Ex Exorcism

© 2023 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary. If you see this story on any website other than Literotica.com, it has been copied without the author's permission.

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Ex Exorcism

Getting that damn witch out of his soul

"I don't do Halloween," said Phil.

"Oh, come on out and let's have some fun," said Wendy Gifford. "I'll make dinner, then we'll go to the VFW and have a few beers, then we'll head over to the RV park and throw some firecrackers and wake up every dog in the trailer park."

"That's Halloween?"

"It is in Wendy's world. Come on, it'll be fun."

"You make it sound so exciting."

"Come ooooonnnn," Wendy pleaded. "I miss my old buddy. I want my Phil back."

"You want to wake up every dog in your neighborhood?" There, thought Phil Beaudreau, I just called her trailer trash, now maybe she'll leave me alone.

"I can think of better ways to make 'em howl. Pleeeeeze? You don't have to wear a costume, we're scary enough."

"What time should I come git ya?" said Phil, giving in. He knew Wendy, she'd eventually wear him down into agreeing.

"Be here at six pm for our traditional Halloween feast!"

It's been ten months since Phil's wife May packed up her things, left a thumb drive full of explicit photos of herself and whoever she is screwing now, and disappeared. She even took his dog. It's a good thing she never figured out how to drive a stick, or she would have taken his mint 78 Ford pickup, too.

What a fucking fool he was.

Through middle school and high school, it was Phillip and Wendy. They were inseparable, two peas in a pod as the old timers would say when they saw them walking down the street. They spent every moment together, fishing on the river or practicing for the school play. When it came time to serve his country, she stood next to him when he took his oath of enlistment and she even wrote him every week when he was at sea in the Navy.

Then he met May.

He stepped off the sub that brought him back to home station and, as usual, there was a crowd to welcome the Gold Crew when they returned from their deployment. He scanned the crowd because Wendy was waiting for him, but... there she was... tall, slender, blond, beautiful. Phil didn't see anyone else, just May. It was as if the crowd disappeared and there was only one person he could see. He walked up to the blond goddess and said, "Hi, I'm Phil Beaudreau, who are you waiting for?"

She smiled and adjusted the collar on his shirt and said, "You," and they left together. She said he was the man for her. She said she was once a bikini model. She said she loved everything about him except the Navy, so he didn't reenlist. Six weeks later, they were married. Their honeymoon was blissful, everything he could have wanted. Then her mother showed up and dropped off her kids. "I'm sure I told you about them. Doncha just love 'em?"

She never said a word about them. The little girl was three, the boy was five, and they were brats. They trashed everything; they talked back to him, they got into all of his things. A year ago, he was a highly trained technician on an ICBM carrying sub. Suddenly he's scrubbing feces off of the bedroom wall next to the 3-year-old's bed with her mother defending her. "Just because it's on the wall beside her bed don't mean it's hers!" As his life descended into hell, he found he was babysitting the kids so she could go out on dates. Then he discovered that his hard earned paychecks were being injected into her veins. Luckily, she made her mind up to leave him by then.

It was a blessing when she left. He could start working on paying off the debt she ran up and run home with his tail between his legs like a man.

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Phil eventually got dressed up for Halloween. He wore a pair of black denim pants, a black t-shirt that said "BOO!" in big white letters, and a fake hockey goalie's mask. Phil stood at Wendy's door trying to work the courage up to knock. He was such a damn fool... indecision tore through him. He ran off with May without a word to Wendy. She could have talked him out of marrying that bitch, but something kept him away from her. Damn fool pride, that's what it was. Every time they came into home port, Wendy was there for him, then that last time they pulled into port, he didn't see Wendy. All he saw was May.

Inside, Wendy sat in the dark where she knew he couldn't see her and she watched the drama play out on the back porch. His inner turmoil played across his face as she silently said, "Come onnnn!" then he turned to leave. Ice cold sorrow coursed through her veins and she stared in wide-eyed disbelief as he turned, then turned back to the door. Relief flooded her veins, but she knew Phil. If he changes his mind again and turns away one more time, he's gone for good. She held her breath, then slowly he turned again. Her heart sank. She can't go running to him. This has to be his decision, and he was turning away. But as he turned, his elbow hit the wooden frame of the screen door with a muffled knock.

That counts! "Come in!"

"I... I didn't..."

