“You heard me. Start walking.”

  “I can’t walk home like this! At least gimme my pants!”

  “You can pick them out of the garbage can in the morning. Now shove off, or I’ll kick your ass from here to the next county.”

  Joanne was steaming, a five-foot-eight joke with red-smeared lips and no pants. She huffed and clenched her fists at her sides. Then, after a final seething, grimacing pause, she turned and walked down the porch steps, where the storm devoured her.

  Vicky watched till Joanne could no longer be seen within the blowing layers of rain. Ass, she thought. Try that on for size.

  She came back in and slammed the door so hard the house shook. Lenny remained in the half-lit corner, his face still warped by a drunk grin. He was clapping. “That’s really sockin’ it to her,” he said. “A real hardass little chick—that’s what I’ve always liked about you.”

  “And you know what I’ve always liked about you, Lenny?”

  “What, babe?”

  “Nothing.”

  At this, Lenny seemed to contemplate the air. She knew she would have to be very careful now. If she threw too many insults at him, he would just start throwing his fists. She would have liked to tell him everything just then, everything she thought of him—to release with words the disgust that had built up in her since the beginning of their marriage. She knew, though, that she would have to control herself, or suffer the inevitable consequences.

  “You’re just jealous, that’s all,” he said after a time. “Jealous that other girls get turned on by me.”

  “It’s got nothing to do with jealousy. If you think I haven’t known about your affairs all along, then you’re even dumber than I thought.” She paused abruptly, to force back the acid that seemed to be crawling up her throat. Then, “No, I’ve known all about it, and I don’t care anymore. I haven’t cared in a year. I tried. I waited. I used to think—” but she pulled the words back when she felt tears wanting to come out. She couldn’t let herself cry in front of Lenny. That would be the worst defeat.

  “See, I know you, Vicky,” he said, grinning sharper now. “You think I don’t, but I know you real good. You say things, but you mean jus’ the opposite. I’ve lived round rubes all my life; it’s jus’ like a rube chick to go apeshit when she finds her man with another girl. You cain’t stand the thought of another girl puttin’ her hands on me.”

  “I welcome it,” she said with no hesitation. “It’s my relief. Because when you’re with another woman, I don’t have to be around you. That’s my relief, Lenny. That’s all I live for anymore, to come home from work every night and hope that you’re not here.”

  Lenny laughed hoarsely. “You’re really puttin’ on some show, ain’t ya? Girl, you’d go crazy without me. Remember ‘fore we got married? You begged for it, you couldn’t get enough. You were nuts about me, and you still are, you jus’ don’t wanna show it. You get your kicks this way, tryin’ ta make me think I don’t excite you no more.”

  “You excite me about as much as the bottom of a garbage can. I don’t know where you get your ideas, Lenny. Must be all that dope and beer, it’s pickled your brain. You’ve got enough shit in your head to fill a horse trough.”

  “Look,” he said, and took a step forward. “I screw around a little, all right? All guys do. So you don’t gotta give me a load of crap jus’ ’cause I bring a chick back to the house. That ain’t a crime.”

  “It’s a crime to marry someone and make no attempt to fulfill your obligations as a husband.”

  “Shit, girl, you been watchin’ too many soaps. You got more than most girls in this town. What more do you want? You got a roof over your head, don’t ya? You got food in your stomach every day. You have everything you need, and you still complain.”

  “All I have is a two-bit job at a strip joint and a lazy dishonest cockhound for a husband. And like I said, I don’t care what you do anymore. You can blow your load all over this whole town”—now she even dared to point a finger at him—“but at least have the decency to keep your little honeypots out of the same bed I have to sleep in.”

  Lenny’s expression began to flatten. He took two more steps toward the center of the room, then stood and looked at her with a raised eye. “You don’t have ta sleep in it,” he said. “Maybe you’d rather sleep in the street.”

  “With pleasure.”

  Vicky turned at once, yanked open the front door, and began walking out across the porch. Lenny stormed after her. She was just about to step into the rain when he grabbed her by the belt and jerked her back onto the porch. She shrieked, but the sound was absorbed by the rain.

