I by Anonymous

Author:Anonymous
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: [No data]
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1980-04-27T05:00:00+00:00

Martha was standing beside the columned door when I got out of the car. “I saw you coming,” she told me. “He’s been asking for you ever since he woke up.”

I was tired, my legs shaky, my head in a whirl. I felt as though I hadn’t slept in a week. Seeing Martha as serene in the flesh as in the spirit, I thought resentfully, you had IT all night long, while all I had was Leroy and his quick comes.

Martha was still watching me. “Are you all right, sister?”

“I’m all right,” I said. “Just tired.”

Martha said anxiously. “Did you find out anything?”

“Let me tell him,” I said.

“Come on, then,” she said briskly, turning to lead the way.

Gregory Pike was ensconced in bed, a breakfast tray on his lap. His masculine body was incongruous against the flounced bed canopy, the feminine appointments of chintz-shaded lamps. It was obviously Miss Habersham’s own bedroom that he occupied.

He gazed upon me with grave attention. “You have been with a man.”

“I went to visit a deputy sheriff who can keep me posted on what’s going on in town.”

“The deputy sheriff has left your flesh unquiet,” he remarked perceptively.

He didn’t know the half of it. I looked away. His hairless chest was naked and muscular. I tried not to think about IT lurking under the sheets.

He smiled. “You may join me in bed and in breakfast.”

Moving quickly to take off the red robe I had put on again this morning, I slipped in beside him. My leg brushed intimately against his bare leg.

“Careful,” he admonished. “Don’t upset the tray.” He turned to Martha. “Bring our dear Clara a breakfast to match my breakfast.”

Martha departed. Gregory Pike proceeded to eat without waiting for my breakfast to come. I watched him, enjoying his enormous appetite: three eggs, bacon, a large helping of grits.

When Martha brought my tray, I realized that, beyond lust, other hungers dwelled also in my flesh.

As I ate, he asked, “What did you learn to our benefit, dear Clara?”

“I learned, for one thing, the danger you were in while you were in the county jail,” I said reproachfully. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It was of no consequence,” he said. “It is not Gregory Pike’s destiny to be unmanned by jealous men. At least, not yet.”

“Not yet?” I gasped. “You mean...” I stopped myself. “They’re still talking about catching you out somewhere ...” I stopped myself again. “You mustn’t stay for the trial, Gregory. You mustn’t.”

“Eat, dear Clara,” he said calmly. “You must always satisfy, first and foremost, the hungers of the flesh. Only then can thy spirit be calm in the presence of the Lord.”

As I alternately ate and talked, Gregory Pike silently finished his own plate, wiping it out with the last half of biscuit, and gave Martha the tray.

When I was done, and Martha had taken my tray, she said to Gregory: “Clara is right, you know. It is dangerous to remain.”

Gregory Pike was amused. “And what about dear Miss Habersham’s ten-thousand-dollar appearance bond?”

“Explain the situation to her.

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