Chapter 1
Jenni lay unclothed across her thin white linen bed sheet swooning. Her sleep disrupted by wild erotic dreams she had no will to control or stop. Dreams of forlorn lovers and missed connections. Dreams filled with hellhounds and voracious sexual machinations.
It was a hot claustrophobic Southwest Louisiana night. Nights where tempers flare up like thunderclouds of passion caused by not enough sleep, or too much bourbon.
Sweat oozed from every pore of her body. Sticking to her skin like invisible hosiery. Her hair lay matted and plastered to her shoulders. It was too hot for clothes and too hot for sleep. Her sole comfort came from the small fan atop her dresser drawers.
Irritable, she closed her eyes and began to think of cooler times. Her heart calmed. Her thoughts eased. A fairies slumber danced its way through her soul.
Jenni woke in a cold sweat. The ache in her loins vanished. Her hormonal dream replaced by the thunder of her parents brawling. It echoed down the hall and exploded through the crack beneath her door.
“Fuck.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” The words screamed through Jenni’s brain.
Why the fuck me? It was all she could think to say as she slammed her fists down on the bed. Why was she the only one left at home to deal with the two of them? Why did her sisters have to leave one after the other? Why did Carol move to Dallas? Why did Peter have to go off to LSU? Why did Will have to spend all the time at the camp? Why couldn’t she leave too? Why was she left to live through all the shit of her parents? Why?
Jenni could hear her mom crying in the bathroom. Hear her fathers drunken rants from the living room. She thought of crawling out her bedroom widow the way she’d done so many times before. Go drop her body into the deep black water of the pool. So deep, that all she would hear was the muffled sound of own voice screaming.
She wanted run away and hide and get as far away from them as she could. But she knew in the far recesses of her brain she could never get far enough away.
They’d fought before, but nothing like this. Their drunken swearing at each other: Their screaming threats. Things crashing against walls and shattering into pieces, then raining down to the floor. The accusations of another women. Then the hit. Smack. She heard it. She heard her mother’s deft silence. Then, her crying. He never hit her before. Why did he have to do it this time?
Jenni hated this town. Hated the school. Hated the people. Especially anyone associated with her parents. With their small town mentality and self-righteous attitudes. She wanted to leave. Get away. Escape. She was craving a cigarette, or craving to get the fuck away from them. She needed to get out of there.
She sat in her bed clutching her pillow against her breasts, rocking, back and forth. Her bangs glued to her forehead. The ends stuck against her back and chest. She sat staring at the light creeping from under her door. Waiting. Waiting for them to pass out. Waiting for her mom to cry herself to sleep. Waiting for her father to pass out on the couch, too drunk to make it back to the guest room.
Jenni rocked for what seemed hours in the silence. A storm was brewing in her brain. She waited until all she heard were the bugs chirping, and then waited longer. Finally, she heard her mother snoring and knew they were both asleep.
She leapt across the bed. Grabbed Peter’s old t-shirt off the floor. Jenni pulled it over her head before she turned the knob on her bedroom door and pushed it aside. Most of the lights in the house were still on. She reached out and flipped off the switch in the hall. The hall went black.
Creeping forward, she flipped off the one overhead in the living room. It went black too. She waited a minute for her eyes to adjust. The keys to the Cadillac lay on the coffee table where her dad dropped them. Leaning over her father to see if he had any semblance of life. She stood listening to his breath. He was out. She jerked the keys up fast and light without causing a sound.
Jenni tiptoed to the kitchen, her fingers wound tight around the keys. One last light, and then complete darkness. She considered the pool one last time. No. She needed to get the fuck away. She needed a smoke. Pushing open the door to the carport, pushing back the screen door, she was free. Free.
Turning the ignition, the car started. Pulling the lever down, it rolled backwards out of the driveway. Without hitting the brakes, she let it slip from reverse. To neutral, and then to drive, letting it idle forwards around the corner and out of sight. She wound from street to street, waiting to turn the lights on until she reached the highway.
The town was quiet. The streets were empty. It was the dead of night. Pushing the accelerator to the floor, Jenni sunk back in the seat. Pushing all the window levers at once, the car filled with the heat of the night. Billowing her hair in every direction. Outside the town limits she cranked the stereo as loud as it would go and sank back into the leather.
