He thought of Nancy again, visualizing her naked beauty, her long chestnut hair streaming down her tapered, white back… the full up-thrust of her perfect, dark-nippled breasts. God, what a slender waist she'd had, and the sweeping flare of those hips and voluptuously rounded buttocks! He remembered her long legs, the fullness of her white thighs… and the vee-shaped mass of dark pubic curls up between! Sonofabitch… he was going to drive himself right up the frigging wall!
He tried to put her out of his mind, not a difficult task when it came to any sense of feeling for her, because that was long dead, but from the standpoint of sex… yeah, there was the rub! Damn, how she'd loved to fuck… or suck… or anything else that had to do with a man's cock! He doubted that he would ever come across another like her, not with her beauty and insatiable hunger for bed romping. Oh, somewhere she had sisters-in-kind running free no doubt, but they weren't for the likes of a blind-man… anymore than she had been, once he'd gotten out of the hospital and come home to sit in a chair and stare in numbed bitterness at a wall he couldn't see.
Maybe he shouldn't blame her. What a hell of a life to offer a girl of twenty-eight, a handicapped husband of the same age, with nothing to look forward to but a paltry police pension for the rest of their life. It was no damned wonder she'd wanted to get out and go to work, the way he had sat around for an entire year feeling sorry for himself… but on the other hand, she could have waited a little longer for the adjustment period to run its course, too. Instead, she'd started moving out on him, going by herself to parties when he refused, and finding male escorts from the office where she worked.
At first, it hadn't bothered him too much; he'd been so Goddamned concerned with his own self-pity, but sitting alone two and three nights a week had given him long, lonesome hours in which to think, and what he'd begun to conclude wasn't good. The loss of one sense makes the others keener, including that of character insight. He'd seen it coming. In bed, on those rare occasions when he'd begun to feel like it again, she had turned into a dead-assed log… no response… nothing there. It wasn't hard to figure: she was fucking someone else, one of her office friends… maybe all of them!
One of the boys in the department, Mark had known he could confide in had chased it down for him. Of course, he'd been right… except there hadn't been any office, or "friends", just a simple long list of "johns"! Sweet Nancy had joined the ranks of bitches fucking for gain! She'd become a whore!
The day he'd filed divorce papers, he had also left for New Jersey and a seeing-eye dog school, the one move that had saved him from losing his buttons altogether. Thinking about it now, he reached down and petted the big, faithful animal at his feet, a feeling of warm affection flowing through him.
"Well, at least we've got each other, Queenie," the handsome, thirty-one year old man smiled at his inseparable companion and guide. "And that's more than a lot of people have. But… I'll be honest with you, girl, I wouldn't be the one to kick a luscious young lady out of bed, should such a creature happen along." He rubbed the big German shepherd's ears, the way he knew she liked it. "Man, how I wish you could talk, Queenie; then you could tell me with detail exactly what our charming Miss Dorsett looks like. Well… we'll make it a point to find out more tonight, eh? In the meantime, let's heat up the coffee again. I can use another cup before we head out after our bottle of wine… And what does one drink with meatioaf, girl… white or red."
Breakfast did wonders for Carol. She even found herself blaming Peggy White less and less for their lewd little party of the night before. After all, it did take two willing girls to complete the act, and she hadn't exactly been a reluctant one from any stand point… but it could never happen again! She was no lesbian and wasn't about to let herself become one, either. There were too many handsome, desirable men in the world, and one of those very young men was coming to dinner tonight, she remembered with relish, anything but sorry now that she had invited him.
She had been so right, though, about Peg and Sultan, and that thought raising mixed emotions inside her. Even though had it not been for her passionate neighbor's lustful educating of the big darling she would never have known the forbidden pleasure he could and would bring her whenever she wanted, at the same time Carol jealousy resented the shapely brunette's sneaky seduction, when she was supposed to be looking after him for her. But that would never happen again, either! She still didn't know what she would do with him while she looked for employment, but he was definitely not going to be left with Peggy…
"I wonder, baby…?" she said aloud, reaching down to toy with his ears as she thought. "Mark Cannon might consider it. I could pay him a little bit… so much per day… I suppose he could use the money; everyone can… and that raises a question. I wonder how he exists, where his money comes from? He must have an income of sorts… and he can't be too well off or he wouldn't live in this horrible section of town."
Suddenly Sultan growled his deep-throated sound that Carol had learned to recognize as an alarm of sorts, and she glanced down at him just as the buzzer gave her a start. Who could that be this early? She looked at her watch, surprised to see that it was five minutes short of eleven o'clock.
"Come on, baby, let's see who it is," Carol said, moving toward the door with the unsavory image of Ed White immediately forming in her mind.
It was Peggy… neatly dressed in a summer suit, looking somewhat haggard even with the benefit of carefully applied makeup, though Carol could understand that. She hadn't felt like any morning-glory herself a couple of hours before from all the liquor they'd consumed the previous night. But she hardly gave her neighbor's appearance much consideration; it was difficult enough for her just to face the girl after what they'd done, and she knew she was shamefully blushing…
"I–I can only stay a minute, Carol," the attractive brunette said, closing the door and leaning back against it, her hands resting behind her on the knob. "I–I had to say good-bye to you before I left. I might be back… I don't know… but it occurred to me that you'll have to make some other arrangements for Sultan… and… and I couldn't go anyway without telling you that I'm sorry… terribly sorry… you're such a beautiful, lovable girl…!"
Carol could only stare at her unexpected caller with open mouth, her own shamed feelings forgotten. Myriad questions began to rush to the forefront of her puzzled brain, but before she could ask the first one, Peggy said: "I'm leaving Ed. I don't know whether it's for good or not. Right now, I hardly know what I'm doing. I'm going to visit my mother in Kansas… at least for awhile… a month, maybe longer… maybe forever!"
"Peggy! My God. What's happened… or… or can't you tell me?" Carol gasped, her voice lowering to a near-whisper as she tried to search the girl's face for answers, a sudden feeling of being left very much alone in an undesirable situation welling up inside her.
"No, darling… I can't tell you… that is, it's better if you don't know!" Peggy answered. "It's something I learned only this morning, and all this time it's been going on… I just never realized it!"
"B-But you can't tell me what it is…?"
"It's better, baby, that you don't know!" the tall, dark-haired girl whispered. "But… but as soon as you can, move out of here… and get away from Westland, Carol! You don't belong here! Promise me you will?"
"Yes, yes, of course… I already intended to do that as soon as possible… but… but you're frightening me, Peg!" Carol admitted. "And… and I don't know what it is that I'm supposed to be frightened of!"
"Oh God…! I wish I could tell you, but for your own sake I can't, baby!" Peggy said, tears glazing her eyes as she moved forward to warmly clasp hold of Carol's arms. "Please forgive me… for everything, love, including last night? I should never have let it happen… for your sake… but I couldn't help myself! Just… just don't hate me, Carol! Get out of here as soon as you can… today if possible… and everything will be all right! Do you understand me, baby? Get as far away from here as you can!"