Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20A | 20B | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-26 | 27 | 28-29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35-36 | 37 | 38A | 38B | 38C | 38D | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42-43
PART II
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS
44
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH you, daddy-o?” Ethel asked from the bathtub when Trey went to take a piss. “You’ve been off all night.”
Trey didn’t answer while he did his business and washed his hands. He dropped the toilet lid and sat on it, then leaned over and wove his fingers behind his head. “I … I don’t know what happened. One minute I’m fucking delighted I got to marry this girl and make her happy with the house and car and whatnot. The next I’m wishing I’d never met her.”
“What’d she do?”
“She lawyered me into a corner.”
“Come again?”
He sighed and slowly relayed the conversation.
Ethel was silent for a long time when he was finished. He peeked out from under his brow to see her lying back, her eyes closed. “How come you’re not workin’? Ain’t your bleedin’ week.”
“Didn’t feel like it,” she said airily.
“You didn’t feel like it?” he growled.
“Even loose women and whores need a day off now and again when they are not bleeding. Wives don’t get a day off. Work night and day and that’s before the kid comes along.”
“Goddammit,” he muttered.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Did you fake it with me or not?”
“No. You really are that good.”
“Now you see why I’m upset?”
“You’re upset because you’re a selfish son of a bitch.”
“What!”
She slapped her hands over her face and croaked, “Oh, God, why?” as if she were dying. “Why did I— I just remembered why I hate you so much.”
Trey pulled back, shocked.
“You walk out with good girls. You work to seduce them. You dump them when they say yes. I’ve always thought that was a lousy thing to do, but I thought when you met the right girl, you would respect her enough not to push her to ‘yes’ at all.”
“Marina is the right girl.”
“Mmm hm. Because you were using her to get the speak. Now you’re married but you’re treating her the same way you did every other nice girl you walked out with.”
“You got what you wanted, too. Everygoddamnedbody here got what they wanted and you can’t see your way clear to sympathize with my situation?”
Her head popped up and she glared at him. “We knew you wanted to marry Marina. We trusted you to make her happy and take care of her. Except you don’t because you’re as much of a prude as half the men who come in here.”
“I am not a prude!”
“You got enough church when you were a kid that you got all that nonsense in your head about pure women, and now it’s coming out. I should’ve seen it before because it’s clear as a bell. So by some miracle you get her where you want her, but she was spiked and she doesn’t remember, so it’s not her fault, but you resent her for it anyway.”
“I … ” I what?
“Change your way of thinking or sleep somewhere else.”
“The hell you say!”
“Then how long will it take for you to go looking for a snatch?”
“I’m not going to do that! I made a deal with her in good faith!”
“With you, ‘good faith’ changes every time a deal doesn’t turn out the way you wanted. Boss Tom’s got more scruples than you do.”
“That is not true!”
“Boss Tom let you have her when he realized what an awful thing that was to do to an innocent girl, but you can’t even go that far. Yet there she is, wanting to be a good wife, doing her best to make your life easier. There is nothing you can do for her except to change your way of thinking about having sex with her. Or don’t have sex with her at all.”
Trey sat silent for a long while, turning that over. Change his way of thinking? He, like Ethel, had assumed that when he met the right one, she wouldn’t say yes to the wrong question. The right question was Will you marry me?
“How do I change my way of thinking?”
“Figure out what you can tolerate from a wife and still respect her in the morning, then teach her that. No more, no less. Slowly and carefully. You’ve made it a lot harder because now she knows you likely won’t respect her in the morning and will lie there like a dead fish until you can make her believe you want her to be your lover too. Hopefully by that time, you’ll want the same.” She opened one eye. “Why did you want to marry her so badly?”
“She’s sweet. Smart.”
“People aren’t all one thing. They’re a lot of things and only need one or two things for any given situation. Did she stop being sweet and smart in bed?”
“No.”