Wiping away tears that clouded her mind and sight. Jenni headed south to the only place she knew questions wouldn’t get asked. Strahan’s, a little convenience store way out on the highway across from the trailer park.
A small Falstaff sign atop a rusted metal post marked the entrance. One long string of flickering florescent lights lit the front. The shell lot was empty except for the beat up old Chrysler hugging its far side. She whipped the car round in one giant s-curve throwing up a plume of dust that hung in the air like a soft woolen blanket. Jenni steered the Cadillac to the far back corner where it came rest in the dark behind the store.
She sat for a minute listening to a tune she liked while staring out at the highway. Not a soul in sight. Humming to the song, she cut the engine and the lights. Her world went silent.
Wiping away tears, she climbed from the car, slamming the door shut behind her. Head hung down, her bare feet fumbling over shells, her long golden locks shading her face from questioning eyes, he large V-necked shirt draping off one shoulder, Jenni headed around the store to the front door.
The florescent lights underneath the awning gave off a greenish hue. Causing her shirt and skin to glow a radiant blue. Stepping past the big silver ice machine, she reached out for the glass door, pushing it open. The little bell hanging from the handle announced her entrance. The old black caretaker glanced up from his newspaper and greeted her with a frown.
“You okay miss,” the old man asked, his head tilted to one side.
Ashamed. Head bend forwards. Tugging on a sleeve to wipe away more tears. Jenni stared at her dust covered feet.
“Yeah,” she grunted back.
His glare made her nervous. Afraid he would begin with too many questions she didn’t care to answer. Jenni stood before him fidgeting. Twisting her head. Staring off in the distance. Bending her head sideways, she coughed. It was more as a release of tension, than needing too.
“Marlboro Lights, and a lighter,” she said in a garbled tone.
He stared at her for a moment more shaking his head, before turning, pulling down the pack from the shelf. Turning back, placing them on the counter, then sliding a blue lighter on top.
With one move she grabbed the stack from the counter and vaulted for the door. Her dirty bare feet slapping across the black and white tiled floor.
The old man stood scratching his head as the door jingled shut. That girl was plum crazy, runnin around in nuthin but that ol’ dirty t-shirt. And she come from money. He knew the family. Hell, her daddy used to be the district attorney. He couldn’t tell if she’d been drinkin or not. She come from a drinkin family. He’d see her again. He’d get the money for the smokes. He always did. Tonight he saw something new in her he hadn’t seen before. Something troubling.
Opening the car door, flopping down. She sank back. What to do? Where to go? She took a second to look around. Nothing. Not a soul on the highway.
Turning back. Glaring at the lights from the store, her hands shaking, she tore open the pack and pulled one out. Lit it. Sucking in the first drag hard. It felt good in her lungs and across her brain. Exhaling, the billowing smoke flattened out across the windshield. She pulled in another. The nicotine began to clear away the cobwebs in her brain.
Turning, letting her feet rest on the riding board, she sat, her arms around her knees, peering off into the night. Depressed, tears flooding her eyes, wanting to get away, but realizing there wasn’t anywhere to go.
She needed to escape. She wanted to get away. She could go to Dallas and move in with her sister Carol who’d left her cheatin husband. Naw. Carol would only patch’er up and send her back home. She needed to get as far away as she could. If she didn’t her parents would end up driving her fucking batty.
By the second cigarette it came to her. She’d have to figure out how to get her parents to send her away to school. She stood, closing the door behind her, tossing the butt to the ground. She lit another. How would she do it? She had to do it. She wouldn’t survive if she didn’t.
Right now though, she needed to relax, and stop replaying the night in her head. She knew if she went back home she wouldn’t sleep, so might as well hang out and let her mind begin to shut down.
Sticking the cigarette in her mouth, placing both hands on the hood of the car, she pushed up. Her skin screeched across the hood as she slid back. She sat with legs dangling off the side. With her head arched forward, hair flowing off her shoulders staring at the ground. Comforted by both the nicotine and the heat coming off the engine.
A car pulled in, stopping out front. She heard the car’s doors open and close. Jenni listened to the sound of two guys talking, the jingle of the bell on the front door. Good, they hadn’t seen her.
