The Predators

by Harold Robbins

  The restaurant was great. It was on the waterfront and we were seated on a corner that looked over the river to the lights of Windsor. From the way the maître d’ acted I could easily understand that Leroy was an important man here. The steak and lobster we had was something I had never had before. I never tasted anything so good. By nine o’clock, Leroy had us back at his cabaret. The show began at midnight. By that time, I was bombed on beer and had to piss every twenty minutes. I was half asleep in my chair when Carolyn tapped me on the knee. “Showtime!” She laughed.

  I shook my head to clear it. Then I realized that Leroy and Buddy were not at the table. I looked at Carolyn. “I guess I dozed off,” I said.

  “You were fast asleep,” she said, laughing. “They left me here to make sure you didn’t fall off the chair.”

  “I have never eaten or drunk like that in my entire life,” I said. “The army never feeds us like this.”

  “Leroy went backstage. He always does that when a new show is opening. He wants everything to be perfect. Buddy followed along with him.” She smiled. “Buddy was checking out the girls. He looked horny, like he hasn’t seen a girl in a long time.”

  “This is the army, ma’am.” I laughed. “You don’t get much time off for girls. This is the first time we got off since we went into the army at Fort Dix.”

  She placed her hand on my thigh and moved it up to my fly under the tablecloth. I felt my hard-on growing against the touch of her hand. She smiled at me. “I guess that you haven’t gotten off in a long time.”

  I lit a cigarette and kept my hands on top of the table as I inhaled and then slowly blew out the smoke. I looked over at her. “You be careful with that hand or I’ll get it off in my pants right here.”

  She took her hand away and reached for a cigarette. I held the light for her. She looked into my eyes. “I’m happy that you’re not a fag,” she said. “I hear that a lot of soldiers get queer and I wondered whether you and Clarence were a team.”

  I laughed. “No ma’am. We like it the old-fashioned way.”

  “Good,” she said, letting the smoke lightly drift from her lips. Then she looked away. “I see them coming back.” And again she looked at me. “We’ll have another moment sometime, when there is no pressure.”

  I didn’t have a chance to even answer: Leroy and Buddy were back at the table. Leroy turned to his wife. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’m worried about the show.”

  Carolyn kissed his cheek and snuggled up to him. “You always worry about every new show, darlin’. They’ll be great. I know it.”

  “All the same, we better keep our fingers crossed,” said Leroy, and he gulped a double shot of Canadian.

  The show was great. Maybe because I had never been to a cabaret or seen a stage show in my life. The only singers or dancers I had ever seen had been in the movies. The show lasted almost an hour and a half. After the show was over the stage was rolled up and it became a dance floor. It was unbelievable to me.

  Carolyn smiled at me. “Would you like to dance, Jerry?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know how. I’ve never danced before.”

  Buddy laughed. “You have a lot to learn, Jerry. I’ve been dancing since I was three years old.” He turned to Carolyn. “May I?”

  “For a cousin, you’re very formal.” She laughed easily. I watched them go out on the floor. I’d never seen a dance like that. If I had to hold a girl that close on the dance floor, I know that I would come all over the place. Lucky I didn’t get up and try to dance with Carolyn.

  Leroy was watching them. He looked over at me. “Ain’t she beautiful? And she’s the best dancer I ever knew. Everybody loves my Carolyn.”

  “There’s no doubt about that,” I answered.

  He was still looking at me. “Have you fellas got a room in town yet?”

  “No, sir. We hadn’t even thought about it,” I said.

  “We have a couple of extra bedrooms in our place,” he said.

  “Thank you,” I said. “But we wouldn’t want to put you out.”

  “You wouldn’t be.” He smiled. “I’ll have to work late—the back room is busy tonight. But you can go home whenever you want.”

  Carolyn and Buddy came back to the table and heard Leroy’s invitation. Buddy looked at me. “I have a date with one of the girls when she gets off. I thought I would just hang out here with Leroy.”

