“Eventually I did. The beatings got worse, my orgasms got better, but I knew I was in the clutches of a sadist. One night, we had just finished fucking, I was sitting naked on the floor, my legs, ass and back were covered with purple welts and my lip was swollen. Up until then, he had always been careful not to mark my face. He was sitting at a table, drinking sake, and looking at me with utter contempt. It was at that moment, I realized that he didn’t care about me at all. I actually crawled to him, naked, on my hands and knees and I looked up at him and asked him if he loved me.”
Lucy drew a breath. “He just laughed at me and pushed my face away with the sole of his foot. I had never felt so worthless in my life.”
Lucy’s glossy black hair was draped across Nick’s chest, and he caressed it soothingly.
“Was that the end of it?” Nick asked.
“Not quite. I went home and told my father - I couldn’t hide the bruises on my face anyway - and he went absolutely crazy, saying I had brought it upon myself, which I suppose I had. So I went up to the bathroom and tried to kill myself. I really meant it, that’s how fucked in the head I had become, but my father found me before it was too late. While I was in the hospital, Johnny Ho came to our apartment. My father told him it was over, but Johnny Ho said if I didn’t come back he would find me and kill me.”
“Holy shit.”
“I think he was serious. So did my dad, because a week later, he sent me to Boston where we have family, and I enrolled in art college. ”
They lay in silence for a while. Lucy stopped toying with Nick’s nipple and she rubbed the palm of her hand over his stomach and then wrapped her fingers around his shaft. She gave it a few strokes and then stopped.
“Lucy?” Nick said into the darkness. “Are you still in love with him?”
But no answer came because Lucy was already sound
asleep.
Chapter Fourteen
“You should have seen the way she handled him,” said Sid.
He was several feet below Nick, in the front garden of an old colonial home, restoring a nineteenth century oak door which was resting on two wooden props.
“After you went, Jason thought she was his for the taking, the smug prick.”
Up on his platform, Nick stopped scraping away at the weathered fascia and looked across the expansive lawn. It was a beautiful clear, early summer morning, the sun warm on his back, and a refreshing breeze rustling the trees.
He had been working steadily, carefully cutting out the rotted wood whilst staying true to the ornamental design of the original, long-dead carpenter. He had been working on auto-pilot, while his mind went over the things Lucy had told him the previous night.
She had insisted on making him breakfast that morning before they went their separate ways. Watching him eat, Lucy had leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. Nick had noticed that there was still a faint green stain on her luscious lips.
“Can I ask you something?” she had said.
“Go ahead.”
“Now that you know why, what will you do when it happens again?”
Nick had thought a moment, and then replied, “That depends on you.”
“I get crazy, you know,” Lucy had said, placing a triangle of crispbread between her teeth.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Is the sex good?”
“The best.”
Lucy had scrutinized him with her sparkling brown eyes.
“You know who you have to be now, don’t you?” she had asked him cryptically.
He wasn’t completely sure, but he was going to give it his best shot.
Bringing Nick back to the present, Sid said, “When they got back from the dance floor, Lucy asked where you were. I told her you were in the men’s room. When it became clear that you’d gone, Lucy’s whole demeanor shifted.”
“Like how?” Nick asked. Even though she had told him she hadn’t gone with Jason, Nick was keen to know how she had behaved in front of the others.
“Well, she was pretty drunk - we all were - and Jason was trying to move in for the kill. In all fairness, he must have thought he was in with a good chance because up until then, she had seemed pretty interested. But once you were out of the frame, she started making fun of his advances.”
That would make sense,
Nick thought.
If I wasn’t there to witness it, what would have been the point?
“She was witty about it too,” Sid continued. “And the more she rejected him, the harder Jason tried. He kept coming out with really cheesy lines and Lucy just ripped him apart.”
Nick grinned as he pictured the scene. In hindsight he realized, walking out was the best thing he could have done.
“In the end, he started getting mad at her,” Sid said.
“Lucy can do that to you,” said Nick.
“So then he started trying to insult her back, and then everyone else came to her defense. Finally, Summer told him to fuck off, and so he did. I’ll tell you what, buddy, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, that girl’s special. You don’t want to lose her.”
Right on cue, like a heavenly apparition, Lucy strode gracefully across the golden-green lawn towards them. She wore a wide-brimmed straw hat and a pink summer dress, through which Nick could see the backlit outline of her body.
“Hey, Sid,” she said, and then looked up at Nick, one hand on her hat. “Are you ready?”
“You’ll cover it with Bob?” Nick asked Sid, climbing down the ladder.
