LOVED (2 page)

“Kelli, if you wreck this fucking car…”

She hit third gear and smiled as the car blazed up the on-ramp toward the highway.
The sound from the exhaust overcame the sound from the already loud music.

Without concern, she turned up the volume to the radio.

Paul Thorn, Ain’t Love Strange
played as she hit fourth gear and swerved onto the highway, merging
through
traffic.
This crazy little fucker can drive.

As I leaned into her lap, I turned and looked at the speedometer.

135 miles an hour.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I asked her to loosen up and be herself.

No idea.

ERIK.
Time passes and things change. Today, change is good. Change is welcome, and change is allowing me to live a life most people only dream of.

I hung the talisman from the nail and leaned back on the ladder to take a look. I straightened it a little and looked again.
Standing on the floor it would be barely visible, and impossible to reach without a ladder. I stepped down the ladder and onto the floor.

It hung directly over our bed, and right in the center of where the headboard was. I nodded affirmatively and picked up the ladder.

As I carried the ladder down the stairs, I almost lost my footing half way down. The steps were wooden and did not have any covering, carpeting, or other means of providing a surface suitable for walking in socks.

I placed the ladder in the storage room and walked into the entry hall.

“Baby Girl!” I screamed up the stairs.

“On my way,” a muffled voice came from the upstairs bedroom.

I heard footsteps running across the upper floor and then the sound of what appeared to be a herd of cattle coming down the stairs. The clamor coming down the steps was followed by a quick
thud
, and a
whumpity, whumpity, whumpity, whump
.

Kelli’s body hit the floor at the base of the steps.

“Son of a bitch, are you alright?” I asked as I turned her direction. She was sprawled out at the base of the steps in a short black dress, most of which was around her neck. From her boobs down, she was bare.

“Fucking fuck.
Yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she stood up, “my heel broke or something. I hate those steps, they’re slippery.”

I reached around her to give her a hug, “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I need to get another pair of shoes,” she said as she looked up the stairs and straightened her dress.

“Take your time,” I said, laughing, “
you look great, by the way.”

“Thank you, sir,” she said over her shoulder as she walked up the steps.

My level of satisfaction, my degree of being happy - was something that I had never experienced. My expression to Kelli about my true feelings, my burning the diary, and my honesty with myself was a cleansing process that did me more good than I ever would have guessed. My openness with my deceased parents regarding Kelli may have seemed odd to some people, but to me it was necessary. I now stood in the kitchen, the afternoon of our house warming party, as happy as I have ever been in my life.

I fe
lt complete. Whole. Satisfied.

Kelli Parks was not an
avenue
to happiness or a means of
making
me happy. Kelli
was
my happiness. Kelli told me at Il Vicino one day that she was
weak for me
. I now realized that I, too, was weak for her. We were certainly a match for each other in many respects. As she came down the steps, I smiled. She had replaced the heels with black flats that had sparkles on them.

“Better?” I asked.

“Much. My hip is bruised. Well, it
feels
bruised,” she said as she turned to look over her shoulder.

“Come here. Turn around,” I said as I rotated my hand in a circle.

She turned around so her back would face me. I lifted her dress and inspected her skin for marks.

“There
’s a spot
here
,” I said as I poked a rash on her thigh.

“And
here
,” I poked a scrape on her right butt cheek.

“That’s it?” she asked.

I held her dress higher and looked around her. I raised my left hand and slapped her left butt cheek as hard as I could without knocking her over.

“FUCK!” she screamed as she stumbled on her feet.

“Hand print. There’s a hand print on your left cheek” I added, laughing.

“Fucker,” she said as she turned around. She rubbed her butt as she smiled.

“Kelli, before everyone gets here, I want to say a few things. Come here,” I said as I walked into the living room.

She followed me in to the living room, and sat on the couch beside me.

“There’s going to be a few hundred people here. Some over time, but a lot at once,” I said as I placed my hand on her leg.

She nodded.

“We’ve come a long way, baby girl. A long damned way. I’m happy about it. You know you mean the world to me, right?”

She looked at me, and nodded sharply a few times, smiling.

“Nobody could ever replace you. You’re weak for me, and I’m weak for you. We’re perfect for each other. I feel as if living one simple day without you would strangle me, Kelli. I don’t even want to think about it. Don’t mistake me being weak for you as me being or becoming weak, I am far from it. Does that make sense?” I asked.

“I think so,” she answered.

“Listen. You’re perfect for me. And I am not afraid to admit it. I told you before, and I will tell you again. I will take care of you. For all of what is forever. You, in turn, take care of me. Do you understand?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Kelli?” I reached for her neck, and placed my hand around her neck, squeezing lightly and playfully.

My squeezing her neck actually made her comfortable and settled her down.
She slumped into my hand and leaned toward me, resting her head on my bicep.

“Yes sir?” she asked.

“Do you understand?” I asked.

Her eyes now closed, she nodded. I massaged her neck in my hand and firmed my grip a little.

“Kelli, I don’t know if you noticed, but when we were at the Harley dealer, I said
we
when referencing buying the motorcycle.
We
offered this.
We
will take it.
We
this,
we
that. I did that for a reason. Did you notice?” I asked.

