Southern Tide Vol. 01

Cat's fingers smoothed and combed through his dark locks as he lapped at her clit. Every lash of his tongue caused a burning sensation in her throat, her chest, her abdomen...everywhere. She was on fire.

Cat groaned and writhed against his face, but he held her down and in place. She was powerless against his swift tongue, and she thought that her hyperventilating probably made her look crazy.

The powerful suction of his mouth drained her body of its wetness, and it was as if Dale was trying his hardest to suck her soul into himself. He was like a hungry wolf, crouched on all fours, and she was his willing prey.

Cat took her last deep breath and with a violent convulsion, she suddenly came against his face. Still, his tongue remained inside her. She could feel her own flesh twitching against his warm tongue, as he continued to clean her little mess.

Max began scratching at the bedroom door, and the commotion broke Dale away from his feast. His nose and mouth glistened as he lifted his head away from her center.

"Don't move Cat." he said with a grin. "I'll be right back."

Dale walked out of the bedroom and wondered what Max's excitement was all about.

"Hey boy! What is it? You hungry?" he asked, acknowledging the overexcited retriever.

Max barked again, and led him down the hall, to the front door. Dale spotted a cherry-red Chevy truck from the side window, and silently swore to himself. It was Brian. He just couldn't catch a break.

He opened the front door, and waited for the large truck to pull up to the front porch. The water was now only a few inches high and seemed to make way for the vehicle. Dale began to worry about what he would think of Cat.

His best friend had a reputation for being outspoken, and very impolite. In fact the only reason Dale kept him around was because they had known each other since childhood. He loved Brian like a brother, but sometimes he could be a lot to deal with. Even Marie had more than a few run-ins with him.

"Aye man! How the hell are ya?" Brian yelled, as he stepped down from the muddy truck. "Hey Max!"

"I'm holdin' up. Had to dig up a trench to get all this damn water out. How's the roads?"

"Not bad. I got through em' with the truck. I figured you might need help clearing' out all the branches and shit!"

"I got most of the dead-fall outta the way, so I'm good." Dale responded.

He was really trying to get rid of Brian, but his friend just walked past and went in. Before Marie's death, he wouldn't have dared to go inside uninvited, but now he had no use for manners.

"Somethin' smells good!" Brian yelled from the living room.

"Shit!" Dale muttered under his breath.

Dale could already picture him greedily shoving food into his mouth. He just hoped that Brian would behave in front of Cat. Dale took a deep breath, and walked towards the living room. This was going to be a long day.

Cat lay back in the bed, and thought about what had just happened. She came...in Dales mouth, and he liked it.

"He needs to come over here and get back to work." she thought and giggled.

Of course she meant to return the favor. It would have been extremely selfish of her to be the only one having a good time. She wanted to make him happy again. He deserved that and more. Too much tragedy had befallen his home, and she wanted to return both the attention, and his kindness.

Cat began to wonder why he was taking so long. She had grown drowsy from the previous excitement, but breakfast awaited. She wanted to sit down with him and Max, to hopefully discuss what would come out of their recent tryst. She got up, and pulled the tank down over her legs. Maybe they could even continue their fun after breakfast.

She walked up to the bedroom door, and heard multiple voices coming from the hallway. This would account for why he hadn't returned. But she couldn't go out there like that; dressed baggily and very unlike her usual decent self. She quickly looked around and proceeded to the nearest dresser.

Cat was surprised to find the top drawer filled with women's underwear. She reached for the second drawer, and found an assortment of women's blouses neatly arranged into three piles. They were obviously his wife's clothes. He'd kept them after all these years. Cat lifted one of the tops out of the draw, and unfolded it. His wife had been a few sizes smaller than she was. She folded it and put it back into place.

In the corner of the drawer, she took notice of a navy blue shirt, with a wide neck. She pulled it out, and let the fabric unfold as she held it up. It was a dress; probably a maternity dress from the size of it. It would be a tight fit but she was tired of wearing men's clothing.

Cat wanted to feel feminine again. She knew that Dale would probably be upset about her rummaging through his wife's clothes, but she would deal with it when the time came. She did not want to seem insensitive, but his wife no longer had need for these clothes. She was also thinking of the days ahead.