  “That’s great for you,” I said. “But how will I get to their place?”

  “You can get a taxi,” Buddy said. “I’ll need the jeep.”

  “I’m not going to be staying here too much longer,” Carolyn said. “I have to get up and be at the shop at nine o’clock in the morning. He can come with me when Chuck drives me home.”

  “If it’s no trouble?” I asked.

  “No trouble at all,” Carolyn said.

  “I want to have time to talk with Rosey before we go back to the barracks,” I said.

  “You’ll have time tomorrow.” Buddy laughed. “She asked me over tonight. I’ll make sure that you see her about noon tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Buddy looked at me. “Do you have any extra cash on you?”

  “About a hundred,” I said.

  “Let me borrow it.” He smiled. “I feel lucky tonight. There’s a hot poker game in the back room.”

  “You better be careful,” Leroy said to him. “Those men are pretty sharp.”

  “Poker’s my game.” Buddy laughed. “You never really played poker until you’ve played in New York.”

  “You a big boy now,” Leroy said. “I ain’t going to worry about you like your mother.”

  “I’ll be careful, cousin,” Buddy said. Then he turned to Carolyn. “Do you mind if I go for the game right now?”

  “I don’t mind.” She smiled. She turned to Leroy. “I’m waiting for the bottle of champagne.”

  Leroy laughed. “I almost forgot. Every time I open a new show we have a bottle of champagne to celebrate.”

  It took a half an hour for us to finish off the bottle of champagne; then Leroy kissed her and left for the back room. Carolyn looked at me. “It’s time to go.” She smiled.

  I helped her on with her mink coat and followed her out of the club. Chuck was there with the big Cadillac sitting at the entrance. He held the door open for her and I followed her into the backseat. Chuck closed the door, and soon we were moving into the light traffic. Before I knew it she opened my fly and was rubbing her thumb over the tip of my penis.

  She laughed. “We’re lucky. We have no pressure now.” She quickly bent on her knees in front of me and took my prick in her mouth and sucked it as she moved up and down my shaft. Her mouth was like a volcano. I exploded in less than a minute. She looked up at me as she swallowed the hot cum that was still flowing from my penis. It seemed forever until I could stop shuddering in ecstasy.

  Still holding my phallus in her hand and smiling, she dabbed the corners of her mouth. The semen was glistening as she gently patted my cock with the handkerchief. Finally she sat back up on the seat and lit a cigarette.

  I took her cigarette from her lips and dragged on it and then gave it back to her. “The inside of your mouth was on fire.”

  She laughed. “If you think that was hot wait until you feel my pussy.”

  I looked at her. “Don’t you think that Chuck will squeal on you?”

  She pointed with a finger to the front. I hadn’t even noticed, but somehow she had pressed the button that closed the drapes on the window between the chauffeur and the passenger. “Besides,” she said confidently, “all of them love me. I’m the one that pays them and gives them all the little extras that they want.”

  “But in the apartment it won’t be so safe,” I said. “Leroy might show up at any time.”

  She shook her head. “Leroy never comes home when a new show opens. It’s a real big night in the back room. Leroy watches to make sure he gets his share. He probably won’t be ho
me by the time I leave in the morning.”

  “I’m still nervous,” I said.

  “That’s what makes it even more exciting,” she said. “But I’ve got everything under control. Chuck calls me the minute that Leroy is ready to leave the club. He always drives Leroy home at night because Leroy is carrying a lot of money and they put it into the night deposit at the bank.”

  I looked at her. “I don’t know which one of us is crazier, you or me.”

  She laughed again. “It’s been a long time since I tasted a white man’s semen. It’s lighter than the black man’s. The black man’s is thick and sweet, like molasses.”

  “Carolyn,” I said. “You’re making me nervous. After all, I was invited to stay here by Leroy.”

  “So did I,” she said. “And I’m here with you.”

  The automobile was slowing down. Carolyn pressed the button and the curtain went up. “We’re home,” Carolyn said, then looked over at me. “You better close up your fly before you get out of the car.”

