Blood Games

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

‘Did you see that?’ Abilene asked.

‘What?’

‘That pick-up truck.’

‘You’re seeing things, Hickok.’

‘I saw it, all right. It was parked back there by the road.’

‘Anybody inside?’ Cora asked.

‘I don’t know. I couldn’t even see into its bed. It was kind of a wreck, though. It might’ve been abandoned.’

‘Oh, well,’ Cora said. ‘Big deal.’

‘I don’t know,’ Vivian said. ‘If someone else is down here…’

‘If you think we’re leaving, you’re nuts.’

The road ahead of them widened out. It seemed to cease being a road at all as it joined a broad, flat area.

‘What’ve we got here?’ Cora asked, driving forward.

‘A parking lot?’ Abilene suggested.

‘Looks like… Yep,’ Cora said when a pale log loomed out of the fog, barring their way. She stopped at it, shut off the headlights and killed the engine. ‘Well, gang, here we are.’

‘Wherever that might be,’ Vivian said.

‘I hope it’s not private property,’ Helen muttered.

‘I just hope the natives are friendly,’ Finley said.

‘Why don’t we climb out and scout around?’ Cora suggested.

Abilene opened her door and jumped to the ground. A layer of sand carpeted the solid earth. Though she couldn’t see more than a few yards in any direction, she heard seagulls squawking. She also heard the distant, muffled sounds of the surf tumbling, washing up the shore and withdrawing.

‘We made it to the water all right,’ she said as the others joined her.

‘We’re probably under that bridge,’ Cora said.

If so, the bridge was out of sight.

Finley stepped onto the log barrier and walked along it, arms out for balance. At its end, she leaped to another. A few more strides and she was gone.

‘Don’t go wandering off,’ Abilene called.

The fog seemed to deaden her voice.

‘Just exploring, Hickok.’

‘We oughta get back in the camper,’ Vivian said, ‘and explore a botde of tequila. It’s cold out here.’

‘And creepy,’ Helen added.

‘I thought you liked creepy,’ Cora said.

‘It’s nice and cozy inside.’

A dark smudge in the fog became Finley. ‘It is a parking area,’ she called from her log. She kept moving. ‘So far, it looks like nobody’s here but us.’ She vanished again, this time hidden by the camper, not fog.

‘Let’s stick with her,’ Abilene suggested.

‘Yeah.’ Raising her voice, Cora said, ‘God forbid we should lose Finley.'

‘Ha ha,’ came a disembodied reply.

Helen curled her upper lip.

‘What is it?’ Abilene asked.

She shook her head. ‘Nothing. I was just thinking. What if we did lose her? You know? What if she just went roaming off into the fog and we never found her again?’

‘No such luck,’ Cora said.

‘Her tapes might fall into the hands of strangers,’ Vivian pointed out.

Cora’s mouth fell open with mock alarm. ‘My God, I hadn’t thought of that. Fin!’ she shouted. ‘Hold up!’

They went after her. Cora in the lead, they stepped over the log and followed it past the front of the camper. No sign of Finley.

What if she is gone? Abilene thought. Ridiculous. But Helen had given voice to her own fears and made them seem less farfetched.

Anything, anyone, might be lurking in the fog.

‘Finley, say something!’ she called.

‘Guys?’

Her voice sounded eager, as if she’d made some kind of odd discovery. It had come from somewhere not far ahead, but slightly off to the right — in the direction of the ocean.

They quickened their pace.

Abilene spotted a blurry, indistinct figure through the shrouding fog. Two figures.

Her stomach seemed to drop like an express elevator.

Finley. Finley and someone else. Someone big.

‘Oh my Christ,’ Helen gasped.

Finley, clear now, looked over her shoulder at her approaching friends. ‘Gang, this is Rick.’

‘Hi.’ Rick raised a hand. He smiled. He appeared to be seventeen, maybe eighteen, years old. His crew cut was matted down, his face dripping. His face was tanned so dark that his teeth and the whites of his eyes almost seemed iridescent. He was well over six feet tall, powerfully built. He wore a black wetsuit with pale blue piping on its sleeves and legs. A surfboard lay in the sand near his bare feet.

Studying him, Abilene felt her fears slip away.

He’s just a big kid, she thought. A very big kid. And a hunk.

