Thief (4 page)

Chapter 7.

- The Bella saga is back.

- Our lives were so complicated back then, weren’t they?

- You said it. It was like a soap opera you see on television.

- Yeah, with awful scripting, but compulsive viewing.

- Right. It was so horrible, it was fascinating.

Bella and I went out for a dinner
/
dance and it turned out to be a momentous night all round. I came home and told Kim about it.

“Things were going fairly well, although I was a little edgy because I still hadn’t worked out Bella’s mood patterns as yet. She seemed somewhat subdued and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was building up to some earth-shattering emotional explosion – the calm before the storm, as it were. She excused herself, saying she’d be gone for awhile. I didn’t want to pry, so I waited at the table.”

“For how long?”

“Well, after fifteen minutes, I began to get a bit anxious and I thought I’d better go and see what was happening.”

“So,” Kim asked curiously, “what did you find?”

“Something I wished I hadn’t,” I replied. “After looking all through the restaurant, I went out the back door that leads to the alley and found her, or should I say ….
them
. She was kneeling in front of a man who was standing with his trousers around his ankles and she was…..” I flushed. “Well, do I
really
need to draw you a picture?”

“Ah, no, don’t bother. I can guess. Bella, you
trollop
! Just you wait until I see you again!...... So, what did you do?”

“I was taken aback, I can tell you. She was supposed to be out on a date with
me
and yet, there she was.......... um,
ministering
to a total stranger. It was an almighty slap in the face, I can tell you. I very nearly stormed off, but then I noticed that she was sneaking looks at the alley door every so often, almost as if she was
expecting
someone to come through. I tried to think logically about it. Why was she doing it there, of all places? There were lots of other less conspicuous areas she could have gone. I mean, an
alleyway
, for heaven’s sake! The risk of being seen were astronomically high.
Anyone
could have come through the door at any time.”

“Oh, I get it now! She
wanted
to be caught!”

“
Exactly
! And who was the
one
person who would have been looking for her at that time?”

“
You
, of course,” Kim said excitedly, caught up in the story. “She wanted
you
to find her! But I don’t get it.
Why
was she doing it? I thought she liked you. My god, if she did that to
me
, I’d have slapped her silly. I think I
will
anyway, if only for your sake. That
tramp
!”

“Calm down, Kim. But thanks for the sentiment. Anyway, Bella saw me then but that didn’t stop her activities. Quite the contrary. Luckily, the man was looking the other way, otherwise it would have been altogether
too
embarrassing for us both. Eventually, the man finally noticed me, yanked up his trousers and ran off down the alley. Bella stood up, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glared at me defiantly.

‘
Well
?’ she said, insolently. ‘What do you say now, Mister holier-than-thou?
Now
do you believe I’m the slut they all say I am?’

Surprisingly, instead of being in turmoil, my mind seemed to be a whirlwind of calmness.”

“A
whirlwind
of calmness? What a strange thing to say. It’s a bit contradictory surely?” Kim questioned.

“I know it sounds odd, but that’s
exactly
what it felt like. My thoughts were swirling around and around, but I was absolutely calm in the centre of it all. With a flash of insight I realized that Bella had decided to behave in the most degrading manner she could think of, all to get my
attention
, and to parade before my face the lowly opinion she had of herself. I even saw the humour of it. She was trying so
hard
to persuade me that her image of herself was true. Then I did the
one
thing she couldn’t have expected, and the one thing
guaranteed
to make her hopping mad….. I laughed at her.”

“You
laughed
?” Kim echoed, incredulously.

“I did. I couldn’t help it. The whole situation seemed so surreal. Bella froze in shock, and then screamed at me, ‘Stop
laughing
! Don’t you
dare
laugh at me! You should be
angry
! What in hell’s name is the matter with you?’ She ran up to me and began beating on my chest with her fists. ‘
Stop
that!’ she yelled, furiously. ‘This isn’t
funny
! ‘I hate you! I
hate
you!’

I tried to catch her hands – her punches were beginning to hurt – but she kept hammering on my body in enraged frustration, and I resigned myself to a budding crop of bruises in the morning.

Finally, I managed to hold her in an embrace – at least that stopped her physical assault. I stroked her hair soothingly as she struggled and wriggled, trying to get free. After a little while she calmed down and panted, ‘
Damn
you, Paul! Damn you for making me do things I hate. Why can’t you just let me be?
Why
do you have to keep liking me? I’ve shown you over and over again that I’m just plain trash. I’ll
never
be good enough for anyone.’ Her tears began to wet my shirt front as her emotions physically overflowed.

