Spencerville

"Yeah. But more than that. This guy needs a whole new word invented for him."

"I've got a word for him. Dead."

"I like that word."

Baxter went on verbally abusing her for a minute or two, and she kept eye contact with him as he'd ordered her to do, kneeling at his feet, but she wasn't listening, she was waiting for an opportunity to move. The gun was only about four feet away, but she had to distract him. She said, "I'm cold. May I get the blanket?"

"No, you can freeze your tits is what you can do." He went on to another subject and asked, "How many other guys did you fuck since we been married?"

"None."

"Don't lie to me. You got a hot twat, sweetheart. I see how you look at other men. All you think about is cock. Well, you're go

"None."

"Bullshit. Before I'm through with you, you're go

She nodded.

"How many?"

"Just two."

"Oh, yeah? Just two?" He suddenly seemed interested. "Who?"

"You'll get angry."

"Angry? I'm pissed off now. Who?"

"Promise you won't hit me."

"I ain't promisin' you nothin', except another beatin' if you don't tell me. Who?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Reggie Blake and your brother, Phil."

He stood. "What?"

She put her hands in front of her face, mostly to keep him from seeing the smile on her lips.

"You... you're lyin'! You bitch, you're lyin'! Look at me!"

She lowered her hands and looked at him.

Cliff kneeled down on one knee and put his face to hers. "You think you're go

"Cliff, please, this isn't fair. I did everything you asked me to do. I answered all your questions about other men a hundred times. What do you want me to tell you?"

"I want the fuckin' truth."

"I never had sex with another man since we've been married... except him."

"You never fucked Blake?"

"No... but he comes on to me."

"Oh, yeah? That fuck... and my brother?"

"He comes on to me, too."

"That... I don't believe you."

"I'm sorry."

Cliff stared at her, then nodded. "Okay, we're go

She knew he was obsessed with this and other subjects like this, so as long as he was interested in the subjects, she was relatively safe. "Yes."

He didn't speak for some time, then, still kneeling on one knee in front of her, he took her chin in his hand and turned her face to him. He said softly and slowly, "You always knew you'd wind up here like this, didn't you?"

She looked into his eyes and thought about that. In one way, she thought she knew him, knew how crazy he was, but never did she think he was capable of this. Yet the thought haunted her that she did know.

"You knew, didn't you? I knew, so you must've known. So if you knew this was go

"No!"

"You love it..."

"No! You bastard..." She swung her fist at him, but he caught her by the wrist and slapped her across the face. She rocked back, then slumped on the floor.

He stood. "Get up!"

She buried her face in her hands, curled up into a ball, and began sobbing.

"Get up!"

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

Baxter didn't like it when she became hysterical because he couldn't get her to do anything he wanted, couldn't get her to listen to him, so he just had to wait it out.

A

A

"That's good. Listen, darlin', this can be as hard or easy as you want to make it. The quicker you understand that I'm in charge here and that you got to learn to shut your wise mouth, and that you got to do everything I say just like I say it, the easier it's go

"Yes, sir."

"You know, all you Prentis girls has always been stuck-up. You think I don't know you look down on me and my family? Who the hell do you think you are? What I'd really like is to have your bitchy sister here, too. She needs some lessons in cocksucking. Look at me, whore. I'm talkin' to you. How's that sound to you? The two bitches waitin' on me hand and foot with no clothes on..."

"Please, Cliff... I'm not feeling well... I'm going to pass out... I don't want to get pneumonia... I have to have something to eat... I'm going to faint..."

He looked at her closely, then said, "Yeah, we don't want you gettin' sick. I don't want to take care of you. You can't live on suckin' cock, can you? Can you?"

"No."

"Okay, first you get that medical kit and change my bandage. Don't bother to stand, sweetheart. You're a St. Bernard now."

A

Baxter lowered his pants and his undershorts, then lay down on the couch.

A

She took alcohol and cotton and washed away the blood around the wound. He winced. She put iodine on the two-inch cut, and this time he let out a small groan. He lifted his thigh, and she ripped off the old bandages, which also caused him pain, then she reapplied fresh gauze and began rewrapping the wound. He never said a word, she noticed, about the wound, or about his eye. His silence on the subject was his way of trying to convince her and himself that everything in the motel room had gone his way. In fact, she knew that Keith had put up a good fight and had almost succeeded in cutting Cliff's femoral artery. At first, she'd almost believed Cliff when he said he'd castrated Keith, but it was obvious, by his unresolved rage, that he hadn't.

She noticed that he had his eyes closed, and she glanced over her shoulder at the end table beside his chair where the holster lay.

He said, "Lookin' for somethin'?"

She turned back to him.

"Now here I am, layin' down with my drawers around my ankles, and you're wonderin' if you can get to that gun belt before I do. Well, darlin', you can. But when you get there, you're go

She nodded, but she knew, and he knew, that time would never come. It occurred to her that he enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game; it gave him some amusement during the days and nights. It was important for him to show her he was smarter than she was, or at least more cu