  8

  When I woke up, I was in a real bed, not an army barracks bunk. I took a deep breath. Carolyn’s perfume was still in the air and the scent of her pussy still clung to the sheets. I sat on the edge of the bed and I lit a cigarette. The smoke from the cigarette filled the air and smothered all of the scents that lingered.

  But not the memories of the night. I never knew a girl could have so many desires. She took my cock and put it between her breasts, pressed and pulled me until I shot out under her chin. She then cupped the semen and rubbed it on her face. Then she taught me how to drive the Hershey highway and she masturbated her own clitoris until we both collapsed together in a wave of orgasms. I thought it was over for the night and then she bent over my prick and licked off the brown stain that covered it.

  I felt completely drained by the time she finally sat up in the bed. Silently, she took a cigarette and lit it and handed it to me. Then she lit another one and inhaled. She looked at my face, not speaking. She searched my eyes and then she smiled. “Thank you,” she said in a husky voice. “It has been a long time since I have loved like this.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “You have a good strong husband. I can’t believe that he doesn’t make love.”

  She crushed the cigarette out in an ashtray sitting on the bedside table. “Leroy is a great man and I know that he really loves me. And I do love him. But to him I am a white goddess in a black world. And he’s old-fashioned. Only straight sex. Maybe he allows me to suck him once in a while, but then he always apologizes to me for allowing him to be such an animal. To him, sex like that is only for the black whores.”

  “Did you ever talk to him about it?” I asked.

  “I can’t. I can never destroy the world he has made for us, even if it is not real,” she said, and lit another cigarette. “He gave me the money to begin the decoration business. But the business is in my maiden name; he didn’t want any knowledge out that I was married to a black man. That is why the business was started in Grosse Pointe. In fact, he has never even been in the store even though it has been his money that bought all of the beautiful things on the trips to Europe. The business has been very successful and we have become the number one decorator in Detroit. He’s a wonderful man and I can’t hurt him. I really love him but I am only human. I have my own needs.”

  “You’re making a mistake. You have to tell him the way you really feel and how you need him; otherwise, sooner or later, he will learn about what is going on without him. You can never take the chance that you did with me by bringing me into your bed,” I said. “He walks into this room and finds us and we’re both dead.”

  She got out of bed and pulled on a kimono. She looked down at me. “You’re very wise for being so young.”

  I looked up at her. “I am not only young, I’m also a coward.”

  “Then why did you come with me?” she asked.

  “You are the most beautiful lady I ever saw,” I said. “And you can tempt a stone statue into life.”

  She smiled and bent over and kissed me. “You’re a very sweet man,” she said, and left the guest room for her own bedroom.

  It was only after I had awakened in the morning that I saw the card on the night table. It was her business card with her private phone number. On the back of it was a small note:

  Please call me. I also have a small apartment in Grosse Pointe that I use when I have to work late. Also, look in the top drawer of the night table. I left something for you. This is in case Clarence lost all your money. C.

  I opened the drawer. There were ten one-hundred-dollar bills. I hadn’t seen so much money since I found the money in my parents’ bedroom with Kitty. Then suddenly it dawned on me. Words I had heard from Buddy. “Sweet man.” That was Harlem for gigolo. I tried to figure a way in which I could give the money back to her. But there was no way. If I left the money in the drawer it would be discovered by one of the servants and that might make trouble. So I put the money and her card in my pants pocket. Then I went into the bathroom and showered, which was heaven sent, nothing like the barracks. I went back into the bedroom, got dressed, and went over to the dining room for breakfast.

  Julian came into the dining room. “Did you sleep well, sir?” he asked.

  “Very well, thank you,” I said.

  “Clarence telephoned while you were still asleep and he asked me to tell you that he would be here about two o’clock,” he said.

  I looked at my wristwatch. It was eleven-thirty. “Thank you, Julian,” I said.

  “Is Mr. Leroy or Mrs. Carolyn still around?” I asked.

