Sociopath? (21 page)

“Do you think you can stand it for four
years, Rafe?”

“I have to, Lane,” he said bleakly. “Dad
won’t permit anything else.”

*

Before he took her to the airport, he made a
quick pass around the campus. “You at least have to be able to say
you saw the library and my dorm and the eating cottages on Prospect
Street. That’s Ivy Cottage.” He pointed to an imposing gothic
mansion. “That’s the one that every Vincennes has belonged to. I
guess, I will too.”

“I wish this weekend never had to be over. If
I could choose my own personal Groundhog Day, it would be these two
days,” she said.

When he carried her bag into the airport for
her, he told her, “next time don’t bother bringing so many
clothes,” and grinned.

* *

“Well, Ren, he’s made it through his first
year. I think it’s going to be a struggle for him all the way
through. I hesitate to call him anti-social…”

“Although that’s probably the right word,”
Renny replied.

“Yes, Renny, I think maybe it is. It doesn’t
stop him from achievement but I think it makes him pretty
miserable. He maintained his straight A average. Actually, it
doesn’t seem as if it requires much effort for him to do that. You
know, he wasn’t planning to play basketball but Coach Chalmers was
familiar with his high school record and hounded him. He ended up
with the highest average score on the team except for one boy who
was recruited specifically for his basketball ability, a student
who is almost a foot taller than Rafe.”

“I’ve been reading the paper on-line, Gil, so
I know a little about that. It’s the only way I’d know since he
never tells me anything.”

“I sent his counselor to see him but he
pretty much told Kessler to fuck off and threw him out of his
room.”

Renny made a wry face, “well, Gil, I’m
sorry…”

“No, it’s okay, I should never have tried to
invade his privacy that way. Incidentally, Kessler said his room
was as spare as a monk’s cell, although I think that room has seen
lots of things a monk’s cell would never see.” Gil chuckled. “The
Women’s Studies professor, Helene Barnes, is just obsessed about
him, Renny. She’s says he’s the most classic male chauvinist pig
she’s ever seen. He has this thing he does, picking up a girl to go
out for a ride in that ‘Vette and then spending the night in a
hotel. Those girls call themselves Rafe’s Riders and it seems to be
a badge of honor. Helene tells them that no woman who has a shred
of self-respect would ever go with him but it doesn’t appear that
her lectures are having much affect.”

“Well, he’s got through one year. I don’t
care how much he hates it, Gil, I’ll not allow him to quit before
he’s through.”

~ ~ ~

A grin split Chester’s face when he saw Rafe
sauntering across the grass toward the track fence. The boy looked
a little thinner and there were faint smudges of shadow around his
eyes.

“I’ve been looking for me a good driver, Kid.
Know where I might find one?”

A smile flashed across Rafe’s face. “Do I
have to fill out an application?”

“Nope, you’re hired.”

*

Over all, it was a good summer. He spent most
of the time on the move - on the horse, on the boat, on the track,
like he couldn’t slow down. Chester sent him to some of the other
bigger tracks with more experienced drivers. And he did well,
winning almost all his races.

“Who is your new, young guy, Chet? He looks
like a comer. “

“Could be, Dink, don’t know exactly what will
happen with him yet. He’s in college, Princeton, no less. Name’s
Vincennes. Family are mucky-mucks in my part of the country,
mega-rich, live on a big estate on the Eastern Shore. Doubt they’ll
want their little prince to take up racing as a full-time career. I
think he’s got what it takes if that’s what he decides though. He’s
got nerves of steel and an uncanny sense of knowing when to hold’em
and when to fold’em, like the very best ones do. So I could have
somethin’ or I could have nothin’ but I’ll take what I can get out
of him for now.”

Dink laughed. “Yeah, I would too if I were
you. You know, the Gazette did a feature on him. They sent a female
reporter, pretty young thing. I was watching from another table
when she was interviewing him or maybe I should say, when he was
charming her. I think she would have liked to have written a 900
page book about him instead of just a story on the sports page.
Took way more pictures than she needed. I saw’em leave together. I
figured he probably had her in bed about 15 minutes later. I expect
you’ll get a pretty glowing article out of it, Chet.”

