Chapter 10

All the way home Cindy sat between her mother and Moose on the front seat. While Mamie drove, Moose had his arm around Cindy and held her close and was running his hands over her.

Cindy felt uncomfortable beneath the hot caresses, but she was too sleepy and exhausted to put up a struggle. Lulled by the alcohol she'd been consuming all evening, she thought his frantic gropings and heavy breathing were funny. He was a grown man, old enough to be her father, yet he was behaving like a high school boy on his first date.

What was it her mother had said? "Be extra special nice to Moose, Cindy. If he wants to put his hand on your leg, well, why not?"

Cindy was beginning to wonder how far she was supposed to go in being nice. Moose was putting his hand not only on her leg, but in lots of other places, too.

They arrived in front of Mamie's trailer, and the car engine coughed and died. Cindy tried to get out gracefully, but she felt unsteady, and as she swung her legs out, the skirt shot up over her knees, a sight which brought a gasp of joy from Moose. As she went unsteadily past him to the trailer, she felt his hot hand pat her gently on the buttocks.

Mamie brushed past them to open the door and switch on the lights in the tiny living room. Cindy stumbled and would have fallen if Moose hadn't put his hands around her breasts and held her.

"Take it easy, baby," he said. "Let's not damage the merchandise."

He kept holding her, fondling her breasts, and she felt annoyed by her mother's apparent lack of interest in what the man was doing. She shrugged off his hands.

Mamie turned on an ancient table radio. "Make yourself comfy," she said, "I'll get us some booze."

She went into the small kitchen alcove, and suddenly Cindy felt unprotected. She sensed Moose behind her. She could hear his heavy breathing, then there was the touch of his body pressing against her from behind, and his hands reached out under her arms and found her breasts again.

She trembled and almost screamed, and he said, "You look tired, baby," and kissed her wetly on the neck. "Maybe you'd better go into the bedroom and lie down."

"Yes," she said, pulling away, "yes, that's a good idea."

She was beginning to be afraid of Moose, and of what he wanted to do to her. She was tired and the room was very warm, and she felt very dizzy. There was a growing queasiness in her stomach.

"I ... I'm sorry. I don't feel well...."

"I understand, baby," Moose said soothingly. He was beside her once more, holding her close, kissing her wetly on the cheek. "You'll feel better if you lie down for a while."

Moose helped her across the living room, past the kitchen alcove, to the darkened bedroom. He didn't turn on the light, but seemed to know exactly where the bed was. Cindy sat down on the edge of the bed. It felt so soft, so comfortable. She lay back, vaguely aware that Moose had lifted her feet onto the bed. She smiled to herself. Perhaps she was wrong about the man.

She closed her eyes, and immediately sleep began closing in. She heard a car stop outside, the sound of voices, the screen door open and close. Closer, in the bedroom itself, she heard someone moving, and then the bedsprings squeaked as another body joined her. There was a hot whiskey breath close to her face.

Someone began tugging at the zipper of her dress, pulling it down. An eager hand reached in the opening of her blouse, forcing fingers under her bra to grasp her breasts. Another hand whipped the skirt up over her hips and pulled at the panties, while a masculine body thrust itself against her and wet lips covered hers.

She opened her eyes in sudden panic, coming awake all at once. In the dim light she recognized Moose Warren, now naked and aroused, on the bed with her, kissing, fondling, trying to pull her panties down over her squirming hips.

"No," she screamed. "No!"

"Come on, baby, come on, come on," he said.

She lashed out at him frantically, striking him on the face. She bit his hand as hard as she could, drawing blood.

He laughed loudly. "That's the girl," he cried, delighted. "Fight me, claw me, bite me. Make me take it away from you."

With a small portion of her mind, Cindy wondered where her mother was. Surely the woman could hear what was happening in the bedroom-the thrashing about of bodies, the protesting squeaks of the ancient bedsprings, the animal grunts of Moose Warren, Cindy's own shouts.

It was the kind of nightmare she would have experienced at the hands of her stepfather, back in Hurley, Texas.

The thought gave her greater impetus, and when Moose tried to straddle her, she shifted her weight suddenly and pushed. The man said

"Hey!" waving his hands wildly, and then toppled over onto the floor. Before he could recover, Cindy leaped off the bed and staggered to the doorway.

"Mother," she cried. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her voice was hoarse with fear. "Mother...."

Cindy paused in astonishment, momentarily stunned with shock. She saw why her mother had paid no attention to her cries for help. Mamie Drucker was lying on her back on the couch, her skirt pushed up to her navel and her legs flailing wildly in the air while the sullen young man named Jay was making love to her.

"That's it honey, that's it, that's it, that's it!" she kept crying over and over again, eyes closed, not paying any attention to Cindy.

Or to Mike Bradbury who sat quietly in a nearby chair sipping a cup of coffee!

Cindy almost laughed at the ludicrous scene. Mike looked up and nodded pleasantly at her.

Then Moose grabbed her roughly from behind. "Look, you little slut," he said, angrily pulling her close to him, "I paid your mother five hundred clams to climb into the sack with you, and I'm going to get my money's worth, see?"

