Ruby said nothing. Lucretia suddenly realized that perhaps she had overstepped herself. Perhaps Ruby did not want her for a daughter. She should have never done this without asking. “I am sorry, Ruby. I love you so much that I wanted you in my life forever. I think of you as the mother I never had. I did not think you might not want to be my mother. Oh, dear God, I am sorry.”
She turned toward her bedroom, but the arms that stopped her wrapped themselves around her. Through her tears, Ruby said, “I cannot say what I feel, Lulu. No one has ever wanted me before, except for what they could take from me. No one has ever loved me before…really loved me. I love you, too, and if I had a daughter, she would be you.”
Lucretia turned and lifted the veil. She showered the scarred face with kisses as she held the older woman tight. They stood and cried together for a long time, until there were no tears left. Only smiles…smiles of happiness. They moved to the balcony, where they stood arm in arm and watched the sun sink over the bayous to the west.
Chapter 69
Devereaux returned home with two bottles of rotgut rum that he intended to consume entirely by himself while he formulated a plan for the disappearance and demise of one Ruby the Bitch. Halfway through the first bottle, his plan was clear enough in his besotted head to take it to the worst barrooms in the city. He would walk so that no one could identify his carriage, and the trek would help rinse some of the rum from his head.
He passed several waterfront bars, but none would do. Too many customers who might remember him, since his recent life had forced him to seek companionship at places like these. Finally, at the furthest point before the river turned away from the bayous, he found what he was looking for. Inside the smoke-filled shanty were a dozen rickety tables, a slanted bar, and hungry-looking men of many colors who watched him stagger inside to the nearest chair by the door.
A slovenly barmaid waddled over and stood with one hand on her incredibly large hip. She bent down to expose her ample bosom and rubbed a pudgy hand against his cheek. “Anythin’ I cane git you, darlin’? Anythin’ at all?”
In the time it took to grab her hand from his face, his plan changed. He pulled the obese woman closer. “There sure is, my beauty. What would you do for a ten-dollar gold piece?”
“Hell, anathin’. Wan’ me ta strip right here or up the stairs?”
“No, that is, no stripping. Something much more exciting than sex, and I think you are the perfect one for the job. Get us a couple of drinks and sit down here so I can tell you all about it.”
She returned with two glasses of rum. “Lemme see da ten dollars first.”
He motioned her to sit and moved his chair as close to hers as he could, considering the odors that emanated from her body. A fleeting thought ran through his mind, and he wondered when, or if, she had bathed in her lifetime. He slid his hand inside his vest pocket and removed a five-dollar gold coin. “The other half of the money when the job is done.”
“Ya got youself a partner. Whata we goina do?”
“What if I told you we are going to kill someone? Would that bother you?”
“No, but I shoulda asted for more. But a deal is a deal. Ten dollars is a fair price for a killin’, as long as I dona git hirt.”
“Oh, you won’t. I promise you won’t.” He smiled at her while he thought, No, not hurt. Just dead!
She complained the entire walk back to his home. No one paid any mind to a drunken man and the obese whore wandering the streets in the wee hours of the morning. He led her up the back steps to a storage shed where the yard equipment was stored. It had started raining and Sam would not be using any of it in the rain. Things were working perfectly for Devereaux. He found some rags and cleaning solvent in the little building and handed them to her. He did not know her name, and did not want to.
“Now, shuck off your clothes—all of them—and stand out in the rain until you are wet. Use this rag and scrub your body until it sparkles in the rain. You stink and I cannot fuck a stinking woman. That is, if you want to fuck.”
“Fuck? Hell, yes.” She dropped her skirt and pulled the filthy blouse over her head. She wore nothing else. He had expected to be disgusted by how she looked, but he found her so different from other women that he felt a first stirring of arousal.
Devereaux reached out to one saggy tit and lifted it. She was grinning her toothless smile when she lifted the other one to lick its nipple. He felt his cock jump as her tongue worked the end of her breast.
