Chapter 12: Meeting Ollie

"Have you ever been in love?" Laura asked me. She knew I was awake, having purposely tickled my chin with her hair. It was Sunday morning, our day to relax and enjoy each other.

"Yes," I answered without stopping to think what I was saying. I stroked her hair and rubbed her back, thinking how good her tits felt on my stomach.

"I was in love once," Laura continued without responding to my admission that I had been in love, was in love? "I had quit high school and was working in an all night truck stop. I had a social security card and everything. That was the only job I've ever had that deducted taxes and social security from my paycheck."

Laura's head lifted off my chest to look at me. She had a 'can you imagine?' look on her face.

"The truck stop was twenty miles from home and daddy didn't like coming after me at one o'clock in the morning so I had to find my own way home. I got plenty of offers from boys and men to take me home and I knew what they were after. Fending them off got more and more difficult, they didn't want to settle for a kiss and maybe a feel. I pissed off so many guys that there was talk about me liking girls."

She peered up at me and grinned.

"One of the boys settled for a kiss. He came by almost every night in his truck. Sometimes he would have to wait for me to get off. His name was Harry and he was five years older than me. I began to depend on him for a ride. We would roar down the road in his truck and he would take me all the way to my house. Daddy could tell that the same boy was bringing me home every night by the sounds the engine made. He didn't like it and neither did the neighbors because Harry would leave the engine running while we kissed. So, we stopped up the road. Harry would shut the engine down while we kissed and then I would get out and walk the rest of the way home."

"Can you see where this is leading?" Laura held her head up again.

"I think so," I answered.

"It took longer and longer to say goodnight. Harry said that he loved me and told me over and over how much he wanted me. I told him I loved him too. He was so patient and understanding with me. How could I not love him? One night I gave in, telling myself that Harry was the man for me. My initiation was less than satisfactory; those diesel cabs are not the best place to lose your cherry, believe me. Soon we were a couple and everyone knew that we were screwing, even daddy."

"Laura, you don't have to tell me this," I said, running my hands over her back.

She did not answer me. Easing herself up, she kissed me, and then let her tits and the Korean trinket fall on my chest, continuing with her lips near my ear.

"Harry suggested that I move out of the house. He said he would help me find a place to live and help with the rent. And, he did. He found a trailer just down the road from the truck stop and helped me move in although he never did help pay the rent. He couldn't afford to, not with his wife and kid. They were depending on him too."

I groaned, not wanting to listen to more. But Laura was determined for me to hear her out.

"The rent was taking most of my pay and Harry wasn't coming to the truck stop anymore. The regulars began to talk. I was falling behind with the rent. Now this is where I pause when I'm telling my story to the other girls in the early morning. This was a turning point in my life. I pause and let it sink in that I could have made a better decision."

Laura's voice became scratchy. I held her close and kissed her shoulder, having discovered something new about the female shoulder the night before.

"One night this guy wanted to take me home. When I told him I could walk he said it was too dangerous for me to walk on the highway at one o'clock in the morning. When I said I did it every night he opened his wallet and pulled out several bills for me to see. I looked at him for a long time. He had not shaved in days and I was sure that he was dirty but when he grinned at me I thought of the rent being due. That's all I could think of, the rent being due and daddy saying I could not come home. I wasn't thinking about other options. That's what I tell the girls in the early morning hours."

Her cheek was pressed to mine but there were no tears, only silence. I wondered if the story was over. "This is the best feeling I've ever had. You make me feel safe. Kiss me on the shoulder again. That was the sweetest thing you've ever done," Laura whispered.

I kissed her soft white shoulder, thinking of Huley's tight-skinned brown shoulder that I had learned to appreciate the night before.

"I was lucky. I didn't get cut or beat up all that year I lived and worked in that trailer. I got held up. The landlord raised the rent and the sheriff collected what he called protection money. I soon learned about business expense but I was making so much money that it didn't matter. I quit the job at the truck stop because I could make so much more by staying in the trailer at night. When Karen knocked on the door I thought she was coming for my nineteenth birthday. Then I saw the suitcase and daddy's truck pulling away from my door.

"This is where I pause to say that I made another poor decision. I didn't want her to stay but what could I do? She knew what I was doing; daddy made sure of that. Karen had been jilted by one of the home town boys.

"When the landlord found out there were two of us he raised the rent again and it was not long before the sheriff came by. I told both of them that Karen was not tricking but they said they had heard differently. What could I do? I worked even harder and when Karen wanted to try it..."

"Laura, please stop. This isn't helping you and I'm not asking for you to tell me."

Her head rose again. "It's time you heard it. This is our second anniversary. What kind of number one would I be if I didn't tell you everything?"

"You are my number one. That's the best there is. Telling me everything is not going to make you better than my number one."

"It's taken two years to get this far; I'm not turning back now," she said, moving her lips near my ear again. "Karen was eighteen and I was nineteen and we kept them coming and going. Word got around that the Stone sisters were rocking the trailer every night and some afternoons. Karen never really took to the business. One of our regular clients worked in a pharmacy and when he found out Karen performed better when she was high he brought her bottles and bottles of prescription drugs. This was another time when I failed to make a decision. She... got... so... strung... she... I... I... didn't... I... didn't know..."

"You're going to have to stop. You're getting too upset and it's upsetting me," I said, kissing her shoulder again.

"There's not much more. Hear me out. I've told this story dozens of times and there's never been anything like this happen. I don't know why I can't tell you. I told Nadine just the other night. Why can't I tell it to you without breaking down?"

