Chapter 7
Elaine woke with a start and discovered the sun was shining brightly through the window. Beside her Dave was snoring heavily, his blond, close-cropped head nestled against her bare breasts.
She sat up yawning and saw Lola in the other bed with Chuck, their arms wrapped around each other in sleep.
Then she realized that her mouth and throat were as dry as if they had been wiped with cotton. There was also a throbbing in her head that sent shooting pains through her brain, made her eyes ache.
As she lay there naked with the sleeping boy beside her she felt the restlessness come over her, just as she knew it would in the morning.
She was sober now, and with sobriety came the return of worrying over Brenda and the way she was suddenly going downhill. She knew that Brenda would keep right on down the road she was going unless she managed to get her away from the evil influence of Warren Lasswell.
When they had started out yesterday, it had seemed like a simple enough thing to do. At least it hadn't appeared to be as impossible, as it did now.
It could turn into a wild goose chase, because after all, she couldn't be certain that Warren had taken Brenda to Mexico. He might have said it to throw her off the track. , It was probably true that Warren Lasswell owned a house in San Miguel, as he owned one in Sausalito, and as she had been told that he kept an apartment in Greenwich Village. But she couldn't be certain until they arrived in San Miguel and began to look for Warren and Brenda.
It could be much more difficult than she had expected. But one thing she knew, she wasn't going to find them by lying here in a motel bed in Lake Tahoe.
It was a hell of a place to end up on the first night. She had hoped to be much farther down the road, and in the right direction. They should be going south, not northeast. The whole thing was starting out in a mixed-up fashion.
Despite the regret and anxiety she felt this morning, she still had to admit that it had been fun last night. More than that, it had been thrilling.
Never before in her life had she felt so totally abandoned to the shame of her body. Despite the sordidness, there was also something refreshing, almost purifying, in the kind of orgy she and Lola had indulged in.
She began to remember now more of the details of the wild saturnalia that went on intermittently most of the night. They had finished the bottle of whiskey, and then another one had miraculously appeared.
In an alcoholic daze she had done things and permitted things done to her that she would never have considered if she had been sober.
But now it seemed more like a dream than a reality. Perhaps it was a dream. In the cold light of day it was too degraded for her to care to remember.
It was best that she had been very drunk and couldn't be certain that the nightmare had really happened. And it also offered her an excuse for her actions.
But she wasn't getting any closer to Mexico by sitting idly on the bed. She got up and searched through the scattered clothing on the floor until she found her jeans and sweatshirt. She put them on and slipped her feet into the clogs.
Then she went to the bed where Lola was sleeping and shook her by the shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Lola grumbled.
Her eyes came half open and then closed again behind heavy lids. Elaine shook her once more.
"Get up, Lola. We've got to go...."
"Why?"
"It's late."
"I'm still sleepy," Lola yawned. "Come on," Elaine said impatiently, shaking her again.
"Go away and let me sleep."
While Elaine peered down at her with growing anger, Lola dropped off to sleep again. She snuggled her head against Chuck's chest, and soon she was snoring gently with a soft purring sound of her lips.
Elaine cursed and turned away. She stepped out side, and the blinding sun stabbed at her eyes. It was high, nearly overhead. From its position in the sky she judged that it was nearly eleven o'clock.
They had to be going.
She walked restlessly out to the car. When she tried the door she discovered that it wasn't locked. Evidently t he boys had been so anxious to hop into bed that they had neglected to lock the car.
She saw the two suitcases in back. If she could just get Lola on her feet, they could leave without having to bother the sleeping boys for their keys.
She went back into the cabin.
Lola was still sleeping, snoring loudly now. Elaine stood watching her for a moment, pondering what to do. And then she grabbed Lola by both ankles and, bending her back, tugged hard until she came sliding off the bed.
Lola's body hit the floor with a loud slap. She was instantly awake and scowling. For a while she sat on the floor, rubbing first her hips and then her head.
"What did you do that for?"
"I want you to get dressed."
"I don't want to get dressed," Lola pouted. "It's nice being naked. Especially with a roomful of boys."
"It's late," Elaine tried to explain to her. "We've got to get started...."
"Let's stay here."
"No."
"Just one more night," Lola pleaded. "It was so much fun, I want to do it again."
"It's a long way to Mexico," Elaine said with exasperation. "If we don't get started, we won't get a hundred miles before dark."
"There's no reason to be in such a hurry...."
"There is. I'm worried about Brenda."
"She can take care of herself."
Elaine gritted her teeth. She was losing patience with Lola. If Lola wanted to stay, she could. Elaine had made up her mind to go without her if need be. The only thing that mattered was getting to Mexico where Brenda was.
"I'm leaving in five minutes," Elaine said firmly. "If you want to go with me, you'd better get dressed."
"All right-all right," Lola grumbled. "But I still don't see why all the rush."