He slid out of his jacket and pants. His penis was at full alert and his balls pulled up inside him. He moaned as she took his dick in her hand and bent forward to take it in her mouth. She felt his penis tighten and stab into her mouth, signaling his impending explosion. “Not so fast. Fuck, you said.”
She stood and continued scrubbing. Now she was rubbing between her legs. He watched until his cock grew painful. “Turn around and bend over.” She did so, leaning her shoulders on the steps while her enormous ass and hips opened for him. At first, he was afraid he would not make it inside her, but she spread even wider until he felt her pussy hairs. He pounded into her as she bounced back to meet him. It was over in seconds, but she was panting as hard as he was, so he guessed she got what she wanted.
She turned to sit on the stairs. She pulled him to her and took his limp cock in her mouth. She squeezed his balls and mouthed his entire length until he was ready again. This time, she lay back on the stairs, spreading her thighs open wider than he thought possible. He looked through the darkness and rain to see a patch of hair larger than any he had ever seen. It excited him. He dropped between her legs and pushed himself as deep into her as he could. This time took much longer for consummation, but both cried out their satisfaction before he withdrew. Together they stood in the rain, cleansing their bodies.
“Follow me and do not make a sound. We will go up to the second floor and sleep until morning. I will find you some clothes then and we will get to work on our little project.”
Chapter 70
“Peg, there are some clothes on the ground in front of the yard shed. Do your best to clean them up and bring the skirt and blouse to my room. My things can wait for later.”
Devereaux knew neither Peg nor Sam would ever question his orders, so he was beyond surprised when Peg returned to the kitchen immediately, carrying the dripping clothing held between two fingers.
“Mr. Devereaux, there ain’t a thing Peg can do with these things. They stink worse than chicken bones set outside in the sun for a week. If these came on a woman…well, I hope you are well medicated, sir.”
Devereaux grinned, and then laughed. “You are so right, Peg. But if these cannot be salvaged, what can we do about dressing the large—all right, huge—woman upstairs? She must look presentable for a task I have for her. Is there anything in the attic that might work? As I recall, my Aunt Eugenia was huge, too. Knock the moths out and shake out the mold if you can find anything. Also a shawl and parasol. Whatever you think we can make do with for a day or so. And shoes. She must have shoes, even if they are men’s shoes.”
“Lordy, Mr. Devereaux. I will look, but I ain’t no miracle maker.”
Devereaux poured himself a cup of Peg’s wonderful chocolate and, as an afterthought, poured a second for the woman upstairs. She was still asleep, lying on her side. Mountains of fat rolled from her stomach and met her sagging tits above gigantic thighs. At first, he felt repulsed, but as he looked at her black thatch between those thighs, he felt the desire to empty himself in her again.
“Hey, woman. Wake up. We got things to do.” She opened her eyes and watched him disrobe. He set the cups of chocolate on a bureau and advanced, cock at the ready, to mount her. She sighed with pleasure as her ass lifted her twat up to meet him. He squeezed her big tits, pulling the nipples hard. She giggled and wiggled as they bounced on the old bed. Their combined weight, along with the activities they were doing, was too much and the mattress crashed through the ropes holding it to the frame, bringing it t
o the floor with a crash that shook the entire house.
“Man, dat be da noisiest fuck I ever done and you were de best too. Next time, we jist skip the bed and do it on de floor. Are you ready again yet?”
Devereaux shook his head, but continued to squeeze her tits, listening to her sharp breath intakes. “You like it hard, do you? Do you like a little hurting, too?” She nodded and closed her eyes. He bit her nipples until they beaded with tiny drops of blood. He turned her on her side and slapped her ass as hard as he could. She moaned in pleasure. He had never done these things before and he found himself hard again, aching and wanting to hurt her more. Oh, what a toy she might be.
When Peg knocked, the woman rolled off the bed and opened the door, displaying her assets for all to see. Peg stepped back and shook her head. “Come on in, honey, I ain’t modest. Whata got there?” She did not wait for any answer, but jerked the garments out of Peg’s hands.
