“You ever heard of such a thing?” Jonah asked.
“No, not here. But I suppose this is not the first time a bird flew through a window.”
“Come on,” Jonah said, motioning for Chuck to follow him into the kitchen. “I’ll show you the little bullet.”
It wasn’t that Jonah suspected that Chuck didn’t believe him. People tended to believe what you said when your first name was Doctor. Jonah just wanted to check his own perception. In the kitchen, with Chuck behind him, Jonah opened the pantry door. On top of the trash was the little sparrow, with its head crammed down into its body.
“Ouch!” Chuck said.
“Yeah,” Jonah said, a sigh of relief in his head.
“Let’s take a look at that window,” Chuck said, leading the way out of the kitchen.
“It’s in the back bedroom,” Jonah said.
In his bedroom, Jonah stood back, as Chuck removed the cardboard and inspected the window. After about a minute, Chuck asked, “Do sparrows fly in flocks?”
“I don’t know,” Jonah responded, though he doubted that, if they did, they would at this time of year.
“Well, they must,” Chuck said. “Because there’s this long crack here.”
Jonah inspected the crack in the window that Chuck was pointing at. The crack extended above and below the hole.
Chuck said, “One of them must have made that crack, then the others softened it up more and more until one went through.”
Jonah nodded. And the cats cleaned up the mess down below.
A little while later, Chuck went outside to get the new window. Jonah went into the living room, where he stayed as Chuck worked.
Jonah was satisfied that it all had been real. He wasn’t going to talk to anyone about it, though. At least, he wouldn’t mention it to anyone until Tate got home.
After Chuck left, Jonah finally went back to bed. There, he slept dreamlessly.
#
Jonah woke up Saturday afternoon, ready to check. But, even with the madness in his life, he wasn’t ready to let the OCD creep back anymore than he already had. Even with the madness, he still craved the fast and efficient mind he had found. So, instead of checking, Jonah meditated. Soon, the checking thoughts coming into his head were merely observed, and, since they were only observed, and not struggled with or given into, the checking thoughts had nothing to grasp. Soon, they went away.
#
As much as having a meditative consciousness allowed Jonah to deal with negative thoughts and emotions by letting them pass through his mind, it allowed him to enhance pleasurable experiences by focusing in on them. Eating became an offering to the senses. The texture of pasta and complexity of sauce seemed like it would be a good offering. With slim pickings for Italian in Stanton, Jonah left his apartment early Saturday evening, intending to go to an Italian restaurant in nearby Lake City.
It took Jonah about fifteen minutes to reach the exit off of I-27 and into Lake City. Then he drove right past that exit.
Jonah had suddenly found himself wanting more. He needed people, and a lot of them. He was going to have a woman tonight, no matter what. Images of a variety of women flashed through his head. There were different shapes and sizes, but none were large, none were old, and none were ugly. Otherwise, he would take what came, and there would be no courting. It would be just a matter of getting one into his car, or at least getting one to somewhere secluded.
Lansing seemed good. There would be big clubs there, with lots of drunk and careless women to choose from. Just let someone stand in his way, he thought. That would be fun too.
Jonah sped his car up to eighty, ninety, then one hundred miles per hour. At this speed, he’d be to Lansing in less than an hour. Still, that was too long. He couldn’t hold out until Lansing. He would take the next exit and go to the first bar he found, and if he couldn’t find a bar, he’d find somewhere else, a gas station, a parking lot, anywhere that he might spot a lone woman. Then he would take. There’d be no ramifications, and if there were ramifications, then fuck the ramifications. He was going to be alive. He was going to take.
Jonah was almost to the next exit when he saw the roadside advertisement.
“Oh yeah,” he said out loud. He’d seen the advertisement before. It had registered in his head as he passed by on the road, and just like any man would, he had pondered it. But he’d never stopped. Tonight, he would stop. He would live. He would take.
The exit was five miles ahead. Then he had to drive another ten miles on a highway. It was hard, but Jonah was able to wait that long.
