Illusion of Luck 39

“Okay, Baby, our time has finally come,” said Larry.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” said Cynthia.

“Alright. But don’t be long.”

She went into the bathroom and locked the door.

Larry opened the French doors and went out onto the bal­cony. He breathed in the crisp, 60-degree air. Wonderful night for his dreams to come true. It would take just a few minutes before Cynthia realized there was no escape. She could go out the bathroom window. But they were on the third floor, so it would be a killer jump. And there was nothing in the bathroom that could be used as a weapon—except maybe a towel to strangle him with. Good luck with that, Honey.

He took out his pipe and inspected it. Thank goodness it had not been damaged during the scuffle downstairs.

After puffing away for several minutes, he heard Cynthia calling to him from the bathroom.

“Larry? I’m sick.”

“Sorry about that. Come on out.”

“No. You don’t understand. I’ve got diarrhea.”

He tried the doorknob. “Unlock the door.”

“Believe me—you don’t want to come in here.”

“Unlock the door, Cynthia.”

“No. I’m embarrassed.”

“You’ve got five seconds to open this door before I kick it in! One…two…three…”

The door opened. Cynthia was fully dressed and the bath­room was odor free.

“Nice try. Now get your sweet little butt out here.” He closed the French doors. “Go over there to the bed.”

Cynthia walked to the foot of the king size bed. “Why are you doing this to me, Larry? You said you loved me.”

“Oh, I do. Always have, since high school.”

“Okay, then. So, why would you want to rape me? If you really love somebody, you don’t force them to have sex with you.”

“Well, I don’t necessarily have to rape you.”

There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“You can do it willingly.”

“I’m a newlywed. Are you trying to destroy my marriage?”

“Not at all. In fact, I want you and Greg to stay together for the rest of your lives.”

She was speechless.

“Yes, I want you two to be happy and raise a wonderful family.”

“Then, let me go.”

“I will let you go. As soon as we’re done.” He pulled the pis­tol out of his jacket pocket and secured it under the waist­band of his pants. Then he took off the jacket and tossed it on a chair. “Now, take off your blouse. And do it in a seductive way. Make it fun.”

“Fun? You just said you wanted Greg and me to be happy.”

“That’s right. I want y’all to be happy so the kids will be happy. So, our kid will be happy.”

Cynthia was terrified. And the hope of getting away unscathed was fading fast. “You want to get me pregnant?”

“Yes.” He smiled proudly.

“You’re a monster!”

He laughed. “That’s right. And this monster is gonna load up your womb with his monster sperm tonight, Baby. Now, take off your blouse before I rip it off!”

She reached for the top button and unhooked it.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” He practically jumped up and down in anticipation.

**********

Greg, Sandy, Rebecca, Chaucey, and Crow were in a taxi, on their way to the Orlando Fantasy Hotel.

“Are we going to try to get a key or just break down the door?” said Rebecca.

“I can do it,” said Crow. “I’ll knock down the door.”

“But what if it’s a solid door, and you have trouble getting it opened?” said Greg. “We need to surprise him.”

Sandy knew that Greg had not read the latest chapter about how Larry wanted to get Cynthia pregnant. But there was no reason to add to his worries. They were getting there as fast as they could.

Chaucey said, “If the desk clerk is a man, I can get the key.”

Rebecca said, “I’ll bet you can, Honey.” Men could no more resist a woman like Chaucey than they could resist a fine sports car, she thought. And this one was fully loaded.

The taxi dropped them off in front of the lobby.

“Y’all wait out here,” said Chaucey.

The desk clerk was male and in his forties. Piece of cake, she thought. “Hi.”

“Good evening.”

She giggled. “I feel so silly. I’m afraid I went off without my key. I was in a hurry when I left for dinner. It’s sitting right there on the TV in my room.”

“No problem, ma’am. If you’ll just show me some identifi­cation, I’ll be glad to give you another key card. What’s the room number?”

“343.” She dropped her purse on the floor and several items fell out. “Oh, my.”

The clerk watched with great interest as she turned around and her long, silky hair flung around too, seemingly in slow motion. She bent over while pulling her skirt up just a bit.

A little higher, he thought, as he leaned his head down close to the counter for a better view. It was taking quite a while for her to gather everything. He could almost see her panties. Please take longer, he thought. His head was resting on the counter, as though he was taking a nap. But he wasn’t. His eyes were wide open.

She suddenly turned her head and saw him gawking at her butt.

He jerked his head upright and nearly pulled a couple of muscles. In an instant, the key card was in his outstretched hand. “Uh, here you go.”

Chaucey stepped up to the counter. “Thank you.” She smiled warmly, as though she didn’t even realize his dirty thoughts were burning a hole in his pants.

After Greg and the others saw that she had succeeded, they walked in and joined her at the elevator.

**********

“It won’t work, you know. You might as well put on a con­dom. I could have a disease. You might as well be safe.”