Peg looked past her at the exhausted man on the bed. He did not even try to cover himself. “Mr. Devereaux, I found some things that might work to…cover this.” She nodded in the direction of the whore, who was pushing her body into a dress obviously three sizes too small.
“Hey, looka me? Perfect fit.” She pirouetted in front of the mirror. “Now, I look jist like da ladies I see on Bourbon Street with their beaus and husbands. Who do I haft ta kill for my money?”
Devereaux flew out of the bed and gently shoved Peg through the door, locking it behind her. “You stupid bitch.” He kept his voice as low as he could, not wanting Peg to hear, but in his anger, the pitch kept rising. “I ought to kill you myself. If anyone finds out what we are going to do, we will both go to meet the devil. Do you understand?” The woman just looked at him. “God, you are the most useless creature God ever put on this earth.”
“Ya didna think I be useless awhile ago, when you was shoving it ta me. Ya had plenty of use fer me den.” She lifted her skirt, exposing her nakedness. “If’n I be bad, ya can spank me first. I be a bad girl and need a beatin.” She bent over, exposing her ass. Devereaux grabbed his belt off the floor and hit her as hard as he could. She moaned and cried out, “More, again. Yes, more.”
Outside, Peg had heard more than she wanted to hear. She crept downstairs, away from the hideous noises above, and went in search of Sam. He would not want to believe what she would tell him, but in the end, he would.
“The trick”—he told the sated woman after their third mating—“is to find the two separated. It really does not matter which, as long as we have time for you to convince her to go with you. I will deal with the old one, either way. Now, get dressed and cover your head with that shawl there. We must not be seen together. Do you understand what you need to do?”
“Yessir. I git her ta go with me into da alley and ya give her sumptin ta make er sleep. Easy. Den I get my ten dollars. And de new clothes. Fer sure.”
Devereaux hoped it was “fer sure.” They separated behind his house. He took the carriage and she walked in shoes that hurt her feet, she told him. “For that ten-dollar gold piece, you can put up with it for a while. Throw them in the river later, for all I care, but now you wear them.”
Ruby and Lucretia came outside and mounted a carriage waiting for them. They stayed together in shop after shop, until Lucretia went to her bank, leaving Ruby to browse the millinery store alone. Devereaux drove by the wandering fat woman, who pointed to the window, where he could see Ruby trying on hats.
“I gonna earn my money right now. Yessir, I am.” She went inside and approached the surprised woman in the veil. “Madam, is that your girl jist left here?”
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“She done twisted her ankle round da corner and needs help. I show ya.”
Ruby did not think, but followed the woman around the corner into the alley littered with trash. Halfway in, she felt an arm slip around her neck and a cloth cover her nose. Her last thought was of her most recent visit to a dentist and the smell of the ether he had used.
They lifted the woman into the back of the carriage and dropped a blanket over her to look like it was dropped casually by the last person who sat in the back.
“Good job. Now go back to my house and wait in the yard shed until dark. I will come for you then.”
“Sure like ’nother round on da yard shack steps.”
“Maybe, if you do as I tell you. Now, damn it, go.”
“Kin I take off dees shoes now? De sure does hurt ma feet.”
“I don’t care. Just go.” He watched as she waddled away, singing to herself. He shook his head in disgust, both with her and himself for the things he did to and with her.
He drove the carriage out of town to the east, over bumpy roads pitted with holes from traffic. Having lived in the area his entire life and grown accustomed to the swamps where he fished and speared frogs and killed gators as a young man, he knew all the back roads and abandoned shacks deep in the bayou.
He stopped in front of a dilapidated old house missing half its roof. The mosquitoes were dining on him in droves, as usual. He hated them and never understood why he was a target when his companions were ignored. Some of the boys had covered themselves with chicken grease, but Devereaux was too finicky to do that. So, they smiled and laughed as he slapped and batted the biting insects away.
Ruby was making small noises in the back of the carriage, so he quickly pulled the blanket away and tied her hands together before pulling her into an upright position.