Chester chuckled, “yep, that’s my boy.”

* *

At the fourth race meet of the summer, six
women appeared at the track wearing tight jeans and white
tee-shirts that said “I ‘big red heart’ Rafe” on the front and
“Rafe Vincennes Fan Club” on the back. They jumped and screamed in
support and when he won, they managed to get behind him so that
when his picture was taken, they were in the shot too. By the time,
he turned around, they were gone so he shrugged it off and went to
meet, Lauren, the Gazette reporter. He’d told her they’d hang out
when the races were over.

*

The next weekend, Chester pulled him aside as
soon as he arrived at the track.

“I did a little reconnoitering, Rafe, and
your fan club is back. There are ten of them now. Damndest thing
I’ve ever seen. The fact is, Rafe, good as you are and much
potential as you have, you’re still just a minor league driver.
You’re not well known. None of that usually adds up to having your
own fan club. Having them around is good P.R. for you. You need to
give’em some encouragement today, Rafe, pay’em some attention to
keep them interested.”

“Chet,” Rafe cocked one black eyebrow, “I
appreciate every bit of instruction you give me about driving but,
you know, you can probably trust me to handle the women on my
own.”

Chester burst out laughing. “You’re right,
Kid, what was I thinking?”

*

Standing behind the fence, they watched him
coming through the gate toward them with anticipation. The lean
brown body, the too long black hair, the dark eyes, and when he got
almost to them, the gleaming smile.

“What’s up, Girls?”

One of them took the lead - early 20’s, spiky
blonde hair, big brown eyes, a tight compact body with full, firm
breasts, now with an “I ‘heart’ Rafe” pulled tight across them.

“I’m Jeri and I’m the president of your fan
club.”

“I didn’t even know I had a fan club.”

She smiled, showing perfect white teeth.

“Well, you didn’t until a couple weeks ago
but now you do. We’re a little more than just a fan club though.
We’d like to tell you about it when you have time.”

“It will have to be when the racing’s over.
How about if I meet you here when I’m done and we’ll take it from
there.”

“Well, we’re across the highway staying at
the Raceway Lodge. Why don’t you come to the restaurant over there?
That way it will be more comfortable to talk.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“In the meantime, will you sign our shirts?”
She pulled out a black marker. One by one, they presented their
chests to him and he signed a sprawling “Rafe” right above the red
heart.

*

He saw them cheering him on as he pulled up
to the start line and shot them a victory sign, which, by the time
the race was over, it was.

*

“They’re in the small dining room in the back
over there,” the gray-haired waitress told him. “They told me I’d
recognize you right away because you’re so pretty,” she said,
chuckling.

“Guess I’d feel pretty stupid if I got back
there and it wasn’t me.” He grinned.

“Not to worry, Darlin’, I’m sure it’s
you.”

*

They’d saved the head of the table for him.
The ten of them were ranged in front of him. All looked to be from
upper teens to early 30’s. There were redheads and blondes and
brunettes, short hair and long hair, blue eyes and brown eyes,
slender to full-bodied.

Once again, Jeri took charge.

“Here’s the way it happened. Lida over there
is from around Benedict and she saw you race a couple years ago.
You were her favorite driver then but you disappeared. When you
showed back up this year, she made sure to find out what your
schedule was going to be and she’s been to every one of your races
since. Me and Lida are best friends. She talked me into going
because she didn’t want to drive to the farther tracks alone. I’d
never even been to any races before but I love them now. We met up
with a few others and got to be sort of race track friends. Turned
out that every one of us lusted after you.” She grinned and he
matched it with one of his own.

“We almost got in a cat fight once arguing
over who should get to go to bed with you, although, of course, at
that point, none of us knew exactly how we were going to make that
happen. Anyway, we figured that was stupid so we got together to
make a better plan. We decided we’d start the fan club but with a
twist. What we thought of was that at the beginning of each meet,
we’d put all our names in a hat. Whoever’s name was drawn would be
offered to you that night if you were interested in being with
someone. Then that person’s name is left out the next time so
everyone gets a fair chance…”

He looked around the table at them. They all
felt slightly electrified by the smile that crossed his face.

