Hear no Evil

Mary was like a cat on a hot tin roof, antsy, pacing when she wasn't waiting on someone, looking at her watch every five minutes, at nine thirty she signed it was time to go. Though Aubrie smiled when she saw us it was obvious, she was gravely ill, cheeks sunken, eyes looked like pee holes in the snow, the gums were receding from her rotten teeth, tubes and wires all over her body. She was catheterized but had very little urine in the bag. Mary was crying softly holding Aubrie's hand when a nurse entered enquiring who we might be, after a short version of how we knew her she confided that it wasn't likely Aubrie would live much longer.

I asked about the prognosis, "Her body is shutting down, she's tired and her body is worn out, she can't tell us how old she is but based on the condition of her body we figure about seventy, the streets have robbed her of any happy ending. The hospice people were here earlier, they're going to transport her to a hospice facility where she can die peacefully, they figure two to four days. When I ask about finding family or relatives, she told me Aubrie had told then she had none, when I ask about burial, she told me the county would cremate her and that was it.

Mary had been reading her lips and cried even more, after getting the information for the hospice facility we made our way back to the store, I called the facility every hour until they confirmed she was indeed there. They were going to bathe her, wash and shampoo her hair, dress her and make her as comfortable as possible, we would be allowed to visit after four that afternoon. Mary left the store at three, I knew she was going to clean up and be ready to go by three thirty, as we walked into the hospice facility we were instantly pleased, everyone was so accommodating from the people at the front desk to the attending nurses.

Aubrie was clean, shampooed and dressed in a nightgown, it wasn't that she'd been dirty at the hospital, they simply didn't have the personnel to watch over her like this facility did. She was sick and near death, but she seemed to be content at last, Mary held her hand the entire hour we were present. Walking by the nurses station when we walked out we were stopped by the head nurse who told us she didn't think Aubrie would last more than another day and if we wanted to see her we should come about eight the following morning.

We visited nearly two hours the next day, by the end Aubrie was drifting in and out of consciousness, I needed to get back, I asked the nurses if Mary could stay with her until she died telling them Mary was deaf. The ladies on shift assured me she could stay and that they would watch out for Mary's needs. I got a call from the nurse's station just after three, Aubrie had left this earth and Mary was ready to be picked up. We talked some on the way home, she wasn't crying or sad, simply happy that Aubrey's suffering was over, she used her voice more during that half hour ride home than I'd ever heard before.

At the house I told her to go upstairs, I would finish the day, close up and see her for supper wondering where she might like to go. She signed that she had no idea and she'd let me know when I closed for the day. With the help of Sean and Sarah I got everything buttoned down, the display carts inside and the inventory taken, trudging up the steps my nostrils alerted me to something different, the smell of a home cooked meal. Walking into the kitchen Mary had her back to me, she had on a simple house dress and one of my mothers old aprons, somehow she rocked that look, turning she smiled and said *welcome home* in sign, *supper will be ready in ten, go wash your hands*.

Washing my hands and splashing water on my face I could do nothing but smile, what a wonderful turn of events, with any luck perhaps we can work toward a lasting relationship. For the first time in years I allowed my heart to actually entertain falling in love, there had been too many bad experiences in the past to think I would ever love again. With clean hands and face, a fresh t-shirt and a smile I plunked my butt on the chair, Mary set a platter of roast beef on the table followed by mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed corn. In the past if we ate together, she had always sat opposite me, tonight she sat next to me, so many new things were happening.

When the crematorium called to say Aubrie's ashes were ready we picked them up, took them to a funeral home, bought an urn and had them place the ashes inside, that urn now sits on a shelf next to the refrigerator as a reminder of where Mary had come from. Mary began leaving the store each day at four to clean up and have supper ready when I walked upstairs, she would clock out to reflect the shorter days, but with Sean and Sarah it was okay, by the end of the day most of their sales had taken place.

