Spencerville (41 page)

She didn't reply.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Cliff Baxter proceeded to deliver nine slow, steady strokes with the belt across his wife's buttocks, which still had yesterday's red welts across the flesh. He waited between each stroke for Annie to catch her breath and count. Before the last stroke, she started to sob, and he said, "Well, I gave you one before we started, so I'll count that as ten. What do you say?"

She stifled a sob and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Can I get up?"

"No. You can spread your legs right there."

She spread her legs as far as the chain allowed, and Cliff Baxter unzipped his fly and took out his erect penis. He entered her from behind, but before he came, he pulled out and said, "Turn around."

She stood unsteadily and turned toward him.

"Kneel."

She knelt down in front of him, and he pulled her face into him and said, "Put it in your mouth."

She knew that after he came, he'd calm down a little, and all she wanted at this point was to get through the night. Still, she hesitated, and he pulled her hair and shouted at her, "Now!"

"Come on, Keith. We don't want to spook him. We got to back off and wait awhile. Right? Hey, man, you okay? Get it together, Keith. This ain't a trainin' exercise."

Keith didn't reply.

"Come on. We can't stay here."

Keith got up on one knee, then stood and raised the binoculars again, but couldn't see anything through the window.

Billy reached up and pulled him down again. "Jesus! If he's lookin' through that infrared scope, you're dead. Come on."

The dog barked again.

"Swallow it."

She swallowed.

Baxter turned away and walked back to his chair, leaving her kneeling. He sat down, breathing hard, watching her. He heard the dog bark again, but he ignored it. After a minute, he smiled. "You're gettin' better. You have fun?"

"No."

"Bitch. Did you give your boyfriend a blowjob?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me, bitch. You sucked his cock, didn't you?"

"No."

"You can stay like that all night until you tell me the truth. You blow him?"

"Yes."

"You fuckin' whore." He leaned forward and kept staring at her. "Look at me, bitch. You lied to me about him, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You said you didn't even remember runnin' into him. And all the time you was suckin' his dick. Right?"

"Yes."

"Maybe lover boy got AIDS, and now you got it, and you gave it to me, bitch."

She didn't reply.

"He probably fucks everything and everybody. Probably fucks goats and little boys and two-dollar whores. Whatever he got, you got. He use a rubber on you?"

She didn't reply.

"How many times you fuck him?"

"Do you mean in high school and college, or?.."

"Shut up! You make me sick. I ought to kill you, but you ain't gettin' off that easy. You're gonna pay for what you did. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And you're gonna keep payin', 'cause you can't ever make that right. I'll bet you're sorry you did it, ain't you?"

She didn't reply.

"Answer me."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"I'm sorry."

"You bet you are. And you ain't half as sorry as you're gonna be. When I get through with you, you're gonna be like my bitch retriever. You're gonna do what I say, when I say, eat when I tell you, curl up at my feet, lick my hand, and follow me around with your head down. Right?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. And I'll treat you just fine, though you don't deserve it after what you done. You'll get three meals, a warm place to sleep, and a whippin' only when you deserve it. Right?"

"Yes, sir."

Cliff sat back and watched her still kneeling, her head down, and her arms wrapped around her. He smiled. "Cold?"

"Yes, sir."

"Come on over here by the fire. Don't walk."

Annie hesitated, then walked on her hands and knees over to Baxter and came to a stop at his feet.

"Straighten up."

She rocked back on her haunches and sat up, facing him, her head still down.

"Look at me."

She looked him in the eye and noted with some satisfaction that his right eye still had blood in it.

"When did you fuck him? Where did you fuck him?"

"In his house."

"You fuck him in our house?"

"Yes."

He seemed surprised and asked, "How the fuck did you manage that? You're lyin'! You never could've fucked him in our house."

"If you say so."

"You're a fucking slut. You know that? You're a fucking whore, so I'm gonna treat you like a whore."

