Chapter 22

"Marcy?"

The voice at the end of the alley was faintly familiar. Marcy lay sprawled amid some garbage in the dark alley, her skirt torn away, her blouse in tatters... When she had wanted the five dollars up front the heavy set man had beaten her, then taken what he wanted.

The combination of drugs and abuse was fogging her mind.

"Who..."

"Marcy, it's me," he said coming closer.

"Ki... Kirk?"

"Good God, what's happened to you?"

"How... how did you find me?"

"A lot of persistence and some dumb luck. I found a producer you used to work for. He said you were... turning tricks in this part of town. I'm been driving around asking every hooker I could find."

"Wha... what do you want?" she said, actually making an effort to cover herself.

"I've come to take you home."

"Home?"

"Back to Clewiston. I've missed you Marcy. I didn't realize until recently just how much I wanted you."

He helped her to her feet. She was so tired, physically and mentally, she simply offered no resistance as he led her back to his car.

"I've screwed up my life Kirk... badly!"

"I know, but I'm offering you a fresh start. A chance to..."

"... to have the life we used to have?" she asked weakly as he started the engine and pulled away from the curb.

"No, we can never have that again, but we can start over, make things different this time."

Her heart leaped, for even through the fog in her mind, Marcy knew she had sunk as far as she could go. Only death awaited her on the path she had been pursuing. Now, suddenly, the one person, she could count on had appeared and offered her a new life.

"Yes, I'd like that, more than anything else in the world," she said slipping into unconsciousness.

Marcy had slipped in and out of consciousness on the return flight and even though she felt the need, as her mind cleared, she resisted the urge to get high. A new life, she thought, a life with Kirk. Maybe it would be all right after all. She felt hope for the first time since she could remember.

"Does Coleen still live here?" she asked as the car wound into the old familiar neighborhood.

"Uh, Coleen was committed to a mental hospital about a year ago," he responded.

"Poor Coleen," she said under her breath, "living out the same life as her mother."

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing, " she replied as they pulled up to the same house she had once lived in as his wife. She had treated him so badly, she thought, was it too much to expect that they might become husband and wife again?

They entered the door and Marcy stood immobile, looking, reliving past memories. The furniture was all different, but for the first time she could remember since leaving, she felt at home.

Marcy started as an attractive woman of about Marcy's age walked in from the other room. She was vaguely familiar but her outfit was what brought a near gasp from Marcy's lips. The woman was dressed in a series of chains and black leather straps, her firm, full naked breasts and nipples accentuating the upper half of her body while her bush of nest hair was also clearly visible. She wore spike heel boots which came to her upper thighs.

The woman smiled, self satisfyingly.

"Hello, Marcy."

Marcy's mind raced, recognition dawning.

"Laura Stimson?" Marcy gasped in astonishment.

"Laura Denton," corrected the attractive blonde. "Kirk and I were married three months ago."

Marcy turned to Kirk, her mouth open.

"But..."

"It's simple really," he began, "you see Laura came to live with me some time after you left. She had an... unusual lifestyle, one in which she was a bitch."

"I don't underst..."