All in the Family (16 page)

She held Jessica tightly, caressing her hair and her skin. She kissed her head, the vision of mother comforting daughter. Though the mother was supposed to keep the daughter from harm, the mother was supposed to protect the daughter before anything could happen, but she failed. Failed her daughter and failed herself.

When she had calmed, her daughter’s sputtering breaths now even and rhythmic, Loretta left Jessica sitting on the bed.

“I’ll be right back, honey,” Loretta said.

Jessica nodded and sniffled once more. “Where are you going?”

“Roy’s going to pay.”

Jessica was not sure what her mother had planned. Loretta left the room and a chill ran over Jessica’s body, almost as if a cool breeze had blown through the room. She could hear the wind picking up outside and a flash of lightning lit up the room. The storm had started.

She held herself, shaking and frightened, what would happen? Would he lie? Would he retaliate? She stared into the darkness that was her bedroom and waited.

Chapter Eleven

“Roy, Roy, wake up.” It was Loretta. She stood in front of him. The television was off, and it was dark except for the radiant streetlight spilling in.

Roy opened his eyes wider. He was groggy, but managed to wipe the sleep crusts from his eyes. His sister was still standing in front of him. That brought back memories. She had stood before him like that before, years ago, not long after his father had married her mother. Back then, they were much younger and still trying to make the best of a startling new situation. They were thrown together only a week before the wedding. On the wedding night, they were left home alone. Teenagers alone, hormones raging, they had found comfort with each other, or at least that is how he remembered it. She had been fragile and timid, yes, but he knew what she had wanted by the way she acted. She had come into his room and stood in front of him much like she was now. He had taken her virginity that night; she cried, but it was not the first time he’d made girls cry. There was Tonya and Melinda before her. That was their first time, and it had continued for several years until his father had left him there. Then he was cold and lonely and confused.

Now, she was standing in front of him again, looking like a sexual beast, the low-cut, bust-baring blouse and the short skirt with clear heels. Shadows hid her face, but Roy envisioned her plump crimson lips and flowing dark hair. In reality, her face was chiseled and angry, but he couldn’t see that. He only saw what he lusted for.

“Roy, are you ready?” Loretta asked.

“Ready for what?” he asked. The room was spinning slightly. He felt a little nauseated. Had she found out? What was going on?

“You know what I want,” she said, seduction in her voice. Her lusty voice made his blood warm, made him tingle. She held out her hand for him, and he took it. She led him slowly down the hallway, tickling his hand with her nails as she walked. Then they were Jessica’s door. His stomach flip flopped. He felt genuinely sick now. What was she up to?

Inside, Jessica sat on the bed. She shrank back as they entered, and a little whimper came from her parted lips. Like a frightened animal, she pulled back and hid herself.

“It’s alright,” Loretta told her. “He won’t hurt you. He just wants to be loved; he wants to be needed.” Jessica uncovered her head and watched her mother.

Loretta stood in front of Roy, her hands on his chest. “I know what you did to
my
Jessica. She told me what you took from her. You took that from me too.” Roy smiled in the darkness, remembering how she had felt, reminiscing about how he had abused her that night and many other nights. “She told me, but you should have waited for me. You know what I could have given you?” She paused, and he shook his head. “Let me show you.”

She caressed his chest and then kissed him on the mouth, deep and hard, biting his lower lip as she pulled back slowly. She felt him shudder under her hands. His hands probed her body, stopping for a long time on her engorged breasts, squeezing and manipulating them in his hands. She worked her own hands down, in turn, to his crotch and massaged the growing bulge. Lowering herself to her knees, she unbuckled his belt and undid the button and fly of his jeans. She released his swollen member. It swayed in front of her face in the darkness. She could see the dark outline of it as it moved. He flinched, and it jumped in time. It was not much larger than she remembered; years of drug abuse may have stunted its growth.

