Ella had been in the alley for too short a time to do anything sexual with the man, so Al assumed the girl had bought something. He waited while she came out and crossed the street to an outdoor phone booth. She didn’t see him sidle up to the booth and listen as she called the insurance company and claimed she wasn’t feeling well that day.
She hailed a cab after that, and Al managed to get another cab. He followed her to the small rooming house where she now lived. She had a small set of rooms in the basement of the house with her own private entrance. It was when she unlocked the door to walk in that Al forced his way in, grabbing her arm, frightening her with his sudden appearance.
“Wh-what do you want?” she gasped, as he pushed her inside, shutting the door behind him.
They were in the combination living room cum bedroom of Ella’s small living quarters. In the far corner, on top of a cabinet, she had a hot plate where she occasionally cooked when she didn’t want to join the rest of the roomers for meals. There was a large sofa-bed, still open, though properly made up, off to the right, and though it was somewhat dark down here since it was partially below street level, Al saw Ella had managed to keep the place fairly clean.
Turning on a lamp, Al hurled the lovely little redhead onto the sofa-bed, her green coat flapping open, revealing her pink dress again. He took off his own heavy winter coat, it being the middle of December, and without a word he grabbed her purse.
Ella gasped as he opened it, turned it upside-down on a small table, and took out a “nickel bag”. It was a small, glassine envelope the size of a postage stamp filled with white powder.
“You know, Ella,” he said to her. “If I open this and taste it and find its heroin, you’ll be right back in state prison, and there’ll be no parole, this time. This is a definite violation of parole. Have you used any of this shit, yet?”
“No,” she whimpered. “This was my first connection. I was going on a high to end all highs. I need something—anything.”
Al watched as she leaped to her feet and walked to a small cabinet at the far end of the room. She took out a bottle of Chianti, saying, “What the hell, if you’re going to bust me for using H. then my taking some wine won’t matter much.”
There was a small sink in the corner, probably a laundry sink at an earlier time, and she took a glass sitting in the sink, washed it out, and poured herself a quarter of a glass, tossing it down quickly. She did it a second time and Al watched, saying nothing.
“Considering the hell you went through while you were inside,” he said when she had finished her second glass, “I’d think you’d be smart enough to do the right thing in order to stay outside.”
“Hah!” she laughed. “What the hell does it matter? Do you know I almost killed my brother-in-law for trying to rape me? That was why I was sent to prison. Once I was there, the women did it for him, raping me with broom handles a dozen different times.”
“If you’re looking for pity,” Al said to her, “you’re looking at the wrong man. There’s only one rule I relax for girls on parole, unless they’re hookers, and that is, I let you date. What’s more, I allow you to make love—that is, I sort of turn my back if I ever find out about it. You’re human, and I figure you have human needs. Hell! A good lay is all any woman needs if she wants a real high. She definitely doesn’t need this kind of garbage,” he told her, holding up the glassware envelope.
Ella was hardly listening to Al at this point. Right now, she was doing her best to contend with the effects of the wine she had consumed on an empty stomach. Since her belly had neither food nor an olive oil or milk coating, the effects of the alcohol were almost devastating. Already her feet and fingertips felt numb, whereas the rest of her body was keyed-up. Her heart had started pumping wildly in her chest and that odd sensation she had felt when all those other women had “handled” her in prison began lurking at the base of her belly.
She returned to the sofa-bed, sat down, eyeing Al Bombannente warily. He put the smack bag down on a little counter near the sink and walked over to her, sitting on the bed beside her. His hand gripped her arm to keep her from toppling backward while the dizzying effect passed.
Ella wanted the man to take his hand away, because she was starting to feel terribly excited. No man had ever aroused this kind of feeling inside her. It was all so different from the last time she had been touched by a man. Her brother-in-law had repulsed her, and the mere feel of him had sickened her. Not so, this man. He might have been her parole officer, but he was an exciting man. This, added to all the wine she had suddenly ingested, had made her lose all control over herself.
He was still talking to her, but she barely heard what he was saying. It finally came through to her that the man was telling her that he was considering not sending her back, yet.
“Just what am I supposed to do, show my gratitude?” Ella asked.
“I don’t do things with women because I want them to show me gratitude,” he replied. “Most of the women with whom I make love do it with me because they want to. In fact, some whom I would normally not even consider as love partners even beg me for it. But on occasion there comes along the type who has to be shown, plainly and simply, that sex is the highest high you can go on. Even though it’s been known to be habit-forming, at least it doesn’t debilitate the body as heroin does. You can only become eventually stronger from a good fucking.”
“Just what the blazes are you trying to tell me?” Ella asked, shuddering all of a sudden. She tried twisting away from him, saying, “If you’re going to bust me, let’s go ahead and get it over with. I’ll be damned if I’m going to put out for some slob who’ll put me away, afterward. What’s more, I’m not going to use my body as a bargaining tool, either.”
“I’m not making bargains with you,” Al snapped. “Before I leave, I’ll flush that little bag down the toilet. I’m telling you in no uncertain terms, you stay away from that shit, or no matter what happens between us. The next time I’m going to slap you right back inside, and you know I’m serious.”
“Just what the hell do you mean by, no matter what happens between us?” she gasped.
“I’m going to fuck you,” Al smiled, steadily staring at her. “What’s more, you’re not going to try stabbing me with a butcher knife, because if you do, they’d put you away for life, this time. Life!”
“Oh God! No! No!” Ella cried, weeping softly, holding one hand palm out, at arm’s length in the hope of warding him off.
Al brushed the arm aside, this time pulling her very close to his body, his arms around her as he said, “I’m not doing this to teach you some kind of lesson. You’re loaded with tension, and this is the best way I know to get the tension out of you. Stop trying to upset yourself even more. You did a stupid thing picking up that H. You need something else, honey, and right now I’m about the only one able to supply your needs. You’d better believe it.”
The words struck terror into the shuddering redhead, and yet, at the sound of what he was saying, Ella felt herself overcome by a violent series of thrills that shook her body as if she had been touched by an unshielded, ungrounded electrical wire instead of the solid, muscular, beefy frame of her parole officer.
“Mr. Bombannente, please… no… don’t do this… don’t talk like this. My God! You’re supposed to be helping me, not taking advantage of me. You can’t expect me to…”
“Sure I can,” Al murmured, pulling her closer. “Would you rather I simply sent you back to prison? Tell me, how would that help you? Honey, I have what’s good for you. What’s more, deep down I think you know it.” His arms encircled her lovely waist smoothly, firmly. “What’s more, there’ll come a time in the not-too-distant future that you’ll be more than grateful to me for this! Any other parole officer would have you in the can right now, and within two days you would be on your way back to the big place. I’m not only giving you one more chance, but I’m showing you how to get your highs without having to harm yourself.”