Part Four
He got off the elevator and saw her sitting by the apartment door, a black garbage bag by her side. Her green hair was mostly blond roots now. She had her head resting on her bare knees. She wore a short dark skirt and a plaid shirt. She didn't move as he approached.
"Pixie," he said.
She nodded. She spoke quietly, sounded as if her nose was stuffed. "I have nowhere else to go. I'm sick and I can't spend another night out on the street." She didn't look up at him.
He stood and watched her. She brushed the hair from her face and looked up at him. The skin between her lip and her nose was raw, her eyes red and bloodshot and she was pale. She gave him a smile. Her lips were white and chapped.
He knelt and touched her head. Her skin was hot. "All right. You can come in." He rose to his feet and held out his hand.
She took his hand, wiped her eyes with her other. She was crying. She rose to her feet, swayed when she bent to pick up the garbage bag.
"I'll get that for you. Go on in."
He picked up the bag and followed her into the living room. He had managed to scrape most of the spray paint from the windows in the last month. The wall needed to be repainted. He still didn't know what he'd do about the furniture.
He shut the door and set the garbage bag on the couch. "Make yourself at home. I'll make some tea. You drink tea, don't you?"
"Herbal," She fell into the couch.
"Take your shoes off before putting your feet on the table."
"I'm sorry, Dan. I didn't mean for it to come out this way."
"Can you take aspirin?"
She nodded.
He left her and went to the hall closet. He found a blanket, carried it back into the living room. She was dozing. He laid the blanket over her and went to the bathroom for aspirin. He dumped two into his hand and poured a glass of water. He carried them to her.
He sat on the couch next to her and tapped her shoulder.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Thanks." She swallowed the aspirin and handed him the empty glass. "I heard Jane was living here."
"She left two weeks ago."
"She never stays very long with anyone."
He stood. "Soup?"
She nodded and began to cry.
"Go on back to the bedroom. I'll bring it to you."
Her moist eyes watched him.
"Go on."
She stood, wiped her face with her hand and left carrying the blanket. She turned and looked at him. "I'm a vegetarian."
He grinned. "A vegetarian slut."
"You can fuck my ass if you want." She gave him a wan smile. She looked pale and worn out.
"I'll think about your offer while I make soup."
She tried to smile again, left the room crying.
* * *
He sat next to her on the bed, took her dishes when she was done. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand; she didn't feel any cooler. He set the dishes on the bedside table and turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's okay." He paused. "You sleep here. I'll sleep on the couch."
"You're not going to fuck my ass?"
"Not tonight."
She didn't look at him. "Jane said you were pretty good. That was a compliment coming from her."
"She was pretty good, too."
"Stay with me tonight. Please." She turned to him. "I'm such a fuckup."
He thought about the snoring. He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. I'll come back later when I'm ready for bed."
"Thanks."
"How long have you been sick?"
"This week. I've been sleeping on the street and it's cold now."
"Okay. You can stay here for a while."
She took her hand out from under the covers. "Thanks."
He gave her hand a squeeze then got off the bed. "You should sleep."
She gave a nod and settled under the covers. He could see one eye glitter between the sheet and her hair.
* * *
She didn't snore badly, he guessed maybe having her nose clogged up caused that. She was hot in his arms, he could hear her raspy breathing, felt her fever shivers. He went to sleep.
* * *
He stayed home from class to watch her. Her fever broke at noon, she began to sweat and her shivering stopped. He let her sleep a little longer then brought her soup and tea and more aspirin. When she was done, he had her sit in a chair while he changed the bed. The sheets were soaked.
When fresh sheets were on the bed he laid down new blankets and a comforter, then he turned to her. "Ready?"
She gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't keep on saying that."
"I'm sorry."
"Come on." He held out his hand.
She stood and let the old blankets fall from her. Her tattoos were gone; her bare skin was pale and looked parched and dry. She took his hand and let him walk her to the bed. She climbed under the covers and looked up at him.