  “You ain’t goin’ nowhere now, babe,” he said, pulling her back toward the door. ”A little therapy’s all you need. A little nut up the love hole’ll fix things up real nice.”

  She yanked away from him completely, amazed at the sudden burst of strength. But she was cut off; Lenny blocked the porch steps. He began to back her into the house.

  “Keep away from me,” she said, walking in reverse. Her voice broke like a child’s. Her hands trembled. “Don’t touch me. Please, don’t touch me.”

  “But you want me to touch you. I know you do.”

  He stepped forward mechanically, edging her further into the room. Before she knew it, he’d backed her up against the wall along the stairs.

  There was no place she could go now, no escape. His shadow grew huge and rose over her as he approached. A tight pain spread across her chest; she felt sweat trickle down her sides. At that moment she wished she were a ghost, she wished she could vanish into the wall.

  The distance between them drew in, step by step. Lenny faced her now, just inches away, blackened to a silhouette-shape from the light behind him. Her eyes darted left and right; she needed a weapon. A large, cornered glass ashtray glimmered from the coffee table. But it was just too far away.

  Lenny’s silhouette spoke. “Upstairs, girl. Right now.”

  She knew how close she was to another beating; a single word of protest now would set him off. She gulped thickly, and shuddered when his hands touched her breasts. She turned her head to one side, cheek to wall, shivering. Then one hand moved around to cup her buttocks. The other hand spread over her crotch and squeezed.

  “See, baby?” he said. “That’s all you need. You just need a good fucking.”

  Vicky felt the certainty explode in her head. She could save herself, by submitting. But now she knew she would not submit to him, not now, not ever again. She’d debased herself for the last time; she’d had enough. It was time for an end to living like this, even if it meant an end to living.

  “Stop,” she said.

  “No, you don’t want me ta stop. You wanna get fucked.”

  Her hand hooked around in a swift arc, and she slapped the side of his face. The sound, however, was disappointingly thin, like slapping water; Lenny’s head barely flinched at all. His hands came off her slowly. He didn’t strike back as she expected. He only stood there, staring, staking her to the wall with his gaze.

  Her words came out wearily, without bite, without emotion. “I hate you,” she told him. “I hate you so much. You’re the lowest, Lenny, the absolute lowest. You make me so sick I could vomit.”

  “You got exactly one second to take that back, or I’ll give you somethin’ to vomit about.”

  “You’re a thief, a liar, and a wretch. I could shoot myself for marrying you, I must have been out of my mind. All you’ll ever be is a punk, Lenny, a grade-A number-one asshole. You’re the sorriest excuse for a man I ever saw.”

  He cocked a hip, looking down. “Cunt,” he said calmly. “Rube trash. When I’m through with you, you ain’t gonna be able ta walk fer a week. I’m gonna rake you over the coals.”

  “I don’t care,” she said. Then she spat in his face.

  She could feel it coming. She ducked in time to miss the blow, then dove to her knees. A dull hollow boom sounded— she looked up and saw that Lenny had knocked a hole in the wall with his fist.

  She lunged across the floor, reaching out toward the coffee table. Her fingers fell on the ashtray. Grabbed it. Picked it up.

  And dropped it when Lenny’s second strike connected. Like a lump of granite, his fist sailed down and slammed into the back of her head. The impact flattened her; her vision blanked. She could see nothing for seconds, and only dull fuzz for seconds more.

  Lenny was laughing. “You always gotta have things the hard way, huh? Well, that’s jus’ fine with me.”

  He stepped on her hand. Vicky shrieked. Then he came down on her back with his knee. His laughter deepened; he grabbed her hair and banged her head against the floor several times. Vicky couldn’t breathe.

  He flipped her over and mauled her breasts, buttons flying off her blouse. He pushed up her bra. She glimpsed his face through dizzy spangles of light—he was grinning at her, chortling like a pig. Suddenly pain wound through her chest; he began twisting her nipples as if to twist them off. He seemed to enjoy the way her shrieks rose the harder he twisted.