Some time later, the bell jingled again. The car doors opened and closed. It’s engine revved. The car backed out. The car lights swept through the dark illuminating the tail end of the Cadillac. It spun around. The rubber tires popping over shells as it raced towards the highway.
She looked up to see the red rear lights disappearing into the night. She could finally relax.
A couple of cigarettes later her head began clearing. Her night got quiet. For the first time she stopped thinking of her parents.
Jenni turned and leaned back against the windshield. Closed her eyes. Her thoughts wandered. She was floating in the stars above. Dreaming of better times. Distant places. Her erotic intrigues.
A quiet calm descended over the store. No cars passed on the highway and the night was so peaceful. It was only her sitting on the hood of the car in the dark.
Jenni’s thought turned to wanting a drink, a very strong one. A drink strong enough to get her mind off her troubles; One strong enough to loosen her concerns. She considered for a second going back to the store to get a bottle of something. Not a good idea, she considered. So she stayed put. She pulled the smudged and stained shirt away from her body. No wonder the old man gave her such a weird look, she thought, smiling.
Without considering her actions. Jenni peeled the shirt from off her shoulders and tossed it to her side. Realizing what she’d done she jerked forward, overcome with nervous laughter. Jenni cupped her hand over her mouth and looked around. No worries. She could finally relax, she was all alone. She’d never done anything like this before. She was sitting in the dark behind Strahan’s on the front of her father’s car naked. A light tingling began in her loins.
Jenni laid back and stretched out over the hood staring up at the night. She remembered the last time she’d snuck her mom’s car out of the drive. A devilish Cheshire smile pushed it’s way across her face. The time she went for a joyride over the tracks to tease the colored boys. It came to her to do it again. Tonight. Right now.
Jenni grabbed the shirt off the hood and began to thread it around her arms. Then hesitated. Her inner demon persuaded her not too. Her heart began to race. An erotic heat filled her temples. She felt flush and had a tickling in the pit of her stomach. Why tease? This time you go through with it.
“Gawd,” Jenni said aloud, sucking in hard. She needed that drink.
Sitting there naked on the hood, she hatched her plan; Get in the car. Light a cigarette and drive the way she is. She’d never driven naked before and the thought of doing it excited her even more. It would be simple to get to the other side of town without getting seen. Jenni fantasized about doing it a hundred or more times. She knew exactly where to go too, that little icehouse off of Martin Luther King and just down from the wash-n-dry. There were always boys hanging out in the parking lot late at night.
She’d pass by once to get their attention. Then, she’d come back by and pull all the way in around back. Cut the engine and turn up the volume. The bravest would come first she figured. The rest would follow. She’d do nothing until they bought her a drink. That’s when she’d get out of the car and climb back up on the hood. From there… She let her mind wander.
Off down the highway the first pair of lights she’d seen for almost an hour came north over a rise. They disappeared and reappeared closer. The car decelerated as it neared the store. Shit.
Jenni sat up. Feeling a pang of anxiety, she drew the shirt over her head and pulled her knees up under. Only her twelve pink painted toenails stuck out. Jenni pushed her face into the v-neck, exhaling. Hiding. She watched as the lights from the car accented the smoke encircling her legs as it pulled off the highway. The popping sound of rubber on shells caused her to jerk up.
The car slowed and came to a stop near the middle of the lot. She hoped it would park out front as the last one did. It sat for a minute idling. She could see the guy inside look her way. He backed up, then turned and circled left. In one continuous motion turned back right around the end of the store and pulled in beside her.
“Fuck. Fuck. Why the fuck.”
Its brakes squeaked as it came to a stop. The engine raced, and then went off. The radio clicked. Silence. He sat staring at her.
His door creaked opened. He stepped out. Peering through her bangs. Jenni watched as the tall gangly young man wearing an Army green t-shirt walk to the front. He turned his head only once to watch as she pulled her knees down sitting cross-legged, her oversized shirt forming a tent around her body.
Army Rat. The town was full of them. Sometime she felt the town existed for only their pleasure. The bell jingled as he went inside.
Her head sunk, resting once again on her knees. Get in her car and leave, Jenni told herself. No, he’ll go away, she decided. The store bell jingled. She sat looking off at the highway lost in her thoughts. His steps coming closer jolted her around. Startled by her move he froze.