I noticed she had begun dressing more like a housewife and less like an employee. Cotton house dresses, shorts, t-shirts, sandals, her hair was always done and light makeup applied by the time I ascended the stairs. Our behavior became more fluid and less rigid, more smiles, more joking, more touches of the arm, shoulder, an occasional hip bump followed by a giggle. Meals were relatively quiet, it's hard to eat and sign at the same time, therefore our evening walk after dishes became the time we would walk and sign or sit on a park bench and talk using ASL.

It had been on a cloudy evening when the ice in our relationship seemed to melt, it was almost as if she had reached a point in her life where she trusted me, where my agenda to somehow win her heart became apparent. On the bench under a huge Oak tree our animated conversation went like this.

Mary: "Lee, are you comfortable being around me even if I can't speak?"

Me: "I am, my ASL has improved, at least I think it has. I love that you cook for me each day and that you work so hard in the store. Why do you ask?"

Mary: "Because I like you, you treat me with kindness, your patient with me and I find myself having feelings for you that I haven't had since my husband. I would like to be more than your employee. Is that something you have thought about?"

Me: "Everyday Caroline Marie, every day. I have wanted to hold you in my arms for weeks now but was always afraid I would frighten you."

She smiled when I used her full name instead of her nickname.

Mary: "You're the first man I've trusted completely since Joel my late husband, watching Aubrie die made me realize how alone in the world I have become, I don't want to be alone any longer. I'm not a floozy but can I move into your apartment and sleep in the spare bedroom, I promise not to be a burden."

She wouldn't be a burden, there was a small attached bath off the master bedroom and a full bath in the hall, I could use the hall bath for a shower and take care of everything else in the other bathroom. I would let her move all her female stuff into the hall bath, all it was being used for at present was a shower when needed.

Me: "You won't be a burden, I'll shower in the hall bath but otherwise it's yours, do with it as you like. When do you want to start sleeping in my apartment?"

Mary: "Right away, I'll move a little more from mine to yours every day after work. One more thing, can we kiss in the morning and before bed, it's something Joel and I did religiously, and I miss it terribly."

I put my arm around her shoulders, pulled her close to me and kissed her full on the mouth, allowing it to linger, then pulled back with a smile and kissed her again. Her left hand raised off her lap ending up on the back of my neck holding me tight to her lips. When we finally broke the kiss, I asked if that was what she had in mind.

Mary: "More than I anticipated, so much more, and I liked it, you're a good kisser. You can kiss me like that every day and I'll never tire of it."

On our walk home she wasn't satisfied with simply holding my hand, she looped her arm through mine and pulled me tight to her body, I could feel the firmness of her breast against my arm as we strode, with every movement her breast would softly caress my arm. I was fighting for all I was worth not to become aroused, it was working partially, I could feel myself leaking pre-cum but at least I didn't have a hardon. Changing crusted underwear would be far better than trying to hide an erection.

Mary was moved in within a week, Sean and Sarah asked if they could move into her apartment, I agreed with enthusiasm, I'd have someone I trusted in the apartment which to me was priceless. On the very first morning as I exited my room there stood Mary dressed for the day looking at me, when I gave her the *what's up* shrug she stepped forward, planted her lips on mine and proceeded to get her morning kiss. Evenings were the same, if either of us went to bed before the other it was expected we go find the other for a goodnight kiss, or two, or three.

Her attire had become more relaxed when at home, I had an old beater television that had been my folks, on a Saturday morning we went together and bought a 40-inch smart tv that would allow for closed captioning. Following that we spent a few hours each night snuggled on the couch watching whatever murder mystery series we were hooked on at the time. In the store Mary had become a feature, folks passed me to talk with Mary whether hearing disabled or not, I really didn't mind, she morphed to it as though it was her life calling, it also afforded me more time to do the lifting and restocking of displays. It was working so well that I would have the end of day inventory nearly finished by the time I closed for the evening.

Snuggled on the couch with me in sweats and Mary in a large baggy tee she looked up and turned my face to hers where she immediately locked lips with me, this time with a tongue tease which I readily responded to. Then as though a switch had been flipped she reached for my hand and put it on her breast, I took over from there, caressing it, molding, softly squeezing, playing with her nipple, she moved my hand to the other breast where I did the same. Moaning and whimpering into my mouth I continued, her chest was pushed tight to my hand, I wanted to kiss and suck them in the worst way but knew better than to push it.