The time would come when she would have to go into town to get a tow truck, and she wouldn't do that without a bra, at least. Her back was already sore from being without one for so long. She meant to borrow the dress, a pair of panties and two bras. Her huge breasts needed that extra support. She would definitely return everything after she bought herself something to wear.

Cat moved to the adjacent dresser, and found Dale's clothes. She grabbed a t-shirt, some shorts and crept back to her room to change.

"Is she hot?" Brian asked in a muffled voice, as he shoved two strips of bacon into his mouth.

"Why? I thought you already had a girl." Dale replied.

"So what? That don't mean I can't look. Is she hot like Marie was?"

"She's...she's kinda different from Marie."

"How different?" Brian frowned.

Dale didn't want to describe what Cat looked like, because he already knew what Brian's reaction would be. Not only would he be shocked that she was black, but also for the fact that she was overweight.

Most of the townspeople's perceptions of black people were negative for the most part. He didn't know what he felt as Brian questioned him. Was it shame? Fear? Or was it guilt? He was beginning to feel uneasy as he wondered what to say.

Suddenly, Cat appeared and she waited for Dale to introduce her.

"Cat...this is my best friend Brian. He came over to help me clear out the mess in front."

"Oh hello." she smiled.

Brian hesitated for a moment, and looked to Dale with a look of confusion. His expression didn't change as he muttered a quiet "Hi."

"Are you going to have breakfast with us?" she asked unfazed.

"Um..." and he looked towards Dale's blank face once more.

Dale already knew what he was thinking, and wanted to get him out of the kitchen before he managed to offend Cat.

"We were just about to get outside." he said. "We'll take some of the food out to the porch and eat there. Sorry to leave on you."

"It's okay. Do you need any help? I could make you guys a plate."

"Uh no. Just relax and eat. We'll be right back. We'll grab some food in a little bit."

"Oh...okay then." she responded, in a disappointed tone. "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Come on man." Dale quickly said to Brian.

Brian got up first and walked past Cat without a word, but he did look back and caught Dale giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Dale followed him to the front, and awaited Brian's reaction.

"Aww man you can't be serious!" his blonde friend said.

"What's your problem?" Dale frowned.

"She's...she's black. Well not that there's anything wrong with that. I guess I didn't expect her to be black."

"Well she is and I like it!" Dale said impatiently.

"Yeah man...but I don't know. She's kinda..." and Brian stopped in his tracks, as if searching for better words to describe his thoughts. "She's fuckin' huge man! I mean how do you go from Marie to that? Damn...you can do so much better than that Dale. I thought you liked hotter chicks man!"

"I still do... I just..."

"Well Sandy's hot. Remember Sandy? Donna's friend? She's still got eyes for you...and she's way hotter than...her."

"Can you keep your fuckin' voice down?" Dale whispered.

"Why? You planning on movin' her out here or sumthin'? Y'all go out now?"

"No...I mean...I don't know man."

"You didn't sleep with her yet, did you? Cuz...shit! How do you work with all that in bed? It's like having a quarterback in bed. That ain't sexy!"

"Dale...your um...cell phone was ringing. I think it's your uncle." a hushed voice said behind them.

Both men looked back to see a crushed Cat. Her face was flushed and she could barely meet his eyes. She was holding onto Dale's cell phone, and looked as if she would burst into tears. Dale didn't know what to say. All he could do was accept the phone from her hand. She quickly walked back into the house, and he heard the door to her room close. He sighed heavily, and looked at his recent call log. It was indeed his uncle, but he was too upset to call back. The call would have to wait until later.

"Sorry man. I didn't think she would hear me." Brian said, expressing a tiny bit of remorse.

Dale shook his head, and roughly rubbed his face. How was he going to fix this? He searched his mind for an answer. At this point he knew that it would eventually come down to choosing between Brian and Cat. It seems as if fate had landed him with another tough decision, and he wasn't too thrilled about getting things underway.

The sky was growing darker, and the looming clouds overhead seemed to be conjured up by Dale's gloomy thoughts. He had known Brian all his life. They had been through a lot together, even though Brian was the cruder of the two. Now he might have to choose between his old friend and a second chance at love.

