The Executioner's Song (19 page)

He carried her from the bathtub to the bed and for the second time she had an orgasm with Gary. She knew it had something to do with being a 6-year-old pussy once more. Even as her memory had its quick flash of Uncle Lee, so was Nicole carried over the place where she slammed into the wall and stopped..

That shaved little old tooty certainly made a hellion out of Gary this Sunday morning. Ever since the thing with Pete, he had been adoring her twice as much. It was like he was truly mad about her

now.

That night, Laurel came over with her cousins and a friend named Rosebeth. Once Gary and Nicole came back from their drive, Laurel’s duties as a baby-sitter were over, and she went home. But Rosebeth stayed on. She would sigh just looking at Gary. Nicole In fact, she loved the way everything was new to the girl. Sex had never been new to Nicole. How beautiful if she’d been in troduced to the subject like Rosebeth. It was exciting to watch Gary make her blossom. Of course, Gary also could get very demanding with the girl and order her to suck him good, stuff like that. It just turned him on the way the girl had this tremendous crush.

Then Nicole had to face another problem. During the week, when Gary was at work, and Rosebeth came over, Nicole still wanted to get it on with her. She wondered if she was moving into that side of sex a little deeper.

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THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG

A couple of days later, Gar stopped off after work to pay Val for the Mustang. He had already missed the first installment and was upset. Of course, it was no big incident. Half the people to Conlin sold cars were sooner or later delinquent in payments. It just part of the ongoing hell-of-a-success-story that was Val’s life.

In the last fifteen years, Cordin had gone from being manager of Orem Buick-Chevrolet to owning the dealership. Then he got into a big dispute with the Ford pany and another with his partner, and before the litigation was he had gone from being the largest new-car dealer in Utah Counv being the smallest used-car dealer. One hell of a success story. Motors sold very old cars more often than not-so-old cars, just them off the lot for a little down. The rest when you could get it. pie on welfare or picking up a little alimony, ex-cons, ters who couldn’t get credit anyplace else. Those were his clients.

Val was a tall slim guy with eyeglasses and a keen and face. He had the build of a golfer — relaxed shoulders and a paunch. He was dressed this day in polyester red-checked a pale yellow sports shirt. Gary was grubby with insulation powder coated his face, his nostrils, and his clothing. Kind of a yellow to match Val’s shirt.

Conlin now gave Gary a lecture about missing the

Since V.J. Motors occupied what was once a hole-inthe-wall restaurant, its showroom wasn’t large enough to show cars. It j had a couple of desks, a dozen chairs, and anybody who was You could hear everything Val Conlin had to say. :

“Gary,” he now stated, “I don’t want to go out and start

on doors. I told you how it works. We try to set a rate handle. We agreed you could bring in fifty bucks every two weeks. don’t give me any manure that you’re going to pay a hundred week, or two hundred next month. You got to start brm money in on time.”

“I don’t like this car,” Gary said.

“Well, it’s not a real slick car,” said Val.

THE JOB
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“It gets left at the intersection by every other heap. It’s a bad

“Partner,” said Val, “let’s get it straight. When you buy a car

here, I’m doing you the favor. You can’t buy from anybody but me.” “What I really want is a truck.”

“Get the payments in on time. Once you pay this off, we can swap for a truck. But I want my fifty, Gary, every two weeks. Otherwise, you walk.”

Gary cashed his paycheck and gave him fifty dollars.

That night Nicole and Gary had a bad one in bed. It went on too long and once again he was three-quarters erect, half erect, it finally went all bad. Gary got up, got dressed, stomped out of the house, Went to sleep in the car. It made Nicole mad as hell that he had walked out, and it didn’t help that he woke the kids up en route.

She told herself that if she was going to mellow him ut, she’d have to calm herself. There had been other times, after alJ, when he blew out of the house and sat in the car. Usually when the kids’ noise was drilling him. She knew from what he told her that the level of noise in prison was always high, and his ears were oversensitive. Somehow with all the years he had put in, he could never get used to the sound.

