Chapter 4
THEY WERE MARRIED SOMETIME BETWEEN midnight and morning, in a little "Marriage Bower" on the edge of Vegas. The place offered all the trimmings, for a fine fat fee: white dress, flowers, rings, the works. Jock hauled out bill after bill from his wallet, buying the whole array for Zoe, insisting that she have everything possible for as imagine a wedding as this hurry-up ceremony would allow.
The woman attendant basted a few tucks into the lovely satin dress-which fit Zoe perfectly. The flowers were real mums and roses, all white, and the rings were diamond-studded. The little jewelry counter in the front office offered a selection of rings-cheap, medium, and expensive-and Jock picked out a showy set, smacking down five hundred dollars for it. Zoe felt a little dizzy with the glamour, the wealth, and the swiftness of it all.
Then, in only a few minutes, they were discarding everything but the flowers and rings, rushing to the airport again, and flying back to south Texas to the border city where they had left Clitey and Link and the gambling games.
Zoe asked, "Don't you think they will have missed us by now?"
But Jock insisted, "No, love. Link's probably got Clitey in bed again, maybe two or three times more. When they got done gambling, they probably started screwing again, and kept at it the rest of the night. She's the best lay he ever had, so he told me, and, if you ask me, I think Clitey's plumb in love with him."
"I think so too. I saw her eyes when they came out of her room last night, and she looked like she was crazy about him. Will he break her heart, do you think?"
'
"I'm damn sure he'll never marry her, if that's what you mean. Gads, who would? She's been screwed by every guy that comes to her games, every Friday night, for years! No man in his right mind would take a gal like that for his wife ... But I don't think anybody'll ever break Clitey's heart. She hasn't got one, has she?"
Zoe remembered her sister's saying, "I'll make you my partner, and you'll get rich along with me." No normal woman would turn her own little sister into a paid prostitute. She said, "No, I guess she hasn't, Jock. No heart at all."
They got a cab at the Texas airport and went again to Clitey's. The house was only dimly lighted now, looking as if everybody in it was asleep at five o'clock in the morning. Zoe dug in her purse and found the key that Clitey had given her, then unlocked the back door. The two of them peered down the stairs toward the two basements, but saw only darkness there. Apparently the games were over and the gamblers gone. Where were Link and Clitey?
Where-would Zoe and Jock meet them for the trip to the Panhandle in the cargo plane?
Jock said, "Hell, I'll bet anything I know where Link is. He's in Clitey's room, laying her as hard as he can, one last time before he leaves. And Mendez is doing the same thing with some street woman he's picked up. Come on, we'll find Link."
They ran down the long corridor to the first-floor bedrooms, pausing outside Clitey's closed door. Sure enough, they heard her soft laughter, her cooing words, "Link, you beautiful big ox! I never knew a man who could get his prick so hard so often! We've gone off three times tonight, both of us. And now you want another one-a nightcap before you take off. Are you sure you can get that big wonderful prick of yours stiff again, sweetie?"
"Damn right I can. All I need is a few minutes' rest between screwings. I can get it hard any time I want to-and any time you rub your fuzz on it, girl."
"Then let me feel it now, sweetie ... God, what a big one, what a beautiful prick-the most beautiful one in the whole world, the only one that gives me a real buzz, sweetie ... Do you screw a lot of women, Link?"
His chuckle was short. "God, no-if it's any consolation to you. I don't have much time for screwing. Oh, I take a crotch to bed once in a while, on these trips, if the girl pushes it up to me and I'm in the mood. But most of the time I just save up for when I come here. You've got a crotch in a hundred, Clitey girl."
"I could keep It for you, Link. Nobody else would get into it if you didn't want them to. All you'd have to do is ask me."
"Now don't bring that up again! You know I'm not marrying anybody. I've told you so, plenty of times. A wife wouldn't mix with my business. But you're as close to me as any woman ever can be, Clitey. And you're the only one I keep coming back to. You can make me go off just by holding open your crotch for me."
"Okay, you beautiful big ox. I'm holding it open for you now, and it's twitching like hell for your prick. Come on, push into me and give me the biggest thrill of my life. Every time we do it, it's better than the last time, sweetie ... Oh, God, Link, it's go good-so goddamn good when it's with you."
