Phoenix Rising

by Anais Ninja

  “Mia...,” I whispered, kissing her soft lips. “Did you...?”

  “No, never, not even once,” she said. “But I thought about him all the time, and I would touch myself...”

  “Tell me about him. What was he like?” I wanted to keep her mind off of what might be happening outside the bedroom window.

  “He’s older now, almost sixty, but when he was in his forties he was handsome, tall...” Mia paused for a moment and swallowed. “...like your father.”

  “Sounds dreamy,” I said.

  “I still think of him, and I regret not taking a chance,” she said. “You know, your father’s been gone a long time.”

  “I’m sure he’s okay,” I said, though I wasn’t so sure myself.

  “We should call the police,” she said in a trembling voice. “Hand me the phone. We’ll call 911.” I reached over her to the bedside table. The phone was next to the coke, and I thought that we’d have to get rid of that before the cops came. Just as I handed the receiver to Mia, we heard footsteps in the hall, coming closer. The door opened and the ceiling light flicked on.

  David and Dana stood in front of my father, their coats zipped up over their pajamas, Dana’s cheeks turned rosy red from the chilly night air. My father walked to the closet and put the silver object he’d had in his pocket back on the top shelf. It was only then that I saw what it was: a small nickel-plated revolver.

  “Frank, you could have shot them,” Mia said, drawing the sheets over the rest of her body. She’d seen it, too.

  “I knew it was them,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “They weren’t in their rooms. The gun never left my pocket.”

  I hadn’t bothered to cover myself, and I just laid there on my side, the nightie half off of my body, snuggled against Mia. David and Dana looked sheepishly down at their feet, knowing that they’d been caught doing something very bad. David, however, kept stealing glances at the bed, and I could see a lump forming in his pajama bottoms.

  “Well, that’s awful, spying on us.” Mia said. “Go back to bed and we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

  “No,” David said. “We want to sleep with you.”

  “What?” my father said, incredulous. “You want to what?”

  “We want to sleep in your bed,” Dana said, an almost defiant look on her face. “With you. I want to cuddle with Annie before she goes.”

  My father’s face softened, and he burst out laughing, leaving David and Dana looking bewildered, having expected an angry outburst. He reached out for Dana, pulling her into his arms, hugging her, kissing her crimson cheeks. She put her arms around him and smiled for the first time, a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Okay, just for a little while, and then it’s bedtime,” he said, kissing her nose. “Let’s get this off first.” He tugged at the zipper of her coat.

  “Frank, I don’t think...” Mia said, as Dana bounded on to the bed and into my arms, holding on to me for dear life.

  “You too, sport,” he said to David. The boy eagerly pulled off his jacket and got into bed between me and Mia, snuggling up against me, kissing me on the shoulder. I put my arm around him and his sister and pulled them closer, feeling like I never wanted to let them go. “Isn’t that sweet?” my father asked Mia. “Look at them.”

  “It is,” Mia said, wistfully, rolling over and placing her hand on David’s shoulder. “Our beautiful children...”

  My father turned out the light and climbed into bed behind Dana, wrapping his arms around us, still wearing his robe. Dana nuzzled my neck and David rested his head on my shoulder, holding me just below my breast, gently caressing me. Despite the size of the king size bed, it was a bit small for five people. Mia began to get a bit too close to the edge of the mattress, so she moved closer to David, snuggling up against him. I could feel the hardness in his pajamas, pressing against my thigh.

  I could say that we all ended up together in an ecstatic orgy of sexual delight, but I would be lying. David did press his erection against my leg, but he soon stopped and fell asleep. So did Dana, out like a light even before her brother. Mia straightened her chemise and laid her head on the pillow next to David, laying her arm across his chest and closing her eyes. Only my father and I were awake. He was snuggled up to Dana, his hand on her hip, his eyes open. I could tell that he wanted to touch her more than anything else in the world, and I wondered what would happen after I left. No doubt he would at least take more pictures, like the ones he’d taken of me. I pictured her tiny hands wrapped around his thick shaft, just the tip of his cock between her rosy lips, his seed spilling from her little mouth.

