Jimmy

by William Malmborg

  Is she still unconscious? Jimmy wondered and realized he should check.

  His neck protested the upward movement as Jimmy forced his body to its feet, his hands having to guide it up the door due to the dizzy spells that swirled the room.

  Once up he stood with his eyes closed for several seconds fighting everything that threatened to knock him back down, and then, once recovered, carefully walked across the room to check on Megan.

  Her back was too him.

  Jimmy took hold of her right arm, his hand slowly but forcefully twisting her around to face him.

  A gasp erupted, followed by the sound of the bucket once again bouncing across the floor as Jimmy backed away from the grisly image and tripped over it.

  The metal door stopped his fall, his poor elbow taking all his weight as he crashed into it, pain messages reaching the brain quickly along with the order to cry out.

  The sound faded.

  Samantha and Megan did not react.

  The urge to vomit followed, but nothing was in his stomach, the lunch Tina and he had eaten earlier long since digested.

  God, what did I do to her? he demanded while leaning against the wall, the image of Megan’s busted face refusing to leave.

  You did what you had to do to survive!

  The sensation of the bucket connecting with her face returned to his arms, as did the sense of satisfaction that had momentarily followed — until he found himself falling. At the time, however, he had had no idea just how hard he had smashed the object into her face, his only thought being to free himself.

  Is she even alive?

  The question did not sit well and despite not wanting to look at that face again, he knew he had to check, and forced himself to cross the room again.

  The face wasn’t as shocking the second time around, but was still repulsive, the metal side of the bucket having completely flattened her nose. Her mouth had suffered as well, the upper lip having busted like a fat blood filled leech and her teeth knocked loose into her mouth.

  The snot filled blood was the worst part though, and it pretty much covered her entire lower face and breasts, which were large enough and thrust out far enough to catch most of the drippings.

  In the midst of all this destruction a slight wheeze could be heard, one that signaled the work of her lungs as her body struggled to breath.

  She’s alive.

  But would she stay that way?

  Only time would tell.

  Chapter Twelve

  Alan was in the middle of making a pot of coffee, his body still fighting the urge to go back to bed, his eyes barely able to stay open, when Jimmy walked into the kitchen and said, “Remember, only five scoops.”

  Alan turned to reply but stopped and instead said, “Whoa, what happened to your neck?”

  “What?” Jimmy asked, his voice panicked, a hand rising to touch his throat.

  “It’s all bruised up,” Alan said.

  Jimmy hurried from the kitchen and went to the mirror in the front hall.

  Alan followed.

  “Holy shit,” Jimmy said.

  “What happened?” Alan asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Bullshit,” Alan snapped. “You didn’t come home until really late last night and now say you don’t know what happened?”

  “I was with Tina,” Jimmy said.

  “Not all evening you weren’t. I called to find out because we were supposed to go pick up our tuxes when Mom came home, remember?” Alan had been pretty angry about this and had even driven around the neighborhood looking for his brother thinking maybe he had gone on a bike ride after seeing Tina, but then upon coming home realized the bike was still in the garage.

  “Sorry, I forgot.” He continued touching his throat. “We can go today though.”

  “Yeah, and it will be packed and we will have to try them on to make sure they fit, which means we will have to wait in line for the dressing rooms.”

  “So what?” Jimmy snapped. “It was probably packed last night too, and the day before. We’re not the only ones going.”

  “Still, where were you? Mom and Dad were worried and thought maybe you were the next to disappear.” This was a lie. His parents had been a bit concerned but that was all, and hadn’t really thought anything bad had happened. Alan, however, had thought differently.

  “Gee thanks, two girls and me,” Jimmy said. “Nice.”

  “Hey, you never know with people like this, maybe they would want a teenage guy to go with the two girls. Maybe they are like crazy scientists from U of I that want to breed humans for some sort of illegal testing.”

  Jimmy shook his head. “What time does the tux place open?”

  “I don’t know, nine, ten.” Alan shrugged. “Maybe earlier than usual because of prom?”

  “Okay, then lets go around eight thirty and if they aren’t open we can get some breakfast at the bagel place, my treat.”

  Alan nodded. “Fine, and we need to go to the flower place and pick up some corsages while we’re out.”

  “Pick up what?” Jimmy asked.

  “Corsages.”

  “What the hell are those?”

  Alan shook his head. “Flower things, you idiot, for the girls to wear. Every guy gets them for their date, it’s tradition.”

  “It sounds stupid.”

  “Most traditions usually are.”

  Jimmy sighed. “How much do they cost?”

  “I don’t know.” The fact was Alan hadn’t thought about the corsages either, not until Rachel had called to remind him to pick one up for her. “I just hope the place actually has some because I think you’re supposed to order them in advance.”

  “Great. Anything else I should know about so I don’t make a fool out of myself?”

  “Yeah, but you’ll want to grab a pad of paper and a pen before I tell you?” He started to fill the coffee pot with water and went to pour it into the machine.

