From Quarantine To Queen Of Spades

I've binged enough TV series for what feels like a lifetime. I don't want to count how many bags of flour I've gone through to make bread. And...

"SUSAN!"

--And I feel like I've actually grown tired of hearing my name yelled by my husband.

"SUSAN!" David called out again to me last week. It might have been what drove me over the edge.

"What is it?" I asked as he stormed into the kitchen. The chocolate pudding I was whipping up splattered on my white shirt when he startled me. I tried to stay calm.

"Were you messing around down in the basement again?" David asked in contempt.

"No... why would I do that?" I tried not to stoke his fire. A month ago I moved one little tool from his work-bench down there and it was a whole ordeal.

"I thought we agreed we would 'respect each other's space' you know, 'these days'." David added with air-quote fingers. The quarantine was weighing on both of us at this point.

I don't think I have ever spent so much time at home, let alone with my husband. Don't get me wrong-- he's fine as he is, but when you spend too much time together... well, it can drive a lady crazy. Typically he would be at the construction site working long hours and exerting all that energy on the job. And I would be on a long shift at the hospital, doing the same.

"I didn't go down there and mess anything up." I replied calmly. "What's wrong anyway?"

David pouted at the pivot. "It's the damn water, pressure isn't coming out right." He pointed up towards our bedroom. "I'm trying to take a shower and it's just dribblin'."

I put my hands up. "I didn't touch anything." I tried to put on the most innocent face that I could. David took a look and stormed off down to the basement. A few minutes later, he came back up, passively stomping on each step up.

"Nothing looked out of place down there." He said sheepishly with some frustration. Of course I wasn't going to be given the satisfaction of being honest.

"Well should I call someone to fix it?" I asked, recognizing this would be a problem that affects both of us and I didn't want it to linger. But I failed to recognized the emasculating effects.

"Call someone?" David looked at me incredulously. "I could do it myself."

I picked up the phone and shuffled through the search results for a plumber. "Really?" I looked up at David and back at the results, tapping on Brinks Brothers Comprehensive Inspection and Repair. The call connected on a ring. "Do you know what you're going to have to fix?"

There was that incredulous look again and he shrugged at my sentiment. "What?" David pointed to the phone, just as the called picked up.

"Hi yes." I held up a finger at David. "Yes, I'd like to request a plumbing service." I saw David turn at my words and waved me off as he walked back up the stairs. "Oh of course, I understand." I listened to the explanation about safety and social distancing. "That's fine, I'll sign whatever we need to sign. We haven't had any cases in our home."

I went up the master bathroom to tell David about the appointment. When he wasn't in there, I found him seething to himself on the bed watching a sports new cast.

"Can you believe it?" David held his palm out to the TV. "First they cancelled the season and now the players are refusing to come back. Don't they know those owners paid good money for those players to play?" I didn't say anything. "Acting like the bunch of baboons they are."

"That's awful." I replied, trying to make myself feel better about calling him out on his racist remark. But I felt like David took it in agreement.

"Yeah." He turned to his focus on me, still harboring a little anger. "So what is it?"

"I scheduled a plumber to come out tomorrow afternoon to check out that issue." I braced myself for his rebuttal but David was quiet for a minute.

"Tomorrow's no good. I'm watching the game." He said. I was thankful he wasn't throwing a fit.

"I thought they were all cancelled?"

"They are." He said, "But they're doing reruns of the championships and I'm gonna watch."

"Okay." I said, managing to leave it at that.

He wasn't the only one frustrated in the house. Usually most of my frustrations happened at work. In those cases, I had the luxury of locking myself in my office. Since I moved off the hospital floor and into medical billing, I could afford the privacy.

I would draw the blinds on the door, turn off the light. I'd double-check the lock, turn my task chair back the opposite way and lean back in it, letting my hand find itself between my legs. Just a little personal time to get my wits back before I went back to work. Nowadays I'm stuck doing this behind the bathroom door, on my toilet.

And some how, even with the change of scenery, with my hands busy, my mind still wandered back to work. I thought of Dion. Of all the things to fantasize about, I thought this oaf.

Dion used to work on the same floor as me before I switched departments. He's tall, dark, and not handsome. Some of the other nurses would say what he lacked in looks, he made up with muscles. I have to admit, he did have a very sculpted black body... no where near anything David could achieve. But Dion's face was... in a word... goofy. Buck-toothed, bald, and expression-less most of the time.