Pushing back she lifted a little to pull the shirt from under her butt, stopped, looked in my eyes and slowly raised the shirt above her waist, my eyes were drawn to the pink panties covering her nether region, they weren't full size or bikini, I figured they were hip huggers like my sister had worn. I could make out a slight bulge at the front, it was obvious from other clothing that her mons protruded slightly but this was different, this was a tuft of puffy pubic hair, there are lots of guys who prefer it shaved, I'm not one of them. Thick and wooly is just fine with me, the way I looked at it was if my tongue and dick can't split a few hairs I need to give up and become a eunuch.

On her knees straddling my hips she gracefully placed a nipple into my mouth and pulled my head to her chest, switching from side to side, she wasn't huge nor were they perfect orbs as breasts are so often described, in fact, the left was slightly smaller than the right if you looked carefully. They weren't perfect but they were in my gasp and more than adequate, I would suck and play with those anytime she'd allow it. As I sucked her hips rolled back and forth as though they had a mind of their own, moving the back of my hand against her mound to rub against she let out a deep long moan, I wanted in those panties in the worst way, I decided I would stick to the plan and let her initiate anything further.

Moving my hand from her mound she sat upright causing the nipple to make a POP noise as it left my lips, she stood, said audibly *I love you, goodnight*, grabbed her shirt and sashayed down the hall, her cute taught ass jiggling slightly with each step. The sway was indeed exaggerated, and I didn't mind, at her door she smiled, made a kissing motion and entered the room. If I were completely honest, I would say I didn't see that coming at this particular stage, I didn't mind, I just hadn't seen it coming.

Over the next few months our time together alone became animated and sensual, a lot of kissing, petting and over the past few weeks she was letting me put my hand in her panties, the last time I was actually fingering her when she climaxed on my hand and her underwear. I wanted to get her naked, but she objected.

"I don't want to be completely naked until I'm ready for you to make me yours, which will be very soon, I love you and want to give myself to you, please be patient."

That was the very first time she pulled my dick out and gave me a hand job, something I could do on my own but somehow felt oh so much better with her hands wrapped around my shaft. She giggled a little as I lay on the bed with her at my side stroking my cock, when I began to ejaculate she squealed and jumped slightly as she continued to stroke until there was nothing left. It was on my chest, on her arm, in her hair, her hands were covered in semen along with the puddle in my navel. I couldn't recall the last time I'd cum that hard. She returned from the bathroom with a warm wet washcloth to help clean the mess I had made.

In sign she told me she had never seen a man cum like that, Joel liked her to give him hand jobs, but he never came that much or shot so far. The next three nights were the same except she took off her shirt when it came time to stroke my dick, one of the evenings she pointed my cock toward her and got three spurts onto her tits where she sat smiling as she rubbed it in. My sweet demure Mary was turning out to be my personal hussy and I was loving it. Two nights later after an uneventful evening on the couch other than some kissing and a little petting I lay in bed contemplating how far we'd come in just over a year.

I had apparently dozed because the bed moving startled me, as I began to sit up I felt Mary's tender hand push gently on my chest sending me back into a prone position, the covers had been turned down and there next to me lay my naked Mary. After some kissing she sat up, took my underwear off and proceeded to assure I was hard with her warm soft lips sliding up and down my cock, she had over four inches of my six in her mouth when she stopped. Moving a leg over the top of me she grabbed my dick, lined it up with the opening of her vagina and slowly ever so slowly lowered herself on my shaft until her butt touched my thighs.

Sitting still she wiggled her hips slightly as though she were getting everything inside situated then raised up and slid back down developing a slow steady rhythm, I was pushing up a little with each downward movement. With a bit more gusto she picked up speed and began to pummel herself on my dick, our bodies were slapping together, though I doubted she knew it the squishy sounds of our juices were becoming louder. There was a frothy ring of white at the base of my cock, her pussy was overflowing with natural lubricant as she raised and lowered rapidly, it was when she slowed slightly and her breathing stopped that I knew she was going to climax.