"We'll talk when you feel better."
"I'm sorry."
He grinned.
"If you fucked my ass I'd feel better."
"I'm sure you would, sweetheart." He left her.
While she slept he watched the video on the computer. It was his favorite. It had taken him half a day to find the problem, a bad power cord. He watched the video and then shut down the machine. He had work to do on it but he didn't feel up to that now.
He went to the kitchen, made another cup of tea and sat in the dining room making up a grocery list. He'd go out in a few minutes and get that chore done. He thought a vegetable stew would be good tonight. She looked like she'd lost weight.
He got up and looked through her black garbage bag of things. A couple of paperbacks, a fake fur vest, an empty purse, some trash, and a soiled t-shirt.
He'd give Jane a call; she'd be able to tell him what sizes of clothes to buy for Pixie.
* * *
That night Pixie snored but it wasn't so bad somehow. He held her; she felt cooler against him and her short hair tickled his nose.
He woke up once to her talking in her sleep. He couldn't tell what she was saying; it didn't sound like her. He stroked her face and she stopped. Her face relaxed and she settled back into his arms.
When Jane and he had shared this bed he'd held Jane like this but it wasn't the same. Jane was always distant from him except for those brief moments when they were fucking. He held Jane and it was as if she were in another room. Pixie wasn't like that.
* * *
"I tried too hard to make you like me," she said two days later. "I'm sorry. I'm such a fuckup. After I left you I worked in a house until they threw me out for barfing on a man while I was giving him a blowjob."
He sat on the couch next to her, handed her a cup of tea. "For barfing on him?" He smiled in spite of himself.
"I wasn't using a condom and he came so much I began to choke. I should have used a condom, I guess."
He sipped his tea.
"My parents threw me out because I quit UW. When they heard I was in the city they flipped out. Thanks, Artie."
He set his cup down. "He ever get his blowjob?"
"I can't remember." She winked at him.
"Bet it was a good one."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Who's the woman in the videos with Keri?"
She exhaled. "Okay. This is really stupid. Keri and my sister Neri, for Nereid, my folks like dumb names, do stuff on the side to finance their projects. Keri's an artist, she does work with video, short art pieces, kind of like Pippilotti Rist. Ever hear of her?"
He shook his head.
"And Neri has this complex project of creating a dictionary concordance for early thirteenth century West Midland English. Know what that is?"
"Ancrene Wisse, sure. I'm an English Lit major."
"Statistics?"
"My advisor thought if I understood statistics, z-scores and things like that, it would help me in my study of fifteenth century English Chancery spelling changes."
Pixie stared at him for a moment. "You'll love Neri. Anyway, they make movies and stuff on the side."
"You?"
"I was sick of school. Keri had this kid who wanted a house slut. She thought maybe I could do it."
"Hitchhike here, fuck a bunch of truckers on the way."
"I rode the Greyhound."
"Ever have sex on a Greyhound bus?"
She shook her head. She picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. "I'm sorry."
"We'll live." He set his empty cup on the table. "Your parents?"
"Home is a block away."
"So you and Artie go a long way back?"
"Why'd you tell him I could be his slut?"
"I needed to get you away from me. You made me really angry."
"He believed you."
"Would you have given them all blowjobs?"
She thought for a minute then smiled and said, "Yes." She put her hand on his leg. "After blowing you first."
He put her hand back in her lap. "That's nice. How are the new clothes?"
"You really want to know?" She looked down at the pink sweatshirt with the teddy bear on the front.
"That was Jane's idea. I liked the one with the watering can and tulips."
"So you and Jane still see each other?"
"We're friends, nothing else."
"So the slut position is still open."
"I learned I need to be firmer."
"I'm a slut who needs someone to be firm with me." She grinned. "I'll give your friends blowjobs whenever you want."
"That's nice." He stood and walked to the windows. "Do you have any idea how much it will cost to repair this apartment?" He turned back to her.
