Gwen, in Green

The Tennessee girl came out of her trailer just as he was out front. She had her bleached hair piled up high in a beehive. She wore slacks which showed the outline of her panties and the firmness of her fanny. Jesus, she was a piece.

“Evenin’,” Billy said, giving her his best smile.

“Hi yawl, Billy.” She was walking right toward him, her big set bouncing inside a little knit thing.

“Where you off to?” he asked, seeing that she was headed toward her new Ford. He stood in front of the car door to block her.

“Outta cigarettes,” she said. She was, he could tell, well aware of the fact that he was looking toward her with more than neighborly interest.

“Your old man get off to work?”

“Damn night shift,” she said.

“Might ride along with you, if you don’t mind,” Billy said.

She looked around. The evening was a hot one and everyone was inside, window air conditioners were roaring and pumping. “Well, I’m just going down to the store.”

He walked around and got in. He saw, when she sat down, that he’d been wrong. She had on a bra, after all. She just had a set so big that no bra could handle them, that was all. She smelled of a nice perfume and—before the air conditioner beat down the accumulated heat in the car—a bit of good girl sweat.

The nearest store was on the outskirts of Ocean City, five or six miles up the road. Billy began his work immediately. “Don’t you get lonesome all by yourself every night?”

“You don’t have time to get lonesome with kids,” she said.

“Shame for a good-­looking girl like you to spend every evening with no more company than a couple of kids,” he said.

“Breaks of the game,” she said, but she turned her face toward him with a quick smile.

Billy talked a little trash, and she was giving all the right answers. When they got to the little service station and grocery store, he said he’d go in. She gave him a dollar for two packs of Camel filters, and he came out with a cold six-­pack. He went first class, because she was a pretty classy broad. He bought one of those expensive brands.

“Christ, yeah,” she said. “Hit the spot.”

She drove with the cold bottle between her legs. Billy didn’t want to cool off that spot. He had other ideas.

“Seen the dig lately?” He was referring to the huge excavation for the base of the reactors.

“Naw.”

“Let’s drive in and take a look,” he said.

“Sam sees me riding around with you, it’ll be him and you,” she said.

“He don’t have to see us,” he said, smiling. He pointed to a little lumber road as they approached it. “Take a right.”

She did. His heart started pumping. He killed his beer and twisted the cap off another. She hadn’t finished hers. He reached for it to test it and then, finding it half full, pushed it back down, with a little twisting motion, between her legs. The road ended at a temporary fence. “Can’t see much from here,” she said, lifting her beer after throwing the car into park, leaving the motor running. Billy reached across and turned off the key and doused the lights.

“Good view,” he said. In front of them the tall buildings were floodlit. There wasn’t a blade of grass, not a single runty tree between the fence and the installation. On one of the projects, sparks flew from an electric welder.

“That’s where Sam works,” she said.

“Yeah.” He moved in. When he pressed his flank up against hers she made a small motion to move away. She didn’t have any place to go. He put his arm around her and put his other hand on her chin and pulled her face toward him. “I’ve been looking at you for a long time,” he said.

“I don’t mind looking, buster,” she said, “but that’s the end of it.”

“Be nice,” he said, kissing her. She went all wet and open, her tongue coming out. Then she jerked away.

“You crazy or something?”

“Crazy for you,” Billy said, trying to put his mouth on hers again.

“Knock it off,” she said. “I’m a married woman.”

“I won’t let that bother me if you won’t let it bother you,” he said, trying to put his hand on her and finding that she had six arms to ward him off.

“Sam would kill you,” she said, fighting.

“You gonna tell him?”

“There ain’t gonna be nothing to tell,” she said, ramming an elbow into his gut, hard.

“Ouch,” he said.

“You get over there and stay,” she said.

“Now, honey,” he said.

“I’m leaving,” she said harshly. “You wanta ride home you can, but you keep your ass on your side of the automobile.”

“You gonna waste a beautiful opportunity like this?” He tried to put his arms around her. She hit into his belly with her closed fist.

“Goddamnit, that hurt,” he said.

“Get you where it really hurts if you don’t stop acting like a animal.”

“Animal?” He felt the heat of anger. “Animal?”

She started the car. He had this huge want and she’d promised him. Her earlier actions had been a promise. She’d led him on and now she was showing her true colors. A tease. That’s all she was.

“You know you want to,” he said, making one last effort.