Sheep's Clothing

by Gary Lewis

"Compliments of Pine Bluff's finest." Vance rocked his thumb toward the truck bed where Cory, one of his friends, smiled to hold up a chain. It dangled several large bear traps rattling around where Cory sat before he dropped them with a clank. Vance continued. "Animal control ain't doing their jobs so we gotta do it for 'em."

  Terry turned to David. "I can't condone this."

  "What the hell you want me to do about it?" David asked as Vance's engine roared back into a heavy rumble and sped off, tearing through the rocky dirt.

  "See y'all this weekend!" his voice faded with the loud screech of the cage that raked its way down the narrow gravel path until it was a distant echo.

  David squinted at Terry and Sarah. "Camping this weekend?"

  Sarah made a similar face as she tilted her head to Terry. "I thought they already set the traps." She turned back to David. "What the hell's going on?"

  Terry waved his hands. "Okay, so maybe I got a few of the details mixed up."

  "But my mom is off this weekend," Janice said. "I'm not sure how I'll get out."

  Surely it’ll be fine if Janice doesn't go. David stared into the hot cloud of dust still settling into the white gravel road. Camping sounds great. That is, until you throw alcohol and Vance into the equation.

  "Hello?" Sarah waved back and forth as slowly as she spoke. "Earth to David."

  "We'll figure something out," he said as he reached his arm around Janice.

  "Guess that's it," Sarah said without looking in their direction. She briskly paced to her car. "You riding with me or them?" she asked Terry.

  "Wait." David asked as she started the car. "Aren't you going to tell us what happened?"

  "I guess I better hurry," Terry said as he scrambled into her passenger seat. "It was nice seeing y'all."

  David huffed at the still dusty air as her car rolled into reverse. What the hell did I even come out here for?

  Sarah sped out, disappearing down the dirt road in the same direction Vance went and David found himself once again alone with Janice. They turned to look at one another and she shook her head with a smile.

  "Jan, sorry about all that,” he said, lowering his eyes. “I guess I should have-"

  "You..." Janice said slowly. Her smile stretched further across her face. "You were... absolutely..." She stepped into David's space, hanging her wrists on his shoulders and leaning onto him until her face was close enough to taste her breath. "Amazing," she whispered. He could almost feel her lips against his as she spoke. David slid his hands around her lower back and pulled her in. He pressed his mouth into hers. His tongue twisted with hers in a singular motion that gripped him with desire as firmly as he squeezed her sides before caressing her waist.

  His heart thumped in his chest as he took a breath before bringing his mouth to her neck. Every time he squeezed her smooth skin between his lips, her head tilted back further. He grasped her firmly while sliding his hands up and down her waist in a slow, circular rhythm that moved with its own momentum.

  She started quietly gasping in his ear as he took slow steps, guiding her back against his car before pressing himself against her. His mouth worked its way higher, nibbling at her chin. Janice suddenly tilted her face to shove her opened mouth against his. One of her hands slid down to rub his chest and she started kissing back with ferocity while they both gasped one another's breath. Their tongues massaged harder into one another and David squeezed her firm, plump butt as he pulled at her tightly, pressing the hard pressure in his blue jeans against her. Moaning into her mouth, he rocked her slowly up and down the side of the car door.

  As he tasted the soft skin of her face, he slipped his right hand beneath the tight shoulder strap of her red dress. He could feel her fingers pressing into his back. Her hands slid up and down in a long motion while he tried pushing his hand further down through her tight dress.

  "Here," she whispered before reaching her hand across to the shoulder strap, only to freeze still.

  "What is it?" David asked, noticing that her eyes, fixed behind him in a solid stare. The cold chill of impending danger wrapped the back of his neck and shoulders, preventing him from looking behind.

  "Did you hear that?" Janice asked.

  "All I could hear was my heart," he said.

  Her glistening green eyes returned to his and a warm pressure urged him to continue. David eased his lips back into her neck. He moved his face further down as he pressed his face between her breasts, still pressed together by her dress.

  A loud rustle moved through the forest behind him and he jumped back to turn. Janice stood upright to fix her dress while David looked side to side through the woods. Another sudden swish came from the sea of bushes and foliage just to the right, about thirty feet away.

  "That's close," she said before jogging around the front to the passenger side. David hopped into the driver seat where they sat together in the car, watching for movement.

  "Let's just go," Janice said as she leaned forward with her hands laid across the dashboard.

  David started the car and began to back up. Just as he got the car turned around, the bushes opened up to something dark. He stopped the car, heart still thumping in his head.

  "Hurry," Janice said with more urgency in her voice.

  "Hang on," David said, still waiting. His sight examined every hanging leaf for the slightest movement. "I have to see."

  A long snout poked out from the bushes. It hung low before venturing further from behind its cover onto the gravel. A black bear emerged from the forest and her two cubs stumbled out just behind.

  David blew out a sigh of relief, a breath he'd held for over a minute while Janice covered her face to laugh.

  "That was… interesting," she said, still giggling. Her eyes squinted above blushed red cheeks, pressed up by the smile she still concealed behind her fingers.

