Chapter 8

Eli Slack came for Brenda in his car, and took her away about nine o'clock. Luther was sober, like a volcano about to spew lava in all directions. Dex kept out of his way.

Luther was able to restrain himself till ten, then he insisted on taking the pick-up and driving to the Roost. Dex went along, wondering what the husky man was thinking. Luther was silent, brooding, not a man to cross.

He parked the truck at the edge of the lot. The Roost had a good crowd if the number of cars was any token. They walked slowly toward the main building-then Luther suddenly veered toward the whore's barn.

"Hey-where you going?"

Luther shook his head, not answering. Dex stood and watched the other enter the place and slam the door. Man, he was blotchy!

He looked at the ballroom, started toward it, then changed his mind and followed Luther. He had no idea where Slack had taken Brenda. The guy must have a private suite somewhere. Maybe upstairs in the main building. He looked at the lighted windows, wondering which one was the place. Slack should be plowing Brenda by now. He shook his head as though to shed water; the thought only made him sore.

A woman met him just inside the door. She was plump, dressed in a long gown with garish pins at the shoulders, low cut to show much of her large breasts. She smiled, then she looked closer at him and his clothes.

"You in the right roost, honey?"

He nodded. "Yeh, I work for Eli Slack. I was just follering the guy who came in a second ago."

She made an "O" with her mouth. "Him." She shrugged. "What you want?"

"Where is he?"

"I give him a girl, honey. You wanna go in an' watch?"

He smiled. He would like to at that. "I'll wait." He looked round, the room sure looked different in the soft, concealing light instead of daylight. It was a small waiting room, with magazines like a doctor's office. She cocked her head at him.

"If you work for Eli, what you doin' here?" She was thirty-five if she was a day. Probably the boss of the house.

"I don't go on till later."

She seemed to make up her mind. "OK, you wait somewhere's else then, honey." She went over and opened the door. He could see she didn't believe him.

"We're doin' a show upstairs tonight," he said. "I'm one of the act." He stepped close to her and leered at the half-naked tits. "You wanna be the other half?"

To his surprise she giggled. "Not anymore, honey. I grew outa that."

There were voices outside, men chattering, laughing. The woman nodded her head and took his arm. "C'mon in here, honey. You better wait here." She led him to a door, opening it and putting pressure on the arm. He went inside; it was a small office, a desk two chairs and a small lamp overhead.

He could hear the woman greeting her customers in the waiting room. They talked for a moment then the voices faded out. Dex frowned. The voices sounded again seeming to come from the end of the little office. There was a partly closed door there he hadn't noticed. He opened it and the voices were a louder murmur.

It was a short hallway, dark, leading to another door. Along the right side were slits, showing light. He looked through to another room where the woman and two men were talking to four girls. The four whores were nearly naked. One of the men's arms was about a blonde girl, their backs were toward him, and Dex could easily see the man's hand slid down the crack of her ass and under her. The girl writhed and smiled.

"This is Dolly," the woman said, indicating another blonde girl with wide hips and large full breasts.

The man and the blonde moved out through a door. The second man, a chunky red-faced type in a pressed suit, felt over Dolly's breasts, squeezing them as the woman waited and smiled. "Yeh," the guy said.

Dolly simpered. "I French too, honey."

"Let's go," the guy said. She led him out and the woman shrugged. She patted the other girl's asses.

"It's early yet."

Dex went back and sat down in the office. In a moment the woman entered, patting her hair. "What's your name."

"Dex."

"Yeh? Call me Polly. You're not shittin' me about the show, huh? I knew they were havin' one!"

"I'm the guy all right." He wondered what to do-now that Luther was closeted with some girl and Brenda was with Slack. Polly lit a cigarette and slid into her chair staring at him.

"Eh told me he had a horse cock to do the show-"

"That's me," Dex said. "You wanna see it?"

She lifted one shoulder an inch. "I seen a lot of 'em, honey. Big ones, little ones, fat ones, crooked ones-" She laughed. "This sure is a funny business."

Someone entered the waiting room and Polly rose, but the guy went outside from the stairs. She came back and sat down. "You want a drink?"

"Yeh." He smiled at her. He watched her open a cabinet and take out a bottle and glasses. She poured the amber liquid and slid a glass toward him. He sniffed it, not raw at all.

"We get it bonded from Mexico," she said. "An' it ain't bad stuff." She lifted the glass. "Here's to love."

They drank, and Dex cocked his head. It sounded like a woman yelling somewhere. A slight sound, muffled by the drapes and walls-sure it was a woman. He looked at Polly.

"You hear that?"

"Hear what?" She blinked.