Her eyes closed, she nodded, “Yes, I did. I liked it.”

“Kelli, there is no longer a
you
and an
I
. We are an
us
. This house? This house is not
mine
. I want you to understand, this house is
ours.
When these people come, this is
our
home. Ours. You tell people this is our house, and you do so proudly. I will do the same. Okay?” I asked as I massaged her neck.

She nodded slowly, her head rubbing against my bicep. Her long black hair draped onto my lap.

“Are you ever going to disappoint me, Kelli?” I asked.

She opened her eyes and turned her head toward me.

“Never,” she responded, “never.”

She scrunched her brow and looked at me as if I asked her to jump off of a cliff.

“Okay. I will not disappoint you either. You know, earlier, when we were going at it, that the sex can be rough sometimes. It doesn’t mean I don’t care for you or that I am mad. You know that, right?”

She turned to face me fully.
I let go of her neck.

“When we got back from the Harley shop?” she asked.

I nodded.

“
Pffffttt. Let me say something please,” she said.

“Okay,” I responded, “please do.”

“You know what you have to do to get me wet? To get me
soaking.
Walk. Pick something up with those sexy hands. Bend over and pick something up. Smile. Cut your sandwich in half. Open my car door. Laugh. Wake up. Take a drink out of your water bottle. Kick Tommy’s or his idiot uncle’s ass. Name it. I want to fuck you always. Erik I’m so serious. Always. You say you own me. You do. And please, never stop reminding me, I love it. But this pussy,” she paused and pointed between her legs.

“It isn’t mine anymore. It’s
yours
. I just carry it around for you until you need it. I used to masturbate half a dozen times a day. Since I met you, not at all,” she paused and shook her head.

“You may think you’re going to out fuck me, make me slap the wall three times or whatever. It’s
not
going to happen. Ever. Erik, I love you. And I will never intentionally be disrespectful
toward
you. I will never disrespect you to others either,” she inhaled a slow breath and looked up at the ceiling.

I started to speak.

She held her index finger in the air.

“You could fuck me until I was unconscious. Call an ambulance, and have me h
auled to the hospital for a worn out pussy and dehydration. When the paramedics are checking me out and giving me an I.V., you know what I’ll be wishing for?” she asked.

I smiled and shook my head, knowing where she was headed with this.

“I would be wishing you were in the ambulance fucking me for the ride to the hospital. You will never out-fuck me.
Ever.
We don’t need to talk about this anymore, but you should
know
this about me by now. I like fucking you. I like it a lot. I’d rather be fucking you than talking to you, that’s for damned sure. Most of the time, anyway,” she laughed as she finished speaking.

“Now?’
I asked.

“Fucking,” she smiled.

“When everyone gets here?” I asked.

“Fucking,”
she giggled and started rocking back and forth on the sofa.

“At the restaurant?
Mall? Car? On the steps? Kitchen? Oh, here you go, at your father’s house? Dealership on the sales floor?” I smiled.

“Fucking, fucking, fucking, fucking, fucking, and fucking.
Is that right?” she counted on her fingers and bounced in the sofa cushion.

“Nope, one more.
Fucking
,” she laughed, shaking her hands at me, her fingers extended and spread apart.

“Fuck me,” she said as she stood up.

She straightened her dress, raised her eyebrows, and waited.

The sound of a car coming up the driveway interrupted our conversation. She turned and looked out the window toward the driveway.

“It’s Heather and Teddy,” she squealed as she
turned and ran toward the door.

Neither of them had been
here since we moved in to the house. They had helped us move in, but decided not to come back until we were settled and had our party. I hadn’t expected them
this
early; but knowing Teddy, he wanted to help set up the party as much as possible.

Kelli stood at the door,
holding it open. I suspected as she normally sees Teddy and Heather three or four times a week, she wasn’t as excited to see
them
as she was to have them see her –
at her new home
.

“So, did you get all of your furniture…
” Heather started to ask as she walked in the door.

She and Kelli both squeaked as Kelli moved from the doorway. They both turned and ran into the living room, squealing and looking at the furniture.

“Well, fuck. Guess we ain’t huggin’ no more. Sis, my ass. Bone shoulda named you something else. Maybe
ass-hat
. Yep, ass-hat woulda been better,” Teddy winked at me as he walked through the door.

Kelli turned around and ran toward Teddy, jumped and wrapped herself around him as he stood in the entrance. Her legs were wrapped around his thighs, and her arms around his shoulders.

“Sum bitch, Kelli. Now
that’s
a hug,” Teddy said as Kelli let go and fell to the floor.

“Doc, how the hell are ya, brother?” Teddy said as he walked my direction.

We shook hands and I hugged him.

“Love what you done to the place,” he laughed as he looked around, “where you keep the cold beer?”

“Kegs are out in the shop. They delivered them this morning before we went to the Harley dealer,” I answered.

“Couldn’t make it work, huh?” Teddy asked, shaking his head.

“No, too damned high. Twenty-two on a Street Glide. And it was a 2013,” I responded.