"It's ok, come on in." Phil stood rooted at the back door in the dim glare of the bug light until Wendy's smile appeared through the screen.

"Sorry, I was in the living room, I almost didn't hear ya."

"I... I didn't..."

"I know, you don't do Halloween, but you got all dressed up for me." Her smile was contagious. "That means a lot to me. Come in!"

Feeling like a first class buffoon, Phil Beaudreau stepped into the kitchen that was illuminated by a couple of Jack-o'-lanterns, one smiling and one frowning. Comedy and tragedy. "Melpo and Thalia," muttered Phil.

"You remembered!" said Wendy.

"How could I forget with all the hours we spent in the drama club?" She was Laurey Williams, and he was Curly McLain in Oklahoma! and their love was called "A little too real" by the principal, Mr. Purvis.

"Tons of hours!"

"Far too many," said Phil with a sad half smile. Now is a good a time as any. "Wendy, I'm sor..."

Wendy silenced him with a finger to the lips. "No. Maybe later, but not now. This is our... Grand Reunion Dinner!"

In the dimly lit kitchen, she seated him at a table covered with a black tablecloth. White China and glassware were set out and Wendy poured Phil his favorite, an ice cold RC cola. The only light was from a white taper candle. "I just want to say that I feel powerful awful for the way I treated you and I want to apologize."

"Apologize for what?" demanded Wendy from the kitchen. "Treated me how? You didn't run out and cheat on me after we said, 'I do.' You didn't lie to me about two kids and make me baby-sit 'em. And you sure as hell didn't run off with my dog. Now enough about that. If we were going to spend this night apologizing, let's apologize for important things, like putting bullfrogs in lockers."

"I did not put a bullfrog in anyone's locker," said Phil.

"No, of course you didn't. You don't like to touch frogs. I'm the one that put the bullfrog in Penny Reese's locker."

Phil Beaudreau's eyes finally showed the first signs of surprise. "YOU put the frog in Stuck Up Penny's locker? Why?"

"Because she treated my friend like crap! You asked her to the 8th grade dance, and she told you to fuck off, so I gave her a frog for her trouble." Wendy's grin was infectious.

"She blamed me for it," said Phil.

"Yeah, but everyone in Charleton County knows you hate to touch frogs, so everyone thinks she's lying."

Phil sat at the table chuckling, then without turning, said, "Thank you. I needed that." Her soft hand rested on Phil's shoulder and he patted her warm hand. "Thank you."

"Phillip Jay Beaudreau, you're sitting here with your back to me... I could stick a knife in your ribs or poison your food or maybe just sneak out on you!"

"You'd never do that to me; God knows you've earned the right."

"I could be naked, too."

May suddenly made retching sounds in Phil's head, but Phil continued on. "If you were naked, you'd be teasing me more."

"Get out!" May whispered in Phil's ear. Did he hear that? He looked around nervously and didn't see her, but he felt her.

"Stop moping," demanded Wendy. "We'll have plenty of time to do that after we get a few beers in us. Now... can you guess what is for dinner?" She shook a can that sounded like it was full of dried rice.

"Canned chicken chow mein."

"How did you guess?"

"It's what we always eat on Halloween."

Wendy put a plate of chow mein on crisp noodles in front of him, and as always she bumped it up with more chicken, a few dashes of herbs and spices, extra Chinese vegetables, a dash of chicken bouillon, and a splash of Texas Pete's hot sauce.

"It's poisoned," whispered May. Phil closed his eyes and wished he were dead; he knew this was a mistake. Even though she walked out on him, his ex is haunting him.

Wendy sat down across from him and the girl that was always at his side appeared in the candlelight. Mousy brown hair that seemed to go in all directions even after being combed and brushed into submission, large glasses that perfectly framed her hazel eyes, tiny nose and a huge happy smile with lips that are full and soft, lips that looked like they can't wait to get at your cock. Wendy has a long slender neck, broad shoulders for a girl and large, round breasts, a narrow waist and wide hips. She's everything Phil ever loved in a woman.

"She's fat," May hissed in his head.

Next to Wendy, May was a piece of lumber with two bee stings and she shows the same intellect as that lumber, but something in his gut told him that May was his woman. He tried to fight it, Wendy was the one he cared about, but May was there, poisoning his heart.

"Why are you shaking your head?"