Now she managed to get the kids together, gave them warm milk, tucked them in, and went out to his Mustang. He was sitting behind the wheel silent as stone. She did not talk for ten minutes. Then she slipped a hand over.

Once in a while, Gary would talk about a dream. On this night, sitting in the car, he spoke of it again. He believed that once, in another life, he had been executed. Had his head chopped off.

In the dream, there was something about Oldness. Something ugly, old and moldy. As he talked, she had a chill. She was thinking of how he would wake up often in a real cold sweat. Once he had talked about another dream where he was put in a box, then put into a hole in the wall. It had a door like an oven.

On the next weekend, Gary ran into Vem. They stared at each Good Lord, Vern said to himself, he is giving me one dirty “Don’t think I’m much of a man, do you?” Gary asked him.

“Maybe I don’t,” Vern said and turned and left. Afterward, he

bad.

Same day, while Toni was visiting Brenda, Gary dropped Toni certainly didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t about to Gary — the poor guy had been accused of enough things in On the other hand, she didn’t think it was right to let it all unspoken. Annette was a beautiful young lady and Gary could had intentions.

She went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and Gary to come out of the bathroom then. They were obliged to each other.

Gary said, “Toni, you haven’t mentioned this thing with nette.” She answered, “Gary, if there’s something to say, I’ll He took hold of her hand and said, “Hon, I’d never hurt you family.” There was a silence. Toni believed him. That is, she she could accept what he said. Still, she also felt she wasn’t let Annette be alone with him. There was always the other “Gary, I go along with you,” she answered at last, “but, just her, I’m a mother first.” He smiled and said, “If you weren’t, I’ disappointed in you.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and back to the front room.

Brenda tried to amuse Gary by telling a story about Val In the old days when Val had the Lincoln-Mercury always acted like a big shot at the Riverside Country Club. the type to snap his fingers at the waitresses. Brenda was table once and thought Val kind of brusque, so she said, like me to drop this soup on your head?”

“How’d you like me,” Val answered, “to get you fired for remark?”

“I’d tell my boss you were lying,” she said.

Gary laughed. He hugged her and lifted her up in the air with no ble. Considering that she was I55 pounds at that point in her life, was awfully strong. How had he ever lost the fight to Pete?

Gary must have been sitting in her brain. “Brenda,” he said, “it’s alot through yet. In prison you don,t leave things like that undone.”

4

following Saturday, Gary and Nicole still planned to take a trip the canyons, but now both Mustangs were giving them trouble. :made Nicole wonder about their luck. All last week; Gary’s car had every morning in a row. Having to get it pushed made him for work. On this Saturday he even decided to visit Spencer who might know what was wrong.

Spencer said right off he probably needed a battery. “There’s

wrong with the old one,” Gary told him.

‘ Spencer said, “How do you know?” Gary said, “Well, it looks all right.” Spencer laughed, “You can’t tell by looking.”

Spence went over to the shop, got a meter, checked it out. was awful low. “The battery,” he said, “has a dead cell in Gary said, “Well, what am I going to do?” Spence said, “Buy yourelf a new one. They go for twenty to thirty dollars, along in there.” said, “Gee, I don’t have it.” “You got paid just yesterday,” said. “I know,” said Gary, “but I made the car installment, there’s not much left.” Spence said, “How will you last till FriGary said, “I probably can make it. Just don’t have enough to :buy a new battery.” Spencer loaned him thirty.

Gary was back in half an hour. At K-Mart he found a honey for

,,- With tax, it was thirty-two. Spence said, “I guess you had to ˘- e a couple of dollars out of your pocket?” Gary said, “Well, yes.”

opence said, “Gary, how are you going to get through this week?” Gary said he didn’t know. Spence gave him another five for gas, and

“Pay the car off. Then we’
l work it out.”p>

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THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG

The $3z for the dead battery was the beginning of a real run of rotten luck. Monday night, thinking he would surprise her, Gary went to pick up Nicole at driver’s training school, and found his lady sauntering down the hall with four guys in tow. As soon as she saw Gary, she rushed right up, gave a big smile, and tried to let everyone know that she was his. But she could feel how the sight went through. On the way home, he said, “I won’t tie you down.” She knew he was thinking of Uncle Lee, Jim Barrett, the three-day party, a couple of other dudes, and her life.

