The taxi left him off in front of Ertha's apartment building; Corby tipped the man an extra buck, since he felt generous after last night's cocaine deal. He rang the buzzer to Ertha's apartment and waited, adjusting the wide Brooke Brothers tie and pulling down the matching vest to his three-piece suit. He was feeling in good spirits tonight after splurging on his new wardrobe. He only hoped the anonymous woman inside would appreciate what he'd gone through to look good.
He pressed the buzzer again. Inside Julie gulped the last dregs of her wine and dizzily staggered toward the door, cursing Joshua as she struggled with the double lock. She didn't understand any of it… why he wasn't with her tonight, why he wanted her to go out with his friend… and making extra bucks? What the hell did that mean? Sure, she knew Ertha made her living giving massages, but that was Ertha. Ertha was always different.
The chain fell free of the lock and Julie stepped aside as she let Joshua's friend brush past her. Before she even saw his face she could smell the sweetness of his after shave lotion. Well, at least the guy had class, she thought with relief.
When he turned to introduce himself, a smile broke out on his face, a smile she didn't understand the motive for. True, looked vaguely familiar about him, but with those huge sun glasses covering half of his face, he could have been anybody she'd seen on the street.
Julie introduced herself, and squinted up at the man who kept leering at her. Her eyes were out of focus and she had a funny queasiness in her stomach from not having eaten that day.
"Hello," she said, slurring her words. "Sit down and let me get you a drink!" She waved her hand flamboyantly. She couldn't get a good look at the Puerto Rican no matter how close he came. He was sitting next to her now, and she decided she'd just give up trying to see him. She might as well make the most of the evening… be happy, she told herself.
"So you're Joshua's friend?" she said bitterly, camouflaging her hurt with a forced grin that came out a sneer.
"That's right, honey…" he said, taking the glass of wine from her, wondering when Roy's ex-old lady would recognize him. But he assumed the natty suit threw her off guard; then, too, she was three sheets to the wind already. No wonder she didn't recognize him. "How's about going dancing later," he offered, plotting his revenge for the woman who had refused him once.
Julie turned on the stereo and began madly gyrating her arms and legs in an approximation of dancing to the music. All sense of propriety had left her.
"Come on," said Corby grabbing her by the ann. "Let's catch a cab at the comer."
"Empress Hotel, driver!"
Corby sank down into the taxi seat with a sigh. Julie hadn't even heard the discrepancy in plans. That was good, but she was too snockered to know much of what was going on. He wasn't going to touch her until they got inside. This way, she'd never know who he was and, when Joshua came down on him for treating his girls roughly, he could deny the whole scene and even demand his money back. He'd just say she was gone when he got to Ertha's apartment. There was no proof.
The cab pulled up in front of the Empress Hotel, a ram-shackle building on Broadway with a neon sign blinking! "Rooms… Transients… Residents…"
It was just the place for what he had in mind, seedy and run down. Tonight's my lucky night… he thought as he handed the driver the money. This chick is so out of it I can probably get anything out of her.
He helped Julie out of the back seat. She was laughing at his attempts to extricate her from the low seat. "Well… where are we?"
"Is there a floor show?"
"Sure, honey, sure."
The cab driver leaned way out of his window, looking Julie up and down… "Nice looking broad you got there, mister!" he said. "Wouldn't mind having a go at her myself."
"You're welcome to when I'm through!" Corby offered. The more the better. It would serve the bitch right for refusing him once before.
"Hey, you serious?" the driver asked, a gleam coming to his eyes.
"It's not my ass… Ask the desk clerk for the room number…"
"Swell, buddy… See you later…" he said, stepping on the gas.
Parts of the conversation had reached Julie but she didn't really connect them with her. It seemed as though they were talking about someone else. Some girl they both knew. She was looking around her though, trying to figure out where she was. Before she could think about it too long, Corby had grabbed her by the arm and was hurrying her into the building.
A yellow light glowed from a naked light bulb as Corby passed the night clerk. He dropped two dollars on the desk and was handed a key in return.
"I think I'm gonna call Joshua now," Julie said, teetering against Corby's tall frame. "It isn't a very nice place… where's the bar?"
"Shut up!" Corby said and hurried her down the corridor to a room on the ground floor.
Once inside the door, Julie was sure that she wanted to leave… something was going on that she didn't understand, and she had thought, "Where's Ertha?" as she turned to face the bare room. Her dulled senses had misled her into thinking that Ertha, motherly Ertha, would be there to save her.
"I wanna drink…" she slurred as she turned around, lurching toward the door. But her departure was halted suddenly as Corby grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back toward him. When Julie tried to protest, Corby let his right hand fly and it landed flat across her cheek leaving a stinging red print on her white skin.
Tears streamed down Julie's face as the man pushed her down on the bed.
"You will leave when I'm through with you, Julie… and this time you can't say no!" And with that, he began tearing at Julie's clothes, pulling them off her until she wore nothing but her garter belt and stockings.
Julie had laid there motionless, unable to resist him, the blow across her face made her terrified of coming to physical harm.
"Now, baby… you're going to do just what I tell you, aren't you?"
"Hey, buddy, you in there?" It was the cab driver.
"Yea, friend… come on in… we're just getting started."
George Martin pushed open the door just enough to let himself in and closed it swiftly behind him. Man, what a setup, he thought to himself when he got a look at the naked beauty on the bed. I have landed in a pot of gravy!
"Have a seat," Corby said, pointing to the only chair in the room. "Come on, baby," he grunted to Julie. "Let's see you stretch those lips for our friend here. After all, he was kind enough to drive us all the way over here, now wasn't he?"
Julie sat up tentatively in the bed trying to meet the eyes of either of the men in the room. Why was this happening? she thought. How had this happened to her?
But Corby was in no mood for delay. Grabbing her by the hair, he pulled her off the bed, forcing her to kneel in front of him on the floor.
"Now crawl over to our friend!" he ordered.
Julie hesitated for a second and once again Corby's hands cracked across her cheek. Julie cried out, but began crawling over to where George sat. He straightened his legs and spread them apart so she could crawl between them. And when she was kneeling between his spread thighs, he tangled his hands in her short blonde hair and pulled it down, grinding his crotch up at the same time against her face so that she could feel the hardness of his already erect cock beneath the rough material of his pants.
"Pull it out for me," he said, still rotating his crotch up against her face.
She fumbled for a moment, but finally the huge fleshy instrument burst into the air through the unzipped fly. George grabbed her hand and wrapped it around the thick cudgel skinning it back so that the giant red-fleshed head popped out from the thick foreskin a scant few niches from her bulging eyes. Reaching around the back of her head, he pulled her to him until her closed lips were pressed tightly against the slippery, rubbery tip.