  "Oh. And you weren't scared, huh?" David said with a smile

  ###

  Laughter and jokes filled the breeze that rushed through their hair from rolled down windows during their drive back to town. David was sure to take the other route back, avoiding Vance's neighborhood altogether as they decided on going back to Janice's home. But as they got close to her house, Janice became quiet.

  "Want to talk about Peetie?" he asked as they pulled onto her road.

  The passing houses and trees slowed with his car and Janice looked out the window as he approached her driveway.

  David began to think that maybe he shouldn't have brought it up. "Look, we'll get that thing, whatever it is and then I'll buy you a brand-new pup."

  Janice sniffled and wiped her nose. "I don't care about all that." She turned her round eyes to stare back into his. "I just want things back to normal."

  David slowly parked his car beside her mom's silver minivan and looked over at Janice's beautiful hair that spread across her shoulders.

  "I had an..." Janice paused with brightening eyes and a tightly concealed smile. "...interesting time."

  David laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Tell me about it." He relaxed into her long, warm stare, awaiting where the moment may take him next.

  Janice finally leaned her face into his and their lips softly squeezed together for a brief kiss and she leaned back over to her side.

  "So..." David said.

  Janice, still tightening her lips into a hidden smile, raised her eyebrows and looked back at him.

  "Mind if I come in?" David asked.

  Janice's smile stretched, becoming more apparent. "No..." She began loudly, getting quieter with each word as she raised her finger at him. "No… funny business, mister." She laughed with a roll of her eyes while opening her door to step out.

  As David got out of the car, he wondered if she regretted their earlier exchange.

  "What's going on in there?" Janice asked, poking at her temple.

  Before David got her meaning, she spoke again.

  "Oh. I know." Her smile resurrected itself, pushing her big cheeks all the way up to her
eyes and she pranced lightly toward him, almost leaning into his chest. "Mom's home," she whispered against the side of his face. Her voice reassured him as much as her words while they walked up the carport steps and entered the side door.

  The inviting smell of chicken casserole filled the kitchen along with the tapping sounds of plates and silverware. A drawer slid closed and Janice's mother walked around the corner.

  "Hello, Elaine," David said as formally as he could.

  "Oh, hey David," she said as she turned to Janice with a heartwarming smile. "I didn't know you were having company over."

  "Oh. I, umm..." David cleared his throat as Janice's mother tilted her head to listen. "I just came by to look at Jan's old photo projects from last school year."

  Janice giggled as she shook her head at him and reached out to take her mother's hand. She turned to him. "Can you give us a minute?"

  "Sure," David said, looking toward the stairs. "Mind if I head on up to your room?" he asked as he lifted his thumb in the direction. He turned to walk, no longer waiting for a response as they spoke.

  He jogged up the stairs as lightly as possible and stretched his arms with a yawn when he entered Janice's room. David plopped onto her bed. He thought of what pose he should surprise her with when she came up. As his head sunk into her pillow, he pressed his face against it to take in the aroma of her strawberry scented shampoo.

  Their voices could barely be heard from the dining area below. He listened intently while he stretched his legs across the sheets to kick off his shoes. "Oh. David?" Her mother's voice said with a tone of wonder as they hushed into more inaudible conversation. He heard Vance's name too. But it seemed to carry much less approval in its tone.

  David got up and began to look around Janice's room, dimly illuminated by the light from her opened bathroom door. Her mirror had collected more pinned photos since the last time he saw it. What was once a pristine, neatly laid out dresser was now home to stacks of old yearbooks and unfinished school work from the year before.

  "Must be when she took off from school after her dad died," he whispered to himself while he looked in gloom upon the pages he lightly slid aside. Scribbled notes with long faded creases were unfolded underneath her photography awards. You got these when you took the team photos. I remember when they used to hang on the wall at the old rec, before the fire.

  Janice could be heard below, finishing the conversation with her mom. David glanced over her written letters. One was to Vance. The worn corners and crinkles blended with the many repeated folds it had known, a testament to its age.

  "That's an old one," he said as he briefly scanned over the contents. Janice's footsteps quickly got louder from the stairs as the word "fire" caught his attention near the bottom of the page. He hurried to read the passage "...you so much for saving my awards from the fire..."

  Janice's footsteps went silent and David's eyes bounced up to her doorway where she leaned against the thin wooden frame with a stare in his direction.

  "I know," she said while waving her arm as she walked gracefully closer. "It's a disaster."

  "Oh, no. I was thinking how much has changed since you took these." He grabbed a stack of portrait sized photos of the baseball and football teams and scooted them over the notes as she strolled near.

  Janice leaned her head against the side of his chest and tilted it to the mess on her dresser for a moment before looking back up into his eyes. "I have to change out of this thing." She slid her finger along the shoulder strap of her red dress.

  David looked down at the smooth skin of her neck and let his eyes wander down to her breasts, pressed together in her tight dress that wrapped down around her hips while she turned to grab some clothes out of her dresser drawer.

  "Changed in the other bathroom," she said before strolling over to shove him with a laugh.

  "I wasn't thinking anything at all, Jan." David smiled with his hands up.

