Chapter 25: Interloper

"It's a damn good thing we're done already," Sheila said, biting into a sandwich she plucked off the tray from among the dozen or so triangles of bread and meat that were there. I gave her a bottle of juice too and popped off the top for her. She took it and swigged it back. She didn't seem to care at all that she'd made an enemy of Steve Henridge.

"Don't you think you're being a little cold after all the help he's given us?"

"Nope."

She took another bite of her sandwich and clicked a few buttons on the computer.

"No?"

I was honestly confused. Sheila was usually a pretty decent person, or at the very least intelligent. But here she'd insulted and humiliated someone who we'd considered a friend and confidante the past few days and she wasn't worried at all. He had information that could hang us all but she didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

"First of all, Anthony, we don't owe him a goddamn thing. Even being here this past week was a privilege other guys would have paid for."

She clicked a few more buttons.

"And second?"

I honestly wanted to know how she could be so calm.

"Second, he's scared shitless of all of us. If he rats on us, if word gets out about any of this and his mom finds out? Well, let's just say there's a reason why little Stevie Henridge is as socially inept as he is. His mom would castrate him, and probably make him eat his own nuts. Sure she'd make our lives a living hell, but he'd get it the worst from her."

"And you know this because?"

"Because he told me."

"Told you what?"

"The reason he had to take off last night when he did, even though I still needed more help, was because he had some church thing to go to with mommy. Imagine that. The poor kid sitting in church all evening after watching you and Charlotte fucking and sucking all day."

"I had no idea."

"Well you can sort of tell, right? He's very awkward around girls. He's so scared and shy and clumsy and creepy. The kid probably thinks he's going to hell even for talking to Charlotte. So yeah, if he says anything about this he'll probably be shipped off to some Bible Camp in backwoods Arkansas or some shit like that. He kept on joking about it while we were down here, whether or not that would be worse than simply killing himself and going to hell. He's so fuckin' creepy, that kid."

"I hope he doesn't kill himself. That would suck."

"He won't," Sheila said with so much confidence I was immediately relieved. I still felt bad though. He was just starting to come out of his shell a bit and now the two of them and crushed his budding ego like a wriggling insect.

Charlotte came out of the shower, tousling her hair with a towel. Other than that she was completely, shamelessly naked. Wow. I completely forgot about Steve for a moment. She was dripping wet, glowing from the heat of the shower, and jiggling everywhere as she walked up.

"Amy should be back soon," she said. "We should do something fun with her. What should we do?"

"Steve's gone," I said.

"Gone?"

"Yeah. Um, apparently he heard what you and Sheila said about him. He was upstairs listening on the intercom."

Charlotte winced as though she'd just seen someone run over by a truck. Her fingers went to her mouth. Her eyes widened.

"He's gone?"

She turned and ran upstairs as though she didn't believe me. I followed. There on the counter by the intercom was his half-eaten sandwich and milk.

"I assume he heard you guys. He was sitting right there by the intercom, and he left without saying goodbye. What else could it be?"

"Damn!" Charlotte said in a low whisper. "Me and my big mouth!"

"Sheila's pretty sure he's not gonna tell anyone. She says he comes from some religious family that would kill him if they found out-"

"I gotta call him!"

She ran upstairs and grabbed his phone number from a little phone book on her dresser. I of course was right behind her.

"I don't care if he never tells anyone. I don't want him going away thinking I'm some sort of bitch. Thinking I just used him and tossed him away like an old shoe. I'm not like that."

Neither was I. This was why I suggested one of them at least blow him or something, in appreciation.

"Steve? Is Steve there, please? Can I speak to him? Yes."

She paced back and forth, naked, still damp, still making me incredibly hard, in spite of the stress.

"Steve! Oh my god! Why did you leave, sweetie?"

She listened. Her face wrinkled into a pained frown that was so freakin' cute it made me want to push her down on the bed and fuck her right then and there.

"I know. I know, baby, and I just wanted to say sorry. I don't feel that way about you at all. No! Honest, I don't! I'm so grateful for your help. I really am, and I feel like such a bitch for not saying so."

