Chapter 6
Kaleb Johnson was not unaware of the fact that his children viewed him with disgust, but he really didn't care. He made no more effort to win their love than he had to gain the affection of their mother. Their total obedience at home and on the job, plus their willingness to spend at least an hour every evening listening to him read the Bible was all that he wanted from them. But recently something had gone wrong. He could sense an aura of evil everywhere in the house.
In the pantry he could hear Anna rearranging the canned goods, and the boys tossed an odd comment or two to each other; but it was all abnormal, especially the way they were so silent while they ate dinner in front of the T.V. set.
Just as always before the trip to Palm Springs, he arranged his toilet articles in a worn-out old leather case that his dead wife had given him. He went through this ritual so that none of his children noticed anything unusual. But his mind was on other things. Both Bruin and Brian had been gone for too long a time that afternoon, and neither had given him a straight answer as to where they had been. In fact, he'd had to rein himself in to keep from beating both of them. Yet he knew he would gain nothing from that, so he decided to play dumb. But there was no longer any doubt in his mind that incestuous behavior was going on among them. He needed the proof, even if getting it involved sacrificing his own tormentingly frustrated desires.
It had been a month since he had last seen a whore in Palm Springs, and his loins burned with suppressed desire; but not more than his warped brain in its gnawing hunger to punish whatever unfortunate hooker would fall into his hold. But it was more urgent to resolve the indecent goings-on in his own house and wipe them out, with the sword of the Almighty Himself!
He would walk out the door, as though he were off to the city, then sneak back and discover them in the midst of the vile act; surely, if they were going to indulge, it would be when he was out of town and the risk of getting caught was minimal!
Damn their depraved sin-encrusted bodies! Once he had seen the handwriting on the wall, he would whip the lecherousness from those boys' bodies as his own father had done to him. And Anna ... there was going to be no lust left in her after he finished giving her a dose of what it's like to be with a man ... just like he showed the whores in Palm Springs.
Jack Falcon sat in a plain old office chair in the glassed-in cubby-hole he still used as an office. Wanda had suggested doing a real executive office, and certainly he could afford it; but it just didn't seem a good idea to show off your success, at least not in a small farming community like the Imperial Valley. Once in a while, as he sat, he scribbled a random note on how the service manager might improve delivery time on engine overhauls, but his mind wasn't on his work. He was waiting until it was time to distribute the weekly pay checks to his employees, so he could be off to the Salton Sea to be with his family ... his Wanda ... his Todd .. . and .. . and his Tina .. . Lord, he just couldn't keep that gorgeous girl out of his thoughts.
Suddenly he realized he was cracking his knuckles, a habit he had successfully broken because it had irritated his first wife so. Clearly his nerves were shot. He'd known that for some time. Now that his family was gone, the house was like a morgue, so he had been staying in town after work and drinking at the South Gate Bar. Maybe that was part of the problem, too much booze. But it had been his idea for them to go on ahead. He just had to get away from Tina for a while or lose his head completely.
Thank heavens for Wanda, he thought as he stared idly through the glass at someone trying to move a fork-lift. He still felt it was right to have told her of his terrible craving for his very own daughter. God, how compassionate and sensitive she had been when he came forth with the disgusting confession of what he had considered even before Tina's mother had passed away. It was as if Wanda, had been exposed to such a depraved person somewhere before. But he knew that was impossible. She was still single at the age of twenty-eight when she'd answered his ad for a part-time bookkeeper. He still found it hard to believe how he had simply invited her to lunch at the Country Club, on the pretense of discussing the job, and finished by discussing their marriage.
She was so provocatively attractive! And it had been her proudly uplifted breasts that first compelled him and convinced him that possession of her body constantly would easily overwhelm his sick desire for little Tina. But it had been only temporary. Soon he found himself seeking out other teenaged girls on his business trips, perhaps looking for a substitute. It had all started in Yuma when he was there for a golf tournament. He stayed at the home of friends who had a French girl living in the home to help care for their children. She still looked like a child herself, until she had taught him about the enticing licking and sucking that men and women could do together. Yes, even his voluptuous firm-breasted wife whom all his friends openly wanted to seduce couldn't fulfill him, nor eliminate the incestual hunger in his loins!
God! Would he ever forget that night? He'd ordered Wanda to suck him while he had buried his face up between her soft tanned thighs, tasting the viscous delights of her velvety cuntal flesh; and unquestionably she had responded, even delighting in her act, he felt certain. But in the end nothing had changed ... so two days later he had suggested that Wanda take his tantalizing daughter and her brother, who had just arrived from Mexico, to the place on the Salton Sea.
The most amazing part was that his gorgeous wife was still compassionate. The very last words she uttered to him before the car pulled away was, "Don't worry, darling. We have a beautiful life together. And you'll come up to visit over the weekend, won't you?
"Sure I will," he answered.
"We'll be looking for you, Daddy!" Tina had thrown in, lifting her face through the car window, her sweet young lips slightly parted. And for one breathtaking split-second it seemed that the tip of her tongue ran along the edge of his lips!
"We'll have a good long talk over the weekend, Dad," Todd had added.
"Yes ... yes indeed, Todd," he answered, more than a little embarrassed, because he had hardly said more than ten words since the boy's return.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," Wanda had added, puckering her lips and kissing the air as she swung the XKE into reverse. He puckered up too, as if their lips had met. He waved to the others . .. and they were off.
Jack still couldn't free himself from the question of whether his little daughter's tongue had intentionally played with him; and for days the uncertainty played havoc in his brain, as he unconsciously cracked his knuckles. Jesus! Did she know? Maybe Wanda let her know. If that was true, he had to know. Was she receptive, or was she revolted? Or was he simply going off his rocker? Whatever it was, he had to know. No matter what resulted ... he had to know!
Suddenly he got up, sensing his restlessly stirring penis moving inside his pants in response to the despicable thoughts in his brain. The night watchman had arrived and locked the yard gate. His time was his own for two days. He threw his pen down on the paper-strewn desk and took his suede jacket from a door knob. A thrilling tinge of excitement was already rising from his groin. Something . .. something totally unknown was about to unfold this weekend, he was sure! Christ, he was afraid to consider what!
"Good night, Sam," he hollered as he closed the office door, and walked out through the huge double doors. Tense, he jumped into the old sedan, checking to be sure he had the hanging water bag he had hastily packed that morning. He fastened his -seat belt and was on his way, straight up to Salton Sea, less than an hour away.