Chapter 5

DO YOU SCREW YOUR SISTER?

"What number are you looking for?"

Billy glanced at the scrawled handwriting. It was his own, but he could hardly read it. He'd been taking a bath when Leo called, and writing down the address had been difficult perched on the edge of the tub.

"Saint Marks Place. Number thirty-three and a half."

The panhandler nodded. "Just down the block, next to the Head Shop. You can't miss it-they've got a big poster in front. The Theatre of Sexual Expression or some sort of bullshit like that."

"Thanks," Billy muttered. He dropped a quarter in the panhandler's cup and turned to move quickly down the block.

He was late. Billy glanced at his watch. Close to six-thirty. "Fuck!" he cursed aloud. He hated to be late. Tonight was the first rehearsal.

"Whew!" Billy breathed a sigh of relief. He had managed to get away with it, convincing Andrea that all that was happening tonight was only an audition and not an actual rehearsal complete with fucking and sucking on stage. Billy winced, imagining Andrea's reaction had she known the truth.

"Billy!"

Leo was in front of the theatre pacing the sidewalk, glancing first one way, then the other. He was nervous and impatient. Then he finally spotted Billy coming down the block.

"Leo," Billy exclaimed breathlessly. "I'm sorry I'm late. I did everything I could to get here on time."

"Andrea?"

Billy nodded. "She was kind of suspicious."

"What did you tell her?"

"Just that it was an audition tonight, Leo. I didn't tell her it was the real thing . . .a rehearsal and all. I want her to get used to the idea that I'm going to be in this play before I spring it on her."

Leo snorted. "I dig you, Billy, baby, I really do. But baby, some of your relationships are just too far out even for me. I don't see why you have to wheedle and squirm and be so fucking evasive with Andrea when it's all simply a matter of telling the truth!"

"Sure, Leo," Billy shrugged. "But, after all, Andrea read the script of this play. She knows how dirty it is. And reading it is one thing. To actually realize that I'm going to be acting in it is something else..." He hesitated, trying to find a comparison to explain to Leo what he meant.

"Let's say you were married. If you were married do you think your wife would be all that delighted to learn you're going to be away from home every night fucking and sucking some twenty-odd girls in a three-ring circus for money?"

"Andrea's your sister!"

"It amounts to the same thing," Billy replied. "It's all in the family."

"Only if you're fucking her," Leo said softly. A slight grin played at the corner of his mouth. "That's an idea which has crossed my mind several times."

"Hah-hah!" Billy laughed. "That's funny! Me and my sister!"

"Shit!" Leo shrugged. "What's wrong with screwing your great-grandmother if that's the thing that turns you on? The whole purpose behind my Theatre of Sexual Expression is to get people to come up on stage and liberate themselves. Join in with the actors! Play out the games! Live your dreams in reality! This is no bullshit! Not coming from me! Go ahead! Screw your sister!"

"What are you talking about?" Billy exclaimed, startled by the frenzy in Leo's speech. His gestures were wild. He had thrown himself into his words with total abandon. "Andrea?"

Leo nodded feverishly. "Bang her, Billy! Bang away! I wouldn't mind a piece of her hump myself!"

"Cut it out!" Billy interrupted harshly with more than a faint trace of annoyance in his voice. "Not Andrea! Don't talk about her like that!" Billy took a deep breath. "Mimosa? Now that's a very different sister! I'd gladly pay cash for someone to screw her! Anything to get that little brat out of my hair!"

"Really?" Leo was interested. The change of tone in his friend's voice was apparent. "Okay Billy, baby, I just might try to score in that little nubile box ... but don't get up tight, let me ask you about Andrea, okay?"

Billy nodded.

"To me Andrea is a damn good looking blonde. I'd love to go bouncing in a bed with her. And she's also your sister and a pretty shrewd cookie in her own right, okay? But, Billy baby, I don't see her with all that awe and extra special shit you seem to imply every time you mention her name..."

"Well," Billy replied, "Andrea has been the head of our family since the folks were killed in a speedboat accident some years ago. Even though Andrea is only a few years older than me, she promptly took over as both parents. She's not just a substitute mother to me, she's a father too. So I've got a lot of objective respect for Andrea, mixed in with my own more personal feelings."

"That makes sense," Leo admitted. "It's not a very sensual relationship. But, I suppose, that would be impossible under the circumstances."

"Exactly."

"That's a pity," Leo said. "Some brothers and sisters I know are closer to each other than they could ever be with their lovers. Physically closer."

"Mimosa," Billy laughed, "but not Andrea. That's why I have to be so circumspect regarding this play. Andrea has her heart set on a very respectable career for me as an actor. She does, Leo, she really does!"

"TV commercials and all that soap opera jazz?"

"Right," Billy nodded. "This afternoon, for example, she dragged me around to this casting agency where I had to sit like a dumbbell for hours. Finally I'd had it. I just walked out."

Leo whistled. "Andrea must have flipped! I can imagine how pissed off she'd be! No wonder you're late."

"That's also why I didn't want to tell her tonight was an actual rehearsal. To her it would have seemed as if I had chosen a career like pimping-fucking in public-instead of something respectable like she was trying to arrange. The real problem is going to be if she actually manages to land me a job in a commercial. I'll have to do that and this at the same time."

"It might even help," Leo said thoughtfully. "It might make it easier for her to accept the fact that you're really going to be in my show. Ringmaster in a circus of sex and sin!"

Billy whistled. "Tell that to Andrea! She'd go up a wall. Don't forget her feelings toward me are as complicated as mine toward her. Neither of us has an easy time with it."

"You know," Leo said seriously, "both of you are going to have to grow up one of these days. Her especially. She can't just go on being your guardian and taking care of you until you're sixty-five and eligible for social security. You've got to go out and live on your own."

"Leo!" Billy laughed. "You know I'm a swinger!"

"But what about Andrea?" Leo asked. "That's why in a very profound way she turns me on sexually much more than Mimosa, granting the fact that Mimosa is sexy and all, sure--but, well, it's that sort-of virgin quality that Andrea's got."

"I'm sure she's had an affair or two," Billy pointed out. "I don't think physically she's still a virgin."

"In her head she is," Leo said softly. "And maybe that's where I'd like to fuck her."

"Maybe you'll get a chance," Billy suggested. "Eight months more and I'm legally entitled to be on my own. And that's what I'm going to do, because I think basically, you happen to be right. Our relationship would certainly be far more sound if we were independent of each other. Eight months isn't too long to wait, is it, Leo?"

"Eight months is a breeze," Leo quipped. "The circus will still be open. You can bet your ass on that!"

Billy grinned. "Exactly! That's just what I'm doing. And my cock and balls as well. Naked! In public! Three shows on Saturday! I'll probably be so bored with pussy in eight months my idea of sex will be to jerk off in a book!"

"God forbid!" Leo shouted. "I couldn't replace you in this part, Billy-shit! We've stood around talking too goddamn long! The rest of the cast should be pretty impatient now. They've been waiting for you since six o'clock."

"What scene are we going to rehearse?"

"The orgy in the first act. Twelve girls, two chickens, a donkey and you."