Grapes O' Wrath Ch. 01

Having just about had enough, Wilfred started to make his way over to the two women, but decided against it. The tools at his disposal would work much better away from the leering eyes of dozens of students and faculty.

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Lucinda Epstein's unscheduled visit that morning had gone much worse than the first. DeeDee should have known a storm was brewing when she hadn't received a single communiqué from the woman for nearly a week. She could have thought that perhaps the worst of Mrs. Epstein's bluster was finally starting to blow over, but given the fact that she'd given her Son, Sammy, two days of lunch detention the previous Wednesday, DeeDee could sense another eruption coming.

She'd sent a note home with the boy the previous week explaining the reasons for the punishment( too many missed homework assignments and a nagging refusal to sit in his assigned seat), but when the note came back signed by Sammy's Father, Chet, DeeDee knew she had problems since every single little bit of Sammy's school experience that year had been micromanaged by Lucinda.

Either the boy was so scared, he'd taken it to get signed by his Dad, knowing the Hellfire he'd face if his Mom found out, or he had shown it to her and she'd steadfastly refused to sign it on the grounds that no one had the right to pull that sort of rank with her child and make him face the stigma of not being able to have lunch with his friends.

DeeDee Alexander would get her answer in very short order.

Lucinda Epstein had come unannounced to school that morning to essentially tell DeeDee she wanted the young teacher's ass on a silver platter. To her credit, DeeDee tried reasoning with the older woman. She told Lucinda that Sammy was serving the detention with five other students so it wasn't like he was being singled out, and that he took the punishment like a man and had actually accomplished a good bit of work while he was there. She may as well have been spitting in the wind, however. From Lucinda's expression, it was clear she didn't think Mrs. Alexander had the authority to discipline a pack of mongrel mutts, much less Lucinda's own Son.

Realizing it was an argument she wasn't going to win, DeeDee simply turned and walked inside her room, telling herself she would break the woman's neck if she dared follow her into her classroom. Before DeeDee was out of earshot, Lucinda did get one more dig in.

"I hope you didn't sign too long of a lease. You know your contract comes back up in front of the school board next Spring, Mrs. Alexander."

Not even turning to acknowledge the not so subtle threat, DeeDee sat at her desk, tapped at her lesson plan a few times, took a deep breath then started to call the roll.

DeeDee would have simply gone through the motions for the rest of the day, weighed down by her confrontation with Lucinda Epstein, but doing her best not to show it. That was before she happened to look to her left just as the woman at the center of her misery once again strode past the open door to her room, this time flanked by the friendly janitor she'd spoken to a few days earlier.

"Don't tell me she's got him in her pocket now...she's probably wrangled him to go out and check her oil or something," DeeDee thought to herself.

Rising to her feet as she gave the students an assignment that would keep them busy for the next 15 minutes or so, DeeDee then ducked out of the room with stealth quickness under the ruse to fill her water bottle up from the fountain just down the hall.

DeeDee made it outside the room just before the pair rounded the corner at the end of the long hallway. Even though Wilfred wasn't touching Lucinda, it was almost as if he had her on a lead.

There was also something strange in the older woman's gait and posture as she disappeared around the corner. Those same shoulders that had been pushed back and rock solid each time Lucinda had approached her now seemed slumped as she walked beside the janitor. Lucinda seemed somehow smaller as well, and not simply because Wilfred stood a few inches taller, even in her heels.

Then something flashed in the recesses of DeeDee's mind, a millisecond flashback to the instant she looked over to see Lucinda Epstein walk past the door that second time with Wilfred flanked to her side. It was an expression she didn't think Lucinda had at her disposal.

Worry.

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The smell was the first thing that brought home just how much Lucinda Epstein's life had changed in the previous five minutes. A ripe combination of cleaning supplies, musty towels and male sweat suddenly permeated the woman's normally pristine palate. There was one other scent hanging in the air, one she had long forgotten the aroma of. As much as Lucinda hated to admit, the unadulterated pale of her very own fear and unease wafted like tiny black gnats from her pores and filled the cramped and dimly lit space of Bradford Middle School's 8' by 8' janitorial closet.

