Chapter 15: Gratuitous Sex and Violence

Thursday, July 16, 2009, 5:30 PM

“I just wanted the nightmares to stop,” Joey said as he sat on the couch. Tricia and Annie sat with him. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s over now,” said Tricia. “We’re just lucky that we got out of there before anyone could identify us.”

“Do you think he was seriously hurt?” asked Annie.

“Don’t know. He looked pretty stunned, and his ears were bleeding. He may have some permanent hearing loss from this.”

Joey sat quietly and looked down in shame.

Tricia reached around Joey and pulled him in for a hug. She kissed his head. “Hey, if I’m going to be your new mom, then what I’m supposed to be doing right now is lecturing you and making you feel guilty for hurting him. But right now I’m just so relieved to get you home safe.”

“Hey, if you want guilt,” said Annie, “I can do guilt! I’m a Jew. I’m an expert. I grew up in the University of Guilt.”

Joey grinned a moment.

“So tell me yingl. Do you feel bad about what you did?”

He nodded.

Annie shrugged. “Then my work here is done. Not much else I can do. It’s good that you feel bad about it. That’s your conscience working.”

Tricia tussled his hair. “If you’re having problems, you come to us. If you ever want to talk about your nightmares, we’re here for you. Okay?”

He nodded. “I just wanted them to stop,” he repeated.

“The best way to get rid of nightmares is to let them happen and to talk about them and think about them,” said Annie. “It’s mental pain, like physical pain. When you are hurt, your body repairs itself, and puts up pain to protect itself. Same thing with your mind.” She patted his knee. “Maybe you need to draw what you dream about? Maybe that will help.”

Joey nodded.

“You get started on that. We’ll start dinner.”

As Tricia and Annie got up to make dinner, Joey went into Tricia’s room to do some drawing. Tricia pulled some microwavable burgers and vegetables out of the freezer, and put the vegetables in the microwave.

“So, what happened out there?” asked Annie.

Tricia sighed and shook her head. “I’ve never seen him like this before. He was going to kill him. I keep forgetting what living on the streets must do to someone. He seems so quiet most of the time, but underneath ... it’s like there is a wild animal. He does what he has to in order to survive.” Tricia paused. “And the weird thing is, I think he tried to kill this guy because he saw me try to kill that rapist at Tony’s. But he’s the one that stopped me, and I had to stop him this time.”

“Sounds like he’s looking to us to know what is right and wrong.”

Tricia shook her head. “He knows right from wrong already. I think he just needs to see it in action from us.” She chuckled. “The thing that really convinced him was the fact that I promised to stop blowing Marty.”

“Nu? You, with no more of the sexual favors for your boss? That’s surprising.”

“Tell me about it. I actually like the idea, but then I think, well, what’s keeping me at that job? Marty’s going to kill the homeless kids story if I don’t keep him happy in blowjobs, and if I stop now, why is he going to want me around at all?”

“Well, your cleavage still gets good ratings.”

Tricia looked down at her chest. “Yeah, it does that.”

“So why do you think Joey wants you to stop blowing Marty?”

“He said he wanted me to be good, but I think it’s more than that.” She whispered. “I think he wants me all for himself.”

Annie raised her eyebrows.

Tricia nodded. “It’s going to happen soon. She said it was going to be after a wonderful and beautiful moment, but right now it doesn’t feel very wonderful or beautiful.”

They had dinner and talked of dreams and nightmares. Joey opened up a little bit, talking about his nightmares, and the vision of his father burning. Tricia talked about her own recurring dream of being on the Metro trains. Annie talked about her occasional nightmare of being stuck on the ground and attacked by a wild animal.

After dinner they cleaned up and watched some TV. During a laundry detergent commercial Tricia wondered about her clean clothes supply, and went into her room to check on her clothes. As she was looking through her drawers, she glanced up into her bedroom mirror and something odd caught her eye. There was something poking out behind Joey’s new dresser. She turned to his new dresser, looked behind it, and pulled out the pages of paper that were hidden there.

