SexE2

(It is evening. Detective Larry Sprat, Mother Goose's right hand man and cousin to the infamous Jack Sprat, strolls through one of Los Angeles's seedier neighborhoods. He passes neon marquees advertising various all-night diners and erotic venues, finally stopping beneath a battered sign: Horner’s Corner Gentlemen’s Club. The building, narrowly squeezed between a pornographic movie theater and a convenience store, has seen better days, and, as he opens the weathered door and ducks inside, a thrum of slow, bass-heavy music washes over him.

Inside, booths surround a curtained-off circular stage. The man enters one, dropping a quarter into its slot, and the shutters lift. A buxom blonde, nude but for a bonnet, writhes deliciously against her shepherd’s crook. Detective Sprat wastes no time; rapping the viewing window with a fist, he pushes his badge against the plexiglass. The blonde turns her face to his booth and her trancelike smile fades, replaced first by a confused squint and then a look of recognition. The song ends and, snatching up a satin bathrobe, the blonde sighs resignedly and strides offstage; the detective has already left his booth to meet her, and she ushers him into a disused dressing room to talk in private.)

DETECTIVE: Enjoying life in the big city, Bo? You always said you wanted to be an actress, but I never knew this was what you meant.

BO PEEP: Larry. (Bitterly) Was I hard to find?

DETECTIVE: At first. Then I came across your picture in the back of one of those hooker-ad tabloids. The text didn’t exactly help your cover, either, kiddo. (He pulls a clipping from his suit pocket and reads aloud) "The Lindsay Lo-lamb Peepshow: Sexy young co-ed, blonde, blue-eyed; tight, sheared pus—"

BO PEEP: Okay, okay! (Scowls) Didn’t exactly expect you to be looking for me there.

DETECTIVE: You’d be surprised what Mother lets me write off as a business expense.

BO PEEP: Ah, old Goosey must really be pissed if she sent you to look for me. Last I heard you were tracking Big Bad.

DETECTIVE: Oh, that didn’t take long. The wolf splits every few years to "find religion," but he's never gone farther than the nearest ashram or temple. (Reminiscing) It was a mosque this time, actually. Went on about how he wouldn’t be our puppet anymore, wouldn’t eat the pigs, thought what we were trying to do to him was immoral and unclean. I had to threaten to call the woodsman, if you believe it.

BO PEEP: Professional of you.

DETECTIVE: I do what I have to. Mother doesn’t take kindly to her children going AWOL. Especially not these days.

BO PEEP: These days?

DETECTIVE: I guess you’ve been out of the loop, what with your career taking off and all. PR’s been a nightmare since the Chicken Little meth bust made front page news. Word is the Hubbard woman’s the one cooking the stuff and Little was just running distrib, but that dog of hers won’t let anybody get near enough to her cupboard to check it out. And last week Puss was held up at the Mexican border with a dimebag of cocaine in one of his Boots. No, Bo, things just ain’t what they used to be.

BO PEEP: (Icy front faltering, she shakes her head sadly) Jesus, Larry. Kid like Little, getting mixed up in that sort of thing… makes you sick.

DETECTIVE: Well, Chicken Little’s B-list, sister, and you’re first string. You know what it’ll do to us if this little stint of yours gets out?

BO PEEP: (She crosses her arms) I don't care. I’m not going anywhere.

DETECTIVE: Look, just come back with me. Mother told me personally that she’s willing to forgive and forget, and I’ve got the gander parked on a roof down the street.

BO PEEP: (With finality) I’m staying.

DETECTIVE: What ever happened to the Little Bo Peep who believed in what she did? I used to look up to you, kid. You were our poster girl.

BO PEEP: (Gravely) I can’t do it anymore. I haven’t seen my flock in decades— not in centuries! A girl can only wait around so long before she realizes her sheep just aren’t coming home. The pasture I used to graze them in? A twelve-lane expressway now. Even if they did show, they’d be roadkill before they even saw my bonnet. Besides, you know what kind of shit I had to deal with, a lady like me idling in pink petticoats by the side of an expressway all day? "Sure, miss, just waiting for your flock. Right. Now how much for a blow job?" It got old, Larry.

DETECTIVE: Well, we’ve all got troubles. You ever hear of this Dora the Explorer cunt? I met a preschooler the other week who didn’t know Humpty Dumpty from her ass, but sure as shit she could count to ten in Spanish. Television’ll be the end of us all. (He lights himself a cigarette and takes a long, deep drag) Hard fucking times.

