Part XXXIX - Pride So Hurt

Descending the steps into the Heterson basement...

“Let me go! Ow! You asshole-”

“Watch your mouth, boy!” and reaching the bottom of the steps Steve Jalone gave Kev Heterson a hard shove, sending him sprawling across the basement floor. He threw out his arms desperately and managed to half-catch, half-crash into a support pillar to keep from falling down. Digging in with his fingernails and breathing hard Kev scrambled back around and glared across at the big man.

“You lay a hand on me and-”

“And you’ll what?” growled Jalone, “Cry for your daddy? Oh, right, he isn’t here, still stuck at the airport, heh! Then maybe your mom? Sure, go right ahead, kid. And then we both can tell her all about how I found you on property with your little dick inside an unwilling girl.”

“Hah!” jeered Kev in a mocking laugh which caused Tia’s father to blink in surprise, “You obviously don’t know Veronica Nortelli too well.”

Steve coughed and tried to find his angry bravado again, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid Kev’s sharp instincts. The blond boy’s eyes narrowed, and then a grin split his face, and it wasn’t a kind one.

“Well now! Then again maybe you DO know Nortelli. Hmmm, let me venture a guess! She tried to use you to get revenge on Tia.”

“Uh ... now you listen to me, boy-”

“Holy shit! You fucked her!”

Steve was taken aback for a second, then his face twisted into a furious expression and he charged forward and caught hold of the front of Kev’s shirt, hauled him up onto his tip-toes. “You have a sick mind, kid! I should pound you into shit! No kid of mind would dare talk to me like that!”

“Good thing that I’m not your kid then, huh, Steve?” grinned Kev, seemingly unbothered by the threat of imminent pummelling. Kev was, he was actually scared shitless at the moment, but he trusted his instincts and so used every ounce of control he had to appear amused instead of terrified.

This had better work or else as Bender sez, I’m boned...!

There was a long moment where the two of them stared back and forth into each other’s eyes, Steve with his jaw working, Kev chuckling softly under his breath. Then the big man let go and Kev took an even step back and carefully smoothed down his shirt, then raised his gaze and grinned again.

“So we have an understanding.”

“I don’t bargain with little pussies who rape girls!”

“I thought we were past that garbage, Steve.”

“You call me Mr. Jalone!”

“Uh-huh.” shrugged Kev noncommittally, “But we both know full well that Veronica is hardly the innocent girl she sometimes plays at being. She’s a predator, and a lethal one at that. If I were you, Steve, I’d steer waaaay clear of her, because I, unlike you, can at least deal with her games on a mostly equal footing, while you, heh, if you push it, are bound to end up in a four by six cell for the next decade on jailbait charges.”

Jalone opened his mouth to yell at the kid, to shout him down, but again failed to find the will to do so. What the hell?! What’s up with the boy? He talks like my fuckin lawyer. AFTER a trip to “freshin up” in the men’s room. All Heterson has to do is occasionally tweak at his nostrils and the parody will be complete, shit...

Steve cleared his throat and fought to control his breathing, he had underestimated Kev Heterson and he was not going to make that mistake ever again.

“All of that stuff with ... with Veronica Nortelli may be neither here nor there, kid, but you stay the fuck away from my daughter. Understand?” and some of the threat had returned to his tone, enough to give Kev pause.

“Yeah, no problem.” Kev shrugged, “Quit worrying, Steve, I have no interest in your Tia whatsoever.”

Now THAT is the biggest lie I’ve ever told this summer, Kev fought not to laugh out loud, and MAN have I told some whoppers!

“You’d better not!” scowled Steve, “And stay away from the Nortelli girl as well, she’s trouble, yeah, you got that right. But girls like that are nearly impossible to deal with, even if you’re a kid too smart for your own good like you. You think just because you are legally able to have sex with her then you’re somehow immune to the disease she spreads, but trust me, kid, you aint.”

“Yeah, whatever, I’ll be careful.”

