Read Online Something in My Eye: Stories by Michael Jeffrey Lee - Free Book Online

to go a-whoring?” said Larsen.
    â€œOh, no,” said Sonny. “I’m just waking up from nap. How are the both of you?”
    â€œSame old,” said Pate.
    â€œYou been going a-whoring without me lately?”
    â€œNo,” said Pate. “Hasn’t been the same.”
    â€œHow’s your life, Sonny?” said Larsen.
    â€œAll in all,” said Sonny, “pretty terrific. Bessy and I are very happy. We’re even thinking about getting married.”
    â€œYou do that,” said Pate, “and you say goodbye to a-whoring forever.”
    â€œI don’t know,” said Sonny. “Bessy is very open-minded.”
    â€œOnce that ring’s slipped on,” said Pate “the gloves come flying off. Ask Larsen.”
    â€œThere’s a good chance she’ll restrict you,” said Larsen.
    â€œWhat makes you and Larsen authorities on women’s ways?” said Sonny.
    â€œBecause me and Larsen are smart,” said Pate. “What the hell do you think they pay us at work for, anyway? They don’t pay us to stay ignorant, that’s for sure.”
    â€œWell,” said Sonny, “if you really think Bessy will lock the gate on me, I won’t wear protection tonight.”

    â€œNot even the thin ones?” said Pate.
    â€œJust me and the whores,” said Sonny, “close as can be. It’ll be a proper farewell.”
    â€œAren’t you getting your share of intimacy with Bessy?” said Larsen.
    â€œCertainly,” said Sonny. “We’re as intimate as a whisper. But we certainly aren’t close.”
    â€œBessie wants you to wear protection,” said Larsen.
    â€œI’ll wear protection for her any time after tonight,” said Sonny. “But tonight I’m putting me first.”
    They arrived at the whorehouse. It was twenty stories high, with a whore’s face in every window. They parked in a space near the dumpster.
    â€œWhy do you they need such a large dumpster?” said Larsen.
    â€œThe spent protection,” said Pate.
    â€œIt feels good knowing I won’t be contributing to more trash,” Sonny said. “With the environment like it is.”
    â€œAny way you might reconsider about the protection?” said Larsen.
    â€œNo,” said Sonny. “No, there isn’t.”
    â€œLet’s whoop it up, then,” said Pate.
    The men agreed to meet each other a few hours later on the front steps. Then they went inside and whored for a while. Later, Pate and Larsen met on the steps outside the whorehouse. They were tipsy and tired.
    â€œWhere’s Sonny?” said Pate.
    â€œStill a-whoring, apparently,” said Larsen.
    â€œHaving a hard time letting go,” said Pate.
    They gave Sonny another hour. Larsen began to nod off on the steps.
    â€œDid you see him in there while you were a-whoring?” said Larsen.
    â€œOnce,” said Pate. “He was on all fours, whooping it up.”

    â€œWas he using protection?”
    â€œCouldn’t tell from my vantage point.”
    â€œWe promised Bessy he would,” said Larsen.
    â€œWe told Bessy that we always use protection,” said Pate, “We didn’t make any damn promises about Sonny.”
    â€œYou’re right,” said Larsen. “But I do think we owe it to her to tell her that Sonny won’t be home for a while. I’m exhausted.”
    â€œMe too,” said Pate. “Fully unloaded.”
    They drove to Bessy’s cabin. She was sitting in her thong on the porch, combing her beautiful hair.
    â€œHello, boys,” she said. “Where’s Sonny?”
    â€œSonny’s still a-whoring,” said Pate. “We’re tired and want to get some damn sleep.”
    â€œYou boys use protection tonight?” said Bessy.
    â€œSure did,” said Pate. “Why do you care?”
    â€œI’m not an idiot, boys,” said Bessy. “I know where