‘A friendly native,’ Finley explained. Reaching out, she patted his chest. ‘You must be freezing, Rick. Why don’t you come on along with us? You can warm up in our recreational vehicle.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t wanta barge in,’ he said, frowning down at the sand in front of his feet. ‘I’d better get going.’

‘Do you have a pressing engagement?’

‘Well, no, but…’

‘He says he wants to leave,’ Cora said, giving Finley a quick look.

‘Lighten up. This is an actual California surfer. He could give you pointers. Besides, where can he go in all this fog?’

‘Do you live nearby?’ Vivian asked.

‘Palm Springs.’

‘Jeez,’ Abilene said. ‘You’re a long way from home.’

‘We don’t have much of a coastline in Palm Springs.’

‘Are you by yourself?’ Vivian asked.

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Ma’am?’ Finley chuckled.

‘It’s Vivian. Just Vivian.’

He glanced at her, gave her a nervous smile, then looked down again.

‘Is that your pick-up truck?’ Abilene asked. ‘We passed one coming in.’

‘That’s her, I suppose. Just on my way back when I ran into Finley.’

‘You’re not planning to drive off are you?’ Finley asked. ‘In this fog?’

‘I’d intended to stay overnight. But nobody was here then. I don’t know.’

‘You sleep in your truck?’ Vivian asked.

‘There, or on the ground if it’s nice out. But I guess I’ll move along.’

‘You don’t have to,’ Cora said. ‘For now, I think you should just come along with us. You can at least warm up for a while before you go back to your truck.’

Helen rolled her eyes upward. ‘Whatever happened to “playing it safe!”? Christ! You gave Wayne the bum’s rush, and now all of a sudden it’s open house.’

‘This is different,’ Cora said.

‘It’s not New York, for one thing,’ Vivian added.

Rick held up a hand. ‘I don’t want any trouble. I’ll just be on my way.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Finley told him. ‘Helen!’

‘I don’t have anything against you, Rick. It’s just the principle of the thing.’

‘I understand.’

Abilene put a hand on Helen’s shoulder. ‘I really think he’s all right.’

Helen knocked her hand away. ‘Wayne was all right. I liked him. I liked him, damn it!’ Suddenly, she was crying. She whirled around and strode away. Just before the fog enveloped her, she looked back and blurted, ‘It’s okay. He can come in.’

‘I think she liked Wayne,’ Finley quipped.

‘Not funny,’ Abilene said.

After a little more urging, they talked Rick into coming along with them. They found their way to the camper. He propped his surfboard against its side and followed them in.

‘Welcome aboard,’ Helen said. Though her eyes were red, she was smiling. ‘By the way, I’m Helen.’ She shook his hand. Cora and Abilene introduced themselves to Rick.

They turned on lights and the heater. Cora hopped onto a swivel chair behind the driver’s seat, and the others sat on cushioned benches that faced the center aisle.

‘It does feel good to get out of the cold,’ Rick said.

‘I’ll second that,’ Abilene said. ‘And I’m not even wet.’

Finley laughed. ‘You were bom all wet.’

‘Let’s get some booze in us,’ Vivian suggested.

She headed for the kitchen area to get it. Finley went after her and returned with a towel. ‘Get out of that frog suit and dry off,’ she said, handing the towel to Rick.

She sat across from him. He rubbed his head with the towel, then unzipped the jacket of his wet suit and peeled it off. His chest was muscular, nearly hairless, and deeply tanned. He had goosebumps. After drying himself, he draped the towel over his shoulders. ‘That’s a lot better. Thanks.’

‘You oughta get out of those pants, too,’ Finley said.

The suggestion gave Abilene a flutter in her stomach.

‘That’s okay,’ he said, blushing through his tan. ‘I’ll keep them on.’

‘Aren’t they uncomfortable?’

‘Not much.’

‘Oh, I get it. You’re not wearing any trunks.’

His blush deepened.

‘We don’t mind, do we, guys?’

‘Cut it out, Fin,’ Cora warned.

Vivian arrived carrying a box full of bottles and plastic glasses and packages of chips. She stepped by carefully, avoiding feet, and set it on a small round table between the swivel chairs. ‘Don’t listen to Fin,’ she told Rick. ‘The girl’s an inveterate wise-ass.’ She went off again and came back with a bag of ice. ‘If you don’t want any hard stuff, we’ve got some Pepsis.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Tequila’s good for you,’ Finley said. ‘It’ll put hair on your chest.’

