Folding Newspapers

"Let me think about it."

"What's to think about? Snooze, you'll lose on this lady. Maybe you're afraid to be with an amputee, but let just say there is nothing like it."

"So I've heard...read something on the Internet about it. Devotees?"

"Yeah, right." Carol lugged two bundles at once and dropped them nearby, but out of earshot. "Keep this on the Q. T.," Harold said. She went to get two more.

-oOOo-

I drove by Vera Sullivan's on the way to school. As expected, she was working in the front yard. She recognized my car and walked over, leaned down, and kissed me hard on the mouth.

"Dreamed about you last night." She licked her lips, but continued to keep them close to mine.

"If you have some free time?" I grinned.

"Sweetheart, Harold will be back in about an hour; otherwise, I'd invite you in for some more bedroom fun. I introduced him to a legless lady and that's where he was this weekend. I just hope he'll take up with her."

She never quite came out and admitted the kind of relationship she had with Harold, but I knew, and I would not say anything.

"Maybe I can find some time for us to mess around this week. I surely had a great time with you. You know, I talked to Tina this morning and mentioned how I had recently met a fine young man just a little younger than she is. You know, Tina seemed quite interested if you'd like an introduction."

"I'd like more of you, but..."

"Yeah, sugar, I know. And I agree. Let me call Tina again. How about this weekend? She lives on the other side of town."

-oOOo-

I was anxious to see Glenda Drake after class. There was an envelope taped to the front door with my name. I knew it contained bad news.

Bruce. An old boyfriend has asked me to come visit. I was deeply torn about what to do. I have started enjoying our time together. I will miss your kisses, your touches, and all the rest. I don't know when I will be back, or if I will. Find yourself a beautiful amputee lady and settle down with her. Love. Glenda.

With broken heart in hand, I walked slowly down the steps towards my car. I knew this was the likely result when I first met Glenda. The same is probably true with Vera. I don't even know if she will stop whatever she does with Harold, or if Harold will continue seeing Brenda, the legless lady he was starting to date.

Mother was laying facedown on her bed. She was undressed, and crying. I guess she was not expecting me to be home early. I did not expect it either. I was supposed to be in bed with Glenda. I sat gently on the edge of the bed, rubbed the small of her back. "What's wrong?" I had a good idea.

"I didn't hear you come in." She rolled to one side, wiped at an eye with the back of a hand. "What time is it?"

I told her, and rubbed again. "How can I help?" I knew what I wanted, but did Mother?

"What you told me about your father has me very upset."

I rubbed a buttock then the flesh where the thigh begins. "About here." I rubbed with the edge of my hand like it was a saw. "Uh-huh."

"Why do you understand me so well? Why can't he?"

"Because..." I paused, unable to say anything about Glenda or Vera.

She pulled the left foot against the hip. "This doesn't help."

"Pretending is not the same. How could it be?"

"I wish there was a way to make it be off for a short-time. I'd pretend during the day, and be normal for your father in the evenings."

"Is there a way to do that?"

"Not that I've found. Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel."

"Would it give you a realistic stump?" I grinned, sawed again.

"Of course." She laughed. "It's my fantasy and I'll make it work how I want." She laughed again.

I laid beside her, our lips touching, my hand roaming about on her back. It was great to kiss her, and she was enjoying my mouth.

"Bruce, sweetheart," she pushed back then sat up, "we can't."

"I don't care what others might think."

"But darling, I do and this isn't right. Maybe I'm not sorry about what we've done, but I just can't do it again."

I pushed her onto her back and put my hand between her thighs, rubbed, inserted a finger, played. She moaned, spread her thighs some.

"I wish he'd do that," she whispered, doing nothing to stop me.

"I love to watch how you respond to my touches."

"You're the best." She chuckled.

"Maybe you could lose both legs," I whispered softly.

"Uh-huh. And an arm."

We did everything we were not supposed to then did it all again in the shower. Maybe we wouldn't do it again, but I suspected we would.

"You should find a girl you age that is missing a leg," she cooed in my ear, hugging my damp body tightly, grinding against me.

"You should leave Father, have your leg amputated, and live with me elsewhere. No one would need to know. Eventually, you could have the other leg then an arm amputated, maybe more."

"You are one naughty man." She slapped my bottom. "Maybe that would be the answer to both our problems. I'm afraid that finding a surgeon to do that would be as difficult as finding something to let me be a temporary amputee."

