I was good.
I spent a lot of time at the compound helping to train and to observe. Quite often, new recruits were older than I was, but usually, they were more than happy to learn from someone as proficient with knives as me. Whenever I saw a new group of three or four hopefuls, I was reminded of the time Oliver, Faith and I were totally unaware of the process deciding who became an official Praying Mantassassin. There are occasions when even the lone graduate doesn’t make it past the first few missions without getting themselves killed or captured. Nevertheless, the captured ones soon meet their demise before they can offer any information about our operation.
For the first time in nearly four years, I found myself back in my hometown, ready to be picked up from my roach infested motel for a date with the one boy I realised I truly loved. It had been a long time, and I never had the chance to say goodbye, leaving me often wondering if he knew what had become of me.
I checked myself one last time in the grubby mirror, my makeup only lightly applied to enhance my delicate facial features. The sleeveless and low back white summer dress hung on me as if it had been tailor-made while my push-up bra exaggerated my naturally small bust. I breathed in and out a few times, with each one longer than the previous. I filled a cup of water.
“You’ll be okay,” I said aloud as I stared back at the woman who was just a girl when she left this town. My hand trembled as I raised the cup to my mouth, and I spilled a little down my chin as I took harsh gulps.
I decided to dispense with high heels, feeling more natural walking out of the motel room in my near flat Gucci loafers. The money’s good when you do what I do, and a girl has to treat herself with brand name clothing and shoes at the very least.
Without sounding boastful, the looks I attracted didn’t surprise me. My hair hung straight, and the blonde streaks made me think about the possibility of going completely blonde one day. At least unlike the days when I was a young girl living in this town, I can stand here and not feel like bait for dirty old fuckers like Russell. If I needed to, I could take anyone down.
A few nervous minutes later, I saw an old red station wagon stop at the kerb in front of me. I could make out a male face on the driver’s side of the car, and it only took a few seconds for the driver’s identity to establish itself as he exited the car.
“Billy,” I yelled, as he looked my way and smiled. Gone were the glasses, pimples, and an awkward stance. He had become a man and a big juicy piece of highly fuckable man flesh. The years had been kind to him in the looks department, but as he ran up and hugged me, I could see he still possessed his sweet boy nature.
“Karla, you look even more beautiful than you did in school,” he held me tight, and I could have happily stayed in this embrace for hours.
“You haven’t turned out too bad yourself. So you taking me somewhere nice or what?”
“Well, of course.” He ran to the passenger side and opened the door for me. I couldn’t help but smile, always the gentleman.
“You still driving your mum’s car, I see.”
“Yeah, I know. The job at the cinema doesn’t pay so well.”
I regretted my words immediately. Poor Billy could have gone to college anywhere, but with his mother’s ailing health, he found himself stuck taking his part-time after school job into a full-time one so he could remain here to take care of her. Words failed me.
“But I get to see the films before anybody else does. Being a manager does have its perks.” His words rescued the awkward situation mine had caused.
The drive to the restaurant was a quick one, given the size of my hometown and lack of places to eat. Hungry Duck is the pick of the places to dine in my hometown, and although not a five-star eatery by any standard, I remembered they cooked a decent steak. The young woman serving at the counter looked me in the eyes. “Karla?”
“Yes, Monica. It’s me. And tonight I am on a date with the best-looking boy from school.”
While she was at work, she couldn’t use words like slut, so instead, she led us to an intimate table for two by the window. Billy pulled out a chair for me before taking one opposite. “You’re a real gentleman. I feel unworthy.”
“Don’t ever say that about yourself, Karla. You’re the one girl worthy of everything. I wanted to save you myself that day, but the great thing was your mum finally standing up for you. Shame she went after that cop and got herself shot.”
I nodded at Billy’s version of what he believed happened the day I killed Russell. Would he have still held me in such high regard if he knew what had actually happened? Part of me felt he would love me more if he knew how I finally stood up to the beast while the other part felt the truth would have scared him to know what I had been capable of doing. I never told him about the rapes or abuse. Instead, I told Billy that Russell beat my mother and I up.
“Why did you never ask me out?” I asked him out of the blue.
Billy smiled. “I was shy, and you were way out of my league. And as a friend, I could keep you close and never lose you. I loved you back then, more than you could have known, but I loved you so much I couldn’t risk being the type of boy who would let you down like a boyfriend.”
I reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Billy, did you ever think it was the other way around? I was hardly a good girl back then.”
He smiled but didn’t say anything. How could he when he knew how promiscuous I was? I searched for some way to change the subject. “What else have you been doing since school? Any ladies on the scene?”
“My mother’s been sick, so I’ve been working and looking after her, nothing much else really. No time for sports, holidays, or even a girlfriend. But she’s my mother, and I can’t leave her to fend for herself. And I don’t have the money to pay for her to go into care.”
A tear fell from my eye. “Well, Billy, I’ll make this the date of your life.”
Smiling, he picked my hand up off the table and brought it to his lips. My skin tingled. His grip both firm and gentle at the same time, it sent a shiver down my hand all the way up my spine. “Just seeing your face again made this the best date of my life.”