Slowly Lola stood up from the floor and rubbed the red welts that glowed on the pale white surface of her bottom. She went to the bathroom and drank water from the faucet. Then she stirred among the remaining clothes on the floor until she found her own.
Elaine waited impatiently at the door until she was dressed. Lola stood before the mirror and ran her fingers through her tangled hair.
"Do you want to borrow my comb?" Elaine offered.
"It looks all right-Lola clawed at her hair with her fingertips, and it looked just as tangled as before.
"Let's go-let's go," Elaine said heatedly. "Wait a minute. I want to kiss the boys good-bye. I'd think you would too. It's the least you can do to show your appreciation for such a lovely evening."
Lola went to Dave first and kissed his face and mumbled something in his ear. Dave opened his eyes for a moment, nodded his head wearily and went back to sleep.
Then Lola went to Chuck in the other bed and kissed him too. Chuck didn't wake up, even when Lola put her lips to his ear. She stood looking down, and then before she turned to go, she planted one last parting kissing on Chuck's nude body.
Chuck squirmed in his sleep, then mumbled something unintelligible. He was still squirming when they went out the door and walked up the drive with their suitcases.
At the first filling station Elaine went in and picked up a California road map. She decided that they should go south on Highway 395, since it ran the full length of the state.
It took three short rides with three different men who all suggested that they go to a motel rather than to Mexico. Finally they made it to Carson City, where they got on 395 and headed south at last
There was never any lack of rides, they soon found that out. There were thousands of men traveling the highways who were more than willing to pick up a couple of girls. And every one of them ended up by pawing them, making suggestions, or offering to pay them outright for their services. And most of the men weren't too particular where and in what manner the services were rendered.
One corset salesman wanted to pull off at the side of the road and make them both happy with an implement which he pulled out to show them.
He seemed to be very proud of his possession, and eager to put it on display.
He pleaded and begged for them to give in, even offered money, enough to get them all the way to Mexico by bus. But finally he gave up and let them out at the next town.
And then there were two soldiers on leave who took turns trying to attack them while the car sped along the highway at better than eighty miles an hour.
They arrived in Bishop in the late afternoon, and they stood by the highway for only a couple of minutes when they were picked up by two cowboys on their way to Las Vegas to spend their money.
They received a steak dinner at a roadside restaurant and submitted to a bruising, continuous pawing all the way into Vegas. There they slipped away when the cowboys stopped at a filling station.
It had been dark several hours and the lights of the strip were blazing as they made their way along it, lugging the two suitcases which were growing heavier with each step.
When a meek little man in his sixties stopped and offered them a ride in his expensive-looking Caddy, they decided that he was probably harmless enough.
He was willing to rent a motel for the rest of the night, and they were both so tired from the day's ride that they were willing to go with him. Elaine was convinced that the two of them could take care of themselves if he got unruly. And she wouldn't have been surprised if Lola, in her over-emotional state, didn't decide to sleep with the old codger and relieve her of the problem of fighting him off.
It was a sumptuous motel with big twin beds and a heavily carpeted floor. The first thing Elaine wanted was a nice warm shower. So she stripped out of her clothes and went to the bathroom, disregarding the man's hungry stare. It was probably all the thrill he was capable of anyhow.
She stayed ten minutes under the warm, refreshing water and then toweled off. When she went back into the room with the towel wrapped around her, Lola was sitting naked on the bed and the man was crying.
"What's wrong with him?" Elaine asked in surprise.
Lola giggled.
"He's bugged because neither one of us was wearing underwear."
"He must be off his nut."
She dropped into bed and fell asleep in an instant. She was surprised that the man hadn't attempted to molest her at all. Though she awoke once in the middle of the night and saw him sitting alone in the chair, twisting the fabric of Lola's jeans.
In the morning the man was very pleasant to them, he even bought them a big breakfast before he drove them to the edge of town and let them out on the road to Phoenix.
It took six different rides and a scorching from the sun before they reached Phoenix at nightfall. They were so tired that they climbed the stairs of the first flophouse hotel they came to and paid for a room out of the little bit of cash they had left.
In the morning they decided it was time to sell the stuff they had stolen from Warren Lasswell's house. So they checked their bags at a bus station and carried the binoculars, the Bulova watch and the electric razor to the nearest pawn shop.
The little man came up to them peering through steel-rimmed glasses. The minute he saw the things they had laid on the counter a suspicious look came over his face.
He squinted his eyes and smacked his lips, turning each item over several times. Then he looked at their clothes and gave their faces a hard appraisal.
"Where did you get these?"
"From my sainted grandmother," Lola said lightly. "Just before she passed away. Poor soul."
"What did your grandmother need with an electric razor?" the man said grimly.
"She had a problem...."
The old man chewed something in his mouth and then he squinted his eyes at them. "You girls wait here-"
"Gladly," Lola replied.