“The only thing you’ve shown me, Bella,” I informed her sincerely, “is that you’ll go to
any
lengths to try and convince yourself of something I know just isn’t true. I
still
think you’re wonderful.”

‘Oh god,’ she groaned, still sobbing, burying her face against my shoulder, ‘I give
up
! You’re
insane
. That’s the only possible explanation. Nobody in their right mind would still want to be with me after everything I’ve done.’ She pulled out of my arms and stood before me, her eyes streaming. ‘Paul, I
surrender
! I’ve done everything I could
think
of to drive you away, but you just won’t
go
.’ She held out a trembling right hand to me. ‘I’ve never found anyone before who’d even
begin
to believe in me. This is your last and
final
chance. If you take my hand now, I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me too, with no more tricks. But my best advice to you is to turn around and walk away from me right now because I’m definitely
not
worth it…….. So, what’s it going to be?’ It was the moment of moments.”

“Wow, this so
dramatic
!” Kim exclaimed in fascination. “And so
romantic
as well. I wish I’d been there to see it.”

“It
was
emotionally stirring,” I replied. “I already knew what I was going to do but I stood still for a few seconds, just to add to the drama of the moment. Then I reached out and took Bella’s hand in mine, stepped closer and wiped her face free of tears with my other hand. She closed her eyes with a little sigh. ‘I was hoping against hope you’d take my hand,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I didn’t really expect you would, though. If
I’d
been in your place, I wouldn’t have.’

“I’ll
never
give up on you, Bella,” I told her. “I can see a loving, generous woman in you.”

‘If there is,’ she contradicted, ‘she must be buried
awfully
deep.’ She hesitantly stroked my face with gentle fingers and confessed, ‘I’m afraid that I’m going to be a huge disappointment to you, Paul. Your expectations for me are
way
too high.’

“No, they’re not, sweetheart,” I reassured her, “because I don’t
have
any expectations. I just want you to be yourself – the kind and loving woman that I know you are.”

‘Don’t
say
those sorts of things,’ Bella remonstrated. ‘Look, damn it, you’re making me cry again.’ She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped at her eyes. ‘Stop making me
believe
in myself. I’m not used to it.’

“I smiled and put my arm around her waist. ‘You’d better wear earplugs then,’ I told her, ‘because you’ll be hearing a
lot
of it in the near future.’ 

And then she laughed.”

“
Wow
!” Kim exclaimed. “
Great
story!”

“Yeah, wasn’t it?”

Chapter 8.

- My turn.

- The
Martina
saga again?

- What else?

I was having second thoughts about my course of action with Martina. Was it
really
going to help her? It seemed the logical thing to do, intellectually speaking, but maybe not so clever in the
emotional
arena. The
bed
bit didn’t worry me. My hippie background had inoculated me with a lack of guilt in
that
particular area, but I was hoping my actions wouldn’t make the situation worse. I dithered around like a mother hen, my confidence swinging from absolute belief in success to a certainty that it would end in disaster.

The time finally arrived and Martina met me in my bedroom, flushed and anxious. She looked at me timidly. “Are you really sure about this?” she asked, uncertainly. “I know you don’t want to do it.”

I smiled and gave her a reassuring hug. “I’m
sure
, sweetie,” I told her, pushing down my own doubts deep inside, “but thanks for asking. It’s nice of you to consider my feelings. But let’s get started. How about if I undress you first?”

Martina nodded vigorously, suddenly struck dumb. She started to tremble as soon as I touched her. Oh my god, I thought to myself, she sure has it bad. I certainly hope this works.

I removed the last of Martina’s clothes. She had the beginnings of a nicely developed figure but she was too thin by far.

“Stop
staring
at me, Kim,” she complained. “You’re making me uncomfortable.”

“Sorry, honey,” I apologised. “I didn’t mean to. I was just thinking you need to put on some weight.”

“I know,” she agreed, glancing down at herself. “I could do with some more curves. Are my
boobs
okay, though?” she asked, anxiously.

I smiled indulgently. “They’re
fine
, sweetheart,” I comforted her. “Believe me, they’re your best asset.”

“Really?” she said, relieved. “I’ve always thought so too. But I wish my hips would grow a bit. I look so….
boyish
.”

I laughed at her vanity. “Don’t worry about it, Martina. You look
great
. One day in the future you’ll look back and wish you still
had
those boyish hips.”

“Maybe,” she said doubtfully. She looked expectantly at me. “Umm, Kim, are you ever going to get
undressed
at some stage?”