She noticed the gun belt on the small end table to the right of his chair. She thought she could grab it, roll away, and draw the pistol before he reacted. She could make him chain himself with the leg irons, and she could get away. That's all she wanted — to be away from him and this house. She'd only shoot if he made her, and then she'd only try to wound him. She waited for her chance.

Reluctantly, Keith moved away from the house, Billy behind him. About a hundred yards from the edge of the clearing, some two hundred yards from the house, they stopped.

Billy sat with his back against a pine tree and said, "The son-of-a-bitch could have nailed our ass with that infrared scope."

Keith nodded and looked at him in the dim light. "You don't have to stay. Go back to the truck."

"Hey, we got a deal. Right?"

"Yes, but..."

"Cool out, Keith. I know you saw somethin' that got to you, and I didn't see it. But I don't have to see it. I know him better than you know him. I been in his jail."

Keith got himself under control. "Okay. Thanks."

"We just sit here awhile. Let the dogs calm down. Let Baxter get settled in. We got him fixed. Remember that... how'd that go? Find 'em, fix 'em, and finish 'em." He added, "Fuck him."

Keith nodded to himself. He thought perhaps he should have taken the shot. But there were good shots and bad shots, sure shots and long shots. That definitely would have been a bad, long shot, and if he'd missed, or just hit Baxter's body armor, there was no taking the shot back. You just never knew. They told you in class that the first shot was not always the best you were going to get, but it might be the only one you'd get. You had to make a quick calculation, had to decide when to maintain fire discipline and when to go for it. Maybe if he had seen or foreseen what Baxter was going to do to Annie... but at least he knew she was alive and would stay alive as long as Baxter was getting some pleasure out of her. "Bastard."

"Yeah. But more than that. This guy needs a whole new word invented for him."

"I've got a word for him. Dead."

"I like that word."

Baxter went on verbally abusing her for a minute or two, and she kept eye contact with him as he'd ordered her to do, kneeling at his feet, but she wasn't listening, she was waiting for an opportunity to move. The gun was only about four feet away, but she had to distract him. She said, "I'm cold. May I get the blanket?"

"No, you can freeze your tits is what you can do." He went on to another subject and asked, "How many other guys did you fuck since we been married?"

"None."

"Don't lie to me. You got a hot twat, sweetheart. I see how you look at other men. All you think about is cock. Well, you're gonna get plenty of cock here, darlin'." He asked again, "How many guys did you fuck since we been married?"

"None."

"Bullshit. Before I'm through with you, you're gonna name every guy you fucked behind my back. There was other guys, wasn't there?"

She nodded.

"How many?"

"Just two."

"Oh, yeah? Just two?" He suddenly seemed interested. "Who?"

"You'll get angry."

"Angry? I'm pissed off now. Who?"

"Promise you won't hit me."

"I ain't promisin' you nothin', except another beatin' if you don't tell me. Who?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Reggie Blake and your brother, Phil."

He stood. "What?"

She put her hands in front of her face, mostly to keep him from seeing the smile on her lips.

"You... you're lyin'! You bitch, you're lyin'! Look at me!"

She lowered her hands and looked at him.

Cliff kneeled down on one knee and put his face to hers. "You think you're gonna fuck with my head, don't you?"

"Cliff, please, this isn't fair. I did everything you asked me to do. I answered all your questions about other men a hundred times. What do you want me to tell you?"

"I want the fuckin' truth."

"I never had sex with another man since we've been married... except him."

"You never fucked Blake?"

"No... but he comes on to me."

"Oh, yeah? That fuck... and my brother?"

"He comes on to me, too."

"That... I don't believe you."

"I'm sorry."

Cliff stared at her, then nodded. "Okay, we're gonna have the real truth. Maybe not today, but little by little, you're gonna tell me everything about other men. Right?"

She knew he was obsessed with this and other subjects like this, so as long as he was interested in the subjects, she was relatively safe. "Yes."

He didn't speak for some time, then, still kneeling on one knee in front of her, he took her chin in his hand and turned her face to him. He said softly and slowly, "You always knew you'd wind up here like this, didn't you?"