"How stupid I can be sometimes." Before she got on his case for putting himself down, he quickly changed the subject. "What's going on with Bevin's old filling station?" He saw Ted Wheeler's pick up there and Ted had all his ladders and tools with him.

"They're remodeling it. Sally Ann McKendrick is going to open a crafts store there."

"And what is going on over at the Sadie Hawkins?"

Wendy smiled and said, "They're remodeling to make it look like it was 1935 in there and put in a proper soda fountain." The Sadie Hawkins is where Phil used to take Wendy for ice cream.

"Go back to the city," May demanded silently. "That's where I'm waiting for you."

As he neared the end of his plate of chow mein, Phil asked, "Did you ever wonder what we would be like if I didn't make a mess of everything?"

"I know exactly what life would be like," said Wendy. Her eyes were on fire when she said, "you'd be a petty officer on a boomer, and I'd be sitting in Kings Bay family housing with my legs crossed hoping you get home before the baby comes."

"No, really, what would life..." but he could see the fire in her eyes that said she believed every word she just said. "I'm sorry I took that from you."

"Stop," she said as she started picking up dishes. "Our story is not over yet." She poked Phil's forehead with an index finger and said, "we need to get that cunt out of your head. Now pick." She held a plastic coffee can in front of him and in it were a few individually wrapped fortune cookies. He played her little game and selected a cookie. Breaking open the cookie, he pulled out the slip of paper that said.

Roses are red, violets are blue,

She's going to fuck the hell out of you.

"Where did you get these fortune cookies?" asked Phil with a sudden shock.

"Amazon," said Wendy, whose fortune said; You have 20/20 foresight.

Phil's mouth was dry as he handed the fortune to Wendy. "Here, check this shit out."

"Don't show me!" said Wendy, holding her hand up. "It won't come true if you show me. Let's clean up and go trick or treating."

"Trick or treating?"

Wendy took eight red poker chips out of her pocket and showed them to Phil. Each chit was good for a beer at the VFW. "I got the treats. You got any tricks?"

After straightening up, Phil said, "Whose car are we going to take?"

"It's a nice night. Let's walk."

Inwardly, Phil breathed a sigh of relief. He was almost out of gas and payday wasn't until Thursday. Before they knew it, they were walking through St. Felix, Georgia; it wasn't late, about 7:00 PM, but it was dark and foggy, a perfect night for a haunting. The streetlights showed down from between the arms of heavy oak tree branches, illuminating pools of light, and Spanish moss swung lazily in the warm breeze. It wasn't a long walk to the VFW hall and before they knew it; they were at the door. The VFW was practically the focal point of life in St. Felix and the Halloween party was in full swing. It was crowded with ghosts and ghouls, even though there were parties going on in nearly every house in the tiny South Georgia town.

The main hall at the VFW was packed. As a Zombie sang "You Light Up My Life" in the "Karoke Kontest," Phil and Wendy made their way to the bar. Wendy helps bar tend a few nights a week, but this is a big night with big tips, so the bartenders with the most seniority worked that night. Wendy tossed a couple of chips on the bar and the bartender pulled her two Miller Lites and handed her the plastic cups. At the VFW bar tenders work for tips, and the guys are supposed to tip with cash, but they'll drop a beer chit in the tip jar if they don't have any cash. That is why Wendy usually has a dozen chits in her purse.

Except for Hugh Hefner shooting pool against Bettie Page at the back table, there wasn't much going on in the poolroom, so Phil and Wendy got a table and started shooting 8 Ball just like they used to. They spent more time drinking beer and teasing and distracting each other than shooting pool. Wendy looked around and started wriggling around in her t-shirt, tugging at her bra straps, then suddenly she pulled her bra out of her shirt and tossed it to Phil as he lined up a shot.

"She's so gross," whispered May.

"Thank you darling," said Phil as the bra hung over his head. He missed his shot, then he neatly folded up her bra and put it in his pocket. From that moment on, pool became an unplayable game for Phil, actually for the both of them. As Phil tried to line up a shot, Wendy would lean over the table, the stretched out neckline of her t-shirt would hang open, exposing her large dangling breasts. As he looked, he felt that tug to consider May, slim and sexy, long blond hair... Phil hated this tug of war.

As Wendy tried to line up a shot, Phil would get close, close enough for Wendy to feel the warmth of his body and his breath on the back of her neck and he could feel May pulling him away.