I dried her off then she did the same to me. The clock in the bathroom reminded us Father would be home in about ten minutes. I was happy he was a creature of habit and never early nor late.

"Aren't there dating sites for amputees?" she said.

"And?"

"I'm serious. You need to find someone. I'll be fine."

"If it'll make you happy."

"It would."

"Have I ever told you about Harold Sullivan, one of the guys that folds newspapers with me? His mother is an amputee...missing one leg."

"Have you met her?"

"Uh-huh. I drove by their house, and she was working in the yard, so I stopped. She mentioned a lady with one leg that is looking for someone to date."

"Jump on the offer. What's she like, the girl?"

I showed her a picture of Tina, dressed. Mother continued to encourage me to meet Tina, and at least see if there might be some connection. I left out all the details and rumors I had heard.

"Are you sure?" I kissed her hard on the mouth, rubbed a hand between her thighs.

She rode my hand several times. "I could share." She laughed. "We need to get dressed before he comes home."

I had just closed my bedroom door when Father walked into the house. That was cutting it too close. He would probably kill me if he knew what was going on. I suspected Mother had the same fears.

-oOOo-

Tina and Jenny sat at the bar, drinking whiskey. There were not many patrons and it was quiet. Tina's crutches leaned against the bar.

"What a day," Jenny groaned. "Rafferty kept sending the copy back with more revisions. I thought I'd never be finished."

"He's an asshole." Tina sipped her drink, rolled a piece of ice around in her mouth.

"What's up with Joe?" Joe was an on again, off again boyfriend of Jenny's.

"Haven't heard anything from him lately." Jenny reached over and held Tina's hand. "Maybe we should date. At least we understand each other." She continued to hold the hand, and Tina did nothing to free hers.

"How long have we known each other...three years. That's longer than I've known any man." Tina leaned over and kissed Jenny. "Nice lips. It's an idea." She chuckled.

"I've never been with a woman, but the thought had crossed my mind a few times, usually after breaking up with a guy."

"You might like me too much." Tina laughed.

Jenny reached down and rubbed the legless hip. "And you've got this wonderful part of you."

"That's what you really want from me. You'd wear it off in a few nights."

"Seems it's already worn off." Jenny laughed. "I can't help if I like ladies with one leg. You know my weakness."

"But you've never dated any amputee men?"

"Nah. Doesn't do anything for me. I see them on the street, and it's ho hum, blah, blah. But, I see someone like you and I'm a wreck for days." Jenny sipped the rest of her drink and ordered another round. "Any prospects on the horizon?"

"Vera called, said she met a guy, our age, but someone that I'd like, and he's seen my pictures." Tina sipped the new drink. "I'm supposed to go out with him this weekend...Saturday night."

"What's he do?"

"At the university...pre-law." Tina sipped again. "This summer he's living at home, throws newspapers to make money, going to the community college. That's how he met Vera. He and Harold fold them at the same place in the mornings."

"Harold, now there's a strange dude. Is he still sleeping with his mother?"

"Yeah." Tina groaned. "Vera is trying to stop but she's as weak as he is. Anyway, I hear he's seeing Brenda, the lady without legs."

"Man. I if I were a lesbian I'd be all over her."

"Is she?"

"Uh-huh, but a little bisexual. I doubt whatever happens with Harold will last long. Too bad, she's a great lady. You think this guy and Vera slept together?"

"She said he's good, so I guess they do." Tina sipped again. "Harold doesn't know, and she wants to keep it all a secret."

"Know anything about his parents? Maybe he and his mother are doing things, or maybe she's a wannabe."

"How many wannabes do you know?"

"You, Vera," Jenny folded fingers as she said a name, "and, ah...I guess two." She laughed. "Yeah, I know it is very rare. You're the only reason I know about it."

"Maybe you should have an amputation."

"When you first suggested that, I thought it sounded really crazy, but lately I don't know. It's sounding better and better."

"Hmm." Tina grinned. "Lose a leg like me and maybe we'd get lost in bed, together."

"Damn. What's the doctor's phone number?"

-oOOo-

Tina and Jenny stood beside Jenny's car in the parking lot of the bar. It was dark, and the lot was mostly empty. They stood close, Jenny's fingers touched Tina's crutches lightly. Both women knew what they wanted. The kiss did not just happen, and it did not end for the longest moment. Tongues explored, wormed back and forth though lips. Soft moans wrapped around their heads.

