Scenes from our visit to the Pettersen home played in my mind, flickering like an old classic movie.
It had become evident that Rosita wanted us there to express her rage towards me for what I had done to her husband. Laura stepped in, saying that she had already expressed her displeasure with my actions and suggested they talk in private.
Over the next few days and nights I pieced together what had been discussed as Laura revealed fragments of her conversation with Rosita.
Nighttime was the best time to get Laura to talk. There was something about darkness that made her reveal things, things she would never say if a light bulb was burning anyplace in the house. Darkness insolated us from the outside and united us as if we were one.
Rosita took her to the den, a room off the front hall that I had never been in.
Once the door was closed Rosita flew into a hysterical tirade, blaming me for extorting her husband's signature on meaningless documents. She vowed that demands on the documents would never be paid.
Several awkward moments followed, both women pawing the ground like two angry cows while Laura waited for Rosita to regain control over her overwrought state of mind and Rosita waited, expecting Laura to launch a counter argument.
Laura smiled and said that she had no intention of collecting the amounts Ollie had agreed to pay. She went on to say she did not want the car.
Rosita, thinking that she had won because of her brash stance, was ready to adjourn their short meeting. But she did not know Laura and had mistakenly thought she had crumbled. Laura had not approved of the method used to obtain Ollie's signatures and had refused to accept payments from him. She had flatly stated that she did not want the car.
While Laura did not mind letting Rosita think she had won, she was not going to let her off easily. She began by telling how she had known Ollie. She revealed that she had been a prostitute and Ollie had made several visits to the brothel where she worked. He had invited her on a weekend date and she had accepted. Although she did not repeat her side of the conversation verbatim, I could visualize the meeting and what was said.
"I was being a whore. I knew he was married and had a family but I went on the date with him for the money. I was willing to do almost anything. He wanted more. When I refused to let him use my backdoor he burned me."
This candid admission caught Rosita by surprise. She was getting to know Laura.
"I've had a year to think back to that night. Your husband's act was premeditated. He brought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He was prepared to punish me if I refused. "
Rosita was visibly shocked.
"Mrs. Pettersen, I won't accept any monetary settlement from your husband but I want him to know what he did. I nearly lost my mind. Randy came back and took charge of me, both physically and mentally. If it wasn't for him I would have let myself become crazy and there is no telling where I would be. I know your husband is not sorry but you must make him what he did to me."
Rosita was sobbing. She said she was sorry for the pain her husband had caused but there was nothing more she could do. Ollie had disappeared.
This admission surprised Laura. The two women embraced. Laura began to cry too. Through sobs, they consoled one another. Rosita said that she believed Laura because she had experienced similar actions by her husband. She knew first hand about his temper and his disregard for women's feelings.
Laura told Rosita that she was sorry our reprisal had caused their family so much grief. Rosita backed away and looked at Laura in dismay, smiling through tears before rejoining their wet cheeks. The two women rocked together, lost in their common sorrow.
That night in bed Laura related how she had praised me for keeping her sane but the common disgust the two women felt towards Rosita's husband was not disclosed until days later and even then, only one layer at a time, like old paint flaking off the weathered side of a house.
"Rosita did seem less combative when you came back. You must have softened her up," I asserted, trying to extract more of what they had discussed.
"I told her how much comfort you have been," Laura said. Her tit grazed my chest as she moved up my body so she could whisper in my ear. "I even told her about my telephone calls to your home and how I begged you to come back."
"You didn't beg. I don't even remember that you even asked me to come back," I mused. She was circling my outer ear with her tongue, making it hard for me to concentrate. It was ancient history and did not matter now but I was sure she had never begged me to come back. As I recalled, not returning had never been an option. I was simply fulfilling a promise.
"I told Rosita how I cried for an hour after you said you would come back to me." Her breath tickled my ear as she whispered. "I told her about coming home that night and finding you here in the bed. We cried some more and I told her that was the moment when I decided I would get myself out of the business."
This was news to me. I had not known she was planning to stop whoring until Mr. Waite installed Bea Cummings as the madam and promoted Laura to her new position. She didn't seem to notice the little jolt my body made because of what she was doing to my earlobe.
"Rosita said she was sorry about what I had gone through. She also told me how happy it made her to hear what your coming back did for me."
Laura took my earlobe into her mouth and I patted the cheeks of her ass. We were both lost in our own thoughts until I broke the silence. "You really softened her up. I could tell you had both been crying when you came back to the family room. Rosita looked at me differently, almost lovingly."
"She did say she was sorry you and Julita had broken up but then she caught herself as if she didn't think I knew," Laura said, laughing. She was playfully chewing on my ear. "It astounded her when I said I knew that you and Huley had been dating. I didn't go so far as to say that I knew you had been fucking."
"Good, I'm glad you didn't."
"Why would it have mattered? I think she knows."
"I think so too but that's not what I was talking about. I wouldn't want her to think you didn't care that I was fucking her daughter. After you made such a big deal about me coming back it would sound cold if you admitted you knew and it was all right with you."
Laura lifted her body off of mine. Her tits were no longer making contact with my chest. "She does know I'm a whore. She must know whores don't have feelings."
"You were a whore," I corrected her, missing the warm contact of her body against mine. "And she does know you have feelings. You gave that away when you told her about crying when you found out that I was coming back to you."
She remained above me but I felt her breath near my lips as she whispered. "I dispelled the myth that whores have feelings. I told her that after I cried for an hour I got myself ready for work."
"You really piss me off sometimes!" I placed my hands on her shoulders and pushed her off me, holding her at arms length.
"Me? How do I piss you off?" Her voice mocked me. She knew I couldn't keep her weight suspended indefinitely.
"When you say things like that to shock people it pisses me off. You do it all the time with me but I know you don't mean it. Other people take it the wrong way. It sounds like you're....."
"Hard?"
"Yes, hard," I agreed, lowing her body to me. I placed one hand on her back and the other on her ass and felt her tits squished between us.
"I told her the guys got their money's worth that night. I sucked and fucked them silly, pretending it was you."
"Now you're doing it again. Were you trying to shock her or are you just pestering me? You're not a whore anymore. Why do you want to portray yourself that way?"
She lowered her lips to mine and her tits mashed my chest. My hands cupped her ass as we kissed.
"I don't know. You're right, I'm not a whore anymore but I wanted to remind Rosita that I used to be one. And me, I need to remind myself. It was nice to hear you say I'm not." Laura was whispering in my ear. I moved my hands from her ass to her shoulder blades and back to her ass.