She looked into his eyes and thought about that. In one way, she thought she knew him, knew how crazy he was, but never did she think he was capable of this. Yet the thought haunted her that she did know.

"You knew, didn't you? I knew, so you must've known. So if you knew this was gonna happen someday, you must've wanted it to happen."

"No!"

"You love it..."

"No! You bastard..." She swung her fist at him, but he caught her by the wrist and slapped her across the face. She rocked back, then slumped on the floor.

He stood. "Get up!"

She buried her face in her hands, curled up into a ball, and began sobbing.

"Get up!"

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

Baxter didn't like it when she became hysterical because he couldn't get her to do anything he wanted, couldn't get her to listen to him, so he just had to wait it out.

Annie lay on the floor, curled into a protective ball, her face still buried in her hands. After a few minutes, Baxter said, "If you're through with your bullshit, I'll let you wrap the blanket around you, and I'll let you get something to eat. I'm waitin', but I'm not waitin' much longer before I get the horse whip. Fact, you got ten seconds. Nine." He began counting backward.

Annie uncurled herself on the floor, then slowly got up into a kneeling position again.

"That's good. Listen, darlin', this can be as hard or easy as you want to make it. The quicker you understand that I'm in charge here and that you got to learn to shut your wise mouth, and that you got to do everything I say just like I say it, the easier it's gonna be on you. There ain't no way out for you, sweetheart. You're gonna cook, clean, wash me, suck cock, fuck, and kiss my feet. The better you get at that, the better it is for you. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"You know, all you Prentis girls has always been stuck-up. You think I don't know you look down on me and my family? Who the hell do you think you are? What I'd really like is to have your bitchy sister here, too. She needs some lessons in cocksucking. Look at me, whore. I'm talkin' to you. How's that sound to you? The two bitches waitin' on me hand and foot with no clothes on..."

"Please, Cliff... I'm not feeling well... I'm going to pass out... I don't want to get pneumonia... I have to have something to eat... I'm going to faint..."

He looked at her closely, then said, "Yeah, we don't want you gettin' sick. I don't want to take care of you. You can't live on suckin' cock, can you? Can you?"

"No."

"Okay, first you get that medical kit and change my bandage. Don't bother to stand, sweetheart. You're a St. Bernard now."

Annie moved on all fours across the room and got the medical kit from a wooden storage chest, then, without him reminding her, she hung the canvas bag around her neck by its strap and went back to where he was now standing beside the sofa.

Baxter lowered his pants and his undershorts, then lay down on the couch.

Annie opened the canvas bag and took out a pair of blunt nose scissors made for cutting surgical tape. She put the lower blade beneath the tape that was wrapped around Baxter's left thigh and cut through it. She noticed that there was still blood on the tape, and when she peeled the gauze away, she saw that the wound wasn't healing properly, but it wasn't infected. She wondered if there was a way she could infect it.

She took alcohol and cotton and washed away the blood around the wound. He winced. She put iodine on the two-inch cut, and this time he let out a small groan. He lifted his thigh, and she ripped off the old bandages, which also caused him pain, then she reapplied fresh gauze and began rewrapping the wound. He never said a word, she noticed, about the wound, or about his eye. His silence on the subject was his way of trying to convince her and himself that everything in the motel room had gone his way. In fact, she knew that Keith had put up a good fight and had almost succeeded in cutting Cliff's femoral artery. At first, she'd almost believed Cliff when he said he'd castrated Keith, but it was obvious, by his unresolved rage, that he hadn't.

She noticed that he had his eyes closed, and she glanced over her shoulder at the end table beside his chair where the holster lay.

He said, "Lookin' for somethin'?"

She turned back to him.

"Now here I am, layin' down with my drawers around my ankles, and you're wonderin' if you can get to that gun belt before I do. Well, darlin', you can. But when you get there, you're gonna be surprised, 'cause..." he drew the pistol out from where he'd stuck it between the cushions."...I got it here." He tapped the barrel on her head and said, "We got a long way to go, don't we? When I'm finished with you, you're gonna go fetch my guns for me and not even think about usin' them on me."