“Hey, bitch, can you hear me?” He shook her shoulders. She only groaned. He lifted her veil to slap her face, but pulled back and stared at the hideous scars. “Looking like you do, you should thank me for what I am going to do to you. Do you hear me?”
This time Ruby mumbled, “Yes. What are you doing? Where am I?”
“Look around you, bitch, and enjoy the outdoors. It is the last time you will see it because I am going to kill you. And enjoy doing it. It will be a death worthy of the way you have treated me. Fun part of it is that I am going to keep you alive for a while, just to keep you aware of my progress in wedding and bedding lovely little Lucretia. I will pass along every detail, including how she tastes and wiggles under me.”
“You bastard. When I get my hands on you, I will tear you limb from limb and hurt you in ways you never dreamed possible.” She twisted her arms, trying to shrug off the ropes, but they were too tight. She kicked out at him, but missed.
He laughed and wound his hand into her hair, pulling it so hard she screamed in pain. “Now start walking. If you do not do exactly as I tell you, I will pull every hair out of your pathetic head.”
The shack was moldy and smelled like the rotten creatures half-eaten inside. Once inside, he released her hair and hit her on the back of her neck. She fell forward, unconscious. He rolled her over, untied her hands, rolled her again, and tied her hands behind her back, then tied her ankles together. Just for the fun of it, he kicked her in the side and spit on her face.
He sang to himself as he drove back to the city and home.
Chapter 71
Lucretia left the bank and returned to the millinery shop where she had left Ruby. When she did not see her, she asked the clerk if she had seen Ruby leave. “Yes, I did, mistress. A large, strangely dressed woman came inside and they left together. I wondered about the unlikely twosome, but they seemed to be in a hurry. I forgot about them until you asked. Sorry I cannot be of more help.”
Lucretia went back outside and looked up and down the street and into the alleys on either side of the block. Perhaps she felt ill and returned to the hotel, she thought. However, the carriage was still waiting. She climbed inside without waiting for the driver to assist her and ordered him to drive slowly to the hotel. She did not see Ruby anywhere, so she explained to the driver, who agreed to search other streets for her. At the desk, she saw both their keys in the room slot.
“Hello, I am Lucretia Sawyer and I seem to have misplaced my mother. No, not a joke. Sorry I sound f
lippant, but I am most concerned. No, my name really is Sawyer. We used Mills to guard our privacy from certain individuals who might be overly interested in two ladies traveling alone.
“My mother was in a store, waiting for me to return. The clerk told me she left in a hurry with another woman, but that is strange because we know no other ladies in the city. My driver today is out looking for her…I hope you do not mind. I will pay for his time. Could you send out other drivers we have used? The ones who would recognize her?”
The desk clerk agreed immediately and soon, several drivers were combing the city in search of the missing woman. Lucretia sat in the lobby watching everyone outside when Devereaux LaClaire drove up. She ran outside to him with tears on her cheeks.
“What is it, dear sweet girl? Why are you crying? Can I help in some way?” He enveloped her in his arms, smiling as he rested his chin on her soft hair. This is the way I want you, he thought. Soon I will have you. Inwardly, he felt a rush of power and desire for her and her money…mostly her money, he finally admitted to himself.
She explained Ruby’s disappearance again. “My God, Lucretia. That is horrible. Have you notified the police yet?” She shook her head. “Well, come, we will do so immediately. They will find your…guardian.”
“Oh, Devereaux, she is more than my guardian. She is my mother.” She could not know that her words hit him like a knife in his stomach. He forced himself to remain still, while he wanted to shake her and her words away. “Mother. I did not realize she was your mother.”
“Do not say was. Say is. She is only missing and the police will find her. You are right. Hurry, please take me to them.”
After their visit to the police, Lucretia asked him to drive her back to her hotel. “Perhaps we should stop for supper. I would wager you have not eaten at all today. How about Antoine’s for a bowl of gumbo or chowder? Nothing heavy. Just a light meal while you wait. I am sure the police will have news within the hour.”
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