He did his job well, doing transport within the hospital. I never had any qualms with him. Although he did catch me once in a moment of privacy that I needed. Since they he had added a few raised eye-brows to his expressions towards me. But I'll never forget one shift with him.

It was the end of the shift and we were all chatting at the nurse station. "It's Friday night y'all." One of the younger nurses got up and started dancing in celebration. They looked to me as a spinster, even though I'm only 32, but one of the senior staff members. "What you got going on tonight Dion?" That nurse asked him.

"Uh..." Dion replied. "Not much I guess." His voice was so monotone. "Going out with my girlfriend at a bar. That's about it."

"Girl friend?" Two of the nurses said simultaneously and reserved a smirk of skepticism between themselves.

"You never said you had a girlfriend Dion." said the dancing co-worker.

"Yeah." He said, no change in tone. "She's picking me up tonight."

As soon as he had shared the information, a redhead in a curve hugging body dress came on to the floor. She waved to Dion. "Hey!" Strutting and bouncing, gathering everyone's attention. "Are you ready to go babe?"

"Yeah." Dion grabbed his coat and didn't even seem to register everyone's surprise as he went around the counter. "See y'all later." The redhead put her arm around his bicep and waved us off.

"I know right?" A co-worker commented on the disbelief on my face. "Last week, he got these scrub pants that were a size too small and didn't leave anything to the imagination." She turned back to typing to her keyboard. "I know she's going to have some fun tonight."

And since that day, there's always been something nagging at the back of my mind about it. It would always creep back in just when I found myself really enjoying my private time.

"Susan!" David knocked on the door, bringing me back to reality. I huffed at having to stop enjoying the small solace I had.

--

The following afternoon I took the necessary precautions to make sure everything went without a hitch. I made sure to have a nice spread of snacks for David to munch on while he watched the games. I turned down the blinds a little bit because I know he'd complain about a glare on the screen. I even put on his favorite team colors to add to the ambiance.

"Mmmhmm." David wandered into the kitchen. "Smells delicious in here." When he was hungry and grateful, he was like a different man. "Oh and look at you." He pulled up behind me and held my waist, leaning to my ear. "Got my favorite titty tank on." He grabbed and squeezed my breasts.

"Oh shoo." I knocked my head on his, shrugging him off. "I ought to throw this thing away." I looked down my cleavage. "I've had this thing since we met in college. Look how much it faded."

David didn't need to be told twice to keep looking at my chest. "No you can't do that! You were wearing this when we met. You could say it introduced me to you." He leaned forward again, kissing the top of my cleavage, "Danke," he kissed the left one, "Danke," for the right one, "Can't do without my Double Ds." David beamed as he took a chip off the tray.

"Here," I offered the whole plate up to him, "Go on already. Isn't it time for kick off?"

"Oh yeah." David grabbed the tray and slipped off to the living room. "Thanks."

I tried to savor the few moments of quiet before he turned on the TV to blaring sports sounds. But before he had the chance, we both heard the door-bell ring. "Can you get that?" I called out to David.

"Nope!" David yelled back. "Already sitting down!"

I shook my head in frustration. I made all this stuff for him and he can't even answer the door. I looked through the peep-hole to see a small figure standing just off the porch. Blue shirt, navy pants, a clipboard, and a mask waved back. Of course, it was the plumber.

"Hello!" I opened the door and realized I wasn't wearing my own mask. I slipped behind the door for a second and put it on. "You must be with Brinks." I looked at my watch. "Perfect timing."

"Yes ma'am." The man stayed his ground and waved back. "Gotta be punctual. I'd shake your hand but... you know how it is these days."

"I totally understand. Please come in." I replied and stepped back a few feet to let him in. His stature didn't change, he was short even on equal footing in our foyer. I'm 5'7'' so I would guess he was probably 5'2''. "Thank you for coming, especially during these...--"

"Unprecedented times." His eyes crinkled behind the mask. "I know, hearing that a lot. Glad to be here. Tony Brinks, nice to meet you."

"The problem is downstairs." David said coldly, breaking the conversation. "Come on, I'll show you where." He led the way and Tony followed. "Sooner you get the job done, sooner we're good." He could've easily been David's shadow, given how small he was and well... dark.