They watched him walk to the back of the shop and disappear through the door. Lola moved up to the counter and began gathering the things quickly.
"Let's dust out of here, girl," she whispered. "I got a nasty feelin' he's gone for the fuzz."
They were out of the door in an instant and running down the street. They ran four blocks before they stopped and leaned against a wall to catch their breath.
Then they walked on several blocks more before they found another pawn shop. This time the owner acted like a co-conspirator and brought their stuff eagerly. But he only paid them twenty dollars for all three items.
"At least it's money," Lola said. "It'll buy a lot of hamburgers."
"Just what I need right now," Elaine replied.
"Let's do get some chow before we light out."
They ate three hamburgers and a slab of pie apiece before they were full. And then they went back to the bus station for their suitcases. By ten o'clock they were riding the highway to Tucson, squeezed in the cab of a transport truck with two truck drivers and four roaming hands.
"If I get out of this without losing my sanity, itll be a miracle," Lola said laconically.
"You sure you ain't lost it already?" the man said, who was holding her on his lap.
Lola looked down at herself and giggled.
"Well, damned if I haven't-" she said.
She squirmed on the man's lap with a quick, rotary motion. His face grew flushed. His hands slid under
Lola's shirt and clamped around her bare breasts.
"Why you nasty man," she exclaimed in mock horror.
"Let's have some fun, doll," the man buzzed in her ear. "It's a long way to El Paso."
"Oh, are you going all the way to El Paso?"
"You'd better believe it," he said with a Texas drawl.
"Can we ride there with you, sweetie?"
"That all depends on you."
"I think I get your meaning," Lola said with a grin. "And you really are a nasty man."
Elaine was glad she was sitting next to the door. The driver was busy watching the road, and the other man was busy with Lola. So she was left all alone. At least for a while.
She dug the folded road map from her pocket and studied it as they rolled along. El Paso was a long way down the road. Two days travel time at the rate they had been going so far. Maybe it would be worth it to pay for the ride the way the man had suggested.
She glanced over at the driver and noticed that he was clean-cut, with a lean, almost handsome face. He wouldn't be bad at all.
"So, why not?"
She had to get to Mexico somehow. And it might even be a kick. She looked again at the driver. The more she looked at him the more appealing the idea became.
Lola was giggling beside her while the man's hands worked feverishly beneath her loose sweatshirt Lola twisted around in the seat and kissed him hard on the mouth. The man groaned in the depths of his throat and squirmed in the crowded cab, bumping Elaine with his hips.
Then they were both struggling with Lola's jeans, trying to slip them down to her knees. Lola stood up, bending over. With one quick yank, the man got them down, exposing her bare white hips.
The rocking motion of the cab was all they needed. Elaine felt a wild pulse beating inside her chest, warming her as she watched.
She was forced to watch. Sitting right beside them she was too close to ignore it.
The driver was watching ..oo, licking his dry lips nervously, glancing ahead at the road and then beside him in die seat. Now and then he swerved the steering wheel to keep the truck on the highway. Once the wheels dropped off onto the shoulder and they went a quarter of a mile, the driver breaking down carefully, until they got back onto the slab.
But Lola and the mar were oblivious of anything that was going on around them. They were both twisting in the shameful lever that had seized them.
The man had Lola's shirt raised up to her armpits, baring her breasts. He caressed the round white pillows, pinched at the nipples, and ail the while he squirmed against her.
"Oh, damn," Lola hissed through her clenched teeth. "This is the most ... absolutely...."
Elaine made a disdainful sound and turned her head away.
"If you don't dig it, don't knock it, girl," Lola said with a throaty gasp.
Lola's head was turning from side to side, her hair flying before her face like a shaggy yellow mop. Each movement brought a gasp from her gaping lips.
It was obvious that they both ended together, because the man beneath Lola clawed at her, sank his teeth in her back and lurched wildly.
In a moment they simmered down and sat clutching each other, gasping for breath in the hot, close air of the truck cab.
The driver pressed his foot on the brakes and slowed down. At a side road he brought the truck to a stop. He looked at the man who was still holding Lola.
"You take over while I get mine."
While the driver climbed down and the other man took his place behind the wheel, Lola pulled up her jeans and fastened them, a shameless grin of pleasure on her lips.
The driver came around and opened the door beside Elaine.
"Come on, doll," he said huskily. "Climb up in the bunk. It may be a little hot in there, but we'll have more privacy."
She looked behind her and saw that there was a bunk in the back of the cab with a thick mattress and curtains that could be drawn shut.
For an instant the old fear and regret swept through her, leaving her cold and uncertain.
"Hurry it up, doll," the man said almost gently. "Climb in the bunk. We've got to get this rig on down the road."
Still she hesitated. His arm went around her waist, his hand closed easily over her breast.
"You want a ride to El Paso, don't you?"
"Yes," she said with a nod, and stuck her head through the curtains while he pushed her gently up with his hands on her body.