‘He doesn’t need hair on his chest,’ Abilene said. Rick smiled at her, and she blushed.

‘Rick is obviously a minor,’ Cora reminded everyone.

‘So what?’ Finley said. ‘We’ll contribute to his delinquency.’

‘I guess maybe a little tequila wouldn’t hurt,’ Rick said.

‘Won’t hurt at all.’

Finley and Vivian prepared drinks for everyone. The drinks consisted of ice cubes, tequila, a splash of Triple Sec, and a capful of Rose’s lime juice, stirred with a forefinger.

Helen tugged open a foil bag of nacho-flavored tortilla chips.

They drank. They munched chips. Rick explained that he’d been traveling up the coast from Santa Barbara, surfing along the way, moving steadily northward in search of less crowded shores and rougher waters.

Cora explained that she had never surfed before. She’d always wanted to give it a try, and this was her turn to be in charge of the annual gathering of her old college friends, so here they all were. Maybe, in the morning, Rick could give her a lesson.

‘Be my pleasure,’ he said, and rubbed his legs as if they were getting itchy trapped inside the wetsuit pants.

‘You oughta take those off,’ Finley said. ‘It’s hot in here. You’d be a lot more comfortable.’

‘Can’t do that.’

‘You can cover yourself with the towel.’

‘No need to be shy around us,’ Helen said.

A corner of Rick’s mouth curled up. He looked around at everyone, his expression vague and confused as if he didn’t know how to handle the situation and hoped for some advice.

Abilene felt squirmy inside.

What the hell’s happening here?

‘You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,’ she heard herself say.

A real voice of protest, she thought.

‘Whatever you want,’ Vivian told him.

‘It’s no big deal,’ Cora said. ‘I’m sure you would be more comfortable.’

Rick’s comfort, Abilene knew, was the farthest thing from any of their minds. They just want to get him naked. What’s wrong with everybody? Why are they doing this?

We. Why are we doing this?

‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Finley said. She knelt on the floor in front of Rick, reached up and slipped the towel off his shoulders. She spread it across his lap. ‘There you go,’ she said. Her hands disappeared beneath the towel.

Helen, seated on the bench to Rick’s right, took the drink from his hand. He mumbled, ‘Thanks,’ and held the towel to his waist. Though he muttered, ‘I’m not so sure about this,’ he cooperated by raising his rump off the seat cushion.

Finley peeled the rubbery pants down his legs.

Abilene took a sip of her drink. Her hands were trembling. She looked at her friends. They were all gazing at Rick and Finley. Their faces were flushed and moist. Helen’s mouth hung open. Vivian had her lower lip clamped between her teeth. Cora held her glass close to her chest, her wrist pressing against her breast.

Finley tossed the pants aside. ‘Now that’s better, isn’t it?’ she asked, returning to her seat beside Abilene.

‘I guess,’ Rick said. His legs were red and shiny with moisture. The blond hair on his shins glistened like gold filaments.

Bending forward over the towel, he rubbed his hands up and down his shins and calves. ‘Feels a lot better,’ he admitted.

Helen and Vivian, on either side of him, were staring at his back. The way he was hunched over, their view had to include some of his rear end, as well.

‘Feels a lot better,’ he admitted. He straightened up and sighed. Helen returned his drink. He polished it off. ‘A little embarrassing, though, I guess.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Cora said. ‘Nothing shows.’

‘Still,’ Finley said, ‘he’s the only one here without his clothes on. That would be embarrassing. I bet Rick would feel a whole lot less embarrassed if he weren’t the only one. ’ She set aside her drink and began to unbutton her red flannel shirt.

Rick gaped at her.

‘Finley,’ Abilene murmured. ‘Jeez.’

Finley gave her a quick smile. She pulled off her shirt. ‘You don’t mind, do you, Rick?’

His head shook slightly from side to side. The towel across his lap was suddenly rising like a tent, and he crossed his legs in an effort to conceal the growing bulge.

‘Am I the only one doing this?’ Finley asked as she pulled off one of her sneakers. ‘Come on, gang. Get with the program.’

‘It is awfully hot in here,’ Helen said. Her crimson face disappeared inside her sweatshirt. A moment later, the sweatshirt was off.

