Rag Doll Ch. 06 Pt. 02

This is the very last part of this story; it's taken me a while to get here, but I've had some great company along the way. All of those fine people who've had a say or a hand in making this happen are offered the biggest possible vote of thanks, but most especially to Grand Teton, who's calming influence and editorial skills have once again tamed my wild, punctuation-scattering compulsions.

Special thanks also to my beautiful Lori, Mriceman1964 for being in the dugout the whole time, Bonnie Hurd for being objective and critically realistic, but most of all to the loyal readership who've stayed with me and chose to accompany Nicky, Bobby and Rick on the whole ride, and rooted for them as they set out to try and vanquish evil their own way.

As before, I would like to remind one and all that this is not the real world, it's just one of my versions, so things happen the way I think they should, not the way they would in the mundane reality we live in. Please suspend disbelief and play along, who knows, you may even enjoy it! I'm finished with this universe, so I'm going to start hunting for that door again, the door between the worlds that let's me find other realities to explore, play in, and encounter unfeasibly hot girls as and when I need them!

beachbum1958

________________________________________

I awoke from a complicated and confusing dream, or maybe nightmare; in my dream, I was in a plush room, with Leon, and a girl whose face I never saw, and Barbara was there, too. She was trying to talk to me, to tell me something, and I was straining to hear what she was saying, but her voice was being constantly drowned out by the roaring background silence. I knew it was important, maybe the most important thing I'd ever hear, but try a I might, I couldn't make out what she was trying to tell me. Suddenly Nicky was there, his furious face covered in terrible scars and cuts, his habitual grin replaced by a huge scar pulling his mouth down on one side. He reached out and grabbed my collar, cuffing me on the side of the head, shouting "How could you do that, why did you let it happen, where the hell were you? She needed you!"

I jerked awake with a shout, to see Shari's eyes full of concern.

"What is it baby? That was some nightmare, you've been twisting and muttering, do you want to tell me about it?"

I couldn't properly recall the dream; like all dreams, what had seemed so clear and insightful had faded almost immediately; the only images that remained clearly were Barbara's anguished face and Nicky's bruised, bleeding face covered with scars and cuts, hurts put there by my father.

I lay back, suddenly realising I was covered in sweat, and still too unsettled to go back to sleep. I couldn't work out what had brought that on; I never dreamed, or if I did, I never remembered my dreams, but this one had reached down into me and pulled all sorts of switches and I didn't know why. Shari pulled herself closer to me and looked at me quizzically.

"Baby, you're trembling! What frightened you, what did you see?"

I didn't know, but, for the first time in my life, I felt a deep melancholy, a sadness so profound I wanted to cry. I needed to cry, and I didn't know why, and that unsettled me even more. I felt like I'd forgotten something I really needed to know, and the loss was gnawing at me. Shari sat up and pulled me even closer, cradling my head in her arms, holding me close and gently rubbing my head, the way you'd calm a small child.

"Let it go, baby, whatever it was, just let it go, you're safe now, I've got you..." she murmured, and for some reason, that picture of Barbara back home on the mantelpiece flashed into my mind, her smiling face and carefree expression, and her bracelet glittering in the light from the camera flash. That jerked me awake again, and now my head was full of that image, entwined with memories of how we'd treated her, ignored her, closed our ears to her cries, and pretended that she was fine, that all was well in our world. There was no more sleep for me that afternoon.

*

We were dressed and ready for dinner with Leon and his girl by 7 p.m., Shari in a deceptively modest black cocktail dress that made her look delicious and my preferred first course at any banquet, the dreams and memories of earlier temporarily banished by the sight of my beautiful girl.

"Do you like it?" she smiled, pirouetting to show off her svelte figure in that figure-hugging dress, and I could only nod, once again lost in admiration of her long, supple legs, her trim, sexy body, and her gorgeous hair tumbling down her back in a riotous mass of red-bronze curls. I was dressed in a pair of dress slacks and a new white dress shirt, and a subdued purple silk tie with a "Hermés" label she'd pulled out of one of the boxes we'd brought back from the shopping mall.