“So, have you ever had a girl?” a direct question, but one I felt I already knew the answer to.
He bowed his head. “No, I haven’t Karla. I’ve been waiting for you. I know it sounds crazy, but I haven’t thought of any other girl as I have you. I had to see you one more time to make sure I felt the same, and seeing you now confirms it.”
I felt so bad for him. Having feelings for anyone never seemed to work for me in my line of work. What the hell could I do with him after the date? It had been risky enough to ask to leave the compound for a non-mission objective, and even after three years, blindfolds were still used so I didn’t know the way to get there. How could it have been possible to do this on a regular basis?
“I’m sorry. I have no right to put that on you, Karla.”
I smiled back at him, and before I could say anything, a waiter stood next to our table. He took our order and as he left, gave me a departing smile. Billy didn’t say anything but poured another glass of wine for each of us.
The food was delicious, as expected, and after three courses, the two of us felt rather full but not uncomfortable. Billy asked me many questions about my new life, and each time I lied to him, I felt my soul decay a fraction at a time. I told him the same series of backstory lies I had told to dozens of people.
Billy asked for the bill for the meal, and although I requested we go Dutch, he insisted on being the traditional male and paying for the whole meal. The poor guy would take a year to earn what I earned in a typical mission.
We walked hand in hand back to his car, and it took everything I had inside to prevent myself from insisting he put me on the bonnet of the car and fuck me there and then. Luckily, he had other ideas.
“I’ve reserved a whole cinema just for you and me to watch any film you like.” His eyes lit up as he told me his plans.
&nbs
p; “You know my favourite film, Billy,” I stopped in my tracks and pulled him towards me. “Just kiss me already.”
He may have looked different, tall, buff, and cuter than a panda bear hugging a baby panda, but he was still nervous when it came to female contact. His lips touched mine and one of his hands cupped the back of my head as I pressed my lips firmer to his, and within a minute, my tongue located his. My body tingled as the kiss lingered for what seemed like minutes, and I felt myself begin to get wet.
I pulled away, and while slightly out of breath, I suggested we go see this film before it got too late.
******
“Hey, you look kind of familiar.” A rough male voice pierced the euphoria Billy and I shared while we walked hand in hand to the cinema.
A bar across the road from where we parked was often frequented by the redneck contingent of the town. I recognised the owner of the voice, one of Russell’s old friends. And then I noticed another face from my past as the man’s passenger exited the car. No matter how strong I had become since the day I killed Russell, seeing these two friends of his brought back memories of when I was much younger. Memories of three dirty perverts asking me to dance in my underwear for their amusement.
“Are you okay?” Billy asked.
I turned away from the two men near the pickup truck. “I will be as soon as we hit the cinema.”
“Isn’t that you, Karla? You’re looking all woman now. You need a man to fix your needs,” the second man said.
“Hey,” Billy yelled.
“Just let it go, Billy.” I grabbed his hand tighter and led him away.
Walking away to the cinema, the chuckles of Russell’s friends faded as we reached the building.
******
I often wondered if I was born during the wrong era, as a film released around ten years before I was even born began to play on the screen in front of us.
The cinema had been in desperate need of renovations for some time. The seats felt like the springs hadn’t been fixed or replaced since my grandmother took me there as a child. Billy draped his arm over my shoulder, and in response, my hand made a grab for his thigh. I didn’t wish to wait any longer in the deserted cinema.
My hand travelled higher, making its way to the inside of his thigh. Sliding my hand further, my hand reached the bulge in the front of his pants. Billy’s erection was hard as a rock, and my hunger for the confined beast inside urged me to set it free from its confines.
Keeping my hand in place, I peeled away from my seat, stood in front of him gripping his stiffness with a heightened craving, and leaned close to him. My free hand searched for his, and upon locating it, I move it to my thigh. Looking him in the eye, I hadn’t wanted someone so bad since Faith. His hand trembled while journeying higher, almost skating along my recently waxed legs until his fingers made contact with my panties.
“Pull them down,” I whispered.
He stared into my pleading eyes, and his other hand joined the one pressed against the part of me pining to feel him inside. In a move I didn’t think him capable of doing back in our school days, I felt my panties pulled down to my ankles. He rubbed me gently, his finger increasing the wetness. I knew he was inexperienced, but that also excited me in a way knowing I would be the one he lost his virginity to. I unzipped his jeans and put my hand down the front of his undies, freeing his exposed cock with my massaging fingertips. I pulled his jeans and undies to his ankles and then climbed on top of his lap. My knees on either side of him, I lowered myself and used a hand to guide him inside me. I heard him groan as his full length entered. I’d had much larger cocks inside me, but at least, I could take Billy and feel full without the pain caused by excessive size.
Arching myself back, I began moaning while bouncing up and down. I knew it wouldn’t take long for him to come, being his first time. I didn’t care. It was all about Billy and giving him what should have been his to take for the first time. I wiped them all from my mind, the perverted deceased Russell, the schoolboys who all used me, the fellow assassin classmate Oliver, and lastly, all those men and couple of women I had fucked before they died all in the name of paid work. I really wanted to come, but I had never been able to for a man before, and Billy deserved to be the first to take me there.