"I'm going to make sure your balls are strung up on the flagpole right in front of the school," Lucinda wanted to bitterly snipe at the janitor standing calmly in front of the now closed maintenance room door, but the words clogged like strewn rail cars in her throat.

"Nothing has to come of this, Mrs. Epstein," the 50 year old man said in broken, but clearly understandable English.

"How do you know my name," was the first thing she wanted to ask, but given what he'd whispered into her ear back out in the hallway beside DeeDee Alexander's room, the man standing before her knew far more than just her name.

"You're trying to blackmail me," were the first words she managed to utter.

"....Yes Ma'am....I guess I am," Wilfred replied after a moment to ponder.

Folding her arms together as she clutched the purse hanging from her left shoulder, Lucinda told herself someone in the school had to see the man lead her straight into the utility closet.

"But you're all the way on the far end of the school," she internally groused, knowing there was only the gymnasium, plus boys and girls locker rooms at that end of the facility. A fact that was brought home by the echo of bouncing basketballs and squeaks from sneakers coming from 50 or so yards away.

"So..no one other than you knows about what you mentioned out in the hall?" Lucinda sheepishly mumbled.

"Oh..a few people do..but no one who could truly do you any harm. It wouldn't take long though for everyone in this town to know what sort of monster your Husband is...and I guess you as well for being complicit for all these years," Wilfred met her contemptuous gaze with equal fervor.

Rolling her tongue around her mouth, not enjoying it a single bit lacking the upper hand in a situation, Lucinda's face had grown December white as she narrowed her bellicose eyes on the man standing between her and the door.

"I have my checkbook... and some cash on me...how much are you...," she tapped at her purse and started to offer before Wilred interrupted.

The janitor sort of chuckled slightly then bit his lower lip after stopping Mrs. Epstein in mid sentence.

"I've been around this town long enough to know how much money you have, Ma'am...that would have no value..if you're gonna barter for something this important you have to do it with something with far more meaning," Wilfred winked, then nodded.

The lump that had already been growing in the pit of Lucinda's stomach had now spread to the Sahara-dry shelf of her throat. She nearly had to reach out with her right hand and stabilize her swooning torso on the hot water heater before getting her knees back beneath her just in time.

Knowing she could still make a break for the unlocked door and run past the janitor to gain her freedom, the fear of the eventual fallout if she did outweighed the awkwardness of her present plight. Ever the pragmatist, Lucinda had to walk out of that cramped closet with some semblance of an understanding going forward. "Then what do you want?" Lucinda's plea finally trickled from her lips.

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The first hint her new Husband may have had some issues came soon after their wedding in the Spring of '96 when Lucinda began to notice some curious charges showing up on Chet Epstein's business credit cards. Back when he still had his medical practice and was still trying to get his vineyard off the ground, Chet traveled quite a bit, especially out to San Francisco several times a month. He casually explained away the extravagant restaurant charges as entertainment for people who were gonna fast track his wine label, and the occasional charge to a generic sounding, 'ABC LTD' type firm, that was for purchasing medical supplies under the table at a cut rate discount.

Even in the naive days of her late 20's, Lucinda was no dummy. She knew Chester was on his third marriage for a reason, he was intelligent, handsome, witty and he made good money, so the idea of him having an affair wasn't at all, far-fetched. Having grown so attached to the lifestyle she was living and the potential for the family vineyard business to take off, Lucinda was able to swallow her ample pride back then and let it be as long as Chet wasn't soiling the spot he ate. He did a real good job of that for a number of years, and the couple was able to climb the social ladder without even a hint of impropriety, from a fidelity standpoint or otherwise.

Then the internet came along.

As any self-respecting and suspicious Wife would, Lucinda had no problem sneaking into her Husband's secret online accounts. It didn't take her long however to wish she hadn't.

The worry she had for years that Chester was boning other women while he was out of town on his business trips quickly disintegrated when she scanned through the troublesome content of his private emails and web traffic. Instead of plunging his dick into any willing lady, Lucinda discovered Chet's taste for buff young men. And apparently with the financial wherewithal he possessed, Chet's plate was quite full with willing suitors.