Jock pulled Zoe on past the closed door. She felt his arm shaking as it held her. He choked, "Baby, don't let me listen to any more of their talk about screwing-or the sound of them doing it. I'll go nuts wanting some screwing myself!"
Zoe turned into his arms, pressing her lips to his. "I-I feel the same way, Jock. And we're husband and wife now. It would be the thing to do. You've got a right to ... to screw me now."
"But I promised not to till we got to the farm."
"That was because I thought I was hurt. But I feel almost healed up now, Jock. If I can get warm and wet inside, and I feel like I am, then maybe you won't hurt me any more."
His face on hers was steamy, his sweat dampening her face as well as his. "Do you mean it? Can we really screw, right now?"
"Sure, we can. I-I never thought I'd want it, Jock but I kind of do. At least I won't be mad at you when you do it to me this time."
They rushed on to her room. A maid had cleaned the place completely, making up the bed with fresh snowy linen. They dropped onto it as soon as they could shed their clothes, and Jock was into Zoe the moment he fell upon her. He pushed easy, all the time kissing her, murmuring that he loved her terribly, begging her to love him back, to want his pecker in her crotch as much as he wanted to put it there.
She was relieved and pleased that she was able to take him without being hurt, and without having to slow him down. There was no thrill in it, as she had hoped there would be, but, she told herself, that would come later, sometime when she had learned to love him. Surely sex was part of the whole joy of love, and a wife would want it as soon as she had learned to love her husband fully. Eventually she would work up to a climax, and feel the glorious explosion that would tell her she had been fulfilled at last ... That would come in time. For now, she was glad she could let her bridegroom take her as he would, in their first married union.
He asked, "Shall I wait for you, baby? Can you go off, do you think?"
"Oh, no, I don't think so. I-"
"I can hold off a little while longer if you want to keep trying, love. Maybe if I feel that little bump of yours some more, you'll be able to work up and-"
"No, no, I ... just don't feel like it. I can't do it tonight, Jock. Give me some ... some time to learn to ... to have a climax. I'm glad that it's as good as it is this time. Glad you're not hurting me, and that I'm able to make it easy for you."
"Gads, yes, you're swell, baby ... Okay, I'll go on ... It feels swell, love. Lots better than when you were crying and fighting me, when you didn't want me in you at all. I don't ever want to screw any other girl, baby. Just you and me, screwing each other as long as we live!"
When he had spent himself and gone limp, they got up and dressed. They came out of the bedroom together, their hands clasped in each other's, their faces happy.
Voices down the hallway told them that Clitey and Link were somewhere in the living room, probably saying their good-byes. As Jock and Zoe neared them, Link was saying, "Where in hell is that damned kid, Jock? Mendez says he's not in any motel or cafe in this town. And we've scoured the house. I'm flying home in thirty minutes, and if that damned young fool isn't here by then-"
"Link, sweetie, don't get all lathered up about it. You know Zoe is missing too. They're some place together, making love. He's probably thinking that she's as good at it as you say I am. And maybe he's getting a last piece before he takes out, the way you got your last chunk with me."
"Well, hell, they should be done with it by now. Women have no place in business-at least not in my business. Jock should have got all the screwing he wanted last night. He doesn't need to keep screwing your kid sister all day today too. I'm ready to get back to the farm and forget crotches and perfume and tits-until the next time I come down here."
"Do you forget all about those things, Link? Don't you ever think about how good it was to screw me, when you're up there on your farm doing your work?"
The man's voice was harsh, heartless, "Hell, no, I don't think about you, you damned little slut. All I want out of you is a good night's stabbing. Once it's over, so are you as far as I'm concerned. I never give you another thought till I see you again and want a piece of that crotch of yours."
His voice took on a note of annoyance, almost of anger, "And I'm raising Jock to be like me; to take over the farm when I let him. He's not going to be messed up by any woman who'd want to move off our place out in the-wilds. He'll make a fortune if he sticks with me, and I'm going to see that he does ... God, where is he?"
Zoe started into the room, but Jock pulled her back and guided her down the hallway. Fiercely he whispered, "Baby, I can't tell him we're married-not when he's in that kind of mood. He'd knock me down, the way he does when anybody at the farm makes him mad."
"But we are married, Jock! So you've got to tell him."