Shari pronounced me fit to be seen in public, so I knocked on the interconnecting door, which was opened by Yaz. Her dress wasn't at all deceptively modest; on the contrary, it seemed to be competing for the title of world's shortest dress. It was a glittering metallic Teal green, to set off her Titian-red hair, her lips a blaze of almost fluorescent crimson against her pale olive skin, with her hair cascading carelessly over her shoulder, and towering matching green stiletto heels making her already flawless legs look truly endless to finish the look; she looked breathtaking; my baby sister was stunning, no escaping the fact; but then, so was my older sister, and they were going to make maximum impact tonight, I would have bet the farm on it.

We made our way down to the lobby, to wait for our guests, other guests and visitors stopping dead in their tracks to stare at the two visions of loveliness walking through the lobby like they owned the place. Leon was already seated there, waiting for us, talking to a girl with her back to us, with colour-streaked hair cut in a layered shaggy mop. As we walked up to the eating area, he glanced up and spotted us, immediately standing up and smiling. His girlfriend also stood up, smoothing down her really short shift dress as she stood, and turned to greet us. She was a pretty little thing, petite bordering on tiny, with thick, dark eyebrows framing a pretty, elfin face, and a gold pendant piercing through her bottom lip. She smiled broadly, and then, for a second, her smile faltered and her eyes widened behind her pink-tinted pixie glasses as she looked intently from Rick's face to mine and back again.

"Guys, this is Judy Nixon, my fiancée. Judy, these are the two guys who saved my ass today, Rick and Bobby, but I haven't met these two lovely young ladies yet!"

I made the introductions, introducing Yaz and Shari as our girlfriends; it was too complex to explain our real relationship, and they didn't actually need to know that anyway. Judy shook hands with all of us, then looked up at me.

"So, Bobby...and Rick; am I right in thinking that would be short for Robert and Richard?"

I nodded, and she looked appraisingly at me, then flicked her glance over Rick again, obviously comparing our features, noting the resemblance. We chatted for a few minutes while we waited for the car we'd booked to take us to the restaurant, Judy asking about England, what we did, how old we were, all the little things you talk about when you first meet someone. The conversation we'd had earlier that day about his boss and the place he worked came back to me, and so I asked Leon what I thought were a couple of innocuous enough questions, just politeness regarding his place of work and his "English" boss. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn Judy deliberately jumped-in to change the subject each time. I let it go; it didn't seem important, and we'd only just met them, so it seemed impolite to press him about something so trivial...

After a short while, Judy excused herself, and still hadn't returned when our driver arrived, so Leon went to look for her. I led the way to the minivan, and happened to look back, to see Judy and Leon partially concealed behind a potted Weeping Fig tree in the lobby, having some sort of heated conversation, Judy arguing with Leon while simultaneously speaking to someone on her cell phone.

I turned away; it was none of my business, anyway, and they both seemed fine when they joined us out by the entrance, chatting quite normally and affably as the minivan threaded its way through the downtown traffic.

Dinner was very good, an harmonious blend of traditional Malaysian cooking and American flair, most of the dishes exotic and interesting, although I drew the line at the Mee Goreng; there were just too many tentacles in it for me to want to give it a try. Rick and Leon ribbed me gently about it, telling me that squid was delicious, I really should try some, and to just ignore it if it winked at me; somehow, appetising as they made it sound, I just couldn't bring myself to do it...

Yaz jabbed Rick with her elbow and squeezed my hand.

"Ignore him, baby, I can't take him anywhere twice! Here sweetie, you can have my Satay instead, I'll take the Mee Goreng!"

I noticed Judy watching all this carefully, interestedly, almost like she was evaluating us, Rick and me in particular. Once we'd got to the coffee stage, Leon grinned and leaned back in his chair, smiling at all of us.

"Guys, you really saved my ass today, I thank you, Judy thanks you, and most of all, my mom thanks you! She keeps saying I need to meet new people; I guess I did, it's just that one set tried to rearrange my face, and you guys came along and saved my ass! Somehow I don't think she meant it in quite the way it happened, but I'm sure glad you guys came along when you did!"

After a good dinner, with good wines and some really good beers, we eventually called it a night, and had the restaurant call us a minivan to take us back to the hotel. Once there, Leon and Judy made their farewells. Leon remarked that he'd be along in the morning to take Rick and me out and show us around, and Judy wanted to show the girls some of the better-kept secrets of Albany's shopping experience, so that was how we left it.