Her body slammed down hard onto my pelvis as she screamed and ground her hips back and forth on my dick, deep moans left her mouth and though she didn't speak it was obvious she was in orgasmic bliss. Flopping forward onto me her breasts splayed across my chest, I rubbed her back and cooed against her neck, she might not hear it, but she would certainly feel the vibrations of my voice. Still inside her I sat us upright, turned and spun her beneath me, I have never been one to cum quickly and this was no exception.

With her legs alongside mine I began to rock back and forth within her body, after a half dozen strokes, she lifted her legs bent at the knee and drew them alongside her torso. With her pussy lovingly grasping my shaft I see sawed in and out to a quick pace when I felt her fingers running through my chest hair, opening my eyes I could see hers in the moonlight, twinkling, shining, looking adorable. It was then that she spoke audibly, "Harder Lee, harder." I needed no more encouragement as I picked up the pace and thrust level, I was pounding in and out of her with pent up desire and she was responding in a like manner.

As I pushed one last time her legs wrapped around my ass holding me in place as shot after shot of semen was dispensed within her pulsating hungry love canal, her hips bucked and her fingernails dug into the flesh of my back. The song lyrics *it hurt so good* ran through the fog of my brain as I tried to regain my breath, sweat was dripping off my nose onto her chest, it didn't seem to matter to her, her body was still twitching and jerking involuntarily every five to ten seconds. Through the years there had been a good number of women climax beneath me, but none had ever been as intense as what I had just witnessed.

With the moon having shifted so we could see one another's face clearly she signed *I love you*, to which I did the same. I warmed a washcloth to clean our mess, she was a bit tender but otherwise felt alright. She put on panties and me underwear, so we didn't wake with cum running out onto the sheets and went to sleep snuggled tight together. From that point on she has been in my bed every night, our level of intensity and experimentation has increased exponentially including everything from me eating her to her learning to get me off with her mouth. An evening or early morning of oral only is not unheard of.

We work together in the store and play together in our home, what more can one ask. By the time we'd first made love she had stopped ovulating, so the threat of pregnancy has never existed, we ride bare back with wanton abandon. Mother returned almost eighteen months after we'd been living together, she stayed for a month and went back to Korea telling me she was happy I had found someone to love and be loved by. We have plans to visit she and my sister sometime soon.

We now employ two full time and three part time people to help with both the produce side and the bakery, where we can we employ homeless who want to work beyond making enough for the next bottle of booze or fix, we train them, pay them a reasonable wage and help them get back on their feet. Being more in a supervisory capacity than actual hands on opened a new door for Mary and me.

Where we are located had once been the hub of the city and was making a strong come back, seven blocks from our store was the original Benson's IGA, one of fourteen in the local area. Old man Benson had started his business there and made sure it stayed open, once he'd died the kids wanted to dump it in favor of their other larger stores throughout the metropolitan area. The youngest Benson boy and I had gone to school together up until the time I started hanging out with gangs, on a Saturday morning he showed up just as I was setting up outside. I didn't recognize him and had no idea who he was until he introduced himself.

Long story short he had read the articles about our store and bakery and asked outright if I thought I might like to buy the original Bensons, the area needed something for basics, more and more of the old business buildings were being renovated into apartments and studios. To quote him, "Even yuppies need to eat", that they did, and while the store might never be a huge shopping hub, it certainly had the potential to be a part of the ever-growing downtown housing expansion.

Between the equity I had in my paid for properties, savings and future sales we were able to leverage the purchase of the store with enough liquid cash to see us through the first six months if necessary. The first thing we did was close for three weeks while we scrubbed, cleaned and painted the interior hiring as many reliable homeless as we could find. Mary knew who the ones that wanted to work were and we sought them out, providing them with meals each day and setting up rollaway beds in the storage area for sleeping. The first and only stringent rule was no booze or drugs, if violated they were gone. One of the people I hired was an ex-con I'd served time with, his job was to be the onsite foreman and babysitter after hours, considering he was six five nobody messed with him.