The strip club was located out of town. It was a rundown windowless building with a marquee that read “Mama’s Place.” The lot was filled with vehicles, mostly cars and pickups, but a few semi trucks. Music and muffled shouts came from inside. A sign on the door announced the club’s hours. Right inside that door was a small corridor, where a young man stood behind a counter. Beyond the corridor was a bar, where men stood or sat turned away from the bar, watching the show. From his perspective, Jonah couldn’t see the show.
“Hello, sir,” the young man behind the counter said over the loud music. “Is this your first time at Mama’s Place?”
Jonah nodded, not wanting to talk to the man.
“There’s a ten dollar cover. Table dances are twenty dollars. Backroom dances are forty.”
Jonah nodded again. He reached for his wallet. He hated to give his money to the man. He was not here to give. He was here to take.
As he got the man his ten dollars, Jonah noticed that he didn’t have a lot of money in his wallet. That would certainly make his endeavor more complex, and if it didn’t make it more complex, it would make it more barbaric.
“Have a great time,” the man said as Jonah turned from him.
Beyond the bar, in the middle of a room packed with men sitting at tables, was a stage, where a blonde-headed woman wearing only a G-string shook her tits with her hands out to the side.
Jonah felt his erection tighten immediately. It became so hard that it actually hurt. Though it didn’t seem physically possible, it felt as if it had grown bigger than it had ever been before.
There were too many people. It would be hard to get enough. Unlike the rest of the men there, Jonah was not going to settle for what was offered. But how would he get one out?
Though he didn’t want to take his eyes from the woman on the stage right now, Jonah had to look around the room and find some way. He saw other women scattered about, maybe a dozen, sitting amongst the men at the tables, men that must have numbered about two hundred. Yes, each woman would attract a lot of attention. In order to take one, he would have to find a way around all the other men.
Jonah finally spotted the solution, and it was only a few feet away from him. Until now, being so focused on the girl on stage and then on the rest of the room, he hadn’t noticed the ATM machine near the entrance. Jonah took his wallet back out and walked over to the machine. He first took out his debit card. He used that to get the maximum amount he could take in a twenty-four hour period, $500. He then used his credit card to get another $500. It was a lot of money, but he didn’t care. He didn’t intend to use it all anyway, at least, not right now, not here. He just needed it as a lure.
Jonah turned around with fifty twenty-dollar bills in his hand. He pretended to count it, only hoping to be spotted by one of the vultures.
Jonah walked into the room, holding the bills in front of him.
There was nowhere to sit, unless he wanted to sit with other men, and he didn’t. Jonah decided to just roam around for a while, but he didn’t have to roam for long. Even before the song that was playing ended, Jonah saw three different women approaching him. All three were making their way through the maze of tables and men, not acknowledging the advances made toward them. There were not enough of them to go around, but still the vultures could smell the kill. That was fine. Now he could select among them. It was time to think fast.
Jonah stepped towar
d the tables, toward the vulture on his left, the one closest. He made eye contact. She was the smallest of the three. He moved in closer and saw that she wore an extraordinary amount of makeup, especially around her eyes. Her face had angular features, gaunt. There was a certain weakness, unhealthiness in her walk.
An addict.
Being an addict would make her desperate and extra responsive to the lure of money. She was perfect, in a way. She would go with him, almost definitely. Logic said take her. But there was something besides logic. Something about her being an addict made her repugnant to him.
She made it right up to him and said, “Hi, cutie.”
Jonah turned from her. He saw that both the other girls had stopped, not far from him, but spread away from each other. He moved toward them, around the tables of men, some of which stared at him like he had already committed a crime, no doubt jealous of his allure.
The next girl to get to Jonah was the tallest of the three. She was by no means heavy, but she had a little pooch on her stomach, which she was trying to hide with the high cut waistband of her negligee.
