Smoke Ch. 01

Copyright @ calibeachgirl

All rights reserved, 2011

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Chapter 1: Victim of Circumstances

It is not possible to step twice into the same river according to Heraclitus, or to come into contact twice with a mortal being in the same state... Plutarch

The Korean War caught everyone by surprise. Well, not everyone. The North Koreans and the Chinese and the Russians were well prepared for the events that followed. By the time the 1952 elections were competing with the war for the American nation, the country was once again in the grip of war.

During the Second World War, the Los Angeles area, particularly the area surrounding Los Angeles Airport, became the birthplace of modern aviation. By the time the 1950s began, North American Aviation, among others, was producing the first modern jet fighters ... and the plane they produced, the F-86 Sabre, would be one of a long line of designs culminating in the Space Shuttle.

Our story begins on the early evening of Friday, May 23rd, 1952 in the small Los Angeles suburb of Hermosa Beach, California, just a few miles from the main manufacturing plant of North American Aviation at the corner of Imperial Highway and Aviation Boulevard.

It was nearing seven o'clock and Chris was anxious to leave. 'For once,' he thought, 'she's not complaining about going; I just wish she'd hurry the hell up. She's taking longer and longer getting ready.'

He had already 'church-keyed' a can and was sitting on the apartment steps waiting. He was still waiting and well into his third one when Cynthia, 'Cindy' to her friends, finally came outside and walked quickly past him to the car.

He knew she didn't like watching the fights at Clancy's, but it seemed she had just given up and let him have his way, almost insisting that they go.

So much so, that when he met her at the car, he was astonished how much her manner had changed in just a few days. 'That Suzy must be a good influence on her,' he thought, 'but, it seems they are spending a little too much time together.'

Numerous times, he had come home from the factory to find the two of them sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and listening to the radio. It wasn't until much later he remembered Cindy was wearing a bathrobe and it was six in the evening.

He stopped for a beer or two at Clancy's before coming home, that afternoon. He would have tried to have sex with her right then if Suzy hadn't been there and later, he was just too tired. He was too tired a lot, these days. 'A man deserves to have a beer or two and just relax after working hard all day on the assembly line building the F-86 fighter.'

He knew the job was important, fighting the Communists but assembly line work was so mind-numbing. 'After a day of that, a man deserves to have a beer or two.'

They'd have to make due with the apartment... saving up for a house of their own. He just couldn't seem to get ahead. 'A couple of beers wasn't going to hurt that much and so, I gambled a little. What was the harm in that?'

"New dress?" he asked, uneasily. 'Where was the money to pay for that?' he wondered. 'We're just getting by as it is and sometimes I only have enough for one beer.'

"This? Oh, no, it is Suzy's. She gave it to me last week."

"Last week..." 'When did that happen?' He just couldn't get his head around it.

"You remember, honey... we went to their house after Clancy's. You and Riley..."

**********

A week earlier, Friday, May 16th ...

The bar, filled with the grayish-blue haze of cigarette smoke, stunk with the stale smell of spilled beer and dried sweat. Those still sober enough to care were watching the boxing match. The new television rested proudly on a hastily built shelf.

As the black-and-white images lit up the smoke, Chris entered, almost dragging Cindy behind him. He looked around for his friends and saw them over by the men's.

The crowded bar was packed with unmarried men with no women, older men who were wishing they had no women and a few women making money from all of them.

Cindy hated Friday nights. They were always the same.

Instead of going to a movie or dinner, her husband began going to Clancy's to see the fights, eventually demanding she come along. "After a long week of work, a man deserves to have a beer or two," he kept saying to her.

Cindy hated Friday nights. They were monotonous.

Her clothes and hair always smelled of smoke and by the time she felt clean, Friday had arrived once more and it would start all over, again.

The Gillette commercial broke the monotony of the two fighters dancing around the ring.

Cindy hated Friday nights. They were noisy and smelly.

"Chris, can't we go home, please? We could have some fun, baby." She grabbed his arm and rubbed against him, hoping the invitation of her body would somehow get through to his already beer-soaked mind. Not that he would be able to do anything. She sighed; it had been God knows how long since he was able to satisfy her.