  “Be good to her, Daddy,” I whispered.

  “You know I will, angel,” he said. “I promise.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Good night, princess.”

  “Good night. I love you, Daddy.”

  “I love you, too, Annie.”

  With that, I closed my eyes. The cocaine had all but worn off, and I was left with a deep fatigue, total exhaustion. It had been a long day, a long hike, a big dinner, and all that excitement afterwards. By this time tomorrow I’d be in Boston, in Carrie’s bed, or perhaps with Bradley and Helen. As much as I felt at home here, I missed them, and I looked forward to seeing them again. I missed their warmth, their affection, their love, even though I knew I’d miss my father and his family as soon as I got on the plane in the morning. The frantic pace of my thoughts slowed to a crawl, and sleep finally descended, a deep, dreamless sleep.

  * * *

  It was Mia who woke me up the next morning, sitting on the bed in her bathrobe, gently caressing my cheek. I opened my eyes, stretched, and smiled at her.

  “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, Annie,” she said. “Breakfast’s ready.”

  “Thanks,” I said, sitting up and pulling the bodice of my nightie up over my breasts. Mia found my panties on the floor and handed them to me, giving me one of her robes to wear over the sheer nightie. I followed her into the kitchen, where my father, David, and Dana were already seated, waiting until I arrived before they could dig into their pancakes.

  Dana and David didn’t say much during breakfast. I could see on their faces that they weren’t too pleased that I was going to get on that plane in a few hours, and that I wouldn’t see them for weeks or months. After breakfast and coffee, David disappeared into his room and Dana followed me to her bedroom to watch me pack. I needed a shower first, so I took off Mia’s robe and my nightie and headed to the bathroom.

  David was in there, brushing his teeth, just rinsing out his mouth as I twisted the shower’s faucets. He was about to return to his room when I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the bathtub with me.

  “Not so fast, Davy,” I whispered. “One last shower, one for the road.”

  “I was hoping we’d have some time before you left,” he said, reaching for the soap and lathering my breasts and belly. I scooped up some of the suds with my hands and started running my slick hands over his chest, circling his small brown nipples with my fingertips. I could feel his wonderful cock start to harden, rising between his legs and pressing against my cleft. I reached down and stroked it, making it slippery with lather from my belly, and he eased it between my thighs.

  “We can’t,” I said. “Not like that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m going to be seated on a plane for five hours,” I told him. “I don’t want to be sticking to my panties the whole way.”

  “Too bad,” he said.

  “Don’t worry, Davy. I’ll make you feel good.” I pressed my thighs together, trapping his slippery cock between them, and started moving my hips. He put his hands on my bottom and pulled me closer, his hardness sawing back and forth between my legs, pressing up against my cunny, where he really wanted to be just then.

  “Annie...,” he murmured, squeezing my cheeks as he moved his hips against mine. Our slick skin slid together, my nipples gliding over his chest, his soapy torso slipping over my
belly. We kissed, our tongues melding into one, our bodies pressed against each other, the warm water caressing our skin.

  It was over all too quick, and a moment later I felt his hot semen spurting against my nether lips, his cock twitching and throbbing between my thighs. We broke off our kiss and rinsed each other off. David took a long last look at my naked body, as if he was storing up memories until we could be together again. We dried each other off and kissed once more, and then he disappeared into his room. I returned to Dana’s bedroom to get dressed and pack.

  “I wish you could stay,” Dana said. She was sitting on her bed, watching as I folded my clothes and packed them in my suitcase.

  “I wish I could, too,” I said. “But I start school in a few days.”

  “I know, but...” Dana’s eyes began to turn misty, and she sniffled, trying to hold back her tears.

  “Angel,” I said, sitting down on the bed next to her. “I’ll be back before you even know it.”

