Chapter 4
Torchy finally arrived home at a few minutes before seven that evening, breathless with excitement, the glow of her multiple orgasms still bright on her cheeks. She could hardly wait to tell her mother that she and David had finally hit it off-that a wondrous sort of joy had replaced the frantic pain of their first attempt at love-making.
She found her mother in the kitchen, half-heartedly stirring something in a pan on the stove. "What's for supper, Mom? I am simple ravenous...."
"Spaghetti," the redhead said with a sigh.
Torchy pulled up short. She had been so wrapped up in her own sense of joy that she failed to notice that look of frantic concern of her mother's face. "Is something wrong, Mom?" she said as she moved up behind the older woman and slipped her arms around her waist and held her tightly. "You sound sort of-well, worried or something!"
"It's nothing, sweetheart!"
"It doesn't feel like nothing," Torchy said.
A ripple of apprehension raced through the red-head's body as she shrugged her shoulders wearily. "Is it really all that obvious, kid?" she said. "I guess I must be getting terribly transparent in my old age!"
"It's obvious to me, Mom," Torchy said. "But that's only because I know you so well...and thirty-two is not old by anyone's standards!"
"Oh, Brad called a little while ago, baby," the older woman said. "He-ah, we...."
Torchy turned her mother around, looked long and hard into the older woman's bright, green eyes. The raw and intense fear she saw there frightened her. "Hey; what is it, Mom?" she demanded. "C'mon, tell me...."
"Well, I-I . . "
"Please, Mom. I want to know!"
"Oh, I'm just being silly, baby," Kay said, and pulled away from her daughter. "Really, I-I guess it's too close to the wrong time of month or something. Really, baby, there's no reason to get upset. It's no big deal!"
"Maybe so," Torchy said. "But I still want to know!"
Kay shrugged, walked over to the table and sat down in one of the chairs there. "Well, like I said, Brad called...and he was as excited as a kid. It seems that Jimmy Edwards wants him to take over the management of the Velvet Hand!" She let out a squeaky little sigh and then paused, trying to gain control of the tremor that infected her voice. "And guess what? The job pays four hundred and fifty dollars a week...and that's just to start. It could mean as much as fifty thousand dollars a year, if everything goes right!"
"Fifty thousand," Torchy said, and swallowed hard. "There isn't that much money in the world!"
"Yeah, well-it sounds pretty fantastic, alright!"
"I'll bet not many of those stuffed-shirt phoneys at Zarta Products make that much," the girl said. "All those clowns like what's his face-your boss?"
"Sy Cohen?"
"Yeah-that ass-hole!"
"Listen, baby-ah, do you know what sort of place the Velvet Hand is?" Kay said. "I mean, do you really know the sort of stuff that goes on there?"
"Well, sure-it's a massage parlor," the girl said. "A rub and suck joint!"
"Yeah; that's it," Kay sighed.
"Look, maybe I'm just being thick or something, mother, but well, I guess I don't see what it is that has you so upset," Torchy said. "I would have thought that you'd be happy that such an opportunity came Brad's way. I mean four fifty a week is a fine hunk of bread. Isn't it?"
"It's not the money, baby," Kay said. "It's just that I don't want to end up with another man doing time-sitting his tail in prison. I couldn't bear that, Torchy. Not after all the hell we went through with your father!"
"But they aren't the same thing, are they?" the girl said, and wrinkled her brow. "I mean, the Dutchman robbed a super-market with a gun and all that. I love Daddy-really love him, but that was a super-dumb thing to do. I don't see how that compares with what Brad will be doing?"
"The end result could be the same!"
"How?" Torchy demanded.
"Torchy-baby, there are some super-straight people in this town," Kay said with a sigh. "People with a lot of power that would like to see places like the Velvet Hand and the Clown Lounge closed down. Hell, there are whole groups devoting themselves to the idea of riding Jimmy Edwards and his crew out of this town on a rail!"
"Bunch of bastards," Torchy spat bitterly. "Hell, this town wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Jimmy Edwards. I mean, everyone knows that it was his doing that got the Zarta people to build their new plant here in Welshfield instead of up in Carbon City!"