  "Sure you weren't, mister."

  As she started to walk away, he pulled her back by the wrist with his left hand and cupped his right hand gently behind her neck, drawing her soft lips into his.

  "Okay. Okay." Janice's eyes gleamed up at David. "Don't get me started again."

  Janice turned once more as she stepped out to the hallway. "By the way, dinner should be done any time."

  "On my way," David said softly, unsure if she even heard him.

  ###

  The evening started to close into darkness as they enjoyed a much needed meal of chicken casserole within the safety of the brightly lit kitchen. Somehow, David managed to bring up how long it had been several times without mentioning Janice's dad or the animal attacks in front of her mom. Finally, David's full stomach matched the heaviness of his eyes and it was time to head home.

  Janice walked him out to his car as they talked for a moment and shared a kiss before he began the dark drive home. David's mind swirled with thoughts of Janice. Everything was finally coming together, he thought.

  A light rain sprinkled onto his windshield and he turned his wipers on low. They screeched side to side as he wondered what the note was about. "Vance must have been involved in the fire at the old rec center," David said to himself. I should have known it was him. He was already connected to the old barn fire near where the creature was first sighted.

  The rain started falling faster and David hit the high beams while speeding around the snaking curves of the dark, wooded streets. "Practically admitted it in front of all of us," David said aloud as he hit the steering wheel. Then even darker feelings poured in with the black clouds that now dumped a torrent of rain that washed into a waterfall across the glass in front of him, violently tossed side to side by his wipers. The pain he felt over Janice's father pressed the air thick in his chest. David rolled the window down letting the rush of air spray spatters of cold water across the side of his face as he sped through the night on his way home.

  Chapter 13

  #Janice#

  Janice scooted her end table a little closer to the bed before firmly planting her night lamp back to its proper home. It was the final cornerstone to her newly organized room. Clothes were folded away, old projects were stacked together in her polished oak filing cabinet, the bed was neatly made and her old yearbooks stood perfectly straight in chronological order on the book stand. Things were finally looking up, she thought as the bright afternoon sun shined rays between the curtains. She walked over to spread them further apart.

  Looking out the window at the drooping willows that stretched across the side of her yard, she remembered when her and David used to try climbing them when they were little. "After all the years," she said softly to herself. "Why did you wait until now?" She ran her fingers through the side of her hair, hanging it behind her ear as she turned to see her clean bedroom glisten with the light of the sun. Only one thing missing.

  She strolled closely to her mirror and reached up. Carefully, she pulled out the photo of her dad on his boat. It was the first time she had looked at the full picture since last fall. "There," she said, placing it fully visible at the center in front of the others.

  Her phone vibrated from her pocket as she pulled it out in a hurry to see.

  "Tonight is on," from David.

  Earlier, she asked if they could campout tonight since her mom would be away at work.

  "Mom leaves at 8," she anxiously replied.

  Her phone promptly buzzed again. "I'll be there." She could feel her eyes lighting her huge smile as she took a deep, slow breath and set the phone aside.

  By the time Janice finished her supper she already had her clothes ready on the bed. She didn't want to make the mistake of dressing up again, so some loose jeans and a gray t-shirt seemed just right. The sound of her mom's minivan pulling out of the driveway caught her attention. She slid out of her evening clothes and got dressed in a hurry before sitting on the bed to pull up her jeans. On her way out the door, the thought of ticks stopped her just past the medicine cabinet and she
scrambled to grab the bug repellent just before running out.

  The now darkened street began to brighten with the glare of headlights as the red of David's car became visible and he slowed to pull in. Without a thought, she ran to the passenger door and leaned to jump in. Something was visible in her seat. She focused to adjust from David's bright headlights that had just been in her face. A large basket with a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates occupied her spot.

  She could feel the skin on her face stretching into an uncontrollable smile as she peered in at him. "What if I sat on those?"

  She could see David smiling back at her through the dark interior as she lifted the basket to rest it on her lap and finally settled into his car.

  "Well, I didn't think about that," he said. "Listen, Jan..." He reached to take her left hand within both of his as she held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

  "I just want you to know that after everything we've been through, I've never felt like my life would be complete without you somewhere in it."

  His words were the gasoline that lit the warm fire deep in her heart. It spread into her arms as she reached her other hand to grasp his. She continued closer until she wrapped around his body, leaning across the car to press her face into his chest. Janice cried into his shirt as she squeezed harder. She wished she could sink into him forever.

  "You okay, Jan?" His voice sounded deep, calm and secure now as she felt his hand firmly press on her back and begin rubbing her shoulders from one side to the other. "Should I finish what I was going to say?"

  Janice sniffled hard to avoid getting his shirt messy as she took a long, steady breath. "There's more?" she asked, turning her head to peek out from its nesting place.

  After a few seconds of silence, she raised herself slowly up to her seat and looked at David.

  "I just wanted to say that I love you, Jan. I always have."

  She could feel her throat get heavy with emotion. "Stop, David. You're killing me," she said with a warm smile.

  "The glove box," David said, reaching over swiftly to pop it open, revealing a stack of unused napkins from various fast-food restaurants.