Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 01 - Blood on White Wicker Read Online Free Page A

sat in one of the rocking chairs.
    Jesse started telling Dave all about my dreams and what little we found out.
    “You mean to tell me that the necklace was the same one from the dream? Hmm…first we got to find out more about the old lady. Who is she, and how did she come to have this necklace?
    “Then there’s this thing about you seeing yourself in the future in your dreams, Vicky. And this old lady was thinking you’re supposed to be dead. We’ll hire a private detective, but you have to help pay for him, Vicky. So I’m going to give you extra work to help you out, which is what I was sitting here thinking about anyway.”
    “Sure, Dave, I can make more trips to the park. I don’t mind at all.”
    He looked at me for awhile and then said, “How old are you now since your birthday yesterday? because I don’t have in mind more trips to the park. We got Mardi Gras coming up, and we’re going to be busy. Now, I could hire a few more girls, but we have enough girls here as it is. So what do you think, Vicky?”
    I had begun to suspect what the other girls had been doing, and I didn’t want any part of it. But, on the other hand, Dave had been so good to me, had asked very little of me, and had paid me so well, I didn’t feel like I could say no. I was afraid to speak, so I just nodded.
    My only experience with sex was when my foster father raped me, and every time I thought about it, I wanted to throw up. I was still sitting on the porch thinking when Dave came out.
    “Almost suppertime,” he said. “You been sitting out here all this time?”
    When I nodded, he said, “You thinking ’bout what I’m asking you to do?” Without waiting for my reply, he continued, “Will this be your first time?”
    “My foster father raped me. That’s why I ran away.”
    “Aw, shit. I’m sure sorry about that, Vicky. I really am. I’ll tell you what. You just forget about this for now. I’ll still hire the private detective. I’ll pay for the whole thing myself.”
    “You are so nice, Dave. You’re a real good person.”
    Dave snorted, “Don’t you go making me out to be no saint, now. I’m not a good person. I know exactly what I am. But I try to do right by my girls. The sad thing is that I know that my parents would be ashamed of me if they could see me now. They were respectable people in the community.
    “When I came home from Vietnam, both my parents were dead, and I just didn’t give a shit about anything anymore. I was just 19 years old and felt like my whole life was over.”
    He was still talking, but I wasn’t hearing much. I felt so bad for him and thought it must have been horrible to have to go through all that. Before I realized it, I was crying so hard that my shoulders were shaking.
    He pulled me over against him and kissed my cheek. He dried under my eyes with his thumbs and then kissed my eyelids. I turned to him and put my arms around his neck and started kissing him on the mouth. Then his tongue found mine, and we were locked into a passionate kiss.
    In the back of my mind, I was thinking, “I’m not afraid. I love this.”
    He started kissing my neck, then he took the tip of his tongue and started tickling my neck. It tickled so much, I giggled. He laughed and then stood up and pulled me by the arms. I went with him willingly.
    No one was in the hallway, and he led me up the stairs and down the hall to his room. We were tiptoeing. His room was enormous. There was a king-sized bed with a zebra- patterned comforter set. There were a lot of wild animal fur-covered pillows on the bed, on the floor and on all the chairs. His dresser, chest of drawers, and night stands were black lacquer. He began tossing pillows from the bed onto the floor. Then he turned down the covers. I noticed that the sheets were black satin.
    “Come here,” he said. And that’s all it took.
    The whole experience was so opposite from the first time. Dave was very patient and loving. He made me feel special. I