“Oh, right, we should just stay here with you? Give you a nice little cult that way,” she sneered.
“You got a lot of issues,” he observed. “A lot of hate too. I don’t care, I got plenty of my own, but mind you don’t try and take it out on me.”
“I’ve got issues?” she spat out, eyes wide. “Yeah, you live in the middle of fucking nowhere and I’ve got issues! Guess I’ll just take my chances.”
“Jessie, please,” Dustin said. She stopped and looked at him, surprised, then a genuine smile threatened to come over her face.
He looked to Tanya, but she remained tight-lipped. What she was seeing was proof of what she suspected, that Jessie was nothing but a snake. He looked back at her, realizing he was on his own. “I’ll go with you, but we need to stay a little longer. Carl said we could lay up here until we felt better. A couple weeks maybe, then we can go.”
Jessie looked around, her rage leaving enough for her to realize what an ass she had made of herself. She looked at him and shook her head. “A couple of weeks,” she muttered.
“Got a natural spring well, it’s clean,” Carl offered neutrally. “Solar cells and a wind farm for power. Plenty of hunting around here and most of the animals are clean.”
“Hoping to start your own little harem?” Jessie asked bitterly.
“I don’t remember inviting any of you,” Carl growled back.
Jessie tried to glare at him, but he easily stared her down. She found herself staring at her hand and realized it was shaking again. She grabbed it and turned away, heading over to sit in a chair at the table. The silence stretched for several minutes, until finally Jessie stood up again and moved over next to Dusty, her only apparent ally in the room. She smiled at him as he grimaced while repositioning himself on the couch so that she could sit on it too.
“What happened?” he asked her softly.
She was staring at her hand At his question she jumped a little and put her hands between her legs. She looked up at him and smiled, then shrugged. “It was a long time ago, you probably hadn’t even had your first boner yet.”
He blushed a little at how easily she talked about sex. She smiled, feeling a little better, and shrugged. “Happened in the Army, back when the U.S. was fighting in the Middle East.”
Carl looked up from the cleaning he was doing, interested in what she had to say. She didn’t offer any more though, and Dustin didn’t push for it. He was afraid of what she might say next about his boner. He blushed a little deeper at the realization that seeing her sitting so close to him in her short denim shorts and bulging halter top.
“You really were in the Army?” Tanya asked, trying to keep her suspicion out of her voice.
Jessie looked up, her expression steeling a little. “Yes, I was. I was a corporal before I realized what a waste of fucking time it was. They didn’t want us there and we didn’t want to be there.”
“Bullshit,” Carl spat out, surprising everyone. Seeing he had their attention he scowled at his own lapse of control then realized he needed to explain.
“Kuwait, Iraq, the Pakis and Afghans-they loved us. Maybe the pussies in Hollywood back here thought different, but we all knew we were doing something good.”
Jessie turned to stare at him, looking shocked. “You fight in the same war, Uncle Sam?” she asked sharply. “If they loved us so much, why’d they keep blowing us up?”
“Terrorists,” Carl growled, willing to argue with her for once. “The people felt different.”
Jessie realized she had hit a sore spot with him and she knew he wouldn’t back down. She knew what she had seen though, what she had experienced. “I interviewed people, okay? Soldiers and civilians. They had high hopes, but you can’t honestly tell me you think the Iranians wanted us over there? If they did, why didn’t we go all the way?”
“Iran?” Carl asked. “You that young?”
Jessie’s eyes narrowed. “I’m 28, old man. Check your calendar, they pulled the troops out 4 years ago.”
“Why?”
Everybody turned to stare at Dusty, who had voiced the question. “Why’d they pull out? I mean, that’s who came over here, right?”
“Ain’t that easy kid,” Carl grumbled.
“They nuked us, we should have turned ‘em into a fucking parking lot,” Jessie spat out nastily.
“You been outside lately?” Carl asked her, his temper flaring again at her ignorance. “That’s what happens when you use nukes. Fucks up more than the people you bomb.”
“Better them than us,” she said defiantly.
