Curt Aldrich - Little Beth _s boyfriends

He glanced back at Beth. "What do you think they're doing?"

"Fooling around," Beth said, walking a doll across the sand.

"You mean… fucking?" Gary asked.

Beth looked up and stared at him. "That's a dirty word."

Gary laughed. "Do you know what it means?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Beth said.

"Look – I've got a great idea. Why don't you and I go over to my place? It's right over there – see?" He pointed to a two-story building that was sandwiched in a row of similar structures along the edge of the beach. "We can have a cold drink. Like strawberry pop?"

"I like Coke better," Beth said.

"I've got Coke."

"I shouldn't go," Beth said. "My sister may come back and wonder where I am."

"So you'll return in a few minutes. Anyway, she's busy – like you said."

"My mother always told me I shouldn't go anywhere with strangers," Beth told Gary.

"But I'm not a stranger! I live right here. Besides, do I look like a person who would eat you up or something?"

Beth laughed, showing white teeth. Her brown eyes sparkled. "I guess not."

"Then, come on." Gary held out his hand to her. "Better bring your dolls, too. You wouldn't want anyone to steal them."

The sun had made Beth thirsty, and a Coke sounded good. She glanced quickly at the life-guard's tent. Cathy was still in there with the guy. Beth resented the way her older sister spent so much time with what's his name – Boyd – whenever they came to the beach. She didn't like being left alone. And the man who was holding out his hand to her seemed nice, despite the fact that he had used a dirty word.

Lots of people talked dirty. Even Beth's daddy sometimes said, "Shit!"

Beth took Gary's hand and let him help her to her feet. She bent and gathered up her dollies. Gary eyed the neckline of her swimsuit which sagged a bit while she bent forward. He saw only the tiniest suggestion of swells, and he thrilled stronger.

He was grateful that few people were on the beach that day, because he had a noticeable lump in his swim-trunks as he walked across the sand beside the young girl.

"What's your name!" he asked.

"Beth Ellen Brewster."

"Do you like to be called Beth Ellen or just Beth?"

"Beth's okay."

"Do you live near here, Beth?"

"About two miles."

"Your sister has a car?"

"No, we came on the bus."

"Do you come here often?"

"Whenever we get the chance. Now that school's out, we'll be coming more, I hope."

"I hope so, too," Gary said, and smiled down at her.

They climbed the wooden stairway on the outside of his building, Beth going first. Gary watched her little bottom wiggle in her snug swimsuit. The suit's elastics had crept up to expose the lower curves of her white buttocks. Gary studied her crotch where the center strip of her swimsuit passed between her scissoring, slender thighs.

They reached the door of Gary's apartment, and he opened it. Beth stepped into a living room littered with magazines, beer cans, and overflowing ashtrays. Two men in swimsuits lounged there – the first gaunt and sandy-haired, with long legs and a beaked nose; the other compact and dark, Latin-looking, with a mustache. They got up when Beth and Gary entered. Both looked at the young girl with interest.

"Beth, I want you to meet a couple of friends of mine," Gary said. "The tall one's Gabe and the other guy's named Pedro."

Pedro grinned, showing teeth that were very white. "Hello, little lady," he said with a trace of accent.

Beth smiled shyly at the strange men, then cast an uneasy glance at Gary.

"Hey, break out some Cokes, you guys!" he said. "Beth, sit down over here on the sofa."

Gabe went into the kitchen, and Pedro walked to the sofa to sit next to Beth. "What you got here?" he asked, taking one of her dolls.

"That's Barbie," Beth said.

"Very pretty!" Pedro ran a finger along the doll's legs.

"What are you talking about, man?" said Gary who gazed warmly at Beth. "That doll isn't half as pretty as this real live girl!"

"You're right, man," Pedro said, grinning. "She's the prettiest doll I've seen."

Beth looked from one man to the other, wondering why they were staring at her so. They made her nervous. Gabe arrived with four open bottles of Coke between his hands. He held them out to Beth, and she took one. The other Cokes were distributed among the men.

"You dummy!" Pedro said. "I want something better than that!" He slammed his Coke down on an end table.

"No booze," said Gary.

"Why not, man?"

"Because we have a sweet little guest," Gary said, smiling at Beth. "And we have to take very good care of her. We don't want to treat her rough."

Beth had taken two long, refreshing drinks from her Coke bottle. Gary sipped quickly, and set his bottle down.

Gabe was sipping Coke in a chair opposite the sofa. He cocked one long leg over the other and stared at the threesome on the couch. He hadn't said a word since Beth had entered the room.

Gary leaned close to the girl. "Ever had a boyfriend, Beth?"

"I told you," she said. "I don't like boys."

"That's right. But you said you like men." Gary winked at Pedro.

Beth glanced quickly from one to the other. "Maybe I better get back," she said. "Cathy might be looking for me."

"Wait… wait," Gary urged. "Finish your Coke." He placed a hand on her smooth, sleek thigh.

A strange tingling sensation streamed through the twelve-year-old. Her eyes widened as she gazed at Gary.

He began to stroke gently along her thigh. "You're smart to like men," he said, "because they can make you feel good."

"We can make you feel very good, Beth honey!" Pedro chimed in.

Beth wasn't sure if Gary's stroking of her thigh felt good or not. She would have said it felt funny. But the sensation was pleasant enough so that she didn't ask Gary to take his hand away.

His fingers crept closer and closer to the crotch-strip of her bathing suit. Pedro was watching intently, his own hands fairly itching.

Beth stared down at Gary's fingers as he extended the middle one and tickled her between the legs. Even though the contact was filtered by her swimsuit, it produced a hot response. Beth's little hips jerked back.

"Don't!" she exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" Gary asked, chuckling. "Did it feel too good?"

"I don't like it!" said Beth. She had made up her mind.

"What you mean is, you like it a lot!" Pedro laughed.

"I'm going to leave." Beth started to stand.

Gary grasped her shoulders to hold her on the sofa. Pedro bent and began licking her legs, while his fingers stroked them. Gabe leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his blue eyes staring.

Beth suddenly was terrified. She struggled against Gary, but he had no difficulty holding her down. Pedro's gliding tongue and fingers were evoking wild sensations in her thighs.

Her dolls tumbled off her lap. She continued to clutch the Coke bottle. Pedro saw the potential weapon from the corner of his eye and straightened to take it from her hand. He wore a strange dreamy look as he gazed at her.

"Let's strip her, man!" he said to Gary.

"Are you crazy?" Gary retorted. "Beth wouldn't like that."

"I certainly wouldn't!" she said, offended but not quite as frightened now that Gary seemed to be protecting her. "Let me up!"

"What we're going to do is take off our swimsuits and give Beth something to play with," Gary said, still holding her. "Something better than dolls."

A grin crept over Pedro's face as he appreciated the possibilities. He stood.

Beth didn't know quite what to make of this new turn of events. But as long as the men weren't going to do anything nasty to her, like taking off her swimsuit, perhaps it wasn't so bad. And Gary had let go of her shoulders. No one was holding her.