  “What?”

  “I’m just fucking with you.”

  “Alan!” Kelly Hawthorn snapped while walking into the kitchen.

  Jimmy smiled.

  “Um,” Alan started, his hand nearly dropping the coffee pot. “What?”

  “Just want to make sure you used five scoops and only five scoops before you hit BREW.”

  Jimmy cracked up laughing. His parents knew swears were just stupid words that got people needlessly worked up and didn’t care if they used them sparingly.

  “Jimmy, what happened to your neck?” Kelly asked.

  “I don’t know, I must’ve slept on it weird.” He touched it. “It doesn’t hurt.”

  His mother eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds and then turned toward the coffee pot which had started to brew.

  * * *

  Coffee in hand Jimmy returned to his room where he browsed the Internet for a while, but then grew bored of that — even the bondage sites he visited (it was all the same stuff repeated over and over again) — and headed into the bathroom to look at his throat.

  The bruises weren’t too bad, but were obviously noticeable enough to draw unwanted attention, especially the really purple one under his right ear, which was where Megan’s ankle had smashed into when she first grabbed him. Thankfully he had a feeling his tuxedo shirt would cover the bruise so not too many people would ask him about it. Then again he doubted many people would talk to him anyway, so it didn’t really matter all that much.

  Actually if they were worse they could be a good conversation starter, he said to himself.

  Had the bruises arrived from another more honorable situation Jimmy wouldn’t have minded talking about it, but given the source he would prefer it if people didn’t notice.

  An idea occurred.

  He flipped off the set of lights closest to the mirror and looked at himself again. The bruises were pretty hard to see when the light wasn’t focusing on it directly, and since the lights at the dance would most likely be set on low to produce a more formal atmosphere he p
robably had nothing to worry about.

  She planned this, he said to himself. It was something he had been thinking about ever since coming home, showing and laying in bed, one which he had not slept in, but merely rested in because sleep had never arrived.

  Megan had purposely peed on herself so he would clean her legs and the floor and make himself vulnerable for attack, all without any possible way of escaping afterward, which was startling.

  Megan didn’t care if she died as long as she took him with her.

  The thought chilled him to the core.

  At the same time he knew he didn’t really have to worry about this kamikaze attitude from her any longer because the chances that she would even be able to attempt anything like this again was pretty slim. Future girls might try, though, which is why he would have to be more careful once he felt he was ready to start grabbing them again — his mind still unsure if he should wait until he had his own place or continue to use the fallout shelter.

  If you had simply tied her legs together this wouldn’t have happened.

  Binding a girl’s legs together had never really been part of his fantasy, but it didn’t really detract from it either, so he figured he would experiment with it. The only downside was that he enjoyed seeing them kicking their legs when lifted off the ground, their feet trying to find something solid to balance on and relieve the pressure from their wrists.

  Make a spreader bar.

  Though he had never before considered it, he knew he could make the item fairly easily and that once it was in place a girl would not be able to bring her legs together unless she broke the bar, which would require a considerable amount of strength. He also was pretty sure he had everything he needed in the house, but then, such a bondage item wasn’t necessary now because Samantha and Megan were not in any condition to fight with him.

  An image of Megan’s face arrived causing him to shudder.

  Busting up a girl’s face had never been a part of his fantasy and was something he never wanted to do again. Hell, just slapping Samantha across the face the other day had soured his stomach.

  Actually the more he thought about it whipping the girls with his belt like he had done wasn’t all that appealing either. In the videos he watched it turned him on and got him off, but in real life, well, he liked watching things like that and seeing the reaction of the girls rather than being the one to administer it.

  You liked taking part in the sex with Tina.

  But your favorite part was watching her go down on you and watching your cock being swallowed up by her mouth and pussy.

  He had also enjoyed seeing the look on her face when he had used his fingers on her, something he had never before done to a girl but seemed to be good at, probably thanks to all the videos from Kink.com where forcing girls to have orgasms over and over again seemed to be the main goal.

  Torture her with pleasure!

  That is exactly what he had done to Tina. He had made her orgasm so many times with his fingers that she had forced his hand from within her and rolled him over onto his back, her screams of pleasure and cries for him to stop having been replaced by his own moans.

  If I had known Tina and I would do that I would never have grabbed Samantha.

  His mind didn’t have a response to this statement, though not because it was true, but because he actually feared it was false.

  The thought that followed was even more disturbing: If given the choice between the two last week which would you have chosen?

  Jimmy knew the answer, but didn’t want to admit it to himself even though it was impossible to hide himself from his own thoughts. Instead he tried distracting himself by heading back into his room and watching TV while he drank his coffee, and then, not long after that, going into town with Alan to pick up the tuxedos.

  * * *

  “What?” Tina demanded as her mother knocked on the closed bedroom door.

  “Can I come in?” Rebecca asked.

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to talk,” she said.

  “Call one of your knitting friends.”

  “I want to talk to you!”

