Chapter 19

I’ll be honest, besides a lot of weed and a potential deep-seated alcohol problem, I wasn’t a drug guy. I did cocaine at a bachelor party once, underwhelming. I tried mushrooms in high school, it was fine. I did ecstasy on a trip to Cuba with Ike, Felix, and Raylea in sophomore year, well worth the hugs.

Adderall and Viagra proved to be a different experience. I was over the Goddamn moon. I fucked Raylea on my kitchen counters, off my balcony railing, in the shower, back on the bed, on the couch, falling off the couch, on the floor in front of the couch, and in the ass. Then I came down like the meteor that killed the dinosaurs.

I dragged Raylea by the hair and threw her on the bed. I’m pretty sure the caveman play set her off for another orgasm but I just climbed up next to her, laid my head on her shoulder and drifted into the death of sleep.

I didn’t think I’d ever wake up again. Or want to.

I didn’t dream. Sunlight was still coming in through the curtains as I stirred again. I felt clammy and used. She smelled of fresh soap and perfume. I raised up and bit her ear.

“Oh shit!” Talsy giggled. The fog of nothingness boiled off. I bit her ear again. She fought me off in tickle-warrior mode.

“You taste sweet,” I said, letting her go. Talsy slipped off the bed and rushed up to her feet. She was wearing cut-off shorts and an old heavy tank top. Her breasts swung freely beneath it.

“Well, you probably taste like Raylea’s cunt and misery.” Talsy blew a raspberry at me. “Hey you.”

“Hey, what brings you over?” I asked.

“Oh, um, Felix and Raylea dustup back home,” Talsy said, breaking eye contact. “I didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire.”

“Yeah,” I rolled my eyes. “I ignored Felix and kept Raylea for a few extra rounds and the nap.”

“Did you sleep well?” Talsy asked.

“Hell yeah!” I grinned. My stomach gargled. “It was great.”

“You’re hungry?”

“I burnt a lot of calories,” I bragged. “Let’s go get food before we start fucking, alright?”

“Yeah, I could eat,” Talsy nodded. “Not really dressed to go out. Wanna order in?”

“No,” I said. “I wanna clear my head with some fresh air. Besides, I don’t mind being seen with you looking your trampiest.”

“Dude, I look like a slob.” She said. “Unless you mean tramp like hobo and not like skank.”

“Why not both?” I asked, philosophically.

“Why not both,” she shrugged. “Alright. I feel like Indian. You want to go--”

“I’ll pick where we’re going when I rinse off and dress.” I said.

“The Princess Margaret then?” she asked, with a roll of her eyes.

“No, I don’t wanna go uptown.” I closed the bathroom door behind me. When I stepped out, Talsy rushed over to dry off my hair. She’d laid out jeans and a t-shirt for me on the coffee table. I dressed, stepped into my shoes, and looked at her.

“You alright?” she asked.

“Can’t go out with my shoes untied,” I declared. She shook her head and squatted down to tie my shoes. I almost unzipped and fucked her mouth. There was something even more domineering than letting her do a good job.

“Congratulations, you’re officially more needy than my specialest education student.” She flashed her eyes up and shook her head.

“Most special,” I corrected. “Don’t you teach English?”

“Social Studies and healthy living,” Talsy said.

“You drink and fuck a lot to keep up your healthy lifestyle,” I said.

“Yeah, not really in the curriculum,” she said. “They even cut demonstrating how to put a condom on a test tube.”

“Yeah, condoms suck,” I agreed versus her.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To eat.” I reminded her and held the apartment door as we left.

We headed towards the South End, thinking Boneheads on Barrington or the little Italian place on Inglis street or maybe Darrel’s on Fenwick. Nothing really spoke to me. When we crossed over the hill on Queen and South Park I still had no idea where we were going.

“--and then she breaks out into fucking song!” Talsy was laughing her head off.

I hadn’t been listening since Spring Garden. Talsy hadn’t noticed, or maybe hadn’t cared.

“This girl you’re talking about. Do you think I’d like her?” I asked. She slowed to a stop.

“I hope not.” She said, after a moment, wearing a twisted grimace.

“Oh, cool, I’ll trust your judgment,” I said.

“Shit! Stop! Moron!” Talsy lunged forward and grabbed my elbow pulling me back onto the sidewalk. The car horn shocked me. I looked up and saw the don’t walk light.

“Shit, sorry,” I smiled at her impatient glare. “Head in the clouds.”

“Yeah, I see the signs everyday in class.”

“Not if you wear a low cut top I’ll bet,” I said remembering my libido at that age.

“Even girls can drift off in class, Will,” she said. “There’s a cute little Chinese place up here, next to Darrell’s. You’ve been?”

“Not really feeling Chinese,” I said, and crossed the street under the recently changed light.