The sordid discovery explained a lot. Their nearly non existent love-life for one, a pattern that had started well before their wedding night. Also Chet's insistence that they adopt early in their marriage even though they both were still in prime reproductive years. Despite the initial and overwhelming urge to throw up, Lucinda gradually calmed herself that fateful night back in the late 90's. Other than Chet's shoddy job covering his tracks on the family's computer, he was apparently keeping all his marital malfeasance far away from home, and with the vineyard really starting to take off, Lucinda decided she could bare the secret just like so many other wives of powerful but flawed men do every day.

Over the years Lucinda had been able to put the knowledge of her Husband being 'in the closet' in her own mental 'closet of denial' to the point where she almost never thought about what he was doing when he was away on business. She'd even stopped checking his emails for the most part, feeling it was better not actually having to put faces with the men Chet was interacting with from his meet-ups on Craigslist and other assorted sites.

She truly had no clue he'd committed such vile acts right under her nose however until the school janitor came up to her that morning and whispered those dreadful things into her ear. The stunned understanding and acceptance that instantly washed across Lucinda's face prevented any chance of blowing the man's accusations off.

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Strange as it sounds, Lucinda Epstein's head was as clear at that moment as it had been since Wilfred Ramos had whispered those horrible words to her out in the hallway. In fact, it may have been as clear as her head had been in years perhaps. Instead of constantly juggling dozens of different things the way most people with political aspirations and a manipulative bent always seem to do, Lucinda suddenly found herself with one sole and solitary task at hand.

Only two real things registered in her brain at that moment. How hard the smooth concrete felt against her bare and boney knees, and just how similar her nearly unhinged jaws felt to when she tried shoving too many gumballs inside her mouth as a small child.

Lucinda didn't dare look up, knowing full well all that would be waiting for her would be the man's hauntingly satisfied sneer. Instead, she focused on the only thing she could, the fully aroused slab of Wilfred Ramos' throbbing manhood digging at the back of her throat.

Attempting to detach herself from what she was doing, Lucinda could never quite take herself to that far away land inside her mind. Her ears still burning from the sound the janitor's zipper made when he pulled it down and released his shamelessly erect cock, now Lucinda's head was filled with the slurping echo of her own mouth working up and down on the Wilfred's ample shaft.

The weight on her palate was tangible as well. Considering her Husband's romantic tastes, it had been years since Lucinda had a penis in her mouth, but the more she worked at the filthy deed the older man had forced her into, the more she felt a shameful burn well in places long dormant.

Wilfred's curly black pubes tickling her nose and cheeks each time she rocked her face forward, in the recesses of Lucinda's conscious mind she could now hear the footsteps of the kids that had finished gym class now walking up the hall, just the other side of the closed door. She had no choice but to focus on the task at hand however, when she felt the man's certain and steady grip come to rest on the top of her head. Then she could hear him begin to grunt and growl a little louder with each churning thrust forward.

On the periphery of it all, Lucinda understood clearly what she was doing. Not only were her and her Husband's political aspirations on the line, but so was the family's good name. While it would certainly be devastating enough on its own to have Chester publicly outed as gay, it would amount to social Armageddon if what the janitor was suggesting was true.

Having it get out that her Husband had long enjoyed the company of men would certainly cause a local stir, to have it aired that he was using his position and power to repeatedly initiate affairs with some of the young migrant boys working at his vineyard would most likely bring satellite trucks from around the country to the manicured front lawn of the Epstein Estate. Forget climbing the final rungs of the area's social ladder, not only would their name be ruined, but all the hard work they'd put into making the vineyard a national success would swirl down the drain on the first salacious USA Today headline or CNN sound bite.

So that's why Lucinda Epstein found herself on her knees in that humid and shadowy utility closet, bowing before a man she had never met until 10 minutes earlier, praying he'd keep his promise not to tell if she did what he asked. In all honestly, Lucinda had no clue if Mr. Ramos was even telling the truth about Chester and those boys, but given her knowledge about what her Husband was capable of in the shadows, not to mention the jail time he would face along with the family ruination, she truly felt she had no choice but to comply.

