She imagined Ariel and how Ariel allowed multiple men, including Troy and Bills to lay her out naked and have their way with her. She had looked so cheap, and they sounded degrading, calling her their main bitch amongst other names. It made Lena sick to her stomach. It wasn’t like she was comparing Blake, Quinn, and Kenny to those men. In fact, Lena was certain that Ariel had no feelings for the gangbangers just as they had no feelings for Ariel.
What made this situation even more complicated was that there were definitely feelings involved here. That in itself confused her. Sure, she didn’t come from a great family. And yeah, her mom was not a good example as a mother or a woman. She was an alcoholic and a slut, opening her legs for any guy who would pay the least bit of attention to her. Lena wasn’t going to have a life like that. She wanted to be loved, perhaps even cherished, for the woman she was.
Sometimes though, she felt old, like life had dragged her down so much, that there wasn’t any possibility or chance of a future with happiness. Negativity ruled her mind, but motivation to not give up and give in kept her going. Perhaps these people of Pearl knew better than most. Maybe, the love of many was just as powerful if not more so than the love of one.
She never had a boyfriend and lost her virginity to a decent guy she left when she left home. He had his own family issues, but hers were a lot worse. She never regretted sleeping with Tye, but after being touched by Kenny, Quinn, and Blake, she knew that she hadn’t a clue about sex.
Every time she witnessed someone having sex, it was meaningless, and there wasn’t any love or true affection involved. The woman never looked happy. She also realized that she’d never had an orgasm. If Tye had given her one, then she would have stuck around just to enjoy the benefits of them. The way her body tightened and shook from their touch, their words, and their obvious desire to have her made her explode. As a matter of fact, just thinking about their bodies and potentially seeing them naked and having sex with them made her feel hungry. There must be something in the water.
She had no one to talk to about this, and that kind of sucked. She thought about Ariel and damned herself for it. Ariel didn’t know shit about love. She was having sex and letting those guys touch her and do things to her as if she were a whore and had no care for the effects on her body or the disregard they showed toward her after she allowed it the first time around. She saw the bruises on Ariel’s body as well as some burn marks. She might as well have been a whore for allowing them to do such things to her. The only difference was that she wasn’t getting paid for it. Or at least with cash. Troy and Bills and their gangbangers would buy her things and treat her to drinks when they went to clubs. Troy also paid for the trailer.
She swallowed hard. Thank God she never did any of those things. Even when she was starving and hadn’t eaten anything for nearly a week, she wouldn’t give in. She’d rather rummage through the garbage cans for food than accept any handouts from men like Triumph.
Lena walked outside along the pathway, absorbing the clean country air and sunny day and heard the glass crack beneath her sneakers. Immediately she recalled the scene that had unfolded during the night in the thunder and lightning storm. Her heart ached for Bryant. He looked so sad and had obviously felt that life wasn’t worth living as he asked God to take him. She swallowed hard. No one should feel so lonely. She understood what it was like to be alone and desperate for most things people took for granted like food and affection. She looked up at the small house where Bryant hid. The guys didn’t want her working at Rocky’s, but her last few nights were next week. She would quit after if Doc still wanted to hire her to take care of Bryant’s house. What the hell did she have to lose? She had dealt with gangbangers, pimps, and crooks. She should be able to handle an angry soldier.
* * * *
Bryant woke up to the sounds of banging pans and the sensation of a cool breeze filtering through the house. It felt good and he wondered if he were dead. He opened his eyes, feeling the pain in his head from drinking too much last night. Across the room, standing up on a step stool was a beautiful angel. The sun silhouetted her body, and he thought he had died and gone to heaven.
Her body was curvy and perfect. Long, tanned legs, short shorts, and a flat belly peeked out from under the black T-shirt she wore. Her breasts were large and her chin firm as she focused on cleaning the top of the cabinets.
“What the fuck?” he yelled as he realized that he wasn’t staring at an angel. There was a sexy, hot, young woman in his house, and he recognized her as the neighbor from next door. Fuck!
* * * *
Lena nearly fell of the small step-ladder. She wondered when the drunken Marine was going to arise for the day. His place reeked of stale food, sweat, and vomit. After opening all the windows in the house then staring at the man for a bit, she decided to jump right into cleaning. She would focus on getting the house together and see how he responded.
“Whoever you are, you’re in the wrong fucking place.” He growled at her.
“Nope. I’m in the right place, Bryant. I’m your new maid and cook,” she stated. He lifted his head up a bit too quickly as he grabbed it to steady himself.
“The fuck you are. Get out!” he yelled fiercely. The sight of his chiseled muscles on his chest and intense tattoos were intimidating, but she was determined to make some money and ditch the job at Rocky’s.
“I don’t think so. You should take a shower. I cleaned up the bathrooms already and brought over some clean towels until I can get all of yours washed and dried.” She walked back over to the stool and began to clean. She could hear him struggling to get up off the chair then limp into the kitchen.
“Get the fuck down now, woman!” he yelled as he kicked one of the kitchen chairs, causing it to hit the step-ladder, making her grab onto the rim at the top of the cabinets.
“What the hell! Are you trying to kill me?” she yelled back, and he raised his eyes at her. His gruff beard made him look older.
“While you’re taking a shower, you should shave. You look like crap,” she stated. He jerked his body toward her as if he would attack, and she stiffened. This time the step ladder really wobbled, but she used her thigh muscles to hold it in place.
“Get out of my house, woman I don’t need a fucking maid.”
“Well, I need a job and your fathers are paying me well to clean up this pigsty you call a home. You got a problem with that then take it up with them,” she calmly stated back and hoped that her voice didn’t sound as shaky as it felt. He was ripped with protruding muscles and was taller than she had thought. Remaining higher than him on the step ladder helped to maintain her confidence. His body was perfect, and the look in his eyes told her he had a dark side. She wondered if she really could handle this.
Bryant slid his arm across the table making all the magazines and plates crash to the floor before he turned around and exited the room.
* * * *
“Get her out of my fucking house now! I don’t want a fucking maid. I don’t want a cook either. I am taking care of myself!” he yelled into the phone as he paced the living room best he could with a limp. Every so often he glanced up toward the kitchen and the black-haired beauty that invaded his home. Of course, instead of some old hag of a housekeeper, his fathers had to hire some twenty-something-year-old model. “She probably doesn’t even know how to cook. Didn’t you say she was living on the streets?” he blurted out, and the woman, Lena, swung her head toward him as she climbed down the ladder. She placed her hands on her hips and gave him the evil eye. Son of a bitch, my dick is instantly hard. She is fucking beautiful and better off staying away from the likes of me.
“I really don’t give a shit about her sob story. With tits and an ass like hers she should be stripping or working in a bar.” He stared at the woman, and she gasped. He began to wonder why he was insulting her to his father. They would force this issue. They were stubborn and the only way to resolve this was to get rid of the woman himself.
“Forget about it. It’s your waste of fucking money,” he stated then slammed the phone down onto the receiver.
He tried to take a series of deep breaths, and as he did, he smelled the unpleasant odor coming from all around him. He glanced at the mess, absorbing what the woman called a pigsty. She was right, but he still didn’t need her here. Not looking the way she did and not with him being less of a man.
“They care about you, you know. You didn’t have to be such an asshole over the phone,” she called after him as she wrung out the mop she was using to mop the floor and the mess he made in his fit of rage.