She gasped and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the pages. They were drawings of her, but they were not the respectable drawings she had seen before. These were sexy and erotic drawings of her. She was naked in all these pictures, reclining and inviting, passionate and seductive. Her full breasts were prominently displayed in every picture. Her public area was either covered or apparently shaved. Tricia’s first thought was that he too had been getting visits from her future self, but the lack of pubic hair and the position of her drawn hair changed her mind. In the drawings her hair hung down loose as it did in real life, and wasn’t suspended by static electricity as the future Tricia’s hair was.

She flipped through the pages. Most of the pictures were of her naked in alluring positions. A couple were of Annie in the nude, which surprised her. But she saw that she was the most prominently drawn figure.

There was a gasp behind her, and she turned, looked up, and saw Joey standing in the room holding his art pad. He had a horrid expression on his face as he saw her looking at his drawings.

She smiled at him very sweetly. “Hey there.”

“Uhhmm...” He shifted, embarrassed.

Tricia twirled her hair in her fingers. “You’ve been busy, I see.”

Joey swallowed. He turned bright red.

“I have to tell you, Joey, I’m very surprised.”

“Ummm ... I can...”

“I am also quite relieved.” She grinned at him slyly. “And all this time I thought you hadn’t noticed me,” she pouted.

Joey blinked and shook slightly. He looked down at the ground in shame, and tried to speak, but couldn’t.

Tricia laid the pages on the bed. “I love these,” she said, running her fingers over the pages. “These are wonderful ... Beautiful.”

He looked up in surprise.

“Especially THIS one. I love how you drew my breasts.”

Joey turned crimson.

“But they don’t stick out that far all by themselves in real life. I think maybe you must have caught them in mid-swing.” She winked at him.

He looked back down at the ground again.

“Joey, it’s okay. It’s okay to look at me like this.” She cocked her head at him. “I know what I look like, and I know the effect I have on men.” She gave him a sexy smile and whispered. “I like it when men look at me like this.”

Joey swallowed hard. He trembled.

This is it. This is the moment. I can feel it. And she said I can’t seduce him. Riiiight! I know just what he wants. “Of course, the main problem is ... you really need a live model to draw me properly.”

His eyes opened wide. Tricia stood up and lazily walked around the bed. She swung her hips and twisted her body just a bit more than necessary as she walked towards him. “So why don’t you set up over there, and I’ll be right back. I just want to get a little mood music.” As she walked past him, she reached out and traced her finger under his shaking chin.

Tricia smiled to herself as she stepped out of her room and into the living room. Annie was still watching TV, and Tricia looked through the CD collection and pulled out a disk. “Hey Annie,” she said. “Why don’t you go out to the movies tonight?”

“Well, Harry Potter just opened, but I thought we’d take...” She looked at Tricia and her jaw dropped. Tricia winked at her. “Are you going to...”

She nodded. “Something wonderful and beautiful is happening.”

Annie pointed at her. “You be good to him.”

Tricia grinned back and shimmied her shoulders. “I’m going to be spectacular!” She sashayed back to her bedroom.

She closed the door behind her and saw Joey standing in the far side of the room holding his pad in front of him, pen in hand. He swallowed nervously as he watched her. Tricia gave him a sultry smile and walked to her portable CD player. She put the disk in, turned it on, and selected her favorite track. Then she took her shoes off and climbed onto the bed as the CD played an ethereal introductory note.

The synthesizers played an opening rhythm, a pounding heartbeat establishing a passionate energy for the piece. She walked on the bed on her knees towards him. “How do you want me?” she asked. “Like this?” She lowered herself and stretched out on the bed, displaying her body to him. “Or like this?” Then she rolled onto her back and kicked her feet into the air. “Or like this maybe?”

The establishing chords started playing, reinforcing the pounding rhythm and filling the room with harmonies. Joey licked his lips and watched her. Pen in one hand, paper in the other, he eyed her writhing body.

“Just keep moving,” he finally said.

“What?” she asked.

“I know what you look like. I need to see your energy.” He smiled at her.

Tricia rolled back and got up on her knees again. She grinned at him mischievously. “You asked for it,” she said, and she raised her arms up above her head and swung her hips to the music, twisting her torso, arching her back, and pushing her full breasts towards the young boy.