  “Annie...” she whispered, pressing her face against my soft sweater.

  “I know, baby,” I said, caressing her back. “I know. It’s hard when people go away, someone you love. But we can talk on the phone and write each other, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said. “But I’ll miss cuddling with you.”

  “I will, too.” We held each other for a while, until Dana’s tears stopped. I kissed her on the lips, softly, tenderly, wishing that I could take her with me back to Boston so I wouldn’t have to be away from my beautiful little sister.

  “Let me give you something to remember me,” I said. I’d already given Dana my little vibrator, and now I gave her something almost as intimate, the sheer pink nightie I’d bought a year before, the one that reminded me of the babydoll negligees my mother used to wear. I pulled the nightie and panties from my suitcase and handed them to Dana. She smiled and pressed the nightgown to her face, inhaling the traces of my scent that lingered in the sheer fabric.

  “Thank you, Annie,” she said. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, sweetheart.”

  Dana put the nightie aside and helped me pack. We’d just finished stripping the sheets from the cot and folding it up when my father came into the room, car keys in hand.

  “Ready, Annie?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” I said. I put on Del’s old Miami Dolphins jacket and shouldered my pack while my father picked up my suitcase. Dana followed us out to the front hall where Mia and David were waiting to say goodbye.

  “I’m gonna miss you, sis,” David said, hugging me.

  “I’ll miss you, too, Davy,” I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and then another on his full lips. “Be good, okay?”

  “I will.” He gave me a squeeze and kissed me on the neck. Dana was next, holding out her arms for a hug. We’d already said our goodbyes, back in her room, but hugs and kisses are things a girl can never get enough of, not Dana, not me. I gave her one last squeeze and a kiss on the forehead.

  “Here,” Mia said, handing me a brown paper bag. “A sandwich and some grapes, just in case you get hungry on the plane.”

  “Thank you,” I said, taking the bag and giving her a hug, too. “Thank you for everything.”

  “It was so nice having you here,” she said.

  “I love you,” I whispered in her ear. She tightened her hold on me, and I could feel the baby again, pushing against the inside of her womb, as if he was eager to come into the world and be a part of this family. When she released me from her embrace I could see her eyes were beginning to water.

  “We should go, Annie,” my father said. “We’re running late.”

  “Okay, let’s go before I start to cry” I said. “I’ll call as soon as I get back to Boston.”

  I picked up my backpack again and followed my father out to the car. It was a sunny, mild day and the Cadillac’s top was down. I climbed into the passenger seat and smoothed my flouncy skirt over my thighs, the same comfortable skirt I’d worn on the flight over. Mia and the kids stepped out on to the front porch, waving as my father backed the car out of the driveway. I turned in my seat and waved back at my family as we slowly drove down the street, heading for Sky Harbor Airport.

  We rode in silence, my father looking sullen as he drove. I didn’t feel like talking either, and I felt like I’d start crying any second. I kept wondering if I was making the right decision. Soon we were entering the airport, wheeling into a short-term parking lot. My father parked the car and shut off the engine.

  “There’s still time to change your mind,” he said.

  “I know, Daddy, but...” I was torn, and he wasn’t making it any easier.

  “You’re right, princess,” he said. “I shouldn’t do this to you. It’s selfish of me. You’re doing the right thing.”

  “Thank you, Daddy,” I said, reaching for his hand. “Could I ask a favor?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Anything at all.”

  “Kiss me.” We turned towards each other and our lips met, pressing together, my father’s tongue finding mine, his hand on my thigh. I didn’t care who saw us or what they thought. I wanted to feel his hands on me one more time before I left. After a moment of passion we broke off our kiss. My father looked flushed, and I knew he’d need a moment before he could get out of the car and walk without letting the whole airport know he had an erection.

  “I’m going to miss you so much,” he said. “Every second of every day.”

  “I love you, Daddy,” I said, squeezing his hand.