Her tongue slipped between her lips and tantalized the head, slowly working in circles. Roy moaned and exhaled deeply. She tickled his balls with her nails, then gripped them and tugged on them lightly. She knew that was what he’d liked years ago. Taking him in her mouth, she worked her tongue all around and took him deep until he hit her throat. The average woman would have gagged, but she was not your average woman. She was Loretta Adams; she was a whore. She had years of practice and knew how to work it. She rocked back and forth, working him with her mouth and hand.

Jessica sat on the bed, bewildered and unsure of what was happening in her own room, right in front of her. Her mother gave her own brother head. At least that answered the question she had once asked herself as she looked in the mirror, where her love for cock came from. She couldn’t help but to find the scene fascinating even now, though it was her mother, it was like watching porn on the television when she would skip class. Her mother worked him like a pro. Even in the darkness, she could see well enough to see that. She could hear him beginning to pant, much like he had when he filled her with his seed.

Loretta could tell that he was getting close as well. She knew he would be done soon if she kept up the work that she was doing. This wasn’t for his pleasure though, it was for revenge. He bucked hard one more time, the beginning of orgasm, the start of ecstasy. It was on that buck, when he was pushed deep inside her mouth, that she extracted her revenge for herself, for Jessica and for every other woman that he had ever hurt. It was time for him to pay.

Roy didn’t know what was happening until it was too late. One moment he was at the start of his orgasm, gripping her hair in his hand, and the next he was in excruciating pain. Her teeth had cut into him hard, and yet he wasn’t sure, but he was nearly positive that his beloved manhood was no longer attached.

Loretta tasted the iron flavor of his blood in her mouth, and she spat the shriveling member onto the floor. It felt good to take revenge. It was the feeling of freedom. His screams were muffled by the screaming winds outside, the coming storm.

Roy stumbled back; unaware of what was going on. The room was spinning now. Lightning flashed outside and lit up the gruesome scene in front of him. He couldn’t be sure in the quick flash, but he could have sworn that Loretta smiled. He fled, ignoring the pain in his groin. He felt weak, and he needed to hide; he needed to sit down. He stumbled down the hall and entered an open door. He felt along a dresser and found his way to another door. He opened it and flicked on the light; a bathroom. He threw the lock and turned to see someone staring at him.

A pale and sickly looking man stared dead at him. He jumped back, only to realize it was himself reflected in the mirror. He tore off his shirt and wadded it up, pressing it hard to his groin. He stumbled back again and landed in large old style bathtub. His head kissed the hard porcelain, and then the world around him melted, and he knew no more.

* * * *

It had been a long couple of hours. The bodies finished their burning, and the pulverized bone fragments had been properly disposed of. Herman had flushed the extra dust down the toilet. He thought about spreading it out in the flower bed outside, but he knew that if he flushed it, it would be gone and untraceable.

Bobby had fallen asleep on the ride home, his head bobbing to the left and right as the hearse took the curves. Arriving home, Herman pulled the hearse into the driveway.

“Bobby, get up, you have to go in,” Herman said in a soft voice.

Bobby made it out of the car under his own power, but leaned heavily on his father as they entered the house. Herman led the poor zombie-boy to bed, and after tucking him in, he quietly left the room and headed into the kitchen.

He opened the top of a glass bottle and kicked back the beer. It was smooth and refreshing, slightly bitter at the end, but delicious. He was glad to be rid of the bodies, glad to be rid of his worries. He heard movement down the hall. He assumed Jessica or Loretta was awake. He looked at the clock; it was almost one in the morning. He couldn’t imagine Jessica being awake, but there was never any telling about that girl.

Just then, Loretta entered the kitchen, her eyes bloodshot and her makeup distorted. Her face was still beautiful, yet there was red staining around her mouth and down her chin. There were matching red streaks on her blouse. It looked as if she had been eating cherry syrup and hadn’t bothered to clean it up.

Herman cocked an eyebrow when he looked at her. “I didn’t know you were home yet.”