"Oh, God-d...that was great," Jenny gasped, pushing back.

"Yeah. We shouldn't."

"Right, we shouldn't." Tina leaned in for another kiss that was even more passionate, and lasting twice as long.

"Now what?" Jenny whispered, stepping back.

"Nothing."

"Yeah. I guess." Jenny rubbed a hand over Tina's stump. "I guess, so." She continued to rub, and Tina did not stop her. "Maybe I need one of my own."

"Maybe."

Tina watched until Jenny's taillights were out of sight then drove home.

Tina sat in the wheelchair she used when her arms and leg became weak from walking too long with the crutches. It was rare, but becoming more common. The doctor suggested she might eventually need to use the chair full-time. She preferred to use crutches. It was how she had always seen herself.

In the bathroom she opened a drawer and retrieved a vial, plus a new syringe. She had stumbled upon a liquid, advertised as a potion that when injected would make the limb turn into a stump as real as one resulting from surgery. It was her secret. Not telling Jenny made it more erotic. She injected the remaining thigh so that both hips were without legs. It would last the next two hours. She could have done it for up to twelve, but she was tired and wanted to go to sleep soon.

She rolled about the one-story house where she had lived since before the amputation. The place was conducive to using a wheelchair, and ramps extended from the backdoor to the garage. She had hand-controls so she could drive without legs.

Jenny had asked why the modifications, why the wheelchair, and the answer was that the doctor feared her leg would become too weak, that there was a problem with the hip joint. Tina was setting up a scenario that would offer a likely reason if, and when the next amputation happened. There was no reason to keep Jenny in the dark. She knew about the first amputation, and was the only friend that did.

She transferred to the couch and reclined so she could fondle both legless hips. She was on fire, aroused beyond normal. All she had on was a short tee shirt. The hips were bare. Her hands roamed all over them. She wanted someone to take her madly, ravage her body. Anyone. Fingers would do. She filled herself with one, two, and pumped. She was instantly close to a climax.

Her mind filled with thoughts of Jenny, the kisses in the parking lot, then of Bruce, the guy Vera was setting her up for a date this weekend. Maybe he would be better than the others. She hoped so. It wouldn't take much. Maybe Jenny had been right about being together. At last, Tina found the release that she needed.

Back in the wheelchair, she went to the bathroom, then crawled from the chair to the bed. Still legless, she soon found sleep.

-oOOo-

Tina and Jenny worked for Best Copy, and large ad agency with clients around the States and Internationally. The company employed nearly five-hundred people, mostly in the same building where the two women worked. Other than Joe, no one knew the true reason for the amputation, and Tina planned to keep it that way.

"Tina, I have an assignment if you want it," Joe said.

Joe was a devotee, and married to Tatiana, a Russian lady missing one leg. Tatiana was the contact to the people running the web site where Tina sold her pictures. Assignment was code for that they wished to take more pictures. No one at work knew about devotees, wannabes, or that amputees sometimes sell pictures, or who would want to buy them.

"I have plans for Saturday and probably Sunday. Tell them another time."

"A hot date?"

"Let's just say I'm busy the whole weekend starting Friday right after work until just before work on Monday morning." She laughed.

"I know it's last minute, but," he leaned down so his mouth was close to her ear, "it's a special deal, and the guy is richer than anyone should be."

She twisted her head so they would continue speaking softly. "How much will he pay?"

"Ten grand for Saturday. Nothing overnight either, pretty sweet."

"Is he married?"

"Uh-huh, and the wife wants to be there. I think this is for her more than the husband."

"Ten...will he go more...fifteen? I'm having to change my plans and this is last minute, plus there's a second person."

"I'll be right back."

He was back in two minutes. But, now she was on the phone. She ended the call abruptly as he moved closer.

"Okay, fifteen. He's assuming because he upped the price, your answer will be yes."

"Crap. I hate these gigs."

"You're making a bundle for five hours work. If I could make three grand an hour, I wouldn't be working here."

"Yeah. You're right. Give me the address and what I'm supposed to wear."

-oOOo-

I was heartbroken when I received the text message. Tina was canceling the date. That was not a good sign, especially when it was the first one. A second text offered to meet Sunday about one o'clock, just to talk and see if there were anything in common. It was better than nothing so I replied I would meet her at Charlie's, a popular bar on the riverfront.