It was Steve’s turn to shrug, “Act as untouchable as you like, kid, but mark my word, Nortelli is fire, boy, and your perfect little life is the kindling that fuels it.”

Kev opened his mouth to reply, but his sharp ears picked up the sound of the basement door opening and he clammed up fast, not knowing exactly why. Steve glanced back and up, his hackles rising too, and suddenly he realized that perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea hauling a boy that wasn’t his own son down into the depths of an empty basement.

Life used to be so much easier in the old days. Now you can’t hardly spit without hitting a non-PC situation that stands a good chance of casting you in the permanent role of a pervert...

He glanced back to Kev and they shared a quick look, then the blond kid was prowling quickly past the pool table with Steve hot on his heels and they crossed into the darkened shadows of the basement as a mismatched pair of women descended the steps behind them...

Back up at the party, eight minutes earlier...

Dale Solcord rounded the left side of the house, lips pressed together and eyes fuming. She had just spent ten minutes waiting for her date on the front steps, but zero hour, the ETA of birthday boy Ryan Heterson, was nearly upon them and still her new beau had yet to make his promised appearance.

Sonofabitch--that bastard! If he’s stood me up I’m gonna have his balls for earrings!

The busty blonde pulled up the side of her skirt and tugged a slim cell phone from the lacey rose-pink garter belt that tightly encircled the thigh that a certain absentee lawyer was rapidly losing his chance of ever seeing beyond his imagination. Dale flipped it open and stabbed the recently reprogrammed speed-dial #1.

Jerk! I replaced 9-1-1 with you! And THIS is how you repay the best thing that ever happened to you? Hah, you’re the one whose going to need the paramedics unless they are already working on you because you got in a car accident on the way here.

She paused at the memory of his car and winced, as the MIA lawyer’s chosen method of transportation was a HS 250h sedan. The car was what had first caught Dale’s eye when she had emerged from the Danover Barnes & Noble with a fat copy of Italian Vogue under her arm and the crumbs of a Starbucks cranberry almond biscotti flecking her lips which spread wide at the sight of the tall, well-built man who had just swung open the driver’s side door.

Doing it in that car would have been two birds with one stone too! I’ve never been had in either a Lexus or a hybrid and dammit all ta hell that car was both!

Her AWOL suiter’s number kept on ringing with no answer and with an insolent sigh she stabbed the disconnect, and then noticed the Message Waiting symbol on the phone’s little LCD screen.

Ohhh, brother, you didn’t! No! Don’t you fuckin dare-

But it was indeed his voice now playing back to her.

“Hi, Dane! Sorry, but something came up at the last moment, you know how it is, my mother needed me to help her out, so unfortunately I’m not going to be able to make it to your little party. You know how it is, if your sister needs your help you have to go running, heh! Anyway, maybe we can do something next week, okay, bye!”

The blonde dragged the cell from her ear and stood there glaring daggers at it, shoulders vibrating and pink-painted toes knuckling into the recently shorn backyard grass.

Dane...

... he called me ... Dane...

He ... he said ‘you know how it is’. Twice...

And first he was helping his mother, then his sister...

Liar!

He’s fucking another girl right this second, I’d bet my last remaining dose of benzodiazepine on it. And here I am, dateless, not to mention still jobless, while my stupid sister Heather celebrates how great her fucking perfect life is with her handsome hubby and golden god of a clever son.

Fuck my life...

She slapped her phone shut hard enough to crack it’s casing and thrusting it back into her garter she stalked across the backyard and catching hold of the arm of a passing waitress she yanked the girl to a sudden halt.

“Wha--let go of me!” the serving girl hissed in pain, she couldn’t be more then sixteen.

“What’s your name!” demanded Dale.

“Huh?”

“Your name, you little slut!”

“L-Lacey.” the kid paled visibly, “Lacey Robbins!”

Dale surveyed her tray of empty glasses darkly, “My sister is paying for this extremely expensive affair and you’re standing around lazily with a tray of empties.”

