The room was dark, the curtains drawn, and the woman never got a look at his face. “So I didn’t have to, you know, do her.”
“ Kill her.”
“ Like you have to do if they get a good look at you. But it was dark, and I got some tape over her eyes before they got used to the dark. So she never saw my face and she never saw my dick, so what’s she gonna tell them? What it felt like?” He laughed, and she laughed with him. “There’s guys who get a kick out of, you know, finishing ’em off. Personally, I think that’s sick. Waste of good pussy, you know?”
“ But sometimes you don’t have a choice,” she said.
“ That’s it exactly. Sometimes you don’t have a choice. And if I got to do it, well, it doesn’t bother me. You do what you gotta do. Anyway, who told her to come home in the middle of the goddam afternoon? She’s supposed to be working, so what’s she doing at home?”
“ She deserved it,” she said.
“ Probably half-wanted it,” he said. “Like you the first time. Except this one wasn’t like you, she was crying and making a fuss. Nice, though.” He chucked her under the chin. “When I was done with her,” he said, “I thought, oh shit, I’m not gonna be much good to Susie. She finds out, she’s gonna be pissed.”
“ I’m not, though. It’s exciting. Tell me what you did.”
The report included anal intercourse, and she pouted when he told her. “We never tried that,” she said.
“ Well, most women don’t like it.”
“ I’m not most women,” she said. “Oh, what have we here? It looks as though you’re going to be able to do something after all. My goodness!”
He left finally, after downing a cup of cocoa to soothe his stomach. His stomach had been bothering him lately, and he agreed that the cocoa would probably help.
Two nights later, she told him how it excited her to think of him raping another woman. “I only wish I could have been there,” she said.
“ You’re some crazy dame,” he said admiringly. “What would you do? Watch?”
She nodded, moistened her upper lip with the tip of her tongue. “Maybe help,” she added.
“ Help?”
“ I could hold her hands,” she said. “Or…”
“ Or what?”
“ I don’t know. Maybe do stuff.”
“ Like fool around with her?”
“ Maybe.”
“ Like how?”
“ Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe, you know, touch her. Do things to her.”
“ You ever been with a woman?”
“ No.”
“ But you’ve been thinking about it.”
“ Well,” she said, “if she couldn’t do anything, you know. Like if she was tied up? And I was in control?”
“ You are one crazy bitch,” he said.
“ Well.”
“ Man,” he said, “now you got me going. Maybe we could, you know, pick somebody out, follow her home. Or if I was working and I found somebody, like, I could call you. Or…”
She had a better idea. There was this woman she knew, a former co-worker. A honey blonde, creamy skin, good breasts.
“ You’re hot for her,” he said.
The woman was attractive, she allowed. And she knew how they could decoy the woman to a motel, where he could have a room booked. And they’d be waiting for her, and when she came in…
He helped her plan it out. “One thing,” he said. “This broad knows you. And she’ll know who lured her to the place, and anyway she’ll see you when we do her, she’ll see both of us. Unless you’re telling me she’s gonna like it?”
“ No,” she said. “She’s not going to like it.”
“ Well then,” he said. “You got to realize what’s gonna have to happen when we’re done. When the party’s over, she ain’t gonna turn into a pumpkin.”
“ I know.”
“ What I mean, I’ll have to do her.”
“ We’ll both do her.”
He shook his head. “I don’t mean do her like have sex with her. I mean do her so she’s done. Finish her, is what I’m saying.”
“ I know.”
“ And you’re okay with that?”
“ Maybe I’ll help,” she said.
A few days later they were driving around, and she pointed out the woman she had described. He was excited and wanted to take their victim immediately, decoy her into the car, take her out into the woods and leave her there when they were finished. “It’s better if we let her come to us,” she insisted. “We set a trap and she walks right into it. And we can take our time, and do everything we want.”
“ Right now’s when I’m horny,” he said.
She grinned. “I can take care of that,” she said.
On the appointed evening, he was waiting at the motel room when she arrived. “We’ve got half an hour before she gets here,” she said. “Did I tell you she’s selling real estate now? She thinks we’re a nice sweet couple, we want her to show us some houses. Well, we’re not that sweet, and we’ll be showing her more than she shows us. Honey, are you as excited as I am?”
“ Take a look.”
“ Oh God,” she said. “I can’t wait to see that going in and out of her.” They talked some about what they would do to the blond, and then she said, “Oh, before I forget,” and took a small unlabeled bottle from her purse. “For your stomach,” she said. “Is it still bothering you?”
“ Off and on. It’s worse at night.”
“ ‘ Intermittent pain, worse in the evening,’ ” she said. “I have this herbal doctor, I started to tell him about it and he was finishing my sentences for me. If you drink this it should cure it completely.”
“ What is it?”
“ A mixture of Chinese herbs, and it doesn’t taste great. But if you can get it down your troubles are over.”
He took the bottle from her. “How much are you supposed to take?”
“ All of it, if you can.”
He uncapped the bottle, shrugged, tipped it up and drained it. His face twisted. “Jesus, that’s terrible,” he said. “Anything tastes that bad, it must be great for you.”
“ He said it tasted pretty bad.”
“ Well, he got that right.”
“ And at first it may make you feel worse,” she said. “That’s a sign that it’s working. But after fifteen minutes you should feel great, so by the time our little blond friend gets here…”
“ She’s not so little. Pretty big in the tits department.”
“ Well, you’ll be ready for her.”
“ I’m ready for her right now,” he said. “Oh, shit.”
“ What’s the matter?”
“ I think this shit is working, that’s all.” He clutched his middle. “Oh, shit, that’s pretty bad. What’d you say it had in it? Chinese herbs?”
“ That’s what he said.”
“ Jesus, if chop suey tasted like this nobody’d eat it. I fucked a Chinese girl once, did I ever tell you about her? She was so scared I thought she was gonna have a heart attack. And it ain’t sideways, in case you were wondering.”
“ What’s not sideways?”
“ Her pussy. That’s what they say about Chinese women. You never heard that? Anyway, her pussy was the same as anybody else’s. Oh, Jesus, that’s bad.” He sprawled on the bed, rolling from side to side, wracked with spasms. “Jesus, it’s working. You sure I’m gonna be all right by the time the blond cunt gets here?”
“ She’s not coming.”
“ Huh? What do you mean?”
“ She was just a woman I pointed out to you,” she said. “I don’t even know her name. She’s not coming. It’s just the two of us.”
“ What are you-“
“ And that wasn’t Chinese herbs in the bottle. It was the same thing you’ve been getting in your cocoa every night, and it came out of a bottle marked ‘Rat Poison.’ ’’
He stared at her. She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I was giving you small doses,” she said, “but this is one big dose, enough to kill a hundred rats. But all it has to kill is one big rat, and you can puke your guts out but it’s too late now. It’s in your system. You’ll be dead in fifteen minutes, half an hour tops.”
“ Where are you going?”
“ I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I’m just getting comfortable. You can’t even get off the bed, can you? So I don’t have anything to worry about. You’re dying, and I’m going to stick around and see the show.”