"Maybe it's because you're closer to me. Could that be it?"

"Yes, I think so. You mean more to me than anything. There's not much more. Let me finish. The landlord kicked me out. I had enough for a bus ticket to Nashville where I worked on the streets until I could buy a ticket to Saint Louis. That's when I made the decision to not let anything like that happen again. I worked and saved my money. Then two years ago everything changed. I wanted to do things with you. I wanted to be good to you."

She took a long breath and I could tell she was winding down.

"Any complaints? Did you get your moneys worth?" I asked shamelessly as if she was paying me for my services.

She answered my question with a kiss, lingering just long enough for me to get excited. "See how good I can be? Do you know how much you affect my feelings? It made me jealous when you were with Lacy. I've never felt that way before. Does that explain anything to you?"

Laura put on the shirt that I had worn the night before. I wore the slacks. I made coffee while she called Sylvia to see if she wanted to come over for breakfast.

"Restraint is the name of the new game, how's that? I thought of it after you left last night," Laura said the second Sylvia came through the door. All traces of melancholy seeming to have disappeared. I wondered if it was due to Sylvia's presence or if it had been the act of purging the story from within, something she felt necessary to do and was glad to have it done with.

"Perfect," answered Sylvia, forcefully moving me away from the kitchen counter so she could take over the breakfast duties.

I congratulated Laura on her choice of a name for the new game, thinking secretly that I was looking forward to playing it with her.

They were both anxious to hear about my study date the night before. I related every detail of the event while we ate; stopping short of revealing to Laura that Huley's father was Ollie Pettersen, the man who had put out a cigarette on her ass.

The house was at the very end of a cul-de-sac. The homes in the neighborhood were all expensive and well maintained but too large for the lots they were on. I parked at the end of the circular drive behind the Corvette and walked back to the front door, admiring the stucco and brickwork on the exterior. The shrill three note melody from the door chimes pulsated through my chest.

"I'm here to see Huley," I said to her near twin, holding up the one notebook and history text that I had brought.

"No you're not," the girl said, stepping onto the porch, making me take a step backward to prevent a collision, close enough for me to see that she was one year away from being an exact duplicate of Huley. I wanted to reach out and adjust the little calf of hair that had wandered from the herd atop her head.

The stray hair was absorbing my attention. Detaching my self from the distraction I quickly took measurements: one year younger, one inch shorter, one cup size smaller, one inch less at the waist. Smile, I silently commanded, yes, the same saw tooth at the upper left of her smile. She was a near twin to Huley.

"Yes, I am."

"Let me save you some major trouble, senor. En esta casa we know my sister only as Julita. Got it?"

I nodded, so infatuated with this young Huley that I had not heard her warning.

"I'm Petri," the barefooted young lady held out her hand, then opened the thick paneled door and pushed me into the house.

"And this is the lady of the house, Mrs. Pettersen," Petri introduced me to her mother.

With two inch heels the woman was about the same height at Petri without shoes. Her hair was dark and her skin was darker than her daughters as were her eyes although I saw the same depth to them that fascinated me about Huley.

"Welcome to our home Randy," Rosita Pettersen extended her hand with a warm smile. She wore a multi-colored dress that mask all traces of a figure.

Petri wondered out loud, "who studies on Saturday night?" before disappearing. Rosita and I stood in the entrance, having shifted our positions, she with the massive front door to her back, me with the stairway to the upstairs behind me and trying to think of something appropriate to say, thinking, "your weight is not much greater than Huley's, is it? Your lips are just as sensual as your daughters', aren't they? Do you know that your husband pays for sex?"

I felt two small hands cover my eyes. "Guess who?" A voice said. She was standing on the first stair, above me, her arms resting on my shoulders. I felt her breath on the back of my head.

I took a chance, "I know it isn't Huley because Petri said she doesn't live here."

Rosita laughed and Huley removed her hands from my eyes. I turned and looked up to see her dressed in a black jumpsuit showing bare shoulders and bare knees. She saw that I was looking at her hair.

"He's always tucking my hair in place so I wore this," she said to her mother while adjusting the black springy headband at the top of her head.

I looked behind me to see Rosita smile and nod. I shrugged.

"This way," Huley said, taking my hand and leading me down a hall, past the dining room on the left, past the kitchen to the rear of the house, to what was obviously their family room. Couches lined two of the walls and large swivel chairs faced the television which monopolized one wall. The rear wall of the house was glass, covered by dark draperies that were partially open to the small back yard.

"You only brought the history?" Huley said, guiding me to one of the couches. I plunked down the text and notebook on the table in front of the couch and took a seat.

"This is the only one I need help on," I said. After spending Wednesday afternoon in the library I was really caught up but I wasn't ready to admit that to Huley.

"Didn't you hear me say science was my best subject?" she seemed disappointed that I had not wanted help with the science course as she plopped down next to me. She was so damned cute. I couldn't keep my eyes off her bare shoulders and long thin arms.

"You said science and history. This is the one I brought," I said, holding up the history text.

Obviously perturbed, Huley pursed her lips in a pout and rested her arm on the back of the couch. "Where are you?"

Taking her question to mean how far we had gotten in the history course I thumbed through my notebook. "We have to do a paper on the fall of Rome," I said.

"I've got just the thing," she said, bouncing off the couch and racing toward the door where she turned to me, "take off that silly coat," she ordered and was gone.