“I--I wasn’t! I was headed back to the staging area, the kitchen, to exchange them for fresh-”

“Not interested even in the slightest,” Dale cut her off as her cool green eyes panned across the milling party crowd like a pair of emerald-lensed rifle scopes, then she snapped her sharpshooter’s gaze back to the terrified girl, looked her up and down like a disaproving drill sergeant. “Where’s your apron? The other waitresses are wearing aprons.”

“I ... I tore it during prep and my mother is sewing--repairing it between servings. Actually, she should be done now, so-”

“Don’t you talk back to me!” Dale glared deep into the girl’s own eyes, they were sea-foam blue, “One single harsh word from me and you’re fired and will never work another party again.”

“Um, well, my mom is the caterer, so-”

“You’ve got an answer for everything, now don’t you!”

“Uh-”

“You think guys are going to care how clever you are, kid? They won’t. All they care about is how firm your tits and ass are, and then not even that.”

“Um, okay...?” Lacey’s eyes flicked back-and-forth, desperately seeking rescue from the crazy lady. She does have a hot ass and a rack of tits I’d give up my college fund to get, though--ow!

Dale had dug in with her fingernails, “Quit daydreaming, caterer’s daughter, and go get me a fresh glass of champagne.”

“Su-Sure!”

Dale let her go and Lacey bolted off and vanished into the house, returning less then thirty seconds later hastily tying on a white cotton apron with one hand, while the other precariously balanced a fresh silver tray transporting a single crystal flute of bubbling liquid courage. Jerking to a stop before her new mistress, with baited breath Lacey offered her fizzing cargo to the fuming blonde woman like a slave to Cleopatra.

“Not bad, you’re pretty quick. And since you’re now dressed properly, I guess I’ll let you keep your job.” Dale caught the drink up and downed half of it in one gulp, then wiped her lips with the back of her hand, “Keep’em coming and maybe I’ll recommend you to my sister for a fat tip when all this bullshit is over and done with.”

Lacey smoothed down her mended apron and pursed her lips thoughtfully, “He dumped you for another girl, huh?”

Dale narrowed her gaze, got ready to vomit out more hateful recriminations, then her shoulders slumped and her face relaxed. A bit. And a soft, self-pitying chuckle escaped her lips.

“I’m sorry. Oh jeez, what a terrible bitch I’ve been to you. Again I’m sorry, I really am.”

The girl shrugged, “Hey, been there. Fucking guys, am I right?”

Dale nodded, “Fucking guys, yeah...”

Lacey smiled gently, “You nurse that drink, and I’ll make sure you aren’t without a refill for the rest of the evening.” and with a sly wink Lacey moved away, leaving Dale staring after her with a mixture of guilt and sadness broiling within her.

That’s me a decade ago. Probably more, ugh...

She turned away and surveyed the crowd, oh well, that guy was never meant to be I guess, and I’m still young and pretty hot if I do say so myself and I do, so maybe Mister Right is hiding amongst all these Danover yokels right now, just waiting for me to discover him and his way better then a Lexus hybrid automobile. Maybe a Corvette. Or maybe even, dare I dream, a Jag?

That’s probably the best this one horse town can produce. Jeez, I shoulda gone to California when I ran out of cash, instead of taking the safer route and journeying to this backwater wasteland in order to sponge off my sister. What was I thinking--um, oh damn...!

Dale discovered that she had locked eyes upon a thin, pretty redhaired girl in an orange sundress who stood beside a much taller, though equally thin, woman with large breasts who was clearly her mother.

Oh jeez, I shoulda thought of that. That she might show up here.

And Katrina Nierce’s eyes bulged from their sockets and she gaped like a deer caught in headlight’s at the blonde woman staring back at her, then instinctively scrambled at the arm of the woman beside her who was indeed her mother.

Alice Nierce paused in her conversation and without looking down slapped at the desperate fingers plucking at her, “What is it, Kat? You need to leave me alone, I’m talking. Go find somebody your own age and play cards or Nintendo or something.”