The boy pulled off his wedding ring and dropped it into his pocket. He motioned her to do the same thing, and she did it reluctantly. He argued, "I can't tell him baby. I haven't got the guts to do it ... Tell you what, love. I'll fly home with him. On the way I'll tell him about us. I'll catch him in a good mood somewhere on the way. I'll talk him into approving of our getting married, and saying we can live at the farm. I'll remind him of what he said about virgins, and that you were one before I got to you. By the time we get home, he'll give me his okay, I know ... Let me do it this way, baby. You've got to let me I"
There was genuine fear in his eyes, in his trembling hands, in the sudden paleness of his face. The boy was really terrified of his Dad. What kind of ogre was Link Tawnley, to hire a foreman who would as soon kill as smoke, to knock down his employees if they displeased him, and to plant such a fear in the heart of his only son that Jock dared not introduce his wife to his Father?
She sighed. "Well, if you have to, then I guess I have to let you. But how long will it be before you send for me T
"No time at all, baby. As soon as we get home, I'll write to you and send you the money to fly to Wayside Corners. I'll meet you there, and we'll never be separated again, I swear it, baby."
"Well, I-all right."
She let him kiss her, one last long caress that soaked her with its depth and passion. Then she led the way into the living room, and their confrontation with the two adults who paced the deep-piled carpet there.
Clitey flew to Zoe, smothering her with kisses. "God, you had us worried, Little Sis. Where have you been?"
But Link cut off Zoe's possible answer. "What in hell does it matter where she's been? She's got Jock back at last and we've got to get out of here. Come on boy. Mendez has the plane all ready."
Jock hesitated a couple of seconds, seeming to teeter on the edge of a plea or a revelation. "Link, Zoe and I are ... in love."
The older man's eyebrows went up in obvious contempt. "Oh, hell, boy, you'll be in love a hundred times, and get over all of them. And this girl will get over you, if she has any damn sense ... Come on, boy. It's time we took off."
And, before anyone in the room could say another word, Link had whisked his son out the door and into a waiting cab.
Clitey said, "Do you hate to see them go as much as I do, Little Sis?"
Zoe nodded desolately. She didn't love Jock completely, and perhaps she never would. But she loved what he represented. And she could not be sure, now that Link had snatched him away from her, that she would ever learn the reality of life on the Tawnley Feather Farm.
Should she tell Clitey that she was Jock's wife?
Would it keep Clitey from sending other men to Zoe's bed, from demanding that she open her crotch to one and all of them?
No, probably not. Zoe-was reasonably sure that it wouldn't affect Clitey's attitude toward her at all. She would-likely laugh about a marriage between teen-agers. Maybe she'd even annul it, which she could certainly do if she had a mind to. At any rate, she was pretty damn sure not to take it seriously, sex-wise. She would expect Zoe to be ready and willing to take all proffered peckers, come next Friday night.
Well, thank God, Zoe wouldn't be here then. Jock would have sent the money to her, and she would have left this house. She would be at the Tawnley Feather Farm, settled down in her new home as Jock Tawnley's wife-and Link Tawnley's daughter-in-law.
Maybe, then, she'd better keep her secret from Clitey, at least for this week. She could wait to tell Clitey when she caught the plane for Wayside Corners. She might even avoid it then. She could leave a note for Clitey. And once she was gone, there wouldn't be much that her sister could do. Before she could reach Zoe, Jock would have met her plane and rushed her off to the farm. And then Link would protect their marriage. Jock had promised that he would. And Zoe had to believe it, in spite of the way Link had acted and talked. She had to believe that when she was in his care, she would be free of Clitey's wayward ways-and that she'd stay free of them forever.
Now Clitey said, "God, I'm worn out. I always am when Link is here. Other game nights I don't work hard in bed. But with Link-God, he's a beautiful ox, Little Sis! He's got the biggest, the cuttingest cock I ever--But you don't care about Link's cock, do you?"
"No, I don't. I had plenty of his son's, and it wasn't bad."
"I'll bet it wasn't. I bet he screwed you all to hell. And you'll be glad he did, glad that first time is over. You'll like it fine from now on, Little Sisfrom him and all the other men who come here to gamble and screw. You'll be wonderful help to me, sweetie. I'm sure glad I brought you here. Well, let's get some sleep, shall we?" She started for her room. "I'll see you at dinner tonight-if I'm awake by then."