  “Gettin’ hot, baby?” he said. “Ain’t this really the way you like it?”

  She squirmed under his weight. Each time she tried to thrash away, he punched her in the stomach. Only terror kept her conscious now; her vision cleared unmercifully and showed her his intent, evil face. When he shoved his hand down her pants, her arm flew up blindly, and she poked him in the eye with her thumb.

  Lenny fell off her, both hands over his eye. Vicky slipped away from him, too aware that he’d only been stunned—she’d never make it out of the house.

  The big glass ashtray lay off to the right.

  She sprang forward, on hands and knees, in a sudden ignition of energy. Behind her she sensed movement, Lenny regaining his wits. Her knees and palms burned across the carpet. She fell on the ashtray and picked it up.

  Lenny had already risen to his feet. Vicky got up on her knees, pulled back, and threw the ashtray as hard as she could. It seemed a wild, misguided throw; nonetheless, it flew through the air like a missile and struck Lenny solidly in the middle of his forehead. She didn’t hear the sound of the blow, just the ashtray clunking to the carpet afterward. She felt triumph, delight, victory, when Lenny fell hard on his back.

  She felt horror when he got back up again.

  There was blood on his face now, the gash in his head glistening and running red. The scariest part wasn’t that the blow hadn’t knocked him out. It was the way he looked at her then, bloodied but unhurt, with eyes of ice.

  She wondered if he would kill her.

  “So you want out, is that it?” he said, standing still. “You wanna walk out on ol’ Lenny boy.” Blood pulsed down his face as he spoke. “And where’re you gonna go? Tell me that? Who’s gonna take you in, huh? Pretty Boy Morris? Even he’s got more class than ta take in a rube little piece of trash like you.” Then he paused, his wet red grin widening. A line of blood slid quickly down his chest.

  Vicky tried to plead with him, but the words swelled in her throat. She tried to move, tried to get up and get away, yet her wrists and ankles seemed manacled to the floor.

  “But wherever you go,” he continued, “I hope you ain’t gonna have ta rely on your looks ta get you there, ‘cause I’m gonna ugly you up real good.”

  Finally she spat out broken words. “Please let me go. Please just let me get out of here.”

  “Sure, baby. If you wanna leave, I won’t stop you. But you ain’t goin’ nowhere till I give you somethin’ ta remember me by.”

  He broke from where he stood, and took long, quick steps across the room. The last thing she saw as she screamed was his hands opening and closing as he reached down for her.

  ««—»»

  Kurt could barely see anything at all through the rain. The windshield wipers were on high, but they did little more than swipe the water around to make room for more. He leaned forward, chin nearly touching the steering wheel, and he had to squint just to make out the double yellow line on the asphalt. The road seemed to be splattering before him, breaking up. The headlights didn’t improve visibility as much as articulate the density of the rain. Several times he almost went off the road, even at just a few miles per hour. At this rate it would take half an hour just to get back to the station.

  As he made the next bend, the headlights reflected off something on the shoulder, something erect and raw-white with a band of pink. He slowed nearly to a halt.

  “What the hell?” he mouthed aloud. It was a person walking along the right-hand shoulder. The figure stopped when he did. He leaned over and rolled down the passenger window a few inches. A face almost touched the glass; two wild eyes looked at him through the gap. Only a complete jackass would be walking the Route this late, in this weather, he thought. And it didn’t surprise him the least to see that the face belonged to Joanne Sulley. The temptation was there, of course, to roll the window up and drive on without a word; he couldn’t think of anything more fulfilling. Instead, he said, “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I’m walking home,” she said, her defiance pathetic in the rain. “It’s not against the law to walk home.”

  “No, but it’s against the law to walk home with no pants on.”

  “Well, I’m wearing my G-string.”

  “Thank God. I was beginning to think you were uninhibited.”

  Her hands pressed the window, fingers curling over the lip. “Will you drive me home?”

  “This is a police car, not a Checker cab.”