I watched them disappear down the staircase to the basement. For a second I thought I could've went down too, but then reconsidered thinking about David's reaction. But I had to know what was the issue so I went back to the kitchen and crouched near the vent. I knew it would carry the sound up from there.

"So what's the problem sir?" Tony's light husky voice asked. You could tell from his voice that he was a bit portly.

"The problem is..." David started. "My wife had to call you here to fix some thing I could take care of. But since you're already here, we're having low water pressure."

"Mmhmm... I see." Tony spoke after a few minutes. I can assume David ran a faucet on the laundry basin. "Well you might be right about the fix being down here."

"Damn right I'm right." David replied, almost to eager to capitalize on his superiority. "Listen, just fix this shit up and go on about your business. Bring the bill up to me when you're done." I heard David's footfalls on the stairs coming up and then he stopped. "And don't do nothing silly down here. I got cameras everywhere. So don't even think about stealing nothing."

There was no reply from Tony and David made it back up to the first floor. "Did you show him the problem?" I asked him.

"Yeah." David replied. "I told him to get on it. I got a game to watch. You steer clear and put on a shirt or something." Before I could say anything, he walked back into the living room.

I rolled my eyes at his back and looked back at the door to the basement. I pulled a cool water bottle from the fridge and tip-toed to peek into the living room. The game was on and David was fixed on it. It was the solace I had been waiting for all day.

However, our visitor had put a wrinkle in that. I pulled the door open slightly so as not to make much noise. I knew exactly where all the creaky steps were on the way down, so it wasn't a surprise that I spooked Tony.

"Oh gawd." Tony squeaked out as he turned his back to see me. "You gave me a fright."

"Sorry about that." I still had my mask up. It probably made it look like an attacker especially as I cast a shadow over him. "Water?"

"Oh that be great." Tony replied, pointing to the table, "I can grab it from there, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." I placed the bottle there. "So... any luck on the water?"

"Well I have a hunch." Tony walked by me and pointed up to the ceiling. "I think there might be a problem with the pressure regulator." I squinted up to see the pipes and a weird contraption on it. "A reading on it will say what the deal is. If it's malfunctioning, I can replace it and it should work."

"Oh that's great." I replied.

"Yes, but we got a problem." Tony rubbed the fuzzy stubble under his mask.

"What's that?"

He pointed up and held his arm up. "I can't get up there. And in my line of work, I usually don't have to carry a ladder." He almost sounded ashamed of it.

"Oh right." I tried to sound apologetic. "Hey I think we have a step stool somewhere back here." I moved passed him and struggled in the dark. Tony took the cue and clicked his flashlight in my direction. When I pulled the stool around, the light fell on my chest. "Will this work?"

"That's ample helpful." Tony's eyes crinkled again, a smile in his voice. "Bring it on over right here. He kept the light trained on me as I leaned over and set the stool open where he requested. "That's perfect... mmhmm." I might have blushed behind my mask.

I stepped back and let him climb up. "Is there anything I can help with?" I asked, almost too eagerly when I'm treated with kindness.

"Hmm..." Tony had moved the beam up to the pipe and looked it over. "Don't think so right at the moment. But I should be able to tell you what's the deal here." He went back to examining the regulator and a silence fell in the room.

"Hey, listen, I want to apologize for my husband." I blurted out. "I called you all after he didn't want to do anything right away to fix this so I'm afraid he's taking it out on you."

"Ain't no problem ma'am." Tony twisted at the pipe. "Happens all the time. Guy thinks he can do it himself and doesn't want another fella poking around his place."

"Really?" I shouldn't have been surprised, especially considering David.

"Well, probably don't help that I'm Black either." Tony chuckled to himself. He looked down and read the shock on my face at the obvious statement. "Don't worry, this ain't the first time." He shook his head like it was nothing.

"I-am-so-sorry." I took a step forward in apologizing. "He...he just doesn't have a filter." I couldn't believe I was trying to defend David's remarks.

"No need to be sorry ma'am. It ain't your fault." Tony turned off the water value and looked down at me again. "I bet you got no say in it. I bet he told you to go put on a t-shirt or something."

I looked down my top and reflexively pulled it up a little. "Well it still doesn't make it okay." I blushed again.