We were in good spirits when we went up to our rooms, although for some reason the intent, sometimes almost hostile, looks I'd seen occasionally flit across Judy's face puzzled me. I shook it from my mind; I was mistaken, I must be; I didn't really know enough about people to interpret their body-language that well, and I was probably on completely the wrong wavelength.

Morning found us lounging in the lobby, having a coffee and a muffin for breakfast rather than another of those gargantuan meat-feasts, while we waited for Leon, and that was where he and Judy found us. Judy was dressed in a style she seemed more comfortable with than the more or less conventional dress of the previous night; now she was dressed in a tiny red skirt, more a belt than anything else, an off-the-shoulder 'Clash' tour t-shirt with a picture of Joe Strummer on it, and red patent stilettos. Once we'd shaken hands all over again, we said our farewells to the girls after arranging to meet for lunch, and Leon led Rick and me out to his car, a massive cherry-red Dodge Nitro.

For the next three hours Leon, Rick and I chatted and joked as we took in the sights of Albany; a short cruise in an authentic paddle-steamer, a wander round the spectacular Empire State Plaza, which was, for me, absolutely breathtaking, the Museum of Fire-Fighting, which Leon was especially proud of, as he came from a family of fire-fighters, and the New York State Capitol. We tried street food, including the best hot dog I've ever eaten, had a beer in a genuine sports bar, and promised Leon we'd come with him one day to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. By now it was time to meet up with the girls again, so Leon happily cut the tour short and we hustled back to meet the girls, who'd elected to try the delights of the UNO Chicago Grill in the Crossgates mall.

Lunch was fun, the girls managed to put away an astonishing amount of ribs, and the conversation was light, friendly, and non-intrusive. Leon was curious about why we'd come to America, so Rick gave him the story we'd decided on; we were having one last holiday before we had to get down to work, as we'd probably have no time for the next couple of years at least. We'd settled on that story as the simplest to remember, because none of us really wanted to explain our convoluted family history and circumstances to casual enquirers, and both Leon and Judy seemed satisfied, as they left it at that.

Once we'd gotten to the stage in our lunch where the edge was off our appetites, Leon invited us to spend a few days with his family; apparently his mother wanted to thank us in person for getting him out of what could have been a nasty situation, and had offered us the hospitality of the family home for a few days as a thank you. I exchanged glances with Shari, while Rick and Yaz looked on, obviously prepared to follow my lead. Shari nodded imperceptibly, so it was arranged; Leon would pick us up later that afternoon, and we'd be back at his home in time for dinner.

"Remember, guys, wrap-up warm, it gets cold out in the backwoods!" he'd grinned.

With that, lunch was done, the girls piled all their mass of shopping bags into the trunk of the big Nitro, and drove back to the hotel with Judy in her little Toyota Prius.

Back in our room, I asked Shari why she'd agreed so readily to go off on a jaunt with people we really hardly knew. She led me over to the couch and sat down, pulling me down next to her. Once we were seated, I posed the question again; why?

She looked thoughtful for a second, and a little sad.

"Baby, I did it because Leon and Judy are the first friends you've ever made; you've gone your whole life in this kind of bubble of isolation, and that fucker Robert Davies is to blame for that. Even while I'm rejoicing you finally met someone and made friends with them, part of me inside is crying because you've gone your whole life completely alone, without a single friend, or knowing how to make one."

A tear trickled from the corner of her eye, and I wiped it away, wondering at what she was saying. She smiled softly at me, and continued.

"Bobby, you've had to wait twenty-two years to find out what a friend is, all because of that crazy bastard; he took more than your mother away from you, he took the world away from you as well, but now, now you've started to meet real people, and spend time just as friends with them. That's why I agreed to go away with them; Leon likes you for you, someone else has finally seen the real you, not just me, and that makes me very happy!"

While we were debating what to take with us, and what to leave in the room, the cell-phone from the investigation agency beeped. Shari snatched it up, listened intently, then:

"I see, okay, well, in that case, please follow-up all the most plausible leads, I'm sure you know better than I what to do, so I'll leave it with you. We're going out of Albany for a few days, to Oneonta, if there's no cell service available I'll check in with a land-line number as soon as I can. Thank you, goodbye."