“You okay,” he asked. “The old guy inside was asking.”
She nodded with a blank stare. Pulling in another drag on the cigarette, then blowing it out. He turned, took a step to his car, stopped. A left soldiers pivot. Jenni recognized the step. She couldn’t remember how many times she’d seen it.
“Can I get a smoke,” he asked.
She stared at him for a second, not sure what to do. With one move, she pushed the pack out at him. Flicking her hair from off her face, Jenni exposed reddened tear stained eyes. He sauntered to her side, reached for the pack. He stepped closer. Leaning back against the car beside her, pulling a cigarette out with his teeth, he passed the pack back.
“Fuck.” Jenni thought. “Why can’t he leave?”
“A light,” he mumbled.
She glared straight ahead. Jutting the lighter out, she flicked. He cupped his hands round the flame gazing up at her eyes. She turned and stared back.
“Now you can leave,” she cursed under her breath. This guy was ruining it for her. She had plans.
Handing back the pack, he stood exhaling, and then with one quick move he slid himself atop the hood beside her.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
She turned, looking away from him with an embarrassed heat rising in her face. She was nervous and excited at the same time. She couldn’t explain it. She was ready to bolt. Jump down off the car and get out of there, but she couldn’t make herself do it.
She longed for some form of human interaction. Somebody. Anybody. If this were the only thing her night had to offer so far, then she’d accept it. He looked harmless enough. Frozen, she looked back around. His head lifted up, turning to look at her. They sat there, each one waiting on the other say something, and at the same time both nervous in each others silence.
There was something about him that calmed her fears. His mannerisms. The way he sat, not rigid, but relaxed. She didn’t understand why. He did.
Trembling, Jenni pulled a cigarette from the pack, putting it to her lips. Raising the lighter, she flicked. It didn’t light. Flicked again, but she couldn’t get it to work.
He reached for the lighter; she recoiled, backing away from his outstretched hand. He moved slower. She stared into his eyes as blank as an owl’s gaze. He beckoned for the lighter. She reluctantly passed it to him.
With one flick it lit. Her cheeks flush, hot, not only from the heat, but the feelings beginning to well up inside of her again. She inhaled. For the first time he was able to see the contours of her face. He smiled. She smiled a short nervous one back.
She sat still for second staring down at his left hand and the tattoo above his wrist. A rose. Not thinking, reacting, she moved her hand over to touch it. He sat watching, silent, as she traced the petals. Becoming conscious of what her hand was doing. Jenni jerked it away and billowing warm smoke down through the v-neck and over her body.
He pulled the pint of Jack from his back pocket, twisted off the cap, took a gulp, reaching out, passing it to her. Startled, she stared him, then the bottle, and back to him. He nodded, gesturing again. Apprehensive at first, then, reaching out, taking it, her mind blank, she moved it to her lips. The warmth of the bourbon tasted good. She needed it.
Cars passed on the highway. They sat sharing the pint and cigarettes. Her body became less rigid. Her plans for the boys and the parking lot began to fade.
Jenni turned. She pulled her legs from under the shirt, letting them dangle beside his. For the first time her thoughts weren’t on how awkward she felt, or on her parents and how to get the fuck away from them.
A car passed on the highway. She looked up as it disappeared over the rise heading south.
“Probably headed back to the base,” he said, their silence broken.
“Huh,” Jenni said, focusing on him for the first time.
“The car,” he said, pointing with his chin.
“Oh yeah, the car,” she repeated, not thinking about what she was saying.
A nervous silence fell over their words once again.
“You from there,” Jenni asked. “The base, I mean.” She was sounding like a dork. Of course he came from the base.
“Yes, and no,” he said. “Yes, I’m there now, and no I’m from New York.”
She looked up at him and nodded. He took that as a hint. She wasn’t in the mood for talking. Their awkward exchange turned to more uneasy silence between them. Determined to get her to relax, he decided to try again.
“You from here,” he asked.
“And nowhere else. Fuck,” she said in her worst southwest Louisiana twang. “You don’t have to bite the guys head off,” she heard herself saying.