His hand leaped out and stung her cheek. But more painful than that was the knowledge that her mother had sold her. Tears burned her eyes, and she felt sick and ashamed. Her stepfather had been right. Mamie Drucker was a tramp!

Moose pulled at her, his hand reaching out for her intimately, and she shrank back from his touch.

"Mike," she cried. "Mike, help me!"

She clenched her fists and pummeled Moose's naked body, to no effect. Relentlessly, like a man with one thought in mind, he dragged her toward the bed.

"Hold it!" Mike said from the doorway.

Moose turned angrily. "Get the hell out of here, Bradbury. If you get your kicks out of watching, go into the living room."

"Cindy asked me to help her," Mike said calmly, "and that's just what I intend to do."

Moose released Cindy and took a belligerent step forward. "Listen, you broken down folk singer, if you're not out of here in two seconds, you're fired. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Mike said with a grim smile.

He swung a fist through the air, connected with Moose Warren's chin. Moose's head snapped back, he groaned feebly and dropped onto the floor in a heap.

Cindy got up and ran to Mike, who put a protecting arm around her. "Take me out of here, Mike, Please."

"Sure," he said, simply.

He led her into the living room. Cindy didn't look at what was happening on the couch, but she heard her mother giggling drunkenly. Mike held the screen door open to her and led the way to his car parked nearby.

As they drove away, Cindy was wide awake, feeling very sober but also sick and ashamed of everything that had happened. All along her mother had been setting her up for Moose Warren.

"Feeling better?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry about what happened back there. People don't always confide in me, and I thought you knew about your mother and the deal with Moose. That's why I didn't interfere. I thought you were in on it."

"Thanks for helping me, anyway," she said. Then, at a sudden thought, "you'll lose your job."

He shrugged. "I was getting pretty bored with the Crazy Cockatoo, anyway." He laughed. "Besides, how can you tell anyone you work at a place with a name like that."

His laugh was infectious. She found herself laughing along with him.

He turned serious. "But what about you? What are you going to do now?"

"I wish I knew."

She didn't want to go back to Rosalie now; the two of them had nothing in common any more. And Flo, of course, was out of the question.

"I hope you won't be too hard on your mother, Cindy," he said.

"You know she's my mother?"

"That's what you called her in the trailer."

"That's right. I forgot."

"It doesn't matter. It didn't fool anybody. Everybody goes along with the gag, because they really like Mamie. She's a good woman, Cindy. Her morals aren't the highest, but at least she sleeps only with people she knows."

"Some recommendation!" Cindy said wryly.

"She's not getting any younger," Mike said seriously, "and she's all too aware of it. Every day she gets a day older, and there's a new wrinkle or grey hair to worry about. She's been all alone in the world for a long time, and she has to prove to herself she's still an attractive, desirable woman. Without that, she doesn't have very much to live for."

He grinned self-consciously. "Well, so much for philosophy. Now we've got to find a place for you to spend the night. Do you have any girl friends you could stay with?"

"No."

"I wouldn't advise your going back to your mother's-at least not tonight, while you're upset. Maybe we'd better just get you a motel room."

"Take me home with you," Cindy said, impulsively.

He laughed. "That's the best offer I've had all day."

"I'm serious."

"You're drunk," he said. "A gentleman doesn't take advantage of a girl who's been drinking. And unfortunately I'm a gentleman."

"I could sleep on your couch," she said. "You don't have to take advantage of me."

He laughed again. "You've got more faith in me than I have. No, Cindy, I'm just too human. I'd make a pass at you and then we'd both hate ourselves and each other in the morning."

"But I don't care," Cindy said, "I want you to make a pass at me. I want to go to bed with you and have you make love to me."

"To get even with your mother and Moose? By giving me free what they couldn't buy?"

"No, of course not," she said. His reasoning annoyed her. "At least, I don't think so. Oh, what diffeernce does it make?"

"It does, believe me," he said.

But she didn't believe him. She didn't understand him either. She sank into the seat and tried to figure him out. Here she was, a young, desirable girl offering herself to this man, and he'd refused her. It was more than annoying. It was insulting.

"I think," she said after a while, "that you're some kind of a nut...."

"You're absolutely right."...." but I like you, Mike."

"And I like you too. Believe me, Cindy, you 're the liveliest girl I've ever seen, and when I leave you I'll regret it. But you're still intoxicated, and you're still angry with your mother and her boy friends and grateful to me for saving you from them. When I go to bed with you it's going to be with no strings attached."

He drove off the road suddenly, and she sat up and saw they were parked in front of a motel.

"I'll make the arrangements for you. Wait here," he said.

She waited, sulking, while he went into the office. While Mike was signing the register, Cindy looked up to see the night clerk, a young, tousled hair fellow, leering out the picture window at her. She turned away, feeling ill at ease and self-conscious. She wondered what the night clerk would think when Mike didn't register in with her.

Well, it didn't matter what he thought or what Mike Bradbury thought either. She'd stay in the motel this night because she didn't have much choice. But tomorrow she'd leave early, before Mike got there.