“So the only thing different was that you found out she’s a bearcat, which you like. Just not in sweet, smart girls you want to marry.”
Trey’s mouth twisted.
“Now you’re green around the gills! God, you’re pathetic when you lose.” Suddenly she lunged out of the tub. “You know what?” she said, motioning for Trey to hand her a towel which she wrapped around herself. “I quit.”
“Ethel!” he cried, panicking.
“No, Trey. I’m not going to stay here knowing I—” She stepped out of the tub and stormed to the door, then turned. “You made her into exactly what you didn’t want and now she’s in prison for the rest of her life. Getting beaten by her mama wasn’t enough? Here you are thinking the same thing her mama accused her of? No. You’ve gone too far. Give her her own bed and keep your dick in your pants or I won’t work for you anymore. I’ll be surprised if Alice and Sally don’t walk out too.”
45
TREY LET HIMSELF in the back door of his house at six, unable to enjoy the feeling of having a nice place and wife to come home to.
They’d quit. All three of them. They’d packed up and walked out, just like that. Brody had given him the side-eye and Vern was more taciturn than usual. Gio was already pissed over Dot so nothing about his behavior changed.
Three well-heeled clients walked out without so much as a shot of whisky when they found out the girls weren’t available for their standing appointments.
“They come crawlin’ to me beggin’ me to win the bet an’ the second I do they quit?!” he ranted at Gio. “Where they gonna go?”
“Oh, you think we’re stupid too,” Gio drawled.
“What?!”
“Do you see us spending our money?”
Oh. “Then why were you all so scared for your jobs?”
“We want out and we don’t have any job skills to keep steady when the money’s gone. Likely they’ll set up shop amongst themselves while they’ve got a little stash.”
“Not if I can help it,” he snarled, then stormed home.
Trey wearily pulled off his tie and coat, draped them over a chair, and went to the refrigerator. There was a plate waiting for him and, seeing it, realized he was hungry. Nobody at 1520 would make sure he ate, not even Ida, who had kept her eyes averted and her answers soft.
Trey hung his head with a sigh and took a swig of milk, killed the lights, locked the door, and trudged up the stairs. He stopped halfway when he saw a soft light from his bedroom. Was she awake? If so, was she waiting for him? If not, was she sleeping in a chair again?
He climbed the rest of the way and stood in the bedroom doorway. Marina was slumped across his pillow with her back against the headboard, her head on her outstretched arm, her nightgown chucked up to her drawers, a book lying open in front of her. The bedside reading lamp was still on and he wondered how long she’d been asleep.
Shame washed through him, the kind of shame he had over his accent and grammar, because she’d left him a plate and tried to wait up for him. He shouldn’t have been surprised. She wanted to be a good wife.
Earn what he gave her, for God’s sake. That hurt, too.
He gently took the book and straightened her out. He took a shower and climbed into bed with her wondering what would happen if he took her nightgown off and stroked her naked body in her sleep.
His stupid dick liked that idea. So did his mind. She would let him do exactly what he wanted. His dick didn’t like that. Neither did his mind.
What the fuck did he want?
In her sleep, he could see a subtle vibrance that she wasn’t deliberately suppressing for fear of earning her folks’ disapproval. He ran a finger through the hair at her temple and she sighed with a tiny smile. He ventured further and stroked his palm across her soft cheek. She smacked her lips and scratched her face.
He smiled and leaned over to press his mouth softly where she’d scratched.
She scowled and batted him away, then scratched some more.
That made him chuckle, affection welling in his chest. His smile faded. Affection. Sex. There was a whole lot that went wrong when affection and sex got mixed up in each other. He saw it all night long, every night. Men catching feelings for his girls, who turned them out as soon as they started getting possessive. Women catching feelings for cats they were fucking, wearing their hearts on their sleeves so loud even Trey was embarrassed for them.
He simply didn’t see how affection and sex could work alongside each other, even though he had examples: Brother John and Marie Lazia. All the men in his speak who openly lived their lives with their mistresses and genuinely enjoyed their company.