Abilene couldn’t believe it. Timid Helen, always so self-conscious because of her weight.

At least she’s wearing a bra, Abilene thought. It’ll probably stay on, too.

Rick glanced at Helen. She gave him a sheepish smile. His return smile looked a bit forced. He turned to Abilene as if to see what she might be taking off.

Abilene just shook her head.

Finley was working on her shoes and socks. He checked Cora. She sat on the swivel chair, arms folded across her chest. ‘Not me,’ she said. ‘I’m married.’

He looked ashamed. Accused. ‘I didn’t mean you should,’ he said, a note of pleading in his voice. ‘This is all… strange.’

Vivian, not saying a word, got up and stepped past the others and walked away toward the rear of the camper.

That’s what I should do, Abilene thought. Walk away. All this is just too weird.

But she couldn’t move. She sat there, a little breathless, heart pounding hard, ashamed but fascinated and excited.

God, I hope Harris never finds out about this.

I’m not doing anything, she told herself. And I won’t. I won’t.

Finley slipped her jeans down her legs. She kicked her feet free, then leaned back, naked, and patted her thighs. ‘Don’t you feel a lot better?’ she asked Rick, ‘now that you’re not the only one?’

His head bobbed. He squirmed on his seat. He darted his eyes this way and that, either hoping for others to join the party or trying not to stare at her.

‘You look nervous,’ Finley said. ‘Why don’t you have another drink?’

Before he could respond, Helen took his glass. He watched while she went to the table and made his drink and brought it back to him. ‘Thanks,’ he murmured. His hand shook badly. He took a sip as Helen sat down beside him. ‘I… I really should get going.’

‘Don’t you like it here?’ Finley asked.

‘I don’t know. Nothing like this… it’s like I’m dreaming, or something.’

‘A good dream, I hope.’ Finley slid her hands slowly up her thighs and over her hips and up her belly. She cupped the undersides of her breasts. Her thumbs stroked her nipples. She spread her knees wide apart.

Groaning, Rick writhed and looked away.

‘Stop teasing him,’ Cora said.

‘Who’s teasing?’ Finley asked. She stood up, stepped through the pile of discarded clothing, and stopped in front of Rick. He gazed at her. He was gasping for air, blinking.

Finley took the plastic glass from his hand. She gave it to Helen. He made only a feeble attempt to hold on to the towel when she plucked it away. Before he could cover himself with his hands, she took him by the wrists.

She drew him forward, guided him down to his knees, placed his hands on her breasts, then gripped his shoulders as she slowly squatted and impaled herself.

My God, Abilene thought. Oh, my God.

It seemed unreal, impossible. It seemed inevitable.

Right here in front of us all.

Except Vivian.

Sank right down on it. Planted it into her. Abilene could almost feel the thick hardness inside herself, slick and thrusting.

It was over very fast, but it wasn’t over. They started squirming together in the narrow aisle, kissing and squeezing and groping.

I could be next, Abilene thought.

No. No no no.

There’s Harris. It wouldn’t be worth the guilt.

Besides, Helen obviously intended to be next. She’d already unleashed her breasts. They were swaying wildly as she struggled to get out of her pants and underwear.

Soon, Rick was sandwiched between Helen and Finley.

‘Join the fun,’ Finley gasped.

Cora, looking dazed, got up from her swivel chair and stared down at the writhing bodies. ‘I need some fresh air,’ she said. She turned away and went out the front door.

‘Come on, Hickok. You’re not married yet.’

Rick pushed into Helen. She let out a shaky whimper.

‘More the merrier,’ Rick gasped, and plunged deeper into Helen.

Abilene could feel it.

She wanted it.

She realized she was squirming and her hand was inside her blouse, kneading her breast.

Nobody’ll ever know but us.

She stood above the thrashing bodies and unbuttoned her blouse and took it off and strained her arms up behind her back to release the catches of her bra and the wrongness of it all struck her with numbing force.

Rick was a kid. A big kid and they’d lured him into their camper and given him booze and seduced him. He never knew what hit him.

He doesn’t seem to be complaining, she told herself.

But that didn’t make it any better.

And even if Harris never found out, she would know. She would have to live with the guilt.

Abilene put on her blouse and hurried down the aisle to the rear of the camper.

Vivian was there, lying on a cushioned bench with her knees up, hands folded on her belly.