He opened the car door. "You've got number five," he said.

He took her arm in a firm grip and led her to the door, inserted the key in the lock, opened the door and switched on the light. Cindy went in, and Mike followed her, closing the door behind him. It looked very much like the motel room where she and Joey had stayed. If Joey were in the room with her, he wouldn't leave.

She turned suddenly and threw her arms around Mike's neck, pressing her body against him. "Stay with me, Mike. I'll feel so lonely without you."

"I know," he said sadly, "which is precisely why I can't. You're lonely. Your mother has kicked you in the teeth. You want to do something to punish yourself."

"Oh, you sound like an amateur psychologist!" she said, very much annoyed with him.

"I am an amateur psychologist," he said. "And believe me, Cindy, you need a good night's rest more than you need a session in bed with some guy you've never seen before." He sighed. "I hate to be so noble, but that's the kind of guy I am." He kissed her on the forehead and moved to the door. "See you in the morning."

The door closed behind him, and for a moment Cindy stood staring at it, unbelievingly. She heard the car start, heard it move out into the street, and away into the night.

"Damn him!" she said aloud. Why did he have to be so damned noble.

She turned to the room and began undressing. When she was nude, she stood before the dresser mirror looking at herself and nodding in satisfaction. It was a good woman's body, with firm, high, full breasts, narrow waist, wide hips made for making love. The twin mounds of flesh stood out proudly, aching with a need to be caressed. She ran her hands along them, then down the tapering waist to the hips, trying to pretend they were Mike's hands. and turned from the mirror. There was no point But it was no sse. She shook her head sadly in thinking of it. It was only torture. Besides, she did feel tired and somewhat unsteady from all the alcohol she'd had. She turned out the lights and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her naked body.

She wondered what her father was doing now. He pas probably up at the Prairie Flower having some woman work him over for money. He probably missed her only because he liked to watch her undress-but it would only be a matter of time before he forgot her as he'd forgotten his wife Mamie who'd run from him.

And Mamie-she was too drunk and having too good a time to worry about her "little sister" Cindy.

She heard the motel door next to hers open and close. The walls were paper thin. She even heard the light switch on. She tried not to listen, but the sounds came just the same. A woman giggled.

"Beth, wait a minute," the woman said.

"Sally, I've been waiting all night for this," the other woman said. "C'mere, you sexy bitch."

"Beth, please, not so rough," Sally said.

There was a squeal, the crash of two bodies falling on the bed, followed by a silence filled with soft murmurings.

"There," the woman called Beth said, "can your husband kiss like that?"

"Well, ... no, now that you mention it. But it's not right us doing this."

"Don't be silly, of course it's right. I knew you were my type just as soon as I saw you at the party tonight. You've got a real treat in store for you, honey. You never had it so good, believe me."

"Hey, that tickles. Please, Beth, I'm not a lesbian!"

"Of course you're not, Sally honey. Neither am I. But it's nice to have some kicks in different ways. After all, it's not as though you're cheating on your husband if you do it with another woman."

"That's right. I never thought of that."

"But you have thought how it would be with a woman, haven't you? Go on, admit it!"

"Well...."

"I thought so," Beth cried triumphantly. "Well, I'm going to show you, like you've never been shown before, how sex can really be."

Sally giggled some more. "Ooooh, that tickles," she said, thrashing on the bed. She sighed. "It tickles, but it feels so good."

A sudden silence brought Cindy to realize she'd been eavesdropping without meaning to. She felt guilty, yet there was no avoiding it. The walls were thin, and in their enthusiasm, the couple next door were making no effort to keep their voices down.

"Oh, I couldn't do that," Sally said suddenly. Why not?"

"Because it's ... well, its' dirty, that's why."

"Oh, for goodness sakes, Sally, have you ever tried it?"

"No, but...."

"Then don't knock it. Look, I'll show you ... "

"No, please...."...." and you'll see how good it feels and then...."

"Oh, don't do that. Really, I don't like it. It feels so strange...."

"So good, you mean?"

"Yes, it's heavenly, heavenly."

The bedsprings creaked and groaned beneath the combined tossing weight on the bed next door. Cindy pulled the covers over her head and buried her head in the pillow. She didn't want to hear what was going on in that room. It wasn't love or anything close to it. It was something unnatural, nothing at all like it could have been between her and Mike.

An hour later, she heard subdued voices from the room next door.

"We'll have to come here again when we have more time," Beth said.

"Yes," Sally agreed, breathlessly. "Do you think our husbands missed us?"

"So we'll say we went for a ride. Who's to know."

Laughing happily, the two women left the room, and silence returned.

Cindy lay beneath the covers, her naked body hot and flushed, trembling, wracked with desire. Desperately, she craved someone's hands on her, probing, caressing, quenching the fires that were burning savagely within her. Her mind was in turmoil, and sleep was impossible. Unless--

She remembered the leer the young tousle-haired fellow had given her. Determinedly, she rose, walked across the room to the telephone. She picked up the phone, and a sleepy voice answered, "Yes?"

She hesitated only briefly. "I need some room service," she said....