He sighed and leaned across her to turn off the bedside light, then settled in, his arm over his forehead and his body against Marina’s.
Affection. Sex.
They went together about as well as Carrie Nation and bathtub gin.
44-45
If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.
Ah, and here we were thinking that Marina was the immature one.
*snicker*
Heh.
There’s a First in my pants, and everyone is invited.
Everyone? I’ll tell Lorena Bobbit.
Ouch.
That’s what he said!
That’s a cutting remark.
Now don’t go off half cocked.
I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve shit your pants.
Bro is Jerrold Nadler?
Wouldn’t that be a Second in his pants?
A Number Two?
Who does number two work for?
but she was spiked and she doesn’t remember,
He told Ethel?
Oh, everybody knows. Trey was not shy about putting it out what would happen to whoever spiked her if he found out who it was.
Ahhh…
I hope I don’t give anybody the idea I don’t like Trey. I do. I think he’s young and brash and occasionally foolish, a little confused, but with a solid head on his shoulders. I’m not trying to portray him as an idiot, because he’s not and I don’t think of him as one. Sometimes I read these back when they’re posted and kind of go, “Oh, shit, that’s not what I meant.”
He comes across as sympathetic. Mostly.
Certainly not dumb.
LOL of course not. It’s a romance, right? I like him, warts and all. If he was Mr. Perfect he’d be a crashing bore.
No this should be a struggle for Trey – he’s got no reference, just shit he picked up along the way; which is mostly shit. He got good at working a hustle, but knows it isn’t long term; this is long term and he’s got no clue (just like his delusions about respectability).
*wilts in relief*
Yes!
What the fuck did he want?
To include Dot in a threesome?
For the 23rd time, no.
Pretty sure it was the 17th time.
Just because you don’t give it to him doesn’t mean it’s not what he wants. :-p
That’s why God invented fanfic. Get to it now.
I was going to say fan service, not fanfic. :-p
No fan service here, not-sorry.
I did a dual-identity subplot in one of my books and readers were like, WHY DIDN’T SHE CATCH ON? SHE’S AN IDIOT! I was so pissed off. She didn’t catch on because there was no logical, rational reason for her to do so. So I addressed it in the re-edit: “Do you know what that’s called? Magical thinking. People take drugs to keep them from making those kinds of leaps!”
So no. No fan service.
Good luck, Ted. We’re all counting on you.
Lol
I’m amazed at the open discussion of things I would consider personal.
Undress legally with your attorney, financially with your banker, physically with your doctor and intimately with your love partner. No need to mix them up.
Another good 2 chapters, Moj, and wait, wait, wait. Thanks
I figure, you work in a whore house, you might talk about stuff you wouldn’t in other circumstances.
“That’s why God invented fanfic. Get to it now.”
Thanks for the discussion topic: What are your favorite fanfics? Do you even know of a good one?
I do! Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is not just a good fanfic… it is one of my favorite books. It is a go-to on my tablet for “I need to escape into another world inside a book” when I don’t want to roll the dice.. I have probably read it 4 times, which is a lot for a book. It is probably a bit crazy for a fanfic. The premise is just so much fun, and the topic is tailor made for me – a true nerd and skeptic. Plus, the author includes all sorts of references to my favorite works – like Dune, Ender’s Game, LOTR, etc. A book for nerds by a nerd.
https://hpmor.com/
yeah, I just confessed too much.
whatever….
50 Shades of Cyto?
That was a live-action event that took place over several years in the 80s.
You’re the one who had the stripper girlfriend, yes?
Nah. She was a cheerleader at UNC and a tennis player. Quite the athlete. Like a Ferrari.
Ohh, there was a time…. Young and athletic and nowhere to be that we couldn’t blow off for a few days?
Unfortunately, life intervened and I can’t really revisit those memories anymore. Too bad….