"You know you're a lucky one." Tony waved me off. "Most of the time I got them breathing over my shoulder when I work. Almost all of them hid their women folk when they see me pull in." He pulled at the regulator. "I'm gonna need a..." He fished around his belt. "Aw damn, I must've left it in the truck. Say y'all wouldn't have an adjustable wrench would you?"

"Um, I can go ask my husband if that's alright?"

"Sure, don't mean to put you out in more trouble. But that would be helpful." Tony replied.

I pepped up in my step. "No problem. I'll go ask." I moved back up the stairs quickly and came up behind David on the couch. "Hey the plumber came up to ask if we had an adjustable wrench?"

"What?" David turned back in annoyance. "He doesn't even have a wrench on him? Some plumber." He got up and I followed him to the garage where he rummaged through his tool box. "I find it hard to believe," David spoke under his breath, but I could still hear him, "He probably confused the thing in his pants for his monkey wrench."

David left the foot long steel wrench in the door way to the basement. He yelled down, "Come up and get it," and walked back to the living room. I shook my head at his back again and picked up the tool.

It was surprisingly heavy and solid, the heft caught me off guard. I carried it back down and Tony waited up on the stool. "Here you go." I handed it off.

"Yes, that's exactly what I needed." Tony nodded at me. "Thank you. Hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"No it wasn't..." I started, "It's just..." I tried to point my disappointment with David into the words but failed. "I'm sorry again for my husband's behavior."

"Oh don't worry about it." Tony waved it off again as he went back to fixing the regulator. "You can leave a good tip like the other wives do." He laughed at himself, clearly not waiting for me to get the joke. "I'm kidding."

"Oh gosh." I felt like I had a renewed spirit at the idea. "Of course." I patted around my shorts to look for some kind of payment. "Shoot I left my purse upstairs."

"Definitely not necessary ma'am." Tony looked down to catch me in a gaze at his waist. "I think we got it wrapped up here. You wanna do me a favor?" I nodded. "Go on over to that basin and turn the faucet, see if the pressure is right."

I did as Tony asked and checked the water flow. "It works! It's back to normal!" I cheered but kept my voice low and came back to stand next to him. "That was quick!"

"We aim to please." Tony replied, putting his hands on his waist proudly.

"Thank you so much." I bounced in appreciation, catching his smile at the sight. "So what do we owe for this?"

"Well I got to build up an invoice but I could give you a rough estimate. The going labor rate is $300 and the part itself is $60. So $360 plus tax." Tony counted on his fingers and put the figure out there.

"Oh..." I managed to squeak out. I didn't expect that. Especially considering how little work it looked like had to be done.

"But you know I can knock down some of that since I had to use your tools." Tony recovered my disappointment quickly. "And I might be able to apply a first-time customer discount." He could read the joy coming back to my face. "That would knock it down to..." Tony looked off and did the math in his head. "About $160."

"Wow, that would be great!" I was much happier with the figure. It would definitely be easier for David to handle.

"Oh yeah. I forgot that we also have a kindness discount. Usually if a home-owner shows us some kindness, like a bottle of water..." Tony pointed to the table, "We knock off a percentage based on good-will."

"Really? That's a wonderful idea." I smiled at the thought of the discount.

"Yeah it's like a reverse tip if you get it." Tony smiled and nodded. "So the water and your help with the stool was absolutely appreciated. I'm gonna throw in a 50% discount for your kindness."

I re-did the figure in my head and my eyes lit up again. "Had I known I could've got a discount, I would have been extra kind." I laughed and Tony joined in.

Tony adjusted his tool-belt as he laughed and looked me over. "Well... the opportunities are always there."

"Oh! Is there anything else I can do to help?" In hindsight I was way too naive when I asked.

"I did notice you were handy there with this wrench." Tony passed down David's tool to me. "And I saw that you had your eye on my tool belt too."

I didn't recall looking at it but I suppose I did space out a few times while I talked to him as Tony stood on the stool. His torso was nearly eye level. That's when I saw it, the sloping bump near the crotch of his pants, along his thigh.

"Come on then." Tony took a different, honest tone now. "You been hovering around and helping left and right. And you didn't call BBC Home Service for nothing." He undid his pant button and pulled the zipper down. A black mat of hair sprang up and he reached in, producing the fattest dick I had ever seen. He beckoned me over with it.