“Yeah,” Dustin agreed, nodding his head.
“You got a lot of growing up to do,” Carl said. “Both of you!”
He turned and headed for the door, grabbing his coat and his rifle on the way. He turned and pointed at another door in the back. “That door’s the way to the outhouse. Stay out of the other shack, it’s locked and it’ll blow you to hell if you try to get in.”
“Wait a damn minute!” Jessie said, jumping up. “You can’t tell me I’m full of shit and then storm off! Were you in Iran or not?”
He stared at her until she dropped her gaze, then he admitted, “I came back here in 06.” He turned and was out the door then, leaving her looking up, surprised, then smug.
“Twelve years, you see!” Jessie said triumphantly, grinning as she looked from Dustin to Tanya. Dusty smiled back, but Tanya just rolled her eyes and looked away.
“”He’s old, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Spent too much time by himself out here,” she asserted. “Poor guy’s probably gone a little crazy.”
Dustin looked torn by her words. He wanted to defend Carl, but he didn’t want a confrontation with Jessie. He just stared at her, at a loss, until suddenly he brightened up as a thought hit him. “How’re you feeling?”
She looked at him, surprised, then smiled. “Still like shit, but better, thanks.”
“I was right,” she added, “you are a good looking kid. I’m glad I saved you – even if maybe that wasn’t what I was after in the first place.”
Tanya coughed and headed stiffly towards the door in the back. She opened it and exited, heading presumably to the outhouse. Jessie turned to look at Dustin, wondering what she could say to get him on her side more.
“You’re sister hates me,” she said.
He shrugged. “She hates a lot of things,” he offered. “She’s a real control freak. Her accident ended her life and scarred her. She’s been fighting ever since to get better and compete again.”
“Now that mom’s gone,” he added, his voice softening. He turned away, forcing himself to breathe and ignore the pain that threatened to overwhelm him. There was no way he was going to let Jessie see him cry. She was a movie star. No way she’d think he was some whiny little kid!
“Well, she’s worried she’ll never get back into it,” he finished a moment later.
Jessie nodded and laid an understanding hand on Dustin’s thigh. He jumped a little, grimaced at the pain in his ribs, and found his eyes burning into the hand on his leg. He followed her arm up to her shoulder and then face and saw that she was talking.
“It’s okay, I mean,” she said. “I had it rough as a kid, but there was somebody who helped. Somebody who took care of me. I know how it hurts when you lose that somebody special.”
He nodded and smiled, wondering what she was talking about. He refused to think about his mom, instead he found himself mesmerized by her beautiful green eyes and her sexy lips that were chapped and split and looked anything but sexy. Still, he couldn’t help but think of her as beautiful. An image from one of her movies came unbidden to his mind. He had to look away, blushing.
“What’s wrong, Dusty?” Jessie asked him, guessing it had something to do with teenage hormones but hoping she could really connect with him. She needed all the support she could get.
“Nothin’,” he muttered, then felt her hand on his chin, pulling it back around to look at her. It was burning in h
im, on the tip of his tongue and nearly making him burst with excitement. Finally it did burst out of him, in a rush, “You’re Jizzy Banks!”
Jessie stared at him, her lips parted in surprise. She was flattered that he knew her, of course, but kind of worried too. All along nobody had said anything. Now-now the cat was out of the bag.
“I hope I haven’t let you down,” she said with a smile, slipping her public relations mask on.
He blushed again. “No!” he stammered quickly. “I mean, well, you’re real.”
He laughed, almost a giggle, at his choice of words. “Of course you’re real! I mean it’s really you. You’re not made up to look all beautiful like in your movies, but you’re still a knockout in my book.”
For the first time in what had turned out to be days she was smiling. “Call me Jessie,” she told him. “It’s my real name.”
He nodded, grinning like he’d just won the Mexicali lottery.
“Oh, and keep it between us, okay? It’s kind of a big deal, you know, I don’t want your sister to start feeling or acting funny because I’m a star and her 15 minutes of being a celeb didn’t stick,” she added quickly.