She cringed as though he'd slapped her with an invisible hand.

"You're right, Steve, and I can't take back what I said, but I can promise you I don't really feel that way. If you come back here right now, I swear to god I'll make it up to you. I'll prove to you that I just said those things out of tiredness and stress. I really am so very grateful for your help."

He didn't say anything.

"Steve?"

Still silent.

"Will you come down here again?"

He mumbled something.

"What? I didn't hear you."

He said it louder.

"Come on! Don't be that way, sweetie. Look, if you don't want to be with me that way, at least come down. I'll pay you for your help, okay? Just let me prove to you that I'm grateful, somehow."

"I don't want your fucking money, Charlotte!" I heard him yell. She pulled the phone away from her ear and shivered.

"What do you want then? I'll do anything."

He was silent again, and Charlotte let him think without saying anything. For some reason, she grabbed my hand and placed it on her pussy. I slid my fingers into her crevice and found her soaking wet. Holy shit! She was really serious about wanting to make it up to him. If only he knew. She took my hand and masturbated herself with her fingers.

He mumbled something else to her.

"I know you're upset. I know you're hurt. I'm sorry. Just come down here, okay? I'll make you feel all better."

She was cooing a bit now, a sultry little lilt in her tone.

"No, Anthony's right here. He doesn't mind at all. In fact, he's the one who suggested this. You heard him, right?"

I took the phone from her.

"Dude, just get down here, man. Don't be like that. It's not the first time chicks have said that kind of shit about you and it won't be the last. At least Charlotte's apologizing. How many times has a chick ever apologized for making you feel like shit?"

"Never," he said. His voice was calm and cold.

"Exactly. So get down here. I'll leave you two alone and let her do whatever she has in mind to make it up to you. Are you really gonna say no, man?"

"I'm just sick of the bullshit, Anthony. It never stops. I can't even stand women anymore. They're all fuckin' bitches, unless you're a hot guy with a sweet ride or a big dick."

I couldn't really argue with him there. There are a hell of a lot of shallow women out there. Some of them even freely admit it. But no one can really control who they're attracted to. I didn't know what to tell him. All I knew was that Charlotte wasn't like that.

"Maybe you're right, but you and I both know that Charlotte's not like that. She's one of the good ones. She could be with anyone in the country if she wanted to, but somehow she's with me. I don't understand it. I'm just an ordinary high school kid. I'm not rich or hunky, or even popular. I'm just me. And somehow she's in love with me. I'm not gonna argue with her about it. I'm just gonna enjoy it, and be as lovable as I can. That's all anyone can do."

"It's not fair," he said, and he said it with a finality that seemed to sum up love and romance for half the world.

"Is anything ever fair, Steve? Seriously! You could walk out your door and be mowed down by a truck in the next ten minutes. Is that fair? No, but it happens all the time. Quit worrying about what's fair, what's decent, what's right and wrong, and just enjoy life, man. Enjoy it while you're still alive."

"You don't know what it's like."

I laughed at him.

"You think I don't know what it's like to be picked on, ignored, to be treated like a freak? How long have you known me, man?"

He didn't answer.

"We've known each other for years, Steve, and in all that time, how many girlfriends have I had? I can count them all on one hand. And every single one of them was a fluke. I'm not special. I'm not magical. I'm not blessed. I'm just me. Some girls like that. Some girls couldn't care less, and some girls hate it. I'm not gonna change who I am, though. I just gotta believe that the people worth caring about, like me for who I am. And if they don't, fuck 'em."

Charlotte was lying on the bed, staring at me, playing with her pussy with a glazed look in her eyes, just watching me talk to Steve. It was very distracting.

"I don't know what else to say, man. If you're pissed off about this, if you're gonna be a sad, bitter little man and stew and hold grudges and shit, that's your choice. But if you wanna be happy, you gotta just let shit like that go. Be cool about it. Come fuck Charlotte, man. She's lying on the bed here with her legs open, playing with herself. If you don't get down here, I'm gonna do it for you. Damn is she sexy. She just got out of the shower, and she's all damp and slippery. She's awesome and she promised you anything."