She gathered her long hair up over her head and let it fall in amber and bronze curtains over her face and shoulders. Then she threw her head up, whipping her chestnut locks back and stared at him with intense azure eyes. As the introduction ended, the lyrics started, and Tricia chanted along to the words.

“Something in the moonlight catches my eye.
The shadow of a lover goes dancing by.
Looking for a little bit of love to grow, so
give me love, give me heart and soul.”

Tricia slinked down onto the bed, sliding down on one side, her eyes locked on his. Her shoulders rolled and her hips twisted. She rubbed her legs together sensuously.

“You never let me cross to the other side now.
I’m tied to the hope that you will somehow.
Hard on the heels of something more,
but I lost your love, heart and soul.”

She rolled down across her stomach and onto her back, her arms entwined over her head, and she kicked her legs up once and twice in time with the music.

“The tear in my heart as you walk on by.
I feel so low and your head is high.
Everything you do convinces me more, please
give me love, give me heart and soul.”

Her torso writhed, and her hips bucked with the beating rhythm of the song, then she crawled back up on all fours.

“Looking to the day when I saw your face.
I wasn’t in the running, I wasn’t in the race.
You move in a way that I’ve known before,
now I want your love, heart and soul.”

She was on her knees by now, and the moment the electric guitars thrashed powerfully, sending the song into the driving chorus, Tricia grabbed the front of her blouse and ripped it open, exposing her cleavage and sports bra to the engrossed thirteen year old boy. Buttons hit the walls.

“Leaving you ain’t easy now!
Loving you’s the harder part!
You never want me for myself!
Now I’ve needed you right from the very start.
Oh, won’t you even try to...”

She crawled towards him with a desperate look in her eyes, stopping within arms reach of him, and stood on her knees again and writhed to the music, running her hands up and down the length of her body, cupping and pushing her breasts and running her hand down between her legs to stroke her thighs.

“Give a little bit of heart and soul!
Give a little bit of love to grow!
Give a little bit of heart and soul,
and don’t you make me beg for more.
Give a sign, I need to know,
a little bit of heart and soul.”

Joey was drawing furiously. He was breathing heavily and his pen whipped across the page, creating dynamic lines and curves which matched her style and form. Most of the time he wasn’t even looking at his drawing, but he drew in confidence as Tricia performed before him.

Tricia fell onto the bed on her back and squirmed to the music as the melody returned. She reached up with her hands and legs and mock-dog-paddled.

“Walking on the water, walking on the air,
that was the heart of the love we shared.
Do you keep secrets left untold?
Can’t give love, heart or soul?”

She rolled onto her side and pantomimed, pointing to Joey, then to herself.

“I used to have a lover with a Midas touch!
I turned to gold but he turned to dust.
Left me for another, I turned to stone,
now give me love, heart and soul!”

She walked towards him on her knees, one step every four beats to the music. Singing to him, she pulled her blouse off one arm, in the first step, and let it drop off her other arm completely on the next. She reached out to him as he drew frenziedly.

“Living in a fantasy,
there’s never any room to breathe!
Hoping every waking hour,
you’ll turn around and say that we can start!
Oh won’t you even try to...”

She grabbed his arm, stopping his drawing and pulled him towards the bed. As he crawled on the bed with her, staring at her magnificent and voluptuous form, she lay down in front of him and stretched sensuously and inviting, displaying her fabulous body to him.

“Give a little bit of heart and soul!
Give a little bit of love to grow!
Give a little bit of heart and soul,
and don’t you make me beg for more!
Give a sign, I need to know
a little bit of heart and soul.”

Joey stood over her on his knees. They were both breathing heavily from her performance, and he dropped the pen on the bed and lowered the art pad. His eyes were locked on her body, her full bra-encased breasts, her soft naked belly, and her clothed groin. She let go of his hand, and he held it out towards her body, fingers outstretched and eager to touch her.

Tricia gazed up at his face, but as the art pad tilted downward, she saw the figures on the page. Distracted, she took the art pad and turned it towards her. “Oh ... My ... God!” she exclaimed. It was covered with erotic caricatures of her form, sketches of simple lines and curves that captured her performance, her poses, and her energy. “These are beautiful!” she exclaimed.