BO PEEP: (Waves a hand dismissively) I’m tired of being Little Bo Peep, Larry. I just want to be Bo. I want to do the kind of things that don’t come packaged in neat little rhyming quatrains. I’m building a life for myself here. I was in a tapioca commercial last April. Things are looking up. (She glances to a clock on the wall) Look, I’ve got to dance this next set. My rent’s overdue and all you’re doing is wasting your time.

DETECTIVE: I don’t think Mother will find this at all amusing.

BO PEEP: The dour bitch can shove it. It’s sort of like my rhyme, you know? The whole tired tale with the sheep, everything, it used to be my life. Lately, though, it’s just something I’ve got wagging behind me.

(Bo Peep disrobes and moves to leave the dressing room, but, struck by an unexpected insight, she turns on a heel.)

BO PEEP: Hey, you know what? You tell Mother, you tell her to set me up for a rewrite. She pencils in a nice homecoming stanza for my flock and then maybe we can talk some business.

DETECTIVE: She’s not going to like that, Bo.

BO PEEP: (Inspired, and suddenly hopeful) Just try it. And don’t take her shit if she tells you she can’t spare the sheep— I know for a fact that Mary gets her little lamb replaced whenever it starts outgrowing its baby fleece, so you tell her I’ll take in the old ones secondhand.

DETECTIVE: I’ll give it a shot, kid, but I doubt she’ll bite.

BO PEEP: If she doesn't, hell with her. It’ll be her loss when I make it big. Anyway, my set— nice seeing you, Larry, even if it is official business. (She straightens her bonnet hurriedly and walks back to the stage, naked body incandescent beneath the club’s scarlet limelight)

DETECTIVE: (Extinguishes his cigarette and heaves a ragged sigh) Shepherdesses.

Previously

Kayla's head dropped as the music died. Lying on his girlfriend's bed Noah Summerville flipped through his magazine. Cautiously Kayla tickled his long bare foot. Seconds later she was flat on her back. The kiss was hungry, thorough and passionate but Kayla wasn't into it the way Noah was. Uneasily she swept her long hair back while he massaged her breasts. Frustrated by her non-response Noah went back to reading his magazine.

Angrily Kayla grabbed his latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Carelessly Noah tossed it on her nightstand before pulling her back into his arms. Contrite now Kayla kissed him on the cheek. “What’s the matter?”  Noah shrugged indifferently still focused on the front of her shirt. Another smile twisted his lips. There wasn't a good way to explain what was on his mind. “I’ve got a crush on Lana.”

Noah had the same oddly pitched voice that his deaf friends did but Kayla didn’t care. She nodded as she thought about what he had said. Kayla knew why he liked Lana. “I have a crush on her too, she’s hot.” A slow smile spread across Noah's face. His searching fingers traveled under the straps of her layered tank top. Blue-green eyes held deep brown ones as he laid her down to kiss the soft skin near her navel. Kayla smiled playfully until he crushed her much smaller body beneath his.

Loving hands covered his ears as Kayla tried to imagine what it must be like to be deaf; to have never heard a sound, any sound, even a screechy annoying one. Seconds later her tank top was flying across the room. The top half of her was naked but Noah couldn't take his eyes off the spot between her legs. Fumbing hands reached for her shorts. A worried look creased Kayla's face as their bare chests met. A guilty flush colored Noah's handsome face. This wasn’t about love it was about lust.

Kayla's anxious brown eyes never moved from his as she reached under the mattress. Noah almost laughed when he saw the box of condoms cradled in her hands. Had she known that he had just been to Target? Sometimes they were so much alike it scared him. Her eyes were warm as she tore the package open. Every warning and all the statistics he had ever heard screamed through his mind as her lips formed the words he needed to see. “I love you Noah.”

It was the moment Noah had been hoping for. Long fingers teased the tan of her thighs apart while he whipered back to her. Uncomfortably Kayla squirmed against him. Was that real passion or was she faking it? Inwardly Kayla steeled herself for the pain she knew would follow. It didn’t bother her that she never felt anything when Noah was caressing her. All that meant was she wasn't a sleazy tramp like some of the girls she knew. “Do you want a blowjob?”

Inside of her his fingers stopped moving. Was he imagining things or was she silkier than she had been? A blowjob. She had gone down on him before but he had never had an orgasm in her mouth before. Kayla smiled to herself as she saw him vacillate. Today she was going to give Noah a gift he would never forget. Her innermost muscles tightened as she watched him licking moisture off his fingers. Sex would hurt but she was going to do it because she loved him.

The thought stayed with her as he put his face in between her legs. Whatever he was doing now felt different. She felt different. Summer sun scorched the kissing couple. Noah's hands were moving but they weren't moving fast enough for her. Strange parts of her body ached. Rapid twinges made her legs shake. Sounds that Noah couldn't hear filled the room. Sensation washed over Kayla's twitching limbs. She was laughing and crying at the same time when he entered her fully.