He nodded, then a sly grin came onto his face. “I don’t know. It’ll cost you,” he said.
Jessie laughed, knowing she wasn’t in real trouble, but wondering what he was up to. He was just a kid, after all, he probably wanted an autograph or something. “Name your price.”
“I’ve got all your movies,” he said thoughtfully. “Can you sign them for me? You know, personalize them or something?”
Jessie laughed. “Sure thing sweety, just as soon as I get you guys back.”
“Still think you’re gonna get us back? What about Carl?”
She snorted, dispelling a little from her glamorous image. “Fuck Carl. He wants us out of his hair as soon as we can. You heard him.”
Dustin nodded, but he seemed hesitant to accept that.
“Here, let me sweeten the deal,” Jessie said, seeing him wavering. Before he could react she leaned in to him and kissed him, her lips rough from exposure but still soft and very skilled.
Dustin froze, paralyzed with excitement and fear. His first kiss and it was from his favorite movie star! His body screamed for him to do something, to kiss her back or something. He thought to what he’d seen in her movies and wondered if she really liked the things that happened. Should he grab her head and push it down? Should he try to feel her tits?
Jessie licked his closed lips and backed away, smiling wickedly at him. She could feel him trembling on the couch beside her. “How old are you?”
He looked crestfallen that she had backed away. His body was trembling still though and his ribs forgotten. His pants bulged knowingly as well, giving away the effect she had on him. “Fifteen,” he whispered, ashamed at his youth.
Jessie put a finger to his lips, comforting him. “A couple more years and you’ll have to beat the girls off with a stick. Maybe even me,” she said, winking. “I can’t wait to see how good of a kisser you are then.”
“What?” he stammered, shocked and more embarrassed than ever. “But I didn’t really kiss you. I wanted to I mean. I tried to. I just.… You surprised me is all.”
“I know honey, it’s okay,” she said, lying boldly but safely. “Your lips and the way you hold yourself, I can tell you’re going to be great!”
“Really?”
Jessie nodded. “Maybe in a couple of years you can be in one of my movies with me? Would you like that?”
In one of her movies? Dustin gaped at her, in awe. That meant he’d have the chance to fuck Jizzy Banks! Sure, that wasn’t all she did in her movies, but she did plenty of that too. He found himself nodding then realized something.
“Do you, um… do you ever, you know… date the guys in your movies? Outside of them, I mean?”
Jessie laughed lightly and gaze his leg a squeeze. “Not usually, but I might make an exception.”
He grinned and nodded excitedly. She fought the urge to laugh. This was easier than she had expected! Never doubt a teenage boy’s hormones, she figured. The door opened before any more could be said.
Tanya walked in, stiffly again, and moved to the bed to lie down. She looked over at them and did a double take at how her brother was red faced and fighting to keep from smiling. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Jessie, but she let it go.
“What’s going on?” she asked, trying to sound casual, but failing.
“Nothing!” Dustin said quickly.
Jessie smirked. “We were just making plans for what we’re going to do when we get back to Mexicali.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?” she asked, feigning indifference.
Jessie rose to the challenge and answered before Tanya’s brother could further incriminate himself. “First thing for me is going to a halfway decent restaurant. This wild pig might keep me alive, but I want a burger and fries! And a beer. I’d give anything for a beer.”
Tanya looked disgusted at the thought of the unhealthy food and, worse yet, the beer. She shook her head and lay down on the bed, grabbing a blanket and rolling fully onto her back. “I’m going to take a nap,” she announced, not wanting to hear any more.
Jessie kept her expression neutral, but would occasionally glance at Dusty and smile. He grinned back, blushing, but as Tanya’s breathing grew more even it began to get old for both of them. Jessie rose up and started poking around, looking for something to do. She thought about going outside, but realized there was nothing out there she wanted. Well, almost nothing.
She stood up and saw that Dustin was drifting off himself. She had no idea what time it was, but she guessed it was still daytime. Healing took a lot out of a person, she knew damn well from her own past. She shivered a little at the memories of hospital beds and the smell of sterilizing alcohol. She went to the back door and decided to check out the facilities herself.