She popped into her room and slammed the door. Zoe went to her room and sat down to think. What would happen to her next-what would she do before this week was over, this month, this year?
The first thing to happen came four days later on the following Tuesday. Zoe was getting nervous by then, having waited eagerly, day after day, for word from Jock. But she had had none-no wire, no letter, no telephone call, no plane ticket, no money. The Tawnleys would have reached their home sometime on Saturday. If anything had happened to them, there would surely have been notice of it in the area papers, and there had been no mention of any such tragedy.
Had Jock failed to tell his father that he was married? Was he still stalling, still trying to get up his nerve to give out his news? Or had he told Link-and been refused his wife? Was Link perhaps annulling the marriage, parting his son from any girl who would dare to consider the Tawnley Feather Farm her home?
Why didn't she hear from Jock? Why?
Then, on Tuesday morning, Clitey knocked on her door, calling, "Get up and come with me, Little Sis. I've got to go to Tutie Bear's trial, and pay her fine if she gets one. It'll look better if two women go to court instead of one. I don't want that crotchety old Judge Mooreman to know I've got any connection with Tutie Bear Torrento, so you come along. If you've never been to court-and I'm damn sure you haven't-it'll be a new experience."
Zoe got up and dressed listlessly. But why not go with Clitey? It would be something to do-something to take her mind off what would happen to her if she didn't hear from Jock before Friday night.
On their way to the courthouse in Clitey's Cadillac, Zoe asked, "What is your connection with the Torrento woman?"
The older girl shrugged. "Hell, you ought to be able to figure that out, Little Sis. I staked her to a start in the gambling business, in the back room of her crumby little cafe on the south side of town--the Green Garter, she calls it. She does real well, and I get a fourth of all she makes."
"Clitey, do you have to get mixed up with a woman like her? I-I mean ... Well, I heard her and the Mendez fellow, downstairs Friday night, in one of the bedrooms across from the Corral. They were screwing. And they said awful things! Do you have to--? "
"Hell, yes, I have to. How in Christ's name do you think I got this car and the clothes you're wearing and the house we live in? By pulling every string I could get hold of, that's how! My house is the biggest string, sure-the games and the men I drag into them, the way I keep them happy by letting them lay me. But I've got a lot of other strings too, all bringing me in plenty, and Tutie Bear is one of them ... All right, here we are. Hop out."
They made their way up the stairs to the musty-smelling courtroom. The trial had not yet started, and they slipped into seats toward the back. Zoe whispered, "Is the fat woman up there Tutie Bear Torrento?"
Clitey nodded.
Zoe studied the woman who was on trial for gambling, and she decided that Tutie Bear was more than plain Mexican. She looked like a Cajun-Mex conglomerate. She was so fat and flabby that her butt hung over her chair on both sides, wobbling with her every movement. Her old skirt Was grease-spattered and her tennis shoes were as dirty as they were frayed. Her face wasn't over-clean either, and her double chin sagged heavily toward her un-corseted breasts that swayed in her low-cut plaid blouse. No wonder that even a louse like Mendez didn't want to lay this awful female!
When the judge had started things off, the district attorney outlined the case against Tutie Bear. He told the judge he would prove that Mrs. Torrento conducted nightly gambling games at the Green Garter-and that she sold liquor to all who joined her games. The D.A.-a flawlessly groomed man named Russell Ryder-was an excellent speaker. Zoe felt that Tutie Bear was licked before anybody at the defense table said a word.
Then Tutie Bear's lawyer, a hook-nosed hunk of lank called Jarvis Kane, promptly hopped up and stated that he would prove that Mrs. Torrento was a hard-working, law-abiding citizen, naturalized just five years ago and completely loyal to the llnited States and Texas, and all the regulations therein; that she would not give a moment's consideration to gambling or the dispensation of liquor, either for fun or profit.
The D.A. got the first chance to howl, and he howled extremely well, Zoe noted. A police officer testified to catching a gambling party in the back room of the Green Garter a week ago, with a fortune on the tables and a bottle of booze apiece for the gamblers. Neighbors of the cafe swore they saw people going into and coming out of Tutie Bear's place all hours of the night, mostly weaving drunkenly when they came out. When they happened to peek in the cafe windows-which it seemed they did regularly-they saw gambling and drinking and a few other things too sexy to mention. Furthermore, one man said, he'd listened through a sagging window and heard plenty. It was his belief that plenty of plots were hatched in Tutie Bear's back room: plans to smuggle, to steal, maybe to do dirt to somebody that Tutie Bear, or whoever was backing her in her lawless enterprises, wanted out of the way. The Torrento woman definitely ran a house of sin, witness after witness testified. And so, District Attorney Ryder told the judge, the unprincipled, undisciplined defendant deserved jail-a long-long spell of it.