“You okay,” he asked. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No…” Jenni said, both irritable and aroused. Her face flush, her head flustered, she glared at him. Silence.
“So, I’m gonna ask another stupid question,” he said, twisting round to face her. “What brings a girl like you out to a place like this in the middle of the night?”
She looked down shaking her head.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
For some strange reason and without Jenni thinking he had begun to cast her blues away. All she could do was look up at him shaking her head with a small straight smile inching its way forward.
For the first time they shared some laughter. She turned, leaning back against the windshield, stretching her arms up and out. The bottom of her shirt hiked to the top of her thighs. His eyes were able to catch sight of the bottom of her corn silk triangle and the crease in the middle. She dropped her left arm behind her head. She blew a thin stream of smoke escaped her lips, shooting up towards the black night sky.
He smiled. He took notice of the way her shirt fell across her breasts and the top of her thighs. He scooted closer. Turning, he handed Jenni the bottle. His left hand grazed the inside of her thigh and came to rest between her legs.
Her heart raced. The skin on the inside of her legs began to tingle overcome with the sensation of his touch. All she could do to keep her nerves in check was to slam back more bourbon. Her eyes watered. She pulled her wrist across her face, wiping away tears. Without thinking Jenni stuck the bottle down between her legs, tight into her crotch.
His hand wrapping around the inside of her thigh brought their gaze to each other. Startled, she stared. With a swift reaction, Jenni gritted her teeth and gripped the pint tight between her legs, trapping his hand in her vice.
He tugged, trying to pull away. She gripped harder, smirking. He jerked up, pulling her legs up off the hood exposing her backside.
She squealed and laughed as she lost her balance. Jenni slid all the way down the front window to the top of the hood. Her legs spread wide and losing her grip on the bottle. The bourbon splashed over the bottom of her shirt and her silken triangle.
With cat like reflex, he caught the bottle before any more spilled out. Staring at each other hard, excited nerves, all they could do was billow out laughter.
She laid there, her shirt translucent from the bourbon clinging to her belly and chest. He couldn’t help but stare. Her breast, firm, round and plump, jutted straight out. Her nipples erect with excitement.
Jenni lay for a moment looking into his eyes. Then, rolling on her side, she wound the bottom of her shirt around one hand and began to dab at her silken triangle.
“I knew it,” he said chuckling.
“Knew what,’ Jenni asked, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
“You’re butt naked under that shirt,” he said.
“Am not, it’s your imagination,” she retorted in the voice of a surly little girl.
“If it is all in my imagination,” he said, “then I can’t help but like what my imagination is seeing.” He liked what he saw. Her firm, plump exterior atop a well conditioned muscular body.
Uneasy, fidgeting, and aroused, she pushed her legs out on top of his. It was a natural move. Her apprehension disappeared. She couldn’t help but belt out her exuberance.
Jenni, with one quick move sat forwards, yelped. Jerked the shirt up over her head, completely exposing her naked body and pulled it back down again. Leaning in, they belted out laughter, spitting raucous tears towards one another. Her tension was gone.
The night stayed hot. The bourbon had loosened her tongue and lessened her concerns towards him. They chatted. Small talk. Short, non-informational chats. She was sharing her cigarettes, him sharing his bottle.
“So, you never did say what brought you out here,” he asked.
“Parents,” Jenni said, lying back on her elbows.
“Ah,” he said, not quite understanding. “Y’runnin away from somethin bad?”
“Not somethin I care to talk about just this minute. Any more left of that,” Jenni asked, pointing to the bottle.
“Some,” he said, shaking it to show what remained.
She pushed out a hand. He passed the last of it to her. She poured it over her tongue, wiping the last drops off her lips with the back of her hand. Jenni turned the bottle on its end as the last drops fell towards the ground.
Jenni twisted her head, puckered her lips, pouting at the loss, before handing the empty bottle back to him. He glanced down at the bottle and back at her.
“One hell of a grip you have,” he said, pointing with his head to her thighs.
“Huh,” she replied, looking up at him quizzing.
“Your legs,” he said, gesturing with the bottle.
“Dance,” Jenni replied, pointing with her head to her wiggling toes. “Great legs, terrible feet.”
“Ouch,” was all he could muster looking at her feet.