"We just got here. Look, Cindy, there's Suzy over there. Why don't you go talk with her?"

She looked over to the corner and finally seeing the woman, walked over. Like herself, Suzy did not look very happy. She had a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.

"I was hoping you'd come over," she said, upending the bottle and finishing her beer.

"I'm tired of coming here every Friday night. I thought being married was going to be a lot more fun than this. Sometimes, I wish that..." Cindy let that comment disappear on her lips.

"Let's go outside and talk a little. This smoke is starting to hurt my eyes." Putting the empty bottle on the floor, Suzy ground out the butt beneath her foot and left without worrying if Cindy would follow.

Walking out the side door into the parking lot, the two women felt a slight breeze off the ocean. After the smells and heat of the bar, the fresh air woke them up. The raucous laughter of the men inside faded to annoying background noise they eventually ignored the further they walked again.

They looked for a clean place on the concrete-block wall and finally leaned against Riley's '48 Ford Vicky.

A car pulled up next to them and the man rolled his window down. "How much?" 'Hot little pieces...' he hoped.

"How much for what?" Suzi looked at him and then realized what he was asking. "No, no, you've got it all wrong, we're just out here, talking. Please, leave us alone."

"Sorry, it just looked like... never mind." He drove off down the street, looking for a few minutes of comfort from someone else. "Bitches, if you're not out there you shouldn't be out there."

Suzy started laughing and soon Cindy joined in.

"You know," Suzy laughed, "we do look like a couple of hookers, standing here. Men are so stupid, following their little dicks, but, am I any different?"

"Hey, I don't look that bad!" Cindy looked down at herself. "So my blouse is a little too tight..."

"You look needy for a fuck, Cindy. How long you been married, anyway?"

Suzy had been carefully watching the girl-woman ever since Chris started bringing her. 'With a little work,' she thought, 'she could be mine.'

"Almost eight months. Damn, that's all? It seems like forever."

"Eight months! What are you doing here? You should be at home fucking your brains out. Oh, right, you're married to one of those idiots in there... Shit, so am I."

"And, you? Yes, Suzy, why are YOU here?"

Suzy was silent for a while. "Three boyfriends and two husbands... The second one is inside, probably being stupid like yours. I sure can pick 'em. I got divorced last year. He was too abusive and put me into the hospital for almost three weeks."

Cindy was astonished, her sometimes friend admitting to sleeping with five men, probably more ... a lot more. She found that... somehow... exciting. Whatever Chris thought he was doing, it wasn't happening for her, anymore.

"What else is there to do? They're in there, we're out here and it's starting to get cold."

"I wonder how much we could have gotten. That guy, I mean." Suzy laughed.

"What? You've got to be kidding. We're..."

"Married? What's that got to do with it? Look how you husband treats you. You've only been married eight months, you're good looking and it's Friday night.

"He's in there, stinking of beer and cigarettes and palling around with those other dickless wonders. What kind of life is that? Damn, it's time to wake up and smell the roses.

"I bet they haven't even missed us, yet. I bet we could have gone somewhere and they wouldn't even know it. This is no fun. Let's go."

"Huh? Where?" Cindy was getting nervous. Suzy was walking quickly down the street to the diner and she had to run to catch up with her friend.

"I'll have the cherry pie and a Coke and... what'll you have, Cindy?"

"I didn't bring any money. Can I have a glass of water?" She shyly looked at the waitress.

"Order something, I've got it. We can let my worthless husband pay for it."

"Uh, thanks, umm, then can I have a burger and fries, strawberry malt, please, with whipped cream?"

"Make that a lot of whipped cream, please. Nothing's too good for my Cindy girl. As a matter of fact, make it two orders."

After the waitress left, Cindy started crying. "He used to buy me malts and take me places and now all we do on Friday nights is go to Clancy's to watch the fights." She was just sobbing, now, her head down on her arms.

"Cindy, Cindy, calm down, honey. It'll be all right. We just got to figure out what to do, that's all."

By the time they were done eating, it was after ten o'clock.

"We better get back," Suzy said, "before they miss us. Fat chance on that, though. I bet they didn't even know we were gone."