"Yeah-right; but people are funny, baby," Kay said.
"What does that mean?"
"In your mind all the people around here should be grateful to Jimmy for beating some life back into this town," Kay said, "and that's reasonable-but it ain't what happens. Now that the plant is here and things are starting to go right they want to clean things up-make the city respectable!"
"What a drag," Torchy said.
"Drag or not, it's the way people feel," Kay continued. "I'm telling you, sweetheart, one day-real soon-all hell is going to break loose around here. And poor Brad is going to be right in the middle of it!"
"I can see why you're so upset," Torchy said. "Boy, what a rotten deal. What a shit-kicker...."
"Life isn't fair, baby," Kay said. "There are no white knights on charging horses out to save the fair maidens from the fire-breathing dragons. Poverty and misery seemed to draw people together, make them depend on one another-but give them a taste of the so-called better life and they'll go crazy if they get the opportunity to cut someone's throat!"
"That's crazy...."
"But true, kids" Kay said. "Once people have a full gut and something more than rags on their back they start scratching around for something called respectability!"
"Mom, wait-stop," the raven-haired girl said. "You've got me so confused I don't know which end is up. My head is spinning like a top!"
"I I'm sorry, sweetheart," Kay said, and reached out and touched the side of her daughter's face with her hand. "I don't like it anymore than you do. It's cheap and rotten and unfair as it can be-but that's the way most people are. I mean, they're selfish and self-centered and most of them aren't worth the powder it would take to blow them to hell!"
"Did you tell Brad about you know, about the way you feel about it-and all?" Torchy said.
"I-I couldn't, baby," the redhead said. "First off, he called me at work and Sy Cohen had about six million things he wanted me to do and he wanted me off the phone. Secondly, Brad was just bubbling over with excitement. Really, he sounded like a six-year-old on Christmas eve!"
Torchy turned off the fire under the pan of meat sauce on the stove, walked over to the table and sat down in a chair across from her mother. "So," she said after a long moment of chilling silence, "what are you going to do?"
"I wish the hell I knew, kid," the redhead said sadly. "I really wish to hell I knew!"
Torchy was napping on the couch in the living room when she was awakened by the sound of the phone ringing. "It's for you, sweetheart," her mother called, holding her hand over the receiver. "Some girl it sounds as if she's been crying or something...."
"A girl-are you sure, Mom?" Torchy said, her eyes round with surprise.
"I'm sure," the redhead said, "and she sounds as if it's very, very important!"
The raven-haired girl rolled from the couch, walked over to her mother and took the phone from her hand. "This is Torchy Fleming," she said.
"Torchy, this is-Mary Ellen!"
"Who?" the dark-eyed girl said. "Who do you say?"
"Mary Ellen Lewis," the voice said. "And wait please, Torchy, don't hang up on me. I-I've really got to talk with you. It's a' matter of life and death!"
"Life or death, huh?"
"I swear, Torchy. It's true!"
The raven-haired girl shook her head, trying to drive the sleep from her brain. If she had one enemy in the whole, wide world, just one, it was the Mayor's daughter, Mary Ellen Lewis. She was a girl the kids at Welshfield High School called Polly Pure Pussy because of her absolute revulsion with anything even remotely sexual.
"I'm listening, Mary Ellen!"
"I-I can't talk right now, Torchy," the bosomy little blonde said in a harsh whisper. "I'm afraid that I'll be overheard or something. Could you maybe meet me some place? like the hamburger joint over on Willacott Road? Please-say you will! It's really important!"
"I know-a matter of life or death!"
"It's true, Torchy. I swear it!"
Torchy looked down at her wrist watch, sighed deeply in exasperation. "What are you building, Mary Ellen?" she demanded. "I mean, this just doesn't add up-you coming on to me all sweetness and light?"
"Torchy, please...."
"Can't you at least give me some idea of what's going on, Mary Ellen?"
"Not over the phone, Torchy," the blonde said. "Look, I really need to talk with you. I-I'm desperate!" It sounded as if she were crying-or just about to. "I know we've never been what you could call friends or anything. In fact, I've always played the bitch around you, but I-I don't have anyone else I can turn to. Please, Torchy-in the name of God, please say that you'll meet me!"