“I’ve been home for a while,” she replied.

“Was your dinner date nice?” Herman asked.

“Um, it was fine.”

“That’s good. I’ll tell you,” Herman paused and took another swig of his beer, “I’m glad to be done with this. It’s late, and I’m tired.”

She frowned.

“What’s all over you face?”

“We have a problem.”

Herman frowned. “What?”

* * * *

Roy felt the cold porcelain of the tub against his bare skin. That wasn’t what woke him, though he was freezing. The pain had subsided to a degree, but it still hurt. His head ached as well; he remembered the fall and hitting his head. Why hadn’t anyone come for him? What were they waiting on? Perhaps he could get to a phone and save himself. Finally, he came to terms with his actions; admittedly his pain was not undeserved, for the women he had hurt, not only his family, but others as well, he deserved worse than this actually. He deserved to die.

He tried to raise himself, but he was too weak; so much for calling for help.

Then, he heard a bump at the door. He would have jumped, but be was far too frail, the blood loss had been great. The door bumped again, louder this time, then again. The world was spinning now; he didn’t know up from down. He raised himself enough to vomit onto the floor.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Herman entered the bathroom. He didn’t look Roy in the eyes; he stepped in and then pulled back, the stench of the fresh vomit hitting him in the face. Roy’s eyes lulled and rolled in his head; he could barely focus. He saw Herman, and he saw Herman’s hand. In Herman’s hand, he saw a short handled sledge.

It came quick, the blow from the hammer, and then darkness took him, cradling him and welcoming him into eternity. Herman threw the hammer against his skull several times; the blows were hard, blood spattering on the walls and ceiling. He dragged Roy by the feet until his busted head was in the bottom of the tub; a small pool of blood had already begun to collect beneath where his body had been. Herman took a knife from his pocket and cut Roy’s throat, sawing deep into the flesh, taking great care to sever both jugular veins. He pocketed the knife and bent the head back; allowing free blood to flow into the tub.

Herman left the room to return his sledge to the basement. When he returned to his bedroom, he found Loretta seated on the bedside still wearing the blood drenched blouse. He sat down beside her and took her hand into his. He held it gently, stoking her soft skin. She didn’t look at him, instead she stared straight ahead, looking at the wall, looking past the wall and seeing what? She saw the events that had unfolded of late, played them over and over in her head. It was near maddening; the mere thought of it was ludicrous.

Herman didn’t say anything to her. He knew her pain, knew all too well how she was feeling. His own feelings for her and his daughter had been very strong. It was not something that she had ever told him before, how Roy had treated her, what he had done to defile her. Now it was finished.

The storm raged outside, the winds howling like a wolf at the moon and the rain beating hard against the windows. A flash of lightning tore across the sky, ripping through the darkness. Then, there was darkness inside the house. The power had gone out.

Herman left her for a moment and returned, bypassing her and entering the bathroom. Suddenly, there was light coming from the bathroom, dancing and flickering light. It lit the walls, shadows moving in erratic patterns.

He took her hand and lifted. She stood alongside him, and he led her slowly into the bathroom. Roy’s corpse was laid in the bathtub, his head nearly submerged in the blood that had run from his veins. The grotesque scene caused Loretta to step back, cowering away. Herman held her firm.

“It’s alright,” he reassured her, “it’s over, and he won’t hurt you anymore.” Herman grabbed Roy’s feet and dragged his body out of the tub, leaving it on the tile in a heap. “I thought that this might help you to cope and overcome all that he ever did to you.” He stepped over and turned on the water. The drain had plugged itself when Roy crashed down into the tub.

Herman stepped behind Loretta and gently removed her blouse and bra, working his way down to the rest of her garments. His kissed her on the neck and explored her nakedness with his bloodstained hands. She quivered under his touch. Slowly, he walked her to the edge of the tub, the candles sat on the far end of the bathtub. The scene was horrifically erotic. Steam from the hot water filled the air, swirling around them.