It felt so good. For that moment in time, Billy ruled as my sex king.
I swore to myself I’d try to find a way to see him from time to time and coach him to be the best fuck ever. The spiritual connection existed between us, so I surmised the sensual connection would get there. And caught up in the moment with Billy, there was nothing else mattering in the world.
“Oh, my God!” Billy yelled out, and I felt him quivering as he came and shot his load inside me. When he stopped shaking, we sat with me still on top of him. I love young guys for the reason they can stay hard for a while after they’ve come. I wanted to remain at that moment forever, no red tape or questionable assassin careers to keep us apart. No past, no future, just the moment.
But it can’t be. A tear escaped my eye and I prayed Billy didn’t spot it. “Please hold me, Billy, and don’t let go.”
“When you left, I always told myself that if you ever came back, I would hold you and never let you go. And now you’re here. I’m the luckiest man in the world, and I want to be with you till I take my last breath.”
“Billy…” How could I let him down gently? There was no way I could do this without hurting him.
“Karla, come back to my place. Please.” his puppy dog eyes spoke louder than his words.
I told myself I could do this, stay the night at his place. As it stood, the night was young, and I could have happily continued that one night to remember. “One condition, Billy. You best be ready for rounds two and three, possibly more.”
“I’m prepared to put in a whole nine innings.”
I giggled and dismounted his lap. We dressed and prepared to face the rest of the night with an unmatched enthusiasm for any previous experience we’d had before. I sure hoped he could match my energy levels.
******
The journey took only a few minutes, and before we knew it, Billy had his mother’s car parked in her driveway. I hoped she wasn’t home, or the sex marathon could have become awkward quickly.
“No, Mum’s not home tonight in case you’re wondering. She always liked you, so when I said we’re going on a date tonight, she got a friend to pick her up and give me a night off. She wanted to be gone in case things went very well.”
I leant over, kissed him on the lips, and giggled. “Well, we better get inside then and make the most of it.” I didn’t give him a chance to do the old-fashioned gentleman gesture of opening the door for me. Instead, I slid along the seat, opened my door, and stepped outside, just to be welcomed by a fist to the side of my head. Unprepared for the attack, I crashed on my side into the cement driveway and saw two men looking down on me. It was the same two men again. How the hell did they know we would be here?
“How about giving us some of your sugar?” the taller one said.
The darkness gave me little chance of making out their features, but his stupid comment allowed me enough time to get to my feet and see the knife in his hand. I thought to myself he better make sure he gets me first, or else I know I can take him if I can get hold of that blade.
“Karla, no,” Billy yelled out as I saw him charge for the knife-wielding thug.
“Billy, don’t. I got this.” I rolled over, put my hands to the ground, and aimed my leg at the taller man. The bridge of my foot slammed into his ankle, and I made sure to avoid his body as it crashed to the ground. One of the first things I took on board when learning to fight at the compound was that the biggest person could tumble like a house of cards if you hit a weak spot.
I saw the blade fall from his grip as he collided with the earth and wasted no time in claiming it from him. “Don’t fucking move.”
“Karla?” Billy’s voice pierced the night sky.
I glanced at him
as the second thug made a grab for him from behind and held a knife against Billy’s neck. “Put the knife down or your boyfriend gets it,” the second thug said.
I stared straight through him. I couldn’t allow Billy to get hurt so I contemplated my options. “What’s to say you won’t kill him if I let your friend go?” I hadn’t felt fear for some time, and even at that moment, it wasn’t for my own safety.
“Stupid bitch, you shouldn’t have fought back. You were supposed to just take it like you did from Russell.” The shorter thug smiled.
Those words set off a trigger in Billy. He leaned forward and readied his elbow to smack his captor in the face. I heard the taller thug chuckle as his friend held his grip around Billy and snapped his arm in a rapid arc. Seconds ticked as I saw Billy’s eyes bulge as he was released, toppling forward to the ground.
“Billy!” I screamed. I looked at the blade in my grip and the redneck fucker I knocked to the ground, and then I lunged at his throat. As I made contact, I swiped with my weapon hand and the adrenaline fuelled me through the resistance his meaty neck attempted to put up against me.
Not wasting any time, I somersaulted back through the air and landed on my feet in a crouching tiger pose. Hatred for the murdering stranger in front of me thrust my body as I took a short run at him.
He readied himself but wasn’t by any means prepared for a fight with a trained killer. His fists rose in hopes that I would make a straightforward assault at his upper torso. He was unprepared as, within a split second, I dived beneath his swinging fist and the hand gripping his knife and then hit the ground between his feet. His open stance allowed me room to slide underneath, reach up with my willowy arm, and strike him with an open palm between his legs, crushing his manhood in the process, and sending him to his knees as I moved my legs back out from under him.
He coughed and groaned. Getting to my feet, I saw the back of his head and looked at the razor-sharp knife in my other hand. There was no time for taunting, so I plunged my blade at the base of his skull and pushed it all the way in up to the weapons handle.
7PM - Brittany (A 5PM Short Story) Page 4