Read Online Time and Chance by G L Rockey - Free Book Online

began playing and she, humming
to the tune, danced with herself.
    I lit a Salem and, in
the dim light of a whiskey fog, thought I saw Clark Gable staggering down the
stairs.
    Swaying to the music,
humming, she pirouetted over to me, “Penny for your thoughts?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Let's dance.” She set
her drink on the bar.
    Arms around my waist,
leading, she said, “Oh, honey bun, I'm sooo excited about everything that's
happening. It's, I don't know, like things is a four-leaf clover, a pot of gold
at the end of the rainbow, and I'm right in the middle of it all.”
    “That is definitely a
song.”
    She paused. “You know,
by god, it might be.” She puckered her lips. “Kiss, kiss.”
    I pecked her puckered
lips.
    “Stingy Jack.” She
took my hand and lead me to the sofa. Sitting, she yanked me down and turned my
head to her face. Her mouth close to mine, her jade gemstones peeked through
thick mascara.
    I started to say, “I….”
but she locked her lips to mine and her tongue probed.
    Given my natural self-control
and current mellow condition, I reflexively reached to undo some of her things.
    Abruptly, she stood,
faced me, and said, “Bastard.”
    Thinking I
miscalculated her intentions, I began to stand but she shot her arms to my
chest like a jujitsu ace. I fell back to the sofa.
    A thin smile spread
across her face. “Don't you dare move.”
    She pushed the straps
from her shoulders and let her dress fall to the carpet. Her amazing nobleness
revealed, she pushed her pink panties off and kicked them in the air.
    I tilted my head and
wondered if this is where I get up and go to her … but, no no, you're the
audience, she'll tell you when. To be polite, I smiled.
    “What are you smiling
about?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Bastard.” Buck naked,
she stepped to my knees.
    The stereo clicked,
and Ms. Moore's recording of A Night’s a Day In Between Afternoons began.
    Kneeling, humming her
Night’s a Day tune, she zipped me free, took a good look and said, “My my, him
impressive.”
    What can you say.
    She began peeling my
clothes off, throwing them over her shoulder like a shopper searching for a
size ten in a stack of sixes. Finished stripping me, she began a damn good
imitation of Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat.
    I touched her hair and
she hissed up quickly, flicking her tongue.
    Suddenly lightning
illuminated the room and the ensuing thunder, like a widening crack making its
way along a crumbling wall, crawled across the sky, then fell into the
distance, echoing, echoing, into remoteness, and I felt very alone and empty.
    I pushed Peggy head's
aside, stood, went to the stereo, turned it off, and walked to the sliding
glass doors that led to the backyard and opened them.
    “What in blue blazes
are you doing, darlin’?” She said.
    “Listen.”
    “What?”
    “Listen.”
    “Are you crazy, I was
doin’ ya.”
    “Listen.”
    “Are you batty?”
    “I think.”
    It started to sprinkle
rain. I studied the tiny drops plinking little circles on the turquoise pool's
surface.
    Peggy came to my side
and cupped my limpness in her hands. “Him got soft,” she said poutily. “You
sick or something?”
    I started to go
outside.
    “No.” She tugged my
arms. “It's lightning.”
    “Take a chance.” I
stepped through the door and stood, naked, feeling pretty good. A light rain
fell and the air was thick with budding honeysuckle, dogwood blossom, magnolia
sweetness, and wet grass.
    She stepped next to
me. “What'n the blazes is the matter with you?”
    A strange feeling that
someone watched us from the bushes, I said, “Nothing.” She knelt and after some
variations on the Lovelace's performance, she pulled me to the grass and we
began variations of that famous Shakespearian beast with two backs.

 
    * * *

 
    Then it was quiet
except for a few light raindrops. I rolled on my back and felt the coolness of
the grass. A wisp of wind blew across my chest.
    She said, “Oh, Jack, I
can't get enough of