Then Hook Nose got up to defend Tutie Bear. He called a few character witnesses, who said they knew nothing against the woman. Then he called Tutie Bear to the stand. After the amenities, he asked her, "Do you ever entertain friends at your place of business, Mrs. Torrento?"
The fat woman nodded on cue. "Shore do. Ewa night after I close up, I give a party. Ewabody-likes to come. Begs me for invites. Stays hours, sometimes all night, just havin' fun."
"What constitutes the fun, Mrs. Torrento?"
"How's that now?"
"How do you entertain your guests?"
"Oh. Well, ewabody drinks cokes and plays games. Evvabody enjoys theirselves that way."
"What games do they play?"
"Why, bridge and rummy and like that. Dominoes sometimes."
"Is there any betting on the games at any time?"
"Oh, no, newa. No bettin' at alL"
"The arresting officer, Mr. Harris, testified that there was a great deal of money on the tables when he raided the Green Garter. Do you corroborate his testimony?"
"Do I what?"
"Was there money on the tables that night?"
"Well, shore."-
"Where did it come from?"
"Why, I'd cashed the boy's payroll checks. I do it for 'em ewa week-them that don't get offa work in time to get to town before the banks is closed up. Ewabody in town knows I cash the payroll checks for the boys."
"Certainly, Mrs. Torrento. Now, about the drinks. You say you serve cokes to your guests. Do you ever serve anything stronger?"
"Not atall, newa. Cokes and coffee-and mabbe ice tea in summer. That's all."
"How about the so-called 'plots' that witnesses say have been hatched up in the Green Garter?"
"I ain't got no idee what they was talkin' about."
"You've never been a party to any sinister goings-on, then?"
"What in hell--Esscuse me, Mister Judge, Sir What you mean by 'sinister', Kane."
"Anything bad."
"Oh. Well, no, I ain't newa made no bad plans about nothin'. I ain't never planned no smugglin' er stealin' or nothin'. Newa nothin' like that."
Hook Nose turned her over to Ryder. The D.a. studied her with his lips curled almost too far to talk.
"Mrs. Torrento, if nobody was gambling when Officer Harris walked into the Green Garter that night, why did he see dice on the tables?"
"Why, that feller never saw no dice, Ryder."
"He said he saw them plainly, through the window."
"Yeah, so he said. But was they there when he busted in the door and hollered out for me to hold everything."
"Of course not. You had time to pop the dice out of sight."
"Well, ain't we talkin' about what evidence you got that that there Harris picked up and brought out of my place that night?"
It was a point for Tutie Bear, no doubt about it.
Ryder changed the subject, orating on: "Witnesses have accused you of related crimes, Mrs. Torrento. Can you prove you have never been a part of any smuggling of material or people across the border?"
She met his eyes without blinking. "Why, Inewa-"
Hook Nose was on his feet. "Objection, Your Honor! The defendant is on trial for gambling and the selling of liquor-not for the crime of smuggling."
Ryder roared, "You mentioned related 'sinister goings-on,' and made a point of having her deny it."
"That was to refute the psychological effect of the lies your witnesses had been putting out."
"Well, this is for psychological effect too!"
The judge cut in, "We will tolerate no more of this bickering, gentlemen. Mr. Ryder, is the matter of smuggling pertinent to this case against the defendant?"
Ryder was all smiles. "Yes sir, Your Honor, it certainly is. It was under cover of the drinking and gambling that the defendant plotted even greater crimes, as we shall prove."
"Very well. Objection overruled. Proceed."
The D.A. asked brightly, "Now, then, Mrs. Torrento, do you know a man named Gole Mendez, the foreman of a Panhandle ranch known as the Tawnley Feather Farm?"
She stared, open-mouthed. "Gawd, no, I-Esscuse me, Mr. Judge, Sir Lands, no, Ryder. I newa heard of nobody by that name."
