From: bobandcarole@aol.com   
      
   Story: Waifs  g11-13   
      
   by bobandcarole   
      
    From the moment I was six I felt sexy. And let me tell you it was hell,   
   sheer hell, waiting to do something about it. -- Bette Davis   
      
   I opened the door to the refrigerator. ‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘Out of milk.’   
   I slammed the door closed. I couldn’t make cocoa tonight but it also   
   meant no milk in the morning. ‘Shit.’ I shuffled off to my bedroom,   
   throwing on jeans and a heavy cotton shirt against the night chill,   
   stepped into my thongs, and headed off to town, five miles distant in   
   the dark night. ‘Shit.’ I had to drive slowly on these roads as you   
   never knew when a deer would bound into the road only to become   
   hypnotized by the lights and ruin a perfectly good bumper.   
      
   The only thing open this late at night was the convenience store on the   
   highway serving those unfortunate souls still driving up to the ski   
   resorts or returning late at night to the city. I parked and shuffled   
   into the store, found the milk, and grabbed chips, and beef jerky and   
   peanuts… finally stopping the impulse purchases because my hands were   
   full. The clerk put everything into a bag and I headed out. I saw the   
   van parked over at the gas pumps. Then I heard voices, loud and getting   
   louder. They stopped me. It sounded like two young feminine voices and a   
   heavy basso shouting and cursing. I was about to head to my car, none of   
   my business after all, when I heard a heavy meaty sound followed by a   
   scream. I stood rooted for a second. My natural impulse was to turn and   
   leave, but I couldn’t. I edged my way towards the van, right as the   
   lights came on and the tires squealed as the van tore out onto the   
   highway and disappeared. That’s when I saw two figures, one on the   
   ground. I ran over and found two girls, both crying, one sitting and   
   holding her face in her hands.   
      
   “You okay?” Yeah, looking back it was a stupid question. Obviously, they   
   weren’t okay. But what the hell else do you say? The girl on the ground   
   looked up. I could see her eye already red and puffy and knew what that   
   heavy meaty sound had been. ‘Shit,’ I thought. I bent down and looked at   
   the eye.   
      
   The girl on the ground looked up at me, saw me examining her eye, and   
   said, “The asshole hit me.”   
      
   “Looks like it, all right. Can you see?”   
      
   She glanced around, then back at me, “Yeah,” fighting back the sobs.   
      
   I had time to look at her. She was a brunette, pretty face, age   
   indeterminate but definitely she had the beginnings of a nice figure,   
   unfortunately hidden by dirty torn clothes. I glanced around and didn’t   
   see any bags. The other girl was still crying but softly now. She was   
   also cute, definitely younger as she still hadn’t fully developed those   
   curves, her breasts made small juts in her dress, which also looked old   
   and dirty.   
      
   ‘Shit,’ I thought. ‘This is turning into a hell of a night.’ “Who was   
   the guy who hit you?”   
      
   “Dan,” she said in a venomous tone.   
      
   “Who’s Dan?” I asked.   
      
   “Just some guy,” she said.   
      
   “Okay,” I said stymied. “I’ll call the cops…”   
      
   “NO!” she interrupted me. “You call the cops and we’re gone.” I looked   
   up at the younger girl and she looked frightened. Why was she frightened   
   now and not before? It seemed to me that the guy was more frightening   
   than the cops. ‘Shit.’ I needed to clean up my language, even if it was   
   in my head.   
      
   “I can’t just leave you here,” I said more to myself.   
      
   “Won’t be the first time,” the girl said in disgust. “He just did.”   
      
   “It won’t be my first time,” I said firmly. “You hungry?”   
      
   I saw the younger girl’s eyes light up. The older said, “No.”   
      
   “Liar,” I said. Her eyes sparked. I laughed. “She’s hungry,” I said   
   motioning to the standing girl with my eyes.   
      
   The girl looked up at the younger girl, then back at me. “Maybe we are.”   
      
   “Uh huh,” I said with a gentle laugh. “C’mon.” I helped the girl up. She   
   resisted as I started to lead her to the car. “Now what’s the matter?”   
      
   The girl got a funny look on her face, then with a sneer said, “Sure. I   
   get it. But you gotta feed us first.”   
      
   I led them to my car, picking up my bag of groceries that had been   
   sitting there by the wall. At least I didn’t lose the milk. We piled   
   into the car. In the enclosed space of the car I quickly noticed that   
   they were rank as well as dirty. The air was too cold to open a window,   
   so I turned the fan to high. As we drove back to my cabin I started   
   asking questions. “Who was that guy?” A mumbled reply.   
      
   “Look, girls,” I said seriously. “Either talk to me or I’m taking you to   
   the cops.” There was an explosion of sound from the back. “Fine. No   
   cops. Then talk to me. Just tell me what the hell is going on.”   
      
   That broke the logjam. The older girl responded, “He was just a jerk   
   that picked us up in Oklahoma.”   
      
   “What were you doing in Oklahoma?” I asked.   
      
   “Traveling,” she said.   
      
   “He picked you up?” I asked.   
      
   “Yeah, well, he said he was going to California. We never been to   
   California so I asked if we could come along. Kar and me gave him a big   
   smile and he said okay, but it was gas, grass, or ass. We didn’t have no   
   money.”   
      
   “Kar?”   
      
   “Karen. I’m Meghan,” she said.   
      
   “Glad to meet you. I’m Mike. So where’s home?” I asked.   
      
   “We don’t have no home,” Meghan said defensively.   
      
   ‘Shit.’ I thought. Good night for feeling that way. I pondered what she   
   had said, and had left unsaid. Gas, grass or ass. No money. I was   
   starting to think that Dan might not be my favorite person. “You sisters?”   
      
   “Yeah,” this time it was Karen. That was the first coherent words she   
   had spoken. I smiled at her in the mirror and she smiled back. Meghan   
   gave her a look.   
      
   “How old are you?”   
      
   “Thirteen,” Karen answered before Meghan could stop her. “Well, I am,”   
   she told Meghan.   
      
   “Jesus,” I sighed.   
      
   “Don’t worry about it,” Meghan said.   
      
   “But that guy…” I started.   
      
   “He was an asshole,” Meghan interjected.   
      
   I shook my head. We were on the last little winding road to my cabin. A   
   last turn and the cabin was in the headlights. “Here it is,” I said.   
      
   I clambered out of the car. The girls followed, slowly. “Come on, it’s   
   cold.” They followed me into the back door. “Stay here,” I told them. I   
   went off and found a couple of old shirts that would work like gowns for   
   the girls and went back. “Okay, here’s the drill. Your clothes go into   
   the washer. You both go into the shower through that door. You can wear   
   these until yours are dry. Then dinner. And wash your hair,” I said.   
      
   Meghan held up the shirt, looked my way, and gave me that knowing sneer.   
   “Come on, Karen. Let’s get clean for Mr. Mike,” she said. She started to   
   pull her dress off over her head watching me all the while. I blushed   
   when I saw her panties come into view. Embarrassed, I turned and fled to   
   the kitchen. I heard Meghan laughing as I fled.   
      
   In a while, I heard the shower come on. I pulled open the freezer and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)