Pride Comes Before a Fall

Minutes later we were both listening to Susan skip around the kitchen, humming some tune that I don't think either of us recognized.

"You have questions Martin. Why your still alive, being one of them I guess?"

I gulped, he's doing it again. Can I keep my mind blank, and would he see me doing just that?

He pointed to the couch. Jeremy sat on the chair that faced the kitchen; the couch meant that my back was to it.

"When Susan emailed me to tell me she was going into something called 'The Auction' and not to worry, I picked up the phone and talked to Malcom Browning. He swore he knew nothing of this and checked for me. Susan wasn't coerced into it in any way. She told the interviewer that the money from her sale was going to her cousin for helping with her education, and to start her own business."

His voice dropped so low that I had to listen really carefully. When he got back he told Malcom that if any of the old men touched or even stuck their dicks into his cousin, then all bets were off. Malcom Browning knew he meant it. So he hatched the plan for Tessa to win her at The Auction.

"When she emailed me about finding you, I decided to take step back and watch."

I watched him in genuine fear for my life. But something was missing in all this, and my mind was just too full of fear to regroup and think hard enough.

Jeremy smiled, took a sip of his water, and said. "You have done more for Susan than I have growing up with her. She's not the girl or woman I knew then. Thank you Martin."

"What are you thanking him for?"

Her voice made us both turn to look at her.

I will say this, Jeremy Smithers can sure roll with the punches.

"I was thanking him for the invite for this evening and was about to extend the same invite. Bernadette and the girls haven't seen you in forever and were heartbroken that this fell on her visit to her mothers'."

Susan made it across the room in two steps and was sat on my lap on the third. I saw the wince from Jeremy when she did. His jaw line tightened, but he sure recovered quickly. My only thought, before I banished it to the furthest part of my brain, was 'I don't think he would have any difficulty in ripping my arms or legs off in a fit of rage'.

I knew one thing watching Jeremy this evening: Susan must have been the most protected girl in their neighborhood when she was growing up.

One of the things I took from that evening was the interaction between them. I saw a side of Jeremy Smithers that no one outside his own circle ever sees. He watched the interaction between Susan and I. Just as I also had little doubt he had a file of the same stuff stashed somewhere. Jeremy had a unique position in our lives; he has stood in the shadows throughout both and watched us grow. The turmoils of our own pasts made us who was are, and helped Susan and I to bond into what we had become today.

As I shook Jeremy's hand at the door that evening, I had a new appreciation of the man. He still scared me to death, but at least, I now knew my death would be a quick one if I ever upset him.

To Susan and I it was back to work. We both headed for Atlanta two days after the dinner with Jeremy Smithers; and, to my amusement, it still looked like Susan was walking on air. She had an insecure side that she guarded from everyone; and, the fact that her cousin, and best friend growing up, had given her his seal of approval meant everything to her.

As the plane took off and turned in a wide circle over our city, my hand was in hers and I'm just glad that we found each other. I love her, she knows I do, and every time I get the opportunity, I plunder that body of hers. She had already told me that she wanted a quiet wedding. My eyes closed and I felt her body move closer to mine and we both nestled together, happy, content and in the arms of the person who wanted to be there.