They sat quiet. Him wanting to know more, but noticing through her gestures her unwillingness to talk. He’d have to loosen her tongue a different way.
“I have to ask…” he began.
“What,” Jenni replied, glancing up at him.
“I have to ask,” he continued. “Why is it you’re only wearing that shirt? Aren’t you concerned? Afraid?”
Tilting her head, she looked quizzing towards his eyes. She nodded. She thought for a moment, but couldn’t say why. She hadn’t thought about it. She’d only thought about getting out of the house as fast as she could. Her eyes went blank again and her thoughts were somewhere else.
“I left in a hurry,” she said.
“Left,” he asked. “Left where?”
“My house,” she blurted without wanting to answer anything more. “And besides, it’s hot. Too hot! And, I hate ‘em.”
“Hate what,” he continued his inquiry.
“Clothes,” Jenni said. “Especially when it’s so hot. Do you think me bad to think of it that way?”
“Bad,” he asked.
“Yeah, bad,” Jenni asked. “For me to not care if I’m dressed or not.”
“But what about what other people think,” he asked. “There are laws against it you know?”
“I know,” she said.
“You know what,” he asked.
“About the laws, or about what others think,” Jenni asked.
“Both,” he said, “and you’re not concerned?”
“Can we just quit with the interrogation,” Jenni screamed. “I hate clothes! They’re costumes people wear to make themselves feel better than other people.”
She wanted to tell him more. But couldn’t bring herself to. She wanted to say she always hated wearing clothes. As far back as she could remember. How nobody ever said much about it until she started growin up. Then, if she wanted to do it, she’d have done it at night, when no one could see. She’d lay naked in her bed and dream she was lying in some tall green grass, or go skinny-dipping in the pool. Sometimes she’d sneak off up the hill behind her house and wander through the woods. It wasn’t til lately wickedness had weaved its way into her body, and she began to take these late night drives.
He stopped short of asking his next question. Leaning back against the front window, she pushed her legs out straight. He slid his body closer. Shifting his left hand to rest on top of her right, he leaned forward, his face almost touching hers. Her head tilted down, her eyes rose to meet his. He bent forward, hesitated, their lips inches apart.
The first kiss was a gentle questioning peck. Was she receptive to more? She bent her head to the right. He gentlykissed her again and again. Her eyes closed, her head fell back, as he pushed his mouth on to hers.
Her head burned, her heart raced and all her inhibitions fell away. Arms lying limp at her sides, she became lost in his passions. His hands raced over her body, rising to cup a breast and pinch hard on a nipple. Pulling it up and out, then releasing it to spring back in.
Jenni sucked in hard as his hand pushed up between her legs driving fingers toward her wetness. She grabbed his wrist, trying to push him away, but it was too late. A finger punched its way in. Her legs went limp, her brain crackled, as one finger followed the other.
He’d succeeded, his ego told him. He knew he’d have her from the first second he’d seen her perched on the car. He was proud of himself. He pulled back. He glanced down at the bottle, and back at her.
“You want more,” he asked, leaning over her.
“Do bears shit in the woods,” Jenni asked sarcastically.
“I have to ask one last time, why are you really dressed like that,” he asked one more time with a smile on his face.
“It’s hot,” Jenni said, “and how many times I got to tell you, I hate wearin clothes, specially when it’s hot, but all the time, anyhow.”
“I bet you’re a lot fun to be around,” he said, coaxing her on.
“You wanna see,” she asked, hiking the shirt up under her chin, “I’ll sit right here nekked if ya want.”
“No,” he said, pulling her hands and the shirt back down, “you wait, at least til I get back.”
He pushed off the car but not before she had taken hold of the rose.
“Is that for a girl,” she asked.
“No,” he answered.
“I like it,” Jenni told him, pulling him in.
“Me too,” he said, sliding his hands up between her legs and around her back.
He pushed his mouth over hers. He pulled her in. His thumb found her wetness. She let out a guttural breath. Their mouths locked tight against the others, lost in the moment.
“Go,” she ordered, pushing him away sporting a wicked smile.
As he glanced back, she had slid off the car. The shirt stuck to the car, riding up her backside, exposing skin as she lit another smoke.
(Continued…)
Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/iv02hw/the_story_of_j_ch_1_awakening