Chapter 3

As he'd promised, Hub began dating again. The very next evening he phoned the thirtyish widow who lived down the block. This woman had had her eye on Hub for some months, ever since the death of his wife, and had let him know in various subtle ways that she found him attractive. Her veiled flirting didn't fool Hub in the least, for he knew he wasn't a handsome man and damned few women had ever given him the come-on. She was looking for a husband and figured Hub would be a good provider for her and her three kids. Hub never intended to get married again, but Helen was a decent woman and quite pretty for her age. Hub could well afford to get his sexual tensions relieved at a cathouse, but paid-for sex didn't appeal to him, whereas Helen did. He'd already decided that she might be a good lay. As a widow, she was certainly seduceable, and he decided to play her game. It would be interesting to see how soon he would be able to slip the meat to her. Once he'd scored, Hub intended to amuse himself by stringing her along until Helen woke up to the fact that an affair was all she would ever get out of him. When he called her on the phone and hit her up for a date, she eagerly accepted.

"Do you like to dance?" Hub asked.

"Oh, yes, I love to dance," came Helen's reply in a purring tone over the phone. "And I haven't been in ages."

"How about tonight? Pick you up in an hour?"

"That sounds lovely, but I couldn't possibly get a sitter for the children on such short notice."

Hub glanced across the room at Sue. "How about if I provide a sitter?"

Sue was elected. Hub paid her five dollars and took her along with him when he went to pick Helen up.

It was a hectic evening for Sue. Helen's children wouldn't obey her. The little brats misbehaved badly. They resented Sue and made it painfully clear that they preferred their regular sitter to her. Not being used to kids, Sue didn't know how to handle them. They gave her a hard time. It was after eleven when she finally got them into bed and settled down for the night, and her nerves were very much on edge.

A few minutes later Hub's car pulled into the driveway and Sue heaved a sigh of relief, thinking her ordeal was over. Only Helen didn't come in right away. Sue waited and waited, pacing the floor. This went on for nearly twenty minutes before she went over to the window, parted the drapes a tiny bit and peeked out through a crack wide enough for only one eye.

There was a streetlight on the corner on the opposite side of the street. It set at an angle behind Hub's parked car. She could make out Hub's and Helen's silhouettes. It looked like they were wrestling in the front seat. Helen's arms kept flying about. No sooner would she push away from Hub than he would grab her again. Sue knew Hub was feeling the woman up as well as kissing her and, strangely enough, this excited her. It also made her jealous, and this upset Sue.

Why should I care what that uncouth brute does? Sue wondered perplexedly.

But the fact of the matter was, she did care, crazy as she knew it was to feel the way she did. Hub had raped her and she'd thought she never wanted to see his - if not ugly, then certainly not handsome - face again. Rape or not, though, he'd given her a real screwing and the only orgasm she'd ever had, and Sue resented his trying to put the make on Helen. To her dismay, Sue realized that she didn't want Hub to have intercourse with another woman.

When Helen came into the house, her lipstick was smeared, her hair was disheveled and her dress was rumpled. The young widow's cheeks were very flushed and she seemed more than a little embarrassed over her appearance as she thanked Sue for baby- sitting.

As Sue walked across the lawn toward the car, she felt odd and let down. Logically she shouldn't care one way or the other, but a part of her was secretly hoping that Helen would refuse Hub another date.

The dome light came on when Sue opened the car door. She couldn't help noticing the obscene bulge in Hub's trousers. He was drunk and did nothing to hide his erect condition from her as she slid into the front seat with him and closed the door. Without a word, he started the engine and backed out into the street. Hub's house was located on the corner lot at the other end of the block, so Sue couldn't help being alarmed when, halfway there, he pulled over to the curb, stopped, and switched off the engine and lights.

"What are you stopping here for?" she demanded.

He reached down, flipped the lever and let back the seat. >From his hip pocket he tugged out a handkerchief and tossed it into Sue's lap.