"Gawd lady, you're killing me," he groaned as she brought two more Miller Lites from the bar.

She proudly arched her shoulders back showing her erect nipples pressing against the fabric of her shirt. "You're killing me too, sailor."

Phil came up and hugged her from behind, and it felt so good. Dreams of spending the night in his arms filled her head, then all too soon, he released her, returned to the pool table, and whiffed a shot. Her teasing and taunting got worse and worse. If she wasn't displaying her ample breasts, she was simulating fellatio with her cue stick. Phil would lean back against an adjacent table with his stick between his legs, chalking the tip extremely slowly, groaning as he turned the cube of chalk. For some reason, that got under Wendy's skin. She could picture Phil naked, slowly stroking his cock to taunt her. Finally the beer, the night, the warmth gave Phil either the courage or the anger to pull Wendy close and demand, "What do you want, pretty girl?"

"I know what I want," said Wendy, her lips inches from his. "Tell me what you want."

She saw pain in his eyes and he said, "I don't know, I think I want to lay down and die." The tug of war going on in his head with May was wearing him out.

Her breasts pressed against him and she gripped his upper arms tightly. "Let's reset to where we were three years ago," said Wendy, "You're still in the Navy and you just stepped off the USS Minnow..."

"Maryland," he corrected.

"Whatever. You step on shore and I was so wet for your that I thought I would die, but you walked right past me and walked away with May. Did you know her?"

"You were there?" Phil was in shock. "You wanted me?"

How could he not know? "Concentrate, you walked away with blondie, how long did you know her?"

"I... I didn't know her. I got off the boat, and she was all that I could see... it was the only face I could concentrate on. You were there?" confusion was obvious on Phil's face.

"Get away from her!" shrieked May in Phil's head.

"I was always there, every time you returned. Think!" demanded Wendy. "Did anyone give you something when you were getting on the boat?" There were always plenty of well-wishers. Boomer crews are big and the mission is demanding, so everything is done to make the guys feel good when they go on their underwater assignments.

"No, but..." Phil slowly took off the beaded neck chain that usually held his dog tags. This one held a small locket. He slowly opened the heart-shaped locket, and all that was inside of the locket was a small lock of blond hair. "This was mailed to me in a care package from an anonymous sender, one of those 'We're thinking of you sailor, thank you for protecting us' kind of things."

"She's grasping at straws," hissed May. "You're mine."

Wendy looked at the locket, and her blood ran cold. "Please answer me this," Wendy grasped both of his hands in hers and said, "Can we be happy like we were?"

Phil looked at her like she was crazy, "In high school you friend zoned me into the Antarctic."

"That ain't my fault, ya clueless goober. If you wanted me, why didn't you ever try something? Why d'ya make me wait?"

"I was afraid you'd..." He looked around for an exit, he wanted to be so far away from this situation. "I was told that you thought I was gay, and you were acting as my beard. You were just hanging out with me because we acted together in Drama Club."

"I never thought that! Who told you that?"

"Louisa Dunbarton."

"That fuckin' ho! I'm going to kick her ass." She took several deep breaths and repeated herself, "One more time, can you think of any conceivable world where we could be happy together?"

"NO!" May shouted in Phil's head.

"That's all I've dreamed about since seventh grade," said Phil softly. "You an' me together forever."

"That's the right answer... I need to think." She had two more beer chits, she walked up to the bar with Phil in tow and said, "Two more, please." She hopped up on the bar stool and pulled Phil close. She needs to find a witch, not one of these creepy guys dressed as witches line dancing to The Monster Mash over by the shuffleboard table. "Rhonda!" she shouted for the barmaid. "Who is that witch that cleared up your tomato blight?"

"That was Grandma Noah. She's west side of town, just off 121, right on the edge of the swamp."

"Thanks love."

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It was nearly ten o'clock and still warm by the time they reached the edge of the swamp. The walk through town revealed a few small groups that were going up and down the streets trick or treating. Helicopter parents were out in force watching the grade schoolers and carrying the younger kids. Small clusters of older kids roamed the streets looking to snag some Reece's Pieces. Jack-o'-lanterns glowed from stoops and porches; the smell of scorched pumpkin wafted in the air. A few houses had strings of orange and purple lights, two houses had twelve foot tall skeletons in the yard, everyone else had to settle for life size.