I kicked the dirt and cursed softly. Two girls walked by and glanced at me to see what was wrong but did not stop. I suddenly wanted to be with Glenda, or Vera. Glenda was away, maybe forever. I had a class in twenty minutes. I would rather skip if it Vera was free for the rest of the afternoon. She did not respond to my text message.

Ms. Carmen, the instructor with one arm, walked by, stopped, turned to face me. "Aren't you in Ms. Johnson's English Literature class?"

I was starting at the empty sleeve. She knew it. "I'm Bruce. Yes. Sorry you were only there those few times."

"Call me Kelly. Yes. I was doing her a favor." She laughed. "I enjoyed it."

Kelly Carmen was a few years older, probably graduated from the university last year. She was lovelier up close instead of from the twentieth row of the auditorium. I had already decided there was just a short stump of the left arm, but in the sleeveless blouse it was obvious, and very nice looking.

"Uh-huh. It was amputated last year. Not so bad, you know, having one arm." She moved the stump. "I was right handed, so I didn't have to relearn to write."

I looked and found no ring signaling she was taken. Maybe I did not need to meet Tina.

"Could I buy you some coffee?"

"I need to get to a class," she said, "but if you'd like to have a drink one evening I'd like that."

"Tonight?" I grinned.

"Boy, you don't waste any time." She chuckled. "Red Barn, just off campus...say, about six. That way if we want we could have some dinner."

"Deal."

-oOOo-

Tina hurried home, both to beat the traffic and to be alone. Each time she used the potion the desire to use it again grew. It was addictive in ways she never expected. The few hours the night before left her wanting to be legless again, and soon.

The sting of the needle slipping into the top of the thigh signaled it would vanish now. There were ways to make it never return. It was often tempting, but she knew she needed to wait. Maybe next year she would return to have it surgically amputated to match the first. That is exactly what she wanted.

Jenny had wanted to meet at the bar again. Tina begged off with a lame excuse about a headache from the night before. She would have gone even if she was not spending the evening without legs because the desire to suck on Jenny's mouth still raged within her.

Damn Tatiana and Joe and their new customer. The last thing she wanted to do was to prostitute herself. The money was great. Fifteen grand was probably chump change to this couple. She might have gotten fifty if she had held out. Maybe next time they would pay that much. She would make them want to shell out whatever she demanded. She was good at what she did, and she knew it as well as any client she ever had.

Men and women loved having sex with her. Most came back for more, some once a month. She would never see anyone more frequently. It was her way of keeping an emotional wall in place. At first, she did not have the rule and one man would pay her for nightly visits. He grew too close. He wanted to marry her. She wanted to be single. It became ugly, and she almost called the police.

It all started while she was in Colombia following the amputation. Joe and Tatiana visited often in hopes of finding new talent for their picture and video production company. The women traveling there came from all walks of life, and some were beautiful, and needed money. Tatiana would approach them first. After all, Tatiana was missing a leg. She was also a wannabe. She spoke the same language, had the same desires. The women were either easy pickings, or wanted to be anonymous. Maybe they had husbands or family that did not wish to have pictures on the market.

The more Tatiana made contacts, the easier it became. You're beautiful. Men will pay plenty to see your pictures. You'll get rich. Little did they know Joe and Tatiana would take big fees out of the so called profits for travel, hotels, food, clothing, and photographic services. It was a scam. Only a few of the girls would ever make money.

When the profits did not appear and the tab kept running higher, Tatiana would approach the women about a new line of work - prostitution. Of course, she did not call it that. Some of the women were single, and would never find a husband no matter how many amputations they had. Too old, too unattractive, too something. Be with this wealthy guy, he'll be your sugar daddy. Most of the ladies did not have the skills in bed to interest a man for long. For some men, that did not matter as long as they had a stump.

Tina was one of the fortunate few. Her pictures had a market, and sold well. She knew how to pose so that a man climaxed just looking at them. She was good in bed, too, very good. It did not take long for word to make the circuit of wealthy clients that she was beyond good. Couples soon were begging to have threesomes. Fees continued to increase. Finally, she negotiated a new arrangement with Joe and Tatiana where their cut was much smaller, and she could reject assignments sometimes.