  “Fine.” Tina had been looking at her blue homecoming dress, somewhat depressed because she hadn’t been able to buy something new, and now got up to unlock her door.

  Rebecca stepped inside and said, “Do you know how many mothers would smack their daughter’s silly for speaking to them the way you speak to me?”

  “Do you know how many mothers wouldn’t have left their daughters even if their marriage was a little difficult,” Tina asked back.

  “Do you know why I left?” Rebecca asked. “Did you father ever tell you?”

  Her father had given her many theories on why her mother had left, each one of them seeming to make sense even though they both didn’t have a clue as to which one, if any, was right. Rather than say this Tina kept her mouth shut.

  “No?” Rebecca asked with a laugh. “I bet he told you lots of different reasons, but never the real one because in his mind it wouldn’t have been a reason at all.”

  Tina had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear.

  “He never saw what he did to me that night as wrong even though I protested against it and screamed at him to stop.” She clasped her hands together and looked up as if getting ready to pray but instead laughed. “He thought he had earned it after spending so much time and money on me and the more I fought with him the more aggressive he became.”

  Tears started to gleam in her eyes but did not fall, her face still more hysterical than sad.

  “I knew what he wanted when he suggested we get some fresh air, but I was so overwhelmed with the entire situation that I didn’t even protest that, and then, when he started kissing me out in the football field behind the bleachers I kind of liked it, and would have cherished the memories if it hadn’t gone any further.”

  Tina didn’t want to hear anymore and stood up, but to her surprised Rebecca grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her back down on the bed, her body using strength that Tina would never have expected.

  “Don’t you dare leave!” Rebecca snapped. “For nearly eighteen years your father filled your head with lies and now it is my turn to tell you the truth. You father raped me that night behind the bleachers and when I screamed for him to stop he put a hand over my mouth.” She shuddered. “I still remember the sweaty taste of his palm and then the blood as I bit his thumb. I can still hear the sound of his shouting with pain even as he exploded inside of me and to this day I truly believe that if he hadn’t have ejaculated so quickly I would have cut through the bone and severed the thumb.”

  Tina was going to say something but then suddenly remembered asking her father about the scar on his thumb when she was younger.

  My friend accidentally closed a car door on it, he had said with a smile. That’s why I’m always so careful to make sure you’re clear of the car when I close the door.

  “I still have the dress if you’d like to see it,” Rebecca said. “If you don’t believe me you can see the tears and the rips and the mud.”

  “Why didn’t you tell the police?” Tina asked.

  “Because I didn’t think they would care and I was ashamed of what had happened and then when I realized I was pregnant—”

  “NO!” Tina screamed, her mind finally realizing where this was going.

  “I knew I had to take care of you but couldn’t without your father’s help, especially since my mother wouldn’t speak to me and kept calling me a whore.”

  Tina tried to block out the words but couldn’t.

  “I tried to love you after you were born but I could never look at you without thinking about that night. Even now seeing you sitting there makes me remember what he did to me.”

  “Shut up!” Tina snapped.

  Surprisingly Rebecca did.

  Silence settled, though Tina couldn’t appreciate it because the words didn’t fade.

  After a few moments Rebecc
a said, “I’ve said what you needed to hear,” and left the room.

  Tina burst into tears after that.

  Anger followed.

  * * *

  “I looked ridiculous,” Jimmy said while waiting for his BLT bagel to cool down. “My body is not designed for formalwear.”

  “But Tina will love it and that’s all that matters, right?” Alan had ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel all on a toasted egg bagel.

  “I don’t know, Tina isn’t like other girls and will probably think I look ridiculous too.”

  “She’ll love it,” Alan said. “You just worry too much.”

  “Maybe.” He took a bite. The sandwich tasted wonderful.

  Alan followed suit but then grimaced and said, “Ugh, they put American cheese on it. Don’t I always order cheddar cheese?”

  “You forgot this time,” Jimmy said with a smile.

  “And you noticed? Why didn’t you say something?”

  “Because it’s funnier this way.” He took another bite. “Umm, this is really, really good.”

  “Bastard,” Alan muttered and then, “You know, you paid for it and now I’m not going to enjoy it so you aren’t getting your moneys worth.”

  Jimmy hadn’t thought about this.

  Alan took another bite, grimaced and said, “I’m going to see if they’ll just give me a piece of cheddar cheese for this and scrape off this crap.” His phone rang as he was standing up, stopping him in his tracks. “Oh, it’s Rachel.”

  Jimmy thought about saying something funny that would get Alan in trouble, but then held back.

  “What?” Alan said and then listened for a second. “No, I figured we would just take my mother’s car.”

  Jimmy took a bite.

  “Are you kidding me? I don’t think I can get one, it’s too last minute.”

  Now Jimmy was curious and mouthed the words: Get what?

  Alan shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, you should have said something the other day. It’s too late now.” He listened. “No, it’s not going to ruin the entire night.”