“Sounds like a plan, Girls, but I usually
like to have a little say over who I go to bed with.”

“No, wait,” said Jeri, “before you say no,
let me explain the advantages for you. First, we always book rooms
close to the track. We double up but we’d always make sure to
reserve one single for whoever gets drawn. You don’t probably know
most of the women at the tracks from Adam anyway so it’s going to
be trial and error for you. This way, you know for sure you’ve got
someone waiting on you if you want, close by, in a nice room. If
there’s a night you’ve got something else to do, that person’s name
just goes to the next race night. Look at us, Rafe, none of us are
old or fat or ugly. Every one of us would treat you like a king.
How can you turn down a deal like that?”

“When you explain it like that, it does sound
pretty appealing. So, did you already draw for tonight in case I
said yes?” he asked curiously.

“No, we all agreed that Lida should have the
first go since, basically, she discovered you.”

Lida looked to be of mixed race heritage,
Caucasian and Oriental. She was tiny, probably not even 5 foot,
with lustrous long jet hair, almond eyes and creamy ivory skin. She
gave him a shy smile.

“Are you sure about this, Sweetheart, that
it’s really what you want to do?”

“Oh, yes, I’m positive!”

“Well, lead the way then.”

She got up from the table and took his hand,
a huge smile on her face. Going out the door, he looked back at the
rest of them and winked.

Lucky, lucky Lida. Maybe next week it would
be them.

*

“How old are you, Lida?”

“Twenty.”

“Are you a virgin?”

“Yes, is it so easy tell?”

“Well, yes, it is pretty obvious.”

“Are you disappointed, that I’m not more
experienced and you’ll probably have to show me what to do?”

“No, Sweetheart, I don’t mind.”

He did everything slowly and gently because
she was so tiny and so shy. Her hands were like little butterflies
dancing delicately across his body. Her lips were like a
hummingbird, darting and skimming and kissing. He took lots of time
to get her ready until she was comfortable and eager.

“I’m going to come into you now. It might
hurt a little since it’s your first time but it won’t last
long.”

She was small there too and he felt her wince
when he entered her but he kept up his patient easy strokes until
he sensed that she was relaxing, getting into it. (She was far from
his first virgin, after all).

“Put your legs around me, Sweetheart,” he
whispered in her ear, “lift your hips to come and meet me.”

He moved a little faster, a little harder
until he heard her breathing quicken, could tell she was on the
brink of orgasm. He waited until he heard her soft sighs of
satisfaction, before he let himself go.

“Oh, Rafe,” she murmured against his chest.
“I’m so glad I waited for you. All my friends have been doing it a
long time but I told them I wanted my first experience to be really
special.”

They took a shower together and he made her
come again, kissing her and tickling her lightly with a fluffy
washcloth on her breasts and butt and between her legs.

They ordered a pizza and talked while they
ate.

She was from the next town west of Benedict,
Linnville, she was taking a nursing course at the State College. He
told her he thought she’d make a wonderful nurse because she seemed
so caring and kind. She said going to the races was her favorite
extracurricular activity. She watched him faithfully the first year
he raced and was so glad when he came

back.

He recognized the signs and really hoped she
didn’t tell him she loved him even though he knew she thought she
did. Although it was fun to show a girl how good sex could be for
the first time, he thought he probably would rather have started
with someone like Jeri who wouldn’t be as emotionally sensitive as
this one, someone with whom he wouldn’t have to be so careful.

“You know,” she told him later, “we’re not
allowed to tell you we love you. It’s in our by-laws.”

“You have by-laws?” he said, somewhat taken
aback, “and one of them is that you can’t tell me you love me?”

“Yes, because we don’t want this to be
uncomfortable for you. We decided it wouldn’t be fair and besides
that, if it got to be a hassle for you, you might quit doing
it.”