I looked at her, smiling hopefully.

"Well?"

She grinned ruefully.

"No luck so far, baby; quote 'There are currently 189 persons of the correct approximate age listed under the name Nicholas Davies and variants in the Albany, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Sarasota Springs, and Springfield areas. We will of course investigate all those deemed to be most likely, but this will take time, and of course, all costs incurred will be in addition to our agreed scale of fees,' unquote. So nothing so far, sweetie, but it's early days yet, baby, nil desperandum!"

I looked up the places she'd mentioned; it was a huge search area, how could they ever hope to pin down one Nicholas Davies if there were nearly 200 people with the same name spread out over such a wide and populous area? I resigned myself to the fact that we might be here for a while. If we had to, we had more than enough money to last it out; the sale of Shari's mother's business, their house, and the properties around London had netted a staggering amount of money, several million pounds, so we weren't hurting, nor ever would be, but I was now concerned that we'd be throwing good money after bad in this quest and end up still no closer to the truth.

However, there was nothing I could do about that, so I decided to take a shower; we still had over an hour before Leon was due, and I'd worked up quite a sweat trudging around the landmarks of Albany, so I ducked into the wet room while Shari chose to have a little post-shopping recuperation. I was miles away, lathering-up and humming a country and western tune I'd heard on the car radio, when two small hands crept around my waist, and two soft lips kissed me between the shoulder-blades.

"Hello, baby, can I do your back?" she murmured, rubbing her hands in the suds coating my torso and moving south. I grinned to myself.

"Umm, that's not my back, babe..." I said, trying not to laugh, and I swear I could feel her lips curving into her beautiful smile against my back.

"I know Bobby, I know, I'm sort of working my way around you, starting with the bits I know best..."

Her flattened hands slowly circled my torso, spreading the shower soap and pressing slightly as though massaging me, but always moving down, until her hands rested on my hips, pressing and kneading the muscle there. I was enjoying this immensely, if the size and hardness of my erection was anything to go by, and now her hands began to move inwards, closing-in on me, until she was clasping my cock with one hand, and cupping my scrotum with the other.

"Oooh Bobby, look what I found!" she giggled softly, squeezing my shaft lightly, making me twitch in her hand.

"Oooh, it moved, I think it's alive!" she gasped, squeezing harder and gently, rhythmically squeezing my scrotum in time with the hand slowly squeezing and pumping my engorged cock.

I was starting to get more than a little heated with all this fondling and squeezing; I was feeling the need to do a little of my own, but when I tried to turn she let go of my scrotum and slapped me warningly on the backside.

"Uh-uh, Bobby, I'm not finished!" she breathed, and lightly bit me on the shoulder, her teeth barely scraping the skin, but sending a delightful shiver all the way down my spine. I took the hint and stood there, enjoying the feeling as she slowly masturbated me, her soapy hands slick and frictionless as she slid them around my cock and balls. I couldn't take much more of this; I was rapidly getting to the point where I wanted her in my hands, I wanted to play with her and pleasure her like she was doing to me, but Shari seemed quite happy to stay out of reach and pleasure me.

Eventually I'd had enough, and spun round to grab her, making her squeal in surprise, her protests cut short as I clamped my hands on her bum and ground our sexes together as I crushed my lips to hers. Shari moaned and pushed herself against me, her arms locking tight around my neck as we kissed, and when I spun around and pushed her back against the wet-room wall, she grinned and leaped on me, wrapping her legs around my waist as we kissed so hard I thought we'd split our lips.

My engorged cock was still trapped between us, but Shari got over that by lifting up slightly and then dropping down, impaling herself on me. We both gasped at the sudden intrusion, the tightness and heat; I'd not planned to do this with her, but it was welcome, and so hot! With her back against slick marble tiles, and her arms around my neck, I began pumping into her, resting my forehead against the wall to give myself enough leverage to keep ploughing into her. My hands slipped from holding her delectable buttocks to hold her under her thighs as I held her legs apart so I could ram myself ever harder into her.