"Okey," Torchy said. "I'll be at the burger joint in-say, thirty minutes. And if this is some sort of trick or if you don't show up, bitch, I'll see you at school tomorrow-and you'll be damned sorry!"
"It's no trick, Torchy," Mary Ellen said. "I'll be waiting for you. Hurry, huh? Please hurry!"
Mary Ellen sat alone at one of the tables in the rear of Fat Irma's Hamburger heaven, toying with the ice in the bottom of a paper cup. She was a slender girl with pale golden hair that fell midway down her back in loose, flowing waves. Her eyes were bright and blue, sparkling with intelligence. Her nose was a bit pugged-perfect for her oval face, and her lips were full and moist, pouty.
She looked up at Torchy as the raven-haired girl entered the building and began to wave at her. Her breasts were fantastic-huge, pear-shaped things that she kept well-hidden under a seemingly inexhaustible supply of bulky sweaters.
"Thanks for coming, Torchy," she said as the dark-eyed girl sat down across from her. "I really wasn't sure that you were going to show. I thought-you know, that you'd decide it was all some sort of trick on my part or something!"
"You made it sound damned serious," the raven-haired girl said. "And it had better be, Mary Ellen. I get mean when anyone tries to fuck over me!"
"It is literally a matter of life and death!"
"Life and death--c'mon, Mary Ellen!"
Mary Ellen tried to laugh, didn't quite make it. "I'm serious, Torchy," she said miserably. "Torchy, I-I...." Tears began to spill down her face. She lowered her head down against the top of the table. She began to sob as a series of spasmatic ripples raked her body.
"Hey, Mary Ellen-wow," Torchy said as she reached out across the table and began to stroke the girl's long, golden hair. "Hey, c'mon-c'mon. Nothing could be as bad as all that! Rwally, kid, it-it...."
"I wish I were dead, Torchy," the blonde moaned. "I really wish I were dead. Oh, God, I'm so miserable, Torchy. I want to die!"
"Get a grip on yourself, Mary Ellen," the raven-haired girl said, and swallowed hard. "Look, would you like another soft drink or something?"
The blonde shook her head.
If this is an act, Torchy mused, this chick deserves an academy Award.
Still, the dark-eyed girl was unable to shake the feeling that the golden one was puffing something, that the whole thing was some sort of fantastic ploy to put her in a trick bag. She decided to proceed with caution-all that caution she could possibly muster.
"I'm really having a problem relating to all of this, Mary Ellen. I-mean-why me? Of all the people in Welshfield, why call on me? You hate my guts! You've said so-a dozen times or more! It just doesn't make any sense!"
"I know-really, I know," the girl said. "But, believe it or not, Torchy you are the only one I can turn to. Please believe me-you're the only person I know in all the world who might be able to help me!"
"Oh, wow-damn, girl," Torchy moaned in frustration.
"It's true, Torchy!"
"Hey, look, I-ah, I...."
The raven-haired girl allowed her words to trail off as a fresh wave of tears began to spill down the cheeks of the golden blonde. "Damn, damn," Torchy moaned, and then began to tug at her bottom lip, trying desperately to decide what she should do in the situation.
If the bosomy blonde really had a problem-a life or death thing, like she said-well, enemy or not, she owed it to her to at least listen to what was going down. Hell, it didn't cost anything to listen!
"So tell me," she said. "What's happening?"
"Oh, Torchy, I-I'm so miserable!"
"If this is some sort of sham, Mary Ellen, I swear, I'll-I'll...well, whatever I do, it won't be very nice. And you'd better believe I mean it!"
"It's no sham, Torchy," the blue-eyed girl said, a note of hysteria creeping into her voice. "It's real-painfully so. You have no idea how much trouble I'm in!"
Trouble, the raven-haired girl mused.
In the circle of friends Torchy ran with, trouble meant only one thing-pregnancy. The thought made the girl's dark eyes grow big and round. Mary Ellen-Sweet Polly Pure Pussy! How could she be in the family way. The chick got violently ill whenever someone so much as mentioned that evil word-sex! No, it couldn't be-not Polly Pure Pussy!