“So are you,” he said, reaching for her.

Tricia was enthralled at the artwork. “Breathtaking...” she said. “I swear Joey, you have a rare talent.” She ran her finger across one of the lines on the page. “If you ever write a book, you should do all the artwork in it.”

Joey froze. “What?” He stared at her in horror, and jumped off the bed enraged. “WHAT IS THIS?” he yelled.

Tricia looked at him confused. “What is it?”

He backed away from her, tearing and angry. “Is this what this is all about? You’re just trying to get me to do that book again! I keep telling you! NO! I don’t want to do it!”

“Joey! No, I didn’t mean it like that...”

“I CAN’T TRUST YOU! YOU PROMISED!”

Tricia got up. “No, Joey, I didn’t mean that.”

He shook his head. “I’m out of here,” he cried, and he took off running out the bedroom, and then out of the apartment.

“Oh, GOD DAMN IT!” Tricia yelled, and she grabbed her blouse, rolled to the side of the bed, grabbed her shoes, and then ran out the door, slipping the shoes on her feet and putting her blouse back on.

“What the hell is going on?” asked Annie as she sat in the living room. “What did you do?”

“Something stupid,” she said, pulling her blouse on. The buttons were ripped off, and it wouldn’t close, so she held it tight around her and she ran out the front door after him. “JOEY!” she cried out. She looked up and down the hall, and saw the door to the stairwell closing. She ran to the stairwell and called down the stairs. “JOEY! STOP!”

She could see him running down the stairs. He was running fast, and wasn’t slowing down. Tricia immediately took off down the stairs after him. “PLEASE! STOP!” she called out. God damn it! Why do we have to be on the fifteenth floor?

She ran down the stairs after him for nearly a full minute, calling to him and clutching her blouse closed around her. He ran out of the stairwell and several seconds later she followed him out of the door. She saw the front foyer door closing and she ran out after him. As she reached the streets, she lost sight of him for a moment, but saw him running fill tilt away from her. Tricia sprinted after him, thanking God that she was still wearing her super sports bra.

“JOEY! PLEASE! STOP!”

Joey cut across the street, dodging incoming cars and headed for a small park. Tricia followed, nearly getting clipped by a passing car as she crossed the lanes. She ran into the park after him, and lost him.

“Oh, shit!” she said. Can’t stop. She ran further into the park, just following the main pathway, hoping that she would see him soon. “JOEY! PLEASE COME BACK!”

A small bridge caught her attention. It looked like a good hiding place. She ran towards it and looked underneath it. There was no one there. She continued on searching. Up ahead there was a small public restroom, so she headed for that. She rounded the corner behind it, and ran directly into a group of about six young men, all in T-shirts, ripped jeans, and all were heavily tattooed.

Her body went cold. She recognized them. They were Mara Salcatrucha, a local gang. OH SHIT! She turned around to run away. Two more were behind her.

“Hey, chica! Where are you headed?” said one of the men.

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, trying to side-step the man.

“Well, then you’re going to make time!” He blocked her path. The others slowly approached her from behind, grinning and chuckling. “Damn girl, you’re in the wrong place.”

“Don’t touch me!”

He took that as an invitation, reached out, and grabbed her arm. “I do what I...”

“I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME!” she yelled, and she threw a punch with her free arm into the man’s face, nearly breaking his nose. She kicked a second man as he approached. A third grabbed her from behind, and she kicked his shin.

They fell on her, easily overpowering her. Tricia screamed and kicked, and a hand covered her mouth. She was pulled back and easily lifted by several of the gang members and carried to a picnic table. She struggled and fought against the men, kicking, thrashing, and fighting as they pushed her on the table. They shouted and laughed as they pinned her down and grabbed at her clothes.

“Look at these tits!”

“God DAMN!”

“Gonna fuck her up!”

She felt her necklace ripped from her. ¡No! ¡No otra vez! ¡No! ¡Para! ¡Ayuda! Hands clawed at her sports bra.

Joey came running to the scene. “LEAVE HER ALONE!” he cried out. He ran towards her, but was caught by a gang member.