“I don’t even have a condom.”

“And you’re wasting your time, because I’ll just have an abortion.” She knew the rape would happen anyway, unless she could stall long enough for Greg to find her.

“No, you won’t. You would never have an abortion.”

This is good, she thought. Keep the conversation going. “Yes, I would. Because there’s no way I’m having your baby.”

“But what about your mom?”

“Huh?”

“And what about Jennifer?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But her eyes told him otherwise.

“You really miss her, don’t you?”

Cynthia began to tremble.

“Yeah, it’s too bad about your sister. You really think she can hear you when you talk to her?”

Tears began to run down Cynthia’s face.

“All these years…she could have been there for you…if you’re mother hadn’t—“

“—stop!” Her eyes were red and her cheeks were drenched. “How did you know about Jennifer?”

“Oh, that’s right—I forgot to tell you. I spent a few hours at your house yesterday. Comfortable bed, by the way.”

“You animal.”

“And I enjoyed learning so much about you. You women really open up when you write in your diaries. So, you see, I know you won’t have an abortion—like your mother did when she killed your big sister, Jennifer.”

“My mother was raped!”

“Right. But you still hated her for having the abortion, didn’t you? She killed your sister.”

“Jennifer wasn’t really my sister—she was never born.”

“But she would have been. And your mother must have at least considered keeping the baby since she gave her a name.”

“You are the most cruel person I have ever met!”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear you say that about the future father of your firstborn. Now quit stalling!” And with one quick stroke of the hand, he torn her blouse open.

Larry was so consumed by the sight of Cynthia’s breasts, barely contained in her lacy red bra, that he didn’t hear some­one unlock the door behind him. But he did hear the hinge squeak as the door opened. He spun around, as he pulled out the pistol.

Greg ran at him like a madman.

Before Larry could swing the gun completely around, Greg grabbed his arm.

Larry squeezed the trigger, and the bullet went into the wall.

Greg wrestled the pistol from Larry’s hand and it flew into the air.

Larry tripped Greg, threw him down, and then jumped for the gun, which had landed on the floor, near the bathroom doorway.

Chaucey tried to beat him to it. She reached down, and was about to pick it up when Larry grabbed her. So, she kicked the pistol out of the way, and Rebecca snatched it up.

Larry put his left arm around Chaucey’s waist and held her so tightly she could barely breathe.

Rebecca pointed the gun at him. “Let her go!”

“You think you’re in control here?” He reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a large pocketknife, opened it and held it to Chaucey’s neck. “Think again.”

“No!” yelled Crow.

“I’m going to walk out of here with Chaucey, and you people are not going to try to stop me. And you’re not going to call the police. Because I really don’t want to cut up her sexy little body. So, don’t make me.”

“Noooooo!” Crow ran at Larry.

Larry had less than a second to make a decision. This was the same meathead who had attacked him in Chaucey’s apart­ment. Didn’t the idiot see the knife? Doesn’t he know I’ll kill Chaucey? He’s crazy!

Chaucey sensed Larry’s uncertainty and felt him pull the knife away from her neck. So, she let her body go limp.

Larry couldn’t hold her up with one arm.

Chaucey fell to the floor and roll away from Larry.

Now he was exposed. But he still had the knife. Just as Crow reached him, Larry slashed, nicking Crow’s left arm.

Crow clamped onto Larry’s hand and squeezed with all his might, until Larry released the knife and it dropped to the floor. Then Crow picked him up and ran toward the balcony. Larry felt no heavier than the cockroach he was, as Crow rammed his head into the French doors, which broke open to the balcony.

“You’ll never touch Chaucey again!” Crow held his body upside down above the railing.

“Stop, Crow!” Chaucey ran to the balcony.

But it was too late. Crow released him.

“No!” cried Chaucey. A fall from the third floor would surely kill him.

Somehow, Larry was able to grab onto the top of the rail­ing. His body flipped over and slammed into the side of the balcony. But he was still holding on, facing them.

Chaucey breathed a sigh of relief. “Let’s help him up.”

Crow stopped her. “No. Why should we help him—after all he’s done? He’s a murderer.”

“But if he falls, you’ll be a murderer. And you’ll go to prison. And I love you!”

“You do?”

Larry grinned. “Well, now. Isn’t this sweet? But I don’t need your help anyway. Remember? I’m Lucky Larry.” He pulled his feet up to the bottom of the railing and pushed off as he let go and fell into the darkness.

They looked down, but saw nothing.

Sandy and Rebecca joined them on the balcony.

“He’s probably okay, right? Maybe he fell in the pool,” said Crow.

“I didn’t hear a splash,” said Chaucey.

“That’s because there’s no water in the pool,” said Rebecca. “It’s being renovated. I saw the sign in the lobby.”

Sandy stepped up to the railing and looked down.

“I guess ‘Lucky Larry’ is not so lucky after all.”