"Torchy, I-I...."
The dark-eyed girl reached across the table and took the pale blonde by the hand. She looked long and hard into those sparkling blue eyes, and the pain she saw reflected there cut through her heart like a hot knife through butter. "like I said," she groaned in resignation, "if this is some sort of game to make me look silly, Mary Ellen, I'll...."
"Oh, Torchy-stop saying that," the bosomy blonde cried. "It's no game-no sham, nothing. Torchy-oh, God, Torchy, I'm pregnant. I-I'm pregnant!"
"You-you, Mary Ellen?" Torchy cried, unable to believe her own ears. "It can't be-not you. I mean, you-well, you know! You can't be pregnant!"
"But I am-I really am!"
"Oh, wow...."
"I suppose I deserve that after all the terrible things I said to you-and all the other kids at school, too," Mary Ellen said in a harsh, rasping whisper. "But it's true nevertheless, Torchy. I-I really am going to...no, I really am pregnant but I'm not going to have the baby. I can't!"
"Are you sure you're pregnant, Mary Ellen?"
"Well, I missed my last period," the bosomy blonde said miserably. "I'm already two weeks late, and-that just never happens to me!"
"Regular as clockwork, huh?"
"Yeah-right," the blonde said, and sighed deeply.
"Well, what is it you think that I can do for you, kid?"
"I-ah, I'm not really sure," the girl said hesitantly. "I guess I was sort of hoping that you could give me the name of a doctor who would-would...you know!"
"Abort your little problem, huh?" Torchy said, her dark eyes suddenly flashing with a raw and frightening anger. "Wow, you've got a lot of nerve, Miss Purity."
Mary Ellen closed her eyes, bit down hard on her bottom lip. "I know how terrible that must sound, Torchy, but it's not a question of choice. The thing is, my baby-my baby would be...." She cut off her words, her face twisted in an awesome sort of pain, and covered her mouth with her hands as a series of dry, racking sobs ripped at her body.
"Hey, hey-loosen up, for pity sake," Torchy said angrily. "I mean-what the hell, you're not even certain that you're pregnant. All kinds of things can make a girl late-or even miss completely!"
"Please, Torchy-I'm sure!"
"You haven't seen a medico yet, have you?"
"Well, no, but...."
"That's the first thing we've got to do!"
"I know, I know...."
"Look, Mary Ellen, I've got to say this," the raven-haired girl said. "Why did you run that game-that purer than pure bulljive you handed out at school. I mean you played that Miss Polly Pure Pussy role to the hilt!"
"I know, I know," the blonde said miserably. "I guess I was into some sort of guilt thing, and-I don't know how to explain it, Torchy. It was just a thing that happened. I fell into it...and once it started I didn't know how to stop it. Really, I-I felt helpless!"
"What about the father to be?" Torchy said. "What does he feel about an abortion?"
"I haven't told him, Torchy," the golden one said. "And I'm not going to, either! I-I can't!"
"What kind of crap is that?"
"But the baby is as much his as yours," the raven-haired girl said. "Any decision about it-well, he's got a right to have his say!"
"You don't understand, Torchy. It's not what you think-my reason for telling him!"
"So, tell me," Torchy demanded.
"I can't, Torchy," the bosomy blonde said. "Really, I-I can't tell anyone. It's too terrible!"
An aura of fear spread across the. face of the dark-eyed girl. "It's not David-my David, is it?" she said, a tremor in her voice. "Tell me, Mary Ellen-it's not him!"
"It's not David. It's not not any of the boys at good ole Welshfield High! Once again tears appeared in the girl's blue eyes. "Oh, God--God, Torchy!"
"C'mon, get a grip on yourself," Torchy said in exasperation. "I want to know who the father is!"
"I can't tell you, Torchy. I-I can't tell anyone!"
"Look, bitch, you asked me to help," Torchy said. "Well, I don't go into anything without knowing all about it. Either you tell me who the father is or I'm gone. You can work it out on your own!"
"Please-don't leave, Torchy. I need you!"
"Then give, broad!"
"Please, Torchy-please don't make me tell you," the girl said. "I-I...."