“Get out of here, kid!” The gang member smacked him and threw him to the ground. Joey scrambled up and tried to run past the man, but was tackled again.

Joey screeched and with a wild swipe raked his fingernails across the man’s skin. Then he grabbed the man’s arm and bit him hard, drawing blood. The man howled in pain and pushed the wild kid off him. Joey hit the ground, grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into the man’s face. As the man coughed and choked, a second approached Joey.

Joey’s eyes turned bright white, and white sparks exploded from his fists. The second man stopped and yelled. “¡Un diable mutante!”

The boy jumped into the tangle of bodies on the picnic table, glowing hands outstretched and leaving a twin trail of sparks behind him. He reached in, fighting past the gang members and just barely managed to touch her bare skin.

It was enough.

A deluge of power permeated her body, and with a primal scream Tricia thrashed. The bodies that held her down were no longer overbearing. They were now feather-light, and she hurled and kicked the gang members into the air. She spun, pushing hard against the wooden picnic table, smashing and shattering it in the process. She regained her footing and roared, consumed with a savage fury.

The world transformed around her. Her roar dropped down in tone, lower and lower, until it felt like a constant guttural purr. Screams and yells fell at least four octaves. Bodies flying through the air slowed and tumbled unsupported. Streetlights dimmed and flicked to a steady flashing beat. The air became thick. Her breathing and heartbeat reduced to a crawl, and her body felt sluggish. Her long hair floated and fell about her as if moving through water.

What the fuck? She tried to speak. Her mouth and throat were slow and difficult to control. What’s happening? She whipped her head left and right, surveying the scene. Bodies of gang members slowly sprawled through the molasses air. Pieces of shattered wood table spun and flipped in the air. She saw Joey standing nearby, his hands covered in glittering jewels of energy.

She looked at her hands and put it all together. Strength! He gave me strength! I just threw those bastards off me! She looked at the floating bodies. But why is everything going so slowly? No! They’re not. I’m going FAST! I have super-speed! She looked at the splintered wood and then at her flawless unharmed hands. And I didn’t feel a thing when I hit the table. I may be invulnerable too! I’m ... I’m super-powered!

She looked back at the gang members. Most of them had reached the ground by now and were tumbling. She glared at them, and felt the rage burning inside her. You fuck with ME? she wanted to scream at them. She clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes on the nearest man. I’ll show you what it’s like to try and fight with someone stronger than you!

Tricia pushed forward, trying to run towards the nearest gang member. Her feet slipped as they easily ripped the soft fabric of her shoes. She stumbled and lost her balance, falling slowly towards the ground as her shoes tore off her feet. God DAMN IT! I like these shoes! Her palms hit the concrete ground. It felt soft and spongy. This must be invulnerability. That or I’m digging holes in the concrete. She pushed herself back up and thrust her body forward. She could feel the momentum building in her body, and she clawed at the thick air, balancing herself as she dug her feet into the ground for traction.

Running at super-speed felt nothing like running at normal speed. It felt to her a lot like running underwater. The air pressure was incredible, and she found that most of her effort was in breaking the barrier of air in front of her with her hands. It was almost like swimming in air. The trick was to duck her head and torso down low to reduce drag. Her feet slipped easily on the soft ground as she reached the end of the concrete, but it only took a few steps in to figure out how to dig her toes down for traction.

A few strides in, and she managed a rhythm. She had finally built up some speed as she reached the first gang member. She tried to stop, but discovered that was not possible. She had too much momentum. Thinking quickly, she reached down and grabbed the man by his shirt and pulled. He lifted halfway off the ground before his shirt ripped in her hands. She grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him up. There was a wrenching, popping sensation that came from his shoulder, and she could see his face overcome with fear and confusion.

Tricia dug her feet into the ground, braking hard. The man flipped and flopped in her grasp like a worthless rag doll. She pushed the flopping body up high with one arm and tried to roar again. She eyed his chest and balled her fist, pulling back for the strike.