While the fight was over on the television, the crowd was still there drinking. Chris was over in the corner, beer in one hand and talking to three others. Suzy's husband, Riley was sleeping at his table, head down and snoring.

"Well, what did I tell you? He doesn't look worried to me. Didn't even know we were gone."

"We could follow you home and help you get him in the house, if you'd like?"

"Thanks. This is getting old." She shoved the small table. "Riley, God damn it, wake the fuck up. It's time to go home."

Chris walked Riley over to his car and put him into the front seat while Suzy went to the driver's side and slid in.

Following them home, Cindy was soon driving through a simple tree-lined middle class neighborhood. It seemed like paradise to her, after living with Chris in their small apartment. She wished she was back with her parents...

Chris staggered out of the car and grabbed Riley and together they went up the front walk to the door. Even in his stupor, he realized he was never going to get Riley up the stairs and so he left him on the living room sofa.

His mistake was sitting down for a moment and then he fell fast asleep.

"Might as well let them sleep it off. C'mon, you'll stay the night. We've got a big bed, if you're shy."

Cindy followed her up the stairs and to the bedroom. Suzy pointed to the bathroom and then sat on the bed waiting for her to come back. She thought her guest was only going to wash her face but then she heard the shower starting.

"Well, that makes sense; she doesn't want to smell like cigarette smoke." A mischievous smile appeared. She quickly shed her clothes onto the bedroom floor and after hearing the shower door click shut, she went into the bathroom and opened the glass door.

**********

Early July...

"Uh, yeah... about that. How come there was..." Chris was confused.

"What, honey? You had a good time, didn't you? C'mon or we'll have to park too far out," she said.

He was puzzled at that last remark but looking at his wife smiling at him... he put the old car into gear and they drove to the bar. On the way, she played with the radio, changing to some music station. He hated when she did that but if that was the only price he had to pay for her to come without complaining...

He tried to remember exactly what happened but it was lost in the alcoholic haze that clouded his memory on Friday nights. 'Couldn't have been that important, I would have remembered.'

Cindy didn't even wait for him and walked straight into the bar, forcing him to run to catch up.

He'd have to cut down on his drinking and gambling, a thought that would last as long as it would take that first cold swallow to fill his mouth. By his second bottle, he saw Riley and Suzy walk in. Riley's wife looked around until she saw Cindy and a great smile appeared.

He had known they would eventually come around and stop complaining about Friday nights at the bar. It was just a little harmless fun, that's all... just a little harmless fun.

He was just glad wherever the two women were last week; they hadn't seen him with Estelle. After all, it was just a harmless fun, was all. If only he could remember what happened, after.

When he looked up again, both women were nowhere to be seen. 'Probably in the ladies', he thought. 'How much trouble can you get into there?'

The women walked down the street to the diner, sitting in their usual booth. Without asking, they received their usual Friday night dinner, burger, fries and strawberry malts.

"Have you been getting any, lately?" Suzy pushed the ketchup around the plate with her fries. "Well?"

"No..." Cindy took a long pull on her straw. They had no secrets from each other, not any more. "He drinks too much, can't get it up anymore and so he drinks even more. It's getting old."

"Take it easy, Cindy. It looks like you're trying to give that malted a blow job."

Cindy put her drink down with a small thud. "It's been a while, that's for sure, ever since these damned fights. And, if it's not that, he's drinking more and more. I don't understand what's going on. I'm chasing him around the apartment and he doesn't have time for me at all. His job can't be that hard, for Christ's sake. Other men are doing it."

Three policemen walked in and sat at the counter. They were also regulars and their meals were ready and delivered by the time they all sat down.

For some reason, Cindy covered her wedding ring with her other hand and watched the men eat. One, in particular, had caught her attention over the last month. Of average height, there wasn't anything special about him but... there was that something she couldn't ignore. He seemed powerful; maybe it was the uniform. She didn't care what it was, just that it was there.

He noticed and smiled back. She felt light-headed and became scared. What made her do it, she didn't care but she slipped her ring off and put it into her purse.

Her actions were not missed by Suzy, who looked at her younger friend in awe. She knew there was more to the girl than met the eye and had waited long enough to see a different Cindy assert herself.