"Somebody's yellin'! "

Polly rose and slid out fast. Dex followed her; they could hear the screams plainly from the waiting room.

Polly jumped for the stairs, going up faster than he would have bet on. By the time they reached the second floor a half dozen doors were open, girls and half dressed customers flooded into the hall. The screams continued.

A negro maid was hammering on one of the doors. "It's that big fella," she yelled, "That big fella-he in there wi' Rita!"

Dex hung back, a terrible suspicion coming over him. That was probably Luther in there. The girl inside the room was sniffling, yelping and screaming, yelling something he couldn't make out. A man yelled back; Dex snapped his jaw shut. Luther alright. He looked at the mostly naked girls. Dolly was real plump-wasn't she the one with the dog?

A man was shoving his shoulder against the door now.

"Bust it down," Polly yelled. "I d'want him t'hurt her-mister, you in there, you leave her 'lone!"

Another customer, wearing only a shirt, threw his weight against the door and the lock snapped. Both men tumbled inside, the one with the shirt flopped, dong and balls upside down. Polly ran inside-and shrilled at Luther.

Dex pushed through the girls, feeling asses as he went. Luther was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his head. The naked girl lay on the floor, her head twisted unnaturally. Polly looked at the girl briefly then turned on them.

"Ever'body out-c'mon, girls, out, out-let's go." She took charge, and they were willing to go. The customers hurried out, muttering. Dex slid by Polly.

The girl was dead-he was sure of it. She didn't move-not the breath of a move.

"Luther," he said. The husky man appeared not to hear. Dex sat by him. "Luther, you know who I am?"

Luther nodded wearily.

"Le's slide out," Dex said. "The pick-up's downstairs. We c'n be a hunnerd miles 'fore they get organized-"

"I dunno what," Luther said dully. "All of a sudden I done it."

"Listen, we gotta-"

"I heard about guys goin' blank-never done it before. She kept yellin' at me, laughing-"

"Izzie alright?" Polly said. She knelt by the slain girl. She looked at Luther warily as though she expected him to go berserk.

"You stay here," Dex said.

Polly sighed. "She's dead. Rita's dead."

"C'mon, Luther," Dex said, touching the man's arm. Luther looked at him, face drawn, eyes hunted.

"Where's Brenda?"

"I dunno. We'll have to go find her."

"I ain't leavin' without Brenda."

"Alright, le's go find her." Dex stood up.

Polly rose and backed toward the door. "You gonna go an' leave Rita dead like that?"

"We can't do nothing for her."

Polly's mouth worked. Her eyes were hard.

Dex wondered if he would have to hit her. He had to get Luther out of here, for Brenda's sake. Someone was pounding on the door. He went over and opened it; Eli Slack came in quickly and locked the door behind him.

Squint-eyes took in the situation. "She dead?"

Polly nodded. "That one did it-"

"Where's Brenda?" Luther asked.

"She's downstairs," Slack said in a low, harsh voice. He studied the nude body, then he looked at Polly. "Go out an' quieten down them people."

Polly moved toward the door and Slack grabbed her arm. "Don't tell no one Rita's dead. You hear?"

Polly sighed. "Yeh, I hear."

Slack opened the door for her and locked it behind her. "She's tough as nails, Polly is. She's alright."

"Brenda's downstairs?" Luther asked.

"She's alright," Slack said. He stood over the body. What the hell you do this for, Luther?"

"She was laughin' at me-I jus' hit 'er. I dunno how it come about-I jus' hit 'er."

"Goddammit, you put us all in a wringer, you know that? They'll close me up tight-put you in the hoosegow an' hang you."

Luther looked at him. His beefy face was pale and lined. He kept his eyes from the nude girl.

Dex ripped the cover off the bed and went around Slack and draped it over the body. Luther began to breathe easier. Slack paced up and down the room, his belly shaking, his big nose pointing at the body, at Luther, at the walls.

Dex lit a cigarette and passed it to Luther. He lit another and sat in a chair across the room. The dead girl had been a pretty good looking pussy despite what Slack had said about his whores. Most of them were not bad-the ones in the hall. He licked his lips, watching Slack pace. This Rita might have been a hell of a good lay. Not like Brenda, of course, but OK as a place to stick a cock. It beat putting it in a sow. Some of these farmers did that he'd heard.

Dex got his mind off the dead girl's cunt. Slack really seemed agitated. Maybe he didn't have it so cozy with the cops-at least not so's they'd fix murder for him.

There were fingernails on the door. Slack danced to it and opened it a crack, then he let Polly in and locked the door quickly.