‘You’re missing out on the orgy,’ Abilene said, and sat down across from her. ‘You got out of there just in time.’

‘Avoiding temptation.’

‘He’s a good-looking guy.’

‘I noticed. Christ. Are they all at him?’

‘Finley and Helen. Cora went outside.’

‘I guess I can’t blame Helen much. I mean, she doesn’t have much luck with guys. Finley, though. Sometimes I wonder about her.’

‘She can get a little nuts.’

There was a knock on the back door. Abilene got up and opened it. Cora climbed aboard.

They sat down.

‘How come you didn’t join the party?’ she asked Abilene.

‘Not my style.’

‘You looked like you were getting awfully homy.’

‘Yeah, well. Guess it was contagious.’

‘I’ll say. Shit. Helen sure caught it. I thought she’d fallen in love with that Frank guy. How can you be in love and drop your pants for a stranger?’

How, indeed? Abilene thought. I came damn close, myself.

‘Just lost control,’ she muttered.

‘If this sort of stuff’s gonna start happening, I’m not so sure we should keep on having our little adventures. Hell, maybe we oughta just go home.’

‘This is the first time things’ve really gotten out of hand,’ Vivian told her.

‘It’s once too often.’

‘We could’ve stopped it,’ Abilene said.

‘But we didn’t. That’s what worries me. We all went along with it. We let it happen. ’

‘I don’t think we should call it quits and go home, though,’ Abilene said. ‘Let’s just keep a tighter reign on things from now on.’

‘Keep Finley away from men,’ Vivian added.

‘Though, actually,’ Abilene said, and hesitated. From the front of the camper, she heard grunts and quiet laughter. ‘I know we really abused the kid…’

‘Raped him is more like it,’ Cora said.

‘But, honestly, I think he’s having the time of his life.’

‘He’ll be back first thing in the morning,’ Finley said when the others returned to the front of the camper. She seemed chipper as she stepped into her jeans. ‘I think he was disappointed you three woosed out. But tomorrow’s another day.’

Helen, her naked body draped by the towel, was sprawled on one of the cushions, gazing at the ceiling. She looked grim. ‘We shouldn’t have done it,’ she muttered.

‘Oh, lighten up. It was a blast. The guy thought he’d died and gone to heaven.’

The next morning, Rick didn’t show up.

‘Probably hung over,’ Finley said. ‘I’ll go find him.’

‘Don’t,’ Cora said. ‘Just leave him alone.’

Finley flapped a hand at her, then headed off into the fog and vanished.

The others caught up with her.

‘You’re not going after him alone,’ Vivian said.

‘And you’re not going to touch him,’ Abilene added.

‘Gimme a break.’

They wandered up the dirt road.

They found tire marks where his pick-up truck had been. They found a mat of drying vomit. But the pick-up was gone.

They didn’t quit and go home.

After the fog lifted that morning, they went to the shore. Abilene stood on the beach, watching while Cora experimented with her surfboard. Vivian sunbathed in her new bikini. Helen, stretched out beside Vivian, read a new William M. Carney paperback. Finley wandered off down the beach by herself. She climbed an outcropping that jutted into the ocean, and sat down on its summit. And stayed there.

Finally, Abilene climbed the rocks and stood beside her. ‘Mind some company?’ she asked.

‘Pull up a chair.’

She sat down. A crashing wave hurled up spray that showered the outcropping just below them.

‘It’s neat here,’ Abilene said.

Finley looked at her. The usual mischief was missing from her eyes. ‘Am I a real jerk?’ she asked.

‘Most of the time.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘Yeah.’

‘I just couldn’t help it. You know? The minute I saw Rick, all I could think about was getting him to fuck me. Nothing else mattered. Just something about the guy. Now everybody’s pissed at me.’

‘I think we’re pissed at ourselves, too. Especially Helen.’

‘Shit, she wanted him as bad as I did.’

‘I have a feeling we all wanted him.’

‘Well, it’s not gonna happen again. No more guys for me. Not on this trip anyway.’

‘Not worth the guilt?’

The old, normal gleam appeared in Finley’s eyes. ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me. It was worth the guilt and then some. It was tremendous. But if I tried something like that again, you guys would probably trounce me.’

Abilene smiled. ‘Probably.’

‘I just don’t wanta get myself trounced. Especially not by my best friends.’