could peer in.
He spotted a bed, and a woman’s tight back, arched in the middle, facing him from the other side of it. The points of her spine pressed delicately against her shirt. Her hair, the color of sunlight, hung gently to her shoulder blades. Her fingers massaged her neck.
Pillowface’s fingers tingled to rub her.
Her hand eased away from her neck, gripping the thin straps of her dress and slid them off her shoulders. Her dress dropped, disappearing somewhere on her side of the bed.
He ached as he gawked at her in the black-silk bra and matching thong panties. Freckles were peppered here and there across her downy flesh. Her buttocks were smooth, slanting tenderly and ample. He imagined they would squish like marshmallows if he were to squeeze them. The thin black line of her thong disappeared between the silky mounds. She hooked her thumbs under the straps and slid them down her legs. As she stepped out of them, she unhooked her bra and held it out before letting it drop.
He hadn’t seen her face, but he already knew she was elegant, stunning. His heart sank just looking at her. He didn’t deserve seeing someone so faultless. He was blessed, and if he had still believed in God, he surely would have thanked him for allowing this gentle moment.
Faint music erupted from inside the room. She turned around. He saw her face, albeit briefly, before he ducked away from the door. She was
beautiful
. What constituted as perfection was standing just on the other side of the wall. He heard shuffling, then a zipper. The music became louder momentarily before she said, “Hello?”
A cell phone.
He edged his way back to his peeping spot.
“Hey
, Carlee.” A pause. “Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker.” Pulling the phone away from her ear, she pressed a button, then situated it next to her. She sat on the edge of the bed, her left leg crossed over the right. Her hand gently rubbed her thigh as she talked. “Can you hear me?”
Another female voice, distorted, said “Yep.”
“Good.” She leaned back on the mattress. Her breasts pitched back on her chest. “You just caught me before I hopped in the shower.”
“Hop in? Why don’t you just step in? You might hurt yourself.”
“Hardy har.”
“Getting all dolled for something special?”
“Yeah, my pajamas, then I was going to fix Joel some dinner.”
“Oh? Was he still screaming maniac in the house when you got home?”
Pillowface’s throat tightened. How had she known that? Had Joel told her? “No, he was asleep on the couch, but listen to this, I came home and not only had he mowed the yard, he’d cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, and who knows what else. He worked really hard.”
“Good for him. That’s very nice.”
“It is. I’m going to cry again just thinking about it.”
“Again?”
Haley sighed. “Yeah, I cried right after I saw all the work he’d done.”
Carlee sounded surprised. “You?”
“It was a rough day. I guess it was bound to come out sooner or later.”
“Why?”
She placed a hand on her stomach and fingered her navel. “Well, for starters my assistant never came back to work.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I was just so mortified. I couldn’t…”
“
You
were mortified? Do you have any idea what I went through after you left?”
“No, but from the sound of your voice, I’m guessing it was bad.”
Haley laughed mockingly. Pillowface adored how the muscles in her neck constricted, the way her lips curved up and back. He squeezed the door paneling, wishing it was her flesh. This wasn’t like him. Carp was the one that had to feel the girls, needed to be
inside
the girls. He’d never approved of Carp’s methods. Neither had Buddy, but they’d allowed him to do what he wanted all the same. Since Amanda, he hadn’t wanted to be with another woman. But, now…he wasn’t so sure.
“I went to lunch with Jonesey.” She grimaced, as if even the act of saying it was difficult.
“Say that again?”
“I had to. It was one of those situations that I couldn’t get out of.”
“Oh my God, no wonder you’re so pissed at me.”
“I’m not pissed, but I could have used you there to have my back. I was waiting on you to get back so
we
could go to lunch.”
“Haley, I’m so sorry. I should have called
you
…instead of the front desk.”
“Yeah…I wish you would have. I got the message you took the rest of the day off when I got back from lunch. He took me to Palmers, and you’ll never guess who has a part time job there.”
“Who?”
“Alan.”