“Hi,” she said, nervousness in her voice. He looked at her face, which was also nervous. This girl was not resourceful enough to hide her emotions. She was not intelligent. He moved past her to the third girl.
The third was the most attractive of the three. She was also tall. She was thin, but healthy looking. Her smile was seductive, but at the same time natural. She was a diamond in the rough and would do nicely.
“Well, hi there,” she said, getting right up close to him, the two of them crowded in a mass of men.
Jonah held the money right up in front of him.
“Like a dance?” the vulture asked.
Jonah nodded.
She leaned forward, letting her covered breasts brush against him. She kissed him on the ear, then whispered, “Put your money away, honey. We’ll get to that.”
Jonah folded the bills and placed them in his front pocket. The vulture took his hand and led him through the crowd. She had on a teddy that hugged her body. Right now, nothing more was showing than what a one-piece bathing suit would reveal. Jonah couldn’t wait for her to take the teddy off. He couldn’t wait to be in her. He knew one way or the other, he would be in her. But he had to get her out of here, where he could take. If he couldn’t get her out of here, to somewhere private, he would take anyway. He would try other means, safer means. But he would, in the end, take.
The vulture led him by the bar, where there was a clearing that led to a back area. There were five booths, each with a couch. In one of the booths, a mostly naked dancer rubbed her tits in the face of a man sitting on the couch.
The vulture led Jonah to the back booth. She sat him down on the couch and then sat beside him. She rubbed a hand on one of his legs. She put her mouth up to his ear and whispered, “You must be a cop.”
Clever, Jonah thought. She was going to insure that she wouldn’t be busted for any illegal activity. Jonah reached for his wallet. He opened it and showed her his professional license. “No, I’m a shrink,” he said, quietly, knowing she didn’t want the people in the other booth to hear.
“Wow,” she said. Then, for a few seconds, she thought about it, then said, “That doesn’t prove you’re a not a cop. That could be fake.”
As much of a hurry as he was in, his urge ready to overwhelm him, Jonah liked her cautiousness, and he liked that her questions were clever. She hadn’t committed to anything that could buy her legal troubles, yet.
Jonah used his right hand to undo his jeans. Then he bought out his erect cock, which, as he had suspected earlier, had grown in size. “Now,” Jonah said. “That’s indecent exposure, and possibly sexual assault on my part. Would a cop do that?”
Again, the vulture seemed to think. Then she said, “No. A cop wouldn’t do that.” She reached over, put away what he had pulled out, and then fastened his pants for him. “So,” she said when she was finished. “What can I help you with?”
Jonah smiled, resisting a very strong urge to throw her down and rip into her cunt. “I want you to leave here with me,” he said.
The vulture smiled and lifted her eyebrows. She wasn’t going to offer up anything.
Clever.
“I’ll pay you one thousand dollars,” Jonah whispered.
The vulture whispered in his ear, “I can make that in one weekend of dancing. And there’s no risk.”
Jonah nodded. Inside, he wanted to whip an elbow into the vulture’s greedy face. But he was able to resist that urge. He whispered, “Two thousand, but I want you to come with me now.”
Again, the vulture smiled, calmly, good at her trade. She whispered, “I can’t leave now. But when we’re through here, go out to your car and head west on this road until you see the Pines Hotel. Go in and ask for the suite. I’ll be there in less than an hour.”
Jonah hesitated. He didn’t know if he could wait. But he forced himself to nod anyway.
“I want five hundred now,” the vulture said.
Jonah reached into his pocket. He pulled about half of the bills from the wad and handed them to her. She didn’t take time to count them, quickly folding them and hiding them under her garter belt.
Jonah hadn’t wanted to give her the money, but he figured he could take it back later. He started to get up, but the vulture grabbed his arm.
“I have to dance for you. Just in case someone comes back here and sees us, I want it to look good.” The vulture got up. She waited a few seconds as the current song ended. Then, when the next song came on, she began to move. She turned in circles, shaking her hips, shaking her top, showing him what she had but through the teddy. The dance angered him. He didn’t care to be teased. He wanted to take.