This is for every woman who was ever raped! It would be easy. She could feel the bones in his arm bending in her grasp. A simple punch into the ribcage would shatter the ribs. His foul heart was on the other side, protected by bones as substantial as styrofoam. A moment later that heart wouldn’t be there anymore. Should I grab it and pull it out and show it to him, or should I just punch it all the way through the other side? Terror and pain and perplexity washed over the man’s face. Good! she yelled at the man mentally. Feel these things! This is what you make us feel! Know these things before you die!

A sound caught her attention. Far behind the man she was holding she saw Joey. His eyes were wide in fear. His face was a display of terror and despair. He was looking at her and screaming, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. But from the look on his face, she knew what he was saying.

Don’t kill.

The fury built into a madness. RAPIST! MOTHER-FUCKING BASTARD! Her body craved his death. Her soul called for revenge. Her heart cried out for justice. Her fingers clawed the air, ready to render satisfaction. She tensed her body for the kill.

Her conscience spoke. Don’t kill. You will hurt Joey.

KILL HIM! HE SHOULD DIE! WHY SHOULD HE LIVE? She glared at the helpless man in her fist.

Don’t kill. If you kill, you lose Joey forever.

The madness boiled inside of her. Now was her chance. Now was her time to fight back, to extract revenge against that man who raped her. To bring justice to every woman ever raped. It would be easy. It would feel so good to see him die.

Don’t kill. Joey wants you to be good. Be good for Joey.

GOD DAMN-IT FUCKING SHIT! she screamed mentally through the time warp and she made her decision. Tricia opened her fist into a flat hand and punched the man’s chest, pulling the punch at the last moment. The shockwave rippled through his chest and ribcage, but broke nothing, and he flew out of her hand.

Tricia whipped her head around and saw the other seven gang members. Fine! No killing! But that doesn’t mean I can’t HURT you! One down, seven to go!

She dug her feet into the ground and sprinted towards the second man. Feeling more confident with the power, she scooped him up, spun him, and threw him into a third. The two sprawled back in a tangled mess. She slid on the ground as she put on the brakes, sliding like she was stealing second base, and dug two shallow trenches into the ground. She centered her attention on two more men, and took off towards them. She didn’t even slow down as she reached them. She just open-handed slapped them in the face as she passed them. Their bodies spun and twisted in the air in reaction.

How fast am I running? ... It feels like a normal speed now. Let’s see... She looked at the blinking streetlights. One-two-three, one-two-three ... Three times a second. But those lights blink sixty times a second, so I’m going twenty times faster than normal. But how fast is normal running speed? Ten? Fifteen miles per hour? That’s what? Two to three hundred miles per hour? Fuck YEAH!

She ran full-tilt into another man, throwing her shoulder into him and shoving him out of the way. Bet that felt like being hit by a bus! She grabbed the sixth one and spun him wildly, throwing him a good fifty feet into the grassy area.

The last man stood with a petrified look on his face. He had pulled a knife. Oh, PLEASE! She ran to him, grabbed the knife by the blade in her hand, and squished the soft metal before yanking it out of his hand. She did another open-palm punch into his chest, pushing the man off his feet.

She looked at the knife in her hand. It was mangled beyond recognition, and her hand was unharmed. I should get rid of this. She looked around and saw the nearby pond. With a gentle toss she hurled the knife into the water.

Tricia surveyed the scene. There were eight bodies on the ground, all still alive. Joey was still spinning, trying to find Tricia. All done! she declared.

The world still slushed by in its muffled state.

Okay ... Now... She looked around. How do I turn this power off? OFF! she commanded mentally.

The streetlights continued to flicker at the same rate. Bodies barely moved. Joey was still slowly turning.

OFF! she repeated. STOP! Um ... FASTER! ... SLOWER?

The world was still sluggish.

Oh shit! A nervous energy built inside her as she started to panic. What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?? I’M STUCK! I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE THIS ANYMORE! She saw Joey. Joey! I need him to take the power out of me. She ran over to him and slid to a stop in front the boy. She grabbed his hand and held it tight. JOEY! PLEASE! TURN IT OFF! PULL THE POWER OUT!

Joey’s head barely had time to turn towards her, but his face immediately showed a grimace of agony. His arm slowly tried to pull back from her. She looked down at her hand holding his, and realized the awful truth.