There were several rhythmic diversions Lucinda could have focused on as she continued her solemn task. The kids' footsteps on the hallway tiles just on the other side of the closed, but unlocked door, the raspy hiss of the large hot water heater to her right, or even the bass drum thud of her own heart pounding in her chest. The one thing she kept focusing on however, as the pressure points of Wilred's fingers tightened on her scalp, was the jingly report of the janitor's large collection of keys rattling each time he crudely hurled his pelvis forward.

His seven inch girth shoved down her gullet to the point Lucinda could feel his swollen balls bouncing against her chin, she could tell from the intensity of his groans, and the way his knees began to quiver that the horribly thick thing wedged between her lips was about the blow. Her eyes crossed as she franticly tried breathing through her nose, an eerie womb of calm suddenly enveloped Lucinda as both the man's hands clasped securely around the top of her head.

The she tasted Wilfred's release in all it's pent-up fury.

It had been so long since Lucinda had the salty strains of a man's seed in her mouth, her tastebuds instantly exploded as the sticky traces began their steady trek down to her belly. Wilfred's dick flaring wildly in her mouth each time it shot another blistering jet of his rich jism, Lucinda could feel her blood rushing in her ears as he used both hands to keep her head in place.

Just before she thought she'd suffocate, the janitor removed his still spewing cock from Lucinda's overwhelmed mouth. Immediately ingesting a chest full of much needed air, a huge cum bubble rose from her lips when she tried to exhale. As all of that was happening, several more pearls of Wilfred's cum found a home on Lucinda's face, the first landing on the center of her forehead followed by another right between her rolling eyes, then finally petering out in a couple of shiny and smeared dots on the left side of her nose and cheek.

Wilfred's euphoric crescendo continued to reverberate for several more breaths, but it wasn't long before the horrible nature of Lucinda's plight began to filter back. Once again she could feel the harshness of the concrete below on her bare knees, along with the eye watering stench of all the cleaning solutions surrounding her. The taste of the janitor's seed heavy on her palate, she could also feel the weight of his stare. Even without looking up, Lucinda was sure it was laced with a healthy dose of smug, self gratification.

Thinking of tilting her head upwards to meet Wilfred's gaze with a defiant one of her own, before she could even try, Lucinda felt the meaty vessel of the man's cock plop diagonally down across her weathered face.

"UUUHHHH," she gasped as the slightly older man began scrubbing his still aroused manhood back and forth until the cum he'd just deposited was layered in a thin, but lasting sheen from her scalp all the way down to her chin.

A sickening jolt rumbled through Lucinda's insides when she realized he was far from done with her.

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Wilfred had stunned himself at the effectiveness of his rather impromptu plan. Having no real idea how a woman of Lucinda's ilk would react to being approached, then cornered in such a vile way, the 50 year old janitor had to blink his eyes repeatedly, just to remind himself what he was seeing in front of him was real.

Feeling as if he'd been gliding on air since he first walked up to Mrs. Epstein outside DeeDee Alexander's room, Wilfred seemingly had to hit his internal re-set button when he looked down at Lucinda's cum-smeared face. Just that quick, he suddenly had supreme power over one of the most influential women in town.

The itch of that power fueling him, along with the help from those glorious little blue pills the school's medical plan now paid for, Wilfred repeatedly tapped the underside of his glistening cock on Lucinda's lips and chin until he as sure he could see the kneeling woman attempting to kiss the thing back.

Continuing to pump his rigid brown shaft back to its full, impressive girth with his right hand as he slowly helped Lucinda to her feet with his left, Wilfred wasted no time flipping her around once he was sure she could stand. The grizzled older man then pulled the woman's rear end flush against his straining crotch before snaking his free hand under the hem of her knee length skirt.

Even with her head facing the closed doors of the maintenance room and away from the brooding janitor, Lucinda had a very good idea what was coming next....