Unknown - Sally and Duke

"You are! Now, come on, what is it? I want you to tell me, Eula."

"It's nothing, honest. Just I was a little worried about somethin', that's all."

"All right, what are you worried about? I won't be able to rest until I know, so you might as well come out with it." Lauralee was never able to abide a secret, she had a child's unquenchable desire to pry into everything, whether it concerned her or not. "Is it because we're going away?"

"No'm, I'm just worried about somethin' I heard Mr. Blodgett say… just now, on the phone. I was listening," she admitted, the wish to share her secret terrible knowledge with someone else overpowering her sense of discretion.

"Well, what did he say?" cried the exasperated Lauralee, wincing as darts of pain shot through her skull.

"He told Tully he wanted him to fetch some Spanish Fly, 'n bring it to town right away, to the bank."

"S-spanish Fly?" She could not help but smile slightly at the mention of the stuff. The very words had a lewd connotation, of whispered unmentionable things that passed furtively between children sharing their back-alley-acquired sexual information and misinformation.

"What would that do to a woman, if she took some of that Spanish Fly?"

Eula inquired earnestly, "It would set her crazy, wouldn't it, Miss Lauralee?"

"I-I don't know. We used to hear things, when we were kids, but I never knew of any actual cases… I know it's dangerous to take too much, though. But what makes you think of that? All the farmers around here use it, so it's not unusual that John would ask Tully to fetch some…" but as she tried to make light of the girl's suspicions, it occurred to Lauralee that it was rather a funny request, and might indeed be an indication of some deviltry. God knew, her husband was capable of many things… Eula had no business listening on the extension… probably did it all the time, listened to her calls, too, the little sneak… but why the hell was she worried enough to cry over it?

"I know, but Mr. Blodgett said…" the maid began fearfully, "he told me the other day there was this certain lady who was givin' him a hard time about something and he was gonna have to do something about it. Aan' I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to this lady… Like the others," she added in a low, monotonous voice.

"What others?" through her jarring, all-pervading headache, something was beginning to get through to Lauralee Blodgett that here was no ordinary household crisis, but something deeper and darker, of ominous proportions. She had long ago gotten used to Eula's extraordinary beauty, or so she thought, but now she was noting it all over again… the flawless dusky skin… the body that was so harmoniously molded, the thick black hair that glimmered in loose waves… the dark red, trembling lips. She was almost positive now that Eula was making some reference to the amorous exploits of her husband… well, she knew he had them, had known for years that he would chase any skirt on the horizon. They had had a sort of mutual understanding, never spelled out but honored on both sides, don't tell me and I won't tell you. Because she had done her share of playing around… seldom now, though. It was such a small town and their friends were really a very limited circle … not much opportunity for new conquests, and lately, with the drinking, she hadn't cared very much about the lack of different talent. She'd always supposed John would have the sense to be discrete about anything he got mixed up in… the Quigg name still counted for something around here and marriage to her meant that he had to conduct himself accordingly… John knew that. And if he'd been screwing Eula behind her back, making a fool out of his wife in her own ancestral home and creating gossip about them in town… she'd kill him, that's all… she'd kill him! And she goddamn well knew he had been screwing the little bitch… else why would he discuss other women with Eula … or Eula be scared out of her cotton-picking wits?

Forcing the excruciating pain of her throbbing head and the queasy condition of her dry, empty stomach from her thoughts, she sat up straight against the pillows, with a regal gesture. "Get me a drink, you little fool!"

"Miz Blodgett! You hadn't better have any whiskey yet!"

"I said to get me a drink."

The harried black girl rushed to comply, seeing that Miss Lauralee was determined to have it and knowing that thwarting her would only make matters worse for herself. She brought back an old-fashioned glass half full of whiskey and handed it silently to her mistress. Lauralee tilted her head back and swallowed the liquid straight. A drop escaped from the quivering corner of her parched lips and she wiped it away with the back of a red-nailed hand. As the burning fluid coiled warmly within her belly she felt steadier within seconds… her ragged nerves steadying.

"Now, Eula," she began in a more conciliatory tone, "there's nothing to be scared of. I'm not going to be angry with you, but I just want you to tell me all about what's bothering you… tell it right from the beginning."

"Yes, Ma'am," the maid murmured, head down. An overpowering sense of relief at the prospect of ridding herself of the burden of guilt nearly overcame her. She started twice and had to stop. At last the words of confession began to flow. "The beginning?… That was a long time ago, Miss Lauralee. Yes, ma'am, the bad things have been goin' on for a long time…

The best I ever had, Tully Fairchild told himself contentedly, the absolute fucking best. He lay prone for several seconds, awash in the euphoric sea of satisfaction and drained as he had never been before in a sexual encounter. At last he moved, heaving his big frame clumsily off the bed to reach for his hastily discarded clothing. In the process, he half-turned around and he halted right there in a grotesque position, and stared at the trio of men filling the doorway. Shit… they'd fooled him good… he'd never figured on putting on no peepshow. That cussed Blodgett and his brother-in-law had followed him over here to gawk at the action… well, 'tween him and the dog he guessed they'd seen enough to raise a couple of good hard-ons! But by God, the other guy-he was the fucking bitch's husband!

Tully stepped backward, caught in the classic low-comedy position of having his pants down… which sure as hell wasn't too funny, after all. He expected the guy to bust him one, or let fly with a load of buckshot at any second… and if he had a gun it was all over, because Tully hadn't… his shotgun was out there mounted across the rear window of the pickup, damn it all. So he tensed himself and waited… one foot in his pants. Around here if a guy caught someone screwing his wife, folks considered he had a perfect right to shoot.

Ray Denham had no gun, though, and Blodgett and Quigg were restraining him from leaping on Tully.

"Best thing you can do, son," advised his boss, "is pack up and get out of town. Take her along, if you still want her after seein' this… ain't no future for you here. I reckon you see now what we were talking about?"

Sally had pushed herself up from the tumbled bed on hearing their voices and now, propped on one bare arm, she was staring in terror at the figure of her husband.

"Oh, Christ," he muttered brokenly, "S-Sally… my God, Sally, how could you do it?"

She wanted to cry out to him that she could explain, but what would have been the use? After he'd seen, watched her suck a dog's cock while at the same time a man had fucked her in the ass… and her begging for more… there could be no explanation that would ever satisfy him, there was no explanation for her disgusting, unnatural behavior. God knew, she herself was puzzled even as she did it, puzzled as to what perverted compulsion had taken hold of her and guided her body against her very own will… all she knew was that at the time, she had to have cock or go out of her mind! Even now… even now when she'd had her fill of more fucking than any normal woman could take… her cunt still burned and twitched. Oh, yes, God help her, but it was true… she would gladly take on another man right now, right this very minute!