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “I was too tied up with
your
appearance.” I hastily stripped and faced Maria, who had begun to tremble again.

“
Breathe
a bit, Martina,” I advised, “otherwise you’ll pass out.” She took a deep breath.

“It’s just that…..” she began. “You know, finally seeing you like this……..it’s like having a dream come true. I’ve been thinking about this moment for so long…….I want to make it
last
, that’s all.”

I embraced her and held her tightly. “I understand, honey. Don’t worry, there’s no pressure. We want to satisfy your craving, so take all the time you need.”

I could feel her relaxing into my arms, so I kissed the top of her forehead and held her for several minutes.

We finally separated. I took her by the hand and led her to my bed.

“Lie down, sweetheart,” I told her. “Let’s just talk for awhile. There’s plenty of time.” She obediently stretched out on the bed and I lay beside her. I brushed back the hair from her face and ran my fingers down to her chin. “Tell me about yourself,” I suggested. “For instance, what do you want to do with your life? You can’t be a thief forever.”

Martina appeared startled at my question. “What do I want to
do
?” she echoed. “I’m not sure.” She fell silent as her thoughts gathered themselves. I took advantage of her pause to trace a finger down between her breasts to her stomach. She gave a little shiver. “Well, I’ve always wanted to be a schoolteacher.” She blushed and glanced at me. “You probably think that’s silly.”

“Not in the least,” I consoled her. “I think that’s a marvellous ambition. Why don’t you
try
for it?”

“Are you kidding me?” she snorted. “They’d
never
accept someone like me. And anyway, where would I get the money? Bella, Francine and I can barely make the rent as it is.”

“There may be ways you can get round that,” I told her, as I began to caress her in earnest. She gasped at my touch and gave a tiny moan. “Banks can give loans. Paul and I could help too. How
far
did you get in school?”

“Almost to the end,” she confirmed, beginning to pant in pleasure. “I had one year left to do but my Mum died and I had to go find a job to survive……don’t
stop
..….but I couldn’t find anything, so I took to thieving…..
oooh
, that feels lovely…… and that takes us up to the present day……
oh
god
!.....Are you suggesting I should go
back
to school?..........
ahhhh
!”

“Why not?” I answered, as her back arched and her muscles squirmed under my manipulations. “You could do it easily. And then go to a university. You could have your life’s dream in about four years.”

“You make it sound so simple…… what are you doing
now
?......but it can’t be that easy……..
ooh
……..surely there’ll be problems somewhere along the line…….
oooohh
!”

“Probably,” I verified, watching Martina thrash around in pleasure, “but I’m sure we can work things out.”

When Martina recovered and had become less noisy, I broached the subject again. “Well, what do you think?” I asked.

“Do you really believe it could work?” Martina asked as she pushed me back onto the mattress and started to kiss me all over.

“I don’t see why not,” I told her. “You’re a smart girl. You’ll breeze through the exams….
that’s
nice…..do it
again
….. There’s no reason in the world why you wouldn’t be able to do it…… oh my god,
where
on earth did you learn to do
that
?.......I mean, Paul is quite clever. He can help you with any academic problems……..hey, that’s not
fair
! I didn’t do that to
you!
………. We can assist you with the finances whenever you like.”

“You’re really
tempting
me, you know that?” Martina said, as she tickled me senseless. “I could see myself as a teacher. I’d
love
to do it.”

“Then why
don’t
you?” I rasped, as my pleasure centres erupted into overload. “The only thing stopping you………
bloody hell
! …..is the
desire
to do it…….
dear god
! That’s
incredible
!.......”

We lay in each other’s arms in the aftermath. I looked tenderly at Martina as I cuddled her. I’d never noticed before how small and vulnerable she appeared. She had a lovely face, so baby-like and innocent. Okay, so she was a
thief
and lived with two prostitutes, and had probably seen and heard
more
of life up until now than I’d ever come across in the whole of my lifetime, but I felt oddly protective of her. I felt an unrestrained motherly impulse to look after her and to guard her from the world. My heart melted. I leaned over, cupped her face and kissed her softly.

“What was that for?” she asked, curiously.

I smiled. “That was for just being you,” I answered, enigmatically. “Are you
happy
now?”             

She smiled back at me with loving affection. “Yes, I
am
.” She reciprocated my kiss. “Thank you, Kim. Tonight was magical and I’ll always remember your generosity in providing it. I
love
you.”

“And I love you too, Martina,” I whispered. “Always remember that.”