"Wait... I don't even know how much she likes me. What if I'm just a little fling on her vacation time? We never really spoke about what we wanted from each other, and in life. She could be in it just for the thrill. I should stick to what I know...and people I know." Dale thought, in an attempt to justify Brian's words.

Before another thought entered his mind, he became distracted by the jingling sounds of bunched keys behind him. He looked back, and saw Cat coming towards them with her knapsack hunched over her shoulders.

She wore a tight navy blue dress which showed off her curvy figure, and he began to think of how beautiful she looked in a dress. He would have liked to see her take it off just for him...but it seemed none of that would be happening now.

"Can you drive me into town Dale? I think the water's low enough." Cat said, in almost a whisper.

"Uh...sure. Are you leaving?" Dale responded.

"I don't know. I..." and she looked down to the floor as she spoke.

It was then that Dale remembered that Cat had no clothes of her own, and he suddenly recognized the dress. It was one of Marie's dresses. He never took much notice of his wife's wardrobe but she had worn the dress enough for him to remember it.

"Isn't that my wife's dress?" he asked her, trying to control his tone.

"Yeah...I just wanted to borrow it to go into town."

"How did you...you took it from my room?" he asked, even more irritated.

"I was going to put it back. I couldn't go into town without..." she replied defensively.

"You had no right to go through her things Cat! Don't you think that if I wanted to give you her clothes, I would have done that when you first got here?" and from that point on, he grew angrier.

Dale felt like both his home, and his wife's belongings had been violated.

"Well you were the one who cut my clothes off!" she said defensively.

"You were bleeding Cat...and you had splinters in your leg."

"Yeah? Well...maybe...maybe you should have left me alone out there!"

She turned to Brian, who awkwardly stood in the midst of them. "Brian, can you take me into town? I'll pay you 50 bucks for your trouble."

"Uh...s-sure Cat." he stammered.

"Thank you. I'm ready to leave now if you don't mind."

"O-okay. I uh..." and he turned to Dale, as if hoping that he would say something to stop Cat.

"Go ahead, take her!" and Dale headed back inside without another word.

Max stood at the foot of the door, and watched them in silence, but Dale quickly called him into the living room, away from Cat. Dale was too angry to say anything more. He didn't even look back at her. He went straight for his room and slammed the door behind him.

Another storm was headed in his direction, but he was too upset to care. It began to rain harder, and the booming thunder was loud enough to drown out the sounds of Brian's truck driving away, with Cat inside.

Chapter Four

Cat leaned back against the black leather seat of Brian's truck, as he drove away from the ranch. It occurred to her that she would kill two birds with one stone, by having him drive her to the abandoned car. She had charged her phone the previous night, and would call a tow truck from there. She wanted to get the rest of her luggage out of the car...because she needed to get out of this dress.

The old Cat would have been bawling at the moment, but she had somehow gotten used to what people thought of her. She was nothing but a ball of fat to most; no emotions, no voice, just someone to be stepped on. Dale had been the closest she'd ever gotten to feeling like a real woman. She was beginning to feel that her size didn't matter, and who she was on the inside, was all he wanted. Boy was she wrong.

"Stupid, stupid Cat...you should know better!" she thought.

At this point, Max was the only male entity that she liked and trusted. She missed the pooch...but she also missed Dale, and she beat herself up for it. It was probably good that Brian came around; otherwise she may have never known that Dale was ashamed of her. Yes, she asked him to drive her to town, and yes he had insulted her. But she would rather go with him, than stay with Dale. She felt ashamed of what she had done, but she was past making excuses to justify her actions.

In all honesty, she took the dress for reasons related to what Brian said about her. Cat had always been a big girl. She had never gotten below a size 16 and had broad shoulders ever since she could remember. She couldn't count how many times she was de-feminized for the way she looked. She wasn't petite, or dainty and was called manly, and other derogatory names, despite her attempts to be as feminine as she possibly could. In the privacy of Dale's home, she never had to worry about that. However, in the outside world she found herself needing to prove her femininity by wearing dresses and makeup. In truth she hated makeup, and she was never into wearing dresses. A cute top and a pair of skinny jeans appealed to her any and every day.