The vulture finally brought down one of the thin straps on her shoulder, then she did the same thing on the other side. She turned a few times around and then stopped, closing her eyes as she moved her hands to the cups over her breasts. Jonah was somehow not interested in what she was going to do next. He was more interested in the look of seduction on her face. That look pissed him off even more. How dare she play this game with him? He wanted one thing from her. He wanted to take.
In a slow sweeping motion, the vulture lowered the cups and her breasts were on display. Jonah paid very little attention to the size and shape of those breasts. He was only mildly interested in breasts at all. He wanted to be in her, to use her for exactly what he wanted her for.
The vulture came right up to him. She put one of those breasts on his face then swept it over, then did the same with the other breast.
How could she have the gull? Did she really think that she was so special? All she had was the same thing so many other women had. Did she really think he enjoyed this that much? Did she really think he was going to give her the money? She was not worth the money. All she was worth was meeting his needs, then being out of his way.
The stripper backed away, then turned around a few more times. She stopped with her back to him. She moved her hands to her waist, where the teddy still hung. She began to slowly lower that teddy, going from one side to the next. Jonah had had enough. He first undid his pants and pulled it out. Then he curled an arm forward and hooked the vulture. With her standing between his legs, in a matter of a second, he used his free hand to pull off her teddy, then her G-string. He moved his hands to her waist and pulled her onto his cock as she struggled.
She was wet and slid down easy, but he could feel her on his sides. He felt his climax coming immediately. Caught up in the sensation, Jonah loosened his grip, which allowed the vulture to stand up. Jonah felt two things at once. There was the throbbing as he sprayed cum all over the place, and the rage he felt at the vulture. She was not supposed to get up. She was supposed to take it inside her.
But the rage dwindled fast. In fact, a lot of what he had felt dwindled fast, and he became afraid. What the hell was he doing? He released his grip on the dancer. She quickly slipped on her thong. Then she pic
ked up her teddy, and struggled to slip it on.
“I’m sorry,” Jonah said.
The stripper peered around the corner, then let out a sigh of relief. She turned to Jonah as she pulled the teddy the rest of the way on. “What the hell were you doing?” she said in a quiet but angry voice.
“I don’t know. I’m so sorry,” Jonah responded.
“You were supposed to wait until we got to the hotel. I can’t do that here.”
With that, Jonah was somewhat relieved. This woman was not upset because she had just been violated. She was upset because she had been violated in a place where she wasn’t supposed to let that happen. Suspecting he knew where her priorities were, Jonah pulled the rest of the money from his pocket. “Here,” he said, pushing it forward. “Take it all.”
Without hesitation, the stripper reached out and took the money. She disposed of it quickly, just as she had before.
“Is this the full two-thousand?” she asked.
Jonah took out his wallet. He had around fifty dollars inside. He handed her that. “It’s all I have on me,” he said.
For a few seconds, the dancer glared at him. Then she shrugged. She seemed to think. Then she smiled, pleasantly, and said, “I can’t take the last of the money you have on you.” She pushed the wallet money at him.
“No, go ahead,” Jonah said, relieved that she wasn’t acting as if she were going to have him beat up or arrested.
The dancer smiled gratefully at him, then put the rest of the money away. She leaned forward and kissed him.
“All right,” she said. “But next time, let’s do this the right way.” She kissed him again, then left him sitting there.
Jonah immediately buttoned himself up. He noticed a few little blotches of white on his shirt, but he doubted that they would be too noticeable in the dark club. He got up and walked out, though he wanted to run.
Jonah did not see the stripper again on his way out to his car. He knew there were a thousand things to think of right now, but he was mainly just relieved. He had just done something incredibly stupid, and it looked like he was going to get away with it. He was going to get away with it because he had money. He knew that was wrong and should bug him, but it didn’t. He was just glad he hadn’t thrown his life away.
Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner Page 11