“Can we hold hands?” She blurted out. I reached over and she took mine.

“Any reason?” I asked with a squeeze.

“I know those two.” She pointed down the street but whoever they were they were off down a sidestreet before I saw them. “I wanted to show you off.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Raylea works down here, right?”

“She’s at home. She’s off,” Talsy said.

“Yeah, but there might be someone else to show off to.”

I could’ve got out my phone and checked. I didn’t. I didn’t know if I would have taken the detour into the Sobey’s if I knew it would work or not. Celeste worked with Adelaide. Holding Talsy’s hand was making me feel horny again. I was proud of my soldier. He wasn’t ready to salute but he was reporting for duty.

We crossed behind Subway and Darrells. And that cute little Chinese place I had never heard of and cut through the parking lot towards the supermarket.

“You want to grab some fixings? I’m not Ray, but I’m not inept at cooking.”

“We could just grab chicken fingers from the deli.” I shook my head. “Nah, we’ll find a table and proper meal soon enough.”

“Thank god. Those chicken fingers are like cardboard. If we were going to get them we should’ve just ordered them in back at your place.”

We entered through the automatic door and Lidie nearly ran us over with her shopping cart.

“Oh my god! Hi!”

“Hi!” I said.

“Yeah, hi,” Talsy smiled. She squeezed my fingers. I looked so Lidie looked.

“Date? Do you want me to leave you?” she asked.

“A date to the grocery store,” I laughed. Talsy pouted.

“Well, what are you up to?” she asked.

“Um ... we were hungry?”

“You should come over to my place. The best thing I could do as a wife is cook!” She beamed brightly.

“Um, I fucked you,” I smirked.

“So did I, ish.” Talsy nodded. She continued what I was thinking. “You’re pretty good at that wifely duty.”

“Yeah,” Lidie grinned. “And I cook even better. I make this amazing seafood chowder.”

“That sounds awesome,” Talsy looked at me in defeat.

“It does,” I had to agree. “And you have everything you need?”

“Oh! Shit! No!” Lidie said. “This is just for me and the kiddo when the ex gives him back. Um, we probably need some more adult stuff too.”

“Like booze?” I asked.

“Well, wine would be nice,” Lidie smiled. “I’ve got beer at home if you prefer that though. I meant a few things, actually. Lube, condoms, mussels, a decent sized lobster.”

“We don’t need condoms.” Talsy rolled her eyes.

“If you’re sure. We’re getting close to my risky days,” Lidie said.

“Here, let’s unload this,” I shook the front of her cart. “And we can go grab everything else we want after.”

“Sold.” Lidie said. She led us to her little hatchback car. We grabbed a couple of bottles of wine first from the NSLC and went back into the store.

“You stopped holding hands,” Lidie said to me as I carried our basket up to the seafood counter.

I looked over at Talsy. She smiled. I raised my eyebrow.

“Um, what?”

“Well, wanna keep doing the couple thing?” I asked.

“No, it’s less fun when we’re excluding Lidie,” Talsy said.

“Don’’t worry about it!” Lidie tutted. “You’re a number two girl. That’s gotta come with privileges.”

“I guess,” Talsy said. “Is that what you want, Will?”

“Yeah,” I raised my shoulders and reached out my hand. “That’s what I want.”

I snatched up Talsy’s hand. She blushed. Holy shit. Talsy blushed. That’s not something I expected to see. That girl had consistently stood before classes of grade 8 boys for two years. There shouldn’t be a thing left alive that could test her embarrassment limit.

I’m not a romantic. Walking around, hand in hand, with a girlfriend used to both me. I had sometimes spent whole night’s cuddling thinking “Go the fuck home! Go the fuck home! Go the fuck home! I love you!” I guess it was all about the right girl, or maybe because it wasn’t her at all. I had Lidie. I had Talsy. I had whoever the fuck I wanted. This showed the world how hot a chick wanted me. Jesus, I was fucking Superman.

We started in the spices aisle before we went to the seafood counter. We grabbed the lobster, scallops, and halibut Lidie wanted for her chowder. She was going off on how her son hated seafood and white soups and thought eating lobsters was like eating cockroaches. She was giddy to have someone to share this with. I couldn’t wait. Lidie’s job at work wasn’t critical. Hell, she wasn’t even chasing down the leads that would raise her up to better pay.

I suppose I shouldn’t have committed myself then and there. But I was thinking, Lidie will be my harem’s stay-at-home mom. Sherry made good money, Jess had career ambitions, they’d have to help me support the income. Adelaide and Philia were waitresses, placeholder jobs. Nisha wasn’t a waste but HR hit a ceiling sooner than later. Raylea was a store assistant manager, getting put in charge of a full store could really help.