He didn't even let me finish. His face twisted up as if he were having some kind of argument with himself. "Jesus, Lee!" He looked disgusted. "You, too? Why don't you stop being a cashier and start writing thrillers?"
"Eric!" I felt like he'd kicked me in the belly.
"I suppose Fowler's a white slaver or something! For God's sake, Lee, get a hold of yourself! He's got a responsible job! Think he's going to flush it down the tubes just like that?" He snapped his fingers.
"But, Eric…!" I didn't try to say any more. He was the one person at Ma Conner's who could really hurt me. And he just had.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I didn't even eat breakfast. I simply went back to my room and cried. Maybe it isn't worth fighting, I thought. Why the hell make Duane mad at me when he's my boss? He might give me a raise or something if I put out. I shivered and sat up. You know why you fight, don't you, Lee! Because you're scared to death of him! Because he's not just talking about balling you… not that sonofabitch!
Just about that time, Mark came back from breakfast and said something about going out to kick around a football with some of the kids. Said he wouldn't be in until about lunch time. So I reminded him how it pissed Ma off for anybody to be late for a meal and he took off.
About fifteen or twenty minutes later, Will was knocking at the door. "Hey! That kid brother of yours! He's in deep shit, Lee! You better come quick!"
"Where? What's the matter with him? What is it, Will?"
"Come on! Don't yak about it all day!"
I rushed after him, slamming the door on the way through. "Will! What is it?"
"Something of Duane's… Duane thinks he took it. Says he's gonna get to th' bottom of it if he has to skin 'im alive!"
"That lousy bastard! Mark wouldn't take anything!"
We were already at Duane's door… it was only the length of the hall from mine. Will hung back, but I didn't. I yanked the door open and burst into the room.
"Where is he?" I yelled. Christ, I was scared…! And mad! "Where's Mark, you bastard?"
Duane pretended to be completely innocent. "What? God, Lee, control yourself!"
"Where is he, damn you? Where is he?" I was beside myself by then, and his bland grin infuriated me. I decided I wasn't going to take any more of that shit. I threw myself on him, kicking and clawing. "Get him out here! You sonofabitch, get him out here!"
Well, he was a lot stronger than me. I don't know if I hurt him at all. And all of a sudden I was on the floor with him sitting on top of me. I mean, he didn't hit me or anything… just threw me on the floor, face down, and sat on the middle of my back. He jerked my hands behind me and tied them. I don't even know what with. He tied each wrist to my belt and then got up and pulled me to my feet.
"You sassy little shit!" He snarled at me. "What the hell do you mean busting in here and attacking me?"
"I did not! You've got…"
"Don't stand there and lie!" He shouted and I shut up. "For Christ's sake, I've got a witness!" And he turned to where Will was standing just inside the door. "Isn't that what she did, Will?"
"Yeah!" Will grinned and licked his lips. "Sure did!"
"Okay. Just remember that." Duane went over to Will and took something out of his pocket. He handed it to Will. "Now, get lost."
Will looked startled, "What! I'm gonna…"
Duane just looked at him, real deadly-like. "Gonna haul-ass! That's what you're going to do! NOW, MOVE!"
Will took off as if he thought Duane was about to set him on fire. And Duane shut the door and bolted it.
He turned around and grinned at me. "Well, let's talk about it, baby. What was it you wanted to see me about?"
"Where's Mark? Damn it, where is he?"
"How the hell should I know? Think I keep track of every pimply-faced kid in town?"
Maybe I'm stupid or something. It hadn't really hit me until then. That dirty, rotten Will had sold out! He'd let the establishment use him…! For a price, he'd run Duane's errand, and here I was!
"Ohhh…! Oh, you lousy, sneaky bastard! It was all a trap!"
"Really? My, my."
He came toward me and I backed up. I bumped into a little gate-leg table and didn't have anyplace to go. He just kept coming toward me.
"Funny. I said I thought today was the day." He grinned and took hold of me. "Turn around."
Like hell I will! I thought. Anything you get from me you're going to have to work for! I was afraid to say it out loud, but he couldn't keep me from thinking it.
So he whirled me around and mashed the fronts of my thighs against the end of the table. He grabbed a handful of hair at the back of my head and bent me forward. He didn't really slam me down on the table; he just kept pushing until I lost my balance and lay on my face. And he hung onto my hair, holding my head down, while he walked around me.
He untied one hand from my belt and jerked my arm around so my hand was at the edge of the table, right by the corner, and tied it. I still wasn't sure what he was using; I couldn't really see. But I wasn't fighting, either. I knew how badly he could hurt me if he wanted to. He stretched my other arm out the same way and tied it to the other corner. And I couldn't quite reach the floor with my feet. Oh, I could touch it with my toes, but I couldn't get my feet on it solidly enough to move.
"Okay, baby!" God, what a note of triumph he had in his voice! "Okay, baby! Now let's see how sassy you are!"
I sort of whimpered. "Please, Duane! Leave me alone! Let me go!"
"You're just saying that," he said.
He forced his hands under me and mauled my boobs. I mean, he got one hand under my chest and lifted and then got both hands under my boobs and started squeezing and playing with them. I kicked and squirmed, but it wasn't any use.
"You dirty shit!" I yelled at him. "Get your Goddamn hands off my tits!"
He pulled one hand loose and smacked me in the mouth. I groaned and clamped my stinging lips together. I was right! He sure as hell could hurt me if he wanted to!
Keep your stupid mouth shut, Lee! I told myself. Just keep it shut!
So he burrowed his hand back under me and started unbuttoning my blouse. When he had it unbuttoned, he flipped it over my head and unfastened my bra. He broke the shoulder straps and pulled the useless garment out from under me so my bare tits were resting right on the table! Flattened out on it, of course.
"Duane… please? Please don't do whatever you're thinking about…! Please?"
"Aw, come on, Lee. You know you just can't wait until I get down to the nitty-gritty."
"Oh, please, Duane!"
"Honey, by the time we get through here you're going to be begging me not to stop."
I was so scared the tears were making a pool on the table under my face. He might do anything! He might even kill me to keep me from talking! And I didn't want to die!
The next thing he did was unzip my skirt. It wasn't easy to work it over my hips with my butt sticking out the way it did, I suppose, but it didn't take him very long. And there I was in my panties and pantyhose. I don't know about anybody else, but when I wear pantyhose I wear panties over them. I mean, a girl looks so naked in pantyhose! And he pulled my panties off without any waste of time at all.
He took his time with the pantyhose. He rolled them back over my ass like every square inch of those pink, round, smooth ass-cheeks was something to gloat over. And he kept running his fingers over the flesh as he uncovered it. When he got the nylon below the depressions where my buttocks cupped in to my thighs, he paused and slid his fingers onto the hair that covered my pussy-lips.
"Nice, Lee! I was afraid you'd been using that thing so much it would be all sloppy and loose. Got a nice, tight little cunt there."
"Oooh! You wouldn't talk like that if there was anybody cared what happened to me!"