I believe that may have been NA?
In his case I’m not sure they were in a relationship. She was referenced as a former roommate and best friend.
I believe you’re correct.
Hasn’t everyone had a stripper girlfriend at one time or another?
…No, I can’t say I have.
Nor I.
Although a female friend did say that many years previous, she had done a little stripping during a particularly rough patch* when she desperately needed the money to support herself and her kids.
*Poor thing has had more than her share of those, even recently.
My favorite Fanfic?
Egotistically, it’s Scintilla Vitae… because I wrote it.
Dang it. Now I gotta sign up for something?
It wants you to sign up?
Dammit.
I changed the settings so that it’s not currently flagged as “Mature Content (Violence/Gore)”
What? It won’t let unauthenticated users download the file?
Maybe I should figure an alternate delivery method.
I have a shiny new PDF in my downloads folder, awaiting transfer to my tablet. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy the story.
I came up with the characters, but they’re playing in someone else’s setting.
I don’t read fanfics. I didn’t even read 50 Shades. I thought I was above all that.
But there is a sister category called RPF, real-person fic, which, as it turned out, I’ve been doing since I was a very young child.
So, yeah. Not above it. Only 3 of my (published) characters are based on people I actually know, but 2 of those were crushes. The third was my water delivery dude.
RPF makes me uneasy. Even if the person has been dead for centuries, it just feels wrong.
This is not a position I arrived at rationally, so I can only speculate why.
Oh, wait. I take that back. I forgot all the people I don’t like who make an appearance as villains, including both my grandmothers. Does that count?
I wonder if that is a guy/girl divide.
My fantasies never feature real people. Always the faceless, nameless fantasy person.
Now, in my fantasy arguments/fights? Yeah, I replay events every way from sunday, rewriting what I should have said or done, or what I should say or do next time…. calculating how other folks would respond to try to find the best way to handle things.
But not the other kind of daydreaming.
One of the most vicious role playing games I was in was a group of friends, playing Tales From the Floating Vagabond. The GM had built character sheets based on each of us in real life, and we started by playing ourselves. About every 20-30 minutes, we handed the sheets to the left and played as our friend.
Vicious.
It’s probably not fanfic….
I tried reading “The Last Ringbearer”. A rewrite of “The Lord of the Rings” where Sauron is the good guy. At the point where I left off, it had devolved into a bad spy novel. I think I got about half way through? I don’t remember. One day I might finish it.
I love those “from the other point of view” rewrites. The Orson Scott Card “Ender’s Shadow” series comes to mind.
In fairness, Orson Scott Card also wrote Ender’s Game, so he could easily weld that on.
Can/should we distinguish between “fan-fic” and… I don’t know what it is called, but… authorized participation in a universe?
Hugh Howey’s “Silo” comes to mind – I have read some of the unknown authors who write in that universe that are every bit as good if not better.
From up-thread and Lorena Bobbit-
When she cut John’s dick off, she drove around, then chucked it out the window. It hit the windshield of the car behind her. What did that driver say?
“Jesus! Look at the cock on that bug!”
And this song was playing…
I am just gonna say it; Trump is our nations first Black president.
I mean, Black Lives Matter has told us, time and again! that this is how a black man is treated in the United States of AmeriKKKa.
Bill Clinton was the country’s first black president.
Nah, he was treated well by the cops.
Limited some of my account features.
After I merely wished that another user would remove himself.
It’s been suggested I remove myself from the twitter wherewithal
for merely suggesting another user would be better off
not being around
would be
bett
er
o
I looked at your Twitter stream. I didn’t see anything like that…
Thank you Mols
Moj I think I found you Here
Stop embarrassing yourself mate God, I wish I could.
rough start for Sesame Street
Mississippi, long the most incendiary state in the nation when it came to
civil rightsanything reasonable, was still struggling with the racial tension of the 1960s….Entering this climate was Sesame Street…the human cast was integrated, with black performers Matt Robinson and Loretta Long as Gordon and Susan, respectively, appearing alongside white actors Jada Rowland and Bob McGrath. The children of Sesame Street were also ethnically diverse.I remember the break; it came back and my little sister got a lot out of it.