"I told 'em she's OK," Polly said, looking at the bulge under the cover. "They don't know-"

"Good girl." Slack patted her.

"I tole 'em we sent for a doc. They all went backt'work."

Slack nodded. He looked at Dex. "That means we better go through with the show or they'll wonder. You feel alright, kid?"

Dex nodded, he'd get to fuck Brenda after all. He remembered not to smile.

"What the hell you goin' to do?" Luther asked.

"Listen, I do what I got to." Slack's teeth were clicking. "You goddam cowboy, you got me into this here mess, now you gotta help get us all out."

Luther nodded helplessly. Dex had never seen him in that state-he was possibly still in shock.

"All right." Slack took charge. "Polly, you get your ass downstairs and keep you mouth shut. Kid, you go down and get Brenda and bring her up to the show room-the one where the stage is. You r'member where?"

"Yeh." Dex rose.

"Get goin'. " Slack moved to the door, opened it and locked it behind them.

Polly looked at him and Dex shrugged. They went downstairs quickly without a word. Brenda was not in the waiting room, he found her outside having a cigarette.

"What was the fuss?" she asked.

"Nothin' much-What about Slack?"

She shrugged and eyed him. "He got what he wanted. When do we go upstairs?"

"Now." He took her arm and they went in and up the stairs. The girls had returned to their rooms, all was quiet. They went into the room with the stage and flipped on the lights. Someone had carried in chairs and scattered them about haphazardly.

"We'll meet 'em here," he said and flopped on a chair. "We got to do an hour this evenin'-"

She sat opposite him. "All right, we'll start out the same way, then I get on my back and after that dog fashion. Okay?"

"Sure." He leered at her. "Then what?"

"A little sixty-nine?"

"OK." He rubbed his cock and she smiled, reaching out to feel it.

"Jeez, you're hard."

"It's alius hard around you, honey."

She squeezed it once and withdrew her hand. He moved his chair closer, offering it to her. She rose and walked to the stage. "Wait'll the show-"

He went up behind her and poked it at her butt. She giggled, not moving. "Save it, darling."

"Hell, I could go all week with you." He looked over his shoulder at the door. "How 'bout it now?"

"No. Luther might-"

He growled.

"Wait," She turned and smiled at him. "You're a hot cock!"

The door rattled and opened. Slack came in, followed by Luther and a girl. Luther still looked cowed, Dex thought. He glanced at Brenda; she didn't know about the death of the girl, but she saw immediately that Luther was troubled. She went to him.

Dex looked at the girl. She was a red head, with eyes for him, and a slight smile. He smiled back. She had big tits and nice legs, not too wide in the ass-

"This here's Shirley," Slack said. He pointed to Dex. "Meet Dix."

"Dex," he said, and Slack took the girl's arm.

"Shirley goin' to help out in the show. You two tell 'er what you want. She'll do anythin' you want 'er to." He patted the girl's butt. "All right, honey?"

"Sure," Shirley said.

Slack looked at his watch. "I'll goin' downstairs. The guys'll be comin' in maybe a hour." He eyed Luther closely. "OK, friend?"

"Yeh, OK," Luther growled.

"sen' somebody over with a coupla drinks, huh?" Shirley asked.

Slack nodded and went out, locking the door behind him.

"Whadda we do?" Shirley asked, looking at Dex. "I never done this b'fore."

"We just screw, honey," Dex said. She giggled at him. Luther was coming round, he saw. The husky man had been through a shock, and the effects were making him shake a little; Brenda was trying to soothe him, probably wondering why he was so distraught. Dex wondered if he would tell her. What had they done with the body?

That was Slack's problem, and Luther's. He was glad to let them have it. Of course, if the cops ever hauled them in he had an alibi. He had been talking to Polly at the time the girl had been killed. It was nice to have a witness who could testify for you.

This little red head was pretty cute. She had an upturned nose and a nice smile. He could almost feel those soft, red lips around his cock. She didn't look too old either.

He lit a cigarette as Luther began explaining the operation to her. It didn't take long, and Luther turned to him: "We done this before a few times, usin' two girls. We'll start just like usual, then I'll give Shirley the hi-sign and then you do what comes natural. Right?"

Dex nodded.

"Where you draw the line?" Luther asked.

Shirley blinked at him. "Huh?"

"I mean, what won't you do?"

She looked at them with round eyes. "Gees, I do it all, honey. I'm a all-around girl, that's why Eli sent me over." She flicked her eyes at Brenda. "You want me t'French her, that it?"

"Yeh, that's it," Dex said with a smile.

"Well, sure," Shirley shrugged. "No big deal."

"Lucky me," Brenda said lazily.