REFUSED FRIEND'S LARGE OFFER FOR
RIGHTS TO BARNYARD
MAKE THAT A DOUBLE PENTHOUSE
Then, later in the week, Alec's most memorable message:
BOOKED BARNYARD TONIGHT AT IOWAN ATHLETIC CLUB ANNUAL REUNION WHITE TIE AND JOCKEY SHORTS PREMIERE
That last telegram was called in after 8 P.M. I went about my bellhopping duties feeling sorta chipper. While I was lugging late arrivals' luggage, down in Des Moines, the Iowan Athletic Club members were admiring my hard-on.
Hotel business happened to be brisk that night. I kept dragging my ass down to the lobby and up to the rooms, with hardly a minute to glance toward the cashier's desk. I had just squired an elderly couple up to the Crystal Suite, and brushed away an errant tear in memory of the Rawlings. Back to the lobby. Uh-uh! That girl in the scuffed shoes standing near the potted palm was no transient. That was Jeannie!
Jeannie looking distraught. Christ! She couldn't be knocked up so fast. Not from Matt. That left me, Clint Endicott, and her first lover. Roulette was no comfort, I had to know. I approached her.
“Oh, Doug! You have to help me!”
Take it easy, honey. Uh-when did you miss your period?”
“It's not my period, it's Matt. He was supposed to pick me up tonight, but he sent a message. The flivver broke down. Please help me, Doug. Drive me out to the cabin.”
“Sure I'll drive you-Hey! Won't you be kinda late getting home? What about your mother, your stepfather?”
Jeannie flashed an enchanting smile. “Mother's visiting her niece. My stepfather is down in Des Moines attending some old reunion.”
Before my heart could start beating again, I forced out the question. “What reunion?”
“Does it matter? It's that silly Iowan Athletic Club he's always going to.”
The slender thread holding my sanity in check curled up and vanished. Of course it was silly. A silly old club with its silly old members watching a silly new porno. Barnyard Balling, starring local talent, notably the daughter of the Prescott police chief. Getting humped and taking a load of come between the eyes.
If Matt was a fast draw, he might survive. I didn't even have a gun. I didn't even have a suitcase-but I had to pack and get the fuck outta there. I had to move fast-and I was rooted to the spot. My feet were glued to the lobby carpet, while the rest of me shook uncontrollably. I felt my blood race up to the ceiling. Then the ceiling descended.
The next thing I heard was my name called in Jeannie's girlish soprano. At the same time, a pale hand stroked my forehead. Carla! Lost to me forever before I really found her.
The girls managed to get me across the lobby and up to my cubbyhole. “Please wait outside,” I heard Carla say, bossy as usual. “This is a woman's job.”
“Jeannie's more of a woman than you'll ever be,” I said testily, biting the hand about to feed me.
“How would you know? Just a minute, Trent-Doug-let's not squabble. Obviously you're in serious trouble. Care to tell me about it?”
Her silver-blonde hair was a potent inducement. Her hot black eyes were a further inducement. To mayhem. I had to put all that behind me, and put the state of Iowa behind me, or a bullet-proof vest in front of me.
“Thanks for asking, Miss Grant. I'd better not.”
“Is it as bad as that?” she whispered, with a husky catch in her throat.
Gee, I couldn't let her go away thinking I'd done something really bad. I tried to explain, but the paralysis that had gripped my feet in the lobby affected my speech. I could only croak out disjointed nouns. “Jeannie-buddy-movie-stepfather-police.” Who needs verbs!
Carla's black eyes slitted, then sparkled with understanding.
I think there's something you should know about Jeannie Larson,” Carla said, after a moment.
“I'm willing to learn. Uh-how come you know so much about Jeannie?”
“Prescott is a small community. I know lots more than you've ever suspected. A sympathetic woman gets to hear all sorts of things. I'll tell Jeannie you want to see her.”
The concept of Carla as a sympathetic woman was novel enough to occupy my mind until Jeannie tripped in. Her innocent face was puckered in concern-for Matt.
“Feeling better? I'm so upset about Matt. He's bound to wonder what happened to me. Hell worry.”
“Matt's gonna do a lot of worrying. Carla said there was something I should know about you, Jeannie. What is it?”
Jeannie looked genuinely puzzled. “Is there anything about me you don't know already?” she asked, only semi-coquettishly. “Unless-no, that isn't important.”
“Better tell me anyway. G'head, honey, you can talk while I'm packing.”
“Well, the only thing Carla knows that you don't is about me and Luke.”
Fa Chrissake! Juvenile confessions while the walls were tumbling. “Who's Luke?” I asked, to be sociable.
“Luke is my stepfather.”
I stopped packing.
I grabbed her wrists till the bones squeaked. “Tell me everything, Jeannie. If you ever wanna see Matt again, tell me everything.”
“All right.” She settled down to tell the story they all love to narrate. “It started with Ernie. I don't know if you've ever met Ernie Jenkins. He used to live in my neighborhood. Well, one time last Christmas we happened to be in my basement, and Ernie got fresh. In fact, he went as far as a boy can go-without really going. I wouldn't let him because I wanted to be engaged before I'd let a boy do it Ernie came and went. That night, Mother was away visiting her Aunt Bertha-no, that was the time she stayed with Uncle Victor and Aunt Frances.”
“Look, leave your relatives out of this. Just get to your stepfather.”
“I was about to. Well, I was alone in the house except for my stepfather. There was quite a storm outside. I put on my pajamas and got into bed. To bed, but not to sleep. Being with Ernie had upset me more than I realized. I felt a tingling down there. I–I used my finger. You'll think I'm awful, Doug.”
“Sure I think you're awful. Don't you girls ever think of using the floor lamp? Or a banana? C'mon, tell it!”
Unruffled, Jeannie told it. The old story. A finger's acceptable till the first cock swims into view. Most cocks make a finger look like small potatoes. Even Ernie's. So she gave herself a break-she used two fingers to fuck herself.
“Two fingers up my crotch dulled the ache. But in a way it made it worse. I couldn't stand it. That's when I screamed. Luke-my stepfather-came running in. He thought I'd cried out in my sleep.
“'You had a nightmare, Jeannie. It's all right now. I'm, here.'
“Before I could think, I denied the nightmare theory. Then his words sank in. He was there. With me. A man in his pajamas. A big lump of flesh under his pajamas. While I considered this, Luke made like a fussy father.
“'You mean you haven't slept yet? What's the matter, Jeannie?'
“I began to bawl. Tears were a relief, and it was a relief when he comforted me. He bent over me, arms around my shoulders. 'What is it, honey? Please tell me.'
“I threw Ernie to the wolves. Ernie could take care of himself. Eyes down, I started to talk. All the time looking at my stepfather. Not his face. His pajamas, where his-his hair made a dark shadow on the cotton. 'It's Ernie,' I blubbered. 'He t-tried to attack me.
“'Jeannie!'
“I went on, gathering momentum. I liked the way Luke reacted. I liked the way his fingers tightened on my shoulder. 'He took out his thing, dad. It was so t-tremendous. Like a baseball bat. Longer. He tried to-
“Luke interrupted. 'You're just imagining it,' he said. 'Probably dreaming. No boy's built like that. Anyway, Ernie is a nice kid. He wouldn't-'
“'He did!' I insisted. 'He tried to rape me. I can show you the bruises.' I started to throw off the covers, but Luke tucked me in and ran out of the room as if a ghost were running after him.”