  “No, sir,” Julian said. “Mr. Leroy is still in the club and the missus left for work at seven-thirty.” He walked to a side table and poured a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee and brought them over to me. “Would you like some eggs, sunny-side up, sausages, and hash browns?”

  “That sounds great, Julian,” I answered, my mouth watering.

  “Thank you, sir,” he said with a small smile. “You young men need all your strength to fight the wars.”

  I looked after him as he went to the kitchen. The smart little son of a bitch. He knew. And I knew right away that I would have to slip him one of the C notes that Carolyn had given me.

  9

  I found a copy of the book Gone with the Wind on a bookshelf in the living room. I sat at the bar and began to read it. I had seen the movie and I remembered that Clark Gable was great in it, but I never even knew that it was a book before a movie. Not that I would have read it, because I was never into reading books. The sports pages and the comic strips were all that I read. I started the book and I couldn’t believe there was more of a story than in the movie. I was fascinated, and wondered if I could find it in the army library because it was a large book and I could never finish it while I sat here.

  It was two o’clock before I knew it. As I was reading I heard the doorbell and looked at my watch. I couldn’t believe it.

  Julian went to the door and Buddy entered the room with Rosey on his arm.

  He and Rosey walked over to the bar where I was sitting. He introduced Rosey to me and asked Julian to bring some bottles of beer.

  Rosey said in a small voice, “I only drink champagne.”

  “Then bring us a bottle of your finest champagne,” Buddy commanded.

  Julian answered quietly. “Only mister and missus can open the wine cellar. I’m sorry, sir.”

  I saw him glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. He wanted me to back him. “Buddy and I will just have beers, and maybe you can find something else that the lady can have.”

  Julian turned to her. “I can make you some Lipton’s orange pekoe tea or chamomile tea, miss,” he said. “Chamomile is very healthy.”

  “I’ll just take a beer, thank you,” she answered.

  He smiled politely. “Thank you, miss.” He turned and walked toward the kitchen.

  I walked into the kitchen after Julian. “Thanks for all your help, J
ulian,” I said, and shook his hand. He felt the paper in my palm.

  He smiled. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Jerry.”

  I turned and walked back into the bar.

  “They pretty stingy when they not here,” Buddy said as I sat back down. “Leroy is stingy in that club of his. He wouldn’t lend me a hundred bucks to stay in the game after I had a run of bad luck.”

  “That’s his business,” I said. “And he already told us that he has partners. He ain’t in the business to lend money to players in his own game. He has to answer to his partners.”

  Buddy continued his complaining. “But I ain’t just a stranger. I’m family.”

  “You told me he always tried to keep your mama from findin’ out when you got into trouble,” I said. “He’s given us everything since we got to town. On account of you he let me stay here, and I’m a complete stranger to him.”

  Buddy stared at me. “You’re right. I’m just being stupid.”

  Rosey looked at him. “Leroy is a great man. He’d give you his shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. He didn’t make any of the girls fuck him, even when they wanted to, but the back room is something else. That’s another world and you know which other business I’m talking about.”

  Julian came with a tray and went behind the bar. There were two bottles of Rheingold and a glass of champagne. “I found an open bottle of champagne in the refrigerator, miss.” He smiled at her, then looked again at me as he opened the beer.

  I returned his smile. The C note I had slipped him went a long way. “You were really great in the show,” I said to Rosey as I sipped my beer.

  “I’m surprised.” She smiled. “You don’t look any thing like your Uncle Harry.”

  “Harry isn’t anything like me, because he was only married to Aunt Lila, my father’s sister.”

  “Your Aunt Lila must have been a great lady. She had to put up with a lot from Harry,” she said. “He is nothing but a liar and a cheat. I couldn’t even believe some of the bullshit that he put your auntie through.”

  “Well, it’s over now,” I said. “You’re through with him and I’m beginning to feel that I won’t have any contact with him ever again, since my Aunt Lila is gone.”