She stole a quick glance at her driver and took in his full appearance. Like Dale, Brian was a very handsome man. He had on a royal blue baseball cap, with a red and white, capital T logo in the front. Cat wasn't a baseball fan, but she had made enough trips to Kiara's town to know that the Texas Rangers were popular there. Although the baseball cap hid most of his hair, a few dirty blonde curls poked out from behind his ear. In that moment she thought that he was a dead ringer for Christopher O' Donnell.

Like the famed actor, his face featured deep blue eyes, fair skin with tanned freckles splotched on his cheeks and nose, and thin coral lips encased by an angular jaw. He looked forward the whole time, and was silent. She knew that he was uncomfortable with her in the truck, and it was probably because he was giving into that "loud, angry, black woman" stereotype. She found a little humor in that because she could have had her revenge by scaring him a little, but that wasn't her style. Cat just wanted to get out of his hair, and pay him the fifty bucks as promised.

"Change of plans Brian. Can you take me to my car instead? It's only two miles from here and I'll call a tow truck from there. I want to get my luggage out of the car."

He looked at her for a moment, as if startled by the fact that she spoke. Maybe he expected something else, and his face showed it.

"Uh sure...but you can get your stuff, and I'll drive you to this auto repair shop I know. The guys there usually overcharge strangers, but I can get you a good deal."

"No. It's alright. I don't want to cause you any trouble." she said dryly.

"It's no trouble. I wanna help."

"Look Brian...you don't have to pretend to be nice." she began. "I heard everything you said, and it's obvious that you don't like me. I'm not sure that I like you all that much either. I just want to get my things, and I'll take care of my business. Oh...and here's the money I owe you."

Cat slipped out two twenties and a ten from out of her wallet and tried to hand the money to him. He refused the payment.

"I can't take that." Brian said.

"Why not? I don't want to owe anyone else anything."

"Look Cat, I may be an asshole...but I'm not that sleazy. Just put that away. I'll take you to the car. You can get your things, and I'll take you to get it towed...and I'm sorry." he muttered gravely.

She couldn't believe this. What was he playing at?

"Do you want me to tell you that it's okay? Because it's not." Cat responded calmly. "I'm not trying to replace Dale's wife, and I'm tired of people calling me "that" or the "manly bitch" or like you said "a quarterback." People don't realize how much words can hurt someone, but it is what it is. You said your piece, and I respect you for at least being honest. Just spare me the bullshit, and don't be fake right now. The sooner I get out of your way the better."

Brian immediately turned away from her, and looked straight ahead, but she noticed a slight frown upon his face. He looked like as if he was offended by what she said, but she thought that he had no reason to be. Cat had been calm the whole time, and even though she was angry inside from all the humiliation, she kept herself in check. She would cry out and punch a few pillows when she got to a motel. For now Cat locked every emotion inside.

Brian slowly turned the truck around, and the large tires screeched as they propelled over the muddy asphalt. He drove Cat back to the car, which was in the same condition that she left it. It hadn't been broken into, nor was it in an area where the water could get to it.

She was relieved, and made for the trunk to get her bags. She had packed light and only brought two duffel bags with the essentials. Cat wasn't planning on going out much while staying with Kiara. Maybe an occasional dinner out, and a comedy flick was all she planned to enjoy with her cousin. The ground was still slippery, and she almost slid under the weight of the bags as she pulled them out of the trunk. She looked towards the red truck, parked in front of the car and wondered why Brian wasn't leaving.

She closed the trunk, placed the bags on top of the hood, and then walked towards the truck with the knapsack over her shoulder. As she approached, she found him looking back at her through the side view mirror.

"You can go now. I'll be fine." she said to him.

"I can't leave you alone out here. Come on, I'll take you back."

"I don't think you'd want to be seen with the ugly, fat chick in your car. What'll everybody say?" she replied sarcastically.

He sighed heavily and shrugged "Just get your stuff Cat. I'm not leaving you here."

Cat paused and looked into his eyes. If she could recognize anything in this man's face, it was that he probably was sorry for what he said. Still, that didn't give him a pass, but she would go with him. At least something good might come out of this series of disasters, and she would be able to save some money; maybe even have the car fixed. She didn't say anything, and walked back to the car to get her bags.