  “Come on, you’re a cop,” she whined. “You can’t let me walk—I could get raped.”

  “That’s right, you could. And walking the streets at three in the morning with no pants on probably won’t reduce that possibility.”

  “Gimme a break,” she not quite pleaded. “I don’t want to walk home in this shit.”

  “The solution is quite simple, really. Buy a car.”

  “Oh, come on. You’re not busy right now. You can drive me home.”

  “Only if you say please.”

  She glared at him. “Please!”

  “Pretty please.”

  “Goddamn it!”

  Kurt shrugged and reached to roll up the window.

  “Pretty please!” she shouted.

  “All right.”

  She got into the car as if fleeing killers, and she slammed the door so hard he thought the window might break. Kurt could’ve laughed at the sight of her, so he did. Rain beaded every inch of her exposed skin, of which there was a lot. Her tube-top was water-logged, her hair a tangled brunette mop.

  “You know,” he said, “just because you dance at the Anvil in a G-string doesn’t mean you can parade around town in one.”

  “If you must know,” she said without looking at him, “I didn’t have time to get dressed. Don’t ask me to explain.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said. “Jesus Christ, you’re dripping on my seat.” He let the cruiser resume its slow crawl through the rain, wipers thudding. The car rocked in the wind.

  Joanne was pushing droplets off her thighs; it made a sound like a squeegee. “Got a cigarette?” she asked.

  “Sure, but none for you.”

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake! Give me a goddamned cigarette.”

  “Plenty of butts in the ashtray. Help yourself.”

  Her lips pressed into a smirk. “It’s obvious that you don’t think highly of me—”

  Kurt laughed out loud.

  “—but you don’t have to be rude.” She paused, focusing on him. “Why, I bet if you gave me a chance, you’d like me a lot.”

  “I doubt it.”

  She slid over closer to him. “Just because you and Lenny don’t get along, you don’t have to take it out on me.”

  “Lenny’s got nothing to do with it,” he said, eyes on the road. “I can’t stand either of you.”

  “You don’t really mean that,” she said. Her voice was very soft, very unlike her. He could smell the rain-scent in her hair; in fact, he found it pleasant. She moved over a little more. “We ought to go out sometime, you and me,” she said.

  “Sorry. I don’t go out with Kirby vacuum cleaners.”

  She began to run her finger along the rim of her tube-top, unaffected by his insults. The rim crept lower, showing the edge of a nipple. “You know, I could make you feel real good if you let me… Why don’t you let me?” Then she leaned very close and placed a hand on his leg.

  He flung her hand away immediately. “One more word like that and this free ride home turns into a free ride in the county detention center. One more word.”

  “Well,” she cooed, “there’s no reason why we can’t at least be friends.”

  “There’re plenty of reasons, Joanne, the first of which is I don’t have assholes for friends.”

  She shoved herself back against the door, and glowered. Kurt could see her fuming in the dash-glow; he expected to see steam come out of her ears. Shutting her up so abruptly almost made driving her home worth it.

  He eyed the guardrail around the next bend, using it to guide him through the rain. He seemed to be getting the hang of this now, and he let his speed pick up. He put a cigarette in his mouth and briefly took his eyes off the road to push in the dash lighter. At that exact moment, Joanne lurched forward and shouted, “Look out!”

  Reflex made Kurt stomp the brakes. The car fishtailed into the bend, and by the time it had stopped completely, it had nearly revolved 180 degrees. The rear fender missed the guardrail by an inch.

  “What!” Kurt barked. He pulled the car safely to the shoulder. The near miss made his hands shake.

  Joanne sank back, her hand to her heart. “You almost hit that guy.”

  “What guy?”

  “While you were busy lighting your cigarette, some guy jumped over the rail and ran across the road into the woods.”

  Kurt turned on the remote-control spotlight and turned it into the forest. The two hundred thousand candle-power lamp scanned back and forth across the trees, and revealed nothing unusual.

  “You’re stoned,” he said.

  “No, I’m not! A guy ran across the road, and you would’ve hit him if I hadn’t yelled.”