What surprised her the most was the lack of any toilet paper. Instead she found a pile of cloth rags. They were clean, but remnants of old garments or towels that had been torn up. A bucket with a lid housed a couple of dirty rags. She wrinkled her nose at the realization that Carl must wash them up and reuse them. She shuddered a little at the thought of doing such a deed, but granted that a hermit like him had little choice if he wanted to avoid a several day trip to a town that had toilet paper he could buy. Then again, even in Mexicali she had seen more than a few places where having something to wipe your ass with was a luxury often not granted.
She finished her business and stood up, then stumbled backwards and squealed. She saw herself in a mirror, and the appearance startled her. She had not seen the mirror before, it was above a shelf and the outhouse, though lit, was very dim. The mirror was dusty too, further blurring her image. She reached out carefully and brushed it off, leaving cleaner streaks from her fingers. Finally she was able to look at herself and what she saw stole any of the high spirits Dustin had put her in. She was dirty and looked like shit.
The outhouse had no water in it. She looked around, sighed and headed back inside. Both of the kids were still asleep so she made her way into Carl’s kitchen and looked around until she found another rag. A jug half full of lukewarm water was on the counter, so she poured herself a cup and, grimacing at the bland taste, forced herself to drink it. Fighting the urge to gag, Jessie poured another cup full of water and made herself breathe evenly to get past it.
Finally feeling as though she could keep the water down, she dipped the rag into the cup and began to work on wiping the sweat and dirt off of her face. From there she moved on to her arms. Glancing at Tanya and Dustin and around the small building for a place to go, she gave up and pulled her halter over her head. She turned her back to the sleeping teenagers and realized she needed a fresh cup of water. Hers was brown with dirt.
Several minutes later the door opened again, making her freeze in panic. She saw a two pronged meat fork nearby and grabbed it, turning to face the door. Carl stepped in, lo
oked around and saw her first. His expression would have made her laugh had she not been standing naked with her shorts halfway up her legs in one hand.
He turned and saw the other two still sleeping, though Tanya stirred. He stepped in, shut the door behind him and turned to put his rifle and coat in the cabinet. Finally, that finished, he turned back to see Jessie still standing there, meat fork held out defensively in front of her.
“You allergic to clothes or something?” he growled, albeit softly.
“You allergic to knocking?” she countered. She realized how silly she looked though, and put the fork on the counter then finished pulling her shorts back on. She reached for her top, keeping her eyes on him.
“It’s my place,” he pointed out, then shook his head and turned away. “I got some spare clothes you can wear while you wash yours up.”
Jessie stared at him, forgetting the halter top in her hands. She looked at him suspiciously while he walked across the room without making any noise. He opened a trunk and took out some clothes, then turned and walked back towards her. He tossed them to her, looking almost uncomfortable for a minute. With a hint of satisfaction in his voice he said, “Just don’t bleed on ‘em.”
Jessie stared at him, lips parting again. She knew exactly what he meant and couldn’t believe he’d said it. The winkle of amusement in his eyes as he turned away sucked some of her building rage out of her though, and then it fell flat within her. She looked down at herself, staring at the clothes in her hands and then at her belly. The dirt was gone and the tan and cosmetic surgery she had hid her scars well, but she knew they were there.
“Don’t worry,” she said flatly, her voice drained and dead sounding. “I can’t.”
“Huh?” he asked, turning around and not understanding her.
Jessie saw him looking at her and, for the first time in a long time, she felt dirty. She let her soiled top fall to the floor and slid her shorts back down, then thought about scrubbing herself down again, but knew it would not change a thing. She slipped his pants on, hauling them up and finding the green and brown camouflaged fatigues so roomy that they barely held on to her hips. A t-shirt followed next, which was similarly loose on her except for where her bust stretched it tight. She blushed as she realized how much Dustin might enjoy her wardrobe change, even though she was wearing more now than she had in weeks. Come to think of it, if Dustin had seen all her movies, he had seen everything she had to offer anyhow.
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