“I got it,” Sid replied. “Have a good afternoon, guys.”
Lucy blew Sid a kiss, took Nick’s hand, and they crossed the lawn and went through the front gate. When Nick started to cross the road, Lucy said, “Where are you going? The station is that way.”
“We’re not taking the bus. This is your ride.”
Parked opposite, was a gleaming, canyon red, Mustang GT convertible.
“This is yours?” Lucy asked, open-mouthed.
“The other love of my life. Hope you’re not the jealous type.”
“She’s beautiful.”
Nick opened the door and they climbed in.
“Comfortable,” Lucy said, running her hands over the leather seats. “How old is she?”
“’Eighty-six model.”
“Older than me.”
“Much older. She’s in good shape, but she sometimes needs a spell in the repair shop.”
Nick turned the ignition key.
“Listen to that. Original engine.”
“Sexy.”
“Where to, ma’am?”
“Porter Square. You’re going to meet some of my family.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry. They’re nice people.”
“Will it be a problem, me not being Japanese?”
“No. Besides,
I
choose who I want to date,” Lucy said.
“Right.”
Nick pulled out and when they reached the red light, he glanced over at Lucy, whose nipples were pointing against the fabric of her dress.
“Are you wearing anything underneath that?” he asked.
“A g-string.”
“You
are
a naughty girl.”
“And we know what happens to naughty girls, don’t we?” she said, putting her hand on Nick’s crotch and giving it a little squeeze.
They took the turnpike and then turned onto Massachusetts Avenue and headed south into Cambridge and then to Porter Square. Lucy directed Nick to the rear parking lot, where they were lucky to find a space, and they went into the Porter Exchange Mall. There were plenty of people about, and as usual, Lucy’s flimsy attire was attracting a lot of attention.
She led him through the mall to the food court.
“Been here before?” Lucy asked.
Nick shook his head.
“Welcome to ‘Japantown’.”
She headed for a corner which was comprised almost entirely of Japanese restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores.
“How do you say hello in Japanese?” Nick asked.
“
Konnichi wa
,” said Lucy, smiling.
They went into an impossibly small restaurant called the
Sakura
, which was practically full. Lucy went up to the counter and stopped in front of a harassed-looking Japanese lady who looked up and cried, “Natsumi!” and the next thing she was around the counter, hugging Lucy tightly.
Lucy introduced Nick to the woman, who turned out to be her Aunt Akiko, and then to the rest of the staff who were all relatives, and all women.
Nick said, “
Konnichi wa
,” several times, which everyone found funny, until Lucy informed him that everyone here spoke English, and then guided him to the only free table.
“I’m going out back for a few minutes,” she said. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Famished.”
“You’d better like Japanese food then.”
“I like eating you, and you’re Japanese.”
Lucy pinched Nick’s nose and then disappeared into the kitchen.
Almost immediately, a cold bottle of Kirin beer was brought to the table. Evidently Lucy had ordered for them both, and by the time she returned, the table was covered with dishes of soba with sliced duck breast, tempura, sushi, miso soup, katsudon, teriyaki, curry bread, stir-fried vegetables, salmon caviar and steamed rice.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Lucy asked, dropping into her seat.
“I was waiting for you.” Nick gestured to the array of Japanese cuisine. “I’m not sure if I was
that
hungry.”
“I wanted you to try a lot of different stuff,” Lucy said as she deftly picked up a strip of chicken with her chopsticks.
They ate mostly in silence - mainly because of the volume of food they had to put away. Periodically, various aunts or cousins would come over and chat with Lucy. After a while, Nick took a break from eating and drank his beer. He looked around at the compact restaurant which remained constantly full, and then at Lucy who was devouring her food with gusto. Despite the quantity of food she was consuming, she executed it with typical oriental grace. Even eating was a sensual experience with her, he thought.
“What do you think?” Lucy asked, and then suggestively sucked a string of noodles between her lips.
“Great. I’m stuffed.”
Lucy wasn’t done though, and they finished up with melonpan bread and green tea.
“Do you want anything else?” she asked when their plates were cleared.
“Yes. I want to explode.”
“We’ll go for a walk,” she said. “Burn it off.”
Nick wondered how in the hell he was going to get up, never mind walk.
They went and said goodbye to Aunt Akiko, who steadfastly refused Nick’s offer to pay, and then Lucy took him into a Japanese book store which was run by Lucy’s cousin, an elegantly beautiful girl called Chieko. The two girls chatted awhile in Japanese and Lucy ordered an art book she needed for college.