"You have most of the paint off the windows."
"Five thousand dollars."
She paled. "I'm sorry."
"Maybe more. They weren't sure about the carpet in the hall, the couch or the stains on the kitchen walls."
"I'm really sorry. I really am."
"The neighbors complained. I'm still working on that."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry. You can have the four thousand you gave me."
"Where is it?"
"Under the cushion here." She got up and lifted the cushion. She took out the envelope and set it on the coffee table and then sat down. "There. It's yours."
"Three months probation. I don't pay you a penny. You fuck my friends if I want you to. If I don't you don't. This is important, are you listening?"
"I hope you let me fuck your friends." She sat back against the cushion.
"Three warnings and then you're out. If you're out you camp on somebody else's doorstep when you're sick, Artie's for instance."
"I'll be good. Promise."
He walked to the couch and sat next to her. "No parties without my say-so. You can have friends over, but just to visit, not to fuck unless I say so." He watched her.
"No parties. Never." She shook her head.
"Clothing is optional. Keep overt demonstrations of your sluttishness to two or three times a week unless told otherwise. Candles, two liter bottles."
"Those are examples, right?" She smiled at him.
"Examples. Fingers, I could go on."
"Okay."
"No cheese whiz."
Her face fell. "Never?"
He saw her green eyes grow moist. "Maybe now and again. But you must be supervised."
She grinned. "I like supervision."
"You have your HIV and other tests come back negative."
Her face fell. "That will take six months to be sure."
"We'll do safer sex in the meantime."
She watched him. "Okay." She smiled. "I want to empty your condoms while you watch."
"Cameras will be used. Your pictures will be posted on the web. We'll make movies."
She smiled. "I already told you you could do that."
He exhaled. "I think that's it."
"Sure, I'll be your slut." She stood and took off her sweatshirt. "Like it?"
He touched her stomach. She'd written in ink, "Dan's Fuck Slut," on her lower belly just above her shaved pussy. He grinned. "You must be feeling better. You're getting cocky."
She sat next to him, cuddling against his side. "I haven't been getting any cock. You do that condom stuff with Jane?"
He gave a nod.
"Okay, I guess."
"You really work in a brothel?"
"Three days."
"Put your sweatshirt on, you'll get chilled."
"Do I have to?" She watched him. "I have to." She sat up and put on her sweatshirt. She cuddled against him. "Want a blowjob? You can come in my mouth."
He patted her shoulder then stood. "I need to send an email to Keri. She was worried."
"Tell her hi. Maybe next time she and my sister are in town they can stay with us."
"That would be nice." He left the room.
She rested on the couch for a few minutes then got up. She went first to the bedroom for a box of condoms, then to the computer room.
She leaned over his shoulder and told him to clear the browser address bar. Then she typed a complicated URL and hit the Enter key.
"You'll like this one. It's from Keri's newest video. Neri's not in it."
She watched the page appear on the screen. Several photos filled a table, followed by a link. While he stared at the photos she knelt beside him, massaging his crotch with her hand. "I'm in this one. Just one scene. You won't see it here."
She unfastened his pants and shorts and took out his hardening cock. She talked as she held it, stroking it with her forefinger. "In my scene I give four men blowjobs, one after the other. They come on my face and in my mouth." She released his cock and took out a condom and opened it. She slipped the condom over his cock and then rolled it down. "I did other scenes for them, I worked a day for one hundred fifty dollars. Is the video playing?" She watched him nod slowly. "Turn up the sound."
She rose off her ankles and began sucking his cock. The condom tasted icky but she guessed that was okay. He laid his left hand softly on her head.
She couldn't wait to see his face when she squeegeed the cum out of the condom into her mouth. She thought she would look pretty slutty doing that wearing a pink sweatshirt with a teddy bear on it.
She could feel him come. She heard Keri moaning in the background. Wait until he saw Keri, Neri and her together.