  “I love you, too, Annie,” he replied. “Let’s go before I start getting choked up, okay?”

  He carried my suitcase into the terminal, standing with me while I checked it in and got my boarding pass. Then he walked me to the security checkpoint. He kissed me again, a fatherly kiss on the cheek, but I could feel the passion surging through him nonetheless. We said a last goodbye and then I put my backpack on the x-ray machine’s conveyer and walked through the metal detector. At the other end of the machine I picked up my bag and took a last look at my father, my tall handsome father, waving to him and blowing him a kiss. He waved back to me and watched as I walked down the long concourse to the gate.

  I waited at the gate for a half hour before they called my flight, trying to hold back my tears. I wanted to write in my journal, but my vision was too blurry, so I just closed my eyes and listened for the flight announcement, waiting to board the plane that would take me back to Boston.

  The flight was just about full, and unlike the sparse weekday morning crowd that I’d flown over with ten days earlier, the plane was filled with mostly tourists instead of business travelers. I had a window seat again, but there was someone seated next to me, an elderly woman and her husband, dressed in casual clothes, the sort of people we’d call “snowbirds” in Florida. As the plane backed away from the gate, the woman reached into her bag and pulled out a Bible, opening it to a bookmarked page and reading it to herself. I glanced over and noticed her lips moving as she read.

  The flight over with Robby had eased some of my fears of air travel, now that I knew that the bumps and whines under the floor were normal, routine, the sounds of the landing gear retracting and some gentle buffeting as we passed over the hills east of the city. As we leveled off, I reached into my bag and pulled out my journal, jotting down the events of the last couple of days and my thoughts and feelings about leaving my father and his family. The flight attendants came by with the beverage cart and I closed my book, ordering coffee while my seat mates had soda and plastic packaged peanuts.

  “You’re from Boston, dear?” the woman next to me asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I’m Jeanette, and this is my husband Harry,” she said. I shook her hand and Harry’s, noticing his gaze falling on my short skirt and bare thighs.

  “Anne,” I said. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  “We’re from New Hampshire,” she said. “Nashua. Have you ever been there?”

  “No, ma’am,” I said. “But I l
ived in Maine for a while.”

  “Have you heard the good news, Anne?” she asked me.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Have you heard the good news.”

  “What news is that?”

  “The Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins,” she said.

  “Yes, I have heard something about that,” I replied.

  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” Jeanette said, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

  “Yes, I know,” I said, wondering if there were any empty seats back here in the coach section. I sipped my coffee and smiled at Jeanette, wondering if I was in for a five hour Bible Studies class.

  “You should accept the Lord Jesus into your heart, Anne,” she said. “Perhaps you wouldn’t feel as if you had to expose your body to the lustful gaze of men.”

  I wanted to say “Like Harry over here?”, but I couldn’t, though his eyes were still fixed on my thighs. I tugged at the hem of my skirt, trying to cover another half inch of skin. Jeanette began to quote chapter and verse, talking of fallen women and sinners, the Whore of Babylon and the fate that would befall nonbelievers when the Rapture came to pass. I listened politely, nodding every so often, but my blood began to boil, and when she used the word “harlot”, I lost it.

  “Harlot? Harlot?” I hissed through clenched teeth. “That’s what Father Ken called me when he raped me on the floor of his office. Where was your Lord Jesus Christ then, Jeanette? I’ll tell you where. He was staring down at me from the cross on the wall above the bed, watching as Father Ken pimped me out to his buddies. Where was He when Megan got hurt? She almost bled to death because a so-called ‘man of God’ shoved his cock into her. Where was God, Jeanette? Where in His plan does it say a nine-year-old girl has to suffer? Fuck you, Jeanette. Fuck you and your ‘good news’“.

  The whole plane was silent, and people were turning around in their seats, trying to see what the commotion was. Two flight attendants started walking down the aisle towards us. Jeanette was speechless, her mouth open, her eyes wide. Finally, she summoned the nerve to speak.