Chapter 10

Luther drove them in the pick-up, back to the house, grim-faced. "I gotta go back to see Slack," he said to Brenda. "Go to bed." He took her inside.

He crooked his finger at Dex. Outside, he motioned the other to get in. Dex frowned. "Why?"

"We got to bury her-"

"Maybe you do. It ain't my-"

"It's all our necks," Luther hissed. "You're in it deep as me."

"The hell I am. I wasn't nowhere near. You went off your goddam head about Brenda an' Slack. You got to leave me outa it."

Luther glared at him. The husky man's fists doubled-Hhen he seemed to consider what those fists had already done. "You're a shit," he grated.

Dex stepped back, shoulders hunched. He didn't answer. Luther was unpredictable; he didn't want to push the other, not too far. He watched Luther make up his mind, muttering under his breath. Luther got into the pick-up, slammed the door and kicked the starter.

Tires screamed as Luther backed and turned. Dex went to the house, watching the red tail light disappear. Brenda was getting into bed when he entered the room. She smiled as he unfastened belt and zipper.

"How long'll he be gone, baby?"

"I dunno," Dex said. "Long enough." He kicked off shoes and socks, laid pants and shirt across a chair and turned to look at her, cock sticking out to draw her eyes.

"Jeez, don't stand there," she breathed.

When he got into bed her legs went about him. It was the first time they had fucked in a real bed. He slammed it to her lustily, but she bit his ear.

"Gimme it nice'n easy-guys been fuckin' me like a freight train all day."

"Yeh." He buried it all in her and they lay for a long time, undulating, keeping up the friction and the warmth. It was wonderful in a bed with her. This was the way he wanted it to be.

It crossed his mind that if Slack and Luther should be caught with the body, then he'd have Brenda to himself. If he'd thought of that earlier-he frowned into the pillow. No, if they looked into the case they'd find that he was a f fugitive too; he didn't want to go back to the I gaddam CC's-depressionville in more ways than one! Maybe it was the lousy depression that made I him the kinda guy he now wag...

"What you doing this for, baby?" she asked. "Because you get my balls-" She shook her head in the darkness. "No, I mean travelin' with us in this here deal."

"Jobs are scarce. This is a buck-and a fuck too."

She giggled. "Yeh, ain't it." She humped up to him suggestively. "But what you gonna do-you know, later?" She kissed him softly. "There's more to livin' than just screwing."

"I ain't real sure. I thought maybe I'd go back to school-"

"Yeh?"

"Yeah, be a doctor or sump in." He had no intention of going to school-but it sounded good.

"Jeez, you got a big cock, baby-"

He grinned and kissed her hard, digging the cock into her ardently. She loved it, no kidding about that. With his pecker in her he could forget his problems too.

She responded to his urging, beginning to pant. He got onto his elbows, driving it deep and fast, looking down at her lovely face framed with tousled hair. Her darting tongue licked over his lips.

"Ohhhh yeah," she whispered, "Don't stop-fuck me hard-Jesus!" She erupted more suddenly than he had ever seen her do it. She held onto him, scissoring him and bucking upward frantically. The bed swayed and squeaked. He came into her: spouting and thrusting wildly.

She drove him mad with it. When she booted it, he couldn't hold back. There was something about her that maddened him, convulsed him. There was no woman like Brenda.

Luther was away nearly three hours. They fucked the entire time, uncoupling only when they heard the engine of the pick-up in the street. Dex went in to his couch bed, and Brenda rose, putting on a robe.

Luther told her what had happened.

He had a bottle. He put it on the table with three glasses-Dex threw a blanket about his shoulders and joined them in the kitchen. Luther was pale.

"We drove a thousan' miles out in the country an' dug a hole," he said. "Jus' me'n Slack."

"How'd you get her downstairs?"

"We slung a rope round her and shoved 'er out the window, right into the pick-up. Nobody seen us."

Dex sipped whisky, looking at the husky man. Luther was trembling slightly. He had thought about the rope that might encircle his own neck.

"We better get," Brenda said quietly. "Pack up and hit the road."

Luther shook his head. "Slack won't let us. He says we got to give more shows-so folks won't wonder how come?" He poured another drink. "And they's something else-"

"What?" Brenda asked. She glanced at Dex.

"Slack wants somethin' else-for keeping the cops offame."

"Brenda?" asked Dex. Luther nodded.

She scowled. "Whadda you mean-permanent?"

"Hell no-just while we're here."

"Fuck 'im," Dex growled.

"Let's go-tonight," Brenda said. "They won't find us so easy."

Luther sighed. "They'd find us in an hour. Slack's got us over a fuggin' barrel."

Dex rose and went back to his couch. Luther was scared. Slack had convinced him that the hangman was braiding the noose already. Let Luther think about it a while. You couldn't convince a guy when he didn't want to be convinced. That sonofabitch Slack-wanting Brenda.

Why did they have to come to Quincy?

He listened to the murmur of their talk in the kitchen for an hour before dropping off to sleep. Well anyhow, he'd got his nuts off with Brenda--twice.

In the morning they all slept late. It was nearly noon before they rose and had coffee while Brenda made breakfast. He had a terrible hard on; it wouldn't go down. While Luther was in the bathroom, he let Brenda see it. She bit her lip and sighed, then turned away. What a shame to waste it.

They had some money-Luther and Slack had settled up for the show-and they divided it on the kitchen table. Dex put his share away with satisfaction. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, and he had had fun earning it.

"We don't split with Shirley," Luther said, "she was on the house."

"Or Billy," Brenda laughed, taking some of the tension out of the air.

They went into town and saw two movies, returning to the house at dusk. Slack came by the house in the early evening and insisted on taking Brenda along. The fat man had a self-satisfied air about him.

"We tole ever'body that Rita got fed up an' went east," he said to Luther as Dex listened. "Hell, they don't care if she takes the bus some 'eres." His big nose poked at the sky, in both directions, came back to Luther. "If they thought she's-where she is, well that'd be diff'rent."

Luther frowned. He stood on the porch, hands deep in his pockets as Slack's car rolled out of the drive with Brenda inside.

"We're leavin' tomorra," he said to Dex. "That ass-fucker had all he gonna get."

"Is he?"

Luther scowled. "Is he what."

"Izzie an ass-fucker?"

Luther sighed. He nodded shortly. "Thass what Brenda says. She oughta know." He kicked the porch rail viciously.