Even with all that, she was greatly surprised when Cindy got up and walked over to the officers at the counter, putting her arm on the shoulder of the auburn-haired one and whispering into his ear, then turned and walked into the ladies' restroom. He put his fork down and followed a few moments later.

Suzy almost chocked on her burger. "Damn," she said, under her breath. "This girl's got some balls. This I got to see." She went to the back looking for her friend.

Cindy was once again on her knees, this time with a fully aroused man and a full erection in her mouth. Her left hand was moving on it; she could just close her hand around it. It was slick with her saliva and her head began bobbing, taking it in and pulling it out. She kept it in as her tongue caressed its bottom, finding that sweet spot that every man has.

Moving forward against him, she felt it touch the back of her mouth and so did he. Putting both of his hands behind her head, he pushed and she took it down her throat. Within seconds, he groaned and sprayed burst after burst into her and then she pulled back enough that it filled her mouth with the hot liquid. He pulled out and saw a line of his creamy white cum drip from her lips. She opened her mouth and after showing him, swallowed.

He immediately became erect again.

"Fuck me," she asked, pleaded, demanded and turned to bend over, holding onto the edge of the sink. It had been months and she could wait no more. She knew her abusive husband was never going to be able to please her again no matter what he did.

She watched the reflection in the mirror. Looking at him behind her, she immediately became wet. It had been so long.

He pulled her dress up over her back and tore her panties off. Holding it in one hand, the other balanced against her back and he slipped in. She was so wet from anticipation and need that she came as soon as he touched her.

They began to move in a frenzy accompanied with her moans and his groans and he lasted an amazingly long time; she wanted it to last forever. Finally, he grabbed her hips and thrust in one last time with a loud sigh.

"Damn! That was fine!" He kept it inside her, hoping for another round. There was an insistent knock on the door.

"Jeff! C'mon, we got a call. We got to go!"

"Shit! All right, all right, I'm coming." He zipped up his pants. "Hi... I'm Jeff."

"Cindy. I've been watching you... I mean, each time."

"I know... me, too."

"God damn it, Jeff, we got to go!"

"Can you come back?"

"Tomorrow, OK?"

"Jeff!"

"Sorry, I've really got to go." He kissed her on the cheek, the first kiss... and that's how she began to change her life... not what she ever expected when she married Chris but strangely satisfying now.

The second Friday in August...

There did seem a lot of men going to the men's whenever those two disappeared, though. Maybe, they just didn't like all the smoke. Cindy had been complaining about it since the beginning.

At that moment in the parking lot, Suzy was on her knees sucking one man after another at five dollars each. Cindy stood outside the door collecting the money. Every fifth man, they changed places. It was the best form of revenge, Suzy had said. Cindy had to agree that the money was good and she was getting what she thought she needed, finally. For some reason, she liked doing it... really liked doing it.

While neither woman had originally seen their husbands with Estelle, they had overheard enough to first anger, and then disappoint Cindy.

Two weeks earlier, they saw for themselves the two men fawning over the barmaid. So, what if her boobs were a little bigger and her ass a little rounder and she supposedly took customers in the back when business was slow. He'd never do that to her... but he did.

For Suzy, it wasn't anything new but just the same, what the hell?

For Cindy, however, it was a completely different story. She was extremely angry; her anger was so great that her time with Suzy became more and more important to her as she began to withdraw from her husband, for his lack of consideration for her feelings, dragging her to the damned bar each week, for his infidelity with that bar tramp and for always being partially drunk. Every Friday night, he became completely drunk and worthless.

She hated Friday nights. This was not what she was promised when she married him. She thought back to that day, not so long ago...

'For richer or poorer...' well, that didn't turn out too well. 'For better or worse...' should have stayed single if this was going to be her life from now on. 'In sickness and in health...' he was sick, all right and so was she, sick of him and his damned drinking. 'From this day, forward...' every day was this day forward. 'Till death us do part...' that might be sooner than he thinks if he keeps this up.

The visits to Clancy's became more frequent until he was stopping on his way home every afternoon and then complaining that dinner wasn't hot, wasn't ready, wasn't what he wanted.