He told Sterling about it. “She’s free. I don’t want to lean on her freedom,” he said. He crossed over to the cemetery that faced all the houses on Steding’s street, and Sterling went with him. There was one grave that had no flowers. A little boy’s grave. Gary went around and took a flower from each of a number of other graves and put them in a rusty little vase by the boy’s headstone. Then they on to some good pot. Right away, Gary had to get out of the Told Sterling he was seeing himself in a tomb.

One night soon after, Rikki was at Sterling’s and Gary needling him to arm wrestle. Bragged to Nicole of how he had be,’ her brother. They got into it.

Nicole didn’t know if Gary was worn out from the night

but Rikki took him this time. That is, was about to win, but cheated something obvious, and even lifted his elbow off the table.

Now Gary wanted to try with the other arm. Rikki really That left Gary giving dirty looks. On the way home from Sterlm he dropped by a little store that was open all hours and stalked with two six-packs.

It was risky to steal from that small a place, but he had nique. Picked up two six-packs, not one. No hesitation in his the same time, he managed to make his face look unpleasant. Not too little would you break into such thoughts to ask ff he had the beer. :

In the beginning it had been fun. By now it was getting on nerves. Whenever something bothered him, he got brave. Nicole

ThE JOB
14 always been ready to boost if she needed something, and once they got together, she might even have been the first to do it, but Gary showed her how to really walk out with something. It had been a joke for a while. By now she had to notice that if anything went ‘wrong, he’d steal to cheer them up.p>

Then he’d drink it afterward. Always getting loaded on beer. She came to realize that there had only been a couple of nights he wasn’t drinking. She tried to keep up, but didn’t like it that much. He wouldn’t even let her leave beer. Didn’t like to waste it. If she popped a can, he kept after her to finish.

Nicole was kind of irked that Gary was not only ripping stuff off, but letting everybody know. He was even bragging to his uncle. Things weren’t right yet, but Gary had to drop by anyway, and offer a case. When Vern noticed that the trunk of the Mustang held two more of the same, he asked Gary how he could afford it.

“I don’t need money,” Gary said.

“Do you realize,” said Vern, “that you’re breaking your parole?” “You wouldn’t turn me in, would you?”

“I might,” said Vern. “If it persists, I might turn you in.”

One day he came home with water skis and that bothered Nicole. It just wasn’t worth the risk. He was stealing something he. probably couldn’t sell for more than $5, yet the price tag was over $2oo. That meant they could get you for felony. Nicole hated such dumb habits. He would take a chance on all they had for twenty-five bucks. It came over her that this was the first time she ever disliked him.

As if he sensed it, he then told her the worst story she ever heard, it was supergross. Years ago, while still a kid, he pulled off a robbery with a guy who was a true sadist. The manager of the supermarket was there alone after closing and wouldn’t give the combination to the safe. So his friend took the guy upstairs, heated a curling iron, and rammed it.

She couldn’t help herself. She laughed. The story got way in. a picture aat fat su

g to hold on

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THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG

to the money and the poker going up his ass. Her laughter reached to the place where she hated people who had a lot of things and acted hot shit about it.

For the first time she had a day when she thought she shouldn’t be living with Gary so much, A part of her simply didn’t like staying that close to a man for so long a stretch, but as soon as she realized how she felt, Nicole knew she couldn’t tell him. He expected their souls to breathe together. More and more, however, an old ugly feeling was coming back. It was the way she got when she had to fit herself to somebody. You could put that off only so long. She still felt better with Gary than with anyone else, but that wasn’t going to change the fact that when she got into a bad mood, it was like she had two souls, and one of them loved Gary a lot less than the other. Of course, maybe a part of him was the same way. He couldn’t be loving her that much when they got into one of those five-hour deals.