Zoe felt Clitey go tense beside her, the older woman's hands clinching tight in her lap.
Zoe whispered, "Did you want her to admit that she knew Mendez?"
Clitey's answering whisper was a hiss, "God, no!"
"Then what-"
"I was hoping to God that Mendez wouldn't be brought up-or smuggling either."
"You-You mean she and Mendez are mixed up in a smuggling racket?"
"Never mind."
"Are you in on it too?"
"Shut up and listen."
"Is Link Tawnley part of it? And ... Jock."
"Shot up I"
Zoe shut up then and turned her face toward the witness chair again. Tutie Bear was saying, "Ain't newa been nothin' wrong at my place, Ryder. No drinkin', no gamblin', no stealin', no smugglin'. Anything more you want to know that I ain't got none of?"
The D.A.'s face was flushed with annoyance. "Yes, there is, Mrs. Torrento. Several witnesses have also testified that sex could be bought at the Green Garter. Did you ever dispense sex for a fee or work as a procurer for the men at your place, for a fee?"
She grinned widely, showing the gaps between the three front teeth that hadn't been knocked out. "Well, no, I ain't newa done it for a fee, Ryder. But there ain't no law agin bein' friendly, is there? Sol ain't sayin' that lain' the was spent no time in bed with a gent'man guest or two-without no pay."
She let her eyes rove through the courtroom, pausing here and there for a slow peer into some of the masculine faces. Then she added, "Lots of gent'-men come to my place to relax and play dominoes all night and drink cokes. And some of 'em meet their lady friends there, real imagine ladies that they don't want their ball-and-chains to know about. And if they wanta make a little love, who cares? I alius got some nice clean beds madeup." Her eyes came back to the D.A.'s face. "like enuff I could spot some of those imagine gent'men here today, Ryder. Want me to look the crowd over real good?"
The man's face was even redder than before. "That will not be necessary, Mrs. Torrento. The matter is not pertinent to this case."
She grinned. "Whatever you say, Ryder. Talkin' about sex was your idee, not mine. I was just tryin' to hep out. Are you sure you don't want me to point out-"
"I am quite sure, Mrs. Torrento ... Your Honor, this concludes the cross-examination of this witness."
Tutie Bear went back to the defense table and settled into a huddle with Hook Nose.
When the testimony was concluded, the judge deliberated a couple of hours, as the audience sat in the stuffy courtroom, waiting, coughing and sneezing, and cussing the weather.
When Judge Mooreman returned to the room, he announced, "It is the decision of this Court that the defendant, Tutie Bear Torrento, is guilty as charged: of conducting gambling games in her place of business known as the Green Garter, and of the sale of liquor there. It is the decision of this Court that she shall serve one year in jail and be assessed a fine of one "thousand dollars. Or, in lieu of the prison sentence, she may pay a fine of five thousand dollars, plus court costs'. Case dismissed."
Clitey leaped to her feet and rushed from the courtroom, with Zoe at her heels. Just outside the double doors, the older girl choked furiously. "Hell! Damn! Shit!"
Zoe asked, "Did you think she'd get off?"
"God, yes. She always has before. That goddamn Kane is slipping. I'll have to get a new Big-Mouth ... Why, if they're jailing crumbs like Tutie Bear, they'll be onto the games in the residential districts next. And some goddamn fool will tip them off about the Corral."
She paused to catch her breath and then fumed on, "Five grand! God, if that goddamn Mooreman knew how long it takes me to make five grand, he'd go easier on grabbing it away from me ... Okay, Little Sis, I'll, give Kane the money to pay her fine. If she never makes me another cent, I can't afford to have her sitting in jail, gabbing about her partner-ship with me."
When the fine had been paid, Tutie Bear had waddled away, and the Shaw girls were heading for home, Zoe said, "I couldn't stand living the way you do, Clitey-one jump ahead of jail all the time. Is it worth it to you?"
Clitey smiled, her spirits picking up. "Hell, yes, it's worth it to me, Little Sis. It will be to you too, before long. We're going to get so rich, one of these years, that we can buy off every policeman and lawyer and judge in the county. And that'll be one hell of a buy!"
Zoe slid down In her half of the spacious Cadillac seat. She wasn't sure of very many things any more. But there was one thing she knew for certain: She was not going to grow rich with Clitey-on dice and drink and her crotch!