Curiously she watched him thrust into her. She cried out again but Noah was beyond noticing. Soft kisses dotted her shoulder as he withdrew from her body. Kayla handed him some tissues suddenly nervous that he hadn't used a condom. “I love you Kayla.”  Her bow shaped lips curved into a worried smile. “I love you too-a Noah.” That brought a smile to his face but it quickly faded. He tossed the tissues aside and picked her up.

“I talked to Lana. She thinks you should go to school to be a pediatrician.” Tears rained down his naked chest. Now that they were done she was scared. A liquid spurt of semen had her running to the bathroom. She wet her washcloth again before scrubbing furiously. Life wasn’t fair. Noah was more mature than some of the guys that she knew but she would be eighteen in October and he had just turned sweet sixteen the day before yesterday.

“We should get married.” She turned to find Noah leaning against the bathroom door, his blonde masculinity out of place in her feminine bathroom. “I want to marry you Noah. When you’re eighteen we’ll do it.” Noah kissed the top of her head again. In the back of his mind was an image of her standing in the shower. “My stupid fucking parents better not give me any shit about it either. We could get married now if I had parental consent. Fuck that.”

“Noah...,” Desperately she held his face in her hands. We can wait. Your parents are a lot better than mine are. We have to think about this. We have to think about where we’re going to live as long as we’re both in school." Impatiently he shrugged her hands off. “Lana will help us. She told me to hang in there. She said that she held me when I was a baby and…,” 

Noah looked down at her hands. “I can’t help it if I have a crush on her. She said she wished she never would have dropped out of grad school so we have to learn from her mistakes. Don’t drop out of school when you turn eighteen even if you can. She said you’d be a good nurse but you’d be an even better doctor. She’s not just saying that either. You know she doesn't do shit like that.” Kayla nodded as she looked out her bedroom window. “I was playing a song for you. Did you hear it?”

Noah smiled as he rested his chin on the top of her head. “I love you Kayla.” Abruptly she turned to face him. Kayla kissed him lightly, smiling as she rubbed her nose against his. Two years wasn't that long to wait. It seemed like an eternity but it would be worth it. The idea of being married to him brought her smile back. “That’s Dr. Kayla Lynn Cooper-Summerville to you buddy. Just you wait.”

Sitting next to Kayla Noah's mind wandered. Losing control like that had scared him. He didn't know what they would do if she had just gotten pregnant. Nervously he touched the side of her cheek looking for reassurance. Her brown eyes were serious as she looked up at him. Fear, hope, love, he could see what she was thinking. Sitting on the edge of her bed both of them had questions but neither of them had any answers.

Next

My fingers entwine yours
My palm in the small of your back,
spiralling
My mouth on the soles of your feet

Everywhere I go there are tremors
tiny involuntary movements of desire

My face next to your face, your lips
reach out to mine. No cheating!
My fingers brush a nipple,
gently cup a breast, a teasing nibble

My hand flat on your stomach slowly slides
downward
Your muscles rigid with excitement
Your mouth open, gasping, anticipating

Inside I feel your pulse

oh, ever so slowly
you
unbutton
my
shirt
slip it
from my shoulders
down my arms
to lie
in a silken puddle
at my feet

You lift your hands
caress
the lightest of touches
I
shiver
gasp
tremble
and you lead me
oh, ever so slowly
to bed

Do you see her sitting under that dark green tree in her light yellow summer dress? Do you see her reading that book so sad? do you?

Two condoms, she makes me wear, "So I'll be sure it's fine, not just hope ..."

"Don't you wish to mother our child...", I asked once in a naive while.

"More than I want to breathe ... but if wishes were horses honey ...", she stops and kisses me.

'Anu' to her friends, 'Mummy' to her daughter.

Do you see her remove her hairband now? Giving some air to her hair, so black and so long, so smooth and warm. Do you see her dark black eyes?

"How can you be so warm all the time .. you're almost feverish", I ask her ...

"You make me so ... I'm a cold fish without you, Gold fish when you touch me, you're my Midas ..."

I continue to move inside her, slow and smooth, like a sensual kiss. Slow, is how she likes it. Youngest kid of three in her father's house, she's 'Nicki' to her sisters, 'Gudiya' to her parents.

"Get up love, you should leave now", she whispers in my ears, I'm dozing in her arms naked. Her husband starts from office around this time ... I should leave.

I get up and start to dress. "Don't forget to take the condoms with you", she reminds me. I pick up the two used condoms from floor and keep them in my fob pocket.

Two condoms, she makes me wear. Lady to her husband, My Other Half to me.