"FUCK IT," Torchy snarled as she got to her feet.
"No-wait," Mary Ellen cried, and grabbed Torchy by the arm. "I-I'll tell you. Only I really wish that you'd just help me without going into everything. I'm pregnant-Sweet Polly Pure Pussy has got herself in the family way. She's a phony, a-a...."
"You're stalling, Mary Ellen!"
"I'll tell you who the father is, Torchy-I promise," the blonde said. "Just give me some time to work up enough courage to do it. Okay?"
"I suppose," Torchy said. "But, look-what makes you think that I know the name of some abortionist. I mean, why pick on me, for pity sake?"
"Well, I thought that you-ah, you...."
"Now I get it," Torchy said as her face flushed with anger. "Yeah-right! You figure that I fuck everything that comes down the pike-right? So naturally I must have had a baby or two cut from my womb along the line!"
"Oh, no-no, Torchy," Mary Ellen cried. "It's nothing like that. I swear-no!"
"Then why me?"
"Because you-and only you, Torchy, are the only person in the whole stinking world I could think of who wouldn't think that it was a super-great joke that Miss Polly Pure Pussy was knocked up," Mary Ellen said. "Really, that's the reason I asked you to help me. And I'm so scared. It's like I've been half out of my mind since I missed my period!"
"Okay, kid," Torchy said. Relax. Let me think!"
"Torchy, you won't say anything about this to anyone, will you?" Mary Ellen said.
"Sure-I'm going to blab it all over school!"
"No-I know you won't," the bosomy blonde said with a huge sigh. "The father of the baby. Torchy, it's-this is really going to sound crazy, but the father is my little brother, Gregie!" She covered her face with her hands, fighting to gain control of her emotion. "We-he-that is, I-oh, God, Torchy, what am I going to do? My own brother, my-my own flesh and blood!"
Torchy slipped an arm around Mary Ellen's shoulders and the blonde buried her face against the raven-haired girl's bosom and began to sob frantically, her body shaking terribly as she lost the battle she had been fighting with hysteria.
"Shhhhhhhh, shhhhhhhhhhhhh," Torchy's cooed as she began to stroke Mary Ellen's long, golden hair. "We'll think of something. Hey, c'mon-it's going to be alright. Shhhhhhh, shhhhhhh...."
"But, Torchy, I I'm so scared."
"Yeah; I can dig it," the raven-haired girl said. She was nearly in tears herself. "I'd be climbing the walls if I were in your shoes!"
"You don't even have a brother," Mary Ellen said.
"Not one that I know about, anyway!"
"Oh, Torchy," the blonde said, and tried to smile.
"Hey, that brother of yours-that Gregie," Torchy said with an evil little grin. "He's a cute dude. I've given some thought to slapping a little pussy on him a time or two myself. No kidding...."
"Yeah; but he's my brother. My flesh and blood!"
"Big fucking deal," Torchy said in mock frustration. "In ancient Egypt-thousands of years ago, the only chick good enough to spread her legs for the king was his own sister. And that's a fact!"
"Yeah-that's right, isn't it," Mary Ellen said with a shuddering sigh. "We learned that in history. Mr. Diamond said that that...." The blonde paused, biting down hard on her bottom lip. "But this isn't ancient Egypt, Torchy. And Gregie isn't a king. He's only a twelve-year-old boy, just twelve. Hell, he's still in elementary school-the sixth grade. Can you imagine him as a father. I mean, oh, God, what a mess! What a stinking mess!"
"Hey-c'mon," Torchy said in a soft, soothing voice. "I mean, it isn't going to help one little bit for you to go all ape again. So please don't start blubbering and crying again. I can't handle it! Okay?"
"Okay...."
Torchy searched her brain frantically, looking for some sort of way to restructure the conversation in a way that would bring the blonde out of her depression.
"What am I going to do, Torchy?"
"Listen, Mary Ellen-about that little brother of yours, Gregie," Torchy said. "If he's only twelve and all, does he-ah, you know? Does he ejaculate already? That's pretty young for that sort of thing, isn't it?"
A grin came to the blonde's face. "Oh, he ejaculates allright," she said. "Wow, does he ever!"