Weirdly, there is zero mention of Jim Henson who grew up in Leland.
OFFS. Yes, some things sucked 50+ years ago. Why do so many people want to wallow in it?
Oh look, it’s JUST LIKE 50 YEARS AGO in the south! NOTHING HAS CHANGED!
Hero complex.
The Boomers had the bid civil rights struggle to virtue signal in, so everything since gets compared to the 60s. I believe its also why military situations kept getting compared to Vietnam and why the fucking -gate suffix is still a thing.
I liked to think that things would get better when the Boomers all got pensioned off, but Gen X is a small enough demographic cohort that we’ll be voted down and go straight to millennial insanity.
Combine that with Team Blue needing to keep 80+% of blacks voting for them to own elections.
Jim Henson was the first celebrity death that hit me hard. He was a sort of personal hero – I just loved his optimistic sense of humor. Kinda like a real life “donkey” from Shrek. He made my childhood better. I was really sad to see him go.
I think you’ll find he was unique: the state has a crushing weight about it that fosters fatalism….the opposite of Texas, you might observe.
Henson bet on himself. A common theme is how many Mississippians left to build something, to make something out of themselves. My mom who say that the greatest thing to come out of MS was US78.
A state built on what was flushed out of the upper and mid plains – America’s U-joint.
And then you saw the Wilkins Coffee commercials.
Riley Gaines, NCAA swimmer who protests letting trans woman Lia Thomas puts it succinctly but not hatefully:
“I think trans woman is a subset of male. I do not believe trans women are women.’
I agree and will be using that plain, neutral language in the future.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12374265/Swimmer-Riley-Gaines-reveals-trans-competitor-Lia-Thomas-endowed-refrain-looking-crotch-locker-room-fateful-Atlanta-race-meet.html
“Lia Thomas is so well-endowed that she had to ‘refrain from looking’ at her crotch in the locker room of fateful Atlanta race meet”
Lol, so ridiculous.
Best female swimmer and biggest girl’s penis? What can’t he do?
So basically besides beating women at sports he can’t beat men at, he wants to ‘legally’ show women his cock while he looks at their naked fit bodies. Classy.
That plain, neutral language is enough to get you cancelled today.
Yes, we are that far down the rabbit hole.
Mornin’ all and sundry. It’s the weekend! Huzzah!
Good morning, Shirley!
Woohoo!
Mornin!
Let’s kick it off with some music.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7iNbnineUCI
🎶🎶
Here’s the thing though…
Marina is a prude. Her POV chapters indicate that she sees the act itself as filthy and only to be indulged in because of her submission to her husband, just as Job submitted to his suffering because it was the will of God.
How exactly is it up to Trey to change this?
That ‘prudishness’ is rooted in ignorance and abuse (from her grandparents). A little hard to blame her for that.
Job refused to either curse God and bring his rightful wrath, or falsely admit his sin for redemption. Job was righteous and prideful. He even dares to demand God justify Himself, and God calls him on that.
“How exactly is it up to Trey to change this?”
Give her a really good time and she’ll come around?
Though realistically most people need to be therapized out of such. If you’re married, their problems are your problems, so you work on them as a team.
So since Carrie Nation created the need for bathtub gin, affection creates the need for sex?
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.
No need to Rum it in.
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/husband-charged-with-killing-wife-in-ontelaunee-township-shooting/article_68e2f2aa-32b3-11ee-b8ef-d339c97582dd.html
No tiger parks available.
suh’ fam
whats goody yo
TALL (Im off all week w/pay) CANS!
Fuck yeah. We will be hitting the road shortly for a week in the Tetons.
I’m ready.