"Really?" Torchy said.
"Gobs and gobs and gobs," the bosomy blonde said, and then wrinkled her nose. "It happened the first time about-oh, a little over a month ago. We were in my room, in bed, and-you know! Anyway, he started to moan and cry, carrying on in a way like never before, and-I swear, Torchy-I knew that it was going to happen, that for the first time juice would come shooting out of his prick!"
Torchy's eyes were bright with fascination.
"He had this really strange look on his face," Mary Ellen went on. "I mean, his eyes were closed tight and his mouth was all twisted out of shape and-I knew what had happened. And then he said that I'd better check my snatch, that his orgasm had been something super-special. I was scared out of my mind but that little creep-he was just beaming with pride. He told me later that it was the most intense thing he had ever experienced in his life. And then he thanked me for helping him become a man-a real man!"
"It sounds like it was a gas!"
"It was-really fantastic," Mary Ellen said. "But I was scared that I'd get pregnant. I douched right away, and then I told Gregie that we had to cool it, that I could get pregnant and all that. We still did other thing-oral and like that, but it just didn't seem to really satisfy either of us. We were cool for about a week, and then-you know!"
"I know it's none of my business, Mary Ellen, but I'm curious as hell," Torchy said. "How did you and Gregie ever fall into a sex thing?"
"I-well, I used to have trouble getting to sleep at night," the blonde said, and then sighed to cover her sense of embarrassment. "The only thing that seemed to help was to-ah, frig myself!"
"I can dig it," Torchy said. "Boy, can I!"
"One day Gregie caught me-right in the act. I don't know, I think maybe I set it up so that he did. I mean, I'd been doing a whole lot of thinking about what it might be like to have his finger down there in my snatch, frigging me!"
"So-what happened?" Torchy said breathlessly. "Did you ask him to help you out or-or what?"
"He said that it looked like a lot of fun," Mary Ellen said. "He-he offered to do it for me. I don't think I ever said anything-yes, no, or maybe, but the next thing I knew he had his finger down inside me, playing with the tip of my clitoris. Oh, Torchy, it felt so good-so wonderful. Really, about a hundred times better than when I did it for myself. And he seemed to dig doing it for me!"
"So-go on, go on," Torchy said.
"One day he said that he wanted to kiss me down there. I tried to talk him out of it-not very hard, maybe, but I did try. He kept insisting and I guess I said yes because the next thing I knew his tongue was flicking about down inside my puss, and it was, even better than his finger. In fact, it was just about the wildest thing I had ever experienced-up until that time, anyway!"
Torchy began to stroke the lips of her vulva through the material of her slid. The juices down in her cauldron were starting to ooze, wetting the crotch of her briefs. She seemed to be unaware of what she was doing. "Ah, was it a oneway street or...."
"At first it was," Mary Ellen said. "I mean, it got to the point where I found myself rushing home from school just so that I could have him go down on me. I started to feel guilty about the whole thing. I mean, here he was-doing all these fantastic things for me, and I wasn't doing anything for him in return. One day, after he finished with me, I just sort of took his cock into my mouth and started to suck him off. It kind of threw me after he started to ejaculate-it was so hot and bitter, but he really seemed to love it and after a while I guess I just sort of got use to it. Now-well, I really love it when he comes. It tastes delicious, you know?"
"Oh, do I," Torchy said. "Do I ever!"
"Do you think that I'm a terrible person, Torchy?"
"Get serious, bitch," Torchy said. "I'm really glad that you turned out to be a human being after all!"
"But it's incest...."
"And incest is best," Torchy said with a huge grin. "But, hey-one thing! There's this marvelous thing out. now you ought to check into. It's called the pill!"
"I thought I'd be safe as long as I douched afterwards!"
"Yeah; you and about two hundred thousand other dopey broads," Torchy said, and then patted Mary Ellen on the side of the face. "We'll work things out!"
"You mean you'll help me!"
"Of course...."
"Do you know a doctor?"
"No; but I'll get the name of one real soon," Torchy said. "C'mon, Polly-dry your eyes and let's get out of this place. I've got to get home!"